RobertHilburnOnline.com

 
 
THE DAMNED UNITED
√ Bob Certified

    An Oscar-consideration performance by Michael Sheen, the English actor who played David Frost in last year’s taut “Frost/Nixon,” fuels this tale of  Brian Cough, the brash, flamboyant (and ultimately) legendary British soccer team manager. The emphasis isn’t on soccer. In fact, there is little time in the film devoted to what is happening on the field. The real battle is over such matters as unchecked ambition, teamwork, unhealthy obsession, values, loyalty and redemption.  Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Tom Hooper, the film has such an authentic feel that there is a strong documentary-like feel to it. Goal!
 
An Education 10/21/2009
 
AN EDUCATION
√ Bob Certified

      This is a deceptively complex film about youthful awakening that changes directions frequently but never at the risk of mood or believability.  Peter Sarsgaard is so charming as a seemingly sophisticated man in his early 30s that you’re alarm only barely triggers when he offers a 16-year-old school girl (Casey Mulligan) a ride after he sees her standing on a street corner in the rain.  She’s bored with school and resists her parents’ hopes of her going to Oxford because she sees formal education as a path to dullness—something she sees in her teachers, school administrators and her parents. So this man offers another kind of education: a step into the glamour of the arts (he takes her to a recital) and the magical Paris (which triggers her dreams far more than drab England).  Things start to feel a bit creepy when he asks her to go to a late supper after the recital and then to spend the weekend with him and some friends in Oxford, and you can’t imagine Casey’s parents granting permission. But her folks succumb, also, to the man’s charm and see him as a way to help get their daughter into Oxford. Well after some clear sailing things do go wrong, and you are left with many intriguing questions about values, the role of parents and just how much a young girl—even a smart one—can trust her instincts. Excellent performances by Sarsgaard and Mulligan. The screenplay is by Nick Hornby.  A low-key gem. 
 
Bright Star 10/05/2009
 
BRIGHT STAR
???????

    I was planning to review director Jane Campion’s heralded film about English poet John Keats’ two-year relationship with his romantic muse (David Denby and Joe Morgenstern both loved it),  but I have to disqualify myself because I fell asleep a third of the way into it.  Sorry.
 
 
Albums:

     THE AVETT BROTHERS 
√ Bob Certified
     I haven’t heard this North  Carolina trio’s earlier albums so I’m basing my opinion solely on this Rick Rubin-produced major label debut—and I’m telling you there’s a touch of greatness in this band, whose best moments remind you of the richness and depth of the Band’s softest moments. The imagery is sometimes familiar—which is often the case with songwriters as steeped in the folk and country traditions as the Avetts appear to be. But the songs are evocative and heartfelt, making those images take on a fresh, modern sensibility. The album’s opening lines invite you on a journey that touches on the kind of youthful awakening that has been at the heart of best bands, from the Band to U2: “Load the car and write your note/ Grab your bag and grab your coat/ tell ones that need to know/ We are headed north.”  (American)


     MONSTERS OF FOLK
√ Bob Certified
     Many of today’s most gifted musicians, from Jack White to Conor Oberst, seem to enjoy collaborations, even if it means putting their own best work on a sidetrack (the White Stripes and Bright Eyes/Oberst). Here Oberst teams up with some talented pals (Jim Jarvis, M. Ward and Mike Mogis) and it works wonderfully. Many of the songs are about searching for love, faith or, maybe, just some sanity in a time when society’s values seem in transition. There are several gems here, including Oberst’s “Map of the World”—the Bright Eyes boy’s own statement of youthful awakening and wonder. It begins: “There is a map of the world on the wall in your room/ Green pins where you want to go/ White pins where you been/ There isn’t even 10/ You’re already feeling old.” (Shangri-La)
 
 
Websites

     “FUTURE ROCK LEGENDS”
√ Bob Certified
     If you enjoy debating the merits of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame candidates and inductees, you’re going to love this site. Not  associated with the actual Hall of Fame in Cleveland, “Future Rock Legends” not only offers its own thoughts on the Hall of Fame chances of just about anyone who has ever made an album, but it also lets you cast your vote on whether various acts deserve to be in. Both passionate and provocative, the site also tells you what years various artists become eligible for the Hall. And if you’re wondering about the chances of the 2010 nominees, the site suggests ABBA’s chances are 41%, Darlene Love 6%, Donna Summer 56%, Genesis 40%, Jimmy Cliff 39%, KISS 40%, and Laura Nyro 31%. I’ll stop there so you’ll have to go to the site to see the chances of the Hollies, LL Cool J, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Chantels and the Stooges. www.futurerocklegends.com 

 
Movies:
     SURROGATES
No thanks
     I know how hard it is to be a critic sometimes, especially when an album or a film has so many plusses and minuses that it’s hard to come to a final judgment, but how can anyone think this sci-fi hokum has any plusses at all. So, how in holy hell, could Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly and Kyle Smith of the New York Post give it a 75 (on a scale of 100, according to Metacritic) or how could Todd McCarthy of Variety give it a 73 or Roger Ebert give it a 63. This film is a 20 (thank you Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News.) I used to think Bruce Willis was a pretty reliable actor in action films, but all he does here is the famous Willis grimace. Watching “Surrogates,” I grimaced, too.

     EXTRACT
Has its moments
     This is a very modest, but enjoyable comedy from Mike Judge (creator of Beavis and Butt-Head) though one plot device is so offensive to any long-time married man like me that it’s a wonder it doesn’t turn you against the whole film. Jason Bateman is excellent as the low key everyman whose life (like just about every other male in the film) is turned upside down by the arrival of a sexy young con woman. Among things to enjoy in the movie is the soundtrack, whose country-flavored treats include Waylon Jennings’ “Rainy Day Woman.” I have a soft spot for the song because Waylon told me he was having trouble picking a new single from his album and I suggested “Rainy Day Woman.” It went to No. 2 in the country field. True story. It’s in my book, “Corn Flakes with John Lennon: And Other Tales from a Rock ‘n’ Roll Life.”  
 
 
Music:  

     KRIS KRISTOFFERSON’S “Closer to the Bone.”
√ Bob Certified
     Even if you didn’t know anything about “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help It Make It through the Night” and the other great songs Kristofferson has written over the years, this new album would convince you that you were in the hands of a wonderful songwriter—someone able to capture intimate emotions with remarkable openness and truth. “From Here to Forever” may be the best expression of a parent’s love since Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” and “The Wonder” is an endearing tale of devotion and faith. “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” and “Tell Me One More Time” are songs of tension and loss, but the primary feeling of the music is love, friendship and need. “Good Morning, John” is a salute to his hero (written before Johnny Cash’s death) and “Sister Sinead” is a tip of the hat to a singer-songwriter whose courage he greatly admires (Sinead O’Connor). An album filled with heart. (New West)

Movies:

     THE INFORMANT!
√ Bob Certified 
     There is so much sly, perverse humor and plot twists in this (mostly) true tale of a corporate whistleblower that it feels like something you’d expect from the Coen Brothers at their best. Instead, it’s by director Steven Soderbergh and he shows terrific discipline in making Matt Damon seem so much like a nerdish good guy who wants to do the right thing that we are constantly surprised when Damon’s character keeps confounding us with his admissions. Damon is excellent in the role, right down to way he walks—which suggests someone constantly out of step with the rest of the world. Ultimately, everyone in the film—the high-priced lawyers, corporate titans, the FBI , the Justice Department and Damon—contributes to a sense of absurdity that makes you wonder how the legal system ever gets anything right when it comes to corporate America.
 
 
     THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX

√ Bob Certified

 

     It’s easy to see why Anthony Lane, one of the New Yorker’s excellent film critics, has seen this remarkably powerful film at least three times and remains fascinated. It’s the latest dividend in an extraordinary year for serious, original and provocative cinema—starting with “The Hurt Locker,” “A Woman in Berlin,” “District 9” and now this German drama. Like “Hurt Locker” and “A Woman in Berlin,” “The Baader Meinhof Complex” deals with a complex subject—politically-minded terrorism—without forcing a particular point of view on the audience. Director Uli Edel lets the facts speak for themselves. Indeed one of the most interesting parts of the frequently violent film, which tells the story of a radical German group in the 1970s, is when a government official tries to examine the root causes of the radical movement. The question has never been more relevant than today.
 
 
     THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE
Insightful Glimpse

     This film isn’t for everyone, but it does offer a fascinating glimpse of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and her restraint in the flashy and ego inflated world of high fashion. First, it’s clear that it’s her vision that sets the course for the magazine and, secondly, it’s intriguing how she won’t fall into the trap of taking credit for it all or pontificating about the importance of fashion or how she understands what makes it—and the media—tick. Wintour is so reluctant to simply gab that the filmmaker has to devote much of the time to one of the editor’s long-time aides, who is willing to share the tensions and joys of life at Vogue.
 
 
     THE HEADLESS WOMAN
No thanks

     This is the kind of movie I love—on paper. It’s about a well-to-do woman in Argentina who goes into a daze behind the wheel after she thinks she runs over someone on an isolated road. As the days pass, she continues to dwell on the matter—even though a doctor/friend tells her no death was reported to the police. Finally, she decides to try to retrace her steps on the fateful day to decide the issue herself. But the film itself was sooooooo slow. There is nothing to really engage you for 10 to 20 minute stretches at a time. The idea was to show the disorienting nature of trauma, but we saw that far better with Memento. The only real question about this puzzle is why some film critics are raving. It got a commendable 79 in Metacritic. I’d say 50 is more like it—not that the story isn’t told with flair…it’s just that the story is so uninvolving.
 
District 9 09/08/2009
 
   Movies Reviewed Below include: Inglourious Basterds, the Hurt Locker, Julie & Julia, It Might Get Loud, Funny People, a Woman in Berlin, (500) Days of Summer.
 
   Albums below by: Rosanne Cash, the Dead Weather, John Fogerty, Steve Earle.
 
  Books below include two by or about Michael Jackson.
 
  Plus: My Tivo List

   DISTRICT 9
√ Bob Certified

     Yes, yes, there are lots of socio-political messages at work here (from corporate madness to human intolerance) and there may be a few times in the nearly 2-hour film when things seem a touch sluggish, but there’s no denying this is a sci-fi classic that will be a favorite of revival house audiences for years to come. The movie has a striking blend of originality and proven cinematic techniques—and if audiences eat it up, the door is left open for a sequel.