Notes from a Genius

Saturday night in Portland, Anna Nalick ended her brief tour run by playing at the Asylum (a rather small venue). I cannot believe it's taken me this long to see her, because I've always liked her, ever since she first hit the scene with her massive hit "Breathe (2 A.M.)" which was almost set to guarantee her instant success. Apparently that was not what she wanted though. She wanted to be a serious songwriter and the industry wanted something else for her- to become a pop star. She fought against it and stuck with her integrity (applaud her for that). Anyway, she's only put out one other album, largely unheard, but still rather good. She played a very mellow, stripped down set of old songs and new songs as she is preparing for a new album. She was great with the small crowd and I wish more people had come out to appreciate her. Citadel Play Video Satellite Play Video Broken Doll Play Video Aura Play Video Burn & Fade P...

"The Good Doctor" starring: Orlando Bloom, Riley Keough, Taraji P. Henson, Rob Morrow, Michael Pena, Troy Garity, Molly Price, Wade Williams, Sorel Carradine, Gary Carlos Cervantes, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Jean St. James directed by: Lance Daly written by: John Enblom Orlando Bloom is probably used to playing likable heroes in films thanks to the franchise films "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Here, he goes against typecast as an English doctor planting new roots in Southern California as a doctor, hoping to earn respect in a profession where generally people develop untouchable egos and fight the good fight against diseases and such, all while taking the oath to do whatever possible to save a life. The title "The Good Doctor" is rather ironic here, because Bloom's character, Martin Blake, is anything but a "good" doctor when he starts to develop bizarre feelings for a young female patient, D...

"Queen of Earth" starring: Elisabeth Moss, Katherine Waterston, Patrick Fugit, Kentucker Adley, Keith Poulson, Kate Lyn Sheil written and directed by: Alex Ross Perry Note to self: watch this one again. This film is definitely a "thinker" that makes you wonder and question. It's an amazing piece of art, for sure, that acts like a puzzle, only revealing several pieces at a time and by the end, leaving certain pieces out that certainly make you feel like perhaps you missed something along the way, but also perhaps you are on a need-to-know basis and there's just some things about the characters the filmmaker doesn't think you should or deserve to know, completely. That does not make it any less effective as a psycho-thriller. We start the film with a close-up shot of Catherine (Moss, nearly perfect as a woman slowly going crazy), crying big tears and smudging her eyeliner, for nearly too long that it makes you feel uncomfortable, like you're...

"The Gift" starring: Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Michael Jeter, Gary Cole, Kim Dickens, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons directed by: Sam Raimi written by: Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson What was interesting to me, when I watched this on Netflix recently (after missing out on it 15 years ago when it first came out, with much ado about Katie Holmes baring her breasts in the film, since she was well known at that point for playing the wholesome character, Joey, on Dawson's Creek- clearly she was trying to shed that image a bit with this "edgy" role), was the fact that it was sort of a throwaway film for director Sam Raimi, who had made a name for himself as a horror director thanks to the "Evil Dead" films and then the "Spiderman" trilogy, which seemed to stall his career. He's a great director and here he cuts his teeth in the psychological thriller/suspense genre with the...