“Radio”
By Kevin Brooks, Revelry Writer
“Radio” is the inspirational true story of a mentally-disabled man living in South Carolina in the 1960s who inspires a whole town.
Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Jerry Maguire,” “Rat Race”) stars as James Robert Kennedy, or simply Radio, a man who is often the target of jokes and teasing because of his disability.
A group of high school football players harass Radio by tying him up and locking him in a shed.
Harold Jones (Ed Harris, “Apollo 13”), head coach for the Hanna Yellow Jackets football team, stops the boys and helps Radio.
This marks the beginning of an unusual friendship between Radio and Coach Jones.
Soon, Coach Jones makes Radio an assistant to his football team helping by holding dummy bags, being place holder for the kicker and telling the team, “Don’t quit! Don’t quit!” during games.
This friendship raises eyebrows from some in the community including Principal Daniels (Alfre Woodward, “Primal Fear”), the South Carolina school board and parents of the players.
Radio’s growth, innocence and good heart ultimately inspires the rest of the town. As Coach Jones said in the movie, “We haven’t been the ones teaching Radio. Radio is the one who’s been teaching us.”
“Radio” takes the audience through many laughs along with a few heartbreaking moments, some guaranteed to generate sobs in theaters.
Both Harris and Gooding Jr. are phenomenal in their roles in “Radio.”
For more than half of the movie, Gooding Jr. hardly speaks, but he draws so much power in his character.
“Radio” should give both Harris and Gooding Jr. at least an Academy Award nomination if not a win.
Radio continues to inspire his entire community today. After 38 years, he still assists the Hanna Yellow Jackets. There is even footage of the real Radio during the credits of the movie.
Just like Radio inspired a community, his story will inspire movie goers as well.
A
Mandy Moore “Coverage”
By Leslie Branton, Revelry Writer
Mandy Moore’s latest album, “Coverage,” is just that, a 12-song album of cover songs.
The covers are not the typical pop-formulated fluff she is known for, but modest hit songs from our parents’ generation. With selections such as Elton John’s “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” and Cat Stevens’ “Moonshadow,” Moore attempts to showcase her interpretation of music history, and surprisingly earns a passing grade.
Music aficionados will cringe at the possible massacre of classic music, but the album is no desecration. The album showcases her enormous potential as a singer, more so than her abominable movies (anyone remember last summer’s “How to Deal?”).
Yet music purists will still attack her on her rendition of Blondie’s “One Way or Another,” where her key change and vocal styling seem more karaoke bar than seductive Debbie Harry, though not quite as bad as Britney’s version of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll.”
Her voice is simple, yet pleasant and that’s the beauty of the album. She doesn’t sing 10 notes where only one is needed to showcase her range.
By easing into Carol King’s “I Feel the Earth Move,” Moore presents a more mature approach to being a pop star.
Switching to XTC’s “Senses Working Overtime,” the album showcases an eclectic mix of covered songs. Dan Wilson of Semisonic and former Lemonheads’ frontman Evan Dando even appear on the album.
Mandy Moore has come a long way from the bleach blonde hair and bubble gum “Candy” songs.
Her hair is now a natural dark brown and she still maintains her role model status, while her contemporaries have fallen by the moral wayside. Instead of the expected hip-hop remixes or dance beats, she opts for the folksy rock sound of the 1970s on this album, allegedly to expose her fans to older music.
Even her album cover is reminiscent of a 1970s LP. This is a risky decision for someone among the ranks of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
She has a long way to go to set her self apart from the pop crowd.
Her albums lack the key element of her own serious songwriting, which would legitimize her as a true artist. “Coverage” is different enough to earn attention, but fans, especially young ones, may be turned off by her song choices.
Her tasteful and classy persona may become a haven from the scantily clad vixens permeating the scene with songs written by 40-year-old Swedish men.
Moore’s effort at musical legitimacy is appreciated, but she still will have to combat the fickle tendencies of her fan base.
B-
The Rapture “Echoes”
By Mark F. Bonner, Revelry Writer
Hype can be a dangerous thing for a New York rock band these days – especially one that falls victim to being called the next “The Strokes.”
That tag alone already has ruined half a dozen bands, mostly because no other band has been able to replicate the album sales.
But who said that was the mark of success?
The Rapture is definitely not The Strokes and they definitely will not sell a lot of records – and that’s a shame. What their new album “Echoes” brings to the table is a first to their genre – one that typically rips off old school new wave British music and old Radiohead.
The album, which includes pensive lyrical noise and funk music cowbells, pushes the envelope by remaining sincere to there abilities.
Amid New York City bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s or Interpol, The Rapture maintains a healthy dissimilarity by incorporating euro-influenced dance beats and Boy George – styled vocals.
But that’s only half of the album. The other is a jumbled and confusing bird’s nest of intertwining musical threads. At times it seems the band is trying to be clever beyond their means – like a dim-witted English professor using big words to massage his ego in front of a class.
The moody commencement track “Olio” is a great example. Sample lyric: “Trapped in my thoughts/ You repeating like a machine gun/ Phantasmagoria.”
For the lay person that word is an easier way of saying, “A fantastic sequence of haphazardly associative imagery, as seen in dreams or fever,” according to Dictionary.com.
Other tunes like “I Need Your Love” are considerably less ostentatious, especially with the incorporation of trashy techno beats amidst scrabbled guitars and keyboard work.
The fact that these songs work is astonishing.
It is shameless, but the band does deserve credit for not straying from their usual banter even amidst the overtly deferential chides of reviewers claiming the band is genius. Accolades of their new album being the best of the year are pure heresy.
This album is a good buy to someone who appreciates art rock, but otherwise pass until their next album when they are really going to be great.
C-