Alright, upon re-reading, I suppose one may have to be a bit of Tolkien geek to appreciate these 
Oh, and what do I think about the Hobbit movie? I may do a longer post, but in the meantime I am sending this to Peter Jackson for Christmas 
Category Archives: Film, Music, Television, Books
James Bond in Skyfall – 10 Second Movie Review
SPOILERS BELOW!
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Hogwarts destroyed. England saved. Dumbledore dead.
The Last Cornerstone Festival – A Six Band Sampler – The Crossing – Andru Bemis – Icon for Hire – The Burial – Aradhna – Sqad Five-O
I am spending these roasting in 100 degree heat in the middle of Illinois and catching the last iteration of a music festival that I have enjoyed and which is very important to me. This is a sample of photos of seven bands from one evening. More to come later. For now, its off for more of circle pits and folk crooners.
The Theme of Grief in Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life – An Essay in Catapult Magazine – The Book of Job and the Tree of Life
The still above is from one of my favorite shots from a movie packed with hundreds of stunning shots. In the most recent issue of Catapult Magazine entitled “The Dying of the Light,” I present a piece touching on the theme of grief in Terrence Malick’s movie The Tree of Life. It is more of an essay than a review. If you have not seen the film, this piece could serve as a useful guide to help you navigate its beautiful but challenging waters or else it might serve as a prompt for post-viewing reflection.
The Student and the Ustad – The Grand Tabla Tradition
“Ustad” is a word which essentially means “teacher,” but really is a term more specifically used for talented, well-respected musicians (tabla players or Qawwali singers) who take on students, or disciples, and pass their craft on.
On my recent trip to Philly, I got to see Ustad Aqeel at work teaching my cousin-nephew (that is the best way I can describe how that relationship is viewed in Pakistani culture) how to play. The beautiful tabla set was a gift from his true uncle in London.
The tabla is used for both secular and devotional music in Pakistan by both Muslims and Christians. In Pakistani churches, the tabla most often accompanies the harmonium, both of which can be readily transported and brought out in formal gatherings or rather spontaneously in homes. My cousin’s husband is a fine singer and harmonium player.
I love these pictures because they show the blend of cultures pretty well. I like the tabla with the Persian carpet in the background and the iPhone on the ustad’s knee. In the background of one of the pictures is a glass of Rooh Afza, which is a quintessential Pakistani summer drink (although, truth be told, my cousin’s family rarely drinks it and we had bought it on a whim) which I used hate as a child but now think is a cool delight and a kind of distillate of the East.
If you are in the Philly area and want lessons, check out Aqueel’s site. Oh, and one thing that does cross all cultures, is that most children hate to practice, and my nephew, who is acknowledged by many to be the the spitting-incessant talking-laughing-loving-questioning-eating-silliness loving-image of me as a child is no exception.
singing word for word
singing word for word
earnest eighties’ christian rock
youtube time machine
Viva La Vida: How I Would Have Done It
I just saw the bombastic video for “Vida La Vida” by Coldplay and must say I am a bit disappointed, because I like the song a great deal and thought it deserved better. In fact, for the past month or so I have been constructing my own video for the song in my head (something I do quite often for a song I really love) and think, well, my version would have been miles better, even if it might have cost a touch more.
Music videos are tricky things. We live in a subtle age, in which art which is subtle seems to be the most valued. How this parses out in music videos is that it is generally uncool to simply represent the exact content of the words, especially in real time with the action immediately mirroring the last sung words (something the Chris Martin does in the new video quite often). Nevertheless, sometimes I think direct representations of some of the words in a song can be quite effective, particularly if these are nested in a story the video is telling.
First, for reference, here are the lyrics to “Viva La Vida:”
___________________
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy’s eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
“Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!”
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
Once you go there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People could not believe what I’d become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
(Ooooh Oooh Oooh)
Hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
______________
First, in a nod to the end of the video for “Yellow” (a simply amazing video made more or less accidently) I would begin by having a blazing sun rising out of the sea, and then the camera would pan to the left during the opening music. The scene would be a hot Mediterranean morning with a hazy blue sea, and a dusty, sandy shoreline in the foreground. The shot would pan to a castle on the very edge of a cliff top, surrounded by a dusty, crowded city, but this would be seen from the distance. The camera would circle down to a hovel and shoot Martin in the hovel from the back, in silhouette against the sea, on a balcony, beginning to sing.
I am not sure of the sequence of these flashbacks but I would like these ones included.
Martin in a home with a regal interior with a Mediterranean (Greek, Turkish, or something like) woman. Some initial “in-loveness” scenes might be included, but there would need to be one scene of her trying to stop him from leaving as he dresses and arms himself, obviously on his way to start a revolution.
Somewhere we need a scene of the woman leaving, intercut with Martin becoming very severe and hard.
Then miscellaneous revolutionary, storming the castle scenes with Martin leading soldiers could be scene. Some of the other band mates can be his military cohorts. This might be followed by snippets of his reign of iron.
To depict his reign unraveling, a scene of him being chased through the castle by the band mates as former fellow soldiers, now revolutionaries would end with him being forced to and then off a precipice…you guessed it, into the sea. This could all happen during the Oooh, oooh, ooooh’s perhaps.
The flashback scenes would all be intercut with Martin as a humble cobbler, or whatever he is, wandering around the little hamlet where he lives, generally with obvious relief and joy on his face. Chris Marin can do some of his goofy dancing and gesturing here, but in a tasteful way. These sequences might also have a more serious scene where Martin walks sadly by a dusty church. At this point, perhaps the camera could zoom in on the face of a silent priest with piercing eyes who watches him as he walks by.
The video would end with the woman passing through the village (perhaps in a small entourage) and secretly recognizing him and staring at him and beginning to smile and him returning her gaze with serious/wistful/happy face. Then it would be back to the smile of the woman. You can’t go wrong ending a video with the smile of a beautiful woman. Perhaps she could be in front of the sea with the sun setting behind her (the castle and and city and village could all be on a narrow peninsula so it would make sense that the sun could rise and set in the same place) and we could pan out to the sun in a similar fashion to the way we began.
Well, that is what has been taking up some of my thought processes during my drives this month. The picture below taken in Chicago does not illustrate my video, but also reminded me of this song.
Hobbit Forming
By the sound of this transcript of an Internet Q & A session with Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, it looks like the Hobbit is in pretty good hands. It is not going to be a children’s movie, but that might have been a little much to expect. As for the bridge film planned for after the Hobbit connecting it to the LOTR which they filmmakers will write on their own with hints from Tolkien, we will have to see about that one.
Here are some excerpts. Yeah, I geeked out the other day and read the whole thing:
Guillermo del Toro: I hope that Mirkwood can be pretty scary but not graphic, I hope
Riddles in the dark has an element of fear and suspense and to be
deeply atmospheric but still allow the ingenious, engaging contest to
take place. And Smaug should be all shock and awe when he
unleashes his anger so, it will be pretty intense but not gorey.
Question – In the Hobbit book, we have talking trolls and the Eagles and
Smaug talks as well, however in the LOTR Trilogy, trolls did no
more than grunt, Fellbeasts screamed, and the Eagles, who were
meant to talk, just stayed silent. How much will the portayle of such
animals change in the Hobbit?
Guillermo del Toro: I think it should be done exactly as in the book- the “talking beast” motif has to exist already to allow for that great character that is
Smaug. It is far more jarring to have a linear movie and then – out of
the blue – a talking Dragon….
We’ll see about the “Tra-la-la-“ later- but the book, I believe, in
echoing the “loss of innocence” England experienced after WWI, is a
passage form innocence to a darker, more somber state- The visual /
thematic progression should reflect that in the camera style, color
palette, textural choices, etc.
Guillermo del Toro:
Smaug should not be “the Dragon in the Hobbit movie” as if it was
just “another” creature in a Bestiary. Smaug should be “The
DRAGON” for all movies past and present. The shadow he cast and
the greed he comes to embody- the “need to own” casts its long
shadow and creates a thematic / dramatic continuity of sorts that
articulates the story throughout-
In that respect, Smaug the CHARACTER is as important, if not more
important, than the design. The character will emerge form the
writing- and in that the Magnificent arrogance, intelligence,
sophistication and greed of Smaug shine through-
In fact, Thorin’s greed is a thematic extension of this and Bilbo’s
“Letting go” and his noble switching of sides when the dwarves prove
to be in the wrong is its conceptual counterpart (that is a hard one to
get through, Bilbo’s heroism is a quiet, moral one) and the thematic
thread reaches its climax in the Bilbo / Thorin death bed scene.
Hobbit Forming
By the sound of this transcript of an Internet Q & A session with Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, it looks like the Hobbit is in pretty good hands. It is not going to be a children’s movie, but that might have been a little much to expect. As for the bridge film planned for after the Hobbit connecting it to the LOTR which they filmmakers will write on their own with hints from Tolkien, we will have to see about that one.
Here are some excerpts. Yeah, I geeked out the other day and read the whole thing:
Guillermo del Toro: I hope that Mirkwood can be pretty scary but not graphic, I hope
Riddles in the dark has an element of fear and suspense and to be
deeply atmospheric but still allow the ingenious, engaging contest to
take place. And Smaug should be all shock and awe when he
unleashes his anger so, it will be pretty intense but not gorey.
Question – In the Hobbit book, we have talking trolls and the Eagles and
Smaug talks as well, however in the LOTR Trilogy, trolls did no
more than grunt, Fellbeasts screamed, and the Eagles, who were
meant to talk, just stayed silent. How much will the portayle of such
animals change in the Hobbit?
Guillermo del Toro: I think it should be done exactly as in the book- the “talking beast” motif has to exist already to allow for that great character that is
Smaug. It is far more jarring to have a linear movie and then – out of
the blue – a talking Dragon….
We’ll see about the “Tra-la-la-“ later- but the book, I believe, in
echoing the “loss of innocence” England experienced after WWI, is a
passage form innocence to a darker, more somber state- The visual /
thematic progression should reflect that in the camera style, color
palette, textural choices, etc.
Guillermo del Toro:
Smaug should not be “the Dragon in the Hobbit movie” as if it was
just “another” creature in a Bestiary. Smaug should be “The
DRAGON” for all movies past and present. The shadow he cast and
the greed he comes to embody- the “need to own” casts its long
shadow and creates a thematic / dramatic continuity of sorts that
articulates the story throughout-
In that respect, Smaug the CHARACTER is as important, if not more
important, than the design. The character will emerge form the
writing- and in that the Magnificent arrogance, intelligence,
sophistication and greed of Smaug shine through-
In fact, Thorin’s greed is a thematic extension of this and Bilbo’s
“Letting go” and his noble switching of sides when the dwarves prove
to be in the wrong is its conceptual counterpart (that is a hard one to
get through, Bilbo’s heroism is a quiet, moral one) and the thematic
thread reaches its climax in the Bilbo / Thorin death bed scene.
A Creative Review and Roiling Discussion…
…of the new Prince Caspian movie is presented by Jeffrey Overstreet on his blog.
I have posted a comment, which I also reproduce here.
Very creative review, Jeffrey, and a very graciously moderated discussion. I agree that “subvert” and “sinister” are perhaps a little too strong words to employ, but, to be fair, you are only positing these as possibilities. Nonetheless, it is quite disappointing the changes to which Douglas Gresham is willing to sign off on, and, therefore, I think we can question just how good a grasp he has on his step-father’s work.
A couple little notes. To be fair, I do not have the book here as I write, but I do believe that Peter does lop off the head of one of the two Telmarine Lords after they kill Miraz (which was fairly nicely done in the moview with the arrow, though Lewis’ duel scene is far more intimately staged). Still, the violence was rather too much for a PG movie, particularly all the throat slicings.
Also, there is perhaps some merit for women fighting in Narnia, but the fighter of the two Queens is Queen Lucy in The Horse and His Boy and not Queen Susan. Well, at least Lucy is with the archers in Archenland and is said to frequently go to battle.
The changing of Aslan’s lines is rather distressing, as is the the severe editing of his role. There is very little serious playfulness and holy fear about this Aslan. I very much missed him flinging Trumpkin into the air, catching him, and then saying (I believe) “Shall we be friends?” But, as you noted, the entire Trumpkin character has been changed from skeptic to a somewhat disappointed and apathetic believer.
I must say I did enjoy the movie, but perhaps because of severely lowered expectations and by pouring meaning and my own imagination into little things the filmakers gave us (like tossing bones to dogs), like the apples in the woods around Cair Paravel and the bulgy bear sucking his paws. And I felt rather moved at Susan leaving Narnia, for the very last time. And, for the record, Peter and Susan have to leave Narnia because they have received what Narnia, and what Lewis intended the books to accomplish for children (old and young), intended them to receive, an introduction to Christ, a theme which only gets stonger as the stories go along.
Perhaps my reaction after the movie in envisioning how movie makers might address future films was more telling of my heart, though, I think. I seriously doubt whether they can make the story of Eustace and his de-dragoning without stripping it of its meaning. And will Lucy be chided for eavesdropping? And what really is the big deal about sailing to Aslan’s country anyway? Can the Reepicheep envisioned in this movie be made to have such a sweet dream?
And I really want the filmmakers to cease and desist after the Silver Chair, which I believe they may anyway (the BBC folk did, though I don’t know the real reason). I think the The Horse and His Boy could be a very cinematic story, but think it would be viewed (perhaps somewhat justifiably so, I am at pains to say) as a bit racist, particularly in a post-911 world. And The Magician’s Nephew and The Last Battle, well, if you strip the religious imagery out of these there is not much left. And if the film makers are unable to depict the holy and good and whimsical aspects of Narnia now (and this may simply be a function of all of us having our sense of story predicated and tinged by Fall), I do not want to see them attempt depicting a New Narnia. There are so many ways the last two books could be messed up, I would prefer not to see them even try.
