Vitus Vinifera
4 years ago
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Caspian: An Addendum
While people may take issues with discrepancies in the book and the movie, I believe that the filmmakers got it right on two very, very important points: Edmund and Lucy. In the books the Pevensies are faced with the question of how to live in light of their relationship to Aslan, and in no-one is this more clear than in Edmund and Lucy. Edmund is shown not only to be kingly, but he is shown as a changed person, quite conscious of his redemption by Aslan. His clarity of thought sets the stage for his role in Dawn Treader, and the scene in which he believes that Lucy truly saw Aslan is poignant. Lucy herself is more or less the main character in the first three books as she is the one who is always listening for Aslan, the one who simply wants to be with Him with her hands in his mane. Her child-like faith is no cliche. Also, the kids who played them did an excellent job as portraying children who had lived adult lives as royalty.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Lewis
Saw Prince Caspian. Loved it. I'm sure that there are a number of you out there that didn't, but I don't care. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe wasn't bad, but definitely had its faults. Caspian tries to do a few things and does them well.
But this is not a review. The main reason I loved this movie is that it reminded me why and how I fell in love with Narnia in the first place. The Pevensie kids, at the beginning, are shown in London, still trying to adjust to not being kings and queens in another world, and at the same time they ache to be there. The viewer (at least I did) feels the tingling excitement as the siblings catch glimpses of the Narnian coast on the other side of the subway. As the London underground was torn away and replaced by bright skies and blue seas, joy could be seen on the faces of the Pevensies. They were back in Narnia.
The beauty of that particular moment (along with the early scenes of Caspian fleeing under a full moon through a much wider Narnia than we saw in the first movie, the scenes with the children rediscovering their kingdom, and the desire of them all, including Lucy, to see and hear Aslan again) lies in a truth that spans all of Lewis' writings, namely the Chronicles of Narnia and The Great Divorce. All of Lewis' fictional works are, as my high school teacher Mr. Schwartz might say, 'fraught with wonders'; in particular, they are full of incredible illustrations of theological and biblical truth. They are not merely object lessons, however. Rather, the truths illustrated are so powerful because of their context within story. But this particular truth runs through all of his work, as a kind of unifying theme. And as with anything worthwhile, it's a complex truth that is made up of a number of facets. The surface emotion is that desire to get back, to return to something that was beautiful, that gripped your heart. It reminded me of a passage in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in which Lucy reads a passage from a magician's book. It contains a story that lifts her spirits, but by the time she finishes it, she can't remember much, other than that it was "about a cup and a sword and a tree and a green hill." Then later she asks Aslan:
But this is not a review. The main reason I loved this movie is that it reminded me why and how I fell in love with Narnia in the first place. The Pevensie kids, at the beginning, are shown in London, still trying to adjust to not being kings and queens in another world, and at the same time they ache to be there. The viewer (at least I did) feels the tingling excitement as the siblings catch glimpses of the Narnian coast on the other side of the subway. As the London underground was torn away and replaced by bright skies and blue seas, joy could be seen on the faces of the Pevensies. They were back in Narnia.
The beauty of that particular moment (along with the early scenes of Caspian fleeing under a full moon through a much wider Narnia than we saw in the first movie, the scenes with the children rediscovering their kingdom, and the desire of them all, including Lucy, to see and hear Aslan again) lies in a truth that spans all of Lewis' writings, namely the Chronicles of Narnia and The Great Divorce. All of Lewis' fictional works are, as my high school teacher Mr. Schwartz might say, 'fraught with wonders'; in particular, they are full of incredible illustrations of theological and biblical truth. They are not merely object lessons, however. Rather, the truths illustrated are so powerful because of their context within story. But this particular truth runs through all of his work, as a kind of unifying theme. And as with anything worthwhile, it's a complex truth that is made up of a number of facets. The surface emotion is that desire to get back, to return to something that was beautiful, that gripped your heart. It reminded me of a passage in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in which Lucy reads a passage from a magician's book. It contains a story that lifts her spirits, but by the time she finishes it, she can't remember much, other than that it was "about a cup and a sword and a tree and a green hill." Then later she asks Aslan:
"Shall I ever be able to, read that story again; the one I couldn't remember? Will you tell it to me, Aslan? Oh do, do, do."
To which he replies:"Indeed, yes, I will tell it to you for years and years."
In a way, it is like the feeling I get whenever I open one of the Chronicles again after not having read it for years. It's similar to the feeling I get when I return to Dublin and step into Abbey Pres' sanctuary once again. It's the feeling I had when we were traipsing through the glens and scaling peaks near Glencoe in Scotland and I just wanted to be the heather and the rock and the wind. And it's in this that I think the deeper part of the truth is seen. Lucy just wants to hear the story again; Aslan, like Christ, is telling the story and Lucy is part of it. Her desire to return to the freshness of the story is just part of what is pulling Lucy's heart towards something outside her world. As Lewis writes in Mere Christianity: "If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world." For Lewis, Heaven is not about people sitting on clouds with harps. It is so much grander than that. It is the fulfillment of everything, but not in an "ending" sort of way; it is the beginning. Nowhere are there better descriptions of it than in and Dawn Treader, The Last Battle, and The Great Divorce. Heaven is a rich place, and it is for that which we groan. There the colors are more pronounced, the mountains are higher, the sky is bluer, the smells are richer. But the beauty lies not in what is there, but who is there. It is Aslan's country.Monday, May 12, 2008
"The Rules of the Game"
Never really saw myself enjoying a French black-and-white film from the late 1930s... and yet here I am. Today in Reading Film we watched Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game, a somehow simultaneously scathing and charming look at upper class society in France pre-WWII. Everyone has their spouse as well as multiple lovers; that much is accepted. But Renoir's story masterfully unravels each person's carefully crafted existence by the end, and you're left with little but pity for their aching hearts. Jean Renoir is actually the son of the Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir, and in addition to directing the film brilliantly plays a major part as Octave, a sort of outside observer among the elite who has gotten in a little too deep.
I am also listening to "Viva la Vida" on repeat. I'm going to be sick of it soon, but not yet.
I am also listening to "Viva la Vida" on repeat. I'm going to be sick of it soon, but not yet.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
New batch of songs
New mix of Sun Dog, fuller and better and closer to what I want to do with it. New version of May vs. June, and if you think you've heard it before, you haven't. New mix of Concerning You & Me, with mandolin and violin. You can listen here.
Many thanks to Jon for his amazing work on these.
Many thanks to Jon for his amazing work on these.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Savory Snacks, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Claudette Colbert
3 things today: food, music, film.
1. I'm a sucker for savory snacks. (In Darjeeling Limited there is even a packet of "Savory Snacks" they hand out on the train...bet they're good.) I really like crackers with lots of flavor, chex mix, Japanese rice crackers, etc. Good examples: Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Wheat Thins, Barbecue Baked Lays (I just like them more than the regular kind), Cheddar Jack Cheez-its, and most recently, the Garlic Mozarella Ritz snack-thingies (they're different than the normal crackers). Just thought I'd share.
2. John Eldredge writes in Wild at Heart about how every man has a wound his father gave him, and discovering that and dealing with it helps him grow up. I found mine, Dad. We never listened all the way through a Beatles album. Or any album. I grew up only knowing the hits that they played on classic rock stations. No White Album, no Ziggy Stardust, no Bob Dylan... now look at the man I've become. Ok, so if that's the only chink in the armor, I've had it pretty good. (Needless to say, I don't really agree with this part of Eldredge's book.)
Seriously, though, over the past two years I've learned to listen through an album; really getting to know it, repeatedly listening to the whole thing even if there are parts I don't like, giving it and the artist/band a chance. (As a side effect I believe my attention span has increased as well. Wait, is that something shiny? I'm going to go draw a picture.) So I'm discovering things that people have known for years, but it's exciting nonetheless. It's similar to the feeling Chesterton describes as having when he embarked on his voyage to discover something new and as a result found orthodoxy. Anyway, been listening to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and these are some of the tracks I like and why:
1 - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
The title wins me with its abrasive honesty. Good melody too.
5 - Jesus, Etc.
Still not sure what this song is about, but it's got such a beautiful melody, and the progression of the strings section throughout the song is brilliant - it never does the same thing twice. Also it reminds me of Tom Paulus.
7 - Heavy Metal Drummer
I had heard this one and Jesus, Etc. before and liked them both. Max pointed out the chord progression at the beginning (it's very cool and recurs throughout the song), and the alt-country instrumentation completes the feeling of nostalgia when Tweedy sings "I miss the innocence I've known..." Good track for the beginning of summer.
8 - I'm the Man Who Loves You
Again with the honesty. The abrasiveness is more in the electric guitar's intentionally dissonant line being played over acoustic seven chords (especially at the end), and it lets up just in time for a melody that's sassy just like the words. The song builds, adding a horns section that really fills it out, and the titular line in the chorus is one that you can't help singing with a smile on your face, especially if you happen to be in love. (Not that I would know.)
10. Poor Places
Good pacing. It starts out low-key with a repeated but not monotonous melody and builds up before releasing into an acoustic, sweetly-sung refrain. Then it descends into a kind of organized chaos, which is growing on me.
In YHF, Jeff Tweedy keeps things from getting too...natural, in that he includes ambient sounds and non-traditional percussion as well as keeping things interesting chordally. It's worth your time, if you happen to be like me and grew up without Wilco. Or even if you did.
3. It Happened One Night
Just watched it for Reading Film with Dr. Foreman. We also watched a clip, during the discussion time, from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a movie I love. If Jean Arthur or Claudette Colbert happen to be reading this blog (highly unlikely), then in the words of Jeff Tweedy, "I'm the man who loves you." It's that simple. Man, Frank Capra can manipulate you like nobody's business. But it's much more pleasant than the emotional manipulation of Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (yesterday's film). I'd rather be falling in love than sympathizing with the Communist revolution any day.
1. I'm a sucker for savory snacks. (In Darjeeling Limited there is even a packet of "Savory Snacks" they hand out on the train...bet they're good.) I really like crackers with lots of flavor, chex mix, Japanese rice crackers, etc. Good examples: Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Wheat Thins, Barbecue Baked Lays (I just like them more than the regular kind), Cheddar Jack Cheez-its, and most recently, the Garlic Mozarella Ritz snack-thingies (they're different than the normal crackers). Just thought I'd share.
2. John Eldredge writes in Wild at Heart about how every man has a wound his father gave him, and discovering that and dealing with it helps him grow up. I found mine, Dad. We never listened all the way through a Beatles album. Or any album. I grew up only knowing the hits that they played on classic rock stations. No White Album, no Ziggy Stardust, no Bob Dylan... now look at the man I've become. Ok, so if that's the only chink in the armor, I've had it pretty good. (Needless to say, I don't really agree with this part of Eldredge's book.)
Seriously, though, over the past two years I've learned to listen through an album; really getting to know it, repeatedly listening to the whole thing even if there are parts I don't like, giving it and the artist/band a chance. (As a side effect I believe my attention span has increased as well. Wait, is that something shiny? I'm going to go draw a picture.) So I'm discovering things that people have known for years, but it's exciting nonetheless. It's similar to the feeling Chesterton describes as having when he embarked on his voyage to discover something new and as a result found orthodoxy. Anyway, been listening to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and these are some of the tracks I like and why:
1 - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
The title wins me with its abrasive honesty. Good melody too.
5 - Jesus, Etc.
Still not sure what this song is about, but it's got such a beautiful melody, and the progression of the strings section throughout the song is brilliant - it never does the same thing twice. Also it reminds me of Tom Paulus.
7 - Heavy Metal Drummer
I had heard this one and Jesus, Etc. before and liked them both. Max pointed out the chord progression at the beginning (it's very cool and recurs throughout the song), and the alt-country instrumentation completes the feeling of nostalgia when Tweedy sings "I miss the innocence I've known..." Good track for the beginning of summer.
8 - I'm the Man Who Loves You
Again with the honesty. The abrasiveness is more in the electric guitar's intentionally dissonant line being played over acoustic seven chords (especially at the end), and it lets up just in time for a melody that's sassy just like the words. The song builds, adding a horns section that really fills it out, and the titular line in the chorus is one that you can't help singing with a smile on your face, especially if you happen to be in love. (Not that I would know.)
10. Poor Places
Good pacing. It starts out low-key with a repeated but not monotonous melody and builds up before releasing into an acoustic, sweetly-sung refrain. Then it descends into a kind of organized chaos, which is growing on me.
In YHF, Jeff Tweedy keeps things from getting too...natural, in that he includes ambient sounds and non-traditional percussion as well as keeping things interesting chordally. It's worth your time, if you happen to be like me and grew up without Wilco. Or even if you did.
3. It Happened One Night
Just watched it for Reading Film with Dr. Foreman. We also watched a clip, during the discussion time, from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a movie I love. If Jean Arthur or Claudette Colbert happen to be reading this blog (highly unlikely), then in the words of Jeff Tweedy, "I'm the man who loves you." It's that simple. Man, Frank Capra can manipulate you like nobody's business. But it's much more pleasant than the emotional manipulation of Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (yesterday's film). I'd rather be falling in love than sympathizing with the Communist revolution any day.
Summer Musings, pt. 2
Haven't written on here since last summer. Not exactly good with the whole "consistently doing anything" thing. Maybe now that a large majority of acquaintances from the past four years are graduating and moving out I will be motivated to keep some kind of a regular update on life. Not that it's really that riveting. Maybe the key is: shorter posts?
Anyway, summer hasn't really officially started for me yet, as I still owe some work from this past semester (so what am I doing typing this?) and as far as the calendar is concerned, it's still spring. Taking a May term course - Reading Film with Dr. Foreman. We watched Battleship Potemkin today, and tomorrow it'll be It Happened One Night. Excited.
Cranking out the songs, one after another, and laying them down just as fast with Jon Moon down in St. Elmo. Not going to rush this album; did that for both of the last two, and it's just better to take your time and do it well. There are a number of new sounds on the album, considering that I have taken the two years since we did Epic Everyday to try and catch up on everything I should have always been listening to. When this album gets out (which it will), you will hear some Beatles, some Brian Wilson, maybe some Bruce Springsteen, maybe some Wilco, some Rufus Wainwright, some Beirut, maybe a dash of Of Montreal and a sprinkle of Arcade Fire, a little bit of The Band, definitely some of my alter-ego Glen Hansard, some Zombies and some Kinks, Sting, Stones, most recently Vampire Weekend, and of course, Tom Paulus.
The point is that I'm listening, something which I hadn't really done for a while. Having a car (and a license) with a CD player has made me appreciate "the album". You can just stick it in and listen while you drive. Something I intend to do a lot of this summer. Some recent purchases: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco, the Blue Album by Weezer. Blowing my mind.
Anyway, summer hasn't really officially started for me yet, as I still owe some work from this past semester (so what am I doing typing this?) and as far as the calendar is concerned, it's still spring. Taking a May term course - Reading Film with Dr. Foreman. We watched Battleship Potemkin today, and tomorrow it'll be It Happened One Night. Excited.
Cranking out the songs, one after another, and laying them down just as fast with Jon Moon down in St. Elmo. Not going to rush this album; did that for both of the last two, and it's just better to take your time and do it well. There are a number of new sounds on the album, considering that I have taken the two years since we did Epic Everyday to try and catch up on everything I should have always been listening to. When this album gets out (which it will), you will hear some Beatles, some Brian Wilson, maybe some Bruce Springsteen, maybe some Wilco, some Rufus Wainwright, some Beirut, maybe a dash of Of Montreal and a sprinkle of Arcade Fire, a little bit of The Band, definitely some of my alter-ego Glen Hansard, some Zombies and some Kinks, Sting, Stones, most recently Vampire Weekend, and of course, Tom Paulus.
The point is that I'm listening, something which I hadn't really done for a while. Having a car (and a license) with a CD player has made me appreciate "the album". You can just stick it in and listen while you drive. Something I intend to do a lot of this summer. Some recent purchases: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco, the Blue Album by Weezer. Blowing my mind.
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