Public Enemies an excellent, intense experience

 

By Garth McLennan

nce again, Johnny Depp and
Oss Bale have proved exactly

why they are two of the best actors
in Hollywood.

The pair star in Public Enemies, a
thrilling crime drama about the life of
notorious bank robber John Dillinger.

Depp stars as Dillinger and brings an
unforgettable performance to the table, one
that may garner him an Oscar nomination.

Public Enemies chronicles the birth
and rise of the FBI under the leadership of J.
Edgar Hoover (portrayed by Billy Crudup)
and special agent Melvin Purvis (Bale).
Purvis is handpicked by Hoover to lead the
Chicago branch of the bureau in their hunt
for Dillinger.

As expected with such a superstar
cast, the acting in Public Enemies is superb.
Depp lands perfectly between a ruthless
gangster and a modern day Robin Hood. No
where in the movie is this displayed more

succinctly than in the opening bank robbery
of the film. While holding the place up, a
man pulls out his wallet and goes to hand
his money to Dillinger (Depp), to which he
replies: “Put that back in your pocket. I’m
here for the bank’s money, not yours.” In
contrast to some of Dillinger’s fellow bank
robbers, he often appears relatively tame.

Bale is equally brilliant and manages
to perfectly separate himself from his
famed action-hero personas of Batman
and John Connor but still maintain his
trademark intensity. With the movie’s focus
on Dillinger, it becomes difficult to pick a
side to root for, particularly as Purvis’ quest
to apprehend Dillinger becomes more and
more resolute.

While they aren’t frequent, most of the
action scenes are powerful and extremely
intense. One of the final battles between the
FBI and Dillinger’s group that takes place
in the backwoods of Illinois is particularly
suspenseful.

Despite the incredible acting, there are

 

Pind.

a few flaws to Public Enemies. While Depp
and Bale deliver stand out jobs, the rest of
the cast has a tendency to get muddled and
forgotten at times. While the gun fights
are riveting and exciting, the rest of the
action scenes almost become monotone
in comparison. The actual bank robbing
often goes off without any sort of bang and
Dillinger’s love interest, Evelyn Frechette
(Marion Coitillard), is average at best.
When he’s on camera he’s phenomenal,
but I was expecting more actual scenes
starring Christian Bale. J. Edgar Hoover’s
character is left much undeveloped, and
there is no mention at all of his Presidential
candidacy or of the economy in the 1930s.
Overall, though, these are minor
problems that don’t detract much from the
quality of the film. Plain and simple, it’s
a fantastic movie, and one that you might
have to take in more than once in order to
bring it all in.

 

SoCal metal scene comes north of the 49" once more
Metal giants Slayer and Megadeth leave Vancouver slightly less audible

By Jay Schreiber, Arts Editor

he lights dim, the crowd screams,
Te sound check is complete and the

PA music is cut. The synchronized
adrenaline rush of 12,000 fans waiting to
see what they paid for, about to have their
minds blown, still gets me every time.

That’s the feeling a crowd gets when a
headliner is about to hit the stage. On June
24", Megadeth and Slayer both proved to be
worth the wait and the price of admission.

Back in the ‘80s the southern
California (or SoCal) metal scene was
exploding with new acts such as Megadeth,
Exodus, Metallica and Slayer. To this day,
each of these groups still headline tours
around the world and sell out concerts by
thousands in a matter of minutes.

After being kicked out of Metallica,
Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine made
his side project a center focus and has
remained with the group through the many
years and line-up changes. Problems with
drugs and alcohol have hindered him over
the years but in recently, he seems to be
past that stage of his life and has remained
focused on music.

At least, that’s the way it seemed on
June 24" when the group roundhouse kicked
the night into an epic finale. Megadeth has
been quite consistent with their sound over
the years, and after playing a song from
their new album out this September, the
streak appears to continue.

While Megadeth was headlining
Vancouver’s show, they were on a revolving
door system with Slayer as for who gets
to finish in which city. After the straws
were drawn, Megadeth proved the luckier
and ended the night. Slayer, after ripping
through their opening song, said “We only
have one hour to play, so we’re going to
shut up and pack as many songs into this
time as possible.”

Kerry King’s solos were amazing
and the synchronized stage movements
helped give an edge to Slayer’s stage show.

Megadeth had the crowd on their side with
precise delivery where as Slayer force fed
the audience by ramming thrash down their
throat. Slayer stole the show by simply
playing, their music is more involving and
more intense; after all, it’s fuckin’ Slayer. To
compare the two mega-bands is silliness,
but when have I ever been taken seriously?

While Megadeth’s show was good,
it was formulaic as usual beginning with
their recent album opener “Sleepwalker”
and finishing with the safe hit “Holy Wars.”
That’s not to say Slayer wasn’t in the same
boat —after all, thanks to Guitar Hero, who
doesn’t know the riff to their show closer
“Raining Blood?”

This had been my first trip back
to GM Place since the Brittney Spears
smoking fiasco that took place last spring.
Upon entry to the building I decided that
this time around I would make some keen
observations.

First, there are still no smoke pits.
Entering the bathrooms or going into the
arena are like walking into a sauna of
tobacco with people smoking everywhere
and apparently getting away with it. In
between songs, by looking out amongst the
depths of a darkened crowd it was easy to
see lighters and small dots glowing as they
moved in circles around a single unit or
were passed down a row of people. Closing
smoke pits because of health concerns and
now I’m around smokers more than ever—
thanks, government!

The second issue, comes (right behind
smoking) with the beer situation. As usual,
$8 is cheap for a sippy cup of watered down
Molson. What the hell does a guy have to
do to get a friggin’ drink at GM Place? The
bands all had bottled beer and they were
drinking it by the crate, probably imported.
A one beer per person limit was instated so
now, not only can you not buy real beer, but
it has to be in several trips. Excuse me for
having two hands!

The last issue has to do with sound
quality. GM Place is an echo cavern,

Kerry King of Slayer

 

where sound is everywhere and nowhere
at the same time. It’s hurtful to the ears,
confuses the sound guy and the listener is
left to stand there take it. When you pay 80
bucks to stand in an echo chamber, drink
imitation beer, and look at famous people
while you're lightheaded from second hand
smoke, you start to wonder why. Again,

I am reminded of a family friend who

told stories of seeing Janis Joplin play the
Whiskey A Go-Go for two bucks and with
that you get a free drink and Janis even
does two sets. My, oh my, how times have
changed.

With the past behind us, the present
doesn’t look as bright. The sound quality
may have been atrocious, but at least the
performance was fun to watch. Part of the

show’s amusement came in watching the
security guards run around trying to stop
smokers from exercising their democratic
right. At several points in time, the staff
was shorthanded and members in the lower
bowl could easily jump the fence and make
it to the floor.

Ultimately, Slayer was the harder
hitting act and with 36 Marshall amps
stacked on the stage, it’s hard not to go deaf
from the squeal of duelling guitars. I think
I’ll stick to shows of less than a thousand
people from now on; after all, how much
did I expect to enjoy watching this show in
a garage?

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