the Color of Context

Feb 20

Coraline
Henry Selik channels Neil Gaiman channeling a darker, stranger Roald Dahl

I’m beginning to think the English may need to brush up on their parenting skills. First, Roald Dahl wrote all those stories about children under the guardianship of some really awful grownups. Then J.K. Rowling wrote the wildly popular Harry Potter series, which opens with Harry’s abusive aunt and uncle forcing him to live in a tiny room beneath the stairs. Now there’s Neil Gaiman who wrote Coraline, the novel on which the eponymous movie is based, with a plot that once again relies on the tensions between a child’s playtime needs and her parents’ neglect of those needs.

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Feb 10

Lily Allen

An anti-pop princess, still
By Jerilyn Covert

In the three years that have elapsed since Lily Allen was e-catapulted into the world of pop stardom, it appears that success hasn’t softened her stormy personality, but it hasn’t stopped her from growing up a little, either. Her debut album, Alright, Still, was all about super-fun, super-catchy tunes (who knew the offbeat rhythms of reggae/ska could actually be fused into something so . . . well, good?) and easy-to-learn, candid lyrics that openly addressed all kinds of taboos, from drug use to urban crime to the unusually small endowment of an ex-boyfriend. Now 23, Allen proves that she’s still the same provocateur she was back then, but her sophomore effort, It’s Not Me, It’s You, also broadens the subject matter and, thanks to producer Greg Kurstin, who composed all the music for the album, trades the reggae/ska in for 80’s synth pop.

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Jan 9

Doubt

Why I believe in Doubt
By Jerilyn Covert

A great story, particularly one set against the backdrop of Catholicism, must always leave room for a little, well, doubt. And as the title suggests, the provocative new film Doubt leaves room for a lot of it. Biblical-sized portions, in fact. John Patrick Shanley, who wrote the play that the film is based on as well as the movie-script adaptation, has said that he chose the title for his Pulitzer Prize winning play before he even knew what it would be about. Maybe it was Shanley’s own Catholic upbringing, but the concept of doubt–and by that token, truth–clearly is something that intrigues him. In the film adaptation of his theatrical play, plot twists are thrown in the viewer’s path like roadblocks on her way to church. Set in 1964, in the thick of the Civil Rights movement, the film centers on the suspicions of Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) that Father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is sexually abusing a young black student–the school’s first. Alone in her crusade against the priest, Sister Aloysius may be on the side of the angels, but with little evidence and few options available to her within the constraints of an institution that places Father Flynn squarely above her in the church order, proving her allegations may be as impossible as proving the existence of God.
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Sep 28

Monkey: Journey to the West

Alburn hits all the right notes, albeit some out of tune
Release date: 23 September 2008
By Jerilyn Covert

There’s an old Chinese saying: Dream different dreams while on the same bed. Loosely interpreted, it means, you should give Damon Albarn’s newest project, Monkey, a listen. Possibly from the same bed you sat on when you listened to Blur and The Gorillaz. That’s because the apparent simian-obsessed artist has dared to try something really different: scoring an elaborate Chinese opera-circus. And the effort more than paid off. With the help of fellow Gorillaz cohort Jamie Hewlett and Chinese opera specialist Chen Shi-Zheng, Albarn composed the music for Monkey: Journey to the West, a classic Chinese tale dating back to the 1700s that tells the story of a little monkey who could transform himself into various creatures to overcome life’s obstacles. The album ranges from soft, Eastern meditation to out-of-tune chaos to militant booming to otherworldly enchantment. It’s the sort of surprising thing that saves music lovers from the tearful boredom that accompanies way too many of the major album releases these days.

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Aug 3

Swing Vote

So ridiculous, it just might happen
Release date: 1 August 2008

By Jerilyn Covert

Amid a box office lineup that includes superhero blockbusters, fantasy adventures, and a much anticipated science fiction sequel comes a film with a really fantastical premise–in which an entire presidential election boils down to just one vote. But before you decide to allocate your $9 toward a movie that’s a bit more realistic, like part three of The Mummy, consider casting your ballot for something unique. Swing Vote is a heartwarming comedy with a serious message, heavily tempered by Kevin Costner’s lovable “Oh, shit” demeanor and the dynamic between him and adorable newcomer Madeline Carroll, cast as the daughter whose political idealism would border on naiveté if she weren’t, in fact, smarter than many of the adults in the film. When an electronic voting machine at a polling booth in Texaco, New Mexico, is accidentally unplugged, one vote is lost. The voter name registered on the bum ticket: Earnest “Bud” Johnson (Costner), who like many of the townspeople, is unemployed, drinks a lot, and drifts through life on a gale of apathy. Suddenly, the two-party system that for so long has failed the working poor, has to win over the very man who epitomizes the group–well, except for the “working” part. With that, an implausible yet relevant tale unfolds in this uplifting, blue-collar-comedy-meets-political-satire account of how one ordinary man can impact the future of the free world.

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Jul 14

Hancock

Will Smith signs his John Hancock to reclaim title as Fourth of July king
Release date: 2 July 2008

By Jerilyn Covert

Even superheroes have their rough patches. It just takes a super intervention, some homemade meatballs and an adoring young fan to get them through it. Such is the case with Hancock, a deadbeat alcoholic and a flying man with bulletproof skin. A hero and a menace. Until one day, an ambitious public relations analyst with a lot of faith and not much to lose offers to repair Hancock’s image. Except, as it turns out, the guy does actually have something to lose–namely, his wife, who gets pretty cozy with the flame retardant superhero. But don’t worry. It’s all part of the story. There’s also some action scenes, some laugh-worthy physical comedy, a running gag or two, bad guys, henchmen, lots of bottles of bourbon, a pretty big plot twist and a small handful of heartwarming moments. In other words, it’s got everything you’d want out of a 92-minute piece of mindless entertainment. And that’s precisely what it is.

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Jul 8

Kerli

Pop rock thinly disguised for the goth-at-heart
Love is Dead
Island
Release date: 8 July 2008

By Joe DeRosa

One look at the album artwork for Love is Dead, the debut release from Kerli Koiv, who goes only by Kerli, and it’s clear who her target audience is. If you’re part of the Hot Topic-shopping, pseudo-goth culture, you’ll gobble up Love is Dead and you’ll adore the illustration of a doe-eyed doll-like girl holding her stitched-up plush bunny and starring out at you from the CD cover. Truth is, the 21-year-old native of the Soviet-occupied Estonia is somewhat doll-like herself. With her waist-length blonde hair, the stunning blonde is decked out in her aforementioned Hot Topic inspired garb all throughout her CD booklet. What is yet to be seen is, will her music and not just her clothing strike the right chord?

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Jun 30

Wall-E

Little bots have big hearts
Release date: 27 June 2008

By Jerilyn Covert

Leave it to Pixar to make robots that look so gosh darn cute. The animation film studio’s latest, Wall-E, is an entertainingly adorable film that tells the story of an artificial intelligence with a genuine heart. Imagine a science-fiction movie with all the zaniness of a cartoon and all the tenderness of a chick flick. Throw in some lovable characters and an enchanting voyage through space and you’ve got yourself 103 minutes of feel-good fun and a surefire candidate for an academy award. Writer/director Andrew Stanton, who’s also written screenplays for many of the Pixar classics, creates an eye-popping, extraordinar-E adventure that’s as much about the journey as it is the destination. At some point in the distant future, Earth has been rendered incapable of sustaining life, prompting mankind to get out of Dodge and make a break for the unconquered parts of the galaxy, and the planet they once called “home” is left to its toxically viscous seas and its endless piles of trash. Enter the lovable little robot, Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifer–Earth class), a mechanical device programmed and assigned for cleanup. But after hundreds of years of performing his task–and, in his down time, re-watching old musicals–it seems Wall-E has developed some kind of glitch–namely, the ability to feel.

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Jun 26

Mötley Crüe

It’s about fuckin’ time
Saints of Los Angeles, Mötley Records
Release date: 24 June 2008

By Joe DeRosa

If you’ve ever been in a fight, then you’re going to know exactly how this feels: You’re bruised, you’re bloodied, your body is aching and throbbing, and you’re just out of wits. But the adrenaline rush is so intense, it’s amazing. You just got your ass kicked, yet you feel like you’ve conquered the world. This is exactly how a Mötley Crüe record is supposed to feel. After nearly a decade of solo albums, side projects, deceit, speculation and even a couple visits to the New York Times best seller list, Nikki, Tommy, Mick and Vince have reunited for Saints of Los Angeles, the first studio album recorded by the original lineup in almost 10 years. You may ask, “Why now?” Although the band may tell you it’s for the fans, one of the truest and most honest moments in Crüe history came recently on Larry King Live when guitarist Mick Mars answered that very question with one word: “Greed.” Although Mick was clearly being facetious, I can’t help but to believe it was a moment of brutal honesty masked by sarcasm. That being said, when I found out the boys were recording a new album, I didn’t put much stock in it being very good. Not only did my absolute favorite band of the cassette era prove me wrong, they threw dirt in my face to prove it–Neil Strauss’s The Dirt, to be exact.

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Jun 19

Martha Wainwright

Martha Wainwright sings and dances through the rain
“I Know Your Married But I Have Feelings Too”
Release date: 6.10.2008

By Jerilyn Covert

Take it from the man who’s been lauded by critics as the ultimate storyteller: “The story of who you are is never about you,” Rabih Alameddine writes in his new book “Hakawati.” Of this, Martha Wainwright is probably well aware. Daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and the sister of Rufus, Martha is definitely a person whose story has never been about her, but about her nepotistic relationships with members of her legendary family. As if accounting for this fact, Martha chose to focus her new album, “I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too,” outward, on the people in her life and the events happening all around her, unlike her more introspective eponymous debut. Throughout the album’s 14 tracks, she reflects on past friendships, on casualties of war, on her mother’s battle with cancer and on seemingly scads of former flames (let’s not forget the title, after all). Lines like this from “Comin’ Tonight,” however, take that outward focus to the brink of obsession: “I spend my time trying to forget you with/ Booze and smoke from cigarettes and dope/ I only seem to forget myself/ It’s only you that is left.” Martha was only 1 year old when her parents split up and her mother packed their bags for Canada. Growing up, she was a self-described “lazy student” who showed an interest in song and dance performances. But unlike her older brother, she did not have ambitions to be a star–at least not for a while. “I did initially rebel against joining the ‘family business,’ but I think it just came from a fear that I wouldn’t be good enough,” she told an interviewer for musicOMH.com. In another interview with Rolling Stone, she says, “The bar is really, really f**king high.” Yeah, no kidding. With folk legends for parents and a brother whom Elton John has called “the best songwriter on the planet,” it’s no wonder Martha feels the pressure to be great. A lesser artist might have succumbed under that kind of burden, but Martha Wainwright was determined to overcome it.

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