"The Campaign", politics can be a fun mess!

The Campaign

A political satire is always a complicated film to do. Where do you establish the limits of your jokes? What message (if any) do you want to give? Weight or fun? "The Campaign" has a clear goal: aims to be an unpretentious film to make you laugh.

In my opinion, that's the key to enjoy this film. If you are looking for substance, this is not the place. Politics are not taken seriously here. It's like seeing a flesh & bone episode of Family Guy on American elections. It's also a very unbalanced film. But it does have a healthy dose of spite and a noteworthy amount of hilarious (brutal too, some audiences could find it a bit "too much" for their tastes) moments.

Sure, with that level of physical and verbal comedy, main characters have to be up for their task. And granted they are. Will Ferrell plays a extremely crazy and dumb role, as long-term congressman for one of the biggest districts of North Carolina Cam Brady, while Zach Galifianiakis, as the naive Marty Huggins, is quite brilliant as their impossible rival. There are no sides taken by director Jay Roach here. Democrats and Republicans are equally ridiculed, completely out of their minds, and ready to do what it takes to win the elections. If any, the message of the film is here: politicians are the mere puppets of corrupted CEOs, who are the ones that take the decisions (no spoiling).

Another very positive and "healthy" issue is that "The Campaign" also leaves room to criticise, with sharpness, the whole election system, the role of the media, and voters. Yes, campaigns are phony. Yes, shameful campaign ads and political mudslinging are common policies. In that sense, the film only exaggerates (to the maximum) the machinations and backstabbing among the candidates. With some amusing results. But, if we all know, why don't we try to do something about it?

But as I said before, "The Campaign" is not here to offer solutions. As a matter of fact, and at least to me, their only regrettable mistake is its "happy ending". If you have been building a no-hold-barriers lampooning of real politics, you shouldn't close the movie with an "out of the blue" final message that there's always hope. It would have been more much striking and coherent to leave the audience with the feeling that no matter who wins, we the citizens lose.

Anyway, "The Campaign" is not a great movie or a mind-changer for sure, but I'm also convinced it won't leave you indifferent. At least it will make you laugh.

SCORE: 6/10

The National is back with their "Demons"!

Need to say more? I'm a very happy blogger today. The National is back and in full form! "Trouble Will Find Me" is going to be mind-blowing!

Discoverer 57: new indie findings

New wonderful discoveries this Sunday. Great indiepop groups on infallible labels, enjoy!

The Fireworks. How many times have I referred to a Shelflife Records' release? Here's another one! Coming from London-Brighton, initially this was just Matthew introducing some of his songs to his closest friends over the phone. Luckily Emma (from the lovely Pocketbooks) Isabel and Carys (later replaced by Shaun) were convinced enough to form a proper band by 2011. Gigs, including Indietracks, and a session for Dandelion Radio followed, hitting the studio on 2012 to record their self-titled first EP, out since March. Instant pop melodies infused on feedback, soaked in reverb. Vocal harmonies assaulting walls of noise. The Pastels backed up by My Bloody Valentine. A noisy indiepop feast.

Northern Spies. Speaking of recurrent labels, this blog & the world would look like a musically miserable place without our beloved EardrumsPop friends and their wonderful free singles. On their EPOP30 they introduce us to the world of Astrid Wiezell Howell, young musician from gorgeous Stockholm, who just started to sing under this nickname after the summer of 2012. With witty but lovable lyrics, she makes the blend of acoustic songwriting and indiepop charm so natural & disarming I'm sure her tunes will become your homespun treasure. Plus the EP comes with some delightful bonuses, so what are you waiting for?

The Smittens. Aww, the music connections! Thanks to Northern Spies I found out about this much veteran combo from Burlington, Vermont. Formed at a party in 2002, since then the quintet has released fourth studio albums, a remix ep, a handful of singles and compilation appearances. Their latest LP,  "Believe Me", arrived past summer thanks to another always reliable label, Fika Recordings. They make expansive, in-your-face, joyful indiepop. Believe me, just try one tune, and if doesn't bring you a smile to your face, a ridiculous desire to do some hand clapping or start shaking yourself, I'll stop writing from this moment on.

Spanish Indie 13: suggesting the best national acts

More "made in Spain" music for your listening pleasure!

Wiggum. Another discovery from El Genio Equivocado's roster (the label is absolutely on fire ;) this time in the form of an unbeatable named (undoubtedly best Simpson's family) quartet from Barcelona. Formed on 2009, after a couple of changes on their line-up, recorded their debut LP, "Sintón Nisón ama a Nifú Nifá" a year later. Critics' praise, signing with El Genio and touring followed until 2012, when they decided to go back to the studio and challenge themselves. The result is their second album, "La Guerra Mundial" out this month, a shift towards guitar-driven rock, channeling 90s alternative music. Judging by tunes like the anthemic "Amarillo", looks like a gigantic step forward.

Pleasant Dreams. Hailing from Xilxes, Castellón, comes one of the most gratifying discoveries from latest Minifestival de Música. They started in 2002 but it wouldn't be until 2008 when they debuted on Green Ufos with "Podría Ser Hoy". A 7" vinyl came in 2011 followed by their latest reference, second LP "Hacia los Bosques del Sur", out past year. And what a record this is! A very personal blend of shiny indiepop with acoustic pop-folk and more traditional Mediterranean songwriting. A unique sound, as evocative as carefree, as epic as intimate. Not to miss.
Lost Tapes. Pau Roca is what we call in Spain a "culo inquieto" a music "wiggler" (would that be correct?), as the member from La Habitación Roja and Litoral has decided to have another project, together with RJ Sinclair from Tokyo Sex Destruction and It’s Not Not. The band was created last year after crystallizing the occasional meetings in Madrid-Barcelona and the "many conversations on music, films and reads". The result is "Poetry Dates" EP, their only release to date, out since December 2012. Think on The Pains of Being Pure at Heart backed up by Spacemen 3 while going to the movies. Exciting music.

"Killing Them Softly", capitalism or death

Killing Them Softly

Yeah, I know, the title of the post is pretty bizarre for what it looks like another neo-noir thriller. Noir thrillers are not odd, they usually use (overuse I dare to say) some very determined and classical pattern with slight or more radical ("state-of-the-art", "cool" are also words that come to my mind) visual variations, putting style ahead of substance. But "Kiling Them Softly" is different. Is the first "capitalist thriller" I have ever seen. You must be thinking, what the hell is a capitalist thriller? Let me try to explain myself.

"Killing Them Softly" is, on the surface, a pure thriller dealing with the criminal world. An using a recurrent topic/premise: what in the mafia jargon is called a "contract".  Jackie Cogan is an enforcer recruited to solve a situation (meaning killing the responsible) created by three guys who robbed at a mob protected card game. But the unsurprising, common ground of the premise quickly reveals much more.

It is obvious, since almost the beginning the movie is not really interested on the robbers. They are amateurs and pretty dumb (one of them just a scum), therefore fated to a dramatic end. But director Andrew Dominik adapting George V.Higgins' novel "Cogan's Trade", want to talk about something much more bigger than a crazy robbery. They use that scenario as a metaphor of capitalism, with the United States as the evident background. Well, maybe I should rephrase this paragraph, maybe this is about a crazy robbery after all. The biggest, most despicable and crazy robbery mankind is suffering.

What Jackie Cogan is paid to do is not eliminating three stupid guys, but restore the collapsed local criminal economy. Cogan and the unnamed driver with whom he has the arrangements discuss about murders, but mostly about economy (every dollar counts, more in this choking economic crisis context) and the "public image" that has to be rebuilt. Their capitalist structure, the status quo, has to be preserved by all means. Does it sound familiar to you? It does.

In that context, violence is just a tool, another mean to reach the desired end. Cogan, portrayed with a disarming naturalness by Brad Pitt, could be a gangster, but also the perfect public relations. The film has some violent  scenes, not many, but is mostly a movie about conversations. Criminals wearing suits and ties talking about the needed steps to be taken. Did I hear bankers and politicians? The driver, played by the always perfect Richard Jenkins is an accountant, that's for sure, and you'll see Obama too many times on the screen to just think is a coincidence. Remember than words can also be weapons.

Unfortunately, "Killing Them Softly" somewhat fails as a movie. It has a peculiar, off-beat pace that harms its dynamism. Without it, some scenes seem to be there to make fun, a peculiar, deadpan humour that is, but they don't mix that well as a whole. And to my understanding, director Andrew Dominik makes terrible mistakes of presenting several relevant elements in its narration to abandon them later on. Mickey's character (another great performance by James Gandolfini) and Dillon's ghostly role are the two most blatant examples. It was just a (bad) editing choice? It might be the first film in ages in which I have the feeling the movie is too short... for what it wants to say.

Capitalism or death. But let's try your murder to be as delicate as possible.... Damn it again, doesn't sound familiar to you? Failed movie, but brave, risky, smart, well acted and thought-provoking.

SCORE: 6,5/10

The Indie Anthology 28: essential songs

I'm really enjoying my latest music-related reads. Kristin Hersh's "Rat Girl", "I Was Keith Richard's Drug Dealer" and Dean Wareham's "Black Postcards", which is making me listen again to some forgotten bands. So the next chapter of our Anthology is devoted to them.

Song: Night Nurse
Artist: Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips
Year: 2003

I jumped very late into Dean Wareham's bandwagon. To be honest, wasn't very impressed the first time I listened to Luna and not immediately engaged when a friend told me about Galaxie 500. But it was this dreamy gem taken from the side affair "L'Avventura", a romantic whisper between the then lovers Britta Phillips and Wareham, a modern impersonation of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra, but playing soft and warm space rock that made realise what I was missing. Then I turned back to Luna and to found out a very special band, floating music where almost every note sounds true. Looking forward to do the same with Galaxie 500.

"A Decade Under the Influence", filming the 70's

A Decade Under the Influence

"A Decade Under the Influence" has many points of attraction and interest. A serious documentary trying to examine the decade of the 1970s in what regards to cinema, giving the voice to some of the most relevant filmmakers (plus some actors, producers and industry heavyweights) from that period (many of them still among the best directors nowadays) to talk about their movies, their meaning and the changes that American society went through on that period of time. It has all the elements to be a memorable work on the so-called New Hollywood era, but it has two serious issues that undermine the film as a whole.

The first one is quite simple: this is not a dynamic film. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for special effects or these sort of documentaries where the visual tricks are the recurrent solution to fill the narrative gaps or just extend the length of the work to the usual standards. But Ted Demme (who sadly passed away) takes the most straightforward option. Mixing the opinions of the directors with little additional footage, some historical and some directly from the films. The result is a slow-paced documentary, that can be boring for audiences without a particular interest on it. That's sad because the opinions of Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Peter Bogdanovich, William Friedkin, Dennis Hopper... and a extraordinary long etc is what makes this movie a must-see. Julie Christie, along with Altman and the great and also forever missed "Sidneys" (Lumet and Pollack) are the ones with the smartest and clearest minds.

And the second one is another proof that some topics are, almost, 90% infallible. How many times have you heard or said that the book is better than the film? "A Decade.." has a much more complete, challenging and interesting competitor in the form of a book. Of course, I'm referring to Peter Biskind's monumental "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls". Everything on the 70s, and much more (dark, poignant and scary), is there. After reading that book watching this documentary seems like a Disney's version of the New Hollywood's decade. Sure, this film is not cheating: wants to grasp the opinion of the filmmakers and artists who were there and with that choice compound a collective tale of the decade. But are the starring characters telling all they know? I'm afraid not. Believe me, please read the book and you'll figure it out.

If you are interested in the 1970s, on its turbulent, contradictory and exciting times (rebellion, activism, hedonism, sexual revolution, civil and counterculture movements, drugs...), and how there was an art, cinema, that tried to reflect that social turmoil for a new generation of moviegoers, but finally gave up, you MUST watch this movie. If you want to discover a time when we weren't forced to watch another crap film after another crap film after another crap film, and directors wanted to show and talk about stories and not the next visual effect, this documentary should be a turning point to make you watch dozens of unforgettable movies. But  if you really want to know about the 70s American cinema,.then remember that there is a book waiting for you. "A Decade" should be just a noteworthy starting point.

SCORE: 6,75/10