Mozart

I've been somewhat in to the concept of art and what it means to me lately. Here is one of my favorite clips from one of my favorite movies (and has been from the age of 10!)

This is a stunning performance by F. Murray Abraham. I was floored when I found out that he plays both old and young Salieri. Anyways, he is describing a composition by Mozart and his description evokes a powerful appreciation for the song in me.

What Was it that He Yelled?

I pretty much haven't blogged about anything since Halloween. :( And heaven knows, that's not because I haven't had anything to blog about. I got married to the coolest person alive, moved into a new apartment, and have been going to school. But I'm not going to talk about any of that. I'm going to talk about the Neverending Story. I watched this the other night on a whim. What a charming, charming film. Just listen to the theme song and tell me that you don't feel happy inside.


Watch it! NOW!!!

It hearkens back to a simpler (ok, maybe not, it was the most expensive film ever made outside the US) shall we say, less plastic time of film-making? With hand-drawn backgrounds imposed on the screen an tiny miniatures shot from far off, a shaky plot, and something extraordinary! Love this show!

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And, apparently, at the movie's end when he is renaming the empress, he yells "Moonchild!" Supposedly that was his mother's name. Mind you, it's impossible to understand what he says, I watched this show with subtitles and it didn't even say it! I guess I'll have to take Wikipedia's word for it...

So, I've decided that it's been way too long since I've posted. Sorry to my one and a half fans out there. All right, I've been trying to think of things I can blog about, I had the stomach flu two weeks ago and I've saved all of the soda cans and Gatorade bottles I was forced to drink in lieu of actual food. (We're talking 20 cans here!) But, I've been too lazy to actually take a picture of it. I've really been wanting to blog about my addiction to Resident Evil 4 (and still might) but I'm really not in the mood right now. I think, however, I will blog about M. BYUI has a movie showing every other Friday and they show all kinds of awesome movies and I've decided that I will be blogging (or trying to) about that every time I see one.

So. M. Apparently my middle name stands for "Murderer!" (For those of you who don't know, my middle name is "M" without a period, allowing me to decide that it stands for whatever I want to stand for. Maybe I'll blog about the whole thing someday.) ANYways, it's an old film that was made shortly after sound had been added to movies, that takes place in a Berlin. It's all in German (obviously). Basically it's about a child murderer who is at large in the city and the hysteria that ensues because of that. I think I really appreciate old films because they strike me as being so careful about camera angles and composition and a lot of other things that make movies great, as opposed to playing the sex card or hoping no one will notice the movie's inherent SUCKINESS because of the shiny computer graphics. (Yeah Lucas, I'm talkin' to YOU!)
Anyways, it was a slightly disturbing film that I found quite enjoyable despite the fact that I was surrounded by phillistine college students who couldn't stop laughing at every little 1930's detail the movie could offer.

Spirited Away

So... pretty much my new favorite movie. It received a 97% rating from RottenTomatoes and won Best Animated Feature in 2002. As I was watched the movie, I fell in love with the soundtrack, but realized that I had absolutely no idea what was going on. As the movie progressed, I realized, I still didn't know what was going on, and as I finished the movie, I still wasn't 100% on what had actually happened, but I knew that I really liked it. A lot. And the more I think about it, the more I like it, so if you happen to run into Hayao Miyazaki, buy the man a pizza.

A Symphony of Horror

On Halloween night, Lindsay and I went to Nosferatu, an unauthorized film adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. The film was released in 1922, so it was obviously a silent film. It was actually very good, with some really creepy portions. My biggest complaint was the music, which sounded like it was designed by a tone-deaf 15-year-old on a midi keyboard. Other than that though, it was actually quite enjoyable.