Movie Review: "True Grit"

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld
Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen
Rating: PG-13

The original “True Grit” is a classic in the western genre, and one of John Wayne’s last great flicks. So, it was imperative for the Coen Brothers, whom have had tons of great movies, not to screw up this classic in the brotherly directing duo’s first remake. It seems surprising that the well respected Coen Brothers would tackle a remake in fear of being called “sellouts”, but given the amount of western-related movies the brothers have done, “True Grit” seemed like the best fit for their first remake.

If you know the original story, it isn’t far removed from the 1969 movie: 14 year old Maddie Ross (played by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) is looking for justice for the murder of her father at the hands of Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). She enlists the help of show no mercy U.S. Marshal named Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and gets some unsolicited help from Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) and treks over the harsh plains, looking for Chaney and to provide some closure to the situation.

As with the original, Maddie provides the centerpiece and backbone of the story and is far more intelligent and independent than most of the adults in the story. In that same vein, Steinfeld provides more revelatory work in her movie debut. She displays the courage and strong willed behavior Maddie needed and more than holds her own with Academy Award winners Damon and Bridges- it would be a surprise if she wasn’t at least nominated for an Academy Award at the end of next month. Bridges has been nailing his roles lately, and his portrayal of Cogburn is no different. As the aging gunslinger and boozer, Bridges fires off dry wit with the best of them. Damon provides a subdued, but effective performance as the ranger who finds himself in and out of favor with Cogburn and young Maddie.

For being the third highest billed actor, Brolin is sorely underused as the murderous Tom Chaney. His role equated to about 5 minutes of screen time at best. But the character was not used much in the original, so I will respect the Coen’s faithfulness to the original script. If there is one unsatisfying part to the movie, it is the ending- which seemed way to easily wrapped up. Given the Coen Brothers’ history and well thought out and paced first 110 minutes, the last ten minutes seem too clean and tidy.

We all know there have been tons of bad and really bad remakes over the past decade or so, but the Coen Brothers make sure that “True Grit” falls nowhere near that pile of crap infesting the theaters and may be an Oscar player when award season rolls around.

2011 Heavy Music Tour Preview

2011 is already shaping to be a hell of a year for hard rock and heavy metal tours hitting Detroit. There are plenty of tours already shaping up and plenty that still have to be announced, but should be making it’s way through Detroit and the surrounding area within the next 12 months.

For this article- we’ll break it down to one of four different sections: arena shows, theater shows, club shows and unannounced shows. This way will be easier than just lumping everything together, making it difficult on the reader. So, here’s what you should be looking at with hard rock and heavy metal shows in 2010:

(*- On Sale Now, #- On Sale Soon)

Arena Shows:
*Linkin Park- Jan. 25^th- Joe Louis Arena
*Avenged Sevenfold- Feb. 5^th- Palace
*Ozzy Osbourne w/ Slash- Feb. 12^th- Palace
Warped Tour 2011- July 8^th- Comerica Park
Rockstar Mayhem Festival- August 6^th- DTE Energy Music Theater

Theater Shows:
*Escape The Fate- Feb. 17^th- Royal Oak Theater
#Motorhead- Feb. 23^rd- Royal Oak Theater
*Bring Me The Horizon- March 22^nd- Royal Oak Theater

Club Shows:
*Devildriver- Feb. 4^th- Machine Shop
*Death Angel- Feb. 8^th- Blondie’s
#Full Blown Chaos- Feb. 19^th- Harpo’s
*Cradle of Filth- Feb. 25^th- Harpo’s
*Kataklysm- Feb. 26^th- Harpo’s
*Whitechapel- Feb. 26^th- St. Andrew’s Hall
*Deicide- Feb. 27^th- Blondie’s
*Volbeat- March 26^th- St. Andrew’s Hall
#Iwrestledabearonce- March 31^st- St. Andrew’s Hall
#Black Veil Brides- April 9^th- St. Andrew’s Hall
*Accept- April 21^st- Blondie’s
*Nevermore & Soilwork- April 30^th- Blondie’s
*Sepultura- May 20^th- Blondie’s

Unannounced Shows:
#Disturbed & Korn (Music As A Weapon Tour)- Spring

Art's Top 10 Albums of 2010 (that I listened to...)

Ok, you’ve heard me and countless other bloggers and critics rant about how bad this year was and just how lame and generic things got this year- so I’ll spare you that and agree on those comments I just discussed.
So, instead of overanalyzing why certain albums didn’t merit my inclusion in the Top 10 albums of the year and fight about it, I am just going to tell you what I thought the Top 10 was and why it should be there.
You’ve already seen my top metal albums of the year, and a few of those might still end up here- but this is the overall Top 10 Albums of the year- read it and weep:

10. Chromeo- Business Casual- Not many people are trying to go for the new school Hall & Oates crowd, but the guys in Chromeo are. Add a little sprinklings of electronic in there, and “Business Casual” gives you the smoothes R&B pop around these days. For hipsters and non-hipsters alike.

9. B.O.B.- The Adventures of Bobby Ray- Not too many new hip-hop artists put together an diverse and still populist infectous sound, but Bobby Ray from Atlanta did just that. Whether it’s the soul of “Nothin’ On You” to the out of left field cut with Rivers Cuomo “Magic”, it was popular and not cringe worthy- which is a tougher and tougher feat to do these days.

8. Airbourne- No Guts, No Glory- You gotta give it to Australia’s Airbourne- they aren’t going to reinvent the wheel on us, and like their idols in AC/DC, you know what you are gonna get: fist pumping, beer drinking hard rock. Don’t ever change guys…

7. High On Fire- Snakes For The Divine- Something just sounded leaner and meaner with High On Fire’s fifth studio album. Always as raw and tight as ever, Matt Pike and company continued to churn out some of the best stoner metal in music today.

6. Arcade Fire- The Suburbs- Montreal via New York’s Arcade Fire is one of the most puzzling, serene and intriguing bands to this day. “The Suburbs” kept that momentum going with 10 tracks of beautiful and diverse instrumentation. Now, if we could only get the band to Detroit…

5. Fear Factory- Mechanize- When Fear Factory released a few albums earlier in the past decade, things looked like the band had seen their best days and was on a long downward spiral into obscurity. Well, bringing back original guitarist Dino Cazares was the right step as the band sounded re-energized and put out an album that rivaled their mid-90’s commercial and critical peak.

4. Ratt- Infestation- Yeah, yeah- I’m gonna take some heat for this- but my love for hair metal was well quenched by this throwback for the 80’s glam rockers. Songs like “Best of Me” and “A Little Too Much” sounded like a Saturday night in 1988 all over again. Most likely the best release from a hair metal-era band since well…the hair metal era.

3. Black Keys- Brothers- Things got a little dark for the Akron duo of Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach on this record, but it didn’t take away from the depth and passion of the guitar and drum based blues rock. It’s still edgy enough for critics and accessible enough for every company to use their music in commercials.

2. Deftones- Diamond Eyes- After bassist Chi Cheng went into a coma, the Deftones could have packed in it. But with “Diamond Eyes”, it was a near return to the fire the band had during their “Around the Fur” days. At a time when many hard rock and metal bands from the late 90’s tried to return to their roots, the Deftones did it the best.

1. Kanye West- My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy- People still hate Kanye West because he offended America’s Princess, Taylor Swift, last year. Get over yourselves… After the somber “808’s & Heartbreaks”, West brings us back to what he does best- creates the best beats, best lyrics and keeps that ego in the clouds. Call him an a---hole, an egomaniac, or whatever the haters want to say, you gotta call him something else by now: the best mind in hip-hop and one of the best in music today.

Interview w/ Aaron Bridgewater of As They Sleep

Coming from right here in the Detroit area, As They Sleep is the latest band to try and make it out of the Detroit scene and hit it real big. Formed back approximately 8 years ago, the guys in the band spent years honing their craft of technical and death metal, honoring their heroes in bands like Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. The band has recently released their second album, “Dynasty” on Solid State Records and just wrapped up a tour with Living Sacrifice and Becoming the Archetype.

As the band was enjoying some time away from the road, I caught up with vocalist Aaron Bridgewater, who was spending some holiday time with his family in Florida and looking desperately away from them for a few moments when I called. During the course of the interview, we discussed the concept of the band’s new album and how playing away from the Motor City actually helped the band’s trajectory.
Here’s my interview with Aaron:

AM: How was the tour with Living Sacrifice and how did it help the band?
AB: It wrapped up last Monday (December 13^th) and I thought it was pretty well received. The bands were really cool with one another and the dates went off well. The only bad part about it is that we had some engine problems on our van and we had to miss one or two dates, which really sucked. But I’ve been listening to those guys since I was probably 12 years old, so it was great to be on the road with them.

AM: “Dynasty” discusses the fall of empires across history- which empires did you try and focus in on?
AB: When we first started out doing the album, the rise and fall of Rome was the first thing we thought of and what a sweet concept for an album. But we decided “why stop there”, so we started taking a look at the Mayans, and at ancient Egypt. There are several songs, such as “God Of War” and “Poseidon”, that are based in Greek mythology as well. When you take a look at how things are going in the U.S. right now with the economic collapse and all, you can take a few similarities to what is going on now versus back then.

AM: Was there a particular dynasty that you wanted to tackle on the album but decided not to?
AB: As much as I wanted to explore the topic of the Ming Dynasty and put it on record, it’s one that didn’t make it. It was really cool when reading about it, but maybe it wasn’t the more exciting when it was recorded. We decided to do a song about Attila The Hun (“Attila”) instead and that ended up making the album.

AM: What were some of the major influences growing up for you?
AB: When we discussed Living Sacrifice earlier, I don’t want to say they weren’t an influence, but there other bands that were bigger influences on the band. Early death metal like Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse were huge, and even Metallica. Metallica gets a lot of hate from people in metal now, but you can’t deny what they did for metal. But as a band, we really collaborated from our love for death metal and that’s how it came about.

AM: Jason Suecof is a pretty big producer in the metal world, how did you guys enjoy working with him?
AB: Personally, I didn’t really speak with him one on one- a lot of the other guys in the band did. I shared a lot of emails with him and came off as a really funny dude in the correspondence I had with him. But in the end, the album came out sounding great and he did an awesome job on the album.

AM: Being from Detroit, what was the local touring experience like for the band?
AB: Man, we played everywhere. I think like everybody else, we did shows at Harpo’s- maybe a little reluctantly, but we did the shows. We played I-Rock, Shelter and St. Andrew’s a lot. One of the venues I enjoyed playing was the Bullfrog in Redford and probably played anyone of those venues for 7 years or so. But it is when we started to ween away from the Detroit area is when we started getting more exposure and better tours.

As They Sleep’s latest album, “Dynasty” is out now on Solid State Records. Make sure to check out www.myspace.com/astheysleep for upcoming tour dates and other band info.

Album Review: The Damned Things "Ironiclast"

Taking members from Anthrax, Every Time I Die and Fall Out Boy don’t exactly sound like the most likely to join forces in a hard rock supergroup, but that’s exactly what the Damned Things are putting together on their debut.
Mix a little Scott Ian (Anthrax), a little Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die) and a little Joe Trohman (Fall Out Boy), and the band’s first album “Ironiclast” is a somewhat potent dose of old school sounding groove rock.

Most of the 10 songs on the record don’t sound vastly different from each other, but it’s easy to see what each guy in the major bands joined forces (or at least this is my take on it): Ian is just looking for a consistent band to play with while Anthrax figures out their lead singer issues, Buckley wants some exposure for his underappreciated vocals and Trohman is looking for a new project, period (since Fall Out Boy is presumed broken up).

Songs like “A Great Reckoning” and “Friday Night (Going Out in Flames)” follows a very classic formula, with the groove style riffs custom built for driving fast and highly accessible lyrics. But two tracks that sound out above the rest are the opener “Handbook for the Recently Deceased” and “Bad Blood”, which have the same overall sound, but seem to hit with a lot more intensity than the others.

Ian’s riffs are not as heavy as his Anthrax stuff, but it totally fits the mood of the album. Buckley is the real star of the album: I always felt his vocals seem wasted with all the screaming that Every Time I Die did from time to time, and always thought Every Time I Die would move in a direction similar to the Damned Things, but he had to wait to join this band for realize his full potential, even it this project is just for fun.

The Damned Things are obviously a side project for many of the members, and there are tons of bands trying to pull off this kind of similar show. But most don’t sound as infectous as many of the songs on “Ironiclast”. Even if it’s not revolutionary stuff, the album is fun and easy to take down.

Movie Review: Tron: Legacy

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wylde, Michael Sheen
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rated: PG

Back in 1982, “Tron” was seen as a technological marvel at the time, but the movie was a huge disappointment at the box office. Over time, the movie has gone on to become a cult classic but I was still surprised to hear news that there was a sequel in the works.
28 years and a reported 150 million dollars later, “Tron” is back and gives the viewer a remarkable special effects show and a somewhat thin but entertaining plot that most viewers are probably checking out in 3D.

The story starts as a flashback with Tron creator Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) talking to his son Sam, sharing stories about “The Grid” in which Flynn created and came back from in the original movie. But Kevin disappears once again without a trace, leaving Sam without a father and direction in life. Fast forward 20 years, the younger Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) is a bright albeit misguided twentysomething who spends his time wreaking havoc with the company that his father built from the ground up. But on a fateful night, Sam returns to his father’s old arcade and is sucked into the far more updated version of “The Grid” his father created and defeat his father’s evil creation Clu (Bridges, but in a computer enhanced fountain of youth version of him).

The plot of “Legacy” isn’t exactly rocket science (son enters virtual world, meets hot chick, meets up with long-lost father, fights his evil computer generated twin, etc), but the movie doesn’t drag either. The special effects of the original movie were considered ground breaking at the time, the new special effects and colors used for the movie aren’t quite ground breaking, but set the proper mood and tone for the movie. Also, if you want to see it in 3D, there are a few cool scenes that 3D enhances the scene, but to be honest- most viewers would get the same effect in regular 2D.

Bridges does a fine job playing the two different characters- bringing forth that cool, Zen Master type vibe of Kevin Flynn and as the dictator Clu. The computer generated version of Bridges seems a bit odd (think a more human version of Tom Hanks in “The Polar Express”) and even comes off as a little spooky, even if the acting is fine. Hedlund and Olivia Wylde (playing the love interest Quorra) have chemistry and pull off their roles well. And you gotta give the Daft Punk musical score some big points as well, which sounds perfect at a club in the Grid- even if usually stellar character actor Michael Sheen goes a bit over the top as a David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust looking club owner during those scenes.

The new “Tron” isn’t going to win performance based Academy Awards or anything, but if you are looking for a dazzling light show and solid storyline, then “Tron: Legacy” provides a quality continuation of this long dormant story.

Monday Night Quarterback- December 20th

You wanted my 2 cents on this week in the NFL, so now you’re gonna get it. Here it is, deal with it:

-The Lions: It’s not very often that I can use the words “Detroit Lions” and “win streak” in the same sentence, but for once- I can. For the first time since 2007, the Lions have a two game winning streak after a solid 23-20 overtime win versus Tampa Bay. The game went back and forth, with backup kicker Dave Rayner kicking the field goal to send the Lions into overgame, as well as the game winner. The defensive line continues to look solid and has grown by leaps and bounds this year, while the offensive continues to shows continued flashes of brilliance, but really still doesn’t have much consistency. But unlike some games this year, the offense did show some real signs of life. Drew Stanton threw for 252 yards, which probably matched his entire career output in passing with this game alone. Calvin Johnson made Stanton look better than he is, catching for 152 yards yesterday. Even journeyman Maurice Morris had over 100 yards, which may end up being the best performance out of Morris this year.

The Lions are now 4-10 and are pretty much assured to not have the #1 or #2 pick in the draft this year. The record may not show it, but there has been some major improvement this season. Even though it’s hypothetical, if Matt Stafford was healthy and the Lions took one of the two screwjob games against Chicago, the Lions would be a near .500 team. Only if the Lions played in the NFC West, they’d be a playoff contender with that record. Next up is Miami at 1pm next Sunday.

Giants Lose: Did anyone see the DeSean Jackson punt return to give the Eagles the win over the Giants yesterday? Unless you are living under a rock, you probably have. Jackson’s return gave the Eagles a 38-31 victory and took over the lead in the NFC East. At the beginning of the season with Kevin Kolb as quarterback, I virtually gave the Eagles no chance of being in this position. But wisely letting Michael Vick start (and working on a possible MVP season) and some great play from receivers Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, and the Eagles could have a deep run in the playoffs. At 9-5, the Giants still have a shot at the playoffs, but seeing them choke and Tom Coughlin get fired wouldn’t make me lose any sleep at night.

NFC West: Man, this is disgusting. St. Louis and Seattle are duking it out for first place with staggering 6-8 records. The winner will likely end up 7-9 and make the playoffs with a losing record. That’s why yesterday’s losses for Green Bay and Tampa Bay hurt that even much more. One of those teams should replace the NFC West winner in the playoffs in a perfect world, but we all know the playoff system is flawed. Hopefully, with this upcoming collective bargaining agreement, this is a rule that’s changed. Because I know if I was a Packers or Bucs fan, I’d be fuming right now.

Tonight’s Game: Chicago and Minnesota- nothing excites me more than crybaby Jay Cutler and his overachieving Bears take on a underachieving, broke down Viking team. The only redeeming quality of this game will be the fact that outdoors at the TCF Bank Stadium (the home of the U. of Minnesota football squad), instead of the tattered Metrodome. Good news folks, there’s a winter storm warning for Minneapolis tonight, with temps in the mid-teens and 8-10 inches of snow due by tomorrow morning. Now that’s football weather…

Kyuss Returns...Sort Of

Back in the mid-90’s, when stoner rock was back in it’s infancy, there was one band that ruled that particular world: Kyuss. The Californian desert based band was a monster within stoner rock, until tension within the band tore it apart after the release of their 1995 “And The Circus Leaves Town”. There has always been some talk about the band getting back together, with original guitarist Josh Homme being the only real holdout.

After three of the original band members joined each other on stage back in a summer festival in France, the rumor mill picked back up again about the reunion. All of this has led to the recent announcement of Kyuss’s return under the very-reunion-esque sounding Kyuss Lives. Kyuss Lives will consist of singer John Garcia, drummer Brant Bjork and bassist Nick Oliveri, with Bruno Fevery replacing Josh Homme on guitar.

Given his animosity with Oliveri and the two successful bands Homme has been with (Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures), it is not a real surprise he is not a part of this. Homme has shot down reunion rumors for years and his take on the prospect on the 2010 reunion was a little less than stellar.
Kyuss’ stature within the metal world has only grown since the band broke up, leaving this lineup as the best opportunity for fans who missed Kyuss the first time around to check them out. Many European festivals are on the docket for Kyuss in 2011, and we’re hoping for some major U.S. dates somewhere along the way as well whether Josh Homme likes it or not.