Hugh Laurie brings New Orleans to Chicago

Best known for his role as the infamous Dr. House in “House M.D.,” Hugh Laurie has a his passion for music, especially New Orleans jazz. Along with The Copper Bottom Band, he played at the sold out Chicago’s Park West theatre on Aug. 21 and proceeded to groove into the late hours of the night.
Laurie displayed his acclaimed piano and guitar skills while playing covers of many well-known jazz songs such as “Mellow Down Easy” by Little Walter and “Unchain My Heart” by Ray Charles, to name a few. Laurie’s singing sounds much better live – an unexpected treat. Blues, jazz and soul can be hard for some to sing since so much passion and soul has to be behind it.

Hugh Laurie and Copper Bottom Band member Sister Jean McClain pay
homage to true New Orleans jazz at Park West in Chicago on Aug. 21.

 It may be even harder for a British actor to get into that mindset, but Laurie was able to accomplish this beautifully. Every word he sung was felt throughout the audience. The audience swayed, and a couple even got up and slow danced during his performance. The show was not merely a performance; it was a history lesson and a comedy show as well.
As odd as it sounds for a British actor to know anything about the blues, let alone New Orleans blues, Laurie proved he knew it well. Between each song Laurie would stop and explain either why he choose the song or the story behind it. He was also very intimate with the audience, happily responding to anything yelled at him, which is rare with most musical artists. Many audience members would not let him live down his role as House shouting, “We love you, House!” to which he would respond with, “I have no limp, I’m talking funny, and she still believes I’m a fictional character, strange….” He even offered his band a shot of whiskey midway through the show, which they very much deserved. The Cotton Bottom Band received high levels of praise from Laurie as the show progressed. After the first song of the night, “Mellow Down Easy,” the audience could easily see this was not the band’s first show. The band, originally from Tennessee, swung right alongside Laurie, sometimes surpassing him, and took the audience on a ride through the South.

Each member was given their own solo or song to could shine on, which no one in the band or audience seemed to mind. “I don’t think you understand how much it means to me to stand here, in Chicago, in front of you all and play,” Laurie spoke in between sets, “I’ve dreamed of this ever since I was a little boy.” He began to get choked up and the entire crowd cheered in an uproar. After almost every song there was someone out of their seat giving Laurie or the band a standing ovation. Laurie and the band even came back and did two encores for the house, after which, he kindly bowed and pointed straight towards the band behind him.

The tour started in 2011 and showcases Laurie’s first album “Let Them Talk,” which is a cover album. He has traveled all over the world showing off his jazzy repertoire. The tour will be in the Midwest for a few more shows, travelling to Carmel, Indiana; Lexington, Kentucky; and Middletown, Ohio. To purchase Hugh Laurie’s album or search for tour dates, visit www.hughlaurieblues.com.

Batman “rises” above the rest

Many may wonder how a comic book movie could possibly be so dark, heavy and complex, yet this is one of the many things "The Dark Knight Rises" accomplishes. The conclusion to director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is a film of epic proportions. Few will leave unsatisfied, and all will remember forever how successful a comic book franchise can be when the filmmakers treat the character with true reverence.

The story picks up about eight years after the events of “The Dark Knight,” and Gotham City seems to be at peace after the string of events leading to the death of Harvey Dent. Since taking the blame for the murders committed by Dent, Bruce Wayne has gone into hiding and his efforts as Batman have finally started to take a toll on his body.
In addition, his company is slowly bleeding more and more money. Catwoman stumbles into the picture as a master thief who has gotten in deep with the wrong people, namely the criminal Bane's people. Bane sees himself as a voice of the oppressed, while the wealthy in Gotham live large and leave nothing but scraps for the rest. He seeks to create a revolution, an uprising, of Gotham's masses. Though Bruce pushes Batman to the back of his mind, Bane's recent escapades cause him to come out of hiding fiercer than ever. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that the finale fans have been waiting for is going to be a bleak journey.

The magnificent acting that graces every scene skyrockets it from an "amazing" movie to a near masterpiece. The cast already has its star-studded veterans such as Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman. Throwing other rising stars such as Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway into the mix makes for a sensational recipe. Bale and Hathaway, as Batman and Catwoman respectively, have such a natural chemistry it is hard not to smile at their interactions.

Hardy has the difficult job of walking in the murky footsteps left behind by Heath Ledger's Joker. Thankfully, Bane is a very haunting and fearsome villain, which Hardy plays to a tee. Every line spoken sends a clear message that Bane's plan will be carried out no matter how many people he has to kill. With the restriction of a mask comes the difficulty of connecting with the audience through just the eyes. Hardy proves that he is able to do so, striking fear and terror simply with eye movements and piercing stares.

While some will see that the stor draws heavily from "A Tale of Two Cities," most will see influence from the well-known one percent versus 99 percent happening in America and across the world. Nolan uses these familiar themes to construct a complex story that is a worthy addition to the series. The final act of the film is filled with so many twists and turns that audiences are left on the edge of their seats until the final shot.

Most people will agree that this is not quite the masterpiece that is “The Dark Knight,” but some find more issues with the film than others. The clarity of Bane’s voice has been an issue heavily discussed on the Internet in the months leading up to the release of the film. He is wearing a mask so it would be extremely unrealistic to hear him as clear as day, but prior to edits his speech was so muffled audiences could barely hear or understand the words coming from him. In order to address this issue, Nolan made some minor tweaks to the audio, without changing Hardy’s original performance. This works for most but some may still have a hard time hearing him, over the mask and odd accent he has. Hans Zimmer, although a brilliant composer, further complicates things by flooding out a few lines of dialogue with his soundtrack. It is supposed to be in the background and help build the scene, not overpower it.

Despite some audio isues, “The Dark Knight Rises” is a thrilling conclusion to a trio of fantastic films. Nolan is graciously giving fans and everyday moviegoers a satisfying end to what is without a doubt the greatest comic book movie trilogy of all time. This movie is not for everyone, however. The violence has been kicked up a notch, and the summer-fun feeling evoked by this year’s Marvel outings does not exist with this film. Alas, Batman has never been a cheerful character and this series definitely plays with that.
“The Dark Knight Rises” receives 5 out of 5 stars.

Garfield spins a fine web in “The Amazing Spider-man”

With so many things working against it, the biggest of which being the bad taste left in the mouths of fans by the franchise’s previous installment “Spider-man 3,” it was hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel for a new Spider-man movie. Somehow, though, “The Amazing Spider-man” was able to capture audiences in its web.
“The Amazing Spider-man” is a reboot, and thus gives viewers a new interpretation of the web slinger’s origin story. Like in the original films, Peter Parker’s parents are gone, it was never made clear if they died or not, and he is still a genius outcast at school. But minuscule details allow newcomers to understand and relate to Parker’s troubles while fans of the movies and comic books can pick up homages to the previous films despite the fact that this takes place in an alternate universe. British actor Andrew Garfield (“The Social Network”) plays Parker, while redhead bombshell-turned-blond Emma Stone (“Easy A” and “Zombieland”) plays Parker’s love interest, Gwen Stacy.
This already throws a wrench into the more well-known couple of next-door neighbor Mary Jane Watson and Parker. Despite this, Stacy and Parker come off as a more realistic couple. Gwen Stacy is beautiful and smart,employed at Oscorp under world-renowned scientist Curt Connors, played by Rhys Ifans (Xenophilius Lovegood, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1”). Connors turns out to be the main antagonist of the film, The Lizard, a never-before-seen villain in Spider-man movies. Seasoned actors Martin Sheen (“The Departed”) and Sally Field (“Forrest Gump”) fill the roles of Uncle Ben and Aunt May while Denis Leary (“Rescue Me”) rounds up the star-studded cast as Gwen Stacy’s father, Captain Stacy. The biggest elephant in the room is whether or not 28-year-old Garfield would be able to pull off the role of high-schooler Parker. In 2010, he showed off his acting skills in “The Social Network” as wingman to Jesse Eisenberg, but that was his first American film. In “The Amazing Spider-Man,” Garfield steals each scene he is in, putting his own spin on the famous Spider-man instead of trying to be another Tobey Maguire. Fans will forever compare the two, similar to the comparison between the actors who have played Batman. But each actor played the role in a specific way, and Garfied’s performance works perfectly for this film. Parker has to deal with death on multiple occasions during this movie, and Garfield plays this brilliantly, pulling at just the right heart-strings to get the audience involved and caring. When Parker has to be quirky and goofy, Garfield does this in a hilarious manner. Overall his performance is believable; it does not seem like a comic book character has simply been jumbled together and thrown onto a screen. He feels like a real person with real problems, which has always been the charm of Parker’s character.
Physically, Spider-man may not be the strongest superhero, and “The Amazing Spider-Man” makes this fact known. He is thrown from buildings, slammed into walls, and almost choked to death on multiple occasions. The film also shows off Spider-man’s different web slinging abilities. He does not just swing from buildings for four hours and give swing kicks to every bad guy’s face. He actually fights them, runs away and uses his webs in some creative and unexpected ways. He is seen doing hand-to-hand combat while throwing a few web shots in from time to time. Spider-man even crawls around The Lizard during a fight scene, wrapping him in a web as a real spider would. This film, perhaps more than the original “Spider-man” films, has painted a full picture of Spider-man, showing his life inside and outside of the mask and focusing on his strengths and weaknesses. After all, he is only a teenager.
There is a lot going on in this movie, as one would expect from an origin story, and the run time clocks in at a whopping 2 hours and 14 minutes. However, the movie does not feel extensively long. As a whole it is a great base for the trilogy that director Marc Webb has in store for Spider-man. Hopefully production goes smoothly, before it gets caught up in the giant web of comic movies that are coming out next year. “The Amazing Spider-man” receives 4 out of 5 stars.