M. Ward at 40 Watt in Athens

On Monday evening, BA Roof, Trip Reed, and I drove over to Athens to see the beloved M. Ward. I saw him at Pitchfork last July and then with She & Him in ATL a few weeks later, but at Pitchfork he only played a festival set (20-30 minutes) and with She & Him, the spotlight was on Zooey. Needless to say, I was pretty pumped for a full M. Ward headlining performance.

Check out Trip's concert review here. He beat the R&R to the punch, but we agree wholeheartedly with his thoughts and retrospection.

In a sad and upsetting side note (because I was completely unaware until just now), I read this little tidbit in the comment section of the blog where Trip found the set list:

"zooey deschanel was there, in the audience. a lot of folks saw her, and m. stipe was there too!"

Well I just want to die.

Movie Review: 500 Days of Summer

Every once in a while a movie comes along that isn’t Academy Award caliber, or have freakish special effects, but is truly enjoyable due to a fresh story and solid acting. 500 Days of Summer is that movie for me in 2009. If you have at least one romantic bone in your body, or can somehow empathize with people who do, you will enjoy 500 Days with its fresh take on the relationship. I believe most people fall into two categories, not man and woman as the film illustrates, but either wildly romantic or know someone who is one. You know the person I’m talking about, the guy or girl who has told you at least a half dozen times they’ve met “the one” to which you roll your eyes. When you ask, as you have five previous times, how they really know, they proceed to rattle off a list of bizarre similarities pointing to their destiny. That is Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in 500 Days when he finds his “soul mate” Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel).

500 Days is told by bouncing back and forth through the non-sequential days of Tom and Summer’s relationship highs and lows. The audience is duly warned at the onset of the movie that this is not a love story, and while you are given this explicit warning, something about the two characters and the story make you conveniently forget that caveat and hope they figure things out when so many have failed before them. It’s akin to watching Titanic and hoping that somehow, this time, that damned guy in the crow's nest is going to pay attention and see the mountain of an iceberg before it was too late, even though that fateful night was written nearly 100 years ago. Tom and Summer’s fate has been written as well, which was the whole premise of the movie. Is finding true love your destiny or happenstance?

Gordon-Levitt (who is twenty-eight) does the best acting job in the movie and maybe of his surprisingly long career, as he is the guy the audience must empathize with for the film to work. In some points in the movie, I truly believed he loved Summer. While Deschanel does a fine job playing the girl next door, coy with her own feelings, it’s up to Gordon-Levitt to sell the movie, which he does quite remarkably. 500 Days, as one of my friends pointed out, isn’t without its flaws. The writers have speckled clichés throughout (i.e. pouring rain during a fight…come on it doesn’t rain in LA, a mental breakdown speech at a company meeting and some other things that would spoil the plot) that at first pass may be overlooked, but nonetheless exist and detract from an otherwise “real” feeling movie. Other than those few nagging instances, I was deeply invested in the story and hung on to every scene desperate to know what was Tom and Summer’s fate (although, deep down, I already knew).

After walking away from the movie, I reflected back to when I used to walk away from law school exams. After each exam my fellow classmates and I would say whether it sucked or was “fair”, meaning the test was a hard pill to swallow, but it didn’t come out of the professor’s sick demented imagination. It was real. The message driven home in 500 Days can be simply summed up as fair and real. And, while some of the hopeless romantics might walk away distraught, most people, even though there’s bound to be some disappointment, will walk away thinking that what happened to Tom and Summer was indeed a realistically fair outcome. After all, all is fair in love and war. I give 500 Days of Summer a Spork Rating of:

Rated PG-13, 1hr 35min, Open Everywhere

Our First Beef: EW’s Owen Gleiberman

Since its inception back in 2002, the R&R has been looking to start a serious beef with a legitimate film critic. Sure, we’ve had our spats over the years with small-time naysayers like Justin Luna (who? exactly), but we’ve been looking for a beef along the lines of Bill O’Reilly vs. Keith Olbermann, Tupac vs. Biggie, Barry Bonds vs. America, or Kelly Clarkson vs. vegetables.

With that being said, the R&R Review is calling out Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman. I have to premise this with the fact that Bruno has been able to hang on to its 69% Fresh Rating on Rottentomatoes.com since opening night. While a 69% looks solid on RT, if I had brought home a 69% on a differential equations exam in the sixth grade, I would have been excluded from the family vacation to the Baltics that year. Needless to say, that’s a pretty severe punishment. Anyway, given our review of Bruno a couple of weeks ago, I was shocked to see that Owen Gleiberman gave Bruno an A- in his review for EW. An A-? Really, Owen? The fact that Owen loved the movie doesn’t bother me. That’s fine; lots of people loved Bruno (69% on RT). But the way that you paint your dissenters as “homophobic” is a bit suspect.

Take this little gem: “The more uncomfortable Bruno makes people, the more he draws attention to their petty churlishness and homophobia.” So if I’m uncomfortable with Bruno shoving champagne bottles up his ass and flopping his dong around on screen for a solid 30 seconds that means I’m a homophobe? Owen then proceeds to attack Ron Paul for his reaction to being ambushed by Bruno in a hotel room. “You can forgive a visibly shaken Paul for thinking Bruno is nuts — though that's hardly an excuse for calling him '’queer.”” Um, what? Hardly an excuse? A man trying to seduce another man by locking him in a hotel room, lighting candles, stripping, and trying to make a sex tape with him isn’t queer? That’s the very definition of queer! That pretty much nails BOTH definitions of queer. I’d really hate to see what it is that actually makes Owen Gleiberman uncomfortable. It seems as though anything short of child pornography or a snuff film and this guy is not only cool with it, but totally comfortable watching it in a crowded theatre. But if I get squeamish watching butt bleaching or a talking pee-hole that is just Sacha Baron Cohen holding up a fun-house mirror to my “frat-house intolerances?”

Not that I’m a member of it, but Owen Gleiberman’s review seems like a slap in the face to the gay community. If anything, his review tries to be too politically correct. It’s as if Gleiberman was afraid that he would be branded a homophobe if he didn’t like Bruno and point out that squirming in your seat and turning away at certain scenes is magnifying your own homophobia. What makes viewers uncomfortable isn’t the fact that Bruno is gay or that he is flamboyant, but that we had to suffer through what is essentially 90 minutes of extreme pornography billed as a comedy. EW’s Owen Gleiberman gets ZERO Sporks.

FYI, he gave Epic Movie a “Fresh” rating on Rottentomatoes.com. He was the only critic to do so.

Vacation Destination Review: Door County, Wisconsin

Note: This is the first R and R Review Vacation Spot review, so hang in there . These reviews will be a bit longer, since we review everything about the vacation spot.

Door County, Wisconsin is considered the Cape Cod of the Midwest. I wouldn’t know because I’ve never been to Cape Cod, preferring to spend my summer time in Martha’s Vineyard or the Hamptons. Before going on this Fourth of July outing, I had never heard of Door County let alone stepped foot into Wisconsin, so the land was as foreign to me as Bangkok or Moscow. I was still excited to spend my July Fourth weekend here, although we had a five hour journey up and back to the peninsula county that separates Green Bay from Lake Michigan and it didn't disappoint.

We had heard horror stories of the drive up to Door County from Chicago, so even though we were up late enjoying spirits and sushi in the city the night before, we woke up early, grabbed a bite to eat and were on the road before 9am. Either the stories were false, or because we left early we beat the traffic. One of those things we will never know for sure, but traffic was light. Soon after we crossed the Wisconsin line, we saw the Mars Cheese Factory calling out to us to make a pit stop to grab some much needed supplies for the weekend. We had been informed that this place contained some real deal cheese…it didn’t disappoint. Grabbing about 6lbs of cheese (enough to really block your bowels for a week or so), the “World’s Best Wine” (claim was unsubstantiated) and a few six packs of Wisconsin beer (some Spotted Cow, try it out if you ever get the chance), we were again off to the promised lands.

Wisconsin is littered with picturesque farms containing those Rockwellian red barns and black and white cows. A real eyesore if you like dirty cities. I couldn’t have conjured up a better nostalgic image in my own mind. Door County itself captures much of the peninsula, but the truly special parts of the county are on the northwestern half past Sturgeon Bay. Throughout our trip we spent time in Sturgeon Bay, Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Sister Bay and drove through the small community of Ephraim. We also drove up along the east coast of the peninsula, but the west had more to do and was a bit more charming. The town of Fish Creek, which is where we stayed, was by far my favorite community in Door County. It appeared larger than Egg Harbor and Ephraim, yet had a lot more charm than Sister Bay (a tourist trap) and Sturgeon Bay (a glorified shipyard). The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for the trip, with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the very cool for-someone-who-lives-in-Atlanta-during-the-summer 50s. I can see why people only come here in the summers, however, as I can’t imagine the brutal winters.

Things To Do:

We went during the Fourth of July weekend, and I recommend everyone to take part of this event in Door County at least once in your life. You cannot get a better sense of small town American than you do in Door County, Wisconsin on the Fourth of July. If you do come on the Fourth, make sure you go to Egg Harbor to watch the fireworks on July 3rd (or whenever they plan it in future years) and grab a seat early on the hill. You can watch the sun set over the small harbor and Green Bay (the body of water, not the town), while drinking beer and wine. I know the people there are eagerly awaiting my return so I can serenade them again with all the American songs we learned in elementary school. So I had a few beers to drink, layoff. The next night, go watch the fireworks in Fish Creek. These fireworks are longer and more spectacular and you get a small lighted boat parade before they shoot off. Make sure to spend some time, even if it’s just a morning, exploring Peninsula State Park, near Fish Creek, which had great biking and running trails. We came across various types of birds, a snake and even a lone deer on our five mile jog (there was some limited walking). Rent a boat for an afternoon to explore some of the Door County coastline. You can see a lot by car, but much of the beauty you can’t experience unless you are on the water. I also recommend loading up on a lot of beer and playing “I’m On A Boat” over and over again. We rented our beast of a boat (pontoon) in Sturgeon Bay, which gives you some nice lighthouse viewing, but I recommend renting further up along the peninsula if you can, to get further away from the industrial surroundings. Also, only rent a pontoon boat if the lake/bay is calm. We hit a rather large swell from I swear a cruise ship (it had to be at least 25 feet long, that’s big right?) leaving Sturgeon Bay and while I was able to rescue her among the screams and cries for help…an I-pod fell victim to the angry sea that day. While I didn’t care for the food itself, you probably need to experience a Fish Boil. It is truly a tacky tourist thing to do, and honestly I will never eat at one again since the food is marginal at best…but if you go to Door County and don’t “experience” one, you could be seen as a real phony. Additionally, there are plenty of places in Door County to rent bikes, shops to browse and stores that sell fudge and ice cream and plenty of farms to take oodles of pictures.

Where To Stay:

Definitely Stay in Ephraim or Fish Creek, because of their quaintness and prime location between Egg Harbor and Sister Bay. I recommend Fish Creek because it has more restaurants, shops and is not a dry town. There are even some nice places overlooking the harbor. Unfortunately, Ephraim is as dry as the Mojave, but one of the most charming towns, as it sits right on the water. Of course you can bring your own alcohol in…just can’t enjoy a nice bottle of vino at dinner. There are plenty of inns, hotels, timeshares, and bed and breakfasts to choose from in any of the towns. We stayed in the Hilltop Inn, which gets a rating of 3 Sporks, but there was nothing charming about the place…just a comfortable place in a great location at a great price.

Where To Eat:

Gibraltar Grill in Fish Creek was by far my favorite eating spot and not necessarily because of the food (although what we had was good), but for the location and feel of the joint. Grab a spot next to the outdoor fireplace on a cool summer’s night (which we did) and listen to some local musicians play. This is a great place to spend an entire evening, starting with a relaxed dinner (don’t expect fine dining) and finishing it off with a couple (a few, who am I kidding) glasses of wine. Note that prices aren’t super cheap, but there aren’t many places in Door County with cheap prices. Pelletier’s Restaurant in Fish Creek had a decent Fish Boil, as good as a fish boil can be, I guess. Make sure to book reservations in advance and get there on time to see the boiling over. Wild Tomato in Fish Creek was another favorite and is a great lunch spot consisting of fresh burgers, salads and pizzas. Plenty of outdoor seating and there is more parking in the back. The Summer Kitchen between Ephraim and Sister Bay (but considered Ephraim), had delicious sandwiches and salads, which included a cup from the soup bar, making it another great lunch spot. The outdoor seating is better than the inside. Finally, you have to see the goats on top of the roof (they are for real, yo) for breakfast at Al Johnson’s in Sister Bay. Enjoy authentic Swedish pancakes and other Swedish food. Be prepared, though, as this place is a tourist trap and has long waits. While it is an experience, the food isn’t all that spectacular. Also, leave Brian Fellow at home, as he will not like the goats staring at him from the roof.

All in all the Door County experience was great. It is an awesome place to have a romantic weekend or a great family getaway. This trip is not recommended for singles, as you will have very few party locations.

Door County Wisconsin gets a Spork Rating of:

The Bruno Screening: A 3 Pitch Strike Out

As I am sure that many of you have noticed, the R&R has been on a sort of summer sabbatical. June and July are two of our favorite twelve months to travel and we have been dividing our time between the R&R writing camp in the Adirondacks and our summer home in the South of France. We even mixed in a bit of island-hopping in the Greek Isles with some of our Hollywood friends and a slew of swimsuit models.

After receiving our first screening pass in weeks, we decided to get back on the horse and cowboy up. Last nights screening of Bruno was something that we here at the R&R had been anxiously awaiting since we first caught wind of the event. With our bellies full of CPK and Sam Adams, we arrived at the theatre and jumped in line like good little Russians waiting for our cheese ration. Once we made our way to the theatre door single file, we were told by the warden, err usher, that they were confiscating all cell phones. With sly, shit-eating grins on our faces, we slid by the cell phone check point only to turn the corner and run head first into a security officer wanding down each movie-goer as if they were admitting immigrants into a refugee camp. We had no choice but to turn around and check our cell phones. The rationale behind this was beyond us. Strike one.

Entering the theatre, we were shocked to find 90% of the mid and upper section roped off with “reserved” signs. Reserved for whom? Certainly not for us, the goddamn critics. The remaining seats in the prime section were obviously filled first, so we had no choice but to retreat to the lower level. Luckily, the theatre hadn’t completely filled up and we were able to sit far enough back to avoid the inevitable neck cramping that comes with sitting in the first few rows. Once the theatre doors were closed, the usual pre-screening shenanigans began. Some representatives from Creative Loafing and 99X quizzed the crowd and gave out free t-shirts and movie posters. It is absolutely amazing what some people will do for free crap. It’s as if they were giving away free iPods or economic stimulus checks instead of double-XL Sacha Baron Cohen t-shirts. The real shocker came when a guy from 99X uttered this little gem: “We all know that gay people do a lot of screwing, so start naming some other things that screw!!!” As if all gay people are sex addicts or deviants. Wow. Talk about a law suit waiting to happen. Strike 2. Bruno was about to begin, and the R&R was hoping that Mr. Cohen would help us laugh our way into emptying our short-term memories.

The main character in Bruno is of course the flamboyantly gay Austrian fashionista Bruno (Cohen) who is the “it” when it comes to fashion in German speaking countries that aren’t Germany. Unfortunately for Bruno, he has an unfortunate incident with his Velcro suit at a runway show and is pretty much banished from the fashion world. This starts his odyssey to America in attempts to once again become famous, which includes adopting an “African American” baby from Africa like Angelina and Madonna, trying to bring peace to the Middle East, pitching a talk show to CBS and attempting to become straight. If the jokes and scenes seem oddly familiar, it’s because many follow the same general path as Borat: Cultural Learnings of America Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. We had no problem with the whole premise of the movie, or the fact that Bruno was gay or the star. We both expected this movie to be just as funny if not funnier than Borat. Plus, we knew it would be edgy. But, instead of a hilarious gay fish out of water movie we got rehashed Borat jokes sprinkled throughout a gay porno. We love crude and obscene jokes as much as the next guy, however, when the movie’s objective is not to be funny but to be extremely outrageous (think zoomed-in shot of Cohen’s penis flopping up and down and then after 30 seconds the pee hole saying “Bruno”)…it just becomes an excruciating bore.

The best all-around scene was when Bruno got a gig as an extra on Medium, but other than that, almost all of the funniest parts were seen in the previews hyping it. Most of the flick consisted of penises, dildos, homophobes and an uninspiring plot lacking much humor. The plot, by the way, is eerily similar to Borat. Strike 3. How did a 75 minute movie seem longer than Titanic? We can’t help but think this movie is going to make few laugh and many uncomfortable. We give Bruno a Spork Rating of:




Christopher J. Robinson & BA Roof


Opens Friday, July 10, 2009 Nationwide

Tomorrow Review: Bruno

Check back tomorrow afternoon for our review of Bruno, which opens this Friday.