Saturday, December 29, 2012

BOOKS LAST READ


Philip Roth- Indignation (2008)
Jonathan Franzen - Freedom (2010)
Haruki Murakami - After Dark (2004)
Ewan McEwan - On Chesil Beach (2007)
Geoff Dyer - But Beautiful (1991) 
Ewan McEwan - Saturday (2005)
Simon Reynolds - Totally Wired (2010)



Friday, December 28, 2012


MOVIES LAST SEEN

We Own the Night (2007) - 8.0
All the King's Men (2006) - 7.0
Safe (2012) - 5.0
Simple Men (1992) - 8.0
Young Adult (2011) - 6.0
To Rome with Love (2012) - 6.0
Manhattan (1979) - 9.0
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - 6.0
Juno (2007) - 7.0
Winter's Bone (2010) - 8.0
Deconstructing Harry (1997) - 7.0
Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World (2003) - 8.0
Another Woman (1988) - 8.0
Metropolitan (1990) - 7.0
The Pervert's Guide to Ideology (2012) - 7.0
The Master (2012) - 8.0  
Take Shelter (2011) - 8.0

Saturday, September 29, 2012

MOVIES LAST SEEN

Melancholia (2011) - 9.0
Carnage (2011) - 5.0
Stormy Monday (1988) - 8.0
Last Night (2010) - 7.0
A Dangerous Method (2011) - 6.0
Capote (2005) - 7.0
127 Hours (2010) - 6.0
The Hustler (1961) - 9.0
Brothers (2009) - 7.0
The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) - 6.0
Your Friends and Neighbors (1998) - 6.0
Macbeth (1971) - 7.0
Prometheus (2012) - 7.0
Shame (2011) - 8.0
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - 7.0  
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - 5.0
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) - 8.0
Husbands and Wives (1992) - 9.0
3 Women (1977) - 9.0
East of Eden (1955) - 8.0
Greenberg (2010) - 7.0
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) - 9.0
Michael Clayton (2007) - 8.0
Malcolm X (1992) - 8.0


Monday, April 9, 2012

MOVIES LAST SEEN

Junebug (2005) - 7.0
The Fighter (2010) - 7.5
Margin Call (2011) - 7.0
Hanna (2011) - 6.0
In the Company of Men (1997) - 7.5
Bullitt (1968) - 8.5
Play It Again, Sam (1972) - 7.5
Boy A (2007) - 8.0
The Descendants (2011) - 7.0
Summer with Monica (1953) - 7.5
Julia (2008) - 6.5



Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Stuck in the 70's: Quentin Tarantino and songs

With a knack for some odd, little-known choices, Tarantino is a big music lover with an eclectic taste. The 70's are undoubtedly his favourite music era. These are the best examples of his perfect use of songs in his movies.

"Across 110th street" - Bobby Womack (Jackie Brown, 1997)


With a knack for some odd, little-known choices, it is obvious he is a big music lover with an eclectic taste. The 70's are undoubtedly his favourite music era.

Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street

This dark soul-funk epic plays throughout the opening sequence where we follow air hostess Jackie Brown (played by Pam Grier) as she's walking leaving an airport. 
The song sets perfectly the tone for the whole movie, a homage from Tarantino to the blaxploitation movies of the 70's. As a matter of fact, the song was also featured in the 1972 movie of the same name, whereas Pam Grier was a star of that subgenre at that time.




"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" - Urge Overkill (Pulp Fiction, 1994)

Urge Overkill - Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon

These one-hit wonders covered a Nel Diamond song and thanks to that scene they entered eternity.





"Stuck in the MIddle with You" - Stealers Wheel (Reservoir Dogs, 1992)

Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle With You

I know nothing about the song or the band. This is the most famous scene about an ear in cinema history - with the exception of the opening sequence from Blue Velvet.



"Shura no Hana (Flower of Carnage)" - Meiko Kaji (Kill Bill vol.I, 2003)


Meiko Kaji - Shura no Hana ("Flower of Carnage")

Another song used in another film before Tarantino immortalised it (like "Across 110th Street"); this one was featured originally in the 1973 Japanese film Lady SnowBlood starring Meiko Kaji, who also sang the song's haunting melody. In Kill Bill it played right in the end of the epic final sword fight between The Bride and O-Ren Ishii (played by Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu respectively). I could not find a video from the scene with the song so here's a video of the anime scene in the middle of the movie. Tarantino brilliantly shows us here the tragic childhood story of O-Ren, making us sympathise with the villain.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

MOVIES LAST SEEN

Bright Star
(2010): 7.5

Bridesmaids (2011): 6.5
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): 8.0
Bad Timing
(1980): 7.0

The Iron Lady (2011): 6.5
The Virgin Spring (1960): 8.5
Moneyball
(2011): 7.0

The Name of the Rose (1986): 8.5
Hard Candy (2005): 5.5
Flirting
(1991): 7.5

Naked (1993): 9.0
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011): 7.0
From Here to Eternity
(1955): 8.5


Sunday, January 29, 2012

No Direction for the Goodfellas: Martin Scorsese and rock songs

Scorsese is probably a human cinematic and music encyclopedia. He has gone to direct documentaries for The Band (The Last Waltz, 1978), Bob Dylan (No Direction Home, 2005) and The Rolling Stones (Shine a Light, 2008). His favourite era is the golden 60's: he is a big fan of the girl groups of that era such as The Ronettes and The Crystals; and he really likes to use Rolling Stones. His love of rock n' roll as film soundtrack found its undisputed apex with Goodfellas.

"Be My Baby" - The Ronettes (Mean Streets, 1973)
His first great movie, starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Nirο. The Phil Spector-produced "Be My Baby" is one of the best songs in the history of pop. The drum intro (a double bass drum kick followed by a snare hit) became one of the most classic rhythm patterns in pop and rock music, copied countless times (one such copy will be examined in another post).



"Layla" - Derek and the Dominoes (
Goodfellas, 1990)
A truly great sequence and
a strangely melancholic one, despite the violent deaths of the gang members depicted, thanks to the piano-led coda of "Layla (piano exit)" with the twin guitars of Eric Clapton and Duane Allman soaring in the background.




"Jumpin' Jack Flash" - The Rolling Stones (Mean Streets, 1973)
Scorsese has used Stones' "Gimme Shelter" twice (in GoodFellas and in The Departed) but nothing can beat this scene, where the movie introduces the Johnny Boy character (and the world is introduced to Mr. Robert De Niro). Coolest entrance in cinema ever.



"Late for the Sky" - Jackson Browne (Taxi Driver, 1976)
This song is the only pop-rock music in the Taxi Driver soundtrack and is chosen for the power of De Niro's performance in the scene alone. As the West Coast ballad plays in the backround, he is watching on the TV couples dancing (which is probably what he should have been doing himself). Myriad emotions and hidden thoughts are conveyed through his face without a word in this very short scene.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Magic Moments: film directors and pop songs

The use of pop and rock songs in cinema is common nowadays. In many films the movie soundtrack consists merely of such songs, with very little or no original score whatsoever.
The first film of such kind was of course The Graduate (1967) with the
Simon and Garfunkel songs and the experiment was a success. Other films in the 70's followed, such as Harold and Maude (1971) with Cat Stevens songs, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) with Leonard Cohen songs.
The posts to follow are not a general best-use-of-songs-in-a movie list, but a homage to five directors who I think have established a very close and successful connection with pop and rock music in their filmography.