2011: A Jazz Odyssey

[Tripp]

lately I find I am irritated by beer commercials on the radio in which they feature the sound of a glass being filled with beer over and over..  Maybe it's because I just drink it from the bottle, I don't know.. but something about this practice infuriates me..  like, the sound itself..  they're going for such an overtly pavlovian response to begin with and then they do it like 10 times..  Like I'm gonna hear this sound and suddenly my mouth is gonna dry up and I'll speed to the nearest convenience mart and start downing bottles right there...

[matthew]

I loved Winter's Bone, remember? If there is any justice either the film, Jennifer Lawrence or John Hawkes will snag one.

We went to Blue Valentine last night and neither of us thought much of it despite our being fans of the two leads. It is definitely mondo overhyped and it would have benefited from a quiet release. It just doesn't feel real and there is nothing to bite into. It is shot in a way that suggests it is heavier and grittier than it is, but the characters are flimsy and the ratio from strong scene to contrived or aimless scene is too high. Ryan Gosling has more to work with but his character feels artificial and un-believable. Michelle Williams (who blew me away in Wendy & Lucy) does a fine, if forgettable performance with her far less interesting (if more believable) character.

The "raw" "brutality" of the film's emotional timbre is incredibly oversold..."indie-rock Cassavetes" it most definitely was not.

[matthew]

Like, since when do wrestling team captain, Ambercrombie & Fitch, Hurley-wearing douchebags (like Michelle Williams' frat jock ex boyfriend) go for Doc Martin-sporting, hair-in-eyes awkward, smaller-chested nerd-waifs in the first place?

This felt bogus, as did the inexplicable physical conflict between the two suitors. It really felt like they just shoe-horned in violence for the sake of 'grit'.