Concert Review: Killswitch Engage/DragonForce (Wiltern) A-

Date of show: 03/17/07
DragonForce (B-)
Killswitch Engage (A-)

St. Patrick's Day found me attending Killswitch Engage's "No Fear" (all these corporate sponsored tour names are getting a bit old. I'm surprised there's not a group simply called 'Jaegermeister' by now) tour at the Sunset Strip House Of Blues with openers DragonForce (who I was curious to check out), Chimaira (who I had been unimpressed with before), and He Is Legend (who I wasn't curious to check out).

DragonForce is a strange band, to say the least. Their virtuostic brand of power metal on steriods is a difficult concept for more serious metalheads, but I find their self-admitted cheesiness and amazing twin guitar attack to be silly fun, even if their songs aren't necessarily the most original or entralling. Their live show simply proves they can pull of the complexity and speed of their marathon-length compositions in front of an audience and without the aid of any studio magic. It's quite a sight to see such brazen fretboard speed and skill, but to be honest, it grows old after about two songs. That speaks to a larger problem with DF's material, most of their songs over their three album career are interchangable. They're all fast, they all have intricate soloing and incorporate epic-y vocals. There's not much in the way of personality. They do have a ravenous, Guitar Hero-playing following, who not only know the lyrics by heart, but also often replace raised metal horns with wiggling air guitar fingers during solos. Weird. Anyways, the band is charasmatic enough, I suppose. They honestly look like they're having a good time up there, even if I was bored after song number two. DragonForce is fun...but right now they're not much more than a novelty.

Having seen Killswitch Engage once before, I knew to expect a high energy show with lots of crowd interaction and a charasmatic performance from frontman Howard Jones. This time was no exception. Even with the absence of quirky guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz due to some back problems, the band put together a highly energetic and electric set with replacement guitar work from Patrick Lachman (formerly of Damageplan and Halford). KSE's trademark sing-a-long moments were plentiful, even if material of 2006's As Daylight Dies didn't quite hold up as well as the older material. Highlights included B-side "This Fire Burns," (which I still think may be about jock itch, and is still better than anthing off As Daylight Dies), and the show closer; a cover of Dio's "Holy Diver." Sadly, 95% of the under-30 crowd (which made up about, oh, I don't know, 99.3% of the total attendance) had absolutely no idea what the hell song this was. But I fucking loved it. While DragonForce may have looked like they were having fun, KSE always looks as though they're having a fucking blast. Their sense of humor and good-natured fun just make their already strong set that much better.

Film Review: Borat (2006) B-

Date Viewed: 3/12/07
Venue: DVD

So I finally got around to seeing Borat (and no, I refuse to call it by it's lengthy 'official' title) and wound up liking but not loving the controversial mockumentary.

For anyone who doesn't know, Sasha Baron Cohen plays Borat, a fictional Kazakhstani television reporter who films a 'documentary' as he travels the U.S. with his burly producer Azamat (Ken Davitian). Borat is blessed with limited English, an ignorant worldview, and no social graces whatsoever.

Borat the character is very funny. Watching Cohen spew out badly mangled english filled with crazily offensive Kazakhstani ideals (towards women, the mentally challenged, and especially Jews) is akin to watching South Park's Cartman. You laugh because the prejudices on display are a) so pathetically stupid, and b) the person behind the prejudices is so incredibly 'out there' that the satire is inescapable.

The problem I have with Borat is that for the majority of the film, he is dealing with 'real' people. People who've been duped into believing that he and his 'documentary' are real. And yes, some folks say and/or do some wrongheaded, racist, and sexist things when presented with Borat's brand of behavior. Despite these idiots' awareness of the camera, I still feel uncomfortable with these scenes. I don't quite get the joke of setting up idiots to be idiots on camera. It feels cheap and too easy a target.

Not everyone comes off so poorly, in fact, many of the folks Borat comes across I would label as saintly for their patience with his awkward cultural differences. But again, this is an exercise in pushing people to extremes to see how they'll react. Obviously some react better than others.

Something must be said for Cohen's performance as Borat; no matter the circumstances, no matter that a guy on the subway wants to kill him because Borat kissed him, Cohen always remains in character. It's quite a feat considering the myriad of potentially dangerous situations he places himself in.

Borat is at its best when it focuses on Cohen and Davitian, and not necessarily their documentarian 'subjects.' Watching Borat mistake a yard sale for a gypsy encampment or the two of them freaking out over supposedly Jewish bugs makes for big laughs. I wish the film was more about them, rather than also trying to make a larger satirical statement about America.

This is not a film for the easily offended. If you think South Park is even occasionally offensive then you should avoid Borat at all costs. But if you like your satire heavy, and you don't mind watching people goaded into reacting, then I can't help but recommend it for genius performances from Cohen and Davitian.

Beyond that, I do find something troubling with this film (and its success). Borat really feels like the next evolutionary step from MTV's Jackass (which I can't stand, by the way). Much like reality television, we are truly blurring the lines between what is considered 'real' and 'fantasy.' Instead of merely pushing the boundaries of the human body, or of taste in a fictional setting, we are now pushing each other's boundaries, seeing how far we can push one another before something interesting happens. And yes, art should always have the freedom to push boundaries. But I have a problem with this troubling genre. Pushing people's buttons just to get a reaction might provide some worthwhile insight and maybe a quick laugh, but more often than not I'll bet you simply wind up offending, infuriating, and disrespecting a completely innocent person. I get the subversive element to it, much great art is subversive in nature, but I say at least have a target to subvert (Michael Moore seems to have a handle on this), and leave everyone else alone.

Film Review: Mission: Impossible III (2006) B

Date Viewed: 11/27/06
Venue: DVD

I hated Mission: Impossible 2. It's one of the worst big-budget summer action flicks ever made. The original M:I film, while not necessarily great, was a serviceable spy thriller. John Woo's 2000 sequel was an exercise in ridiculous over-the-top action and a prime example of Tom Cruise's sizeable ego.

So all that said, I had zero expectation for M:I 3. Even with new director J.J. Abraams' television pedigree (he created the hit spy show Alias), I couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

But guess what? This is actually a pretty darn entertaining film. Abrams ably mixes the action of part two with the spy stuff from the first film, and the result is a pretty satisfying popcorn flick.

Cruise again plays secret agent Ethan Hunt, who in previous installments really wasn't much of a character. Two-dimensional might've been an exaggeration. But here Abrams gives Hunt a little more to go on; a fiancee (Michelle Monaghan) who knows nothing of her beau's dangerous government work. It's not much, but at least it gives Cruise a few scenes that make his character remotely human.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays a nasty international arms dealer who tangles with Hunt and his crew (finally nice to see the M:I team aspect brought back. Cruise was effectively a one man show in M:I 2), and eventually kidnaps the fiancee to get to Hunt. While Hoffman is a fine actor and a decent enough bad guy, he really isn't given too much to do and I was left wanting to see more of his character.

What really shines in this film are the action sequences. For a PG-13 film, they are rather well executed and feature a high volume of pyrotechnics. A highlight is a helicopter chase through a series of windmills at a power station.

All told, M:I III is sort of like the most expensive episode of Alias ever produced. There's some great action and fight scenes, some interesting relationship dynamics, and even some snappy dialog. I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised.