Daddy Like!!

[Gary Rabuzzi]

Rock City Angels - Use Once And Destroy - It's been a long goddamn wait (what, about twenty years or so?) for me to hear the follow-up to this Memphis gutbucket rock band's seminal "Young Man's Blues", but hell if it isn't worth every Durango-deficient minute! Just got this new disc in the mail yesterday, and have been rocking it out in the ipod, with the windows down (gotta love Las Vegas in December). It was always amazing to me that bands like the Angels, and Junkyard got unfairly lumped in with the "glam" bands of the '80's. Their first album was a surprisingly musically mature one, laying Memphis horns on top of their gritty southern punk rock sound. And this one is every bit as good, and even more raw and spiky. If their previous sound was resting on five (with southern rock on zero, and punk on ten), this one cranks it up to about seven. You still get the horns, and organ, but the real meat is the razorblade guitars, and Bobby Durango's snarling, howling vocal style. His influences are on display here, from the Iggy Pop-ish "Coffee And Cigarettes" (think "The Passenger"), to the Dolls- "Comeback" sounds like a Johnny Thunders ballad, in that he eschews "pretty" singing, for a ragged vulnerability and desperation to be heard, that gives the song infinitely more emotional weight. He even channels early Rock City Angels, on "I Keep Fighting", which would not have sounded out of place on "Young Man's Blues". I think my favorite track, though is the bitter, mid-tempo dirge that is the title track (how could I not love any song that opens with a spoken word sample by Charles Bukowski?). And, as one of the first fifty people to pre-order the cd, mine came in a nifty little cloth case, like the Crown Royal of albums! It's been a great year for rock and roll, and this is the sweet, kick-ass cherry on top. Don't waste your money on "Chinese Democracy", people- discerning rock and rollas demand "Use Once And Destroy" in their stockings!!! Find Durango in my top friends, and beg him for a copy of this cd!

Mr. Warmth- the Don Rickles Project - this two disc documentary about Don Rickles is a real gem. Of all the comics in the world, Rickles is the one whose style most closely resembles mine. We don't tell jokes, so much as we just break balls. The nicer musicians are to me, the harder I bust their humps, and the more they like it for some reason. I always mintain that with Rickles, it wasn't so much the material, which is mostly marginal. It's his impeccable delivery, his gorgeous sense of timing, and his fearlessness in approaching what most would consider "sensitive topics". This doc has a lot of footage from his appearances at the Stardust (which is worth the price of admission alone, for those of us who look back on that dump fondly), intercut with glowing testimonials from the likes of Clint Eastwood, Bob Newhart, Jack Carter, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, and plenty of other folks who bow at the altar of Rickles. Also included is the footage of the classic Tonight Show bit where he accidentally breaks Carson's cigarette case, while Carson is taking the night off. The next night, when Carson finds out he did it, he grabs the cameras, and hunts Rickles down on the set of his sitcom, "CPO Sharkey". Classic television moment. There's also a lot of footage, and talk about the way "Old Vegas" was run, how things got done, when guys with broken noses did them. Rickles really is the last man standing of those old Vegas warhorses. If you can't see the guy live, this is the next best thing...

Transporter 3 - Man, Jason Statham likes to take his shirt off. But then, I would too, if I was yoked and ripped like him. It seems that the British are beating the Americans out when it comes to action heroes that look less like pouty lipped girls, and more like rugged, scowling men. They've got Statham, Clive Owen, and Daniel Craig. We've got that kid from "Twilight". Anyway, this movie is like porn for action movie fans. Terrible dialogue, ridiculous action sequences, the plot is vague at best, and somehow, it entertained the s*** out of me. Now, I won't be going out to snap up the Transporter box set anytime soon, but if someone buys it for me, I wouldn't take it back. I give it a five.

Hellride - now, this is a movie that was bad on purpose (there's a difference). Larry Bishop (son of Rat Packer Joey), 70's motorcycle movie staple, wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this grindhouse exploitation movie, at the behest of "presenter" Quentin Tarantino. I gotta say, the balls of this guy to write a movie for himself where all he does is stand around looking cool, and whispering his dialogue, while some of the hottest f****** women I've ever seen in a movie fall all over him like he's Loverman numero uno. I admire his ego, I'll say that. And he does look good for his age, kind of like a tanned, leaned out, tatted up Peter Tork. But the women in this thing are so gorgeous, and sexy, and naked, it's absolutely ridiculous to think he's making them all hot in the ass. If I could use one word to describe this film, it would be "gratuitous". The sex, the violence, the dialogue (like some kind of interpretive dance, beat poetry), all WAY over the top. It's like a combination of Sam Peckinpah, Brian Azzarello, Roman Polanski, Robert Rodriguez, and Jason Aaron. Naturally, I love it. It co-stars Michael Madsen, Eric Balfour, David Carradine, and Vinnie Jones. Rent this, but don't take it too seriously...

Changeling - even though I LOVE the trashy, exploitative styles of guys like Tarantino, Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Takashi Miike, Oliver Stone, and Guy Ritchie, I still think that Clint Eastwood is one of the best directors working today. His subject matter, his shot composition, his sophisticated, classy directorial style, the guy just amazes me. No one shoots like this any more. Everything else is so ham-fisted, and unsubtle. But Eastwood films are always winners. This latest offering is about a woman in Los Angeles in the twenties who loses her son. The police botch the search, and then return the WRONG child to her, in an effort to put closure to the case. When she balks, they have her institutionalized. The subsequent trial shook up the corrupt Los Angeles Police Department, and turned into a landmark case. Check out Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) as the sleazy cop who she butts heads with. Another winner form Eastwood. I give it an eight.

Ridiculously good comic book week - the week after Thanksgiving is traditionally the biggest comic book week of the year, and this was certainly no exception. It's a good thing I got that promotion, because I spent fifty bucks in the comic shop this week (I usually spend about half that...)! I got the final issue of the huge event comic, "Secret Invasion" (best issue of the series!), and its epilogue issue, in "New Avengers"; the new issue of Ed Brubaker's impossibly good "Criminal", the "Punisher Max X-mas Special" (nothing says Christmas like mature readers violence, nudity, and swearing, kids!), the excellent first issue of "X-Men Noir" ( a reimagining of Marvel's popular mutants where they don't have powers, it's the forties, and it reads like a James Ellroy book), "The Immortal Iron Fist" (by Duane Swierczynski, no less!), the new issue of "Criminal Macabre: Cell Block 666" (I love me some Cal MacDonald!), "The Astounding Wolf-Man", "Solomon Kane", X-Men: Manifest Destiny" (a nifty little limited series that is actually making Iceman seem cool!), "Mouse Guard" (I've been waiting for the new issue of this FOREVER!), the always entertaining "Jonah Hex" (with art by Jordie Bernet!), "Vincent Price Presents", the first issue of the Vertigo re-boot of "The Haunted Tank", and two "all-ages" books: "Weapon X: First Class" (which tells unknown stories of Wolverine's top secret past, with insanely good art, by Mark Robinson!)and "Wolverine: First Class" (I had to get it- it guest stars Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu! He's my all-time favorite character!). I got something from virtually every genre I read, horror, super-hero, noir, western, fantasy, war... it was just an embarrassment of four-color riches! Of course, I'm broke now, but it was worth it!

Christmas traditions - I admit, I'm a complete h*** for the holidays. Every year, from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, I don't even TRY to be cool. I'm just a little girl. Of course, it's very difficult to get into the spirit of the holidays out here- I have no family here, it's seventy freaking degrees, so there's no snow, and I have to work on Christmas. But, still, I try. It starts with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. For me, that's when the season officially starts. And I fill out my Christmas cards during the parade. Every year. I'm such a nerd. Then, there's the putting up of the tree, and doing whatever decorating there is to be done on the house. There's Christmas shopping, which I do early every year (I'm just about done, as of right now). There's the huge tree they put in front of Caesar's Palace every year, which is just beautiful; there's the holiday stuff on television, like the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center (this year, they had Tony Bennett AND Harry Connick, Jr!), and "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas", and "It's A Wonderful Life", and "The Grinch", and all of those other gay movies. There's driving through Sunset Park to see the Gift of Lights display they have every year. Of course, there's my annual Christmas party, which this year will be in its eleventh year! It's the highlight of my year! I cook for two days, and start planning it in September! There's New Years Eve on the Strip with my buddy, Griff, for the fireworks, with full flasks, and a head full of pills and champagne, suited up like the goddamn Reservoir Dogs; Hell, I even like standing in the Christmas aisle at Walgreen's! I'm a goddamn embarrassment...