Steven Rubio's Online Life

music friday

A couple from the 1970s, and a couple from the 2000s. Every one of these were opening acts.

Ike and Tina Turner, 1971. Opened for B.B. King. Quite the double bill!

Derringer, 1977. Opened for Led Zeppelin. Rick Derringer got his start with The McCoys, who had a hit with "Hang on Sloopy" when he was 16. He then hooked up with first Johnny Winter, and then Edgar Winter. In the 70s, he was best known for this one:

Awesome Color, 2009. Confession: even though these next two are the most recent, I can't remember anything about them. This band opened for Sonic Youth:

Grass Widow, 2010. And they opened for Wild Flag.

hanna (joe wright, 2011)

I needed some escapist fare, and my wife had seen and liked this one, so I went for it. Joe Wright has directed several films I've seen ... I liked the first one (Pride & Prejudice) the best, was less impressed with Anna Karenina. In all of his films, Wright is a busy director, prone to showing off. Hey, it worked for Orson Welles.

Hanna is just as visually complicated as the others, and Saoirse Ronan as the title character is the best thing about the movie. Ultimately, though, the film is much ado about nothing, which in fairness was just what I was looking for. Cate Blanchett as the villain and Eric Bana as Hanna's father/trainer are good. The soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers has won praise ... I confess I didn't notice it.

Strong action scenes, solid performances, an excellent star turn for Ronan ... who could ask for anything more? No one, if you're looking for escapist fare. I couldn't shake the notion, though, that Wright was up to something greater, something I never found. There are elements of fairy tales that are intriguing ... there's certainly more than enough here to pass a couple of hours. Later a TV series with Esme Creed-Miles.