Hairspray – feel good musical with a message

Hannah is going to be my new movie guide. She has been very successful at picking new movies to see. She asked me to see Hairspray with her and her mom last night and it was the funniest movie in ages.

First it’s a musical which means lots of laughs, good songs and and dancing. The setting is a Baltimore 1962 high school with feel good doo-wop music. The integration story introduces black music into the white bread world – a good idea.

The plot layers the rights of people who are different, that is overweight, along with the rights of Negroes. Interesting juxtaposition that works today. Human rights means more than racial rights. It also means equal rights for gays, the disabled, the overweight, and all kinds of other “different” members of society. The theme is there but not heavy. You just feel – yeah who cares if she’s overweight. She’s a person. I liked that. There is still a strong push towards perfect homogeny in our society with media and people who are “out-of-date”. We need more tolerance for “difference”.

All people don’t look the same nor do they need to. Your perfect mate will not look perfect. In fact the chances are if we select our friends, mates whatever based on visual appeal they are likely to disappoint. Someone who values their looks above interpersonal behaviour sounds like a loser.

The serious stuff doesn’t get in the way of great music and fun. I laughed out loud from one end to the other. Christopher Walken dancing and singing – gotta see it. The best visual joke is John Travolta trussed up to be Tracy’s very overweight mother. Just looking at him / her in a scene will get anyone laughing. This is John Watters’ weird sense of humour.

So many great parts in this movie like Queen Latifah who takes the camera whenever she comes into a scene. Michelle Pfeiffer is wonderfully wicked. Fun, feel-good movie.

Trivia: Seeing Canadian actress Jane Eastwood as Tracy’s mean teacher was a give-away that the movie was partially filmed in Toronto at Lord Lansdowne Public School. The crane shots are Baltimore row houses but it’s Canada elsewhere.

Out to lunch

The sign is up
The sun is out
What is there
Worth talking about?

People searching everywhere
Looking for happiness
We’ve been burned before
Don’t want to appear anxious

Get on your summer dress
Beige shoes and straw hat
We’ll wander the boulevard
Where all the people are at

Let’s try an outside café
Gossiping in the evening sun
Drinking red wine or latte
And linger until the night is done.

Live Earth nice idea – rock is so boring

Live Earth was a good idea to raise the consciousness but all those hours of rock music – man is that a colossal bore. The audience was sitting on their hands before it’s over.

We need to get Green, Green up the planet, our homes, our cars. We’re not going to do it ourselves. They need to make things that will save energy, like some way to turn off the ten million trickle chargers and power supplies around here. One for the phone, the screw driver, the printer, iPod, etc. A recent article said they use as much as a fridge.

But the boredom of all those mediocre rock artists. God, save me from it. The NYC show was particularly bad. One 4 person band after another playing crunch chords and high pitched leads. Drummers pounding out the same beats and breaks. Not a tune or melody in the bunch. Forgettable. Maybe that’s what drugs were created for.

If someone invites you to a multi-band event, practice your best and most unique songs that people have loved since you started. Then play your heart and soul out. Maybe you’ll stand out from the crowd. Don’t bring new material – the kiss of death.

John Meyer was a disappointment. So he’s has an electric guitar or two and has taken lessons. Oh boy, more high pitched guitar licks. Boring. He is not Eric Clapton. Put it away and sing something John.

The best performance was Madonna from London. She is one hot chick at 49 and what a performance. She dances and sings like no one else. She is still as sexy as she was singing “Like a Virgin.” She was dancing all over the stage, down the runway and back up the stage all the while singing. Even her sleaze seemed cool.

Lenny Kravitz from Rio de Janeiro was the essence of what a rock star should be. Strong musically both singing and playing one of his gorgeous Les Paul’s, he also exuded hypnotic charisma. Your eye was on him. What is he going to do? Lenny was into an almost trance state. That’s rock and roll.

I’ll download as much as I can and edit it down. That’s cool.