The latest AMV of the Day continues my current obsession over a great mahou shoujo (magical girl) by the name of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. This amv is called “Repeat”.
“Repeat” uses the song “Sleep Now” by Hugh Hall and it’s atmospheric sound goes hand in hand with the dark, almost gothic sensibilities, of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I’m none too familiar with Hugh Hall’s music, but the song that creator Chiikaboom used to highlight the dark nature of this anime series really makes this amv seem like a well-made trailer for the series. In fact, if I didn’t know that this video was an anime music video I would’ve thought it was a professionally done teaser trailer for the anime series.
This amv once again shows just how engaging an anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica really is. Yes, the animation and character designs are quite cute, but that lighthearted aspect of the show doesn’t last very long. This video shows just how mature, dramatic and tragic this series ends up becoming.
There’s no big story behind why I have selected this particular song for Song of the Day, beyond the fact that I love the Chemical Brothers and this song — The Golden Path — always brings me a certain amount of peace. If nothing else, you must see the Chemical Brothers live at least once before you die.
A few days ago, I used to the song of the day feature to highlight the Crystal Method’s Trip Like I Do. And in that post, I mentioned that Trip Like I Do makes me drive too fast. Well, there’s another song off of the Crystal Method’s Vegas CD that I always make it a point to listen to while driving and that is High Roller. If Trip Like I Do makes me slam down on the accelerator, High Roller makes me slow down and watch the world collapse around me.
(Clicking on the video below will redirect you to YouTube and the acual song. I apologize for that — usually, I hate elitist, communistic bullshit like that but I really like this song.)
It’s St. Patrick Day! Now, I can’t speak for everyone but for me, this is the only holiday that matters. For one thing, it gives me a convenient excuse to show off some of my Irish Folk Dance moves. For another, it gives me an excuse to say things like, “I’m just a good Irish girl,” in the closest I can come to an Irish accent. (Admittedly, that’s not very close. My own accent tends to be kinda twangy and country.)
Oh! And there’s another great thing about St. Patrick’s Day. It gives me an excuse to wear green and I look really good in green. Today, I’m green from my eyeshadow to my underwear.
Anyway, with all that mind, it was pretty easy to pick today’s song of the day. One of my favorite films of 2007 was a wonderfully romantic and charmingly low-key Irish film called Once. The film’s soundtrack, which I’ve been listening to all day today, is one of my all-time favorites.
One of my favorite songs on that soundtrack — and my pick for song of the day — is When Your Mind’s Made Up, performed by the film’s stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. As actors, performers, and as a real-life couple (awwwwwww!)*, Hansard and Irglova have this amazing chemistry and it’s on display in the video posted below.
(By the way, can I be like really, really sappy here without everyone rolling their eyes and getting all “Gaggggggg!” on me? Sometimes, if I’m feeling really sentimental and silly, I think about how Jeff is like Glen Hansard and I’m like Marketa Irglova. And then I start singing another song from the movie — the Oscar-winning Falling Slowly. Or at least I sing a version of it because I have a hard time remembering lyrics.)
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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*According to Wikipedia, Hansard and Irglova are apparently no longer a couple. 😦
Today’s song of the day is the original version of the Crystal Method’s Trip Like I Do. I love driving to this song even though it’s been responsible for me getting pulled over a few times for speeding. (Luckily, I’m a girl and I know how to make myself cry.) This is also the song that, over the past few hours, has inspired me to leave a dozen or so “Oh my god, this is the best…” messages on my friend Evelyn’s voicemail.
So, last night, me and Jeff were at the AMC Valley View to see The Adjustment Bureau (which I’ll be reviewing here either later tonight or tomorrow). We ended up arriving for the movie a little bit late because, while in route to the theater, we got stuck behind the dumbfug toadsucker who was driving one of those goddamn box-like Smart Cars and, of course, he was so smart that apparently, he couldn’t bring himself to risk going over 30 mph. on a three-lane street. So, we were stuck behind him like forever and then Jeff and I ended up getting into an argument about whether the driver was a woman (as Jeff claimed) or just some old hippie with long hair (as I claimed). The driver also had decorated his car with a lot of political bumper stickers — “Obama in ’08,” “Impeach Bush,” “White For Governor,” “Jesus Was A Community Organizer,” “Jesus Was Not A Republican,” “Socialist And Proud,” “Trees Make the Air We Breathe,” and those are just a few of them.
(Personally, I would never put any bumper stickers on my car because, quite frankly, they’re a little bit too permanent for my taste. I guess I’m too commitment-phobic to turn my car into a propaganda machine. However, I was once tempted to at least order an “I’m Another Person Not Reading Your Crazy, Left-Wing Blog” bumper sticker and to place it on a life-sized poster of me extending my middle finger which I would have then sent to an ex-boyfriend.)
Anyway, we were stuck behind this guy for-freaking-ever and by the time we finally got around him, since both me and Jeff understand that it’s actually more dangerous to go under the speed limit than to go over it, neither one of us had any sympathy for any of the political causes that the driver was trying to sell us on. In fact, that driver came close to turning us into Sarah and Todd Palin. (Don’t worry, we’re over it now.) The lesson here, I think, is that if you’re going to turn your car into a moving advertisement for your political beliefs, make sure you can actually know how to drive.
Anyway, by the time we got in the theater, we were still kinda all like “RAWR!” about getting stuck behind that Smart Car but then we saw a trailer that soothed our nerves and calmed us down. That trailer was for the upcoming Russell Brand film, Arthur.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The trailer looks awful and, having seen it, I now understand why so many people apparently can not stand Russell Brand. (I liked him in Get Him To The Greek.) Seriously, if not for one redeeming feature, the trailer for Arthur would hace to be the worst trailer since the trailer for Sanctum.
Playing in the background throughout the entire trailer was an old song from David Bowie and Queen, Under Pressure. As long as we simply ignored Russell Brand and Geraldine James and just listened to the music, the Arthur trailer was not only bearable but actually enjoyable. If nothing else, this song soothes our souls and brought both Jeff and me back onto the path of relative sanity.
Anyway, with all that in mind, how could I not devote a post to David Bowie and Queen’s Under Pressure?
These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ is one of my favorite songs, one of those that is perfect for making either an entrance or an exit. There’s probably not a day that passes without this song playing somewhere in the back of my head.
Written by Lee Hazelwood, this song has been recorded by everyone from Jessica Simpson to Megadeth but I prefer the version that made it famous, Nancy Sinatra’s.
Plus, the video for Nancy’s version cracks me up because, if you look real closely, one the dancers has got a run in her hose. *
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*Actually, as I sit here typing this on my lunch break, so do I.
It was either 3 or 4 years ago that I first heard this song playing over the end credits of an episode of The Sopranos. Other than recognizing the iconic and deadpan twang of the late William S. Burroughs, I had absolutely no idea who performed this song or even what the song’s title was.
However, this previous Christmas, I received a copy of The Sopranos: A Family History from my sister Erin and as I was reading through it last night, I came across a reference to the very song. I discovered that the name of the song was “Seven Souls” and that it was performed by an “experimental” group called Material.
I then proceeded to do even more extensive, deep-digging research and … well, okay, to be honest, I’m lazy so I just looked it up on Wikipedia. And according to Wikipedia, Seven Souls was released in 1990 and it features William S. Burroughs reading passages from his book The Western Lands.
Anyway, here it is…”Seven Souls” by Material and William S. Burroughs…
The Academy has released a list of the 41 songs that they have determined are “eligible” for an Oscar nomination next year. Considering how this year has gone, I shouldn’t be surprised that the songs that I really liked (like “Kick Ass” from Kick Ass and “End Credits” from Harry Brown) have not been deemed eligible.
Anyway, via Awards Daily, here’s the complete list of the eligible songs:
“Alice” from “Alice in Wonderland”
“Forever One Love” from “Black Tulip”
“Freedom Song” from “Black Tulip”
“Bound to You” from “Burlesque”
“Welcome to Burlesque” from “Burlesque”
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque”
“There’s a Place for Us” from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“Me and Tennessee” from “Country Strong”
“Despicable Me” from “Despicable Me”
“Prettiest Girls” from “Despicable Me”
“Dear Laughing Doubters” from “Dinner for Schmucks”
“Better Days” from “Eat Pray Love”
“If You Run” from “Going the Distance”
“Darkness before the Dawn” from “Holy Rollers”
“Sticks & Stones” from “How to Train Your Dragon”
“Le Gris” from “Idiots and Angels”
“Chanson Illusionist” from “The Illusionist”
“Never Say Never” from “The Karate Kid”
“To the Sky” from “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”
“What If” from “Letters to Juliet”
“Life during Wartime” from “Life during Wartime”
“Made in Dagenham” from “Made in Dagenham”
“Little One” from “Mother and Child”
“Be the One” from “The Next Three Days”
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
“When You See Forever” from “The Perfect Game”
“I Remain” from “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”
“Dream Big” from “Pure Country 2: The Gift”
“How I Love You” from “Ramona and Beezus”
“Darling I Do” from “Shrek Forever After”
“Noka Oi” from “Six Days in Paradise”
“This Is a Low” from “Tamara Drewe”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”
“Rise” from “3 Billion and Counting”
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″
“Eclipse: All Yours” from “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
“Nothing” from “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too”
“A Better Life” from “Unbeaten”
“Shine” from “Waiting for ‘Superman’”
“The Reasons Why” from “Wretches & Jabberers”
I saw Burlesque with my friend Evelyn earlier tonight (hi, Evelyn!) and even though the movie was pretty silly, we ended up singing our own version of “Bound to You” for three hours afterward.
I also thought that “Better Days” from Eat Pray Love and “Dear Laughing Doubters” from Dinner For Schmucks were both perfect examples of good songs written for rather disappointing movies.
Still, I’m sad to see that “Pimps Don’t Cry” won’t be getting a chance to bring The Other Guys some Oscar glory.
So, of course, me being the little contrarian that I am, I had to stick my big Italian nose into it all and comment about how much I hate The Shawshank Redemption and about how Stephen King is an insecure whore. And this, of course, led to all of the boys fighting over whether or not The Mist had a good ending.
Anyway, I’ve already taken my side in the argument, which is that The Mist had a terrible ending but that terrible ending was scored with a really good and haunting song.
And here that song is : The Host of Seraphim by Dead Can Dance.
Through the Shattered Lens 