Archive

9.30.2004

Michael Jackson's Moonraker


Sega 1990
What. I remember as a lad staying up long nights dreaming and praying that one day I could experience what it was like to have the awesome moves of Michael Jackson. Even if only in video game form, I wanted to be like Mike. Only years later after the dream had faded (as well as my attempts to start a successful tribute act) did I realize it had already been done, and I had been living in vain.
Supposedly based on plans imagined by Jacko himself our good friends at SEGA managed to capture the King of Pop in all his glory. Everything is remarkably accurate; Bubbles the monkey, helpless children, fighting the mob in a nightclub...yep, it's just as amazing as it sounds. The best part of this game is that you can choose which pre-'Black or White' era hit you want to "beat it" to. The soundtrack provides the much needed adrenaline rush as you scroll through a shady night club sending gangsters to hell with powerful magic that radiates from MJ's sparkly glove. Usually I just stick with the classic Billie Jean, but sometimes late at night I choose Smooth Criminal.
So here we go, since there's no introduction (or maybe the feature film is required pre-viewing) we have to assume that Michael is some kind of dancing crime-fighter who persouses the ungly side of towns busting kiddy porn rings at dive-bars. This is based on the opening level where we see him spin furiously into a pool hall that apparently allows children to wallow under tables, clinging to their teddy bears.
As Michael you can, of course, employ all his wicked dance moves in order to rescue these exploited children and hence shut down the pedophilic nightclub...


WOOOOooo! EEh-Hee! Now that one of my gaming fantasies has come to fruition
I find myself thinking of what other music/gaming entertainment crossover possibilities are out there. MMORPG version of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway? A Grand Theft Auto style game starring Morrissey? I can only dream.


Mmh! Who's bad? Shagh-mogh! Luckily for Michael the gangsters do not carry automatic weapons...and the bullets seem to be made of nerf.

"No, stop it, ouch, little girl, please help uncle Michael."
*Game Tip: leave the children. You'll be doing them a favor.

9.29.2004

Peter Gabriel "Us"

Peter Gabriel - Us (1992)

Released in 1992, 'Us' was Peter's sixth solo album and the album which followed up his most commercially successful 'So'. This album had the challenge of trying to top his last effort which had three of the four songs he's most known for, "In Your Eyes", "Sledgehammer", "Mercy Street" and also had the 80's favorite "Big Time". Even though 'So' was a great commercial success and does have some great songs on it, it feels rather empty due to the fact that there's hardly any flow to the album, and also because two of the songs come across as nothing more than time fillers, "Milgram's 37" and "This is the Picture".
I believe any great album is a body of music that plays like a story, something that gives you a mental picture of something that could be happening from each song to the next. You should feel like you've been taken from point A to point B. A beginning and an end, something which 'So' lacked. 'Us' transcends the songs themselves and you judge the body of work, not just "oh that song was good, what's next?" type of thing...
In a review I once read of Peter Gabriel's music it said that he is the "master of subtlety". Little things, noises and effects in the background, the way certain instruments are played at certain times to accent or create a mood is just as important as the songs themselves. This is the most evident in this album. There are amazing things going on constantly in your ears which makes the album an event, something you want to go back to again and again...
The album begins perfectly with the beautifully rhythmic "Come Talk to Me". The song begins with a thick guitar part that sounds like a vacuum cleaner (nice picture huh?) and immediately busts into a wonderful chorus of bagpipes...The first time I listened to this it almost came across as cheesy, I mean who likes the bagpipes? Well I like them now, I actually think they're beautiful in the right context...Anyway....'come talk to me' has perhaps the most beautiful lyrics of all the songs on the album, it speaks of someone deep in despair who's life can be changed by talking things out with a friend or lover.
The next two songs, "Love to be Loved" and "Blood of Eden" flow almost seamlessly from each other, not because they are that similar but because it feels like one chapter of book has ended and this the next has begun. The "character" has started a new scene. "Love to be Loved" is also a very rhythmic jungle sounding song that's full of passion, it sounds like someone pleading or desiring someone to love them. 'Eden' plays perfectly off that feeling, this love ballad is a song sung between two lovers. It's like the third part of the first act, "Come Talk to Me" is the relationship going astray, "Love to be Loved" is the desperation of wanting someone back, and "Blood of Eden" is the reconciliation...
The next song "Steam" was a song I had always considered as nothing more than "Sledgehammer part II", it's kind of an interruption of the flow that had been established with the first three songs but now I see the song as something of an intermission, it's like the musical chase scenes in Scooby-Doo, our character is doing something exciting. 'Steam' is one of the more upbeat songs on the album and really sort of sets you free from the introspective first three songs. It's just fun, even though the early 90's white people rap at the end always kind of annoys me. I still can't find Vanilla Ice in the credits.
Then comes "Only Us", my second favorite song on the album. The bass part in this song is just amazing, it's accents everything perfectly. It seems like there's a million tiny things happening throughout this seemingly simple tune. 'Only Us' works perfectly after 'Steam' bringing things to a sudden halt here, like you just fell of a cliff...
The whole "lazy river" mental image continues with the great song "Washing of the Water". A Randy Newman-ish simple little song about riding on a river or could also be a metaphor for suicide. The song is both beautiful yet horrible depressing. It almost brings me to tears every time I hear it...
Things kick back up again with the biggest hit and my favorite song of the album "Digging in the Dirt". The song is just uber cool, I can't really explain more than that. The rhythm is great and the chorus just kicks you in the A.. "Don't talk back, just drive the car, shut your mouth and know what you are". The song is about dealing with the anger that grips people's lives and those lyrics from the chorus just perfectly illustrate it in a very loud and blatant way...
Not long before this Peter had worked on the sountrack for "The Last Temptation of Christ" (very awesome soundtrack by the way). The middle eastern inspired rhythms and music from that album definitely inspired this next song "Fourteen Black Paintings". It almost sounds like something left off of that album and put on here...
Here comes Peter's only child friendly song..."Kiss That Frog". It sounds like something he wrote for a sesame Street appearance that never happened. It's not that bad though, the beat is awesome and the guitar part is pretty rockin'. It also has the only appearance of a harmonica in any Gabriel song and also features Peter's famous "frog voice"(?) I guess that's what it's called...
And then things are finally wrapped up with "Secret World", a perfect ending to our journey. This song played live is probably one of my top 5 Peter Gabriel songs (the version on the 'Growing Up Live' DVD is the most magnificent thing your ears will ever hear. The ending is absolutely awesome, but you can tell that loud jam at the end was something that evolved during the first tour because on the album nothing really happens with it, it sort of just fizzles at the end. The song is still a great lyrical piece and a wonderful way to end it. "shaking it up, making it up, in our secret world".

8.76/10 pots of gold

9.27.2004

Sky Captain and the World of 1940

Saturday used to be the fun day. Ninja Turtles was on and friends would come over, we'd blow on the Nintendo cartridges all day trying to get them to work. After giving up we'd just go outside and hit each other with sticks. It was the most funnest day. Now Saturdays are miserable. The day might as well not even exist. What was once so closely associated with fun in my mind is now just work day and the day before the day before I have school again. Everyone works on Saturdays now, so it's almost illegal to do anything then.
SO, I decided to try and recapture the glory days of Saturday morning by going to see the new movie "Sky Captain and the World of tomorrow". I headed for the "Palace" cinema with a couple movies in mind. Maybe I'll see Bernie Mac's "Mr. 3000" it's about baseball craziness, how on earth will Bernie get his 3000th hit again!? He's soooo old! How can I lose? The next choice was "Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow". Hmm, I like the word Captain and I'd love to see what the world of tomorrow looks like! I had also read a favorable review before-hand that said things like "different" and "pleasant", whatever, it has giant freakin robots and Angelina Jolie and giant robots. So I gave the scary man behind the counter my 7.50 and headed right toward theater eight.
I went into the movie with a few biases, first of all I hate the entire cast. Jude Law is the snootiest Brit since the Queen herself, Gwyneth Paltrow is the Queen of mediocre and Angelina Jolie is just Angelina Jolie. I also heard that the whole movie was done on blue screen...Which reminded me of another movie that was done all on blue screen...The Star Wars prequal trilogy, that didn't necessarily mean anything good or bad to me, but I was wary about how they could pull off a completely CGI environment...
The visual style of the movie took me about fifteen minutes to get used to, they accomplished a good CGI world look by blurring the film and adding this strange soft outline quality to it which makes everything look more real but also makes your eyes bleed.
Turn off your cell phones and stop smoking, the movie's starting!!! WHAt the!? 5 minutes in and I learn that the "world of tomorrow" is actually the world of 1940! But alas, I enjoy the 1940's noir style, I do own a couple fedoras myself. Even though it was hard to see what was going on at times because of the blurriness, the style of this movie is fantastic.
'Sky Captain' went all out with the 1930's and 40's style of Buck Roger-esqe action serial where everything is so clear cut, villain, hero, the girl and what needs to be accomplished spelled out in the sky. Though I realized what it was supposed to be, I felt like I was riding an emotional fence in regards to my opinion of the film. At times there were images and things that were just so crazy and far fetched (even for me) that at any second I felt that I could fall to one side and think that this movie was absolutely absurd. On the other side there's the Saturday morning cartoon aspect that's just fun escapist entertainment. In the end the fun side of the movie really took over and that's all you notice. Sky Captain is definitely meant to be overthetop and that's something you have to realize going in to see it, if you try and overanalyze it you'll ruin it for yourself. Just don't think, accept, be a robot. Like they say in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme song "repeat to yourself it's just a show, you should really just relax".

7.95/10 horseshoes