Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday,
October 25,
2006
1 4$
x„.REEL
PEAL
with George Hawkins
“Man of the Year”
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 115 minutes
Starring: Robin Williams,
Christopher Walken,
Lewis Black
Laura Linney and Jeff
Goldblum
y. ■ lll if afßyill
Barry Levinson’s
(the man behind 1997’s
excellent political satire
“Wag the Dog”) new
project "Man of the Year,”
seems to be one giant
question mark.
But at its core, it’s a
squanderedbrilliant premise
that takes the movie in a
direction totally different
than what most walked into
the theatre expecting and
leading to cries of, “False
advertising!”
In this film, Tom Dobbs
(Robin Williams) is a thinly
fictionalized version of Jon
Stewart, whose political
current events show is
a staple on the Comedy
□ : z □ " :: ~"M- & o □
m m m JSgk w m m m
D U A ff {_E B U o
■ Iks#
v C n i||^/|
□: IMiEiIiEQiEQOd
“The Briggs”
Interview
The recent release of
“Back to Higher Ground”
paired with the fortune
of being label mates with
trendy Irish folk punk
band Flogging Molly,
have The Briggs in a
position to break out and
make a big impact on the
American punk scene.
Jason and Joey
Laßocca, who are both
guitarists and vocalists,
recently sat down with
Silence before their recent
show in Auburn, Ala.
They talked about a
little bit of everything,
ranging from bands they
would like to tour with
to how musically diverse
they hope to become.
WG: All of the
bands you are playing
with (Time Again and
Blood or Whiskey) are
currently promoting an
album. You guys have
released an album within
the last month.
When you do shows
now, do the kids know the
songs and already own the
album, or are you promoting
songs that are still new to a
lot of your fans?
Joey: Well, it is kind
Arti&bmmm
Central network.
The format of the
Dobbs Show is a brief
comedic monologue and
then interviews with
some of the day’s top
newsmakers.
Dobbs’ fans are so in
love with his irreverent
political humor and tired
of bipartisan politics that
a studio audience member
makes the suggestion that
he should run for president.
With this simple suggestion,
and the aid of the almighty
Internet, a grass roots
campaign of Dobbs for
President takes shape.
Being advised on both
campaign and showbiz
strategy by his manager
(Christopher Walken) and
his head writer (Lewis
Black), Dobbs travels the
country in a multicolored
bus making speeches akin to
rock concerts and hijacking
televised debates.
After not taking out
any political ads because
“candidates are not
products,” and hearing his
campaign deemed as little
more than a publicity stunt
by his friend, Dobbs is
shocked when he actually
wins the election.
But all is not well.
Just before the election,
California Software wins
the bid for a government
contract allowing them to
furnish all computerized
voting equipment.
of like a balance that we
are trying to find, to play
songs they are familiar
with and also to promote
the record.
We have found
recently, though, that a lot
of kids are familiar with
the new songs. We like
to play songs the fans are
familiar with, too, so they
can have a good time and
jump around.
WG: Which songs are
the kids most familiar with?
Joey: Definitely a lot
of the songs on “Numbers”
but also songs from the
EP (“Leaving the Ways”).
“One Shot Down” and
“Waiting in the Shadows”
are popular ones.
WG: I’m a big fan of
the EP and 1 listen to it all
of the time. I like how it is
sort of eclectic and does
not stick to one style of
music. How important is
it to be musically diverse
instead of going the paint
by-numbers route?
Joey: That is
something we have
always prided ourselves
in. We listen to all kinds
of different music and we
like to incorporate that.
Jason: I want that to
be the theme of the band.
We have so many things
As the CEO of the
company watches his
stock go through the roof,
a low level programmer
named HI lie (Laura
Linney), puts the system
though her own rigorous
tests and discovers an
unknown glitch in the
system. When she reports
the problem to her boss
and his legal advisor (Jeff
Goldblum), they promptly
attempt to bury the issue,
going so far as to dope her
up with drugs and have
her committed.
After she’s released,
Elbe runs to Washington
to tell the president-elect of
her knowledge.
Pursued by g<x)ns from
her computer company, she
poses as an FBI agent mid
meets Dobbs at a party. It
takes her several weeks, after
becoming infatuated with
Dobbs, to tell him the truth.
At this point, the
comedian has a tough
decision to make. Go
public with his discovery
or remain quiet and be head
of the free world?
As is pointed out by
Christopher Walken’s
character in the movie,
“more and more people are
turning to news shows like
yours for real news.” So
what would happen if Jon
Stewart or Bill Mahr ran
for President? Sounds like
a wonderfully easy film to
make. But writer/director
Barry. Levinson totally
screws it up, turning a
comedy in a John Grisham
like thriller about 20
minutes in.
There are so few good.
that we want to do that we
can't do them all at once.
If one day a folk record
came out of The Briggs,
(1 don’t know when or
where or how) that would
be cool.
WG: Are you
consciously trying not to
be like every other band
and become predictable?
Jason: Personally, 1
get angry with...what’s a
band that does that all of
the time?
Bkr *
EOT B Tn ■ ■ m
fit;** Mm
Photo courtesy of Myspace.com
On Septermber 12th, punk band The Briggs’ released their new album Back to Higher
Ground”. They are currently touring the U.S. with Time Again and Blood or Whiskey.
WG: The Boils?
Jason: Yeah, The
Boils or The Generators.
Great bands, but when
you buy a Generators
album you know what
you are getting. I don’t
ETTF]
Photos courte.w Rottentomatoes.com
sharp political comedies
that it’s a shame that
Levinson squandered what
was a wonderful premise.
The casting of Robin
Williams in this role is
debatable. His stand up
background really shines
through in the entirely
too few scenes where he
actually makes jokes.
However, he isn’t really as
edgy as a comedian running
for President probably
would be.
There’s also not a
lot of onscreen chemistry
between him and Laura
Linney. Linney is actually
one of the major w eak spots
in an already thin veneer of
a movie. Her character,
straight out of a thriller, is a
scared and weeping femme
fatale being manipulated
by forces greater than her.
Although there are a
few bright spots in the film,
the bottom line is that this
movie simply can’t decide
what it wants to be. And
since it fails to decide, it fails
in all areas. What an absolute
waste of a great idea.
GRADE: C-
see how the bands don’t
get bored.
WG: What are some
of your influences, as far
as bands go?
Joey: Some of my
influences would be The
Clash, of course. Elvis
Costello is also a big one
for me. Also, I like Billy
Bragg, Cock Sparrer and
Stiff Little Fingers.
WG: Blood or
Whiskey told me the same
thing about The Clash. Is
that pretty standard for
newer punk bands to look
up to The Clash?
Joey: I think so.
They had a big impact
on the world, the whole
punk scene and music in
(Above) Unfortunately for "Man of the Year", Laura Linney and
Robin Williams’ on-screen chemistry is somewhat lacking.
They even managed to look awkward in the above photo.
(Below) Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) is a fictionalized rendi
tion of John Stewart or Steven Colbert, the fake news anchor
man, who manages to use his popularity to become the Presi
dent of the U.S. Funny premise, but sadly it seems plausible.
flip~, mu
PHS ;9pV
-• H "A. MB. 9HRI
general. You see that a
lot of bands, even bands
that are not punk, are
influenced by The Clash.
WG: From the early
albums to the EP to the
new album, you changed
your sound. Was that
Clash influenced?
Joey: Definitely.
That is something we
base it on. We like how
they were diverse and
incorporated stuff like
rock and roll, reggae and
rockabilly into one band.
WG: In a lot of the
lyrics, there is a spiritual
side. It’s the negative
side, too, as you deal w ith
the doubt that comes with
that kind of thing. Is that
all intentional?
Joey: It is definitely
intentional. There are a
lot of human emotions
that l feel are important to
convey through music. If
is all one dynamic of angry
and fast all of the time, it
gets boring. Sometimes,
you are more doubtful
and more bummed out.
Jason: There is also
a lot of anger, too, about
the state of things that are
going on and we have that
element in the new' album.
There is the element, too,
that it is up to individuals
to turn those situations
around themselves.
WG: So, is this
a somewhat political
album?
Jason: It is more
social commentary than it
is political.
WG: Do you have
a favorite song on this
album? Is there one that
is more personal than
the others?
Jason: I really like
“Let Them Know”, the
second song on the album.
I’m also starting to like
“Don’t Care”.
WG: That’s my
favorite one. It says
on the sticker that
these songs f ' “punk
anthems” an. didn’t
know what that was but
when I heard “Don’t
„are” it was kind of like
Silence
continued on page 8