MOVIEW REVIEW: The Intern (2015)

I didn't expect to like this film very much, but I'd heard good things about it so I decided to give it a shot. I think we all know by now that Robert De Niro is reaching the tail end of his career. In a weird way this film actually explores that, constantly reminding us that his character is struggling to find his place in the modern world, much like De Niro is having a hard time capturing his old magic. I have to say though, it was De Niro that carried the majority of The Intern, with the help of Anne Hathaway, who also gives a surprisingly good performance. This isn't a great film, but it could have been a whole lot worse than it was.

The movie starts off kind of slowly as it glides around trying to set up this world and its characters. The introduction to De Niro's character, Ben, was handled ok but a lot of it just seemed like pretty useless information about him and his past. By the end of it, we get the picture, he's old and out of touch. It all took a bit of a nose dive for me after he gets the intern job at a tech company and comes in to the office for the first time. It's your typical new age office; all the men are wearing loose fitting shirts and have hipster glasses, all the women look they just stepped off of a vogue photoshoot and they are all provided with brand new MacBooks. The CEO, Jules, rides around the office on a bike. Yeah, they went there. This is where it felt like The Intern was turning into The Internship, that god awful film from a few years ago. I get that they were trying to contrast this ultra sleek modernist aesthetic with what Ben would have been used to, but it's just not an visual style that I'm very fond of having shoved in my face every 5 seconds.

Jules is a feminist's wet dream. She has built her company from the ground up, growing its number of employees ten fold in a year, is married to stay at home Dad, Matt, who looks after their beautiful young daughter Paige. She is just an all round winner and she knows it. I may be against third wave feminism and movies that perpetuate its self fulfilling agenda, but I don't think this film did that all that much. I am all for strong female leads as long as they are given some depth beyond their gender. I think The Intern did a good job with this. Whilst it vaguely explores some feminist ideas, it never feels overdone or forced. Above that, it is not what the film is about. Jules begins the film clearly very stressed out. She has no time for herself and as a result, her family is suffering under the strain. It takes getting to know Ben to finally realise this and begin to change it.

Ben's character is interesting because he is at the exact opposite stage of his life to Jules, but somehow wants to recapture the ambition he had in his youth. This makes the relationship between them feel meaningful as they both have something to learn and something to admire about the other. As the film progresses we see Ben sympathising with Jules and doing everything he can to help her. For this to work the director had to have De Niro play Ben very straight. He's depicted as a very honourable gentleman who is also extremely likeable. Deepening Ben's character in any way and including darker, more sinister motives would have ruined this warm-hearted feeling the film managed to concur up. This is one of the real successes of The Intern, the fact it realised its limits in terms of its characters and chose to focus on very simple themes of human relationships, love and friendship. The reason the film worked pretty well for me was because of these two characters. I ended up almost seeing Jules' life through the sentimental eyes of old Ben, and that made it far more pleasant and revealing. By the end, I felt some kind of kinship with both of these characters. A character who began the film a little bit bland and stale is turned into someone we can all relate to through Ben's unmotivated friendship and guidance.

Obviously another main theme is the reality of getting older in an ever changing world full of MacBooks and liberal values in the workplace. The underlying message of The Intern is 'don't let your age hold you back', a bit of a cliché but still a positive notion. Ben's desire to get back out in the world is a noble one, and something we could all learn from. Again, the overall likability of his character helped tremendously in driving home this message. I suspect many people will see this as the main theme of the film, and perhaps it is, but one must look at the other extreme too, what the older generation can teach the younger generation, and how we are more similar than we are different. The scene with Jules and Ben in the hotel room symbolises this in a touching way.

Both the lead actors, De Niro and Hathaway give pretty good performances. Lets be clear, this was hardly a stretching role for either of them. In fact, in De Niro's case, it's hard to pick out many examples of an actor looking more comfortable in a leading role. But I think considering the context, he did a good job. He gives off a sustained warmth throughout the movie and remains interesting with his wistful quips and nostalgic sighs. This is exactly the kind of role an ageing De Niro should be taking on. In regard to Anne Hathaway, I can't say I've ever been a great fan of hers in the past. Nonetheless she does a good job in this, carrying off the arc of her character with genuine nuance. Perhaps she overacts a little in some of the business related scenes, but nothing that has me cringing or rolling my eyes too much. The other characters in The Intern were mostly background noise though, to be honest. There were a few that had me chuckling, like young intern Jason, played by Adam DeVine. Unfortunately though, most of the surrounding cast of characters are not much more than light relief or narrative props. This is a shame, and it could have been a richer experience if some of the characters, especially those close to the main characters, were fleshed out a little more.

Overall, The Intern is very easy to watch and an enjoyable experience for the most part, but only succeeds within its rather timid limits. If you want a film with a warm heart and a few laughs however, this could well be for you. There is very little to hate about it, and it does no harm to watch movies now and then that make us feel good. Just don't expect Goodfella's level De Niro Ok? Those days are well and truly over. At least its not Dirty Grandpa..

Characters: 60
Narrative: 70
Visuals: 50
Music: N/A

Overall: 60/100

MOVIE REVIEW: The Best of Me (2014)

This was one of those movies where I might as well have been blind folded before picking it on Netflix. I couldn't be doing with anything deep and hey, rom coms can be good sometimes, right? Perhaps, but not in this case. The Best of Me suffers from the usual problems of overly contrived characters, mundane and cliched cinematography, and a story that thinks it has something to do with love but ultimately falls desperately short.

Before we get 10 minutes in, it was already pretty easy to guess where the film was going. The central characters, Dawson and Amanda, are both looking up at the stars, reminiscing about days gone by. We get a couple of corny lines about destiny being written in the stars and I am already rolling my eyes. The story from that point on follows two different timelines, one involving their younger selves and the other the present day. Another recycled idea. We learn about Dawson's troubled childhood and his monster of a father, a man that you can't believe he's been living in the same house as for 18 years. He meets Amanda and a romantic relationship ensues. I have to say that my favourite actor in the whole film was Luke Bracey as the young Dawson, who gives a tolerable performance. But my GOD, the scenes with him and Amanda were the definition of dull. It's like the director just wanted to get as much kissing in this film as physically possible. We get the kissing under the moon scene, the kissing in the rain scene, the kissing in an exotic lake scene, the kissing on a rooftop scene, the kissing whilst dancing scene, the kiss that one of them regrets scene, and so on. Clichéd does not do justice to just how predictable this movie was.

Several unfortunate things happen to Dawson as a young man, straining his relationship with Amanda. This all comes to a head when he is sent to jail for accidentally shooting his friend whilst fighting his father, creating the eventual bridge that kept them apart for so many years. The scenes where the young Dawson gets angry are by far the best in the film, although nothing special really. At least we get to see some genuine emotion though. More time should have been spent developing the relationship between Dawson and the man that takes him in after he runs away, Tuck. It would have grounded the film in something that resembles what it is trying to be about, love. Instead it gets lost in this back and forth between present and past, with the soppy romancing of characters you don't care about. The present day stuff was particularly mundane and void of feeling. A lot of it comes down to the acting, which for the most part was just lazy. In the end we get a bit of a twist ending that I won't spoil, but it doesn't land any emotional punch simply because the film doesn't earn it.

Visually, The Best of Me also woefully underwhelms. Every scene has this super glossy look to it that only adds to the feeling of fakeness. What I like in a romantic drama is for it to feel like I am watching real people in real places. This film felt like I was watching one long dream sequence. I do understand that this type of movie isn't trying to appeal to people like me, but I struggle to see how even very casual film fans will enjoys such mediocrity. Maybe I'm wrong though.

What annoys me the most about films like this is that the script doesn't resemble real human interaction. Sure, it is how people might talk in an ideal world (although I hope not), but everything just ends up feeling too clean cut. The character flaws don't seem like flaws because they are not explored enough, so you end up just thinking that these people are too perfect to be real. You never really get to a point where you want to get invested in the stories of the characters. When you watch a great romantic drama like Before Sunrise, you automatically relate to the people in it because that is how human beings actually speak to one another. With such vapid characters, the story has to be something truly special for me to get on board, and unfortunately The Best of Me does not have that. I can't say that it is embarrassingly bad. I mean, it is just about watchable and sugary enough for perhaps a date night with your significant other. Please though people, go for something with a bit more to say.

Characters: 35
Narrative: 40
Visuals: 30
Music: 40

Overall: 36/100

Milo Comes Home to Launch Young British Heritage Society

Milo Yiannopoulos is a devisive figure. That’s exactly how he likes it. I have been a fan of his for about a year now, ever since I saw him on British television and debate shows like The Big Questions and Sky News. Since then, Milo has taken it to the next level, touring America’s campus scene on his infamous ‘Dangerous Faggot Tour’, a name I am particularly fond of. What is so invincible about Yiannopoulos is how he displays the exact opposite traits to your typical right wing commentator. It makes him into a kind of juggernaught. We have been led to believe, somewhat justifiably so, that right wingers are these dull, faceless traditionalists with a chip on their shoulder about everything. Milo though, is colourful, gay, religious and brilliantly funny. He is the embodiment of odd, making it very hard to stereotype him.

I had the privilege of seeing Milo give a speech in London a couple of nights ago. He was there to launch the Young British Heritage Society at Conway Hall. A conservative libertarian society set on promoting the merits of British values and principals, with a particular emphasis on bringing back free speech and open discussion of ideas on university campus’s around the country. It is a mission statement I can get behind, having been at university myself and experiencing a increasing level of censorship within my institution and especially within the mainstream media. Despite my interest in the society, I was primarily there to see Milo. Without going into too much depth on the society as a whole, I came away a little perplexed by it. Much of what was said I agreed with, but the manner in which many of these people speak is the exact thing I am opposing on the left. This sort of self-aggrandising, disturbingly ignorant type of rhetoric that serves very little purpose aside from getting a reaction from the audience. 

Milo was his typical unabashed self however. He gave a good speech, if not a little recycled. He touched on his infamous ban from Twitter, the dangers of the left’s influence on campus, Brexit and the US presidential race, candidly speaking about his support for Donald Trump, but also his fear and distain for another potential Clinton administration. The best thing about Milo is that he treats his audience with respect, never stopping to explain his points in too much depth but instead assuming that the audience is intelligent enough to keep up. His quick wit is what keeps his act feeling fresh and dynamic, stopping seemingly every other sentence to make a quip about either himself or the radical left. It kept me engaged and listening to everything he was saying. Staying within the theme of the society, he concluded by talking about Britain, and how we are a country based on strong values and a tendency for subversion and mischief, which makes our press 'the best in the world'. It was a very patriotic moment for most of the audience. The event had a different tone to it than the other speeches he's given on his campus tour so far, most of which have taken place in the US, where students have turned up with the sole purpose of sabotaging him with random and irrelevant protests that ironically only go to further his message. At one point he even vocalised exactly what I was thinking, ‘part of you comes to see me for the spectacle, the protests and the controversy’. He’s right, a part of me was hoping for exactly that. I’m afraid to say though, that is one of the main fears I have for the movement Milo is trying initiate, that it will just turn into an ‘us vs. them’ type of ordeal. In truth, it already has become a bit like that. 

Having said all that, what makes Milo more than simply an entertainer with an funky hair cut is that he brings it back to his libertarian values. He understands that a key element of why people behave and think in the way they do is because they have strayed from what made us as a nation, and America, the leading proponents of libertarianism. He is not here to start a war with the left, just to make fun of them and point out just how irrational and brainwashed many have become. Under all the layers of fake tan and hairspray is somebody who is concerned about the younger generation and is willing to do something about it. This was the crux of his speech, returning to the importance of action. He boldly stated that ‘By coming here tonight you haven’t really done anything’, and he’s right. He followed it up by urging people to go out and do things, to fight for what they believe in. ‘This is why the left always win’ he quips, ‘because they band together and get things done’. I am glad that he did this as it felt like he way putting most of the audience, and some of the speakers in fact, in there place, telling them not to get too wrapped up in the petty politics that a large proportion of our generation engages in. I know I have been guilty of this in the past, but I am reaching point now where I am beyond arguing with people who refuse to see sense. I will only engage in political debate if it feels right and I am not just trying to convert the person I am speaking to. It is still hard at times, and much of the politically correct stuff I am seeing in the media needs to be addressed, but addressed in a logical and sometimes comical way, like Milo does.

Milo Yiannopoulos will continue to gather steam as more and more people cotton on to the ridiculousness and genuine danger of movements like extreme feminism and phony organisations like Black Lives Matter. He will be a leading figure simply because of how likeable and vocal he is, but I hope that as we move forwards, he uses his influence to encourage real action and doesn’t just act as the pied piper for the angry, disenfranchised youth who simply want to spout hatred and vitriol at those they oppose. This speech gave me a fair amount of faith that he understands the people he is seeking to address. I don’t agree with Milo on everything, but that is part of the process of rebuilding an open dialogue within universities and other sections of society. We should be able to listen to speakers that we respect and be able to disagree with them. Yes, he might have been preaching to the choir with this one, but at least it didn’t end up like a Trump rally. Well… not quite. 

MOVIE REVIEW: Finding Dory (2016)

I can't quite believe it has been 13 years since Finding Nemo was released. Already a huge Pixar fan by that point, Nemo was another fun and interesting world to immerse myself in. It was never my favourite of the early films, but I still became obsessed with it for a certain period of time, like I had with the 4 that preceded it. I've always thought that Pixar succeeds or fails on the strength of its characters, and Finding Nemo had fantastic characters.

One of those loveable characters was Dory, a regal blue tang fish who suffers with short term memory loss. She featured heavily in Finding Nemo, but was always the comic relief character, designed to draw in the younger audience with light hearted jokes and her innocent naivety. Some may question whether a sequel centred around Dory was justified considering her relatively surface level role in the first film, but personally I see no issue with it as she was never given a proper backstory. Finding Dory then, is less of a literal title than Finding Nemo. Instead, this film wants the audience to find Dory in a different way entirely. We are invited to share in flashbacks of her rather troubling past and her initial separation from her parents that led to her eventually bumping into Marlin at the start of the first film. Although I had a level of scepticism for this film, overall I thought the guys at Pixar came through with another stellar experience. This is a movie that will thrill younger and older audiences with beautiful visuals, hilarious characters and a satisfying story, perhaps even providing a more rewarding experience than its giant of a predecessor.

Visually, Finding Dory is quite similar to the first film. The aesthetics and colour palette is almost identical, which can only be a good thing - Finding Nemo was one of Pixar's best looking early films. That being said, this film is certainly a bit more ambitious with its action set pieces and character movement. The septopus character, Hank, glides and rolls around the environments in such a fluid and almost poetic fashion. He is by far one of the best characters Pixar have ever attempted to bring to life and my god did they succeed. Robbie Collin at the BBC also mentioned how he saw a concerted effort to make the characters appear like puppets in some scenes, which I definitely see having reflected on the film. I guess the guys at Pixar have been making these animated films for over 20 years now, they must be looking for ways to move the genre forward within the limited scope that they have. I'm glad that they managed to pull a few off with this film whilst still maintaining that loveable and timeless formula of the early movies. I wasn't drawn in by the film's soundtrack however, that felt a little bit tagged on and not as memorable as previous Pixar soundtrack's. That being said, the use of Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World' in the final climactic scene was a hell of a choice.

The characters in Finding Dory are certainly the making of it. We have the same central trio in Dory, Nemo and Marlin, who we get to see go on a nostalgic adventure together once again. Dory is just as likeable, if a little bit grating at times. The surrounding characters though really hold everything together and above all, progress the story forwards. They are not simply there as comic relief or for side plots. Aside from Hank, who was by far my favourite character outside the central three, the whaleshark Destiny and beluga whale, Bailey were some of the funniest and most likeable characters Pixar have created. The scenes in which all three of these characters were on screen together were some of the best in the entire movie and rarely failed to get me laughing out loud. Dory's parents, for the brief time they appear in the film, were really endearing, and I really believed in the love that they had for their daughter. When we learn what they have been doing since they lost Dory it serves as a reminder of the importance of family, and how we should never give up on those we love and care for. The voiceovers were all immaculately done. Ellen Degeneres comes through again with a performance that has both greater range and depth than she did in the first film, which was required considering the fact that she had to transform Dory from a comic relief character to central protagonist. However, as with all of the great Pixar films, they manage to tell the stories of all the characters at the same time, with almost all of them learning something about themselves along the way.

The story is as engaging if not more engaging than Nemo's. It is set up with flashbacks to Dory's childhood with her parents, yet we don't learn how she was separated from them until much later on. These early flashbacks had a certain resonance for me, as I felt myself empathising with Dory and how profound it must have felt to be remembering sacred moments for the first time in years. The first act sees Dory, Marlin and Nemo head off into the unknown to try and find her parents after she miraculously remembers where they used to live. It is really fun as the three are faced with all of the dangerous deep sea perils that we loved in the first film. The feeling of insignificance in this vast ocean is as potent as ever, and as an audience we relate to this desperation of trying to find some kind of home in a cold, dark world. Even in the early scenes, the main message of the film starts to become clear, that sometimes it is best to be spontaneous like Dory. This is contrasted with Marlin's cautiousness, who eventually learns something from Dory's outlook and attitude to life. 

The adventure continues in the second act as Dory finds Hank, who is willing to help her find her parents in the aquarium if she gives him her tag in return, which will allow him to live in isolation in Cleveland. More great action sequences happen involving both Dory and Hank, as well as Nemo and Marlin. Having these two storylines running parallel kept the everything feeling fresh and spontaneous, and once again it was gratifying to have them find each other in the end. The final act reveals how Dory was separated from her parents all that time ago, and the way it was handled gives it maximum emotional impact. After finding them it feels like the end of the journey, but instead we get one more mini adventure involving all of the main characters. This final scene is easily one of my favourites. It's hilarious, visually stunning and a perfect crescendo for Dory and the surrounding cast. 

The movie takes us on a parallel yet ultimately very different journey than that in the first film, which was a kind of giant search and rescue effort to find Marlin's son Nemo. Finding Dory definitely shares several themes. For instance parenthood, and what parents will do for their children. Another one is disability. Obviously Dory struggles with short term memory loss, which she learns to use to her advantage. Similarly in the first film Nemo had to overcome his damaged fin. What I liked more about Finding Dory though was that Dory's condition, and consequentially how it shaped her character and decision making made for a fascinating character study of a certain type of person (or in this case fish). Mental handicaps and indeed, mental illness, is a growing problem for our generation, and many of them aren't given enough attention. The central message of Finding Dory is therefore a very important and relevant one. That our quirks and defects can be turned around and used as advantages. That they are not always going to opress us and one day might actually do the opposite and liberate us. I am not normally one to look too deeply into movies of this kind, but I think it needs to be mentioned. Hence, the tag line, 'What would Dory do?', feels like a fitting one.

Finding Dory should go along way to silence the critics who have accused Pixar of resorting to sequels instead of coming up with new ideas for films. In the same way as Toy Story 2, they have made movie that is at least as good, if not better than the first, at least in my opinion. It works as a fun and slapstick kids film and a reflective look at parenthood, disability and overcoming the odds in the name of love. I have very few criticisms of it, only that by the end I felt quite exhausted by it all, which isn't really a criticism at all. It is a very fast paced movie that will probably annoy some people out there. But overall I felt like it managed all of this franticness very well with great pacing and a fair share of slower, ponderous moments that break up the action. I think that families, Pixar fans and hardcore movie buffs will find a lot to love in this summer dive back into Pixar's deep blue sea.

Characters: 85

Narrative: 80

Visuals: 90

Music: 75

Overall: 83/100

In Rotation: July 2016

I haven't done one of these in a long while, but recently I've really picked up my music listening game, mostly thanks to some great albums coming out. So here are the 3 albums that I'm playing the heck out of right now.

1. The Avalanches - Wildflower

Of course the long awaited second album from The Avalanches was going to be in here. After 16 long years, the Australian plunderphonics trio have finally come through and given us a follow up to 2000's Since I left You. I was actually only introduced to this band a few weeks ago by a friend and it sounded to me a lot like what I had heard on projects from J Dilla. I dug it a lot, but to hook me for an entire album of sound snippets and samples, it has to be really good. Luckily, Wildflower is exactly that, really fucking good. This album sounds like The Beatles, The Jackson 5 and J Dilla got together and made an album. It really has it all, but the main reason I'm loving it so much is simply because it makes me feel so damn good. The music is a lot more dreamy than their first, which might not be to everyones liking. But fortunately it never feels like the album falls back on one type of sound and treads water, instead throwing subtle curveballs at you all over the place. There are songs like Frankie Sinatra, the album's lead single, that feel peculiar and particularly ambitious. But my favourite moments on the project were the groovier tracks like Subway, If I Was A Folkstar and Sunshine. These tracks are idyllic and perfect for a late afternoon walk through in the countryside. I also loved the smattering of hip hop across this project with MC's like Danny Brown, MF Doom and Biz Markie coming through with verses that really give the album a change of pace exactly when it needs it. It is hard to make an album with such a diverse set of influences sound so seamless and organic, but The Avalanches pulled it off superbly with this album. What's more, you can listen to it at any time in any place and I guarantee it will lift your mood noticeably.

2. Schoolboy Q - Blank Face LP

TDE are back and they just keep getting better and better. Schoolboy Q is definitely an aquired taste, even amongst hip hop fans, but if you like him then chances are you'll REALLY dig this most recent project. I always saw Schoolboy as the gangster rapper of TDE, and in many ways he is. His previous songs and albums are vivid depictions of his past and even his current lavish lifestyle, his drug habits and his struggles with gang culture. This new album has seen Schoolboy up his production game, employing some of the music industry's most forward thinking names who are really looking to push the genre forward. Like on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, the production on Blank Face is spacious, jazzy and groovy. I always thought Schoolboy would suit tighter production better. Some of my favourite tracks on Oxymoron were the straight up bangers with catchy hooks. I see it a bit differently now. On Blank Face, Schoolboy proves that he can rap over pretty much any beat and can write lyrics that can convey deeper meaning whilst still being just as hard hitting and in your face as he has been before. The mix of soft sensual cuts on the album like Kno Ya Wrong and Overtime blend perfectly with the harder cuts on the record like Groovy Tony, Dope Dealer and Lord Mercy. Tookie Knows II is probably my favourite cut on the record though, with a super catchy beat and some incredible rapping from Schoolboy and his homies, Traffic and T&F. It's an album that's aesthetic is very well formed, but never end up sounding rigid or like its meandering. Schoolboy raps with just as much authority as I've heard from him before, and I'm really glad that he hasn't sacrificed his sound in any way, just brought in producers and features that helped to give the album a more thematic quality. It is clear that Kendrick has raised the stakes in the TDE camp with his last two projects and forced the current stable of rappers to up their games, which can only be a good thing. Quite simply, the production on this album alone is enough to warrant giving it a listen, but if you also like Schoolboy's brash brand of rapping, then you're in for a treat with this one.

3. Nolan The Ninja - He(Art)

I know, I know, it's another rap album. But what can I say, it's my favourite genre at the moment. From one abrasive rapper to another, next we have Nolan The Ninja's album He(Art). This project caught me completely by surprise a few weeks ago after a recommendation from a friend. This shit is hard! If you're looking for a rapper whose just going blow your ear drums out with straight up bars for 16 tracks then this is the album for you. The beats are pretty minimal and mostly boom bap based, which is the perfect foundation for Nolan to showcase his rapping, which is aggressive, fast and angry. He's also a really good lyrical rapper, who won't give you too many stories so to speak, but will spit bars that might cause you throw an imaginary fist pump or two. Sometimes I am not in the mood for hip hop that is trying to preach to me, I just want to hear a dope rapper with a distinct delivery rap his ass off, and that's okay. That is exactly what you'll get with He(Art), but there is probably more to the album if you want to dig a little deeper. To me this is the way rap should be in its purest form, hard hitting and competitive. We have drifted too far from what made the 90's the golden age for hip hop, where for the most part it was all about toppling your rivals and showing off your ability on the mic. There was no sugar coating, the rapping had to speak for itself. In 2016, with the likes of Future and Drake dominating the genre's mainstream, it is always nice to be reminded by an underground artist just why you love this type of music so much. This album will be perfect for those of you who are about to go wild in the gym or want to get yourselves fired up for something. You won't be dissapointed.

Dylan Dissected #2: All Along The Watchtower

If you have visited my blog before, you've probably realised that I have changed my title from MrDylanRecords to 'This Is Not Our Fate'. I'm still toying around with a more permanent name for the blog, but at the moment I want to leave it as it is. The phrase is of course a lyric from one of my favourite Dylan songs, All Along the Watchtower. It is a song that perhaps surprisingly, took me a long time to warm up to. I always admired the song, but like so many others I preferred the electric version by Jimi Hendrix. It is only in the last few months that I have started to think more deeply not only about Watchtower, but the whole of Dylan's mysterious 1967 masterpiece, John Wesley Harding. The album has always fascinated me. Why and indeed how, could someone of the stature of Bob Dylan go from the claustrophobic, urban tone of an album like Blonde On Blonde to the parable-like musings of John Wesley Harding in just over a year. I deduce that he must have undergone a profound change of both mind and artistic intention. Of course he also recorded the infamous basement tapes in between these two masterworks, and although they contain much genius in their own right, I think we can see them as an aside in Dylan's album chronology. Where Blonde On Blonde seems schizophrenic, intoxicating and indulgent, John Wesley Harding seems quite the opposite; stripped back and grounded in a clear-minded morality. Although I prefer the former, I see JWH as a hugely bold artistic statement, an obvious attempt to distance himself from the drug induced chaos of the previous 2 years, which had seen him both rise and fall from the dizzying heights of fame and fortune. In a year where the rest of popular music was moving in the opposite direction towards psychedelia and the abstract, Dylan retreated to the serenity of Woodstock to regain some clarity and seek truth through his music.

After 3 stunning opening tracks that very much set the musical and lyrical mood for the album, we get the 2 and a half minute, All Along the Watchtower. This desperately short run time demands that the track to be concise and biting, which it more than delivers on. The track's intro lasts just 15 seconds with a driving guitar chord structure and a screeching harmonica layered over subdued yet noticeable drums. The instrumental does not change much, it doesn't have to. It does a great job of filling the gaps between Dylan's lines, which are clearly divided into two halves. In fact if you count the syllables of each half of each line, they almost exactly mirror each other, "There's too much confusion" (6 syllables) "I can't get no relief" (6 syllables). This way of structuring the song provides a sense of symmetry, forcing the listener to pay attention to every word. Unlike some of his earlier work which is much more descriptive and free-form, a concerted effort is made on Watchtower to make use of every word and syllable. This might not have worked as well as it does without such a disciplined structure in place, which is why the form is just as important to this song as the lyrics. The track reinforces my views on earlier Dylan songs and is something I touched on in my analysis of Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, the way he uses words to punctuate the music in order to create a nuanced and densely layered sound. The song couldn't be further from Sad Eyed Lady topically, yet it obeys the same principle of giving the words and music a sort of symbiotic relationship. In other words, the power is in both the music and words working together.

The track is just 12 lines long, which gives it a parable like quality. Dylan told Rolling Stone in 1968 that the album had 'no blank filler' and that there were no lines that you can 'poke your finger through'. Every word in All Along the Watchtower holds true to this, it has to in order to possess such power. Dylan manages to refrain from using descriptive words that he may have used just 1 or 2 years earlier, without sacrificing any of the imagery. In fact, Watchtower is easily one of his most vivid songs. The imagery of the joker and the thief, the businessmen and plowmen, the princes, barefoot servants and women, the riders approaching the watchtower, the wildcat growling. It is astonishing how Dylan manages to fit so many characters into 12 lines. He was playing to his very well established strength of storytelling and creating immersive visual worlds for his listeners, whilst also being very careful not to let pretty language overshadow the real point of the song, in this case being the joker, thief and their conversation. Perhaps this is why he reverses the verses, setting the scene for the encounter in the last stanza of the song instead of the first. This way round, the discussion between the joker and the thief is not taking place in a crowded, imperfect reality but in sort of vacuum. It is only when the last stanza is uttered that the listener can contextualise what is being said and interpret it. This delay in gratification is very interesting and in a funny way causes the listener to feel like the joker, confused and without relief. It also gives it a cyclical quality of being trapped in the chaos of life. Dylan spoke on this as well, stating he had purposefully not fulfilled the balladeers job on John Wesley Harding, instead reimagining how a story could be told in order to throw out any traditional sense of time.

Although I think the lyrics speak for themselves, lets take a deeper look at them. The opening 2 lines read:

“There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief
“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief

As Dylan had not yet set the stage for the encounter, the listener does not know where 'here' is. It has been speculated that the joker and the thief may represent the two men either side of Jesus at the crucifixion, in which case 'here' would be the apocolyptic situation they found themselves in. It can also be supposed that if the joker and the thief are in fact the two riders who approach the watchtower in the final stanza, then perhaps they have been imprisoned by the powers that be (the princes perhaps?). However there is no confirmation of this. In my opinion, I don't think it matters who they are or where they are. What is clear is that the thief is in distress, desperate for salvation from some opposing force in the world. He goes on to explain the root of his suffering:

Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth

None of them along the line know what any of it is worth”

These lines touch at the very heart of the human condition. The joker is observing a world where people live for worldly pleasures, performing their daily rituals without any idea of where they're going or what they're doing. He seems stuck in a godless world where everything is futile, where nobody knows the true worth of life. Dylan seems to also be observing the nature of social structures as well by juxtaposing the businessmen with the plowmen, yet without any obvious bias for either one. He is saying that no matter what our social status or our 'role' in the world, without the truth we are incomplete. It is at this point that the thief responds:

“No reason to get excited,” the thief, he kindly spoke
“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke

But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate

So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late”

It seems like he is saying that the businessmen and plowmen that the joker speaks of see life as meaningless, devoid of any purpose and truth. He is consoling the joker, attempting to put his doubts about the world around him to rest. He tells the joker that they've 'been through that', they've been in the position of these people and thus can understand its uselessness. He assures the joker that it is not their fate to live such a life and that they must push forward towards the truth. I think in these two stanzas Dylan encapsulates the two sides of the human psyche. The first displays our tendency to doubt the existence of meaning, and exhibit the need for distraction from our certain deaths, whilst the second displays a deeper and contradicting need to actively seek the truth, to never fully resign ourselves to a futile existence. The second verse pinpoints the moment of total clarity when the material world dissolves and a person realises that they must finally be strong. It echoes a line from It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) where Dylan states "you lose yourself, you reappear, you suddenly find you got nothing to fear". He is describing the awakening of a person from the perils of a broken world to a realisation that the truth is in fact out there. The last line of the stanza has obvious biblical implications. The thief acknowledges that they are running out of time. But until what exactly? It could be until Christ is crucified, or until his second coming to earth. These are the more likely interpretations, but the thief could also mean that they are simply getting old, they only have a short time left to live, therefore they must not mince words or waste time.

The final stanza puts the dialogue in some kind of context as we are plunged into one of Dylan's bizarre hotchpotch worlds, filled with interesting archetypes and imagery: 

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view

While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too

We can assume since the verse structure has been reversed that these 2 lines should be the first in the story. Princes keep the view from the watchtower, while women and servants come and go, presumably to satisfy the needs of wealthy men, symbolised by the princes. The power in these lines is their detachment from any sense of judgement. Dylan plays the observer, not the moral judicator. Without this bias we can seek something deeper in the world Dylan is depicting, and relate it to the words of the joker and the thief we have already heard. This kind of objectivity and straight talking is rare in music, even in Dylan's own work, although he struck upon it more times than most artists. There is not a single word or phrase wasted on Watchtower, every line develops the narrative and expands the consciousness of the listener. This lack of filler was clearly something Dylan was aiming to do on the song, and it wouldn't surprise me if he wrote it in a similar fashion to Like a Rolling Stone, by starting with a much longer set of lyrics and painstakingly refining it until it contained nothing but the vital information and imagery. The song concludes with these two lines:

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl

Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl

The image of the wildcat could be symbolic of something or it could be one of the only descriptive devices in the song. Whatever the case it certainly serves to enrich the setting of the watchtower for the listener, perhaps placing it on the great rural planes of America where wildcats are most commonplace. Taking it more literally, the wildcat could symbolise the overwhelming forces of nature, capable of doing much more damage than mankind can. With the last two lines, Dylan conjures up a feeling of dread and an predicts an imminent storm for those in the watchtower. The wildcat could also represent some kind of evil, not quite upon those in the watchtower but within striking distance. Those in the watchtower can only hide from the truth for so long before it it is unescapable. The riders approach the watchtower, bringing with them the howling wind. This could also be a metaphor for the coming of truth to the unenlightened. A great shake up of the established order is underway, led by the two riders. But indeed if they are the joker and the thief, then perhaps the opening dialogue is evidence that their mission was unsuccessful. It is easy to theorise on the meaning of these last 4 lines, but ultimately Dylan wanted to leave Watchtower open-ended. The two parts are clearly related, but it is up to you to decide how they fit together. 

The biblical allusions in All Along The Watchtower are impossible to miss, and the track can certainly be read in a religious context, but I don't think it is required in order to get something from it. One thing's for sure though, Dylan's writing at this time was being heavily influenced by the large King James Bible that he kept on his kitchen table in Woodstock - he even talks about it in Chronicles. Despite claims that Bob was an atheist in his formative years, there is no doubting that he always had an interest in religion. Even his early work contains direct references to christianity, and by JWH nearly every track seems intimately linked with bible texts. With this song for instance we see strong similarities to a passage in the Book of Isaiah. On Watchtower and others on JWH, I feel Dylan manages to weave these deep moral threads into songs that are both alluring and thought provoking, whilst still maintaining his trademark storytelling. A decade later, he would embark on a series of albums dubbed his 'born again trilogy', which were ultimately branded as far more dogmatic and evangelical than what he gave us on John Wesley Harding. This is what gives the album a liberating quality. It never feels like we are being spoken down to by the narrator, but rather taught lessons about ourselves that perhaps we already knew but had long forgotten. The jarring nature of a song like Watchtower brings these deep truths back into our mind's eye and forces us to confront some difficult questions about ourselves and our society.

As is always the case with art, it is easy to conflate the artist with the work being produced. Understanding the context of where Dylan was at this point in his career may provide us with evidence of the song's origin and influences, but it is important to note that this is almost certainly not a personal song. Some have suggested that Dylan may have cast himself as the joker in Watchtower, along with Elvis as the thief for stealing African American music for the white race. For sure, the first verse does seem to be in line with how Dylan might have been feeling during the mid sixties. The world tour of '66 had all but killed him, and as he retreated to Woodstock it seemed he wanted one thing above all, a bit of relief. This is certainly one way to read the song, yet I feel it significantly dampens the transcendental power and mystery of it all. For me, this is a song that needs to be read objectively. It is really interesting to see the shift in Dylan's songwriting at this time. Having carved out the path for the modern singer-songwriter with his previous 7 albums, he seemed weary of having to carry such a responsibility on his shoulders. His work on this album could be seen as a regressive step back from the high water mark in creative expression that was Blonde on Blonde, but this is not the case. Instead it is an example of an artist digging back into the very roots of American music, and coming out with an album that sounded both old and new at the same time.

All Along The Watchtower is one of Dylan's most cryptic compositions. It attempts to force the listener to contemplate one of life's greatest questions, what is it all worth? Moreover, what might it cost to pursue to truth? For me, the song works because it can be read in a multitude of ways, not confined to its obvious biblical allusions but well anchored by them. The reverse verse structure combined with its unnerving instrumental has the listener unable to avoid its sense of an almost unbearable truth about the human species. Dylan clearly loves the song, having now played it a staggering 2257 times in concert, whilst it has also become one of his biggest hits. I view it as the majestic centrepiece on perhaps his most overlooked album, a track that continues to give me more and more each time I return to it.

I want to thank Nerdwriter1 on YouTube for his fantastic video about this song. His analysis formed the basis for this blog post and taught me many things that I didn't know about the track. I strongly encourage you all to go and check it out, along with the rest of his awesome channel!

DJ's Crowning Moment Amid Controversy at Oakmont

It is fast becoming a bigger part of our nature to rally together and quickly condemn any actions we consider unsavoury. Sport is no exception to this. We all want our opinions heard and validated, and we want this validation immediately. We often seek this through social media, where bandwagons can be hopped on with just one or taps of our screen. A perfect example of this quick condemnation and hyperbole was at last week's US Open, which concluded yesterday at Oakmont Country Club. Amid a nail biting final round battle, Dustin Johnson found himself enshrouded in a ruling controversy that ended up overshadowing his quite brilliant victory. The whole thing was as fascinating as it was perplexing, but flagged up a couple of key points which I think need to be mentioned.

The incident occurred on the 5th hole, where Johnson's ball ended up moving as he was about to address it. Doing the right thing, he called for a ruling there and then, claiming that he didn't cause the ball to move by grounding the club behind it. The coverage confirmed this and to my eye, the ball oscillated due to the green speeds rather than Johnson's putter. We moved on. A few holes later, a rules official confronted DJ on the tee, apparently telling him that he was to 'review some footage' after completing his round to determine whether a penalty was to be applied. Rightfully so I think, the commentary team were quick to jump on the USGA for not making an instant ruling, accusing them of throwing the whole tournament, and crucially the players, into confusion and ignorance as to where they stood. Were the chasing pack 1 back of Johnson or 2 back? Nobody knew.

As the round continued, the Sky commentators did not let up. Quickly, it was not an isolated incident, but a full blown assault on the competency of the USGA. The world's top players chimed in on twitter. Rory McIlroy claimed that he 'wouldn't hit another shot until this farce was rectified', a sentiment quickly echoed by Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. When 3 of the top 5 players in the world are coming together to speak out against your organisation, it's probably best to act. Nevertheless, the round continued with no further announcements from the USGA. They had backed themselves into a corner that was virtually impossible to escape from unscathed.

The issue gained so much traction that even the normally level headed Ewan Murray was finding it increasingly difficult to report on the actual golf being played, repeatedly coming back to how it had 'ruined the championship'. It was at this point that I became rather annoyed by the whole thing. It seemed that the commentary team was putting politics before golf, jumping on the anti-USGA bandwagon and adding significant fuel to the fire. As much as I sympathised with the players and condemned the decision, the tournament still felt alive to me. There were still several players in with a shot of winning, and I wanted to enjoy the action as the players came down the stretch trying to win what had been a wonderful US Open. The other players in contention were far from immune from controversy however, and the commentary team continually attributed Shane Lowry's bad play to what had happened with DJ. The fact is, we don't know to what degree it affected him, or any of the players for that matter. It is all speculation. I agree that the decision was wrong, but the politics and the ranting should have been put aside until the final putt had dropped. For sure, if Dustin had lost as a result of the ruling then I might not be writing such an article, but he ended up winning comfortably.

In many ways, I actually found it fascinating to watch Johnson having to force himself through the situation and come out on top. He struck a couple of loose shots following the news, but then managed to bounce back, parring 15, 16 and 17 before his epic birdie on the last. I saw it as his coming of age moment. Ultimately it summed up what is so great about sport, the way it builds character and tests a person's will when the odds are stacked squarely against them. Golf will never be perfect, and there is certainly a debate to be had about the way the game's governing bodies should enforce the rules, but ironically it is often within this imperfection that we often see true greatness emerge.

I have very mixed feelings on both what happened and the reaction to it. The fact is that the USGA put on two of the best championships in the golfing calendar, and I don't think that they deserve the level of scorn they are receiving. By all means lets talk rationally about how they can prevent things like this from happening again, but simply hurling abuse at an organisation that involves hundreds of committed people is to devalue what really matters, the golf. I hope that Dustin's fantastic win will not be smudged too much by this, and that both the USGA and the golfing community as a whole can move on from it having learnt a lesson, whilst also being proud for hosting such a memorable championship. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it - roll on Royal Troon!