The Swell Season

Saw these guys at Radio City Music Hall last night and they were awesome. Interference opened up for them, which was okay but when Glen Hansard joined them to sing “Gold” (the song Interference sings in the pub sing-along scene in Once) the crowd went nuts. The headliners played for a little over two hours (songs from the movie and new material) with Hansard and Marketa Irglova switching lead vocals. But the best part of the night was when the whole band played a cover of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic”. Overall it was a great show, with the band sounding crisp and the vocals polished, which usually isn’t the case with touring bands in a venue as big as Radio City. They’re back in NYC on Wednesday, Sept. 17 over in Central Park, so anticipate me in the crowd for that one as well.

Election 2008: The Movie!

With Oliver Stone currently filming a George W. Bush biopic and the 1998 Mike Nichols-helmed Primary Colors, it’s only going to be a matter of time before a a big movie studio develops a film about this year’s election race…. and I’d like to pitch it. But first, we need a dream cast list. Only a handful of actors can best play the candidates, so I’m trying to choose wisely.

LAURA LINNEY as HILLARY CLINTON

As played by Oscar-nominee Linney, Hillary will be a complex character. You will feel for her, thinking she means well until you find out that she’d rather rip the Democratic Party apart before ceasing her pretty obviously doomed Presidential campaign. Plus, Linney already has a “political” background with appearances in Dave and the mini-series John Adams.

WILL SMITH as BARACK OBAMA

 

 

The box office clot! The charisma! The ears! Will Smith IS Barack Obama - with a hip-hop song on the soundtrack to boot! (“Barack is Black” rapped to the tune of AC/DC’s “Back in Black”)

NICK NOLTE as JOHN MC CAIN

 

 

Nolte is almost the right age to play McCain (just cut and dye is hair) and can pitch the fit almost as better than the Republican nominee. 

JAMES MARSDEN as JOHN EDWARDS

Look at these guys. It’s like a battle of teeth with those two. 

ANTHONY LA PAGLIA as GEORGE W. BUSH

 

LaPaglia is a pretty good actor who never really got his due in movies so it’s time for him to play the out-going President. Just powder is hair grey and deprive him of oxygen for ten minutes and it’s instant Bush.

BRAIN COX as DICK CHENEY 

 

No one excels at playing dicks like Brian Cox. (Just check is IMDB profile). And no one’s a bigger dick than Cheney. 

JOHN HEARD as AL GORE

 

As the most powerful Democrat NOT in the race, Al Gore is going to have lots of pivotal moments in the film. But you gotta have someone who sorta looks like guy. So, after lots of IMDB research, I settled on the dad from Home Alone

DAVID MORSE as BILL CLINTON

David Morse is another fantastic character actor. He’s also good at playing nice guys who turn out to be murderers (Dancer in the Dark, Disturbia). Not that Bill is a murderer but he pretty much killed his wife’s chances with Black voters.

ANIKA NONI ROSE as MICHELLE OBAMA

 

Rose was pretty good in Dreamgirls. As a matter of fact, the best thing about that overhyped piece of garbage. Plus, she’d be cheaper than Beyonce.

CRUELLA DE VIL as CINDY MC CAIN

Only if played by Glen Close as Cruella DeVil. 

MIKE GRAVEL + OBAMA GIRL + SOULJA BOY DANCE = THIS VIDEO 

Insanity prevails as Mike Gravel tries to get the Obama Girl to support his candidacy. At some point during the video, he starts doing the Soulja Boy Dance. Yes, that’s not a misprint.

Tom Hanks Endorses Obama!

Grandpa Simpson is Rev. Wright!

This is Haifa Wehbe. Currently, the most successful and controversial Arabic pop star. On one hand, she’s the epitome of what’s wrong with pop music, around the world in general: image over talent. On the other hand, she’s half-naked and being sexy on Arabic TV, which is unheard of. In Bahrain, right-wing Islamic conservative lawmakers are trying to ban her from performing there. And there have been some calls from Islamic groups on Egypt to do the same.

“Superheroes” by Esthero

Thank you, Al Long, for re-introducing me to the music of Esthero.