Southeast Messenger - June 2nd, 2019

PAGE 6 - SOUTHEAST MESSENGER - June 2, 2019
southeast
Messenger
(Distribution: 19,206)
Rick Palsgrove ...................................Southeast Editor
southeast@ columbusmessenger.com
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columns
“Booksmart” is a fresh and hilarious tale of youth
When I leave the theater with a smile on
my face, it is usually because I am so happy
to be free of some horrible movie I had just
watched.
But in the case of “Booksmart,” a comingof-age
comedy written and directed by a
team of women, I could not suppress my grin
because I had seen a genuinely great film.
If you had not heard of “Booksmart”
before reading this review, you are forgiven.
While it is not an obscure feature found
only through a streaming service, it was
not heavily marketed by its studio either.
This I consider a true shame as Annapurna
Pictures had a complete gem on its hands.
The film follows best friends Amy and
Molly (Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie
Feldstein) whose high school days are coming
to a close. As freshman, the duo made a
pact to put studying ahead of partying and
are rapidly become aware of all the good
times they may have missed with their
Our Pictorial Past by Rick Palsgrove
e town marshal
peers.
Wanting to do something out of the
norm, the two debate the merits of attending
a party but ultimately decide against it
after weighing the pros and cons. Then,
just as they have settled on plans for a solo
date night, Molly discovers that the peers
she deemed hard partying slackers are also
getting into elite universities and her world
comes crumbling down.
She laments the fact that she, the class
president, valedictorian and soon-to-be
Yale undergrad, has spent so much time
studying just to compete academically with
people who crush beer cans on their foreheads.
She decides something has to be
done and she and Amy must go to a party
for the “seminal high school moment.”
The problem they discover is that no one
will answer their calls when they ask for
the address to a shindig hosted by the popular
guy Nick (Mason Gooding). Though
Photo courtesy of Ernie Bell
Groveport Town Marshal Albert Schlosser is seen here talking
with a couple of local men on Main Street in downtown
Groveport in 1937. Groveport used a marshal system for law
enforcement from the 19th century until 1966 when the
Groveport Police Department was formed.
To advertise
in the
Southeast
Messenger,
call Doug
Henry at
614-272-
5422.
The Reel Deal
not complete outcasts,
they figure it is
because they would
only call for academic
reasons thus the lack
of response. Sporting
fake ID’s to access academic
libraries, they
put their brains to
good use and scour
public records for
“Nick’s aunt’s house.”
With the possible
Dedra
Cordle
match in their hands, their plans to attend
the last cool party of the year are put to the
test by a lonely student looking for friends,
a potential serial killer, low phone batteries,
and hidden secrets related to post-high
school plans that come to light.
Ever since I was a kid spinning 45 rpm vinyl
records on a portable record player that had a felt covered
platter, (Yes, I’m ancient) I’ve wondered why
some pop and rock songs end by fading out while others
have a definitive ending.
I’m not a musician or a record producer, so I’m not
well versed in the recording process. But someone does
make a conscious decision on how to end a song, be it
the songwriter or the producer.
A few years ago National Public Radio researched
this topic and reported that it comes down to a couple
of reasons: 1) the fade out made it easier for radio disc
jockeys to control the end of a song to allow for commercials,
etc.; and 2) some artists feel the lingering
fade out enhances the listening experience by repeating
the song’s chorus or “hook.”
That being said, which is better, the fade out or the
definitive ending?
I asked an old musician friend of mine, Matt Wyatt -
who played guitar for the Great Plains and now performs
with The 3 Speeds - which he preferred: the fade out or
the definitive ending.
“My thoughts about fade outs are, does the band feel
stupid repeating a phrase, knowing it is not gonna be
completely heard? Wyatt said. “I prefer clipped, sudden
endings.”
Fade outs can be long or short. They can trick you
sometimes by fading out and then coming back before
fading out again. I’m looking at you, psychedelic era
Beatles.
Speaking of The Fab Four, the long fade out on the
Beatles’ “Hey Jude” works because it is a mesmerizing
chant.
Some short fade outs almost serve as an abrupt
ending, like on Bob Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero/No
Limit,” which is a song I love. On this song, the fade
out is tantalizingly short making me wish it could at
least go on for a few more seconds.
Some songs that on a recording have a fade out can
sometimes cause a band problems when performed
live. It seems like the band does not know how to end
such a song in a clean way. So during live performances
they often strum guitars really fast and end the
song with a “chunk” of drums, bass, and guitar all at
While comparisons have been made to
the 2007 coming-of-age comedy
“Superbad,” I found “Booksmart” to be
slightly more fun and realistic than its
genre counterpart. To be clear, neither
reinvent the wheel for high school debauchery
but there is a freshness and sincerity to
“Booksmart” that other similar themed
movies lack.
Judging by opening day box office numbers,
“Booksmart” may not be in theaters
for long but I would recommend making an
attempt to see it before its gone. Not only
would you be supporting something midbudget
and non-Disney remake, but you
also get the pleasure of watching something
that is both hilarious and capable of
lifting your mood.
Grade: B+
Dedra Cordle is a Messenger staff writer
and columnist.
The long and short goodbyes of songs
Editor’s Notebook
once. There are too many
instances of this to name that fit
this mold. Come up with an ending!
A song with good definitive
ending is like coming to the end
of a good book. The sound ties up
neatly and satisfyingly, such as
with The Who’s “Won’t Get
Fooled Again.” Some endings can
be almost jarring, but fit the
song’s attitude such as The Music
Machine’s “Talk, Talk,” which
ends with a bam in a sharp,
clipped vocal.
Rick
Palsgrove
“No matter what you hear on a record, you’re hearing
a structured performance in a studio that is worked on to
get a certain sound, but at the same time the band wants
you to feel the immediacy of the music,” said Wyatt.
“When a song is ending, a fade out can snap you out of
denial because you’re obviously hearing someone going
away who isn’t really going away.”
It’s all a musical jumble anyway and the songs we
like are all so subjective. Ultimately it is up to each of
us to decide what we like best when listening to our
favorite tunes and no matter how a song ends, all we
need to do is replay it to relive the experience.
I could end this column with a fade out or just stop.
Rick Palsgrove is editor of the Southeast Messenger.
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