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[ Look Ma, I'm Multi-entertaining!
- March 6, 2002 ]
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Wax Buildup: Look Ma, I'm Multi-entertaining!
written by Steve Reynolds
 Since
the day Elvis sold his soul to Col. Tom Parker and appeared
on screen in Love Me Tender, rock stars have tried
to become movie stars. The trend reached new peaks over
the past decade as musicians of all kinds (rappers, country
singers, Meat Loaf, Mariah Carey) honed their acting chops
in critically praised and panned flicks (Boyz N the Hood,
Sling Blade, Fight Club, Glitter).
In 2002 two musicians returned to their first love with
great success, while one "singer" tried to make the leap
to the big screen.
Chris Isaak has straddled the acting
and music worlds since he appeared in two of director Jonathan
Demme's films-1988's Married to the Mob and 1991's
The Silence of the Lambs. Last year Isaak got his
own show, The Chris Isaak Show, which takes a sly,
humorous look at the "normal" life of a rock star. Now in
its second season, the show continues to be one of the best
offerings on TV. Isaak has a natural charisma that plays
well on the small screen, and the members of his band, Silvertone,
continue to improve as comedic actors. Add in a healthy
dose of guest rock stars willing to poke fun at themselves
(Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins appearance was a scream)
and this show makes the extra price of Showtime worthwhile.
With all this activity, it's a wonder that Isaak found time
to record his first album in four years - let alone the best
album of his career. Always Got Tonight
doesn't alter Isaak's well-established formula of Roy Orbison-influenced
vocals and songs of lost love too much - "Let Me Down Easy,"
"Courthouse" and the title track touch upon his usual themes.
However, producer John Shanks (better known as a hitmaker
for hire with baby acts like Michelle Branch) brings a bigger
guitar and drum sound to these songs, capturing the power
of Silvertone live for the
first time on record. It's only March, and WAY too early to
say this, but Always Got Tonight
is one of the best albums of 2002.
The same statement could be said for Phantom Planet's second
album, The Guest. Their debut
album, Phantom Planet is Missing,
was released four years ago with little fanfare and disappeared
rather quickly. Drummer Jason Schwartzman found a side career
two years later with his breakthrough-acting debut as "Max"
in Rushmore. His second film, last month's Slackers,
followed the same path as Phantom Planet's debut - it came
and went in a blink of an eye after being savaged by critics.
Fortunately, the Rushmore magic apparently traveled
with Schwartzman when Phantom Planet went into the studio.
The Guest is 12 tracks of
pure pop heaven. Singer Alexander Greenwald wrenches every
emotion possible out of his voice, and the hooks in these
tunes are big enough to snag a killer whale. There's nothing
highly original here - echoes of Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren
run throughout - but if the opening trio of "California,"
"Always on My Mind" and "Lonely Day" don't put a smile on
your face, you must be dead.
I hoped Britney Spears' movie career
would be dead on impact with the opening of Crossroads.
It seemed as though the ingredients for a Glitter-like
flop were all in place (the film's story was based on a Spears
idea and had Dan Aykroyd AND Kim Cattrall in the cast) but
the first 30 minutes of the film were so disappointing. It
was just a typical teen coming-of-age-roadtrip flick...nothing
extraordinarily bad. Then the film's "rebel" asks Spears'
goody-two-shoes character what she writes in her journal.
She, of course, says "poetry," and proceeds to read him the
words to her latest single, "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman."
As the preview audience I was sitting in howled, I knew that
the unintentional humor would flow, and indeed it does. By
the time the "rebel" says he's started a band in Los Angeles
in ONE day, my stomach hurt from laughing. Crossroads
is a must rent once it hits DVD.
March 2002
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©
Figgle 2001-2003