Entertainment For Lively Minds
Stuck in a rut
Posted by Simon Ford on 29 May 2009 - 1:45pm.
Following on from the consistently good thread; who or what used to be consistently good, but now turns out clunker after clunker on a consistent basis.
Doesn't have to be music. Here's a few for starters:
REM Don't think there has been a band that has gone from such great heights to such an endless rut.
Q Used to be a great magazine. A long time ago.
Robert de Niro What was the last great film he was in?
Kermode & Mayo Gone from being very entertaining to tedious in the extreme. The contrived banter has turned into panto. Every time they say "hello Stephen Fry" it's goodbye from me.
Van Morrison I think 1980 pretty much marks the turning point.
- More from Simon Ford.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Robert De Niro
"Meet The Parents". I love that film.
"Heat" colleague:
Al Pacino has recently been turning in some weapons-grade clunkers as well
Also, controversial I'll admit, Ridley Scott. Downhill from Gladiator onwards and that was 9 years ago
No, really
I *love* "Meet The Parents". It's better than 75% of the films he's been in, in which he's generally called upon to sleepwalk his way through some medley of Catholic guilt and random violence.
More of a collective effort
Yes he is good in "Meet.." but can you really classify it as "a Robert de Niro film" and arguably he is just playing very straight to the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson clowning and not really having to try very hard. Nine years ago too.
I think what makes most of his films so poor....
....is they're straining so hard to be "a Robert De Niro film" that they forget to be just a film.
Also, financial concerns...
most famously Tribeca, have probably made him accept every payslip going. Having done 28 films since Heat, I think he is quite lucky that we still have a memory of what a "Robert De Niro" film is. Interestingly that other method man, Daniel Day Lewis has done 5 films in that time.
Midnight Run..
Definitely one of his best. Although, Charles Grodin almost steals the show with his deadpan delivery.
Couldn't agree more...
it's a fantastic movie... De Niro cracks me up every time I watch it.
Martin Amis
I continue to buy his books in the hope of a return to the high water marks of the eighties (Money, London Fields) when he was (I think) easily the best writer from these shores. I still (usually) enjoy his work but typically I'm left feeling a bit disappointed.
Jonathan Ross
has gone from being a faintly lewd, cheeky but diverting gobshite to being the faintly creepy lechrous middle-aged uncle who turns up at family weddings leching at the girls and telling them off-colour jokes, who've already been warned off him.
It's just all so tired and contrived now. The title of his latest book says it all, "Why Do I Say These Things?" Some one shoul have called it, "Why Won't You Shut Up?"
Nail on head...
I'm sick of seeing the sweaty palmed lecher's mid-life crisis unfold in public.
Given the sales figures of that book
I may be one of the few people who've read it. The chapters are very short (like one of Clarkson's collections of columns) and full of the lewd stories he's told on Saturday mornings. However, there are a few thoughtful passages on the nature of fame, which suggests that he should be smart enough to amend his public image once more.
I'm more annoyed by his treatment of Film '09. There's no love put into them: a couple of lines regarding the week's releases he may or may not have seen; a DVD extra masquerading as a feature; and, an interview with his Friday show's film star, knocked off whilst they were passing through. I had expected a lot more from him. His documentaries for Channel 4 and BBC4 were very good.
how about the stones, bob dylan
and Mike leigh.
Can't disagree with the Stones
who, in a wonderfully post-modern reflexive twist have removed the need for Rolling Stones tribute acts by becoming their own. Have they done anything not shit since about 1980?
For evidence, I submit the following comparison:
She's A Rainbow; lyrically beautiful, musically adventurous. In a word: gorgeous.
Mixed Emotions: rotten turgid guff, made worse by rhyming 'nuts' and 'guts'. In a word: excrement.
Their own tribute act ...
doesn't this even more accurately refer to the Who?
Possibly
though I'd contend that Ol' Bignose and the erstwhile trout farmer are doing rather more than the flaccid (and I'm not pronouncing it 'flacksid' either ;) ) going through the motions that most Stones outings seem to be now.
Start Me Up
1981........
Since then, well.............maybe half a point for Undercover of the Night...and another quarter of a point for it being used in The Sopranos.
Q - actually getting better from a nadir about 6 months back. Latest issue with Springsteen is very readable.
Their own tribute band
but not the best. I think they pull an audience in because of who they are and not because of any particularly good playing.
Ray Davies
Come on, has he ever written anything decent in the last 25 years?
what did he do in 1984 that was so good?
:-)
errrr...
Good point, make that 38 years!!
Sorry for stating the bleedin' obvious but...
..Prince.
Still a fantastic live act though
Did You See...
The excreble 'Come Dancing' musical? Here is a genius of pop who could be lyricly profound and georgeously witty writing a dull play on the theme of a mixed race relationship in the fifties. Actually the music wasn't that bad...
Hey, how about Ringo Starr. what has he produced in the last thirty years that's come close to 'Ringo'.??? eh???
Ringo's finest hour?
Lazy cliches again.
I cannot agree that Van Morrison has done nothing of note since 1980. Many of his later cd's are as good as the back catalogue that everyone raves about. It is not just Van Morrison who suffers from the 'not as good as his vintage years' criticism though. Mark Knopfler has done much much better solo stuff than he ever did with Dire Straits yet it is always that stuff that people want to hear. Same with Costello - most critics think the first 3 or 4 albums were by far his best - that's complete tosh in my opinion. Guess we will have to disagree on Van Morrison.
Maybe I was
a bit harsh with Van. I think a lot of his more recent stuff is ok, but nothing more. I've got most of them but rarely find myself going back to them. I guess it's personal opinion.
Just out of interest, which of his recent albums do you think rank alongside his best?
I would say
most of his 80s run stands up - Common One through Enlightenment - perhaps Sense of Wonder had lesser merit (but a great title track). During this time he was definitely exploring one particular creative avenue, a kind of celtic twilight spirituality vibe if you will, and it was fascinating and rewarding to discover how he constantly refined and made new innovations to the basic template. Particular favourites for me from this period are Inarticulate Speech..., No Guru.....and Poetic Champions Compose. He also of course had a 'holiday' from this theme when he collaborated with the Chieftains for Irish Heartbeat, which is utterly fabulous.
For me, the quality started to drop after Hymns to the Silence, and Ive really struggled to like much of the output since.
Nail
Hit squarely on the head
What?..
..you don't like his 1995 effort..
"Critics ripped me off, just like those other bastards in the vales of Avalon, while Keats and J.B Lenoir looked on..fuck it I'll just do a blues" ?
His 80's output is hardly recent though
Almost 30 years old in some cases!
I agree with what your point however, Hymns To The Silence is the last album I still listen to, and it was at the end of a long run of quality output. For the last 20 years, he's been on auto-pilot in the studio.
To be honest, I'm not sure I could even quote you the titles of his recent (last 5-10 years) albums
I love this song
Neil Young...
has proved consistently over the last 15 years that you can't polish a turd. He has a chronic case of musical diarrhoea and is in need of treatment.
diarrhoea???
..fotunately, the product of that condition tends to be flushed away.
Young's increasingly tiresome mewlings are foisted upon the public as glittering jewels of the man's genius.
Well....
He probably hasn't done anything decent since his long term producer David Briggs died.
Prince
My mum sent me the free CD that was on the Mail on Sunday and even though it was free, I felt ripped off.
Ray Davies last 2
..solo albums contain material that is as good as anything he's ever written.
There I've said it.
'Ray Davies Last 2' comment
Yeah, the guy can still write songs...I just wanted to have a moan about the 2 hour piece of shit I had to sit through...'Lazy Old Ray'
Neil Young
Patrick,
I take it you think he just puts out shit and doesn't care if it is good music or not.I do not like all of Neil's recent albums, but his music has always been different from each album and there will always be hits and misses with Neil.I liked Chrome Dreams 2 which has several great tracks that are from a garage rock sound (Ordinary People and Dirty old Man)to a beautiful country ballad(The Way)and I particularly liked Greendale which is a great R and B album with something to say about the Bush administration and global warming.I can't get spotify in Canada, but if these 2 albums are on it, give them a listen.
Kernode and Mayo - catch
Kernode and Mayo - catch yourself on. The Marley and Me review recentlt was absolutely tremendous.
HOWEVER: The Jason Isaacs post Sony Awards winning 'surprise' visit to the studio, was luvvie in the extreme and the producer should be shot for it. As Radio London's Candy man says: self indulgent nonsense.
Morrissey
...Quarry and Ringleader... both had their moments (and a few bits of the latest one are OK) but I've never known a songwriter in more dire need of a kick up the arse than old Mozzer these days. The saddest thing is knowing that, even in the astonishingly unlikely event of him getting one, he'll do his damndest to ignore it.
In fact it could be said even more of his main co-writers, Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer, who have been treading water to ever-diminishing returns for a good 15 years now.
FA Cup final day
FA Cup final day used to be a big deal (even if the matches themselves were normally rather dull) Now it isn’t. Same goes for:
Stevie Wonder
The Mirror
Mojo
Billy Connolly
Coronation Street
Perhaps an odd choice: Status Quo
For a short early 70s while they were really good, think all the singles, Caroline etc etc
British Schools
.
Van since 1980
I think The Healing Game, Magic Time, Back on Top are all very good. Hymns to the silence is actually my personal favourite and Carrickfergus on Irish Heartbeat is sublime.
Agree with Shane that both the Ray Davies recent solo albums are excellent.
Also concur that Neil Young has made some great late period cd's but accept he has made some clunkers too.
Radcliffe, but not Riley
Still love Lard (wonderful 6Music shows...), but the boy Mark has gone off the boil since settling down into cosy Radio 2 mode.
REM
It's just wrong for people to say they haven't made decent records since Automatic... or since Bill Berry left. Up is one the one greatest records ever made and every album has had 4 or 5 belters on them.
Well done for standing up for 'Up'...
a brilliant record to be sure.
I can't stand Up for falling down
Reveal
I thought Reveal was fantastic......but then so did Q
Little Boots
"Meddle" was just genius, but she's just gone downhill from there. Nothing she has done in the last 9 months has come anywhere near it. Frankly I think her career is over. ;-)
Gene Hunt
Enough said, probably.
George Lucas
From the brilliance of 'Star Wars' to the utter shambles that is 'Revenge of the Sith' (a mean-spirited, emotionally absent death-fest).
And don't get me started on the TV series...
Ricky Gervais
It may be too early to tell, but he can only play one type of character.
I agree about Coronation Street and Mojo and Gene Hunt.
Gervais
I saw his cameo appearance in Night At The Museum on TV the other day - it was as unintenionally cringeworthy, unfunny and embarassing as David Brent was meant to be intentionally cringeworthy etc etc...Terrible!
Demonstrates the danger
of believing one's own propaganda, I suspect.
Gervais is, unfortunately over-exposed.
The Neil, Van, Dylan debates above demonstrate a chasm that I was pondering on posting yesterday, but more along the lines of 'Artists that people are afraid to criticise'. There are those that believe that these rock behemoths can do no wrong, even when they turn out a paint-by-numbers effort or a 'difficult' album.
In the latter case, the argument is supposedly that the critics 'Just Don't Get It', implying the superiority of those lauding what is in many cases a pile of wombat droppings. As I said on another thread, the 'Emperor's New Clothes' syndrome applies.
What keeps them going? Can't be a shortage of money, could it be vanity, or fear of dropping out of the public eye? They definitely don't listen to criticism, or more likely only surround themselves with acolytes and 'yes-men', otherwise the quality control would be much better.
or perhaps
they are just playing what they want, the way they want to without worrying whether critics and record companies like it. If fans like it, all the better. I suppose that's vanity after a fashion but others may see it slightly differently.