Post- Tribune FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2010 | POST-TRIB.COM | D1 FridaA guide yto your weekend events STAGE

MOVIE REVIEW ROGER EBERT Air Supply performs Saturday in Michigan Chicago Sun-Times movie critic, City. Graham Russell (left) and Russell rogerebert.suntimes.com Hitchcock have had huge success in adult contemporary music. — PHOTO PROVIDED Air Supply ‘Easy’ pumps up its loud side

BY BOB KOSTANCZUK 648-3144 | [email protected]

ussell Hitchcock was an Aus- tralian tenor. Graham Russell, an English- does ‘it’ R man, wrote songs. They hooked up in 1975 during rehearsals for “Jesus Christ Superstar” in Australia. The duo evolved into Air asy A” offers an intriguing mid-mid- Supply — a formidable pop act that dle ground to thhee absolute of sex- reigned in the world of mellow, romantic ual abstinence: Don’t sleep with music. The early 1980s was prime time anybody, but say you did. It’s a for the lads, as they scored big pop- funny, engaging comedy that chart singles in the United States that “E takes the familiar but underrat- included “Lost in Love,” “All Out of ed Emma Stone and makes her, I Love,” “Every Woman in the World,” believe, a star. Until actors are matched to the “The One That You Love,” “Even the right role, we can never quite see them clearly. Nights Are Better” and “Making Love Stone embodies Olive Penderghast, a girl Out of Nothing at All.” nobody much notices at East Ojai High School. But it seems Hitchcock, 61, and Rus- The biggest surprise about this school (apart from sell, 60, view themselves as other than the fact that there is an East Ojai) is that it is light and airy minstrels. Celebrating 35 scandalous to lose one’s virginity in high school. I years together, hesitate to generalize, but I suspect such a thing is Hitchcock and If you go not unheard of in East Ojai and elsewhere. I’m not Russell are still recommending it. I only know what I’m told. touring and creat- Who: Air Supply It is a rule with all comedies involving virginity, ing fresh music. Where: Stardust going back to Doris Day and long before, that Hitchcock is even Event Center at enormous misunderstandings are involved and releasing a solo Blue Chip Casino, virginity miraculously survives at the end. In this country album Hotel & Spa, 777 case, Olive is simply embarrassed to admit she this month. Blue Chip Drive, spent a whole weekend at home alone, so impro- They started Michigan City; 879- vises a goofy story about having lost her virginity out as an opening 7711 to a college boy. That seems safe; nobody in school act for Rod Stew- When: 8 p.m. Sat- would know him. But she’s overheard by Mari- art. Decades later, urday anne (Amanda Bynes), a self-righteous religious Air Supply will type who passes the story round as an object les- breeze into Michi- Tickets: $25, $35 son to wayward girls: Don’t become a fallen gan City’s Blue and $47; available woman like Olive. Chip Casino for a through Ticketmas- “Easy A” takes this misunderstanding and finds Saturday show. ter, www.ticketmas- effortless comic variations in it. The news is taken Speaking by ter.com, and in the with equanimity by Olive’s parents, Dill and Rose- phone this month Blue Chip Casino mary (Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson), who from the West pavilion join Juno’s parents in the Pantheon of Parental Coast, Hitchcock Special note: Admirability. At East Ojai High, Olive finds that in took time for a Must be at least 21 having lost one reputation, she has gained anoth- question-and- years old to attend er. Previously no one noticed her at all (hard to answer session. believe about Emma Stone, but there you have it). Q. Do you con- More details: Now she is imagined to be an experienced and sider Air Supply a www.bluechipcasi- daring adventuress and it can be deducted that a soft-rock duo? no.com great many in the student body envy her. A. No. We’ve Olive puts her notoriety to use. She has a gay always considered ourselves to be a friend named Brandon (Dan Byrd), who has been rock and roll band that’s somewhere on hassled at school (hard to believe in Ojai but, the scale between acoustic rock and any again, there you have it). By allowing word to get heavy rock and roll band. Our show is out that she and Brandon have shared blissful very energetic, very loud — it’s a rock congress, she is able to bring an end to the bully- show. ing (hard to believe no one in East Ojai has heard Q. What’s new with Air Supply? of a gay and a straight having sex, but this Ojai is A. We released a new CD in May one created for the convenience of a movie come- called “Mumbo Jumbo.” dy and people believe what the plot requires them Q. How do you think the rock critics to believe). have treated Air Supply, in general, over Now that she has become established as the the years? school authority, she begins to issue a sort of A. Oh, obviously negatively, of course. Olive’s Seal of Approval on various outsiders, mis- But the bottom line is, this is 35 years fits and untouchables in the student body, outfit- for us. We’ve maintained our career at a ting them all with credentials of sexmanship. Does very high level. We’ve sold millions and anybody wonder why she only sleeps with gays, A cheeky millions of CDs. nerds and college students? Why should they? We played shows all over the world to Lots of people do. much larger audiences outside the U.S. “Easy A,” like many good comedies, supplies us ‘Easy A’ sociological Last year, we were on the road for 240- with a more or less conventional (movie) world in 1 something days. The fans are the critics, which one premise — Olive’s transformation by Rating: ★★★ ⁄ 2 and that’s the bottom line. gossip — is introduced. She becomes endowed Rated: PG-13 for mature teen-raunch Q. Where does the name Air Supply overnight with a power to improve reputations, material involving teen sex- come from? confer status and help the needy. Her new power uality, language and drug A. Graham actually dreamt of a bill- might even work for adults, such as the teacher material. comedy that board with flashing lights around it that Mr. Griffith (Thomas Haden Church) and his Length: 1 hr., 30 min. said Air Supply. estranged wife (Lisa Kudrow), the guidance coun- Q. Is there anybody contemporary selor, who become entangled in embarrassments. Stars: Emma Stone, Penn attempts to that you listen to now? The movie works because its funny, yes, but Badgley, Dan Byrd, Amanda A. I’ve always enjoyed Coldplay. I like also because it’s smart. When Olive begins wear- Bynes, Patricia Clarkson, the stuff that James Blunt is doing. I’m a ing the scarlet letter “A” on her clothing, borrow- Stanley Tucci, Thomas big Rascal Flatts fan — I like country ing the idea from the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel Haden Church, Lisa Kudrow ‘redeux’ The music. I just finished a solo project in they still read in East Ojai, she shows a level of and Malcolm McDowell. Nashville. irony that I’m afraid is lost on the student body, Q. Will Air Supply’s music become but not on us. I think it may always be necessary Scarlet Letter more respected as time goes on? that we like the hero or heroine of a comedy. I cer- A. You and I are speaking 35 years tainly liked Olive. I’m pretty sure that’s also how after we released our first recording, an actor becomes a movie star. and we still get played all over the world. Hopefully, people will still be thinking about us in another 30 years, another 20 years — but we kind of fig- ured sometime ago that we had nothing to prove. mammograms.My sister and Imake surewedon’t miss our We go together.

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