From different strokes to sucker punch

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/03/2011 (5662 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A wise man once said, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” but these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop culture is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.

 

MOVIES

 

Big releases: Sucker Punch (March 25)

The big picture: Imagine the films Girl, Interrupted, The Matrix, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and TV’s The Simple Life all tossed into a pop-culture blender. Then add a dash of Kill Bill, and two teaspoons of Charlie Sheen’s tiger blood and you’ll get Sucker Punch.

Where to start? A band of nubile women are trapped in a mental hospital and use their imaginations to escape to another world . . . one that happens to be filled with exploding zeppelins, giant robots, Lord of the Rings ogre rejects and — even more inexplicable — First World War fighter planes engaged in aerial battles with fire-breathing dragons. Oh, and in this brave new world, our sultry heroines are well-armed with swords, machine guns and mini-miniskirts.

Emily Browning stars as the pigtailed Baby Doll and Abbie Cornish plays Sweet Pea — their names alone setting the women’s movement back several generations.

Forecast: The director, Zack Snyder, is hit (300) and miss (Watchmen), and the residents of the mental institution all look like clones of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian (which, come to think of it, could be some kind of thinly veiled social commentary).

It’s telling when the seemingly stoned “Yoda” of the girls’ fake world tells Baby Doll she’ll need five items to secure freedom: a map, fire, a knife, a key and “the fifth thing is a mystery.”

Let’s hope it’s not dignity.

Another big one opening March 25: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

 

TV

Big event: Juno Awards (Sunday, March 27, CTV, 7 p.m.)

The big picture: The Junos turn 40 with a star-studded gala in Toronto, hosted by rapper Drake. The night will include performances by Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Chromeo, Down With Webster, Hedley, Johnny Reid and Sarah McLachlan

Forecast: Hot off Grammy glory, Arcade Fire’s album The Suburbs will win the award for best Canadian album. And you can take another thing to the bank: Canada’s other two musical heavyweights of the moment, Justin Bieber and Drake — both shut out at the Grammys despite multiple nods — will not go home empty-handed again.

One thing I’m hoping for that you won’t see? This year’s Waters Award winner (for humanitarian efforts), Neil Young, forming a quartet to perform the classic song Helpless with Drake, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler and Bieber. Bieber starting things off: “There is a town in south Ontario . . . And in my mind I still need a place to go, All my YouTube postings were there.”

 

MUSIC

Big releases on Tuesday: The Strokes (Angles), Chris Brown (F.A.M.E.), Jennifer Hudson (I Remember Me)

The big picture: The Strokes seem to have all the Angles covered on their new album, a distinctive shift back to the retro, garage rock that made them the band du jour on their first two albums. That said, listening to The Strokes does make you want to embark on an ironic, self-detached, self-destructive weekend bender in New York City. So buyer beware.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Hudson offers I Remember Me. (At least somebody does; Dreamgirls seems like eons ago.)

And, of course, Chris Brown continues to try and mend fences post-Rihanna. This time around, Bieber makes a guest appearance to help rejuvenate Brown’s sullied image on the track Next 2 You. As the song says: “One day when the sky is falling, I’ll be standing right next to you. Right next to you.”

For Bieber’s sake, let’s hope Brown isn’t standing in a police lineup.

Forecast: No need for Different Strokes; it’s just good to see Julian Casablancas and the boys getting back to the basics. Enjoy.

Other big releases Tuesday: Edwyn Collins (Losing Sleep), Duran Duran (All You Need Is Now), Panic! At The Disco (Vices & Virtues)

 

— Postmedia News