Kevin Hulsey for Wendy’s, 1987

Baby Driver
iPod Racing
Official Site | Trailer & Mo
R | 113 min

Lets face it - Edgar Wright isn’t THAT great of a director, but man, does that guy certainly try to direct the fcuk out of his movies, and man, does he sure like to have fun, and hopes that you will too.  I’ve sorta had fun seeing all of his films (he’s definitely good at ideas and decent at humor), but I have only truly loved one of them – Hot Fuzz. I didn’t LOVE love his latest – Baby Driver – but it was certainly fun (and more fun but not nearly as good as the seriously driven Drive was), and it was certainly better than all of his other (non-Fuzzy) films that juss weren’t quite there

Had Baby Driver been directed by someone else, say Guy Ritchie or Matthew Vaughn, or even the the Wachowskis, this could have been something momentous.  Ritchie or Vaughn could have made it more polished, and taken the tongue with the cheek, instead of juss being mostly a wagging tongue.  The Wachowskis failed with Speed Racer, but I think they would have soared with the keys to Baby Driver.  Directed by Edgar, the film felt not quite Wright (the car driving scenes in particular didn’t seem overly fast nor furious enuff), but as a whole, it was better than OK, and that’s… OK, cause I really liked the main character – A LOT!  Juss wish the presentation was more presentable, + all the side attractions needed more traction to them

Speaking of the man and the man who played him - Baby Driver IS Ansel Elgort‘s young Han Solo movie.  A finalist for the role he didn’t get, Elgort does super fine as a slick and cool maverick pilot (of a car) flying/driving into the heart of danger, and coming out of it each and every time barely alive, but even slicker and cooler than he was before!  He even wears a jacket that’s very Han-y Solo-ish

Dude – Baby Driver IS Ansel Elgort As Young Han Solo The Movie!!!

But what about everything else?

The movie is all about the soundtrack, and while there are some choice cuts (‘Harlem Shuffle’, Blur’s ‘Intermission’, the Beach Boys’ ‘Let’s Go Away For Awhile’), a lot of the other choices were either too obvious, kinda forgettable, or didn’t match the speed of the car/action.  If I ever made a movie, and had a car chase in it, I would certainly use Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Run’.  But I’m probably not going to make a movie, so I’ll juss be critical of people who do make em!

loved the Michael Meyers mask joke, juss wish it wasn’t ruined for me in the trailer

Lily James is a peach as baby’s babe, but maybe a bit too syrupy sweet

Kevin Spacey somehow doesn’t chew enough of the scenery as you think he would

Jon Hamm is likable, and then becomes detestable – and who wants to endure an unlikable Jon Hamm?

Jamie Foxx – I dunno what he was, but I could barely understand any of his lines of dialog, so he didn’t really register with me

Speaking of a foxx…

HUBBA BUBBA YUBBA HUMMANANA HUMMMMMANA AY DIOS MIO 

Eiza González!!!!!

Verdictgo: juss enuff to make it a Jeepers Worth A Peepers

Baby goes into overDriver currently at a theater near jews and white nationalists

and until next thyme the balcony is clothed…

Maudie
Micro, Soft Paint
Official Site | Trailer & Mo
PG-13 | 115 min

Maud Lewis was a simple woman, who lived a simple existence in a simple Nova Scotian coastal town.  Apparently everything else about her was not so simple.  She suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and in turn, suffered from unsupportive and resentful relatives.  No one believed in her, or her ability to do anything because of her condition.  That trend continued when a no-nonsense loner fish peddler named Everett Lewis begrudgingly took her on as a live-in housekeeper, in his simple tiny home, cause simply there was no one else willing to take the job.  But after she moved in, she started to slowly move into his heart, and as she began to open hers, her talent as a folksy, SIMPLE painter emerged, and Everett succumbed to both painter and her paint.  Soon, others from around the continent (even Richard Nixon!) would line-up behind Everett to do the same.  YOU GO MAUDE!!

This is the subject of the simple, yet simply beautiful new film Maudie by Aisling Walsh, starring the mos eggsalad Sally Hawkins as the real-life subject, and a Sling-Bladey Ethan Hawke as the curmudgeon husband to be.  The movie is unassuming, unshowy, unpolished – and the exact kind of movie diversion we need during the summer of usual cinematic garbage.  Its simplicity is a stroke of genius – so dig in, and watch the paint  (Canada) dry, and perhaps watch as your eyes don’t remain dry!

Verdictgo: Breast In Show

Maudie is on display currently in limited release

and until next thyme the balcony is clothed…

U2
Giants Stadium II
June 28th

Lets get one thing clear – The Joshua Tree is a fantastic album… but it’s not even close to being my favorite U2 album (hello Achtung Baby).  So when the JT tour was announced, I was going regardless, and knew I had some brushing up to do.  Probably re-listened to the album 50+ times since I secured tickets, and while I certainly liked what I heard and rediscovered, I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down in anticipation of the show.  Which is strange, cause I usually am for a U2 show – as this would be my 9th time seeing them (previously on U2TWS – 2015 / 2011 / 2009 / 2009 again)

I was 10 when the album was released, and not of concert going age.  The album is now 30 years old, and the concert experience put on to celebrate it is probably a better show than the original one was.  Obviously I cannot say that for certain, but just by looking at one of the shows from the ’87 tour, it looks like a primitive caveman staged it!!!!  U2 of today could never go back to those sparse good old days of yesteryear – their INCREDIBLE Zoo TV tour cinched that, ensuring all future tours would be a visual spectacle, each trying to top the previous, but U2 could at least go back and revisit the music, and refresh our memories of their past greatness, while dazzling our eyes with their current greatness

Surrounding the full run-through of the album, in order, U2 played a collection of greatest hits – all lovely choices, but I felt the non-JT songs (especially the modern ones in the encore) should have also had a more throwback feel.  How about a few more songs from the proceeding The Unforgettable Fire?  Or why no love for the follow-up/continuation of where Joshua left off – Rattle & Hum?  I think I could have forgone hearing ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Beautiful Day’ for an 8th time to hear me some ‘Van Diemen’s Land’!!  Well, at least the JT tour gave me one of the things I’ve always wanted to hear live – ‘In God’s Country’.  Next wish – Zoo TV 2 tour, 2021.  Make it happen lads!

While the theatrics have certainly changed, Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry are still the same 4 blokes we’ve always loved and admired, and perhaps we love them and admire them even more than we ever have.  Sure, they aren’t the Beatles, but the Beatles couldn’t stay together beyond a decade.  OK, so the Rolling Stones have never stopped rocking/touring, but they’ve also never stopped making albums more forgettable than the 2nd Vanilla Ice album.  U2 have carried and inflamed the torch of those rock gawd forefathers, and perhaps have even given us more than they ever have, and hopefully continue to do so.  New, old, newish-old – U2, you keep showing us what we’re looking for, even if we don’t know what it is we’re looking for!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV6OEx6jt8y/

Setlist – Sunday Bloody Sunday /  New Year’s Day / Bad / Pride (In the Name of Love)

The Joshua Tree - Where the Streets Have No Name / I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / With or Without You / Bullet the Blue Sky / Running to Stand Still / Red Hill Mining Town / In God’s Country / Trip Through Your Wires / One Tree Hill / Exit / Mothers of the Disappeared

Encore – Miss Sarajevo / Beautiful Day / Elevation / Vertigo / Ultraviolet (Light My Way) / One / The Little Things That Give You Away