LeeMail- 3/10/2000

LEEMail

I guess I just wasn't made for these times.

Santana's Supernatural was just certified 8X platinum in February. That's 8 million copies, kids. Now - you wanna know what really sucks? Pet Sounds was JUST certified gold the same month. That's 500,000 copies. Now seriously, will people be listening to Supernatural in 3 years, let alone 30? Somebody kill me now.

Reason there's no God #244: Kid Rock is dating James King.

You know what record I can't get enough of lately? Marvin Gaye's Here, My Dear [Motown]. Yeah, I know - it's supposed to suck. It's supposed to be nothing more than a 2LP "payoff" to his ex-wife. It was one of the first records I remember there being TONS of in cut-out bins. Yeahyeahyeah - blahblahblah. Wait a minute, listen to it. The songs of love lost are truly heart wrenching and the grooves make my spine all a-slinky. "A Funky Space Reincarnation"? You freakin' bet. A revelation, and at 73 minutes - time truly well spent. Magic. Marvin was really onto something, and nobody got it. Happens all the time. But, there are always records that we're supposed to hate for some reason. It's like Elvis Costello's Goodbye Cruel World. I mean, even he hates it, but somebody tell me why this is such a bad record. Four words: "I Wanna Be Loved". Okay, so it's no IbMePdErRoIoAmL - but what is? Some people's shit may not stink (unless it's mixed with Burt Bacharach's...) Of course, I'm the guy whose favorite Neil Young album is Landing on Water. Seriously. (BTW E.C. fans Ryko's licensing deal is over, and Elvis' catalog is back in his hands. The stuff's available (complete with "extended play" segments) for download at www.emusic.com, but I'd suggest picking up the Ryko issues while you can find them - the great packaging, photos & liner notes cannot be beat).

Happy Birthday To Thee From LEE This Week©:

03/10/40 Dean Torrence

03/12/22 Jack Kerouac

03/14/79 Albert Einstein (that's 1879, kids)

03/15/47 Ry Cooder

Favorite Song Of All Time This Week©: "Surf City" - Jan & Dean. 2 girls for every boy, indeed!

Hey! Oasis has a - thing out. Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants [Epic]. There's good news & bad news. The good news is that when you hit 'play' you don't have to immediately suffer through a Beatles rip-off. The bad news is that you have to suffer through a Chemical Brothers rip-off first. Then comes the single - the same single they've released 14 times now. Christ, I don't know if they're more boring or over at this point. The high point of the record is 2 numbers sung by Noel. It's actually nice to get a break from that off key, nasal whine of Liam's. Unfortunately, it comes back to close the record. Fitting. Maybe they should just dump his ass and go it as a foursome. But not until the Robbie Williams fight...

Favorite Album Of All Time This Week©: Revolver - The Beatles. Just because.

Catching Up On Academy Screener Copies this Week©:

Fight Club - Hmmm.... I'm going to think of a movie I hate more than Fight Club. Hmmm... Nothing's coming to me...

The Insider - Well, I liked this one. Solid performances, stylish direction, maybe a half hour too long - but a fine film. Elements that you might find dreary or clichÈ in other films seemed to work quite nicely in this piece. Whenever you film an actual event with characters you are aware of outside of the film - you can tread in some dangerous water. The Insider had me, held me, gave me small kisses and an occasional nibble. I now know why Mike Wallace didn't like this film - Christopher Plummer plays him exactly like you'd imagine him to be when he's not sitting in front of that big stopwatch. Even though I found Kevin Spacey to be the only good thing in American Beauty, I think I liked Russell Crowe's performance here better. Pacino? He's always good, isn't he?

Ooh, more questions for me... A young ladd from Los Gatos asks:

Why is it that "healthy" cardboard-tasting cereal and "bad for you" yummy sugar-crusted cereal has the same number of calories per serving?

Well, that's easy. Because cereal (when you get right down to it) is a substitute for a good, balanced breakfast. So - if you got off your lazy ass and made yourself some decent food, you wouldn't have to worry about calories, carbs or even whatever free fucking goodie came inside the goddamn box. Capiche?

Garson Kanin, 86. Playwright. March 13

Leon "Lee" Falk, 87. Creator of "Mandrake The Magician" & "The Phantom." March 13

Kirk Alyn, 88. The movies' first Superman. March 14.

Still trying to think of a movie I hate more than Fight Club. Wow. What a terrible film - full of horribly pretentious dialogue, annoying computer animation and 'desperate attempts to keep the film interesting' camera movements. Talk about a half hour too long. I think Gertrude said it best when she said "More matter with less art." (Why'd Bill kill her off before she got some other gems out?) Thank God we got to see Brad Pitt with his shirt off, that - at least - was nice to look at. (Although, wouldn't Meat Loaf with his shirt off been a more interesting choice?) SPOILER for those who haven't seen it but want to: If Norton was fighting himself the whole time, how did he get anyone to follow him? Wouldn't they have all thought he was crazy and simply beat the shit out of him (if he hadn't done it already?)