Go See a Movie!!
Showing posts with label soundtrack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soundtrack. Show all posts
Once
Last night I watched Once, again. It's my second time seeing the movie, as it's just not one of those movies you watch over and over again, especially if you're just not that into the music. Once won the academy for best song in 2007, I believe...though don't quote me on that, I do zero research. One of my favorite magazines, Entertainment Weekly, is in love with this movie, listing it among the top 25 musicals of all time. I dunno. I mean, it doesn't really play like a musical, exactly. It's creative and low-key, realistic and a nice love story. But for me, I just don't leave that movie with a good feeling. I know what I'm supposed to feel and I could fake it, but honestly, it does very little for me.It's a story about an irish street performer who meets a czech girl who admires his music. I suppose we're meant to understand that they fall in love, slowly, through a series of meetings and pseudo-dates. But he's still hung up on his ex and she's still married, though seperated. She helps him get a demo recorded and *Spoiler Alert* they part ways after that. He goes off to London to re-connect with his ex and start his recording career, and she re-unites with her husband. As a goodbye gift, he buys her a piano, though I'm not sure how he made that happen, I was drifting off by then.
Yes, it's a heart-warming, bittersweet tale, but it's not mine. It's theirs, and for some reason, that just makes me shrug my shoulders about it. Maybe I've just never really fallen for someone like that. It's important to note that these two actors fell in love in real life while filming this movie. Normally that's not news, I mean, look at Brangelina...but these are just two relatively normal people so I suppose you might say it's more genuine.
The style of the film is SO indie. There's no tricks, very little money involved, no great set design. It's basically a camera man and actors and someone saying "action". At least, that's how it comes off, like a student film. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's just not a glossy big studio film. It's more organic than that. As a great film lover, I tend to prefer the gloss of the studio productions. It's an immaturity I'm not prepared to appologize for. If you do intend to check this movie out, though, be prepared to really pay attention and pick out the subtle nuances.
The music is, of course, brilliant. Now, it's not my taste...I like it, but it doesn't really strike a chord in my soul, but I suspect I'm in the minority there. It's a very sophisticated sound, and it's what the movies about, really. The music is what brought these two people together. All in all, its not my FAVORITE film, but it's well worth seeing, and maybe I just need to grow up a bit to understand it better.
Velvet Goldmine
I'll be honest, my first time seeing this movie, I was simultaneously bored, confused, suspicious and dreading "what would come next". It seemed a movie that always threatened to turn horribly ugly.
Since then, it has become one of my favorite flicks and has served to shape my worldview and reveal to me beauties I had never before considered...men in make-up, for instance. It has a fabulous cast, the stunning Toni Colette, Euan McGregor (full monty, thank you very much!), Eddie Izzard, and a young Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who proved to be everything Brian Slade was, charming, haunting, mysterious, and moody.
The movie revolves around the Glittermania of the early to mid 70s in England, a movie inspired by but not about David Bowie and Iggy Pop. It addresses a sexual revolution, one that permitted homosexuality and bisexuality and rather poo-pooed straight sexuality. Androgyny was explored to great length, and how Brian Slade/Maxwell Demon affected the lives of his fans raised into rigidly "normal" households. It also gets into Oscar Wilde and the mythology of his fame and legacy, and how Wilde seems to be a connecting thread between himself and the Space Oddity of 
the 1970's Glitter scene. A Dandy that passed along his special powers to the future of Dandys (Dandies?). And if you were to go on, you'd see how that thread continued into the 80s with The Smiths and Bryan Ferry and so on into the future. The line never dies, it just moves from one thing to the next with interludes of darkness. The actual plot is your typical Rockstar rise and fall, nothing particularly extraordinary or worth re-telling. This film is all about the philosophy of Ziggy Stardust and his Ilk.
the 1970's Glitter scene. A Dandy that passed along his special powers to the future of Dandys (Dandies?). And if you were to go on, you'd see how that thread continued into the 80s with The Smiths and Bryan Ferry and so on into the future. The line never dies, it just moves from one thing to the next with interludes of darkness. The actual plot is your typical Rockstar rise and fall, nothing particularly extraordinary or worth re-telling. This film is all about the philosophy of Ziggy Stardust and his Ilk. Also worth noting, it has a KILLER soundtrack. If you ever have the oppurtunity to listen to that album, I highly recommend you do so. For some of you out there, it may change your life.
