"Inside Out", blue is the colour

Inside Out

It's very easy to get carried away with 'Inside Out'. Visually fascinating as always, inventive, pretty entertaining and, finally, a riskier, braver move by embracing a serious issue ('Up' was "there" too, but only for the first 10 minutes): an insight on emotions and growing up through the mind of a child. Anyone who knows me (or reads the Blog) is aware how reluctant I am in what regards to animation. The visual richness and ability to explore/add new effects and techniques is pretty amazing but, imo, it's killing storylines, plot developments and acting. 'Inside Out', I'm keen to say, proves I can be mistaken.

Riley is a very happy 11-year-old kid from Minnesota with loving parents and a passion for hockey. But things are about to change drastically as the family has to move to San Francisco. It's a 360º degrees turn for little Riley and her emotions are going to explode. And that's exactly what are we going to see, as her emotions are the real protagonists of the movie, which try to guide her on every step of the way: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust. The quintet live in Headquarters, the control room located inside Riley's mind. Until the arrival to San Francisco, Joy has been clearly the leading emotion, but the struggle of change creates a serious unrest on the kid. A new city, a new place, a new school. The five emotions (excellent work of the voices, by the way) are dealing with a completely different scenario, where tension and turmoil appear. Sadness (the best character hands down, impossible not to love her) in particular keeps getting in the way, mucking things up, transforming pleasant memories into melancholic, sad ones. Things get even worse when Joy and Sadness accidentally get swept away into the far reaches of Riley's brain, a visually stunning, gorgeous landscape of the mind, where beyond the control room are several islands representing Riley's personality.

'Inside Out' then would turn into a more traditional adventure movie for kids, with Joy and Sadness trying to get back into Headquarters... if there wasn't for the fact the two emotions are moving throughout extremely sensible mind areas like Riley's subconscious, and because is a race against time: Riley's crisis are destroying her emotional landscape. There's a slight moment the word depression came to my mind while watching the movie and, although I would say Disney wins and the plot drags slightly from what it could have been, entering a more conventional, funnier "action" ground, far for the complexity it was promising, I can't complain really. The overall feeling is that Pixar wanted to target adults for almost its entirety this time, without forgetting children. Kudos for that.    

Because 'Inside Out' is a wonderful attempt to portray what's going on inside the head of a kid. The moments where we see the adults' head are as funny as revealing (wish there would have been more scenes), as behind the laughs and charming moments there's a rare depth that has to be celebrated. There's a commanding emotion inside all of us, guess formed by the years and experiences we have to face. Young Riley shifts from a life dominated by Joy into something else, with multiple and, many times, conflicting simultaneous emotions, where other colours aside from the bright yellow of Joy might be needed. Isn't that what growing up is about? Acknowledging life is complex? Learning than life has many contradictions, turnbacks and deceptions but it's still an exciting and worthy ride? It's a great lesson to be learnt, for children and adults as well.

SCORE: 8/10

"Blue Jasmine", from Riches to Rags

Blue Jasmine

An overwhelming praise of a "serious" Woody Allen film? That should had been a warning for me, like "Match Point", that was saluted as a masterpiece, when at its best (Scarlett Johansson magnetic screen presence aside) it was an ok noir recreation with a solid script but a non-Allen film. "Blue Jasmine" is worse. I'm very sad to say that Allen's latest movie seems to come from another planet and characters are mostly unbelievable.

I could blame it to the fact Allen is too far from his natural environment here. Truth is that the world of Allen's filmography has been always pretty constrained in what regards to his sociodemographic scope. An intellectual, slightly upper-class American, recurrently related with arts or cultural industries. But that wouldn't be completely fair. Brilliant and very different works like "Purple Rose from Cairo", "Radio Days" or "Broadway Danny Rose" just to name a few depicted middle and lower classes with more depth an charm that "Blue Jasmine". And that's terrible considering Allen's new piece really wants to say something about social class in the new millennium, in this age of economic crisis where capitalism is showing (even to the most stupid) what a wrong system this is. The problem is that he tries to explore human nature, and its darkest sides, without getting there. Like the failed "Cassandra's Dream", the terrible "You'll Meet a Tall Dark Stranger", or the better but still sterile "Match Point", "Blue Jasmine" lacks depth and heart. And coming from Woody that's a huge disappointment.

"Blue Jasmine" is not a terrible film. The life of Jasmine French is the tale of a downfall, from riches to rags (not enough of these in real life sadly), that Allen exposes in a quite dynamic and wise juxtaposition of current and past events. It does seems it could work, as Cate Blanchett is the perfect actress to give her character sophisticated an elegant looks mixed with the vulnerability of someone who is always on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She is completely lost when she arrives to San Francisco (cool to recognise many locations of the city) looking for a shelter and a new start at her sister's house, a character so different to her that when the spectator knows that they were both adopted there's a relief. 

But right then things to feel pretty unbelievable. Jasmine's sister, Ginger, played by Sally Hawkins, who seems to repeat her "Happy-Go-Lucky" role to an exaggerate extreme. Her naivete seems a bit silly to me. And so are many of the situations, conversations (not very funny) and secondary characters that appear on the story. In particular, I even felt a bit of embarrassment for Allen with the lame and ridiculous dentist as well as the wealthy Dwight (wasting an excellent actor like Peter Sarsgaard).

Then it occurred to me that maybe Allen was just pointing how delusional this woman can be after losing her status and lifestyle. That maybe we were looking to the story though her neurotic, bipolar eyes. That maybe would explain the "wild mood swings", the "going back and forth", not in terms of structure, but in what regards to Jasmine's behaviour... but it didn't really worked out either. Because I didn't care about Jasmine. Not talking about feeling empathy for her character, but I'm referring to interest in the story. Everything kept going, but nothing grabbed me, with the feeling some parts were pretty forced and the whole narrative-dramatic arc being a bit flat (Alec Baldwin's crumbling empire could have been better developed). 

There's a glimpse of brilliance at the end, with a cruel twist in the turn of events on which Allen seems to be punishing not only Jasmine but also Ginger (resignation). I believe the director wants to hold Jasmine as responsible for the crimes of the greedy class, as the perfect wife who profited from corruption, and when reality gives the final slap in her face, she lets madness win. Like in "Midnight in Paris", the impossible desire to be somewhere else and escape from your neuroses and a life you are incapable of living. But if the Parisian dream was lovely and full of magic and wonder, "Blue Jasmine" is just the image of madness. That darker twist saves the film from being a flaw in Allen's career, but it's a big deception nonetheless. 

SCORE: 5,25/10

Discoverer 65: new indie findings

New round of band proposals, first since we landed in California, so I prepared something a bit special, with all groups coming from San Francisco/Bay Area. Hope you like them!

Surf Club. The origins of our first proposal draw us back to 2011 and the band Craft Spells. Frankie Soto from Stockton (very near Bay Area) was an early, pre-label member of the successful combo, the one that didn't relocated to Seattle after signing with Idle Labor. Soto didn't remain passive and quickly assembled Surf Club. Their debut release, "Young Love" EP arrived in February 2012, with songs "Reverie", "Heaven" and latest "Swoon", out since March 2013, following to date. As their name announces, here's a vital dose of surf-pop style, infused on warm shoegaze, jangling guitars and ghostly vocals. Undeniably addictive.

Cool Ghouls. My initial impression of San Francisco is that it has a rockin, unabashedly energetic, joyful vibe. Like this local combo and their engaging music. Active since 2011, the quartet first tunes' arrived later that year, with the "Alright Cassette", following the summer of 2012 (two EPs, one of them live, are also available for free here). Since April we can enjoy their S/T first official album, out on Empty Cellar Records, confirming all expectations. Classic rock scents ready to morph into infectious pop, rambling garage or sun-soaked psychedelia pieces, propelled by guitars and three-headed vocal attacks. What a party!

Marine Life. If my music instincts serve me well, this is going to be a major crush. This SF group just begun their career in late 2012,  recently releasing their debut single (download it for free at their Bandcamp) “Fool of a Kind” while currently work on their debut EP, expected for this summer. This shimmering indiepop pill, a true gentle, laid-back gem fuelled by adorable female vocals, made me look for more. Didn't find much out there (a couple of live recordings including a great cover of Echo and the Bunnymen "Lips Like Sugar") but enough to get me excited, anxious. Can't wait for the EP and the chance of seeing them live!

Close-up with Camera Obscura in San Francisco!

Our first gig in the West Coast had to be a very special one!

Camera Obscura (+ Photo Ops). Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, June 19th 

Tracyanne Campbell and her little bird.
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Walking around San Francisco the whole day was an exciting, but also pretty demanding (oh, these criminal ups & downs, crazy crazy streets) experience, so it's true we arrived to The Regency Ballroom exhausted, probably not in the best mood to attend a gig.

Support act Photo Ops didn't help changing that feeling. Nothing wrong with Terry Price's songs, which we are sure will get a different and richer dimension with his full band, or with his performance, full of intensity and emotion, but the acoustic singer-songwriter approach let us down. Add the terribly disrespectful attitude of the crowd, who couldn't care less about him, and the result was clear: the first gig of the night was ruined for us.

With a slight delay that made us even worry more, Camera Obscura finally took the stage. By then, the venue was completely packed and we soon realise we didn't need to panic at all, as positive surprises were about to come. First, the annoying, never-ending chat of people disappear completely. Is that a trademark of gigs behaviour in America? Or just in San Francisco? It was terribly unfair with the support act, but amazingly respectful and supportive with the main act. The second, of course, was the venue itself. Great sounding.

Camera Obscura in action
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

With these elements and a band like Camera Obscura on stage, the concert was bound to be a good one. And it was. Despite focusing heavily (half of the setlist) on their new material from "Desire Lines" the show didn't have any downs, and tunes like "Troublemaker", the shiny "New Year's Resolution" or "Break It to You Gently" were among the highlights of the night. Even the country-tingled "Desire Lines", not my favourite number, sounded lush and captivating live.  

More Ms. Campbell live
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

There was time for some classics too, of course, to much delight of the enthusiastic audience. "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken", "Let's Get Out of This Country", the wonderful rescue of "Teenager" or "Come Back Margaret", chosen to close the gig before the encore after 14 tunes. But even the more upbeat and recognisable numbers weren't enough to change the dreamy, laid-back, intimate mood the night had.

As a matter of fact, even the encore started with an odd one, "James", a choice made as the band's particular homage to the superb actor James Gandolfini, sadly deceased that day. It's somber tone created an unexpected link with final tune "Razzle Dazzle Rose", mournful and epic. Not even the irresistible "French Navy", a cheerful indiepop masterpiece, was capable to ignite the room the way gigs are supposed to do. Not that Camera Obscura was looking to do that.

Close-up with Tracyanne
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

I understand that a night like Wednesday, a casual fan, or someone without much knowledge on the Scottish group could have left the venue a bit disappointed. In that sense I admit that, for example, May's gig at Primavera Sound 2013 could had been more engaging. But all I can say is that the night was a genuine pleasure for devoted fans (like me). Tracyanne Campbell might not be the most crowd-pleasing, energetic frontwoman my eyes have ever seen. But what a singer-performer she is. Camera Obscura tunes are subtle pills of indiepop perfection, performed brilliantly by a band always looking to offer these little moments of (a trumpet, a triangle, a quirky percussion, an unforgettable keyboard chord) uniqueness. But is Campbell's voice who propels them to another level. What a delight to hear her at the very front row with an immaculate sound all show. What a blessing enjoying Camera Obscura's music that close.

Bloodbuzzed arrives to California!

After a long an exhausting trip (in particular the never-ending flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco) we are now in California. From now until September we will be reporting from the "Golden State".
California, here we go!