Album Review: 'Chelsea Dasso'

After listening to singer-songwriter Chelsea Dasso's self-titled debut album, I found it funny that iTunes placed it in my library under the "Easy Listening" genre. Truth be told, Dasso has an utterly beautiful voice, one I wouldn't mind playing all day long. But when I think of Easy Listening, I think of artists like Jack Johnson or Norah Jones; I think of musicians whose music, while it may be great, fades into the background with relative ease.

Dasso's lyrics don't let her songs fade like this; along with that beautiful voice, the words are powerful and, most of all, relatable. Sure, the production here is very simple, but to call it bare-bones would be a fallacy; there's too much vocal and lyrical prowess to be found.

"There's a reason and a season for it all." That's the lyric I'd choose to sum up much of the album's theme. Fittingly, those words come along in the album's leadoff track, "Crazy". Featuring simply an acoustic guitar and Dasso's voice, she reflects on a crazy year no doubt filled with heartbreak and complication.

"Crazy" is an important track because it's simultaneously sad and introspective, but it comes off as non-mopey. Again, the tone is set for the album. There's some extremely sad stuff to be found throughout the 11 tracks, but I finished the album with a "light at the end of the tunnel" mentality. I think that was intentional.

If I wrote more album reviews, you'd know I'm a sucker for the piano. Both “This Goodbye” and "Rescue" feature it heavily, and that's one of the reasons I appreciate them. Dasso shows some shades of Amy Lee here, which I appreciate (the fact that Lee is featured with Seether on one of my favorite songs of all time notwithstanding).

I love "Line in the Sand". The lyric "I'm afraid we're meant to be together, but not forever," is one that requires an extra moment of thought to truly understand. It has gravity, and the song tells a story. I like that.

"Every Song" is one of the sadder pieces on the album; it gives an outright reason for why we write sad songs, and explores how maybe, just maybe, the people we write these songs about don't deserve the time. It also delves into how songs we don't write ourselves can still hit home. Yet another great summary of my feelings on this album: I didn't write these songs, but I've definitely felt these feelings.

"Generation" was probably my least favorite song on the album. It has a lot of production value, adding in drums as well as a choir effect towards the end, but I think I appreciate the simplicity of the rest of the album a bit more. However, the repeated line about not wanting to "go it alone" gives a much-needed personal touch to a song exploring the struggles of an entire generation.

"Front Seat" is another story song. We get a short picture of a seemingly good situation, fast-forwarded into an excruciating future. This song demonstrates how drastically and tragically things can change over time. It’s also a stark reminder of how difficult it can be to see where exactly things went wrong. Comparing two contrasting situations is a sad course to take, but the contrast is a wonderful mechanism to illustrate the sadness. It's easy to wonder if we're even hearing about the same people, which is a strange, somber thought.

"Reflection" is hauntingly epic, and another favorite of mine. It's a confrontational song, one of those pieces that sounds as though it was written during a venting session. I'm convinced that some of the best songs ever written were hashed out during a time of difficult, passionate emotion. The listener can feel this, and it gives the song a great deal of power. The eerie, surreal piano that’s present here only adds to that. Wait for the 2:30 mark in the song, you’ll see what I mean.

“Undreaming Love” is an intimate portrait that compares love to dreaming. It took me a few listens to acquire the meaning. To me, the song basically asks how we can know we’re dreaming when true love is good enough to be a dream in itself? I truly enjoyed the song, probably partially due to my interest in dreams. The lyrics here tell us that dreamlike love is indeed possible. Uplifting, no?

“Worth You” is a slower song, but that doesn’t detract from its fiery message. It’s one of the songs on the album that doesn’t seem to look for the positive in lost love. It’s a portrait of a lover who is going through a phase in which she can only see the negative. It’s a reminder of the dark place we must all sometimes go to when dealing with heartbreak.

“One More Kiss” acts as the album’s closer, and it reinforces the “light at the end of the tunnel” mentality I mentioned earlier. It’s a simple, piano-driven love note from one person to another. It’s the perfect end to an album that runs the gamut of emotions. At the end of the day, all craziness aside, there’s love to be found, and that’s what counts, no matter how much we must search for it.

"I'm waiting for the sun to rise on something new, something beautiful.” It’s my hope that this album is just the beginning for Chelsea Dasso. These songs couldn’t fade into the background when I played them. They feel as though they’ve been ripped from the heart of somebody trying their best to see the big picture in some very hard times. Music has always helped me do that, and my iPod is now graced with 11 more songs to serve that purpose.

I can’t wait to hear more.

Late Review: 'Inception' (Spoiler-free)

Note: I posted this on Facebook awhile back, but just got around to blogging it today. Love this movie!

“A contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind."

That was how Christopher Nolan described his new film Inception at the time of its announcement on February 11, 2009. For a long time, that line was the only tidbit of information we had on the movie. Interestingly, that's pretty much the way it stayed up until the movie's release this past Friday.

We know a lot more about Inception now than we did when we were given that description, but even after two viewings, I'm convinced that there's a lot more to uncover.

That's the beauty of Inception: even though it features a star-studded cast and one of the best action sequences ever put to film, it's the story we'll be analyzing for years to come.

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an Extractor, a thief who specializes in using special technology to enter peoples' minds and stealing their secrets. Cobb and his team are hired by Saito (Ken Watanabe), a businessman who needs them to utilize their skills for an entirely different type of job: inception.

Cobb's team consists primarily of Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Eames (Tom Hardy) and newcomer Ariadne (Ellen Page). Cillian Murphy plays the team's mark, and Marion Cotillard plays Mal, Cobb's wife.

That's about all the plot synopsis I want to give, because I didn't know much more than that when I walked into the theater on Friday night. Suffice to say, parts of Inception play out like a typical heist movie, be it Ocean's 11 or Heat, except instead of a casino or a bank, the target is a person’s mind, and the take is that person's secrets.

Inception might seem pretentious or heavy-handed, and some may perceive it that way, but I didn’t. The movie doesn’t think it’s better than you; it provides a great deal of explanation intended to fill the viewer in on the rules of Nolan’s dream world. These rules must be remembered in order to fully grasp the greatness of the movie. For this reason, a second viewing might be necessary so you have the rules in mind before the first frame. Then you can start theorizing.

I’ve been developing theories in my head since I walked out of the theater on Friday; I wouldn’t be coming up with them if I didn’t care about the world and the characters I saw on the screen. That’s why I love this movie.

Well, that’s just one reason I love Inception. If I had to choose a second, it just might be Gordon Levitt’s “merry chase.” As Arthur diverts security away from his team in a hotel, the gravity of the hallways and rooms begins to shift, like you may have seen in the trailers and television spots. I don’t want to give anything away, other than my opinion that this is one of the best fight scenes ever put to film. It’s pretty short, but it rivals the lobby shootout in The Matrix. And it’s all shot using practical effects. Genius.

Inception has its flaws, and they aren’t really all that difficult to point out, even for a person like me who adored the film. Many of the characters are given little to no backstory, and this makes them feel less like important parts of the story than they should. Ariadne is the prime example; she’s a college student who has the “skills” Cobb needs. That’s it.

This occasional lack of character development is a small price to pay; the focus here is on Cobb and his inner struggles, and DiCaprio does a marvelous job conveying them.

We’ll be talking about Inception for years, discussing its ins and outs, and its crazy ending. Whatever I conclude (or don’t conclude) about Inception won’t change the fact that it’s a phenomenal work of cinematic art. It’s been awhile since I actually felt like staying in my seat after a movie in order to watch the next showing, but I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second after Inpcetion. When it’s over, you’ll want to see it again, just to catch the stuff you missed. And you’ll be catching stuff for a long, long time.

Props, Mr. Nolan, mad props.

Review coming soon...

Read this book, if you like good books. It's a harsh reminder of a tragedy most of us probably don't understand. We won't ever fully understand, but this book is a great leap forward in that respect. Told from the perspective of a journalist who covered the events and researched them for years, Columbine provides something sources like the news media could never offer: perspective. Well-researched perspective, at that. Providing a complete picture of this massacre would be impossible, but my experience with Columbine thus far has demonstrated that this just might be the closest we'll get.

I'll review it next week.

For lack of anything better to do...

...I thought I'd post a blog.

Still jobsearching and jobapping, and hoping for an interview in Spokane.

Life has been crazy, but I think it's getting better. People say I even look different than I did two weeks ago.

Definitely enjoying hanging with people. This weekend will be great; seeing Melinda tomorrow and then staying in Leavenworth for the night. Then it's off to Spokane the next day. Should be fun.

Having a great time playing Star Fox 64. One of the best games ever, as far as I'm concerned. Makes me want to fly airplanes again.

Restarting my screenplay since watching The Crazies was like watching the movie I was writing. Let the ideas roll in, hopefully...

It’s so strange to say it, but LOST is over. What a ride it’s been.

It would be impossible to capture the legacy of a television show like this one in one single article or note, so I won’t try. It’s a legacy that should be experienced rather than read about; that said, I’ve been a bit speechless regarding LOST’s series finale that aired Sunday night, so I thought I’d just write down a few general musings on the show as a whole. No spoilers.

The way I see it, LOST had three moments throughout its six-year history that went the distance to set the show apart from anything we’ve ever seen or ever will see on television.

The first was September 22, 2004, the day the show’s pilot episode, aptly titled “Pilot,” aired in the United States for the first time. This was the first time we met characters like Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke and Hurley, and was also our introduction to long-running island mysteries like the Monster and the famous polar bear.

It was the beginning of a television show that would capture our hearts and, most importantly, our imaginations, for years to come. It was expertly written and directed, and was one of very few shows that hooked me in an instant. Best of all, it was just the beginning.

The second moment came on May 7, 2007. LOST was a few weeks away from my all-time favorite episode, season three’s finale “Through the Looking Glass,” and many questions were burning in the minds of fans everywhere. One of these questions pertained to when the show would end.

Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse announced on that day that LOST would end in 2010. I remember breathing an epic sigh of relief upon hearing that news. LOST had been a well-established show for a couple of years at that time, but many fans feared it was perhaps too popular for its own good. No true LOST fan wanted ABC or the show’s producers to let the story outlive itself.

This announcement showed us that, like any good book or movie, LOST did indeed have an ending. The showrunners knew when that was, and they had a roadmap to accomplishing what they wanted to with the show’s narrative.

That leads us to the final, and perhaps most important moment in LOST’s six-year history: the (again) aptly titled series finale, “The End,” which aired Sunday night.

“The End” was the most satisfying conclusion I could have ever imagined for my favorite television show of all time.

Prior to watching the finale, I actually sat down and compiled a list of all the LOST mysteries I wanted explained. I even marked the ones I knew would not be explained. I intended to publish a lengthy article, with this list included, on Facebook and on my blog the day after the finale aired. Basically, I planned on outlining my many frustrations with my favorite show, because I was positive they’d only grow after seeing the finale.

In a lot of ways, Allison Janney’s quote from the third-to-last LOST episode (“Across the Sea”) is the perfect summary of these frustrations:

"Every question I answer will simply lead to another question.”

LOST was a show that kept its cards close to the chest. We rarely learned the answers to our questions, and when we did, more mysteries came out of those answers. It was an often-frustrating experience, but also one that managed to keep me coming back week after week.

Flash forward to Sunday night. After watching the show’s final scenes, I sat speechless, trying to fathom what I had just seen. I’m still processing it, but I knew one thing for certain: the people behind LOST had accomplished their goal.

My list seemed ridiculous after watching “The End.” The episode, above all else, showed us that LOST was a show about characters. Sometimes we loved them, sometimes we hated them, and we often even related to them.

I’ll admit that I still have questions that will probably never be answered, but “The End” managed to be such a high caliber finale that I actually forgot most of those questions for a time. The ins and outs of the Island no longer mattered quite as much as they once had; it was just the people and their journeys.

We won’t ever see another new episode of LOST again, and there will not be a movie, but discussion about the show will continue for a long, long time, which is a fact I’m very excited about. Much like the original Star Wars trilogy, LOST will live on along with its fans.

So, on that note, it’s time to say “goodbye” to the show, and “namaste” to something entirely new: the show’s legacy.

Film Review: 'Kick-Ass'

I hate spoilers, but it's really impossible to explain what I loved and hated about this movie without them. So, here's your spoiler alert.

Think of Matthew Vaughn's new adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s Kick-Ass comic as a two-sided coin. Two Face's coin from the Batman comics, perhaps.

On one side of the coin, we have the good aspects, the ones that elevate Kick-Ass above the realm of the Ghost Riders and Catwomans of the comics-to-film subgenre. On the other side, we have the bad, the stuff that makes us cringe and simply ask, "why?"

Kick-Ass is the story of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a nerdy high school kid who one day decides to become a superhero. As his new alter-ego "Kick-Ass" gains popularity on YouTube, he gains notoriety in the world of organized crime as the mob suspects him of trying to bring down their operation. As it turns out, two other superhero wannabes, Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her father Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) are the ones fighting the mob, and their fates inevitably become intertwined with that of Kick-Ass.

On the good side of the coin, we have Moretz and Cage. Simply put, Hit-Girl is the highlight of this movie. This foul-mouthed 11-year-old commits acts of violence that would make a serial killer blush, and it's this strange juxtaposition of youth and violence that carries the film (and, to be honest, the comic). Moretz, who shined in her small-ish role in (500) Days of Summer, is funny, vulgar, and surprisingly deep in her portrayal of Hit-Girl.

Cage also fares well in his role as Big Daddy. He plays the cheesy-but-deadly father role very well, and his Adam West impersonation is really funny.

That's all I can think of for the good side of the coin.

On the bad side, let's talk about the damn jetpack. In the final comic, Hit-Girl whips out a flamethrower and fries a bunch of mobsters. When Kick-Ass asks her where she got the weapon, she replies simply, "eBay." In the movie, Hit-Girl orders something on the Web, but we don't find out what it is until the end.

Hit-Girl gets beaten nearly to death during the final standoff with the mob, and at the last possible second, Kick-Ass enters the scene not with a flamethrower, but with a jetpack complete with dual Gatling guns. Violence ensues.

This is a classic case of trying too hard. Mr. Vaughn, we're already nerds. You don't need a jetpack to convince us that this is supposed to be one massive nerdgasm. While I do understand that creative liberties must be taken in adaptations like this, an 11-year-old with a flamethrower is far cooler than a fake-looking jetpack. Just because James Bond did it in Thunderball doesn't mean you have to do it too.

I know this is just one scene, but it's also the movie's climax, and it goes against everything Kick-Ass is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a satirical portrayal of what might actually happen if a kid decided to fight crime. The jetpack is not an in-joke or a wink-wink at fans; it's a transparent and desperate attempt to be cool, and it's not easy to overlook.

There are other offenses in Kick-Ass. The love story is worthless, and its outcome differs completely from what happens in the comic books. I don’t know why everybody loves Aaron Johnson; he isn’t horrible, but he isn’t God’s gift to the future of Hollywood, either. Hit-Girl's first person shooter scene only serves to further help the movie become exactly what it's satirizing.

Kick-Ass isn't necessarily an epic fail as a movie, but it is if you're a fan of the comics. It descends into Spider-Man 3 dance scene territory with the jetpack finale, and this only serves to set it further part from the quality and overall purpose of the comics.

The comic was fun above all else, not a masterpiece for the history books. That's what I wanted from the movie, but somehow it failed to deliver. If you want some cool action scenes, go catch a matinee of Kick-Ass. Just be happy there’s violence and profanity, because the movie would be nothing without those components. If you want something deeper, wait for July and save your ticket money for Inception. I wish I had done so.

P.S. Or, you could just go read the comic. Click here.

Announcement: 'Marvel vs. Capcom 3'

Video arcades are sadly scarce these days. If you've ever watched the masterful documentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, then you know that many of the arcades that still exist are considered national landmarks simply because you can't find ones like them anywhere.

I've never experienced a true classic video arcade, but there are a few arcade games that stick out in my memory as childhood staples. One of these is Marvel vs. Capcom.

Well, an announcement was made today that shocked me completely. After a decade of waiting for a third Marvel vs. Capcom title, we got our wish. Capcom and Marvel announced Marvel vs. Capcom 3 today, treating us to an early trailer. We get to see Wolverine fighting Street Fighter's Ryu, Iron Man battling Darkstalkers' Morrigan in midair, and the Hulk destroying the scenery while facing Resident Evil's Chris Redfield.

I rarely buy fighting games unless they have "Super Smash Bros." somewhere on the box, but this just might be an exception. Check out the trailer embedded below from GameTrailers. Oh, and by the way, that's apparently all in-game footage...

Video Games | Marvel vs Capcom 3: FTW | Captivate 10: Debut Trailer

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