Can’t Wait To See You Smile
Revisionist History Retrospective
1)Reflect Love, 2)Can’t Wait to See You Smile without intro 3)The Salt Water Summers 4)Up In Maine 5)Lejandami 6)Wave Descends 7)Mystical Eye II 8)Touch Me Marnie, M’Love 9)Dear Erica 10)Dreamin’ Of 11)Riding Around Nowhere 12Transporter (Folk Version)
By JOE VIGLIONE WWW.JOEVIGLIONE.COM July 22, 2011 NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN A DAY, BUT I’M HAVING FUN JUMPING ON THE MARVEL BANDWAGON WITH MY PREVIOUS REVIEWS TO HELP ENLIGHTEN READERS Let’s go back a decade to read my review originally on TMRZoo.com http://www.tmrzoo.com/2011/27042/captain-america-the-first-avenger-movie-review
Massachusetts native Chris Evans returns to Marvel Comics’ “House of Ideas” as Steve Rogers – Captain America, with a much different look than exhibited in the two films where he appeared as The Fantastic Four’s Johnny Storm. This important component of the Avengers collection, the final “prequel”, if you will, has to be at least as effective as Kenneth Branagh’s Thor: The God Of Thunder, and that it is.
Director Joe Johnston has had plenty of experience with Science Fiction, from 1989’s Honey I Shrunk the Kids to Jurassic Park III. He does an elegant job of blending cliche after cliche in Captain America: The First Avenger, a forumla that has become a quite necessary merry-go-round of sorts for the variety of D.C. and Marvel superheroes launching out of the big screen. These are the spawn of the James Bond blockbuster pictures when Goldfinger was identifiable to the mainstream as Dr. Doom was to comic book fans in the pages of the Fantastic Four.
Captain America sports the film texture from Kerry Conran’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow with a bit of Josef Rusnak’s The Thirteenth Floor enhanced with a darker (and so obligatory nowadays) 3D. Let’s face it, the choice of director for these high stakes films is made with mathematical precision and Johnston doesn’t disappoint. The estimated budget of $140 million is in the ballpark for these Marvel epics, a rather daunting figure when The Matrix pulled in four hundred million more than the sixty-three million invested to start that series. Hugo Weaving is recycled yet again, and his vision for The Red Skull is most satisfying. Said to have been pulled, in part, from a James Bond villain, Maximilian Largo (if we are to believe Wikipedia), actor Klaus Maria Brandauer’s psychotic madman is a good study for Red Skull. Weaving’s malevolence far outpaces his Agent Smith from the Matrix…the calculating machine mind replaced by megalomania and a penchant for Norse mythology and the occult. He certainly uses his previous three movie stint as the computer virus as a foundation for this, and his hatred is far more believable here.
Back in the 1960s comics were for kids along with bubble gum cards and Monkees records. Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee had a vision of adults walking down the street with his comic magazines, not in brown paper bags or hidden in their suit jackets, but consumers proudly holding his creations for all to see. Decades after achieving that initial goal – establishing the colorful stories as legitimate literature, the successful author is as revered to his massive following as Alfred Hitchcock was to his, both icons making important cameos as a kind of on-camera signature, to the audience’s delight. The expensive action does get a bit hokey, my recollection of the 1960s Captain America didn’t have him this amped up. The film version gives the hero bonafide super powers that were not as evident in the comic book. This motion picture takes the liberty of giving Cap some of Daredevil’s instinct, Hulk’s strength and Spiderman’s gymnastics, probably to cope with the fact that he’s the most vulnerable super hero of the bunch. Think Superman with a bit of Kryptonite following him about 300 yards away.
As Johnny Storm the producers used Chris Evans for eye candy (though his acting skills rose above the scripts he was handed in both FF adventures).It’s not a stretch to see an actor go from one superhero to another as Marvel made it a habit to switch their comic book creations around…just as Medusa from The Frightful Four became Medusa of The Inhumans (two of the more underrated teams in Marvel history). Here he gets to transform his cerebral approach to Steve Rogers in the same way his body is morphed from stringbean to …well, Wolverine or Incredible Hulk…take your pick. These “origins” are very similar and the trick is to do it as flashy as possible. Marvel is well aware that the film going public has tired of the origin of Superamn, or how Batman came to be is told time and again. Having to address that for a figure unkown to the mainstream means keeping it brief, and adding a little contemporary terrorism to keep things modern and different.
To spice things up the audience is treated to a little Bride of Frankenstein mad scientist laboratory, a little dash of the early Batman serials from the 1940s and some military madness from the 1950s sci-fi film stampede. And while you’re at it, make it a World War II saga to boot. The two hours contain all of it and do it with enough action to make it the roller coaster ride it is supposed to be.
Wild Cherries …about 3:39 pm in my backyard/driveway. The birds are feasting on these cherries. I wasn’t sure what they were until two neighbors came by and asked through my living room window if they could “…have some wild cherries.” I’ve been living here 3 years and 1 month as of Saturday, 37 months and wasn’t aware of WHAT kind of fruit or berry was on the tree. Well the wildlife is amazing, birds and seagulls and bunny rabbits and squirrels, it’s lots of fun to watch the plant life and creatures here. So i tried a couple of the cherries today, very tangy with a bite. Seed inside, of course, not as sweet as store-bought cherries.
She Cracked by #ModernLovers #JonathanRichman https://www.allmusic.com/song/she-cracked-mt0002063356 Song Review by Joe ViglioneOne of the six John Cale produced “demos” from the combination of tapes which are the first Modern Lovers album, “She Cracked” is the stuff Velvet Underground fans’dreams are made of
The first Paradise Rock and Roll Spectacular happened on June 29, 1978…after the blizzard of 78 into the summer. The Cars played the night after us. Here’s an audio of the Cars on July 1, 1978 two nights after https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=paradise+1978+The+Count%27s+Rock+and+Roll+Spectacular&docid=608035822970868225&mid=96004BAB0BA7593BCFD596004BAB0BA7593BCFD5&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Erma Franklin did the original Piece of My Heart. It’s where Janis Joplin and Big Brother got the song from; Aretha’s sister joins the Electric Flag and performs Piece of My Heart go about 55 minutes in Erma sings her sister’s Chain of Fools and then her own pre-Joplin (though in 1968, the Joplin era “Piece of my Heart” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFX9Q9CxX3k
My Robin Gibb Review
How Old Are You? is an extraordinary pop record from vocalist Robin Gibb, although none of these ten excellent tunes penned with twin brother Maurice joined his other two Top 40 hits on the charts. Heavy synthesizers embrace Gibb‘s distinctive vocals and embellish the sensational “Juliet,” which launches side one, as well as the very serious “Another Lonely Night in New York,” which opens side two. In between are gems like “Danger,” an elegant techno journey. This is the type of song which FM underground radio could have played in the early ’80s, a dark sound with hooks galore, and a joy to listen to. But why put Robin Gibb alongside Joan Jett, Genya Ravan, and Ian Hunter on the FM while the Bee Gees were so overexposed on Top 40? This is such a radio-friendly record by a proven artist that it only goes to show that a frosty march like “He Can’t Love You” has no place on the public airwaves if the artist isn’t hip enough, and what a statement that is; of course if Jett had performed this in her heyday, it would have gained some chart action. A poster photo of Clark Gable and Ava Gardner is separated from the box office by a solitary Robin Gibb on the front cover, while the singer sits in an empty movie house on the back, accompanied only by a young couple kissing (with Robin being a voyeur). “Kathy’s Gone” has film references and all the elements of a hit single. Every track shows the precision and professionalism the record-buying public encounters with each Bee Gees release. This is as much Maurice Gibb‘s album as Robin‘s, with co-production, co-songwriting, bass and acoustic guitar, backing vocals, and synthesizers provided by Robin‘s twin. “I Believe in Miracles” could have been a big hit for Dolly Parton or Linda Ronstadt, and why no ’80s adult contemporary artists jumped on this treasure chest of songs in America is a mystery. “Juliet” received substantial airplay in other parts of the world, reaching number one in Germany. Collapse ↑
