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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 -5A
COMING TO A
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Award season is almost here, and a number
of unreleased films have alreadyjoined the
Oscar race. To sort out the season's best,
Daily Arts is taking a look at the trailers
for the year's most anticipated films.
"THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON"
PARAMOUNT
DEC.25
On Christmas Day, "Fight Club"
director David Fincher will debut
his latest innovative film, "The
Curious Case of Benjamin But-
ton." Based on the F. Scott Fitzger-
ald short story, Brad Pitt assumes
the role of the unusual Mr. Button
who, as the trailer explains, gets
younger while everybody around
him gets older.
In what looks to be one of the
most unique stories of the year,
"Benjamin Button" promises
remarkable visual effects and a
demanding performance from
Pitt as both an old man learning
of death and as a young child just
learning what it means to live. Try
not to freak out about the infant
who looks like an old man in the
preview.
As Fincher tries out the fantasy/
romance genre, "Benjamin But-
ton" will ultimately see if Pitt can
stand the test of time and be more
than just a pretty mug. With cel-
ebrated actresses Cate Blanchett
("I'm Not There") and Tilda Swin-
ton ("Michael Clayton"), the film
just might nab nominations for
Pitt and the supporting crew.
JONATHAN HURWITZ
THOMAS LEKFELDT/AP
Yup, still huge d-bags.
After 14 years, aging
rockers return with
disappointing album
By DAVID WATNICK
Daily Music Editor
Chinese Democracy is the most disap-
pointingalbum of the year. After 14 years,
Axl Rose's supposed magnum opus was
going to finally escape
the purgatory of seedy **
recording studios so I
could savagely pan it. Guns N'
I wanted so badly to Roses
pour every last ounce of
vitriol I could summon Chinese
from my own human Democracy
fabric into a merciless Geffen
review of the valueless
disc. I wanted to tackle
Chinese Democracy to the floor and kick it
while it was down, And then spit on it.
Tragically, now that Chinese Democ-
racy has arrived, it isn't actually awful
enough to merit that treatment. With the
album, Axl Rose - being the snake he is
- even manages to slither out of the grasp
of my criticism, up to the realm of painful
mediocrity.
It's not that I despise Guns N' Roses.
I'm undeniably drawn to their more
melodic fare like "Sweet Child o' Mine,"
"Patience" and perhaps a few minutes of
"November Rain." And their legendary
belligerent antics were more or less the
inspiration for the language of my first
paragraph.
Admittedly, the majority of GN'R's
hyper-masculine swill isn't appealing. But
mostly, Axl is just annoying. He's a text-
book prima donna and a problem child
both on and off the stage. He also treats
his fans like shit, no-showing at many
gigs and delaying others for hours. And let
none of this trivialize his ugliest character
flaws: racial bigotry and homophobia.
I wanted Axl to fail. And he even failed
me there.
When production started on Chinese
Democracy in 1993, the album was prob-
ably a conscious attempt to further the
artistic trajectory of a stagnating Guns
N' Roses. And had it been released before
the end on the millennium, it probably
would've accomplished that goal. But
after taking its cues from late-'90s TRL
mainstays Limp Bizkit and Korn, and
being further delayed for yet another
decade, Democracy is totally irrelevant
to modern music. Worse, it doesn't even
recall the glory days of GN'R. It's a snap-
shot of an era of Guns N' Roses that
nobody ever knew. It probably should've
remained hidden.
Opening with the grating, hookless
nu-metal of title-track "Chinese Democ-
racy," the album seems poised to live
up to both the sub-bootleg quality of its
lifeless cover art and the broken reputa-
tion of its creator. The track predicts no
potential resurgence in its overwrought
sound, but as it screams to a close with
embarrassing digital distortion, it gives
way to an unthinkable, yet modest res-
urrection.
"Rock Band 2" premiered "Shackler's
Revenge," a grossly overproduced track
featuring demonic chant vocals that
seems destined for the same fate at its
predecessor. But when the chorus breaks
in, a melody in the same semi-metal vein
that defined classic-era GN'R manages
to escape the shackles of overly virtuosic
guitar leads and awkward rhythmic stops
to carry the song to unlikely success.
And for much of the first half of
Democracy, that's the status quo; other-
wise flawed (even greatly flawed) songs
survive simply because of Axl's appar-
ently intact melodic sensibilities. "Bet-
ter," for instance, reeks of late-'90s studio
technique and crumbles in its abrasive
refrains, yet it still floats with the help of
Rose's up-and-downverse vocals.
A few bars of ivory quite reminiscent
of the "November Rain" interlude usher
in"StreetofDreams," butadistinct piano
figure isn't all the new track shares with
the epic 1991 hit. With a string accompa-
niment, soaring guitar solo and impas-
sioned vocals, it's a pocket "November
Rain" that politely clocks in under five
minutes. A vintage '80s monster bal-
lad done right, it contends only with the
exasperating, neo-power pop "Catcher in
the Rye" for the honor of best song on the
extremely average album.
Predictably, Axl's sea of tunes proves
pretty shallow, and the closing half of
the disc is a cesspool of unorganized
leftovers. The back-to-back atonal twins
"Scraped" and "Riad n' the Bedouins,"
are a particularly painful pairing, and the
enraged breakup vengeance plea "I.R.S."
("Gonna call the President / Gonna call a
private eye / Gonna get the IRS / Gonna
need the FBI") is an unintentional, yet
biting, self-parody.
Basically, that's what Axl and his multi-
million dollar teenage baby amount to:
self parody. Unless he's engaging in some
heady meta-art in which he's portraying
his audience, then the prophetic words of
"Scraped" ("The world is ontop of /break-
ing me down with / an endless monoto-
ny") are nothing more than delicious irony
embodying all the record's failings.
Somehow, Axl has conjured enough of
his magic touch to rescue Chinese Democ-
racy and deliver it to a status of utter
mediocrity. And that's an accomplish-
ment. But above all, Axl's an entertainer.
And it would've been much more enter-
taining for everyone had the album been
a legendary flop.
"MILK"
FOCUS FEATURES
DEC. 5
What happens to a movie that
manages to mesh together the
social issues of "Brokeback Moun-
tain" and the acting of "I am
Sam?" It wins an Oscar, of course.
With that logic in mind, "Milk"
is bound to walk away with some
sort of prize this year.
"Milk" is based on the true
story of politician. Harvey Milk
(Sean Penn, "All the King's Men").
The 40-year-old gay San Francis-
can has hit his midlife crisis and
decides to run for public office.
He faces prejudice and death
threats in order to finally stand
up in defense of human rights.
The trailer has the requisite
dramatic choral music, jokes
(Penn gets a pie in his face), pho-
to-flashes and cheers contrasted
starkly with darker musings on
prejudice. Of course, there is the
memorable line Penn delivers at
the end of the trailer: "You gotta
give 'em hope."
"Milk" promises to be the same
sort of well-made, inspirational
movie with an all-star cast that
makes it into awards running
every year. Maybe this year, the
self-proclaimed year of "hope
and change," the award for Best
Picture will go to "Milk." If not,
Sean Penn should win best actor
- he's the male Meryl Streep, and
it's been a while since an actor not
portraying a historical figure has
won anything.
EMILY BO UDREAU
"THE WRESTLER"
FOX SEARCHLIGHT
DEC. 10
Darren Aronofsky has built a
fairly notable career out of the
hype surrounding his "stunning,"
"shocking" and/or "visual" films.
Yet, with critical endorsements
lauding the film and a subtle look-
ing performance from Mickey
Rourke ("Sin City") in the trailer,
"The Wrestler" may be the main-
stream fodder Aranofsky has been
praying for.
Featuring a new Bruce Spring-
steen song on the soundtrack (it'll
easily get a Best Original Song
nod) and a sincere, documentary
style on display, "The Wrestler"
looks to be a heart-breaking story
of redemption that'll obviously
compete for Oscars.
Rourke looks like he's in his
element, and hopefully all bridge-
burning he's done over the years
(in and out of Hollywood) won't
turn off audiences. Rourke's
Randy "The Ram" might just make
the fallen star relevant again. A
former WWE-like fighter, "The
Ram" is relegated to high school
shows and working at a grocery
store deli. Rourke is reaching
with this one. And he hasn't done
that in ages.
If only he didn't have a whiny
teenage daughter and hooker-
with-a-heart-of-gold girlfriend
in the preview. Still, the movie
doesn't look like it'll be anything
but Rourke and Aranofsky's sup-
posed return to form.
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