Grading the First PromoWest Fest - by Colin G.

There has been much buzz both online and in the coffee shop about the initial PromoWest Fest held last weekend in McFerson Commons. Since I have no dog in the fight, I figured it couldn't hurt to weigh in with my two cents as an impartial observer. Keep in mind that I only attended the opening day of the festival and I'm really no expert on anything except Cheap Trick. And......begin.

The Concept: There seem to be festivals popping up all over and if a local company with the clout of PromoWest wants to throw one in our hometown I say, "Why the hell not?" I'm a music fan and I'm all for anything that brings more music to Columbus. It was also a way to feature many of the bands the CD1025 has championed through the years. Grade: A

The Branding: Seems like most festivals have a snappy name like Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza or something to get the kids excited while distracting them from their parent's credit cards they are loading up. PromoWest Fest is fine I suppose but they may have left some easy merchandise money on the table. Grade: B

The Line-Up: No matter how you feel about the actual company that is PromoWest, even the biggest cynic would be hard pressed to find fault with this year's music line-up. This is the upside that PromoWest brings to the table. Ryan Adams, Snoop Dog, Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips along with some local acts like Red Wanting Blue and Nick D, just to name a few. Great line-up. Grade A+

Ticket Prices: Not sure I could plunk down the 3-day pass cash but overall it was a reasonable value. Grade B

VIP Experience: While I wasn't a VIP, the sections they had access to were better than most VIP sections I have experienced. On the downside, some performers were bummed about a big empty swash of green grass right in front of the stage, harshing their groove. Maybe split the difference next year?  Grade: B

The Third Stage Being Cancelled: There seemed to be some hubbub about this online but I couldn't really follow what was happening. I didn't miss the third stage while I was there. I can't even imagine where they would have put it. Grade: Incomplete

Lots of green, excellent stages at both ends on McFerson Commons

Lots of green, excellent stages at both ends on McFerson Commons

The Venue: McFerson Commons was much bigger than I remembered. The grass was lush and green and the buildings provided plenty of shade. Once again, I was only there on Friday, but there was plenty of space if you wanted but it was easy to join a crowd if getting in the mix was/is your thing. Grade A+

Vendors/Bathrooms/Stuff:  After talking to vendors and patrons I have two suggestions to improve the festival next year. 1) The craft beer garden is a nifty idea, but once people discovered it, they had to walk 200 yards the other direction to load up money on the wristbands and then return. Some vendors felt all that effort was hurting sales as people just got tired and surrendered to Miller Lite, which had a choice location right next to the load up station. Next year, put an additional cash spot closer to the craft beer garden. So people could see beer, buy beer, with minimal effort. 2) Some patrons seemed to have trouble finding the water station so maybe set that up closer to the gate so everybody lays eyes on it right from the get go. However, these are minor tweaks, I thought overall there were plenty of good food/drink choices and I never saw a line at the restrooms. Grade: B+

Production: The park had stages set up on each end and both were totally pro. Great sound and lights. I liked the big screen placement so you could watch the band from a distance if you wanted to maintain a little green space. I was there primarily to see Noel Gallagher & the High Flying Birds and the whole show was excellent. The bands started right on time and having zero downtime between the acts was a plus. Grade: A

Set Length: I fancy myself more of a punk than a hippie, so overall, I prefer a one hour set time and a rigid schedule than some rambling jamfest that drags on until dawn. Don't bore us, get to the chorus. Having said that, I talked to a number of Flaming Lips fans that were disappointed that they had spent good money and the band only played 40 minutes and ended rather abruptly while headlining Friday night. In the future, PromoWest may want to budget in a little flex time at the end of the night so the headliners don't get squeezed. Grade on Overall Schedule B+ / Grade on Hard Closing Time 11 pm C-

Those Crazy Wristbands Part 1: Okay, this seems to be the big bone of contention. I got hipped to the whole no-cash/credit/wristband thing a day before attending so I was mentally prepared to bend over and take it in style. Sure, a $2.00 "activation fee" combined with a $3.50 "termination fee" was  a shameless money grab but aren't we all used to that by now? The bottom line about any for-profit music festival is always the bottom line. Even those peace- loving hippies who set up Woodstock would gouge out your eyeballs with a one-hitter for an extra nickel. It's a rock n roll tradition. 

Obviously nobody enjoys having their hard-earned money nicked in the name of convenience, but don't give me the babe in the woods routine, Karen (Goodfellas). We all knew the rules going in, The Man was going to get your $$ one way or another so deal with it, bitch a little about it, and then move on and enjoy the music.  Grade: C

Why I Hate Those Crazy Wristbands: Okay, NOW I've got a problem. I showed up with my 12- year old son at 4:30 on Friday afternoon. We walked up to the venue with our tickets and were told we cannot enter the venue unless we first have our wristbands. I asked, "We aren't planning on buying anything, can't we just enter?" "Nope. Got to have the wristband." He then pointed across the street to the Nationwide box office where a line a quarter mile long was standing in the sun. And not moving.

So now Owen and I are standing in a huge line that isn't moving, directly across from the festival where nobody is entering. Holding our tickets. Meanwhile, Red Wanting Blue has ended and X Ambassadors are starting. Thankfully, I was mostly concerned with seeing Noel Gallagher so I wasn't too stressed (yet) but people around me in line who bought tickets and were fans of X were understandably upset. By 6 pm, we have only moved 20 yards or so and Owen is asking, "Should we just go home?" At that point people just began blowing up social media, myself included, hoping to draw attention to what was happening outside the venue. 

Just before we were ready to bail on the whole thing, people emerged from the box office and began handing out wristbands to anybody who had a ticket. Geez, that wasn't so hard. After waiting with our tickets for about 90 minutes, we got into the festival with 15 minutes to spare. 

So in the future, if my ticket does not gain entry to the show, it needs to say on the ticket (in big letters) - THIS TICKET IS NOT GOOD FOR ENTRY - because normal folks like me just assume I can at least enter the show and then get my wristband. I am assuming this policy was changed for Saturday & Sunday. Once in the venue, the line to load up the wristbands was long but mostly because the entire line of 300 ticket holder flooded in at the same time. I heard the rest of the weekend was smooth.  Grade: F

For the record, I put $20 on a wristband. With activation fee that gave me $18.00. I bought one beer and one Sprite leaving me $5.00 I didn't use. The fee for "unused" money was $3.50 so I should be getting a tidy $1.50 back on my credit card. If just 1,000 people did this each day of the festival that's $16,500 in fees. Like picking free money up off of the ground. Pretty crafty indeed. Well played. 

Social Media: Sure, the interwebs are crawling with haters but here is an idea, next year PromoWest Fest should put somebody in charge of handling the complaints through social media. People who are paying good money to attend a festival have a right to their opinion, both good and bad. In fact, many of these ideas will help you improve the festival in the future. Hell, if not for social media, I'd still be standing in line with my son waiting for a wristband. 

So instead of trying to shut people up, how about, "We appreciate your concerns and are working hard trying to improve the situation in the future. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and have a great PromoWest Fest." See, that's not so hard. You can use it next year. You're Welcome. I would think of all companies, PromoWest would understand that people having feedback about the festival isn't personal, it's just business.   Grade D

But to be clear, my over all impression of the first PromoWest Fest is very positive and I look forward to attending again in 2017. Considering how many things can go wrong when planning an event of this magnitude, they got most everything right. Hats off to PromoWest Fest. It's a welcome addition to the Columbus social calendar and it has real upside to become something special in the future. 

Overall Grade: B+

Colin Gawel plays in the band Watershed. Read all about him in the book Hitless Wonder. He is also a member of the band Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?. And the League Bowlers. and The Lonely Bones. 

Below: Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds showing why the first PromoWest Fest was a success. It's the music stupid.

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Day Drinking and Late Night Drives with Chris Isaak - by Colin G.

Chris Isaak is finally back in Ohio this week with shows at the Rose Music Center Tuesday July 12th and Hard Rock Live in Northfield Wednesday July 13th. Great tickets at a reasonable price are still available and I know because I bought some. 

The first time I heard the song "Wicked Game" I was sitting alone at the Out R Inn bar in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Twenty seconds into the tune I was completely entranced and felt like I, too, was some sad character drinking the afternoon away in a David Lynch movie. On my request, the bartender played the song three or four times in a row. I tipped him well and immediately walked two blocks down the street to purchase my very own copy of Heart Shaped World at Used Kids Records. Or Johnny Go's. Or World Record..

Around that same time, Watershed was playing any gig we could get and eventually ended up landing a semi-regular gig at Rockafellas in Columbia, SC. Every six weeks or so, we would make the 10-hour drive through the night to Columbia so we could check into the Red Roof Inn on Two Notch Road and then sleep all day before the gig. I would usually take over driving somewhere along the West Virginia turnpike.  As I piloted the van through the mountains in the darkness, Heart Shaped World and other Chris Isaak records became my personal soundtrack to I-77.

Those dark, lonely rides listening to Chris are still some of my favorite memories of playing in a band. I saw Chris play the Newport once around that time and was blown away. If you stopped in the coffee shop anytime in the year 1995, there is a good chance the record Forever Blue was playing. I swear I played it over and over for six straight months.

Eventually, I sort of burned out on Isaak and lost interest..

Until, we were camping on Lake Superior in September 1998  around a couple of shows Watershed was playing in Duluth, Minnesota. I had to find a record store because KISS was releasing Psycho Circus, their first original line-up record in 20 years. While waiting in line and taking the very last copy of the KISS record before a 12 year old kid could get it (sorry, kid) I noticed a new Chris Isaak record called Speak of the Devil and got that too.

Of course, I played the KISS record first and, of course, it pretty much sucked. For some reason I held off on playing the Isaak record for a few weeks or so. I guess I figured I had kind of heard the best of what Chris could do and didn't need anything new. Eventually, I got around to spinning it on another late night drive through Iowa or somewhere, and I fell in love all over again. God, I loved that record. I still do. Listen to this! Wanderin' from Speak of the Devil.

Anyway, there isn't much point to this other than to get on record I am a huge Chris Isaak fans and encourage everybody to check out his records. I'm driving up to catch him at the Hard Rock Live in Northfield tonight. Visit ChrisIsaak.com for all the info on his new record Here Comes the Night

KISS Returns to Boise Rock City - by Nick Jezierny

I saw Kiss for the 10th time. I’ve now seen them in eight cities on nine different tours, dating back to 1978. The most recent show was Thursday night at Boise, Idaho’s own Enormo Dome, otherwise known as Taco Bell Arena. 

Those of us who have seen multiple Kiss shows – especially in recent years – know what to expect:
• Gene Simmons is going to spit fire and blood and “fly” to the rafters.
• Paul Stanley is going to jump on a pulley and make his way to the back of the arena and sing “Love Gun” for those in the cheaper (not cheap) seats.
• Confetti and streamers will fill the arena during the encore and anthem “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
All of that happened Thursday night, as well as an abundance of fireworks, flames shooting from the back of the stage and plenty of fog machine smoke.

And even though I saw all of it coming because I’ve seen this (Psycho) circus before, it was entertaining and pretty awesome. I’m a die-hard fan and Kiss always delivers what I expect.

“Detroit Rock City” and straight into “Deuce” was the start of the show. It was pretty much the same set the band played on the first night of the tour in Tucson, except we got a few extra songs. “Flaming Youth” was the lone surprise. The only non-makeup era tune was “Lick It Up” and the 1998 release “Psycho Circus” was the “newest” song included in the set. (Click here to see entire setlist)

There was something a little bit different about this show, and it was my “a-ha” moment as to why the band pretty much sticks to the classics. It came during some of Stanley’s between-song banter that has helped his reputation as one of rock’s great front-men.

At one point, Stanley said “We know you want to hear some modern stuff, but how many of you want to hear some older stuff?” Of course, the arena exploded, thereby justifying the omission of newer material.

But the more telling moment for me was when Stanley asked one simple question:
“How many of you have never seen us before?” I couldn’t believe the number of people who responded with a roar. The noise definitely was more substantial than when he asked about the older material. 

That’s when the lightbulb came on. Kiss will continue to play the hits because, at least in Boise on Thursday night, that’s what the majority of fans wanted to hear. While I would love to hear more obscure songs – anything from “Unmasked” or “Music From The Elder” would be awesome – I am not the majority. Kiss does a cruise (or is it Kruise?) for fans like me, when classics are dusted off and that’s what the audience expects.

With that being said, having the two non-original members – drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer – sing songs written by former members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley still feels wrong.

I love the new lineup. Singer is a beast on drums, and I loved Thayer’s band Black ‘N Blue (who opened for Kiss in 1985 when I saw the Asylum tour in New Haven, Connecticut). But I don’t need to hear Thayer sing “Shock Me” and then rip off Frehley’s patented solo from Alive II. If Thayer is going to sing, I want it to be “Outta This World” off Monster, which is a great song and ultimately his.

“Beth” is another tough one. It’s arguably the band’s second-most known song (behind Rock and Roll All Nite) so there are people who want to hear it, but do they want to hear it from Singer? I didn’t. That made for the perfect bathroom break.

Those are the only knocks on the Freedom To Rock Tour that is coming to a smaller, out-of-the-way city near you. This tour is hitting places Kiss hasn’t played in years or at all. For example, the last time Kiss played Boise was 2000 on the Farewell Tour. I moved here in 2001, so I didn’t have the opportunity to see them unless I wanted to drive to Portland, Seattle or Salt Lake City (which is where I saw the 2014 tour).

Kiss still delivers the expected. And Kiss still delivers it well. That’s hard to do. It proves you can be entertained by something that you know is going to happen – you don’t need any surprises.
Kiss has figured this out. And I’m thankful.

Nick Jezierny really likes KISS He also once ranked every single song by the band Watershed. Click here to check that out.    

Pencilstorm has a bunch of KISS related stories. Click here to see a list of the 12 best KISS stories (both good and bad), that you will ever read. 

Buggy Eyes and a Big Butt, part eleven: Movies 153-173

Pencilstorm contributor Rob Braithwaite is watching 366 movies this year, so you don't have to, here is part eleven of his continuing 2016 rundown......

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Ratings key:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = I can’t see giving anything that I’ve seen once five stars
★ ★ ★ ★ = get to the theater / move it up in your queue
★ ★ ★ = “three stars is a recommendation” - The Empire [magazine] Podcast
★ ★ = if the remote is too far away, you could do worse
★ = if the remote is too far away, get someone to move it closer then throw it at the TV

153
Eddie the Eagle (2016) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman
director: Dexter Fletcher

The not-quite true depiction of the true story of Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper.

If there was a cinematic itch my mom had, it was the against-all-odds, adversity-defying, feel-good movie. This movie ticks all those boxes and nails the training montage. It even perfected the soundtrack of the ‘80s ski movie. Horrible to listen to but fits right in.

double feature pairing: Cool Runnings

154
Shout at the Devil (1976) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Lee Marvin, Roger Moore, Barbara Perkins
director: Peter Hunt

Zanzibar, 1913. A fruitful partnership begins when an American hustler cons a British aristocrat into transporting ivory through German controlled waters. The conflicts with the German governor become more extreme when World War One kicks off.

Descriptions of this movie make it seem it’s all about the true-life bombing of a broken down German ship. That is only about the last half hour or so. The lead in has more in common with The Dukes of Hazzard, The Yank and The Brit butting heads with The Kraut. There are swings in humor’s direction, and some surprising blows of gruesome violence.

Roger Moore’s role should have been cast younger. I forget he’s supposed to be a younger man until a reference is made about it. But, he was James Bond until he was 62, so what do I know.

double feature pairing: The Man Who Would Be King

155
Hush (2016) ★ ★
stars: Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr.
co-writer/director: Mike Flanagan

Here’s the latest attempt at giving the home invasion thriller a new twist. This time the home-alone woman is deaf and mute. She is working on her overdue second novel in her remote home in the woods when a killer darkens her front door…with blood!

There are some suspenseful moments. However, the degree to which the woman is aware of her surroundings varies upon the story's necessity. I was often distracted, trying to figure the logic of some situations. The biggest head scratcher was how she was close enough to another house to gain access to their wi-fi. Not very isolated. As I debated the perceived problems, the run time expired. Now that is how you get movies watched, people! [drops remote]

watch The Strangers instead

[picks up remote]

156
Night Moves (2013) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard
co-writer/director: Kelly Reichardt

Three environmentalists make plans to blow up a dam.

Like her previous film Wendy and Lucy, Kelly Reichardt sets a relaxed pace. It’s odd that could lend itself to great tension.

double feature pairing: The East

157
Sam Whiskey (1969) ★ ★ ★
stars: Burt Reynolds, Ossie Davis, Clint Walker
director: Arnold Laven

A widow hires Sam Whiskey, a legend in the opening credit’s mind, to salvage the gold bars her husband stole then return them to the mint before their absence is detected. Piece of cake.

An enjoyable reverse heist flick that somehow doesn’t feel very thrilling. It ends with a sense of “So, want to get something to eat?”

Sam Whiskey was one of a few remnants from a Burt Reynolds bender I went on last year. I re-watched a few though mostly focused on movies I hadn’t seen from his heyday, movies I remembered seeing trailers for on HBO but had no interest in them because I was a kid and Burt wasn’t crashing cars or hanging out with Jerry Reed.

I took this bender so far as to purchase a VHS copy of Paternity for $10, because it was never released on DVD. Can’t tell why it didn't make the cut. It’s not bad. There is much worse that not only made the jump to DVD but also received a bluray release. Also, I’d forgotten the frustration that accompanied pan and scan. Grrrrr.

The other title on my list that didn’t get the DVD transfer was Rough Cut. VHS copies were going for fifty bucks on eBay. My bender wasn’t that important. Some things were not meant to be.

As a result, here are my top ten Burt Reynolds movies, top to bottom: Smokey and the Bandit, Deliverance, The Longest Yard, Starting Over, Hooper, Breaking In, Semi-Tough, Switching Channels, Paternity, Stroker Ace.

double feature pairing: There Was a Crooked Man

158
My Man Godfrey (1936) ★ ★
stars: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady
director: Gregory La Cava

A socialite hires a bum to be her butler after he agrees to belittle himself as her “forgotten man” item from a high society scavenger hunt.

Made me laugh a little. Tried to comment on class issues. Ends in a fairy tale.

watch Trading Places instead

159
Calvary (2014) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Brendan Gleeson, Kelly Reilly, Chris O’Dowd
writer/director: John Michael McDunagh

Father James, a well respected priest of a small Irish town, is told he will be killed in seven days.

Incredibly, this ends on an upbeat. Brendan Gleeson is amazing.

Holy shit! M. Emmet Walsh is still alive?!

double feature pairing: The Player

160
Weiner (2016) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin
directors: Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg

[dick joke]

An amazing movie to watch for body language.

For an interview with directors, check out the On the Media episode “Trending Topics”

double feature pairing: The Contender

161
Jack’s Back (1988) ★ ★ ★
stars: James Spader, Cynthia Gibb, Robert Picardo
writer/director: Rowdy Herrington

A copycat recreates the Jack the Ripper murders a hundred years later, to the day.

There were a couple turns I wasn’t expecting because I think I was confusing this with another movie and the description on the DVD case uncharacteristically left something unspoiled. A must see for James Spader fans. A regular see for thriller fans.

double feature pairing: Time After Time

162
The Headless Woman (2008) ★ ★.5
stars: María Onetto, Claudia Cantero, Inés Efron
writer/director: Lucrecia Martel

A woman hit something she thinks is a dog and drives off, but as the days pass and word of a missing boy reaches her, she suspects she might have hit more.

A classic tale of people of high status working their way out of consequence. The story lallygagged its way to a fork in the road. It could have gotten there a bit sooner.

watch The Machinist instead

163
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) ★
stars: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman
director: Roland Emmerich

Do I have to tell you about this one? One more moment wasted thinking about this will crush my soul.

watch Mars Attacks! instead

164
The Shallows (2016) ★ ★ ★
stars: Blake Lively, a shark, a seagull
director: Jaume Collet-serra

“Surfboard goes in the water. Girl goes in the water. Shark’s in the water. Our shark. [singing] Farewell and adieu to you, fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu, you ladies of Spain. For we've received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so nevermore shall we see you again.”

Some nice underwater photography. It feels like a live-action Disney movie sometimes when she’s conversing with an injured seagull. Plausibility can be ignored when the performance and action are this engaging.

double feature pairing: A Perfect Getaway

165
The Fits (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Royalty Hightower, Alexis Neblett, Inayah Rodgers
co-writer, director: Ann Rose Holmer

There isn’t much I should tell you beyond the trailer, except 1) it was filmed in Cincinnati and 2) the scene where she gets the routine down for the first time is one of the happiest scenes I’ve seen in a long time.

double feature pairing: Bring It On

166
Freebie and the Bean (1974) ★ ★
stars: Alan Arkin, James Caan, Jack Kruschen
director: Richard Rush

A couple cops try to keep a local kingpin alive from an assassin’s bullet while they await a warrant for his arrest.

Pretty good when Freebie and Bean are on the job, bickering with each other. Otherwise, this is pretty bad, especially the sub-plot about Bean’s Wife. That’s how Valerie Harper is credited, by the way, “as Bean’s Wife.” oh, and she and Alan Arkin are supposed to be Mexican. oof.

watch Lethal Weapon 2 instead

167
The Children’s Hour (1961) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner
director: William Wyler

Kids say the darndest things. Manipulative kids say the damnedest things.

People’s lives and a business are destroyed from the whisper of a girl mixing an ounce of truth with a lie that is peppered with words she doesn’t really understand. There are many horror movies with children as harbingers of evil. Like Cujo, this is scary because it could really happen. New kids are being made every day! Stop, before it’s too late!

(but seriously, this movie a gut punch and wonderfully performed, especially the trouble making girl. The daggers from her eyes are sharp.)

double feature pairing: The Hunt

168
Rough Cut (1980) ★ ★
stars: Burt Reynolds, Lesley-Anne Down, David Niven
director: Don Siegel

Watching Sam Whiskey reminded my to check on the availability of Rough Cut. VHS, still forty to fifty bucks. Laserdisc… Laserdisc?! Eight dollars with free shipping! I know someone who has a player. Does it still work? I’ll worry about that later. BUY.

A British inspector, in the twilight of his career, fixes his sights on the criminal mastermind who has eluded capture.

Burt Reynolds his is best when he is a wise-cracking scrapper. When he moves too far into tough guy territory, like in Sharky’s Machine, I can’t take him as a serious threat. Here, he tries to work in Cary Grant suave mode. That’s not really his thing either.

The movie’s attempts at humor fall flat. The actors move their bodies and speak words. The camera was in focus. The most interesting part was the heist, but that is completely ruined by the ending (one of four filmed). The inspector was in on it the whole time and stole the jewels before they even left London, which means they didn’t have to go through with the heist at all.

Rough Cut had three directors. The writer removed his name from the project.  And no one wanted to put this on DVD. Maybe I should have researched this more. eh, I’m glad I saw it.

watch The Great Muppet Caper instead

169
Marauders (2016) ★
stars: Christopher Meloni, Dave Bautista, Bruce Willis
director: Steven C. Miller

Thieves steal delicate information from safety deposit boxes to expose a [cover-up, conspiracy, whatever, it doesn’t matter; this movie is garbage.]

In a movie with so many clichés, why do you think they decided to turn expectations by replacing a baguette sticking out from a grocery bag with a bag of doughnuts? Was it because a cop was carrying the bag? *sigh* The baguette in a paper grocery bag is one of my favorite clichés.

Also shot in Cincinnati.

watch Inside Man instead

170
Eye in the Sky (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Aaron Paul
director: Gavin Hood

Clearance for an drone air strike has many levels and debates on what is legal, moral and militarily justified.

Good tension from what is mostly people acting in rooms. Alan Rickman’s final on-screen performance.

double feature pairing: In the Loop

171
Death Hunt (1981) ★ ★ ★
stars: Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Carl Weathers
director: Peter Hunt

Not much to this adaptation of a real-life manhunt in the 1932 Yukon — Recluse makes an enemy. Enemy misrepresents the conflict. Mounties and posse converge for shootouts and frozen mountain chases. Entertaining nonetheless. It’s odd Angie Dickinson is in it at all. She shows up to collect her dead husband’s effects, sleeps with Lee Marvin, wonders if they could ever be together (no), then leaves. Pointless to the point of why bother.

double feature pairing: First Blood

172
Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2015) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, Jayson Lamb
directors: Jeremy Coon, Tim Skousen

In 1981 a group of kids decide to remake Raiders of the Lost Ark, shot for shot. It takes them seven summers. They get it all except for one scene. Now, thirty years later, they are getting that final scene.

The one-scene-short version made it through the ranks of underground VHS traders to become legend. What these guys don't seem to realize is their project’s true appeal. They were kids, with great ingenuity and no parental supervision, who did a remarkable job recreating a movie they largely made from memory. It isn’t special to raise money to hire a cinematographer, a special effects crew and some guy to build a plane.

double feature pairing: American Movie

173
The Silent Partner (1978) ★ ★ ★
stars: Elliott Gould, Christopher Plumber, Susannah York
director: Daryl Duke

A bank teller catches wind of a robbery in time to skim money for himself. When the robber learns he’s to have stolen more than he has, he knows who to go after.

Not a bad little crime caper. Didn’t expect it to contain one of the more terrifying murders I’ve seen in a movie.

double feature pairing: A Fish Called Wanda

Counters:
173/366 movies (15 movies off pace)
24/52 movies directed by women

THE TOP THREE

Youth Baseball Coaches Rejoice! The Cut Off Man Just Saved the College World Series - by Colin G.

I'm not really a coach. I know what a real coach looks like and I'm not it. I've had the privilege of watching my son flourish under amazing coaches who donate their time and efforts in the most selfless manner possible.

However, due to the fact that I can usually make baseball practice since I can leave the coffee shop early, and I can throw a decent BP session, I've sorta been drafted to help with Owen's baseball team the last few years. It's fun to hang around the guys and impart a little baseball wisdom once and a while. 

Things like: run out every hit no matter what, make sure to call a pop-up with a loud, "Mine!", and of course, the doozy of them all...

THROW IT TO THE CUT OFF MAN!!!!!!!!

Nobody will ever yell at you for throwing a ball directly to the cut off man. Sure, there "might" be a better play, but if there is ANY doubt, immediately throw it to the cut off man. 

Still, after preaching this mantra hundreds, if not thousands of times over years of practice, what do kids still do after they chase down a long fly ball in the gap? Their eyes get wide and they just stand there, pumping the ball for five long seconds while every coach on the team is screaming in unison, "THROW IT TO THE CUT OFF MAN!" 

I know they are just kids, and I'm in no way singling out any one player, I've seen them all do it... but sometimes.... my inner dialogue.....

(put down that joystick, pull your head out of your ass and just throw it to the frigging cut off man! How hard is that?? As I mentally imagine destroying the dugout with a bat and kids running all directions screaming and crying. But I just swallow hard and keep my mouth shut.)

Well today, in the biggest moment of the biggest college baseball game of the season, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers executed a picture perfect throw to the cut off man, stranding the tying run by the Arizona Wildcats at 3rd base in the 9th inning of a one run game. The next batter struck out and CCU had a College World Series championship in their very first trip to Omaha.

And it was all due to somebody hitting the cutoff man. A sweet day for youth baseball coaches all over the world.

Check out the play below at about 1:13.  Colin G.