Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Playing Catch Up!!!


Sorry for being incommunicado for so long, kids. Inspiration, that fickle muse, took a major siesta for a few weeks behind Agent 5150’s back; however, the mojo has returned so here are some entertainment nuggets that cover the last half of August 2009. The obvious starting point is the big news that broke yesterday…

1) Disney buys Marvel: Well, we all thought Wal-Mart would eventually take over the world, but it looks the Mouse House will have something to say about that before all is said and done. As a former comic book geek, I am deeply saddened by this news. You already need a sizeable loan to buy a handful of comic books each week (they currently average $3.99 an issue!), but Disney will surely figure out a way to extort more money out of the unwashed masses still living in their parents’ basement. Cynical? No, realistic…just look at how the price of admission to Disney’s theme parks has escalated over the last few decades. Outside of any major university, I defy you to find me a business entity with a higher year-to-year percentage increase in prices. Let’s just hope that Disney doesn’t castrate Marvel like they did ESPN…I mean, does Mickey really want to screw around with the guys to my right?

2) New Collective Soul: I’m still not sure if their latest effort is technically another self-titled affair (following the 1995 classic that featured “December” & “The World I Know”) or if it’s called “Rabbit”, but this new album simply rocks. Easily their best CD/MP3 since “Disciplined Breakdown”, “Rabbit” has but one misfire…the sappy, generic “You”; the remaining ten tracks range from blistering arena rock (“Welcome All Again”) to goofball party tunes (“Fuzzy”, “Lighten Up”) to tender personal disclosures (“Hymn For My Father”) to new-classic behemoths (“Dig”, “My Days”). Ed Roland and company are in top form here…like The Cars in the 70s and 80s, Collective Soul are underrated troubadours for the 90s and 00s who are never ‘hit-and-miss’ like their peers (sorry Pearl Jam fans, but “No Code” sucked and “Riot Act” wasn’t much better!). 3 ½ Eddies for “Rabbit”…

3) Quick Hit DVD Reviews: Agent 5150 has actually been able to catch a few flicks recently in between lawn mowing marathons and mass resume mailings. Let’s get up to speed, shall we?

“Push” is fun junk food for the brain, a decent ‘X-Men’ rip-off that’s actually just as good as the summer blockbuster “Wolverine”…2 ½ Eddies.

“Gran Torino” closes the book on Clint Eastwood’s ‘Dirty Harry’ persona like “Pale Rider” did for ‘The Man With No Name’. Yes, I know in both cases the main characters are technically different from the classic personalities they represent, but the similarities are just too striking to ignore. That being said, “Gran Torino” feels a bit manipulative on an emotional level, and Eastwood explores themes he’s already covered over and over and over again…3 Eddies.

“Killshot” stars Mickey Rourke and Diane Lane in an Elmore Leonard adaptation that surprisingly only saw a limited U.S. theatrical release earlier this year despite Rourke’s presence hot on the heels of “The Wrestler”. Maybe that’s because the flick is average at best - not much charm or humor in this crime drama…2 Eddies.

“Yes Man” once again shows that Jim Carrey is slightly ahead of Adam Sandler in the battle to claim the title of ‘Hollywood’s King of the Moderately Amusing Movie’. Very similar in tone to “Liar Liar”, “Yes Man” is a tolerable comedy with just enough sweetness to make it digestible…2 ½ Eddies.

“Horsemen” is a straight-to-DVD thriller starring Dennis Quaid that doesn’t try very hard to hide the fact that it’s a mirror image of “Seven”. Still, “Horsemen” manages to weave its disturbing little spell fairly well - Quaid plays haggard and obsessive with a nice edge, and the overwrought ending doesn’t sink things completely…2 ½ Eddies.

Finally, “I Love You, Man” is an overrated buddy comedy about grown men trying to find buddies. Paul Rudd is a bit too nerdy here; also, a little less gay innuendo and a little more nastiness in the script could have made “I Love You, Man” much, much better…2 ½ Eddies.

That’s it for now, people…wake me up when September ends. Just kidding…I’ll be back atcha in a week or so. And please forgive me for the lame but appropriate use of your song title, Green Day…

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