It has been a while...and will be a while more

So this has been one crazy busy month and next week I will be taking a group of teens on a week long mission trip...so here is something to make you happy in my absence:

History of Rap...part 2!!

Top 5: Worst Movies Ever

I did not know what to write about for First Friday, and this has been and will continue to be one very stressful month so instead here are some movies that would make my list of Worst Movies of ALL Time: (Bonus points are given for failure to live up to hype, unexplainable popularity, and lack of dialogue- not quality just lack of)

1. Odelle and Yevette: Journey to the Edge of the World (Correct title is actually "at the edge of the World" but who really cares?)
          Cece and I rented this from the library after very impressive sales pitches on the box that talked of superstars and really hyped up the movie. We later noticed, after wasting all night watching it, that it did not really mention what superstars or making any mention to the plot. That because there was none, of either. There was 1 line in the whole movie. IMDB doesn't even know what to put as the plot line! The only review says "It's hard to describe the film,it's vaguely about two sisters who decide to live in a world of their own making."  Boring. Oh did I mention that there are only about 10 people on the staff of this movie according to IMDB? They obviously spent all their time making two matching swimsuits with a huge flower popping out the front instead of dialogue or any kind of basic story telling.

2. Twilight
           Yep I am a twilight hater and proud of it. WOW, that was bad. I did not think I was going to like it- everything I heard about the story or Meyer's "vampires" led me to believe it was going to be bad, and it exceeded that 2x over! I decided that I eventually needed to watch it since people were going so nuts over it, 1 person I knew liked it, and because Jimmy Fallon  sorry Daniel Radcliffe said that a very bothered Robert looked like a vampire Liberace in the sun. So me and my brother sit down to watch it and...I really cannot describe how horrible I think this movie is. WAY TOO EMO "ACTING". WAAAY TOO MANY and AWKWARD slow-motion effects in every scene. And the sparkling??? Why did they pay for that special effect that I could have done better with some simple body glitter!! SOOOO disappointed with that one. I am not going to even touch the actual story of Twilight...I could write a dissertation on how horrible it is and has no point whatsoever. So I will spare you that here and just say that the movie is HORRIBLE and it is only at #2 because it does not deserve to be the top of any list...ever.

3. 10,000 BC
          Waste of my time...

4. Seasons of the Witch
          Nicky Cage is this short on money?? Really....

5. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band
          With the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, and a whole slew of quest stars from Steve Martin to Alice Cooper you would think- what could go wrong? This movie does have a narrator to keep you on track with the story- kindof- and it is Robin Gibb's breakout performance but I would still put it in the awesomely bad category. About 30 minuets into this movie I turn to Cece and ask "Has anyone talked yet?" and then our faces turned grim...it is an attempt at an opera. WHAT!?! I do not want to deter anyone from watching this but I suggest a fun and social viewing- you are going to want to laugh with people when they "sell out."

So there are my current top 5- they do change frequently since I cannot always remember some of the horrible movies I have seen...but the top 2 will always stay the same. So what are you top 5 worst movies? (Beware if you list anything with Julie Andrews- I will hunt you down and do things that cannot legally be posted on this public forum)

Music Monday: TV Soundtracks

So you already know my love for soundtracks and how important I think they are to movies and TV. So now I am going to talk about a few TV shows that really know how to use music! This could be that they have a good soundtrack released or that week to week they pull out amazing song choices and know how to use music to their advantage. First I will talk about the most recent show to excel in this area: Parenthood.

Parenthood:
What an amazing show...uh I love Parenthood! (Just ask those who lived with me the last year and a half while it was on and I could not stop saying "*sigh* I LOVE this show!!") Parenthood is awesome because of the story, the nicknames (that I have given them), the comedy, the cast and of course the music. They use music so well! Again like many great soundtracks it includes a mixture of styles, of old and new (like Alexi Murdoch and Run DMC) and the familiar with new (Forever Young and The Living Sisters). Also this show knows how to use it. They used It's Tricky  when "The Fever" is teaching his nephew to dance, and St. Judy's Comet  when the glue enters into his sons world of pirates. If you still need more convincing that it is awesome just go over the their official website, because after many blogs that were started to keep track of the music used (and probably lots of email questions to NBC) "Parenthood Music" is now a section of their website!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
If you know me you know I am a huge fan of Buffy. Bias aside, they use music very well. They introduced a ton of new artists and through their music selection created their own sound. They had great musical guest appearances, a fabulous fake band that was really a real band and the scores? AMAZING! (like movie quality good) Oh, and did I mention they did an amazing musical episode? Because they did. They were so good that since the series ended they have released 2 more soundtracks! (Adding to the two they had already!)

Freaks and Geeks:
I just started watching this show a little over a year ago and not only did I like the show but the music was awesome. Made in a time before it was standard for TV shows to be released on DVD they used an impressive all star lineup of music-including a whole episode of music from Billy Joel and another from The Who. When it came to releasing this cult classic on DVD they decided to get the original music (making it super expensive) because they said the original music was so important to the show. It is. There was so much music directly referred to by characters, sung by characters, and was just the perfect song to play in that scene. Oh and for those who don't know it takes place in 1980 so it is all awesome 60's and 70's rock. I would recommend this show if you don't mind feeling a little depressed, seeing an all star cast before they were all stars, enjoying some laughs and of course-good music.

Honorable Mention:

• How I Met Your Mother: Great theme song and great use of some awesome music here and there. What is that? You want to go to the mall? Today?
• The O.C.:(Don't call it that) I have never seen The O.C. but they have five soundtracks that are all pretty good. And speaking of the O.C...
• Arrested Development: With very little non-original music (Afternoon Delight...it doesn't sound like it would be that bad...) they did a great job with their quirky score and creating songs to sound like the songs that were just too expensive to use like "Yellow Boat". Their music became another layer of hilarious comedy in one of the most layered and hysterical shows. ("It aint easy being white...")
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: It is a horribly hilarious show. It is not good or clean but it is fun. Five of the most horrible people living a horrible life of vain selfishness and hilarious high-jinx. Oh but this is about music isn't it? Well to go along with the horrible things they do they have happy, calm and sophisticated (don't forget free) classical music as a score. Then add in a little Biz Markie, Berlin, Rick Astley, Steve Winwood, and top off with Poison and some acapella.Wow, right? But you also cannot forget the stylings of musical prodigy Charlie, with hits like Dayman, Rock. Flag. Eagle., Tiny Boy, and of course his first big sensation Nightman. They know how to use music hilariously.

Purging Part 1: Get rid of your memories

 Yeah I know it is not Saturday and if anyone is actually keeping track I am supposed to be posting on Saturday...well that is not happening. I have realized that I am never around a computer on the weekends so instead I will only be posting during the week. So here is the kick off to my trying to live simple series: purging (the throwing stuff away kind not the throwing up kind). Now I have talked about this already but I am going to talk about it again so deal with it.

After you make the decision that your life is too chaotic, cluttered and complicated and that those things are unnecessary, purging is the first thing to do. Purging has many benefits to your new desired lifestyle:

• Gets rid of some of that physical clutter, which will lead to getting rid of the other kinds of clutter too.
• You see progress right away which motivates to you keep going.
• The less stuff you have in the way the more you can do.
• The less stuff you have in your house the less you are going to want to bring unnecessary new stuff in.
• The less stuff you have the more you will use the things you have. 
• Could possible make some money.
• When you move, re-carpet, get water in the basement there is less stuff to move or to damage and in the case of a hurricane and your place is flooded to the ceiling and volunteers have to come and clean out the stuff you horded for years, they will be in a much better mood and will not curse your house for the rest of their lives.
• If feels good to have fewer, more practical and cooler things. (Instead of a ton of crap)

Now if you are like me (sentimental) it is hard to get rid of stuff because of the memories I have attached to it. "Aww that is the stuffed animal my dad won me when I found out my class for 5th grade and was super depressed" But that turned out alright ;) "Oh, my grandma got me that watch one Christmas" But I have yet to wear it, or the one she got me before that one- I do not wear watches. "Haha, Cece was so proud of her practical gift!" But I cannot whistle so therefore cannot use it...so why hold onto it? I was definitely a pack rat most of my life, living with other pack rats where the solution when the stuff reached a breaking point was put it in random boxes and pack it away in storage never to be seen again. What is the point of that? Just because you get rid of stuff does not mean you loose the memories. (I remember the three things mentioned earlier but they are all gone now) This is always the hardest lesson to get across to people on Clean Sweep, Clean House and Hoarders. Also just because that was a gift does not mean you have to keep it forever buried under mounds of other gifts that are never used. I doubt that is what the gift-giver wanted. (But side-note: it is a gift so you can do whatever you want with it now...it is yours..so re-gift it, throw it away, sell it or use the heck out of it- it is yours now.)

Now to be honest you will probably loose some memories. It is called getting older and filling our head with other ones. But, people tend to remember the important things and if you really want to remember something take a picture of you with it or write it down in a journal. Those take up a lot less space.

So in conclusion- purge. I will be struggling with this as I start to go through those randomly packed boxes in storage that were to never be seen again but hopefully I will listen to my own advice.

Music Monday: Period Pieces

Music can be a great way to set the time in a movie or TV show. It can be reminiscent of what was heard at the time (for example the amazing score to Pride & Prejudice) or set the mood of that time period that we may not have lived through or only read about in history books. The right music helps to define the culture, helps you to feel for the characters or the society at the time, and can even date the movie to a time and place in our own memory. Good music of that time is essential in order to really feel like you are living in that time along with the characters.

Here are a few of my favorites that did it right: (note these are again non-score, non-musical and also movies that were made in a different time period than they were set. So things like Breakfast Club could not make the list)

Remember the Titans: I love this movie, and one of the reasons is because I love the music so much. They use the music so well in this movie. To show blending of cultures, get you hyped up to win some football, to sing on the bus and in a cafeteria, and also a possibly accidental-but well placed reference-to the saddest movie ever...The Temptations movie. (don't watch it, it is depressing- if you want me to explain the reference to spare  you the horrific details just let me know) And no offense to Foo Fighters because I love them but "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and "Up Around the Bend" get me more excited to win a football game. (Plus they let the song play and don't just use the same 20 seconds over and over and over)

Forrest Gump: This is another good movie, and if you have seen it know that is the story of Forrest Gump from childhood to adulthood. Which means it starts in the 50s and ends in the late 70's- a great time for music. They use music so well in this movie to show the passing of time and to highlight the emotions of a scene. With Hendrix, Dylan, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Beach Boys, Hank Williams, Elvis, Doobie Brothers, Skynyrd, The Supremes, and even some Tony Orlando- this soundtrack is amazing and has to be one of the most expensive ever made. (Probably is beat by The Wonder Years, which is why you will never see that on DVD)

The Wedding Singer: Lets get out of the 60's and move into an awesome decade: the 80s. The Wedding Singer is a great soundtrack with so many 80s standards. You've got your Falco, Culture Club, Journey, Hall & Oats, Wham and the heart of every great 80's soundtrack: Huey Lewis & The News!! (Heck it even has the Smiths!) I am a fan of the movie as well and when I heard they were turning this into a Broadway musical I was excited but nervous about them not using the amazing music from the film. (this was before the current trend of taking popular music already out there and making a story around it) However, I saw it on Broadway and it definitely captured the 80's perfectly just like the movie. (Although I did miss a little "Do you really want to hurt me?")


New Release to check out tomorrow: Rave On Buddy Holly. It. is. fantastic! (Good new releases have really slowed down, it will pick up in fall.)