BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S NEW ALBUM IS HIS ‘ANGRIEST’ YET

Like a new Stephen King novel, I miss being excited about upcoming Springsteen albums, and now even the ones I did enjoy (pre-2001) sound a little silly and simple. I haven’t even bothered to listen to his last few releases. Never thought that would happen. And it’s not Springsteen’s obnoxious politics, either. He just bores me, kind of like Wes Anderson’s “sensibility.”

Sinatra. Everything you need to know about life, love, youth, growing old, and what it means to be a man is found in the combined works of one Francis Albert Sinatra.

FIVE NEW POSTERS FOR STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D

Unless the tagline reads: Watch It Suck In a Third Dimension!, a class action false advertising suit is imminent.

ARE BIOPICS BAD FOR US?

This captures some of the problem:

Indeed, I’m not actually sure The Iron Lady does have any meaning, and would rate it primarily as a simply a striking replication, hamstrung in its ability to be much else. It skips across themes of power, struggle, loss, aging and personal conviction but audiences aren’t going to get any depth, because they’re too distracted by the novelty of Meryl Streep’s uncanny makeup.

If you want movies with genuine character that offer affecting tales of strong female outsiders overcoming great difficulties you can watch, say, An Education, Whip It, Hanna or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, to name a few diverse flicks of recent vintage. All of them are built around fictional lead protagonists but have way more soul, substance, human heart and authenticity than The Iron Lady.

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Many artists long for one thing above all else and that’s a kind of immortality. They long to create or to be a part of something that will live on past them – that will live on for as long as there’s a civilization and maybe beyond. David Carradine achieved that early in a long career. Perhaps, too early.

A look at Carradine’s resume is a look at an actor who loved to work, relentlessly searched out paychecks, or both. My guess is that genetics might have played a part. His old man, John Carradine, has a list of credits longer than the end titles of a Michael Bay movie.

There are stories about David Carradine. Plenty of them. And if today’s reports prove true — if he indeed did hang himself in some Bangkok hotel room, well, obviously there was some bad news, personal demons, or a toxic mixture of both. Whatever it was, I’m not interested in hearing the story or passing it along. Unless it’s in self-defense, demystifying movie stars borders on the profane in this house.

Whatever it was, I hope he’s found peace. (more…)

Prolific actor David Carradine, best known for the Kung Fu TV series, the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill, and a series of ads for telephone directories, has been found dead in the closet of his hotel room in Thailand, where he was about to begin participation in a new film.

Preliminary reports have the death as a suicide by hanging.

The circumstances of his death, however, should not be allowed to overshadow his accomplishments as an actor.

As the son of actor John Carradine, David Carradine both benefited from his Hollywood family connection and rebelled against the industry that employed him. He appeared in a few very good movies, such as Bound for Glory and The Long Riders, and many, many very poor ones. He played a wide variety of roles, with numerous appearances as villains, some of which were quite memorable, even in some very bad films. (more…)