Sometimes, it cleanses the soul to talk to oneself... This reminds me of an ancient Oriental myth of confining secrets to a hole dug in a tree... Will you find treasure there? I doubt it...
IL DEPEND DE CELUI QUI PASSE QUE JE SOIS TOMBE OU TRESOR
QUE JE PARLE OU ME TAISE CECI NE TIENT QU'A TOI AMI N'ENTRE PAS SANS DESIR
Palais de Chaillot - Paris
Wild Man Blues is a 1998 documentary film directed by Barbara Kopple, about the musical avocation of actor/director/stand up comedian Woody Allen. The film takes its name from a jazz composition sometimes attributed to Jelly Roll Morton and sometimes to Louis Armstrong and recorded by both (among others). Allen's love of early 20th century New Orleans music is depicted through his 1996 tour of Europe with his New Orleans Jazz Band. Allen has played clarinet with this band for over 25 years.
In this clip when his European tour was in Paris, on the way back to New York, Allen showed off his musical talent that I did not know he had, although I knew he had a jazz band. No wonder the music tracks of his movies all sound wonderful.
Although Allen's European tour is the film's primary focus, it was also notable as the first major public showcase for Allen's relationship with Soon-Yi Previn. For this story, you need to learn more about Mia... or may be I will blog about it in the future here.
This blog is selfishly made for myself. To avoid fumbling around looking for my DVD and play a very fine symphony orchestra, I blog this so I can get to it much easier and faster on line.
The Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in late 1786. It was premiered in Prague on January 19, 1787, a few weeks after Le nozze di Figaro opened there. It is popularly known as the Prague Symphony.
The Prague Symphony was scored for two flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings.
The work has three movements:
1. Adagio—Allegro, 4/4 (Sonata form)
2. Andante in G major, 6/8 (Sonata form)
3. Finale (Presto), 2/4
This performance was recorded from the Stefaniensaal, a concert hall famous for its perfect acoustics, in Graz, Austria. In the DVD, this symphony followed a performance by Cecilia Bartoli, the orchestra of Concentus Musicus Wien was conducted by Nikolas Harnoncourt.
Do you ever imagine how the individual musician belonging to a large symphony orchestra works? This video may give you a way to appreciate the seriousness and their importance to the beautiful music that you hear. As with all Mozart's Andante movements with usually immense sadness but wonderfully melodic undertone, I love this one and I do hope you do too. So, drop your hair, kick back, leave your worries outside and enjoy. After this symphony, Mozart composed his famous trilogy of symphonies 39, 40 and 41.
OK, here's the deal. I do not want to put off this any longer so here it goes... a classic "space strip tease" by none other than Hanoi Jane.
This is a very old 1968 Dino de Laurentis movie. If you don't know who that is, you are too young and need to look him up. This film is by Roger Vadim. The same remark above applies. Roger Vadim was an interesting French movie director. He loved to show his usually beautiful wives naked in his movies. Jane Fonda was his third "beautiful" wife and she stars here as Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy. This quite cheesy and at times funny movie received very high rating marks.
After watching this clip, you have to take a test: Who is the producer? Who is the director? Who wrote the music? Who are the co-stars? You missed all that? What were you watching? You were supposed to focus on the stylized text on the screen and nothing else! You failed the test! Watch it again and pay attention the next time, please!
I like Quentin Tarantino's work. Pulp Fiction is perhaps his most well known movie. In any case, I'll let you be the judge about his work. Be warned, the language in this clip may be offensive for some of you. There are many good reasons why it was rated "R." I think the writing is so ... talented. You really need to watch this movie to truly enjoy this clip.
Fellini's classic Eight and a Half begins unconventionally but breathtakingly hypnotic. It may take several viewings to begin appreciating the work of this master. This clip is at the very beginning of the movie when the movie director is getting treatment in a health spa where he gets the first vision of his muse Claudia. In Nine, the muse is Nicole Kidman. As can be seen in this clip and throughout this movie and many others of Fellini, religious undertone is quite prevalent.
To give Eight and a Half equal time, this clip is one key scene of Fellini's famous movie. The title is the "magic spell" cited by the little girl. According to some account, the children of Italy play a game of word, adding "sa," and "si" alternately to fragments of a word to form secret messages. Here, the word is Anima, for "soul," thus the secret spell "Asa NIsi MAsa" that Guido was projecting to the mind reader. Sort of Felliniesque telepathy. This is my favorite scene. There is another one that introduces Guido's muse... coming soon...
OK, this is my last clip for Nine, then I'll move onto something else... may be Chicago? Hmmm...? I'm not sure what this scene is about as it does not seem to have any relationship with Eight and a Half. But the novel black and white intermixed with color shooting, and the energetic dancing are mesmerizing. Where do the dancers get all the energy? My final verdict: Nine is no Eight and a Half.
The earlier clip about Saraghina in Nine was "Ti Voglio Bene/Be Italian." While I have this video at hand, I might as well finish what I wanted to do: comparing Nine and Eight and a Half. This one is "A Call from the Vatican" where Carla/Penelope Cruz who is Guido's mistress shows the hot for him. Nine is Eight and a Half plus a Half which is the music. Got it?
Rob Marshall directed the movie Chicago in 2002, and that was a great musical. Nine, his next musical gets less enthusiastic reviews, but I think the song and dance choreography are quite good. I can't really say the same thing about Cruz' singing talent, but you've got to admit that she's quite hot. She's got the nomination for best supporting actress in this role. You be the judge.
I'm on a rare roll, so I am forging ahead with some of the clips I wanted to put here but could not get to them... until now. It is not so simple to extract clips from a long video and make them stream on the internet. I don't know how the others post their clips on Youtube, but it is quite a bit of work for me, and this clip is worth it.
It is from the movie DeLovely, telling the life of American music composer Cole Porter (1891–1964.)
"Begin the Beguine" is one of his work that is so famous and well-liked that any notable singer must include it in his or her repertoire. Porter composed the song at the piano in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.
So, because it is so famous, you can find this tune played and sung by every band, and every singer, but I think Sheryl Crow by far gave the best performance in this movie. The song in this clip is edited to be shorter than its longer version that is more than 4 minutes. The last refrain, whose lyric sounds a bit cheesy to me, is left out, so this is just perfect. Enjoy!
Because I already was committed and showed you the 2009 version of Saraghina, I feel obligated to also show you, for comparison, its genesis: Federico Fellini's 8½.. For those of you who are not old enough to know and appreciate, 8½ (pronounced Otto e mezzo in Italian) is a 1963 film directed by Italian director Federico Fellini. Co-scripted by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, and Brunello Rondi, it stars Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, a famous Italian film director. Shot in black-and-white by cinematographer Gianni di Venanzo, the film features a soundtrack by Nino Rota with costume and set designs by Piero Gherardi.
The film's title refers to 8½ being Fellini's eighth and a half film as a director. His previous directorial work consisted of six features, two short segments, and a collaboration with another director, Alberto Lattuada, the latter three productions accounting for a "half" film each.
This clip is about 1 hour into the movie, introducing Saraghina. If you pay attention, Marcello Mastroianni's glimpse of a large woman descending a slope precipitated him back into his childhood and a memorable encounter with Saraghina.
8½ won two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design (black-and-white). Acknowledged as a highly influential classic, it was ranked 3rd best film of all time in a 2002 poll of film directors conducted by the British Film Institute.
What do you think? You like better Nine, or 8½? I think it's a slam dunk for the older master of the 60s. I love Nino Rota's music in films, such as in this clip. Haunting and it stays with you.
Nine is a musical based on a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½. It focuses on film director Guido Contini, savoring his most recent (and greatest) success but dreading his imminent 40th birthday and a midlife crisis blocking his creative impulses and entangling him in a web of romantic difficulties in early 1960s Venice.
The original Broadway production opened in 1982 and ran for 729 performances, starring Raul Julia. The musical won five Tony Awards, including best musical, and has enjoyed a number of revivals. One of which is Nine, a 2009 American/Italian musical film directed and produced by Rob Marshall. The screenplay of this film is by Michael Tolkin and Anthony Minghella. Maury Yeston composed the music and wrote the lyrics for the songs.
The 2009 Nine premiered in London and was released in the United States on December 18, 2009, in New York City and Los Angeles, with a wide release on December 25, 2009.
Despite mixed to negative reviews, Nine was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress (Penélope Cruz who gave a really hot show stopper in the movie... you wanna see it?), Best Art Direction (John Myhre (AD), Gordon Sim (SD)), Best Costume Design (Colleen Atwood) and Best Original Song ("Take It All" Music and Lyrics by Maury Yeston.)
To fully appreciate this movie, you must know Fellini's Eight and a Half well. Many of Fellini's movies cast women of dubious appearance and characters. They are usually large and voluminous. In Eight and a Half, one such character is Saraghina, who fascinated the kids living nearby her beachfront adobe. Nine did not follow that tradition in that the 2009 Saraghina is as sexy as sexy can be... but you can see the sand from the original Fellini's beach scene. Watch how young Guido is punished after being caught red handed in his fascination with the forbidden Italian fruit.
Should I show you next the original Saraghina of Eight and a Half? Come back here... give me a little bit of time...
Hello blog.... I can't believe one year has gone by... and this blog has been completely neglected. I have too many excuses, but ... who cares. I am now ready to go again anew. Here is a short clip from a recently released Oscar winner. In general, I do not like country music, but this clip changed my mind a bit. Jeff Bridges sings and acts all the way to earn his 2010 best actor Oscar award. You be the judge after you go see the movie Crazy Heart. Many complain that he mumbled the words he sings, and I agree. I had to look up the lyrics of this song to know exactly what he is singing about. I think it's about someone who died and went to heaven, if there is such a place, a rather sad song. The lyric? Here they are:
Well it rained last night and the stars shone bright and way off yonder we heard the whippoorwill.
At the first light of dawn we heard that he was gone. Our hearts were empty and our eyes were filled.
Open the gates; welcome him in. There's a brand new angel, a brand new angel with an old violin.
In music we heard all the songs of the birds. And he said that some songs are like clear fall days.
But he played his last refrain oh but the song will remain. Though he's put his bow down and closed his case.
Open the gates; welcome him in. 'Cause there's a brand new angel, there's a brand new angel with an old violin.
In this clip, only half of the song made it to the movie. If you are interested in listening to the entire song, click on the "Play" button below:
And here's the clip. Click on it to see the video that is about 3 minutes long for half of the song.
Limelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theaters and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxy-hydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of lime (calcium oxide,) which can be raised to 2572°C before melting. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and cando-luminescence.
This vaudeville act is from a 1952 Charlie Chaplin movie named "Limelight" that has the famous music score by Chaplin himself.
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille, based on the 1880 novel Rarahu ou Le Mariage de Loti by Pierre Loti. The story is set in India in the mid nineteenth century when the British were suppressing many religious sects. This clip is from the Sydney Opera House, performance of the Australian Opera conducted by Richard Bonynge with Joan Sutherland as priestesse Lakme and Huguette Tourangeau as Malika, her servant.
Its complex melodies are Delibes' signature. Viens, Mallika, Dome epais... (The Flower Duet) in Act 1 is the most familiar music from this opera because of its use in advertisements, as well as in films (one of which is The Hunger, with vampire Catherine DeNeuve and victim Susan Sarandon where this melody is beautifully introduced in piano.) British Airways TV Commercial theme is widely known as they used this famous duet in an ad, but I think United airlines used it first way back in the 70's.
If you hear some annoying clicks, it's not your system. They come from the software I use and one of these days, I will fix this problem. The video is a bit dark, from the original recording.
I hope you do like Opera. Well, if you don't, you must like movies like the Fifth Element. What do they have in common? The scene you may be watching if you click on the photo below. This is one very famous scene in Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, sung by Dame Joan Sutherland, no less. It is the well known "Mad Scene" that inspired the also famous "Diva" scene in the Fifth Element movie with Bruce Willis. But this is the real thing... So, enjoy. It's 13:48 minutes long and I think well worth your time. You may learn to like opera after all. It's different!
It's about time I add a new entry to this poor long neglected blog. I was trying to decide if this should be a very sad, or a very funny clip. To brighten your holiday, I am refraining from making a gloomy clip that may make you cry... So enjoy this one. There are two separate clips from "Lost in Translation (2003.)" The title of this blog refers to another scene that is not included so you need to watch this excellent movie if you want to know what it is about.
I wanted to show this segment of a gem of a movie (Night On Earth-1991) for a long time, and finally got to it. The original language is Italian so I went through the trouble to include the subtitle track. I find this hilarious, irreverent to some, but so funny... Italy at its best. This segment should be rated "R" (for those of you who are not familiar, the American rating system uses letters to "tell" viewers what kind of contents is to be expected in a given movie, "R" is not for kids) so watch it but please do not be offended. Set aside the time for its entire length of 26 minutes and 23 seconds. You may like it, I think.
If you feel depressed or blue, my advice to you is take some time off to watch this movie "George of the Jungle." It is so silly, but it was a BIG hit in the US.
This is an unusual performance of Ravel's Bolero. The outdoor location is Paris' Place du Trocadero between the Eiffel tower and the Musee de l'Homme. If you want to know where this comes from, wait until the end of the clip. To guess the time period, spot to see a young Sharon Stone in a couple of scenes. The vocalist is easily recognizable Geraldine Chaplin. It's a bit long (12 minutes 50 seconds) and I hope you like it. I do.
