Posts tagged reviews

I went to the Paramount Theatre last Wednesday to see Train play. I saw these guys for the first time at “La Zona Roza” in Austin as part of the 2001 South-by-Southwest Music Festival. The one thing I had totally forgotten about Train, until seeing them again this week, was that their guitar player is really good. You wouldn’t guess it from any of their albums (where the guitar stays in its place and never really jumps out at you), but trust me Jimmy Stafford is a rocker and totally rocks out! He also reminds me a lot of the new look Howie Mandel, but that’s another blog entry entirely.

Their set was very energetic and entertaining. From the light show, to the invitations for girls to dance with Pat Monahan during “Mississippi”, to a great acoustic set (featuring a ukulele and a great cover of “Going to California”). My only complaint was that they ended their encore with a cover of “Dream On”. Now I know that their previous song, “Drops of Jupiter” has been said to sound a lot like an Aerosmith song, but I just thought it was a weak ending considering it was someone else’s material (they even shot confetti?!?).

Train’s live show has gotten bigger and more produced since 2001, but I highly recommend you going to see it if you get the chance.

When I first saw the trailer for Eli Roth’s new movie “Hostel”, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. The plot looked intriguing, but I haven’t been impressed with a horror film that’s been released from Hollywood since “The Sixth Sense” or “Se7en”. That said, the fact that Quentin Tarantino was an Executive Producer on the project intruiged me. Even though he didn’t contribute anything creatively to the project, I figured Tarantino wouldn’t attach his name to something that wasn’t at least a decent product.

It turns out that wasn’t the case at all. To be honest, this had to be one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. The acting was terrible, the characters were boring and one dimensional, and even though there were some pretty graphic scenes, the movie never had any real tension or suspense. I suppose part of the reason why I disliked the movie could have had to do with the fact that my friends and I showed up to the theatre a little late and had to sit at the far right end of the first row, but I doubt it. Ben seems to think the same way I do, so something tells me that seeing the movie in any forum wouldn’t help. This will definitely be the last time that I go to a movie just because Tarantino is attached to the project.

In the words of the trailer: “You’ve Been Warned”!