Washington Post Top 25 Singles of 2010

according to writer Allison Stewart

1. Cee Lo Green - "[expletive] You"

2. Sleigh Bells - "Rill Rill"

3. Kid Cudi Featuring Mary J. Blige - "These Worries"

4. Sharon Van Etten - "Don't Do It"

5. Cults - " Go Outside"

6. Kings, Go Forth - "High On Your Love"

7. Kanye West featuring Pusha T - "Runaway"

8. Taylor Swift - "Mine"

9. Titan Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union"

10. Jamey Johnson - "Can't Cash My Checks"

11. Peter Gabrile - "Flume" (Bon Iver cover)

12. Freddie Gibbs featuring Bun B. Chuck Inglish, Chip Tha Ripper and Dan Auerbach - "Oil Money"

13. Tabi Bonney Featuring Pusha T - "Make a Killin"

14. Sia - "The Fight"

15. Phosphorescent - "It's Hard to be Humble (When Your From Alabama)"

16. Brian Eno - "2 Forms of Anger"

17. Kylesa - "Tired Climb"

18. Paramore - "The Only Exception"

19. Yesayer - "Ambling Alp"

20. Robyn - "Cry When You Get Older"

21. Dierks Bentley featuring Alison Krauss - "Draw Me A Map"

22. Pantha Du Prince featuring Panda Bear - "Stick to My Side"

23. Rihanna featuring Drake - "What's My Name?"

24. jj - "My Life"

25. Chiddy Bang - "Opposite of Adults"

2010 Film additions to National Film Registry

This years inclusion to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry include:

Airplane! (1980)
All the President’s Men (1976)
The Bargain (1914)
Cry of Jazz (1959)
Electronic Labyrinth: THX 113B 4EB (1967)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Front Page (1931)
Grey Gardens (1976)
I Am Joaquin (1969)
It’s a Gift (1934)
Let There Be Light (1945)
Lonesome (1928)
McCabe & Mrs Miller (1971)
Make Way for Tomorrow (1936)
Malcolm X (1992)
Newark Athlete (1891)
Our Lady of the Sphere (1969)
The Pink Panther (1964)
Preservation of the Sign Language (1913)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Study of a River (1996)
Tarantella (1940) (short film)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
A Trip Down Market Street (1906) (short film)

'Cirque Dreams Holidaze'

'Cirque Dreams Holidaze' - Kennedy Center

Arriving just in time for the holidays - 'Cirque Dreams Holidaze' opens at the Kennedy Center's Opera House - and while this is not a full blown Cirque production - don't let that fool into thinking that it wont be as garish or as entertaining as the more opulent shows.  The music is relentless as is the constant activity that is on display here, acrobats is the definitive highlight here, a troupe of Chinese women throw what looks to be a giant spool between them and later in the show circle the stage and interchange between small bicycles.  As the acts got more intricate and complicated - the woman next to me was cringing as it all unfolded - I also got wrapped up as well.  The pacing and quick introductions of varying artists is both hypnotic and utterly captivating: a magician, an audience-participation bell-ringing session, jugglers - all set to the Christmas theme is a sight to behold and brings the kid out of you.   

Full orchestras make a theater comeback after years of budgetary slashes - Washington Post article

Full orchestras make a theater comeback after years of budgetary slashes

(Washington Post article)

By Peter Marks

Tuesday, December 14, 2010; 1:46 AM

The look on Florence Lacey's face said it all. Singing for the first time with the 20-piece orchestra for "Sunset Boulevard" - the largest band Signature Theatre has ever assembled for a musical - the actress lingered onstage and beamed.

"That's incredible," Lacey exclaimed, moments after finishing the rehearsal of "With One Look," the first-act anthem for her character, the reclusive film star Norma Desmond, in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. "I'm having fun."
Her giddiness was perfectly understandable. Accomplished singers love the lift that a lush, full accompaniment provides - and in the musical theater these days, that's an extreme rarity. Standard practice on Broadway and in theater towns such as Washington is to pare the orchestra down to as few instruments as possible, in the service, mostly, of saving money, and at the expense of the robust sound that was once typical of a big musical.
But in selected instances, a counter-trend is developing, one that is allowing audiences to hear shows - particularly revivals of older musicals - in much the way their composers and orchestrators intended. In these cases, artistic administrators are making room in their budgets for full complements of strings, brass and woodwinds in their pits. While star-studded Broadway remountings of works such as "A Little Night Music" and "La Cage aux Folles" get by nowadays with anemic ensembles of eight or nine musicians, these other upstart productions are hiring as many as 30 players.
The statement they are making is profound. It is that the live notes from a harp or oboe or second cello are as essential to the support of a musical as that dazzling lighting effect or that cadre of sleek dancers.
"To me, cutting back an orchestra is the same as saying we're doing different material," said Michael M. Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center and a longtime advocate of full orchestral sound. "It adds up to a cheapened experience. And when we cheapen the experience, we can't be surprised when people stay away from the theater."
It just so happens that Washingtonians can get an earful at the moment of what Kaiser is so passionate about, of the sensuous auditory experience of a fully occupied pit. The Tony-winning revival of "South Pacific," now on a national tour, begins performances Tuesday night in the Kennedy Center Opera House with a total of 26 musicians playing the original Rodgers and Hammerstein orchestrations. And right across the river, on Signature's main stage in Shirlington, 20 instrumentalists are crammed two abreast onto a narrow balcony behind the "Sunset Boulevard" set, applying complex colors to a Lloyd Webber score.

The aural ambition of director Eric Schaeffer's revival of "Sunset," which began preview performances last Tuesday and has its official opening on Saturday , seems all the bolder considering Signature's physical limitations. The auditorium accommodates only 276 seats - a ratio of one musician for every 14 paying customers. Consider, too, the price tag. According to Maggie Boland, Signature's managing director, the company will pay about $265,000 for its orchestra - roughly a quarter of the show's entire budget, and more than twice the expense of the 10-piece band for its recent hit revival of "Chess."

Schaeffer believes that the outsize acoustical impact in that intimate space will make the extra expenditure worthwhile. "I guarantee that you'll remember the show the way you hear it here," he declared.

Routine reductions

Technology has given producers and regional theaters around the country an expanding bag of tricks for trimming the band: The credits for Broadway's "La Cage," for instance, include an acknowledgment of the orchestra's "Synthesizer Programmer." The era of manufactured electronic sound, and the proliferation of rock musicals, have conspired to train audiences to absorb show music as pumped-up in volume but not perhaps as variegated tone. Kaiser says that when he was at the helm of a ballet company some years ago, a board member proposed that since musicians are often invisible to the audience, couldn't there just be a recording of the score and someone hired to stand in the pit and wave a baton?
The practice of reducing the size of the band has become so routine, in fact, that popular expectations for what a show should sound like have changed. Today, some new Broadway musicals, such as "The Addams Family" and "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," can have as many as 18 musicians. But that's still a smaller orchestra than what Signature has assembled for "Sunset." Ted Chapin, president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, the group that controls the rights to the work of the songwriting team, as well as of composers such as Irving Berlin, says until the recent revival of "South Pacific," he'd never heard a Rodgers and Hammerstein score on Broadway with its complete original contingent of instruments.
The choice of employing a full orchestra for an older musical can turn a revival into an event. That's what happened at Lincoln Center Theater in 2008 with director Bartlett Sher's "South Pacific." When, during the overture, the roof of the Vivian Beaumont Theater's orchestra pit retracted for a few minutes to reveal 30 musicians, the audience broke into astonished applause. "I'm a fan of seeing music being made," said Ted Sperling, the revival's music director. "It just sounds better when you see it."

Nothing like the real thing

It is surely possible to sit through a satisfying evening with Rodgers and Hammerstein's World War II tale of romance and prejudice without 30 people in the pit. (On the road, that number has been reduced by four.) But as Sperling notes, the range of emotions the show is meant to evoke was carefully plotted out in the musical arrangements as well as the dialogue, under the supervision of its original director.
"Josh Logan thought the music would tell you so much about the inner life of the characters," Sperling said. "That's why there's so much underscoring in 'South Pacific.' "
Kaiser committed the Kennedy Center at the outset of his tenure to filling the pit. So the musicals the center revives boast orchestras that very closely mirror the numbers in the original incarnations: 23 players for "Mame"; 24 for "Carnival"; 28 for the recent "Ragtime" that moved to Broadway. Next spring's "Follies" with Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Linda Lavin and Elaine Paige will also feature 28 musicians.
The visceral pleasure of being in the room with all the sounds of a show can come down to the resonance of one familiar instrument - the plunking of the banjo, for example, in "Mame." That drew cheers, Kaiser recalled: "It's a physical sensation. You feel the overtones of the music when you're in the presence of it," he said. "And you lose that when you cut it back."
At Signature - where the attempts to scale down large musicals such as "Les Miserables" and "My Fair Lady" have been a hallmark - the accent on this occasion is on the breadth of the auditory experience. To win Lloyd Webber's consent to stage "Sunset," Schaeffer says he had to agree to use the orchestrations for the original production, which ran on Broadway from 1994 to 1997.
A direct result is a balcony so crowded with musicians it looks like the Red Line at rush hour; a percussionist sits around a corner from his colleagues and watches the conductor, Jon Kalbfleisch, on a monitor. Distributed across the long back wall of the stage, the musicans face a thorny logistical problem: Those at one end can't hear those at the other. One of Kalbfleisch's jobs is to ensure that the far-flung sections are in balance.
For example, after one duet, Kalbfleisch wanted to know from Schaeffer, who was sitting out front, whether the volume of his large ensemble was overpowering the actors. "If it's too loud there, we can adjust up here," the conductor said. Soon, he was issuing orchestral instructions. "We need more cello and bass, because the tune is in the lower instruments," he told the musicians.
Schaeffer seems to subscribe to Sperling's view that the orchestra is an experience for the eye as well: At appointed times, doors in the back of the set pull apart to reveal a substantial number of the musicians. It makes good sense, too, allowing an audience to see what it's paying for (in this case, upward of $84).
And in an age of digital miracles, reminding theatergoers in every way possible that melodies can be trilled and blared and plucked and strummed more vivaciously by flesh and blood beings may make it easier for theaters to choose them over sophisticated software.
"As good as it gets technically, it still doesn't sound as nice as having the real thing," said Craig Jensen, head audio engineer in the Kennedy Center Opera House. "It's humans performing for humans."

'Annie' - Olney Theatre Production

'Annie' - Olney Theatre Production

The last time I saw this was at a dinner theatre - the kicker was that the lead actress had a head cold - her rendition of 'Tomorrow' was painful not only to her, but to the audience as well - needless to say it was both memorable and hideous.  Here though, Caitlin Deerin, as Annie not only managed to almost hit the right notes, I say almost because she gets out of tune ever so slightly but was nowhere as cringe inducing.  She's perky, and really puts all her worth into the role.  In fact, the biggest plus is that everyone cast here is consistent and embellishes their characters - George Dvorsky's Daddy Warbucks voice stood out for me the most.  For the record my favorite song is 'Easy Street' - it's both sleazy and funny.  The staging, specifically the sets are amazing, ending with the main stairway in Daddy Warbucks lush home and a very tall Christmas tree, Annie in her full regale: red permed hair and red/white dress run down the stairs and almost takes a spill, but thankfully doesn't - the final reveal of Sandy as she is supposed to pop out of the Christmas present box, also doesn't come off either - but that's the name of the game in terms of working with both children AND animals - you're never going to know what surprises might occur. One qualm though and it's only a technical note, the cast are miked, I guess for the folks way back in the back row of the balcony, but mind you this is the Olney's new main stage and the seats (even in the balcony) are not that far away from the stage - so voices tend to be a tad too loud - it's not distracting or annoying, it's just comes across as unnatural.  I must have forgotten that the story and specifically the setting is during Christmas time, so naturally as a Holiday themed production it's a great alternative to the tired and true Charles Dicken's 'Christmas Carol' - all in all the Olney's 'Annie' is more than the ideal present for the season. 

'Oklahoma!' - Arena Stage Production

'Oklahoma!' - Arena Stage Production

To say this is an energetic production - might be an understatement.  The dancing is the sole reason and most entertaining aspect of Arena Stage's new production.  The actor's not only have to sing, but also give such a rousing dancing - it's almost exhausting but ultimately exhilarating for the viewer.  Since this is the first production in the new space for Arena - I haven't seen a production 'in the round' in quite some time, and that's where I find slight fault - because the actors have to project loud enough to the audience behind them, some of the actor's come across as a bit 'shouty' - notably Aunt Eller, who at times her vocals disguise what she's saying.  But, all in all though Arena takes the cake by giving this Roger & Hammerstein's classic tale an invigorating update - they had done an excellent production of 'South Pacific' in 2002 - here, again they strike gold!

Candide - Shakespeare Theater Production

'Candide' - Shakespeare Theater - Harmon Hall

In a rare instance of an actual musical from DC's Shakespeare Theater - it is a fantastic production of Leonard Bernstein's classic musical.  Director Mary Zimmerman adaptation of a 20th century classic, based on Voltaire’s satire.  The story is episodic and for me reminded me of 'Barry Lyndon' as the storie(s) of Candide get more and more epic - the music itself is great and like Sondheim, it's also quite difficult, but the talented cast is more than apt in singing the challenging score.  The sets are also inventive and with the larger newer Harmon Hall - props pop in and out to excellent effect.  Highly recommended!

Uptown Theater - 3D!

It's official - AMC has converted the Uptown to feature digital projection 3D!  This is fantastic news, since one the theatre is one of the largest curved screens on the entire East Coast.  Secondly, while the sound has always sounded fantastic lossless audio via digital projection proprieties will sound amazing - notably with tighter bass.  Gazing at Fandango's site in terms of pricing,  adult full price is $14.75, that's not bad considering at one point AMC was mentioning that the theatre would get the ETX treatment, which would have made the ticket price even more expensive - thankfully they didn't - I am sure, but not positive that pre-noon reduced pricing will also still be available - Regal and Cinemark are notorious for not doing this. I'll be doing a followup review of the presentation aspect of the film at the Uptown (as well as a review of the film itself) - but for once, I'm glad AMC ponied up the cash to convert the theatre to digital projection - recent past 35mm prints have looked terrible - colors looking drained, light balance off. 

'Tangled' (3D) review

Tangled (3D) Regal Gallery Place (Sony Digital Projection + 7.1 surround sound)

For Walt Disney's studio's 50th animated film - they chose to do a retelling of the Rapunzel story but with some flourishes that only Disney writers can accomplish - give or take what they dish.  Originally, the trailer didn't wow me, but as I watched the actual film, it's charm become more and more apparent. 

The voice talent from Mandy Moore and  Zachary Levi - as the two leads Rapunzel and Flynn Rider isn't as annoying as more recent Disney films. 

It's also great that the two 'lead' animals, Rapunzel's chameleon and Maximus the horse don't speak at all - non-talking animals in a Disney animated film??... a major positive in my book - thumbs up!  The facial expressions of the two are hysterical.  

Since this film went back to computer generated artistry, their last film 'The Princess and the Frog' was a noble attempt to return to the traditional 2D cel animation style that Disney is famous for - mind you for that film, the story and it's villain were it's only flaws.  Here though, the 'altered' story is vastly superior and better rounded, the CGI animation is also tremendous as the colors at times seems to be very tactile - the 3D effects are well integrated - the floating lights float so close to the viewer that it makes you want to reach into the screen.

The songs are also surprisingly good, although it becomes very apparent if Howard Ashman were still alive the songs could and possibly would have been a tad better.  Mandy Moore singing songs that are more 'theatrical' than 'pop' is a godsend and obviously less cringe inducing.

On another technical note, having heard the film in both standard 5.1 surround sound and 7.1 discrete surround sound, the latter is vastly superior.  The addition of two additional surround sound speakers produces a much more fuller sound field - the mix in effect is more prevalent, aggressive and omnipresent - at times maybe a bit too much. 

All in all though, the film super ceded what I was expecting, it had the right amount of humour, the songs were engaging as were the voice talents. The animation style was unique and down right beautiful at times, and the story worthwhile of my time and attention.     

'A Wrinkle in Time' - Round House Theatre Production

'A Wrinkle in Time' - Round House Theatre - December 2, 2010

Based on the book by famed fantasty writer Madeleine L'Engle' - the story is about Meg Murry and her brother Charles Wallace alongside friend Calvin, in their search for their father who had disappeared a few years back to another planet - for reasons unknown.  Even with a such a bizarre premise, the idea to transform this tale into a theatrical play is a major undertaking.  Under the direction of Casey Sams, it actually works (for the most part).  The casting is admireable - the young Charles Wallace with his brown hair and spectacles seems very Harry Potter-ish and the actor's who portray Meg and Charles really seem to inhabit their characters and interact with all the effects that happen around them - the plays only odd moment though is the arrival of the brain creature near the end of the play which seems a bit too Mystery Science Theatre 3000 to me .  The FX, lighting and sound design are really the highlight here though.  The huge back wall of the Round House Theatre is used to excellent effect as alot of projected imagery adds visual intensity.  The use of surround sound and the throwing of voices around the audience adds what motion pictures do to encompass (and encircle) an extra sensory to what already is an 'out of this world' story.

Jamie Jones vs. Seth Troxler - MIXMAG November covermount CD

Just hitting the news stands here in the States, Mixmag's mix CD is from Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler.  The two combine a distinctive house sound mixed with a tinge of tech and just the right amount of songs with vocals.  Normally I'm not all that into songs featuring vocals, as some of the time, well alot of times, it just comes across as cheesy - but in the hands of Jamie and Seth - it comes across as an effortless bouncy addictive sound collage that weaves, wobbles and singes the body to fly into a million pieces of pure energy - check it out, it's a unique, dare I say, stand-out 2010 CD from Mixmag.  

Tracklisting:

01. Axel Boman - Holy Love
02. 40 Thieves featuring Qzen - Don't Turn It Off
03. Victor* - Go On Do It (Radio Version)
04. Tanner Ross & Sergio Santos - G Things
05. Roska featuring Jamie George - Love 2 Nite
06. Jamie Jones (2) - Summertime (Jones & James Dub Mix)
07. Inxec & Shado Megallaa* - Put A String On It
08. 2 Bears, The - Follow The Bear
09. De Signer - Suicide Girl (Robin Porter & Subb-an Remix)
10. Bomb The Bass featuring Kelley Polar - X-Ray Eyes (John Tejada Mix)
11. Art Department - Without You (Jamie Jones' On The Fly Remix)
12. Tracey Thorn - Swimming (Visionquest Remix)
13. Footprintz - Utopia

Friendly Fires - Bugged Out! (Presents Suck My Deck Mixed by...)

Friendly Fires - Bugged Out! (Presents Suck My Deck Mixed by...)

I must admit, I more a fan of the Bugged Out! discs than the Bugged In! ones which tend to be more down tempo - but given how boisterous Friendly Fires are, it doesn't surprise that they'd release such a infectious and body thumpin' mix.  The bass once it kicks in is so pulse inducing and never let's up, until really the end song which mercifally brings the listener to a calmer state of mind.  While the beat seems consistent, the styles of each songs bring a freshnest and never comes as repetitve drone, this album makes you want to move, exercise or compel one to rush out and purchase a pogo stick.  By far one of best albums of the year that would qualify it as being described as being so utterly fun and highly addictive.

Here's the tracklisting:

1. The Egyptian Lover – Freak-A-Holic
2. Bot’Ox – Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show
3. The Phenomenal Handclap Band – You’ll Disappear (Munk Remix)
4. Tom Trago – Lost In The Streets of NYC (Boris Werner Lost In Malta Remix)
5. Ryan Crosson – Metro Bunker (Original Mix)
6. Lindstrom & Christabelle -Baby Can’t Stop (Aeroplane Remix)
7. Rebotini – 777 (Discodeine Remix)
8. Tensnake – Coma Cat
9. Munk – La Musica (Azari & III Remix)
10. Friendly Fires and Azari & III – Stay Here
11. Redshape – Dog Day
12. The 2 Bears – Be Strong
13. Butch – No Worries
14. George Kranz – Din Daa Daa
15. Jody ‘Fingers’ Finch       – Jack Your Big Booty (BHQ No Acid Vocal)
16. BDI – City & Industry
17. Alan Fitzpatrick – Green Light
18. Boo Williams – Mortal Trance
19. Round Two – New Day (Club Vocal Mix)

New Disney Documentary DVD's released this week

Three new Disney documentaries premiered on DVD this week:

'Waking Sleeping Beauty' -  a fascinating rivetting documentary detailing the Disney studio's renaissance with the release of 'The Little Mermaid' 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'The Lion King' - it is also the story of the inner 'behind the scenes' battle of the Studio higher ups.  The commentarty track on the DVD is also an essential listen as it goes more in-depth about other stories and anectdotes that weren't included in the film.

'The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story' (review forthcoming)

'Walt & El Grupo: The Untold Adventures' (review forthcoming)

New Disney Archive Series Book: 'Design'

I'm a huge Disney fan (both live and animated films) and I'm giving a shout out to a book series that documents their animated films, the latest is 'Design' and it's just as impressive as the other books: 'Story' and 'Animation' - comprised with storyboards, sketches, character designs over some 256 pages, it's a compendium of artistry from the Disney vaults - it's massive in content and size, and it's quite a heavy book (in weight!) - Highly recommended!

Seattle's Cinerama reopens!

The old classic movie palaces are the best places to see movies and of the nation's best places to see a movie, Seattle's Cinerama is definately in the top ten.  Great to see an individual such as Greg Wood take the reins and present and preserve a great theatre (maybe AMC can close DC's Uptown and give someone a chance here to make the Uptown equal in par):

'Sneak preview of remodeled Cinerama'

By Moria Macdonald

Seattle Times movie critic

Four popcorn poppers at Cinerama, where once was just one? Be still, my heart.
The historic downtown theater, closed since late August for renovations, reopens Thursday for a midnight screening of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part I." And, despite those new popcorn poppers, its biggest change will be one moviegoers may not notice: Greg Wood, the new operator of the theater.

The movie house had been managed by national chain AMC until August, when theater owner Vulcan (Paul Allen's company) severed that relationship. Vulcan hired Wood, who also owns and operates the Roseway in Portland, a 1920s-era theater, which he refurbished and reopened as a first-run cinema in 2008.

"I view it as Seattle's living room," said Wood last week of Cinerama. And that living room's just gotten a facelift. The remodel, says Wood, is primarily a technical upgrade: It now has a new digital projector with 3D capability, an updated sound system, a new giant screen (making for, Wood says, a brighter and more brilliant picture; it'll be the same size as before). Purists needn't fret: The theater still has its film projector and will continue to screen occasional movies in 70-mm or Cinerama (a now-rare, three-strip format). Wood looks forward to bringing back the annual Cinerama Festival, sometime next year.

Though the Cinerama lobby retains its midcentury-kitsch look (the theater dates from 1963), it's been spiffed up with new carpet and display cases for a revolving selection of movie memorabilia, including costumes from "The Matrix," "TRON," "Blade" and others. Moviegoers will see a big change at the concessions counter, which has been redesigned with a new menu and new pricing — a small popcorn, likely to be fresh thanks to all those poppers, is now just $2. Local food vendors have been brought into the mix, such as Cupcake Royale (soon to offer, Wood hopes, movie-themed cupcakes), Theo chocolates and Caffé Vita coffee.

While Wood is pleased with the renovations and new 3D technology (previously Cinerama had to screen even "Avatar" in 2D), he emphasizes that the theater won't be offering blockbusters only. "Because we have 3D doesn't mean we are taking every 3D movie," he said, adding that he hopes to book a mixture of big Hollywood movies ("TRON: Legacy" will follow "Harry Potter"), art-house fare and local film-festival offerings. Presenting that kind of variety, he said, means that everyone in Seattle — not just blockbuster-movie fans — "can come and enjoy the theater."

Lyn Tangen, director of corporate communications at Vulcan, said Wood's experience in making the Roseway a neighborhood destination was part of why he was chosen. "The thing about Greg is that he's very interested in trying to connect with community. We're all behind that. We really like the idea of making the theater more available for community and nonprofit events."

Wood's excited to get on with the business of running the theater, saying he's already begun to book film- festival events for early 2011. And while he's resigned to a lot of driving between Portland and Seattle in the near future, he's grateful for the opportunity to step in and run "one of the most treasured theaters on the planet."

Starting Thursday, all of Seattle gets another chance to find out why.

'Megamind' 3D / IMAX-Digital review

MEGAMIND

AMC Tysons Corner - IMAX Digital 3D

  

Dreamwork's latest animated film is a mixed bag, only in the sense that the film's theme would fit perfectly  along side 'Despicable Me' where the protagonist, the villain, finds his true inner 'good' side.  While the 3D is certainly the highlight of the film, notably in the film's flying sequences and the towering city skyscrapers - one who is wary of heights [me] might freak out how well 'height' is excellently conveyed.  The voice acting is actually good for a change, Dreamwork's animated films seem too preconceived and hype films way too much in this respect.  But here for 'Megamind' Will Ferrell is good and restrained (thank god) and Brad Pitt doesn't act like himself (Dreamwork's 'Sinbad' where he played the lead, was bland, bland, bland).  The animator's also seem to incorporate Tina Fey's facial expressions into her portrayal of Roxanne Ritchi.  Only when Jonah Hill's 'Titan' becomes the key villain does the film become a tad too derivative of 'The Incredibles' (i.e, 'Syndrome').  Even David Cross' role as Minion gives the film much needed humour, which largely seems quite limited and restrained.  Technically, the soundmix is odd, since for a film of this genre one would expect alot of explosions, body pummelling and audio mayhem - it's not overdone and as a result the mix almost hinders the viewer to be fully encapsulated into the film's environment. To bad I didn't hear the full discrete 7.1 mix, since IMAX audio is not set up as such  All in all though I found this film to be quite entertaining, but not 100% 'great' - but still recommended.

3 New 3D auditoriums at Regal Bethesda!

In a rather mixed bag of news, Regal contiues the digital conversion of it's theater's and downtown Bethesda Maryland is the latest in the DC metropolitan area! Two of the largest auditoriums there are finally made over; # 2 and #10 (as well as #4).  #10 is a great auditorium as it once featured Kodak's now defunct 6-channel CDS 'Cinema Digital Sound' (the precursor to Dolby Digital, DTS, and SDDS digital sound) - 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day' was killer!  The screens are also worthy since they feature side masking and when displaying a scope 2.35 widescreen film really fills up the wall horizontally to great effect. 

Unfortunately... according to management none of the four screens are equipped to playback the new 7.1 discrete soundsystem where four channels of sound are distributed to the rear of the listener/filmgoer - apparently Regal found that Gallery Place was worthy, yet Bethesda, nope! [grrrrrr]  - oh well, can't have it all.  This is great news since there are a number of 3D movies that aren't being seen at my neighborhood AMC, since only one screena at Mazza is equipped as such.

The next Muppet Movie ?!?

a still with Jason Segal - this should be a ton of fun! 

Winnie the Pooh (2011) Official Trailer - HD

'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark' (2010 remake) review

Paramount Theatre - Virginia Film Festival - November 6, 2010

Young Sally Hirst at the beginning of the movie is sent to live with father and his new girlfriend in big old creepy Gothic mansion - she discovers a race of creatures under the basement floor, and decides to let them out - BIG mistake.  Stylistically it looks like a Guillermo Del Toro movie (as it should since he is credited as one of the three writers) but it's up to newcomer director Troy Nixely to deliver the goods, which he does sporadically. The biggest problem is that the characters are on the one dimensional side and it all plays out in the standard 'old dark house' horror cliches and trappings (which do work mind you) but Guy Pearce as the father seems and acts like a total wall flower at times.  Katie Holmes fares a little better, surprisingly. Bailee Madison as Sally does alot of great screaming and smashing of a few creatures to a gory pulp (the audience I saw this with, loved those scenes).  The creatures are a nasty bunch (which resemble leaner spider like 'ghoulies') and the effective 5.1 soundmix has them scurrying in and around inside the walls and speaking to Sally - to freak her and the audience out. Mind you it's a fun horror movie, but one wonders if Del Toro had actually directed this, if characterization might have been better refined. 

The film was followed by a question and answer session with producer Mark Johnson  and I have to say, it was by far the worst Q&A I've had the chance to listen to at the Virginia Film Festival - David Edelstein was snarky and asking unrelated questions to the film which we had just seen and given the fact that we were one of the first audiences to see the movie, more time should have been allotted to our questions for Mr. Johnson.   It was a strange flawed movie for the festival's centerpiece screening, Del Toro was supposed to have been at the Q&A, but cancelled, obviousily his non-presence was sorely missed.

Pulp reunite in 2011

Can we say 'London 2011 summer trip'?  Looking forward to the announcement of the whole Wireless Festival lineup!

new IMAX-Digital screen at the Regal Majestic

Regal Entertainment Group Adds The IMAX Experience to Four Theatres

Press Release Source: Regal Entertainment Group On Tuesday November 9, 2010, 9:00 am EST

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC - News), a leading motion picture exhibitor owning and operating the largest theatre circuit in the United States, announced today that the IMAX Experience® will be available at four additional locations in time for holiday movie selections. These IMAX Theatres will showcase films through a newly installed IMAX digital projection system and a specially-designed IMAX screen in an existing auditorium. Two locations will open in November with two more scheduled for December.


“Regal Entertainment Group has embraced the IMAX brand. Together we have provided premium experiences to our patrons for more than a decade. Our moviegoers appreciate the groundbreaking technology that transforms movies into entertainment events not to be missed,” stated Greg Dunn, President and Chief Operating Officer for Regal Entertainment Group. “We’re very pleased to add the IMAX Experience to four more theatres during the busy holiday movie season. The impressive IMAX sound system and amazing images make audiences feel as if they are in the movie, for an extraordinary movie experience.”

Four new Regal IMAX Theatre locations:

Los Angeles – Edwards Valencia Stadium 12 – November 2010

Washington, DC – Regal Majestic Stadium 20 – November 2010

Atlanta – Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 16 – December 2010

St. Louis – Regal St. Louis Mills Stadium 18 – December 2010

IMAX digital projection systems showcase Hollywood blockbusters that have been digitally re-mastered into the unique image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience as well as original documentary-style IMAX content. Films are projected on a specially-designed screen that is slightly curved and moved forward to further immerse the audience. Images of exceptional quality, combined with IMAX's proprietary digital surround sound system and patented theatre geometry create “The IMAX Experience," making audiences feel as if they are IN the movie.


Every Regal Entertainment Group IMAX Theatre also offers IMAX® 3D. When filmmakers choose to integrate IMAX 3D into their movies, images leap off of the screen and into the laps of the audience, further enhancing the feeling of being IN the movie. This is made possible by a combination of IMAX’s powerful 3D projection system – which simultaneously projects two separate images onto the IMAX screen – and polarized IMAX 3D glasses that audience members wear to fuse the two images into a single three-dimensional motion picture. The result is an amazing IMAX 3D Experience where the screen disappears and the movie envelopes the audience.

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I can't say I'm overally ecstatic over the news, it would have made more sense for Regal to install a RPX system (an alternative to IMAX) that would have had more movies be presented as such .  RPX systems also one up IMAX by featuring discrete 7.1 stereo surround sound, IMAX audio is not.  I'm hoping Regal will upgrade one of the larger Gallery Place auditoriums to feature RPX.

The Word (Nov. 2010 issue 93) covermount CD

Th various artists featured on the accompanied CD include

01. Hellsong - Welcom to the Jungle
from the album: 'Minor Misdemeanors'

02. Lupen Crook - Fantasist in March *
from the album: 'The Pros and Cons of Eating Out'

03. Agnes Obel - Avenue *
from the album: 'Philharmonics'

04. Aloe Blacc - Miss Fortune
from the album: 'Good Things'

05. Badly Drawn Boy - I Saw You Walk Away *
from the album: 'It's What I'm Thinking Part 1'

06. Fran Healy - Holiday
from the album: 'Wreckorder'

07. Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone *
from the album: 'You Are Not Alone'

08. The Orchids - The Girl and the Soldier *
from the album: 'The Lost Star'

09. Mother Mother - Body of Years
from the album: 'O My Heart'

10. Alondra Bentley - Still Be There
from the album: 'Ashfield Avenue'

11. Paul Smith - North Atlantic Drift
from the album: 'Margins'

12. Orchestral Manuevres in the Dark - History of Modern (Part I) *
from the album: 'History of Modern'

13. Heidi Talbot - Hang Me
from the album: 'The Last Star'

14. The Winter Olympics - Feeling European
from the album: Winter Olympics

15. The Duke & The King - Shine on You
from the album: 'Long Live The Duke & The King'

* Highlight songs of the month

'Let it Be - Revisited' (Mojo Magazine Oct. '10)

The latest issue of Mojo (October 2010) was released here in the States and supposedly there is a CD version (I haven't seen it on the newstand), but Mojo also released a 'special limited vinyl edition' as well ($19.99)

01. John Grant - Two of Us
02. Dennis Locorriere - Dig A Pony
03. Phosphorescent - Across the Universe
04. Beth Orton - I Me Mine/Dig it
05. The Amorphous Androgynous - Let It Be (Part 1)
~
06. The Amorphous Androgynous - Let It Be (Part 2)
07. CW Stoneking - Maggie Mae
08. The Besnard Lakes - I've Got A Feeling
09. Wilko Johnson - One After 909
10. Judy Collins - The Long and Winding Road
11. Pete Molinari - For You Blue
12. The Jim Jones Revue - Get Back

this image is of the CD/magazine release version: (for the vinyl magazine edition, all the word except the magazine title and the two top photos are removed and only features Paul McCartney's signature, it's both simple and striking)

Swedish House Mafia 'Until One'

Comprised of the three leading figures of the current electro house scene, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and SteveAngello the album is a fun mix of the following tracks:

1. Swedish House Mafia vs. Tinie Tempah - "Miami 2 Ibiza" (Album Version)

2. Swedish House Mafia - "Miami 2 Ibiza" (Instrumental)

3. Sander van Doorn - "Reach Out" w/. The Source feat. Candi Staton - "You Got The Love" (Acapella)

4. Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello & Laidback Luke feat. Deborah Cox - "Leave The World Behind"

5. Axwell - "Nothing But Love" (Remode)

6. Steve Angello & AN21 - "Valodja"

7. TV Rock - "In The Air" (Axwell remix)

8. Sebastian Ingrosso - "Kidsos" w/. Justice vs Simian - "We Are Your Friends" (Acapella)

9. Prok & Fitch pres. Nanchang Nancy - "Walk With Me (Axwell & Daddy's Groove Remix)"

10. Steve Angello - "Tivoli" w/. Empire Of The Sun "Walking On A Dream" (Acapella)

11. Benny Benassi presents The Biz - "Satisfaction"

12. Steve Angello & Laidback Luke feat. Robin S - "Show Me Love"

13. Steve Angello - "Knas"

14. Sebastian Ingrosso & Dirty South - "Meich" w/. Coldplay "Clocks"

15. David Guetta feat. Sebastian Ingrosso, Dirty South & Julie McKnight - "How Soon Is Now" (Main Mix)

16. AN21 & Max Vangelli - "Swedish Beauty" w/. Louie Vega & Jay `Sinister' Sealee starring Julie McKnight `Diamond Life' (Acapella)

17. Supermode - "Tell Me Why"

18. Adrian Lux - "Teenage Crime" (Axwell & Henrik B Remode)

19. Steve Angello - "Monday"

20. Miike Snow - "Sylvia" (Sebastian Ingrosso & Dirty South Remix)

21. Axwell - "I Found U" (Remode)

22. Daft Punk - "One More Time"

23. Swedish House Mafia - "One"

24. Swedish House Mafia feat. Pharrell - "One (Your Name)" While the sound on the whole is a bit 'commercial' at times with some cheesy vocals once in awhile, it still is an album that make you move, the progression and pacing though is impressive and with it all culminating to the Mafia's mega hit 'One' it ends on a definite high.  Recommended.

'Black Swan'

BLACK SWAN

Culbreth Theatre - Virginia Film Festival - November 4th, 2010

Darren Aronofsky's latest film is quite possibly his best yet - it is also the best movie of the year.
The cast is stellar but it's Natalie Portman's performance as Nina that will catapult into an obvious contender for Best Actress at the next Academy Awards.  As a dancer who is given the opportunity to be the lead in a production of 'Swan Lake' she is both estatic and reserved, but when another dancer, Lily played by a scorching Mila Kunis is also interested in the role - conflict ensues.  Also Barbara Hershey's role as Nina's mother almost steals the movie away from Portman.  Aronofsky style for 'Black Swan' uses a multitude of cinematic devices, from an evocative soundmix to tight close ups, he creates a claustrophobic story that slowly builds to such frenzied epic porportions, the ultimate ending left me totally emotionally whipped.

North by Northwest - 4K DLP (Industry screening)

from D-Cinema Today:

Cypress, CA—Nov 8, 2010

Christie Presents World’s First Full Feature Screening in 4K DLP Cinema®

Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece “North by Northwest” presented flawlessly on Christie’s premiere 4K Solaria Series Projector

Christie^®, the leader in digital cinema projection, has presented the world’s first full feature screening in 4K resolution DLP Cinema^® before members of the Hollywood community.  Held at the famed Mann Chinese theater complex in Hollywood, California, the screening was presented for the annual Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) technical conference.   

SMPTE is the leading technical society for the motion picture industry. The 4K presentation on a Christie Solaria CP4230 projector, featured Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, “North by Northwest,” which was meticulously restored by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) with a process that included the highest available scanning resolution and played back using an Integrated Media Block from Doremi Cinema. 
 
“We were impressed by the 4K presentation of this timeless Hitchcock chase thriller,” said Wendy Aylsworth, SMPTE Engineering Vice President and Senior Vice President, Technology, Warner Bros. Technical Operations.  “The image looked superb, and the audience gave the film enthusiastic and rave reviews.  Both Motion Picture Imaging’s restoration and the digital presentation were excellent.”
 
“The audience saw details in the 4K restoration that were unlike anything ever seen before,” said Brian Claypool, Senior Product Manager, Entertainment Solutions for Christie.  “It’s not an easy thing to showcase new technology to an audience of engineers and technicians who belong to every discipline of the film industry.  To get such a positive reaction from them is proof that superior 4K has arrived, and Christie’s 4K DLP Cinema solution meets the industry’s highest standards in image quality for spectacular 2D and 3D presentations.”