Hooker's sound continues to be refreshing
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By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
It's a mixed media column this week with some DVD reviews and a look at two reissues of some classic John Lee Hooker blues CDs.
The Animation Show: Volumes One and Two
I've sat through many collections of animated shorts in the last 15 years, as animation is one of my prime film interests. Many times, though, I've been disappointed as either the selections are numbingly artsy or exercises in gross and scatological humor that isn't funny.
Animator Mike Judge ("King of the Hill," "Beavis & Butthead") and Don Hertzfeldt have taken a different approach. Essentially these two volumes are a primer on what can be done with animation and includes excellent examples of traditional cel animation, stop motion and computer generated imagery (CGI). The result is a nicely balanced collection of shorts from around the world.
Yes, there are some clinkers in the bunch. I didn't care too much for the CGI short "The Cathedral," nor the overly artsy "When the Day Breaks."
I also didn't care for the exercise in rotoscoping (in which live action footage is used as the basis for the animation) in the short "The F.E.D." The film is about the people who operate the samples stands in supermarkets and it would stand on its own as a live-action short. The animation does nothing to enhance the film.
The rest though are treasures from the over-the-top humor of Bill Plympton ("Parking," "Guard Dog") to Chel White's stop motion short, "Magda," about love that has a minimalist look but has maximum emotional content to the amazing animated clay action movie, "Ward 13."
I also loved the work of Pes, an animator who used candy to simulate fireworks in "Fireworks." The guy is a genius.
There are some great extras on the two discs including a nifty little history of animation and additional mind-blowing films by Chel White and Pes.
Being an animation fan can be difficult as too many people assume you have some sort of case of arrested development. Animation, as these two DVDs show, is a lot more than the programs on Saturday morning or the endless parade of talking animal feature films. If you're an animation lover, get this set and show it to a non-believer. There will be some quick conversions.
The Lost City
As a serial fan, I'm used to unrealistic narratives, paper-thin characters and all too often sloppy filmmaking. In fact, these elements can actually be charming in their own demented fashion.
Serials those action films shown in a 15 minute chapter at a time made from the silent era through the mid-1950s were often aimed at young indiscriminating audiences who didn't care about character motivation as long as the hero managed to get out of the villain's trap at the end of each episode.
While there were some serials with good plots, direction and acting performances, this one, "The Lost Serial," is renowned as one of the over-the-top worst examples of the genre.
Set in an unexplored part of the African jungle our hero Bruce (played by Kane Richmond) is determined to find the origin of electrical discharges that are causing havoc with the world's weather. Naturally, the destruction is the work of a mad scientist Zokof, played with demonic intensity by William "Stage" Boyd (not the actor known for his portrayal of Hopalong Cassidy).
The greatest number of supporting villains I've ever seen in a serial hampers Gordon's quest. If Zokof or his henchmen aren't harassing him, there is a crooked trader, an Arab slave trader, two backstabbing associates and an Arab princess who wants to be the queen of all of Africa.
All of this would be the kind of cheesy fun I love except for the film's inherent racism. The African characters are either child-like natives led by whites or huge zombie slaves. The worst part of the film is the scene in which a scientist turns an African into a white man and our hero Bruce proclaims it as the "greatest discovery of all time."
That element gives the cheese a bitter after-taste.
VCI Entertainment's print of this 1936 film is acceptable, although it's not the greatest quality.
For more information, log onto www.vcient.com
Boom Boom and Chill Out
Shout Factory has started reissuing a decade-worth of classic blues from the late, beloved John Lee Hooker. Any blues fan should welcome its first two offerings.
"Boom Boom" was first recorded in 1992 when Hooker was 72-years-old. Hooker's goal was to re-record material for his younger fans that he had done years earlier. To a certain extent, this could be seen as a bit of a "greatest hits" collection as it contains the Hooker standards "Boom Boom," and "I'm Bad Like Jesse James."
I've other renditions of these two songs and it's fascinating to listen to how Hooker varies them to create something new.
"Boom Boom" features Hooker with some trusted sidemen and playing his blues in a raw and stripped-down form. "Chill Out," though, is a different story. Although just as fun to listen to, this 1995 album is a much more lushly produced album with guest Van Morrison and Carlos Santana.
The album has more of a rhythm and blues feel and the Hooker classic "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer" has a rock and roll beat.
Hooker sounds like he was having fun with the material and this feeling is infectious.
At a time when so much of popular music are either simply retreads of older songs and acts or calculates exercises in commercialism hearing something genuine is always refreshing.
For more information, go to www.shoutfactory.com.
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