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boston area shows of note:
thursday, august 21st
yndi halda
caspian
irepress
@ tt the bears
friday, august 22nd
varsity drag
lump
charcoal lavage
jake and the jakes
@ o'briens
friday, august 22nd
obits (ex-hot snakes/rftc)
viva viva
dead cats dead rats
sunday morning music
@ the middle east
saturday, august 23rd
the soft drugs
higgins
the toothaches
drama queens
@ pa's lounge
saturday, august 23rd
amo joy!
franklin bruno
(from nothing painted blue)
one happy island (ep release!)
@ the lily pad
saturday, august 23rd
newbury comics / unnatural axe
30th anniversary bash
the meatmen, queers, nasties,
unnatural axe, sleazies
@ the middle east down
sunday, august 24th
don cabellero
ponytail
irepress
@ harper's ferry
tuesday, august 26th
the final installment of...
neil cleary's 'doozy'
a guest-packed august residency
@ the lizard lounge
wednesday, august 27th
liz phair performing
'exile in guyville'
@ the paradise
wednesday, august 27th
xiu xiu
prurient
@ the paradise
friday, august 29th
liz phair performs
'exile in guyville'
@ the paradise
monday, september 1st
the juan maclean
@ the middle east downstairs
wednesday, september 3rd
ryan's smashing life presents...
justice of the unicorns
tigers & monkeys
spanish armada
wild business
@ the middle east
friday, september 5th
silver jews
hallelujah the hills
who shot hollywood
@ the middle east downstairs
saturday, september 6th
my morning jacket
@ the bank of america pavilion
saturday, september 6th
matt pryor (get up kids)
kevin devine
mike fiore (faces on film)
@ harper's ferry
sunday, september 7th
ryan adams & the cardinals
@ the bank of america pavilion
tuesday, september 9th
paul weller
@ the berklee performance center
friday, september 12th
mission of burma
in-store performance
7pm @ newbury comics, newbury st.
friday, september 12th
buffalo tom
as part of the boston arts festival
@ christopher columbus park
saturday, september 13th
wfnx disorientation 2008
the kooks, flogging molly,
alkaline trio, rogue wave,
and more to be announced
@ bank of america pavilion
sunday, september 14th
lymbyc systym
this will destroy you
arms and sleepers
@ harper's ferry
monday, september 15th
lagwagon, mxpx,
only crime, & tat
@ harper's ferry
monday, september 15th
sunset rubdown
@ the middle east
monday, september 15th
james
@ the paradise
tuesday, september 16th
a place to bury strangers
@ the paradise
thursday, september 18th
the walkmen
@ the middle east downstairs
friday, september 19th
sigur ros
@ the bank of america pavilion
friday, september 19th to
sunday, september 21st
all tomorrow's parties
with my bloody valentine, low
built to spill, mogwai, shellac,
polvo, yo la tengo, lilys, autolux
dinosaur jr, mercury rev, & more
@ the catskills in nyc
saturday, september 20th
mike viola (solo)
(1st of 3 weekly residencies)
with guest blue and their
band, the major labels
@ the lizard lounge
saturday, september 20th
noah & the whale
@ toad
sunday, september 21st
the low lows
magic magic
ryan lee crosby
@ tt the bears
monday, september 22nd
the broken west
@ the middle east
monday, september 22nd
oxford collapse
love as laughter
takka takka
@ tt the bears
monday, september 22nd
mogwai
fuck buttons
@ the wilbur theatre
tuesday, september 23rd
writer dennis lehane
(release day for 'the given day')
@ the coolidge corner theatre
tuesday, september 23rd
weezer
angels & airwaves
tokyo police club
@ the tsongas arena
tuesday, september 23rd
cut copy
the presets
@ the paradise
wednesday, september 24th
joan as policewoman
@ the middle east
wednesday, september 24th
low
tulsa
@ the museum of fine arts boston
saturday, september 27th
mike viola (solo)
(2nd of 3 weekly residencies)
@ the lizard lounge
saturday, september 27th
built to spill
performing 'perfect from now on'
dinosaur jr.
meat puppets
@ the orpheum
sunday, september 28th
the bird and the bee
willoughby
@ great scott
sunday and monday
september 28th and 29th
ratatat
@ the paradise
thursday, september 30th
boston spaceships
(gbv's robert pollard)
big dipper
@ the paradise
thursday, september 30th
say hi
jukebox the ghost
@ the middle east
thursday & friday
october 2nd & 3rd
baltimore round robin
29 bands playing in a circle,
non-stop, one song at a time,
with you in the very center
with dan deacon, beach house,
creepers, the death set, adventure,
and everyone listed here
@ mass art
friday, october 3rd
death cab for cutie
@ agganis arena
friday, october 3rd
the fratellis
airborne toxic event
electric touch
@ the orpheum
saturday, october 4th
mike viola @ friends
(3rd of 3 weekly residencies)
@ the lizard lounge
sunday, october 5th
old 97s
@ the wilbur theatre
sunday, october 5th
pinback
@ the paradise
monday, october 6th
the wedding present
the jealous girlfriends
@ the middle east downstairs
monday, october 6th
fleet foxes
@ the somerville theatre
monday, october 6th
stereolab
monade
@ the paradise
tuesday, october 7th
liam finn
the veils
@ the paradise
wednesday, october 8th
wire
@ the middle east downstairs
thursday, october 9th
chuck ragan (of hot water music)
ben nichols (of lucero)
tim barry (of avail)
with guest jesse malin
@ the middle east
saturday, october 11th
the feelies
@ the roxy
sunday, october 12th
the residents
@ showcase live, foxboro
sunday, october 12th
the notwist
@ the roxy
sunday, october 12th
jamie lidell
@ the paradise
sunday, october 12th
against me!
ted leo & the pharmacists
the future of the left
@ the wilbur theatre
monday, october 13th
tv on the radio
the dirtbombs
@ the wilbur theatre
tuesday, october 14th
cold war kids
@ the paradise
thursday, october 16th
ben kweller
whitley
@ the paradise
thursday, october 16th
jonatha brooke
glen phillips
(from toad the wet sprocket)
@ the wilbur theatre
friday, october 17th
hallelujah the hills
wonderful spells
capstan shafts
@ tt the bears
friday, october 17th
jonathan richman
with drummer tommy larkin
@ the somerville theatre
saturday, october 18th
ra ra riot
walter meego
the morning benders
@ the middle east
sunday, october 19th
the spinto band
frightened rabbit
@ the middle east
monday, october 20th
magnetic morning
(adam swervedriver & sam interpol)
julie ocean
springhouse (w/jack rabid)
@ great scott
tuesday, october 21st
minus the bear
annuals
sylvie
@ the wilbur theatre
tuesday & wednesday
october 21st & 22nd
billy bragg
@ the somerville theatre
wednesday, october 22nd
yeasayer
@ the paradise
wednesday, october 22nd
lyle lovett & john hiatt
(acoustic, on stage together)
@ the orpheum
thursday, october 23rd
lykke li
@ the paradise
thursday, october 23rd
deerhoof
experimental dental school
@ the middle east down
friday, october 24th
fujiya & miyagi
@ the paradise
sunday, october 26th
broken social scene
land of talk
@ the wilbur theatre
monday, october 27th
matthew sweet
@ the paradise
wednesday, october 29th
legendary pink dots
@ the middle east down
thursday, october 30th
of montreal
@ the orpheum
friday, october 31st
the rumble strips
birdmonster
@ tt the bears
friday, october 31st
david byrne
performing the songs of byrne & eno
@ the wang center
saturday, november 1st
henry rollins (spoken word)
@ the orpheum
monday, november 3rd
coldplay
@ the td banknorth garden
sunday, november 9th
the hold steady
drive-by truckers
@ the orpheum
tuesday, november 11th
deerhunter
times new viking
the vivian girls
@ the paradise
wedneseday, november 12th
kings of leon
we are scientists
the whigs
@ the orpheum
tuesday, november 18th
m83
school of seven bells
@ the middle east down
thursday, november 20th
bishop allen
@ the middle east
saturday, december 13th
neil young
wilco
@ the dcu center, worcester
visit tourfilter for more shows
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
On Seeing Seabiscuit (spoiler-free)
Saw a sneak screening of the new filmic horse-fest called Seabiscuit last night, and it was officially the first time I've ever been scanned with a metal detector and had my bag searched at a preview. It wasn't for firearms or brass knuckles (not exactly a rough crowd at this high-brow preview)... no, the search was for digital recording equipment. A by-product of bit-torrent and other internet-based file-sharing services, it seems. Only five days before the film's official release, but that's still enough time for someone to record it, encode it, and throw it up there for the masses. Faster, faster, faster.
So, yeah, the film itself. For the most part, I like my movies with an edge, a little darker, a little different. Sure, there are a few fairly mainstream flicks in my faves list, but the ones that stick with me are the ones that take chances. For that reason, I have this urge to pick on Seabiscuit for the fairly manipulative, middle-of-the-road, overly-sentimental story that it tells.
But I just can't bring myself to do it. It just has too many good things going for it, more than enough to push my inherent indie-snobishness down.
First off, the acting. It's been awhile since I've seen a movie so perfectly cast, down to every single character. Chris Cooper and William H. Macy can do no wrong in my book, and they just shine in this sucker... Cooper as the stoic cowboy, Macy as the comic relief radio-announcer. Tobey McGuire, Jeff Bridges, and Elizabeth Banks... all excellent in their roles. Hell, we even get a nice Danny Strong sighting (Jonathan from Buffy). The biggest revelation, though, was a gentleman named Gary Stevens, a renowned real-life jockey who has a history of winning races, but not a bit of acting in his past. I had no idea he was a rider, no clue that he'd never acted before... he was so, so good in his role of famed jockey George Woolf. Usually, when real athletes are cast against a main character, they're kept to bit players and one-liners, but Stevens had a major part to play, and he did it perfectly. Another inspirational bit of casting was having author David McCullough (John Adams, Truman) narrate the introduction and interspersed historical pieces that give the film much of it's context, and help tie the story of Seabiscuit into the story of the U.S. in the wake of the depression.
As for the plot ... well, let's just say I've very glad I didn't read the book. I'd imagine that knowing the winners of the climactic races would take quite a bit away from the drama, although they're so excitingly filmed that I could be wrong. If you've seen the previews, you know the basics... it's a story of underdogs, comebacks, second-chances. Not just for men and horses, but for a country. It delivers, although I thought that the message was more than a little ham-fisted. In particular, a couple of Jeff Bridges' speeches were a bit over the top, but that's not to say they were that out of place. If this movie is anything, it's not subtle. It knows what it wants to do, what it wants the audience to feel, and it goes for it.
Leave your cynicism at the door for this one, folks. This movie is razor clean-cut... old-fashioned in every sense of the phrase. Hell, even Tobey's occasional cursin' sounded out of place. It's a safe, solid, hope-filled story, with no real villian, no irony... and it's surpasses mediocrity thanks to great actors in wide-open, beautifully-filmed settings. Like Oprah says, "America is just gonna love this movie!". Yeah, they probably will.
 week of august 4th, 2008 swervedriver live at the paradise in boston, ma on june 10th, 2008 |
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latest comments...
on the mp3 player
on the screen
on the nightstand
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- diggle & manco | hellblazer: joy ride tpb
- brian wood | northlanders #5
- mignola & golden | baltimore
- brubaker & epting | captain america tpbs
- gillen & mckelvie | phonogram: rue britannia
- armin a. brott | the new father
other boston-area music blogs
- anti-gravity bunny
- the ash gray proclamation
- aurgasm
- band in boston
- beginning to see the light
- clicky clicky
- drive blind
- enough cowbell
- exitfare
- forgotten disc friday
- the giant panther
- hip to be square
- los amigos de durutti
- mel.opho.be
- morkelson
- new artillery
- onward charles
- pocket|trax
- ryan's smashing life
- under 21 in boston
- under the rotunda
- zed equals zee
boston music media
boston live show info
music blogroll
- between thought & expression
- brainwashed
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- captain's dead
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- cerulean's love of music
- chromewaves
- coolfer
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- donewaiting
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- excellent online
- extrawack!
- fluxblog
- for the records
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- harmonium
- heartache with hard work
- the hype machine
- i am fuel, you are friends
- idolator
- i guess i'm floating
- ijamming
- information leafblower
- junkmedia's world of sound
- kingblind
- lacunae
- largehearted boy
- the late greats
- leaky sparrow
- little hits
- more cowbell
- music for robots
- muzzle of bees
- my old kentucky blog
- pitchfork
- quick before it melts
- said the gramophone
- scenestars
- shake your fist
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- song, by toad
- the sound of indie
- stereogum
- too much rock
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music audiocasts
surf-worthy
- amie's flickr page
- andi's nonsequiturs
- bitter-girl
- brian wood
- bridget's journal
- ckelly's ink
- the dead part of you
- falfa's milk
- the great leap forward
- heath's media diet
- hedgehog's dilemma
- the icebox journals
- jim's flickr page
- jen's jenville
- jen's blossom
- joe sizzle's
- kimprobable
- march to the sea's musings
- marm0t's livejournal
- mickipedia!
- miller's memorables
- mishie's tear
- off on a tangent
- rsl's ostracons
- the shy turnip
- sooz's dot com
- steve's f.r.h.m.
frequent haunts
boston-centric
- boston.com
- boston phoenix
- boston online
- boston common
- boston blogs
- craigslist boston
- exploit boston!
- boston wireless
- surfacecity's boston
- tourfilter
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- tt the bears place
- the plan @ great scott's
- wmbr concert report
- wzbc concert report
- phoenix movie listings
- coolidge corner theater
- brattle theater
- red sox / dirt dogs
- sox: surviving grady
- patriots / go pats
- celtics
- mass pike traffic
( < | > random list )
some cele-bloggers
