Music sometimes makes a scene, or a movie for that matter. Here’s a selection of tunes used in films that had an impact on me. By no means a comprehensive list, but a few who sprung to mind when I thought of doing this post. Enjoy and feel free to add your own in the comments section. Always looking for new music, new films to see, or reminders of films and music I’d forgotten about.
Let the River Run – Carly Simon – Working Girl
A nice little fable of a film. The song, at the end, sort of sums it up and lends itself to that feel good feeling.
Band of Brothers Requim – Band of Brothers
Beautiful piece of music and a fantastic mini series. If you haven’t seen it… do so. You may cry a lot, I did, but it’s amazing.
Have a Little Faith in Me – John Hiatt – Benny and Joon
I fell in love with this song after hearing it in this movie. A little fable of a film. This film just works.
Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon – Urge Overkill – Pulp Fiction
Tarantino knows how to use music in his films. This scene is just plain riveting. And the music in it is perfect for it.
Come What May – Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman – Moulan Rouge
I had no idea these two could sing, and sing so well. Besides which, this is a lovely lovely song.
Cell Block Tango – Various – Chicago
Fun fun. Listen to this a couple of times and you’ll find yourself singing along.
She’s Like The Wind – Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing
Patrick Swayze singing. Who doesn’t love that? Or love this movie for that matter. No one puts baby in a corner.
I Am Changing – Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Jennifer Hudson’s defining movie moment.
Long Ride Home – Patty Griffin – Elizabethtown
One of my favorite songs which was used really well in this movie.
Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova – Once
A fantastic little film with some awesome music. If you have never seen this, or heard the soundtrack, or listened to the Frames, check some or all of that out. The two from this movie now have their own band called The Swell Season.
Vianne Sets Up Shop – Chocolat
This music just simply makes me happy.
Cruisin’ – Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis – Duets
Who knew Gwyneth could sing this well. Wow.
You’re The One That I Want – John Travolta and Olivia Newton John – Grease
No list is really complete without this. If you are a person of my age, give or take 10 years either way, you know and at least secretly, if not down right openly, love this song and this scene.
Back Where You Belong – Sinead O’Conner – The Water Horse
Just a really gorgeous song.
You Sexy Thing – Hot Chocolate – The Full Monty
Who doesn’t love rough burly guys dancing… I ask you.
All I Want Is You – U2 – Reality Bites
This song sort of sums up this entire movie.
Stuck In The Middle With You – Steeler’s Wheel – Reservoir Dogs
Ear cutting off scene so beware…. Tarantino knows how to use music in his films.
Goodbye Horses – Q Lazzarus – The Silence of the Lambs
R Rated, for those who care. I’d advise not watching if you do.
In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel – Say Anything
Iconic image from film this one. I think this spawned thousands of incidents where guys stood outside girl’s homes and played music.
Lust for Life – Iggy Pop – Trainspotting
Ok… so the voice over is in french, but for the purposes of this post it’s the music that counts….
In The Deep – Bird York – Crash
A truly intense gritty movie. Loved it. And loved this song in it.
People Are Strange – Echo & The Bunnymen – Lost Boys
The song in the first part of this clip is Gerard McMann’s Cry Little Sister, also good… Love when People Are Strange is playing and scenes of regular people doing what they do.
Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies – Prelude To A Kiss
Unfortunately I couldn’t find a video clip from the movie with the song in it so I had to settle for the video. A lot of people haven’t even heard of this movie. I liked it. Also a little fable of a movie.
American Girl – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Silence of the Lambs
The girl, before being kidnapped, drives along singing this song at the top of her lungs, no care in the world… and then… the second tune from this film. What can I say?
Like To Get To Know You Well – Howard Jones – Better Off Dead
This is the music video, not the clip from the movie… unfortunately.
Across 110th Street – Bobby Womack – Jackie Brown
A fantastic intro/opening credits to a movie. Love this and again love Tarantino’s use of music in a film.
I was thinking about film today, as I do pretty often, wondering what I’d pick if I tried to come up with a combo list of slightly strange sci-fi movies including some post apocalyptic stuff. Films I liked. Films that had an impact on me… couldn’t forget scenes from them, made me think a bit… that sort of thing. This is what I came up with…. in no particular order.
Man From Snowy River – Chase sequence – Fantastic music here and beautiful photography to go with
High Fidelity – Let’s Get It On – Jack Black doing his thing
Reality Bites – All I Want Is You – WARNING – There’s a brief speaking part that’s not in English (a person has to take what they can get with YouTube when movie rights, etc. are in effect).
Jackie Brown – Across 110th Street – Opening credits of the movie
Pulp Fiction – Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon – WARNING – drug overdose scene in this clip right near the end – I absolutely love Tarantino’s film making.
Once – Falling Slowly
Trainspotting – WARNING – Foul language alert
Kill Bill Vol. 2 – Goodnight Moon – Quentin Tarantino knows how to use music in his films
Moulin Rouge – Come What May – This is a great song, and I was totally surprised to learn these two could sing.
Chicago – Cell Block Tango
And, of course, a couple of additions because I never stop at 10…
Immortal Beloved – Ode To Joy (love the visualization of ode to joy… beautiful film making here)
Duets – Cruisin (cheesy, sort of, but who knew Gwyneth could sing… not I, until this)
The previous post about The Spirit and All That Jazz has spurred a post about the worst films I’ve ever seen. I’m going to post 10. At least, that’s my goal right now, at the start. It could gain momentum and be a bit longer list. We shall see. They will be in no particular order, though the two already mentioned here would actually be one and two on the list, respectively. (And, if you read the title you know I expanded to 13. Sitting here now I can think of a few more, but I’ll stop here. I’ll save the others for the part 2 list)
As mentioned… The Spirt was bad. And I mean… bad. I know, it’s supposed to be stylized. I get that. To me, however, it had no style at all. Run, don’t walk, from this movie. Spend your time doing something more worthwhile… like mowing the lawn or going to the dentist. Anything. Anything would be better. Really.
This strange, I really can’t stand it, oddity of a film won 4 oscars. Maybe it’s that I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s me. Maybe not. Either way… All That Jazz was terrible. Hard to follow. Choppy. Uh… just plain… strange. No other way to put it. Sometimes I like strange. Sometimes strange is good. This was/is not one of those times.
Supernova . Completely terrible and very disappointing. One of those times you think… man, it has good people in it. Actors I like. But somehow even they look bad in this movie. Really bad. There’s nothing much more I can say about this other than… ew.
Event Horizon. Sam Neill. Laurence Fishburne. Worse than terrible. Not only was it bad it was, to me anyway… disturbing. Which maybe it was supposed to be. Whatever. I’ve seen plenty of movies that were slightly disturbing, or even a lot disturbing, and they weren’t bad. They were disturbing, but that was OK because it was part of the story or moved it along. This… disturbing for no damn good reason. Creepy in a I have to take a shower now kinda way. Avoid this film.
Max Payne. I don’t even really know what to say about this movie. I was excited to watch it… and then we did. All the best parts were shown on the previews. Now, looking back on actually watching it, I can’t even remember the movie all that much. I just know we were like… uh… that was not good.
Chapter 27. I thought… wow, this could be interesting. Sadly, I was mistaken. Not only was it not interesting, it was painfully slow. Slow and… really slow. We looked at each other and were like, OK, we have to turn this thing off. I fast forwarded and watched the last two thirds of this film at high speed, slowing slightly once in awhile to keep up with what was going on. Which took like a minute or less each time. This thing is unbelievably shamefully sorry. The only interesting thing about it is that Jared Leto looked transformed… kudos to him. However, his weight gain is the only heavy thing this movie carries. There was no substance to it. None. Just creepy looks and… a whole lotta nothing. Too harsh? I don’t think so.
Righteous Kill. Writing… bad. Directing… not great. Acting… OK. Predictability… yes. This film, on the surface, would seem to be a winner all around… good actors, good director, etc. But, it’s not. And in fact, it’s silly, predictable, over the top, and just plain uninteresting. Another film we fast forwarded through because we couldn’t take it at normal speed. I would’ve turned it off completely, but I had to see the end to make sure the bad guy was who I knew it was after watching the first 10 minutes. It was. Skip this. Even DeNiro and Pacino can’t save this terrible excuse for a movie.
Margot At The Wedding. I hate it when I like no one in a movie. When there doesn’t seem to be one redeeming person. For me, this film was like that. I didn’t enjoy a single line of it. After watching this movie, and again, we fast forwarded through much of the end of it, I felt ucky. Annoyed. Like someone had robbed me of a small amount of time in my life and I was perturbed about it. In fact, I still feel perturbed just thinking about it.
In Bruges. It could just be me, but this movie was awful. Again, I liked no one. The shots, all puns intended, at humor were not funny. Though maybe it was just my sense of humor, which this film didn’t even touch, that made me want to throw a shoe at the screen. I don’t know. I couldn’t believe how bad this thing was for me. I watched and then just wanted to say what was the point of that? There are films where it’s OK to ask that fateful question at the end… then there are films like In Bruges.
Freedomland. I thought… good actors. Come to think of it maybe I should stop right there to say that possibly I shouldn’t always see a movie because of the actors involved, but a girl has to have some way, some criteria for picking films to watch, and that’s one of mine. Sue me. But I digress… back to the movie. It lumbered. It was like walking uphill in water. Slow and painful.
The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford. This movie is beautifully shot, I’ll give it that. It’s gorgeous in fact. However, that’s the only thing it has going for it. Other than, alright, OK, the acting in it is also pretty good. I just didn’t like it. Talk about watching paint dry. By about half way through I was like… this thing is beautiful, but c’mon already, shoot him. Get it over with. That, to me, is never a good sign. One should never be thinking get it over with already while watching a movie. Plus… could there be any longer or worse title for a movie than this?
Better late than never… this is a draft I started a few days ago so bear with me…
Oh my… we’ve had a weekend. And, it’s not even over yet. We still are going to head to the racquet center to hit against the ball machine. This is after we hauled 80 cement blocks and another 40 slightly smaller cement blocks yesterday. That’s unloading them from the truck and then stacking them. We made four trips from the sand and gravel place to our house. The pups came along for the ride every time. I wonder if they thought… oh, so this is our life now. Back and forth to and from this strange place, home, and then in the truck again. Makes me laugh to think about what their reaction might have been, or what they might have been thinking. Maybe they just thought… wow… what a great adventure this is… we get to go, we get to hang in the truck with them, we get to get loved on pretty much all the time we’re driving. And we don’t have to haul those big blocks. Not a bad gig.
Yesterday, drove to Nonna Emilia’s for dinner, picked up our new hot tub cover (the cover is new, not the hot tub), ran through Lowe’s purchasing stuff for the yard, and then came back home to unload said stuff, take a dip in the newly covered hot tub, and then watch a pretty good movie. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
Today, ladies and gents, we got up, had oatmeal (so healthy, I know), and went to work outside. Karen cleaned off the back deck, and did some weeding. I cleaned out the Japanese garden, and then started to pressure wash the front deck. We’re trying to figure that whole thing, the front deck thing, out after our major stain faux pas last year. We’ll prevail. I know we will.
April 6. It’s tomorrow… well, it’s today, but tomorrow as opposed to the previous part of this post. And… I’m explaining too much. But there’s a reason… you see, I got up early this morning. No, not my usual early. I got up really early. The alarm is set for 6:30. It’s set that early so I can get up, get on the treadmill, and then have time to get ready for work (my work day starts at 8:30). This morning, however, I said no to the treadmill. First time in two weeks, but seriously… we worked so much this weekend I’m beat up. I needed a day off. So I’m like… woo hoo… I’ll just re-set it for 7:30 and get another hour of sleep. Which I do. So… it’s 7:30 and it goes off and Karen says… get me up at 8:00 (she decided to sleep in herself a little I guess and since she works at home, she can do that on Mondays… no early meeting). I get up. I take a shower and I’m looking at the clock in the bathroom seeing how much time I have, so I know when I have to make sure I get Karen up. Then Karen walks in and she’s like… uh, it’s only 6:45. I’m sure, and I mean sure, that it’s not. I say… no… it’s 7:45. She says… the clocks all around the house say 6:45. I think… no way, the clock in the bathroom says it’s 7:45. Then she turns the clock. It’s actually a clock on a little stand, looks like a large pocket watch (pretty cool… thanks Mary), and sometimes it gets turned in one direction or another. So Karen turns it upright and I see… oh no… it’s only 6:45. Apparently the clock in the bedroom thought it was the time and date to spring ahead last night. It’s on the old daylight savings time schedule. Damn the old daylight savings time schedule! At this juncture all I can do is laugh… and relax. Now I have a lot of time to get ready this morning… drink a cup of tea, finish this blog, stop at the grocery store on the way to work, mail back the Netflix movies, and mosey on in. A minute ago I was rushed… now, I’m calm and mellow. The pups, however, are not into this early rising thing. Weston was like… oh no… I’m not getting up, and he didn’t. He burrowed himself back under the covers and is sleeping in the bedroom. Riley… she’s right here, in the office, but she’s fast asleep in one of their little beds. They think this getting up early is a bit ridiculous. Who could blame them… so do I.
Now… back to the post. We didn’t end up playing tennis on Sunday. We decided we were too sore from all the heavy lifting this weekend, so instead of trying to swing a racket with really sore shoulders, we took the dogs for a walk. Which was better anyway because the pups got to come along. And let me tell ya… they love when they get to come along. The walk was good. It was actually warm out… really warm. T-shirt wearing warm. Nice. The pup’s hair is too long though and they both got too hot. We gave them water at one point, but on the way back to the car Weston decided he was done and he wandered over into the grass, in the shade, and laid down. It was so funny. He looked at me like… OK… this is it, I’m staying here. I actually picked him up and carried him the last 100 yards to the car. He would’ve walked, but what can I say… we totally spoil them. Plus… he didn’t look super sporty at that moment. He just looked ticked off, hot, and was panting a lot. Who can refuse a face like that?
April 8… Yes, it’s days later. I saved this post as a draft and am just now finishing it up. Sad. I’m a sad excuse for a blogger. Life… what can I say? It’s more important than blogging. Shocking? Maybe. But true… so… let’s get to it. The blogging that is.
The movies… we watched a couple of pretty good movies this last weekend and one not so good. We give two thumbs up to Seven Pounds and to The Secret Life of Bees. Both, in their own way, good stories. They were both also sort of predictable, but we didn’t seem to care. Some beautiful cinematography, and some great what I like to call snap shot moments. Times when the camera lingers on an image that’s stunning. Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith, was the better of the two (the the reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes didn’t seem to think so, but oh well… it’s all subjective anyway right?). Pretty compelling, well acted, and again… nice direction and cinematography. The ending wasn’t a surprise to us, even if it was meant to be, but we didn’t mind being able to figure it out. We wanted to watch anyway. The summary… man loses woman he loves, man decides to help seven people, man has unexpected interruption of his plan, and then the plot thickens. Check this one out… it’s good. I don’t think it got the attention it should have. As for The Secret Life of Bees. It’s one of those feel good after watching it movies. Plus, it’s full of really great women, with a few really great guys as well. Well acted, and just a good feel to the film. I can always tell when I like a movie because I watch what we call in our house “the stuff”. It’s all the extras they have in the special features section on a dvd. If the film is bad… I don’t care to watch the stuff. Sometimes even when a movie is just OK I don’t watch it either. But when a film is good… I watch. I want to know more about the film making process, some of the background, etc. Karen doesn’t ever like the stuff… but she actually watched it on the Seven Pounds dvd. Trust me… that’s saying something. The movie we didn’t really like… Cleaner. It had Samuel L. Jackson in it, but even he couldn’t bring it around. Not terrible… just a tad boring. Needless to say… we didn’t watch the stuff.
And so ends the saga of this late post… this after the fact post. Whew… I feel better getting all of that off my chest… and out of my draft folder. OK… now back to our regularly scheduled and on time blog….
We seem to never have a dull moment. Ever. Always on the go, always “stuff” to do. Always. Always. Always.
This weekend was no exception. To sum up… We had furniture delivered Friday evening and then met friends for dinner at The Varsity (it was great to see you Jimmy! … and the rest of ya’all too, don’t want you to feel left out even though we see you all the time), we redecorated our bedroom around the new furniture, we rented and returned a U-haul to move some family furniture from our house to my nephew’s place, we met up with friends at a club and boogied our selves down to the ground at Barracuda followed by dessert and coffee at Hobos, we met my mom and new step sistas for a trip to Red Pig Tools (fun for the whole family if you love handcrafted garden tools) and then lunch at the Carver Cafe (pretty tasty… long wait, but great burgers when we finally got them… possibly it was so crowded because I just now found out, while looking for a link for the Cafe, that it was used for the cafe scenes in the movie Twilight…. who knew? Not I. If you’re interested you can find that info HERE), we loaded up a bunch o’ stuff in the truck and took it to the dump (including some hazardous materials in the way of old stain that they only take on the last Saturday of the month), we watched a bad, underscore bad, movie called Choke (don’t see it, whatever you do), and it’s now only three o’clock on Sunday. We’ve decided to turn down an invitation to have dinner with friends at Joe’s Crab Shack. It’s time for us to just relax at home. Hang out. Enjoy some quiet time. Read. Surf the net. Blog.
The sandwiching part of the title of this little missive is about what you ask? OK, so here it is. It relates to a conversation Karen and I had last night on our way to the “Hot Flash Dance” where we boogied and hung with new and old friends. Our conversation was this… though I guess I must first describe what we refer to as sandwiching. Sandwiching is when three people dance together, with one person in the middle… sort of sandwiched in. So here’s what we discussed, which I think is worth sharing if for no other reason than it made us both laugh hysterically. We decided that when you’re young… a teen and in your 20′s, and even into the 30′s… when you sandwich it’s sexy. Three people all sort of dancing together, being silly, being sexy… whatever… it’s kind of sexy. Like a, let’s see if I can find a sandwich that sounds sexy… OK, here it is… kind of like a Grilled Taleggio and Tomato Sandwich. Sounds sexy yes? Kind of exotic, not completely sure what’s in there, mysterious… yet fresh and juicy with the tomato and all. Sexy. But when people get older… later 30′s and then 40′s and beyond… sandwiching isn’t as sexy. And don’t get us wrong… there are still some sexy sandwichers out there. But c’mon people… sandwiching after 40 is usually, in our analogy anyway, like a great bologna and cheddar sandwich. Plain, comfortable, friendly… but not really sexy. We, at this time in our lives, are like bologna. And don’t go feelin’ all sad and bummed for us. We’re not bummed, or sad. We like being bologna. We like sandwiching and laughing our butts off while we do it. It’s hilarious. No longer sexy… it’s just plain fun and silly. There you have sandwiching 101, Karen and Tam style. I love being us.
Without further ado… I decided to randomly pick ten movies I’d consider, at this moment and off the top of my head, to be some of my most favorite. Then I threw in, as I did in my earlier 10 Cheesy Movies post, a couple of bonus features. I know if you asked me next week to come up with a list of films that these would, probably for the most part, still be on my list. Though, right now and thinking about it, since I’m writing this after compiling the list below, I could add Bridge Over the River Kwai, or any of a number of other Hitchcock films. But, I didn’t, and I haven’t. What follows is the list I came up with today. Check them out and feel free to leave a comment or two on your thoughts and/or what your picks would be.
Amadeus. There’s just something about this one. Very intense. Tom Hulce is awesome in it. Slightly over the top, but then I think his performance actually sort of makes this movie. As we hear the whisper… “Amadeus”.
The Shawshank Redemption. Who doesn’t like this movie. Everyone I’ve ever met likes it. I think it’s got something to do with the age old story of guy goes through something unjust, guy endures, guy says screw you to the corrupt establishment, guy lives happily ever after. Yeah… something to do with that.
The Usual Suspects. Group of unlikely fellows gets wiped out by scary mystery man with a surprise at the end. Really great story telling here. Excellent writing, directing, acting. All around great romp of a movie. Add in Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Benecio Del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollack, Pete Postlethwaite and, well… what more do you need?
The Matrix. Sci-fi at it’s best. This movie changed the way we enjoyed action, special effects, and strange new lands. I can watch this over and over. Who doesn’t duck slightly when the bullets go flying as Keanu is doing his ultra limbo. Pretty cool.
L.A. Confidential. What a fantastic ensemble movie. Just, to keep it simple, really great. Has an excellent feel and look to it as well.
Rebecca. Scary housekeeper, mystery former wife, slightly quiet and brooding husband, the hint of ominous things going on, and Hitchcock. I know this wasn’t his favorite of his movies, at least the process of making it wasn’t, but this is a damn good one. A master class in direction, camera angle, building the plot, and telling a story. Plus… Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.
Blade Runner. Ah, another sci-fi great. Early Harrison Ford, strange future world, androids, Rutger Hauer’s dying scene, and a story based on a Philip K. Dick novel called “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”. How can you not like this movie. It’s dark, brooding, and strange. All good.
Kill Bill vol. 1. Quentin Tarantino at his best. Not to mention Uma kicking ass and Keith being wise, witty, and making a mean bologna sandwich. I love, love, love… let me repeast, love, his dialogue.
The Princess Bride. Mawage. Mawage is wat bwings us togever today. Ah… there’s no other movie like this. Sword fights, love, a six fingered man, ROUS… it’s phenominal.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. This is a film filled with powerhouse acting. I mean, think about it… Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy (in his last performance), and Katherine Hepburn. It gets no better than this. It is a true acting master class. Not to mention that it’s also a very well done movie.
Two Bonus Features:
Lawrence of Arabia. Beautifully shot, a bit strange, and incredibly long, this is a great movie. Oh yeah… and Omar Shariff, Alec Guiness, and Peter O’Toole. Wow.
Silence of the Lambs. I can watch this movie over and over. Just a great all around film. Again… great acting… Jodi Foster and Anthony Hopkins, who can go wrong with acting chops like that. Then you throw in the plot, the story telling, the very creepy bad guy, a very famous rendition of Tom Petty’s “American Girl”, and you have a winner.
This is a list, off the top of my head, of 10 totally cheesy (for one reason or another) movies I completely love. It’s great mindless entertainment watching these and I never, repeat, never, get tired of them. You might shake your head at me, wondering about my sanity in picking these gems, but really… I dare YOU not to like them. You don’t have to say it out loud either. You can keep the fact that you like them too to yourself. It’s OK. But, you like them. I know it. And, even if you don’t, watch and make fun. That’s part of the joy of watching these films anyway. The temperatures are going up, so… grab some popcorn, turn up the air conditioning, throw one of these bad boys in, and prepare to be entertained! Say cheese….
I think, with this one, it’s his little dancing around thing he does in this movie. This has never gotten anything close to good ratings, but you know, who cares about ratings. To me this is pure cheese ball entertainment.
Probably my favorite movie of all time. Love, action, silliness, good acting, and loads of cheese… all in one film. You might have to watch this one twice.
One of those great 80′s movies that, for some reason, I totally love. Maybe it’s because I have a spot in my heart for soft shoe. Nah, it’s probably just because Jason Robards is in it.
“I want the knife. GIve me the knife. Pllleeeeeaaaasse.” I might have gotten some of that wrong, but it’s the gist of it. This one is so completely corny, and not all that well done, but who cares. I love the little kid in this.
I was compiling the list just now and then remembered, when I got all done with it, that I love this movie. Probably one of the cheesiest vampire films of all time, but so totally cool. How can you not love Jason Patric’s angst or the over the top acting of who turns out to be the head vampire. Oh yeah, and Kiefer Sutherland is in it.
And lastly, yet another great movie I forgot to add to the list, hence the addition of this just added bonus feature. Samuel L. Jackson and Geena Davis have some great exchanges in this movie. They keep me laughing. Nothing like the whole, “I’m not talking about the linen”, exchange… it’s funny, and terrific.
We watched Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof last night. What did I think? I loved it.
It’s his dialogue that always gets me. I love how the guy, meaning Tarantino, writes. It’s snappy, and hip, flowing right off the screen with such great natural ease. Really good stuff.
The movie actually starts off a bit slow, and I kept wondering, when is something going to happen. After all, it’s a movie about a serial killer, played by Kurt Russell, and when a person watches a movie about a serial killer you automatically assume there’s going to be some killing. Especially with Tarantino, who loves a good bloody scene. But this didn’t have that for quite awhile and I kept wondering, when is it coming? It does, eventually, but before that I really just got into listening to the exchanges between the characters and was caught up. The writing, superb.
The best part of the film, and worth the wait even if you don’t get into the dialogue like I did, is the end of the film… Kurt Russell getting his comupance. I won’t spoil it by spilling the details, but it’s definitely worth the wait.
If you haven’t seen this movie… see it. There’s a bit of blood, but really, in the grand scheme of Tarantino movies, it’s not that much or that bad. And that part of it is over fairly quickly. This film is worth a look, both for the great dialogue and for the really great ending.
We watched the film, Evening, last night and about it I just have this to say… if you like excellent acting, watch this movie. It is a veritable powerhouse of women’s acting. Yes, there are some great performances by men in this movie, but women dominate the story and the screen.
Vanessa Redgrave is, as usual, stunning as Ann, a woman who examines moments in her life as she lay dying. Sounds morbid… it’s anything but. I’m always impressed with Vanessa Redgrave’s ability to act without speaking. Her eyes are, simply, luminous. She can do an entire scene, saying nothing, and communicating everything. It’s an art form and she’s a master.
Also in the movie are Claire Danes as the younger Ann, Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter who plays the younger Meryl character in the film), Natasha Richardson (Vanessa Redgrave’s daughter who actually plays her daughter in the film), Toni Collette, and Eileen Atkins (the night nurse). It’s a stunning cast.
This isn’t a film for people who love action or suspense, but if you love great acting, excellent writing (the same screenwriter as The Hours), wonderful direction (Lajos Koltai) and gorgeous cinematography, check out Evening. This film takes you on a journey. A journey you will not be disappointed in.
We just watched Emilio Estevez’s movie, Bobby, last night and I have to say, I liked it immensely. I’m not exactly sure why, though the cast was phenomenal and the acting superb. I guess maybe it’s that this is an event in our history I was too young to really remember or experience, but now, after watching the movie, I realize how much the messages of the film pertain to what’s happening today. And the film made me wonder, what would life have been like if he and Martin Luther King, Jr. hadn’t been assassinated that year.
Emilio Estevez has made a film that somehow manages to capture the feeling of the time. With the many subplots we were able to get a feel for the anger, the desparation, the courage, the hope, and how much we, as a country, were unsettled around the war, civil rights, drugs, and our future. It’s a powerful film with some excellent performances and very good writing. If you’re into political drama, or just the drama of being human, I’d recommend it. You won’t be disappointed.
The photographs up in the banner were all taken by me. They were taken at, in order: Westminster Abbey, London; Window, Portland, Oregon; London Eye, London; Exchange Building, Boston; Invergarry, Scotland; Alleyway, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Stop this day and night with me, and you shall possess the origin of all poems; You shall possess the good of the earth and sun—(there are millions of suns left;) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books; You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me: You shall listen to all sides, and filter them from yourself. ~Walt Whitman
Avatar, Angels and Demons, Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation, Immortal Beloved, The Trouble With Harry, The Killing of Sister George, X-Men: Origins, Nights in Rodanthe, Watchmen, The Killing of Sister George, RocknRolla, Last Chance Harvey, Knowing, Fast and Furious, Coraline, Synedoche, New York, The Reader, Frost/Nixon, Push, Crossing Over, New In Town, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Passengers, Underworld, Australia, Killshot, The International, He's Just Not That Into You, Bedtime Stories, Taken, Inkheart, Best in Show, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Spirit, Bottle Shock, Doubt, Gospel Hill, Seven Pounds, The Secret Life of Bees, Cleaner, Choke, City of Ember, Milk, Changeling, Max Payne, Body of Lies, Conspiracy, Babylon A.D., Pride and Glory, Bangkok Dangerous, The Fall, Kunfu Panda, Eagle Eye, The Women, Righteous Kill, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Wanted
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An easily spooked guy, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), joins forces with wild man Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) to fight for survival in a world virtually taken over by freakish zombies. As they destroy scores of the undead, they meet up with two other survivors, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone), and journey to a supposedly safe abandoned a […]
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Music Playing on my Ipod
Zee Avi, The Avett Brothers, James, Rob Thomas, Bell X1, Pink, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Van Morrison, Cher (the older stuff), The Swell Season, Ben Harper, Matt Nathanson, Ryan Adams, Sara Bareillis, Pink Martini, Ella Fitzgerald, Dixie Chicks, Billie Holiday, Blue October, Patty Griffin, Jon McLaughlin, Alexi Murdoch, Landon Pigg, Marc Broussard, Brett Dennen, Brandi Carlile, Sonia Dada, James Morrison, Antigone Rising, Gomez, Scissor Sisters, Melissa Etheridge, Paolo Nutini, Indigo Girls, Ray LaMontagne, Amos Lee, Uh Huh Her, Missy Higgins, Anouk, Duffy
The Eyre Affair, Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, The Secret Life of Bees, Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, The Coma, Interred With Their Bones, The Quickie, Breaking Dawn, Eclipse, New Moon, Twilight, Predator, Vernonika Decides to Die, Next, The English Patient, Twelve Sharp, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, You Suck, Digital Fortress, Bloodsucking Fiends - A Love Story, The Wanting Seed, The Elephant Vanishes, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, The Well of Lost Plots, Hitchcock/Truffaut, The Rough Guide to Film Noir, The Drowned World, Lamb, Harry Potter, The Stone Raft, idlewild, Lisey's Story, The Alexandria Link, poetry of Nikki Giovanni, Blue Highways, Children of Men, City of Falling Angels, selections from The World - Life and Travel, Just Out, The Willamette Week, The New Yorker, poetry of Pablo Neruda, poetry of e.e. cummings, Tales of a Female Nomad
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