There’s not much to say about this, other than it’s cool and I like it!

Since I’ve been wanting to post more in general, I guess this counts, at least compared to not posting anything at all. Have a good weekend!

It’s been a looong time since I (or anyone) wrote anything on this blog, but I’m pretty sure that all of the authors have good excuses. I know I do, since I’ve got some jobs, a kid, and a bunch of stuff to do.

So I think I’ll try to just post shorter things, so I don’t feel like I need to make huge posts every time I want to add something to the site.

This time around, I wanted to call your attention to the Walk of Life Project, if you’ve not heard of it before. Basically, a man/mad genius has taken the ends of famous movies and laid the song “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits on top of them. It sounds weird, and it is. In fact, it’s borderline stupid, but also borderline amazing. I know in my heart of hearts that it’s really dumb, yet I laughed at each one that I watched. My favorite is probably for Planet of the Apes.

Anyhow, check it out. And thanks for reading!

Bobby Womack. Photo by Bill Ebbesen via Wikimedia Commons.

I read in this article that Bobby Womack had died last night. I was sorry to hear that. I have to admit that I don’t know much about his whole catalog of work, but I really, really liked one of his songs: Across 110th Street. I first heard it when watching Jackie Brown:

But that song! It’s one of the best opening credits I’ve ever seen, even though you’re just watching a flight attendant walk through an airport. A lot of the reason it’s cool is Pam Grier; my friend Josh and I would even imitate her “oh shit, I’ve gotta get a move on!” moment when she hikes up her purse and starts to speed walk. But the song has something undeniably great about it.

I know a lot of people don’t really pay much attention to Jackie Brown since Tarantino has subsequently made movies that got a lot more attention, but I still think it’s an excellent movie. I realize that in some ways it’s dated, but whereas many of his other films seem to try to be dated to a time in the past, Jackie Brown seems comfortable in the past and the then-present. It’s a hard thing to explain, but it doesn’t really take away anything when I’m re-watching the movie. And if you’ve not seen it, you should remedy that now!

RIP, Bobby Womack.

Ryan here. It’s been a while since I did a review, but it had also been a while since I had seen a movie. Almost a month, really. Pretty disgraceful. But at least I’m back with this quick review of It Might Get Loud.

I really enjoyed this movie. Basically, it follows around three excellent guitarists: Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge, and Jack White from The White Stripes. It shows some of their backstory, but it’s also set in the modern day, when the three get together for a jam session and to talk about music.

The pacing is just right–it’s meditative and you really feel like you get into each of these guys’ lives. And their lives are really interesting. Maybe we don’t notice the axe men because the lead singers hog the spotlight; actually, that’s almost certainly the case. But that’s tragic, because the guitarists are often the most interesting guys in a band. Or, as Jason Lee’s lead singer character says in Almost Famous: “From the very beginning, we said I’m the front man, and you’re the guitarist with mystique. That’s the dynamic we agreed on!“

I mean, think about it: Jimmy Page’s house is basically a freaking castle, the movie opens with Jack White making an electric guitar from a piece of wood and a Coke bottle, and The Edge’s name has a definite article in it! You can keep your lead singers: I want to hear more from these guys!

I’ll admit that I was predisposed to like this movie since I like all these bands. In fact, I’ve actually seen U2 and The White Stripes in concert, and I would have loved to have seen Zeppelin. So that doesn’t hurt. But this movie just has that certain indescribable quality that makes me like it. The movie just makes me feel good, like when we see Jimmy Page’s smile as he’s listening to music in his music library at home–every time that man smiles, a baby puppy gets its wings.

This is what it looks like when doves fly.

And seriously: did anyone else have any idea what Jimmy Page looks like these days? If you’re thinking, “Shittier than Keith Richards,” you are DEAD WRONG. Holy crap, the man looks awesome, like the Most Amazing Old Man You’ll Ever See. If he took off his scarf and spun it around, only to use it as a propeller to fly away, I’d just think, “Well, that’s just Amazing Ol’ Jimmy for ya!”

I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, or what you did, as long as you know this: Jimmy Page is cooler than you.

So, obviously, I liked this film. I’d give it a 14.5 out of 17, mainly just because I think re-watching it soon may make it lose some of its allure. But the music was great, and it somehow made me feel good.