By Paul Casey
“For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He’s the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more. There’s a feeling in back of it.”
—Frank Sinatra in Life magazine, 1965
By Paul Casey
Explorations was Bill Evans‘ second album with his most famous trio. It was recorded in one day, on February 2, 1961, in between recording Know What I Mean? with Cannonball Adderley. Explorations was a follow-up to the seminal Portrait in Jazz, Evans’ vision of a three piece that spoke as if with one voice. This was also the last studio recording to feature Scott LaFaro as bassist, as he died tragically in a car crash in the summer of ’61. He was 25.
By Paul Casey
I was drawn to Chet Baker in the same way as so many others: By his voice. A copy of the essential compilation, The Best of Chet Baker Sings, was my companion on the kinds of nights where only a special performer can turn solipsism into artful indulgence. It was not a long haul until his instrumentals joined his whisper voice and became the backdrop to these low and human moments.
By Paul Casey
Since Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, has begun shooting, we thought it appropriate to revisit the frequently maligned Joel Schumacher film Batman Forever, which was released on June 16, 1995. Click here to read Part One.—Ed.
Joel Schumacher is obviously not the most well-read Batman fan ever. This is apparent from some of his befuddling mistakes in the commentary on the Batman Forever Special Edition DVD. He does however, apparently independent of “the rules,” have a very solid understanding of the appeal of the character:
I think the one unique thing that separates him from a lot of super-heroes is that he’s a man. He’s not a super force from another planet; green lasers don’t shoot out of his fingers. And he has all the vulnerabilities and all of the flaws and all of the human drama, that any human being has. He’s not perfect and he’s not impenetrable; he’s a man, not a superman.
By Paul Casey
Since Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, has begun shooting, we thought it appropriate to revisit the frequently maligned Joel Schumacher film Batman Forever, which was released on June 16, 1995.—Ed.
First, a bit of background.
To many fans, Christopher Nolan’s work with the Batman franchise has served as a legitimization of the artistic worth of comic books. As both a comic book movie and also as a signifier of the depth of the character and the source material (from which the film’s subtleties originated), The Dark Knight laid down the gauntlet, setting the critical and financial standards by which every comic book movie will be judged in the future.
By Paul Casey
Click for larger image.
L.A. Noire, released by Rockstar Games on May 17, carries on the grand tradition of the adventure game but does so within an impeccably crafted, open-world vision of 1940s Los Angeles. Its narrative is linear; it does not branch off, resulting in those malformations of character seen in Fable or Fallout. Simplistic questions of morality are not used as a choice between different powers and abilities. Overall, L.A. Noire is an experience unique to its medium and sets a new standard in both writing and performance.
By Paul Casey
Guillermo del Toro will not make At the Mountains of Madness, at least not anytime soon. Perhaps our only chance of the first great cinematic interpretation of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythology has been thwarted. Do not fear dear reader, all is not lost! I am here to tell you that while we lack that perfect vision of Cthulhu and his aquatic features, there are many adaptations of his work that should please the casual and hardcore Lovecraft fan.
H.P. Lovecraft
By Paul Casey
“Do you want to know a secret?”
There has been no show with such a commitment to the mystery as Lost. For six years, the producers and writers held their secrets close and chose to reveal only that which would ensure even more questions. Some have described this aspect of the show as if it were a commonly understood negative, often adding an overstated assertion that the producers were simply “making it up as they went along.” This betrays not only a naïve understanding of the realities of network television, but a fundamental confusion as to the nature of Lost: It is and always was a mystery show.
By Paul Casey
Despite my trepidation that The Never Ending Narrative, which documents Dylan’s commercial and critical comeback, would be another super cheap cash-in akin to Bob Dylan World Tour 1966: The Home Movies, I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, it is still pretty cheap—the most direct interview subjects are a pair of engineers—but unlike that earlier movie, it actually has Dylan music! Although it is not exactly overflowing with it, there is just enough to hold things together. The majority of the film is taken up by a series of music journalists, most of who specialize in discussing Bob Dylan. Most of these are entertaining, clearly know their subject, and help disguise the film’s shortcomings.
By Paul Casey
“I believe that all people are in possession, of what might be called a universal musical mind. Any true music speaks with this universal mind, to the universal mind in all people. The understanding that results will vary, only insofar as people have or have not been conditioned to the various styles of music, in which the universal mind speaks. Consequently, often some effort and exposure is necessary in order to understand some of the music coming from a different period or a different culture, than that to which the listener has been conditioned.
I do not agree that the layman’s opinion is less of a valid judgment of music than that of the professional musician. In fact, I would often rely more on the judgment of a sensitive layman than that of a professional, since the professional, because of his constant involvement in the mechanics of music, must fight to preserve the naivety that the layman already possesses.”
—Bill Evans