Skip to main content

Have You Forgotten?

I graduated college ten years ago this month. It was also ten years ago when I saw a movie by Cameron Crowe in a theater.

Coming out of Vanilla Sky with my brother-in-law, I felt like the world was much bigger and vaster. A few weeks later, I saw the movie again and still loved it.

Since Crowe released only one more film in the ensuing years prior to this year, it's not like I had an embargo with his work. Elizabethtown interested me, but I never got around to seeing it. When the basic idea was announced, not surprisingly, online movie writers got excited about the prospect of something on par with Say Anything. Based on the response when the movie actually came out, there was a large degree of disappointment. (Seems like Nathan Rabin remains the most vocal about the film, especially with his bookend reviews of the film in My Year of Flops.)

This year, Crowe released Pearl Jam 20, a decent look at the band that suffers from a common dilemma with band documentaries: there was so much good stuff it became hard to whittle everything down to a manageable running time. I'm happy the doc exists and glad Crowe is back behind the lens.

But with We Bought a Zoo? That's where I apply the brakes.

Sam Adams wrote an extensive piece for Slate that breaks down Crowe's flaws. I will simply say this: the kind of earnestness that I loved with Almost Famous/Untitled and Vanilla Sky is not something I repeatedly yearn for. While I believe in asking "What do you love about music?" with a straight face and saying "Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around" to conquer internal struggles, I understand that kind of earnestness is silly for a lot of people. They're phrases that could easily come from a non-jaded person, but non-jaded adults don't exist in the minds of those consumed by absolute pessimism.

My reaction to We Bought a Zoo's trailer is that it's a heartwarming family film. I have no problem with those kinds of films, but David Fincher's take on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is tempting me more this holiday season. I'm not against seeing We Bought a Zoo, but it's not a must-see priority.

When faced with the question of who has changed more, the director or the audience, I'd have to say it's the audience by a mile. I applaud Crowe for sticking to his heart, but what grabbed a mainstream audience with Jerry Maguire and Say Anything might simply not fit for what people want these days.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air

Best of 2021

  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J