Lincoln (2012), Broken (2012)

Lincoln (Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones)

 

I'd put off watching Lincoln for a long time.  I guess I needed to be in the mood for a two and a half hour history lesson, but recently I did take the plunge. I recommend Lincoln for the performances more than anything else.  Daniel Day-Lewis won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Lincoln, and he is excellent, but I found Tommy Lee Jones's performance as Thaddeus Stevens to be the best in the film, and Sally Field burns with intensity as Mary Todd Lincoln, a First Lady who feels hidden away by her husband.  The performances are excellent, but the film itself is very dialogue driven and procedural.  That's not to say it's dull, but it's less than scintillating in many parts.

Broken (2012)- Cillian Murphy, Eloise Laurence, Tim Roth, Rory Kinnear

Broken is the story of Skunk (Laurence, a girl living in North London.  Coming home one day, she is chatting with her friend Rick while he is washing a car.  Rick is savagely attacked by Mr. Oswald (Rory Kinnear) who believes that Rick has assaulted his daughter, and from there, we learn about the three families living on their end of the block.  Skunk's family has its share of complications (Kasia, the family's au-pair, has a rocky relationship with Mike (Murphy), who is also Skunk's favorite teacher), but the other two families have even more trouble brewing.  Rick is often institutionalized and is dangerously unstable, and the man who attacked him is an abusive single father whose daughters become absolutely ruthless bullies. 

Broken is a dark, often violent tale, but I definitely recommend it, as it's a suspenseful, well-told tale.  There are noteworthy performances here as well.  Laurence is very good as Skunk, a curious and perhaps over-trusting girl. Roth's character is loving but understandably baffled at times with his daughter, and Kinnear's presence is looming as Mr. Oswald, a character who seems to know nothing but violence as a way out of a situation.





 

Harry Connick Jr- Every Man Should Know

Twice was the charm for Every Man Should Know, Harry Connick Jr’s latest release.  The first pass didn’t leave much of an impression on me, and in fact I found it to be a little snoozy.  But the second listen revealed EMSK as a subtler pleasure, as Connick switches moods and styles pretty effortlessly.  He begins with the title track, and to me it’s a shaky and pretty sappy opener, as Connick reflects on what a man should be to a woman.  The next three songs are much sharper, as Connick goes from lusty (One Fine Thing”) to blissful (“I Love Her) to penning a tune that may become a wedding staple (“Greatest Love Story”). 

          The middle of the album is solid, as the mood shifts again from slightly desperate longing  (“Come See About Me”) to the complete opposite (the gleeful solitude of “Being Alone”).  Connick gets supportive with a gospel choir in “You’ve Got It”, and then follows the best track, “Let Me Stay”, which is a beautiful love song featuring great interplay between Connick and many instruments.

         Every Man Should Know doesn’t finish well, though.  I wasn’t quite feeling the more gospel-ish “S’pposed To Be”, and “Time To Go” is a downright puzzling choice to close.  “Time To Go” is told from the point of view of an aging performer whose days are long behind.   Connick has the audience in this song practically booing said performer (who is, incidentally, living out of his car) off the stage.  It’s an utter downer of a song and leaves a pretty bad taste.   Despite the last track, though, “Every Man Should Know” is an interesting listen.

Concert Review- Sting at The Ravinia Festival (June 7)

Friday night marked my fifth Sting concert, and this one was at a bit of a different venue.  The Ravinia Festival (in Highland Park, IL) is like a concert in the park on a much bigger scale, as concertgoers (at least the ones on the massive lawn) are also picnic-goers.  Showtime was 8pm, but gates opened at 5 (4:30 for Ravinia members).  For us non-members, 5 o'clock was a rush, as the gates opened and we looked for that ideal spot. 

Turns out any ol' spot would do, as very few of the lawn seats have a close-up view of the pavilion, so we set up shop near one of the many speakers and began to relax.  Our fellow concert-goers were very friendly, which was a good thing since we wound up pretty tightly packed.  Some of our neighbors brought games, and some even burrowed into sleeping bags as the chill in the air intensified as the sun made its way down.

Thinking back on it, it's hard to imagine a more perfect headliner for Ravinia than Sting.  Since his days fronting The Police, Sting's tunes have likely wound up as the background music for many a shindig, and they seemed to serve the same function even with him present, at least for many on the lawn.  Sting's music is pretty mellow, and the most raucous song of the night was "Demolition Man", which livelied up what had been a pretty sedate start.  He opened with two hits, "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic".  For me, it was good to hear Sting's playfulness within these songs (and all his songs, really), but the night really brought out to me what a tremendous songwriter Sting really is. As much as I prefer his work with the Police, his solo work really blends well in concert, especially with a tight band behind him.  As earlier stated, I've seen Sting five times, and for three of those shows, Vinnie Colauita was the drummer and really seems to bring the best out in Sting.  Dominic Miller has long been Sting's voice on the guitar, and it's a distinct voice, even on Police songs.  David Sancious provides a jazzy feel on keyboards, David Tickell had a couple of rousing violin solos, and backup singer Jo Lawry complements Sting very well (and he let her howl on "Hounds of Winter).

Sting himself is in incredible shape.  He hasn't lost anything vocally, and was very laid-back and comfortable on stage, as he seems to have found a good groove with his band.  Overall, they put on a solid show with distinctly different takes on the hits and good choices on the more obscure material.

Setlist:

If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
Every Little Thing She Does
Englishman In New York
All This Time (introduced as a song about Newcastle, his home town)
Seven Days
Demolition Man (liked a lot with the guitar work at the end)
I Hung My Head (introduced as Sting's attempt at a country song)
Fields of Gold
Driven To Tears
Heavy Cloud No Rain
Message In A Bottle
Hounds of Winter (howling vocals at the end by Lawry and Sting)
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Band solos
Roxanne

Encore:

Desert Rose
King Of Pain
Every Breath You Take
Next To You
Fragile