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Steve Zahn and Josh Hamilton in Freak "Talks About Sex"
One of my favorite movies is the Steve Zahn film "Freak Talks About Sex" (known to some by its alternate title, "Blowin' Smoke.") When I first saw it, it kind of made me think for a bit on what I might have become had I not continued to move ahead with my life after high school. Kind of. I mean, as miserable as high school was, mind you. Anyway, the film's protagonist (not Steve Zahn, a.k.a. "Freak" but the other guy, "Keenan," played by Josh Hamilton) is one of those guys who spends a fair amount of time making "mix tapes" for his friends. That particular aspect of the film really spoke to me because I was one of those "mix tape" guys back in high school and college. I usually didn't make tapes for people unless they specifically asked for one. But once the request was made, I put my best effort into it. Sometimes, I even gave mix tapes to people as gifts. Ask Thomai.
I made lots of mix tapes for friends in high school. I was pretty obsessive over the way I edited these things. I had a lot of little rules that I tried to follow, including my insistence that the sides of a tape should be as balanced as possible so that one side didn't run too much longer than the other side. I also hated it when I would run out of time on one side of the tape. If I even lost two seconds of the end of a song because it was too long to fit on one side of the tape, I would go back and look for ways to cut or reorganize material. My folks had a Realistic (Radio Shack brand) record player/dual cassette deck with a volume fader that came in handy for tricky edits involving songs that were close together and sound bites.
A good mix tape needs to start with a bang. It's okay to open with audio clips from movies or television shows (Plan 9 from Outer SpaceandFight Club(another one of my favorite films) are great sources for sound bites), but the first full song should really kick the tape into high gear. One of my favorite openings for a mix CD that I made several years ago starts with Ceasar's final speech fromConquest from The Planet of the Apesas a lead in to Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." In many of my projects, I would often use dialogue clips from old radio or television shows or records from my parents' collection to break things up, inserting short clips between songs. Another thing to consider is how to end side one. It's really good to end with a song that kind of "caps" the material while still keeping a listener's interest piqued enough that he/she will flip it over and continue. On a lot of my high school-era mix tapes, I would end with the "Now turn the record over" messages from old children's book and record sets.
Cover art from a Besslerama-related CD mix circa 2001
Side two of a mix tape requires another "kick start" track to get things going and the last song for side two should be some kind of long, winding track with a fade-out ending, if possible. Including a track listing with the tape was always a must for me, but cover art was kind of an optional thing. It kind of depended on how I felt about a project. Here's a true story about all this: About a year ago, I ran into a guy that I hadn't seen in over 10 years. One of the first things he mentioned to me – after all those years – was a mix tape that I had made for him over a decade ago. The guy used to work in a record store in downtown Dayton (which is long gone now) and right after Kurt Cobain died, I gave him a mix tape of some rare Nirvana and Cobain stuff. I made some special cover art for the cassette box using overhead transparency plastic to create a kind of 3-D hologram effect on a portrait of Cobain. The guy told me that he still has the tape to this day and he still thinks the artwork is really, really cool. It was pretty amazing to have that kind of recognition after all that time.
Following the advent of recordable CDs and related technology, cassette tapes became more or less a thing of the past. These days, I really feel like creating good, old-fashioned mix tapes is now something of lost art. But affordable media, sound editing software and graphics editing packages do make it pretty easy to create some great mix CDs. Mix CDs are just a little different from mix tapes, particularly because you don't have to break things up between two sides of the media. I made several good mix CDs that were tied to our old "Besslerama" web site, including a special compilation that was given out as an award to a regular site visitor who, as part of a contest on our site, had accurately predicted the date and time of our daughter K.'s birth.
I still have most of my more elaborate mix tape and mix CD projects spanning my high school years through to recent years. Each one of these compilations is like a time capsule of sorts and the selection and arrangement of material in these collections always brings out a lot of feelings when I listen to them. Some of the collections I have are about 15 years old, but I still get each one of them out about once a year , playing them through at least once or twice. It kind of helps me remember where I've been so I can gain some perspective on where I'm going.
I think it's probably time for me to make an official mix tape "soundtrack" for greekish.org. I'll write again with some details soon.
Last
weekend, Thomai and I had a rare evening to ourselves, so we decided to
go out for dinner and a movie. After wandering around the Greene for a
while, we went up to Beavercreek and had a terrific dinner at Abuelo’s
Mexican Food Embassy. Soon after, we went over to the Regal movie
theater to see what was playing. We had originally planned on
seeing School for Scoundrels at the cheap theater, but once we finished
dinner, we had about 2 hours to kill. There were a handful of
movies starting at the Regal, so we looked at all the posters and tried
to work out an agreement. We are pretty out of touch with the
movies — we haven’t been to anything but children’s movies for
something like 2 years — so we weren’t really sure what to see.
The Illusionist looked good and we had heard some good things about The
Departed, but there was another film listed that we hadn’t heard
anything about: One Night with the King. So we got 2 tickets to the film on a complete whim.
We made our way
through the building to our theater and settled down for the
show. We sat through a couple of previews for a few upcoming
major releases. Oddly enough, all of the previews were for
"family films." The final preview was for a big, over-the-top
production of a film about the Nativity that is supposedly due out
around Christmas. I thought it was kind of weird, because I
hadn’t heard anything about it but, then again, here we were sitting in
a theater getting ready to watch a movie that we hadn’t heard anything
about, either. Oh well. Then the film started. As soon as I
saw the setting — which looked like the Middle East some centuries ago
— I had a kind of unsettling feeling. Then, a narrator spoke and
I heard names like "Hadassah" and "Esther" and I turned to Thomai and
said, "You know, this might be a religious
film." Sure enough, it was. For about three minutes, we
whispered back and forth: "What should we do?"..."Should we
stay?"..."Do you want to leave?" And then the awful, awful dialogue
started. To say we ran out of the theater screaming is an
exaggeration, but just a slight one. We were met at the
door by a group of very excited and enthusiastic ladies who were
obviously running late for the film. As they passed us, they
said, "Did it start? Did it start?" We were like, "Ummm...Yeah,
it sure did."
We made it out
of the theater and to the main corridor where we briefly discussed how
stupid we are. We then reviewed our three options:
1) Sneak into another theater and try to catch most of a different film 2) Go back to the lobby and pay full price for more tickets to see another film 3) Explain our situation to a theater employee and see if we could get a refund or some tickets to a different film.
We strongly
considered option #1 and for a couple of minutes we actually crept around the
corridor trying to see if there were any other films that were even
worth sneaking into. No dice. A couple of theaters were
playing Saw III (which we had
no interest in seeing) and I can’t remember what else was playing in
the particular wing of the theater that we were in, but I am pretty
sure they were all bad. For a few seconds, we had pretty much
resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to have to go all the
way out to the main lobby and buy new tickets (it was $19.00 for two
people -- ouch!). But at the last minute, we grabbed an usher and
explained our predicament to her, making special note of the fact that
we had no interest in seeing a religious film. Within a few
minutes, we were hooked up with a manager who understood our plight and
gave us two new tickets to see The Illusionist, which turned out to be one hell of a great movie.
It’s kind of
hard to believe that in this day and age, we could be so ill-informed
as to accidentally pay money to see some kind of creepy religious film, but I guess
that’s what we get for not doing our homework beforehand. When we
got home that evening, I did a little looking on the ‘net in an attempt
to find out some more about One Night with the King. The most
helpful resource was the IMDb listing for the film,
which included one reviewer’s comment that the film was a “great movie
for young and old alike,” adding: “Highly recommend taking the
wife and kids.” Did I mention that one of the first scenes in the
film was a massacre that
included scenes of scores of bloodied dead and dying people?
Family fun, indeed. And maybe next week I will take the kids to see Reservoir Dogs. I also found out that One Night was produced by by the son of TBN
founders Paul & Jan Crouch, which means that had we stayed for the
entire film, we might very well have ended up a couple of Bible-beating
zombies because I am pretty sure that TBN uses all kinds of subliminal
brainwashing technology in their productions. Talk about dodging
a bullet. Whew! Further Reading The Illusionist official site
Last
week (or maybe it was the week before – they are all running together
nowadays), I finally got the chance to see the Bollywood film "Mother India."
Mother India was released in 1957 and was directed by Mehboob
Khan. I had previously watched Mehboob's film "Amar," which I had
understood to be one of Mehboob's personal favorites, but I
really did not care for it as much as some of the other Indian films I
have seen. Mother India was, however, a phenomenal film and after
seeing it I understand why it is among the most celebrated of
Bollywood's legendary films.
Since we have two small kids, it is no simple task to watch movies
these days, much less a film which features subtitles. Generally,
our best chance to watch a film is late at night after the kids are
asleep. When we're dealing with long, epic tales like Mother
India, we usually have to watch the movie in installments over the
course of several nights. So that's exactly what we did with this
film. Thomai watched with me sometimes, but other times I would
watch installments on my own after she was fast asleep.
Mother India is a tale of tragedy and hardship. The film's heroine, Radha, is portrayed by the Bollywood legend Nargis.
Incidentally, my mother-in-law once told me that when she was a child
in Greece, the local theaters showed Indian films from time to time and
that people would line up around the theaters to watch films featuring
Nargis. After watching this film, it is apparent why filmgoers would be
so taken with Nargis, as she portrayed the character of Radha with
incredible passion and depth.
The story is incredibly – and consistently – sad. After
watching the first 45 minutes of the movie, I asked a friend who had
seen the film if things were to get any better for the characters and
he basically indicated that the entire story a very sad one, indeed.
While the story is not without triumphant and inspiring moments it is
the hardship endured by the landless villagers at the hands of a greedy
moneylender that dominate the tale. Three generations of Radha's
struggle under the burden of debt which is complicated by harsh
conditions such as flood and famine.
One of my favorite moments in the film is when Radha's son Birju (played by Sunil Dutt)
finally returns to the village to take his revenge on the
moneylender. We were both on the edge of our seats when he
uttered the lines:
I
remember everything! I will avenge everything! You are a
dacoit. So am I. The law won't spare me. I won't
spare you.
I won't give away the ending for anyone who may consider watching the
film. But I will say that Thomai and I had some discussion on the
final tragic interaction between Radha and Birju and we have some
differing opinions on the actions of the respective characters.
Suffice it to say that Mother India is not a lighthearted film by any
means. It is, nevertheless, an artistic masterpiece that vividly
depicts the harsh and painful realities of feudal South Asia. Recommended viewing Duniya Main Hum Aaye Hain song and video from Mother India at YouTube
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the film Rang de Basanti. I had read a little bit about it some time ago while I was researching the Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
I had found a short description of the film basically indicated that it
was something of a modern re-telling of the story of Bhagat Singh and
his compatriots and while I was a bit intrigued, I didn’t exactly rush
out to find a copy. A couple of weeks ago, my curiosity finally
got the better part of me and I ordered a surprisingly inexpensive DVD
of the film from eBay. While I was waiting for the film to arrive
in the mail, I picked up a copy of the soundtrack at the local Indian
market, as I had noticed that the soundtrack included a song by the
incomparable Lata Mangeshkar. The song by Lata was quite
lackluster compared to her earlier work, but I actually enjoy the CD’s title track by Daler Mehndi
and Chitra despite the fact that I do not generally enjoy hip-hop
and/or techno music (view an excerpt from the film featuring this song).
When the DVD
finally arrived, I was a little surprised because its packaging and
label looked a little substandard. It looked professional, mind
you...but substandard, nevertheless. When I played the DVD for
the first time, it didn’t take long to figure out the reason behind the
shoddy packaging. It all started to add up... The film was not
formatted to view on a television screen, so the images looked kind of
stretched out. And the English subtitles featured poor
punctuation and a littany of mispellings. So I eventually figured
out that I had inadvertently picked up a less-than-legitimate copy of the
film. Oh well. I can’t say that it really took away from
the viewing experience all that much...Actually, it made things even
more interesting in a way. Even the few times where the subtitles
were completely omitted for several minutes at a time were not all that
bad, even though I don’t understand Hindi.
I
was recently discussing Rang de Basanti with one of the proprietors of
the local Indian market. She proudly explained to me that she is from
the state of Punjab, which was also home to many prominent Indian
revolutionaries. She also told me that “Rang de Basanti” basically
refers to the color yellow (or maybe saffron, as I have read online) which symbolizes a
struggle or fight. As we talked, she excitedly waved a piece of yellow
plastic sheeting that she had been using as packaging in a box of
jewelry and she said, “When I wear this color, I am saying, ‘Today I am ready to go out and fight!’”
Bhagat
Singh
Indeed, Rang de Basanti is all about struggle. Rang de
Basanti’s chronicle of the Indian independence movement is a powerful
sublot in the film, but the main story line is a riveting tale
about today’s youth in India. There are some cheesy moments and
hokey musical interludes near the beginning of the movie, but these
things don’t really detract from the more serious aspects of the
plot. As the characters learn more of the sacrifices of the
leaders of the independence movement, they undergo a sobering
conversion from alienated and indifferent youths to socially conscious
quasi- revolutionaries. Along the way, the films characters
struggle against the realities of today’s India, from police and
government corruption to repression of civil liberties. In the
end, they emerge as a catalysts for social change and mass action.
The film’s
depiction of Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries is included as a
recurring flashback of sorts that is wonderfully woven through the
film's broader tale of modern India. The filmmakers effectively depict
the bravery of the Indian revolutionaries in the face of the brutal and
repressive forces of the British occupation. Moments such as the
Assembly Hall bomb-throwing scene are brief but incredibly
well-staged. The image of Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt and
others shouting “Inquilab zindabad!” is incredibly compelling. It
is, of course, possible to enjoy Rang de Basanti with little to no
knowledge of the Indian independence movement, but some familiarity
with the history and events surrounding the struggle for freedom in
India greatly enhances the experience of watching the movie. Of
course, a deeper appreciation of the history of the movement will also
serve to elucidate the message behind the film. The works
entitled “The Red Pamphlet” and “Statement of the Undefended Accused” are great starting points towards an appreciation of the story of India’s ongoing struggle for freedom.
We
stayed up until about 2 AM last night watching “Shaun of the
Dead.” Yet another one of those “cool” movies that I had heard so
much about, but I had never really gotten it together to watch the
whole thing, start to finish. So we finally caught it on HBO. We would typically have more sense
than to watch a zombie movie so late at night, but once the movie
started, we were hooked! It’s a great movie, for sure. My
favorite scene (and I am sure it’s a favorite of many other people) is
the one in which Shaun and Ed are going through Shaun’s record
collection trying to decide which records to throw at some approaching
zombies. Funny, funny stuff!
The
soundtrack is pretty good as well. I looked for it at
a few shops around town today. My final stop was a local video
store that specializes in cult films. The guy at the shop looked
it up and told me the CD is available as an import only. Amazon.com
has some used copies starting at $17 or so...A bit more expensive than
something one might buy off the rack, but well worth the few extra
bucks, I bet. Further Reading Shaun of the Deadofficial site Memorable Quotes from Shaun of the Deadimdb.com
After hearing so much about how great the movie "Napoleon Dynamite"
is for well over a year now, I finally got to see the film in its entirety
for the first time last night.
I have to admit, I absolutely love it!
I will now become one of "those guys" who insists that everyone must
see the movie for themselves to see how awesome it is.
We
stayed up until about 2 AM last night watching “
