Misc. Open Season Stuff

[headlightbeams]

Two from the Heartland:

The Kalamazoo Gazette: There's an off-putting, assembly-line feel to the entire film, from the opening set to Talking Heads' ``Wild Wild Life'' (Rule No. 1 for Generic Animated Comedies: When in doubt, crank up a golden oldie) to its mildly naughty bathroom humor. ... Dismal, whiny songs by Paul Westerberg and Pete Yorn (Rule No. 4: Throw a little alternative-rock on the soundtrack for ``edginess'') will make older viewers nostalgic for the days of Disney's ``Beauty and the Beast,'' ``The Lion King'' and ``Pocahontas.''

The Toledo Blade: And it's kind of remarkable to hear Paul Westerberg, the leader of indie rock legends the Replacements, crooning the sentimental soundtrack.

[graeme]

seems to be goin down a storm,he better cancel tux for the oscar`s................

[headlightbeams]

San Francisco Chronicle: And any goodwill the movie accumulates is negated by the fact that former "The Replacements" front man Paul Westerberg contributes to the soundtrack and score -- thus confirming that rock is dead.

[scoOter]

riverr said:

San Francisco Chronicle: And any goodwill the movie accumulates is negated by the fact that former "The Replacements" front man Paul Westerberg contributes to the soundtrack and score -- thus confirming that rock is dead.

flag on the goddamned play! unecessary roughness!!!

[headlightbeams]

There is a bit of piling on. What do you call that in rugby? Because here's screendaily.com of the UK: One concession to hipper parents is a handful of new (though not particularly memorable) songs written and performed for the film by Paul Westerberg, former front man of 1980s rock band The Replacements.

[cford]

riverr said:

San Francisco Chronicle: And any goodwill the movie accumulates is negated by the fact that former "The Replacements" front man Paul Westerberg contributes to the soundtrack and score -- thus confirming that rock is dead.

I'm trying to figure out what this means...Westerberg fronted the Replacements, so the music should have been better or he sold-out or what?

CF

[scoOter]

i'm interested & horrified how every single review points out "... the former leader of the replacements...". a movie review is supposed to be about the movie, right. i mean, again, i am defending paul because i love him, and i think his new songs are pretty great, but his songs do not equal the movie. and the movie does not equal his songs.

it's funny because i love paul i have always approached this movie as a method of getting the songs. i haven't really cared two shits about the movie itself. i never even thought about the movie, and whether or not it is going to be any good. now that i hear more about about, i realize how bad the movie has the potential to be, but that isn't paul's fault, reviewers.

i just think some of them are having a difficult time separating the two.

[allshookup]

I'm a little annoyed by the "these songs are OK, but they're kids songs" train of thought. I think they stand up remarkably well.

If these 8 (or 9) songs were released as an album without being tied to a children's movie, we would be loving them. I mean, it's what I've been reading about here for a couple years: PW gets out of the basement. PW gets off the drums. PW actually records with His Only Friends. PW makes new music with Tommy Stinson.

I haven't seen the movie, and probably won't. But I for one am so very glad to have these new songs.

[cford]

scooterboy said:

i'm interested & horrified how every single review points out "... the former leader of the replacements...". a movie review is supposed to be about the movie, right. i mean, again, i am defending paul because i love him, and i think his new songs are pretty great, but his songs do not equal the movie. and the movie does not equal his songs.

I just read a bunch of Open Season reviews over on rottentomatoes.com where the movie is running about 50/50 favorable vs unfavorable. The soundtrack is rarely mentioned but those critics that do mention it sound like frustrated musicians that always want to take a crack at Paul..

CF

[nazareth]

cford said:

scooterboy said:

i'm interested & horrified how every single review points out "... the former leader of the replacements...". a movie review is supposed to be about the movie, right. i mean, again, i am defending paul because i love him, and i think his new songs are pretty great, but his songs do not equal the movie. and the movie does not equal his songs.

I just read a bunch of Open Season reviews over on rottentomatoes.com where the movie is running about 50/50 favorable vs unfavorable. The soundtrack is rarely mentioned but those critics that do mention it sound like frustrated musicians that always want to take a crack at Paul..

CF

Almost every movie on that site is 50/50. There's always people that like something and always people that hate it.

[cford]

nazareth said:

cford said:

I just read a bunch of Open Season reviews over on rottentomatoes.com where the movie is running about 50/50 favorable vs unfavorable. The soundtrack is rarely mentioned but those critics that do mention it sound like frustrated musicians that always want to take a crack at Paul..

CF

Almost every movie on that site is 50/50. There's always people that like something and always people that hate it.

That's not what I observe (unscientifically) over there.. 50/50 splits are not unusual but it seems a little more common for movies to be either universally praised or universally panned..maybe around 80/20..(50/50 is probably common for this particular genre, however. I don't think critics really know what to do with children's movies most of the time.. Roger Ebert, for example, has admitted that before.

CF

[ClamsCasino]

allshookup said:

I'm a little annoyed by the "these songs are OK, but they're kids songs" train of thought. I think they stand up remarkably well.

If these 8 (or 9) songs were released as an album without being tied to a children's movie, we would be loving them. I mean, it's what I've been reading about here for a couple years: PW gets out of the basement. PW gets off the drums. PW actually records with His Only Friends. PW makes new music with Tommy Stinson.

I don't know. On the one hand, I was totally thrilled at the prospect of PW getting off the drums and recording with a band and a budget, but obviously that did come with a compromise. For me, it's all worth it just for All About Me and Love You in the Fall, both of which I absolutely love, but it's hard to deny that the other tracks do sound like they're from a children's movie. I didn't really think so on first listen (except for Any Better Than This and Right To Arm Bears), but then listening to it in the presence of other people led me to readjust my perspective a little. After two different people at two different times said the same thing ("This sounds like cartoon music"), I had to admit to myself that it did sound like cartoon music. Keep in mind that these were people who don't know Paul Westerberg from Dan Fogelberg. Both lyrically and musically, most of the songs sound more like a cartoon soundtrack than a PW album, so I'd almost suggest the opposite of what you did: Maybe if it weren't tied to a children's movie we'd be more critical of it.

[kgp]

Clams! You're back!

[scoOter]

there certainly is some cartoonyness to the songs, but i think that much shouldn't surprise anyone. if he turned in a batch of songs like stereo, the studio would have told him to take a walk.

to my ears, there are only two songs that are overtly cartoony: any better than this & right to arm bears.

i agree with clams about all about me & love you in the fall. those are my favorites, too. on first listen, i didn't like i belong much... but after hearing the 10" version, i am smitten like a kitten.

oh, i can hear the cartoon overtones on meet me in the meadow, but i think it that song existed on, say, eventually it would have sounded great in that context.

basically, i think paul did a bang up job of doing what he was paid to do; while still churning out some absolute fucking gems.

[nazareth]

scooterboy said:

there certainly is some cartoonyness to the songs, but i think that much shouldn't surprise anyone. if he turned in a batch of songs like stereo, the studio would have told him to take a walk.

to my ears, there are only two songs that are overtly cartoony: any better than this & right to arm bears.

i agree with clams about all about me & love you in the fall. those are my favorites, too. on first listen, i didn't like i belong much... but after hearing the 10" version, i am smitten like a kitten.

oh, i can hear the cartoon overtones on meet me in the meadow, but i think it that song existed on, say, eventually it would have sounded great in that context.

basically, i think paul did a bang up job of doing what he was paid to do; while still churning out some absolute frakking gems.

I couldn't agree more

[ClamsCasino]

scooterboy said:

there certainly is some cartoonyness to the songs, but i think that much shouldn't surprise anyone. if he turned in a batch of songs like stereo, the studio would have told him to take a walk.

I totally agree, which is what I meant when I said he had to compromise.

scooterboy said:

i agree with clams about all about me & love you in the fall. those are my favorites, too. on first listen, i didn't like i belong much... but after hearing the 10" version, i am smitten like a kitten.

I'm trying to hold off my opinion on I Belong until I can hear the other version, but I think I kinda hate it. I remember when I first heard Good Day and I was torn because I thought it sounded like a showtune, which is basically what it's been retrofitted to be now. Well, I'm really getting that showtune vibe from I Belong and I just can't get past it. I can totally see why the producers think it has Oscar potential, but that's precisely why it rubs me the wrong way.

[Kathy]

"what follows is a trail of malodorous spoor left by a group ominously named Deathray, and the puzzlingly tuneless warbling of Paul Westerberg. Fortunately, the animals themselves aren't asked to sing, though it's hard to imagine how they could sound more off-key than Deathray."

That reviewer is in desperate need of a "Lighten up, Francis".

[scoOter]

clamscasino said:

I'm trying to hold off my opinion on I Belong until I can hear the other version, but I think I kinda hate it. I remember when I first heard Good Day and I was torn because I thought it sounded like a showtune, which is basically what it's been retrofitted to be now. Well, I'm really getting that showtune vibe from I Belong and I just can't get past it. I can totally see why the producers think it has Oscar potential, but that's precisely why it rubs me the wrong way.

there is no doubt that both good day & i belong are showtunes. i am one of the weird ones who doesn't mind good day all that much. i never did. i have a theory on it. if no one had read or heard or whatever that it was a tribute to bob stinson, fewer fans would despise it. the sentimentality of the tune i can see rubbing people the wrong way, but i think it was the overtness of the statement (".... a tribute to fallen bandmate, bob stinson...") that made it that much worse for us.

as for i belong, clams, the 10" version is NOT going to make a believer out of you, but it is better than what you hear on cd.

i couldn't listen to a whole album of "paul's showtunes", but i don't want to begrudge him one now & then. in fact, i think this is one reason why the open season soundtrack works. it is NOT a whole album of showtunes. even at its most cartoony, paul still stabs it with genuine rock & roll effort.

[headlightbeams]

Hans Eisenbeis, formerly Paul's sister's editor at the MPLS magazine the Rake, blogs on PW/Open Season matters on the Minnesota Public Radio website, spreading the good word (and photos) found here at MWT.

And another photo has turned up:

[headlightbeams]

scooterboy said:

there is no doubt that both good day & i belong are showtunes.

they're one kind of showtune. "Seein' Her" and maybe even a rocker like "Stain Yer Blood" is another.