When Zach Snyder was announced as the director of Watchmen, I was a little afraid: I'm not a fan of 300 (the movie, the comic is cooler but still no masterpiece). But he's been slowly releasing production shots from the movie, and they look so cool I'm actually getting excited about it (even though I did think 300 looked incredible, I didn't like his changes to the story). Take a look at these:
Recently, Rolling Stone magazine continued their series of Top-Whatever lists with a Top 100 Greatest Singers of All Time special edition. I could literally spend hours discussing that list , but instead I'll write an alternate post: my Top 10 favorite singing moments. Keep in mind I don't have such broad knowledge about the subject, but I'll try to do my best. This is in "I remembered this guys first" order:
In 1995's Grace, Jeff Buckley is fantastic throughout the entire record. He has this unbelievably clear voice, that seems to be able to go as high as he wishes. It's funny 'cause I've heard a few live recordings of his, and I don't think he'd match up live to what he got on record. He was really cool live, don't get me wrong, but I just feel he was extra-inspired during the recording of Grace. And even though the entire record is amazing, my personal favorite is, without a shadow of a doubt, "Lover, You Should've Come Over" (Lilac Wine and Hallelujah are close seconds). I love how the intensity of the song grows and grows towards the end, and, well, the recording is perfect: his voice is amazing, the whole producing is just enough to not get in the way and suits the music really well. I've heard a few live version, but it's far from being the same.... maybe you had to be there to appreciate it, so it's real pity we can't be there anymore, since he drowned while swimming in a river in '97, with Grace being the only studio album he released before dying. Real pity.
The Beatles had many incredible songs, and as much as I love Twist 'n Shout, it probably wouldn't make my Top 10. But I always feel it's Ferris Bueler's (oops, I meant John's) best vocal performance. The story goes that (hopefully it's a true story), after a long time recording Please Please Me, his throat was pretty much fucked up. He just decided to go for one last song, and went for the kill: he probably had a sore throat for quite some time, but it's his rough voice and his screaming that gave life to the song.
I had a hard time picking a Led Zeppelin song. I knew Plant had to be here, he is probably my favorite Rock singer of all time. That's why picking one song was so hard. A short list of the runner-ups would be: Immigrant Song, Gallows Pole, Dazed and Confused, I Can't Quit You Baby, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, and Rock and Roll. Those are all amazing tunes, but I had to go with my favorite Zeppelin song ever: Since I've Been Loving You, from III.
Joe Cocker probably has the title of best Beatles cover ever for this song. Also, I guess the fact that I grew up on Wonder Years, and can't help remembering it whenever I listen to his howls, didn't hurt his odds either :-). He carved With a Little Help From My Friends out of Sgt. Peppers, arguably one of the best songs in one of the best albums ever released, and made it his own, changing it around in so many ways it hardly sounds like a Beatles song anymore. He took a great song, and turned into an epic classic. It's just brilliant.
At first I intended to do this list only with rock songs. But then I gave up on that, as I decided to add this song: Elis Regina singing Chico Buarque's Atrás da Porta live. Elis is widely considered Brasil's greatest singer ever, and, in my humble opinion, watching her live performances should be enough to clear any lingering doubts of that...
Ok, I have to admit it: I like Whitney Houston. There, I said it. I like the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, as corny as it may be. But her voice is just otherworldly, I've never heard anything like it. And the other day I happened to catch the original version of I Will Always Love You (I didn't even know it wasn't an original, but I finally understood how it could not have gotten the Oscars), which is by Dolly Parton. It's weak, really, really weak. It's hard to imagine how they could get that song and change around so much that it became what we hear Whitney sing, it's amazing. And I know there's a lot of people involved in that (producers, musicians, etc.), but her voice makes most of the different. It's just beautiful. BTW, the original Dolly Parton is pretty easy to find on YouTube, like here.
Singing practically a capella, Janis delivered one of the best songs in this landmark album, Mercedes Benz. She sings like she is performing to a full stadium, but the bare sounds of something marking the beat and her deep, husky voice, keep in our mid that she is just singing alone in the studio.
Marvin Gaye is such a sad story... He was an amazing talent, certainly my favorite Motown performer, immensely successful in all kinds of genre: good ol' R&B/Soul, pop, politically inspired masterpieces (What's Going On), and the best cheating song ever released, I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Covered by loads of people, from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Marisa Monte, it's Marvin's version (which isn't the first, btw), that stands out. His clear, soulful voice is at its best and the song is just intoxicating.
There are two spots left and I can't decide who to give 'em to: on the one hand, there are too many candidates (Eddie Vedder, Freddie Mercury, Aretha, Ray Charles, the list goes on...); on the other hand, I think none has one song that stands out quite as much as the other eight that I mentioned here... so I'll stop my list here.
I wrote a few weeks ago that if I had to choose a band to watch live while I was in the US, it'd be DMB. Well, no need to soak about missing them back then, now they're coming to São Paulo, and, as if that weren't good enough, they're bringing Ben Harper along!!!! Anybody else going?!?!
Walking back home from the movies tonight I must've thought of a few dozen ways to start this post. I've settled with stating that this movie will blow our mind away. It's really late and I'm lazy, so I'll probably not write as much as the movie deserves, but I'll say this: I probably watched both the best movie of the year and the best comic book-based movie ever made. It's that good. It's long, it's unbelievably tense, it's smart, it's disturbing, it's genius. Batman Begins was incredible, but Dark Knight is so much more! Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan are their usual, incredibly talented selves, as in the previous movie. Good ol' Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are still there. But now there's so much more to it... I'm sure you've heard this before, but Heath Ledger is simply uncanny, he just got the Joker. And I think "getting" goes a long way in describing this movie: the writer got the characters. The story in itself doesn't come straight from any one book that I know. But, somehow, he just got the characters: he was able to distill all the decades of Batman, Joker and Harvey Dent in an amazing, brilliant, two and a half hour long story. I'm in awe, and I definitely will watch it again, this time in IMAX, before I fly back to Brasil. Summer has been good to us so far, making up for last year: Indy, Iron Man, Hulk, Wanted, Sarah Marshall, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E. But we got a clear winner: just go watch it and then tell me what you think.
If I could choose one band (realistically, no Beatles or Pink Floyd here) to watch live while I'm up here in the US, it would Dave Matthews Band. Their albums are amazing, but from all I can gather they're even more stunning live. This is Dancing Nancies, from the concert they did in Central Park where he does an amazing intro to the song (the bartender bid). I love it when artists change their songs for live performances in a way that you actually believe it's showing a little bit more about how they're feeling at that specific moment...
By the way, "Dancing Nancies", as I recently learned, is idiom for transvestite prostitutes... Just for that, I think it's worth putting the lyrics here (after the video).
And so We Say, And so We Say, And So We Say, Bartender Please, I Know It's Late, I Know Last Call has come and gone, But Why Don't You Fill Me Up With One More Long, Long Drink, And Then I Go Home, C'mon Hook Me Up, Bartender Hook Me Up, Lock The Door, start countin the money If You Need To But, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, Hook Me Up, Bartender Please, Won't You?
I Wasn't Planning On Gettin' Drunk Tonight But, It Seemed Like The Right Decision Tonight, Luck Would Have It, She Stood Me Up, And Now My son, Now My Son, I Was Wondering If,I Was Wondering If,I Was Wondering If I Might Have Been Somebody Other Than Myself, If I Could Have Been Somebody Other Than Myself, Anyone,
Well Could I Have Been, A Parking Lot Attendant, Could I Have Been, A Millionaire up There On fifth Avenue, Oh Could I Have Been, Lost Late At Night Somewhere In Central Park, Could I Have Been, a mistake, Well Could I Have Been, Anyone Other Than Me, Could I Have Been, (Oh) Anyone Other Than Me (Oh) Could I Have Been, Anyone Other Than Me, Could I Have Been, Anyone,
He Stands Touch His Hair His Shoes Untied, Tounge-gapping Stare, Could I Have Been, A Magnet For Money, Could I Have Been Anyone Other Than Me, twenty three I'm So Tired Of Life Such A Shame You throw It All Away, The Images Grow Darker Still, Could I Have Been Anyone Other Than Me And Then I, I Look Up At The Sky, My Mouth Is Open Wide, Lick and Taste What’s The Use In Worrying, What’s The Use In Hurrying, Turn turn We Almost Become Dizzy,
I Am Who I Am, Who I Am, Well, Who Am I? Requesting Some Elightment, Could I Have Been Anyone Other Than Me, And Then I'll, Sing And Dance, I'll Play For You Tonight, The Thrill Of It All, Dark Clouds May Hang On Me Sometimes, But I'll Work It Out, And Then I, I Look Up At The Sky, My Mouth Is Open Wide, Lick and Taste What’s The Use In Worrying, What’s The Use In Hurrying, Turn Turn We Almost Become Dizzy,
Falling Out Of a World Of Lies, Could I Have Been A Dancing Nancie, (ooh) A Dancing Nancie,(I Could Have Been Anyone) Could I Have Been Anyone Other Than Me And Then I'll, Sing And Dance,(La La La Hey La La La Hey La La La) Sing And Dance,(La La La Hey La La La Hey La La La) Sing And Dance, I'll Play For You Tonight, The Thrill Of It All, Dark Clouds May Hang On Me Sometimes, But I'll Work It Out And Then I, Look Up At The Sky, My Mouth Is Open Wide, Lick and Taste What’s The Use In Worrying, What’s The Use In Hurrying, Turn Turn We Almost Become Dizzy
A lot of really cool stuff has happened in this trip to the US, and I'm still hoping I'll get around to blogging about them sooner or later. But this weekend I did such a cool trip that I just had to get the photos online so I could share them here!! These were all taken this saturday at Mount Rainier, a little over 2 hours away from Seattle. Amazing place!
Angelina Jolie is hot. Don't worry, I don't intend to just restate the obvious here, but it had to be said. Now that I got it out of my system, I can talk a little bit about the actual movie. I've been seeing trailers for this for quite a few weeks now, and it impressed me a lot. It looked so cool, may be even a new Matrix (only the "redefining what action looks like" part of Matrix, not the smart philosophical part). This, according to my good friend Diego, is the adaptation of a great comic book (as usual, the book is supposed to be less simplistic and all). The movie is great fun, it really is, it just fell a little short of my expectations. First for the good things: have I mentioned Angelina Jolie is damn hot?! :-) Action sequences are awesome. That's it, but what else do you need, right?! (The ending is pretty cool too, but if I say anything about it, I'll probably spoil it.) Bad stuff: story is simplistic and completely ill-explained. Also, it's just too much: there is no action sequence that is even remotely realistic, and a handful of them are so damn impossible that you're just seating there saying "What the fuck"?!?! By the way, they even use the Matrix trick of starting the movie with anmore-than-impossible action sequence that hits you in the face with a "people do impossible shit in this movie" warning. But, unlike Matrix, there is no plausible-in-their-universe explanation for why people can do such things, as here you're left with: heart rate goes abruptly up and everything slows down because they got some much adrenalin in their brain. Come on!!!!! There is not enough slow motion in the whole fucking world for that!! Finally, that over-the-top unrealistic quality and the lack of any mildly interesting characters, aside from Angelina Jolie's and, maybe, James McAvoy's, is where the movie falls short. I don't think anybody will be remembering or copying this movie in a year or so from now, but it's definitely good, friday-night fun.
In 1995's Grace, Jeff Buckley is fantastic throughout the entire record. He has this unbelievably clear voice, that seems to be able to go as high as he wishes. It's funny 'cause I've heard a few live recordings of his, and I don't think he'd match up live to what he got on record. He was really cool live, don't get me wrong, but I just feel he was extra-inspired during the recording of Grace. And even though the entire record is amazing, my personal favorite is, without a shadow of a doubt, "Lover, You Should've Come Over" (Lilac Wine and Hallelujah are close seconds). I love how the intensity of the song grows and grows towards the end, and, well, the recording is perfect: his voice is amazing, the whole producing is just enough to not get in the way and suits the music really well. I've heard a few live version, but it's far from being the same.... maybe you had to be there to appreciate it, so it's real pity we can't be there anymore, since he drowned while swimming in a river in '97, with Grace being the only studio album he released before dying. Real pity.
The Beatles had many incredible songs, and as much as I love Twist 'n Shout, it probably wouldn't make my Top 10. But I always feel it's Ferris Bueler's (oops, I meant John's) best vocal performance. The story goes that (hopefully it's a true story), after a long time recording Please Please Me, his throat was pretty much fucked up. He just decided to go for one last song, and went for the kill: he probably had a sore throat for quite some time, but it's his rough voice and his screaming that gave life to the song.
I had a hard time picking a Led Zeppelin song. I knew Plant had to be here, he is probably my favorite Rock singer of all time. That's why picking one song was so hard. A short list of the runner-ups would be: Immigrant Song, Gallows Pole, Dazed and Confused, I Can't Quit You Baby, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, and Rock and Roll. Those are all amazing tunes, but I had to go with my favorite Zeppelin song ever: Since I've Been Loving You, from III.
Joe Cocker probably has the title of best Beatles cover ever for this song. Also, I guess the fact that I grew up on Wonder Years, and can't help remembering it whenever I listen to his howls, didn't hurt his odds either :-). He carved With a Little Help From My Friends out of Sgt. Peppers, arguably one of the best songs in one of the best albums ever released, and made it his own, changing it around in so many ways it hardly sounds like a Beatles song anymore. He took a great song, and turned into an epic classic. It's just brilliant.
At first I intended to do this list only with rock songs. But then I gave up on that, as I decided to add this song: Elis Regina singing Chico Buarque's Atrás da Porta live. Elis is widely considered Brasil's greatest singer ever, and, in my humble opinion, watching her live performances should be enough to clear any lingering doubts of that...
Ok, I have to admit it: I like Whitney Houston. There, I said it. I like the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, as corny as it may be. But her voice is just otherworldly, I've never heard anything like it. And the other day I happened to catch the original version of I Will Always Love You (I didn't even know it wasn't an original, but I finally understood how it could not have gotten the Oscars), which is by Dolly Parton. It's weak, really, really weak. It's hard to imagine how they could get that song and change around so much that it became what we hear Whitney sing, it's amazing. And I know there's a lot of people involved in that (producers, musicians, etc.), but her voice makes most of the different. It's just beautiful. BTW, the original Dolly Parton is pretty easy to find on YouTube, like here.
Singing practically a capella, Janis delivered one of the best songs in this landmark album, Mercedes Benz. She sings like she is performing to a full stadium, but the bare sounds of something marking the beat and her deep, husky voice, keep in our mid that she is just singing alone in the studio.
Marvin Gaye is such a sad story... He was an amazing talent, certainly my favorite Motown performer, immensely successful in all kinds of genre: good ol' R&B/Soul, pop, politically inspired masterpieces (What's Going On), and the best cheating song ever released, I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Covered by loads of people, from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Marisa Monte, it's Marvin's version (which isn't the first, btw), that stands out. His clear, soulful voice is at its best and the song is just intoxicating.
Walking back home from the movies tonight I must've thought of a few dozen ways to start this post. I've settled with stating that this movie will blow our mind away. It's really late and I'm lazy, so I'll probably not write as much as the movie deserves, but I'll say this: I probably watched both the best movie of the year and the best comic book-based movie ever made. It's that good. It's long, it's unbelievably tense, it's smart, it's disturbing, it's genius. Batman Begins was incredible, but Dark Knight is so much more! Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan are their usual, incredibly talented selves, as in the previous movie. Good ol' Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are still there. But now there's so much more to it...
Angelina Jolie is hot. Don't worry, I don't intend to just restate the obvious here, but it had to be said. Now that I got it out of my system, I can talk a little bit about the actual movie. I've been seeing trailers for this for quite a few weeks now, and it impressed me a lot. It looked so cool, may be even a new Matrix (only the "redefining what action looks like" part of Matrix, not the smart philosophical part). This, according to my good friend Diego, is the adaptation of a great comic book (as usual, the book is supposed to be less simplistic and all). The movie is great fun, it really is, it just fell a little short of my expectations.
