Darling Companion comes from the mind and pen of Lawrence Kasdan. There’s some familiar territory as far as Kasdan’s grasp of ensemble comedies, but this light and fluffy affair is more of an iced cookie rather than a full piece of cake. Did I just use light and fluffy in the same sentence and yet not be referencing a bunny rabbit?

Kevin Kline and Diane Keaton are seemingly happily married. A series of events leads Keaton to rescue a wounded dog on the side of a highway. This spirals the narrative into its many directions, from the couple’s daughter getting married (to the vet) to a growing gulf in their own feelings towards each other. Supporting cast members include Mark Duplass, kind of lending a current indie vibe to the film; Sam Shepherd playing a grizzled old sheriff; Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer, herself bringing a type of new age spirituality to the film; also Dianne Wiest, Richard Jenkins, and Elizabeth Moss.

After the previously mentioned wedding ceremony, deep in resort heavy Rockies, the lovable mutt gets lost, Kline gets blamed and eventually the entire mountain town joins the search for the dog. Particularly entertaining is a visit to the local community radio station and its continuous on-air search for the canine that becomes a recurrent joke.

The phrase Darling Companion comes from a Lovin’ Spoonful song (Johnny and June Cash also did a cover), and while not heard per se one of the characters does make a point of mentioning the tune. Nothing big, just a pleasant comedy unreeling in an offhand manner. The actual level of mediocrity will become apparent after the fact.

– Michael Bergeron

Mansome sounds like an adventure title, like a derivation of ransom and handsome. Actually the title refers to meterosexuals (and their body hair). This documentary by Morgan Spurlock derives as much benefit from the filmmaker exposing tangents of his life as it does in exploring the mystique behind men’s grooming.

Spurlock has the clout (or the personality or both) to get familiar faces in front of the camera. So yes we have a European man display the world’s most healthy beard but we also have observations from Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis; we have random barbers telling Spurlock not to shave his handlebar moustache (advice he ignores) and we also have comic segments featuring executive producers Will Arnett and Jason Bateman.

Spurlock gives his audience concise insight into whatever subject he tackles. Said subject might never be so much profound as it is topical. Spurlock has a non-abrasive manner, say unlike Michael Moore’s confrontational stance. Yet Spurlock lacks the kind of finesse that would put him on a level with oldschool documentarians like Ross McElwee or Frederick Wiseman.

Still, Mansome flows evenly and enjoyably, reveals various attitudes about hair, smell and public composure. In fact Mansome, a comic look at man in today’s society, is a breath of fresh air among behemoth summer blockbusters seeking to suck the air out of May. Mansome opens this weekend exclusively at the Edwards Grand Palace.

– Michael Bergeron

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By Jack Daniel Betz

Black Bananas were outrageous, Magic Markers noisy and brash, but the whole of last night I was anticipating the arrival of the very last act, the elusive Duane Warr. Writing under the name Dwarr, Duane has played solo since the 80s but never toured until his first gig in Austin, Saturday night. After Bananas finished, Duane could be seen pacing around, sporting a big smile, clad in a pair of intensely elevated black leather boots. He had no roadies to help him so I assisted him in hoisting his giant Marshall cab onto the Walter’s stage.

Duane’s vocals borrowed from bluesy the baritone of Ozzy Osbourne but left out the shrill highs. His voice never cracked once which is pretty remarkable given the intense concentration he also paid to his white hot lead guitar playing while singing. He melted every face in the room with energy to spare.

Although this is a solo project and most of the songs were written on a four track with nothing more than a session drummer, Duane did have help from two other younger musicians. Between each song, the muscular metal-head revealed himself to be a warm, avuncular, Southern gentleman, never missing an opportunity to tell us all background on a song’s history or a personal story. I’ve read certain critics referring to Duane’s style and content as antisocial but nothing could be further from the truth. He is probably one of the nicest performers I’ve ever had the pleasure to observe.

At this point, Dwarr’s set list consists mostly of older material Duane wrote in the 80s and some stuff a little more recently but this tour isn’t to promote anything brand new. Drag City did however, recently re-release his dramatic debut “Starting Over”. The show’s highlight was clearly a soulful and foreboding rendition of fan favorite “Gates of Hell” in which Warr reminds us all to keep on the straight and narrow. Who knows when or if he will tour again, given his history. I don’t see why he wouldn’t though, he’s in better shape than I ever will be and has the pipes of someone half his age.

There’s sub-genre of films that are released by major studios where the movie opens in less than 500 theaters. Compare the couple of hundred theaters for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to the over a couple of thousand for Dark Shadows, both films released by majors, Warner Brothers for the latter and Fox Searchlight (a division of 20^th Century Fox) for the former. And then you can even dive deeper into that sub-genre with films released in limited engagements by major studios that have no name actors.

Case in point would Sound of My Voice, also handled by Fox Searchlight and mirroring their release last year of Another Earth. Like Another Earth, Sound of My Voice draws its staying power from a clever script with sci-fi overtones and an attractive cast many of whom we’ve never seen before. Both films were co-written and star Brit Marling, who could become the next indie darling.

Sound of My Voice posits that a meditation cult gets their mystique from a mysterious woman who has time traveled from 50 years in the future. Much of the film revolves around whether Maggie (Marling) is who she claims to be. Meanwhile, a pair of the film’s protags infiltrates the cult hoping to make a documentary about the group. Sound of My Voice is like a Möbius strip in the sense that it ends in a manner that implies that it has just begun. There were a couple of continuity issues, like how can people sitting in a circle not notice a metal device with a bright green light sitting in a bunch of white apple vomit? Overall the secret of the film seems valid and offers slivers of food for thought. Sound of My Voice is unwinding exclusively at the River Oaks Three.

– Michael Bergeron

God Bless America skewers reality television and sends up current events with a vengeance. Scathing and yet somehow honest this satire, helmed by Bobcat Goldthwait, takes no prisoners and sets a high standard for others to follow. You really have to go back as far as Network (1976) for a film with the correct magnitude of sardonic culture shock for its era.

Like Paddy Chayefsky, Goldthwait has a touch for dialogue where the character comments on society even while defining their life choices. Think of Howard Beale’s “I’m mad as hell” rant from Network because God Bless America has at least two such sequences that revolve around the lead characters spouting off with razor sharp eloquence that until now has been missing in movies for years.

Goldthwait has different performing faces. When he’s doing his stand-up you’re likely to be reminded of roles he played in movies, wacky and often profane for no reason. (This month also sees the release of Golthwait’s latest stand-up dvd Bobcat Goldthwait: You Don’t Look the Same Either. Especially funny is his take on his probation for setting the Tonight Show on fire.)

Goldthwait’s directing touch though is crazy like the fox and subliminally seditious. Goldthwait makes some keen observations about elements of our present day society and yet somehow manages to aim the barrels both to the right and left. Diablo Cody, Woody Allen and Vladimir Nabokov get raked over the coals just the same as assholic conservative types, religious zealots, not to mention people who are rude in theaters, and reality television stars.

Joel Murray and Tara Lynn Barr play a pair of spree killers in God Bless America. But they’re not natural born killers; they only kill people who suck. GBA moves rapidly with both its narrative and body count.

The story is advanced with monologues that depict such things as a modern world of reality television zombies and a time past (the 1970s) when Alice Cooper made the world a better place. Actually Cooper has a heavy influence in the movie, while not in it, being the subject of one monologue and the use of three of his songs: “I Never Cry,” “School’s Out” and “Hello Hooray.” Also effective is the use of The Kinks’ “I’m Not Like Everybody Else.” Not ironically, Cooper also appears physically in another release this week, Dark Shadows.

Free Press Houston spoke to Murray and Barr by phone this week and the topic naturally went to the monologues and how they were shot. Murray, who acted alongside Goldthwait in One Crazy Summer (1986) and played Milkman in Goldthwait’s directing debut Shakes the Clown (1991) as well as the policeman in last year’s The Artist, chuckled when I asked how many days they spent shooting his office cubicle monologue replying “That entire sequence was shot in half a day.” That encompasses some of the film’s finest verbiage as well as additional scenes in different cubicles. “When I read the script I was floored not just by the dialogue but also because Bob wanted me to play the lead,” adds Murray. One of the film’s key lines would be “Why have a civilization anymore when we’re no longer interested in being civilized.”

Barr’s motel monologue, which includes the Cooper riff, was so verbose that it must have taken a couple of days minimum.  “We shot 11 pages in half a day,” Barr confesses. Barr sees her teenage role as break from “the stereotype that I’m asked to read for in every script.” Aside from GBA’s intellectually quotient consider the filmmaking skills that can race through set-ups with both speed and dexterity. God Bless America looks slick, like what a studio would outlay (say $15-20-million) for one of their low budget efforts. There’s a fair amount of squibs and blood, which means stunt people and time consuming preparation. I mention to Murray that as low-fi as it seems the budget most have been at least $2 to $3-million. Murray laughs and says, “It was way, way below that, I can assure you.” Murray should get a lot of acclaim for his performance, at once righteous and yet so misguided. Barr, who technically is still a teen at 19 can count on God Bless America to propel her into the kind of edgy roles formerly aced by Chloe Moretz.

God Bless America, one of my favorite films released so far this year, is playing in an exclusive engagement at the Alamo Drafthouse West Oaks Theater.

– Michael Bergeron

Betwixt the early afternoon hours of 1pm and 3pm on May 12 of this year, Allen Parkway will be crawling with vehicles affectionately referred to as… art cars.  But that’s the end of this story and not the beginning.
Even if you’re not asking yourself, “What in the hell is an ‘art car’?”, I’m going to answer that question for you anyway.  An art car is any vehicle (lawnmower, golf cart, go-cart, unicycle, full-size motor vehicle, etc.) that has been physically modified to reflect the personal artistic expressions of the vehicle’s owner or the cartist.  That’s right– an art car artist is often referred to as a “cartist.”  To be a cartist, there is no formal training necessary; just a desire to express oneself artistically… and some gas money.
So the origin of this artistic and comical parade is found in the year 1984 with the donation of a 1967 Ford station wagon to The Orange Show Foundation for their annual Gala benefit.  Houston artist, Jackie Harris, transformed the station wagon into the “Fruitmobile” with $800 of paint and plastic fruit.  Following this act of artsy altruism, art cars began to be added to various events and parades in and around town.  The quirky presence of these movable art pieces was so endearing that in 1986 Susanne Demchak fashioned together a “Road Show” at The Orange Show featuring eleven art cars, of course the flagship “Fruitmobile” (still alive and kickin’ to this day mind you), children’s art bike workshops and Lowrider demonstrations.  Some 1,400 Houstonians attended the event along with WFAA-TV and National Public Radio.  The following year, the Houston International Festival, at the time the City’s official celebration of the arts, beseeched The Orange Show to produce a parade for the festival.  The Orange Show agreed and picked its muse… the art cars.  And in April of 1988, the Art Car Parade was born.  The maiden voyage of the Art Car Parade was 40 art cars deep and witnessed by an estimated 2,000 Houstonians.

Now, closing in on its 25th Birthday, the Houston Art Car Parade powered by The Orange Show is the climax of the Art Car Weekend, “a three-day celebration of the drive to create.”  The Art Car Weekend begins with The Legendary Art Car Ball on Thursday, May 10th featuring live music, food and the building excitement for the parade.  It takes place at the art monument known as The Orange Show.  Following that, there’s a Sneak Peek at Discovery Green early friday evening; and then the parade begins the next day at 1pm.  Here’s the Route: the parade runs up and down Allen Parkway (east and west, if you’re privy to cardinal directions) starting at Taft heading towards Downtown (east); then the parade makes a left at Heritage Park, and then travels back down (west) Allen Parkway the other way.  This year, prior to the start of the parade, everyone is invited to converge on the parade starting line at 9am to meet and mingle with the cartists and enjoy a wide array of various activities, including but not limited to The Tontons and Portal Walker performing on the Free Press Summer Fest stage.  There will also be other live music, children’s crafts, food and beverages (especially the adult variety).

The magnitude of Houston’s Art Car Parade has exploded since it’s humble beginning of 2,000 Houstonians.  Today, hundreds of thousands of attendees (close to 300,000) from 23 states and Canada and Mexico travel to the southern shore of Buffalo Bayou to witness the parade of over 250 art cars.  It is the largest festival in Houston and the city’s premier art event, dwarfing the super sexy FPSF and the iFest.
The largest Art Car Parade on the planet belongs to our beloved city, Houston, Texas… that is until Mayor Annise Parker passes an ordinance banning the event on account of it not being “Wealthy Land Owner” enough.  Cheers.

This Week’s Featured Show

Saturday, May 12

Alkari (CD release)
with
The Manichean
Electric Attitude
The Wheel Workers
Super Robot Party
Featherface
Mike Booher
New York City Queens
The Dead Revolt
3 Wheeler
@ Fitzgerald’s

Saturday’s show at Fitz has an exhaustive line-up of notable local bands that will likely give you quite the upstairs/downstairs work-out but the stars of the night are Alkari who are releasing a new album, Blackout Falls, that night.  Now, there is something that still doesn’t sit quite right with me about Kickstarter but I have to give it up to  Alkari for being classy about their campaign and not trying to milk their fans shamelessly.  Where I’ve seen some bands ask for tens of thousands of dollars to help with a new album, Jason Smith and company requested of their fans a reasonable $1,500 to record their new album and while I haven’t heard the full album yet, the driving, explosive track featured on their Kickstarter Page ( http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1545193506/alkari-blackout-falls-lp ) suggests that the money has been well spent.  Kudos to producer, Erik Wofford (The Black Angels, Explosions in the Sky, Maserati, The Octopus Project, etc. ).  I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.   

Thursday, May 10

The Legendary Art Car Ball, featuring The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Folk Family Revival, The Tyburn Jig, Poor Pilate, Benjamin Wesley, DJ Graham 14′s Electro Swing, Kiki’s Sordid Sideshow, & Dem Damn Dames @ The Orange Show (7-11PM) This is a pretty big whoop up and it was honestly kind of a toss up on this or Alkari being the featured show.

Glen David Andrews Band, Journey Agents @ Discovery Green – If horns and Louisiana mean anything to you, Glen David Andrews is something you should check out.

AndyRoo @ Children’s Museum of Houston (6PM) - Andrew Karnavas’ kids music universe drops down at the CMH.

Melissa Etheridge @ Arena Theater - Sorry, I’m still grossed out by the whole David Crosby thing.

Acid Mothers Temple, The Phantom Family Halo, The Clang Quartet @ Fitzgerald’s -A few weeks ago there was a band from Austin who called itself space rock and I was pretty unimpressed.  That’s because bands like AMT are the real deal.  This Japanese band has been kicking out psych space rock for years and woe to those who lay claim to the genre.

Calle 13, Outernational @ House of Blues -Puerto Rican group that does reggaton mixed with rap and other genres to do its own thing.

Sarah Fuselier @ Warehouse Live (Studio) - Local piano driven singer songwriter

Suzanna Choffel @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck - Austin singer songwriter

Friday, May 11

Thrice, Animals As Leaders, O’Brother @ Warehouse Live -Irvine, California rockers drop by for their farewell tour.

Slag * Defending The Kingdom @ Big Star Bar -Metal at Big Star!  Yeayusss!

East Cameron Folklore, Possessed by Paul James @ Fitzgerald’s -Big folkie ensemble with mandolins, banjos, a cello and whole lot more.

Holder, Gentlement Rogues, Chemistry, Skyscratchers @ Mango’s - You know I love Mango’s to death, don’t get me wrong but would it kill them to toss a link or something to the bands playing?  Holder, yeah, like with a name like that the band should be easy to find.

Lisa Morales @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck - Miss Morales returns yet again

Sy Smith + Zo!@ Fitzgerald’s – Longtime New York Soul singer songwriter teams up with Detroit multi-instrumentalist / producer.

Tritonal @ Rich’s – Austin Trance Duo

Rita Hosking @ Heights Live! – A singer songwriter from …  California… ha, didn’t see that coming; you thought I was gonna say Texas didn’t ya?

Tanya Tucker @ Nutty Jerry’s (Winnie) - The woman behind 70’s jingle.. I mean..err. country hit  ”Delta Dawn” drops into Nutty Jerry’s

Saturday, May 12

AndyRoo @ Children’s Museum of Houston (2PM) - a second show from Mr Karnavas’

Burn The Boats, Fiskadoro @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor) - Metal vs. Post Punk! Who will win?

Devin the Dude, Coughee Brothaz North @ House of Blues - Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

Styx, REO Speedwagon @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion - I almost want to go to see who would be the kind of person who would show up at this kind of show, ya know?

Shake Russell @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck -Like Miss Morales on Friday Mr. Russell is pretty much a regular at the duck.

From The Top @ Brown Theater (Wortham Center) - The NPR show featuring young classical performers drops by for a taping this evening. 

Sunday, May 13

Eyehategod, Venomous Maximus, TeXXXas @ Fitzgerald’s - Classic New Orleans sludge metal dudes.

Black Bananas, Magik Markers, Dwarr @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor)- This is a super cool show for all you Royal Trux fans.  If I wasn’t on hiatus until June I would likely have tried to set up an interview with Jennifer Herrema…  totally.

White Suns, Cop Warmth, The Chemicals, Electric Sleep @ Mango’s – Such peaceful pastoral music from Brooklyn’s White Suns.  Here is a little lullaby from them..

Vanity Theft, Enemies! @ Fitzgerald’s – All Grrrrl Rawwwwwwk band!

Marilyn Manson, The Pretty Reckless @ House of Blues -I never particularly got MM either musically or conceptually – both just seemed so contrived - but Manson deserves credit for being a pretty smart performer with a good head for bugging folks in more conservative areas of the United States which is always good for a laugh.

Toy Bombs @ Warehouse Live – California straight-up indie rock band.  Nothing groundbreaking but it’s still fun stuff.

Isley Brothers @ Bayou Music Center (formerly Verizon Wireless Theater) -I used to work the albums at Half Price Books for years and I never once saw an Isley Brothers record come in clean and playable.  They were always scratched to hell and with good reason; the Isley Brothers rule!

Westbound @ Highland Village Farmers Market -Buy some veggies and listen to some Americana while you are at it.

Tuesday, May 15

They Who Sound Featuring Dana Jessen @ The Audley Society (3231 Audley St.)  7:30pm – TWS leaves its usual home of Avant Garden this week  for a special show with Dutch bassoonist Dana Jessen who will perform with various local improvisers and poet Ronnie Yates.

StarKid, Charlene Kaye @ House of Blues – Nashville Pop punk playing at… House of Blues?  Seriously, why would you want to see this kind of music in such a sterile environment?

Lotus Plaza, Frankie Broyles @ Fitzgerald’s – Attention Deerhunter fans.  If you are not aware of it, Lotus Plaza is Lockett Pundt’s solo project.

Guy Clark @ The Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe (Galveston) - Longtime Texas country dude who has been covered by just about everyone you can imagine.

Wednesday, May 16

Post Paint, Convergence of Shadows @ Super Happy Fun Land – Sweet guy and gal duo from Australia.  If nice he/she vocal trad- offs and strings sounds good to you, then you should check them out.

This Week’s In Stores

Saturday May 12 @ Heights Vinyl-  Heights Vinyl In-Store Performance Series, featuring Luke Brawner @ Heights Vinyl

Saturday May 12 @ Cactus - Beach House “Bloom” Listening Party (1pm), Brian Keane (3pm)

–For even more listings check out Space City Rock - Houston’s best local calendar–

The Island President follows the short lived career of Mohamed Nasheed, who was briefly and brightly the democratically elected president of the formerly democratic atoll country, composed of over a thousand islands, of Maldives. This documentary played the festival route briefly last year and in the time between then and now Nasheed was dethroned so to speak in a military coup.

But The Island President is not about that so much as about global warming and Nasheed’s efforts to bring the world’s nations together at the December 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change summit. When he was elected as president in 2008 Nasheed accelerated Mandives into the future by initiating a carbon free mandate for the country. As the film shows in a few brilliant establishing shot many of the islands are floating at sea level (not unlike Manhattan) and susceptible to erosion and changing tides. The country was also decimated during the 2004 ocean tsunami.

Nasheed is a regular kind of guy if this doc is to be taken at face value. Nasheed smokes the occasional fag, talks to his mother on his cell, and advocates a progressive approach to living for his country. He’s hands on and would rather spend his country’s money on education and social reform but has to divert a large amount of those funds to shore up the shoreline from the encroaching and ever rising ocean. As a social leader he’s too good to be true, and thus his ouster.

There are some magnificent shots in the film depicting the islands. The most significant are the main island lined with buildings and sitting on the ocean like a city floating in the sky.

– Michael Bergeron