Okay, so who else knew that Mystic River was NOT the sequel to Mystic Pizza? Would it have killed you to mention it to me before I rented it? Anyway, having now watched the almost-universally praised film, I will confess to being a little perplexed. What I saw was a workmanlike and fairly predictable drama that walked mostly on the wrong side of melodrama. Granted, the performances were quite solid – you can’t really go wrong with a cast like this – but I found Eastwood’s direction heavy-handed and uninspired. I kept waiting for the story to come up with some sort of twist that would make it more worthwhile, but by the end, everything was explained in the most logical and pedestrian manner possible. I didn’t want Shyamalan-esque corkscrews, but something that could have outsmarted a mind that wasn’t really working that hard might have been nice. I certainly wouldn’t say it’s a bad film or not worth seeing, but it’s hardly exceptional. I am thankful, however, that Kevin Bacon was not given the opportunity to take off his pants and show his bare ass.

Has indie rock’s time in the sun come? And if so, will it be it’s very undoing? Oh, the tension! From the GPC.

Sarah Harmer continues her tour of the really really nice theatres in Toronto – next stop, Massey Hall on September 17 with Josh Ritter as support. Tickets are $29.50-$35.50, on sale Friday. Or, if you’re special and have the advance sames password like I do, they go on sale today. Anyone who wants it, email me.

And now we reach the Wilco portion of today’s post: Rolling Stone has a nice long feature on the band in their latest issue, contrasting interviews with Jeff Tweedy before and after his rehab session. Nude As The News has a song-by-bong review of Ghost. And that was a fine performance of “Hummingbird” on Letterman last night, but man does Jeff look strange on stage without a guitar. Dancing? What?

NOW puts Montreal’s Arcade Fire on this week’s cover to hype up their show June 23rd at Lee’s Palace. June 23rd? Why that’s the night that we’re playing a show at the Rivoli with Wax Mannequin! That’s okay, we’ve also got a show tonight at Sneaky Dee’s with Code Name Laurentians, you can catch us then… unless of course you’re at Lee’s (again) to see Jay Farrar, whom NOW also profiles this week. It’s a conspiracy, I tells ya. But that’s okay – if we weren’t playing, I’d probably be at both of these shows myself. But if you are coming down tonight, Pine Music should be up by 10:30, we’ll be up by 11 and Code Name Laurentians around 11:45.

Update: Pine Music got a stellar review in this week’s eye, in case you needed extra incentive to come out tonight. It’s even stopped raining!

np – …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead / Source Tags And Codes

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