Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81

After a bit of soul-searching in their previous record, the excellent Howl, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club returns to the hard rocking sound of their first two records for their new release, Baby 81. BRMC also returns to the template of the two records: a mood setting opening track, a killer first single, a total of five good songs, while the rest are pretty much forgettable.

It's a bit infuriating to listen to this uneven record. But ultimately, it's a good rock record with the better tracks outweighing the lesser ones. Just barely.

Key tracks: Berlin, Weapon of Choice, American X.

Dear lord...

I just watched Indonesian Idol on TV. Not on purpose, of course; the TV is automatically set to RCTI when it is turned on. This is the first time I have watched an episode of Indonesian Idol.

Boy, oh boy. Does it suck.

First, the contestants. Not one has personality. Or rather, if I was a kinder person, they do have personality. It's just they all have the same one. Honestly, I can't tell one contestant from the other. They dress the same. Their hairdo, especially the guys, are the same. Even their stage act is the same. Of course, some of the blame can be put on their stylist and performance coach (I'm pretty sure they have one). They are all so bland, I just can't see any of the contestants being a decent recording artist.

Second, the host. I thought Ryan Seacrest was a witless and talentless hack, but Daniel Mananta gives Seacrest a definite run for his money. The guy is truly useless and charmless (wow, that's 4 -less in three sentences) as a TV show host. Why Mananta was chosen over other better and more capable TV personalities (Indy Barends, Indra Bekti, VJ Cathy even) is a mystery.

Third, the judges. There's too much Paula, meaning the comments are at best cliched and at worst non-sensical. Anang (does he have a last name? I mean, other than Mr. Krisdayanti. Oh Snap!), tries to emulate Simon Cowell. But being inarticulate and not witty, he just comes off as mean and rude.

Fourth, the production. It does its job, but very rough on the edges. Plenty of dead air between segments. Horrible mic work on the audience. Camera blocking is awkward. But those are true for a majority of live TV production in Indonesia. What is a specific problem from Indonesian Idol is the godawful dramatic pause before a verdict. It's just too damn long, making it not dramatic, but, instead, boring. And that's the bottom line of Indonesian Idol: boring.

So, I went to see Spiderman 3...

But, first thing first. This is attempt number 372* to revive this blog. Let's hope this one sticks.

It took me a whole week after the release date to finally see it. Some comic book geek I am. In my defence, I did try to watch the movie on three separate occasions. All attempts were thwarted by fate.

So, what do I think about the movie?

It's too long. There's too much plotlines running. The story is structured awkwardly. It's plagued with convenient coincidences with a mild case of deus ex machina. There's too much crying. Emo Peter is disturbing. Dancing Emo Peter even more so.

That said, I like it.

It has a lot of flaws; it's definitely not as well made as the previous movie. However, it has tight action and, most importantly, it has heart.

It's surprising as my opinion goes against the collective opinion of critics (Berardinelli, Roeper, Times' Dargis, Variety's McCarthy all didn't like it) and family (Big brother, little brother, sister-in-law to-be didn't like it as well), something very uncommon.

If I feel like it, I'll post a proper review.

*= Random number that popped in my mind. Illustrates the numerous times I tried to write entries to this blog again. Although, it's not as random as I thought: 372 happens to be the bus number I used to take to get from my Seattle apartment to campus. Psychoanalyze that!