I've made it sort of a habit to put a short excerpt from the chapter up upon completion...so here you go...
Self defense advise from Krav Maga today: "What's the best defense against a knife? A gun!""Some days was harder than other days, 'specially after Meryl started singin with the boys too. When I was at the DeLuxe, I could just spend my days at the club. I wasn't much, and I wasn't expected much so it was easy enough to be around, be learnin, listenin, singin. But at the Study, it was more big time. These were the boys who would be playin' on the radio shows, drawin' crowds when they was sittin in somewhere else. Gal like me wasn't expected to be nobody, was supposed to be takin care of herself. Or at least have a sweetheart; I guess I was too young to know it wasn't enough of a life to just sit around and wait for the next gig. Wouldn't be till after I got out to New York, playin at Minton's I sort of figured that out. Sometimes you get all caught up in dreamin and tryin' to live in that dream that you sorta forget, kinda miss all what's goin on."
So I kinda figured that today I'd step out and do something a little different. An artist is nothing more than the sum of their influences, and I figured I'd talk briefly about a number of movies that i love. But not just any movies, movies that are little-known (either due to lack of success or just being indie movies or whatnot) that I believe are excellent.
And so, without adieu...
Mikey recently posted that he thinks this was the perfect movie. i have to agree. Seriously, there is not a single person out there that i think should skip this movie. All of you, go out and rent it, buy it, stream it, netflix it, carrier pigeon, whatever it takes. It's a quiet movie, a love-ish story about two relatively isolated people in Dublin who are estranged from their previous long-term relationships. He's a "hoover-sucker-fixer-guy" who works in a shop and lives with his dad, and she's a maid living with her mother and siblings. Their relationship grows around his music--they first meet when she sees him playing for tips on the street corner, and she begins to encourage him and his music, adding her own beautiful voice to it. Both are quirky, awkward people, and their relationship is anything but hollywood. The ending is beautiful, and not what you expect. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are perfect in the part--neither of them are actors by profession (musicians, instead). The directors use some wonderful techniques to turn their inexperience into strengths, and their tentative performances actually enhance the characters. Outside of the movie, Hansard and Irglova are both romanticly involved, and play in a band together, which only enhances their chemistry (on screen, and on the music). It's a musical, though not in the broadway sense. The songs are woven into the story flawlessly, and simultaneously drive the plot and the Oscar-nominated soundtrack. Seriously, you should all go see it. Random fun factoid: the two characters are never given names in the entire movie, and are listed in the credits as "Guy" and "Girl."
Stardust (view the trailer here)This one's not quite as deep as Once, but lovely just the same. I saw this one in the movie theatres, and since I've got it on DVD i've grown to love it more and more. I'd even go out as far as to say it's the best fantasy/fairy tale movie made since The Princess Bride (my favorite movie of all time) (not counting the Lord of the Rings trilogy, of course. They're on pedestal all their own). it's a fairy tale (literally), pure and simple. There's noble heros, beautiful girls, wicked witches and evil kings, ghosts, fairies, unicorns, pirates, fallen stars, true love, and it's all woven together very simple, but very well. if you're looking for plot twists or variations on a formula, this is not your movie. But if you're looking for an excellently told story with characters you actually like. The cast is excellent: Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, Sienna Miller, Henry Cavill. Also, in a very rare twist on things, this movie (based on the novel Stardust by Neil Gaiman) is one of the exceptions, a movie which is actually much much better than the book it was based upon. Also, on one of the many flights i've taken in the past year, one of the pilots introduced himself as Captain Shakespeare. I may have been the only person on the plane who understood, but he was my favorite captain ever.
The Big Hit (you guessed it, trailer here)
I love Mark Wahlberg. Don't hate: Markie Mark is actually an excellent actor with equally good talent at picking quality movies to be involved with. This is one of his early ones, an action comedy in the John Woo/asian kung-fu style (although the american influence is apparent: there are more guns than kung fu). Melvin Smiley is a successful hitman who can't stand the thought of anyone not liking him. His fiance, his girlfriend, and his fellow hitman friends are all well aware of this, and use it to manipulate him. And the video clerk at Big Top Video won't stop harrasing him about returning his overdue copy of King Kong Lives. And then he gets involved in a kidnapping gone wrong with pretty young China Chow who actually begins to understand him and treat him like with respect. Romance, hijinks, gunfights, explosions, and witty banter ensue as Melvin confronts his so-called friends and tries to escape from the hole dug for him. The action is great. The writing is excellent (although a little dated at times with jokes like, "Who are you guys? The Spice Boys?"). The jokes are excellent, and the humor is balanced perfectly with the action and pace, keeping it out of the realm of farce or ridiculousness. And Markie Mark plays Melvin Smiley spot-on, and you can't help but love him. Or, if you're me, completely relate to him.
There's a few for you, a couple for every tastes. I'm sure to revisit the topic later, there's plenty more where that came from.
I think that's enough stuff for today, don't you?
4 comments:
Yes, I love the Once soundtrack! Good job on the 1,000 words.
"Once" is indeed a perfect movie, though the staring actors are no longer romantically involved (just musically).
I think the one glaring hole in "Star Dust" is the actor who plays the protagonist is way out shined by the supporting roles. I don't know who would have been more appropriate but he was not that great.
The turkey basting scene in the "Big Hit" is in many ways the most disgusting and graphic sex scene I have ever seen in a movie. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up.
For a scene that involves two fully clothed people applying a rub to raw poultry, it's pretty steamy! It's the handcuffs.
and I completely disagree with your assessment of Charlie Cox performance in Stardust. His wide-eyed innocence is perfect for the part. Though the supporting roles all have excellent performances, especially Robert deNiro.
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