Howdy, folks. Here we are, once again. A beautiful Sunday in Kyle, Texas, where I'm writing this. So, what's new? Well, some movie watching, and a really fun rock show last night. I'll talk about the rock first, why not?
Last night, the Pocket FishRmen played a post-Thanksgiving extravaganza at the Lost Well, with Jefferson Trout and the Pretty Pink Knives (I must write the entire moniker) and Lazer Fire, making their debut. It's been a long time since I was at a show where I liked every other band we played with. Pretty incredible. Jefferson Trout is a bunch of the Austin old guard doing Buxf Parrot's songs, some Dicks, some Shootin' Pains songs, and others he's written over the years. Big band, too, with Brett Bradford and Todd Kassens on guitars, good ol' Jason Craig on bass, Travis Garaffa on drums, and Dotty Farrell on Dotty. Buxf wears a cape and a boa. I like capes. Many of my favorite musicians, from Yes to the Me-Thinks, have worn them. He also plays a bit of melodica, but other than these occasional accoutrements, he just sings. So much fun.
Lazer Fire is a new band, featuring the newly-returning Jimmy Bradshaw and Eric Roach on guitars, with Tom 'Burnz' Balentine on bass, and the ageless Ian Burrowes pounding the drums as if he were 22. Michelle made a comment to me that Jimmy's leaving town for New Orleans seems to be when Austin really went downhill. Maybe his return will spark an upswing. Songs like "Rock and Roll Is Fucking Stupid" and "Stick It In Your Mouth" are just what the doctor ordered for this, well, whatever this town's idea of a music scene is now. There, Grumpy has spoken!
We, the Pocket FishRmen, had a great time, although three of us (me included) were sickly. Cris said he'd thrown up twice earlier in the day. Usually, at different points in the set, he'll look at me with a rock face or something; last night, whenever he'd look at me, it was with a look of "I hope I make it through this." He did. We did well, and the crowd was definitely with us. I clammed a couple things, but nothing really noticeable. And the other guys were on fire, despite the sickitude on stage. Sometimes those can be really good shows. Sometimes.
And now for the meat of this post. We watched "The Irishman" a couple of days ago. And it did take two days; the movie is three and a half hours long. You've most likely at least heard a little bit about it. But if not....
It's the latest gangster movie from Martin Scorsese, and given the ages of the principal actors, and Scorsese himself, probably the last. The plot focuses on Frank Sheeran, an enforcer for the mob, and due to his Irish heritage revealed in the title, one who could not be "made," but still, he had some important (?) jobs. One of these, according to him, was the whacking of Jimmy Hoffa. Now, there is a lot of disagreement about what actually happened to Hoffa, and Sheeran's account, told when he was a year short of death, has been called into serious question. Google it, and you'll be there at least half a day. Who knows what really happened, but it does make for an interesting tale here.
I do not really feel qualified to review this movie, at least yet, but I can say that if you like the Scorsese structure of "Goodfellas," "Casino," and even "The Wolf of Wall Street," it's the same thing here. Same type of structure, anyway. The film takes place from the late 50s to 2003, the year Sheeran died. (The book the movie is based on was published in 2003, and Robert DeNiro's had it optioned since 2004.) The film's principals are played by DeNiro (Sheeran), Al Pacino (Hoffa), and Joe Pesci (Russell Bufalino, who assigned Sheeran most of his tasks). There are nice supporting performances from Harvey Keitel and Ray Romano (!) among others. As the older actors had to play characters decades younger than them, CG de-aging was used on their faces. At first, this is a bit of a distraction, but as the movie goes on, much less of one. What is a distraction, though, and unavoidable, is the slow way these supposedly younger characters move. Through some camera placement, most of this is carefully hidden - especially in the grocery store beating one character gets from Sheeran when he's supposed to be in his forties.
Despite these small things, I was hypnotized by the movie. Parts of it are almost humorous in its slow-moving narrative. Characters will repeat the same sentences to each other two or three times in a row. It's almost as if Scorsese and the actors are playing the audience some. It's the antithesis to these blockbuster movies of late that don't want to pause two seconds for any sort of real emotional connection to the proceedings. You can't help but think of Marty's recently-roasted comments concerning Marvel movies. Makes me chuckle.
As I mentioned, I don't feel qualified to give any sort of objective concerning the movie, as I loved every single moment of it. It's wonderful to see those folks together again, and yet the movie might be a mixed bag for folks. It is very slow moving, and even I'm not sure it need to be three and a half hours. Watching Pesci dial down his usual manic persona into a thoughtful, controlling Bufalino is mesmerizing. Pacino is, well, late Pacino for sure, but that feels right for Jimmy Hoffa. And DeNiro. This is his best work in so long. You watch it, and wonder how this man could have been in "Dirty Grandpa." Right now, I feel, in a just world, that DeNiro would win another Best Actor Academy Award, with Pesci getting the Best Supporting Actor. Right now, all the bets are on Pacino to win Best Supporting Actor. And that might happen. His work is good, but I don't feel it reaches the heights of DeNiro and Pesci. One strange thing in the movie, I thought, was the casting of Anna Paquin as the adult version of one of Sheeran's daughters. I knew about the casting, so I thought they would share some scenes during the movie, but they really don't, and I don't think Paquin has one real line of dialogue. She mostly glares at Sheeran at certain times, and it's effective...but kind of odd they didn't have verbal scenes together.
Like I said, I loved this movie so much I don't feel my thoughts on it right now should even be taken seriously, but I'm happy there have been two films released this year that have had me over the moon. This one, and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." I could probably watch those two back to back several times over. Jeez, that'd be over six hours for each cycle. Better rethink that.....
No comments:
Post a Comment