The Power of Music and Visuals - Star Wars and James Bond fan edition

LATE one night, my friend Richard and I both happened to be up. We were discussing the following student-made video, which creates a James Bond-inspired title sequence for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (though it borrows from the original trilogy) and features Radiohead's alternate title song for Spectre entitled "Spectre":

The video above lacks the audio track due to Youtube's fun, however, the full version can be found at Vimeo here. Second however, the above video being muted helps, as this whole post is about alternate songs that could work for the above video and was the reason my friend Richard and I stayed up until 4am or so one day.

We tried numerous videos, some for their general sound and others for their themes, starting them at various points in both videos to try and see what syncs best. I've included some starting points, but feel free to experiment. Regardless, it's a fun educational example of how impactful audio and visual syncing can be.

Without further ado, here's essentially an adaptation of our conversation... (personal favorite is probably #5)

1. "Skyfall" - Adele
Richard started the night (or morning) out strong, as, surprisingly, or not, the song syncs almost perfectly. It helps that both versions of Spectre (Sam Smith's and Radiohead's) continue in the vein of Adele's deservedly multi-award-winning tune.

2. "Live and Let Die" - Paul McCartney and Wings
As Richard said, " apparently, James Bond music is so formulaic." As the songs typically revolve around the basic Bond theme, that holds true. It also helps that "Live and Let Die" is one of the best Bond songs.

3. "Nobody Does It Better" - Carly Simon
As a personal favorite Bond song, I was curious how this one synced. If you start the song when it first cuts to the lightsaber, it has only a few blips, but hot damn that ending.

For other Bond songs, Richard said Goldfinger works, but both Goldeneye and Casino Royale break the formula. I'm abstaining on links in order to move onto some more experimental fun, such as...

4. "Thunderstruck" - AC/DC
Something was telling me this could be a fun song and it didn't disappoint. Start the actual song as soon as the SW video starts. It misses spots, but syncs really well with others.

5. "Simple Man" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
My next submission. This one is thematically really fun. It can be started at various times, either with the beginning of the video or when cutting to the lightsaber; the latter of which syncs better at the end. As Richard said, "Lol, wow, Simple Man totally changes the genre of the film."

6. "Uno" - Muse
Richard: "I'm enjoying this Muse song starting from the shot of the lightsaber from the front."

7. "The Dark Knight Theme" - Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
Switching to a different film franchise, Richard suggested starting the video about two seconds ahead of the song.

8. "Cat's In the Cradle" - Cat Stevens
Another thematic one. This one has some EXCELLENT moments, particularly in the middle, if started from the beginning. Syncing from the lightsaber also works ridiculously well. As Richard said, "Awesome. My judge of a good match now is whether or not a big beat lands right on the laser shooting from Vader's eye, and Cat's in the Cradle does not disappoint."

9. "Danger Zone" - Kenny Loggins
Richard: "Oh man, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS SOONER."

With that, Richard was tapped out, but his final contribution inspired me to try one more song...

10. "Push it to the Limit" - Paul Engemann
Start the song a smidge before the video. Side note: Paul Engemann went on to be part of the band Device, which created the spectacularly awesome 80's album 22B3 (partially streaming on Amazon Prime). Highly recommended.

That ended our late night of fun music and video syncing.

But wait!

There's more...

Coda, courtesy or Richard; "The video also goes well with The World is Not Enough, as well as the top two tracks from "Iron Eagle" - One Vision by Queen, and Iron Eagle by King Cobra. Lol, just in case you're still not sick of this."

And with that, I hope you've enjoyed the ride.

The Omega Men - comic book review

The Omega Men is a wonderful example of a comic book that's an allegory for what's going on in the world today - our obsession with war and materialism, how they drive us, how we're being led by narratives to fight each other, that many see the world in black and white when there are MANY more options, that war and violence beget war and violence.

If we want to break the cycles, we truly need to find other ways.

Excellent pacing, art direction and use of the medium. It's a solid story, for which The Omega Men is HIGHLY recommended.

Kubo and the Two Strings review

To anyone who's a fan of movies, please go see this.

Kubo and the Two Strings is an absolutely stunning, beautiful, gorgeous movie and a breath of fresh air amidst a sea of forgettable blockbusters. It is largely everything I can want in a movie:

• Top-notch animation/production values
• Amazing soundtrack by Dario Marianelli
• Stellar art direction and costumes
• Great (adult) themes
• A solid (dark) fantasy/folk story plot
• Great villains
• Good comedy and humor (for both kids and adults)
• Heart-wrenching sentimentality and emotion
• Did I mention the soundtrack? It's really good

There is very little about it I didn't like and it's easily Laika's best yet (note: I've yet to see Boxtrolls, but meh).

However, is it perfect? No. I can understand some arguments about how the voice casting could have been more culturally sensitive, as well as how some of the themes/ideologies may come across too heavy-handed. But I'm willing to forgive both of those because the film is just that good.

One other area people may complain about is the relatively straight-forward plot, which consists of gathering items in order to defeat the villain(s). However, this is offset by some rather sly comedy that leans more adult/meta. I can understand how some may find it disconnecting, but it worked for me.

Regardless, I LOVED this movie and HIGHLY recommend it. I saw it in 2D and would gladly go back to see it in 3D. Hell, I wanted to instantly rewatch it, which is rare.

Please, if you love cinema, go see this movie. It deserves to be on any best of 2016 list and NOT just in the animation category - declaring it now.

Again, if you are a fan of movies, please go see Kubo and the Two Strings. Then listen to the soundtrack on Spotify or buy it from Amazon.

The Brother from Another Planet movie review

The Brother from Another Planet is a surprisingly enjoyable movie about the immigrant experience told through the story of an alien's first encounters on Earth.

Joe Morton is wonderfully endearing as the completely mute alien known as The Brother. The film features some downright excellent scene work which occasionally manages to have great social commentary (it's seriously top-notch stuff, particularly for 1984), while also including some fun absurdist moments, particularly from the dynamic duo of writer-director John Sayles and David Strathairn (yes, that David Strathairn) as two character who could fit perfectly in SNL sketches. The music selection is also a nice hodgepodge of songs, with a few being personal standouts.

However, TBFAP is missing just a little something to hit real greatness (it could click or gel more), but it hits the right spots enough to be satisfying, if not moreso.

Easily recommended if you can find it.

The Mummy (1999) movie review

Stephen Sommers' The Mummy is a fun serial throwback rollercoaster ride with gun fun characters, good humor and good action. Is Rick a little too machismo? Is Evelyn a little too damsel? Perhaps, but they have enough moments to round themselves out, particularly Evelyn (while the film skews heavily male, it had some solid feminist moments that come across very naturally).

Yes it's a 90s movie, complete with cheesy CG, but the art direction works. The movie may have some cringe worthy moments with regards if you read into the social portrayals, but on the whole it works (it may lose some steam towards the end).

Also, solid soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith.

Very fun and recommended.

Predator 2 quick review

Predator 2 is not a good movie. It's a solid premise (changing the location from the jungle to the urban jungle), but it's a victim of 90's filmmaking - plot driven with characters you don't care about (and are generic stereotypes). Seriously, where did the 90's style of camera angles/cinematography and editing come from? It's not horrible and Danny Glover is OK, but the film is incredibly flat, bland and boring. Even the Alan Silvestri score is a weak rehash of the original film.

A shame it set the Predator franchise back so long, as it's a great concept; Predators was a fun return to form and I'm looking forward to the supposed Predator 4 by Shane Black.

Stranger Things review - thank you, more please!

SEMI-SPOILERISH WARNING (but not specifics)

A big YES to Stranger Things! A very fun and enjoyable 80s throwback filled with Spielberg, John Carpenter and Stephen King references, among others (it has a more kid-friendly True Detective season 1 vibe, as well as a bit of a darker The Lion, The With and The Wardrobe vibe). It might have some familiar tropes and and a slightly anti-climactic ending, at least with regards to the bad guys, but the 8-episode season leaves me wanting more, which is ultimately a good thing. It's a great start to the world and characters.

Two particular highlights are the John Carpenter-meets-Daft Punk synth soundtrack and the opening title sequence. On the whole, though, it has great sound design and visual aesthetic.

RELEASE THE SCORE! I WANT TO LISTEN TO IT MORE! (please)

I can't wait to see what the second season has to offer!

Hopes for the second season:

1. A slightly more cohesive story or a jump to an anthology-style series
2. Creative consulting (or episode direction) from either Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) or David Robert Mitchell (It Follows)
3. While they're 90s shows, any aping from either Twin Peaks or Eerie, Indiana
4. Character flashbacks that may be based more on forshadowing rather than in-the-moment emotional bits, or dumping them (they were nice, but also fluffy)
5-10. Other fun references to the 80s (Wes Craven?), maybe some gaming stuff
11. Generally, more of this

Highly recommended, flaws and all!

Naked Lunch review - beware of food poisoning

Oof, Naked Lunch is not a good movie. I was looking forward to it, as it stars Peter Weller and is written/directed by David Cronenberg, but it's a poor hodgepodge of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (either the book or the movie), Clive Barker (Hellraiser), John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness" (credit to H.P. Lovecraft) and David Lynch (in general) that doesn't amount to anything. It has some decent ideas, but the narrative is incoherent, the characters are unrelatable and worst of all - the movie is boring.

I had a feeling the movie would be an early 90s clunker when Howard Shore's crazy jazz soundtrack kicked in... at least the puppetry is decent?

Not sure there's anything worth recommending in this one, much to my disappointment. Actually, Roy Scheider is pretty awesome, but almost criminally underutilized.

Captain America: Civil War review, AKA Marvel’s most masturbatory movie yet

(And while jacking off may feel good in the moment, it can have messy consequences.)

 

Going into Civil War, I had reasonable expectations and a decent amount of excitement.

 

Captain American: Civil War is a two-fold experience for me. If I approach it with my brain completely turned off, then it’s a surprisingly fun action movie with lots of great character moments, a solid bad guy and is a worthwhile entry as one of the better “episodes” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

 

Then again…

 

If I decide to turn on my brain to use even a modicum of thought, the film decreases in value, with that balance tipping the more I critically analyze the film. Even through a critical lens, here’s my general breakdown (SPOILERS):

 

Good

1. The characters are well-established at this point; I particularly like Tony Stark’s PTSD and the budding relationship between Vision and Scarlet Witch
2. Introductions: Black Panther had arguably the best introduction in the movie, as his arc worked very well. Zemo also was a great new introduction as a villain with much more personal motives than just world destruction, global domination, etc. As for the biggest new character, Spider-man is definitely a scene stealer, but more on him below
3. The big action scenes: there were two great action set pieces – 1) the much hyped airport fight and 2) the ending (but what about the other action scenes? See below)
4. Humor: Civil War’s humor is good, but has some flaws (again, see below)

 

Not so good

1. Self-reflection and themes: I really enjoyed that Civil War went a bit meta to discuss the state of the MCU thus far, calling out the previous movies and their rampant destruction – it asks the characters (and the viewers) how do we deal with the consequences of our actions when our actions often have negative consequences? The film unfortunately ends up becoming more of the same, with resolutions only occurring via action. Yes, it’s an action movie, but Civil War was so close to actually having a message.
2. Themes part 2 – Politics: I like that the film raises the question on regulation, but it does not answer it or come close to answering it. Perhaps it was simply to spawn debate amongst the crowd, but come on, you’re a big giant movie, say an answer, because there is one and the film wasn’t close to touching it (hint: it’s inbetween, leaning much closer to Team Cap; more on that below).

 

Bad

1. Emotion is the driving force: There is such little actual thinking in this movie it’s mind boggling. No character at any point stops to actually think about their actions, nor do they consult anyone. Everyone has already formed their opinions, based on their emotions, then they just… go. A genius mind like Tony Stark’s can’t think to discuss the idea of registration? Nobody wants to board out the pros and cons? Nobody realizes there are other options? Civil War is maybe one of the best examples in film of either super incompetent powerful people or powerfully incompetent super people.
2. The plot: Speaking of the above, while the characters are mostly OK (or at least in line with previous depictions), the characters are only behaving the way they are to service the plot and story Marvel and the Russo brothers want to tell. Tony Stark may get some leniency due to his PTSD, but that’s weakly touched upon. Black Widow could have been great, but just does what Black Widow does. Again, nobody talks things out or thinks things through. It’s all in service of the action. There is such little growth and solid character arcs (save for Black Panther).
3. The tone: Is it trying to be exciting? Humorous? Mysterious? It touches on many different tones as it crosses genres (action, comedy, political thriller, satire/social commentary) and is definitely dark, but never actually commits to one and falls short of all by the end, because…
4. The pacing: Let’s be honest, this is one of the key areas where the film breaks down. The first act/third is great with its idea of exploring the reality of the Marvel movies thus far, regarding the actions of the Avengers (granted, it rings hollow because it doesn’t raise accountability of any other mass militia/global organization; but that’s a different story). Then, as they’re starting to touch on some good high-level ideas, it branches off to a lengthy Spider-man introduction. Yes, the scene is incredibly fun, but it’s so randomly out of place; more on that below. Then the big airport action to round out the middle, followed by getting back to the feud between the two main characters and revelation of the villain in the final act. While the first and third acts make sense, they are so derailed by the second act that it hurts the pacing significantly. Also, who’s story are we following – Captain America’s or Iron Man’s? Because the shift in focus is so awkward, with Iron Man really stealing the story come the credits.
5. Spider-man: Yes, he’s definitely a highlight and Tom Holland is now easily in the top two live-action Spider-men (Yes, I like Maguire; no, I didn’t care for Garfield), but his lengthy introduction detracts from the actual story and plot of the movie. Sure, he made the airport scene incredibly fun, but it once again raises the question of a character not stopping to think things through. Captain America pretty much calls this out and while Spider-man acknowledges it, HE DOESN’T ACTUALLY STOP TO THINK ABOUT HIS ACTIONS OR WHY HE’S FIGHTING. But he keeps fighting because fighting is both fun and funny, right? Last point, and Jesus Christ, Tony Stark brings a… 16 year old? To a fight with SUPERHEROES. People who’ve been fighting for years. The mother freaking Avengers. He brings a 6-months experienced teenager to a fight. What the actual fuck. Pure teenager fantasy malarkey which only highlights the maturity level and target audience of this movie.
6. Treatment of the villains: Really Marvel? This is the time you decide to shake things up and save a villain? Granted, I like Zemo, but really? Neither Red Skull nor Roman nor anyone else? I hope you have something nice in store. Also, once again you build up minor villains in a previous movie only to nonchalantly kill them off (Crossbones in this, Baron von Strucker in Ultron). You’re getting to be almost as bad at offing villains as George Lucas in Star Wars.
7. Scarlet Witch: While I liked her budding romantic relationship with Vision and don’t mind the plot of having someone confined to tow the political lines of safety (ours or theirs???), why make her so incompetent in the first place to toss a human explosive into a building? She launched Crossbones straight up – why send him sideways? Just WTF, so dumb. Again, a move to advance the plot.
8. The weight of it all: Once again, another movie comes and goes with little to no consequence. Sure, WarMachine is injured and The Avengers are fractured, but everything will be back to relative normal in a movie or two.

 

Civil War had such a great premise going in – to regulate superheroes or not. It’s such a smart move to discuss providing resolution and restitution for previous damage and even having the team conflicted on the method, but to have the answer to fighting and regulation be more fighting and wanton destruction? Bravo, Marvel. Then again, maybe they answer this in a future movie. Then again, it’ll probably be like Civil War, aka another chapter in the never ending saga of Marvel.

 

I wish the Marvel Cinematic Universe were more like the three Nolan Batman movies, where each one had unique themes and purpose, while still building out the world. With each passing Marvel movie, it just becomes more of a wankfest (Civil War was basically a Marvel orgy). And yet… I’m getting exhausted with watching the same anti-climactic movie over and over. I’m left with virtual blue balls, where I want the climax of Thanos and the Infinity Stones to finally come so we can move on to something else. Until then, Marvel continues to yank my chain.

 

But perhaps I’m expecting too much from pop culture. Perhaps I’m expecting too much for mainstream characters to have thought, to be challenged and actually grow in a movie. While I applaud the MCU for turning into a TV show, they’ve unfortunately become one where there’s a ton of filler with little actual payoff. If I wanted to watch Dragonball Z, I’d just watch the anime.

 

Here’s hoping Doctor Strange has some actual philosophy and growth. Let’s see superheroes do some actual good in this world for once.

February 2016: Reflections on the year thus far - Persevere in Positivity

2016 is off to a very interesting start. We've had quite a number of impactful deaths already: David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Umberto Eco, Harper Lee, Antonin Scalia, Dave Mirra and Angus Scrimm, to name a few.

While it's easy to get lost in the sadness, I'm simply grateful to be alive in a time when such remarkable people are alive. Every generation has its set of heroes and it's nice to keep in mind that, while our heroes may not last forever, new heroes are born every day.

We persevere. We celebrate. We live.

Every day is an opportunity for us to rise to the occasion. It may only take a moment.

That said, we don't need to be famous to make an impact in a person's life. Sometimes, the little interactions can have the greatest impact. Spread kindness and happiness, watch the world grow in a positive direction.