Cinema Dave stands with “The Blues Brothers” at Art Basel last week.
By Dave Montalbano
AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com
Opening tomorrow, Le Havre is a Finnish/French film about a sad shoeshine guy who struggles to make ends meet for his ill wife. Despite his depressive situation, he finds a person who is in a worst dilemma, a young Nigerian boy separated from his family. With this simple plot set in motion, “Le Havre” reaches its climax in a sweet and entertaining way.
Since my interview with Alice Cooper years ago, his band made the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and Welcome 2 My Nightmare became his most successful album since the 1980s. Yet, his most satisfying experience may be personal.
On daughter Sonora’s acquisition of her driver’s license, he said, “She is one of the best drivers I’ve ever seen. In school, she was the more timid kid, less aggressive of my three kids. She is now a freshman in college and drives herself to school.”
Oldest daughter Calico is part of the comedy troupe Groundlings and is making a niche for herself in independent movies. His son Dashiell recently married a beautiful blond he met on the hockey rink; Dashiell hit a slap-shot and his future wife, Morgan, was the goalie.
In two weeks, Alice and his band will be ending their No More Mr. Nice Guy Tour at the Seminole Hollywood Hard Rock.
Like a good carnival barker, Alice exclaims, “This is my best live band ever. We have Steve Hunter (Cooper band mate from the 1970s), Orianthi (from American Idol and Michael Jackson’s last band) and the voice of Vincent Price opens the show.”
The Vincent Price gesture reveals debt to the past.
He explains, “My generation, like Ozzy Osbourne and I, have a harder edge, but we were all taught by the Beatles. We had good teachers and we learned to incorporate melody lines.”
The Grammy Award noms. snubbed Welcome 2 My Nightmare but Cooper was unfazed. He acknowledges the current culture of the music and radio business.
“Some of the nominations were boring; good songs are not getting played. Radio does not play what is good, but who is supposed to be the next big thing. An album like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band would not get airplay today. I feel sorry for young bands today. My advice would be become the best live band around, learn melody and lyrics from 70s bands.”
