Album Review, “Love on the Inside,” Sugarland

When Sugarland first burst onto the scene in 2004 with Twice the Speed of Life, they were something of an insatiable ray of sunshine. Nothing but positive, happy music (“Stand Back Up” is the only track that isn’t totally upbeat, but its “nothing is going to hold me down” message still fit) meant to bring a smile to the face of the audience. That trend mostly continued with 2006’s Enjoy the Ride, another album full of happy lyrics and catchy beats…with the notable exception of “Stay,” an award-winning ballad of heartbreak, which clearly broke with their usual style up to that point. Their songs weren’t entirely substanceless (“Settlin’” and “Something More,” for instance, were both lyrically solid messages of getting the most you can out of life)…but their success has largely been driven by their great melodies.

With this newest release, Love on the Inside, the songwriting has taken a bit of a turn toward the bittersweet. “Stay” was just a story, but not an autobiographical one…I would venture a guess that there’s quite a bit of personal story in this album. It would seem from listening to it that life has finally hit them in the face a little bit; I’m pretty sure that a lot of this could be pointed toward lead singer Jennifer Nettles’ divorce, which took place in between the writing of the previous album and this one. By no means do I think this shift in tone is a bad one…the best artists are the ones who convey all emotions, both happy and sad, rather than leaning too heavily on one or the other. I really like this third release from the duo who is now challenging Brooks & Dunn as the the biggest duo in country music.

The happy-go-lucky Sugarland certainly isn’t gone, as you can tell from their first single, “All I Want to Do,” a fun summer hit that is already in the top 5 on Billboard with a good chance at becoming the duo’s third #1 hit.

Movie Review: The Dark Knight (2008)

I wasn’t the huge raving fan of Batman Begins that many were. It was a fine movie, a watchable movie within a superhero sub-genre that I don’t care all that much about in general…but I didn’t think it stood out as a movie I’d watch over and over again. Still, it was good and I knew that I’d see The Dark Knight as soon as it came out, particularly given the hype behind it and some very promising theatrical trailers.

While again I think the general public is going to like the movie a bit better than I did, it certainly met my personal expectations, and I enjoyed it.

My 10 favorite film endings.

The end of a film is crucial; to be a truly great movie, you have to finish well. Whether it’s the natural conclusion of a brilliant story, an emotional climax or a twist that greatly affects everything you’ve watched up to that point, a director needs to leave a good taste in the viewers’ mouths to achieve greatness. The landscape-altering twist is a huge gamble, and can come off as entirely stupid a lot of the time…but when it’s done well, few other things can give a movie-watcher a bigger rush.

Upon combing through and sorting my yet-to-be-released top 100 movies list, here are my 10 favorite film endings (obviously plenty of spoilers).

Honorable mentions: Braveheart and The Green Mile
Both of these films had places in my top 10 endings list, but after careful deliberation eventually got bumped out. Both great movies with very memorable endings, though.

10. The Notebook (2004)

Thankfully, Engram doesn’t appear to be a holdout risk.

Courtesy of Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times…
Link

Cutting to the chase, Engram said he will be there when the Hawks open their training camp in Kirkland in two weeks.

“I’ll be ready to go,” he said. “I’m going to be me. I’m going to be ready to work hard, because I don’t hold any bitterness. I’m not going to be upset about something that didn’t happen. Everybody has to handle his business individually, but I realize nobody is bigger than the team.”

Some of the other quotes don’t really back up his statement about not holding any bitterness…

Movie Review: Requiem for a Dream (2000)

**spoilers throughout**

It’s hard to know how to rate or assess Requiem for a Dream. My initial assessment is that it could be the single most depressing film I’ve seen in my life…but believe me, that’s not really a knock. Director Darren Aronofsky wasn’t exactly shooting for puppy dogs and rainbows. What he set out to do with this film, he did it brilliantly…but it was very hard to watch.

In short, the movie is about four people’s lives spiraling out of control and being completely ruined by drug addiction. Is there more to it? Not really. There isn’t really a twist, there isn’t really a turnaround…nobody picks themselves up by the bootstraps and kicks their habit. They start taking drugs, their life gets worse. They keep taking drugs, their life gets worse. Their drug intake keeps increasing, and they all hit bottom. The end, roll credits. That’s just a simple plot synopsis, though…the final product brings a lot to the table.

“We lonely here mostly too”: the best scene of Meet Joe Black.

Originally I set out to write a blog entry talking up Meet Joe Black, which I really think is one of the most criminally underrated films ever created. Unfortunately, if you’re one of the many people who thinks of this three hour masterpiece as “boring,” I doubt I’m going to be able to change your mind.

Instead, I want to write about my favorite scene in the movie, the powerful hospital scene between Joe Black (Brad Pitt) and the Jamaican lady who is terminally ill and knows that Joe is the angel of death.

My Top 10 Animated Films

With the recent release of WALL-E, I’ve had my mind on doing this entry for a couple of weeks now. Even though I think that particular movie is overrated (pending a second viewing when it is released to Blu-ray), I love the Pixar catalog and am extremely thankful to them for not only revitalizing the genre of animated feature films, but taking it to a whole new level. Their catalog is a brilliant one, and I will continue to see each new release (Up is the next one, scheduled for May 2009) on opening weekend until they manage to convince me to do otherwise.

Pixar has released nine feature films, beginning with Toy Story in 1995, and five of those nine make appearances on my all-time top 10 animated features list…

The NBA no longer exists.

Entering the same graveyard as Rams kicker Josh Brown, the National Basketball Association no longer exists. There isn’t much to say about it, really. One corrupt businessman got together with another, they exchanged a few love letters then swindled a great sports city out of its team. While I’m not a believer in karma, I sure wish it existed for cases like these. David Stern and Clay Bennett are evil, the politicians in charge of the Washington state government and the city of Seattle are spineless, and I hope all of the above find a way to end up homeless.

I’m glad that the team name and colors got kept in Seattle in case we get another team, but I just can’t imagine that it’ll ever be the same even if we did eventually get one back. I simply have no interest in doing anything to line the pockets of a corrupt weasel like Stern ever again. Thankfully I have no such qualms about supporting the NCAA, and I look forward to many more years of rooting for Tony Bennett and the WSU Cougars.

In the meantime, it’s just over five weeks until preseason football kicks off…