Friday, June 22, 2007

Songs make the scene

So this may be the first in an ongoing series, but I want to point out some scenes in movies where the accompanying soundtrack totally set the mood for the scene, whether it was the lyrics or the melody itself. These are the ones that pop into mind for now, and in no particular order. Keep in mind that I am neither a music or film elitist, and these are only my opinion.

CRUEL INTENTIONS - "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve.

Reese witherspoon looked so triumphant when she outed Sarah Michelle Gellar for the whoring cokehound she was at the end of this film, and I've always found this song to be a really up-lifting song. If you catch me hearing it on a really bright sunny day, I can almost imagine birds taking flight. Crazy I know.

The title plays into this as well. The end of this film certainly is bittersweet for little Reese, as she has taken her revenge on SMG, but her equally whoring boyfriend is roadkill. At least she got a sweet ride out of the deal.

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EMPIRE RECORDS - "Little Bastard" by Ass Ponys

The title pretty much says it all, when we the viewing audience become witness to the on-foot chase between Lucas and local shoplifter 'Warren Beatty'. Plus the upbeat tempo makes this scene all teh more amusing, with it's lightheartedness. It was one song that actually contributed to the feel of a scene, instead of filling a scene.

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HIGHWAY 61 - "Its not Unusual" by Tom Jones

Four people, running through an eccentric rock stars mansion, chasing their dinner in the form of live chickens, to be hunted through the halls of said mansion with handguns. How does one top that level of absurdity? SET IT TO TOM JONES!!! The Velvet Fog was just what Bruce McDonald needed to set this particular scene right over the top. One of the best scenes I've ever seen.

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I'm gonna post this as a thread in group, and I may post other peoples suggestions as well. Based pretty much on my own subjective opinions though.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

All kinds of baffled.

I got something in the mail that promises to alter the course of my life quite a bit. A while ago, when I was applying for the Social Work program at Lakehead, I had two other spots available on my form. So for shits and giggles I applied at Ryerson, and for shits and rowdier giggles, I sent an app to the University of Toronto, not thinking that in a million years I would actually get in.

Fast forward about, eeeeehhhhh, six months or so, to last night. I've already received rejection letters from Lakehead, which was unexpected, and Ryerson, which is expected since I never did a damn thing to follow up on that app, as I was planning on going to Lakehead. By this point I have already made my decision to return to LU@G next year part time.

I'm heading out to hang out at Cromsie and Tims, and think 'Hey, I haven't checked my mail in a day or two'. Inside is a large envelope marked UofT. Now, remember, I pretty much took it for granted that U of T was a bullshit application. So, the big envelope threw me off, as rejection letters are usually sent in little envelopes with little to no to-do.

Get out to the car.

Open envelope.

I'm in. I'm motherfucking in. See additional page for conditions relating to your acceptance. No conditions. No essays to write, no tests to take, no interveiws. I'm just in.

So I question, I'm all done my degree... do I want to do this? And then I thought... it's fucking U of T? I'll analogize for my American friends. To turn it down would be similar to saying 'I don't need to go to Harvard, I have this degree from the University of Idaho'

No offence to anyone who may have attended the University of Idaho. I'm sure it's a reputable institution.

So... I've got some thinking to do. The interesting thing is, that I was saying to my dad a few weeks ago that I was thinking of maybe picking up a second degree in english or history.

I worried about the commute. I worried about the workload. I worried about the debt incurred by another 2 years in school (oh, yeah, they wanna give me 5.0 transfer credits, which adds up to about a years worth of work... SA-WEET) But the thing is, this time around, if it's too much, and I can't hack it, and I find I have to quit....

I STILL HAVE A DEGREE. It's not a case where I quit, go back to the convenience store to forever pay off 50G worth of debt incurred for sweet fuckall. I have something to fall back on.

But yeah, I have some soul searching, some financial planning and some new car searching -- because poor Lurch will not survive a commute to Scarborough... Barrie was asking a lot as it is -- but I really think I'm gonna do it. Could mean big things for me.