Entertainment Reviews

DVD REVIEW

Classic Albums: Paranoid.
Director/Editor: Matthew Longfellow.
Starring: Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward.

Eagle Rock Entertainment.

Considered not only pioneers of quintessential “stoner rock,” but pioneers of heavy metal alone, the Ozzy Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath will remain embedded in the subconscious of the metal counter-culture for decades to come (to say nothing of the success of the version of the band fronted by the late Ronnie James Dio, a line-up later known as Heaven and Hell).

With the 40th anniversary of Black Sabbath’s earth-shattering sophomore album, Paranoid, just around the corner, it’s perfect timing for the severely underrated Classic Albums series to release their entry on the making of the album.

Including interviews with each of the original band members, from a spacey Geezer Butler to a prim-and-proper Tony Iommi (who quite awesomely recreates all of his riffs in the majority of his interview time), the humility of the rock legends is refreshing, as it is still apparent that they have no clue quite how they got here.

Chats with a surprisingly well-spoken (relatively speaking, anyway) Ozzy and the smart-as-hell-and-still-just-as-scary Henry Rollins, who gushes like a fanboy on his first listen, cap off a fascinatingly in-depth look at the progression of the album, from when “War Pigs” was originally the mystical “Walpurgis” all the way to the mismatched cover art that would go on to become so iconic. Classic Albums: Paranoid is required watching for any self-respecting metalhead. (Tyler Davidson)

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW

How Weed Won the West

Director/Narrator: Kevin Booth.

Sacred Cow Productions.

As a follow-up to his groundbreaking documentary, American Drug War, filmmaker Kevin Booth takes us on a fascinating, fact-laden journey through the current fight to repeal marijuana prohibition. Narrated by Booth, with ample and often witty commentary from radio talk show host Alex Jones, Weed not only briefly educates on the history of cannabis in the U.S., but more importantly, focuses on actual stories from individuals who both run legal dispensaries and use the drug for medical purposes. Taking his camera to the famed “Emerald Triangle,” the biggest grow-site in California, Booth talks with organic growers about the positives of legal, regulated cultivation and the potentially life-threatening use of illegally imported Mexican drug cartel weed. Also interviewed are street activists, including people who are blind, in wheelchairs or are burn victims—all of whom derive a higher quality of life from using medical marijuana—as well as informative clips from marijuana lawyers, doctors and drug counselors. It’s an even-handed film, taking Obama to task, as well as the mostly-Republican faction of San Diego city council members—who’d repeal Prop. 215 if they could—and includes a number of stories of raids and harassment by the DEA and FBI that might leave you shuddering in your shoes. (Jane Mast)

BOOK REVIEW

Chronic City

Author: Jonathan Lethem.

Publisher: Doubleday.

Hailed as one of the hippest genre-bending writers of recent years, multi-award-winning author Jonathan Lethem has turned out yet another alt-sci-fi-mystery—this time, effectively including the positives of green herb culture. Set on the on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, readers will recognize flashes of Saul Bellow, Philip K. Dick (whom Lethem called “as formative an influence as marijuana or punk rock” on his life), Charles G. Finney and Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The tale centers on a circle of friends that includes a faded child-star, a cultural critic, a hack ghostwriter and a city official, all prowling perilously and hilariously through rent-controlled real estate and dope-dependent bohemias with spot-on cultural satire, pitch-perfect banter and sharp, melancholic sensibilities. A luxuriously stylized page-turner of a culture that is slowly drying up, Lethem once again proves that there are no longer genre barriers in writing; not only does he base his works on, and draws them from, cult-classic films such as Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid and They Live as well as Talking Heads albums, he also completely believes in plagiarism. Not one to horde stories or substance, he advocates a “gift economy,” in which all art is free. You’ll still have to buy this book to read it, of course, but you’ll be glad that you did. (Jane Mast)