So, I had a movie recommended a lnog while ago that I finmally got around to renting yesterday and watching last night. It was amazing. So here're my admittedly scattered take on Once.
Plot Summary: An unnamed busker/vacuum repairman (played by Glen Hansard of The Frames) on the streets of Dublin meets and befriends an assertive young Czech woman (also unnamed, played by Marketa Irglova), who jumpstarts his life. Our busker (known henceforth as "guy," his identification in the credits) pines after the woman who got away: a young lady with whom he had a long relationship which ended when she cheated on him and left for London. The Girl (Irglova's character) plays piano and is currently separated from the father of her toddler daughter. The two strike up a friendship, collaborate musically, and sort of dance around the possibility of a relationship. Ultimately, the arrange studio time to record an album together with some other street musicians. I'll leave out the denouement so as not to spoil...
Cinematography Etc: Made on about $160,000, mostly with handheld cameras etc. The lead characters are both musicians, and good friends; Hansard says in the DVD commentary that a lot of the film is not really them acting at all. Extensive use of wide-lens shots, fine views of Dublin-area scenery in backgrounds.
Altogether, an emotional, beautiful, musical journey. 4 stars.
5 comments:
Not to beat a dead horse, but here's an example of regulation hurting small businesses:
http://commonreader.livejournal.com/1295000.html
Yeah, that blows. He said analytically. And trust me, I don't think that horse is dead at all. Given that we are now officially in a recession (well, no shit Uncle Sam!!!), I think it's been on my mind even more than it was a couple weeks ago. Oh, hey! I thought of two examples of possible non-gov't intervention for you, too. Though I can't swear to it. But 1. Most defunct car companies that I know of died out not through gov't involvement, but because they weren't selling products as well. So I'd argue that the Big Three evolved under fairly free conditions. Interestingly, 2. I heard last night that the company that owns the LA Times and Chicago Tribune is filing chapter 11 now. I'd be curious to know if media conglomerates mightn't also be fairly free historically of gov't influence--afrter all, most smaller cities even used to have five or six papers, and what readers didn't purchase in vast quantities went out...thoughts?
Also--I decided about a week ago that you were right. According to a CBS story, Detroit workers make about $70 an hour; meanwhile Honda's American workers are paid about $35/hr. So yeah, unions probably have something to do with it. After hearing how Honda is structured in that news story, I sort of fail to see why other porporations aren't doing it. It'd go a long way toward fixing most of the countries problems, actually, and not just economic ones...
From friend-of-a-friend's blog:
The industry generates $22.2 billion in annual wages, $102 billion in health care coverage, purchases $156 billion in supplier goods and services and invests $12 billion in research and development. indirect livejournal source
The healthcare costs are about 4.5 times the cost of wages... that's a little screwed up, no matter how you look at it.
I heard (I think it was a Rep. from Michigan, shocker!) on NPR the other day talking about how we should approve the bailout because Japan subsidizes its auto industry, too! Yes, but Japan has also been better about not clinging to effing SUV's and giving only the most halfhearted of attempts to develop alternative-fuel or at least not fricking gas-guzzling cars.
Two links:
A Joke
Not a Joke, Unfortunately
I can't believe that the video pushes the fact that the cars saved us in WW2...such a load of crap and a low blow. like, "you owe us because we took government contracts and made lots of money fighting the Axis." Um, OK...
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