While certainly entertaining in an overtime Super Bowl, “Holy crap” sort of way, this ultimately serves to take away from Moonlight‘s stunning victory. Sadly, it is entirely plausible to think that this whole controversy will be better remembered than the film itself. Taking away how it won though, the victory is nothing short of the largest Oscar upset in memory.

La La Land was set up in every way possible: it is a film about Hollywood, it is a fairly easy watch (which means the Oscar voters are far more likely to open their screener and watch it), and it actually made money. In short, it is popular.

Moonlight is a million dollar budget movie that is a hard watch for some. A coming-of-age journey about a gay black man in Miami would have seemed out of place as recently as last year’s Oscars. Remember #OscarsSoWhite? Moonlight‘s victory marks a David vs. Goliath strike against heavy Oscar favorites, and is a huge step forward for film awards on the whole, as Moonlight is the first Best Picture winner with an all black cast.

Best Picture controversy aside, 2017’s Oscars were fair in terms of the distribution of awards. La La Land did not really deserve a clean sweep in thirteen categories, but it did have great musical numbers, a very Hollywood look, and fantastic direction. So it won in the music categories, cinamatography and production design, and in direction (Emma Stone also took best actress). Moonlight had great performances, was well written in its elegance and simplicity, and was an overall important film. It won its awards accordingly.

Seemingly every major film nominated won in an appropriate category. Fences and Manchester by the Sea were propelled by profound acting, and won Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor respectively. Arrival and Hacksaw Ridge even won some well deserved praise in various technical categories. The major awards on the whole were not too surprising.

Of course everyone has their own picks and predictions that may have been upended by the Academy. I for one would have liked to see some love for Lion and Hell or High Water, two movies that went overlooked by most Academy voters as well as movie watchers on the whole. And as much as I enjoyed Zootopia, I will fight anyone who tries to convince me it was a better movie than the morally deep and visually stunning Kubo and the Two Strings.

The drama and the disappointments are part of what make the Oscars enjoyable. Could you imagine what would have happened if the Best Picture mixup had happened the other way around? No doubt, Twitter would have imploded from all the Hollywood haters coming out to bash La La Land. But you can’t deny it would have been something to see.

Either way, it is another Oscars in the books. Good movies were fairly awarded. Jimmy Kimmel did a serviceable hosting job. No one will ever forget Moonlight winning Best Picture. Hopefully this will draw more viewers to Moonlight and the other nominated films, as the stories they seek to tell are far more important than the media stories surrounding them.

The Movie Dude reviews limited release movies, independent films, and smaller theatrical releases.

The post The Movie Dude: Oscars Recap appeared first on KRUI Radio.

They began the night by saying that their set would be “ALL NEW MUSIC”. Which I thought was a very bold and creative move. I have been to many shows and that was the first time I have seen a band perform only new music. At the beginning of one of their songs Drew even stated “This song is so new that it doesn’t even have a name yet!”

This was all in typical Jack Lion fashion as they are known for sampling things on stage and making up new renditions to their songs on the fly. This creates a very spontaneous atmosphere and keeps the audience interested as every show is different than the last.

The one thing that was instantly obvious to me was how talented Brian, Drew and Justin all were on their instruments. They all seemed very comfortable on stage and were all quite engrossed in their instrument. I think this passion is what makes the trio work so well together and enables them to continue making new sounds.

Undoubtedly the most impressive factor about Jack Lion is their fusion of jazz and electronic. Two genres that could not be much more different from one another. Jazz is a genre rooted in improvisation and spontaneity while electronic is based on the ability to pinpoint and control every aspect of the song. Smith has described this process as “trying to marry two worlds even though they are very disparate.” The blend of these genres makes for an fascinating and inspiring sound and also brings out an interesting audience as there are fans from both sides of the spectrum.

I felt like the music of Jack Lion and the venue itself were made for each other. The combination of electronic and jazz music mixed with plenty of down tempo beats played off of the dark/grunge feel of the upstairs at Gabe’s perfectly (this may be bias as Gabe’s is one of my favorite venues). Not to mention the sparkling lights that cover the ceiling enhanced the atmospheric feel of Jack Lion’s sound.

Overall, this show was admittedly a difficult show to write about for several reasons. One, the whole set itself was about forty minutes long which didn’t leave me with an ample amount of content to cover. Two, all the songs were new and completely instrumental which made it a bit more difficult to discuss the content of the music. And three, the stage presence of the band was somewhat uneventful with minimal movement of the members and only a small amount of interaction with the crowd.

With all that being said I am incredibly happy I chose to review Jack Lion and looking back I would not have picked a different show if given the opportunity. The music they create is truly its own thing that does not to be combined with any extra factors to make for a moving show. I have never been to a show that is more, for lack of a better word, inspiring. Jack Lion demonstrates that the possibilities in music are only limited by you, arguably the most beautiful aspect of music. They are an incredible band to see live, and I encourage everyone to attend a Jack Lion show.

For more on Jack Lion check out their Soundcloud, Facebook and Twitter.

The post Witching Hour: Jack Lion @ Gabe’s 11/05/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.