Movie Music and More 32# : "Brigadoon" (1954)

I (Hamlette) used to listen to this soundtrack all the time as a teen.  In fact, I still have most of the songs memorized, even the minor ones.  I'd listen to this while I was doing schoolwork or writing, and hearing it always makes me think of my little corner in the basement where I had my desk, not far from the family computer, which was a 486 and played CDs!  (Does anyone here even know what a 486 is?)

(Why does this lobby card advertise "the joy of color!" and then feature a big black-and-white photo?)

Okay, anyway, this is the soundtrack for Brigadoon, a musical about a very unusual town in Scotland:  it only exists on earth once every hundred years.  Two American hunters, Tommy (Gene Kelly) and Jeff (Van Johnson), stumble into the town on that one day, and Gene's character quickly falls in love with a Brigadoon woman, Fiona (Cyd Charisse).  Most of the movie takes place during that one day they have together.

"Once in the Highlands" is a lovely, haunting song that tells you the basics of the story before the movie even begins.  I guess the show's writers audiences to have extra help wrapping their heads around this kind of odd story.  "And this is what happened... the strange thing that happened... to two weary hunters who lost their way..."  I like the use of chorus here because it ends up sounding sombre and eerie, and really setting the mood for the story.

"The Heather on the Hill" is the big romance number.  Tommy is fascinated by Fiona, mostly because she's not trying to get him to marry her, but also because she's quiet and intelligent and sincere.  He's got a girl back in America who is loud and bossy and wants to marry him, you see, and the contrast kind of hooks him.  So here, he asks if he can join her in gathering flowers.

After that song, they dance this dance, which I love, partly because it's very different from Gene Kelly's typical jaunty, peppy dancing.  Fiona hasn't told Tommy yet that Brigadoon is magical, and in the dance, she's trying to keep herself from liking him because she knows it can't last, but gradually she finds she can't help falling for him.  (Her dress has the weirdest neckline ever, though -- it's always bugged me.)

And after dancing together, she leaves, and he sings my favorite song from the whole movie, "Almost Like Being in Love."  And dances a much more typical dance, for him.  He says "almost," but we can all tell there's no "almost" about him being in love by this point.  I'm just going ahead and including the movie clip for this song, partly because I love watching Gene Kelly dance and partly because Van Johnson is so grumpy and fed up through the whole thing that he makes me chuckle.  But if you'd rather just listen to the music, you can do that too -- you don't *have* to watch it if you're not all that into musicals or whatever.

That's all for today!

Movie Music and More #14: "The Great Escape" (1963)

Hello!  Here I am again to discuss some more awesome movie music with you.  Today I'm focusing on an iconic score from one of the best WWII movies ever:  The Great Escape (1963).

One of the jauntiest, most swaggering theme songs of all time.  It's almost impossible not to whistle along with it once you know the tune.  

Of course, it's by the master of exciting, macho movie music from the '60s, namely Elmer Bernstein.  Yes, the same guy who wrote the unforgettable theme for The Magnificent Seven (1960) and so many other brilliant scores.  (Truth is, Elmer Bernstein is my absolute favorite movie composer, so it's a little surprising to me that it's taken me this long to talk about one of his scores here.)

If you've never seen The Great Escape, do yourself a favor and go watch it, cuz it's a classic war movie that blends caper films and prison escapes, and stars so many wonderful actors I get a little dizzy thinking of all that talent in one place.  Steve McQueen.  James Garner.  James Coborn.  Charles Bronson.  Richard Attenborough.  David McCallum.  Directed by John Sturges!  Based on a true story!  Like I said, go watch it.

It's a little tough to find tracks from this on YouTube to share, so here's a video that has three separate tracks, which range from quiet to very exciting to contemplative.  It gives you a pretty good idea of the range of the whole soundtrack, at least.

That's all I've got for today, folks!

Movie Music and More #10 -- Guest Post by Hamlette

Today, J and J Productions welcomes a new member to the guest author team with Hamlette.

Hi there! James has kindly invited me to write some guest posts, since we share a passion for movies and their music.  Just a quick introduction before I get to the good stuff:  I go by Hamlette, I'm 35, a Christian, married, and have 3 kids that I homeschool.  I love movies, books, baking, and playing in the dirt.  I also write in my spare time, and I blog about movies and other important things at Hamlette's Soliloquy, and about books at The Edge of the Precipice.

Now for the good stuff.  Today, I'm going to focus on the ever-iconic soundtrack for the The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966).  It's scored by the astoundingly prolific Ennio Morricone, like the previous two Clint Eastwood "Man with No Name" spaghetti westerns.  If you're at all interested in classic movies or their scores, you're undoubtedly familiar with the Main Title, with its insouciant whistle laid over thudding hoofbeats.  In fact, it's so famous, I'm not going to talk about it more here, because there's not much I could say that you probably haven't thought of already.  Instead, I'll highlight my two favorite songs on the soundtrack, which is readily available on CD.

First is "Ecstasy of Gold," which comes from the film's climax, and which does everything I love in a song.  It starts quietly, with a hint of mystery and melancholy, then builds and builds to an almost manic, fist-pumping finish.  You can feel such a wide range of emotions in this piece:  longing, hope, desperation, frustration, expectation, and a giddy triumph.  Is there any wonder Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony chose it to open their 1999 concert?

My other favorite is "The Trio."  It begins all pensive and reflective, building to a brash, swaggering statement of confidence, then subsiding back into the quieter mode before bursting forth with machismo and yearning.  (For some reason, this video is 8 minutes long, but the song only lasts 5, and then there's silence for 3 minutes.  Hmm.  Still, the best-sounding version I found on YouTube.)

I have a great love of trumpets, and Morricone could use them more gloriously than just about anyone.  No wonder this soundtrack delights me!

Thank you, James, for inviting me to share my love of soundtracks on your blog!  This is going to be great fun :-)

2013 in Review

2013 has come to a close and now it is time to look back at the things that have accomplished in world of entertainment. This is only the first part in a series of Year in Review posts that are about different things like the year of television in review as well as the movies that I am most looking forward to next year. However, since I have yet to see all of the major movies that came out last year, I cannot make an accurate list of my favorite films from 2013,  but I will have a Television Awards post. For this post in particular, I will be covering the things that I have seen and done for the first time throughout all of 2013, with the exception of movies that I watched in 2013 because that is another post entirely. Basically, these are the older movies, TV shows, and fandoms that I have started during the year. 

Firefly

Ever since watching the Joss Whedon's masterpiece, The Avengers, my interest in his work grew exponentially, and thanks to my friends Buruk and Maegen heavily recommending Firefly, I watched it and loved almost every minute of it. Firefly has one of the best group of characters ever developed. Joss Whedon's amazing ability to write flawless sequences of witty and smart dialogue is showcased perfectly during the series. I am now proud to say that I am a Browncoat. 

Firefly Review: Part 1.
Firefly Review Part 2: the Characters.
Firefly Review Part 3: the Characters.
Serenity Review (Firefly Review Part 4).
Firefly Review Part 5: Episode Breakdown.

The Walking Dead 

Last year I finally watched the absurdly popular television, The Walking Dead. Despite my original skepticism, the Walking Dead is one of my favorite shows on television. I have now completely caught up to the series' current episodes, and now I am eagerly awaiting season four. In the near future, I plan to post reviews of each season and when season four starts, I might review each episode as it airs similar to how I review Agents of SHIELD. A quick shout out to my friends Rebecca and Jamie for convincing me to watch the show. 

Anime

Back in July of 2013 Stilwater at In the Shade of My Wide-Brimmed Hat recommended Death Note in a post about Anime, and since I had nothing better to do, I decided to give the show a try, and to my surprise, it turned out to be one of the best things I have ever seen. After that, I watched what is essentially the Citizen Kane of anime series, Cowboy Bebop, and then I enjoyed that, which lead to me watching various series and then some movies. Even though anime can be weird, with the proper amount of research, you can find a lot of great series that are not different than what is on television in America, except much of it is higher quality. I have already posted several reviews, and I have even more reviews written, which I will be posting throughout the year. My favorite genres so far have been suspense thriller, action, sci-fi, fantasy, and mind bender. In general, my preferred broad genre is Seinen and with an occasional high quality Shōnen series like FMA: Brotherhood. Here is a list of all the series and movies that I have seen thus far in roughly the order that I watched the series. Also I have split the list between the series I have seen in their entirety, the ones that I am currently watching, and the ones that I watched part of before stopping.

Completed Series: Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, Code Geass, Angel Beats!, Baccano!, Neon Genesis Evangelion, IS: Infinite Stratos, Eden of the East, Steins Gate, Fate/Zero, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya,

Currently Watching: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Sword Art Online, Accel Woirld, 

Unfinished Series: Future Diary, Fairy Tail,

Movies: Akira, Cowboy Bebeop: The Movie, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Ghost in the Shell, Interstella 55555, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, Summer Wars, Perfect Blue, Spirited Away, Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance,

Alien Franchise

After years of seeing the first two Alien films on many top science fiction movies list, I finally watched Alien and its sequel Aliens. Even though the first Alien was great, the sequel Aliens even better! The movies have tons of suspense, action, thrills, and intensity. While they are not my favorite movies, they are among the best thrillers ever made. Also, death by facehugger is probably the worst death in all of cinema history, and Ellen Ripley is the best heroine of the 80s.

Watched Some "Classics"

Even though both Godfather movies, Pulp Fiction, and Fight Club are still on my need to watch list, during 2013 I finally watched the "classics" Citizen Kane, The Wizard of Oz, Akira, The Shawshank Redemption, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Watching those movies was an interesting experience. At least I can now say that I am seen them.

Playing Top Video Games

My way of buying video games is a bit unusual, unless said game is a must own right now, I typically wait for the games to go on sale between Thanksgiving and Christmas and just buy all of the ones that I was interested in at half price or less. Among the games that I have enjoyed the most last year and the beginning of this year are Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, XCOM: Enemy Within, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Batman: Arkham: Origins. After I finish the games I will hopefully have reviews for them whenever I get around to playing each one throughout the year. 

Overall, 2013 was a great year. Despite college slowing down my blogging and media consumption, I have become a fan of several new franchises and genres.  

Please check back next week for my rundown of all the television shows that I watched in 2012, which is quite a few, as well as awards for the best shows on TV. In addition to that, I have some posts about what I am most looking forward to in the future.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.