Insecurity - A Raving Playlist

Have you been feeling down, depressed, small, insignificant or otherwise insecure - then you should probably not listen to today's Raving Playlist. And if you're bi-polar, not a good idea either but we suggest you try either:

• Harmonic Insanity    or
• Incoherent 

Today's playlist takes the Winter doldrums and amps them up with steroids to generate audio-manic depression from some of the most disturbed musicians in history. The band being highlighted throughout the list is Alice in Chains. These guys are the only band we know of that were able to take a Kafka short story and turn it into a chart-busting rock hit. You'd never guess by listening to their songs that the lead singer would die a pathetic, tragic death at 34 - or maybe you would. Why Alice in Chains was so popular is hard to explain - there is something that speaks to you through the suffering in their songs - it's just not too clear what it's saying. Perhaps we all feel like that a little now and then - but our success is in being able to leave it behind.

Alice in Chains

Man in the box is the most awesome depressing song ever

Life got you down ? - don't listen to this

Insecure

Monty Python – Galaxy Song (Monty Python Sings)
Alice In Chains – Man In The Box
Counting Crows – A Long December
3 Doors Down – Loser
22-20s – Such A Fool
The Police – Message In A Bottle - live
Beck – Corvette Bummer
Pearl Jam – I Got Shit
Alice In Chains – Down In A Hole
Genesis – No Reply At All - 2007 Remastered LP Version
John Mellencamp – No One Cares About Me
The Doors – The End - Live Hollywood Bowl 1968
Bob Seger – Beautiful Loser
The Transgressions – Drunk & Depressed
Alice In Chains – I Stay Away
Genesis – Misunderstanding - 2007 Remastered LP Version
The Police – King Of Pain - 2003 Stereo Remastered Version
Nirvana – Negative Creep
Genesis – Man On The Corner - 2007 Remastered LP Version
The Police – Voices Inside My Head - 2003 Stereo Remastered Version
John Mellencamp – Lonely Ol' Night
Beck – Loser
R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts
Stone Temple Pilots – Creep
Pearl Jam – Nothingman
John Mellencamp – If I Die Sudden - Live
Sheryl Crow – A Change Would Do You Good
Lenny Kravitz – Fly Away
Alice In Chains – We Die Young
New Found Glory – Dumped
Johnny Cash – Man In Black
Counting Crows – Big Yellow Taxi
Alice In Chains – Them Bones
The Killers – All These Things That I've Done
Nine Inch Nails – Head Like a Hole
Genesis – Alone Tonight - 2007 Remastered LP Version
John Mellencamp – Longest Days
Alice In Chains – Shame In You
The Police – Walking In Your Footsteps - 2003 Stereo Remastered Version
John Mellencamp – The End Of The World
Alice In Chains – Would?
Johnny Cash – Ring Of Fire
Counting Crows – Rain King
Genesis – I Can't Dance - 2007 Remastered Album Version
John Mellencamp – Crumblin' Down
Senses Fail – Can't Be Saved
When Saints Go Machine – Fail Forever
Alice In Chains – Sea Of Sorrow
Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
Pearl Jam – Life Wasted
Nirvana – All Apologies
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under The Bridge
R.E.M. – It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
The Police – Spirits In The Material World - 2003 Stereo Remastered Version
The Cars – All Mixed Up
Counting Crows – Mrs. Potters Lullaby
Monty Python – Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (Monty Python Sings)
The B-52's – Private Idaho
Dave Matthews Band – Ants Marching - From State Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Paramore – Misery Business
The Allman Brothers Band – Whipping Post
Johnny Cash – Hurt
Buddy Holly – Think It Over
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Have You Ever Seen The Rain
Soundgarden – Fell On Black Days
Nirvana – Lithium
Alice In Chains – Angry Chair
Social Distortion - Ring of Fire

Copyright 2012 - Raving Reviews - All Rights Reserved

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What is Camelot?

What is Camelot? Is it an idea or a shining castle on the hillside - is it a movie or a Starz series or perhaps a Monty Python skit? Camelot is a central theme of the Arthur legend - it is that place from which a just ruler becomes one with the land and brings peace and prosperity to the people. Camelot is where there is a grand conference room with a giant round table wherein all the knights of the realm can meet and discuss the virtues of being chivalrous.  

Richard Harris had some ideas about Camelot...

The story of Arthur seems ingrained in our culture for some reason - we just can't help returning to it. Arthur is the royal Robin Hood - a man who brings justice along with his god-given or Merlin-procured birthright. Last year Starz decide to reignite the Arthur legend once more, unfortunately despite a promising start the series wasn't picked up for a second season. Will Arthur return on Starz again ? Will a young squire locate the sword and pull it from the stone once more to become king? Will Guinevere play Yoko to the Round Table Knights again - leading them all into ruin?

The Stars of Starz shortlived series, Camelot

Maybe it is a silly tale, perhaps the Python boys got it right. Can it be retold without conjuring visions of the profoundly bad First Knight from the early 90's or the hopelessly outdated broadway musical from the 1960's? Most readers don't recall that Camelot was 'the' show on Broadway when JFK became President and partly for that reason the popular media began referring to the White House as Camelot (and like Arthur, Kennedy strayed from his queen). 

Who knew that this month had such unique powers

We like the Starz series Camelot with two major exceptions. First, the actor Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower) was miscast. Bower appears far too feminine and looks hopelessly childlike (and often downright goofy). It strains the whole credibility of the show with him at the helm. The second major issue was the lack of budget. It seems as though Starz had directed all their resources into buying new loincloths for slaves on Spartacus. Camelot deserves some epic touches, a bit of grandeur. 

There was one movie which did give Camelot and the Arthur legend the epic setting it deserved and while it was relatively low budget it managed to hide that fact cleverly. We're talking about John Boorman's classic, Excalibur.  

Excalibur had an Arthur we could believe in, an unforgettable Merlin and the sexiest Morgana ever. It even had Liam Neeson in one of his first movies as the knight who accuses Guinevere of lusting after Lancelot. Granted, both Ralph Fiennes and Eva Green provide fantastic performances as Merlin and Morgana in the Starz version of Camelot, but it's hard to compete with the 1981 classic. Some of you might be saying, "everyone in the 1981 film was wearing armor the whole time, armor that hadn't been invented yet, they even wore it while having sex." So maybe they took safe sex too far in the 80's - Excalibur was still a great show.

Starz might want to try Camelot again, but this time add some more pizzazz and some armor and get rid of Denis the Menace as Arthur and pick a real king. One of the reasons that the show wasn't picked up was because Bower was busy working both Breaking Dawn films. That should be evidence enough that is not the chosen one...

Copyright 2012 - Raving Reviews - All Rights Reserved

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Season of the Witch & Nick Cage's Hair-volution

Well, it's almost Halloween so welcome to our Raving Reviews Halloween meltdown - actually it began yesterday with our post on "Apollo 18 - Moon Rocks Gone Wild." Anyway, about a year ago we made you a promise that we would review the Nicholas Cage film "Season of the Witch" and that we'd also try to determine what in the heck is going on with this guy's hair - so since we always keep our promises we've combined the two posts for you here today (legal fine print - there is no statute of limitations on promises).

I ain't afraid of no witch - Witch-busters !

Season of the Witch begins with a portfolio review of Nick Cage's Crusader battle performances on his Middle East "Kill the Infidels" Tour. Nick Cage plays a Knight who for some reason felt compelled to fight for the church to capture the holy land even though he doesn't seem too religious. His motivations escape us - perhaps he was just answering a want ad something like this:

"The Crusades - be all that God wants you to be - from the sun-drenched shores of Lebanon to the blood-drenched walls of Tyre. Fight to restore the Holy Land to mother church - and by the way you can keep all of the loot too..."

We'll never be sure why Nick signed up, but it seems as though the only joy he derives from the Crusades is on betting on how many Saracens he can kill with his drinking buddy, Ron "Quest for Fire" Perlman (publicity photo below).

Who wouldn't want to hang out with this dude?

So, after about 15 years of non-stop killing on their victory tour (these guys got around more than the Rolling Stones), Nick becomes disillusioned after having to hack up a city full of innocent women and children. Apparently, the betting with Ron and boozing in local Crusader taverns just looses its charm and he and Ron decide head back to merry old Europe (we're not sure exactly where in Europe they came from or where they were returning to). We do know however that nowhere in the movie did they visit New Orleans.

Redbone and the Witch Queen of New Orleans - yeah that's cool - but not part of the movie

Now Europe at the time was a quaint, charming vacation spot in the 1300's - filled with witches, demons, various fairy tale monsters and the ever-present Black Death. Nick and Ron needed a break so they head directly into the dark woods of what looks like Transylvania. Oh, we forgot to mention an important scene earlier on in the film where we were introduced to some dedicated witch hunters and typical village witches from what seemed to be the region that Nick and Ron would visit later. The scene was remarkable in that it dispelled an important myth about Witches - it seems as though they don't float after all. Although there is still some scientific controversy about that claim - the following video does seem to provide compelling evidence supporting the 'witches are made out of wood' theory.

King Arthur isn't as well known for his focus on STEM education in medieval Britain, but he was a science pioneer...

Nick and Ron manage to get conscripted into an important witch relocation mission. They're given a band of less than merry expendable sidekicks and a cute teen witch who looks a lot like Kristen Stewart after she dumped Robert Pattison (e.g. really guilty). Despite the fact that she can pick up big guys wearing armor with one had and seems fairly creepy, most of the group feels sorry for her - which is surprising considering the general attitude regarding witches in the region. She seems to have the unique talent for spreading plague to each town she visits which makes everyone look as though they've got fruit growing from their faces.

What would have people in the middle ages done with Emo Girls or Goths?, Hmmmm

So anyway - long story short - there's this book and it has power and the demon inside the girl wants it - and she kills everyone (except Nick and Ron and some teenager who looks like he should be in the Twilight series) and then these guys end up being exorcists and then the girl and the demon break up and she goes out with this teen and live happily ever after although Nick still seems miserable and Ron turns out to be dead after all - the end. Whew...

But then - wait - we found out she came back to 1971 - where George Romero made a movie about her - she looks a little older though. That movie is called Season of the Witch too (not 2). Only in this movie she tends to wear a ton of makeup and perhaps uses the blow-dryer a bit too much.

Well, this witch is having a bad hair day, reminds us of Nick Cage a little...

And it looks a though we've run out of time to address Nick Cage's hair - stay tuned we will keep our promise.

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