“Big Fish”
By Matt Grady, Revelry Writer
Tim Burton steps behind the camera to direct Ewan McGregor and an all-star cast in “Big Fish.”
“Big Fish” tells the story chronicling the adventures of Edward Bloom – an Alabama man whose lighthearted, fairy tale-type stories take him out of his small town where he was always “a big fish in a small pond” and into the real world.
Bloom tells stories of his life and love, and the strange people he meets on his journey through life. Such characters include a witch with a mystical glass eye, a benevolent giant and conjoined Vietnamese twin singing sensations.
Bloom tells these stories when he is an old man (Albert Finney), looking back on his young self (McGregor). While his stories are quick to enchant everyone else, his son Will (Billy Crudup) sees them as tall tales that alienate him from his father.
Will’s aggression toward his father comes from a childhood of being fatherless while Bloom went on his adventures. That, combined with a basic skepticism of his father’s wildly imaginative claims provides a conflict between father and son.
From Burton’s previous hits like “Edward Scissorhands” and “Batman Returns,” he has created a dark, twisted tone for his movies. Along with having this same feel, “Big Fish” contains some parts that are just plain surreal, not surprising given the fact that Burton is at the helm.
In the end, “Big Fish” will charm and touch moviegoers just as those who know Edward Bloom are touched in the film.
A
Ani Difranco
“Educated Guess”
By John Mandeville, Revelry Writer
Ani Difranco cannot outdo the records she has made in the past, but her twenty-first solo album “Educated Guess” is a refreshing step in a new direction.
At her core Difranco is a poet, and it shows with four of the 14 tracks being spoken word.
Included in the liner notes are three additional poems unavailable anywhere else.
Difranco’s stellar poetry could also be considered her downfall, because she seems to struggle sometimes to match the lines with the rhythm of the song.
To her credit, this disc is the first in which she played all the instruments, sang lead and backing vocals, recorded and mixed everything in home studios in New Orleans and Buffalo, N.Y.
“Bubble” is the standout track here – the most rhythmic and flowing.
In it, she pulls the heart with the line: “I want you always to remember/ baby, if you can/ how much you hated the woman/ who made you a man.”
The album has problems though, mainly in that most songs are anticlimactic.
When she builds to a climax, the crescendo is lost to a soft bridge or an awkward chord change and, at some points, Difranco could simply restring or retune her guitar to make the sound better.
“Educated Guess” also contains redundant vocal harmony which is obnoxious and really only works in a few songs.
Difranco used vintage reel-to-reel equipment to record the album, which can account for some of the problems it holds.
She expands on “Bliss Like This” a bluesy track with a touch of New Orleans style which undoubtedly comes from her recent move to the city.
“Origami” is a beautiful song in response to men’s needs in a relationship.
She sings: “I know men are delicate origami creatures/ who need women to unfold them.”
Overall, the album has a dull shine but also expresses beautiful imagery and feeling to the point where Difranco is exposed.
The songs are decent, but her true calling is as a poet.
B-