Kiss Me Hard Before You Go: Lana Del Rey Vs. Cedric Gervais: “Summertime Sadness” Remix

Summertime Sadness, a song by the singer, Lana Del Rey, has recently received an unusual shot of happy sunshine, in the form of a remix, created by the French DJ, Cedric Gervais. Del Rey’s torch-style delivery is now surrounded by an electronic-dance-music beat, creating an intriguing contradiction that works hauntingly well.

Del Rey, who tends to remind me of the late actress, Karen Black in the ‘60s and ‘70s, delivers her vocals with girlie innocence, only to quickly drop them into the lower register, for a raspy, bourbon-soaked quality (“… cruisin’ down the coast, goin’ ‘bout 99 …”). Del Rey, garnering more mainstream popularity in the U.K., could have a hit on her hands in the U.S. The video, which features the actress, Jamie King, is #20 on the "VH-1 Top 20 Video Countdown." BSo

Dose of Minogue: “In Denial”: Pet Shop Boys Collaborates with Kylie

Continuing the male-gigolo theme (that’s a phrase that doesn’t come up very often), Pet Shop Boys’ 1999 duet with Kylie on In Denial tells the story of a gay “rough-trade boyfriend” (and father of a daughter), second-guessing his profession. Kylie and Neil Tennant trade verses, describing the exhausting “fantasy world” of a “vampire working at night, sleeping all day.” This live performance of In Denial comes from Kylie’s 2005 Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour. Tennant’s vocal is added in; Kylie sings her part live (as the daughter), suggesting advice to the protagonist, played by the amazingly limber dancer, Jason Beitel. BSo

Retro Respect: Blondie’s “Call Me” During Opening Credits to “American Gigolo”

Opening credits to a film can set the tone for the audience. In two minutes, the audience can learn a lot about the main character and the world in which he lives. Setting and time period, yes, but the world within the world is revealed. The opening credits to Paul Schrader’s American Gigolo is one of the best examples of this setup. Blondie’s Call Me is played over our introduction to Julian Kaye, a Los Angeles/Palm Springs male escort. Richard Gere, in a fearless, star-making performance, plays the confident Kaye, dripping in Giorgio Armani, driving out to the beach to see his (female) manager. But first, we see an afternoon in the life of Kaye, barely participating in a “sponsored” shopping spree, aloof as his client signs the big check. BSo

Comedy Central’s “Drunk History”: A Slurred, Not-Exactly-Accurate Account of the Patty Hearst Kidnapping

The series, “Drunk History” features “intoxicated” comedians providing their accounts of historical events, which are acted out by some pretty famous people playing the prominent figures in those events. What’s more, the comedian’s voice, slurred cadence and all, replaces all of the actors’ voices.

I recently saw an episode dedicated to San Francisco history. One of the accounts was the infamous Patty Hearst kidnapping in the ‘70s. The comedienne, Natasha Leggero is the inebriated scholar. (BTW, her dog, Cutie is aptly named.) Plus, take a look at who plays the heiress. Brilliant! Here’s a brief clip:

Best Video of the Year: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Mary Lambert: “Same Love”

Although the video was released late last year, Same Love — a song by the rapper, Macklemore (a.k.a. Ben Haggerty) and the producer, Ryan Lewis — is still in heavy rotation on the music-video channels… and rightly so. Nominated for an MTV VMA for “Best Song with a Social Message,” Same Love is a rap about (gay) equality, the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as Haggerty’s commentary on the rap- and hip-hop-community’s outlook toward homosexuality. Haggerty also pulls from his own life: He briefly mentions his (gay) uncle in the poem. The singer, Mary Lambert comes in on the chorus and her vocal is nothing short of a soothing lullaby, full of honest declaration. Haggerty only makes a brief cameo in the video: He's holding a fireworks sparkler toward the end of the video. 

Yes, “Best Song with a Social Message,” for which it should (will) win, but the video for Same Love is hands down the best video of the year… period. (Darn those Blurred Lines.) It traces the life of a gay male, capturing in part the awkwardness of adolescence, especially at the iconic high-school dance, when, for some, self-discovery starts to contradict the commonplace; when you’re liked and loved and surrounded by friends, yet it only takes a second to shift into feeling disconnected and isolated. But there’s hope…

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ Same Love serves as a great way to balance out the catchy, silly hit that was Thrift Shop, with something substantive, confirming Haggerty is certainly more than a leopard mink and “… $20 in my pocket.” The MTV VMA show is Sunday, August 25. BSo

Dose of Minogue: Kylie Covers “The Crying Game”

During her 2002 Fever tour, Kylie included a medley of her ballads, which featured a cover of The Crying Game, a song made famous by Boy George for the film of the same title. Kylie starts the medley with a bit from The Crying Game, then proceeds to a section of Put Yourself in My Place. Next, she slides into the chorus of Finer Feelings, then to lyrics from Dangerous Game, and finally returning back to The Crying Game for a beautifully dramatic ending, complete with Kylie bathed in red-rose lighting. It’s another classic example of how her live shows give her the opportunity to belt it out vocally (5:30 – 6:10 is still impressive to this day), all while surrounded by simple, yet stunning visuals. BSo



Bonus: Boy George's The Crying Game:

‘Flix Flick: “This Is 40”: A Funny Look at the Milestone… But Then It Turns

In this spin-off to 2007’s Knocked Up, supporting characters, Debbie (Leslie Mann) and Pete (Paul Rudd) are now the main focus of Judd Apatow’s This Is 40. It’s a look at the married couple’s resistance to the realization that they’re turning 40.

The film’s first hour is light and certainly humorous, with several “rewind moments” thanks to Mann and Rudd’s believable chemistry and brilliantly goofy comedic timing. (Mann in particular shines, proving she’s one of the best comedic actresses working today.) A montage of Debbie and Pete getting their medical check-ups (Debbie in the dentist chair: “Turn it up! Turn it up!”) and their weekend getaway sans daughters (Debbie and Pete driving to their coastal hotel, gossiping about their kids; the couple having a morbidly droll conversation in their hotel bed) are definitely worth the rental.

Yet it’s in the second hour where the film starts to turn, becoming a darker story about secrecy in marriage, living beyond economic means (paycheck vs. passion), Debbie and Pete’s unresolved “Daddy issues,” and the destructive chaos all of that creates in one loud household, where “STOP IT!” and “SHUT UP!” are commonplace.

Debbie and Pete are basically fun, likable characters, yet they’re awful and flawed. They unfortunately slide into whiny territory, which explains the entitled behavior their teenage daughter, Sadie spews all over their house. And then there’s poor Charlotte, their youngest daughter, silenced amidst all the “f-bombs.” (Real-life married couple, Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann have once again cast their daughters, Maude and Iris Apatow to play Debbie and Pete’s offspring.) Supporting actors, Megan Fox, Charlyne Yi, Lena Dunham and Jason Segel really don’t need to be in this film at all, and Albert Brooks, as Pete’s Dad, and John Lithgow, as Debbie’s Dad are great actors, but contribute to the film’s decline into the somber. There is one exception: Melissa McCarthy. She plays a brutally angry parent of a boy named Joseph who is harassing Sadie via her Facebook page. (The blooper reel during the end credits showing McCarthy improvising lines during the filming of the parent-principal conference is a scream. McCarthy can do no wrong and watching Mann and Rudd try to hold it together is a joy.)

I commend This Is 40 for showing how turning 40 can become a desperate catatonic-inducing realization; a period when the bucket list is longer than the grocery list; a time when eating a cupcake out back over a garbage can or secretly smoking a cigarette next to an open window induces calm, if only for a minute. This Is 40, however, goes on 40 minutes too long in its attempt to become a darker look at marriage. Leave that to War of the Roses. BSo