R.E.M.
They are so 80s. So high school. So that time of my life. It reminds me of fall going into winter and having to do winter soccer. Being punk rock. Or being an outsider. What is it that Holden Caulfield said about all the phonies at his school?
That DNA remix of Suzanne Vega’s Tom’s Diner is about twenty years old. I heard it on the drive home Monday and was instantly transported back. That time of my life. So cherished. The winter of 1990. So fun. I can recall it like yesterday. The sights and sounds of The U, SRC, 4th floor with the guys. And that winter.
I am thinking of your voice…
I’m amazed at the number of youtube videos showing records spinning around and around and around. Best use of the internet ever!
Here’s a classic that I’m sure I’ve already posted, but need to post again because I recently heard this at Starbucks. The next song after it was a rocking dance hall tune of the old school 80s variety. I really wanted to know who sang the dance hall tune, but sadly they never did implement that Starbucks music service via iTunes-iPhone. When the hell did that not show up?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and days of old lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
Auld Lag Syne, Robert Burns
I’m avoiding my queue of reviews to write by writing my thoughts on the movies of this past decade. I’m not gonna list them as the best what’s the point as I am an amateur at movie reviewing. I can’t also put them as the best because I’ve only seen a fraction of the movies put out during the past 10 years. I really didn’t start to get serious about movie going until perhaps 2002 and since I didn’t have a blog to jot down my reviews I don’t really remember many of them. I’ve really seen lots, some good, some bad, some good I found bad, and some bad I found good. It’s just too much to list out, and anyway the Seed will complain about something.
So instead, since I did come back to enjoying watching movies, I’ll tell you how movies that made me have fun in the theatre or on DVD: my favorite moments from my movie viewing over the past 10 years. While I’m gonna try to stick to movies released during the past decade, I’m gonna meander to some older films.
Trying to figure out this list, the only movie to jump out of my memory quickly is The Incredibles (2004). This is the point where I thought Pixar and American animation has grown up. You can make animated CG movies that go beyond kids fare. Of course, it didn’t turn out completely this way as Pixar still adheres to family flicks, but they showed flashes of brilliance in their successive films after The Incredibles. Still, The Incredibles will always remind me of the joy of watching movies. Its score is still much a favorite. I remember sitting in the theatre and cheering just as the trumpets blare in “Marital Rescue.” Love that cue. And so that is how these films will be on this list: fun and moving.
The second film to pop out of my memory is The Queen. Why? No idea, but I was shocked in my response to it. I thought as I watched, “This is a really good film.” It was and I still think of that stag. But what connects me to this film is the day Diana died. I was at a bar after a shift at work. I drank a toast to the dead Princess.
Let’s go the DVDs, The Parent Trap and Rushmore always are the movies of the year 2000 for me. The former picture was my favorite at the start of the year because Lindsay Lohan is just so darn cute in it as both Hallie and Annie. Go Annie! Plus, it was the movie I watched the most as my dad lay dying. The latter film reminds me of my dad’s funeral and the wistful, melancholy of those days. That’s the way the decade started and those two are the movies I remember for the year 2000.
One sleeper hit for me during the past decade has to be Wicker Park. I think it is unappreciated because of the two stars. Shaggy and the dude from Pearl Harbor, but it did have Rose Byrne and the hottie whose face launched a thousand ships. Little did I know how much I would dig the film going in. The unrequited love, the play on Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s plays, all contribute to me liking the flick. Love was illusory for me this past decade. I’ll just continue wistfully thinking I will find it.
Duplicity is another movie I enjoyed in the theatre. Fun to guess the plot twists.
The Lord of the Ring trilogy was something every Tolkien fan waited for. It doesn’t live up to the books and your imagination, but it still is something to behold. I caught every one at the midnight showing. I remember fighting off sleep for the Fellowship. I just wanted to see Moria and the Balrog. I remember wondering why they changed Theodred’s motivation in the Two Towers. I remember the glee I had to see the ride of the Rohirrim in Return of the King. Those where moments that made me glad to see Tolkien in live action.
I’ll have to put Hitchcock on this list. From watching Vertigo, Notorious, Rear Window, and The Birds on DVD from Netflix or watching them at The Charles Hitchcock will always be the master of movies.
Finally, anime and with it Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. The best animated film of the decade. Yes, even better than The Incredibles, because it is so touching and poignant in its themes of searching for identity and environmental awareness. Miyazaki is how I thought Pixar would mature to being. Not yet, but maybe they’ll get there.
That’s about all the movies I care to remember for the decade. Every time I think about movies, I remember the fun I had. Like the guy calling Spidey a bitch during Spiderman 2. Or the lady grabbing my arm as she cooed with delight for the abs of 300. I remember watching and not seeing any of the fright movies I went to see in the theatre (The Grudge, Drag Me to Hell, etc.).
It will always be about the experience of movie watching. The movies will come and go. There will be good and bad ones. There will be ones that make you laugh, make you cry, make you think, make you love. There will always be movies to watch. Here’s to those in the past, and here’s to those in the future.
Another year to be thankful for…
really cute asian chicks, K-ON!, Mio, Cross Game, “Pitching, defense, and three run homers,” Oriole Park at Camden Yards, ball girls, batting cages, shagging fly balls, beer, bars, classic movies, TCM, Hitchcock, blogging, tweeting, plastic models, iPhone, Cocoa, interfaces, categories, coffee, hamburgers, hotdogs, girls from your memories, Itsuki-chan, good friends in the US, good friends leaving the US, good friends, family, the youngest members, the elders, my dad, my mom, my brothers, good health, the bicycle, bike riding, those hills, those flats, that speed, wind in your face, summer, winter, autumn…
I’m thankful for it all
Happy Thanksgiving!
I listen to this song and it instantly takes me back to 1996. Sitting on the purple couch at my Moms, late night, after work, thinking about those girls. Smokes. Drinks. Girls. I totally trip out. It is 1996 again. And I was happy. I am smiling.
I always dug this video and song. What ever happened to this band?
It took me three sitting, but I finally finished Millenium Actress. The first time it put me to sleep in twenty minutes. The second time just under ten. This last time was the pure sitting and then I found out how good of a love story it was.
Millennium Actress is an animated film by Satoshi Kon. He’s another celebrated Japanese animation director famous for Paprika and Three Godfathers. I’ve seen Paprika but didn’t think anything of it. I’ve partially seen Three Godfathers but didn’t think anything of it. I almost didn’t finish this film, but glad I did. Satoshi Kon while not as great as Miyazawa is a cut above Makoto Shinkai.
In Millennium Actress, a documentary crew goes to interview the reclusive titular actress, Chiyoko Fukiwara. Her story is told in flashbacks that are filmed like the movies she starred in. It plays around with the settings. What era are we in? Is this one of her movies? Are they saying the script or what she said in real life? And her story is one of finding the love of her life. She helps an left-leaning artist escape for a time from the police and falls in love with him. She doesn’t seem him again until she follows him to Manchuria under the guise of being an actress. But the times are tough for them to meet as war follows and he is imprisoned because of his politics.
The movie plays out in how she yearns to reunite with him. She lives her life always looking for him and a chance to find him once again.
There is a prop that reminds me of Notorious. It is a key that Chiyoko longs to return to her love. And just like the key to the wine cellar in Notorious that was given back to Hitchcock from Ingrid Bergman at a celebration before he died. I liked how Millenium Actress reminded me of that.
One thing I love about animation is that it can tell many stories well. It is a stylistic choice that a strong creative person can use to great effect. I wish it would expand from the children story ghetto we’ve currently got it slotted into in the US.
4 of 5 stars.
I’m in the hospital right now waiting for the operation. My operation is tomorrow, Monday, early in the morning. I get bored waiting for it to happen. Let me explain how much I have been waiting. First I had to wait to go to the hospital. By the way, I’m at the University of Maryland. Then when I got here, I had to wait at the admissions desk. Then I had some tests don on me. I hate needles. When they puncture your skin, it is sort of weird. It doesn’t hurt, but when the needle is in the vein any sort of movement causes the weirdest setsation. After tests, I had to wait some more for my room to be ready (8-wets room 74). Right now I’m waiting for 9:0 when I (hopefully) fall asleep.
The operation, I hope, will be a success. I hope they don’t have to shave my whole head. I would like to keep some hair on my head so Andrea can run her fingers through my hair. I love when she does that. It get me up. They’re going to put some fiberglass type stuff to fill the depression. The surgeons are going to anchor the stuff to my skull with iron wires drilled o it. At 6:30 in the morning!! I have not woken up that early since early last school year.
I’ve seen this Star Trek about 20x’s. It’s pretty hilarious. Abraham Lincoln fighting. How Bogus. I can’t believe he can kick-but.
I am going to have to learn how to write better.
Christmas 1990
Originally uploaded by browsermetrics.
