Negative Ads have become Political Dialog

Just when people thought politics couldn't get much worse, the 2012 presidential election managed to pump $6 billion dollars worth of negative ads across television, radio, print and the Internet. Some estimates claim that more than 80% of all political ads this year were negative nature. Worse than this though, the downward spiral of political discourse is taking the rest of the media with it - tarnishing the image and credibility of everyone involved.

If you don't have anything nice to say...

Perhaps it is to be expected that with the dual influences of the campaign spending explosion triggered by the Supreme Court "Citizen's United" Campaign Finance decision and the still sluggish economy that the election advertisements would be overwhelmingly negative. Even with those rationalizations though, it was still hard to watch. One wonders if any election these days can elevate itself beyond the level of mutual character assassination. Even more to the point though is whether any meaningful political dialog can occur in these types of environments.

Does this seem silly, well, don't the other negative ads seem goofy as well?

First we need to make a distinction regarding negative ads and let's say attack ads. Perhaps such a distinction is not formally recognized but for the sake of argument let's contrast these two types of combative ads:

1. The Traditional Negative Ad - It is first and foremost a personal assault. The personality of the candidate is under fire; the types of charges leveled can include ideology but the main thrust of the strategy is to tarnish the character of the candidate. These ads are part of the main dialog between the candidates - in fact this year - nearly all of the dialog has been negative.
2. The Proxy Attack - The proxy attack is something that's been around for a long while but has now taken on new dimensions given the virtually unlimited influx of cash and special interests participation. The proxy attack allows a much wider variety of attacks and all sorts of related propaganda. Since these ads are not officially linked to the campaigns there is little or no restraint or responsibility shown. 

Both types of ads have been around since political advertising began. The problem of course is not the existence of these types of ads but rather our increasing reliance on them to convey the majority of our national political dialog (at least during election cycles). Neither of these types of ads is concerned with or does a good job of actually establishing a dialog. The Voters have a right to know what the differences are between those who would represent them.

Ads like this are quite simply embarrassing the nation...

What seems clear is that the Negative Ad is gaining momentum and is becoming the primary form of all political advertising and perhaps the primary form of all political dialog. Positive advertising is relatively rare as candidates seem hesitant t talk about what if anything they intend to do if elected. So, why do politicians seem to be moving en masse to the least civilized of the available options? Well - they think Negative Ads (personal assaults) work. Do they, really?

It's hard to quantify that answer given that other factors are usually involved. Someone who outspends their opponent 3 to 1 and uses negative advertising and wins could point to the money, the ads or both as the keys to victory. What does seem clear is that negative advertising turns people off - first towards the candidate being targeted, next towards the candidate making the attack and lastly towards the entire unpleasant process. Eventually these people become turned off altogether and stop voting or participating in politics at all. And that in itself may be a victory for someone.

This parody managed to capture most of this campaigns core themes - that kinda of scary...

Copyright 2012 - Raving Reviews - All Rights Reserved

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Predator - A Raving Classic

People have had an odd fascination with Arnold Schwarzenegger ever since he showed up in Hollywood more than thirty years ago. We also have an obsession with Aliens - on top of that, most people love Reggae music. Add these three ingredients together and you'll get today's Raving Classic film - Predator. In 1987, we were treated to what is likely Arnold's best movie ever - a movie that asked the question - what if Aliens hunted humans the way hillbillies stalk deer? Well, maybe this Alien wasn't a hick on his world but then again maybe he was - he had a strange sense of humor and liked to collect trophies.

The main theme from Predator

Predator is one of those movies you can watch again and again and it still grips you. The storyline is fairly thin because this is a macho-action type plot. Everybody in the movie is macho, including the Alien. Even the one female lead, Elpidia Carrillo (as the sexy Sandinista), is pretty tough. The special effects were unique and memorable and the "creature design" - well, it was out of this world.

Kiss me baby !

Now if you want to watch this movie expecting some great acting - forget it. When Arnold does talk he's barely intelligible (perhaps a bit clearer than Stallone though) but then again he's there for the muscle-power and not a lot of introspective monologues. Arnold is always good in movies where you can reasonably affirm that he looks the part - like in Conan (not the talk show) and the Terminator and in this film. Arnold is a walking comic book character leading man - and he was doing that way before the comic book craze took over Hollywood. But he does it so well...

The original trailer for Predator, circa 1987

Here's a list of the rest of the things we like about the movie:

1. The premise was pretty cool.
2. The Dredlock Rastaman monster alien was exceptionally cool.
3. The jungle setting made it seem more plausible (in contrast to some of the silly sequels) 
4. The  Predator versus mercenary battle scenes were great as was the attack on the rebel camp. The personal battle between Arnold and the Predator good ole boy was awesome.
5. The humans won - at least until the next movie. 
6. The movie score was excellent - it added a lot of tension to an already suspenseful, well-paced plot. 
7. Oh, and we liked the shoulder-mounted laser. 

Believe it or not, this was state of the art in 1987

Here's some of our favorite quotes from the movie:

1. Bunch of slack-jawed faggots around here. This stuff will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus, just like me. (from Jesse Ventura early in the film)
2. This place makes Cambodia look like Kansas... you lose it out here and you're in a world of hurt. (another Jesse quote - all the more interesting given he was a real Navy Seal during the Vietnam war).
3. There's something out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man. We're all gonna die. (Billy / Sonny Landham)
4. If it bleeds, we can kill it. (Arnold)
5. We find them sometimes without their skin. Sometimes...much, much worse. Cazador de trofoes...means the demon who makes trophies of men. (Elpidia Carrillo)

The (entire) Making of Predator

Predator is not a profound movie-going experience but it is a visceral one. It isn't exactly scary but it does get your adrenaline pumping and pulls you inside the story. It's a movie-going experience that translates well to the TV screen as well (big screens are better of course).

Movie Reference	Ratings & Reviews	How to Watch
Predator on Wikipedia	Rotten Tomatoes	From Netflix
Predator on IMDB	Roger Ebert's Review	From Amazon.com

Copyright 2012 - Raving Reviews - All Rights Reserved

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A Tribute to Kurt Cobain

Well, it's not the anniversary of his tragic death or his birthday, but even still we decided today to pay tribute today to one of the most important influences on popular culture in the late 20th century. Cobain's band Nirvana, along with Soundgarden and Alice in Chains exploded onto the music scene during the early 90's - together the Seattle sound that they had collectively developed was referred to as Grunge.

This is "Grunge"

This all happened very quickly - Nirvana released their first album in 1989 and the second album made them international superstars by 1991. On April 5th, 1994 Kurt Cobain died. Essentially, Cobain had helped to pioneer a new genre of rock and create an enormous portfolio of innovative music in just a four year period.

Nirvana's take on the David Bowie classic

I was looking for something a lot heavier, yet melodic at the same time. Something different from heavy metal, a different attitude. - Kurt Cobain 

Kurt Cobain, troubled genuis

One of the earliest memories of one of contributors to this blog was the rock traumas of 1970 - these were remembered collectively as they were seen through the eyes of our elders at the time. Janis Joplin, Jim Morris, Jimi Hendrix - all dead in the same year. And then to top it off, the Beatles split up. These superstars of rock defined that generation and when they passed into history people recognized the significance immediately. 

Unfortunately he did have a gun...

Sad to say we didn't originally note the passing of Kurt Cobain the same way - he was a contemporary of ours but was introducing a form of music that we weren't too familiar with and hadn't adopted yet (that took a number of more years to fully appreciate). We didn't know too much about him beyond having seen him on Saturday Night Live. On top of that, things were busy then and the only music we listened to was on the radio going back and forth between places - this was mostly pre-Internet times (yes, they did exist).

Nirvana on SNL

So what made Curt Cobain and Nirvana so special? Well, there's always the 'star as martyr' or James Dean syndrome, but the difference here is that while James Dean only starred in three movies before entering pop immortality, Cobain created several dozen songs and redefined alternative music for the next twenty years.

As the years passed after his death, we began to listen to more and more of what Nirvana had produced over that incredibly short span of time. And because of that we began listening to Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam and together it seemed to us that this music more than anything else began to define the 1990's. Why it did is harder to explain - it's not just because that was the music which we heard playing at the time - it was because there seemed to be certain air of cynicism and depression associated with the 90's - and Grunge captured that sentiment. Why the 90's became an age of uncertainty could be attributed to the fact that the decade began with a Recession and a War - the first major American war since Vietnam. Or maybe there was a general sense of pessimism as the juggernaut of Globalism became the driving force in both the domestic and the global economy. The 1990's saw the partial retirement of the doomsday clock but introduced us to an even worse threat - Global Warming.

In the middle of this were a handful of seemingly awkward, troubled musicians who reintroduced rebellion and rejection of the status quo. Their's wasn't a happy message - but it seemed to be a true one. Yet their ability to channel that negativity lead to some of the brightest Grunge stars dying in self-destructive fits of misdirected rage. It reminds us a bit of 1970.

"I bought a gun and chose drugs instead."  Kurt Cobain 

One can only imagine how much music Kurt Cobain could have made if he had been given 20 years instead of 4 to express himself...

Copyright 2012 - Raving Reviews - All Rights Reserved

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A Cooler Christmas - Raving Playlist

It's hard to believe but the holidays are upon us once again. This week we'll celebrate another Thanksgiving and then there's Black Friday and the Christmas music - well it's already started. It's hard to believe that we'll have to endure the same versions of the same holiday classics everywhere we go for the next six weeks or so - again. Or will we...  Perhaps we can experience a Cooler Christmas this year - one that allows us to hear the season's classic music in a way that won't cause our brains to melt. What we need is a much cooler Christmas. Now, the weather may not cooperate with all that darn Global warming going on - Penguins and Polar Bears eating each other etc, but even with our ever-warming winters we can remain cool with some better tunes to take us through the holidays. It's in that spirit that we present today's playlist.

As usual it's available on Spotify as well.

Al Green and his most excellent advice below...

A Cooler Christmas

Al Green – Put A Little Love In Your Heart
Jimmy Eat World – Last Christmas - Studio Version
The Pretenders – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Barenaked Ladies – Sleigh Ride
Vampire Weekend – Holiday
Diana Krall – I'll Be Home For Christmas
Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - Single Version
Jack Johnson – In The Morning
Barenaked Ladies – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Lady Antebellum – Baby, It's Cold Outside
August Burns Red – Frosty the Snowman
Enya – The Spirit Of Christmas Past
Luke Bryan – Run Run Rudolph
The Beach Boys – Merry Christmas, Baby
Counting Crows – Holiday In Spain
B.B. King – Back Door Santa
Lady Antebellum – On This Winter's Night
Elvis Presley – Santa Claus Is Back In Town
Tom Petty – Christmas All Over Again
blink-182 – Happy Holidays, You Bastard
Barenaked Ladies – Auld Lang Syne
Blues Traveler – Christmas
Lou Ann Barton – Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Christmas On Piano – I Got The Jingle Bells Blues
Sex Pistols – Holidays In The Sun
Norah Jones – Peace
Denis Solee – Up On The Housetop
AgesandAges – We Need A Little Christmas
Jackson 5 – I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Kenny G – Silent Night
The Almost – Little Drummer Boy
Lady Antebellum – Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Piano Christmas – Ave Maria
The Walkmen – Seven Years of Holidays (for Stretch)
The Maine – Santa Stole My Girlfriend
Sister Hazel – Your Winter
Kay Kyser – Jingle Jangle Jingle
Beach House – New Year
Death Cab for Cutie – The New Year
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Snow [Hey Oh]
Craig Duncan – Frosty The Snowman
Ugly Casanova – So Long To The Holidays
Piano Christmas – Greensleeves - Piano Reprise
First Aid Kit – New Year's Eve
Mykola Leontovich – Carol Of The Bells
Straight No Chaser – The 12 Days Of Christmas
Beyoncé – Ave Maria
Barenaked Ladies – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / We Three Kings - feat. Sarah McLachlan
Piano Christmas – Amazing Grace
Calexico – Green Grows The Holly
Cyndi Lauper – Home for the Holidays
Harry Connick Jr. – The Happy Elf
Luther Vandross – This Is Christmas
Madonna – Holiday
Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys – Christmas Time's A-Coming
Wild Nothing – Summer Holiday
Dead Kennedys – Holiday In Cambodia
August Burns Red – Carol of the Bells
10cc – Dreadlock Holiday
Lady Antebellum – Silent Night (Lord Of My Life)
Madonna – Santa Baby
Fitz and The Tantrums – Santa Stole My Lady
"Weird Al" Yankovic – The Night Santa Went Crazy
The Ronettes – I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Bob Dylan – Here Comes Santa Claus
Mumford & Sons – Winter Winds
Lady Antebellum – Blue Christmas
August Burns Red – Winter Wonderland
Dave Matthews Band – Snow Outside
U2 – New Year's Day
Parachute – The New Year
Fall Out Boy – Yule Shoot Your Eye Out - Bonus Track
Louis Armstrong – Cool Yule
The Almost – Yule Be Sorry
Christina Perri – please come home for christmas
Luther Vandross – The Mistletoe Jam (Everybody Kiss Somebody)

The late, great Luther Vandross

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Why do Bad Shows do Well?

While truly great cinema and television fail to make it? This is today's question. A question that comes in the wake of:

• The massive Twilight opening
• The biggest Bond film ever
• The impressive showing for Lincoln

Of the three movies listed above we attended two of the premieres. We won't attend the third (Twilight) on principle - the first Twilight movie was Ok, the follow-ons have gotten sillier and seem to represent an opportunity to see the main characters again in a sort of teen worship scenario. The other movies listed above seemed very promising from the initial reviews and trailers yet we walked out of both highly disappointed. 

If these three were ugly, how many teens would go to watch their movie?

Lincoln, which we just saw on Friday was a relatively lifeless and unimaginative take on Lincoln which chose to suck in every oddball piece of Lincoln mythology developed over the past 150 years. Skyfall was a movie that didn't seem to know where it was going for more than half of the picture with a James Bond who seemed as though he was doing his best to get out of his contract by turning in the most apathetic Bond performance in a generation  Yet both films have done exceptionally well. On the other, Cloud Atlas, which was remarkable on many levels, fell flat in the box office (at least here in the US, it did much better internationally).

Now, there are exceptions where great shows are actually recognized as being great these days, although most of that is coming from television cable networks. The best example of this is AMC who have developed and stuck by Mad Men, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad in just the past 5 years. Other great television shows over the years haven't fared so well with comedies like Outsourced being cut, shows like Firefly being ditched and so on. Often times, truly great shows need time to build up audience or need at least not to be pitted against top-rated nonsense like American Idol. 

Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight - Kid's books and Comic Books now dominate Hollywood

Before Twilight, the last big hit at the theaters was the Hunger Games. It was perhaps even sillier than the Twilight saga and worse yet had stolen its entire concept from a Japanese movie called "Battle Royale" (a film which turned out to be more entertaining by far than hunger games - it's on Netflix). 

The book "Hunger Games" was a Ripoff Royale

So, this brings us back to our original question? Why do so many crap movies or shows do well while truly remarkable cinema and television get ignored? Here's our thoughts:

1. More and more decisions on what gets produced (and how it is produced) is being based on demographics rather than story. 
2. We have a precious few really talented writers these days in Hollywood. 
3. People respond to trailers - and most of these trailers represent false advertising. Lincoln is a good example - it includes fully half of the most dramatic scenes of its entire 2 hours and 29 minutes in the two minute preview. Instead of watching the 2 hours of riveting cinema we expected there was maybe 5 minutes of real drama in the whole movie.
4. People respond to brand and are afraid to try new things. Hunger Games is a brand, Twilight is a brand - they were both brands before they were movies. Lincoln is a brand as well - sort of. 
5. People going to movies don't like to think too hard - or so Hollywood assumes. Sequels, brand franchises, re-tellings of the same old stories represent perhaps 2/3 of all Hollywood revenue. During Looper, which in fact wasn't even that complicated, we personally witnessed people acting as though their heads were about to explode.
6. When people come to the movies expecting it will be good, often they're unwilling to admit that it wasn't. That's real loyalty - but it doesn't help guarantee that future movies will be made with any skill if you reward films that are flimsy and un-entertaining. 
7. There seems to be lowered expectations for film quality these days. In this regard, cinema and politics seem to be competing with one another to see how dumbed-down they can get. Contrary to popular belief, however, the United States doesn't operate at a sixth grade level. 

There is nothing worse than going to a movie expecting to enjoy oneself and end up being stuck for two hours wishing you were somewhere else. We're grateful for gems like the Cloud Atlas when they do occur, but we think it's about time that Hollywood started raising the bar again in general on their major releases. Stephen Spielberg is a genius, we credited him with the best movie of all time, yet in Lincoln he makes the high point of the movie a bathroom - sorry - wash closet joke. 

That's just sad.  

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Lincoln doesn't Secede

We apologize for the titular pun, but the reality is that Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln has provided us with the second massive disappointment in a week or so. The other one was Skyfall. We weren't sure what we were expecting with Lincoln, but we certainly didn't get it. Spielberg managed to take the most fascinating character in American history during the most tumultuous period in our history and actually make a dull and inaccurate movie. How could this have happened?

The real... Abraham Lincoln

Here's our explanation as to what went wrong with this movie:

1. Spielberg choose to focus on a tiny sliver of Civil War history (and an even smaller part of Lincoln's life) - the passage of the 13th amended to the constitution (e.g. the permanent abolition of slavery).
2. The story of the passage of that amendment drifted from being a morality epic into a buffonish process study into the workings of the Congress of 1865. 
3. The portrayal of Lincoln (while done very well by Daniel Day Lewis) is a continuation of slew of Lincoln myths - when taken together they greatly diminish the true historical character of Lincoln. Worse than that though, the film was sprinkled with awkward and often inappropriate humor, dedicating serious amounts of time to James Spader and his pals as wacky lobbyists intent on buying votes through patronage jobs. 
4. There is almost no action in the film - this is the Civil War and no action, a 4 year period wherein we fought more than in every other war in history combined.
5. The big issues were "wonkified" - at times it seemed as though we were watching the 1865 version of "Meet the Press." (BTW - this is how you take great and important issues and make them seem boring).

Daniel Day Lewis will get an Oscar nod for this role, but the script was lame

We were referring to the fact that this film perpetuated a number of Lincoln myths; here are the ones we're referring to:

• That Lincoln was a relatively comic figure with all his homilies, jokes and such. Nothing was further from the truth - Lincoln was perhaps the most astute politician in this nation's history. While he did often use anecdotes to make his point, he wasn't all anecdotes - as depicted in this and many other films. If you want to know what Lincoln really sounded like, how he actually made his cases and crafted his rhetoric, there's ample examples to go by. Here's an example that is entirely consistent with Lincoln's true style of communication:

It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our national Constitution. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens, have, in succession, administered the executive branch of the government. They have conducted it through many perils; and, generally, with great success. Yet, with all this scope for [of] precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years, under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.

I hold, that in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper, ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever -- it being impossible to destroy it, except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself. (first inaugural address - 1861)

• That Lincoln sounded like Mark Twain (e.g. whiny, squeaky). Lincoln was perhaps the most successful debater and best public speaker in our history -he did not speak with a crackly voice. 
• That Lincoln expressed himself in simple terms more often than not. This is absolutely not true. No president in this nation's history was more eloquent. 
• That Lincoln was a broken man before he was assassinated, burdened by remorse over the war and the burden of being married to Mary Todd. The story-line of this movie even seems to contradict itself on this point as we see Lincoln the politician fighting to win a crucial victory while looking beaten at the same time. The fact that Lincoln was out celebrating at a theater when he was shot ought to indicate that maybe he wasn't as bad off as everyone seems to have wanted him to be. He was in fact squarely focused on the remainder of his second term and reconstruction of the nation.

We don't need to humanize Lincoln in cinema through continued reliance on these misunderstandings. Lincoln's actions and words did more than enough to humanize him for us and the ages. The real story that begs to be told about Lincoln is how this man rose to greatness; how he stood by his principles both in terms of saving the union and ending slavery and almost single-handedly held the United States through its most severe test together through sheer force of will. This movie only gives us fleeting glimpses of that and despite several remarkable performances (by Lewis and Sally Field in particular) falls flat in helping to know the real Lincoln or better understand an America that was perfectly willing to destroy itself in a bloodbath of unimaginable proportions.   

The Civil War was no joking matter

Copyright 2012 - Raving Reviews - All Rights Reserved

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Retro Attack - A Raving Playlist

Music defines an age and that age defines the people who become adults during that time. It's true that musical tastes expand and change as one grows older but those memories from high school when you began to experience the world through your own eyes for the first time always stays with you. Many of us came of age during the 1980's - we thought we had the best of all worlds, being able to choose from hits across three decades of cool rock tunes. It was also the beginning of Alternative rock and the launch of M-TV. Now those times with the big hair and Members Only jackets seem hopelessly Retro - yet the music still resonates. For those who still appreciate what the real Freaks & Geeks was like or those who'd like to travel back in time and find out why their parents are so weird - we present to you a Retro tribute. Of course back then we didn't have playlists, we used to record songs on cassette tapes and write the names down on the labels.

As usual, this playlist is available on Spotify as well.

What we like about the Romantics...

Retro Attack

The Romantics – What I Like About You
Tommy Tutone – 867-5309 / Jenny
Gary Numan – Cars (Live 1984)
Timbuk 3 – The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
Rick Springfield – Jessie's Girl
Robert Palmer – Addicted To Love
Ready For The World – Oh Sheila
Bow Wow Wow – I Want Candy
Paul Davis – '65 Love Affair
Gregory Abbott – Shake You Down
Mr. Mister – Broken Wings
Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want To Have Fun
The Romantics – Talking In Your Sleep
Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing
Robert Palmer – Bad Case Of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)
Philip Bailey Duet with Phil Collins – Easy Lover
Rick James – Super Freak
Paul Young – Every Time You Go Away - Single Version
Soft Cell – Tainted Love
Scandal – Goodbye To You featuring Patty Smyth
The Fixx – One Thing Leads To Another
Tears For Fears – Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Dexys Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
DeBarge – Rhythm Of The Night
The Temptations – Treat Her Like A Lady
Rick Springfield – I've Done Everything For You
Eddie Money – Take Me Home Tonight
Devo – Whip It
Robert Palmer – I Didn't Mean To Turn You On
Eddie Money – Think I'm In Love
Information Society – What's On Your Mind - Pure Energy   Album Version
The Escape Club – Wild Wild West
INXS – What You Need - Single/LP Version
Howard Jones – No One Is To Blame
Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds - Elvis Live version
Todd Rundgren – Hello It's Me
Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Jackie Blue
The Tokens – The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)
The Champs – Tequila (Original)
Badfinger – Come And Get It
Juice Newton – Queen Of Hearts
Anita Ward – Ring My Bell
The Troggs – Wild Thing
Orleans – Still The One
Heatwave – Boogie Nights
Belinda Carlisle – Heaven Is A Place On Earth - `80s Weight Loss Workout Mix
Atlanta Rhythm Section – So Into You
Dusty Springfield – Spooky
Billy Paul – Me And Mrs. Jones
The Go-Go's – We Got The Beat (Single Mix)
Alice Cooper – No More Mr. Nice Guy
Bay City Rollers – Saturday Night
Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son
Elvis Presley – Viva Las Vegas
Abba – Dancing Queen
The Animals – House Of The Rising Sun
The Go-Go's – Our Lips Are Sealed
Kim Wilde – Kids in America
Three Dog Night – Mama Told Me Not To Come
Missing Persons – Destination Unknown
Rick Derringer – Rock N' Roll Hoochie Koo
The Miracles – Love Machine (Re-Recorded / Remastered)
Commodores – Brick House
B.J. Thomas – Hooked On A Feeling
Looking Glass – BRANDY
The Numb Ones – Space and Time
Robby Krieger (The Doors) – Across The Universe
Exile – Kiss You All Over
Peter, Paul and Mary – Leaving On A Jet Plane
Nazareth – Love Hurts
Kool & The Gang – Celebration
The Smithereens – Behind The Wall Of Sleep
Steely Dan – My Old School
The Guess Who – American Woman
Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
The Tubes – She's A Beauty
Wolfmother – Joker And The Thief
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – Nowhere To Run - Single Version (Mono)
Sonny & Cher – I Got You Babe - LP/Single Version
The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody
Thin Lizzy – Whiskey In The Jar - Full Length Version
The Hollies – Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)
The Spencer Davis Group – Gimme Some Lovin'
Sweet – Little Willy
Janis Joplin – Piece Of My Heart
Diana Ross & The Supremes – Someday We'll Be Together
The Romantics – One In A Million
Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)?
Lenny Kravitz – It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
Spandau Ballet – True
The Jesus – Head On
The Animals – Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Abba – Dancing Queen
Steely Dan – Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Harry Belafonte – Day-O - Banana Boat
Steely Dan – Peg
Ray Charles – What'd I Say
Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl
Rick Springfield – Love Somebody
Wang Chung – Everybody Have Fun Tonight
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean - Single Version
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean - Single Version
Foreigner – Juke Box Hero
The Seventies – Alone Again
The Fixx – One Thing Leads To Another
Journey – Stone In Love

Journey helped to define rock in the early 1980's

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Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

How many of you are old enough to remember the Dating Game, or the original Newlywed Game or perhaps even, the Gong Show? There was one man behind this wave of insanity that hit the airwaves starting in the 1960's - his name was Chuck Barris. In fact, most of what we now consider Reality Television was born in his twisted imagination well before it earned the title we now use to refer to it. Why do we say twisted though? Well, if you haven't seen the Gong Show you might well not have gotten a true glimpse in Mr. Barris. The program was more or less a very cruel version of American Idol - with awful acts paraded in front of merciless judges only to be Gonged off of the stage in humiliation

Chuck Barris, producer, host, professional killer

But that of course was only the beginning of Mr. Barris's strange story. That story became truly bizarre after most of his hit TV shows were cancelled in the early 1980's. Then he wrote a book titled: "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and exposed his big secret - that the producer of the Gong Show was in fact a hitman for the CIA. He wrote a sequel to the book as well, providing more details about the 33 or so assassinations he allegedly performed while working as a TV Producer.

Sam Rockwell proved again in this film that he's one of the best actors in Hollywood today

In 2002, actor-producer George Clooney took the two books and combined them into a movie adaptation of Mr. Barris's strange story and named the film after the title of the first book. The movie at least seems to take the claim of Barris' double life as a professional killer somewhat seriously. To date, no one has either confirmed or denied the claims (well, the CIA did say he hadn't worked for them but then again Barris clearly states in the book and the movie that he as an independent contractor).

We missed the movie when it came out in 2003, an easy thing to do given the nature of the subject matter and lack of promotion. This movie was never destined to become a box office hit, but now that it is both on cable and Netflix it certainly is worth seeing. Why is it noteworthy? Here's our rationale:

1. The story is entertaining.
2. Clooney did a good job both as a director and one of the key players in the film (he portrays Barris' CIA handler).
3. The Chuck Barris story is so bizarre anyway, that even without the CIA twist it is interesting to watch - with the hitman fantasy it becomes truly fascinating.
4. There's a great extended cameo by Julia Roberts.
5. Because we've still never fully recovered from seeing the Gong Show...

Marcia Brady on the Dating Game - pop-culture cross promotion at its cheesiest

The big question you may be asking yourself is - could Chuck Barris have actually been a CIA killer? In the movie, they explain that often times on the Dating Game the contestants would be given vacations to strange locations so Barris could chaperone the couples and then steal away to conduct hits. In fact, the movie presents the idea that the CIA handler (Clooney) gave Barris the idea for the trips as a cover for his nefarious moonlighting. Who knows what really happened - most people have written off the hitman portion of the story as fantasy. Whether the story was real or imagined though, the movie is certainly entertaining. Perhaps Barris was the real James Bond?

The Gong Show pioneered bad taste on television 

Movie Reference	Ratings & Reviews	How to Watch
Chuck Barris on Wikipedia	Rotten Tomatoes Review	On Netflix
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind on IMDB	Roger Ebert's review	From Amazon.com

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The Lone Gunmen Predicted 9/11

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction - or is it? In March, 2001 a TV series pilot aired on Fox television that depicted of all things, an airliner being flown into the World Trade Center (albeit with a different set of culprits and motives than the actual event). Keep in mind that this was nearly 6 months before 9/11 occurred. The show was called The Lone Gunmen and was a spin-off of the wildly popular  X-files. In the X-files series, the characters known as the Lone Gunmen served as a sort of 3 man cheap-laffs team. They ran a little read-conspiracy theory newsletter and helped Mulder and Scully out of any number of scrapes.

The DVD cover for the Lone Gunmen

As the X-files was finally winding down in 2001, the producers looked to the Gunmen to provide a spin-off into the next generation of X-files like paranoia. The show looked promising when it was first aired - the pilot followed in the best tradition of the x-files and the characters seemed to be able to stand alone w/o help from Fox Mulder. But then 9/11 happened and the show wasn't picked up for a new season. The show would have likely been cancelled anyway given the low ratings, which was partly due to its time-slot and off-season start. In fact, one has to wonder whether or not 9/11 would have happened at all if this show had been a hit. The initial response to the attacks on 9/11 included quite a number of statements by officials that just such an event could not have been foreseen or otherwise planned for. But as the pilot proved, the main idea of the attack had clearly been foreseen - by Hollywood anyway.

After 9/11, the government did actually enlist creative talent from Hollywood to help envision various types of scenarios not unlike those from the Lone Gunmen

It is fascinating to see the relationships between fiction and non-fiction, between popular culture and historical events. The strange case of The Lone Gunmen stands as one of the more profound examples of that - one that most people aren't even aware of...

This is the opening sequence from the Lone Gunmen pilot episode

Topic Reference	Ratings & Reviews	How to Watch
Lone Gunmen - Wikipedia	Lone Gunmen on Rotten Tomatoes	From Netflix
Lone Gunmen - IMDB	DVD Verdict	From Amazon

Copyright 2012 - Raving Reviews - All Rights Reserved

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Freedom - A Raving Playlist

What is Freedom, what does it really mean? Is it the absence of tyranny? Is Freedom the ability to do what you want, go where you want and be yourself? Or is it perhaps the ability to express your opinions and worship how you want to without being forced to think and behave the way someone else wants you to? These are all deep questions - questions that have relatively little to do with this playlist that we happened to name "Freedom." There is one thing that we're certain of though, you can listen to these tunes while you're pondering those great questions and chances are you will determine what Freedom means to you - and after all - that's the only thing that really matters isn't it?

As usual you can find this list on Spotify - and guess what - that's free too (if you don't mind the ads)!

John, when he was Cougar not Mellencamp - sporting some 80's hair

Minutes to Memories is Mellencamp's best song from his best Album - scarecrow

Freedom:
John Mellencamp – Minutes To Memories
Vangelis – Theme From Antarctica
10000 Maniacs – Across The Fields
The Black Crowes – Remedy
Audioslave – Be Yourself
Journey – Be Good To Yourself
The B-52's – Roam
Nirvana – Lithium
Vangelis – Blade Runner (End Titles)
The Black Crowes – Been A Long Time (Waiting on Love)
The Black Crowes – Hard To Handle
Three Dog Night – Never Been To Spain
Matchbox Twenty – 3 am
America – A Horse with No Name
Vangelis – Closing Titles From "Mutiny On The Bounty"
George Harrison – What Is Life - 2001 Digital Remaster
The Black Crowes – She Talks To Angels
Sister Hazel – All For You
The Allman Brothers Band – In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed - 1971/Live At The Fillmore East
Nirvana – Something In The Way
Orleans – Dance With Me
Boston – Don't Look Back
3 Doors Down – It's Not My Time
Vangelis – The Tao Of Love
The Cranberries – Linger
Santana – Maria Maria - Radio Mix
The Allman Brothers Band – Midnight Rider
Vangelis – Memories Of Green
Naked Eyes – Always Something There To Remind Me
Vangelis – L'Enfant
The Killers – All These Things That I've Done
Genesis – Land Of Confusion - 2007 Remastered Album Version
The Black Crowes – Jealous Again
Grand Funk Railroad – I'm Your Captain/Closer To Home (Medley)
John Mellencamp – Our Country - Rock Version
Vangelis – La Petite Fille De La Mer
Todd Rundgren – I Saw The Light
R.E.M. – Losing My Religion
Supertramp – Take The Long Way Home - Remastered Version/2010
Spandau Ballet – True
Jack Johnson – Better Together
George Michael – Freedom! '90
The Cranberries – Dreams
Vangelis – Love Theme From " Bladerunner"
U2 – Heartland
John Mellencamp – Authority Song
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird
Tom Petty – Free Fallin'
Eric Clapton – After Midnight
Dave Matthews Band – Funny the Way It Is
Counting Crows – American Girls
Santana – Samba Pa' Ti
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Learning To Fly
Pink Floyd – Run Like Hell
Bruce Springsteen – Born In The U.S.A.
Roxy Music – More Than This
Billy Ocean – Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car
Foo Fighters – My Hero
Sara Bareilles – Love Song
Anberlin – Breathe
Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah
Heather Masse – I Don’t Wanna Wake Up Today
INXS – Need You Tonight
Foo Fighters – My Hero
Steve Winwood – Back In The High Life Again
Neil Young – Rockin' In The Free World
Lenny Kravitz – Supersoulfighter
U2 – Sweetest Thing - The Single Mix
Dave Matthews Band – American Baby
Peter Gabriel – Red Rain - Live In London/2011
Adam Gussow – Freedom For My People - Excerpt
Everclear – Santa Monica
The Animals – House Of The Rising Sun
David Bowie – Blue Jean
Franz Ferdinand – What She Came For

Well, their songs have little to do with Freedom, but we still like them anyway

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