Roadtrip - A Raving Playlist

What's the best part of driving across country? Well it's not traffic, gas prices, stupid drivers and bad weather. Nope - it's the music. It's always been the music. We've compiled a list that celebrates the Roadtrip - a uniquely American experience from two angles; 1 - songs about cars and driving, 2 - songs that are fun to listen to while driving (for example, "The Devil in Me" by the 22-20's which is also on the Driver San Fransisco soundtrack - it's a video game). So the next time you're driving from sea to shining sea or even from the Great Lakes to a shining sea load this list up and enjoy. As always this list is also on Spotify.

The Killers

 

Roadtrip:

The Killers – Joy Ride
R.E.M. – Pop Song 89
The Cars – Drive
Gary Numan – Cars
Deep Purple – Hush
Derek & The Dominos – Layla
Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way
Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street
Deep Purple – Highway Star
The Cars – Moving In Stereo
Sheryl Crow – Everyday Is A Winding Road
Golden Earring – Radar Love
Phil Collins – Take Me Home
Counting Crows – Big Yellow Taxi
Aerosmith – Back In The Saddle
Maná – No ha parado de llover - unplugged
The Edgar Winter Group – Free Ride
War – Low Rider
The Cars – Good Times Roll
Christopher Cross – Ride Like The Wind
Dishwalla – Counting Blue Cars (Tell Me Your Thoughts On God)
Foghat – Slow Ride
The Doobie Brothers – Rockin' Down The Highway - 2006 Remastered Album Version
Fatboy Slim – The Rockafeller Skank
The Spencer Davis Group – Gimme Some Lovin'
Eddie Money – Take Me Home Tonight
Billy Ocean – Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car
John Mellencamp – Rumbleseat
Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars
Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song
The B-52's – Love Shack
America – Ventura Highway
Gipsy Kings – Bamboleo
John Mayer – Route 66
The Jesus – Blues From A Gun
Journey – Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
22-20s – Devil In Me
Don McLean – American Pie
Buckcherry – Highway Star
Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road
Green Day – Hitchin' A Ride
Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
AC/DC – Highway to Hell
Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
Sting – We'll Be Together - 2011 Remix
Peter Frampton – Show Me The Way - Live
Joe Jackson – Steppin' Out
Lenny Kravitz – Can't Get You Off My Mind
Steppenwolf – Magic Carpet Ride
Jane Wiedlin – Rush Hour
Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Pump It Up
ZZ Top – Waitin' For The Bus
Incubus – Drive
Crosby, Stills & Nash – Wasted On The Way
ZZ Top – Legs
Meat Loaf – Paradise By The Dashboard Light
Counting Crows – Mrs. Potters Lullaby
INXS – Pretty Vegas
Steve Miller Band – Take The Money And Run
Bruce Springsteen – Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Janis Joplin – Me And Bobby McGee
Roy Orbison – I Drove All Night
The Knack – My Sharona
The Doors – Roadhouse Blues
ZZ Top – La Grange
Three Dog Night – Joy To The World - Single Version
Soul Survivors – Expressway To Your Heart
REO Speedwagon – Back On The Road Again
Blondie – One Way or Another
Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild
Martha & The Muffins – Echo Beach - 2002 - Remaster
Sniff 'n' The Tears – Driver's Seat
ZZ Top – Cheap Sunglasses - Remastered LP Version
ZZ Top – I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
Stealers Wheel – Stuck In The Middle With You
Racing Cars – On Days Like These
INXS – Devil Inside - Australian Single Edit
Chris Spedding – Motor Bikin'
Billy Joel – The River Of Dreams
Carmine Appice – Silver Machine
ZZ Top – Jesus Just Left Chicago
The Wallflowers – One Headlight
Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally
The Jesus – Sometimes Always
Lenny Kravitz – Mr. Cab Driver
Train – Drive By
Iggy Pop – The Passenger
The Black Crowes – Hard To Handle - Live
T-Rex – 20th Century Boy
Journey – Wheel In The Sky
Aerosmith – Road Runner
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Sweet Hitch-Hiker
Talking Heads – Road To Nowhere
Blood, Sweat & Tears – Spinning Wheel - Single Version
John Mellencamp – R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (A Salute To 60's Rock)
Vanity Fare – Hitchin a Ride
Prince – Little Red Corvette
Simon & Garfunkel – America
Eric Clapton – Cross Roads
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Runnin' Down A Dream
T-Rex – 20th Century Boy
Elastica – Car Song
Sammy Hagar – I Can't Drive 55
Steely Dan – Do It Again
The Allman Brothers Band – Midnight Rider
Blackfoot – Highway Song
Mason Williams – Classical Gas
Ray Charles – Hit The Road Jack
Chicago – Saturday In The Park
Jackson Browne – Running On Empty
Junior Brown – Highway Patrol
George Thorogood And The Destroyers – Six Days On The Road
Bo Diddley – Road Runner - Single Version
Tenacious D – The Road
Willie Nelson – On The Road Again
Mountain – Mississippi Queen
Blur – Song 2
David Bowie – Modern Love (Single Version)
Aretha Franklin – Freeway Of Love
Grateful Dead – Truckin'
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Crosstown Traffic
Neil Young – Motorcycle Mama
Weezer – The Good Life - Radio Remix
Joe Walsh – Life In The Fast Lane
Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
The Decemberists – One Engine - from The Hunger Games Soundtrack
Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
Alanis Morissette – Hand In My Pocket
Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - Original 7" Mix
Five Man Electrical Band – Signs
Eric Clapton – Lay Down Sally - Live 1978 Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California
Prince – Little Red Corvette
Marlena Shaw – California Soul - Diplo Remix
The Black Crowes – Share the Ride
REO Speedwagon – Roll With The Changes

Copyright 2012 - Raving Reviews - All Rights Reserved

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Centurion Mugs Gladiator, Film at 11

Our holiday was quite enjoyable - even more so considering that one of our presents was a new Netflix subscription. Now we've still got our DirectTV subscription but we finally have true Video on Demand - after only twenty five years of waiting !

We celebrated this remarkable and earth-shattering event by watching several newer releases last night including last year's Centurion. We must admit that one of the reasons we chose it was due to the action-packed trailer which reminded us a bit of the first sequence in 1999's Gladiator with Russell "I'm not Mel Gibson" Crowe.

The best position for receiving an ambush is to
stay right in the middle of a sunken road

Little did we know how far those similarities would extend. Calling this movie a rip off isn't fair to most rip-offs, it was almost a clone. Let's examine this movie's genetic structure and compare it to Gladiator:

• Both films begin in the cold barbarian north with a Roman Legion.
• Both films have a young-looking bearded general.
• Both films sport a fireball attack.
  
• Both films have a gladiator in it.
• Both films involve a roman being captured.
• Both films have token ethnic slaves / soldiers.
• Both films have lot's of head smashing and head severing.

Now there are some important differences, including:

• The tongueless she devil tracker babe in Centurion.
• The father-son bonding issues in Gladiator.
• The cross-country Braveheart style Highland running in Centurion.
• Actual gladiatorial combat in Gladiator (as opposed to arm-wrestling in Centurion).
• A Scottish Witch (if you don't count Maximus' scar-faced assistant).
• The Butch & Sundance ripoff cliff-dive in Centurion.
• The 300-esque computer animated blood splashes in Centurion.
  

In fact, the romans and pagans battling in Centurion seemed so eager to bleed that the red stuff was spewing a split second before they were cut, slashed, gouged, skewered (and yes some folks got skewered) and hacked. It was a bloody mess, literally but then so was the script, the premise, the outcome and all of the characters and their lame acting. The bleeders and decapitated corpses provided the most convincing performances. After you're done with this one you'll be looking for a transfusion and making sure never to travel to Northern England (which appears much like the North Pole in this flik).

Are you not entertained ?, We'll no, not really, we're not
- but the metal middle finger is a nice touch.

Yes, we know we said we were going to do a worst hairstyles in Hollywood post, but in our extensive research we've realized that one actor, Nicolas Cage, owns nearly half of the sum total of Hollywood bad hair. So our bad hair post will be dedicated to a man whose taste knows no bounds (a better premise for the movie Knowing than the one in that awful film).

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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Tron Legacy - Digital DoubleTake

We went to see Tron Legacy 3D yesterday - we were both amazed and disappointed at the same time - overall our impression was favorable but this movie certainly squandered an opportunity to become a classic.

First things first - you'll note at the beginning of the film that some of it is in 2D and some of it is 3D. We're not sure why this happened, but we're guessing that it partly had to do with Jeff Bridges animated alter-ego, Clu as well as a strategy change after Avatar's box office results last year. The film would have been better had it been filmed entirely in 3D - perhaps they'll have a chance to change that later.

The story is not a revisioning - but an actual sequel - 28 years in the making. In that time the vast majority of the personal computer, internet and mobile technology revolutions happened - so comparisons to the original film are hard to make given our hindsight. The plot seemed terribly thin throughout the movie and the actors had a hard time making the most of it. We never quite understood the references to the first Tron because quite frankly we forgot most of it and the effort to faithfully connect the two films may have been a wasted effort for most of us.

The special effects however were quite extraordinary. Not since Blade Runner have we run across a film that looked this interesting - if only it had sounded half as interesting it would have been an instant classic.

Jeff Bridges gets animated in Tron Legacy - Too bad
his acting was less animated

We like Jeff Bridges, a lot. But we were a bit confused about his performance in Tron Legacy. At times he seemed as though he were phoning it in while practicing his new John Wayne trumping western character for the soon to be release True Grit. The fact that he was playing two characters, one a computer animated version of his younger self, points to a future in Hollywood where no actor will ever grow old again and some actors may come back from beyond. That's both cool and creepy at the same time. In this film the animation was close, but still not 100% lifelike - we watched Against All Odds (from 1984) last night to make comparisons and the virtual Jeff didn't quite match the real one.

The rest of the cast was adequate, but just. It was great to see Bruce Boxleitner again - in anything - but Flynn's son was kind of boring and the cyber babes while undeniably hot were somewhat two dimensional even when they were 3D. Michael Sheen made an odd and flashy appearance which seemed reminiscent of a mix between the Matrix and David Bowie - his attempt at breathing life into the plot was ultimately unsuccessful.

We still enjoyed the movie for the sheer visual, visceral experience of it - the characters were an afterthought - the story relatively unimportant. Those who make movies ought to have some vision... (the folks who made the original Tron did to some extent but that didn't carry over this time).

We vote that the screenwriters for this Tron be "DeRezzed"

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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