just babbling
Sep. 24th, 2004 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rusty_haloMet up last night with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
soundingsea for dinner. That was quite fun--we had a long and interesting conversation, mostly about fandom type stuff. She's really sweet. Plus, I've found someone else who has read George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series! So that was cool.
I also got the final book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and am about 1/3 of the way into it. (DON'T SPOIL ME.) I'm reading slowly, not rushing; I've been waiting half my life for this book, so I figure I ought to savor it. Especially because, if the end sucks, I'll probably never touch it again, so I'm going to enjoy as best I can this first unspoiled time. So far, so good.
Apparently TV shows are premiering now. Is there anything I should watch? I'm pretty much lacking any motivation to bother with television. I haven't turned it on in months; the remote's even all dusty. (Well, except I watched the Stuart Townsend/Marilyn Manson lovefest on Carson Daly last week; anyone else see that?) It seems that pretty much every TV show sucks, and the ones that don't suck get cancelled. I'd rather just wait until a series is finished and then get it on DVD if it still seems worthwhile. It's like not wanting to start reading a WIP until it's done, in case the author doesn't finish. Of course, that makes it really hard to participate in a fandom....
I saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow last weekend. It was visually beautiful, but the story dragged, and the leads were boring. This was especially frustrating because I adore Jude Law, and I know he can do better. He's not cut out to play the bland hero-type, though; he was boring in Cold Mountain, too. OTOH, I also watched Gattaca last weekend, in which he has a snarky outsider type supporting role, and he kicked so much ass. By far, he was the best actor in that movie--probably because the writing was nuanced enough to give him something interesting to do.
That was a good movie, actually; I'd been putting off watching it for years because I was afraid it would be depressing, but the lure of Jude Law finally drew me in. I love those kind of thoughtful films that aren't afraid to use a sci-fi setup to explore interesting issues and possibilities.
My main problem was that the leads were boring--Ethan Hawke is bland and Uma Thurman had nothing to do. I'd have cast Jude Law in the main role, to give that character some spark... make us believe that he'd really go to so much trouble to pursue his dream. Or else I'd have eliminated the main character's brother, who was redundant given that the same themes could've been explored with his relationship with Jude Law's character. (The whole comparison between a genetically engineered character and a naturally born character.)
Actually, the Ethan Hawke/Jude Law relationship was the best thing in that film--I'd have cut out the romance entirely, too, given that it had no substance except "Look, Uma's pretty!" The real story was between Hawke and Law; the brother and the love interest were just distractions. Oh, and the lame voiceover really just had to go--and it could've if you cut out the brother.
Jude Law was also good in Enemy at the Gates; I watched that twice last weekend. It's another movie with a stupid phony pasted-on romance distracting from the real story (between Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes, this time). And Jude Law's character isn't that interesting. BUT he spends most of the movie looking gorgeous and desperate and suffering and dirty and vulnerable ... y'know, it's just entertaining. >:)
In short, Jude: less with the bland hero types, more with the fucked up vulnerable outsiders, k? :)
And in other news, after my insane rambling whatever-that-was the other day, a couple of people told me that they HADN'T HEARD Alice in Chains before. (!!!) So if you're interested, here are a few song recommendations. You can get them from iTunes, or from pretty much any other online music sharing program. I'll even be nice and post lyrics.
My explanation of why I like this music is here.
This is in reverse chronicological order (newest first, oldest last) so you can kind of backwards-follow the development of their writing.
From Jar of Flies (buy it):
Nutshell (a soft, pretty, sad song)
Nutshell
Lyrics by Layne Staley
Music by Mike Inez, Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney
We chase misprinted lies
We face the path of time
And yet I fight
And yet I fight
This battle all alone
No one to cry to
No place to call home
My gift of self is raped
My privacy is raked
And yet I find
And yet I find
Repeating in my head
If I can't be my own
I'd feel better dead
Whale & Wasp (beautiful instrumental, by Jerry Cantrell)
Don't Follow (sort of country)
Don't Follow
Lyrics & music by Jerry Cantrell
Hey, I ain't never coming home
Hey, I'll just wander my own road
Hey, I can't meet you here tomorrow
Say goodbye don't follow
Misery so hollow
Hey you, you're livin' life full throttle
Hey you, pass me down that bottle, yeah
Hey you, you can't shake me round now
I get so lost and don't know how, yeah
And it hurts to care, I'm going down
Forgot my woman, lost my friends
Things I'd done and where I've been
Sleep in sweat the mirrors cold
See my face it's growin' old
Scared to death no reason why
Do whatever to get me by
Think about the things I said
Read the page it's cold and dead
Take me home
From Dirt (buy it):
Down in a Hole (a lovely "metal ballad")
Down in a Hole
Lyrics & music by Jerry Cantrell
Bury me softly in this womb
I give this part of me for you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers
In a tomb...in bloom
Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved
See my heart I decorate it like a grave
You don't understand who they
Thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now a man
Who won't let himself be
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, losin' control
I'd like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied
Down in a hole and they've put all
The stones in their place
I've eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste
I have been guilty
Of kicking myself in the teeth
I will speak no more
of my feelings beneath
Oh I want to be inside of you
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, out of control
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied
Angry Chair (heavy and dark and creepy, my favorite song ever)
Angry Chair
Lyrics & music by Layne Staley
Sitting on an angry chair
Angry walls that steal the air
Stomach hurts and I don't care
What do I see across the way
See myself molded in clay
Stares at me, yeah I'm afraid
Changing the shape of his face
Candles red I have a pair
Shadows dancing everywhere
burning on the angry chair
Little boy made a mistake
Pink cloud has now turned to gray
All that I want is to play
Get on your knees, time to pray boy
I don't mind, yeah
I don't mind, I-I-I
I don't mind, yeah,
I don't mind, I-I-I
Lost my mind, yeah
But I don't mind, I-I-I
Can't find it anywhere
I don't mind
Corporate prison, we stay
I'm a dull boy, work all day
So I'm strung out anyway
Loneliness is not a phase
Field of pain is where I graze
Serenity is far away
Saw my reflection and cried
So little hope that I died
Feed me your lies, open wide
Weight of my heart, not the size
Pink cloud has now turned to gray
All that I want is to play
Get on your knees time to pray
Would? (dark and heavy)
Would?
Lyrics & music by Jerry Cantrell
Know me broken by my master
Teach thee on child of love hereafter
Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way
Drifting body it's sole desertion
Flying not yet quite the notion
Am I wrong?
Have I run too far to get home
Have I gone?
And left you here alone
If I would, could you?
From Sap (buy it):
Got Me Wrong (lighter, sort of upbeat, great harmonies)
Got Me Wrong
Music & lyrics by Jerry Cantrell
Yeah it goes away
All of this and more of nothing in my life
No colored clay
Individuality not safe
As of now I bet you've got me wrong
So unsure you run from something strong
I can't let go
Threadbare tapestry unwinding slow
Feel a tortured brain
Show your belly like you want me too
As of now I bet you've got me wrong
So unsure we reach for something strong
I haven't felt like this in so long
Wrong, in a sense too far gone from love
That don't last forever
Something's got to turn out right
You sugar taste
Sweetness doesn't often touch my face
Stay if you please
You may not be here when I leave
From Facelift (buy it):
Love, Hate, Love (dark, slow, heavy, riveting vocals)
Love, Hate, Love
Lyrics by Layne Staley
Music by Jerry Cantrell
I tried to love you I thought I could
I tried to own you I thought I would
I want to peel the skin from your face
Before the real you lays to waste
You told me I'm the only one
Sweet little angel you should have run
Lying, crying, dying to leave
Innocence creates my hell
Cheating myself still you know more
It would be so easy with a whore
Try to understand me little girl
My twisted passion to be your world
Lost inside my sick head
I live for you but I'm not alive
Take my hand before I kill
I still love you but I still burn
Love, hate, love
soundingsea for dinner. That was quite fun--we had a long and interesting conversation, mostly about fandom type stuff. She's really sweet. Plus, I've found someone else who has read George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series! So that was cool.I also got the final book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and am about 1/3 of the way into it. (DON'T SPOIL ME.) I'm reading slowly, not rushing; I've been waiting half my life for this book, so I figure I ought to savor it. Especially because, if the end sucks, I'll probably never touch it again, so I'm going to enjoy as best I can this first unspoiled time. So far, so good.
Apparently TV shows are premiering now. Is there anything I should watch? I'm pretty much lacking any motivation to bother with television. I haven't turned it on in months; the remote's even all dusty. (Well, except I watched the Stuart Townsend/Marilyn Manson lovefest on Carson Daly last week; anyone else see that?) It seems that pretty much every TV show sucks, and the ones that don't suck get cancelled. I'd rather just wait until a series is finished and then get it on DVD if it still seems worthwhile. It's like not wanting to start reading a WIP until it's done, in case the author doesn't finish. Of course, that makes it really hard to participate in a fandom....
I saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow last weekend. It was visually beautiful, but the story dragged, and the leads were boring. This was especially frustrating because I adore Jude Law, and I know he can do better. He's not cut out to play the bland hero-type, though; he was boring in Cold Mountain, too. OTOH, I also watched Gattaca last weekend, in which he has a snarky outsider type supporting role, and he kicked so much ass. By far, he was the best actor in that movie--probably because the writing was nuanced enough to give him something interesting to do.
That was a good movie, actually; I'd been putting off watching it for years because I was afraid it would be depressing, but the lure of Jude Law finally drew me in. I love those kind of thoughtful films that aren't afraid to use a sci-fi setup to explore interesting issues and possibilities.
My main problem was that the leads were boring--Ethan Hawke is bland and Uma Thurman had nothing to do. I'd have cast Jude Law in the main role, to give that character some spark... make us believe that he'd really go to so much trouble to pursue his dream. Or else I'd have eliminated the main character's brother, who was redundant given that the same themes could've been explored with his relationship with Jude Law's character. (The whole comparison between a genetically engineered character and a naturally born character.)
Actually, the Ethan Hawke/Jude Law relationship was the best thing in that film--I'd have cut out the romance entirely, too, given that it had no substance except "Look, Uma's pretty!" The real story was between Hawke and Law; the brother and the love interest were just distractions. Oh, and the lame voiceover really just had to go--and it could've if you cut out the brother.
Jude Law was also good in Enemy at the Gates; I watched that twice last weekend. It's another movie with a stupid phony pasted-on romance distracting from the real story (between Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes, this time). And Jude Law's character isn't that interesting. BUT he spends most of the movie looking gorgeous and desperate and suffering and dirty and vulnerable ... y'know, it's just entertaining. >:)
In short, Jude: less with the bland hero types, more with the fucked up vulnerable outsiders, k? :)
And in other news, after my insane rambling whatever-that-was the other day, a couple of people told me that they HADN'T HEARD Alice in Chains before. (!!!) So if you're interested, here are a few song recommendations. You can get them from iTunes, or from pretty much any other online music sharing program. I'll even be nice and post lyrics.
My explanation of why I like this music is here.
This is in reverse chronicological order (newest first, oldest last) so you can kind of backwards-follow the development of their writing.
From Jar of Flies (buy it):
Nutshell (a soft, pretty, sad song)
Nutshell
Lyrics by Layne Staley
Music by Mike Inez, Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney
We chase misprinted lies
We face the path of time
And yet I fight
And yet I fight
This battle all alone
No one to cry to
No place to call home
My gift of self is raped
My privacy is raked
And yet I find
And yet I find
Repeating in my head
If I can't be my own
I'd feel better dead
Whale & Wasp (beautiful instrumental, by Jerry Cantrell)
Don't Follow (sort of country)
Don't Follow
Lyrics & music by Jerry Cantrell
Hey, I ain't never coming home
Hey, I'll just wander my own road
Hey, I can't meet you here tomorrow
Say goodbye don't follow
Misery so hollow
Hey you, you're livin' life full throttle
Hey you, pass me down that bottle, yeah
Hey you, you can't shake me round now
I get so lost and don't know how, yeah
And it hurts to care, I'm going down
Forgot my woman, lost my friends
Things I'd done and where I've been
Sleep in sweat the mirrors cold
See my face it's growin' old
Scared to death no reason why
Do whatever to get me by
Think about the things I said
Read the page it's cold and dead
Take me home
From Dirt (buy it):
Down in a Hole (a lovely "metal ballad")
Down in a Hole
Lyrics & music by Jerry Cantrell
Bury me softly in this womb
I give this part of me for you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers
In a tomb...in bloom
Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved
See my heart I decorate it like a grave
You don't understand who they
Thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now a man
Who won't let himself be
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, losin' control
I'd like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied
Down in a hole and they've put all
The stones in their place
I've eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste
I have been guilty
Of kicking myself in the teeth
I will speak no more
of my feelings beneath
Oh I want to be inside of you
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, out of control
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied
Angry Chair (heavy and dark and creepy, my favorite song ever)
Angry Chair
Lyrics & music by Layne Staley
Sitting on an angry chair
Angry walls that steal the air
Stomach hurts and I don't care
What do I see across the way
See myself molded in clay
Stares at me, yeah I'm afraid
Changing the shape of his face
Candles red I have a pair
Shadows dancing everywhere
burning on the angry chair
Little boy made a mistake
Pink cloud has now turned to gray
All that I want is to play
Get on your knees, time to pray boy
I don't mind, yeah
I don't mind, I-I-I
I don't mind, yeah,
I don't mind, I-I-I
Lost my mind, yeah
But I don't mind, I-I-I
Can't find it anywhere
I don't mind
Corporate prison, we stay
I'm a dull boy, work all day
So I'm strung out anyway
Loneliness is not a phase
Field of pain is where I graze
Serenity is far away
Saw my reflection and cried
So little hope that I died
Feed me your lies, open wide
Weight of my heart, not the size
Pink cloud has now turned to gray
All that I want is to play
Get on your knees time to pray
Would? (dark and heavy)
Would?
Lyrics & music by Jerry Cantrell
Know me broken by my master
Teach thee on child of love hereafter
Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way
Drifting body it's sole desertion
Flying not yet quite the notion
Am I wrong?
Have I run too far to get home
Have I gone?
And left you here alone
If I would, could you?
From Sap (buy it):
Got Me Wrong (lighter, sort of upbeat, great harmonies)
Got Me Wrong
Music & lyrics by Jerry Cantrell
Yeah it goes away
All of this and more of nothing in my life
No colored clay
Individuality not safe
As of now I bet you've got me wrong
So unsure you run from something strong
I can't let go
Threadbare tapestry unwinding slow
Feel a tortured brain
Show your belly like you want me too
As of now I bet you've got me wrong
So unsure we reach for something strong
I haven't felt like this in so long
Wrong, in a sense too far gone from love
That don't last forever
Something's got to turn out right
You sugar taste
Sweetness doesn't often touch my face
Stay if you please
You may not be here when I leave
From Facelift (buy it):
Love, Hate, Love (dark, slow, heavy, riveting vocals)
Love, Hate, Love
Lyrics by Layne Staley
Music by Jerry Cantrell
I tried to love you I thought I could
I tried to own you I thought I would
I want to peel the skin from your face
Before the real you lays to waste
You told me I'm the only one
Sweet little angel you should have run
Lying, crying, dying to leave
Innocence creates my hell
Cheating myself still you know more
It would be so easy with a whore
Try to understand me little girl
My twisted passion to be your world
Lost inside my sick head
I live for you but I'm not alive
Take my hand before I kill
I still love you but I still burn
Love, hate, love
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Date: 2004-09-29 04:39 am (UTC)TV shows.. hmmm. David Fury notwithstanding, I'm giving Lost a try since it's from the brain of JJ Abrams and I enjoy Alias. And I don't think I made the case for Jeremiah very well; it's post-apocalyptic, but it's not about aftermath. It's about rebuilding and hope. Worth checking the first season out on DVD.