A BIT OF A JAM DOWN UNDER.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic AUSSIE DIRECTOR Alex Proyas cut his teeth making music videos for bands like Crowded House and INXS INXS In Excess (band) INXS Internet Exchange Service , so you'd think he'd know the cardinal rule of rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. yarns: If you're going to have a love story, keep it in the band (i.e. Lennon-McCartney or Tufnel-St. Hubbins). It's always more interesting. Proyas, best-known for his noirish sci-fi epics ``The Crow'' and ``Dark City,'' visits the sunny end of the street with his latest, ``Garage Days.'' Not surprisingly, this unfocused un·fo·cused also un·fo·cussed adj. 1. Not brought into focus: an unfocused lens. 2. , visually arresting movie works best when Proyas is doing what comes naturally, turning over stones and examining the dark side. In this case, that's the creepy-crawly creatures that populate the music business. Those moments, though, are sandwiched between a hazy mishmash mish·mash n. A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge. [Middle English misse-masche, probably reduplication of mash, soft mixture; see mash. of soap-opera sap, one-note characters and plot lines we've seen in dozens of other movies. Here, the line between clever and stupid isn't so fine. The story's derivative nature is somewhat surprising since Proyas was once in an Aussie garage band himself and should know better. But in telling the story of a struggling young group of noisemakers looking to hit the big time in Sydney, Proyas, directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Dave Warner Dave Warner is an Australian rock musician and an author. Biography Dave Warner was born in Bicton, Western Australia in 1953. He attended Aquinas College and then the University of Western Australia where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons.), majoring in psychology. and Michael Udesky, focuses far too much attention on a love triangle A love triangle is a romantic relationship involving three people (known as a triad). While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two. involving Freddy (Kick Gurry gur·ry n. Fish offal. [Originally a whaling term for the refuse left over from processing whale blubber, perhaps from dialectal gurry, diarrhea.] ), the singer with big dreams; Joe (Brett Stiller), the guitarist with bad dreams; and Kate (Maya Stange), the girl stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again. As written and acted, that narrative isn't very remarkable, particularly when the filmmakers don't bother to flesh out the lifelong friendship between the two warring bandmates. Proyas is on surer ground when he skewers the Australian music scene (or lack thereof) and concentrates on Freddy's pursuit of a contract with a cynical manager (Marton Csonkas), who could give the band - still searching for its first gig, by the way - a ticket to the big time. It's an unwieldy mix, and ``Garage Days'' ultimately collapses under the conflicting tones, attitudes and messages. But it has a good energy, a heady style and a first-rate soundtrack featuring bands like the Hives, Supergrass supergrass Noun Brit, Austral & NZ an informer who names a large number of people as terrorists or criminals, esp. one who gives this information in order to avoid being put on trial Noun 1. and the Jam. So it's not painful for the eyes and ears - just the intellect. And in this case, two out of three ain't good. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com GARAGE DAY - Two stars (R: strong sexuality, drug content, language) Starring: Kick Curry, Brett Stiller, Maya Stange. Director: Alex Proyas. Running time: 1 hr. 45 min. Playing: Laemmle's Sunset 5, West Hollywood. In a nutshell: Not painful for the eyes and ears - just the intellect. |
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