Responses

You know what's good about today? At least the Dolphins can't lose...its their bye week. If there was a way to come out of a bye with a loss, I'm sure they'd figure it out. The Heat are 0-2 and the Canes can't trust their backup QB to put the ball in the air. What a time to be from South Florida. At least, we may get A-Rod b/c Cabrera is out of there faster than a white woman in the first lifeboat on the Titanic.



Normally, I write on Tuesdays - and I still plan to come out with a new one this Tuesday - but I wanted to write a little something to respond to some of the responses.

Tony brought up Running Down A Dream - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I'm a huge fan of music DVDs and I picked this one up the day it came out. I'm glad Tony brought it up because for one: its an excellent DVD. Two, it makes me think about a bigger discussion point: who is the "best American band ever?" When people talk about great bands, the usual suspects are always The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc. Those, of course, are all British bands. But what about the USA, man?? We invented rock and roll!!!

My roommate consistently argues that Aerosmith should be considered the best American band of all time. Certainly the Eagles should be up there. But...as Jefferey Lebowski said: "I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man." For my $, the Eagles just don't have the longevity of an Aerosmith (1971-1980 and 1994-present and 1970-present, respectively), but if we're going to talk about longevity, consistency, and creativity; The Heartbreakers definitely deserve to be in the argument, and frankly, get my vote as America's #1 band.

The DVD chronicles the formation of the band (as Mudcrutch) in Jacksonville, Fl to their growth as an American institution. I agree with Tony: music fans need to check this one out. Like all great musicians, Tom Petty is staunchly anti-commercial. At several points throughout his career, Petty fought the music industry (once insisting that his label lower the price of his album so kids could afford it) and has firmly entrenched himself as an artist first. Even if you're not a fan of The Heartbreakers', check out this DVD. It truly gives the viewer an appreciation for how difficult it is for bands to remain together and remain creative over 3 decades of a rapidly changing landscape.

The Devil's Rejects

My other response is again to Tony, as well as Nichole and a few others who questioned me as to why The Devil's Rejects wasn't on my list of top 5 horror movies.

I'll begin by saying that I like Rob Zombie. A lot. He's intelligent and a great student of the horror genre...something that's apparent if you've ever seen any of his music videos with White Zombie or as a solo act. I wasn't a huge fan of House of 1000 Corpses because the movie didn't have much of an identity. Not the case with The Devil's Rejects.

Rejects has a grainy, almost spaghetti-western look to it, reminiscent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The cast is perfect. Its full of great character actors like Sid Haig, Danny Trejo, Michael Berryman, Ken Foree (the original Dawn of the Dead) and E.G. Daily (ya know, she's the voice of the Rugrat's Tommy Pickles). The sets are fantastic and the violence isn't at all over-the-top: its just plain disturbing. Example A: Motel Room scene - possibly the most threatening and menacing scene on film.

I love the movie. BUT...the reason I don't see it as a top 5 is simple. I see it as more of an homage to its predecessors than an original piece. NOT TO SAY, I don't think this is an original movie. In a world of remakes, this is as original as it gets. I think the film is terrific, but part of me feels like the movie draws a little too much on its influences, and simply pushes the envelope from there.

Example: The look of the film, the Firefly house and the idea of a whacko Texas family grabbing up unsuspecting teenagers and torturing the bejesus out of them reminds me a little too much of TTCM. I'm gonna test you here: the scene in the motel, though terrifying, reminds me of an old Wes Craven movie about, you guessed it, three deranged sociopaths on the run who come across unsuspecting victims and...torture the bejesus out of them. Check out Last House on the Left. While I wouldn't say Reject's is a take-off, watch House and tell me that the motel room scene in it doesn't remind you of Rejects.

I'm not bagging Rejects. I love the movie and I give it 4 stars easily. As I said...it draws a little too heavily on influences for me to put it in my top 5. That's not to say it isn't number 5.5.

Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you Tuesday.

"Disco just aint right." - Tom Petty