Every month, Cosmik Debris brings you many CD and record reviews, but the writers manage to find a little time for other pursuits, like reading, going to movies and watching videos. That's where Everything Else In Review comes in. .


BOOK REVIEW: Cosmik Debris
The Collected History and Improvisations of Frank Zappa
by Greg Russo (Crossfire Publications)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

This revised edition of Greg Russo's comprehensive overview of the career of Frank Zappa originated as a pair of articles in Discoveries Magazine. For the book, Russo has fleshed out his narrative history of Zappa's career from the aquisition of his first snare drum at the age of 12 until his death, with a massive discography and bibliography and an invaluable collection of Zappa related illustrations.

Russo's original research, especially into details of session anecdotes and back stories of some of Zappa's more significant compositions, is impressive, but for the collector, the discographical information he provides is without peer. Zappa recorded for many labels under a variety of guises over a period of three decades, and tracking down every single, every album, noteworthy live performances, broadcast appearances, books and articles is a Herculean task, but one that Russo has shouldered with aplomb. It's simply unimaginable that any fan, no matter how dedicated, wouldn't learn something new from this book. It's one of a handful that have to be considered essential.


(C) 2001 - Shaun Dale



MOVIE REVIEW: Osmosis Jones
Starring Bill Murray, Chris Rock, Brandy Norwood, Larry Fishburne, David Hyde Pierce, William Shatner and Chris Elliot
Directed By Peter and Bob Farrelly Animation by Piet Kroon and Tom Sito
Released By Warner Brothers
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

I went to see Osmosis Jones mostly because my kids wanted to see it, but to my surprise I ended up rather liking this animated little absurdity, a salute to our tireless immune systems. Partly cartoon, partly live action, Osmosis has an inventive quality to it, right down to the Warner Brothers logo sprouting cilia at the start. After seeing the trailer I was expecting lots of bathroom humor, which it does have, but thankfully it doesn't wallow in it as much as I feared. It's really a cop story.

It's not really that original of a story, but because of the setting it's done in a very original and lively way. It's built around that simplistic view of our bodies, that there are little people running around in our brains pulling levers and switches to get things done. It takes that image to the nth degree. Osmosis Jones is a white blood cell (played with a very black voice by Chris Rock), a plainclothes detective in the City of Frank. He's got lots of work because Bill Murray's Frank has terrible eating habits. Hell, he doesn't know what personal hygiene even is, let alone practice it. It's no surprise he gets himself infected. Jones is soon on the trail of the lethal virus, Thrax (played by Larry Fishburne). Of course, Jones has been demoted because of past mistakes so no one on the rest of the force believes him when he tells them there's a killer on the loose. And worse, the Mayor (William Shatner) is busy goading Frank into a vacation instead of resting so that the City of Frank will re-elect him. Aided by an unexpected sidekick, Drix, a cold medicine (David Hyde Pierce) and Jones's girlfriend Leah (Brandy) in the Mayor's Office, Jones has 48 hours before the virus does Frank in.

I can't think of anything, even a cartoon, that's quite like Osmosis Jones. The animation is first rate and the music on the soundtrack is a happy mix of rock and hip hop. It could have been preachy, being that it's about health, but instead it's vivid, funny and clever in the way it switches from inside Frank's body and back out to hygiene lectures from Frank's daughter. And mostly it's pretty accurate in the naming of body parts, even though no cartoon depiction of a hypothalamus like this one is really going to educate you about what it really does. The worst the humor gets is during a pimple scene, played on both the macro and micro level. It'll make lots of people squirm, but ultimately it's quite funny. And if it scares the kids into good health habits, so much the better. Viruses are real and our white blood cells need all the help they can get on their beat.


(C) 2001 - Rusty Pipes



BOOK REVIEW: Yardbirds - The Ultimate Rave Up
by Greg Russo (Crossfire Publications)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

Author Greg Russo has updated his 1997 volume for this third edition, adding new discographical and performance information about the Yardbirds, the Brit-blues pioneers whose primary legacy is generally considered to be the popular introduction of guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. There was always more to the band than lead guitar, though, and a form of the band continues to this day, led by original members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty. Meanwhile, the careers of Clapton Beck and Page continue, as well, and Russo provides plenty of material on their post-Yardbirds exploits. Targeted at the collectors market, Russo is particularly strong at identifying the full extent of official releases by members of the band (he pointedly avoids listing bootleg releases, which is fine, because the authorized material will keep you busy for years). The historical and biographical material is comprehensive and well presented, as well, drawn from his extensive research and contact with the principals. It's hard to imagine anyone, no matter how well informed, not being able to glean some new insight or tidbit from this 288 page volume. It's a welcome addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in the Yardbirds specifically, their famous guitarists, or the British Invasion of the sixties generally.


(C) 2001 - Shaun Dale



MOVIE REVIEW: Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back
Starring Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Shannon Elizabeth, Will Ferrel, Jason Lee
Written and Directed By Kevin Smith
View Askew / Dimension Films
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

I can't imagine trying to pitch a movie like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back to a studio executive. Or maybe I can:

Hey JR, it'll be huge! We take the two stoner characters that have been in every Kevin Smith movie to date. Yeah yeah, they're the two dumb foul-mouthed stoners, well, only one is foul mouthed and the other is silent but the audience loves them already, right? So they're in New Jersey and they find out that someone is making a movie about them, but it's based on a comic book about them called Bluntman and Chronic. Who would make a comic book about them you ask? Who cares! So they travel across the country to stop the movie from being made because they don't like what people are saying about them on the Internet. Along the way they meet some luscious babes, one of which falls in love with Jay even though he is just focused on getting laid and he makes that VERY CLEAR to everyone. In explicit language at least, we don't wanna show any skin, JR, Shannon asks way too much for that now! Anyway, then they get framed for a robbery while trying to liberate some animals and a wacko Animal Marshal begins to track them just like in the Fugitive. So they take the orangutang they liberated to Hollywood and bust their way onto the set and get into the movie anyway and then, well, I don't want to give the ending away. What do you think, JR baby, do we get the green light?

So I can imagine pitching it, what I can't imagine is funding a project like this. But it did get green-lighted and Kevin Smith has made a very funny picture, if you don't mind a constant barrage of crudity and dope jokes. It's almost like an update to the old Cheech and Chong movies. And Smith doesn't seem to mind that at all.

Along the way Smith lampoons a dozen famous movie scenes and has his stars indulge in lots of self-deprecating humor, especially with Ben Affleck, whose career he launched in his low budget classic, Clerks. There are more than a few cameos by famous people: George Carlin, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamil, Gus Van Zant, Matt Damon, Tracy Morgan, John Stewart, Chris Rock and Shannon Dougherty among others. It's nowhere near the level of Smith's last movie, Dogma, but it's obvious everyone had a lot of fun making this little romp.

I'll note also that Kevin's friend Jason Mewes has actually matured into a good actor, in a one-note kind of way. He's relentlessly stupid and gutter-mouthed in his character, but endearingly so as he gamely tries to clear his good name (!?) on the Internet. It may be a sort of pity-driven affection, but he gets in lots of good lines and slapstick. I must admit I belly-laughed a lot watching him.

I'm sure JASBST will become a guilty pleasure for lots of people. No doubt it will also set back legalizing pot a few years. But since there's no hope of that happening anytime soon, what the hell? Why not get extremely silly while we're waiting? OK, but let's try to make the next movie a little more universal, Kevin.


(C) 2001 - Rusty Pipes