Guitar solos.

I'm listening to Jars of Clay's "Crazy Times". I has an amazing solo and I get goosebumps when I hear it. And I was reminded of a comment from a college classmate. He always claimed that God will speak to us, in heaven, in Freddy Mercury's singing voice. And that has me thinking, I think maybe I'll be guitar solos. But that fired another thought process. Is a guitar solo as good without the proper context? In "Crazy Times", its a fantastic solo, but it may only be so because of the contrast and emotional impact that it has based on its given context in the song. So, I think maybe the guitar solo is only as good as the song its part of. It needs that whole support staff of the song to make it worthwhile. Without it you just have a guy playing a guitar for however long. I think that is why some of Frank Zappa's stuff doesn't appeal to me. He would edit solos from different shows together, and even had a few albums that were just compilations of them. Sounds bizarre to me. But, knowing what I know of Zappa, that was probably the point.

Earworm

This is the proper name for having a song stuck in your head. Bizarre. I'll have to start posting when that happens. Like yesterday and today, I keep singing the Grateful Dead's "Alligator". I can't stop whistling the melody or repeating lines. Or the Muse song "Hyper Music". I can't help it. At least now I know what it's called.

Swing Kids

A few weeks ago, I read an article online about Christian Bale and the movies he has been in. One sounded particularly interesting. He plays a teen, in Germany in the 1930s, who loves swing music. This doesn't sound all that special. However, swing is looked down upon because its the music of "Negroes and Jews". Its also illegal. I thought Bale was the lead, but true lead is played by Robert Sean Leonard, better known as Dr. Wilson on House. He was superb. The acting was convincing and honest. I truly believed the inner struggle that he was portraying in the character of Peter. While the over all story was a bit predictable, with brazen youth, inner conflict, and ultimate redemption, it was touching. I wasn't expecting the movie to be so good. But it grabbed me and made me care, and in caring to reflect on a few things. I highly recommend this film, but only when you have two hours to devote to it. Its not to be taken lightly and deserves you full attention.

Fan edits

I've been watching some fan edits of the Harry Potter movie series the past few days. They are mostly just adding deleted scenes to the movies to make them a bit longer and more interesting. However, there exists a community of fans who edit movies. Sometimes they remove components to help the story flow better. For example, the Star Wars prequel movies have been changed to remove Jar Jar Binks and midichlorians, as both are considered anathema to true fans of the series. However, some genius has created an edit of "No Country for Old Men" without the Sherriff's opening and closing narration. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't a huge of the movie. But, from what I've been told, the sherriff is the main character. Without his narration, dream, and bookend story, the whole middle of the movie makes no sense. The point is, supposedly, that he is getting old and the times are too fast and chaotic for him. That is what Chigur and Llewlyn's story symbolizes, the "modern" nature of things. The sherriff just doesn't understand it because he is too old. But by editing that out, this "fan" has basically destroyed the whole point of the movie. I guess some people just don't understand the point of some movies.

The Hangover

This movie was funny. Ed Helms is hilarious. Go see it, just to see him improv a song on piano. Also, Zach Galifinakakis is amazing too. That guy is too funny. Besides the awesomeness of this movie, and Mike Tyson's cameo, I can't stop thinking about my former coworker. I won't share her name, but she is very attractive and in my dreams the past few days. Freaky, but true. That is about all for now.

The Uninvited

This was a fairly decent horror film. It is about a year old, and stars Emily Browning as the crazy teenage girl and Elizabeth Banks as the evil, possibly murderous stepmother. It was entertaining. However, the story was a bit predictable. While the girl had been in a mental hospital, which was caused by witnessing her mother's death in a boathouse explosion, and she has visions of her dead mother, we are meant to believe her. The stepmother (not yet stepmother, I should say) is played as evil. She screws the father, forbids her from seeing her boyfriend, and threatens her. The climax of the film is pretty good, but predictable. Worth a rental.

music and movies blog

I decided to start this blog as a way to review movies and music in a longer form then on flixster or criticker or amazon.