Top Movie Soundtracks of 2011: Drive, Zoo, Muppets

Every once in awhile, a movie comes along and just lays waste to any expectations you might have had going in. Whether the average viewer recognizes it or not, a lot of that has to do with the soundtrack. This year's list topper was one of those films that defied any expectations going in, and the moment you realize that things are going to be different with Drive was a few minutes into the film when Kavinsky's "Nightcall" played in its entirety for the opening credits.

Ok... I have to come clean. I did not see as many of these films as in the past five years of making this annual list. Since having kids, it's hard to get to the theater to see a film that isn't animated, but I make up for it by being choosy with I do see and then catching up by feasting upon award season screener DVDs in December. So even though I got to see what I consider to be the best films for music of the year (Drive, We Bought a Zoo, The Muppets), not having access to screeners like in the past has made this list more based on music alone (along with reputations/word-of-mouth/etc) than I'd normally like.

Anyway, I hope you take this somewhat subjective, aloofly arbitrary list in the spirit was meant to be taken. (As religion, of course!)

10. The Art of Getting By

Album stream / Purchase [mp3]

Poorly reviewed and little seen, this indie flick came and went in a flash mostly leaving us only with this soundtrack to remember it by. Sure, you can still catch the film on DVD, but it's likely the soundtrack will all you'll remember it for, which, for purposes limited to this blog post, make the film a success. Any film that utilizes Leonard Cohen, Pavement's "Here," French Kicks, Mates of State, Earlimart and The Shins in one fell swoop would be hard to knock out of this top ten, regardless of how bad the film might be.

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9. Submarine - Alex Turner

Album stream / Purchase [mp3]

I'm pretty sure every top ten soundtrack list I've done contains at least one quirky coming of age indie flick, and filling that slot for this year's countdown is the sublimely funny Submarine. Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys reportedly was inspired by the Scott Walker covers of Belgian great Jacques Brel when he sat down to compose tracks for the film. While they don't come anywhere near the heights of Walker's genius interpretations, the resulting acoustic-based songs work wonderfully well with the film's subtle gifts. And since I'll look for just about any excuse to get Scott Walker into a blog post, this soundtrack was a near shoo-in. Just kidding. (Or am I?)

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8. The Descendants

Album stream / Purchase [mp3]

The bragging rights The Descendants can lay claim to is it's the first big budget film to feature an all Hawaiian performed soundtrack. Gabby Pahinui leads the charge of modern slack key tracks, which also features similar giants of the era in Sonny Chillingworth, Ray Kane and Keola Beamer. Director Alexander Payne even brought in University of Hawaii's ethnomusicology professor Jay Junker to consult with music supervisor Dondi Bastone to help make what some are already calling the best compilation of Hawaiian music ever assembled.

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7. Our Idiot Brother - Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats) + Various

Album stream / Purchase [mp3]

Our Idiot Brother director Jessie Peretz has an inside track on the importance of music, having started out his entertainment career as a founding member of The Lemonheads, so perhaps it's no surprise that he (along with music supervisor Susan Jacobs) found the perfect songwriter to back this quirky comedy in Eric D. Johnson of the band Fruit Bats. Johnson's slack pop folk pop fit, along with a couple select tracks from Willie Nelson*, are a perfect fit for the marijuana loving character Ned (Paul Rudd). Throw in Thao and the Get Down Stay Down's awesome "Cool Yourself" and a couple compositions from Shudder to Think guitarist Nathan Larson and you have a tight collection to, um... imbide to.

*Ned's dog is named after the cannabis-loving country music star.

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6. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

Album stream / Purchase [mp3]

Even if you haven't seen the film, you've likely seen the trailer featuring the goose bump-inducing version of "Immigrant Song" featuring Karen O's voice over Trent Reznor's signature sound. While the rest of the soundtrack doesn't (and really shouldn't) reach that level of "holy shit," it reinforces the notion that a David Fincher-Trent Reznor-Atticus Ross combination is a winning formula for sight and sound.

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5. Young Adult

Album stream / Purchase [mp3]

Young Adult is a re-teaming of the Juno juggernaut Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, along with Seattle's own Mateo Messina as film composer. So it should come as no surprise we have another soundtrack hit, this time drawing the early-to-mid 90s slacker alt rock. Any film that uses Teenage Fanclub's "The Concept" as its corp musical queue is aces in my book. The Replacements, Dinosaur Jr and the Lemonheads all are featured prominently, and then, as commentary on the protagonist's self-consciousness, we get Messina's marvelous lounge-y interpretations of select hits from the era, like Beck's "Where It's At," Pearl Jam's "Evenflow" and an amazingly sublime take on Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun."

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4. Hanna - The Chemical Brothers

Purchase [mp3]

The Chemical Brothers have never been one for subtlety, so it's perhaps appropriate that their first foray into soundtrack composition is for what is essentially an action film. Since it's not your typical action film -- the action is mostly by a 16-year old girl and takes place across Europe -- the ChemBros brand of "electronica for folks who don't necessarily like electronica" works remarkably well. The soundtrack moves between a child-like innocence ("Hanna's Theme,") reflective of a girl who was forced to grow up too soon, and the pulsing rhythms of the action sequences that follow. And helping it move up the list here, the album works well as a fine listen independent of the film. You don't need to see the film to appreciate its charms -- but hopefully those that purchase it as the Chemical Brothers' latest will be spurred on to see the film.

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3. The Muppets

Stream / Purchase [mp3]

When word came that Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie was going to be writing the music for the new Muppets venture, the films' seat at this table for ten was all but assured. Previous Muppets songwriter Paul Williams has left some pretty big shoes to fill (oh, the irony), but McKenzie was more than up for the task. Aside from the Chris Cooper rap (which was very Flight of the Conchords, minus most of the charm), McKenzie knocks this one out of the park -- especially the "Man or Muppet" song (official video below). Throw in a Muppet barbershop quartet featuring Beaker and the Swedish Chef doing "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and you have some serious musical movie magic. Ending with the Muppets classic "Mahna Mahna" was just the cherry on top.

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2. We Bought a Zoo - Jonsi

Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi has been crafting cinematic soundscapes long before getting the call to actually score a film (We Bought a Zoo is his first), so it's surprising that it has taken this long for him to get the call to compose. Given that Sigur Ros was apparently playing in the background throughout the making of 2001's Vanilla Sky ("Svefn-G-Englar," "Agaetis Byrjun" and a live version of "The Nothing Song" ended up in the film), is was only a matter of time until Cameron Crowe made that call. Crowe utilizes Jonsi like Cat Stevens was to Harold & Maude, or like Elliott Smith in Goodwill Hunting, with the soundtrack almost serving as a Jonsi primer. There are new tracks here, including a track co-written by Crowe himself (in English, which feels weird considering all of Jonsi's past recordings utlize the made-up 'Hopelandic' language, mish-mashing Icelandic with syllables that serve the melody).

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1. Drive

Purchase [mp3]

From the moment Kavinsky's "Nightcall" kicks in on the opening credits, you just knew you were in for a wholly different movie going experience. Director Nicolas Winding Refn was going for a kind of John Hughes experience, where songs get played in their entirety, but Hughes' influence pretty much ends at using full songs. The amount of blood and gore help suggest another musical influence, the minimalist score to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which composer (and ex-Red Hot Chili Pepper drummer) Cliff Martinez said was used repeatedly as a note by Refn on the score. "Make it more like Leatherface," he'd say, as a way to incorporate horror into a non-horror film. Kraftwerk was an obvious reference point here as well, but it's the previously recorded song choices, thanks to the John Hughes music video school of direction, that put the soundtrack over the top. Besides Kavinsky (with great help from CSS' Lovefoxx), the 80s synth heavy sounds of Desire, College and the Chromatics all provide counter balance to the unexpected violence and gore that's to come. And what kind of twisted mind uses music from the horribly offensive film Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971) to underscore a crucial scene? I don't know, but man... that shit worked.

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Also worth mentioning:
Like Crazy - Dustin O’Halloran
Rango
Bridesmaids
Norman - Andrew Bird
Bellflower
The Dilemma
Gnomeo & Juliet
Pearl Jam 20

Previously: Top Ten Movie Soundtracks of 2010, Top Ten Movie Soundtracks of 2009; Top Movie Soundtracks of 2008; Top Movie Soundtracks of 2007

Top Soundtracks of 2010

Judging the score of a film can be a funny thing, given they're inherent subtlety. If a score is demanding to be noticed, it might very well be detracting from the film, as such many of the more effective scores go largely unnoticed. A truly great score is the one that both compliments the film and can stand on it's own, and those tend to be more inventive, standing out from the usual orchestral pieces that are quickly forgotten.

I'm not sure if it's that there weren't as many memorable soundtracks comprised of popular music this year, or that there were just so many great scores, but since I've been compiling this annual list, there's never been this many score-heavy soundtracks. Seven of the 13 soundtracks mentioned below are on here (mostly) because of their score. Even music-heavy Scott Pilgrim reaches the top slot here because of the labor of Nigel Godrich on the inventive score. Sure, having Beck, Broken Social Scene and Metric writing music for the fictional bands helped a bunch, but Godrich's score puts it over the top.

(As an added bonus, several of the entries below have "reassembled" playlists incorporating all the songs used in the film -- enjoy!)

10. Winter's Bone
Not since Deliverance has a banjo and a ride down a river been so frightening. Southern Missouri native Marideth Sisco was hired as a music consultant but ended up singing nearly all the authentic Ozark mountain folk in the film. She even appears in the film at one of the most pivotal scenes - where actress Jennifer Lawrence (as Ree) comes upon Sisco and the Blackberry Winter band she assembled singing "High on a Mountain." Lawrence really comes alive in that moment and there's no turning back for either Ree or the film.
Album stream

9. 127 Hours
Director Danny Boyle re-teams with Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman for this uplifting survival drama. The long stretches without dialogue serve as a challenge for Rahman to walk that fine line between emotionally informing the audience and outright manipulation. The score helps keep this realistic horror from falling into the traps of that genre.
Rssmbld Sndtrck Playlist

8. Heartbeats (Les amours imaginaires)
Xavier Dolan's film of heartbreak and lust has a soundtrack to match it, leaning heavily on the ethereal voice of Sweden's Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson of Fever Ray and The Knife. And damn it if French new wave band Indochine doesn't make a perfect backdrop to scouting out a new lover in the city of Quebec.
Rssmbld Sndtrck Playlist

7. TRON: Legacy
The French electronic duo Daft Punk worked for two years in secrecy on the score, opting to go it alone even after producers brought in the more seasoned composer Hans Zimmer to collaborate. In the final product, the robotic duo seem surprisingly at home working in the classical realm, but the highlights are still where you recognize that Daft Punk sound. Their appearance in the film coincides with the album's single "Derezzed," making it both a highlight of the soundtrack and the film.
Album stream

6. The Kids Are All Right
The moment in the film when the micro-manager of the two moms Nic (Annette Bening) sings Joni Mitchell's "All I Want" and sperm dad Paul (Mark Ruffalo) joins is when this soundtrack was cemented in the top 10. It moves up several notches thanks to the thematic use of David Bowie for Paul and Deerhoof for Joni (Mia Wasikowska).


Rssmbld Sndtrck Playlist

5. Inception
Hans Zimmer has come a long way since his work with the Buggles, but he's not afraid to pull from his eighties alternative past. Old friend and Smiths' guitar great Johnny Marr lends a hand for this memorable score, which initially is based upon the Edith Piaf performed "Non Je Ne Regrette Rien." Zimmer slows down the opening and creates something wholly new and menacing. That Marion Cotillard won an Oscar for playing Edith Piaf makes it like a reference within a reference. Or does it?
Album stream

4. Greenberg
There a few key songs in the Noah Baumbach-directed film that LCD's James Murphy weaves his score around, toning down his DFA slack sound to work side-by-side with the 70s classic “It Never Rains In Southern California” by Albert Hammond and with the coke-fueled Duran Duran track “Chauffer." The most memorable use of music in the film, though, occurs to Serge Gainsbourg's "Histoire de Melody Nelson," as party goers all stare into the pool in amazement.
Rssmbld Sndtrck Playlist

3. Carlos
Is it a movie or a mini-series? I don't know, but since it made the rounds during film festivals, I'm including it here because it deserves some serious recognition. Director Olivier Assayas wanted to use New Jersey post-punk band The Feelies for much of the soundtrack, but ran into issues when the band didn't want to be associated with on screen terrorism. Assayas instead employed similarly rhythmic songs from UK's post-punkers Wire ("Ahead," "The 15th," "Drill") for a chilling effect. Assayas still managed to work The Feelies "Loveless Love" into an early non-violent scene, but the best moment has to be when Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer" blasts from the radio during a tense moment at the Swiss border. Throw in some early New Order and some Lightning Seeds and you have an exquisite mix. At 332 minutes in length, there's lots of room for music, but Assayas doesn't over do it, instead targeting them wisely, making every bullet count.
Rssmbld Sndtrck Playlist

2. The Social Network
Here's the selection on this list that I'm most likely to regret. As I'm watching it again here in the background while I write, is it possible that it's already feeling dated? I'm leaving it here at #2 anyway, because of the initial feeling after first viewing. Trent Reznor and repeat collaborator Atticus Ross do a lot to make the re-enactment of a court hearing seem more exciting than it really should. Points tallied for the re-working of Greig's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" to back the much ballyhooed Henley Sequence.

1. Scott Pilgrim vs the World
One of the most overlooked films of 2010 tops the list here, thanks to its inventive mix of stylized score, original and popular music. The story goes that director Edward Wright pointed longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich in the direction of Dario Argento's prog-rock band Goblin, which he both played in and also used extensively for score in his horror films. Godrich mixed this with video game inspiration and comes up with some truly wondrous moments to back the craziness on the screen. Because music is an important part of the plot, other musicians/writers were brought in to write the music for the bands being portrayed. Beck famously knocked out 18 songs in an afternoon for our heroes, Sex Bob-Omb while Broken Social Scene obviously had some fun recording their short bits for Crash and the Boys. But it's Metric's "Black Sheep," written for The Clash at Demonhead that nearly steals the whole show, as Brie Larson's Envy Adams stops us all dead in our tracks (video.) The actors all played the instruments and sang the songs, so they could achieve Spinal Tap-authenticity, so the final product on screen is like Scott Pilgrim himself: endearing, scruffy and perhaps a bit too behind the beat.
Rssmbld Sndtrck Playlist

Also worth mentioning:
Black Swan - No drama was more reliant upon music that this film. Clint Mansell weaves Swan Lake into his score, but it's Tchaikovsky's composition that ultimately drives the picture.
The Ghost Writer - Alexandre Desplat's taut score recalls Bernard Herrmann's work with Hitchcock.
Jonah Hex - Mastodon did the music and really that's all that's needed to get mentioned.

Previously: Top Ten Movie Soundtracks of 2009; Top Movie Soundtracks of 2008; Top Movie Soundtracks of 2007

Chuck versus the First Kill - Trust, Trust, Trust

Who do you trust; trust no one; you have to trust someone, put it all in a trust (whoops, not that last one). I lost count at 20 when trying tally up the number of times the word 'trust' came up, but I'm guessing it was upward of 30. Any guesses as to the theme? Quick thoughts and music from the episode to follow...

Anyway, aside from the trust issue, I'm enjoying where Chuck is taking us. We got a little better look at Fulcrum, Emmett used Morgan to take over the Buy More, and both Chuck and Sarah have gone rogue. And we got some more time with Jill (although, Jordanna Brewster is pretty wooden in the role). Besides the over-abundance of the word 'trust,' it was hard to keep track of how many movie references made their way into the episode. The two obvious ones were:
1) Parallex View - Chuck and Casey watch Fulcrum video; and
2) Godfather II - Big Mike calling out Morgan as his betrayer, ala Fredo.

Musically, the series continues to balance their love of the mid-to-late 80's with indie rock, featuring MTV staples from Twisted Sister and Duran Duran alongside Franz Ferdinand. But it was a song by the 60's girl group The Crystals that piqued my interest, due mostly to the fact that the legendary producer of that song, Phil Spector, was found guilty of murder this afternoon.

I also loved Casey's turn from being annoyed about Chuck, to genuine concern for his intersect.

"Permission to drop the twerp into a deep dark hole, General?" - Casey
"Granted" - General
"Huh?" - Casey ("Operation Moron is over?")

Playlist: Chuck - Episode 2.20
1. " " - - Opening "Obama Guava"
2. "We're Not Gonna Take It" - Twisted Sister - Buy Morons let the store go / later Chuck is saved
3. "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Going to Marry" - The Crystals - Chuck poses as Jill's fiance
4. "Hungry Like the Wolf"- Duran Duran - Chuck flashes on Uncle Bernie, chase sequence
5. "The Earth Has Lost Its Hold" - Calhoun - Jill gives ring to Chuck / Chuck gives ring back to Jill
6. "Shopping For Blood" by Franz Ferdinand - Chuck and Casey infulrate Fulcrum
"Ein deutsches Requiem" - Brahms - Morgan discovers that Milbarge's real game

Previously: Chuck versus the Dream Job - Daddy's Gone

Life: "One" plus One = Series finale?

Things are obviously not looking good for the series, so it was with heavy eyes that I watched the season two finale for Life. Did we just see Crews and Reese for the last time? Or will some the series be saved, with I'm calling DirecTV ex Machina, or will USA Network swoop in with a karate chop to the Adam's apple of cancellation?

When I saw that there was only a few minutes left in the episode after Crews got in the SUV with Roman, my biggest fear was a similarly quick and convenient resolution to his sticky situation. And boy was that quick and convenient. Sure, a lot of questions were answered, but it felt a bit rushed and not really laid out very clearly, and while Detective Crews didn't wake up on a rocket to mars, he did seem to wake up to the realization that he's in love with his partner. WTF? Part of what's made their partnership so fascinating is the complete absence of sexual tension, so I have some problems ending the season (series?) like that. I'm hoping that it's a different kind of love we're talking about, the kind that Captain Tidwell can get behind, but we may never find out.

Besides the abridged ending and confusion about Crews and Reese's relationship, the episode had a lot going for it. The great Garret Dillahunt always brings something to the table, and having that final face-off with Roman in Crews' orange grove made for great series symmetry, since we last visited their in the pilot. They even used Roman to tie up some loose ends from season one, literally killing off the documentarian (who was more or less dead anyway, as far as the series structure was dictating by now,) and having him tell Danni that he killed off her missing father. Ok, that again was pretty convenient. The final episodes all suffered from Sarah Shahi's pregnancy, but NBC was already having problems with all their series, so I don't think we can blame it all on the baby bump, but her absence was certainly felt.

One suggestion that the internet is a buzz with is that Life should move on to USA Network, where characters like Crews are always welcome, but that would require some serious budget cutting, and the first thing to go will be one of Life's calling cards: music. This season, there's already been a serious cutback in the number and profile of the songs used, and I can't be the only one that has noticed. If you've ever watched the series online after they've replaced most the music, you know what I'm talking about. As such, there were just two interesting choices (both of which have been replaced in the non-broadcast version,) the first being "Kiss The Sky" from Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, which played as Roman's inside man began 'cleaning up' some of the FBI men in his pocket. The other was predictably the final song, Hayden's hauntingly beautiful "More Than Alive". If you've seen the broadcast version, just for an experiment, go and watch that final scene online with the replacement music, and try and tell me it doesn't suffer greatly.

So yeah, if the only way the series lives is for it to cut the music budget (and go on without Garret Dillahunt,) than I'm fine with this being the end. Goodbye Detectives Crews and Reese, we'll miss you. Oh, and good luck working out your new dynamic as partners with Captain Tidwell.

Playlist: Life - Episode 2.21
1. "A New Beginning" - 26 - Roman with Reese
2. "Kiss The Sky" - Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Roman's inside man cleans up
3. "Afterlight" - Clayhill - the exchange
4. "More Than Alive" - Hayden - released, reunited

Previously: It's Who You Are (Episode 2.20)

Chuck: An Unfeeling Machine

If Chuck is on the edge of cancellation, it's certainly not going down without a fight (or without a few 'stunts' to get some ratings). Exhibit A: "Chuck vs The Broken Heart" features Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice) stripping at Awesome's surprise Buy More bachelor party. It was fun seeing how Jeffster react to the proceedings, but the machines that brought us to that point were loud and clumsy (ditto goes for the Subway footlong product tie-in).



Of course, it was inevitable that the Sarah-has-feelings-for-Chuck liability was going to have to be addressed, but the resolution with General Beckman at the end didn't seem at all earned. At least Tricia Helfer got to show off her... um... skills, and I think we'll see Agent Alex Forrest again, if there's another season, of course. Casey and Forrest make an interesting pair, with the scenes between them cleaning and loading their tranq guns being a highlight of the epiosode. There's a good story arc in there somewhere... one possibly involving some bunny boiling, if her name has any significance (Fatal Attraction). The other name fun was the target here, Rashad Ahmad, who's in the hospital with a bum ticker under the alias Harry Lime (The Third Man,) which an exhibition of the power of positive thinking (many lives).

Most the music tonight was devoted to the bachelor party, but the ending song, Bon Iver's "Blood Bank" was an inspired choice, the kind that gives goose bumps. I'm fairly certain the song's meaning has little to do with what was intended here (the ties of blood between Ellie, Chuck and their father,) but it works nonetheless.

Playlist: Chuck - Episode 2.18
1. "Hearts And Minds" - Matt Pond PA [mp3]
2. "Jump Around" - House Of Pain
3. "LoveGame" - Lady Gaga
4. "Bottle Pop" - Pussycat Dolls (with Snoop Dogg)
5. "You're Turnin' Me On" - Keri Hilson (with Lil Wayne)
6. "Bite Hard" - Franz Ferdinand
7. "Blood Bank" - Bon Iver

Previously: The Other Side of the Screen (Episode 2.16)

LIfe on Mars: There's No Place Like Home

There's only one episode left now, and plenty more questions have been raised about how the US version of Life on Mars will explain Sam's jump to 1973. I understand they've come up with a different explanation than the original BBC version, but if it really involves miniature robots that crawl into your head, I'm going to metaphorically jump off that roof in place of Sam.

"Everyone Knows it's Windy" started out promising enough, revisiting last week's surprise ending that left Chris and Ray seemingly left for dead, fresh with bullet holes left by McManus (Peter "Dokey" or "Zed" Greene). Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" plays in the background, giving the scene a tripped-out sort of levity, mixing the potential death of Chris with more "Spaceman" references. "Satellite's gone, way up to Mars..." goes Reed, which doesn't really click until later, when we get to Aries toy company party (backed by The Raspberries "Go All the Way,") and see the Red Rover toys that have been haunting Sam all along. Here they're both big (product) and miniaturized (in the drinks being served -- by Scott Adsit, Pete from 30 Rock, no less). More hallucinations, like Windy? Or is she a hallucination? Here, I thought the whole 1973 world that Sam inhabits was a hallucination, which makes it all the more frustrating, right?

The Wire's Peter Gerety plays Agent Frank Morgan, a name that's significan in that it's the name of the actor who played the Wizard on The Wizard Of Oz (again). So when Morgan tells Tyler, "You weren't supposed to peek behind the curtain," we're getting another reminder of that fact. Morgan is also the name of the character in the original BBC series who is the catalyst for Sam returning to the present in the second season (again meant to be a Wizard reference. So when Morgan has Tyler on the roof beckoning him to jump, "It's time to go home, Sam," it's meant as a nod to the BBC's ending, which I won't spoil for you. Needless to say, here we get a bit of a switcheroo, with Annie talking down Sam, and Morgan being carted off for murder and a myriad of other offenses.

How much of it that was real of what Morgan told Sam is questionable, but with his obsession with Angie Dickenson in Police Woman paired with the fact that the show didn't start airing until a year later makes me think that Morgan knows more than what he read in Sam's psyche file. Between that and the 1979 Cheap Trick reference ("We're The Dream Police, we live inside your head," Morgan could be from Sam's world as well... like the Wizard to Dorothy. Come to think of it, Ray is like the cowardly lion (scared of the changing times,) Chris is the dimwitted scarecrow and Gene is the Tin Man, just looking for his heart. Of course, the Wizard is a sham, when all we need is to do is click our heels, dim the lights and put on some Dark Side of the Moon. There's no place like home, there's no place like home...

Playlist: Life on Mars - Episode 1.16
1. "Satellite of Love" - Lou Reed
2. "Go All the Way" - The Raspberries
3. "Windy" - The Association

Life: Envision the Fiery Crash

Until the end, "5 Quarts" sure seemed like another 'holding pattern' episode for Life, where the writers are still trying to get right the work-around for Sarah Shahi's baby bump. Sure, Gabrielle Union's Seever is just fine, and her and Crews (Damien Lewis) even shared a few moments that were very Reese/Crews like, but in the end, you still wanted Reese there.

And then Andrew Bird's "Fiery Crash" started to come in, and you knew something was up. The fact that this foreshadow of doom played while both Crews and Reese were locked in the Rayborn mystery suggested what came next. My guess is, there won't be any Chrissy from Three's Company phone calls next week, possibly no appearance of Reese/Shahi at all. Is this an abduction, or just a sequestering to keep their investigation from being tainted? Neither meet any ethics litmus test I can think of.

Saw pictures of Shahi at last nights TV Guide's Sexiest Issue party, and she's still very much pregnant (and lovely). Knowing that the series has little chance of being picked up, it's highly doubtful we'll ever see Reese and Crews as partners ever again.

Playlist: Life - Episode 2.19
1. "Don't You Worry" - Jim Noir - Drained assitant coroner.
2. "High Roller" - The Crystal Method - Party in a morgue.
3. "Now You're Gone" - Secret Machines - The 5 quarts.
4. "Fiery Crash" - Andrew Bird - Rayborn photos; another FBI offer.

Lost: Is That Freedom Rock?

Namaste.

Between the asshattery of Fisher Communications and the thrill of the NCAA tournament, I'm both late to watch and to process the latest episode ("Namaste") of Lost. And, since this is a day late (and a 5-spot short - inflation) we'll keep the musing to the music.

There was only two songs that we heard in the episode and while neither contains any deeper meaning, they provided the right (groovy) vibe for the Dharma Initiative'rs. First is Sawyer James Lafleur delivering the new castaways via the Dharma van to the sounds of The Blues Image's "Ride, Captain, Ride". It's one of the few great songs from the era that has yet to be overplayed (Anchorman notwithstanding,) and the lyrics are simple and fit nicely:

Ride, Captain, Ride, on your mystery ship
Be amazed, at the friends, you have here on your trip.

Meanwhile, what's a visit to the 70's era Dharma Initiative without the fictional Geronimo Jackson? We had a hint of them back in "316," when Jin drove up in the Dharma van to find Jack, Kate and Hurley, and we hear that song ("Dharma Lady") during "Namaste." The song was made available via iTunes this week (album art,) and the internets quickly figured out the song was actually a reworking of an existing song by the Grateful Dead-ish San Diego band The Donkeys, called "Excelsior Lady." The band mainly apes the sounds from the era, and given both their proficiency and relative obscurity, they make for a perfect Geronimo Jackson.

Here's the reworked version:


Hey, is that Freedom Rock? Well, turn it up!

Previously: The Passion of John Locke (Episode 5.07)

Life: Three Women, Two Ex-Cons, One New Partner

While Life ("Three Women") is still having a hard time finding its footing with Sarah Shahi's pregnancy, it was nice hearing Blonde Redhead's "SW" to end the show, providing the kind of chilling moment that this season has been missing. "It's not, it's not what you give but it's what you kept" as we see the belly ring that gives away where the stolen diamonds ended up, and then "It's not, it's not who you kill but it's who you left" as we find out what happened to the murderous ex-con Lyle Lennox. It never quite got to the lyric, but the line "It's not, it's not what it seems" was on my mind the minute the song kicked in, thinking back to Reese's and Crews' discussion over the phone about how sometimes things are just how they seem (Occam's Razor,) as they each marvel over insinuating Mickey Rayborn pics.

Other headline here is Gabrielle Union debuting as Crews' new temp partner. Man, can those eyes deliver a line or two on their own, or what? Remarkable that her career is stuck at being a good get for guest star. The back-and-forth between Shahi and Damian Lewis are still missed, though.

Life - Episode 2.18
1. "Raw"- The Scanners - battle in the elevator
2. "SW" - Blonde Redhead - belly ring

Previously: Shelf Life of Life (Episode 2.17)

Life on Mars: Swingtown

When a cancelled series suddenly morphs into another previously cancelled series, do their cancellations cancel each other out?

I'm wondering if "Coffee, Tea or Annie" was the episode that broke the back of ABC executives, leading to the series cancellation. It was truly uninspired, and as bad as Swingtown could be at times, this episode of mustachioed airline pilots who are swingers made that CBS series look like Mad Men in comparison.

Even the quotable Ray (Michael Imperioli and his amazing mustache) was a bit off his game this week: "He's a nookie bookie... pulls out one of theses and takes herman to the circus. You know torture the tentacle? Choke kojak? Play tug-of-war with the cyclops?

1. "Fakin' It" - Simon & Garfunkel - Annie goes undercover
2. "I Think I Love You" - The Partridge Family - Sam references song title from David Cassidy obsession
3. "Venus" - Shocking Blue - Annie walks in with the stewardesses
4. "Point Me In The Direction Of Albuquerque" - The Partridge Family - ending

Previously: There's No (Time and) Place Like Home (Episode 1.11)

Life: Shelf Life of Life

With Life on life support, it doesn't help to have an episode like this where which feels like filler in place to deal with Sarah Shahi's pregnancy. While the over the phone scenes between Crews and Reese were funny, it kind of felt like those weird Three's Company episodes where Chrissy (Suzanne Somers*) would call in at the end of the show. It's hardly the kind of thing you want to do on a show that's a long shot for renewal.

*Somers wasn't pregnant, but instead was written out of episodes due to her boycotting episodes earlier in the season after not getting the raise she demanded.

Next week, as if in response to the lack of chemistry between Damien Lewis and Brent Sexton (Stark,) Gabrielle Union (Bring it On, Cadillac Records) is coming aboard as both Crews' new fill-in partner and proxy for Sarah Shahi's job as female foil.

Finally, outside of Lost, when was the last time you saw a record player used on TV for a series that takes place in the now? Sure, She & Him's "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" is the kind of song that sounds like it should be played on a record player, as does any song that M. Ward is associated with, but it's still kind of unexpected. Even odder, Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" screams four years ago. I guess a show that's about to be axed has to be budget-conscious, so when Coldplay is out of their league, you turn to the poor man's Coldplay.

More: Reaper fans wondering what happened to Sock's old squeeze Josie (Valarie Rae Miller,) apparently she joined the military. Miller did a good job with what little she had to work with here.

So weird hearing her say "I get what I get and I don't get upset," which is something I hear almost daily from my four-year old. I'm not sure where the phrase's ultimate source is, but I know he got it from his preschool teacher, who in turn got it from the book Pinkalicious (required reading our household). The phrase "You get what you get and you don't get upset" seems far too obvious to be from a somewhat obscure kid's book that's less than three years old, right? Has anyone else heard that phrase before?

Playlist: Life - Episode 2.17
1. "It Dawned On Me" - Calla
2. "Gone Too Far" - Shivaree
3. "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" - She & Him
4. "Somewhere Only We Know" - Keane

Previously: Man on a Stick (Episode 2.16)

Chuck: Moonlighting Syndrome be Damned

Will they or won't they? Count me in as one who's getting sick of the question already.

While I still mostly enjoy my weekly hour of Chuck (and Yvonne Strahovski looking all kinds of hotness in undergarments toting a gun,) the Sarah/Chuck relationship BS in the last three episodes has officially gotten on my nerves. Why is it always at the forefront? Assuming that gravity dictates things can't remain in the air, Chuck is inevitably building towards its own Moonlighting Syndrome -- a post-sexual tension scenario of 'what do you do after doing it?' Maybe by moving in together, we can get this whole thing over with soon. Or, better yet, if Morgan moves in as well, the tension can be eased up a bit by the short hairy one's presence. But no more sleeping in the buff, please, that was enough Joshua Gomez flesh to last me for eternity.

Even the music is slave to the 'will they/won't they' grind. Up and comers Local Natives started it alll with "Airplanes," which has Chuck already regretting the breakup ("I love it all so much / I call, I want you back") while Starflyer 59's Jesus-centric "The Brightest of the Head" focuses on it's closing lyrics to underscore Chuck and Sarah's fake/real breakup and fake/unreal makeup:

It's time, it's time, I've made up my mind
oh but I've changed my mind, that I've made up my mind

It speaks volumes to that aforementioned spinning wheel of a relationship.

Playlist: Chuck - Episode 2.15
1. "Tigers in the Fire" - Love Grenades
2. "Wake Up" - Mackintosh Braun
3. "Airplanes" - Local Natives
4. "The Brightest of the Head" - Starflyer 59

Previously: Semper Fidelis (Episode 2.14)

Life: Man on a Stick

This marks the beginning of what will likely be the separation for Life of Detectives Reese and Crews, not born of any plot device but instead due to the fact that actress Sarah Shahi is pregnant, and the series isn't likely to get renewed. To deal with Shahi's pregnancy, they've shoehorned in a side story to have her sitting down for the rest of the season, as she goes through some tests to try out for the FBI. In her place, Crews has his old beat partner Officer Stark to bounce his philosophies off of (that, and for this episode at least, someone from India-outsourced tech support). As a result, we're missing the great back-and-forth we've come to love from the pair, and we'll likely be missing for the remainder of the series.

Well, now that we got the bad out of the way, the good for this episode was a return to oddity that puts a certain shine of the series. Twin pigeon fanciers ("answer the question bird boys,") a financial advisor who specializes in derivatives and the Martha Stewart of contract killers all play a part. The confusion over derivatives was a good way to both have fun with our current economic crisis, and to incorporate Ted into the story more gracefully than the past. His scenes with Damien Lewis' real life wife (Helen McCrory) were a highlight as well (they are sure getting a lot of worthy mileage out of her smoking).

Meanwhile, there was only one song used in the episode, which bookended the episode nicely, and that was Travis' sublime cover of Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time." The song, a stage favorite of the band, was released as a b-side back in 2000 for the single "Turn." I have soft spot for obscure covers of insanely popular songs, so it hit me pretty well.



Life - Episode 2.16
1. "...Baby One More Time" - Travis

Previously: Uncapping the Sharpie (Episode 2.14)

Chuck: Semper Fidelis

The second season of Chuck has worked much better due to some minor retooling, namely, putting less focus on the relationship between Chuck and Morgan. Last night marked a return to that Chuck/Morgan focus, but because we haven't seen it week after week (after week,) it actually was quite refreshing. "Chuck vs. the Best Friend" also worked well in it's incorporation of the Buy More into the mission, something that's not always so easy to do gracefully. Add to that the 8 Mile homage of a side story for Jeff and Lester's band Jeffster, and you have probably the best episode of the new year for the sophomore series.

Which makes it all the more unfortunate that "Best Friend" was pre-empted by President Obama's address a couple weeks ago, as it forced NBC to air it out of order (flipping it with "vs the Suburbs,") blemishing an otherwise fine pair of episodes. The main issue I had with last Valentine's day episode was the added layer of awkwardness between Chuck and Sarah that went unexplained. The touching moment they share near the end of the episode carries over into last week's mission in the suburbs. Seeing this retroactively makes Chuck's heartbreak more real, but also makes it more annoying that they aired these episodes out of order. Would folks really be that put off by having Chuck's Valentine's Day episode a week after the holiday?

Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
I seek to cure whats deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become

I enjoyed Jeffster's take on Toto's "Africa," in part because it provided an interesting lift to the rekindling of the Anna/Morgan pairing, and also because it provide the opportunity to remember just how bad some of the lyrics were to this song. Elsewhere, in a Morgan/Chuck flashback we were treated to some classic Jane's Addiction ("Been Caught Stealing,") which served no purpose other than to illustrate the time.

The other choices, however, worked better in telling more of the story. Chromeo's "Momma's Boy" provided a nice backdrop to the geek surveilance being laid out on behalf of that *momma's boy Morgan. But it was Benji Hughes' "Why Do These Parties Always End the Same Way" that provided the most succinct commentary on Chuck, pointing out (with a nudge and a wink) the inevitability of something going wrong, as it goes with any party that Chuck attends in the series. The ending here isn't nearly as bad as in the song, though ("We need to call the cops, somebody killed the DJ!")

*Speaking of Morgan's mom, you can add her new relationship with Big Mike as another casualty of the episode flip-flop. I've been assured that they do indeed pick up that storyline again next week.

Playlist: Chuck - Episode 2.14
1. "Been Caught Stealing" - Jane's Addiction
2. "Momma's Boy" - Chromeo
3. "Why Do these Parties Always End the Same Way" - Benji Hughes
4. "Africa" - Toto

Previously: How do I work this? (Episode 2.13)