Movie I've Recently Seen

Sin City

I wouldn't have believed that such a faithful piece of adaptation was possible. This and 300 have me convinced that the CGI revolution will have longer, more interesting ramifications on film than just the ability to portray amazing things (a man in a spider suit swinging from building-to-building in acrobatic fashion, for example), as impactful as that will be. But CGI let Rodriguez and Miller here create a very singular, completely imagined world, a world that clearly is not meant to be "real" but that is intended to be as stylized and deliberately crafted as a Picasso painting. Put simply, Sin City is a gorgeous film, and not because it's "pretty" in the conventional sense, but because the job of creating this painted, ink-splashed world is done so committedly. I loved it. CGI has enabled filmmakers to take advantage of the benefits available to animators, while still working in live action - and the combination is stunning. Tying it all together is a great cast, and a nicely spare, tight script.

Watching the film on DVD, I did think that another opportunity to make this comic book world more of a piece was missed though - I watched with subtitles on (I often do on the train, since background noise can make dialogue muffled on occasion), and it occurred to me that the heavy use of narration - which mirrors the use of narration boxes in comic books - could have been represented not by traditional subtitles, but by actual narration boxes on screen. Just like in the comic book. That would have been cool.

Until Whenever

It's Hard to Fathom

Walgreens is a nearly $50 billion company. You would think that a vanishingly small percentage of that roaring river of cash would be spent on a few proofreaders. And yet the paper sleeves they put your photos in - of which there must be what? millions printed? - carry this tag line, copyrighted of course:

"Where America gets it's pictures." (Don't have it in front of me, so I may be off, but the typo I remember.)

Am I wrong to be as downright disturbed by this as I am? And no snide remarks about my own propensity for typos, please. Unlike Walgreens, Tosy and Cosh is a $0 enterprise.

Until Whenever

A Trio of Jeter

I'm cribbing from Mark Evanier here, but he reminded me of just how missed Michael Jeter is.

this first video is something I've been hoping would pop up on YouTube as soon as I learned about YouTube. It finally has. Michael Jeter, in addition to being a gifted actor and clown, with an empathy and warmth that radiated with the intensity of a thousand suns, could sing.



Here, he acquits himself wonderfully in his Tony-winning role in Grand Hotel.



And here, he gives perhaps the most moving acceptance award I've ever seen.



Until Whenever

On the Nightstand

Fifty Degrees Below - Kim Stanley Robinson

The second book in Robinson's global warming trilogy has a tighter focus than the first, this time focusing primarily on Frank, one of the several characters from the first book. Frank's story is a good one to focus on too, the wildly improbable love story (he meets a woman in an elevator, the elevator gets stuck, and they fall in love) is actually pretty entertaining, and his decision to embrace a rootless homelessness by building a treehouse in a park is inspired fun. The big climate event here, a brutal winter with temperatures that dip into Antarctic ranges, is, as is standard for Robinson, impeccably envisioned. I found myself a little disinterested by the spy subplot (Frank's paramour is being bugged by her husband, with Frank being tracked by the government because of his environmental work), but overall found this an engaging read - I look forward to finishing the trilogy.

The Gingerbread Girl - Stephen King (a novella that appears in this month's Esquire)

My love for Stephen King has been well-documented, and I enjoyed this story thoroughly. That being said, I did find myself wishing he had fought his instincts a bit more. The firs third of the story, which tells the story of a young woman whose infant daughter dies of crib death, and who deals with the unfathomable grief by running all the time, was gripping, believeable and deeply moving. But the last two thirds, which deal with the woman's abduction by a serial killer and attempts at escape, while excellently executed, felt tired and easy to me. It was if King started out writing a non-violent, slice-of-life story but couldn't resist taking it into the gruesome violence, thriller arena. That he is so good in that arena is comfort, sure - the scene of her initial attempts at escape had me absolutely engrossed - and yet a small part of me nags nonetheless at what "might have been."

Until Whenever

Tony Thoughts

In lazy-ass bullet point style!!

• Did A Chorus Line really need to come back?
• Curtains didn't look all that compelling, but did David Hyde Pierce look like he was having the time of his life, or what?
• Audra McDonald can do no wrong. Adored the peroxide joke. (The role of Lizzie in the original 110 in the Shade was not written for a black actress. In the song she performed, in which Lizzie is proclaiming how "raunchy" she can be, there's a lyric that goes "I'll pour peroxide on my head." After singing that line, the black McDonald shook her head and (in character) said "no, I'm not gonna do that." Priceless.)
• Frank Langella gave as eloquent and well-written speech as I've ever seen on an awards show.
• Always nice to see someone genuinely surprised to win - Julie White was delightful.
• A compelling reading of "Being Alive," but doesn't having him get up from the piano nullify the point of him being there in the first place?
• Christine Ebersole was great in her number, but as my wife pointed out, the (albeit deliberate) nasally voice she affected for the song could well keep potential ticket buyers away!
• I'm enough of a purist to find it kind of lame that Jersey Boys and The Color Purple got numbers performed, when they were year-old shows. You have to believe that the producers of Legally Blonde (which did not get a slot) were incensed.
• I really would like to see Spring Awakening.

Until Whenever

Flotsam and Jetsam

This article floats the (spurious) idea that Dwight Schrute may be spun off from The Office into his own series. Within, the author says that "But Dwight is to "The Office" what Frasier once was to "Cheers," so the idea isn’t that preposterous." Dont'cha hate it when writers write about TV without the requisite knowledge? In no way is Dwight the Frasier analogue. Oscar, maybe. but Dwight is much more central to The Office than Frasier was to Cheers.

My three-year old daughter's response to the question "who is this?" which I posed in regard to this picture:

"The Wiggles!"

Until Whenever

Was This Really Fifteen Years Ago!

From many places (Tom most recently) I see this meme being done, and, being quite the lemming, I had to jump in. The (purportedly) 25 top-charting songs from the year I turned 18 are listed below, along with pity commentary on the same. A "?" means I have never heard of this song.

1. "Baby Got Back" - Sir Mixx-A-Lott
Hard not to admire the wordplay, if not much else. Did yield two pretty comedic bits for me - the Friends episode where Ross and Rachel's baby will only be soothed by the singing of this song and a cover done in Gilbert & Sullivan style found on-line.

2. "I'm Too Sexy" - Right Said Fred
I may not "like" this song, but I can't deny the sheer genius of its construction and catchiness.

3. "End Of The Road" - Boys II Men
Can't place it, although I understand it broke records for a length of time at #1.

4. "Move This" - Technotronic
?

5. "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen (bigger hit as a reissue)
Mike Myers' deserves kudos for re-establishing this masterpiece of pop excess to the pop culture consciousness.

6. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
I never got into Nirvana, but can appreciate what was done here. It is a killer riff.

7. "Save The Best For Last" - Vanessa Williams
If this is what I'm remembering, it's pretty much treacle.

8. "Come As You Are" - Nirvana
Another song I respect but don't adore.

9. "Jump Around" - House Of Pain
I do remember the ubiquity of this song my freshman year in college. And I didn't even go to many (one) frat parties.

10. "I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston
I know I'm supposed to hate this and love Dolly Parton's original as part of the hip contract, but try and tell me that Houston can't sing. Overplayed to death several times over, but still a nice piece of production and singing.

11. "Twilight Zone" - 2 Unlimited
?

12. Mysterious Ways - U2
I never quite understood why this was the biggest of the Achtung Baby singles. I love the song, of course, and frequently quote that high b-flat at the end ("she moves with IT") as proof of Bono's under-appreciated vocal abilities, but it doesn't come near "One" for greatness, as time has pretty much confirmed.

13. "Boot Scootin' Boogie" - Brooks & Dunn
?

14. "November Rain" - Guns N Roses
In retrospect, overproduction was really the death of Guns 'N Roses. There's a fine piece of Queen-esque songwriting in there somewhere.

15. "I'll Be There" - Mariah Carey
?

16. "Lithium" - Nirvana
I really do respect Nirvana more than like them.

17. "Rump Shaker" - Wreckx-N-Effect
I guess '92 was the year of ass worship?

18. "Masterpiece" - Atlantic Starr
?

19. "Caribbean Blue" - Enya
?

20. "Baby Baby Baby" - TLC
?

21. "Finally" - CeCe Peniston
Was she the KD Tunstall of the day? I keep hearing that "Suddenly I See" song when I think of this.

22. "To Be With You" - Mr. Big
?

23. "One" - U2
This song just ages better and better. May well be the song U2 is most remembered or 50 years hence. And I'm completely OK with that.

24. "If I Ever Fall in Love" - Shai
?

25. "To Be With You" - Mr. big
?

Until Whenever

100 Things I Love About The Simpsons

1. Homer's girlish giggle.

2. When Marge gets her hair mussed.

3. Bart's emotional voice - Cartwright does a great job at getting at that tremulous quality a kid's voice gets when they are going to cry.

4. Maggie giving the unibrowed baby the evil eye.

5. Phil Hartman's Lionel Hutz voice.

6. Phil Hartman's Troy McClure voice.

7. Moe's stubbly legs.

8. Lisa's excited little-girl voice.

9. Dr. Hibbard's non-sequiter laughs.

10. "I'd like to buy your rock."

11. Nelson's soft side.

12. The fact that any attempted musical version of A Streetcar Named Desire will have to live in the shadow of a version starring yellow-skinned people with bizzare overbites.

13. That God has five fingers.

14. Ned Flanders getting angry.

15. A yard filled with dumb Homer relatives.

16. Grampa falling asleep in the middle of a story.

17. Milhouse's flirting.

18. The Edge, Larry, and Adam rolling their eyes at another Bono speech.

19. Sideshow Bob's mellifluous voice.

20. "Itchy's a jerk."

21. Homer's conversations with his brain.

22. Roy's short-lived stay with the Simpsons in the Poochie episode.

23. Church organ version of "In A Gada Da Vida."

24. Mr. Burns' brother, George Burns.

25. Smithers' peppy sperm/

26. The tire fire.

27. Barney's Irish tenor.

28. That when the three-eyed fish blink, the eyes blink in order, and not all at once.

29. Sharri Bobbins getting sucked into a jet engine.

30. "You tried your best and failed miserable. The lesson is, never try."

31. Kearny's kid.

32. That barfly with the trucker's hat. When does he get an episode.

33. Apu's American accent.

34. Frank Grimes' death.

35. Bart wishing he had an elephant, when he did.

36. Homer's teenaged naivete.

37. Teen Marge with her hair down.

38. Principle Skinner in 'Nam.

39. Homer's reading glasses.

40. Burns: I think I'll donate a million dollars to the orphanage. When pigs fly.
(Burns and Smithers laugh, and then a pig flies by the window)
Smithers' Will you be donating that million dollars, sir?
Burns: I'd rather not.

41. Santa's Little Helper's dumb and happy stare.

42. Ralph.

43. The Philip Glass rendition of the Simpsons theme.

44. A single tear coming out of Darryl Strawberry's eye.

45. That the great boss Scorpio is a James Bond villain.

46. Lisa getting high on theme park ride water.

47. Homer using his gun to open his beer.

48. Homer's war against the hip dean.

49. Couch gags.

50. "I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman!"

51. Homer's car for the Everyman.

52. Homer losing his mother again.

53. Willie wrestling a wolf.

54. Homer eating his donut-head.

55. Cletus' theme song.

56. Comic book guy's ponytail.

57. Marge the cop.

58. Kent Brockman's Eye on Springfield montage.

59. Bart and Milhouse going crazy, Broadway-style.

60. "Sleep! That's when I'm a Viking!"

61. Bart as the doorman at a bordello.

62. The Flaming Moe theme song.

63. Jub-Jub.

64. Homer accidentally listening to subliminal vocabulary tapes.

65. Tom Jones chained to the stage floor.

66. Lisa's addiction to the Corey hotline.

67. Dental plan!

68. Johnny Carson lifting a car.

69. Bart on the Conan O'Brien show.

70. "Fame was like a drug. But what was even more like a drug were the drugs. "

71. The "you don't win friends with salad" dance.

72. Mayor Quimby's ever-present sash.

73. Mr. Sparkle.

74. Homer's mumu.

75. Homer and George Bush, Sr. fighting in a sewer.

76. The very tall man parading a pantsed Nelson through town.

77. Kirk Van Houten's "Can I Borrow a Feeling?"

78. The gay steel mill.

79. Armin Tanzarian.

80. "The goggles, they do nothing!"

81. Homer as Ganesh.

82. Jasper in the freezer.

83. Ron Howard's jerkiness.

84. Max Power.

85. A duel with motorcycles.

86. An episode devoted to mocking disgruntled fans.

87. The death of Maude Flanders.

88. Lisa's wedding.

89. Lenny and Carl's devotion.

90. "Marge, please don't tell anyone about my "busy" hands. Not for me. But I am so respected, it would destroy the town to hear it."

91. Lisa crushing on Nelson.

92. Maggie's escape from the Ayn Rand School for Tots.

93. The Simpsons doing a song and dance after having their skin ripped off.

94. A straight reading of The raven.

95. Homer's elegant eating of potato chips in space.

96. Tony Bennett's Capital City song.

97. Maggie terrorizing Homer with a nail gun.

98. Marge's portrait of Mr. Burns.

99. An angry Grampa running up to his room, slamming the door, and blasting "In the Mood" really, really loud.

100. "It's wonderful, Marge. I've never felt so accepted in all my life. These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

Movies I've Recently Seen

The Departed

Having seen Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men I'd rather either of them had won the Oscar (or at least been nominated), but that being said this was a highly entertaining film. Great performances all around (although why Wahlberg got singled out from among Sheen, Nicholson, and Baldwin is beyond me), and a twisty story that kept me on the edge of my seat. Donnie Brasco did the "perils of going undercover" thing better, but I liked how Damon and DiCaprio played very similar characters who go down very different roads.

Pan's Labyrinth

Not quite as good as advertised, but still a gorgeous, mesmerizing piece of work. The fantasy elements were wonderfully executed, with the Pale Man ranking as one of the all-time great creepy character designs, in my book at least. The brutal real-world violence was rougher and more explicit than I had anticipated - there's an early scene involving death by wine bottle that literally had me covering up the laptop screen with my hand. The one element that I can't quite grasp was the performance of the young actress who played the lead. Maybe it was the subtitles, and the fact that I couldn't exactly match her words with their meanings, but she seemed a bit flat, and unengaged at times. And yet at other times I found myself buying into her reality. But overall, this is highly recommended, with an ending that's both crushing and liberating, and one of the best endings to a film I've seen in a long while. (The advantages of fairy tales, I guess - the endings are allowed to be satisfying and not open-ended, as they seem to need to be in so much realistic fiction/film).)

Until Whenever

Favorite Score Moments

My favorite tracks from my exceedingly humble collection of film scores. These are the musical moments that move me the most, the ones I'll listen to as stand-alone pieces, as opposed to listening to the whole score. In the order they came up on my iPod:


“The Mecha World” – John Williams, A.I.
Mirroring the odd but remarkable effective blend of Spielberg's warmth and Kubrick's coldness evident in the film, Williams gives us a theme that combines his own Romantic melodic sensibility with the incessant pulse of Philip Glass' minimalism. Shouldn't work. But it does.

“Batman Theme” – Danny Elfman – Batman
One of the great pure superhero themes. I understand that James Newton Howard deliberately didn't introduce a "theme" for Batman in the new film, wanting to hold off until the second film, when the character has earned a theme. I like the logic, but have trouble imagining a new theme worthy of this one.

“A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics” – James Horner – A Beautiful Mind
The clashing, metronomic pianos do a superb job of evoking Nash's fractured genius.

“The Secret Wedding” - James Horner – Braveheart
One of Horner's most melodic and beautiful pieces. A great stand-alone concert piece.

“Saying Goodbye” – John Williams – E.T.
The finale of E.T. is one of the most generous of Williams' contributions to film music. Appropriately for the moment and context, he doesn't restrain himself at all, giving in to the lushest, most over-the-top Romanticism of his career, capping it off with a fanfare from the horns and booming tympani. Completely earned and awesome.

“A Call to Arms” - James Horner – Glory
The Harlem Boys choir gets a lot of work, but I've never heard them used as effectively as they are here.

“Burning the Town of Darien” - James Horner – Glory
Tragic and heart-wrenching music with some wonderfully effective harmonic moments.

“Prologue” – John Williams – Harry Potter
A lot of Williams' Potter work was tired and pro forma, but true to form he delivered the absolutely perfect theme for the Potter universe.

“Locke’d Out Again” – Michael Giacchino – Lost
Giacchino's Lost work continually astonishes me. This moment, scored to Locke's betrayal by his father in Season One, is among his best, an emotional gut punch.

“Parting Words” - Michael Giacchino – Lost
From the Season One finale, as Michael, Jin, and Sawyer successfully cast off on their homemade boat. Triumphant without being pat or easy.

“Win One for the Reaper” - Michael Giacchino – Lost
The central, delicate theme of loss, used very effectively at Boone's funeral.

“The Raider’s March” – John Williams – Raiders of the Lost Ark
Iconic, isn't it? Williams can nail an identifiable theme better than pretty much anyone.

“Theme from Schindler’s List” – John Williams – Schindler’s List
A haunting piece of music, expertly assayed by Itzhac Perlman.

“Shawshank Prison (Stoic Theme)” - Thomas Newman – The Shawshank Redemption
We hear this as the bus arrives with Andy at the beginning of the movie, and it's a great piece of work. Simple in structure and yet so effective in execution.

“Shawshank Redemption” – Thomas Newman – The Shawshank Redemption
Andy escapes. What I absolutely love about this piece is how Newman takes a pretty stock movie/musical moment - the hero triumphs after much adversity and the score signals with a triumphant crescendo, replete with plenty of brass - and plays with it. The triumphant crescendo is there, but immediately following it a sad, defeated twinkly figure plays underneath the aftermath, reminding us of the true cost, of the loss Andy has experienced, of those eighteen years lost.

“Duel of the Fates” – John Williams – Star Wars Episode I
Bringing chorus into his Star Wars music quiver was an inspired decision, and this instantly-iconic track proves it.

“Across the Stars” - John Williams – Star Wars Episode II
The sad, lonely love theme from the second film is old-school Hollywood, and a neat little twist on Luke's theme from the original film.

“Battle of the Heroes” - John Williams – Star Wars Episode III
Williams final big Star Wars theme is one of his best, capturing the tragic betrayal at the heart of the Obi-Wan/Anakin relationship perfectly.

“Main Title/Rebel Blockade” - John Williams – Star Wars Episode IV
The touchstone. Lucas' original decision not to go with an actual classical music score will rank as one of his best.

“Tales of a Jedi Night/Learn the Force” - John Williams – Star Wars Episode IV
That moody, wistful minor-key Force theme is a marvel of economic writing.

“Sanctuary!” – Alan Menken – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The great unappreciated Disney animated film from the 90s renaissance, and largely die to Menken's most accomplished piece of writing. This rack is my favorite, with some big, dramatic organ and choir climaxes near the end.

Until Whenever

Crystal Ball Gazing

What will Tosy and Cosh be watching in the fall? We'd guess:

Monday
8-9
How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, and CSI: Miami.
Mother is just great and inertia will probably have me tune in to The Big Bang. The wife likes Two and a Half Men and CSI: David Caruso Loves His Sunglasses, so inertia will work there too. Heroes gets TiFauxed, as does maybe Journeyman.

Tuesday
The demise of Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars opens some holes, and yet remarkably none of what I'm seeing makes me want to fill them. House at 9, sure, but that's about it.

Wednesday
8-9 Pushing Daisies looks very interesting and may just hook the wife. But we've never seen an episode of Grey's so no spinoff for us. Over to CBS for Criminal Minds for a procedural/Mandy fix, but nothing at 10 intrigues. Bionic Woman gets TiFauxed.

Thursday
NBC will keep us watching all night. No changes here.

Friday
8-9 Men in Trees was much better than its premise might suggest, so we'll come back for that, but that's about it.

Sunday
I love me my Simpsons, but the musical fan in me has to check out Viva Laughlin.

Until Whenever

Finales

Since I'm coming rather late to the party, I'll offer only very brief thoughts on the season finales I've seen thus far:

Lost: I did see the twist coming, but for literally one second only (her posture as she stepped towards the light gave it away). A complete package of a season finale - suspenseful, moving, funny, exhilarating (Hurley's van charge may have been the most exciting event of the TV season for me), and shocking. I can't think of 48 hours of more anticipated-by-me entertainment than these last three forthcoming seasons.

Gilmore Girls: A remarkably effective finale, with blessedly economical closure on the Luke-Lorelai front, great use of the entire town, and some very nice moments from the elder Gilmores. Still, that the Palladinos have stated interest in a two-hour movie that would tie up loose ends is happy news.

House: If the "game-changer" truly changes the game, then excellent. If not, then a bit of noise to no effect.

Scrubs: I suspect that all of this JD-Eliot stuff is a smokescreen, a kind of Lucy and the football thing done almost to mock the fans who want them together, and that the next and final season will see that near-kiss never consummated, Eliot and Keith happily betrothed, and JD and what's-her-name happy parents. But I could be wrong.

My Name Is Earl: I loved it. And I hope they run a bit with the "Earl in jail" story and don't spring him in an episode or two. And for all that is right and holy, I hope they bring back Marlee Matlin!

The Office: Just a perfect moment at the end. Jenna Fisher earned an Emmy just with that final moment of teary happiness - so real, and so effective. And I hope that the Ryan-in-corporate story goes places, and that the character doesn't just disappear. Lots of fodder there.

Still to be seen: Veronica Mars (taped), How I Met Your Mother (missed! ugh!), and Heroes (I'm a good five or six episodes behind, actually).

Until Whenever

Soul Test

Step One: Watch this:



Step Two: Confirm that you smiled. If you did: you have a soul! If not? Not.

Until Whenever

Back! And Lazy!

As is my wont, I return from a long hiatus with a lazy meme post! Courtesy this time of that spin-kicking frog over at Electronic Cerebrectomy.

1. I've come to realize that my last kiss... was too long ago (i.e.; not today).

2. I am listening to... a lot of U2 after failing (for the umpteenth time) to convince my brother-in-law that Bono is truly the greatest rock singer ever. Ben reconvincing myself.

3. I talk... to my wife and kids more than anyone else.

4. I want... the new Michael Chabon book. And a rotisserie for my grill. And the new 100 in the Shade cast recording.

5. My best friend(s)... and I don't get together enough. The perils of adulthood and kids and responsibilities.

7. The weather is... warm and humid, but pleasantly so.

8. I hate it when people... assume the primacy of their viewpoint or wishes. Arrogance.

9. Love is... more powerful than I usually remember.

10. Marriage is... long-term. Not for the sprinter.

11. Somewhere, someone is thinking... "I'm hungry." Not as in "is it lunch time yet?" but as in "I may die today if I don't eat." How is it possible that we (I) can push that fact out of our (my) mind(s) 99.999999% of the time?

12. I'll always... want more. The curse of being human.

13. I have a secret crush on... Secret? None really. Rikki Lake is the one people usually find baffling though.

14. The last time I cried was... Months ago.

15. My cell phone is... small.

16. When I wake up in the morning... I despair at another day of work. Unless it's Saturday or Sunday. That's when I'm a viking!

17. Before I go to bed... I usually watch a little Scrubs.

18. Right now I am thinking about... how soon I can get out of here on a sunny Friday.

19. Babies are... really good at making you feel completely inadequate.

20. I go on MySpace... Almost never.

21. Today I... will finish a project at work and beat a hasty retreat to the suburbs.

22. Tonight I... will finally clean/organize the basement.

23. Tomorrow I... will spend time with two antic three-year olds. Awesome.

24. I really want to... find a more engaging, less stressful, less commutey, job.

25. Someone who will most likely repost this? I'm coming late to the party here, so likely no one. Maybe Roger.

Until Whenever

Not Dead!!

Sorry for the complete radio silence, but Tosy and Cosh have been slammed by malevolent real-life forces intent on stealing all free time. We are going on a short holiday, but hope to resume posting late next week.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!!

Until Whenever

Doin' the Friday Shuffle

1. "Day after Day" - Dave Brubeck - Dave Brubeck Songs
Did you know that Dave Brubeck wrote art songs? Me either. They ain't half bad.

2. "Gold & Goldberg" - Michael John LaChiusa - The Wild Party (Original Broadway Cast)
Loose and jazzy character piece sung by a pair of hopeful Broadway producers.

3. "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" - Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez - Avenue Q (Original Broadway Cast)
Hilarious.



4. "Entr'acte" - Stephen Sondheim - Anyone Can Whistle - Live at Carnegie Hall (1995 Broadway Concert Cast)
Very brassy and bouncy, almost Jerry Herman-esque, if you can believe it.

5. "The Park" - Michael John LaChiusa - See What I Wanna See (Original Cast Recording)
I still haven't been able to get into this score, and I usually love LaChiusa. This track in particular sounds a bit too much like some of his Hello Again material.

6. "Love and Peace or Else" - U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
I love that crunchy, fuzzy opening.



7. "The Car Chase" - James Horner - A Beautiful Mind (Film Score)
Dramatic and portentous cue from one of my favorite Horner scores.

8. "Back in the Car" - Danny Elfman - Music for a Darkened Theater Volume I: Film and Television Music
An avant-garde, atonal, guitar-heavy short piece from his score for the early Resse Witherspoon/Keith Sutherland vehicle Freeway.

9. "Do You Think It's All Right" - The Who - Tommy
An earnestly sung ditty about child abuse. Creepy.

10. "Heat Wave" - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook
Not one of my favorite songs, to be honest.

Until Whenever

Buried Beauties - Tina Marjorino

Last night's most excellent episode of Veronica Mars had me remembering that it's been ages since i did a Buried Beauties post. Tina Marjorino may not fit the Hollywood standard beauty mold, but, as these pictures indicate very well, it's hard to argue that she's truly a beautiful young woman.

Until Whenever

Movies I've Seen in the Past Few Weeks

Children of Men
I'm trying to remember the last time I so taken with a film and I simply can't. I was just blown away by the world created here, by its organic, deep-woven feel. The much lauded and discussed long, long shots are as powerful and seamless as advertised, and do an amazing job of adding a feeling of complete naturalism to the film. As much as I love films like, say, the Star Wars films, and as much as they might feel "real" within their constructed universes, they don't feel "real" in the sense that this could all be happening right now. Children of Men does. The acting is uniformly excellent, with Clive Owen putting in probably the best "reluctant hero" performance I've ever seen and Michael Caine inhabiting his character so fully that you swear you know him. Even the score is spot on; haunting and beautiful and modern; for the first time in a long while I finished a film wanting to get the soundtrack. It seems premature to put a film on my all-time top ten list after just one viewing, but I suspect that after a second viewing it will easily be right up there.

Now, with all of that praise said, I did have one quibble. The central notion, that for eighteen years no woman on the planet Earth has given birth, is a good and compelling one, and one the film embraces and makes real. The scenes of masses of people grieving at the death of the world's youngest human were perfect. But the central drive of the film, the effort to get the first pregnant woman in decades out of England and to some rebel group felt a bit off. We get a brief discussion about how if she made her condition known to the government they'd take the baby and pass it off as a native (in this vision of the future, England has cracked down on illegal immigrants hard, putting them in camps and encouraging violence). But this felt slight, and as a result I was never quite sure why there was such urgency to get her out. In the end, the film overcame these objections through sheer storytelling power and an abundance of breathtaking and beautiful moments, but as the glow faded I did find myself coming back to that nagging concern. All the more reason to give it a second viewing though, right?

The Pursuit of Happyness
Will Smith his great, his kid is more than passable, and the story of triumph against the odds moved me and held my attention. So why, in the end, did I feel that The Pursuit of Happyness failed? Because, to me, a film like this has a very simple pass/fail litmus test. That moment at the very end when the Will Smith character gets the job, should elicit tears, or send a shiver down the spine - it should move you big time. And it didn't. So while I enjoyed the film, and recognized its virtues, in the end it failed in its very simple primary directive.

(I apply a similar litmus test to any version of A Christmas Carol. When Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning a changed man, and starts doing all of the good, giddy things he's done, I should be moved to extreme happiness, to tears of joy really. If I am, it's a good Carol. if not, not. This is why for me the Bill Murray version, Scrooged!, works. When he goes into his big monologue at the end, I'm moved to tears. So it works.)

Until Whenever

A Trio of Audra

"See What I Wanna See" - A slinky, jazzy speakeasy evoking song from Michael John LaChiusa's musical of the same name.



"The Glamorous Life" - A great lesser-heard Sondheim song sung by a young girl about her absentee actor mother.



"Farewell Letter" - Audra singing my favorite Sondheim score. The fact that this isn't available on CD kills me.



Until Whenever

Idle Dreams

Lefty passes along a simple and elegant meme on his blog, a meme taken from his wife: Name ten things you'd like to learn to do. OK:

1. Play guitar. I can fumble my way through some very basic chords, but I'd love to be able to play enough chords capably enough to play and write some songs.

2. Play piano. See the sentences after "play guitar." Copy and paste.

3. Run a marathon. (Well, not learn exactly. I know how.) I ran cross country in high school and keep imagining that I'll get back to it someday.

4. Ski. Looks awfully fun.

5. Hike. Again, I know how, but I'd like to learn enough about it to do it for real, to climb some of those small mountains in New Hampshire the wife and I love so much.

6. Cook. I can grill a steak and make some tasty meatballs and sauce, but that's about it.

7. Do that "walk the coin across your knuckles" thing. That's awesome.

8. Write speeches. This is a professional thing - I'm a business writer by trade, and have dabbled in speech writing, but would love to learn more about it.

9. Swim. I technically can swim, but get tired very quickly. Would like to learn to do it properly.

10. Enough simple magic tricks to delight my kids and their friends.

Until Whenever