"Calypso"
as i'm writing this, i'm listening to an iTunes playlist composed of a combination of the scores to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl & At World's End. i've always been a big fan of movie soundtracks (kinda fits well with the whole movie addiction theme), but in recent years have fallen away from all the scores i used to follow/purchase...perhaps because i realized that as i got older, instrumental music really puts me to sleep (and with my acute ADD, anything but complete silence usually distracts me from work as well). it's not that i don't enjoy it, because i enjoy scores more than a lot of other music, it's just that i mainly listen to music either while driving or right before going to sleep...the former of which is not an opportune time to be listening to REM-inducing audio.
nevertheless, every now and then a moving score breaks the mold and brings me back to what got me into music in the first place...an addiction to unique instrumentation and memorable themes...and every now and then the sounds that bring back the feel of the movie to which they're connected. as skeptical as i was about this third pirates movie (or second half of the sequel), i must say i was quite impressed and once again moved to purchase a movie score. that was followed up shortly by that of the original, and who knows if dead man's chest is next on the list. i would highly recommend the soundtrack to the original, or at least preview the tracks as it's hard to argue that they are quite catchy and really bring back the feel of the movie (regardless of whether you liked the movie, one must admit is an exciting action flick).
anyway, all soundtrack commercials aside, i'll move on to commercials for movies. we saw 'at worlds end' on friday and i was of course skeptical going into it...mainly because the second movie really didnt make much sense. it seemed like mind-numbing action...and those of you that have known me for a while know that it takes quite a bit of action (generally pointless action) for me to get tired of it. the whole fighting in the wheel scene just seemed long at the time (i only saw it once before seeing the 3rd movie), and i couldn't really follow why everyone was after each other and various inanimate objects (well, the heart was still beating, so maybe they weren't all inanimate). the kraken was sweet though.
anyway, i'll give any major blockbuster a chance, it's in my nature. in fact, you shouldnt be worried so much about the movies that YOU think look so bad you wouldnt see them, you should be worried about the movies that I think look so bad that I wouldnt see them. then you know it's a real piece of work. work = garbage, POS, waste of time, big ten burrito, penguins.
we saw the third movie, they tied up the majority of loose ends, and it was much more coherent (in spite of what the critics say. and when it comes to event pics, the critics are generally morons. except with their good reviews of the spider-man movies...well, the first two, the debate over the third is a whole other story, but i'm a venom fan so shut up).
i'm not gonna lie, i'm a big fan of jack sparrow if only because he's always concerned with 'why is the rum gone?' and the closing line of the movie set into motion events that had repercussions for days afterwards. sarah knows this, i kind of explained that line to her. either way, the whole cast did a good job with a pretty complex plot, spanning a story of nearly 3 hours. the battle scenes are amazing though, and well worth the ticket price alone.
after all of this, i was inspired to dig up my copy of the original...i watched it last night and it really does have a lot of details and themes that prevail throughout the trilogy that just a passing single viewing of the movie will not let you appreciate when you see the final chapter (run-on anyone? like i care). i of course, had to follow this up with a reviewing of the second movie this evening...i also appreciated this one much more, and was able to make sense of the plot much better, having seen the third. who knows, maybe a repeat of the third (which i've been known to do in the summer blockbuster season, but not yet this year) is due for tomorrow. aside from all that, some rum may be in the future, but we all knew that regardless of our knowledge of the black pearl, sea turtles, or davey jones' locker.
i was under some debate with the title of this entry...between 'calypso' and 'maelstrom'...but since calypso caused the maelstrom in At World's End, one basically connects with the other...but of course i had to explain that to you (for those who haven't seen the movie). that and i may have used 'maelstrom' as a title of an entry way back in the day when i updated every day...
we've had a lot of good weather in A2 as of the past week or two (waaaay out of my temp preference -which is 70-75F-, but if all weather were based on my preference, michigan would be welcoming global warming), sunny days, comfortable nights...reasonable summer weather. then of course, comes the weekend...storms on the horizon, constant rain, wind, craziness...a night/day difference from the past several weeks. this was only for about two days mind you...seemingly here and then gone within the blink of an eye.
some SPH 2006 friends revisit A2 (L-R: julia, me, sheri, AJ, seema)it was something of a flashback to last year (funny that charleys was actually closed for all of 2007 but recently opened and we all flocked back), tankmates, former students, the youngest david, some new faces; we had a decent group there to catch up on the year past (when many of us -not me of course- were spread throughout the state or the country). everyone got capsule reviews of what was going on in each other's lives, a couple new stories told, but mostly entertaining old ones revisited, and perhaps even some ongoing debates continued (we all know Team BOWFIN is way cooler than Team Capyba, and that fish are cooler than baseball). nevertheless entertaining.
now let's think back to the last line in the third installment of those swashbuckling stories...did i think i was captain jack sparrow? captain morgan? captain solo? a combination which created a maelstrom of beverages, actions, entertainment, that are somewhat remembered? perhaps, but we do know that i react somewhat violently to jimmy john's bread when it's brought into a panchero's restaurant. this we know for sure. we also may have added more lore to the legendary david's (physical, not necessarily mental) tolerance for one jack sparrow's poison of choice...because things could have easily ended as "dead man's fish"...who knows?
the namesake of Team BOWFINdid i mention i've now seen 'the namesake' three times?
at the very least it was an entertaining night with old friends and some new stories, on the order of the SPH Pub Crawl, The Euchre Tourney at The Tank, and the Dominick's Chronicles of 2006...oh dominick's, it's been so long since we've crossed paths...and i freaking live in A2...oh wait, we have the storms to blame for that this time around!!!
in close, this probably made about as much sense as how one travels via boat to davey jones' locker and back, but this is for my entertainment, not necessarily yours. it's mainly here to waste your time.
the recent pirates movie just reminded me of how i tend to get wrapped up in movies sometimes...especially ones that i like for whatever reason. i'm not going to swordfight anyone anytime soon or anything (wait, double, are you up for it?) but my mind wanders off to the particular film's world whenever i hear that music or something that reminds me of it...one of the main reasons i enjoy the scores, they make sure i have only one foot grounded in reality and the other somewhere lost in imagination...because if this were not the case i really would go insane. and we all know that's a short trip for me!
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ps- let's hope that i don't get too distracted by upcoming movies this summer...there aren't a lot of pirates running around, but there are a TON of cars (and other assorted vehicles)...so come 7.4.7...Transformers is going to be a hard movie to break away from...
pps-- did anyone really think i'd make it an entire entry without mentioning Transformers again???
music:
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl" - Klaus Badelt
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" - Hans Zimmer
random pic:
i got andrea to pose with the -now giant- alligator gar in the fish room (shortly before we went to see The Namesake -the aforementioned 3rd time for me- ). monster gars and multiple movies...who says i do things in excess?
posted by Solomon at 1:19 AM
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