“The Love Guru” movie review (Baltimore Citypaper)

Any movie in which Justin Timberlake and Jessica Alba come off as the most relaxed and natural actors is the kind of movie that’s best avoided. Sadly, that’s far from the worst thing about The Love Guru. Mike Myers is infinitely pleased with himself, and doubtlessly convinced of his comic genius, and thus feels little need to do anything in this disaster of a comedy besides tell an endless string of dick jokes and give the camera knowing, wise-ass grins. He can’t even be bothered to keep his offensive “Indian” accent intact for more than half a scene, much less develop a plotline worth reiterating here. While a comedian like Will Ferrell can make one-note comedy work in the audience’s favor, Myers has none of Ferrell’s loose shamelessness. Instead, his current idea of humor consists mainly of midgets, puerile puns, references to Wayne’s World, dick jokes and, well, dick jokes. It goes without saying that the shameful stereotyping Myers engages in here is tasteless, but it’s also so lacking in affection you can almost feel a bit of passive-aggressiveness in its harshness. Plus, did he really have to go and pick Ben Kingsley to play a character called Guru Tugginmypudha? (Told you about the puns!) The ham-fisted Bollywood mockery–despite featuring Alba in a sari–falls flat, the jabs at celebrity spirituality are toothless, the laughs are few and far between and, unless the only exposure you’ve had to Indian culture is Apu, the rancid racism that’s the movie’s central joke just makes it all too much to endure.

First appeared June 25, 2008 in Baltimore Citypaper.

Seun Kuti: Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80 CD review (Broward-Palm Beach New Times)

In an interview earlier this year with the Independent, Seun Kuti bluntly stated, “I’m crazy. My father was too.” There’s something heartening about the progeny of a famous musician clearly stating an alliance with his elders, but the youngest son of Fela goes even further than simply picking up the politically minded, wild-man torch of his dad. Pivoting away from the attempts made by his older brother Femi to modernize the sound of Afrobeat for contemporary audiences (and Common fans), Seun fully and deeply indulges his heritage. Not only does the gruff-voiced 25-year-old offer a strikingly solid imitation of his dad’s rolling vocal style and circular sax-playing but he also breathes new life into the big-band funk of Fela’s last group, Egypt 80. That frenetic orchestra has been oiling its funk machine for the past decade or so on stages in Lagos, and its stunning tightness here is as refreshing as it is explosive. Seun lets the Afrobeat run wild on his debut record, and most of the cuts clock in at the seven- or eight-minute mark. While this is still a fraction of Fela’s penchant for album-length “songs,” it’s also nearly twice as long as many of Femi’s more pop-oriented numbers. Further, Seun doesn’t allow modern production techniques to polish off any of the rickety rough edges, so the horn lines blast through with all due force while a chorus of vocalists strains to keep up. In true Kuti family fashion, there’s not a moment on this album that sounds like it couldn’t have been recorded live, and in that, one finds the truest — and most admirable — homage to Seun’s family line.

First appeared June 25, 2008 in Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

Buy this CD at Amazon.com.