The Daily Rubbish

Ain't No Sunshine When They're Gone: Always Sunny is Back!

2010-09-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

First, check out my 6 reasons why you should have watched the Season 6 Premiere tonight. Then, check out the top 10 quotes for tonights episode because yes, the writing really is that good.

1. Dee: "Take care of yourself, or whatever…people say…"
2. Dennis: "Lethal Weapon 5" (More of an idea than a quote but still...how cool...would that be.)
3. Dennis: "You remember emotions, right?"
4. Mac: "I'm a hard body, you're a hard body, we could be hard bodies together!"
5. Mac: "You're trying to confuse me with your liberal Biblicisms!"
6. Mac: "I look like I got my pump on cause I just did push-ups outside, which is why I'm so out of breath."
7. Frank: "Her breath smells like she was nibbling on little pieces of shit."
8. Charlie: "Hey, did they really sell your dick to China? No, I can tell by your stare, the answer is no."
9. Charlie: "We would both be men, we'd be cool straight dudes married to each other!"
10. Maureen: "His eyes were so yellow."

Review: Gone Baby Gone (2007): A-

2010-09-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

Since I plan on reviewing The Town this Saturday for The Badger Herald I figured I’d do a quick revisit to Affleck’s directorial debut.

You feel it as soon as the film starts. First, with the haunted slums of Boston and next with discouraged voice of Casey Affleck. The orchestral strings of Harry William’s score screech along the background and it becomes clear: a child has gone missing.

We're introduced to our detectives and soon we’re in the broken home of the little girl. Director Ben Affleck has us at this point. We’re emotional invested. Style and execution are strong so far. All he needs to do is follow through with the story. Give us something interesting, something that helps us remember that feeling that he so brilliant planted in the opening scenes.

The plot begins to unfold. Our married couple of crime dogs (Casey and Michelle Monaghan) hits a few dead ends, then they open up, only to close again soon after. They look in the cracks of the neighborhood and then check their information with local police. A star studded cast including Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris make boring investigation details interesting enough to watch. It’s important because like all good mysteries, a good sense of all the details make the reveal all the more impressive.

Most of the investigation revolves around the little girl’s mother Helene McCready (Amy Ryan). The worst product of a damaged environment; this mom is a kind of monster that gives Norman Bates mother a run for her money. An hour into the film a major event occurs that changes the nature of the mystery. The film is so strong at this point that it could end I’d be happy with the experience. However, the film presses on. It has more to say.

All of the story’s obstacles (the town, the parents, the gangsters and the police) are revolving around a certain truth. A truth, that when exposed is not only a worthy reveal but also a spark that leads to a whole new set of questions. A procedural genre film that is usually judged on execution is now dealing with a pumping set of emotions. This extra drama, while exhausting, makes this good film a really good film.

The difference between right and wrong are frighteningly close in this story. The morality of the main characters are tested enough to live up to the high stakes that the film presents. Not all of the questions are answered by the end of the film but there’s so much going on, only after multiple viewings would this become a legitimate problem that affects the viewing experience. It’s an outstanding debut and I can’t wait to see Affleck sophomoric effort in the days to come.

100th Post/ The Blogigal Son Returns

2010-09-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

A small but important post that will simply announce my return to the blog.

Sorry I didn't explain my disappearance after the Inception post. Just assume I've been watching Nolan's latest the last two months.

Awesome Things I missed telling you about: Scott Pilgrim, Piranha 3-D, The Suburbs and Mad Men. Oh you've heard about these things? Well, I guess I'm lucky I didn't do a whole bunch of pointless write-ups on them. See ya soon my peoples.

10 Reasons To See Inception (Even Though You Probably Already Saw It...) and Poll Results

2010-07-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

Since everyone is going to see this film, I figured I’d do a completely useless post about why you should see this movie. I needed to review this movie in chunks, or different levels, in order to fully process it. It’s not without its flaws, but it’s a shining light in the cold and dank summer blockbusters this year. Also, I hope this post finds its way to just one person who is on the fence about seeing this movie and pushes them into the theater.

But first, the poll results...

Question: Inception will be...?

Results:

Nolan's Best Film	6 (50%)
No Memento or Dark Knight (but still great)	5 (41%)
A solid effort	1 (8%)
His worst film yet	0 (0%)
Absolute rubbish

From a critical standpoint I'd say the movie falls about where the polls predicted it would. According to Rotten Tomatoes The Dark Knight (93%), Memento (93%), Insomnia (92%) and Batman Begins (85%) all have higher ratings than Inception (84%). Of course that's just how universally accepted the films are and not a perfect measuring tool.

And now for the good stuff. *This is spoiler free, so don’t worry.*

1. It Should (Finally) Make Christopher Nolan a Household Name: The Dark Knight should have done this but even the trailer for Inception called him “The man who brought you The Dark Knight”. Nolan isn’t a Spielberg or Scorsese yet, but he officially deserves to be one of the few directors known by the general public. When a famous director dies, another is born. M. Night Shamylan career is very dead and I think there’s room in this world’s heart for a top-notch director whose name alone can get butts in the seats.

2. Works as a Sci-Fi Film: I was lucky enough to go into this movie completely cold. I knew Dicaprio was in it and that some big buildings shifted around but that’s it. I had no clue this was a Sci-Fi film when I went in and just the idea of Nolan taking on this genre gets me giggly. Lucid and shared dreaming, zero gravity, flashbacks, mazes and virtual reality? It’s my own cinematic wet (lucid) dream. In a time where most hard Sci-Fi is spent on time travel or “genetics gone wrong” it’s nice to see something fresh like “dream travel”. You can tell this film’s details have been boiling in Nolan’s head for the last ten years.

Like all great Sci-Fi it even ends in the greatest way a story can. It implants words into the viewer’s minds. Four little words that are responsible for my love of literature or any form of storytelling. That beautiful phrase that I never get tired of…

“…and then what happened?”

3. Works as a Heist Film: I’ve never seen a heist film where they break into somewhere in order to implant something as opposed to stealing something. I don’t know if that disqualifies this movie from the genre or if it makes it one of the best heist films of all time. I’m not going to get hung up on labels. Like Ocean’s Eleven, the film has an amazing supporting cast, fun but intelligent writing and a kick-ass third act. Of course, it has much more to offer than just that but for those who simply like to see a brilliant plan unfold; it’s worth your money for that alone.

4. The Most Cerebral Summer Blockbuster I’ve Ever Seen: It’s as big as The Dark Knight but as complex as Memento. It’s ballsy to make a film that is as complicated as this and call it a popcorn flick. I love that Nolan respect his audience, gives us something intricate and we are able to embrace the challenge.

*However I do have to mention that the full on “cerebral-ness” of this movie is a bit overwhelming. The film’s greatest weakness is it’s detachment from its characters. DiCaprio’s character is the only one that undergoes a significant arch (an arch weirdly similar to the one he goes through in Shutter Island) and its full emotional affect didn’t really intrigue me at all by the end.

5. The Visual: It doesn’t have the gritty noir look that his other films do, but it’s the most visually intriguing things he’s ever created. Certain zero gravity and dream sequences took me places I’d never gone in a film before. The constant cuts between time and space juxtaposed with Zimmer's music creates an almost Kubrick experience.

6. The Narrative: Makes The Matrix look like Sesame Street. The film really makes you question reality when you walk out of the theater. There is tons of exposition thrown at you in the first two acts but if you can figure it out and keep interested into the third act you’ll be taken to one of craziest psychological roller coasters film has to offer. Plus, I can’t really complain about all the new rules and explanation sequences because I didn’t comprehend the entire film. Of course you don't know how much you missed till you see it again, but if it’s anything like Memento there’s a whole different film awaiting me for my second viewing.

7. Hans Zimmer Score: If you’ve seen the film the track you’re looking for is called “Time”. It’s the track played throughout the climax of the “Van Falling” sequence. It’s another top notch score by one of the industry’s best composers.

8. The Supporting Cast: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy (knocks it out of the fucking ball-park!), Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite and of course Michael Caine. Nuff said…

9. The Possibility of a Sequel: This movie is great and it’s about to make a whole lot of bank. It’s very possible. It definitely leaves it open for a sequel and god knows the public would enjoy one. However, it’s not really necessary.

Possibly titles; Inception: Reloaded? Extraction? IInception? A “Gordon Levvitt-Paige” spinoff romance film? Am I joking with that last one?

10. The Best Mind-Fuck Money Can Buy.

Ranking the Films of Christopher Nolan

2010-07-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

Check out my new article on Flicksided that ranks all of Nolan's previous films.

News: The Good and The Bad

2010-07-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

The bad news: I will not be finishing the Christopher Nolan Marathon on The Daily Rubbish.

The good news: I will be doing a post on Flicksided.com that takes a look at all six films in one super post. Hopefully it'll be up around the time of Inception's release. I'll post a link here if/when it happens.

Music Review: Steel Train "Steel Train"

2010-07-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

Grade: A-

Release date: June 29^th, 2010

Okay, I don’t want to jinx myself because I really like this band and where they stand in the indie scene but I have to ask. Why aren’t these guys on the radio yet? Why aren’t they on MTV or the latest Pepsi commercial? What part of lead singer Jack Antonoff isn’t marketable to teenage girls? There’s no excuse.

Anyway, Steel Train is the third full-length studio album released by Steel Train. The album is a shot of pop adrenaline. Sure, it can wear it’s listener out and even make them sick at times if they’re not ready. Then again, why take the medicine if you’re not sick? If you embrace the band’s pop elixir it will cure even the deepest of musical depressions.

If you’re looking for the band’s main source of spirit and drive you won’t have to look far. Antonoff’s aggressive and fresh songwriting ability is present from the first track “Bullet”. The song starts with the lyrics “Fell in love in the backseat of your car”. Appropriate because most will probably fall in love with album while shouting their favorite tracks with their friends in the backseat of a car.

Much like Antonoff’s criminally under-heard side project Fun., the songs work because of their heavy instrumentation and peppy vocals. For example, “Turnpike Ghost” is a schizophrenic jam that grows with every listen and “S.O.G Burning in Hell” is an untamed jungle opera that offers a glimpse at the amazing live shows these guys are known for.

The album races along so that just in case you stumble upon a track you don’t like your well on your way after a chorus or two. One of the very few times the band decides to slow down is on the second to last track “The Speedway Motor Racers Club”. First of all I love any song that spends its first half as a Ramone's anthem rip-off and the second half to some delicate piano playing. The song really just slows down to transition to the final song on the album “Fall Asleep”. I almost laughed when I saw the name of this track come up. I guess Steel Train decided that after their indie rock monster record the wanted to put the beast to sleep. It’s a nice way to transition out of the album because you’ll need a nap anyway if you stomp, hoot and holler your way through this entire piece (which I recommend).

Antonoff really isn’t appreciated enough for what he’s been putting out the last few years. The man isn’t re-inventing the wheel but in a cultural music typhoon where tracks are glorified and forgotten in the same day, his traditional pop-rock songs consistently stand out and thrive.

Other Thoughts:

Jambase.com - “Along with the release of Steel Train, the band will offer an exclusive all-female companion album, via the band's official website, entitled Terrible Thrills Vol. 1. This one of a kind album will feature each of the new album's 12 tracks reinterpreted and remixed by Tegan & Sara, Scarlett Johansson, Holly Miranda, Deradoorian, Amanda Palmer, Nellie McKay and Alia Shawkat to name a few.”

Music Review: Wolf Parade: "Expo 86"

2010-07-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Grade: C

Album released – June 29^th

First Ave. Concert – July 18^th

Lead singer Spencer Krug sings “It always had to go this way…”

Well, I don’t think this band should keep going “this way”. At just under an hour, this album overstays its welcome and I can’t imagine many besides the biggest fans getting all the way through this more than once or twice. I’ve devoured almost every band coming out of Montreal the last few years but this one always tastes a little funny to me.

I give WP credit for putting out a bit of a more cerebral album, but that doesn’t mean they have to sacrifice their energy. The rusty guitars and fractured keyboards that give this quartet potential are there but then again they have been for the last three albums.

The few moments that I didn’t feel detached from the album were mostly over dramatic and too little too late. The albums opener “Cloud Shadow on the Mountain” is the only track I find myself revisiting but towards the end of the album when this whole thing had run out of gas it was hard not to look back on the track and say “Really? That’s all you’ve got?"

The band does have potential and I’m not ready to write them off yet but they need to try something different at this point. They’re missing that Chemical X that could take them to the next level and without it they’ll never be more than a 2^nd rate Franz Ferdinand or Modest Mouse. Since they already have some fairly decent reflective power in their lyrics, they just need to inject a little more passion into their projects and I think they could become an exciting and stylish band.

Midnight Shots: Spider-Man, Mel Gibson, New Normal Music

2010-07-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

While their manifesto might be more than a bit agist or elitist or what have you, the guys over at New Normal Music have something pretty novel going. In short, a 50,000 song playlist of music produced within the last 12 months. Good for a listen.

I'm 12 hours late on this one, but the new Spider-Man has been cast. Joining Christian Bale as another premier Brit going behind an iconic American superhero mask is Andrew Garfield (Jokes, commence). I know what you're thinking: how'd they wrangle such a name celebrity away from other, more pressing commitments? They must've broke the bank with this one. Oh, and in case you're real behind, the Spider-Man franchise is getting a reboot. Sam Raimi left the series, with any hope to shoot a new Evil Dead. In his place is Marc Webb, director of (500) Days of Summer. Talk of a Hall & Oats musical montage in the new Spider-Man are, at this point, merely speculative.

Stars aligned: Today, director George Miller announced plans to make back-to-back Mad Max films just as news broke that Mel Gibson said a whole bunch more horrible, racist, chauvinistic, no good, very bad things to his former girlfriend. Ain't he just a peach?

Reviews of The Killer Inside Me and Cyrus should be posted in the coming week.

Christopher Nolan Marathon Part 4 of 7: Film Review: Batman Begins (2005)

2010-07-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of Nolan's upcoming film Inception, I'm reviewing his essential body of work over the course of the next three weeks. Enjoy. (Sorry it's a day late. I set it to publish itself but that didn't work...)

Following (1998) - Monday, June 21st
Memento (2000) – Friday, June 25th

Insomnia (2002) – Monday, June 28th

Batman Begins (2005) – Monday, July 5th

The Prestige (2006) – Friday, July 9th

The Dark Knight (2008) – Monday, July 12th
Inception - (2010) - Friday, July 16th

On paper the relationship looks good. Batman is a strong and lovable character that suffered from cheesiness in the late 90’s. The visuals have always been strong in the franchise but the story was never as dark as the characters on screen. The solution to that phoniness seems to be fixable when you add a neo-noir director like Nolan to the project. However the product that blossoms from this pairing is more than just acceptable. Nolan has given us the Batman film that we deserve.

Batman Begins explores the nucleolus of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. After disappearing to the East, Wayne (Bale) seeks counsel with the dangerous but honorable ninja cult leader known as Ra's Al-Ghul (Qui-Gon Jin).

There is so much fun to be had with an origin story yet so few of them are done right. The beginning of the film is dived into two stories. The first is the transformation of our dark hero and the second is a series of flashbacks that adds depth and understanding to his metamorphosis. Nolan is careful to setup a strong set of ideological principles for Wayne to stand for while at the same time having a lot of fun with some ninja training montages.

Soon Wayne returns the city and unveils his alter-ego: Batman. The second act of film is where Nolan has the most fun and where we get to flesh out a bundle of supporting performances. Morgan Freeman shows up as a form of “Q” from the James Bond films and has no problem dishing out witty dialogue with Bale while at the same time introducing us to our favorite Bat gadgets. Michael Caine was born to play Alfred and is operating on a level of charm that couldn’t be produced by anyone else. Let’s not forget Oldman, Murphy and Wilkinson who all carry their weight and make this movie just that much better.

It’s fun to compare the stylistic differences between Nolan and Burton. Nolan’s Gotham isn’t glossy like Burton’s but instead a harsher more realistic look at the urban decay. The Batman franchise have been privileged to have both Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer step up and create some of the best film scores from each of their respective decades. While I prefer Nolan’s film to Burton’s I don’t think Nolan could have made the film he did without Burton’s original.

Near the end of the film, the complicated plot and multiple villains catch up with the story and force a few stumbles in an overall solid script. Of course, Nolan isn’t going to end his film on a complex climax and a love story. Han’s Zimmer score blares and the Bat Signal shines as we learn that there’s a new kid in town and he leaves a calling card (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

This is the best Batman film in the franchise but maybe Nolan will top himself in a later part of our marathon (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Grade: B+

Louie- "Poker/Divorce"

2010-07-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

A-

        I’ve got to give F/X credit. Even with being the cable cousin of Fox, a network where airing a show called Angry Hippos Chase the Obese would raise no brows, they’re brave to give Louie a shot (and Louis C.K almost complete creative control). Granted, they’ve kept It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on the air for half a decade, but the political incorrectness seen there is always tempered by a glaze of zaniness. What seems to be one of the crucial and distinctive qualities of Louie is its sincerity. At the start of “Poker/Divorce,” a group of comics sit around a poker table and spend several minutes of airtime discoursing about tamped-down dick diamonds, gay masturbation orgies and the origins of the word “faggot”. It’s typical TV-MA, but none of it is played for cheap, profane thrills. Sure, there are funny people saying funny things, but it feels legitimately organic. The scene slides between irreverent guy-talk to quiet seriousness more assuredly--without cheaply trolling for false depth-- than the show should have any right to. That level of craft being displayed this early in a show’s run is promising and very exciting.

        That opening scene challenges what seemed to be the formula established in the pilot episode: stand-up, vignette, stand-up, vignette. It exists in isolation, neither led-in nor followed by any similarly-themed stand-up routine. But it has such a controlled pace and pitch that it works in isolation. Maybe that roundtable will be a recurring opening segment. I’d certainly be open to the possibility.

        The bulk of the show features Louis freshly divorced from, as he puts it, the “really shitty time machine” of marriage. He tries to stay positive, but his brother stirs his well-established fatalistic pessimism: “You signed a paper that says you’re going to die alone in a room with a thin sheet of paper over you.” The following stand-up bit, consequently, has Louis acknowledging that his life will exponentially worsen from here on out. Louis’s optimism is a fickle thing.

        While rummaging through some shoebox nostalgia, he comes across the yearbook picture of a bad-girl from his past. Cut to flashback of 14-year-old Tammy (estimate, but neither young- Louis nor young-Tammy look more than that) giving Louis her dead dad’s hospital bracelet because “it’s some creepy shit, right?” In his fantasy, Louis imagines adult Tammy as never having entered any sort of shitty time machine, fully recuperating her adolescent hotness in adulthood. So, he decides to play “couldabeen” and look her up on Facebook, which prompts him to remember a separate encounter in which a Peppermint Schnapps-buzzed Tammy implores him to whip it out. He meets her at her cluttered house, but the Tammy of today is still very much in that shitty box: haggard, overweight, anchored by the demands of being married with kids. She doesn’t remember him, but when he tells her he didn’t have the guts to whip it out back then, the two go at it like only two past-their-prime fortysomethings can. For Louis, it’s an acceptance of that exponential worsening. He acknowledges that, while things may be as good as they were, they’re also never going to be better than they are now. He might as well make hay while the sun’s still just partially beclouded. C.K’s punchline to that whole vignette is that, as editor, he decided to lead in the last routine over the visual of two overweight adults fumbling over each other with awkward fervor: “If nobody ever told me not to fuck animals…” Buttoning the episode with a bit advocating for (consensual) beastiality? Balls, Louis. Mammoth-grade.

Other Thoughts:

- Louis C.K is succeeding in all capacities he’s assigned himself: star, writer, director, editor. He’s taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by a single-camera set-up, namely the ability for intimate back-and-forth close-ups, used in this episode for the hilarious transportation of adult Louis and Tammy into the “whip it out” flashback. He also made a jarringly effective cut from his first stand-up bit to his stone-faced and, for a couple seconds, motionless divorce lawyer. He’s demonstrating a deft hand for tonal transitions.

-I really respect the fact that, so far, none of the vignettes are direct translations of previous stand-up material not in the show. There have been some small moments, in this and the pilot, that evoke the ideas— Louis checking himself out in the mirror mirrors his bit about the only commonality between a 40 year old man and a 13 year old girl being the discovery of breasts—but on the whole he seems to be going in fresh.

-Nice touch: Among the items worth saving for decades in his shoebox: a measly 3rd place medal.

AmeRemake Post #1

2010-07-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

        When I first saw Let the Right One In on a biting MPLS January afternoon, it knocked me on my ass. Like most making their webvoices heard, I'm a devoted fan who's understandably wary of unnecessary American remakes. And yes, I do think this remake is completely unnecessary. No matter how much writer/director Matt Reeves avows to "tread lightly", many will remain skeptical and prematurely incensed.

       Remakes can happen for any number of reasons. There may be a particularly well-crafted story which, by transplanting it stateside, opens itself up to another distinctive cultural sensibility--The Departed is a serviceable example. More often than that, they're a product of imaginative bankruptcy(Exhibit A). The bottom line, of course, is the dollar, and few can look past seeing Let Me In as anything besides an opportunistic ploy to lasso the Twilight masses. Had Reeves waited a decade or so for Let the Right One In to soak deeper into American awareness and cement its place in modern horror history, I might be more optimistic, but the immediacy of it all reeks of rotting salmon.

       Now, the trailer. I won't yet fully begrudge it its slick background track, quick edits and overt, spoiler-ish elements only because the cinematography looks to be in keeping with the feel of the original. As for the lead roles, I can only give initial impressions. I'm just not getting Oskar's vulnerability from Cody Smit-McPhee. He looks much more like he could play Damien Thorn, or one of Oskar's bullies, than Oskar himself (0:31 in the trailer). As for Chloe Moretz, I'm glad she's been able to break out of her type-casting as the precocious, wise-beyond-her-years 12-year-old to play a 200 year-old immortal trapped in a prepubescent body.

       In all seriousness, though, I think this has the potential to be good. Really, I'm optimistic. I don't think it will be anywhere near the original, but I'm hopeful that it'll be sufficiently faithful and good enough in its own right to not be a travesty.

Morning Shots: UK Comedy, Apatow Does Pee-Wee, 100 Greatest Insults and More

2010-07-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

Cut The Crap Movie Reviews gets Juno right. "If someone told me they were “forshizz up the spout”, I’d probably respond with, “Sorry, but I can’t sell you any cocaine.” But then again, why so much hate?"
Punchline Magazine shows us 5 UK comedians worth knowing about. Watch the videos and seek these people out if you like what you hear.
Apatow is now attached to Pee-Wee Herman pic. What's more exciting is that achingly underrated comedian Paul Rust is working on the script. However, this does mean that I'll finally have to see Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. It's been on my to-watch list for a long time and it's never interested me.
As we should have expected, Ebert saves himself from looking like an old ign't geezer. He still doesn't think video games are art but at least he has the balls to say "I should not have written that entry without being more familiar with the actual experience of video games."

Louie- "Pilot"

2010-07-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

Episode : B

Series Potential: A

Hey all, I'm Tyler O'Neill and I'm going to be contributing to TDR now and then. Well, enough with introductions. Let's get on with it.

Louis opens Louie with a riff about how his kids’ school is so woefully understaffed that he has to volunteer as an on-call assistant to pry out the “finger-filth disease spouts” from the milk envelopes that are still, somehow, the lunchroom standard. It’s a great piece, and it exemplifies a common formula in Louis C.K's stand-up repertoire: exposing social/institutional inanities through an anecdote with relatable, angry observational humor and self-deprecation. It's a likely blueprint for the rest of the show.

The comparisons to be made between Louie and Seinfeld are inevitable and obvious, so let’s tease them out from the get-go. Both feature a stand-up comedian playing their quasi-selves in a show which extrapolates ideas from their routines into fictional plots. At least going off the pilot,Louie looks to have a more even ratio of stand-up: narrative than Seinfeld, and rightfully so. Louie is unlikely to develop a strong supporting cast (nearly all of them in this pilot were mediocre) and his personal anecdotes make much better raw narrative material than airplane peanuts. I’m going to go for broke here and say Louie is going to be about Louis.

But just who is Louis C.K? Well, Louis C.K is a schlub, a schmo, and a bit of a shmuck. At least, that’s the persona the world assigns him— a “red-headed nobody piece of shit.” It’s clear that appearances count: C.K’s oft-donned outfit of blue jeans and a black tee make him out as some kind of everyman rebuttal to Steve Jobs. But the suit Louis wears on his ill-fated date (“We have, like, reunions for [my dad’s] funeral”) suggests that, low and behold, looks can be deceiving. Louis’s behavior in the narrative belies his apathetic stage persona, for whom the glass is half-empty, laced with strychnine, and will wait until your life’s happiest moment to kill you.

That near-even mixture of stand-up and story makes sense because they're mutually explanatory. “Real-life” Louis C.K tries to be a decent person, especially when others refuse. He chides the bus driver for his crass and destructive apathy, calls the nude spinster neighbor on her bullshit, and tears away the façade of chivalry and pressure on his date. But, invariably, he becomes the asshole: the kids get stranded in Harlem, he’s called a pig in a medley of notes, and his date flees in a chopper. Thus, his stage-self reduces a wife to a best friend that’ll die, a new puppy to a rain-check for tears. It’s a psychologically intriguing and potentially very fruitful duality that Seinfeld never had the need to explore. But Louis C.K has long-since earned his due to do this right. While his stand-up here was characteristically strong, the comedic elements of the story weren’t quite up to the same standard or originality or delivery. Still, C.K is pushing the buttons and boundaries of even cable television. That in his show's pilot he talks about an infected child vagina leaves me confident that Louie will soon strike its balance.

Other Things:

-I’m not yet sure what to make of the show’s comedic style. The limo cavalcade, the helicopter and the nude neighbor were way too absurd and broad among what was otherwise grounded humor. I’ll grant that they’re “punchlines,” but I worry about that formula getting tired quick.

-The bit about being an evil person because of the car he drives was a well-considered inclusion. Not only does it belie his blue-collar appearance and persona, it exposes the white, middle-class guilt of his likely viewership. For the amount he otherwise bitches about how bad things are, this is a perspectival bitchslap.

-As the faceless audience member says at the cut-to-black, “You still got it!”

Christopher Nolan Marathon Part 3 of 7: Film Review: Insomnia (2002)

2010-06-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

In honor of Nolan's upcoming film Inception, I'm reviewing his essential body of work over the course of the next three weeks. Enjoy.

Following (1998) - Monday, June 21st
Memento (2000) – Friday, June 25th

Insomnia (2002) – Monday, June 28th

Batman Begins (2005) – Friday, July 2nd

The Prestige (2006) – Monday, July 5th

The Dark Knight (2008) – Friday, July 9th
Inception - (2010) - Friday, July 16th

Detective Dormer (Pacino) is sent from LA to investigate the murder of a teenage girl in a small Alaskan town. While trying to apprehend the murderer (Robin Williams and no that’s not a spoiler), Dormer accidentally shoots his partner. Instead of admitting to his mistake and guilt, the detective decides to create an even bigger clusterfuck of the situation because we need this movie to last longer. A complex yet boring game of Cat, Mouse and Mouse develops and it’s all frosted with Pacino’s character suffering from a case of insomnia throughout the investigation. It sounds stupid but its’ actually entertaining to watch Pacino drunkenly stumble around trying to solve a murder.

Nolan’s third film isn’t really noir, but instead a detective/police procedural. At its best, the film plays like a good episode of Criminal Minds but most of its time is spent sulking through a mediocre crime story. The movie starts to look like its heading in a good direction when Williams shows up but quickly dies down once you learn how boring the murderer actually is. I’m not saying every crime film needs a Hannibal Lector, but if you’re in a dull Alaskan town and not making many interesting choices with the script, why not have a bit of fun with your main antagonist? Especially when you have such a unique actor like Williams.

This kind of movie seems like a test that the studios gave Nolan before handing him a franchise like Batman. In this film they gave him more money, bigger names and less creative control. They kept him in a genre that he still had a chance to succeed in and even gave him a little room for his style but for the most part they just wanted to see if he’d play their game. This movie passed the studio’s test and serves as an essential transitional piece for Nolan’s career even if it is his weakest piece of work.

Grade: C+

Stray Observations

In the movie Pacino plays a cop from LA but it’s hard to imagine that he’s from anywhere besides East Harlem.

Probably a great movie to catch on TV on a gloomy day.

The Robin Williams/Al Pacino chase scene was kind of unintentionally hilarious. It’s a middle aged decathlon that features both actors looking like they passed out right before each edit.

TV Review: Breaking Bad Season 1

2010-06-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

(Warning: the masturbatory nature of this review may cause readers to think that this is less of a critique and more of an analytical blowjob. I wouldn’t dispute that theory.)

I’ve always been a literary critic, or at least a literary reviewer. Reading or writing about entertainment has always been more enjoyable for me when the review is subjective. The pros and cons about objectivity vs. subjectivity in writing is a vast and interesting topic that I’m not going to dive into in this review but I just wanted people to know where I stand on the issue (for this review and future reviews).

Now that I’ve babbled on about personal preferences I can start talking about my original opening statement that scared me at first. The problem with Breaking Bad is that I can’t really find a problem with it. Of course, back in the summer of my 9^th year when I would watch Dawson’s Creek on television I would constantly hail it as dramatic perfection. I’m sure that as my knowledge of criticism and experience in television grows I’ll be able to see multiple problems with BB. Until than I remain utterly and joyfully ignorant.

BB is a dramedy about a high school chemistry teacher who's suffering from the world's worst case of mid-life crisis and becomes a criminal. That’s the only sentence that I’m going to devote to plot summary because anything more would be a spoiler for those who haven’t seen the show. I admit I’m a few years late to the bandwagon but so is the majority of the world.

So when watching the first season of BB started to unfold I began to get a little scared. Bryan Cranston’s performance as Walter White was comedic yet tragic in a way I didn’t know possible. His work on Malcolm and the Middle was impressive but I never would have imagined he had the chops to carry a character like Walter.

BB quickly became the equivalent of what I can only describe as an obese clown that is gracefully able to dance through a hurricane without getting wet. Television is a storm of problems for writers and this show dodged, slipped and evaded every raindrop that came its way. Every single episode sets itself up to fail and every time the show takes “the higher road” (which in almost every case is the morally lower road) and ends up being so much more engaging because of it.

I’ve been consuming mass amounts of television over the last few weeks (including the first seasons of Mad Men and The Wire) and I have to say that after everything I’ll be looking forward to BB’s season two premiere the most.

I’m aching for more Breaking.

Stray Observations:

I used to think Weeds was an edgy take on suburban drug culture. I used to be retarded.
The first season of The Wire is still the pinnacle of television for me but I wouldn’t call it perfect. I believe that The Wire is too slow. It’s not even The Wire’s fault. I think the show’s characters and story are too complex to air a week at a time over a period of years. Each season should be viewed as an entire piece of work. It’s the medium’s fault, not the work itself.

Christopher Nolan Marathon Part 2 of 7: Film Review: Memento (2000)

2010-06-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

In honor of Nolan's upcoming film Inception, I'm reviewing his essential body of work over the course of the next three weeks. Enjoy.

Following (1998) - Monday, June 21st
Memento (2000) – Friday, June 25th

Insomnia (2002) – Monday, June 28th

Batman Begins (2005) – Friday, July 2nd

The Prestige (2006) – Monday, July 5th

The Dark Knight (2008) – Friday, July 9th
Inception - (2010) - Friday, July 16th

(Take your time with this one and think about how clever I am)

Finally, where this film really succeeds is in its re-watchability. Yes, you should be watching it more than once regardless of how well you absorbed Leonard’s journey the first time. You’ll still get a different experience each time. Nolan’s direction stands out after multiple viewings because the viewer can devote less time to following the narrative and take the time to notice the smaller touches that make an already great film even more enjoyable. Perhaps the greatest reward of multiple viewings for me was the confirmation that this whole project wasn’t an overblown gimmick. Usually in mystery stories, unreliable narrator’s can be a cheap trick because you can cheat the audience with a false reality the entire time. However, this character is actually the ultimate unreliable narrator because it’s literally built into the story through the character’s condition. The Anterograde amnesia is another great example of an “anti-gimmick” story because this type of amnesia is a much more controlled disease. It doesn’t create the usual amnesia “anything goes” story that some directors might take advantage of. After spending time with the film it becomes clear that this is an original piece of work in a very predictable genre. It’s Nolan’s best film and is arguably the greatest cult favorite of the previous decade.

Natalie: What's the last thing that you do remember?
Leonard Shelby: My wife...
Natalie: That's sweet.
Leonard Shelby: ...dying.

One of the best ways to get a handle on Memento is to compare and contrast it to Nolan’s first film Following. Both films could be considered a part of the Neo-Noir genre. Following is a fairly unique take on the noir story but pales in comparison to its younger brother Memento. Both film’s circle around deception (self deception in Memento’s case), end with a twist and have stories that are driven by our old friend Murr-Durr. The main difference in these films is the narrative. While Following a non-linear narrative, Memento’s main story is a perfectly reversed linear narrative. There is also a noticeable jump in quality from Nolan’s debut. Memento has stronger acting, more complex writing and more realized editing. Even the look of Memento is a bit more fun since the film takes place in a glossy Los Angeles and Nolan has added a bit of David Fincher to his style.

Leonard: [running] OK, so what am I doing?
[sees Dodd also running]
Leonard: Oh, I'm chasing this guy.
[Dodd shoots at Leonard]
Leonard: No... he's chasing me.

Christopher Nolan’s second film Memento is (kinda) based off his brother’s (Jonathan) short story Memento Mori. Jonathan’s story is much more self contained but still shares many of the same plot elements and themes. Nolan’s film chronicles two separate stories. First is of our narrator Leonard (Pearce), an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. This story is told backwards revealing more each time (color with a reverse linear structure). The second story is narrated by Leonard but revolves around an old client of his names Sammy Jenkins (Tobolowsky). This narrative moves forward in time through black and white flashbacks. It’s a bit confusing at first but once you…

Now...where was I?

Grade: A

Christopher Nolan Marathon Part 1 of 7: Film Review: Following (1998)

2010-06-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

In honor of Nolan's upcoming film Inception, I'm reviewing his essential body of work over the course of the next three weeks. Enjoy.

Following (1998) - Today!
Memento (2000) – Friday, June 25th

Insomnia (2002) – Monday, June 28th

Batman Begins (2005) – Friday, July 2nd

The Prestige (2006) – Monday, July 5th

The Dark Knight (2008) – Friday, July 9th
Inception - (2010) - Friday, July 16th

The Following is my explanation of the movie Following. Our protagonist Bill is an unemployed aspiring writer who lives a solitary and boring life in (black and white) London, England. It’s 1998, yet Bill uses a typewriter and while he’s not smoking cigarettes he might as well be. This is our standard Noir setup besides the fact that Bill isn’t a private detective who recently quite the force because of a dead girlfriend. Bill is actually a loner. Luckily for us, Bill happens to have a fascination with people, and begins to pick individuals out of a crowd, and starts to follow them around. And wouldn’t ya know it? Even though Bill establishes rules for his little game he ends up getting whipped away in a world of gangsters, manipulation, chesty blondes, secret identities and of course MurrDurr.

First, you have to give credit to those involved in this project. Nolan made the film on $6,000 budget over the course of a year on a few scattered weekends. He was smart in keeping the script short because the complex story is still surprisingly tight and well constructed. I’ve always thought more films should be this length. The filmmakers really give themselves less opportunities to fuck up.

Okay so now that were passed the synopsis and setup shit we can get to the good stuff. Nolan’s direction is fueled by two sources of influences. The first is classic film noir. Most of its European but there’s enough traditional American noir to make the film a hybrid. The second influence that is just as significant is Neo-Noir. You have older Neo-Noir (contradiction?), most prominently Blade Runner. Both start out with an investigation scene, both are visually and chronologically complex and both have twist endings with futuristic synthesizers pumping behind them. You also have the Neo-Noir that is present in any important 90’s independent filmmaker’s style. Soderbergh, The Coen Brothers, Tarantino and Bryan Singer all used it. Its presence varies but it’s always there. Sometimes it’s stylistically and sometimes it’s thematically. Sometimes it’s every scene and sometimes it just makes an appearance.

Nolan’s film is a product of these influences and is a damn good product for those who are fans of the noir, cult, or indie film genres. It doesn’t stand up to some of his later work and the stakes aren’t as high as they could be but the potential is there and as we all know that potential blossomed into one of the most exciting directors of the previous decade.

Grade: B

Stray Observations:

I noticed a small Batman sticker on The Blondes door. I guess Nolan was slipping in little hints of the future during shooting.

This film literally could have ended with The Usual Suspects last line “And like that, poof. He's gone.”

Comedy: Album Review: Dan Cummins – “Revenge is Near” (2009)

2010-06-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Revenge is Near starts with fat people falling down and a Chuck Norris joke. Don’t stop reading. It gets better. Much better. A fairly safe beginning leads into one of the funniest and most well crafted comedy albums I’ve heard in the last few years. Revenge’s gentle but enthusiastic crowd immediately establishes the intimate feeling that this album benefits from. The environment is perfect for Cummins because he’s much more a “great comedy mind” than a gimmicky performer. His Comedy Central Presents performance was interesting but his comedy feels more natural in a small club.

The album quickly picks up speed once Cummin’s style is established. One of the album’s strongest tracks is “Chocolate Squirrelador” where Cummins rips off a series of 45 second gags that revolve around hybrid pets and the psychology of face tattoos. It’s the breakthrough track on the album because it proves his spasmodic writing is enough to support an entire show. That track is followed by the title track “Revenge is Near” which starts strong but also features some of the weakest material in the show. It was the first time I heard him loose the audience and it didn’t last long.

Moving into the middle of the album Cummins style starts to become clear. His best material is simply strong writing fueled by a creepy randomness. He is able to harness his own nonsensism into some witty writing that is supported by his masterful use of comedic language. His show features thoughts that are as funny as a Zach Galifianakis or Demetri Martin but have aren’t just one-liners and have a bit more weight to them. He isn’t a story teller either but instead a writer who likes to start his joke with a base and then slowly branch off the joke as much as he feels is necessary. He’s comparable to Nick Swardson in form and Daniel Tosh in style but is clearly an independent voice in the comedy culture.

It was relieving that halfway through the show that it was clear he had no agenda that night besides the comedy. At one point he mentions that he’d like to get serious with the audience and then starts to rant about the work ethic of lazy eyes. He stayed clear of politics all together and only briefly dropped in on religion to deliver a few quick punches on an easy but worthy target; Scientology.

Near the end on the track “Plans for America” he loses the audience for the second and last time. He makes a few jokes regarding U.S troops and poverty that aren’t really any edgier than the rest of his set but he still catches some crap for it. It’s undeserved but a good example of the dangers of small rooms when recording an album. Luckily, his next and final track “I Call Ribs” features his strongest joke of the night. His ramblings on cannibalism were some of the best material I heard last year and it was a beautiful way to end the album. It’s the strongest debut I can remember and I look forward to seeing how his career progresses.

Highlights:

“Where were you when I needed you sweatpants?”

“It was a meet to pleasure you.”

“I gave myself a Doctorate in Unicorns. Why Not?”

“That jokes called…(insert funny title)”.

“I’ve had sex. I have a two year old to prove it”.

“Maybe he’s not drinking enough Mountain Dew with his Lucky Charms?”

“You’re liver’s a slut.”

“I’m not even pro-Death penalty but if we’re gonna kill them, let’s have some fun.”

“I don’t condone cannibalism, but I get it.”

Here's the 3rd part of Cummin's new Johnny Gun video series that inspired this review. Make it Happen.

TV Review: The Wire Season 1 (2002): F+

2010-06-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

The Wire doesn’t have a blind detective who can smell crime. It doesn’t have beautiful CSI’s who throw out one-liners and interesting little investigative tid-bits. It’s doesn’t even have a love triangle. It fails in every aspect of the modern crime drama.

Set in Baltimore (Not LA or New York=boring), this show centers around the city's drug scene. The first few episodes are the worst because the show feels the need to establish character motives and plot details before diving into the murders and mysteries. Det. James McNulty (the only stud in the show) has been assigned to lead a joint homicide and narcotics team, in order to bring down drug kingpin Avon Barksdale. The show depicts the lives of every part of the drug "food chain", from junkies to dealers, and from cops to politicians. It’s like reading a novel…gross.

I think the biggest mistake the show makes is in its cast and writing. There are like 50 billion characters in this mess and I can’t tell who the hero of the story is. It even gives the drug dealers as much screen time as the cops!? Like hello, drug dealers are bad. I think they’re making all these mistakes because the people behind the show are former journalists and police officers. Get some Hollywood writers who know what they’re doing. For example; a experienced television writer would know that if they spent more time with the good guys we could have had some really juicy melodrama and hot cop sex.

The best advice I can give this show is to try to switch to a more episodic format. This way you can have a new bad guy every week and end on a super cool climax that makes people want to tune in for the next episode. Plus, you can have a different theme or “lesson learned” in every episode instead of concentrating on just one topic. Since I’m reviewing the entire series, I hope to see some of these changes in the seasons to come. I didn't know TV could be this bad/realistic.

But seriously, it's genius.

Morning Shots: Eminem and Lil Wayne Collaboration, Future of Film Criticism, Free High Fidelity and Jackie Chan Kicking Kids

2010-06-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

Darryl Campbell's thoughts on the future of film criticism. The best essay I've seen on the topic besides David Bordwell's piece.

Live for the Funk's post on the new Eminem and Lil' Wayne collaboration. The song has some crazy verses and is def. worth a listen.

Movie critic Katherine Monk recalls her years at UBC's film school. I found it very interesting as an amateur critic but it's a good read for anyone. She confirmed my belief in not taking notes during the showing of film.

Kick Kick Snare writes about a small heartwarming story attached to a very sweet song.

High Fidelity is now up on Hulu for anyone to watch. One of my all-time favorite films.

Finally, just a little bit of Jackie Chan hating on the kiddies.

Music Review: Tokyo Police Club: Champ (2010): B+

2010-06-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

Buoyed by social media buzz, Tokyo Police Club has slowly started to gain an audience over the last 5 years. One of Toronto's most promising indie rock outfits features vocalist/bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist/vocalist Graham Wright, guitarist/percussionist Josh Hook, and drummer/percussionist Greg Alsop. The band shows influences by The Strokes but is most appropriately classified as another disciple of the veteran indie band Broken Social Scene. TPC's second album was your standard sophomore slump but they’ve convinced me they’re headed in the right direction with their third album Champ. As a whole, the album is a lot of fun and the band’s bright sound is enough to make a bright day even brighter.

The album’s lyrics are a bit adolescent but witty and playful enough to enjoy. “Breakneck Speed” is the album’s highlight. Since the instrumentation is consistent throughout all the tracks, we simply had to wait for a song where the lyrics were strong and Monk’s voice was energetic and quirky enough to get your feet moving. Three tracks into the album the band hits us with this little stanza...

“I remember when our voices used to sound the same,

Born on your feet, running forest fires underneath your bed,

It’s good to be back, good to be back, good to be back.”

It’s the longest track on the album and it’s over to soon. “Wait Up” is the only other track that sticks out enough to mention and has had several remixes inherit Hype Machine glory. The rest of the album’s tracks blend together in juvenile goodness. Since the band is so young, it will be interesting to see them grow into their own generation of the indie music scene. Hopefully they’ll be able to improve and perfect their song writing ability without losing the childish charm that makes this album one of my favorites of 2010 so far.

Morning Shots: Rugrat's Horror, The Delicate Psyche of the Alternative Comedian and New Toy Story 3 Characters

2010-06-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

Horror References in Rugrats: A great post from The Horror Digest on the glory days of Nickelodeon programming and it's extra scary moments. Rugrats is now up on Netflix Watch Instantly and it's fun to seek out and re-discover a few episodes is you have nothing else to do. Also check out the Halloween episode of Hey Arnold on Netflix that is a parody of the panic caused by Orson Welles' adaptation of "The War of the Worlds". The whole city mistakes a Halloween prank set up by Arnold and Gerald as an actual alien invasion.

The Comedians of Comedy: This is a great documentary on the alternative comedy scene that was struggling to keep its head above water in an ocean of mediocre comedy culture. A struggle that is still present today. It's on Netflix Watch Instantly and is definitely worth a view in a Post-Hangover world now that Zach Galifianakis is almost a household name. The film has great material from Zach, Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford and is an interesting look into the delicate psyche of the underground comedian that refuses to "sell out".

New York Times Looks at the New Characters in Toy Story 3: Yes, the new film will feature all of our old friends, but it also has to feature some new ones. I wasn't crazy about the new characters in Toy Story 2, so I'm not too excited about a Pink Teddy Bear, Porcupine and a Ken doll. How bout instead of Toy Story 3 they give us what we really want: a spin-off movie that simply features Rex the T-Rex and his own paranoid clumsy adventures.

Review: The Fly (1986): A+

2010-06-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

Thick smoke blankets the floor of a dirty laboratory as a 185 pound monster takes a gun and guides it towards its own head. The woman holding the gun is the monster’s lover. The monster isn’t a monster; but a victim. Howard Shore’s gothic but heartbreaking score pumps emotion into a heartbeat that is silenced by a gunshot. Sound like a Greek tragedy's climax to you? Well it is. With a little Science Fiction mixed in with it. The trouble starts when Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldbloom), a brilliant but eccentric scientist attempts to woo investigative journalist Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) by offering her a scoop on his latest research in the field of matter transportation. Of course it wouldn’t be a horror movie unless some experiment went wrong. Brundle thinks he’s ironed out the last problem as he successfully transports a living creature, but when he attempts to teleport himself a fly enters one of the transmission booths, and one of the greatest cult films of all time begins.

David Cronenberg’s dark love story is just about as good as film gets. First, the film’s ugly surface horrifies its viewers with its unrivaled makeup and special effects. Goldbloom’s transformation is just as terrifying as it was 24 years ago. Davis’s transformation is also a powerful asset to the film when we see her tormented by the complications of her new love’s mutation. She ends up learning the same lesson that we all have to face someday; if you love someone, blow their brains out. Of course it’s what’s underneath this entire project that makes it a true accomplishment. The film uses the nature of metamorphosis to create an allegory that addresses humanity’s moral ambiguity. Sound complicated? It’s really quite simple when watching the movie. Cronenberg doesn’t stop there and is even able throw in some social commentary on abortion and genetic engineering. Once you take a step back and look at the entire project it’s hard to label it anything besides an undisputable masterpiece.

Review: Splice (2010): B

2010-06-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here’s the setup; Elsa (Polley) and Clive (Brody), two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with the dangerous experiment of splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. It’s a standard beginning to most monster or virus movies these days and it’s a surprise when the movie takes a crucial turn just a few minutes later. It’s no spoiler to reveal that a creature (Chaneac) emerges and the couple slowly becomes attached to their mini female Frankenstein. Named "Dren", the creature rapidly develops and ages as the relationship with her creators happens over a matter of weeks as opposed to an entire lifetime. This unexpected turn is what saves the film from mediocrity but is also what ultimately ends up holding the film back from true cinematic glory. Much like the creature itself, the movie is a hybrid of two species; Sci-Fi and Horror. The first and third acts work as a horror film and the second act is more of a Sci-fi/Drama. Director Vincenzo Nitali hasn’t created a masterpiece here but it’s sure to become another small but satisfying Sci-fi production that never caught the public’s eye.

We’ve seen the “nature run amok” story many times on both larger (Jurassic Park) and more intimate (Moon) scales. So when we’re faced with the initial horror setup, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to be enough. Once the “family” element is introduced it’s a bit disorienting because the film seemed to be marketed as horror. Eventually the film finds itself and enters some strong and innovative territory that makes the film recommendable. However, the relationship between the three main characters advances so quickly we never have time to slow down and think about the questions being raised. The biggest question, the ethics of human cloning, is given enough time to breathe but when we return to it in the final act it doesn’t have much to say. Of course, you can’t deny that the film is exploring some new ideas and having fun while doing it. Its strongest qualities will blossom outside of the theater experience after pondering all the questions it asks. It wasn’t everything it could be, but it’s a hell of a lot more than you usually get for your $10 ticket.