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.

Bullets, Babes and a Boatload of One-Liners

"Shoot Em Up" (2007)
Directed by: Michael Davis (Monster Man, Eight Days A Week)
Starring: Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Belluci
Running Time: 86 minutes
Rut's Rating: 5/5

Explosive. Action-packed. Fast-paced. Hysterical. So ridiculous and tongue-in-cheek that the filmmakers had to have a smile on their faces every day on set. But here's the thing - this movie KNOWS that it's over the top. It KNOWS that audiences don't need to take it seriously. "Shoot Em Up" is a satire, almost a parody of all those bang-bang action flicks from the 80's and 90's. It needs no plot. Just a hero with someone to save, and a bad guy intent on killing that someone. Its almost a "leave your brain at the door" instruction for movie-goers. But if you love action, one-liners aplenty and bullets flying, "Shoot Em Up" is right up your alley.

The movie opens with Smith (Clive Owen) waiting for a bus in a crummy neighbourhood. He sits, munching on a carrot, (something he does A LOT of in this film), and waits. Just then, a pregnant lady walks past him, almost running, trying to get away from the man behind her holding a gun. Smith sees him, sighs, and comes to her rescue. What follows is a huge shoot-out with many cronies lead by Hertz (Paul Giamatti). Smith manages to deliver the baby but the mother dies shortly after. He's now thrust into the role of protector as he escapes the gun battle after having a staredown with Hertz.

Smith visits a friend, a prostitute named Quintano, (Monica Belluci). He tries to get her to take the baby off his hands so he can figure out why bad guys want the child dead. She refuses and ends up going with Smith. They pack up and retreat to Smith's hideout, and this results in yet another gun battle. It seemed to me that with each gun fight, more and more details were revealed about the plot. What it actually IS about I won't say, you'll just have to see it yourself. Either that, or you just won't care. I didn't find myself giving too much of a damn; all I saw was a man trying to protect a baby from bad guys, and that was good enough for me. And I think it was good enough for the filmmakers. The actual plot behind it seemed to be thrown together at the last minute while writing the screenplay, but that's OK.

"Shoot Em Up" is like watching your friend play a video game. The hero has his task, goes from Point A to Point B in order to unravel the informative details, and blows anyone in his path away. Its fun, mindless entertainment, just like a video game. Director Michael Davis must be a gamer, and had to be playing something like "GTA: Vice City" or "The Punisher" when he came up with his premise and ideas. Whatever he did, it works.

Clive Owen is very enjoyable as Smith. He has fun with the role and looks to be a great fit as a leading action star. Paul Giamatti is perfect as the hilarious bad guy Hertz. I don't think any other actor could have been used here except him. He's on-edge, spastic and quick with one-liners. Any scene involving Giamatti and Owen is full of chemistry and you can't wait to see what these two will do to each other next. You can tell that they're having fun and that makes the movie more enjoyable.

You'll enjoy "Shoot Em Up" only if you understand that its a satirical look at violence and action movies. There's no point in trying to blast the movie for being ludicrous and over the top, because everyone who had a hand in producing the film knows it already. See it if you love action. See it if you love the classic good guy/bad guy confrontations the way they used to be. Or see it if you just want to see a gun fight take place while sky-diving.

For whatever reason, just see it. You won't be disappointed. You'll be grinning by the time you leave the theater.

Finally, a teen comedy done RIGHT!

"Superbad" (2007)
Directed by: Greg Mottola (TV's "Undeclared", "Arrested Development")
Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader
Running Time: 114 minutes
Rut's Rating: A HUGE 5/5

In the last ten years or so, comedy has been sliced into about three categories. Each one has its ups and downs, depending on the material written and the actors cast. They are, in no particular order:

1. The low-budget, quirky, no-real-plot-but-it-will-attain-cult-status comedy, (Dazed and Confused, The Big Lebowski, Napoleon Dynamite)
2. The repetitive let's-pick-a-random-sport-and-throw-random-homoerotic-jokes-in comedy, (Dodgeball, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory)
3. The R-rated youth coming-of-age comedy, (American Pie 1,2, & 3, Road Trip, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle)

Those are all well and good, in fact there are a few movies mentioned that I really love. But sometimes, a movie comes along and sets the bar higher. Or in the case of "Superbad", takes the bar and hurtles it into space.

Written and produced by the same guys who gave us "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and this past summer's "Knocked Up", "Superbad" takes a look at the last month of high school for best friends Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera). Virtually inseparable, these two spend their days day-dreaming about girls and college, and spend their nights hanging with their friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). They're outcasts who choose to do their own thing and never attend parties. This might lead you to believe that they're losers but you'd be wrong. Seth and Evan define what it's like to be a teenager in this day and age, with their shared anti-social behavior and co-dependency on one another. To me, there were always several different groups of kids in high school. The party animals, the artists, the goody-goody A-plussers and the let-it-ride dreamers observing everything. Seth and Evan are the dreamers, the guys you see in the hallway just hanging by themselves. Sure, they're not at all the parties, they don't have girlfriends, and they may not be kings of the school, but they're not looked down on by everyone.

For me, "Superbad" gets high school right in that sense. Watching the movie, I definitely saw more than a few resemblances to my own days as a student at OHS. I saw a few faces that resembled my fellow classmates, but I won't mention names. The movie take a simple approach rather than throwing a bunch of ill-conceived jokes or gags in. What you see is hilarious, and yet believable at the same time. Feeling uncomfortable talking to girls? Check. Being a high school kid who's attending a 20-something bash and feeling way over your head? Yup. Mad that your friend is ditching you for college in the fall? Mmhmm. Its the little things in this movie that make it believable and hysterical at the same time. For Seth and Evan, their goal is simple - score liquor for a house party that just might ensure the affection of the dream girls in their lives. Sounds easy, right?

Jonah Hill and Michael Cera give funny, honest performances as Seth and Evan. Newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse is hysterical as Fogell, or "McLovin" as you'll see from watching. Seth Rogen and Bill Hader round out the male cast as police officers Michaels and Slater, respectively. After Fogell is injured in a liquor store robbery, the cops take a liking to him and he ends up hanging out with them for about 75% of the film. Rogen and Hader are hilarious and I love some of the one-liners they give. Rogen and his friend Evan Goldberg wrote the screenplay when they were 13, and the movie's lead characters are named after them.

You might love "Superbad", you might hate it. You might even connect with it as I did. In my opinion, this is the funniest and best comedy I've seen all year, even in the last few years. This makes anything that Ben Stiller or Will Ferrell did seem amateur and half-assed. Its a movie about teens, yet its smarter than most things involving adults.

See "Superbad". Release your inner "McLovin".

"Halloween" Remake a Fitting Tribute to Original Classic

Ruttle's Reviews

"Halloween" (2007)
Directed by: Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects)
Starring: Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Brad Dourif, Sheri Moon, Daeg Faerch
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rut's Rating: 5/5

In 1978, director John Carpenter introduced movie audiences to the slasher flick; a silent, indestructible psychopath named Michael Myers was arguably the first in a long line of horror film icons to adopt the "crush, kill, destroy" mentality. Myers is a mask-wearing mute who escapes from an asylum to return to his hometown, so he can find his baby sister.

Now in 2007, horror fanatic, musician and outlaw director Rob Zombie has taken the reigns of the franchise. His take on the story is different, but fitting. Zombie shows us the background of this future mass murderer, revealing a childhood immersed in disturbing surroundings. His mother is a stripper, his older sister neglects him, and his step-father is the very definition of sleaze. Michael doesn't seem to let his home life get to him, but its easy for the audience to feel sympathy for him. Yes, that's even knowing what obviously lies ahead in the film.

On Halloween night, young Michael finally loses it. He brutally murders his step-father, his older sister and her boyfriend. Yet he spares the life of his baby sister, holding her in his arms until his mother and then the authorities arrive. What follows is the next chapter in Michael's life; spending the rest of his days at a mental hospital. He has daily sessions with Dr. Samuel Loomis, played by Malcolm McDowell. Loomis has ease talking with Michael, there isn't any visible tension there, but when the subject of Michael's horrendous murder streak comes up, Michael seems to shrug it off or says he can't remember doing it.

For the next 17 years, Myers remains locked up, spending his days making masks and growing to a hulking size. Loomis gives up on treating him, and instead writes a book detailing the murders and his sessions with Michael.

Finally, while being transferred to another wing of the hospital, Michael escapes, killing all of the guards escorting him and making a break for it. He returns to his hometown of Haddonfield on Halloween day, intent on tracking down his baby sister Laurie. This third act of the film is an ever-constant tribute to Carpenter's 1978 original, complete with almost identical cinematography and the familiar score. While watching Michael kill person after person, I found myself only seeing the 10-year-old boy again, as opposed to the present-day, nearly 7-foot behemoth. You never see the adult Michael's face and maybe that's why I only saw the young boy. You just might find yourself doing the same thing.

"Halloween" is, in my opinion, a well-done tribute to the classic original. Obviously, some aspects are different and the tone of the story is altered, but that's the nature of the beast in this hyperspeed Facebook generation. Rob Zombie shows us that what's old can become new again, and that's a rare thing to do in Hollywood these days.

The performances are fitting, as are the actors who display them. Malcolm McDowell is a perfect fit as Dr. Loomis, and Daeg Faerch is scary-good as young Michael. Saskatchewan's own Tyler Mane is a great choice for the adult Michael. While he has no dialogue, Mane perfects the mannerisms and body language of this psychotic-yet-sympathy-enducing killer.

People will argue, people will debate, but see the film for yourself. For those who lost faith in the horror genre, "Halloween" is a blood-soaked miracle in disguise.