Bookazine Book Review: All over the map
By Poppy When watching this movie I couldn’t help but squirm in my chair at times due to the horrible decisions the dentist was making. Frank (Steve Martin) is a dentist, with a practice that young dental students dream about: big office, the latest equipment, a full appointment book, several assistants, a stern but meticulous office manager, Mrs. Langston (Lucina Paquet), and an attractive dental hygienist/fiancee Jean Noble (Laura Dern). She is protective, good in bed, and wants to be his partner in every way. The only problem is that Jean thinks sex with him in his big hydraulic chair is unprofessional and tacky. Frank’s well-ordered life is turned upside down by a femme fatale Susan Ivy (Helena Bonham Carter), who preys on his weakness and gullibility. After Susan’s first appointment, she changes Frank’s prescription for five Demerol tablets to 50, which he foolishly covers up for her and then the night she has sex with him she cleans out his entire drug cabinet. Her partner in crime is her brutish brother Duane Ivy (Scott Caan). The pair of them deal the stolen drugs to local teenagers, correctly assuming that Frank will keep quiet rather than risk losing his license and his fiancee. But the scheme unravels quickly when Duane turns up bludgeoned on Frank’s doorstep and he’s falsely fingered for the crime, forcing him to flee from the police and reassess his loyalties. I continue to be impressed with Steve Martin. How many actors or artists can you honestly say that about? I never mean to laugh at Steve Martin: I just can’t help it. Directed by David Atkins (III). Cast: Steve Martin, Frank Sangster, Helena Bonham Carter, Susan Ivy, Laura Dern, Jean Noble, Elias Koteas, Scott Caan, and Duane Ivy.
Focus - Focus 3 by Mott the Dog Star Rating - *** Focus were certainly the best band to come out of Holland in the Seventies. (Don’t give me Golden Earring, “Radar Love” was a great song, but what else did they have in their biscuit barrel?) Focus was formed in Amsterdam in 1969 and they became a major concert attraction in Europe, playing extended songs with lots of classical bits thrown in. Over the years their music matured and some would say peaked with 1972’s Focus 3. Some great guitar, keyboard and flute work disguised the fact that none of them could sing or even speak English. As a substitute there were lots of blood curdling screams, orgasmic groans, triumphant shrieks and choir-like choruses. Focus 3 starts off with the sprightly jazz tinged “Round Goes The Gossip”. This was followed by six short, well constructed rock songs including the band’s biggest single success in the riff laden “Sylvia” (The Bizarre Hocus Pocus complete with manic yodelling coming from the previous album “Moving Waves”).
The interplay between keyboards, flute, guitar and even a rocked out penny whistle is absolutely mesmerizing, with each musician pushing the other to the limit. The only thing that puts the old tail between the legs a bit is the over long bass and drum solos at the end. This Dog always thinks that drums solos are to allow the rest of the band a break (drummers don’t need them). Therefore, on record they become a little tedious, especially when listening to them for the second or third time round. For this culpable sin, I deduct 2 stars from the otherwise true forgotten Classic Line up Thijs Van Leer - Keyboards, Flute, Penny Whistle Track Listing 1. Round Goes The Gossip
Updated every Friday Updated by
Chinnaporn Sangwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk. |
He
has a droll sense of humour. Describing a lunatic in the traffic in
Cambodia, “The guy is half way to being an idiot savant. The first
half.” Or the ambience in Cambodia’s capital, “Francis Bacon, the
painter, said that, as an artist, he thrived on chaos. He preferred that
his studio be in a state of utter disarray because it inspired images that
a neat, clean, and orderly environment would not. Francis Bacon would have
loved Phnom Penh.”
Mott’s CD review:
But
it’s the second half of this CD, when the songs are extended up to 27
minutes, where the band members are allowed to come into their own, kick
off their clogs and go for the solos.