SATURDAYS AT CHARLIE'S: Bronson in 'Messenger of Death' (1988)

I'm not promising anything, but I'm going to try to make every Saturday (or every other Saturday) a Charles Bronson night. I just love the guy, and I thought this would be a fun way to go back over some of the great (and not-so-great) movies he did in his long career- this will coincide with my Bronson Amazon completion project, so everytime I get ahold of an old Bronson flick on vhs or dvd for cheap enough, the review will follow shortly. Tonight, I thought I'd quickly go over one of Bronson's more underrated features, 'Messenger of Death.'

If you go into 'Messenger of Death' expecting 'Death Wish IV: The Crackdown' or any of Bronson's more over-the-top 80s output, I can see how you'd be disappointed. However, if you just let go of any preconceptions of what this should be and want to enjoy an above-average thriller, then you'll probably like it much more. This isn't a shoot-'em-up or revenge flick (in the usual sense, anyway) in the traditional sense, but Bronson running around with pad and pencil trying to get answers. He doesn't blow up bad guys with rocket launchers, kill punks in break-dancing gear with big game hunting guns, or eat cabbage soup with old people; he travels around Colorado trying to get answers from Mormons and uncover big, bad corporate conspiracies involving the water company. That said, this is still pretty good Bronson, and seeing Charlie do his thing here makes me even more befuddled that people nowadays think you can replace Bronson with a guy like Jason Statham in, of all roles, 'the Mechanic.' What the fuck is up with that? Anyway, if you've seen 'Kinjite' or '10 to Midnight,' then expect more that type of film- definitely not as fun as a classic like 'Murphy's Law,' but if you need your Bronson fix, this should be your ticket.

Aesthetic Perfection- 'Living the Wasted Life' in Denver, CO

Her's the setlist:

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I went to see the TSOM this past tour, and found myself scratching my head, for several different reasons. One, I have been more or less OBSESSED with the Sisters since I first discovered them, and there was a feel of dreaded disappointment; a feeling I fought hard mostly from fanboy devotion than anything else. The sound was muddled, at times horrible, inaudible and mixed way too low at others. However, there are ALWAYS moments of shear brilliance and what rock should be when you see the Sisters. Sadly, the enchantment began to wear off after another round of monotonous drum machine beats and hard metal guitars bashing out decade old hits and unrecorded gems. I felt kind of like in 2006 on the 'Bite the Silver Bullet' tour, when I wondered how many times they could churn out a three minute version of an eight minute song, and rush through their setlist. I could not, however, say the show sucked.


It's the nature of the Sisters as an entity of rock history now, and their place (or lack of place) in a music industry that never really moved with them- forward. The Sisters embody frustration for those devoted to their idiosyncratic form of pop: they refuse to release records, even though they have more than enough material for it; they have the chops to put on absolutely mindblowing shows, but choose to bury it beneath dry ice, poor sound, and apathy. Their shows, anyone can tell you, range from the ecstatic to the excremental in quality, sometimes in the same gig, or one after the other. As they pounded through Dominion, I pondered walking out and didn't feel sad (and that makes me sad) because I felt I wouldn't really miss anything and I had seen this before from them. I felt the same way during Summer. And then Flood II. And then Something Fast. And Vision Thing. And then it was over, and I was frustrated because I felt like I had been tricked again, suckered into bed by this charming entity that is the Sisters. And they left me with a disconnected phone number and a disheartening realization that Eldritch and company really can't continue on doing music the same way they've been doing it and still be the Sisters as we remember and love them. I felt the same way in 2006. "The Sisters are a joke now." I wrote. It is something the 2008 me returned to often during the show, but also the excited 16 year old fanboy was side-by-side with his jaw on the floor. I came to the conclusion that the Sisters are like that friend you can't give up on. Or maybe that's just bullshit. It's the Sisters, man. Take them for what they are, or don't. I choose to.

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