nr

 

Canadian writer files lawsuit against

Warner Bros.
A David vs. Goliath story

 

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Reviewer

his may come as a shock to some
of you, but the film industry has

a history of being somewhat
crooked. Granted, that image has been
applied to more seedy syndicates, such
as porn and exploitation. Many big-
budgeted, star-studded projects, however,
have their own dirty little secrets. Even
in the case of a basic, simple-minded
project, there’s always the chance that it
may not be as ‘original’ as it seems.

Take the 2008 adventure/rom-com
Fool’s Gold for instance. The story tells
of a man (Matthew McConaughey)
who takes his group of friends on an
expedition to find a lost treasure. When
told like that, it seems plausible that
anyone could’ ve thought up the idea. If;
one delves into further details though, as
Nova Scotia writer Lou Boudreau did, it
becomes evident that very specific plot-
points came from elsewhere. Boudreau,
whose book Fandango’s Gold was
published in 2006, had an unpleasant
experience with the film when “a friend
of mine... called me up and congratulated
me about my book being made into a
movie,” he told CBC.

Understandably, Boudreau was
hesitant in initially suing Warner Bros.,
the media giant behind Fool’s Gold. What
I'd like to think will help his case is that
Boudreau waited as long as he did to file
the claim, instead of going after the film

8

at the height of its popularity. In the same
interview, Boudreau went on to say, “If I
didn’t think that there was a reason for me
to pose the question, then I wouldn’t have
done this.” It’s fairly clear that Boudreau
is, in a sense, uncomfortable with his

role as the underdog, but if he’s confident
enough to believe he has a chance to
obtain some sort of settlement, then all the
best to him.

Boudreau’s case seems innocent
enough, but there will always be the
sceptics. After all, this is certainly not
the first nor the last time ‘some guy’
is going to sue a film company over
potentially stolen ideas. There are, of
course, the immeasurably ludicrous
lawsuits, such as the several that went
after James Cameron’s Avatar (2009); all
of them insisting he stole his idea from
their own ‘original’ (and arguably recent)
concepts. A Man Called Horse (1968)
just suddenly disappeared, I guess. Then
there are the lawsuits you have to ponder

‘over, such as the infamous The Lion King

(1993)/Kimba the White Lion (1960s)
controversy. Unlike Boudreau, Osamu
Tezuka, the creator of Kimba, never ended
up suing Disney, fearing he’d lose the
case and a considerable amount of money.

Hopefully, Boudreau’s bank account
can survive the pounding Warner Bros.
may or may not unleash upon it. If his
case is as strong as it sounds, than with
any luck it’l] at least be settled out of
court.

 

Find yourself on ‘Degeneration Street’

A track-by-track review of The Dears’ latest

The Dears

 

      

Angela Espinoza

Arts Reviewer

bout three years ago, Montreal’s

The Dears were on the verge of

collapsing. Their continuously
revolving roster and the pressures
that came with recording Missiles
(2008) left only lead singer Murray
Lightburn and his wife and keyboardist,
Natalia Yanchak, as its core members.”
However, for their fifth and latest album,
Degeneration Street (2011), several
ex-members, including guitarist Patrick
Krief, returned to give The Dears another
go. The result is what many are claiming
to be the groups’ best album to date.

Degeneration Street starts off with
the bluesy head-bobber “Omega Dog”,
showcasing Krief’s abilities as the song
builds up to a passionately distorted
guitar solo. We then move into the
tracks “5 Chords” and “Blood”, proving
(finally) that Lightburn’s writing and
vocals can actually retreat from the
Morrissey/David Albarn tropes that
have haunted him for the past fifteen
years. “Blood” in particular features an
immensely catchy hook, as well as the
first legitimate chorus of the album. From
here, The Dears gradually slow things
down with “Thrones” and “Lamentation”,
keeping up the steady beats from the
previous tracks, but bringing the lyrics
into fairly more melancholic territory.
This style is maintained through the
brief instrumental “Torches” and finally
with the soaring broken-hearted ballad
“Galactic Tides”.

When the listener approaches the
second half of the album, though, that’s
when Degeneration Street gets narrative.
“Yesteryear” is a surprisingly buoyant
ditty about a man looking for love. On

his search, he apparently finds some sort
of companion in “Stick With Me Kid”,
“{running] ‘till there’s nowhere left.to
run”. They eventually find “a kind of
home base” in “Tiny Man”, where the
protagonist intends to reside underground
and raise a family with his: partner.
When he wakes one morning in “Easy
Suffering”, he discovers she has left; at
first leaving him distraught, he mans up
near the end and decides to go on a hunt.

The hunt turns into a battle in
“Unsung”, when the protagonist finds
himself fighting to keep what he and his
partner have built, repeatedly telling her
“don’t throw it away and forsake all we
got”. The battle continues in “1854”;
while the romance is losing out, the
protagonist works his newfound pride,
boldly stating “If you wanna stomp on
me/I’m gonna stomp all over you/We will
surrender/At the sight of frozen hell”.
We reach the tale’s end in the title track,
“Degeneration Street”; with the battle
now over, our hero ambiguously searches
for a way out of the rubble.

There’s a lot going on in this album
that The Dears have decided to tackle.
The reason the album works so well
as part singles/part concept is largely
because of the music. Lightburn has a
reputation of being overprotective of
his work in studio, which is what nearly
resulted in their end. This time around,
each of the latest six members is given a
chance to shine, bringing out the best in
The Dears.

Degeneration Street was released
on February 15, and The Dears will be
performing at Venue on March 5.

4/5