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Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses
Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses
1987 | Rock
7.8 (5 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"The thing about that record is that it had an honesty that rock & roll had been missing. The 80s were a terrible time when guitars didn't sound like guitars and there were drum machines, but then all of a sudden here comes this group, Guns N' Roses who plug in their guitars and just didn't mess around with any fancy stuff. And the songs were undeniable! 'Welcome To The Jungle' is an undeniable song in the same way that 'Satisfaction' has that great riff with the lyrics on top of it. Great lyrics, great imagery, and as soon as you heard that high-pitched voice that harkened back to a Robert Plant-ish approach to singing, which hadn't been heard in quite a while… Well, it still works today. That's got to be coming up to 30 years old, but you put that on today if it was a brand new band, I would say, 'Who's that?' That intro is almost symphonic, and it just defined the band. You hear that song, and then the rest of the album follows through. 'Welcome To The Jungle' is head, hands and feet above the other material. Bands have a few songs that just stand up, you know? You think Thin Lizzy, you think 'The Boys Are Back In Town'. You think the Stones, you think 'Satisfaction'. You think Led Zeppelin, you think 'Stairway To Heaven'. There are just certain songs that, either because of the melody or lyric or the sound of the song, intrinsically say, ""This is what that is"". The only band who doesn't have that thing, just because they have so many god damn good songs, is The Beatles. I don't know if [us influencing them] is the case. We never paid attention to anything. There can be scenes or not and people can be influenced or not, but at the end of the day you are left to your own devices. When you think about it, The Beatles were influenced by Motown, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, etc. but then when you hear The Beatles, it's their own stuff. It's like cooks. Everybody uses salt, everybody uses vegetables, there is nothing unique, but how you mix up those elements makes it yours or not. If you can grab a style, I think it has to do with talent. Everybody cooks, but few people are cooks."

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    @Thermometer

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    Weather and Utilities

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Pain and Glory (2019)
Pain and Glory (2019)
2019 | Drama
Well acted by Banderas and Cruz
One of the reasons that I go on the trek this time every year to catch all the Oscar nominees in the all of the "Major" categories is that it forces me to catch films and have movie going experiences that I most likely would have elected to skip. This is especially true with Foreign Language films, like Spanish Director Pedro Almodovar's semi-biographical musing, PAIN AND GLORY.

Antonio Banderas, rightfully, has earned his (surpisingly) first Oscar Nomination for portraying a somewhat fictionalized version of the Spanish auteur - a once prolific film Director at the tail end of his career coming to terms with who he is, the physical pain he is currently feeling as his body ages and the reverent feelings and fond memories he has for his mother.

It is a strong, subtle and nuanced performance by Banderas - one that is in stark contrast to the bravura and panache that he has shown previously in such films as ZORRO, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO and as the voice of Puss 'N Boots in the SHREK films. Banderas' acting his been getting better with age and while I do not think he'll win the Oscar, I do think that this is not going to be the only Oscar nomination he will receive in his lifetime.

I was happy to see Banderas work in his native Spanish language - the same goes for Penelope Cruz who plays Banderas' character mother in flashbacks. I recently saw Cruz working in Spanish in 2018's EVERYBODY KNOWS and was just as transfixed by her performance in this film - worthy of a nomination. She is very good in English Language films, but she elevates to a different level when she works in Spanish. I would have loved to see a whole film about her character - and not just get a few scenes in flashback form.

Watching these 2 performances was well worth the time of watching this film, and that is good for I did not connect with the themes, struggles and plot set forth by Almodovar.

PAIN AND GLORY is Almodovar's semi-biographical meditation on life - and as such is a little to "navel gazing" for my tastes. When I watch these types of films either I get sucked into the narrative and characters (like I did with Alfonso Cuaron's ROMA last year) or...I do not.

And...unfortunately for PAIN AND GLORY...I did not. It is a good picture with 2 really good performances but one I was kept at a distance from and one that I never really connected with.

Come for the meditation, stay for the performances. And...PLEASE...if you watch this, DO NOT watch the dubbed version. Listen to the performances of Banderas and Cruz in their native Spanish and read the subtitles.

Letter Grade: B

7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
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