Soundtracking: "Mommy"

by Chris Feil

Notable among the complaints lobbed at Xavier Dolan are his music video stylings and his pop-heavy song choices. Say what you will about the auteur’s self-seriousness, but when his musical instincts work, they truly work. Nowhere does this musical instinct shine as brightly as Mommy.

The film’s psuedo-scifi premise (a fictional law allows parents to institutionalize their children) sets the film in the immediate future but the film musically shows its family unit as stuck in the past. Teenage Scott is christened with Counting Crows and Eiffel 65’s brainworm “Blue”, and he’s grafted with a dated whiteboy swagger. His mother Die is adorned in former hits from Dido and Sarah McLachlan, and we see the classy adult contempo hopes in her tacky bargain bin compilation CD package...

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Yes, No, Maybe So: Maleficent

My favorite moment of the Grammys Sunday night was the premiere of the Maleficent trailer set to Lana Del Rey's hypnotically sinister version of Disney's "Once Upon a Dream"! Runner up was Imagine Dragons. Second Runner Up was Madonna resurrecting "Open Your Heart" briefly while people of all persuasions married (awwww) thereby rescuing me from that obnoxious if well-intentioned "Same Love" rap (Keith Urban with his new handsome-lady haircut was also happy to be rescued as he was totally crying. But where was Mrs. Keith Urban Whom We Worship?). Fourth runner up was a tie between Pink and Lorde... but I digress and am running way off track with the tracks.

MALEFICENT!

Well well."

Let's talk about that "Dream" trailer only we're doing things a smidge differently because we're in a mood. We're going to judge every shot of it with our Yes No Maybe So™ system.

Ready? Go!

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