Notes from a Genius

Last Friday I went down to Boston to see Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes, but recently he's taken to producing work under his own name, with a variety of backing bands). Years ago, Concor Oberst was deemed the unbelievably honorable title of "this generation's Bob Dylan" with his songwriting abilities. His live shows have always been energetic and filled with amazing examples of his varied abilities, relying on not just the strength of his strong voice. The guy is an incredible musician and, as evidenced by the groups of bands I've seen him play with, much like Bob Dylan, he can conduct a band like no other, bringing out their strengths as well. The first time I saw him was under his moniker of Bright Eyes and it was more of a "best of" setlist after putting out an album called "The People's Key" which was a disappointing, experimental album (which happened to be his last album as Bright Eyes to this date). Then, I saw him a couple of years a...

"Bad Santa 2" starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Tony Cox, Christina Hendricks, Brett Kelly, Ryan Hansen, Jenny Zigrino, Jeff Skowron, Kristina Rosato  written by: Johnny Rosenthal and Shauna Cross directed by: Mark Waters Once you get the question of whether or not we actually needed a sequel to the 2003 original film and can just appreciate Billy Bob Thornton at his best when he is cranky and quite the curmudgeon, then you'll enjoy this film. And yes, sure, behind all the adult humor of anal sex, his infinity for larger women, his binge drinking and pissing himself jokes, there's actually some heart and an allegory for the greed and consumerism that underlines Christmas here in America- the capitalist of the capitalists countries. Mark Waters’s sequel to  Bad Santa  commences with Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) back at rock-bottom, with only his idolatrous friend, Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), by his side. The curly haired Thurman, still o...