|
THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE: 
...with LIVE AID! 30 years ago on July 13, 1985, a trans-Atlantic rock even aimed at aiding starving people in Ethiopia (Its prime movers, like Bob Geldof & Bono, would later discover, actually getting the aid past the Marxist dictatorship would be the difficult part). Let's start with the full set from Queen, because they knew how to work a Wembley stadum gig. Your setlist includes: a partial "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Radio Ga Ga," "Ay Oh!," "Hammer To Fall," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions," and "Is This The World We Created...?" But on a more 80s note--and the event was certainly that-- we have U2 (pre-global stardom) with Bono working the crowd during "Bad," a pre-lip-syncing Madonna getting "Into The Groove," Phil Collins (who played both in Philly and London with help from the Concorde) playing "Against All Odds." The concerts featured their share of legends too-- Led Zeppelin blasting "Whole Lotta Love" (with an assist from Collins), Mick Jagger and Tina Turner dueting on "State of Shock" and "It's Only Rock and Roll," and David Bowie (with help from Thomas Dolby and the band) delivers "Heroes." And for a day, they were. NICOLE ATKINS advance streams Goodnight Rhonda Lee. DAPHNI: Caribou's Dan Snaith advance streams Fabriclive 93. CORNELIUS advance streams Mellow Waves. ARCADE FIRE shares "Electric Blue." NINE INCH NAILS shares "LESS THAN." 
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE work the car wash for "Denise," whom you may know as T'Pol. THE POLARIS PRIZE shortlist is announced. PETER PERRETT, on the poetry of rock 'n' roll, deviant behavior... and living without regrets. PAUL WELLER: The Modfather becomes a father for eighth time. BELLY are now returning to the studio to record new material. U2: Why do the Irish hate them? 
NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases inlcude War For The Planet of the Apes, which is currently scoring 93 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Wish Upon, which is scoring 20 percent. The Big Sick expands to wide release, scoring 97 percent. WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is a satisfying and epic conclusion to the rebooted prequel trilogy...but "war," while literally true (I suppose), might be slightly misleading. As I strive for a spoiler-free comparison, consider that Spartacus is considered a classic epic with a big battle in it...but I don't think that people tend to think of it as a war movie. Rather, WFTPOTA completes the story of Caesar, the leader of the apes, after one of his top advisers plunged them into a war against humanity at the conclusion of the second installment. In particular, it is about the toll this "war" takes on him as he tries to lead his species to safety. As many have observed, it is a tale told almost entirely from the apes' perspective and is designed to get you rooting against humanity. The main human performance here is from Woody Harrelson, who gets to play another psychopath, though a very different sort of psychopath than he played in, say, Natural Born Killers. His insanity, emerging from something Apes watchers know is coming, does make a certain sort of sense...for a psychopath. The only other human performance of real note is from newcomer Amiah Miller, who plays a small girl with a key role. The rest is simply to marvel at how much each installment has leveraged tech advances to allow for various actors like Andy Serkis and Judy Greer to translate their performances as apes to remarkable CGI. The notable addition here is Steve Zahn, who primarily functions as comic relief as another character whose name I won't mention. STOP THE PLANET OF THE APES, I WANT TO GET OFF: An Oral History. THE EMMYS nominations are out. Congrats, robots and handmaids! Sorry, the snubbed. SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING co-stars Tom Holland and Zendaya are dating. JENNIFER LOPEZ hired a private investigator to tail her boyfriend, Alex Rodriguez. KID ROCK appears to be running for the US Senate, maybe. THE WALKING DEAD: Newly filed court documents that shed unprecedented light on the economics of the show and on Hollywood in general...not to mention some of Frank Darabont's more angry emails. A DIRTY DANCING re-enactment goes horribly wrong. 
A HIPPO FAMILY is united. THE SQUIRREL THREAT: This Is War. A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR: Little pink horses for you and me. THE MACAQUE MONKEY SELFIE is back in court.
|
