“Their Early Work Was A Little Too New Wave For My Taste”
This entry was posted on 5/20/2008 10:39 PM and is filed under Music; Film.
5/21/08: American Psycho—Excerpts (2000)We recently tried to have some fun with a certain Libertarian who was praising Heart’s work in the ’80s. The band’s comeback really was underrated in an era when all the hip acts were trying to sound like REM or Depeche Mode. This guy, however, was impressively mannered in his praise of the Wilson sisters. So we posted
the following comment after his blog entry:
That entire Heart write-up sounds very close to something that I would say myself. Let’s get together and talk about Genesis sometime.We signed it “Patrick Bateman,” and figured everyone would have a good laugh. Sadly, nobody got the joke.
It’s understandable if people haven’t bothered to watch
American Psycho. The big-screen adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel is a pathetic indie film, with director/screenwriter Mary Hannon screwing up whatever she’s trying to say about the patriarchy. Keep in mind that Hannon is the same deep thinker who ended
I Shot Andy Warhol with a card explaining that Valerie Solanas’ nutcase "S.C.U.M. Manifesto" has become a respected feminist tract. It hasn’t.
Anyway, Hannon got three scenes right in
American Psycho. Those would be the scenes where Patrick Bateman—as played by Christian Bale—becomes the best rock critic in the world. Hannon defeats whatever point she’s trying to make by turning Bateman into an icon of uncool greatness. He celebrates white-guy pop with a conservative’s true passion. That’s particularly interesting in that the best parts of Ellis’ novel were whenever the homicidal businessman screwed up pop trivia.
Check out these YouTube clips in which Bateman praises
Phil Collins,
Whitney Houston, and
Huey Lewis & The News. [Please note that the first two clips feature lesbian sex, and the third has graphic violence. They’re not suitable for work if you made bad career choices.] We’re not fans of Houston or Huey, but we recently wrote up
our own positive review of a Genesis box set. We kind of goofed on the embarrassing aspect of liking the band. We wish we were more like Patrick Bateman.
Make it your own: Don’t bother. It’s not a good movie. These clips are the high points.
