MOVIE REVIEW OF ANOMALISA: An Edward Hopper Painting Come to Life

REVIEWS OF "FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT" MOVIE + GOTYE'S "MAKING MIRRORS" CD

I recently saw "The Five Year Engagement" which was produced by the folks that brought us the terrific movie "Bridesmaids."  It would be easy to see this as a kind of sequel, but that isn't really fair.  Jason Segal and Emily Blunt play the lead couple that has become engaged.  He wants to be a top chef in San Francisco; she wants to get tenure at a college in Michigan.  And in an unusual turn, the guy forgoes his dream for the gal!  Very forward-thinking of him.  Ultimately the film is about how dreams get deferred -- whether career-wise or relationship-wise.  I found the characters sympathetic and flawed, like most humans.

The two actors who play their best friends as a married couple provide strong support as well.  Clocking in at about two hours, it seems that some good editing could have shortened its running time without losing much. Ever since I saw Jason Segal in the recent Muppets Movie, I've been a fan.  He reminds me of Seth Rogen a bit.  An everyman who clearly does not work out at a gym, but who possesses a big enough heart and a guy-ish charm that seems at home in any movie.  Ever since I saw Emily Blunt in "The Devil Wears Prada," I have found the actress a bit aloof.  But she shows more heart and complexity in this movie than in others.  They are an odd couple, to be sure, but an odd couple I could believe in and root for.  
I'd give it a letter grade of a B.

I first became aware of Australian songmaker Gotye just a few months ago.  I was building a website for a colleague in Melbourne and she sent me a video of the song "Somebody That I Used to Know."  I loved it.  It reminded me of Peter Gabriel a bit.  Next thing I knew, Gotye and fellow songmaker Kimbra were being featured on Saturday Night Live.  Then the show "Glee" did a cover of the same song.  And Nightline did a segment.  So is he as good as all this hype makes him out to be?

Gotye is pretty darn good.  I bought his album MAKING MIRRORS after wavering for a few weeks.  Finally I bought it, not because I thought all of the songs were consistently great.  But more as a vote of confidence that eventually he will live up to his potential.

His music is alternative but irresistibly catchy.  And theatrical too.  Though some of the songs on his album are merely interesting and listenable.  The performance of "Somebody" comes across as a volcanic battle of the sexes.  A kind of non-duet duet in which both the man and the woman of the failed relationship both curse the other as just "somebody that I used to know."  The song starts with an ironic xylophone riff that Elvis Costello would be proud of.  The layering of vocals is dense and rich and contrapuntal.  The urgency of Gotye's voice, especially in the higher registers, is compelling and spills out so quickly the lyrics are almost  non-sensical.  It works. There is a DJ mix that I like even better than the album version.  It's called something like the Eavesdrop mix.  The percussion is ferocious.

Another strong song is "Eyes Wide Open."  Some of the songs have a retro feeling that may remind some of George Michaels.  Overall I give the album a letter grade of B.  Gotye's last album came out about seven years ago.  But now with this arrival internationally, he will surely want to be more prolific!


DWIGHT NOTE:  Please let me know what you guys thing about me adding in movie and music reviews to my blog which mostly follows my adventures as an indie author.  Thanks!