Spice Up Your Life!

Last night, the Spice Girls ended their "reunion" tour in Toronto. It was a fabulous show. Musically, Mel C and Emma (Sporty and Baby) showed they had the musical chops, while Geri, Mel B and Victoria (Ginger, Scary and Posh) sang and danced sexily but proved they are better in a group than going out solo.

I have always loved the Spice Girls and I am sad to see them stop recording and performing together. During their peak, the Spice Girls made some of the best pop music of the past 25 years in my opinion. But I think they have the right idea. Last night, Mel C surprised the other girls by performing an impromptu back-flip. She did very well, considering she's well into her 30s. In ten years, if they reunite, Sporty may not be so agile to do such flips. And those "Stop" moves may not look so sharp down the line. Perhaps they want to go out on top. Or maybe, they made enough money from this tour that they simply don't need to do it anymore.

Sure, it was a cash-grab tour, but even when rolling in the dough, the Spice Girls gave their fans everything they wanted in a show: giddy, campy fun with confetti, lights, cute boy dancers and a seemingly endless run of classic pop songs. By popping out $135, fans got what they wanted -- and more. Entering the show, you could have been a stone-cold cynic, but last night the Spice Girls did exactly what they did in 1996-98; they made music fun and for a few hours, let us forget the pain of a troubled world.

Team Marion!

Last night I finally watched La Vie En Rose, the docudrama of Edith Piaf's life. The film is very well made, but the film is really a showcase for the incredible talents of its lead actress, Marion Cotillard, who more than plays Edith Piaf, she IS Edith Piaf. As much as I admire Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter or Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in Ray, I don't think I've seen a finer performance of a musical legend on film than Cotillard's. Every rave review and award (plus Oscar nomination) she has received for her performance is justly deserved. She makes Piaf such a complex woman, and is not afraid to make her unlikable.

Going into next Sunday's Oscars, Julie Christie is the frontrunner to win the award for her performance in Away From Her. As much as I love Julie Christie (she is one of my favourite actresses) and her performance, she simply can't hold a candle to Cotillard's rich, multi-layered performance. Also, Christie's role is more of a supporting one, as the film is anchored by Gordon Pinsent's moving, and underrated, performance.

I hope the Academy recognizes Cotillard next Sunday. She deserves the award.

"Queen" Tina

In 1984, Tina Turner made a huge comeback with her Private Dancer album. The first song on the album is called "I Might Have Been Queen". After a number of rocky years, many due to her tumultuous marriage to guitarist Ike Turner, and others due to her long struggle back to the top, the lyrics were spiritual, yet accurately described Tina's struggles and triumphs:

I'm a new pair of eyes everytime I am born
An original mind because I just died
And I'm scanning the horizon
For someone recognizing that I might have been queen
For every sun that sets there is a new one dawning
For every empire crushed there is a brand new nation
Let the waters rise, I have ridden each tide
From the gates of the city where the first born died

And I might have been queen
I remember the girl in the fields with no name
She had a love
But the rivers wont stop for me
No, the rivers wont stop to me

During the recent Grammy Awards, Beyonce performed a duet of "Proud Mary" with the still-going-strong-at-68 Turner. During her introduction, where she paid tribute to the prolific jazz and soul singers before her, Beyonce introduced Turner as "the Queen". When Aretha Franklin got wind of this, she was more than just a little miffed. For years, Franklin has been referred to as "the Queen of Soul". Although not an official title, most of the press and music industry refer to her as this.

There is no doubt that Aretha Franklin has been a trailblazer in soul music. Her Atlantic material from 1967 to 1974 is unsurpassed in its power. However, for the past 30 or so years, Franklin has never matched her groundbreaking work from that time period. But she still is bestowed the "Queen of Soul" title. The very fact that she got upset that another female singer was referred to as a "queen" only shows how insecure Franklin is (if you don't believe me, read her autobiography, where she comes off as petty and catty towards other female singers, particularly Gladys Knight).

Franklin also must think of herself more than just the Queen of Soul. She apparently thinks she IS the Queen. After all, Beyonce never said Queen of Soul. She just said "Queen". And how can anyone NOT think of Tina Turner as a queen? This woman is simply music royalty.

Of course, many think Tina Turner is a queen simply for surviving her marriage to Ike Turner and for defying age by selling out world tours in her '60s and keeping up with dancers half her age. But Turner also has an incredible musical legacy behind her. Check out the recent Time Life compilation of Ike & Tina Turner's music partnership in the box set entitled The Ike & Tina Turner Story: 1960-1975 for proof of that. While many credit Ike as the musical genius behind the duo and Tina as the star, many forget that their greatest hits can be attributed to Tina herself. She helped their version of "Proud Mary" to become a huge hit by steering away from Ike's penchant for rhythm and blues to a more rock and roll sound; she wrote one of their biggest hits "Nutbush City Limits", a tribute to her hometown. And Tina herself was the star of Ike and Tina Turner. Watch any clips on Youtube and you'll see why.

Tina Turner's solo material may not match the power of her music with Ike, but she has successfully updated her sound with the times, particularly in Europe where she is massively popular. Watching Tina on the Grammys, she can still kick. She may be a little bigger, and her kicks may not be as sharp as they were in her 40s (or even 50s), but she is a survivor.

Tina Turner may sing she "might have been queen", and Aretha Franklin may get annoyed that another female contemporary is bestowed a royal title, but there is no denying this: Tina Turner IS Queen.

Thriller 25 Years Later

Technically, Thriller is turning 26 this year, since it was released in 1982. But, as it is, Michael Jackson's mammothly successful album Thriller is being released this week in a 25th anniversary edition. It seems MJ is finding any opportunity to celebrate his back catalogue, particularly his crowning achievement of Thriller. Sony, MJ's record company has released countless anthologies of MJ's work for the past few years: a number-ones collection, a box set, even a DVD-single collection called Visionary. In 2001, Thriller was re-released in time for its 20th anniversary. Now it's being re-released again with updated versions of classic hits such as Beat It.

Looking back, Thriller is an album that had incredible singles, but as a whole, it's not Jackson's best album. That distinction belongs to Off the Wall, Michael's first full-length album collaboration with Quincy Jones. Off the Wall was a superb mix of R&B, disco, and pop. Thriller continued that tradition, but it almost tried too hard; too hard to be the best pop album of its time, that it lost the spontaneity and fun quality that made Off the Wall so enjoyable. Thriller also pushed itself into more rock territory with "Beat It" (featuring Eddie Van Halen on guitar), so it's a bit more varied in its sound than Off the Wall.

But unlike Off the Wall, Thriller features a few duds. In particular, The Girl is Mine, a duet with Paul McCartney, is cheesy as ever, even 25 years later. Much better is their duet a year later, Say, Say, Say. Album filler like Lady in My Life remains unmemorable in 2008.

But Thriller released amazing singles, no doubt about it: Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Human Nature, P.Y.T, and course, Billie Jean. The videos themselves are still amazing to this date and rarely have been topped. And who can forget from 1982 to about 1985, Thriller's endless run of singles on the radio?

Thriller is, of course, an important album to have. But don't forget Jackson's other masterpieces, Off the Wall or even the underrated Dangerous. When you listen to these albums, you'll forget "Wacko Jacko" and remember when Jackson really was the King of Pop.

More B-Stars than you could ever want!!

I have to admit I have a love for bad movies.  You know, the types that just have the aroma of stinker, but are nonetheless entertaining.  Like Showgirls. The Lonely Lady. Supergirl. 

Sometimes you know a movie will be bad just by the cast or the film's star.  After Mommie Dearest, most films starring Faye Dunaway were generally bad (with the exception of Cold Sassy Tree and Barfly).  You'd be hard-pressed to find a good movie starring Sean Young, although in the '80s she starred in Blade Runner and No Way Out, two fine films.

The strange this is these two stars were once (ie. Dunaway), or could have been (ie. Young), A-list stars.  But they've lost that status, and now star in straight-to-video movies or cable flicks.

Currently in theatres is a movie featuring a number of B-list actors.  In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale... starring Jason Statham! Ray Liotta!! Leelee Sobieski!!! Claire Forlani!!!!  And Mr. Burt Reynolds!!!

Okay, so this cast does not exactly scream out Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts star power.  I haven't seen a film with so many actors whose careers appear to be washed up.  Remember when Ray Liotta was touted as the next big thing in Hollywood after his amazing performance in Something Wild?  Remember when Leelee Sobieski was becoming the next big young thing? Where did she go, except to Z flicks like this?  And Burt Reynolds.  Ten years ago, he scored an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Boogie Nights.  Ten years later, his face has been pulled so tightly back, you're afraid it will snap.  Perhaps that's why he's getting roles like "King Konreid" to add to his resume.

What happened to their careers?  Bad choices? Probably.  Lack of good roles? Maybe.  Drugs? Who knows?  Perhaps, as in the case of Sobieski, the momentum was never really that strong in the first place.  I thought Liotta would have a long career, and while he's worked throughout his 20+ career, he has had a lack of great roles aside from Something Wild and Goodfellas.

Will these "stars" ever get back on the A-list?  Who knows?  Perhaps starring in reality tv shows or getting arrested may seem the only route these days for B-list stars to regenerate some buzz, as sad as that may sound. Sean Young's surprising outburst at the Director's Guild Awards was shocking not because she was supposedly drunk and heckling the award winners, but because she was at an A-list event.  Why was she even there?  She hasn't had a box-office hit in almost 20 years. It's somewhat sad because in the '80s, Young showed promise and talent, but nowadays you'd never know it. 

I wonder what the cast of "A Siege Tale" was thinking when they were making that film? Perhaps it was a decent pay cheque, so they didn't have to think about the fact they were starring in a B-film.  Or maybe Sobieski or Forlani dared to think, "Just maybe... one day I'll get to work with Martin Scorsese!"  

Although Ray Liotta was probably thinking, "Just maybe... one day

 I'll get to work with Martin Scorsese... again!"

Heath Ledger R.I.P.

With so much already said about the unexpected and tragic death of actor Heath Ledger, all I can really say is what a great actor he was.  I will be most grateful for his incredible performance in Brokeback Mountain.  This is simply one my favourite film performances.  Ledger captured the inner struggles and pain of a man repressing his homosexuality.  It was a tortured performance, and it will be even more heart-wrenching to watch it now that Ledger is gone.  I won't be able to watch it for some time.  His death is a major loss to film.

Diane Keaton... Razzie Nominee?

Since it's Oscar time, it's also Razzie time, which means the worst of the worst in filmdom is nominated for the Golden Raspberry Awards, better known as the Razzies.  As expected, Lindsay Lohan's I Know Who Killed Me was nominated, and the film's star, who hasn't had a hit in years, was also nominated.  Eddie Murphy was nominated for the terrible Norbit - no surprise there.  

But there was a surprise amongst the nominees this year... Diane Keaton for Worst Actress in Because I Said So.  Could this be? Diane Keaton, an Oscar-winning actress who gave brilliant performances in Annie Hall, Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Marvin's Room, shined alongside Woody Allen in his early films and has had a successful film career well into her 60s, nominated for WORST actress?

2007 was not a good year for Keaton. Last year we got Because I Said So and Mama's Boy.  Keaton has always had a unique appeal on the screen, but in the last year, terms such as "shrill" and "annoying" were being used to describe her performances.  I admit I saw Because I Said So last year in theatres, only because my friends wanted to see it and nobody was interested in my film choices. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but it still sucked. Keaton should have known better -- when Mandy Moore is playing your daughter, you know your film is in trouble (what was the last good Mandy Moore film? Is there a good Mandy Moore film?). 

I found Keaton's performance as Moore's overbearing mother overdone, and yes, shrill.   The script was terrible, for sure, but her performance was overindulgent and she gave into her excesses at every opportunity.  I know it's harder for actresses in their 60s to find good roles, but Keaton generally has good taste. She still looks fab, and she has has given some great performances in the past few years. How about 2003's Something's Gotta Give or 2005's underrated The Family Stone? So, perhaps this was a simple misstep in a mostly sparkling career. 

However, 2008 is not looking much better. Keaton's latest movie, Mad Money, is bombing in theatres. I haven't seen it yet, but judging from the previews, it looks like a stinker.

I hope Keaton finds a role worthy of her talents. For a woman who has had such an impressive career, it's unfortunate that she finds herself amongst nominees like Lohan and Jessica Alba. 

La-di-dah!