Armchair Commentary

How high would you rate "Spinal Tap"?

Someone recently pointed out IMDb's user rating of Spinal Tap is slightly unusual. --David

"Glee" will have a Season 1, Vol. 2 after all

Great news for Glee fans (or "Gleeks," as we're called): There will be a Season One, Vol. 2: Road to Regionals on DVD after all! You may remember that Fox recently announced that the complete first season would be released on DVD and Blu-ray.  That meant if you had bought Season 1, Vol. 1: Road to Sectionals, you were going to have to rebuy those first 13 episodes, though you could also get 10 bucks back.  You'd also get a bunch of new bonus features, including behind-the-scenes looks at the "Power of Madonna" episode and the season finale, cast makeovers, a music juke box, new "Sue's Corners" ("And that's how Sue... C's it"), and more. But even so, the fans who wanted to support the show by buying vol. 1 were left wondering why there wasn't a vol. 2 following it.  They spoke up, and now there is!  The nine episodes won't have bonus features [EDIT: Now it looks like vol. 2 will have some bonus features: the juke box, the Madonna and season-finale featurettes, and more], but they will have all those great musical numbers, complicated relationships, and Sue Sylvester one-liners we've been enjoying since the show returned to the air in April.  That includes the Madonna- and Lady Gaga-centric episodes, the emotional showdown at Regionals, and guest appearances by Neil Patrick Harris and Idina Menzel (who could forget their duets with Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele, respectively, in what might have been the show's best episode, directed by Joss Whedon), as well as Menzel's Wicked co-star Kristin Chenoweth and Olivia Newton-John.  I myself am going to get season 1 on Blu-ray, but you can choose for yourself how to buy the rest of Glee.  Sounds like no one's a loser and everyone's a winner!  --David

Air-Guitar Picks and Pans: Movies About Rock Bands

I was a teenage Runaway wannabe. Growing up, I copied Cherie Currie's shaggy feathered hair and dreamed of having a band like The Runaways. But, as usual, reality spoils the fantasy and if I’d sneered “Hello daddy, hello, mom!” my parents would have told me to quit being a goofball and go clean my room. So, as The Runaways --the biopic on the long-overlooked ‘70s teen rocker chicks--opens in selected theaters this week, I’m hoping Hollywood won’t break my still-adolescent heart. Can Dakota Fanning hold a torch to the real Cherie? Is Kristen Stewart too one-dimensional as Twilight’s Bella to be a decent Joan Jett? We’ll soon see. Until then, here’s a look at a few faux rockers who didn’t disappoint – and some that barely struck a chord.

• The Doors:  In this 1991 film by director Oliver Stone, a svelte Val Kilmer plays the late Jim Morrison  and bears an eerie resemblance to the singer, who died in 1971. Say what you will about Stone's heavy-handed treatment of the '60s in some of his films, this one holds a few surprises, such as Crispin Glover as the best Andy Warhol ever.

• Sid and Nancy:  Gary Oldman is the goofily, drugged-out Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious in this 1986 film directed by Alex Cox. Chloe Webb gives a memorable performance as Sid’s screeching girlfriend Nancy Spungeon (best quote: “I look like @$#*$) Stevie Nicks!”). The tragic tale of the ill-fated lovers is marked by ethereal cinematography – and it’s also worth watching for a glimpse of a pre-plastic surgery Courtney Love as one of Nancy’s punker pals.

• Buddy Holly Story:  Long before Gary Busey’s stint on Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew, he received a Best Actor nomination for this 1978 tale of rocker Buddy Holly.  Holly’s blooming career was cut short in a tragic plane crash that also took the lives of fellow stars Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson in 1959. Valens was later memorialized by Lou Diamond Phillips in 1987’s La Bamba.

• Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story: My friend Jim owns a DVD of this made-for-VH1 movie. “It’s pretty bad,” he said, popping it into the DVD player. So I braced myself for the worst. No, this tale of the UK's metal rockers is GREAT-bad in the same way that Showgirls is GREAT-bad. Why it hasn't become a cult classic is beyond me.

• Control:  As a major Joy Division fan, I thought Sam Riley did a brilliant job as Ian Curtis, lead singer of the influential British band who took his own life in 1980. I was cynical at first, but director Anton Corbjin won me over quickly by staying remarkably true to his subject. 

• Ray: Jamie Foxx took home an Oscar for his electrifying performance as Ray Charles in this 2004 biopic which chronicles the life and struggles of the blind singer/pianist. I'd always thought of Foxx as just this funny guy from TV, but he's earned his stripes as an actor – even going so far as to wear prosthetic eyelids in order to relate to his blind character.

   

  Here are a few more biopics worth noting that overlap the country, R&B and rock boundaries. For a music lover, that's a great thing.

  • Jacksons: An American Dream: After the death of Michael Jackson, this 1992 TV miniseries can now be considered a time capsule of sorts. It's interesting to watch family patriarch Joe (played Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs AKA Freddy “Boom Boom’ Washington to us Welcome Back, Kotter kids) in light of his actions since his son's death. With Angela Bassett as mom  Katherine and Billy Dee Williams as Berry Gordy.
  •  Walk the Line: Reese Witherspoon won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in this 2005 film about the life of singer Johnny Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix – before he got weird).
  • Coal Miner’s Daughter: Michael Apted directed Sissy Spacek in her Oscar-winning role in this 1980 tearjerker bio of country singer Loretta Lynn.
  •  What We Do Is Secret – As a longtime Germs fan, I couldn’t wait to see this movie. I was sorry when I finally watched the DVD. Shane West (E.R.’s Dr. Ray Barnett) growls and thrashes his way through this otherwise boring mess as late singer Darby Crash. It's difficult  to  tell what's on Bijou Phillip’s head (maltese? bichon frise?) as she mangles her role as bassist Lorna Doom.

  --Francine Ruley

   

Get "Glee"-full on December 29

The most talked-about new show of the season, Glee, is coming out on DVD on December 29. The first 13 episodes will be released as Glee, Vol. 1: Road to Sectionals, and it will have all those great songs we get every week, including "Don't Stop Believing" and "Somebody to Love," plus Acafellas, Kristin Chenoweth's guest appearance as McKinley alum April Rhodes, and more. --David

Jay Leno debuts, Kanye West apologizes

The Jay Leno primetime experiment began last night, and based on early ratings has gotten off to a strong start.  We'll say how it holds up as the season goes on, but the show was pretty much the same as his old show, with a monologue, guest Jerry Seinfeld accompanied by a video appearance by Oprah, the Dan Band, a couple comedy sketches (fake interview with President Obama, Leno on Cheaters), and "Headlines" now at the end instead of following the monologue (did they figure that would keep the most people tuned in?).  As it turned out, also scheduled was a performance by Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West, and Kanye sat down with Leno beforehand to apologize for the Taylor Swift controversy from the previous night's Video Music Awards.  He seemed sincere--watch it on Hulu below or on YouTube.  --David

The Beatles at the movies

In case you missed the story, well, everywhere, tomorrow, 9-9-09, is the day Beatlemania hits again in music and video games.  No big news on the movie front, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean we can't still enjoy a couple of my favorite moments from the Beatles' movies: the opening sequence of A Hard Day's Night (captures the frenzy of the era) and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" from the crazy Help! movie (a great song and an odd little moment of calm in the movie; John is singing, Paul and George are making eyes at the girl, and Ringo is... disconnected).  I'll also throw in "When I'm 64" from the trippy Yellow Submarine.  --David

Happy anniversary, Woodstock

In case you missed it in the news, today is the 40th anniversary of the first day of Woodstock, the famous New York rock festival that put hippies in the spotlight and made a certain rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" famous. To recognize the anniversary, Warner Home Video has rereleased the classic documentary in a 40th anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition on Blu-ray and DVD. The editions you'll find exclusively at Amazon have additional never-before-seen performance footage from Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Country Joe and the Fish as well as some extra featurettes. Watch the trailer, a clip about the restoration, and some performances below. or find more music, DVDs, and books in our Woodstock store. --David

The return of Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle, whose performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" became an Internet sensation, has made it into the finals of Britain's Got Talent. Watch her semifinal performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Memory" from Cats below. --David

"Falling Slowly" climbing quickly

There's a feature here at Amazon called Movers and Shakers, which highlights the products that have suddenly jumped in sales rank compared to the previous day. One of today's DVD jumpers is Once (current rank: #43; yesterday: #389), due no doubt to Kris Allen's performance of "Falling Slowly" on last night's episode of American Idol.  If you haven't seen the film--a intimate and touching story about a pair of musicians in Ireland, played by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová--you can watch how they performed "Falling Slowly" below.  --David

Trailer Park: "Fame"

This trailer for the new Fame movie (opening September 25, 2009) just gave me a flashback (a not-altogether-pleasant one) to many high-school talent shows I sat through in the '80s. But I do like the original movie (also trailered below) and its disco-infused score, with "Hot Lunch Jam," "I Sing the Body Electric," "Dogs in the Yard," and "Ralph and Monty (Dressing Room Piano)."  ER fans may recognize the guitar-playing redhead as a young Paul "Rocket Romano" McCrane (he sang "Dogs in the Yard" and "Is It Okay if I Call You Mine" in the movie). --David