Admit it, you liked the Spice Girls to a degree  back in the day... and maybe you still do. But the endless spin of the gargantuan hits like "Wannabe" or "Spice Up Your Life" certainly cannot suffice you forever. I for one, have always preferred the songs that came up after their huge hits. Has anyone not noticed that after track 3 you got bored with their albums? Yeah, I haven't.

Click on the song for the video.

"Stop" 

Spiceworld (1997)

While "Stop" has not hit big numbers in America, it has been respected all across the UK and Europe in its Mo-Town bounciness as if you're a Spice nerd like me, you can't help but not do the dance moves throughout the whole song. This is indeed a dance-able tune and even the video humanize the girls a bit without the outlandish costumes and ridiculous lyrics like in "Wannabe" (I'm sorry, not a fan).

"Do It"

Spiceworld (1997)

Truthfully, I love the message songs that the Spice Girls sing as it has always been about "girl power" but there is something in the undertone of "Do It" and "Move Over" that says more about the general girl power and all about women having self respect. Now that is something I'm not hearing in Selena Gomez or Miley Cyrus songs nowadays.

"Who Do You Think You Are?"

SPICE (1996)

If I had to organize into a list of my favorite Spice Girls songs, this one would definitely be my second most favorite and not just because, again, I knew and still know all of the dance moves. (And no, I will not dance them for you people.) It's fun, dance-able, and God damn it, if you haven't seen the girls having legitimate fun in any of their videos, they are having fun in this one and it shows in the lip-synced music.

"Move Over (Generation Next Theme)"

Spiceworld (1997)

As my number one favorite Spice Girls song, I am rather biased as to why this must be included in my list. But as a message song (and unfortunately under the influence of Pepsi), this song is bad ass. "Let me tell you 'bout a thing, gotta put it to the test/It's a celebration, motivation, generation next/Well sow me the seed, every color every creed/Teach never preach, listen up take heed."

"Viva Forever"

Spiceworld (1997)

As much as I love my Spice Girls quirky and stunning (the latter goes straight to Victoria Beckham, who is my personal soul sister and spirit guide), I do love the sensitive songs that come out of both albums. I will get to "Naked" later, but "Viva Forever" is an evolved "Naked" that slowly closes out Spiceworld with an otherworldly breeze. It almost seems ironic and sad choice to put this song in Spiceworld as this was the last album Geri Halliwell took part in because life continues even after a band slowly dismembers itself.

"If U Can't Dance"

SPICE (1996)

A lovely little gem towards the end of Spice that includes Geri Haliwell speaking in Spanish and a lot of dance-y beats. Yes, even I know the dance moves in the video; remember pay-per-view? I watched that concert down to the bone... and every choreography step. And no, I'm not going to show you.

"The Lady is a Vamp"

Spiceworld (1997)

This is one my favorite Spice Girls songs ever and not just because I have a soft spot when media references one another. "The Lady is a Vamp" is chock full of them: Elvis Presley, James Bond, Doctor No, Twiggy, Jackie O, JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Sandy Denny among many other more veiled references. The Spice Girls Wikia actually cites this song as "some kind of tribute to old stars that made Girl Power before them."

"Naked"

SPICE (1996)

When I was listening to this when I was younger, I always thought there was something about "Naked" I couldn't quite put my finger on why I liked it so much. Maybe it's the creepiness or Emma Bunton's gorgeous monologue with that music, I don't know. I love it and it's creepy. 

"I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" (Gary Glitter Cover)

Spiceworld SOUNDTRACK (1997)

I have always had a soft spot for this cover (which I didn't know was a cover until I researched the song) and the ridiculously cheesy performance complete with chest-flexing male dancers. Now the fact that it's a Gary Glitter Cover -- despite all the pedo-ness -- this is pretty amazing.. and ridiculously cheesy.

It is my favorite topic and time of year. Around midsummer one cannot help but be ready for the smell of burning leaves, freshly dyed fall-ready hair colors and leggings and scarves so we all must venture out to see what our favorite nail polish brands have up their cuticles. (oof, yes, I agree that one was horrible...)

 

 

Because Essie does fall colors like a boss! And while these are the official swatches for the very Scottish themed fall line, one should be at CVS in September with a roll of scotch tape ready to test drive Essie's pretty new babies. (Since, you know, colors look different on different skin tones...) I find myself attracted to Partner in Crime, Fall in Line and The Perfect Cover Up, if the latter is as soft as the swatch looks; if it's any darker it would be a contender up against Go Overboard. 



If you simply can't wait, Dressed to Kilt is up for pre-order on Nails Ave and Transdesign. What colors are you attracted to?

Ages and Ages made their grand return to Iowa City after opening for Lake Street Dive back in March and like before, they were totally, utterly, and completely magical! I'm already pumped for their next return! Dana T wasn't too bad either. And as a challenge by the guitarist, Annie, I will post here the review I wrote for Divisionary (which another write up can be found here) **edit** nope, can't. I guess I can't access my old K**I account on wordpress.

 

 

 

 



 



Dana T. and his band





Dana T.



From right to left: Becca Schultz, Annie Bethancourt, Tim Perry, Sarah Riddle, Rob Oberdorfer and Levi Cecil on drums

Bandleader Tim Berry

Guitarist Annie Bethancourt



Sarah Riddle

 

 

     

We all know how bio-pics go: you start with a well-known band that is in the public's cultural consciousness and through aging makeup, wigs, and the occasional overacting, you find yourself crying like a baby by the end of it realizing how that one song from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack somehow means more to you now. And while we expect all of this in bright Technicolor and Broadway spotlights, Clint Eastwood of all people takes the musical "Jersey Boys" and keeps it to the Jersey-ian nitty-gritty.

 

 

Although The Four Seasons has gone through many member changes, the musical turned movie focuses on Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio's professional and personal friendships with each other as well as a love for the music. Unfortunately, the latter is the movie's downfall. For the first half of the movie we are led through the genesis and rotating door of member changes and prison cells but seeing the great potential in John Lloyd Young's (Valli) talent which is a greater catalyst than four guys loving the music. We are given a glimpse into this in the finale when all four get back together for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame induction and it indeed gave me chills to watch the aged actors sing then morph back into their younger selves during the song and giving their perspective on themselves. It seems "Jersey Boys" in this respect seems to be more about the people than the actual music.

 

And yet it is the people who make the movie more than the music. Boardwalk Empire's Vincent Piazza plays a relatively antagonistic Tommy DeVito in his tough Jersey exterior but Eastwood doesn't really grace us with anything more than his loan shark problems and party boy attitude that gets him kicked out of the band. John Lloyd Young, as well as Piazza, is sure to receive at least a Golden Globe nomination in turn for his portrayal as the man with the startling falsetto but crippling family problems. Although this is his first time on the big screen, Young has a startling ability to make his eyes slightly water under the influence of Valli's 1970s wig and makeup and you can truly feel the impact of age, losing a daughter and girlfriend all for the price of fame. Rounding out the band is the comic relief of Michael Lomeda (Nick Massi) and the steadfast and passionate Erich Bergren as Bob Gaudio. At times, Mike Doyle (in the role of flamboyant producer Bob Crewe) walks off with the scene in a super-gay awesome finesse. Even Clint's daughter, Francesca, has a small role.

 

 

The movie itself, sticking to the stage documentary-like narration, often feels awkward with the occasional band member speaking to the audience. At the beginning, Piazza documents to the camera his point of view how the band got started yet by act three, this type of story-telling almost backfires. With the unfortunate time lapses which also does not help the storytelling, "Nickie" explains the annoyance that is DeVito in having to room with him as well as landing in prison because they did not pay the hotel bill last time they were in that town. This moment in the movie sticks out like a sore thumb and whether it is fault of the screen play or even the stage play, it does not work well on camera by any means.

 

But despite all of its flaws and clunky thickness, Eastwood does have an eye for keeping it real and with a tough guy masculine silence. The meeting between the band members, DeCarlo and the loan shark who DeVito owes 150,000 dollars to perfectly reflects what it is Eastwood does well with a little hint of over emotion, in part to "Nickie's" hysterical but heartfelt rant in leaving the band. This perhaps is the only time when I felt fully immersed within the movie and feeling everyone's point of view for the thickness to only return afterwards in the hopes to throw three decades into an hour and a half. Perhaps that last phrase is the movie's overall downfall: throwing three decades into an hour and a half. Some bits work and some don't either by the awkwardness of adaptation or even editing choices. The editing earlier on in the movie often feels like a case of exhibition -- is it very necessary to have two scenes at the prison when we need to strengthen the friendship between Piazza and Young?

 

 

Give these kids a Golden Globe nomination; they don't have to win, just nominate them!

 

However, Eastwood did a brave attempt in the making of his first musical going as far as to getting the cast to sing live on set which is most of the time not a rookie thing to do. I also must commend on the use of color and cinematography. But perhaps where he fell flat was employing his staff  who worked with him on "Gran Torino" and "Million Dollar Baby" believing that to result in the perfect formula of an "Eastwood musical." It's not going to work entirely! Although the real Bob Gaudio helped production, I believe "Jersey Boys" could have been a little better if Gaudio overruled Eastwood in finding more musical genre-friendly help. Perhaps it was those polarizations that was the sly nod to the stage musical over the credits starting with that Sherry reprise and the camera slowly craning down on a street light with the four boys underneath in their signature red tuxes (which still gives me goose bumps thinking about it!)  before all went out with those bright Technicolor and Broadway spotlights. The sequence was cute and fun, although a little clumsy towards the rest of the movie, but to see Walken in character busting a move, it was very rewarding. I only ask that the credit sequence be an option on the DVD, which I will surely watch once it comes out and find myself trapped all over again loving it for something I can't explain yet annoyed at a few nuances.

   

Between Jazz Fest and Arts Fest lies a very boring and unfortunately workless month for me. Thank God for the internet and pop culture. What would I be without you?

Boring...

...and a little less cool?

Guy Love 2.0

 

What is better than seeing the cast of Wish I Was Here in the same room as you as you watch the movie? Oh IDK, seeing that bromance endures between Zach Braff and Donald Faison? It's practically perfect that the both of them came out singing "Guy Love" in Austin's Paramount Theater proving that their guy love is life long. <3

 

 

Sometimes All You Need is

Sharon van Etten and an Omnicord

 

 

 

"Are We There" has been out for two weeks and while it has a fuller and somewhat louder/cheaper sound than "Tramp," it continues to humble and evolve all that is Ms. van Etten. So when Sharon wanders around Refinery29's office with an omnicord to result in this performance, you better fucking listen! And I did, melted while all the while staring at this strange and magical instrument that is the omnicord. I'm in love but when am I not?

 

Madison's "In the Bright Light" EP

IS OUT, OUT OUT!

 

And it's magical! And danceable! And Madison sounds even sexier and

 mysterious than ever before!

 









  Magic in the Moonlight Trailer  

 

We all knew that Emma Stone was collaborating with the infamous Mr. Woody Allen for awhile now; but we officially have visual proof of this! "Magic in the Moonlight" proves to be some kind of experiment between fact versus faith, cynicism versus love, Emma Stone in over a million fantastically designed 30's style outfits, Emma Stone kissing Colin Firth for every girl in our generation and Emma Stone looking like a Katharine Hepburn incarnation! Experiment fulfilled; now can July 25th get here any faster?

 

 

It's Still a Hard Day's Night

50 Years Later...

 

 

Some of my earliest memories involve getting The Beatles's first movie from the movie store (remember those?) and watching it on constant repeat. My brother would memorize visually and audial every move Ringo Starr made on the drums and I was somehow enthralled in the songs that were not the headliners like "Can't Buy Me Love" and the title track. Well, this strange little movie has a Criterion reincarnation come June 24th including 4K digital restoration and dozens of documentaries and features that would make the unofficial film historian in me do happy dance laps around my apartment.

 

Let's not just stop there, the first Beatles flick is also coming to theaters in July! I'm seriously not kidding. Des Moines or Chicago, I am coming for you! I have to! I mean it! Seriously! *pouts* I'm not, am I?

 

 

Truthfully, the one thing that got me through my week was when Josh Hartnett won his guy-on-guy stripes on my new favorite TV show, Penny Dreadful. This show seriously engulfs my past life DNA senses, at least the ones that belongs in Gothic literature/the Victorian era.

 

"But B, you fan-girl hard over any two guys that make out!"

 

That may be very true, but, contextually this is (as I mentioned on the Penny Dreadful facebook page TWICE!) "the reason that I write." After Brona (Doctor Who's Billie Piper) breaks up with our wolf man, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler (Hartnett) who else is to pick up the pieces than the Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney). It seems Gray didn't feel like flirting with Chandler's employer (Eva Green's Vanessa Ives) as he has been but it has been mostly out of fascination of her other worldly powers. He takes the brokenhearted American to an underground gambling club where Ethan is only triggered by the sight of rat blood and animal/human love of carnage. Within the trigger and getting into a brawl, Gray takes him to his home.

 

 

Now see, a lot of people would think that Carney's Gray would be literally trying and eager to hard to get a guy into his bed but strangely, this portrayal of Dorian is probably more bored than Ben Barnes or Hurd Hatfield put together. But this Dorian feels nothing but empathy for Chandler and tries to console this the only way men can -- drinking. But not just drinking anything, we count Chandler having least three glasses of absinthe and under the influence of Wagner's "Liebestod," I like to believe he becomes triggered by the murders he possibly has committed yet is soothed by Dorian's empathy which results in a wonderful confrontation. "It's the Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde. Literally translated it means love-death. It's the very end of the opera; Isolde's lover is dead in front of her. They're on a beach, the waves are rolling in and out. You can hear that in the music, can't you? And her heartbreak, you can hear that."

 

I like to think that Hartnett's Chandler is trapped between hating and feeling humbled that Dorian strangely gets it, hence initially choking him and willingly kissing him either taking a little of  Dorian's immortal bored confidence  or simply being magnetized by the immortal. Chandler begins to cry and you can see the tears under his eyes whether it is alcohol-induced after he shakes his head, giving into either Dorian's "spell" or his own inabilities to accept the killer or Wolf Man (which fans are speculating) within him. But then again, there is no indication of Gray's powers as he looks at Chandler solemnly as if saying with his eyes, "You and I both know what death and heartbreak means." Even Gray seems amazed and humbled when they talk about art and Chandler's love for primitive etchings in a mountain. "They're honest" Hartnett's character says and I think that is what hooked Gray that for once, he doesn't want this guy -- he has possibly seen more in his short life than what Dorian has seen in his longer youthful immortality.  

 

 

Even after I got over the initial lady wood of the scene, Hartnett is a little surprised at himself for kissing him -- but how else does one person try to retrieve something they want out of another? In Michael Cunningham's masterpiece "The Hours" (the book, not the movie!), Mrs. Brown and Kitty share a kiss together because "They are both afflicted and blessed, full of shared secrets, striving every moment. They are each impersonating someone. They are weary and beleaguered; they have taken on such enormous work." So we can say that both of these instances are the same; even before this climatic scene, Gray talks about all of his colognes. "Each produces a different sensation, a different you I could carry away." So there is no doubt that he wants to be a different person and finds something humbling about Chandler's love for the honest. 

 

The sad thing is, is once the episode is out there and for everyone to see, no one is going to analyze this down to it's bare bones as something sad yet empathetic. The LGB community will hoorah Hartnett and Carney for being better actors to flex a sexual ambiguity into their repertoire and bringing LGB characters to the forefront and those who are homophobic or deny the male species of affection towards another with sexual intention or not, will keep doing what they're doing and add this as fuel to their bonfires of dislike. Because, damn it, gayness matters! And this scene is nothing more but two guys kissing with no literary device behind it, right? *sarcasm*