No, not the Beatles album. Lacey's sister Anna is getting married October 11th, and need your help. They are one of four finalists in a national contest with a professional photographer. If they win, they get FREE photography - everything included. This would be a huge burden off of Anna and Chris, so go to http://jessicaclaire.net and scroll to the entries, then comment and vote for Anna and Chris. It only asks for your name, so there's no reason NOT to do this! Thank you!!!
Update: THEY WON! Thank you for all of those who helped out and commented. They will be receiving free photography, videography, and a wedding coordinator - all for free! Way to go Anna and Chris!
I have reworked my top 10 movies of the year. Lacey and I rented Once on Friday, and it immediately vaults up to number 5, knocking Hot Rod off the list.
Once was absolutely outstanding. It is a musical, but instead of grinding the narrative to a halt to let the characters sing, the film weaves the songs into the plot, and the songs help advance what is going on. It is quite amazing. The two lead actors are actually musicians, the guy is in an Irish band called the Frames, and the gal is a classically trained singer and pianist. The music is brilliant. The two leads wrote almost all of the songs, and it shows. I bought the sountrack on Saturday, but had half a mind to run out and buy it Friday night at 11 PM. It was that good. The film itself, while great, does dawdle a bit in the middle, and they probably could have done more there, but no worries. The rest of it is so good, it makes up for it. There are two scenes specifically, that along with the Dunkirk scene in Atonement, and the uncut scene in Children of Men are four of my favorite scenes in cinema history. I'll have to think about it a bit more and do a separate post on that. Suffice it to say that if you are reading this, and haven't seen the movie, rent it immediately. It has the F word a lot at the beginning, but if you can get past that, you won't regret this rental. Amazing. It's hard to compare this to Moulin Rouge, as they are so very different (Moulin Rouge is more of a spectacle, and adds dancing into the fold), but Once and Moulin Rouge are most definitely the two best musicals of our generation. If you aren't moved when the two leads sit down in the music store and punch out one of his songs, then I just feel sorry for you.
So, I drove a lot over the holidays. And this means, I had to create some serious playlistage. On the way to Monroe, I drove about 8 hours, with headphones on most of that time, due to a sleeping baby. On the way home, I was by myself, driving for 12 hours, so obvs I was rocking out most of the way. It's the only way to stay awake. Not only that, but if you know anything about the Rocketts, you know that they are a very musical family, so I was listening to music much of our vacation. So my playlist will be part songs that I listened to while driving, and part songs that encapsulate the trip and our activities while in Funroe. Enjoy.
1.Feelin' Good - Michael Buble
2.No One - Alicia Keys
3.Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight - Amos Lee
4.My Life - The Beatles
5.Sexual Healing (Live) - Ben Harper
6.Redemption Song - Bob Marley
7.Fix You - Coldplay
8.Lemon Parade - Tonic
9.Round Here (Live Unplugged) - Counting Crows
10.Stolen - Dashboard Confessional
11.Wake Up Call - Maroon 5
12.Anyone Else But You - Ellen Page and Michael Cera (from the motion picture Juno)
13.The One I Love - David Gray
14.Let Me Ride - Dr. Dre
15.Cleanin' Out My Closet - Eminem
16.Macy's Day Parade - Green Day
17.Are You Gonna Be My Girl? - Jet
18.The Birds of St. Marx (Live) - Jackson Browne
19.Cowboy - Kid Rock
20.Sleep Now in the Fire - Rage Against the Machine
21.Stuff and Nonsense - Neil Finn and Eddie Vedder
22.Four Strong Winds - Neil Young
23.I Will Write You a Song - Plain White T's
24.Schism - Tool
25.Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
26.Tribute - Tenacious D
27.Look After You - The Fray
28.We're Going to Be Friends - The White Stripes
29.Panama - Van Halen
30.Butterfly - Weezer
Secret Bonus Track that I don't want anyone to know about because I like it, and it's embarrassing, even though it's an incredibly finely tuned pop song: Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
Ok, I've been drafted to do the music/DJ Anna and Chris's wedding reception, coming up on October 11th. What I'm hoping for here, is that the 2.4 people that read this blog will email me, or leave in the comments section, suggestions for songs. They can be songs that were a hit at your reception, songs that you wish you could have played at your or someone else's reception, songs that you really like, whatever. I have a lot of music in mind, but I could always use some more. So hit me with it.
Lacey got screwed over by AirTran yesterday, and so had to sit in the Atlanta airport for four hours waiting on a later connection. Thus, I had to find something to do after school to wait for her flight to get in. I decided to see Juno again. And I think I liked it even better the second time. Not because I caught more, or because I thought I missed stuff in the first viewing, but because I was really struck by the tenderness of the movie. Once you get through the gruff exterior of the fast-talking Juno, you see that she really is an extremely well-written character. And her scenes with Bleaker are some of the best scenes between two leads in love that I think I've ever seen in any movie. They are genuinely genuine, for lack of a better expression. I would TOTALLY believe you if you told me that Ellen Page and Michael Cera were married - they are freaking PERFECT together in the movie. I really don't think it is possible for a movie to do better than Juno did with those two. I dunno, something just hit me the second go-round. It certainly is not a perfect movie, but I think that if they had treated the Juno/adoptive dad relationship a little differently, this could have been an all-timer. But they had to go and make Jason Bateman a total ass, and detract from the power of the film. Regardless, at least his suckitude was offset by the two other strong guy leads, especially Juno's Dad. The supporting cast really was terrific. Anyway, just thought I'd share. Juno's climbing my year-end list. Probably it's up to #2 now, since I still don't think I completely understand the ending of No Country For Old Men.
--Also, I picked up the soundtrack yesterday, and I'm addicted to it. It's great, and has some really wonderful songs on it, including one by the Moldy Peaches, redone in the ending by Page and Cera. "I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else....but you." Much more on music to come in the next few posts.
**Editor's Note - This list is missing at least two movies that would probably make it, but I haven't seen them. Sweeney Todd and There Will Be Blood! will probably be added later, and would knock off Hot Rod and Breach. Also, I haven't seen a lot of movies this past year (what with my son being born and all) so this isn't a great list in the first place - I'm sure that 3:10 to Yuma, Michael Clayton, and Talk to Me, among others, would at least get consideration. That said, here are my top 10 movies of 2007:
10.Hot Rod - hysterically funny, if a bit stupid.
9.Breach - so intense, I had white knuckles. Chris Cooper is almost TOO good.
8.Hot Fuzz - I don't remember watching a comedy this smart for quite some time.
7.Atonement - incredible shot of Dunkirk, incredibly sad...really well done.
6.The Golden Compass - wonderfully beautiful to look at, failed miserably in what the author of the book tried to accomplish, and had quite a bit good to say if you knew what to look for.
5.Knocked Up - probably the funniest movie of the year (apologies to superbad, hot rod and hot fuzz) with a good moral to the story: grow up!
4.Juno - knockout performance by the lead, great soundtrack and engaging dialogue. What more do you need?
3.Transformers - without the f/x this wouldn't be up here, but I can't put it any lower, because I haven't had this much fun at the movies since, oh I don't know, ever?
2.No Country For Old Men - this movie bit my head off, then spit it back out, and reattached it crooked and upside down. Tommy Lee Jones was scary good, and I'm still thinking about what the film meant.
1.I Am Legend - I don't know if this was the best movie of the year, or just my favorite. Certainly without the Christian undertones it wouldn't be up at #1, but I still say it deserves it. Ridiculously skilled people put this movie together in every facet of movie-making.
Just missing the cut: Eastern Promises (which gets better the more I think about it) and Charlie Wilson's war, which I talked about last post.
Wow, what a trip. I got back from Monroe on Thursday, and it's been nice being home. But I sure did have fun while there. All I did was hang out with family and friends, play Jonathan's Wii, and watch movies. See, this is my time of the year to catch up on movies, especially since Noah was born and I never get to see any. And boy oh boy did I make up for it. Here's my list since Christmas day:
1.I Am Legend - My favorite movie of the year. Saw it twice. This was reviewed on Gibbs' blog so well, I hate to comment on it, but I'll put a little here. Great action, INCREDIBLE f/x, awesome performance by Will Smith, and incredibly Christian undertones. I LOVED this movie. #1 film of the year, no question.
2.Charlie Wilson's War - Good, very good. Philip Seymour Hoffman was HILARIOUS, and Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts were excellent as usual. It was informative, a bit sad, engaging, and very funny for a political drama.
3.Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - Hilarious, but very flawed. What I mean is, I laughed a LOT, but the movie was choppy, not very well put together, and couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Also, extremely crass, and not really in a good way. But if you like spoofs, and you liked Superbad, you'll love this.
4.Enchanted - I took my nephew to see this, and it was surprisingly good. I haven't gone to a movie like this in a long time (i.e. children's flick), so I really enjoyed it. Which is good, since I suppose I'll have to get used to movies like this. Anyway, Amy Adams is FANTASTIC, and I'm sure we'll be hearing her name quite a bit. Good music, too.
5.National Treasure 2 - SO MUCH FUN! I don't know why this got such bad reviews, because it's just like the first one. Over the top, but extremely enjoyable to watch. I like Nick Cage, so that helps, but this was funny, action-packed, and while it won't win any awards, this is what entertainment at the movies is all about.
6.Juno - Very touching, extremely well-put-together little movie. Ellen page does an incredible job, and deserves all the accolades she gets. I also really like Michael Cera, who did another good job in this, following Superbad. The soundtrack also really caught my ear, and added quite a bit to the movie. But what really made it (besides Ellen Page) were the supporting performances, especially the parents. Just a wonderful little movie - not perfect, but very, very good.
7.The Golden Compass - I saw this at our new state of the art theater, with DLP digital projection picture, and holy crap what an astoundingly beautiful film. Tries to bash the catholic church, and fails miserably. I very much enjoyed this movie, and besides being a sensual delight (could Nicole Kidman be much better, or more beautiful?), really made me think. I won't go into more detail though, because it's been done to death elsewhere.
8.No Country For Old Men - Just saw this yesterday, and I'm still processing it. I think I understand most of it, but I'm wondering if I really "get" the ending. This is most definitely the most skillfully made film of the year (with the exception of a couple I've not seen), and was ridiculously engrossing - all without a soundtrack whatsoever. The Coen brothers have certainly made the best film of the year, from what I've seen so far, assuming I think on it more and understand everything in it. Their most incredible achievement? Making windswept West Texas look B-E-A-Utiful.
9.Eastern Promises - Obvs, I rented this. And oh, what a messed up movie this is. Very well made, Vigo is awesome, and it certainly made me think...but is it really necessary to have ALL OF THAT in there? If you've seen it, you know what I mean (if not, BE CAREFUL!), and perhaps it IS necessary given the nature of the Russian mafia. But sheesh, I really didn't need to see blood spurting out of that guy's neck, or Vigo naked for 5 minutes.
10.Hod Rod - Dumb? Check. Friggin' Hilarious? Aaaa-ffirmative. Holy crap, I don't think I've laughed that much in a LONG time. If you're looking for a movie that will make you laugh for an hour and a half straight, and isn't serious in the least, rent this movie immediately.
11.Shoot 'Em Up - Absolutely Atrociously Awful. I shut the thing off a half hour in because I couldn't stand to watch it for another second. So I popped in Hot Rod and loved every second. This movie is so offensive and vile, I can't even tell you about it. What a waste, too, since I love Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti. I guess the only positive thing I can say is that Owen was doing the right thing (saving a baby again) in the movie. It's just amazing he can go from one of my favorite films of all time (Children of Men) to this.
12.Welcome to the Grindhouse: Death Proof - I started out almost falling asleep, and finished loving the movie. I knew I would since it's Tarantino, but it was a close call. There is a LOT of talking in this movie. And not really good dialogue like in Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. This was a bit mindless, and not the sharp stuff I'm used to from Quentin. But most of it ended up having a point, so maybe he hasn't quite run out of material. But he's close. Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this one, especially the last 20 minutes. We'll see if QT has another great movie in him, or if he's donezo.
Ok, I think that's it for now. On the absolutely have to see list are still There Will Be Blood, and Sweeney Todd. Stay tuned for my top 10 list, once I see them, as I am much more well-informed now :-)