Saturday, March 29, 2008

Classic Film Sequences: "When A Stranger Calls" (1979)

Forget the terrible 2006 remake, and stick with the superior -- and scarier -- original. This suspense film is about a young woman (played by Carol Kane in a rare dramatic role) who keeps receiving crank calls from a mysterious caller while she is babysitting two children who are asleep upstairs. The first 20 minutes of this film are perfect; so suspenseful that I would dare to call them 20 of the scariest minutes on celluloid. Whenever somebody says about a suspense film: "Don't watch this film alone or in the dark", I scoff. But in the case of the original When A Stranger Calls, I would definitely take their recommendation. Because if you want to be scared witless, the opening 20 minutes of this film will do that no problem. The film falters following its stellar opening, but it's still worth seeing.

Here is an excerpt from the first 20 minutes. To give you the whole 20 minutes would not be fair. But here's a teaser, albeit a scary one.

The Best Cover Songs

It's a tried-and-true formula for singers: cover a hit song, make it your own, have your own hit with it. Some covers can never top the original, but sometimes a cover version can match or best the original. Here are 20 songs that do the latter.



1. "Satisfaction" by Otis Redding

This late soul man covered the Rolling Stone's classic, but I think his version is superior -- and sexier -- than the Jagger version.

2. "Helpless" by k.d. lang

There are many great covers of this song, but lang's version will give you goose-bumps.

3. "Proud Mary" by Ike and Tina Turner

This R&B duo recorded several fine covers including the Sly & the Family Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher" and The Beatles "Come Together", but their version of CCR's "Proud Mary" is superior to the original, thanks to the opening spoken-word intro by Tina and the kick-ass rock version that follows.

4. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell had a hit version with a fast, loose version of this Ashford & Simpson-penned song in the late '60s. But when Diana Ross recorded it in the early '70s, at the beginning of her post-Supremes solo career, A&S produced her version, which resulted in a dramatic, six-minute epic that has become a staple for Miss Ross.

5. "I Feel For You" by Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan had the biggest hit of her solo career in 1984 with this version of Prince's funk classic. There have been several outstanding covers of Prince songs, but Chaka's is the best.

6. "To Love Somebody" by Nina Simone

Nina Simone was famous for covering other people's songs, but if the High Priestess of Soul covered your song, it was an honour, because this woman could make the phone book sound good. To some, this Bee Gees song may be just average, but in Simone's hands, it's a classic.

7. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" by Etta James

This sizzling, smoky cover of Muddy Waters' 1954 blues song is still as hot as ever, and Ms. James is still as feisty as ever!

8. "Tragedy" by Steps

Sure, this British pop band made fluffy music (that was popular in the late '90s/early '00s), but their version of the 1979 Bee Gees disco stomper was a Hi-NRG/Europop classic even when it was released in 2000.

9. "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston

Say what you will about Whitney's overplayed version of Dolly Parton's sweet ballad, you can't deny those vocal arrangements are amazing. No wonder it was such a huge hit in 1992.

10. "Respect" by Aretha Franklin

Many forget this is a cover of Otis Redding's original (he wrote it as well). Aretha decided to record it for her first album on Atlantic Records, and the rest is history...

11. "Venus by Bananarama (1986 cover of Shocking Blue's 1970 version)
12. "Desperado" by Linda Ronstadt (Eagles cover version)
13. "Always on My Mind" by the Pet Shop Boys (Dance version of Willie Nelson's country hit)
14. "Liar, Liar" by Debbie Harry (underrated cover of the 1965 original by the Castaways)
15. "Could It Be Magic" by Donna Summer (Disco version of Barry Manilow's hit song)
16. "I'm Every Woman" by Whitney Houston (Energetic version of Chaka Khan's disco classic)
17. "Hurt" by Johnny Cash (the country legend covering Nine Inch Nails? It works beautifully)
18. "No More I Love You's" by Annie Lennox (brilliant cover of an obscure song)
19. "Wild Night" by Martha Reeves (Van Morrison cover)
20. "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by Petula Clark (a beautiful slowed-down version of the Beatles classic)

Great Performances: Diane Keaton in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar"



Diane Keaton won the Oscar in 1977 for Annie Hall. She should have won the award for this, her daring performance in Richard Brooks' adaptation of Judith Rossner's controversial novel about a schoolteacher who frequents bars looking for sex and attention.

While most know Keaton for her comedic roles in Annie Hall, Love & Death and Baby Boom, many forget what a great dramatic actress she is. I think Keaton's performance as Theresa is her finest. This is not an easy role to play, considering the frequent nudity, and the film has many dark themes, but Keaton excels in the role. She's not afraid to show Theresa's promiscuous and self-destructive side, but still imbues her with tenderness and vulnerability (as she teaches her deaf students). The film is heavy-handed at times and tends to wallow in sleazy excesses more than it needs to, but Keaton's performance carries the film. She has great chemistry with her male co-stars Richard Gere (in one of his first roles), William Atherton and Tom Berenger.

Why she wasn't nominated for this film, I will never understand. If you have never seen Looking for Mr. Goodbar, it is worth watching. It is not currently available on DVD, but hopefully Keaton's masterful performance will be preserved on DVD soon.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Return of the Divas!






It's official. Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" has ousted Usher's "Love in This Club" as the number-one song on Billboard's Hot 100. After years of hip-hop and dour rock songs, a song by a big-voiced diva has hit number one. Not only that, Madonna's new single "4 Minutes" has hit number one on Canada's iTunes, and Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" has hit number on U.S. iTunes. The divas are back!