Vindication, However Small

Some time ago, I wrote this.

Today, I came across this in an interview with Terry Zwigoff, director of Crumb and Ghost World:

TZ:...The Coen brothers do a lot of movies with a very strong regional dialect. I love the movie they did with Tom Hanks, Ladykillers. That woman Irma P. Hall, I could listen to her all day.

AVC: You said before that you have different tastes than most people in movies, and that would be a case in point, since nearly everyone else seems to dislike The Ladykillers.

TZ: They don’t like The Ladykillers? Huh. Well, it’s better than the original English film, though I’m sure I’ll be crucified for saying that. Mainly because of Irma P. Hall. And I liked Tom Hanks in it, too; I thought he was good.

Crucified? You're hanging with the wrong crowd, Mr. Zwigoff.
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Now Watch This

As I sit down to watch Alec Guinness in the 1955 comedy The Ladykillers, I realize I would be remiss if I didn't let you know about the Coen Brothers' 2004 remake starring Tom Hanks, which only I can recommend because I think I'm the only person who's seen it and liked it.

The remake takes a lot of stick for, well, let's be honest, not being in the same league as the rest of brothers' oeuvre. But lotsa people hate on it. Could it be that Tom Hanks isn't cool enough for the Lebowski-ists, who look down their noses at it because the source material isn't theirs and therefore must lack that certain je ne c'est Coen? Ok, I can grant that, too (though that orthodoxy must surely be receding in light of No Country For Old Men and the upcoming True Grit, a remake of a John Wayne western, and The Yiddish Policeman's Union, from a Michael Chabon novel).

Despite all that, it ain't to be avoided like the plague as some would make you think. In fact, it's worth seeking out just for Tom Hanks' performance. It doesn't get any credit, but it blew my mind to a small degree (is that possible?). He knows how to be funny (Big, The Money Pit, Bachelor Party) but after a couple Oscars you have no choice but to turn into a self-serious believer of your own hype, which makes this role even more exceptional. He plays a con man in the guise of a Southern gentleman professor/musician whose seems to think his silver tongue is his gang's greatest asset. Rat-a-tat-tat come the words from his mouth, so many and so fast and so fluid I have a hard time believing his dialogue was delivered word-for-word--it just had to be improvised. Watching this character try and keep a grip on things as their caper starts to unravel is a delight.

So there you go. A silly caper-gone-wrong comedy with an unusually respectable pedigree that boasts a  standout comedic performance from an A-list multiple Oscar winner. I still think it woulda been a hit from anybody other than the Coens--it sure as hell ain't no Intolerable Cruelty, which truly sucked.

And and if that's not enough, it's got J.K. Simmons, too, and he always delivers.

UPDATE: For the record, Tom Hanks blows Alec Guinness away here. Yup. And I enjoyed the remake far more than the original.
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Rock And Roll Hall Of Lame

What a silly fucking concept. The concept itself is as self-aggrandizing as it is self-negating. "Ooh, look at all those paunchy, graying fools on stage trying to play 'Gloria' or some other golden oldie they all know. I'm so glad we paid $500 to see this. And I'm even more glad I can sit down and eat while the rocking and the rolling is going on."

Having said that (wink to all you CYE people), the 25th Anniversary concert (in NYC, not Cleveland, where the actual museum is) on HBO looks and sounds phenomenal in in HD. Having said that, this glittering, glow-basking- and back-patting-fest was kicked off by a speech from Tom Hanks--'cause nothing says rock and roll like Tom Motherfucking Hanks!!!

I'm sure the list of performers who, over those 25 years, have said "fuck off" to showing up for induction is short, but good for them. That list certainly doesn't contain Iggy Pop.  He might have rolled around in broken glass and shot prodigious amounts of heroin, but that wasn't gonna stop him from kickin' it with Madge and JT.

Finally, please note that it's the Rock AND Roll Hall of Fame. Not Rock 'n' Roll. Because--even more than Tom Hanks--nothing says rock AND roll like completely spelling things out. Because there's no way I could have enjoyed Art Garfunkel belting out "Bridge Over Troubled Water" without a very large image of a bridge.   There's no way I could understand Jimi Hendrix's awesomeness without some grizzled beef jerky-looking s.o.b. telling me they'd never heard anybody play like that cat, man.

Oh, before I combust, Jeff Beck sucks.
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