Currently in Earphones: "Glanfaidh Me" and "Hebden Bridge" by Kila
I was rifling through my documents folder for forgotten files, when I came upon this random scribbling that I thought might be fun to post. I was trying to either categorize or give stand-out quips to all the titles in the swordplay section of my movie collection, and ended up banging this out over the course of the evening. So, without further ado...
The James Cinematic Swordplay Awards
"Attack! Parry! Quip!" Award -
First Place: The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
Second Place: Princess Bride (1987)
Third Place: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
"Close-Quarters Fury" Award -
First Place: The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Second Place: The Mask of Zorro (1998)
Third Place: The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
"Shadows are Cool" Award -
First Place: The Sea Hawk (1940)
Second Place: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Third Place: The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
"Grimacing over Clenched Swords" Award -
First Place: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Second Place: The Sea Hawk (1940)
Third Place: Captain Blood (1935)
"We'll Duel in the Aisles, on the stairs, on the balcony!" Award -
First Place: Scaramouche (1952)
Second Place: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Third Place: The Mask of Zorro (1998)
And the last few because I wanted to give other such quips, but the only ones I could come up with were applicable to single movies.
"You call that Fencing?" Award: The Musketeer (2001)
"Real Dueling, But where's the Panache?" Award: The Duellists (1977)
"No Matter how Skilled Evil is, Good Always Wins" Award: Rob Roy (1995)
"Outrageous Death Blow" Award: On Guard (1997)
And that's all for now, until next time.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Monday, June 25, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Ah, so this would be the "Bad Acid"
Currently in Earphones: the dull roar of silence in the house
For the record, the novelty of having a house all to one's self wears off in about a day. Also, when the few remaining friends who say they'll be in Davis for the summer are busy or totally not, that tends to complicate things. Throw in one roach too many and you'll find me sitting in the center of an exceptionally clean kitchen, rocking back and forth and clutching a can of RAID, while simultaneously talking aimlessly to myself in an effort to remain sane from the lack of human contact.
Off to work at the crack of dawn again.
Enough, More Later.
- James
For the record, the novelty of having a house all to one's self wears off in about a day. Also, when the few remaining friends who say they'll be in Davis for the summer are busy or totally not, that tends to complicate things. Throw in one roach too many and you'll find me sitting in the center of an exceptionally clean kitchen, rocking back and forth and clutching a can of RAID, while simultaneously talking aimlessly to myself in an effort to remain sane from the lack of human contact.
Off to work at the crack of dawn again.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Friday, June 15, 2007
'Cuz you haven't heard enough whining from me already
Currently in Earphones: the highly apropos Silly Wizard album, So Many Partings
It's interesting to note that every album by Silly Wizard I have bought has had at least one lonesome song that I immediately take a liking to. Such Scottish solitude strikes a similar chord in me, and while it may or may not be personally applicable, it at least illustrates the heartbreak that confronts us all in many of it's facets. The newest song is as follows...
"Bridget O'Malley"
Oh, Bridget O'Malley, you've left my heart shaken
With a hopeless desolation, I'll have you to know
It's the wonders of adoration your quiet face has taken
And your beauty will haunt me, wherever I go.
The white moon above the pale sands, the pale stars above the thorn tree
Are cold beside my darling, but no purer than she
I gaze upon the cold moon til the stars drown in the warm sea
And the bright eyes of my darling are never on me.
My Sunday it is weary, my Sunday it is grey now
My heart is a cold thing, my heart is a stone
All joy is dead within me, my life has gone away now
Another has taken my love for his own.
The day it is approaching when we were to be married
But it's rather I would die than live only to grieve
Oh, meet me my darling ere the sun sets o'er the barley
And I'll meet you there, on the road to Drumslieve.
Oh, Bridget O'Malley, you've left my heart shaken
With a hopeless desolation, I'll have you to know
It's the wonders of adoration your quiet face has taken
and your beauty will haunt me, wherever I go.
~~~
A interpretive point; the second line of each verse ends on a very plaintive minor chord, but the final line ends on a quasi-major chord, almost like a deceptive cadence, but more subtle. It speaks to me of the fact that the man in the song is riven by the loss, but still takes succor in the fact that he always has his memory of her love, even in this dark time.
Anyway, off to bed so I can work on a Saturday, ugh.
Enough, More Later.
- James
It's interesting to note that every album by Silly Wizard I have bought has had at least one lonesome song that I immediately take a liking to. Such Scottish solitude strikes a similar chord in me, and while it may or may not be personally applicable, it at least illustrates the heartbreak that confronts us all in many of it's facets. The newest song is as follows...
~~~
"Bridget O'Malley"
Oh, Bridget O'Malley, you've left my heart shaken
With a hopeless desolation, I'll have you to know
It's the wonders of adoration your quiet face has taken
And your beauty will haunt me, wherever I go.
The white moon above the pale sands, the pale stars above the thorn tree
Are cold beside my darling, but no purer than she
I gaze upon the cold moon til the stars drown in the warm sea
And the bright eyes of my darling are never on me.
My Sunday it is weary, my Sunday it is grey now
My heart is a cold thing, my heart is a stone
All joy is dead within me, my life has gone away now
Another has taken my love for his own.
The day it is approaching when we were to be married
But it's rather I would die than live only to grieve
Oh, meet me my darling ere the sun sets o'er the barley
And I'll meet you there, on the road to Drumslieve.
Oh, Bridget O'Malley, you've left my heart shaken
With a hopeless desolation, I'll have you to know
It's the wonders of adoration your quiet face has taken
and your beauty will haunt me, wherever I go.
~~~
A interpretive point; the second line of each verse ends on a very plaintive minor chord, but the final line ends on a quasi-major chord, almost like a deceptive cadence, but more subtle. It speaks to me of the fact that the man in the song is riven by the loss, but still takes succor in the fact that he always has his memory of her love, even in this dark time.
Anyway, off to bed so I can work on a Saturday, ugh.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Thursday, June 14, 2007
WORK. BOOZE. WORK.
Currently in Earphones: "Go Go Power Rangers" by the Power Rangers Orchestra (You laugh, it was a cool-ass show back in the day!)
Well, I'm back from my two day stint back home in the bay, and I've caught all of an hour of a shindig before I head to an early, early bed so I can wake up for my first day of work tomorrow. Damn, how I hate the early start up of Student Housing. At least I'll get some good pay for all the hours I put in.
No other new news, except that everyone is splitting for the summer, or at least most of them are. I'll get to more info as I get to it, but right now the bed is calling me. 'Till something more interesting comes up, then, y'all.
Enough. More Later,
- James
Well, I'm back from my two day stint back home in the bay, and I've caught all of an hour of a shindig before I head to an early, early bed so I can wake up for my first day of work tomorrow. Damn, how I hate the early start up of Student Housing. At least I'll get some good pay for all the hours I put in.
No other new news, except that everyone is splitting for the summer, or at least most of them are. I'll get to more info as I get to it, but right now the bed is calling me. 'Till something more interesting comes up, then, y'all.
Enough. More Later,
- James
Monday, June 04, 2007
You got some of your '80s in my Fantasy flick!
Currently in Earphones: Brian Tyler's score for Timeline
Well, I finally saw the first Highlander movie last night, courtesy of Sophia, and after watching it, I can see why there has been so much follow up in the form of sequels, TV miniseries and comic books. While the plot may not exactly be high concept, it opens up a huge realm of storytelling possibilities.
I won't bother to dive into the whole Highlander universe, but I do have a piece to say concerning it's first incarnation in '86. The movie is basically a whole lot of cool with a couple of pieces of giant suck in it. However, the cool is so cool that it wins out over the crap more often than not, but every once and while I just have to cringe.
First, the awesome. The cinematography is absolutely amazing. In a time when any sort of CG simply did not exist, there are beautiful establishing shots and impressive group shots that work very well and that I can only wonder at the logistics of their construction. The camera work should be a touchstone for all action movies, as it was dynamic enough to liven up otherwise static scenes, but not so over the top as to fall into parody. Also, although the special effects (done optically or hand animated, which are quite a feat) may look a little old, they work very very effectively. To top it all off, it has sword fights, which are always awesome in my book.
So what's the bad? How could anything detract from the neat stuff mentioned above? Well, part of it may be prejudice for me, but I really don't like pop, especially during that decade. And of course, it comprises a good amount of the score. There is something about that trademark '80s synth that just oozes cheese, and says more to me about the time the film was made than transporting me in the story. Thankfully, Michael Kamen provides a decent symphonic score to fill in the gaps, but I had to stop my ears whenever The Kurgan hopped into his car and rode around, as it was always accompanied by lame '80s rock.
And as the crowning jewel of what nearly broke this movie, some really horrendous dialogue and the love story that felt like it was being shoehorned in with a sledgehammer. Well, actually, it was all the dialogue within the love story that sucked, because the rest of it was all right. The stately Scottish diction of Sean Connery lent some gravitas to the more flowery Villa-Lobos, and Christopher Lambert pulls off a reliable mix of accents that actually serves the tale. But my god, any scene between the characters of Conner and Brenda roll along like a square wheel. The scene in the bar and the "It's late in the movie and we haven't had any nudity yet" sex scene are absolutely groan inducing, clunky dialogue and virtually no chemistry completely detached me from the movie.
The poor points aside, the sword fights are decent, if a little slow by today's standards, and the dynamic camera makes up for the few more mundane "slash left, slash right, rinse, repeat" shots. Thankfully they have the right to be anachronistic with Immortal humans, so seeing a katana in Scotland isn't particularly head scratching.
So aside from the bad, Highlander is decent and fun movie, well worth it in my opinion, even if it's '80's-tastic.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Well, I finally saw the first Highlander movie last night, courtesy of Sophia, and after watching it, I can see why there has been so much follow up in the form of sequels, TV miniseries and comic books. While the plot may not exactly be high concept, it opens up a huge realm of storytelling possibilities.
I won't bother to dive into the whole Highlander universe, but I do have a piece to say concerning it's first incarnation in '86. The movie is basically a whole lot of cool with a couple of pieces of giant suck in it. However, the cool is so cool that it wins out over the crap more often than not, but every once and while I just have to cringe.
First, the awesome. The cinematography is absolutely amazing. In a time when any sort of CG simply did not exist, there are beautiful establishing shots and impressive group shots that work very well and that I can only wonder at the logistics of their construction. The camera work should be a touchstone for all action movies, as it was dynamic enough to liven up otherwise static scenes, but not so over the top as to fall into parody. Also, although the special effects (done optically or hand animated, which are quite a feat) may look a little old, they work very very effectively. To top it all off, it has sword fights, which are always awesome in my book.
So what's the bad? How could anything detract from the neat stuff mentioned above? Well, part of it may be prejudice for me, but I really don't like pop, especially during that decade. And of course, it comprises a good amount of the score. There is something about that trademark '80s synth that just oozes cheese, and says more to me about the time the film was made than transporting me in the story. Thankfully, Michael Kamen provides a decent symphonic score to fill in the gaps, but I had to stop my ears whenever The Kurgan hopped into his car and rode around, as it was always accompanied by lame '80s rock.
And as the crowning jewel of what nearly broke this movie, some really horrendous dialogue and the love story that felt like it was being shoehorned in with a sledgehammer. Well, actually, it was all the dialogue within the love story that sucked, because the rest of it was all right. The stately Scottish diction of Sean Connery lent some gravitas to the more flowery Villa-Lobos, and Christopher Lambert pulls off a reliable mix of accents that actually serves the tale. But my god, any scene between the characters of Conner and Brenda roll along like a square wheel. The scene in the bar and the "It's late in the movie and we haven't had any nudity yet" sex scene are absolutely groan inducing, clunky dialogue and virtually no chemistry completely detached me from the movie.
The poor points aside, the sword fights are decent, if a little slow by today's standards, and the dynamic camera makes up for the few more mundane "slash left, slash right, rinse, repeat" shots. Thankfully they have the right to be anachronistic with Immortal humans, so seeing a katana in Scotland isn't particularly head scratching.
So aside from the bad, Highlander is decent and fun movie, well worth it in my opinion, even if it's '80's-tastic.
Enough, More Later.
- James
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