I'm always looking for original things to write about, and this is one I have never tackled before. Reviewing a new EP from Claudia Sala, who is Italian. She has a new pop album that is half sung Italian and half English. I learned through this, that it really makes no difference with the language barrier, good is good. We enjoy Opera every day with no real understanding of the words. I'm willing to give it a go if you are.
Claudia Sala is from Palermo, Italy and was a performer at Festa Italiana in Akron this week, where she brought her new EP E- Ora (It's Time) with her. It is a 6 song set that is a breath of Spring air, and has spawned a single, Don't Set Limits, sung in English. It is a beautiful ballad that cuts right to the heart of a challenging love. Sala sings it beautifully, with great vulnerability and a wonderful Italian accent, that is superb with the English lyrics. While many lose their accents singing English, lucky for us, she does not.
To me, the strongest performance on this EP, is the lead and title cut, E-Ora, sung in Italian. It is clear that Sala sings with more confidence in Italian which is understandable. It is a delicious, jazz infused Italian pop song that you like from the very first listen. It's just her with a small combo, and Claudia sings this with the voice of an angel that is as smooth as a glass of fine wine, being lovingly poured into tall long stemmed glass in candlelight. This magnificent song is the perfect lead in to the rest of this very well done project that showcases who she is, and what her music is all about. E-Ora is incredibly alluring and gentle to your senses, even though I literally understand two words.
Talking with Claudia, she tells me her deep influences are surprisingly
American. Her old soul music taste range from Joni Mitchell, to Judy
Collins, to Joan Baez, and even today's Country music. And all of it
shows here. Incidentally, all three of the above, very strong singers.
Claudia is immensely talented as a singer with a tone from heaven. She never struggles to find a note, and sings with undeniable passion and feeling. She understands what singers from all over the globe seem to never really understand, that louder is not better. Better is better. And when you know where the notes are, find them easily, and simply sing them from the heart with the incredible gift you've been given, it really works. No shouting here, just perfect pitch with an ease that is to be envied.
She is not interested in impressing us how long she can shout a note, or hold one. There are no real soaring high notes, and hard to listen to crescendo song endings. The strength of this album is it's simplicity. It is not overdone, overproduced and she certainly does not over sing it. The producers were very savvy in letting her gift be the star and not have overdone production get in her way. Claudia is confident that you will be drawn in by her easy to listen to vocals, that do not require bells and whistles to make it better. It just is better.
Is this album good? You bet it is. Very well done. Bellissimo!
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Now In Theaters
A Simple Favor
This is good. This is real good. This is a small movie with a big story, and should not be missed, but sadly, it will be.
This is a twisted story of two women, and a man that you have not seen before. It's a thriller, it's a thinking persons flick. Two women, one very prim, one very not. One man, who is wishy washy. Murder, money, love, sex, this adult movie targeted movie has it all. You are thinking the whole time who is setting who up for the huge 4 million dollar insurance pay out.
This has a great cast lead by Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. They are both terrific as our leads, and the entire supporting cast is great, as is the writing, the editing, and the incredible music soundtrack that is used sparingly, but highly effective. This is skillfully directed, and has the feel of a movie that virtually everyone that will see it, will like it. Problem is, these kind of movies many times get lost in the animation and superhero shuffle.
But if you can go see this. Very, very good.
1Crazy, Rich Asians
It has been a long time since a true romantic comedy has really been a factor at the box office, but this one is. This is terrific.
This is the story of a crazy rich Asian family and the "normal" woman who is about to marry into it. This is rally creative, and is wonderfully written as it walks the fine line between comedy and parody. This feels very good, and is set in the same manner as rom-coms were years ago. This is not vile, or raunchy at any point. It has a story to tell, and does it well. Incredible use of music, wonderfully filmed in Singapore and just flat out entertaining.
This is a breath of fresh air that virtually anyone can enjoy. Plus, this is right on time and should enjoy strong success right through the early fall, as word of mouth will be big on this.
Crazy, Rich Asians. Really well done!
Alpha
Well, this is a bit different, this is Alpha. If you've ever wondered why man and dog get along so well, and how that came to be. This movie gives one possible answer. Should be noted, this is not a true family movie, as this is a bit intense at times. But this is good most of the time.
This takes place 20,000 years ago, where human tribes in Europe are trying survive the conditions, and the general tough life that is the era. As a tribe goes out on the annual hunting mission, one of the young hunters is lost and left for seemingly dead. But Keda does survive and through his fathers previous teachings he attempts to survive and get back to his tribe. He is attacked by wild dogs, one of which he badly wounds, and then nurses back to health and names him, Alpha. And the friendship develops and the long journey begins, together back home.
Full disclosure, this is subtitled, but it's not a problem, as this is not dialogue heavy. Wonderfully filmed, and easy to watch. A tidy 90 minutes is sufficient here as well. This is good, and interesting and a movie that may not be on your radar, but is a good afternoon at the flicks. And "Chuck The Dog" is outstanding as Alpha. He alone is worth a ticket.
The Meg
Well it's about time we get a movie like this in the summer theaters. The Meg, is what you would think it would be. It's campy, it's parody, and it's pretty darn entertaining. We need flicks like this to balance out the dark cloud at the movies this summer.
The Meg is about a group of underwater explorers that unearth a gigantic, prehistoric shark like we have never seen. And this thing becomes a big problem. Yes, this is shark movie parody, and yes this is fun and funny at times. Yes, people get eaten, but this is notbloody, or with excessive gore. This is just a a hoot at times, and right on time. But this is also handled so well, that all you see is entertainment on the screen. This does have some moments of SUSpense, but this is not INtense.
I laughed, I cheered, and I enjoyed this glorified Shark Week type of movie. And you will too more than likely. Regardless of what the national critics may say, this is just fun.
Mission Impossible: Fallout
For some reason we just don't get tired of this Tom Cruise series based on the old TV show of the same name. And this is pretty good.
Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team at the IMF are this time trying to save the world from nuclear attack. This has a great cast, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Henry Cavill, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Rebecca Ferguson, and Michelle Monaghan. There is plenty of action to go around, and there are some amazing chase scenes that are memorable. This is filmed wonderfully, and set in a beautiful European backdrop for the most part.
This is fun, exciting and has great pace. It may be a bit too long, but what action movie isn't? For some reason this franchise is aging well. Why? Great cast, and an original premise spawned decades ago, that is holding up against the test of time.
Well Done.
Equalizer 2
I would ask you this. Pay no real attentoin to the stuffy national critics on this one, they are begin unkind and having ridiculous expectations here. If you go, you will like his flick. Denzel is back as the complicated Robert McCall.
This is a summer action flick, with a brain. McCall s still called by his troubled past to help those who can't help themselves, and this does lose a bit of focus at times and winds off course a bit. So what? Refreshing that we have a movie that is adult, and McCall is taking on real people, that live in our world today. And being even more fair, he is fighting to help the ONE person and not save the universe from some creature that can fly and has rays flying out of his eyes.
This has been update nicely, and looks great. Antione Fuqua is a great director and his mark is all over this. Denzel is terrific, and so is the supporting cast. Yes, this is plenty violent, but his business is messy. This is handled very well, and is not gratuitous. Not all movies are made to win Oscars, and this won't, but you'll like it. An we need movies that are more human based for grown ups to see.
Equalizer 2 - Nothing wrong here. Hoping for more.
This is good. This is real good. This is a small movie with a big story, and should not be missed, but sadly, it will be.
This is a twisted story of two women, and a man that you have not seen before. It's a thriller, it's a thinking persons flick. Two women, one very prim, one very not. One man, who is wishy washy. Murder, money, love, sex, this adult movie targeted movie has it all. You are thinking the whole time who is setting who up for the huge 4 million dollar insurance pay out.
This has a great cast lead by Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. They are both terrific as our leads, and the entire supporting cast is great, as is the writing, the editing, and the incredible music soundtrack that is used sparingly, but highly effective. This is skillfully directed, and has the feel of a movie that virtually everyone that will see it, will like it. Problem is, these kind of movies many times get lost in the animation and superhero shuffle.
But if you can go see this. Very, very good.
1Crazy, Rich Asians
It has been a long time since a true romantic comedy has really been a factor at the box office, but this one is. This is terrific.
This is the story of a crazy rich Asian family and the "normal" woman who is about to marry into it. This is rally creative, and is wonderfully written as it walks the fine line between comedy and parody. This feels very good, and is set in the same manner as rom-coms were years ago. This is not vile, or raunchy at any point. It has a story to tell, and does it well. Incredible use of music, wonderfully filmed in Singapore and just flat out entertaining.
This is a breath of fresh air that virtually anyone can enjoy. Plus, this is right on time and should enjoy strong success right through the early fall, as word of mouth will be big on this.
Crazy, Rich Asians. Really well done!
Alpha
Well, this is a bit different, this is Alpha. If you've ever wondered why man and dog get along so well, and how that came to be. This movie gives one possible answer. Should be noted, this is not a true family movie, as this is a bit intense at times. But this is good most of the time.
This takes place 20,000 years ago, where human tribes in Europe are trying survive the conditions, and the general tough life that is the era. As a tribe goes out on the annual hunting mission, one of the young hunters is lost and left for seemingly dead. But Keda does survive and through his fathers previous teachings he attempts to survive and get back to his tribe. He is attacked by wild dogs, one of which he badly wounds, and then nurses back to health and names him, Alpha. And the friendship develops and the long journey begins, together back home.
Full disclosure, this is subtitled, but it's not a problem, as this is not dialogue heavy. Wonderfully filmed, and easy to watch. A tidy 90 minutes is sufficient here as well. This is good, and interesting and a movie that may not be on your radar, but is a good afternoon at the flicks. And "Chuck The Dog" is outstanding as Alpha. He alone is worth a ticket.
The Meg
Well it's about time we get a movie like this in the summer theaters. The Meg, is what you would think it would be. It's campy, it's parody, and it's pretty darn entertaining. We need flicks like this to balance out the dark cloud at the movies this summer.
The Meg is about a group of underwater explorers that unearth a gigantic, prehistoric shark like we have never seen. And this thing becomes a big problem. Yes, this is shark movie parody, and yes this is fun and funny at times. Yes, people get eaten, but this is notbloody, or with excessive gore. This is just a a hoot at times, and right on time. But this is also handled so well, that all you see is entertainment on the screen. This does have some moments of SUSpense, but this is not INtense.
I laughed, I cheered, and I enjoyed this glorified Shark Week type of movie. And you will too more than likely. Regardless of what the national critics may say, this is just fun.
Mission Impossible: Fallout
For some reason we just don't get tired of this Tom Cruise series based on the old TV show of the same name. And this is pretty good.
Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team at the IMF are this time trying to save the world from nuclear attack. This has a great cast, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Henry Cavill, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Rebecca Ferguson, and Michelle Monaghan. There is plenty of action to go around, and there are some amazing chase scenes that are memorable. This is filmed wonderfully, and set in a beautiful European backdrop for the most part.
This is fun, exciting and has great pace. It may be a bit too long, but what action movie isn't? For some reason this franchise is aging well. Why? Great cast, and an original premise spawned decades ago, that is holding up against the test of time.
Well Done.
Equalizer 2
I would ask you this. Pay no real attentoin to the stuffy national critics on this one, they are begin unkind and having ridiculous expectations here. If you go, you will like his flick. Denzel is back as the complicated Robert McCall.
This is a summer action flick, with a brain. McCall s still called by his troubled past to help those who can't help themselves, and this does lose a bit of focus at times and winds off course a bit. So what? Refreshing that we have a movie that is adult, and McCall is taking on real people, that live in our world today. And being even more fair, he is fighting to help the ONE person and not save the universe from some creature that can fly and has rays flying out of his eyes.
This has been update nicely, and looks great. Antione Fuqua is a great director and his mark is all over this. Denzel is terrific, and so is the supporting cast. Yes, this is plenty violent, but his business is messy. This is handled very well, and is not gratuitous. Not all movies are made to win Oscars, and this won't, but you'll like it. An we need movies that are more human based for grown ups to see.
Equalizer 2 - Nothing wrong here. Hoping for more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
