Song of the Day: Plush (by Stone Temple Pilots)

Posted on by Arleigh

My latest pick for “Song of the Day” takes me back….way back to those early days post-high school. Only a couple years removed from graduating high school and maneuvering my ways through the turbulent seas of what would be my college years, it was only typical that music would be one of the few things that would anchor things for me during my Adrift Years.

Stone Temple Pilots is part of what I consider as the Big Four of alternative rock of the 1990’s or as some would label that particular sound as “grunge”. Alternative rock, grunge or just plain old hard rock, Stone Temple Pilots made their mark in the early 90’s rock scene with the second single off of their 1993 debut album Core.

“Plush” has always been one of my favorite songs of that era. I played that song on repeat and was one of my go-to Stone Temple Pilots track until “Interstate Love Song” a year later came along. The song was carried by Scott Weiland’s iconic vocals and its dark lyrics. I never knew how dark a song “Plush” was until finding out from a Weiland interview that it was based on a true story of a girl who had been kidnapped and murdered in the early 90’s.

Whether a song inspired by a true-crime story or a metaphor for a failed relationship (as Weiland has said the lyrics represented), “Plush” will remain one of those songs from my young adult years that I would revisit every year to reminisce.

Plush

And I feel that time’s a wasted go
So where you goin’ ’til tomorrow?
And I see that these are lies to come
So would you even care?

And I feel it
And I feel it

Where you goin’ for tomorrow?
Where you goin’ with the mask I found?
And I feel, and I feel when the dogs begin to smell her
Will she smell alone?

And I feel so much depends on the weather
So, is it rainin’ in your bedroom?
And I see that these are the eyes of disarray
So would you even care?

And I feel it
And she feels it

Where you goin’ for tomorrow?
Where you goin’ with the mask I found?
And I feel, and I feel when the dogs begin to smell her
Will she smell alone?

When the dogs do find her
Got time, time to wait for tomorrow
To find it, to find it, to find it
When the dogs do find her
Got time, time to wait for tomorrow
To find it, to find it, to find it

Where you goin’ for tomorrow?
Where you goin’ with the mask I found?
And I feel, and I feel when the dogs begin to smell her
Will she smell alone?

When the dogs do find her
Got time, time to wait for tomorrow
To find it, to find it, to find it
When the dogs do find her
Got time, time to wait for tomorrow
To find it, to find it, to find it

To find it
To find it
To find it

A Blast From The Past: Rock: It’s Your Decision (dir by John Taylor)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Pacific Blue will not be reviewed this week so that we might bring you this special broadcast of 1982’s Rock It’s Your Decision!

Jeff (Ty Taylor) has been challenged to think about the music he listens to and to only listen to Christian music for a few weeks.  Jeff takes the challenge and, in the film’s climatic speech, he reveals that even Barry Manilow is a servant of the Devil.  This film is dated, incredibly silly, and oddly watchable.  It might have had more impact if the lead character wasn’t so dorky.  “I love a get down beat!”  I love the way his voice cracks when he shouts, “Do you think I’m sexy?”

Pacific Blue will return next week.  For now, check out Rock It’s Your Decision!

**Update** on CHARLES BRONSON – More than a Vigilante – THE MUSICAL! Take a listen to “Bronson Don’t Sing!”

Posted on by Bradley Crain

A few months ago, I told you about a young man named Henry Brooks, who has written a musical about the life of Charles Bronson. Every person who follows this site closely knows how much I love Charles Bronson. It makes me so happy that Henry has shared his talents in a way that is respectful of Charles Bronson, while also providing a fun and serious look at his life and movie career. I promised Henry that I would do what I could to share this project. Heck, I’d love to see it on Broadway some day! The album is produced by Stephen Glickman (Big Time Rush), with Steven Weber (Wings) and Lisa Loeb (Stay: I Missed You) contributing their talents as Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland. There are so many good songs on the album, but I think my personal favorite song is called “Toshiro and I,” which is Henry’s amusing take on Bronson’s film with Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, RED SUN. Henry’s personal favorite songs are “Bronson Don’t Sing,” and “Leave the Mine Behind.” I can’t argue, they’re great songs, but there are many others as well. There are a total of 16 songs on the album, and the songs take Bronson from the coal mines all the way to being the most popular movie star on the planet.

I’ve linked to YouTube versions of the songs below! Take a moment to subscribe if you get the chance. You can also find the album on Spotify and Apple Music. Physical copies of the album should be available in the very near future. I can’t wait to add the Vinyl release to my collection!

A couple of months ago, the “This Week in Charles Bronson” podcast interviewed Henry Brooks for the 2nd time, but this time we discuss the completed concept album. We’ve dedicated a significant amount of time to Bronson Awareness and Education, and we’re honored to do our part to help spread the word on this important project!

Lakeview Terrace (2008, directed by Neil LaBute)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) move in to a large house in the Lakeview Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles.  It’s a good house in a good neighborhood and it’s just too bad that their neighbor, Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), is a corrupt cop who hates interracial couples.

I remember that Lakeview Terrace caused a brief stir when it was released in 2008.  It was hardly the first film about an interracial couple being harassed by a bigot but it was one of the few where the bigot in question was a black man.  Abel hates white people.  He says it’s because his wife was cheating on him with a white man when she was killed in a car accident.  He does not appreciate Chris listening to rap music and dropping his cigarettes on the street. When Abel’s children spot Chris and Lisa having sex in their swimming pool, that’s all Abel needs to justify his dislike of the couple and his feelings that he doesn’t want this couple living next door.  When Chris asks if Abel could turn off the floodlights that shine into their bedroom window, Abel refuses.  When Chris tries to plant privacy trees, Abel cuts them down.  What starts out as a neighborhood feud escalates as Abel orders one of his informants to break into Chris and Lisa’s house.  Unfortunately, that third act twist also signals the moment that Lakeview Terrace goes from being a reasonably intelligent social satire to being a standard thriller.  Neil LaBute is a director who specializes in making people uncomfortable so it is too bad that Lakeview Terrace ends in a way designed to conform to what audiences have come to expect from thrillers.

Abel’s a hateful figure but Samuel L. Jackson is just as charismatic as ever and the passive-aggressive way that he initially responds to Chris and Lisa will be familiar to anyone who has ever had a bad neighbor or who has to deal with a cop having a bad day.  Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington, neither one of whom is really that interesting an actor to begin with, are both stuck in bland roles and struggle to keep up with Jackson.  (Wilson and Washington even get out-acted by Ron Glass, playing Lisa’s disapproving father.)  It throws the movie off-balance.  At the same time, Jackson is such an actor who projects so much intelligence that it’s hard to believe that Abel would make the stupid mistakes that he makes towards the end of the movie.  Lakeview Terrace starts out fairly strong but loses its way towards the end.

A Blast From The Past: The Mama Cass Television Program (dir by Sid Smith)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Normally, this is where and when I would post my weekly review of Fantasy Island but, due to this being a busy week, my Retro Television Reviews are on break until Sunday.  Fear not, though, we have alternative programming!

From 1969, it’s The Mama Cass Television Program!  This was actually meant to be a pilot for a variety show that would have been hosted by Mama Cass Elliott, formerly of the Mamas and the Papas.  For that reason, there’s some comedy bits along with Cass singing.  Keep an eye out for Martin Landau!  The comedy, to be honest, is a bit cringey but it really doesn’t matter when you’ve got Cass Elliott and her amazing voice.

Fantasy Island will return next week but for now….

 

Song of the Day: Overture (Lawrence of Arabia) by Maurice Jarre

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Lawrence of Arabia (dir. by David Lean)

Since today is David Lean’s birthday, it only seems appropriate that today’s song of the day should come from the film that is regularly acknowledged as being Lean’s masterpiece, 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia.  Composed by Maurice Jarre, here is one of the greatest film scores of all times.

Scenes That I Love: David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The great British director David Lean was born 117 years ago today.

In honor of his films and his legacy, here is a scene that I love from Lawrence of Arabia.  In this scene, Peter O’Toole blowing out a flame transports us straight to a sunrise in the desert.  Though Lean started out his career directing small-scale but emotionally rich films like Brief Encounter and Great Expectations, he ultimately became best-known for directing historical epics and cinematic spectacles.  This scene shows us why.  Even to this day, it seems as if any epic film is destined to be compared to the work of David Lean.