When musicians Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) accidentally witness what bears a striking resemblance to the Valentine's Day Massacre (coincidence? No, of course not), they have to get out of town fast and without being recognized. An opportunity presents itself, and they take it, and briefly change genders to join a travelling all-girl band. One of the men definitely pulls it off better than the other.
Near the end of that clip, we meet Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), whom neither man can resist. Both attempt to woo her in their own way. They aren't the only ones attempting at seduction, either. While in their female disguises, both men find out just what it can mean to be a woman. Here's Jerry's suitor, Osgood Fielding III, played by the hilarious Joe E. Brown:
Men in dresses, Marilyn Monroe, music, and mobsters. What's not to like?
Since today's movie is all old and stuff, here's some suitable music to go with it or whatever.
Frank Sinatra - Goody Goody
genre: vengeful swing ideal for: mocking your ex like a (mob) boss. haha I make joke. Youtube
Maureen McGovern - Embraceable You
genre: classic Broadway sung by a master ideal for: a romantic candlelit dinner, complete with crooning stranger on a nearby grand piano Sorry guys, this one's not on Youtube, but the whole album, which is fantastic, is available on Amazon and iTunes.
Shakespeare's play is set in the late nineteenth century for this movie. There's bicycles, parasols, and fox hunting. The text and character names are unchanged, however, which puts the film in a fantasy setting even before the fairies get there.
Brief plot synopsis: an eloping couple and two other dysfunctional people run around the woods at night and get noticed by the fairy king who sends his servant to help them but craziness ensues; a group of commoners put together a terrible (but hilarious) rendition of Pyramus and Thisbe; the fairy king and queen fight childishly; all is resolved.
There's a long list of good actors here: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci, and Christian Bale are the biggest names, but everybody else is good too. And hey, that's Sam Rockwell!
There is a heavy emphasis on sensuality in this movie. Not just in the sense of, "Let's all be sexy now," although there certainly is that, but the movie also takes the time to enrich the cinematography, costuming, and score so that our eyes and ears can truly feast. I quite appreciate that. Also, the fairies are covered in glitter, and you know I likes me some glitter.
This next clip features two of the four lovers in the play. Helena continues to chase after Demetrius for reasons she should probably see a therapist about, but some of what she says at the end really speaks to me, as she puts into words what I've always thought whenever I fail to run down a man with a bicycle.
This movie is weird. To me, though, it's a good weird, and its mashup of old and new (or I suppose, old and less-old) inspired the music samples for today. Enjoy.
Nuttin' But Stringz - Broken Sorrow
genre: cinematic score meets hip-hop ideal for: imagining a medieval fantasy, but with gangstas Youtube
Black Violin - Dirty Orchestra
genre: classical with a bounce ideal for: flavoring your next recital with some unexpected spice Youtube
After spending a ridiculous amount of time researching this, I've finally figured out how to add music the way I wanted to. After every post from now on, I'll include thirty seconds of two songs that you can listen to at your leisure. Today you get a bonus song because I didn't have time to write a real post. Hurray!
I'm only including thirty seconds because I'm hoping that anyone concerned with copyright will see this as free advertising and not illegal sharing.
There will also be a link to Youtube where you can listen to the entire song.
To kick it all off, I give you:
The Dirty Heads - Lay Me Down
(thanks to Mark for this one) genre: reggae rap ballad ideal for: relaxing on the beach and thinking about Bonnie and Clyde Youtube
Kat Deluna - Drop it Low
genre: moderately Hispanic dance ideal for: shakin' it like it ain't no thang Youtube
Bonus! Steriogram - Walkie Talkie Man
genre: hyperactive punk rock ideal for: playful hooligan-isms in New Zealand Youtube
Most people heard about this movie, but most of them didn't go see it. I know I didn't. I've never really gotten on board with Wes Anderson as a director (The Royal Tennenbaums, The Life Aquatic), but that may change in the future. I certainly enjoyed this well enough.
Our title character is a former thief who gave up his dangerous lifestyle to provide some security for his wife and newborn son. That doesn't mean he's settled down, however. Mr. Fox's restlessness is apparent early on, and finds different ways of expressing itself.
The animation is one of the major focuses of this movie. Stop motion has never been used a lot in making movies, but it's always fascinated me. That people are willing to invest so much time in crafting the characters, props, and sets for something, and then spend endless hours moving them one tiny fraction at a time? Crazy. Plus, I always loved miniatures and doll houses as a kid (not the dolls, just their houses and the stuff in them), which makes this clip awesome to me:
Mr. Fox eventually decides that one more heist will settle him for good. This decision brings unexpected twists and consequences, but why should I explain them here? Go watch the movie.
Who hasn't heard of Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin's first novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series? Not many, but I still need to talk about this series because I am reading it right now and I have to talk about it somewhere. Now let's see whether you should read it, if you haven't already.
I can't recommend these books to everyone. You shouldn't read them if (1) You do not watch rated R movies as these books contain enough violence, language, and sex to firmly plant it in R territory, or (2) You cannot abide to see your favorite characters suffer, because everyone suffers in these books, and some of them die, often in horrible ways.
The series so far are five epic fantasy novels focusing on the struggle for power. There are three main storylines: war for the kingdom in the west, an exiled princess trying to regain her throne in the east, and zombies. The zombies are my favorite part.
I'm not going to insert portions of the books in here because nothing can really work as a teaser trailer for a series of epic novels. HBO made a television series based on the novels, however, so here's the teaser trailer for that. WARNING: if you aren't a fan of naked strangers, do not watch this show. I haven't even seen it and I can tell you that. The trailer's fine, though, unless you're offended by whispering.
You can read the first pages of Game of Throneshere.
