Zombie and Ozzy Please 12,500 Strong

A huge crowd of 12,500 rock fans packed into the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon on Wednesday, October 24. I was among the die-hard fanatics and we were there for one reason and one reason only - to see what was hyped to be a monumental, pulse-quivering, earth-shaking rock concert. Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne did anything but disappoint us.

The show started at about 7:20, 10 minutes early. Pretty taboo for a rock concert to start early. The opening act was In This Moment, a new heavy metal act with a blonde-haired goddess of a lead singer named Maria. She wore a frilly, Alice in Wonderland-type dress but was anything but innocent, headbanging with the best of 'em and armed with a screaming voice that could rival Axl Rose in his heyday. In This Moment were impressive and played for about 25 minutes before the tech crew came out and started assembling Rob Zombie's stage, which consisted of a 6-foot tall drum riser decorated in monster heads, as well as skulls and several ghoulish puppets. It was an incredible visual.

Zombie hit the stage shortly after, making his entrance through the mouth of a monster above the drum riser and launching into his setlist, which included songs like "Sawdust In The Blood", "American Witch", "Living Dead Girl", "More Human Than Human", and "Superbeast". Zombie was ANYTHING but a "supporting act" as the 12,500 strong went nuts for him. I was there more to see Rob than Ozzy myself and I wasn't left disappointed. Zombie played for over an hour and his show consisted of amazing visuals and hot women who danced to several of his songs. He even made his way into the crowd and the fans welcomed him with open arms. Clips of B-grade horror movies and some of Zombie's own material played across several monitors and the use of flame pots helped make the packed house go even crazier. At one point, Zombie talked a bit about his recent hit remake of "Halloween", stating that he was amped to be in the same city where Michael Myers is from. "You know why I'm f***in' amped? Cuz that motherf***er Tyler Mane is FROM Saskatoon, man!" Zombie said. This of course made the crowd go nuts yet again. A cheap pop, yes, but an effective one. Zombie continued to play, darting around the stage like a wildman and pretty much showing me my ticket price was worth it. He ended his set with "Dragula" as thousands sang along, bringing and end to an incredible set. I proudly wore my "ZOMBIE" baseball cap and chanted along as Zombie said goodnight. It was loud, it was explosive, it was incredible, and there was still Ozzy Osbourne to come.

When the Ozzman did hit the stage, the energy level picked up where Zombie left off, bringing all of us to our feet with "I Don't Wanna Stop". Osbourne actually looked genuinely excited to be there, as he launched into classics such as "Crazy Train" and "Bark at the Moon". He also did a few songs from his new album "Black Rain". They weren't very recognizable to everyone inside CUC but, really, we didn't care. Ozzy shows that he's still got it and looks to be enjoying the rock star life even as he approaches his 59th birthday in December. Guitarist Zack Wylde was a madman, shredding through Ozzy's songs and performing a solo that had me thinking of the likes of the late Jimi Hendrix and Dimebag Darrell. In the end, Osbourne had us all singing along with "Mama I'm Coming Home" and finally closed the show with "Paranoid".

Overall, the show was a blast. Worth the ticket price no matter where you were sitting, in my opinion. I'd love to go again if Ozzy decides to come back to Saskatoon, and definitely plan on seeing Rob Zombie the next time he brings his solo show to Prairieland Park.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the entire concert an 8.5. Rob Zombie's fans were satisfied, Ozzy's satisfied, and the entire thing just made for a smorgasbord of heavy metal, the way it should always be.

Too Much Time On Their Hands

For many, the SkyTrail in Outlook is a place that people can go to unwind. Take a walk, relax, snap some great-looking photos. Its especially beautiful in the summer, when you can walk across it as late as 9 or 9:30, and you'll still have the sun at your back and many fellow neighbours and town residents waving and saying hello as they pass you or you pass them.

Sadly, what happened on Wednesday night, October 17 was anything but friendly.

Vandalism was the name of the game, and the target was SkyTrail's entrance. More specifically, the brick structure on the right side of the entrance. Vandals with too much time on their hands decided to go Berlin and tear down the wall-like structure, which begs the question, what the Hell was the point? Do the people involved think they're "cool" for doing this? A real badass? Honestly, I bet they do.

"Hey man, we like TOTALLY brought that thing down!"
"TOTALLY, DUUUUDE!"
"Yeah man, so let's, like, go back to your house and listen to EMO while writing our pretentious, "dark" poetry!"
"GNARLY!"

Give me a break. You are not cool. This is not cool. All you've managed to do is upset your parents, grandparents, and many Outlook residents. If being a complete jackass with too much time on your hands is what you were going for with this, then let me congratulate you on a job well done.

We're all very proud of you.............hehe, RIGHT!

And they say children are the future...

A Balanced View of Present-Day Chaos

"The Kingdom" (2007)
Directed by: Peter Berg (Very Bad Things, The Rundown, Friday Night Lights)
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Ashraf Barhom
Running Time: 110 minutes
Rut's Rating: 3.5/5

With the times that we live in, one might think that a film like "The Kingdom" is in bad taste or the general public "just isn't ready for a film like this." In my opinion, you couldn't be more wrong. This well-told story of an unforgiveable act of terrorism grips you from the start and doesn't let go. It serves as a way of telling us, TEACHING us, that life is unpredictable and every second counts. Director Peter Berg has created a story that reflects society in all its brutal realism. This film could have easily taken the right-wing, white-people-good, foreigners-bad route, but it doesn't let itself become that. Instead, it shows two different nations struggling for peace and safety in a world that perhaps doesn't have it.

Jamie Foxx stars as Ronald Fleury, leader of an elite FBI team. When nearly 100 people are killed in a violent explosion, Fleury and his team travel to Saudi Arabia to investigate who is behind the brutal slayings. While there, the team partners with Saudi officials, led by Colonel Faris Al Ghazi, played wonderfully by Ashraf Barhom in a role that I believe could by Oscar-worthy. Both teams feel each other out at first, sometimes having a bit of conflict. Ultimately, both teams begin to unravel the mystery behind the bombing and work together. Foxx is born for this type of role. He's calm, collected, and his performance shows that. The rest of his team consists of Grant Sykes, played by Oscar winner Chris Cooper; Adam Leavitt, played by Jason Bateman. He's the somewhat "comic relief" in scenes that perhaps are deemed too dramatic. And Jennifer Garner as Janet Mayes. Honestly, I'm not a fan of hers at all, and it looked to me that Garner didn't have a clue what she was doing in this film. She does a lot of crying and covering her ears when guns fire. Do actual FBI agents do that? As well, Jeremy Piven plays a PR executive intent on keeping things going smoothly and without any troubles. I love Piven, but he's pretty much just playing Ari from "Entourage" here. But hey, that's probably what PR people are like anyway. And look for a cameo from country music heavyweight Tim McGraw as a grieving husband whose wife was killed in the bomb blast.

"The Kingdom" has a message, and usually I hate it when movies try to do that. People go to the theater and the multiplex because they wanna stuff their faces with overpriced snacks, kick up their feet and forget their everyday problems for an hour and a half, two hours, whatever. But I found the message in "The Kingdom" to be right. Almost accepting. This isn't a movie that shoves the issues or politics in your face. It just shows you that they're happening all around you, that the world doesn't stop because of your own problems. There's a scene in particular involving Foxx's character Fleury and the son of a man killed near the beginning of the film that I found incredibly emotional. It also isn't the only time Fleury encounters a father-less boy.

This film obviously isn't for everyone. If you like period dramas with guys in white wigs and women in puffy dresses, this isn't for you. But if you want a clenching, pulse-pounding story that doesn't pull the wool over your eyes and tells it like it is, then you'll enjoy the film.

Don't let the papers and CNN give you the news all the time. Enter "The Kingdom".

The Western Genre is Infused with Life Again

"3:10 To Yuma" (2007)
Directed by: James Mangold (Cop Land, Identity, Walk The Line)
Starring: Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Peter Fonda, Ben Foster
Running Time: 117 minutes
Rut's Rating: 5/5

The Western genre has pretty much been dead for the past decade; the last great one IMO was 1993's Tombstone. Its managed to live on in TV movies and the occasional network mini-series, but feature film cowboy pics intended for theater distribution have been few and far between, until now.

3:10 To Yuma is an adaptation of the 1953 short story published in Dime Western Magazine, as well as a remake of the 1957 film of the same name. Directing this incredible film is James Mangold, a reliable storyteller who recently helmed the Oscar-nominated Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line. In my own opinion, 3:10 To Yuma should be able to get an Oscar nod for Best Picture, seeing as how 2007 has been pretty scarce for films worthy of the Academy's attention. The recent Summer of Sequels only produced a handful of entertaining films, but none really worth any major awards.

Christian Bale co-stars as Dan Evans, a rancher low on income and low on respect from his teenage son, William. Evans has his land raided by debt collectors and his barn burned to the ground for missing land payments. To ease his financial and family situations, Dan agrees to transport a prisoner to catch a train to Yuma prison. That prisoner is legendary outlaw Ben Wade, played by Russell Crowe. Wade is a confident lawbreaker who plays mind games with Evans and his group while on the way to catch the train. Along the way, the group encounters deadly obstacles, including a band of Indians, other law enforcers who want to collect the reward for Wade's departure, and Wade's own group of thieves and murderers intent on rescuing their boss. This makes for some exciting scenes of suspense, as well as some great-looking gunfights.

Bale and Crowe hold the film together, as their characters rarely leave one another and the dialogue between the two is engaging and suspenseful at times. Its different seeing Crowe as the "bad guy", but he seems to revel in the role and takes it very seriously, in a performance that is Oscar-worthy. Bale should be nominated as well. His take on Dan Evans is gritty and emotional, and I really liked the chemistry he had with his on-screen son, especially near the end of the film.

Rounding out the cast is Ben Foster as Wade's right-hand man, Charlie Prince. Cold and conniving, Prince is almost trying to make a name for himself. And look for the legendary Peter Fonda as Byron McElroy, a man who has a past with Ben Wade. As well, comedic actor Luke Wilson has an uncredited cameo that has to be seen to be believed.

3:10 To Yuma is everything you could want in a western film. Its gripping, action-packed, well-written, and emotional. Those last 5 minutes are incredible and even left me nearly wiping a tear away. Call me a wuss all you want but this film suspends your disbelief like no other film this year.

For incredible story-telling and reinvigorating the American Western, I give 3:10 To Yuma a 5/5. It gave me so much more than I was expecting, and I believe it'll do the same for you.