From The Archives

Note: A couple more entries from the archives. One, a review of Casino Royale, from my Movie Mania Blog, and the other a review of a 2006 Daniel Lanois gig, that first appeared on my Singing Muses blog.

At The Movies: Casino Royale
Caught the new James Bond movie last night. Casino Royale is a blast. Much darker, and more realistic than many of its predessors, the film dispenses with many of the well worn Bond cliches we've come to expect from the franchise. No fancy gadgets, no "Q", fewer quips, and all in all a much more serious tone to the whole story.

Daniel Craig is excellent as Bond. He has a face and demeanor (and body), that suits the new harder edged James Bond. He even bleeds! Not only that, but he actually carries the scars of his fights for more than 30 seconds of screen time.

While some scenes drag a bit (the love scenes), the action sequences are incredibly well staged and very fast paced. Even the extended poker playing sequences hold their tension throughout. The fact that they are intercut with action sequences helps break up the card table scenes, but overall they don't seem to drag anyway. Talking of action sequences, the CGI destruction of a building in Venice, Italy is superbly created and very realistic. It won't be long before virtually anything the human mind can imagine, can be realistically created on screen. Come to think of it, we've probably aready reached that point.

I thought the film ended in a very strange way, but I've learnt today (via the internet), that the next Bond film will be a sequel of sorts to Casino Royale, so the abrupt ending now makes more sense.

I tend to have a love/hate relationship with these types of big budget action films. Nine times out of ten, they are seen, and quickly forgotten, but I'm finding that Casino Royale is lingering on in my memory much more than I thought it would. I may even go and see it a second time, just so I can 'see' the bits I missed the first time around.

Best lines...
James Bond: Vodka-martini.
Bartender: Shaken or stirred?
James Bond: Does it look like I give a damn?

You can see the trailer for the movie here...

My Rating: 4 stars

Casino Royale on the Internet Movie Database...

Casino Royale Official Site...

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Caught In The Act: Daniel Lanois
Back in April (Saturday, April 8, 2006 - to be precise), I, and a full house of other curious punters, packed into the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel to see the award winning record producer, Daniel Lanois, strut his stuff.

Daniel did not perform solo. He had other musicians backing him up, and they did a very fine job of it too. Unfortunately, I did not get their names, so I can't tell you who they were. Nor can I give you a list of the songs Lanois performed. My overall impression of the show is very favourable. While I did not think Lanois was a technically brilliant guitarist, everything he did seemed right in the context of the song he was singing. He was no Hendrix or Clapton, but Lanois clearly knew his way around a guitar, and was not afraid to attack it with a considerable degree of enthusiasm.

Writing this entry, a full three months after the gig, only allows me to draw on some general impressions regarding the show, and I couldn't tell you what the standout songs were. What I do remember is the passion with which he performed, and the obvious pleasure he got from being on stage.

I can only assume that he brings this same passion and enthusiasm to his role as a producer, which is why so many singers and musicians, have asked him to produce their albums for them. After all, Lanois has been the 'go to' man for many of contemporary music's finest performers, including Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Marianne Faithfull, Emmylou Harris, U2, and of course, Bob Dylan.

Apart from his work as a producer of other people's material, I was totally unfamiliar with Daniel Lanois's own body of music - which in some resects was a real blessing. It was a blessing because I had no expectations, no baggage, and no preconceived ideas about what to expect.

Every song had to be taken on its own merits. I had no idea whether I was listening to him sing a song for the first time, or whether the song he was performing was a 'big hit' for him. Nor did I spend the night waiting in anticipation for the one big song, that other's may have been hanging out for. In my eyes, all songs were equal; I found myself giving each song the same amount of respect and attention as each of the others.

I realise now, as I'm writing this, that this is quite a liberating concept, and it's something that I can, and will make use of in the future. .

Visit the Daniel Lanois website here...

Check out the video below to see Daniel Lanois performing with U2 on the RTE Studios "Late Late Show" out of Dublin, Ireland. First broadcast on October 31, 2003.

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Iris DeMent

This entry is a compilation of two previous blog entries which first appeared on my Singing Muses blog in 2006. I will soon be visiting the USA for an extended vacation, and Iris DeMent is one performer I would dearly love to see while I am in that country.

~ The human voice. Has there ever been an instrument more dynamic, versatile and beautiful?

Some people have wonderful voices. Whether singing, reading out loud, reciting poetry, or just engaging in ordinary conversation, some voices have a way of cutting through the everyday sounds of life, and grabbing your attention like nothing else.

I can't remember where or when I first heard the voice of the American singer songwriter, Iris DeMent, but when I did, I was immediately captivated by the high plaintive sound of her voice. You see, I have a 'thing' about singers with high plaintive voices. Antony Hegarty (Antony and The Johnsons), Salif Keita, Iris DeMent, and several others have a way of piercing my psyche with their voices and music that I can't rationally explain.

Iris DeMent is one such singer. Iris (the youngest of 14 children), grew up singing gospel songs, but discovered 'folk' music during her teens. She didn't start writing and performing her own songs until she was 25, and released her first recording (an album of gospel songs), at around the age of 31.

Her song writing covers a wide range of topics including sexual abuse (Letter to Mom), Vietnam (There's a Wall in Washington), contemporary US politics (Wasteland of The Free), her family (numerous songs), and much more. Always honest, thoughtful and filled with insight, her songs are built around great melodies delivered in her trademark 'high lonesome' voice. Her singing voice is incredibly emotional, and every time I hear her sing I find myself deeply moved by that emotion and the feelings she evokes.

Take another look at the photo above, and check out the other photographs on her website. She may appear somewhat plain and ordinary, but Iris is not selling youth or false images of beauty. Iris DeMent is the real deal. Her songs and her voice have the ability to move me in ways that most contemporary performers will never do. There are some full sound files on her website you can listen to, but personally, I recommend you just go out and buy (or order online) any -- or all -- of her four albums.

By the way, while you are visiting her website, take a look at the discography page. You may find you already have Iris DeMent in your record collection, since she has appeared as a guest on many albums by some of the best contemporary singer songwriters recording today, including Emmylou Harris, Tom Russell, Nanci Griffith, and John Prine.

By the way, there are several clips featuring Iris on YouTube.

Here she is performing Our Town with the wonderful Emmylou Harris. The sound quality is pretty ordinary, but hopefully, the uninitiated will get a sense of Iris DeMent's beautiful voice and fine songwriting style. Enjoy...


You can also see a slightly truncated promo clip (with much better sound quality), for the same song here...

One of the comments accompanying this clip on YouTube says:
"Iris' pure, true Appalachian voice and beautiful spirit are the utter spiritual antithesis of the corporate-enforced homogeneity that's drowning the cultural diversity of this country and the world. We love you, Iris!!!"

Another wrote:
"Fell in love with her voice when I first heard her on the Transatlantic Sessions. She is something else."

And finally:
"Iris dement is 'The' Lady for me. She is the most talented songwriter of our generation and much underated! What a voice! What a songwriter! What a lady! "

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Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection...

~ I recently sat through a home movie marathon featuring the complete Alien movies franchise.

What a great series of film these were. Apart from the wonderful production design behind these movies, I couldn't help but be struck by the great performances Sigourney Weaver gave throughout this series. Surely it's way past time Weaver reprised her role again as Lt. Ripley.

Males have a wealth of action characters to immerse themselves in: Arnie in the Terminator series, Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series, Sylvester Stallone in Rocky and Rambo, Clint Eastwood in the Dollars trilogy, not to mention Eastwood as Dirty Harry. Then there's Superman, Batman, The Hulk, James Bond, Indiana Jones, Spiderman, Charles Bronson in the Death Wish films, Mel Gibson in the Mad Max trilogy, and of course the four Lethal Weapon films. Then there is ... well, you get the idea. The list goes on and on.

On the other hand, you can count the great action roles for women on the fingers of one hand: Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, Uma Thurman in the recent Kill Bill movies, umm... er... surely I've forgotten someone? If you can think of an actress or screen heroine I've forgotten, post a Comment below.

Sure there was Kathleen Turner starring opposite Michael Douglas in Romancing The Stone, and its sequel, Jewel of The Nile. But that was back in 1984, and 1985. That's over 20 years ago, people! Even Alien Resurrection, the last of the Alien films was made almost 10 years ago.

There's just no denying it folks. It is way past time women had a strong, dynamic female role model they can identify with, and Sigourney Weaver as Lt. Ellen Ripley, could be just the person to help kick start that process. At the very least, go back and rewatch these films, or make the effort to see them for the first time if you haven't yet seen them - you won't be disappointed.

More info on the Internet Movie Database...
Sigourney Weaver...
Alien...
Aliens...
Alien3...
Alien Resurrection...

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Robert Altman: 1925-2006

This entry first appeared on my Movie Mania blog in November 2006. If you haven't seen a Robert Altman movie recently - or God forbid, never seen an Altman film - do yourself a favour, hire one tonight and settle back to watch one of the great American directors in action.

Robert Altman, the wonderful satirist behind M*A*S*H, Nashville and The Player, died on the night of Monday, November 20, 2006. Altman, who was 81, had been battling cancer for the past 18 months.

Altman had been nominated five times for an Academy Award as best director, most recently for 2001's Gosford Park, non of which he won (although Altman did receive the best-director prize for Gosford Park at the Golden Globes). He was finally awarded an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2006.

"No other filmmaker has gotten a better shake than I have," Altman said while accepting the award.

"I'm very fortunate in my career. I've never had to direct a film I didn't choose or develop. My love for filmmaking has given me an entree to the world and to the human condition."

Altman often employed huge ensemble casts, encouraged improvisation and overlapping dialogue and filmed scenes in long tracking shots that would flit from character to character.

His anti-war black comedy M*A*S*H established his reputation in 1970, but he would go for years at a time directing obscure movies before roaring back with a hit. After a string of commercial duds including The Gingerbread Man in 1998, Cookie's Fortune in 1999 and Dr. T & the Women in 2000, Altman took his all-American cynicism to Britain for 2001's Gosford Park. A combination murder-mystery and class-war satire set among snobbish socialites and their servants on an English estate in the 1930s, Gosford Park was Altman's biggest box-office success since M*A*S*H.

Elliott Gould, who initially rebelled against what he saw as Altman's anarchic approach to the script when making M*A*S*H, called him "the last great American director in the tradition of John Ford, "I'll always be grateful to him for the experience and opportunities he gave me."

Altman was offered M*A*S*H by Fox after at least 15 other directors had turned it down. In his hands, it became the definitive anti-Vietnam War film, despite the studio's insistence on setting it in Korea, full of the farcical humour and coruscating rage at his own country's excesses that were to characterise many of his best films.

He detested the television spin-off series, which he said stripped the story of its anti-war stance, rendering it meaningless.

Altman's other best-director Oscar nominations came for the country-music saga Nashville from 1975, the movie-business satire The Player from 1992 and the ensemble character study Short Cuts from 1993. He also earned a best-picture nomination as producer of Nashville.

In May, Altman brought out A Prairie Home Companion, with Garrison Keillor starring as the announcer of a folksy musical show - with the same name as Keillor's own long-running show - about to be shut down by new owners. Among those in the cast were Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Woody Harrelson and Tommy Lee Jones.

Already two decades older than Scorsese, Spielberg and Coppola when the New Hollywood movement took off, Altman settled into a role as cantankerous old troublemaker.

Altman's long-awaited Oscar came last year — just in time — in the form of a lifetime achievement award. Long regarded as "a crazy old uncle", as The New York Times put it, he was finally on the pedestal he deserved.

Internet Movie Database entry for Robert Altman...

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Home Recording 101: Beginners Start Here...

[Note: a version of this entry first appeared on my main website Home Recording Blog]
When I first decided to get into home recording, I had no idea where I was going to start. I did however, know that I didn't have $10,000 to set up the perfect home recording studio. Anything I did would have to be done on a tiny budget, and with the most basic of equipment.

Believe it or not, this is my very first keyboard , which I christened Baby Cass...

Folks, its a two octave CASIO SK-5 sampling keyboard. It has a total of eight instrument 'voices', namely: piano, vibraphone, trumpet, pipe organ, chorus, flute, and dare I say it, dog and surf voices. Well, I did say basic, didn't I?

However, there is much you can do with it. A brief digression here: If you haven't already seen the movie Hustle and Flow, head down to your local video/DVD hire outlet and borrow the film. It shows one of these tiny units being put through its paces, and I can assure you the musicians who made use of this keyboard, achieved more with it than I ever thought possible.

But back to September, 2003. I thought I'd see if I could actually do anything with my Baby Cass, Shure SM58 mic, Takamine guitar, and computer.

I plugged the Shure in to the Mic In jack of my sound card, launched my demo version of Cool Edit Pro (now Adobe Audition), turned on Baby Cass (which was positioned directly beneath the Shure), and hit a few keys. Holy Moly, Batman, it worked! I could record directly onto my hard drive.

Over the next few days, using lots of trial and error, and more patience than I ever knew I had, I recorded my first demo song, Heartache To Heartache. It consisted of three tracks; the guitar and vocal (recorded - eventually - in one take), and the pipe organ and piano from the Casio.

Since then I have added a bass guitar track to the demo. Have a listen to it now...

Sure, it was never going to win a Grammy Award, but did I care? Not in the slightest. I had been bitten by the home recording bug, and there was no way to go from there but up - onto bigger and better things.

Of course, after my first foray into home recording, I knew I would at least have to improve the quality of the keyboard I was using if I was going to create anything of substance. After spending some time, doing the rounds of various second hand shops, I eventually settled on another Casio, the CTK-551. Later on again, I also bought a Casio MZ2000.

Eighteen months, and countless hours later, I completed the recording of my second album, American Dream. In fact, I had recorded so many songs over that 18 month period, that I had enough material left over to create an additional CDR of bonus songs. But that's another story.

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At The Movies: Viewer Top 100

Australian film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton delve into the world of cinema every Wednesday night on At the Movies, on ABC TV, just as they have been for the past 20 years. David and Margaret combine years of experience immersed in the world of filmmaking with an encyclopaedic understanding of cinema history.

Each year they invite viewers to nominate their favourite movies of the year, with the aim of compiling a list of the top 100 films, as chosen by ABC TV viewers. So without further ado, here is the At The Movies viewer poll 2007 Top 10...

1. THE LIVES OF OTHERS
2. PAN'S LABYRINTH
3. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
4. ZODIAC
5. HOT FUZZ
6. ATONEMENT / INTO THE WILD (draw)
7. DEATH AT A FUNERAL
8. NOTES ON A SCANDAL
9. CONTROL / THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (draw)
10. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD

You can see the full 2007 top 100 list at this link...

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Classic Videos: Weapon of Choice

When I first saw the video for the Fatboy Slim song, Weapon Of Choice, I was completely blown away. The shock of seeing the actor, Christopher Walken dance was amazing enough, but to see him dance with such joy and enthusiasm, turns this into one of my all time favourite music video's.

Christopher Walken is one of the great American character actors, up there with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Dennis Hopper, and many other great actors of his generation. I don't think I've ever seen Walken act badly in any movie, or not give 110% in every role, no matter how small. His performance opposite De Niro, and Meryl Streep, in the movie The Deer Hunter in 1978 put him on the acting map.

His brief monologue as Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction remains a genuine classic. Sadly, this man, who is one of the great acting talents of the past 40 years or so, seems to have been relegated to minor support roles and bit parts throughout most of his acting career.

I can't understand why great directors like Martin Scorsese, or the Coen Brothers haven't given this man the starring role he deserves. But hey, what would I know? Ok, don't get me started...

Anyway, back to the video. The director was Spike Jonze, who has directed a bunch of other great music videos, some of which I will write about as time goes on.

You can visit a very good unofficial Christopher Walken website here...

But before you do that, do yourself a favour and watch Chris strut his stuff to Fatboy Slim's, Weapon Of Choice...

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In Review: Flags of Our Fathers

This review first appeared on my Movia Mania blog in 2006. I have moved some of the more interesting content here before I close that blog down. This is a slightly edited version of the original review.

Saw Clint Eastwood's new film Flags of Our Fathers tonight, and a mighty good film it is too. Utilising a cast of mostly unknown (or little known) actors, Eastwood has beautifully captured what I can only assume is the 'true' story behind the iconic photo of the raising of the American Stars and Stripes over the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II.

However I did have a touch of 'Groundhog Day' seeing Barry Pepper in the film. Barry also had a role in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. Oh, and speaking of Spielberg, he was one of several Producers on this film.

But to the movie. The story begins in flashback, as we see one of the flag raiser's, now an old man, waking out of a dream he is having about the war. As the story unfolds we meet the young recruits preparing for the seaborne landing of Iwo Jima. According to the film, the fight for Iwo Jima constituted the first time the war against the Japanese was being waged on Japanese soil. Consequently, the Japanese soldiers were expected to (and infact did), fight to the very end to defend their homeland.

As you would expect, the battle scenes are well staged with the full force of modern CGI technology being used to great effect. But the film is not just about the fighting that took place on the island. It is really about what happens to three of the soldiers involved with raising the flag over Iwo Jima, and the toll this incident had on their lives. Shipped back to the United States, the soldiers are turned into heroes, and pressed into a different kind of service, raising war bonds to help finance the ongoing war effort.

Overall, I thought this was a terrific movie. However, the last 15 minutes or so began to drag as Eastwood struggled to quickly fill us in on the post war lives of our three survivors, while also showing in quick succession how the three other soldiers involved in raising the flag, met their end during the ongoing battle for Iwo Jima.

Highly recommended. Make sure you stay to watch the full credits at the end of the film. As the credits roll, they are accompanied by a stunning montage of photographs (including images of the real soldiers who raised the flag), taken during the actual fighting on Iwo Jima. One can only shake their head in wonder at the bravery not only of the soldiers, but of the war photographers who risked, and sacrificed, their lives during this fight to document the hell that is war.

Flags of Our Fathers on the Internet Movie Database...

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America, America

In six weeks or so, I embark on my first visit to the United States. To say that I am looking forward to it, is an understatement. In many ways I am feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of my American holiday.

Although I am planning a stay of two months, and although that may seem like a long time, I am well aware that I won't even 'scratch the surface' of this vast country during the brief time I will be there.

I have cousins in America I have never met. They are scattered around the country (from New York to Tucson, from Philadelphia to Sacramento), and while I am hoping to catch up with as many of these cousins as I can, I will be devoting at least 28 days of my US stay to the Big Apple - New York. Yes, rather than go on one of those Cook's Tours of the US - you know the type, 10 cities in 10 days - I have decided to spend 28 days in New York, immersing myself as much as possible into the life of that great city.

I hope to spend the remaining 30 days or so, meeting the American side of my family, and trying to see as much of the real America as possible. I'll try to keep you up-to-date via this blog, but don't hold your breath, I may be having too much fun to take time out to update it. But I will try.

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Movie Mania #3: Once Upon a Time in The West

~ Once Upon a Time in The West is a timeless masterpiece. There - I've said it.

I have written about this magnificent movie previously on my Honouring The Muse blog.

To recap: the film was made in 1968 by the great Italian director, Sergio Leone, and starred Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, and Charles Bronson. It was the last of Leone's four western movies (following A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and the wonderful, The Good The Bad and The Ugly). I watched Once Upon a Time in The West again last night for probably the third time this year. I just couldn't help myself.

At 159 minutes, you might think this film would drag after repeated viewing, but it never does. There is never a moment in the film where I want to fast forward past certain scenes to get to the 'action'. However, I did watch the clock for the first hour of the film. But not for the reasons you might think.

I was timing the introduction of the four main characters ('Harmonica' (Bronson); Frank (Fonda); Jill (Cardinale); and Cheyenne (Robards). Here's how the first 45 minutes played out...

The film opens with three men arriving at a remote train station. Without saying a word, they proceed to wait for what we can only assume is a train. And they wait... and wait. And wait. A full 8:30 minutes into the film, the train finally approaches down the tracks. In all this time not a word has been exchanged between the three men, as we observe them waiting for its arrival. At 10:55 we finally get to see the first major character make his appearance, and it's Charles Bronson. After a brief exchange of words between Bronson and the 'leader' of the three outlaws, there is a quick gunfight and the scene comes to an end - exactly 14 minutes after the film's opening frame.

The next scene begins with blasts from a shotgun, as the character Brett McBain hunts grouse (or pheasants) for his family's dinner. Another eight minutes pass before we finally get to see the second major character in the film, Frank (Henry Fonda). At 23:00 the scene ends with the arrival of a train in the town of Flagstone.

The third major character, Jill (Claudia Cardinale) quickly alights from the train, and proceeds to wait for McBain to pick her up, but McBain never arrives. Eventually, Jill arranges a ride to the McBain property, along the way passing through that greatest of western landscapes, Monument Valley. Eventually, 30:50 into the film the wagon arrives at a trading station in the middle of nowhere, and both the wagon driver and Jill enter the Trading Post for a brief respite.

At 33:30 there is a flurry of gunshots and the fourth major character, Cheyenne (Jason Robards) makes his grand appearance. It would appear that he has just escaped from several captors (the flurry of gunshots) despite being still handcuffed. At 44:15 the scene in the Trading Post finally plays itself out, and the next scene sees Jill arriving at the McBain property.

Ok, I said right at the beginning of this entry that Once Upon a Time in The West was timeless. So why have I been timing the opening 45 minutes of this film? In a way, to prove its timelessness. Let me explain.

This is storytelling on a grand scale. So grand in scale in fact, that it could never be made today. Certainly it would never be made under the current Hollywood system of movie making. In an age when the average film running time is still 90 minutes, it is inconceivable that any studio would let a director spend the first 45 minutes introducing his main characters. Even in a blockbuster movie that might run over two hours, the main characters are always introduced within the first five minutes of the film. Not only that, but within ten minutes we know who is doing what to whom, and generally we know why.

In Leone's film we are 45 minutes into the movie and we still don't know who 'Harmonica' is, why he is looking for Frank, or how all the four main characters are going to cross paths, and how this crossing of paths is going to impact on the storyline. And we still have 95 minutes of the movie left to run! Storytelling on a grand scale indeed.

I'm going to leave this examination of Once Upon a Time in The West, there. I've probably already said too much, and may have run the risk of spoiling your enjoyment of the film, if you are yet to discover this great masterpiece. If you have never seen the film, do yourself a favour and beg, borrow, or buy yourself a copy. If you have seen the film and maybe thought it was long, slow, and lacking in that special 'something', take another look at it, not once but several times. Immerse yourself in this film, and I'm sure it will reward you with its immense power and glory.

Once Upon a Time in The West (1968)
Main Credits
Director: Sergio Leone
Writing credits: Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Sergio Leone
Screenplay: Sergio Leone & Sergio Donati

Principal Cast Henry Fonda .... Frank Claudia Cardinale .... Jill McBain Jason Robards .... Cheyenne Charles Bronson .... Harmonica Gabriele Ferzetti .... Morton Paolo Stoppa .... Sam Keenan Wynn .... Sheriff/Auctioneer) Frank Wolff .... Brett McBain Note: You can purchase a Two-Disc Special Edition of Once Upon a Time in The West from Amazon.Com by clicking on the links to the left. This has some great extras, and is a bargain at the current price.

Producers: Bino Cicogna (Executive Producer), and Fulvio Morsella (Producer)
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Film Editing: Nino Baragli
Production Design: Carlo Simi
Costume Design: Antonella Pompei and Carlo Simi

Internet Links
~ Internet Movie Database entry for Once Upon a Time in The West
~ Wikipedia entry for Sergio Leone
~ A good Sergio Leone tribute site: Fistful of Leone

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Creativity

NOTE: This is another post dating from August 2006, which first appeared on my Singing Muses blog. My niece is hosting a group of artist friends in the back yard, as I write this. They have gathered to spend the afternoon creating artworks using mosaics.

Creativity is such a strange beast! I was driving home from work earlier tonight, and out of the blue began singing this line: Lately I've been thinking over, things I have to say to you/And whether I am drunk or sober, there are things I have to do.

Where did the lines come from, and why? I have no idea. Where did the melody come from? Again I have no idea. I got home, went straight to my computer, turned everything on and recorded (a'cappella style), the two lines and the melody that accompanied them. You can listen to the recording here...

I then spent half and hour on the Internet. When I got up from the computer to go out again, I had forgotten completely the two lines I had 'composed' and I had also completely forgotten the melody. Why? Where were they? What had the subconscious mind done with the words and melody?

Quite honestly, I don't know. Nor do I understand the workings of the subconscious mind, but both the words and music had completely slipped my mind. However, I was glad I had immediately recorded the couplet and melody when I did, or the song would now be well and truly lost.

It proves the rule that you have to 'strike while the iron is hot', and immediately write down or find a way of recording your songwriting ideas as soon as you can after they are presented to you. If you don't, you will almost certainly lose them forever.

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Movie Mania #2: Blade Runner

NOTE: This entry first appeared on my Movia Mania blog during August 2006. Before I eventually shut down the Movie Mania blog, I am moving some of the more interesting content from there to this one.

Before we get started, why not take a look at the Blade Runner Directors Cut Promo now…



O, Blade Runner, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

The hauntingly, beautiful score by Vangelis which lends the film such an overwhelming sense of melancholy and loss...

The stunning cinematography of Jordan Cronenweth which gives the film its incredible visual power...

The drop-dead gorgeous Sean Young (as Rachael)...

The powerful, brooding presence of Rutger Hauer (as Roy Batty)...

The almost unrecognisable Daryl Hannah (as Pris), in only her third big screen appearance...

And the star of the film, Harrison Ford (as Rick Deckard), in one of his greatest on-screen roles.

The story is set in a totally unrecognisable Los Angeles of 2019. The city is covered in permanent darkness and constant rain. The brightest things in this bleak environment are the huge neon lit advertising signs that float across the dirty crowded streets, promoting new and exciting futures in the off-world colonies.

The story revolves around the arrival of a group of replicants (or robots/androids), which have escaped from one of the off-world colonies, and which have made their way back to earth. Since replicants are forbidden to return to earth, they have to be found and killed. A practise euphemistically known as 'retirement'. This task falls to Harrison Ford/Rick Deckard, the Blade Runner of the films title.

This movie has a slow, languid pace, only broken up by moments of violence when Deckard 'retires' the replicants at various stages throughout the film. It's a job he clearly doesn't like, and one which he is doing only because he has been given no choice by his former police boss, Bryant (played by M. Emmett Walsh).

On the most shallow level, this film can be seen as nothing more than a glorified 'bug hunt'. That is: Rogue replicants come to town, and must be hunted down and destroyed. Who better to give the job to than Mr. Harrison Ford, aka, Han Solo, Indiana Jones, super hero. Simple really.

However, what this film is really about occurs on another, much deeper level. This film is about life and death, and about how we as humans cling to life no matter how fragile our grip on it may be; it's about technology and its impact on humanity; about love, and the true nature of friendship in human relationships. And it is about the relationships between men, and the machines we manufacture, ostensibly to help make our lives more comfortable and livable.

When he made this film, Ford was one of the biggest Hollywood box office stars of the 1980's. This role went right 'against type', as they say in Hollywood. In fact, Ford/Deckard only manages to kill two of the replicants during the course of the story, and surprisingly, both of them are the female replicants, Pris and Zhora -- and one of these, he shoots in the back! Clearly, this is not the sort of thing we expect from our leading men, especially when the leading man is Harrison Ford.

[Digression: Ford sandwiched Blade Runner (1982) between The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), and Return of The Jedi (1983), Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom (1984)]

But why do I love this film so much?

It's hard to put a finger on why Blade Runner continues to move me so much, even after repeated viewings. On the one level, it is due in part to the unrelenting bleakness of its vision, and yet it is also because of the underlying humanity of the main protagonists as they struggle to connect with each other, despite what appears to be their predetermined fates.

It is also due, in no small part, to the great performances all the actors in this movie bring to their roles - no matter how small these may be.

But ultimately, I think it is primarily due to Roy Batty's (Rutger Hauer) final speech, which although only a minute or so long, never fails to move me, and remind me of the frailty, and transient nature of the human condition.

Batty: I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain... Time to die...

Of course, mere words on a page cannot do justice to the way Rutger Hauer delivers this immensely moving speech. Watch Hauer (as Roy Batty) in his final scene here...



Ridley Scott, one of the great modern directors, is responsible for a string of classic movies since his debut feature, The Duellists in 1977. Films like Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and more recently Kingdom of Heaven ensure that Scott continues to make his mark on Hollywood and contemporary film making, and long may he continue to do so.

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There are some great moments of dialogue in this film. My favourites:

When Deckard is conducting a Voight-Kampff test on Rachael...

Deckard: You're reading a magazine. You come across a full-page nude photo of a girl.
Rachael: Is this testing whether I'm a replicant or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?

When the replicant Leon, catches and severely beats Deckard into unconsciousness...
Leon: Wake Up. Time to die.

Blade Runner Who's Who:
Director: Ridley Scott

Writing credits:
Philip K. Dick (from his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
Hampton Fancher and David (Webb) Peoples

Principal Cast:
Harrison Ford .... Rick Deckard
Rutger Hauer .... Roy Batty
Sean Young .... Rachael
Edward James Olmos .... Gaff
M. Emmet Walsh .... Bryant
Daryl Hannah .... Pris
William Sanderson .... J.F. Sebastian
Brion James .... Leon Kowalski
Joe Turkel .... Eldon Tyrell
Joanna Cassidy .... Zhora
James Hong .... Hannibal Chew

Original Music:Vangelis

Cinematography:
Jordan Cronenweth

Internet Links:
Blade Runner on the Internet Movie Database
Cyberpunk Review looks at Blade Runner
Wikipedia entry for Blade Runner
Wikipedia entry for Ridley Scott

STOP PRESS! Amazon.Com has information indicating that the Director's Cut of Blade Runner will be re-released on September 5th, 2006. This is awesome news for fans like me who have been waiting years to buy what will hopefully be the definative version of this film. Hopefully, the DVD will have heaps of exciting extras, and bonus features. As soon as Amazon make the DVD available, I will add a link here.

--o0o--

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Songwriting 101: Challenge Yourself

NOTE: This entry first appeared on my Singing Muses blog during August 2006. I am in the process of moving some of the content from there to this one, before I eventually shut down the Singing Muses blog.

Here is an interesting exercise you can try if you feel you are in a songwriting rut. Write a song on a topic or theme you haven't previously addressed before. Why? I hear you ask. For the intellectual challenge, I reply.

I know a perfectly good songwriter who has never written a love song. For the past year or so she has been challenged by other songwriter's to compose just such a song, but she can't seem to do it. My advice to her was to write a love song to her dog! Nobody has to know that the object of her affection is a dog (unless she explicitly mentions the creature in the song), and anyway, the challenge is to write a love song in general, so writing a song about her dog is fine as long as it is a love song. Sadly, we are all still waiting for her Ode to Eros (or should that be, Ode to Canine?), and I suspect we we'll be waiting for some time yet.

This exercise is something I have used to good effect in my own songwriting life. Several years ago, I was going through a big country music phase. One of the sub-genre's in country music is the trucking song, and since I didn't have a trucking song in my repertoire of original songs, I decided I would write one. My song, I Just Can't Wait is the result of this exercise.

On another occasion, while driving home, I happened to tune into a radio program that featured as its theme, songs about prisons. I immediately decided I needed a prison song in my repertoire, and asked my Muse to start working on it. I have to say, my Muse really took his time about this one, because it was probably a year or two after tuning into that radio program that I finally got my death row prison song, Bitter Wine.

By the way, Muse, I am still waiting for that train song I requested several years ago. How is it going?

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