Recently saw the movie Metropia. It’s a dark movie that contemplates excessive corporate power due to the atrophying of the nation-state, climate change and multiculturalism in Europe. The ending is a let-down but for art’s sake it is an intriguing watch. There is one scene involving the characters of Stefan and Roger that eerily reminds me of the movie “The Lives of Others” where the “overseer” comes to identify intimately with the “overseen”. The Swedish singer Krister Linder provides the uplift behind the somber theme. Here is his instrumental piece “Look at Me”.
Tag Archive: sunday
A song by the Australian acid jazz singer Sia called “Lullaby” for this Sunday. A beautiful and comforting missive that genuinely abides.
I saw the movie “Hereafter” last night and really enjoyed the movie. I doubt that anyone on the planet really knows what, if anything, comes next but this was a really beautiful, touching and somewhat haunting attempt to envision a possibility. As usual it was also the music that thrummed the strings of your heart. Clint Eastwood composed all of the background music but perhaps he should’ve turned to a young Torontonian, Vitaliy Zavadskyy, to compose the score segments that lay behind the remarkably imagery of Hereafter as they might have fit perfectly:
Definitely going to check out more from this composer who I have little doubt has fame in his future.
Here is a singer so renowned and celebrated that she was known simply as “Mama Africa”. She sings an old Xhosa song called “Qongqothwane”:
This Sunday started with chai tea, honey covered croissants and poetry submissions. A chill day with Hooverphonic one of my favorite bands from the 90s providing the perfect soundtrack.
I love the music of Jill Scott. Her song “Golden” is beautiful, optimistic and so soulful.
One of my favorite Bjork songs turned instrumental to beautiful effect:
One of my secret favorites of the gay movies I watched in my closeted years was a French coming-of-age tale called “Presque Rien” or “Come Undone”. There was one song that haunted me and in researching for a new poem I found the singer of that song: Perry Blake. The song “Ordinary Day” is below:
For this cool gray Sunday (well, here at least) some music to heat you up from the latest addition to the Cities of Love franchise “New York, I Love You”:
As is usually the case with movies I like, I liked the soundtrack even more. Hans Zimmer really is a genius. And the crown jewel of his soundtrack to Christopher Nolan’s Inception is “Time”. It is stirring and evocative of a sensation encompassing slow, steady but ever-growing passion…for another person, for ideas and for the art, the sanctity, and the unending beauty of life.
Gattaca is an awesome movie. It was released in 1997 and thirteen years later I still count it as one of my favorities. My favorite from the soundtrack composed by Michael Nyman is “Irene’s Theme” which can be heard in the background as Vincent/Jerome and Irene flee his brother Anton. The beautiful piece fits Irene’s difficult acceptance of the truth perfectly.
Two of my favorite genres of music are neo-soul and post-rock but Trentemoller bring soul to a genre not known for its, if you will, soulfulness: ambient music. “Take me into your skin” is one of the few songs that can put me at ease during a stressful day at work.
The first time I saw AI:Artificial Intelligence was with some friends on the 30th floor of our college dorm, PFT at Western. I didn’t fully appreciate the movie (and by that I mean shed some tears) until the second time I saw it. It is a beautiful retelling of Pinnochio while also attempting to imagine a world dealing with everything from the specter of climate change and the difficult birth of humanity’s children to the search for recognition of dignity and love.
So far this has been a day of interesting pleasures. Found a new piece by a great Japanese composer named Ryuichi Sakamoto:
Then a visit to the Sweet Palace for some candies:
There are about four types of chocolates on the left, ten flavors of jelly beans and some coffee and peanut butter candies. I suspect that will take at least two weeks to get through.
