From That Guy Named David:

Phone Booth (B+)

Very short, succinct movie, so I'll give a similar review. I was very impressed with the performances of both Colin Ferrell and Forest Whitaker. Also, the movie's premise was a bit unusual and creative, which was a welcome relief to the movies I have seen over the past month or so. The only criticism I have is that the movie dragged a little in the middle. That being said, it was definitely worth the rent.


Concert Review

Counting Crows (A-) and John Mayer (Incomplete)

I'll admit that I have been a big CC fan for the past several years, and this was the 6th time I have seen them in concert. There was some trepidation in going to this show because I'm not a fan of them splitting the the bill with the current flavor of the month, but I was there to see CC and so, I really didn't care too much about the other headliner. Counting Crows came out first, which was probably appropriate considering the majority of the thousands of 15-18 yr. old fans were there to see John Mayer. Opened with an acoustic version of "Rain King" with a few lyrics from "Raining in Baltimore" inserted in the middle. The crowd wasn't really into the set until they played "Mr. Jones" about 4 songs in. Good version, but nothing out of the ordinary. They kicked into Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" after "Mr. Jones" and were able to keep the fans in the set for the rest of the show. Two highlights of the first set: (1) the version of "Round Here" was the best I have ever seen. In the middle of the song, Adam Duritz went to the piano and played/sang the entirety of "Sweet Thing" by Van Morrison. Incredibly cool. (2) John Mayer and the opening band joined them for "Hangin' Around" to close the first set. Good version, and the crowd was definitely into it. The encore was "A Long December" with an intro of "Live Forever" by Oasis. That's the second time I have seen them play that version, and it was much better than the first time. Overall, very light, fun set, and a good time. I stayed for 5 songs from John Mayer and thought he was talented but too much of a Dave Matthews ripoff. Plus, I didn't have a bra to toss onto the stage, so I was a little out of place with the alternateens in the audience.