The second installment of the new Batman franchise, begun with Batman Begins, picks up our story not long after where we left off. But I’m not going to talk about the plot of The Dark Knight, other than to say it starts with a bang involving a powerful scene augmented by pervasive music.

All our favorites are back

Alfred, played deliciously by Michael Caine is a delight to see in this role again. Dry, acerbic, witty and caring, Michael Caine is one of our generation’s most dependable actors and again in this movie is a grounding influence on the young Master Bruce Wayne.

Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox plays his sagacious and insightful role as both guardian of Wayne Enterprises and modern day “Q” as co-inventor of many Bat-machines. Morgan Freeman has been doing a lot of work recently including the comedy Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and the current Wanted with Angelina Jolie.

Gary Oldman returns as Jim Gordon, now head of the Major Crimes Unit in a rather expanded role compared to the first Batman movie. He gets more room to work, and show off his “Gotham City” accent. How different from the proper British accent of Serious Black in the Harry Potter movies.

Aaron Eckhart is given a significant role as Harvey Dent, white knight District Attorney and new love interest of Rachel. He’s probably best known recently for his starring role in Thank You For Smoking.

Christian Bale is back as the Dark Knight Detective, and though he plays the self-centered billionaire playboy well, he best shines as the Batman. Because there is not the exposition of the origin story as in the previous movie, he seems eclipsed in this film by the villain.

Three new players

Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over from Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Hawes. Not only is she beautiful, but she can act and is credible in the role. Katie Holmes had only personal pulchritude going for her, but not the acting chops, and she is not missed here. Katie came off as the “girl next door” who never matured. Here, with this film, Rachel is a mature woman, and the object of desire and conflict. You wished he had more to do in this movie.

The criminal Salvatori Maroni is played by Eric Roberts, who we haven’t seen much since his role in the TV series Heroes. He’s mature, smooth, attractive, and the perfect gangland gentleman.

But the real standout is Heath Ledger as the villain The Joker. He is virtually unrecognizable in this role, if you didn’t already know who was playing the role. As the original villain in the first Batman comic in 1940, here he is the quintessential maniacal anarchist. Played more as an amoral terrorist than a loony, he brings a very different feel to this role than Jack Nickelson did in the debut run of the previous Batman series. No one does crazy like Jack, but Heath goes a very different direction. Jack could be funny, saying of Batman “Where does he get those marvelous toys?” Heath brings a menace to the screen that is palpable. From his first scene he’s chilling, creepy.

He achieves his art with three things, beyond the makeup:

• His gait: he walks all spindly, like a marionette
• His tongue: he licks his lips nervously, like Jabba the Hut
• His voice: like many screen villains (think Darth Vader) he drops his voice into an almost gravelly monotone that seems like pure evil itself.

There is already talk of an Oscar for this performance, and indeed, it is the magnum opus of his career. Some may see this movie just to see the last performance of this amazing talent. It is incredible what he’s done with the part, making it all his own.

The movie

The filming venues are interesting. While Gotham City is supposed to represent Manhattan Island, it is obvious that several locales in Chicago were used in this film, and indeed, Illinois saw $40 million pumped into its economy by this movie. But numerous shots of Hong Kong were also used, including the top of its tallest building, Two International Finance Centre.

This film is an incremental level above the first: it’s taut, immersive, moody, exciting and scary, all at once. At times it is mind blowing in its intensity, and stunning in its inventiveness. It opens to midnight debuts tonight across 1,700 theaters in the US. Some believe this could be this summer’s first $100M opening weekend blockbuster.

While the previous film had a confusing third act, this one has a series of smaller crescendos that build into a satisfying conclusion.

Get there early enough to see the previews, including the coming Terminator Salvation. You’ll be excited to learn who plays the adult John Connor.

This is a relentlessly intense movie. The fight scenes are more realistic, with less close in filming that would otherwise hide the martial arts. This is likely too intense for young viewers under 12.

Grade: A-/B+

You’ll like it if: you like comics, sci-fi, action, detective stories

You won’t like it if: excessive violence and rampant insanity aren’t your cup of tea

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

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Stevie Wonder has toured only once since 1988. It’s been 13 years since he has graced Denver with a concert, and Denver welcomed him back with open arms to Fiddler’s Green at the Coors Amhitheater. Despite starting 30 minutes late, he played for over two hours without a break. Stevie was led onstage by his daughter Aisha Morris, lovely indeed, and after introducing her to the audience accompanied by applause, he said with a smile,

OK, I know, I know…

A Wonder Summer’s Night is the name of this concert tour across over a dozen US cities as well as Europe and down under. It comes two years after the death of his mother, and Stevie said he was inspired to do it by the gratitude he felt to his fans for their support of his career which enable him to do things for his mother than he wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

After Aishi took her place with the other two backup singers he began. He didn’t start with his biggest hits, and some of the early songs in the concert were unfamiliar but not unappreciated. It was a full stage. He had:

• 2 keyboardists
• 3 percussionists with full drum sets
• 3 guitars, including bass
• Trumpet and Sax

Despite the wall of sound his voice rose above it all beautifully. He moved from  electric Yamaha and Hohner keyboards to a Yamaha Grand piano. He encouraged the audience to sing along — indeed to start the songs, requiring them to give him a count down. But it was his lyrics that were pure poetry as he sang,

There’s something bout your love
That makes me weak and
Knocks me off my feet
Knocks me off my feet

Beyond his lyrics, which are sometimes difficult to follow, his music itself is complex and sophisticated, the rhythm is often syncopated and other musicians who have tried to do covers of his songs have said it’s difficult to duplicate. But it has a good beat, you can’t help but dance to it.

Nevertheless, he did not only do his own songs, he did a tribute to a couple of other Motown hits:

• Betcha, By Golly, Wow

made famous by The Stylistics in 1971, but Stevie did it in his own way. Using a mouth tube through a synthesizer he showed that he’s always on the cutting edge of musical innovation, and one of the pioneers of synthesized music. This was followed by

• Have You Seen Her

popularized by the Chi-Lights in 1971 as well. But the crowd went wild when Stevie sang his #1 hit from the 1973 album Innervisions

• Higher Ground

with the the trademark kinetic clavinet-based arrangement, and its optimistic view of the role of faith as he sings into the fadeout

God is gonna show you higher ground
He’s the only friend you have around

Following this the band went through solos starting with the keyboard through each of the instruments while Stevie played harmonica. You could see why he had selected such talented instrumentalists.

As he did another hit from Innervisions

• Don’t You Worry ’bout a Thing

you could see the great camera work that was done for this concert on the Jumbotron monitor, as if it was going to be turned into a concert video. The camera angles were superb, the fades were excellent and the close-ups were great. As the audience was not allowed to bring in cameras, everyone had the cell phone cameras out to capture the evening, and my iPhone pictures don’t to justice.

This was followed in quick succession by

• Visions
• Living for the City
• Golden Lady

Then he did a new song, scheduled for a new album called “Through The Eyes of Wonder”

• Keep Fooling Yourself Baby Girl

He mentioned that he’s working on a number of projects, including a new album called “The Gospel Inspired by Lula,” named for his mother who helped him write “I Was Made to Love Her,” “Don’t Know Why I Love You” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.”

Aisha Morris, his daughter joined him at the piano to sing a solo with her father accompanying her on the keyboard. She has a lovely voice, if not a powerful one. The audience listened attentively.

After she finished, Stevie said,

Let’s sing a song to Aisha.

By which he meant, let’s sing a song about Aisha, and then launched into…

• Isn’t She Lovely

You know the lyrics:

Isn’t she lovely
Isn’t she wonderful
Isn’t she precious
Less than one minute old

This is the song he wrote for her on the occasion of her birth. As the song continued, however, he stopped singing, and the audience was uncertain as to whether they were supposed to sing. Then it became clear why he had stopped singing: he was all choked up. His daughter leaned over and kissed him. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

After a minute he composed himself enough to grab his harmonica and resume, and then finished the song, after which he lifted his sunglasses and wiped a tear from his eye.

He spoke to the audience following this, saying

Time is long but life is short

No problem is larger than life — so work it out

Stevie Wonder’s legendary civil rights consciousness and unapologetic discussion about faith are a testament to his many outstanding accomplishments in life. He’s earned many commercial and professional honors in his 58 years, including an Academy Award, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. And he has won more Grammy Awards (26) than any other solo artists.

But he also likes to have fun, and I don’t think I’ve seen any other performer who smiles so much. He got lots of laughs when he asked:

How many of you guys have made love to Stevie Wonder music?

I want some payback, I want some royalties.

How about with this next song. I did… but that’s OK because I wrote it.

And then he sang:

• Overjoyed

Over time, I’ve been building my castle of love
Just for two, though you never knew you were my reason
I’ve gone much too far for you now to say
That I’ve got to throw my castle away

Following this song, he then addressed the audience with,

I want to form a group. It will be called “The Wonder Singers of Denver.”

OK, fellas, I want you to sing the following…

That sounds just like charch. Not “church”, but charch.

Ladies, I now want you to sing the following…

Now everyone, I want you to sing “La, la, la, la, la, la…”

…and without us knowing it, he snuck us into

• My Cherie Amour

But everyone came out of their seats for the next song, a perennial favorite, and featured in one of my favorite films “You’ve Got Mail”

• Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)

The entire audience was on their feet, except the couple next to me who appeared to be clinically dead. Stevie continued with the following, and “you can feel it all over”

• Sir Duke

a tribute to music’s pioneers like Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Then, from Songs in the Key of Life came

• I Wish (those days, could , come back once more)

Lookin back on when I, was a little nappy headed boy,
Then my only worry, was for Christmas what would be my toy,
Even though we sometimes, would not get a thing,
We were happy with the, joy that they would bring.

The concert was then interrupted with the local radio station who had conducted a contest to see who could sing a duet with Stevie Wonder. The winner came up, a nervous woman with a good voice. She joined Stevie for a song that actually has a female part

• You Are The Sunshine of My Life

The concert concluded with two more hits, as he had earlier excused himself for leaving early and not doing the typical “meet and greet”, in order to attend the funeral of a family member of one of the band members,

• Superstition

And then, his Academy Award winning song from the film “The Woman In Red”

• I Just Called To Say I Love You

Throughout the concert, my wife was on her feet, and singing along with every song. She told me that singing live with Stevie Wonder had always been her dream.

When I asked her why, she said,

I’m practicing so I can be a backup singer in Stevie Wonder’s praise band in heaven.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

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What a sweet movie, what a cute film. Who else but Pixar could make a movie that’s animation, science-fiction, comedy, spaceships, green — and romance…and make it all work?

And the tributes to other movies of this genre! In the same way that Pixar’s The Incredibles paid tribute to early James Bond movies with its music, cinematography and sets, so too this movie pays tribute to other movies and TV shows about space (Alien), science-fiction (2001: a space odyssey, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica) and even sea voyages (Titanic). Keep an eye out for HAL’s eye from 2001 as well as some music you’ll instantly recognize, the sound effects of Star Trek’s “red alert” and phaser blast, the voice of a Battlestar Cylon centurion — and Sigourney Weaver’s voice as the ship computer! Look carefully, and you’ll see tributes to The Wizard of Oz and The Dream Team. And if you have a penchant for the history of space, if you look quickly you’ll see Sputnik.

In the same way as The Incredibles has its own cinematic feel, so does this film, more than a cartoon it has a lived-in feel as WALL-E seems to have been here for a long time. And when he discovers something new, it seems so clean.

And what movie could start with Michael Crawford singing… not from “Phantom of the Opera” but his younger work from 1969 in “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “It Only Takes a Moment” from “Hello Dolly”?” And the delightful singing of “La Vie En Rose” by Louis Armstrong. The end titles “single” was done by Peter Gabriel. The music score was by Thomas Newman.

Story

Our story starts some 800 years in the future, where Earth has been abandoned by mankind and left for robots to clean up all the trash, which had made Earth uninhabitable. WALL-E is a Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class garbage compacting droid. We feel like we’re seeing a day-in-the-life of R2-D2. We even hear a few R2 beeps, unsurprisingly as Ben Burtt who conceived the voice of R2 does WALL-E.

For over half an hour we hear almost no dialog, it’s almost all pantomime and visual impressions. Other than a cockroach buddy, WALL-E is the only one we see who is still operational. The dystopia theme of mankind’s possible future on Earth is not yet obvious, except in contrast to the very human nature of WALL-E who collects interesting human artifacts of the past, including Christmas lights, an iPod, Zippo lighters, Rubik’s Cube, Twinkies, and of course old videos like “Hello Dolly.” The ecology morality tale kicks off in earnest when WALL-E discovers a living green plant, the first in the 700 years since mankind left on space liners.

EVE

For our droid Adam WALL-E, there appears an EVE (Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). A space probe lands on Earth and deposits a sleek, white reconnaissance probe-droid, looking for sustainable life on the planet. The influence of Apple on Pixar become immediately apparent. As WALL-E “reboots” with a Mac startup chime, EVE looks like a sleek iMac. This is not surprising considering the designer of the iMac and iPod, Apple Sr. VP Jonathan Ive consulted with Pixar on the film. When EVE separates out of her elongated egg shape to differentiate into head, arms and hands, she glistens like a second generation white iPhone. And below her monitor-like head, we see a spinning gear, just like on an Apple machine.

The film chronicles their romance through dance as well as care giving incubation. The emblem where EVE’s heart should be is a bio sign of plant life, a subtle shade of green.

There is such visual wonder, the majesty of space flight, the quality of loyal friends, and the touching heart-felt self-sacrifice of mutual love. Surely, fun for the whole family, for children of all ages, including you. And the only movie, that I’ve noticed, that gives credit in the final titles to “processors by Intel”.

Grade: A-

• You’ll like it if: You enjoy animation, heroes, robots, science-fiction, and comedy
• You won’t like it if: You don’t care for cockroaches and prefer live actors

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

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Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culture vulture
www.billpetro.com

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In January I wrote about my conversation with Ken Burns, award winning producer of The Civil War documentary, about his upcoming miniseries about World War II called simply The War. This presentation took place at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He was at that time previewing his 7-part, 14.5 hour series — that he has been working on for some 6 years — at military academies around the country. I wrote three articles at that time about:

• Questions I asked Ken Burns
• The making of the new documentary
• The content of this series

Now the series is finally going to be shown. It debuts this Sunday, September 23, 2007 on your local PBS station. Already the companion book is on the market, as is the sound track which I have been listening to for the last week, featuring not only a modern piece by Nora Jones called American Anthem, but also music from the 1940 period before, during, and after The War.This is television worth watching, and I recommend it to you. Check your local television listing.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

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The show called “An Evening with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,” Freedom Of Speech ‘06 was one of three sold out events at the Denver Red Rocks open air amphitheatre. Their first tour since 2002 started in July in Philadelphia. Their 2000 reunion tour was their first since 1974.

Living With War, Neil Young’s new, highly political and stridently anti-Bush album was featured prominently (and seemingly entirely) during the first part of the show, including a 3-letter LWW logo over film clips from Iraq that was intended to look like the CNN logo. Some were tributes to veterans but others called for the impeachment of the President, which encouraged the inebriated behind me to chime in on the chant. Initially it seemed that the set was an indulgence to Young, but there’s more to it. Most of the big hits got pushed to the end of the second set of the show and past the 11 pm bedtime of not a few attendees who left early. Young’s new album was a late addition to the show, as the concert had long been planned before the release of his new work. Graham Nash is quoted as saying,

“We wanted to provide a balance, too. We didn’t wanna just be there as four raving madmen against this administration,” he says. “People come to see us because they fell in love to CSNY music. We didn’t want to make it just about how (screwed up) things appear to be in certain respects.”

In this respect they failed. Those who came to listen to classic CSN&Y were hijacked with a “solo” album they hadn’t come to hear.

The new Young songs were written about current events were clearly topical, including Living With War and Families. “Strange weather we’re having,” Young observed after noting how the band’s tour buses ran on bio-diesel. He didn’t mention that these were half a dozen luxury buses parked down the mountain with pop-outs like fifth-wheelers, including one tricked out with chopped classic 40s cars as their skylights.

Let’s look at the concert chronologically. The walk up to the venue was greeted, in an unusual way for Red Rocks, by numerous booths, including environmental and political issues like Progressive Democrats for America (and the other Democrats are…?)

The show started late due to heavy winds. A significant thunder storm was passing over the Denver area though Red Rocks was spared the heavy rain and hail during the event. However, the dark grey glowering sky with repeated lightning over Denver was far more impressive than the feeble on-stage light show.

The first thing you were struck with was how old the band looked. Steven Crosby, the first spotlighted looked like a long-haired version of the actor Wilford Brimley. This is a band that has been performing publicly since Woodstock, though one wondered how many in the audience knew that. One particular hyper-active 20-something in front of me shared with her neighbors that her mother had seen them at Woodstock in 1969.

Almost immediately the air smelled of dope… and onions from the bratwurst. It was a veritable reefer-o-rama, I had not smelled that much burning herb since I saw the Grateful Dead in the late 70s.

Their early song, “Carry On” was marred by bad microphone work that left out the melody track. A real shame. This was followed by “Wooden Ships” and “(It Appears To Be) A Long Time.”

This was followed by “Military Madness Is Killing My Country (No More War)” and “After the War Is Done.” This was not just the recycling of old Vietnam anti-war protest songs, though they were mining the same vein. Nevertheless, the “Power to the People” flame did not ignite.

Did I mention they looked old? They’re all in their early to mid-60s. Neil Young wore a hat for the show, and the jumbotron showed a face that made the Rolling Stones look young. By the time that Young got to “Living With War In My heart” you felt that there were too many Neil Young songs during the evening. The song “The Restless Consumer” with it’s repeated rant of “Don’t Need No More Lies” made it seem like a Country Joe and the Fish political pep rally in Berkeley.

The “We the People” preamble to the Constitution was visible on the stage, which was flanked by a curtains of horizontal red and white stripes. Just so you know, this was tour is called the “Freedom of Speech” tour. Young called out to the crowd “Muchas gracias” as they went into the song “Immigration Man.”

Crosby, Stills and Nash, formerly with The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Hollies remind one of fabulous harmonies. And while they didn’t measure up to studio perfection, they showed that they could still do it. In a flood of Baby Boomer revival tours, there are so many who can’t. Paul Simon is reaching for the high notes, the group Chicago just can’t any longer.

They took a break at 8:40 to return “with some of our acoustic stuff” but the break lasted over 35 minutes as the stage crew fumbled with faulty sets. Nevertheless, the second half was rewarding. They started with “Helplessly Hoping” as they sang

…they are one person, they are two alone, they are three together, they are four each other…

proving that they could do the great harmonizing that still works.

Graham Nash took to the keyboard for “Our House” that caused most of the crowd to sing along. This is my favorite song of theirs and took me back to college days sitting in the courtyard of my university residence hall on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

But it was Neil Young’s keyboard and lead for “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” that got the rest of the audience on their feet.

However, the crowd was unrestrained as Crosby began the guitar introduction to “Guinevere.” Nash’s vocal pairing was haunting.

Nash then introduced the next song by saying “You people in Boulder and Red Rocks have it over everyone else. You’re closer to the Milky Way than anyone!” …which led into them singing “The Milky Way Tonight.” Stephen Stills and Neil Young then played “Treetop Flyer,” a favorite with this crowd.

By 11 pm, they still hadn’t played their favorites though. They’d overstayed their welcome with some concert goers who were beginning to leave, before they played “Teach Your Children” following the shout from the stage “Teachers should be paid three times what they’re paid now.” Next was “Southern Cross” nicely done, followed by a Jimi Hendrix-style “Star Spangled Banner” which could only introduce “Woodstock”.

I can only assume they saved “Love The One You’re With” for the encore. But I didn’t wait for it.

Photos of this concert can be found on their website here.

Bill Petro
www.billpetro.com

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I was privileged to see a private sneak preview the third installment of the Mission Impossible franchise, and what is arguably the first blockbuster popcorn movie of the summer of 2006.

Let me say from the onset that it starts with a bang and doesn’t let up. It’s non-stop action from beginning to end. It’s like watching 2 episodes in a row of the TV show 24. Total adrenalin rush. It has “video game” written all over it.

The female lead, and love of super-agent Ethan Hunt’s life is Julia, played by Michelle Monaghan, with a preternatural resemblance to Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise’s real-life fiancée. Ms. Monaghan has been seen in the films North Country, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (ironically, the title of a song in the James Bond movie Thunderball), and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Speaking of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, in a scene in the first act of M:i:III, new recruit Lindsey, played by Keri Russell, and Ethan engage in “synchronized shooting” like that seen in the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie movie.

There were a number of other “tributes” as well. We see Ethan and Lindsey repelling on a cable like in Batman (the latest installment of which Katie Holmes was in, but that’s another subject.) The HQ role of Benji Dunn, played by Simon Pegg reminds one of James Bond’s Q, though the more eccentric one from the non-canonical Sean Connery 007 outing Never Say Never Again.

There is skyscraper-to-skyscraper swinging, a la Spider-man. Indeed there are a number of great stunts, though it is at times difficult to believe that Tom Cruise did all of his own as claimed.

We can say that this time his hair is normal for a change. In the first installment, it was unusually short, it what many called “a bad hair day.” In the second it was quite long. In this one, it’s just right.

While this movie is back to the ensemble cast, unlike M:i-2 which was more of a “mano-a-mano” film, in this movie Ethan is not just one of the agents, as he was when he started in the first Mission: Impossible movie. Rather, he’s the leader of a group that seem more like his chorus.

Ving Rhames is a welcome return as Luther Stickell. Didn’t we see him play essentially the same role for Sean Connery in the 1999 movie Entrapment?

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is Declan the transportation expert. We don’t usually hear his natural Irish accent, but it’s evident here, and much better than the Irish accent that came and went when Tom Cruise tried it in the movie Far and Away. It’s interesting to see him play a good guy, as we’ve usually seen him do somewhat unpleasant characters earlier, as in The Magnificent Ambersons and Vanity Fair.

The Asian beauty Zhen is played by Maggie Q and has played in few English-speaking movies, though she’s a star of Hong Kong films.

Laurence Fishburne plays head of operations Brassel, though less iconic than he was in The Matrix.

The villain, and international weapons dealer is Owen Davian, played by recent Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman. It’s great to see how good he is at being bad. Quite coldblooded.

There is the usual intrigue, assumed and mistaken identities, and split-second timing we’ve come to expect of Mission: Impossible. And we’ve got the strains of the original theme music for the TV show written by Lalo Schifrin, including the military drums as the mission begins.

There were four units with filming going on all over the world, including the US, Berlin, Shanghai and Rome. Most of the Roman filming was in and around the Vatican, including Declan’s unlikely parking in the middle of the piazza of St. Peter’s.

The action is fabulous and there’s lots of eye candy – from beautiful locations to beautiful women to beautiful cars. The gadgets are improbable, but flashy. Nokia got listed in the credits (for some cool phones.) But Cisco was listed too!

The previous M:I movie came out in 2000, before the TV show 24 became a hit. There are many similarities to it in the new M:i:III movie, from hand-held camera action to the “speak or die” ultimatums. Yet somehow, this movie does not hook the viewer on a visceral level like 24. Kiefer Sutherland brings an angst to his role of Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer that Cruise does not for his character. Rather he brings intensity, passion and fear. This is not as engaging, the audience does not care for his character like they do for Jack.

Final take: the movie is a bit formulaic. By that I don’t mean to say that it’s derivative of other spy movies, though it is, but rather I mean that they include the most successful elements of highly popular movies, mix them together in a winning formula, put it in a blender, set it on “cacophonous,” press all the right buttons, and out comes a movie that is sure to be a hit. It will please most of the movie-going public, though it’s a rollercoaster ride with little in the way of modulation or variety. But for my money, I’d give it a B. Jack Bauer needn’t worry about his job at CTU.

• You’ll like it if: mindless, senseless action with lots of gadgets is what you crave
• You won’t like it if: you are looking for plot sense, depth, plausibility, logic or character development

Bill Petro
www.billpetro.com

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I had the opportunity to catch a private pre-screening of this movie. What a treat!

It opens in black and white with a dark and stormy night and the Warner Brothers logo. Then a snake slithers along the ground… and then the title. But soon afterwards it explodes into full color fireworks of the World Cup of Quidditch. But we aren’t shown this exciting game as it’s portrayed in the book (you’ve got to cut something from the 734 page book. They were toying with making two movies from it, to be released close together, but ultimately decided against it.) Rather we’re ushered into a different contest, the TriWizard Tournament competition.

It soon becomes clear that this isn’t your previous kiddies movie. As the first PG-13 movie in the Harry Potter franchise, it’s darker, more frightening and more mature. In many ways, it is the most satisfying of the series. However, the appearance of the personification of Lord Voldemort and some other scenes may be too intense for younger viewers.

This is not about fun and games, the struggles here are about life and death.

This movie picks up our heroes at the age of 14, whom we haven’t seen since they were 13, and the awkward challenges they face with their teenage years including testing the nature of their friendship. Associated with the TriWizard Tournament is the Christmas Eve night Yule Ball (a Christian holiday mentioned amongst the magic?) As each of our trio struggles with who to go to the dance with, some of the sly humor comes out.

As the visiting contestants from two other foreign wizarding schools arrive at Hogwarts, the special effects are the most dazzling yet. With a submarine sailing ship and a pegasus-pulled carriage, it’s fabulous.

The budding romance between Ron and Hermione is set aside as she is squired to the dance by an older visiting Bulgarian contestant. But Hermione is now revealed as a budding lovely young lady. This was hinted at in the previous movie, but now showcased with her dramatic entrance to the Ball.

While Ron complains and mostly mopes, he does get one delightful scene with the delicious Maggie Smith as she instructs her charges in the fine art of formal dance.

Harry, on the other hand, laments how difficult it is to ask a girl to the Ball when they tend to “travel in packs.” His gaze has turned to a new face, the fresh face of Katie Leung in the role of Cho Chang, picked from an audition of 3,000 young ladies. The clumsiness and awkwardness of adolescence are poignant and touching, deftly and honestly handled.

Even Hagrid gets in the act with the French school mistress Olympe Maxima, an effecting and rather touching scene where both reveal some of their giant histories.

The climactic portion of the movie deals with the Tournament, with three tasks: in air, the water and on land (no it’s not Earth, Wind, and Fire… though when one thinks of dragons, one does tend to think of fire.) The contest with the dragon shows the decidely Gothic spires of Hogwarts’ roofline in great array. But, it is the second contest that shows Harry’s character.

Harry Potter is an “everyman”, a rather ordinary boy with extraordinary power. But as a hero he’s unexpected and reluctant, not the quickest in mind or body, but his character is revealed in each trial as that of “strong moral fiber.”

The third trial, in an ever changing hedge-maze really shows what he’s made of as he faces difficult choices as he competes for the same goal as the other combatants.

Meanwhile, the co-starring roles of the Hogwarts’ faculty is delightful. Brendan Gleeson does a terrific job as the curious “Mad Eye” Moody, a new Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts, and his arch Dublin accent puts him just short of a Pirate. He’s had significant roles in recent movies, including Menelaus in “Troy” and Reynald in “Kingdom of Heaven.” He is probably best remembered as Mel Gibson’s right-hand man Hamish in “Bravehart” which was filmed mostly in Ireland. Ironically, Gleeson spent 10 years teaching school before becoming an actor.

Miranda Richardson plays the role of Rita Skeeter the gossip reporter for the Daily Prophet. You may remember her in the role of Madame Giry in the movie version of “Phantom of the Opera” or as Queen Elizabeth for fans of the BBC series “Blackadder II.”

Alan Rickman’s deliciously loathsome Professor Severus Snape is a delight to see at any time. My first recollection of him is as the bad guy in “Die Hard” but he’s been in a ton of English movies and other fine American ones. And who can forget him in “Sense and Sensibility?”

While the other professors have less screen time than in the previous movies, Hogwarts’ headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon, knighted as CBE) has decidedly more exposure. We’ve loved him in “Gosford Park” and many other roles especially in West End Theatre in London.

Obligatory Movie trivia: he once auditioned for the role of James Bond after George Lazenby’s single performance in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” but was turned down as they didn’t want to hire another “unknown.” More ironic still, he appears in the 2004 movie “Layer Cake” with Daniel Craig, who has been cast as the new James Bond in the next 007 outing “Casino Royal.”

But this film especially felt the absence of Richard Harris in the role. Gambon seems to be more of an academic functionary and a less wise and powerful wizard than Harris. Something about Harris suggested his kind affection for the lonely orphan Harry. And Harris has played his share of regal characters.

Obligatory Theatre trivia: I had the pleasure of seeing Richard Harris in person doing the role of King Arthur in the revival of “Camelot” some 25 years ago in Los Angeles. While Harris did have a hit single in the 60s with “MacArthur Park” he is not known for his singing. However, he was a stand in for the original Richard Burton, who is even less known for his singing, but Burton had been permanently sidelined from the revival tour by a pinched nerve in his back.

At the end of each movie, Dumbledor has a brief interview with Harry where he asks simple yet deep questions and imparts some wisdom. The same happens here as he notes that with his coming of age he will have to make decisions “between what is right and what is easy.”

Ralph Fiennes is cast as the now corporeal Lord Voldemort. Lithe and reptilian he is both charming and loathsome as the evil wizard who years ago killed Harry’s parents. Harry’s contest with him is quite dramatic and revealing. I’ll say no more.

This is the first Harry Potter movie where John Williams does not do the music, other than the theme, and he wasn’t missed. I find the theme too reminiscent of his music in “Hook” and rather distracting in the Potter movies. Instead, in this movie the music is by Patrick Doyle, who had a small role as an actor in my favorite movie “Chariots of Fire” (1981). He’s also done the music for “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Gosford Park.” It’s got more of a sense of wonder and whimsey.

This movie was sincerely entertaining, a real pop-corn pleaser for the holidays, but those who know me have heard me describe the Harry Potter books as “Diet Tolkien” or “C.S. Lewis Lite.” While it does enjoy magic, it is derivative of Ursula K. LeGuin’s wizard school in “A Wizard of Earthsea” books. And the creatures, culture, history, and languages in no way compare to the depth and scope of Tolkien. Not that J.K. Rowling is not a good writer, it’s just that Tolkien was a professor and new his history, language and literature to a level far beyond Rowling. And Tolkien’s close friend, fellow professor and novelist C.S. Lewis was equally popular, especially with his magic series. Tolkien is my favorite writer of fiction, but I love Lewis’ non-fiction writing.

It will be interesting to see what December’s movie “Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” brings.

Grade: B+

• You’ll like it if: You like action, special effects, teen romance
• You won’t if: You’re disappointed by movies that don’t cleave close to the book, or are easily frightened

Bill Petro
http://www.billpetro.com/

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Sir Paul McCartney last visited the Denver Pepsi Center in 2002, where he performed what has now been captured on his album Back in the US. It was the best concert I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been going to major concerts for 35 years. Why was this?

Paul McCartney plays the soundtrack of my life

He created and plays the music my generation grew up on. It is hard to exaggerate that the Beatles — the group he was in before Wings — was one of the most seminal bands of the last century and changed the face of popular music and culture. Was this concert in November of 2005 as good? I’ll tell you at The End.

What does a $115 ticket buy you? Not the worst seat in the house. No, that was the seat a hundred feed to my left. At this price it’s BYOO (Bring Your Own Oxygen). To get a seat on the floor is $250 plus fees.

The $30 Tour Program was very sharp, though curiously, filled with ads. Admittedly, there was inevitably a McCartney tie-in. This tour showcases his latest album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.

Did you notice that Paul McCartney’s name on it is the same if rotated 180 degrees?

The show started about 30 minutes late. The Introductory part included synthesized and amplified compilation of his music driven by a live DJ, with incomprehensible voice-overs by Paul and his wife with some colorful gear animations on the Jumbotron projector screen. Almost Peter Max-esque, like Yellow Submarine. Animation is a penchant of Sir Paul.

This was followed by a video starting with WWII in 1942 and the bombing of England, his birth and early life in Liverpool.

Obligatory history trivia: This most successful musician, and the UK’s first music billionaire, was once a choir boy at his Anglican church in Liverpool. When he auditioned at the much larger Cathedral, indeed the largest Anglican Church in Britain, he was turned down as not talented enough. In 1991, he performed his Oratorio there. The story goes (whether true or not) that when he returned he say the old priest who turned him down. When Paul asked if he remembered him and what he’d said, the reply was “Yes, and because of it you went on to become a Beatle!”

There were then photos of the Quarrymen then the Beatles at the 1964 Ed Sullivan Show (I remember watching it) and then Wings. Then various tours followed by the 9/11 concert in NY, Live 8 in Hyde Park, London and his huge concert Live in Red Square, Moscow. (Back in the 1960’s, the Beatles had been forbidden in the Soviet Union.)

Yet another history trivia: When Paul performed his previous tour in Rome, they build a stage over part of the floor of the Coliseum. An historical first!

The show began in earnest 45 minutes late, thanks to security scans of all attendees. And it began with a surprise, though a very logical one – as we were asked to Roll Up, Roll Up For the Mystery Tour

• Magical Mystery Tour

This title track to the album of the same name began with a live lighted stage floor lit up like a pinball machine. It was the most high-tech stage I’d seen. It appears to have been a 24 x 24 matrix of square LCD screens which could display colors and even animated pictures on the flat stage that extended to the back and curved up to a vertical back drop to the drum set. By the way, the Beatles coach (bus) tour from the Liverpool Tourist Information Center is called The Magical Mystery Tour.

Paul introduced the “US” show with “We have come for many miles to rock you tonight — and rock you we will!” The crowd went wild.

The next song was:

• Flaming Pie

This song is from his album of the same name

• Jet

The bass was overwhelming, even through my ear plugs. After too many years of concerts by The Who earplugs have become required.

Paul then said, “We’re gonna play some new songs and some old songs. The next one definitely falls into the later. If you remember it, you weren’t there.”

• I’ll Get You (in the End)

This is a song he’s never performed live since the Beatles. He followed this with, “Here’s one we performed at the Super Bowl”

• (Baby You Can) Drive My Car

There were two lava lamps next to the keyboard set. Foreshadowing?

“We performed in Rock & Roll and Rhythm & Blues clubs in Liverpool. We wanted to do the cabaret clubs — probably because they paid better. But you had to do a smoochier set.” So he played:

• Till There Was You

This is Paul’s old cover from “The Music Man” this time accompanied by an accordion! And I thought it was the case: Use an accordion, go to jail. It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law!

Abe his drummer said “Hello Denver, it’s good to be back. You’re looking good. Are you ready to rock?”

Thunderous affirmative from the crowd.

• Let Me Roll It

Which was followed by a guitar riff Jimi Hendrix “Foxy Lady.” Then:

• Got To Get You into My Life

Where the horns, of course, were synthetic but every note,which is burned into our engrams was perfect.

A piano appears from below the center of the stage. Paul tells us, “It comes up out of a whole in the stage. On the second night of the tour I forgot. I stepped back with my bass and fell in. In slow motion I thought ‘How deep is this hole?’”

• Fine Line

This is the first track of his latest album, <a href=”http://Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, which he was careful to point out. Then back to the old hit:

• Maybe I’m Amazed

It’s easier to track the harmonies — a descending progression — with this band for some reason than on the original album. If he can’t hit all the notes anymore, no one minded.

• The Long And Winding Road

Back to his guitar — and he changed guitar between almost every song — for his solo. Back to before the Beatles. A skiffle song. He said how nice it would be to have the 20,000 backing vocals… we were to sing Whoa-aoo-oo-oo.

• In Spite of All The Danger

• (If You Want Me To) I Will

This wonderful song, from the the self titled The Beatles – but better know as simply the White Album — had never been performed live before. He related the story that he’d met a guy in a Mexican restaurant in Pasadena who told about how his daughter had performed it at her school. Paul made a point to perform it live.

His next song was:

• Jenny Wren

This is an unusually beautify song from his new album, reminiscent of his earlier Blackbird. In a previously published interview Paul said he’s tried to avoid writing songs that sounded like his Beatles music, but no one else does. If they can rip him off, he can do it too. This one was done to beautiful effect. For this song, he was joined by Abe on the drums — a simple beat — and Wix on the accordion.

He told us it was sometimes to remember the words to his songs when he saw banners being waved in the audience. He mentioned one in particular:”My mother saw you at Shea Stadium”

Back to the piano Paul began to sing A love that should have lasted years

• For No One

• Fixing A Hole

Here he did a nice solo, with some modifications — it seemed to avoid some high notes. But nobody minded. This was followed by an introduction to one of the prettier songs from his new album:

• English Tea

In it he mentions “Miles and miles of English gardens.” Veddy British.

“I am proud that I worked in the word ‘peradventure’. I looked it up in the dictionary. It means ‘maybe’. You don’t expect to come to a show like this and learn something like that. I understand that the word is now sweeping the nation”

“I remember writing the following song in our little place in Liverpool.”

• I’ll Follow the Sun

He did the last line 3 times “it’s such a short song that I need to do it again” so he did “Enough’s enough” but the crowd wanted more, so he did it yet again.

“I’d like to dedicate this next song to my lovely wife and our child”

• Follow me (you lead me to places I’ve never been)

While this sounds like a very personal song, I couldn’t help thinking that it also sounds like an Adam Sandler tune. Nevertheless, the LCD floor fired up with sparklers cascading in the back.

“Back in Liverpool, George and I would play this song. It was semi-classical. It was actually classical but we made it semi. It was by J.S. Bach. I took it and years later turned it into this”

• Blackbird

As he sang and played, one could see on his left wrist he wore two white “Lance Armstrong” style bands.

• Eleanor Rigby

• Too Many People

• She Came In Through the Bathroom Window

The crowd went crazy for this last tune. Then he related that with this next song NASA woke up the space shuttle with the following song:

• Good Day Sunshine

Since this concert, his Anaheim concert was beamed into space to entertain the international space station, ISS Expedition 12, to share with them this song and “English Tea”. However, this time the astronauts were awakened from sleep not by recorded music, but by live music, a first.

• Band on The Run

I noticed that each front stage performer had 2 floor monitors — unusual in the day of in-ear monitors — but Paul had 3.

• Penny Lane

Penny Lane is a street in Liverpool, where John and Paul were once waiting in a one-storey building in the middle of the roundabout (rotary for us Yanks) and saw a “banker on the corner,” and “a barber.”

This was followed by:

• I’ve Got a Feeling

“Oh I got a feeling…” Paul said, and when the jet sound came up and you just knew it was going to be:

• Back in the USSR

“Those Ruskies love their Rock. We did it in Red Square,” Paul said.

During the concert, it was more sad than amusing to watch two hyperactive middle-aged women, whose lack or rhythm was rivaled only by their inability to dance, stand up in front of me to rock and/or roll.

Back again to the piano, where they started to sing:

• Baby Face

The crowd seemed confused, until it was abruptly ended with, “Sorry, wrong tune… Here it is:”

• Hey Jude

Many in the crowd came to their feet for the chorus. Paul asked for participation in singing from the top, the floor, men only, women only, then everyone.

But last time, everyone was on their feet singing. The real crowd pleaser followed:

• Live and Let Die

with real multi colored flames. Shades of the Wizard of Oz. What a way to end a show.

Obligatory movie trivia: At the concert in 2002 there were 007 photo clips including Sean Connery, despite the fact that this was a Roger Moore movie. It is ironic that Paul McCartney wrote the theme to a James Bond movie. In 1964’s Goldfinger, Sean Connery chides his golden girl Jill Masterson when the champagne loses its chill that “My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done, such as drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!”

He left the stage, only to return for his first encore:

• Yesterday
  
• Get Back

with the whole band. “Thank you Denver. I’ve got a feeling you still want to rock.”

• Helter Skelter

Another encore had Paul returning to the stage in his red t-shirt “No More Landmines.” The band was waving flags: US, Colorado and others.

• Please Please Me

But it was not like the original harmonies with John

Paul then took down house lights and lit one candle on the piano to sing:

• Let It Be

They ended with a fabulous:

• Reprise from Sgt Pepper/Abbey Road Riff/The End

A satisfying show ended at 11:30 pm. But was it as good as the last concert in 2002? It may have rivaled it, but it did not compare. This one was a home run. But the previous concert, the best I’d seen, was a grand slam. But a home run isn’t bad. I could have used more of his Beatles music. But couldn’t everyone?

Perhaps you can only see Paul McCartney the first time, once. This concert had fewer “off” songs than the previous concert. “C Moon” what was with that? And the new songs from his new album were not only almost consistently good, but in a few cases rivaled the quality of his writing from the days of The Beatles.

At 63, it is understandable that Paul’s higher range might not be what it used to be, but I hope he comes back next year and sings to us “When I’m Sixty-Four”.

We’ll still need him, we’ll still feed him, when he’s sixty-four.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood Beatles maniac
www.billpetro.com

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Red Rocks above Denver is a natural amphitheater that has been hosting concerts for almost a hundred years and is where the Beatles appeared 41 years ago. Paul McCartney, during his last concert in Denver commented that when the Beatles performed there, they had a hard time finishing their set, due to the elevation. The walk from the parking lot alone is a formidable ascent.

The teaming of these two legendary bands is phenomenal, each performing for over three decades. Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) originally came from Chicago. The band Chicago, I’m not sure where they’re from.

The play list for Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire was essentially the same as their Platinum selling DVD recorded in Los Angeles in 2004 Chicago/Earth, Wind & Fire - Live at the Greek Theatre.

Everyone cheered and rose to their feet as both bands entered together to do the Chicago song “Beginnings” with 21 musicians on stagetrading guitar licks between the bands

Already, the smell of burning herbs wafted across the twilight air. By the end of the evening the air was redolent with the unmistakable fragrance of superheated recreational pharmaceuticals.

EWF then did some funky dance music from “We Can Make It Happen” as the bands intermingled sides and shared lyrics.

They slid right into “We can make it happen,” then upshifted into an energetic tune with their trademark high voices.

Philip Bailey, the young lead singer of EWF is local to Denver and said, “Nice to be home. We used to sneak over the fence back there to see Chicago.”

–

Chicago left the stage and EWF opened their solo part of the show with an instrumental of blaring guitars superceeded only by horns gone wild. It was more felt than heard.

Then they did “Party People”, heavy on the thump, that was followed by “Party Like It’s Saturday Night”

The awaited “Boogie Wonderland” was pure discomania.

Philip played the kalimba, a beautiful African thumb piano.

It was a real treat to watch aging boomers recapturing their youth. But the middle aged gent in front of me was dancing to the music in a way that suggested he never had rhythem, even in his youth.

Then EWF did some blues followed by the love song co-written by Chicago’s Bill Champlin “After the Love Is Gone.” He invited the participation of the audience to sing along, and instrumental solos covered the fact that he just couldn’t hit the notes anymore.

EWF did some songs from their forthcoming (on September 20) CD, Illumination

They then did “Hearts Afire ” followed by Philip doing a riff from somewhere “Over the Rainbow” where he hit notes higher than many women I know. What a set of pipes!

This was followed by the Beatles cover “Got to Get You ionto My Life” and “12th of Never.” It was a funkalicious fantasy.

They had 12 people on stage, though only two from the original band: Verdine White and Ralph Johnson. They had 3, count ‘em 3 drum sets — and bongos. Did I mention the cowbells?

–

Following the break, Chicago started their part of the show with a drum duel between their drummer and EWF’s drummer, and were later joined by steel drums by EWF. While there were 8 people on the stage, only 4 were from the original band: Robert Lamm, Walt Parazaider, Jimmy Pankow, and Lee Loughnane.

Then was “Great Shouts of Joy.” Great horns, but Bill Champlin’s weak voice couldn’t hit the notes so he kicked beyond it. Where EWF made up for their lack of precision with energy and enthusiasm, Chicago made up for weak voices with horns and guitars. While the horns were brassy, they couldn’t make up for the missed vocal fidelity.

When Chicago did “Color My World” the crowd went wild, especially for the flute solo.

Phillip Bailey of EWF (mercifully) sang “If You Leave Me Now” as no one in Chicago had the voice for it.

At Red Rocks, the wind came up and microphones got wind blasted.

Chicago did lots of hits from the 70’s. When they sand the lyrics “I Love You, you know I do, you love me too” one longed to have their former bassist/vocalist Pete Cetera on the stage.

They did “I am Alive Again” but not nearly as many people were on their feet as they had been for the entire EWF section. Indeed, while I came to hear Chicago and not EWF, Chicago suffered by comparison following EWF.

Chicago did some hits from their landmark album “Chicago 16″ from 1982: “(Youre a) Hard Habit to Break.” When the sang “Being Without You” it pointed out that the band was without Pete Cetera. Did I mention that? I felt that way more than once.

“Old Days”, good times I remember brought them to their feet again.

When they did “Just You And Me” they covered their weak vocals with improvizational instrumental emblandishment.

The crowd came alive for “Saturday ion the Park”
“Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” then brought everyone to their feet.

“I’m a Man” sounded like a plane taking off.

Chicago’s final song was the rambunctious double hit from Chicago 16 “Hard to Say I’m Sorry/Get Away”. It was a veritable rock-o-rama.

–

EWF joined them for the encore including “25 or 6 to 4″ and “Shining Star” but I did not stay, I’d had enough.

Bill Petro
www.billpetro.com

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