flick, flick, u2

November 13, 2001

Wheeee. My three day weekend is finally at a close. Friday started off promisingly enough, with a screening of the new Mamet heist movie … uh… Heist. It’s a fairly typical Mamet movie, filled with labyrinthine plots and catchy rat-a-tat dialogue. There’s a point where the movie becomes so pretzel-like in its plot twists that it becomes a bit predictable. It’s still a breath of fresh air for me, what with its characters and plots and what not. We’re talking a huge change of pace from The One and Thirteen Ghosts, let me tell you.

Next up was The Man Who Wasn’t There, the new flick by the Coen Brothers. The new movie is a black and white noir, shaped after something like Double Indemnity. The adultery, the blackmail… all that good stuff. It’s not a straight noir though, by any means. It’s got that quirky black humor that is now commonplace for the Coens, and it’s structured a bit more like a character study, centered around a quietly brilliant performance by Billy Bob Thornton. It’s the best I’ve seen Thornton since Sling Blade, easily. Roger Deakins’ cinematography is beyond brilliant in this too. Go see this.

Capping it off tonight was a visit to the Staples Center, where I caught U2 for the second time this year. Pretty much everything I said about the first time still stands. No Doubt opened with a bouncy fun 45 minute set that really kicked the show off right. I’m not a huge No Doubt fan, but their boundless energy make them really watchable. Gwen Stefani’s belly dancer moves don’t hurt either.

This show was quite a bit tighter than the first show I saw few months ago, with a songlist that did a good job keeping the momentum up. It was a bit 9/11/01 heavy, but I expect it from Bono. Between Bono wiping his tears with the American flag and the scrolling names of the WTC victims during the encore of “One,” with a performance of “New York” and Bono revealing a star spangled banner sewn into the lining of his jacket, Bono has pretty much taken it upon himself to heal the american psyche through song. His heart’s in the right place so I’m not going to knock him for being cheezy at this point. It’s Bono. You get what you pay for.

So you ask, “What exactly did you pay for, Han?” New Years Day, Out of Control (!!!), Sunday Bloody Sunday during one stretch, and the main set closing with Streets With No Name, Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For and Pride (in the Name of Love). While U2 is still putting out capable stuff, nothing really captures the classic power of the old like that and I’m just glad they’re still able to throw down those old songs with the same conviction of ten years ago.

The other thing that will always stick out is the now semi-frequent act of pulling out someone of the audience to play People Get Ready. It’s an easy song to play, and generally if you have a sign saying you can play that song while you’re sitting close to the stage, you have a good shot of getting onstage with U2. Tonight’s lucky guest was Courtney, a young blonde girl with short cropped hair that they pulled from the point of the stage. They strapped the acoustic on her and next thing you know, she was strumming along with the Edge, prowling the stage trading banter with Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen. I mean… how cool is that?

Go Courtney.

Posted in From Blown Speakers, Moving Pictures