The Gift (DVD)
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Written by: Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank

It’s been a few years now since Sam Raimi directed his first feature film. It was a low budget, independent horror film that you just might have heard of called Evil Dead, the first in a trilogy (using the term “trilogy” rather loosely) that went on to develop an absolutely fanatical cult following.

Since then, Raimi has broken out of the cult filmmaker niche, and has gone on to direct several mainstream Hollywood titles. Many of his hardcore fans might accuse him of selling out, but Raimi’s transition into more accessible cinema has been a rather respectable one, bringing with it such often overlooked films as Darkman and A Simple Plan.

Now Raimi gives us The Gift, and the title, in my mind, couldn’t be more fitting as it really is a gift to fans of Raimi’s previous work. It may be a big budget Hollywood movie, but it is also a return to Raimi’s supernatural roots. The fact that it has an all-star cast doesn’t hurt either.

The story was written by Tom Epperson and Billy Bob Thornton, who had worked with Raimi on A Simple Plan, and apparently realized that the script was well-suited to Raimi’s talents and experience. Their story is not the strongest aspect of the film though, in fact, it is probably one of the weakest.

The “gift” in the film’s title actually refers to the main character’s ability to foresee the future. Right off the bat, the psychic element lumps this movie in with countless other films that have trodden on similar ground, and leads one to believe that it will be dull, generic and not all that interesting.

Reading the blurb on the back of this movie gives a vague plot description that sounds less than inspiring:”Widow and mother of three, Annie Wilson (Blanchett), makes her living by foretelling others’ futures… through her own has become cloudier than ever she can see. Threatened by a client’s violently jealous husband (Reeves) and plagued by visions of a missing towns-girl (Holmes), Annie is unwittingly pulled into a thicket of lies and deception in which her extraordinary gift could be used against her… and get her killed.” Tell me, how many times have you heard something like that before?

But don’t be put off by it. If you give The Gift a chance, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Despite the potentially cliched plot, the film is brought to life by some outstanding performances. Cate Blanchett is focused and quite believable as Annie Wilson, the town psychic who makes a humble living with her 3 children by reading people’s futures. She anchors the entire film, which is key, because if she hadn’t been credible, the film would likely have fallen apart around her. Greg Kinnear also puts in a quiet but solid performance as the local school principal whose fiancee has gone missing, and even Keanu finds his mark as a dirtbag alcholic who abuses his wife. (Go figure.) The meshback look kinda suits him, don’t you think?

The actor who really steals the show, though, is Giovanni Ribisi. Some people may know him from the TV show Friends, but I remember him best from a 3rd season X-Files episode entitled “D.P.O.”. His character in that episode is rather similar to his role in The Gift, where he plays a simple-minded mechanic who, although emotionally unstable, has a big heart underneath it all. In both cases he brings an overwhelming amount of energy to the screen. Some people might feel that he overdoes it, but personally I think his interaction with Blanchett’s character is the most touching aspect of the movie.

Raimi’s direction makes The Gift both eerie and gripping, keeping you on edge throughout. Set in the Southern U.S. swamplands, the film’s scenery is perfectly creepy and provides for some amazing visuals. The minimalistic use of sound also enhances the atmosphere of the film.

The Gift is not really a horror movie, but rather more of a supernatural whodunit.Although I did denounce the movie’s plot earlier, I still have to admit that it had enough twists to keep me guessing right until the end. I’m sure that some people may be able to foresee the film’s conclusion from early on, but I was too involved with the characters to be looking ahead to the inevitable denouement.

The DVD is extremely scarce on special features, which was a bit of a disappointment. There is a theatrical trailer (whoopee), a video from Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, and a behind the scenes featurette, which just has the typical kiss-ass interviews with cast and crew members. However, it is still very worthwhile to see this movie on DVD if only to get the full effect of the beautiful cinematography. The menu screen has a really nice design too.

I was very impressed with The Gift. It exceeded my expectations, and proved once again that Sam Raimi is a very skilled and very reliable director. It also proves that a somewhat run-of-the-mill story can be transformed into an intense film with the right people up on the screen.

Next on Raimi’s schedule is the much anticipated Spiderman movie. I may not have “the gift”, but I do have a gut feeling that if he can deliver on that film, he may finally get some of the mainstream respect he deserves. — Sean

Randy - Human Atom Bombs
(Burning Heart/Epitaph)

They have already proven beyond a doubt that you can’t keep a good band down, but Swedish political punk rockers Randy continue to rise above the norm with every album that they release.

Their last LP was brimming with sing along anthems about social issues, and The Human Atom Bombs gives us more of the same great stuff. Songs like “Karl Marx And History” and “Proletarian Hop” define precisely what Randy are all about: catchy, danceable songs that celebrate the prospects of rallying together to make a positive change in the world around us.

At times The Human Atom Bombs seems to be a seamless continuation of the last record; in fact, Proletarian Hop uses a guitar riff that virtually mirrors that album’s song, “Superstar”. Not all of the tracks on the disc evoke the same feeling of deja vu however. While their previous album had a big rock sound, this new album for the most part burns with a much scrappier, garage rock sound instead. The fuzzy guitars, distorted vocals and tinny, lo-fi production give the album both a 50’s and 60’s rock and roll feel. Which isn’t surprising, considering some of the sources of inspiration that are cited by the band in the liner notes: Huey Smith and the Clowns, Amos Milburn, Eddie Lang, and Little Richard, just to name a few.

The album is infused with the same hyperactive energy that they showed on their 1996 album “The Rest Is Silence”. There are some moments of complete energy overload, such as the chaotic “Whos Side Are You On” and “Chicken Shack”, but more restrained tunes like “Freedom Song” keep the album together by balancing out the pacing. Almost all the tracks on the record share a common trait, however. They are simply anthemic.

I cannot imagine anyone listening to this album and not being immediately grabbed by the youthful exuberance and fervent passion that is evident in Randy’s music. The music is so overwhelmingly infectious that you just may find yourself coming down with a fever after hearing it. Don’t be alarmed though. Odds are you just have a case of “The Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Punk Rock Flu”. And you know what? I’ve got that sickness too. — Sean

Grade - Headfirst Straight To Hell
(Victory)

Who would have thought that Burlington’s tough guy emo-core crew were really closet Dungeons & Dragons gamers? Surely this is the only way to explain the gruesome fantasy cover artwork that adorns their new release, “Headfirst Straight To Hell”. Not to mention the fact that the album contains songs with names like “The Sixth Chamber”, “Twenty Moons” and “In The Wake Of Poseidon”. Either these titles are the product of fantasy role-playing geekiness, or the band has been listening to too much Danzig lately. I’m not quite sure which.

Dismissing the ridiculous imagery as a joke, my first impressions of the music on the album is that they haven’t really changed much. The same basic Grade formula seems to apply, with the familiar jagged guitar crunch and the distinct strangled vocals of singer Kyle Bishop in your face right off the bat.

A good chunk of the album hurtles by and sounds mostly like a watered down version of Under The Radar. Although there are some catchy riffs, they usually end up getting repeated ad nauseaum, until they aren’t catchy anymore. The music isn’t horrible, but the songs are all basically interchangable, and easily forgettable.

There is clearly an intentional heavy metal influence on the songs though, and this becomes more apparent as the album wears on. About halfway through the album, the song “Vertical Transmission” ends with an extended guitar solo. Not a bad-ass heavy metal finger-tapping solo, but a spacey prog rock kind of solo. This sounds odd, but it isn’t until the end of the album that things get really weird.

First there is the floaty instrumental “The Empress”, which is basically just two guitars with flanger effects jamming for three minutes.

This is followed by “Twenty Moons”, a song that juxtaposes a tortured screaming chorus with cheesy mellow verses. My guess is that it was supposed to sound a lot more epic than it really does.

The album then concludes with a song called “The Glorious Dead”, which is 12 minutes of ominous noises and faint brooding organ, a la Type-O-Negative, eventually taken over by dreamy guitars (again with the damn flanger effects) before fading to silence. Did I miss something here?

This is definitely some strange ground for Grade to be treading on. It’s not really metal… I’m not quite sure what to call it. Either way, it sounds very pretentious, and completely throws off the rest of the album.

Is it possible that a new guitarist and drummer set Grade off down these strange paths? Or can we chalk it all up to a simple roll of the 12 sided die? I’m not sure, but I do know that this is one band I will probably never be able to take seriously again. — Sean

Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back
Written and Directed by: John Carpenter
Starring: Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Rock

Snootchie Bootchies. Bung!

Will this be the last time we hear memorable phrases such as these? It very well could be.

This is Kevin Smith’s fifth film, and supposedly his final film involving the “Jersey” characters, so he decided to make it an event. He threw off the overhyped “gauntlet”, and sat down to write a straight out comedy that would tie all the characters and storylines together into one neat little package. Oh, and this time around he decided there would be no serious messages, no limits, and no taboos. I’m sure you can only imagine what Kevin Smith would create under such a scenario.

The film finds Jay and Silent Bob being the central characters in a film for the first time. When Dante and Randall finally decide that it’s time to deal with the pesky neighbourhood drug dealers, Jay and Bob are slapped with a restraining order and are forced to live life outside the Quick Stop. Of course, the next logical place for them to hang out is Brody’s comic book store. While they are there, they discover that there is a Hollywood film being made based on the Bluntman & Chronic comic book (a comic that, oddly enough, happens to be based on Jay and Silent Bob themselves, as seen in Chasing Amy). Since they aren’t getting any royalties from it, they decide to hitch a ride to Hollywood to see what the deal is. Along the way, they discover the mysterious communications world known as the “internet”, and are horrified to find that there are large groups of complete strangers posting messages about how much they think Jay and Silent Bob suck. (Personally, my favourite jokes were the ones regarding internet message boards. He spoofed on-line culture with such perfection that I couldn’t contain myself.)

So anyways, since they don’t want people talkin shit about them, they change their plans slightly. They head to Hollywood with one goal in mind: to stop the Bluntman & Chronic movie from ever getting made. And that right there basically opens the doors for Kevin Smith’s twisted imagination to bring them through an outrageous adventure that only he could ever dream up.

The resulting movie is a little disorganized and jumbled in terms of story, even moreso than his past films. Of course, he has an excuse this time, because he is trying to incorporate all of the characters from past films into the story and also trying to find small parts for all of his many new friends both inside and outside the film industry. At least it sounds like a good excuse. Additional confusion stems from the fact that certain actors, such as Ben Affleck and Jason Lee, have played multiple roles in his past movies. The huge number of cameos just adds to the chaos: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Joe Quesada, Judd Nelson and even Smith’s own wife and baby daughter all make appearances.

Incidentally, I felt bad for Mark Hamill. His role in this film was less than dignifying, and after putting him in such a ridiculous costume, they also thought it might be necessary to flash a little message on the screen to say, “Hey, you might not recognize him, but this is Mark Hamill!” How embarassing is that?

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is certainly a fitting way to wrap up all of the tales that have been told thus far in the View Askew-niverse, but I still don’t think Jay and Silent Bob were ever meant to be the stars of a feature length film. I think they are better as supporting characters, because the more on-screen time they have, the less amusing they become. Jay’s blunt and obnoxious lines start to get .. well.. annoying when you hear them every few seconds. And Silent Bob’s non-speaking gimmick is stretched to the limit here. I mean, I thought he was just supposed to be sort of a quiet guy, overshadowed by Jay’s loud mouth. Not a freakin’ mime! The least they could have done is explained why he’s silent all the time, since we are shown that he can indeed talk when he chooses to. Still, Smith’s facial expressions never cease to amuse me, so I guess I shouldn’t really complain.

As far as the humour goes in this film, well, I laughed. But I didn’t laugh as much as most of the other people in the theatre. There was obviously a lot of toilet humour, which I am not adverse to, but some of the dick and fart jokes seemed a little too low brow even for Kevin Smith. There’s been enough crass teen comedies out there, and I usually admire Kevin Smith for at least being a little witty about things. At times it also comes dangerously close to being a gimmicky “spoof movie”, with pokes at Good Will Hunting, Scream, The Fugitive, and E.T. just to name a few. But Kevin Smith lives and breathes pop culture, so these types of references are always expected to pop up in his movies. And of course, a Kevin Smith movie isn’t a Kevin Smith movie without a few really nerdy Star Wars jokes to boot.

A good chunk of the comedy comes from mocking Hollywood; certainly a worthy target, but it’s all stuff we’ve seen a million times before. You know, bickering actors that are full of themselves, big shot directors who don’t even lift a finger on the set… that kind of thing. One amusing aspect of this movie is the number of times they cut up Ben Affleck and the movies he has been in. It’s all in good fun though. Affleck actually appears in the film playing a satirical version of himself, as does Matt Damon.

One of the things I like about Kevin Smith is that he plays fair. If he is going to make fun of other people, he also has no qualms about making fun of himself. This is cute and amusing, but the problem is that self-deprecation can be rather distracting when it’s done in overabundance. It’s almost like offering an apology for things that have been done in the past. I was getting a little tired of many of the obviously ironic events in the film.

As most dedicated View Askew fans enjoy telling people, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is “one big inside joke”. Yes, I suppose that’s true, and that’s fine by me, since I’ve seen his other films, but a lot of the references to past movies were just too obvious to be deserving of a laugh. For example, Dante from Clerks constantly asserting, “I wasn’t even supposed to be here today”, or Jason Lee recycling the whole chocolate covered pretzels joke from Mallrats. Or reusing the running gag from Chasing Amy where people repeatedly hassle Banky about being a “tracer”. These aren’t particularly funny, nor are they overly obscure. I suppose they are supposed to be cute little reminders for the View Askew fans, but using the most well-known jokes from past movies is almost insulting to hardcore fans.

The bottom line is that this is a fun movie, but I am guessing that it was a lot more fun to make than it is to watch. And it’s probably a lot more fun to watch if you were one of the people making it.

Kevin Smith has certainly not yet grown or evolved as a director, but of course, he can just make fun of himself for that fact and we’ll all laugh it off. I am a big fan of Kevin Smith’s work, but lately I am feeling like I am outgrowing him. The indie, low budget charm of his movies is wearing off, and now it’s time for him to move on to something new. I can accept and enjoy this movie for what it is, but I am more interested to see what his next projects will be. Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is an amusing movie, but I’m thankful that Smith is smart enough to know where to draw the line. And here is exactly where it should be drawn. — Sean

Rival Schools - United By Fate
(Island)

After aurally ingesting the Rival Schools album, United By Fate, I thought to myself, “Hey you know what? That album wasn’t half bad.”

That is to say, the ratio of good songs to bad songs left the scale tipped in favour of the positives. Fronted by ex-Quicksand member Walter Schrefiels and featuring a host of other former hardcore scenesters (a fact generously overpromoted by Island Records - considering this album’s sound), it is ironically the slow, melody laden songs which stand out on this much anticipated release.

Having heard several of the Rival Schools songs on demos under the moniker, World’s Fastest Car (Walter’s former, never released side project), I was not taken completely by surprise with the laidback exploratory nature of the album.

Desperate for a way to describe Rival School’s sound, I deconstructed the name itself, a search which unearthed an eerie communique. Rival spelled backwards is “lavir”, which is phonetically similar to “liver”. School rhymes with cool, and also rhymes with pool. Liverpool… brit pop? Hmmm… I think I took a wrong turn somewhere. In the very least, Rival Schools bleed brooding optimism, parting clouds to reveal a lush blue sky as you watch from far below, your river raft leading you to a heartfelt, uncharted territory.

Everything Has Its Point Today and Undercovers On both make an impact, despite their soft spoken sound, while a third noteworthy song, Travel By Telephone, brings flashbacks of Quicksand and helps bridge the gap between the album’s emo and metal aspects.

Where Rival Schools falls short is their few heavier, crunch driven songs, which seem unenthusiastic and out of place. Holding Sand, for example, repeats a simple metallic riff for the majority of its four minutes and does little to compliment the progressive sound the rest of the album speaks with.

Despite their few weaknesses, I look forward to whatever the future may hold for Rival Schools, as theirs is truly “a sound that can’t be still”. — Kube

Man or Astro-man? - Beyond The Black Hole
(Estrus)

Okay, I’m about to make a broad generalization here, but if you’re a Man or Astro-man fan then I’m guessing you’re likely one of those obsessive completist record collector type people. And if you’re with me so far, then I’m guessing that one of your biggest pet peeves is probably the fact that their 7″ collection, “What Remains Inside A Black Hole” is damn hard to get a hold of.

Strangely, it seems like yesterday when I would see it gleaming back at me from store shelves everywhere. But you know, just about the time when I got around to actually wanting to buy it, it seemed to disappear off the face of the planet. Well, I guess what really happened is that it went out of print.

Lucky for me, the Astro-men would never leave their fans out in the cold. In my hour of need, MOA and Estrus Records have remastered and re-released this hard to find album in a slightly different form. It is entitled “Beyond The Black Hole”, and it features most (but not all) of the same tracks from “What Remains Inside A Black Hole”.

Of the 15 songs from the out of print version, 9 have resurfaced here, and 3 new ones have been thrown in with them.The general idea seems to be that they left out some of their older songs in favour of slightly newer material. Among the tracks left out are the live versions of Eric Estrotica and Squad Car (from their Man or Astro-man vs. Europe 7″), and also left out is “The Universe’s Only Intergalactic Radioactive Breakfast Bar”, which appeared on the “Captain Holojoy’s Space Diner 7″.

The new additions are from The Sounds Of Tomorrow 7″. They are “The Wayward Meteor”, “Green Blooded Love” (apparently a cover of a band called The Shatners), and “The Powerful Fully-Transistorized Dick Tracy Two-Way Wrist Radio”, which is a great cover of the Dick Tracy theme song that just happens to have a really long alternate title.

When regarded as a stand-alone album, “Beyond The Black Hole” works quite well, perhaps better than “What Remains Inside…”. The songs were all recorded between 1993 and 1996, which is before Man or Astro-man started getting experimental and more electronic, but also well after they had found their niche and learned to play their instruments with precision. These songs are purely guitar-driven instrumental surf rock, with lots of b-movie sound clips interspersed. This album has some classic MOA songs that you can’t get anywhere else, such as the spasmodic “Rovers”, the catchy “Surf Terror”, and one of my personal favourites, the sombre “24 Hours”. Heck, they’re all good!

If you don’t own “What Remains Inside A Black Hole” (like myself), then this is a must buy.However, if you already own “What Remains Inside…” then it may not be necessary to buy this again, unless you’re one of those nerdy completists… which you probably are. In which case, you probably already bought it, and you probably didn’t need to waste your time reading this review, now did you? — Sean

Hi-Standard - Love Is A Battlefield
(Fat Wreck)

Hi-Standard are a band that makes me happy. Listening to their music puts me in a good mood.

When they put out a new album that also makes me happy. Am I happy when they put out a 4 song cd containing just under 10 minutes of music? Yes. But not as happy as I would be if it was a full length cd.

It seems that Fat Wreck Chords likes to release little EPs like this just to suck money out of poor saps like myself. Normally I refuse to fall prey to this scheme of theirs, but you know everyone has their breaking point. For Hi-Standard, I must make an exception.

Originally I thought this was a re-issue of some really early Hi-Standard material, so I was worried that it would be poor quality. In actuality I think it is just the North American release of an EP that came out last year on Pizza Of Death Records in Japan. So I was pleased to find that the album is fairly well produced and sounds just like Hi Standard’s other Fat Wreck releases.

The cd seems to have a bit of a theme to it. The songs are all about love. How sweet. Two of the four songs are covers, but surprisingly enough, the song entitled “Catch A Wave” is not one of them. It is an original song, although it is clearly a tribute to the Beach Boys as it starts off with some great Beach Boys-style harmonized vocals. The disappointing thing is that the song is all of 60 seconds long. The actual cover tunes are “This Is Love” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. I recognize the latter as an Elvis song, but I don’t know where the first one is from.

Anyways, the songs are all basically laidback power pop songs. They have the trademark Hi-Standard singing and cool Japanese accents, and they are a lot of fun. It’s perfect summer music. It would have been nice if there were more songs, but I guess I’ll take what I can get. — Sean