Kat: The year? The decade's just started. Yes and no. It's easy to look at both albums -- Sade's Solider of Love and Joanna Newsom's Have One On Me -- and get excited. But both are by artists who really don't attempt to ride trends. I remember some really bad Sade wanna-bes in the 80s but I don't think people try to copy her these days -- I could be wrong. And Joanna? I don't think anyone's going to even try. In an ideal world, Sade's album would inspire everyone to try to be a little more inventive in arrangements -- there are some wonderful arrangements on that album -- and Joanna's would inspire songwriters to dig deeper. But, no, I don't really see that happening.
Ruth: It would be wonderful if it did though. And if a whole school of people began exploring the musical themes Ms. Newsom's picking up on that Donovan --
Kat: Donovan! I'm glad Ruth said that. I want to note that she caught that connection. I missed it. I bow before you, Ruth. In "Women's (Musical) History Month," Ruth made that connection and I wished I'd done it.
Ruth: I am flattered. But it would be great if it inspired people to really attempt to explore the musical sounds. And, as Kat pointed out just a second ago, Ms. Newsom digs deep in her songwriting. "In California" has a line that haunts me, in part because of how she sings it, "And if you come and see me, you will upset the order." That just hangs with me.
Jess: That's true, for me, of that entire song. Especially when she sings, "But when you come and see me in California, you cross the border of my heart." And I think Ruth's right that it's in part the words and in parts the way she sings it.
Betty: Well, for those who downloaded but need a lyric sheet, you can go to this Lyrics Wiki page and get the lyrics to all the songs on Joanna Newsom's album. I'll also note that this week, it should be announced that Sade's gone platinum. And that this is very, very rare these days. Albums just do not sell. And an album by someone who has visibly passed puberty? This is a major accomplishment for Sade. On Joanna, she debuted at 75 on Billboard's charts which I think is a good showing for her because she is not a known to most people. Like Kat, I'd never heard of her until this year. So I think the solid week of praise she saw is going to combine with word of mouth and help the album see a nice climb.
Dona: Last week, Kat wrote about the album in every post. In addition, Ruth and Trina covered it. I was wondering about others?
Elaine: I didn't write about it?
Dona: No.
Elaine: No? Oh, that's right. That's because of the attacks on Kathryn Bigelow. I had planned to write on the albums and quote from Kat's reviews on Tuesday; however, the attacks on Bigelow became my focus for both Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mike: I've got nothing to offer at present other than, "What Kat said." Joanna Newsom's album is big and long. I could make general statements but that's about it. And I'll be one of the people who uses that link Betty just referred everyone to in order to look up the lyrics.
Jim: Okay, let's turn to film and pick up on what Elaine just mentioned. She and Mike blogged about The Hurt Locker last week -- many people in the community did, but I'm thinking of the fact that the military arranged interviews with The Los Angeles Times, interviews with soldiers in Iraq who loathed the movie. Elaine?
Elaine: Well it's just a disgusting abuse of tax payer money and a clear indication that the military brass has no respect for the tax payers or any other elements of the civilian world. It also says a great deal about The Los Angeles Times.
Mike: I would agree with that. Why was the paper so eager to help the brass trash a film? Los Angeles? The film capital. And the home paper's trashing a movie because the brass is setting up interviews for them? And if I can just add one more thing, for about ten seconds, I was surprised that Amy Goodman didn't jump all over this and hump it into next week but then I remembered, "It's about war and Goody Whore doesn't care about the war."
Jim: Mike, you're not thrilled with Chuck this year.
Mike: No, I think the show has lost it. I don't care for Brandon Routh or whatever his name is. He's a bad actor and the character is not needed. I've grown to hate Devin because he's not that cool and he's overexposed. The problems continue to be the refusal to have women do anything on the show. We've got Sarah and that's really it. I don't think that people have even noticed that the woman in the military that they all reported to on the video screen no longer appears. And so the last thing we need is Doctor Awesome Devin. And, really, put a shirt on already. I don't need to see his chest and abs and I certainly don't need to find out that he shaves his armpit. What a prissy thing to do.
Cedric: I caught last Monday and noticed that too. I was like, "Mr. Big Sports Guy shaves his pits? Does he bikini wax too?" That was just stupid.
Jim: Cedric, I didn't know you watched it. Do you agree with Mike's take?
Cedric: About the quality? It's in decline big time. The new woman, who played Lana on Smallville, she's good but they don't use her. And when they do, it's all lovey-dovey. It's a comedy and action-adventure. Lovey-dovey doesn't make you on this show. Hell even the women who play the "Bond girls" do more.
Jim: Ann, do you watch?
Ann: Only sometimes. Kristin Kreuk is the actress Mike and Cedric forget the name of. She was great on her first episode and the idea that it was a one-shot really worked. Then they brought her in and she look stupid now and Chuck does as well.
Jim: Example?
Ann: Chuck realized last Monday that he loves Sarah. No surprise to the audience. And that's fine. And Chuck didn't want to hurt Kreuk's character. That's fine. So he decides he needs to break up with her. And that's fine. But here's the thing, he has already invited her to meet his family. Now she's returned the favor because her family is in town and she and Chuck are sleeping together. So Chuck shows up where they're having dinner, her and her parents, and pulls her away from the table to tell her he's breaking up with her? I'm sorry, I didn't buy it. It made him look like a total asshole.
Jim: Because?
Dona: Because! Ann just told you why. The woman's with her parents having dinner. Chuck's not there. He shows up late and then only to break up with her and she has to go back and explain to her parents why Chuck, the man's she's been bragging about, isn't joining them and why she looks she's been crying. Chuck came off like a major asshole there.
Jim: Hmm. I'm not sure I saw it that way. I get your point, however. Wally?
Wally: Chuck? I'm done with the show. My problems are the nonsense. I don't forgive them for writing off Anna. But the real problem is that this was a three season show. They should have been happy to be that. First season, the longing. Second season, the circling. Third season, Chuck and Sarah get together. And at the end of that season, they're either the best agents in the world or on a beach somewhere living off the scam they pulled on the CIA. But instead of being happy with a three year show, they've attempted to create one obstacle after another to postpone Sarah and Chuck getting together. I watched about three episodes at the start of the year and I was done with it. To me, the show's like masturbating when you're too tired to stay awake. What's the point?
Jim: Okay, well --
Marcia: Wait. I want to comment. I want to comment on Wally's joke there because we are all laughing right now at Trina's. I think that really describes how futile and unfulfilling the show is and agree that there must be nothing sadder than falling asleep on yourself when you're having sex with yourself.
Jim: Yeah, Wally did a good job capturing the futility of the show with that illustration. Marcia, what do you watch?
Marcia: Like my cousin, movies. Stan wrote about that recently. I just don't feel that involved in TV these days. Rebecca and Wally have explained how Heroes killed off the audience interest so that's a show I no longer watch. Now that the Olympics are over, there should be new shows so I'll probably go back to watching The Good Wife. Otherwise? I like The New Adventures of Old Christine but can't stand Gary Unmarried. Ruth wrote about that not long ago.
Jim: Any movie stand out recently?
Marcia: On DVD? Ann's "Movies" captured the worst film I've seen in a long time. I just loathed that movie and I'm beginning to loathe Matt Damon in everything he does. It's a case of overexposure as well as a lack of talent. He needs to take some acting lessons.
Rebecca: That's interesting to me. I wonder if you feel that way about Ben Affleck as well?
Marcia: No. Not even when he was supposedly overexposed due to the tryst with Jennifer Lopez. I felt he could do drama and he could do lighter things and I never got the idea that he took himself all that seriously. Even now, this was true in the 90s, but even now, I've seen every film he's made since Chasing Amy. Some I've liked, some I've hated. But I've never had a problem with his performance and think he's shown more range than many of his peers including Matt Damon. Matt Damon suffers not just from his prissy manner and high pitched voice, he also suffers from the fact that he's just too goody-goody. After awhile, you just want him to go away. For a long, long time.
Jim: There are some who argue that Matt Damon's the better actor.
Ann: I know some do argue that but I think they're confusing the films he's in -- more 'prestige' ones -- with the performance or, in his case, the lack of performance. He's so wooden and the more he tries to 'man it up,' the more wooden he gets.
Jim: Okay. Interesting. And it was interesting to discover Stan is a big fan of Cameron Diaz, as I did when I read "The Box, the Oscars" Friday.
Stan: Not that big according to one reader who can't believe I forgot to mention My Best Friend's Wedding. I had forgotten that film. I think she's very good in it but I think she's filmed poorly and that it was intentional because Julia Roberts couldn't take any competition. And to me Julia's part of the same crowd as Damon -- that whole grouping needs to take a lengthy sabbatical. Call them Clooney's Ball Sack, since they're too old for the Rat Pack. Clooney's Ball
Sack -- which includes the aging coverboy himself -- needs to go away.
Jim: Trina, any movie thoughts?
Trina: I agree with what Stan's saying. And I was a huge Clooney fan. I fell for him with Sisters and loved him in ER. And I waited and waited -- and waded and waded -- through all of his bad movies. I think prior to The Perfect Storm, the only good film he had was Michelle Pfeiffer's One Fine Day. Others will point to another film but that's the only one where he proved to be a leading man. And he never did it again. He never again found a way to act opposite a woman in any manner that suggested a man attracted to, let alone in love with, a woman. He's become a peacock strutting around and there's no greater turn off to women.
Jim: And does your husband know about your aborted affair with Clooney?
Trina: Oh please, like he can ever shut up about Angelina Jolie? But when you see a movie, to be involved in it, you need to believe the characters up there do care about one another and he's not able to convey that. I like Nicole Kidman, I like Catherine Zeta Jones. But he had no chemistry with them. He's had no chemistry with any woman onscreen -- on the big screen -- except Michelle Pfieffer.
Jim: I don't really picture you as a big movie watcher -- right or wrong -- so this is a weird conversation from you. What's the last movie you watched?
Trina: Deception with Bette Davis. Friday. Stan got it from Netflix and brought it over and we all watched.
Jim: Do you rent?
Trina: No. I'm that way with going to the movies. If someone wants to see something, I'll go along. But I'm not really driven to see a film most of the time, sorry. I see them. But it's more for the social aspect than because I'm wanting to see a particular thing.
Jim: Okay. Isaiah, you and movies?
Isaiah: I tend to like Billy Wilder's films best. After that? I like the 50s and 60s and early 70s films. I like the 50s for their pop art look and the same with the 60s -- something Stan and I share in common. In the 70s, I like the Alan J. Pakula films and others of that type.
Jim: Do you get excited about films or are you more like Trina?
Isaiah: I would say "More like Trina," except for one thing, Burlesque.
Jim: I don't know it.
Isaiah: It's Cher's new movie. I'll go see that. Cher may be the last one that I'll still make a point to catch everything they're in.
Jim: What's your favorite Cher movie?
Isaiah: Oh. Hard one. Mask is great. Moonstruck is a classic. I think it depends more on my mood. But it may be Mask. Maybe because, flaws and all, she's a mother who cares so completely in that movie. And you always hope someone, at some point in your life, will be as on your side as she is in that.
Ty: I'm trying to think about anyone I'd see in everything. Marcia says Ben Affleck, Isaiah says Cher. I'll see Cher's new movie, no question. Christina Aguilera and Stanley Tucci are starring in it as well. But in terms of actors, I can't think of anyone who wasn't famous before I was in college that I'd be willing to follow. What I guess I'm saying is that 2002 and onward hasn't really provided any actors worth following in films.
Jim: Interesting. Who do you think is the strongest film actor today?
Ty: Tough one. I'll go with Jennifer Jason Leigh who's got as much bravery as talent and really has an amazing career. Whether it's playing Dorothy Parker, or doing Georgia, or Fast Times At Ridgemont High, or eXistenZ or what have you. She just makes some amazing choices and is always worth watching.
Jim: Rebecca, your name is on the slip of paper Dona just handed me, she says you haven't spoken enough.
Rebecca: Ava and C.I. haven't spoken at all.
Jim: I believe they're calling their participation taking the notes. I'm serious. They've got a hard release date of 4:00 a.m. this morning because they're going to the awards show tonight and want to get some sleep first. So we'll be later than usual posting since they are our two fastest typists.
Rebecca: Okay. Well I love Jennifer Jason Leigh and agree with Ty on that. I also love Cher and will do my part to promote the movie at my site when it's released. I don't see a great deal of sexy men onscreen. I don't find Matt Damon remotely sexy. I think that explains his faltering box office. He just doesn't have it, he doesn't have what makes a star. Someone will toss out his franchise but it doesn't prove anything. Russell Crowe was probably the last one to emerge -- when LA Confidential came out -- that I thought was truly sexy. I see a lot of good lookers, but not a lot of sexual and sexy men onscreen. And to expand on Trina's point, which I agree with, when you're watching a couple interact, you're trying to put yourself in that relationship. And that's true straight or gay -- whether you or the couple onscreen are straight or gay, that's true. You're trying to relate to them. And if they're supposed to have chemistry, they should have it. I just thought of someone Mark Ruffalo. He's got sexual energy and he's sexy. I'm not sure when he first came across my radar but I'm thinking of In The Cut and he's really something.
Jim: Okay. You and Marcia did book posts the last two Fridays. That continues this coming Friday?
Rebecca: Yeah. Marcia, you want to grab that?
Marcia: Sure. We spent two weeks on one book and we're not sure if the second book will require two posts a piece or if we can cover it in just one post. In addition, we'll be doing a third book. Thanks to C.I.
Rebecca: Yeah. We're doing movie books and C.I. hates the book we're about to do and made a comment to us that there are real books that actually matter on movies and we were both like uh-huh. And C.I. tossed out one as an example. Actually, tossed out a name. We said, "Who's that?"
Marcia: And it's an influential African-American filmmaker that neither of us had ever heard of so we figured we'd grab that.
Jim: Okay, we're going to wind down. I'll ask Ava and C.I. for some Oscar predictions.
Ava: The slowest part of the show will be the performances of the nominated songs. This isn't a good year for songs.
C.I.: At least twelve actors will complain before the first hour is up that the men's bathroom backed up and flooded. A huge problem at the former location that was blamed on the facility's plumbing but the problem following to the new location indicates it's something more than that.
Jim: Alright. That's it for this roundtable. Rush transcript.