5 posts tagged “video”
It is Johnny Cash madness again!
Thanks to Lai Chow, finally I got some (or rather a whole load) Johnny Cash songs, especially...
Jackson by Johnny Cash and June Carter: I've been in love with this song ever since I watched Walk the Line with the MI buddies. This is the original song, but you have to check out the rendition by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.
I heart their voices (like how bees love honey... okay, lame). Somehow I prefer Witherspoon's buttery voice to Carter's rough one, but Phoenix absolutely pulled off an almost-perfect rendition of Cash. I am on a look-out for the soundtrack (waiting for the price to drop). LOL. I saw it previously in HMV, maybe it is about time to purchase it.
The movie is another story though. Personally, I enjoyed it (though almost the rest of the class was dozing off in the theatre which, other than us 16 young ones, was filled with old couples). There were some moments when I slipped into a state of half-alseep, but I recovered when another song started playing. So you can very well say, the movie felt like a dream, because most of the time I was watching unconsciously (I'm not sure whether this is good or bad). However, I've to say the songs save the movie. I mean, Cash's story is pretty cliche (all bad things befall on you to bring you happiness): losing brother at a young age thus slip into depression, singer becomes drug addict, meets a girl and girl changes his life. Of course, there's also the prison performance scene, but that's not really part of the plot.
Other than the songs, one other thing (or person) saves the movie: Joaquin Phoenix, who else! Oh my Joaquin Phoenix - he defines manly charisma plus mysterious aura. He looks like someone with a dark past, soaked in enigma, and provoking you to uncover his secret bit by bit... All right, enough of our dear Joaquin Phoenix. Witherspoon did a good job too - that attitude and screaming and violence (reminds me of the scene when she throws a glass bottle towards the stage where the band was drinking and getting high. She totally woke the shit out of their drunk state. In that scene, Phoenix's reaction spoke a thousand words but a few words stood out to string a sentence: "Girl power can be scary sometimes." Reese Witherspoon can be fierce.
Since I watched Walk the Line without any form of Johnny Cash or June Carter knowledge, I can't judge whether the movie or casts portrayed them with justice. But, according to A. O. Scott's review from The New York Times, they didn't. However, I've to disagree his point that Phoenix did not do justice to Cash's vocal (I think he did fairly well than expected!):
"Even though his singing voice doesn't match the original - how could it? - he is most convincing in concert, when his shoulders tighten and he cocks his head to one side. Otherwise, he seems stuck in the kind of off-the-rack psychological straitjacket in which Hollywood likes to confine troubled geniuses."
What's with the last line?
Oh well, I know you know we know that Joaquin Phoenix sings well, so let's just live in that state of ... state of denial? Oh whatever.
Watch Walk the Line if you are a HUGE fan of Johnny Cash or... history is your favourite subject in school.
This is so typically fan girl, but I can't help it: I JUST DIED! More than once. All thanks to Sakurai Sho and his Yatterman press conference. Ahhhh! I can't get enough of staring at him.
*Nisha regains composure and sits up straight and mannerly*
PV of the week! I remembered watching this during the holidays but I was then obsessed with Step and Go. So, this week, I’m going to be absolutely obsessed with Wahaha! This certainly made my weekend. YAY! Ryo is looking fab here, compared to Taiyou No Namida PV.
Somehow I feel he is happier with Kanjani8. Oh well, just some fangirl's thought.
I spent yesterday just with my lappy and iPod - nothing else. I read up on Arthur Rimbaud and haiku. Inspired by the recent novel I read by Ryu Murakami, called 69 because of the 1969 setting, I read through most of the available online information of Arthur Rimbaud. I hope to head down to the National Library someday this week to read up more. He is inspirational, considering that he started on poetry at a very young age. I've yet to come across any of his translated poems, but I presume I'll love them. In addition, I read briefly about his scandalous partner, the Symbolist poet Paul Verlaine, Chuya Nakahara, Matsuo Basho, Edgar Allan Poe and Hideo Kobayashi. And, somehow I was directed to haiku (oh, of course, since Basho is known to be the master of haiku). Since I've only written freestyle poetry, haiku's strict boundaries did intrigued me and I attempted to write a haiku. But, I failed. With the basic boundary of the pattern of 5-7-5 morae (I used syllables instead), using 17 syllables, having one kigo (season word), placing one kireji at the end of the first or second line (since I'm writing in English, I used punctuation instead) and having 4 or less lines, this was what I ended up with.
Glad you came back now
drawing the warm ray of hope.
past gone present faced
But, I read more about haiku and realise that the first line has to be the first object and the next the second object, and so I gave up. Maybe for now I'll stick to freestyle since I can express myself better in that platform, but that doesn't mean I've given up completely in haiku. I'm going to read up more about it after Arthur Rimbaud.
I was actually first attracted to and fascinated by Basho's Old Pond, in which a few words were used to evoke an image of nature, and here it is to illustrate how a haiku supposed to be (as translated by Fumiko Saisho):
The old pond -
a frog jumps in,
sound of water
from Poem Hunter: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-old-pond/
Ryu Murakami's novel (as mentioned in the first paragraph the title is 69) was captivating and that explains why I managed to complete the book in half a day, which I would usually take a day to complete. His dark humor and description of the post-war Japan and her people made me think twice before taking a lunch break, and even washroom break. It wasn't suspenseful but the flow of the story and wanting to know what trick the lead character will pull or what trouble he'll get into next excited me more than a thriller. Reading the book was like going for a roller-coaster ride, emotion-wise. The ending I really love because Murakami managed to tell what the characters did after their high school. My personal favourite part is when the lead met with his homeroom teacher more than 10 years later and as if life was still in the 1969, the teacher rebuked him for having long messy hair and urged him to go for haircut. It was sad that the lead did not end up with his high school sweetheart, but the novel subtly showed that she still liked him. His tongue-in-the-cheek humor, detailed description of that era and his failure to look at some situation in rose-tinted glasses was refreshing. No prizes for those who know the answer why he is called an enfant terrible. There's the adaptation of his novel on screen, which I will be watching tonight. The comments given by those who have watched were positive, so considering this and that I enjoyed that novel, I would say I'm expecting a really good 2 hours. Read this book while listening to this (from the soundtrack of Honey and Clover Anime), I believe you'll enjoy it doubly.
P.S. There was a problem in uploading the song because the hard disk I have works only in Windows. So, thanks to Youtube.
Sheesh, I'm far behind in Honey and Clover and One Pound Gospel. I should stop watching variety shows - they are just TOO addictive (especially the ones with ARASHI).
One more week,
I woke up realising.
Why did I not feel the stomach knot up like this last week?
Today's obsession, Taiyou No Namida (Tears of the Sun) by NEWS! Pardon the guys' girlish dance steps, otherwise the song is really good. I don't really get the meaning of the song after reading the translation, but it's something about a guy and a girl drifting apart? I prefer not understanding the song and just enjoy its music and the guys' voices. I'm pretty upset over the PV though. I'm not a HUGE fan of NEWS, but am really disappointed. However, Yamapi saved the PV at the end with his cuteness! LOL. Now, I can't wait to watch the movie Kurosagi. Ah! I should start watching the drama first.
