The 20 Something Society

I posted before that I have always been a big soundtrack person, which probably stems from the fact that I am a big movie person.  You know how some ppl leave daytime television on all day?  I play movies and if they are on DVD I then play the movie with the commentary on, then I play all of the special features.

Well, I have found in my late 20′s that I am really a fan of Nancy Meyers.  I have gotten to the point that I can turn a movie on and know that its Nancy Meyers just by the styling, the look, the music, the subject matter.  I turned on the remake of The Parent Trap this morning, it had already started, and one of the twins was about to pierce the others ears at summer camp.  After a few minutes I said to myself “Why does this sound seem like a Nancy Meyers film?”  Not thinking she would do a children’s film.  IMDBd it and sure enough – Nancy Meyers.

The story lines are more the lighthearted romantic which isnt usually my main dig.  But for some reason I like hers.  Her set design is impeccable and unmistakably her.  The film scores are light and I could just let them play all day.

It’s Complicated- here are some images of her set designs from It’s Complicated.

Its Complicated Soundtrack on YouTube.

The Holiday.  Here are some images of set designs from The Holiday.  There are two main locations here , a California home and a British country cottage.

The Holiday soundtrack on YouTube.

Somethings Gotta Give.  Here are some set design images from Somethings Gotta Give.

Somethings Gotta Give soundtrack on YouTube.

The Parent Trap soundtrack on YouTube.

Ever since I started my own CD collection growing up, I’ve always been a big soundtrack collector.  When I was little, before everyone had a CD player, I had my mothers tape collection.  The tapes I remember listening to the most when I was very young are:  Madonna, Billy Idol, and The Big Chill soundtrack.  To this day that is one of my favorite soundtracks.

Just look at all the songs listed on the album cover above!!  The tape version we had only had those songs – but now there is a ‘deluxe edition’ you can buy that has many more.  It really is one of the best soundtracks ever put together.  Filled with Motown classics, it is an album that you can put on and folks from all generations will smile.
The Big Chill Soundtrack on YouTube.

When I got the iPhone 5 for xmas, I sent my old one to Amazon for a credit.  It was somewhere around $45.  I ended up spending it on:

Two tracks from the Rosemarys Baby Soundtrack.  Rosemarys Baby is one of my favorite movies, and the music by Krzysztof Komeda is beautiful.  These are my two favorite tracks from the soundtrack, and the ones that I purchased.  Rosemary\’s Baby Main Theme Vocal & Rosemary\’s Baby Komeda Composing 1 .  To me, the perfect Lullabies.

There is a documentary on Komeda in the features of the Criterion Collection version of Rosemary’s Baby.  He was a famous Polish composer/Jazz pianist.  He wrote the scores for 4 of Roman Polanskis films (including Rosemary’s Baby, obviously).

Then I bought Cards Against Humanity.  It is a game, not meant for everyone.  It’s awesomely horrible.

And this past week Peter Pan was released ‘for a limited time’.  You know how Disney does that whole “OMG we’re opening The Vaults and you can have this movie for a little bit!”  Well, I’m not one of these adults who is obsessed with Disney movies, in fact I don’t think I own any of the other ‘classic’ disney cartoon movies.  But Peter Pan is a story that I love and so the Disney cartoon is one that it special to me, and one that I could watch over and over.  Doug Peters is quoted on Amazon as saying it “…instills an element of childlike wonder.”  which is something that I thankfully still have not lost.

What would you buy with your Amazon gift card?

I know when you hear people talking about very important films in their lives, films that hold a place in their hearts, you don’t expect to hear ‘Scream’ included.  Though, as I sit here watching it for the who knows how many-enth time, absent mindedly reciting all of the lines as I work, I know that for me, it is true.  Scream was released in 1996 when I was 11 years old and in the fifth grade.  As I grew older I was widely known as a horror nerd, in college I was a member of only one club – The Horror Club, which members of my horror class started.  My final paper in Study of Film was on the horror genre, which was a risk considering how our professor openly spoke about how he deplored horror.  But, I had a mind to turn him around, to see the genre as more than just sickos who love blood and violence.  I think I did a little something, he gave me an A on the final and wrote notes on how much he enjoyed and learned reading through it.  I probably still have it packed up in a box somewhere.  But I digress.

In 1996, when Scream was released and I was 11 years old, I was just starting to like horror movies, that is, not be scared of them and be really interested in watching them.  That year I changed schools from public school to private school.  Not just a private school, but a christian private school.  Most of the kids seemed sheltered, and lived in stable households that had strict rules and regulations.  Not me.  I was living with my working class mom and step dad- one tended to work all day and slept all night while the other slept all day and worked all night.  While my step siblings and I pretty much did what we wanted.  We were allowed to listen to what music we wanted, watch what movies and TV we wanted, and the two older of us spent A LOT of time staying out with friends rather than at home (especially once we really got into middle/high school).  It took mom, my stepdad (Kevin), my grandparents, and my Great grandparents pulling together to get me to Mobile Christian School.  I had a hard time really relating to ANY of the kids, but I still made friends.  I met one girl that year who would be my best and closest friend through middle school, into high school, and while we aren’t as close as we should be now, we keep in contact- Courtney.  Courtney was also allowed to listen to what she wanted, watch what she wanted, and raised to be independent.  I think both of us having young mothers probably also had something to do with that.

My birthday is in May, so by the end of the school year I had friends to invite over for a birthday party.  I didn’t think about it at the time, but now that I am an adult, I am sure that mom and Kevin gave me such an extravagant party because I WAS at the private school with a lot of kids who came from families that had a lot more money than we did, and there was extra stress placed on my shoulders because of that.  They booked us a suite at the Adams Mark Hotel (fancy) and let me invite a bunch of girls over for a slumber party.  We swam, gossiped, ate pizza, got hyper and did stupid fifth grade girl things…..and Mom ordered Scream on pay per view for us.  This again, is something that I look at differently now.  At the time we were all excited and totally pumped (and many scared).  But now I think to myself – how did we get AWAY with this?!?!?!?!  This was a huge risk!!  All of these little christian girls who were not allowed to watch these types of movies – and OMG its rated R!  How did we not have moms calling to fuss later and banning their children from hanging out with me?!  They must have been too afraid that they would get in trouble to mention it to their parents I guess.  But we had a blast.  I remember sitting with my friend Lauren, both of us clutching a pillow and hiding behind it together during the scariest parts, once both of us diving behind so fiercely that we knocked our heads together pretty hard!  When the pizza man knocked on the door we all screamed that it was a killer and were scared to open the door.  Good times.

When the movie came out on VHS I immediately begged my mother to buy it for me or bought it with babysitting money one.  Courtney and I watched it a million times and would sit and both recite all of the lines together.  I had two huge movie posters hanging in my middle school room – one was for Grease.  The other?  This right here.  And it stuck around through college.  (might I add I was already obsessed with Drew Barrymore before Scream, and stayed that way a long time after?)

After that I went to the theaters to see every sequel.  I remember the next year when I was 12, I went to see the second one with my Uncle, who I have always been very close with, and his friends- a bunch of 20 somethings.  I don’t clearly remember going to see Scream 3- though I’m sure it was with Courtney, and of course when 4 came out I went with my husband, Todd.

People who aren’t horror nerds just see these types of movies as trivial, though many of them aren’t.  When Scream came out horror was seen as a dying genre. Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven created something fresh and smart. The writing was spot on- creating a world wherein the main characters were aware of horror movies and all of their laughable cliches, and openly referred to and made fun of them.  The key was the self awareness.  While this is normal in movies now, at the time this was NEW.  The characters were relatable for ‘Generation X’.  I related to Randy, crushed on Stu, and wished I could be Tatum.  The casting was spot on perfect, and the soundtracks/score was really great too.  (I also had all of the soundtracks, I have always been a soundtrack girl, if you would have flipped through my ginormous CD book there were definitely more soundtracks than artists albums).This movie is now known for breathing life into horror, and raising it from the brink of death.  And hey, its always been there for me!

So, as many of you know I am a huge fan of Wes Anderson films.  And the soundtracks to Wes Anderson films.  His latest release, Moonrise Kingdom, looks spectacular.  But of course it is still on limited release and not playing anywhere in Alabama.  Recently it started playing at one theater in Atlanta which isn’t too far.  But I’ll wait a bit longer because I am confident it will start playing at The Rave in Jones Valley.  I hope SOON though its killing me!!  I already went to amazon and checked out the soundtrack, which I liked.  I was disappointed to not see the name Mark Mothersbaugh there though.

This song is on the soundtrack.  I love old French pop music.

Its been awhile since we’ve done The Crying Game.  Initially I said I was going to keep up with everything that makes me cry and then share all of the ridiculousness at the end of each month.  But it was just too much.  So I think I’ll just pop in every once in a while and say.

This one gets me every single time.

The parade scene in Ferris Buellers Day Off.  Most specifically the part when Ferris “performs” Twist and Shout by The Beatles

It even just made me cry when I watched it on youtube to find it for this blog post….

I don’t know what it is about it.  I guess its probably a bunch of little things.

Seeing a Beatles song being “performed” in front of an audience?

Knowing that a lot of the footage was just of real Chicago citizens who showed up for the real parade that went through the streets just before this movie one came trailing behind it and really reacted in such a raucous way – singing and dancing along?  (why yes I am a commentary – making of biography-special features watching nerd)

Seeing so many different ages and cultures singing and dancing along to the same rock n roll song?  (I guess it also helps that it is The Beatles)

Today I did a lot of at home work.  Ordering.  Follow up phone calls.  Organization.  You know the drill.  While I worked on my laptop from my own comfy couch I watched Gus Van Sants Elephant.  The movie is, according to Netflix, an “unnerving tale about high school violence that unfolds on an ordinary school day…”.  Admittedly, I wanted to see it because it IS a Gus Van Sant movie and he is a friggin genius.  I didn’t think I’d like it because of the subject matter, which is strange because I am VERY interested in (mostly true) crime movies, shows, and novels.  I didn’t think I would like it because I get very aggravated when the subject of school violence comes up.  People act so dumbfounded by it and I think its dumb to be dumbfounded.  If a person is a violent person, and a teenager, most of their time is spent at school.  School is like another home.  You know every little nook and crannie of that freakin place!  Nearly everyone you know is either related to you or goes to your school.  Anyone you feel any animosity towards is probably going to be there.  I guess I always look at it as a ‘crap happens’ situation.  Don’t get me wrong, its a horrible thing, but I just never understand why people can’t believe it happens and when it does they look for any little ridiculous thing like what kind of music the child listens to or what type of movies they watch.  Please.  Yes, of course a violent minded person is going to watch violent movies, play violent video games, and listen to hostile music.

Anyway.  I was surprised that I DID like the movie, and that it actually did unnerve me – i am pretty desensitized when it comes to violence and the like.  I loved the camera work and the way he followed several different students from different crowds on an average day – and you could see how their paths cross.

When the violence started everything seemed pretty calm.  This surprised me.  In my head I expected a rehearsed or at least talked about course of action to have taken place when the shooting started.  The school seemed small – one building.  (I don’t know about you but my public high school had about ten.)  The students could hear the initial shots – and the kids screaming, but they didnt run, didnt close and barracade doors, they just jumped, and went about their business.

I thought about this and it dawned on me that for instance, when the Columbine School Shooting happened, no one really thought about it ever happening.  I’m sure it has happened before that, but the only big school shootings that I can even think of off of the top of my head is Columbine and Virginia Tech.  So before Columbine, the fact that someone may be shooting up your high school would probably be the last thing on your mind.  You might think someone fell, dropped something very heavy, a drama class is filming some sort of project.  Anything but a shooting.

Now it very well may be the first thing to pop into a students head.  I think parents should talk to their kids about the possibility of a school shooting and tell them just a few simple things they need to know to do.  Don’t go out in the halls.  Close your classroom door – barricade it – call the police if anyone has a cell phone – escape through a window if possible – duck under your desk if not.  It is likely the shooters will cause a commotion in a big gathering place that will make students run into the halls where they can just shoot through the crowd and hit a larger number of people.  I think it would be a good idea for a scheduled drill just like for fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes.

Anyways, sorry if I’m blabbering on, but the movie is good and worth a watch.

and on an unrelated note, I really liked the clean simple design of the DVD menu.

So kids, last week I had a bit of sadness enter my life.  One of my most favoritest bands, The White Stripes, are no more.

If you haven’t given them a listen, you have been deprived.  We were planning on seeing them live the next time they tour.  Now we won’t be able to and this is a lesson in ‘sometimes there may not be a next time.’

They went on a tour across Canada in 2007 and released their only live album, a dvd documentary, and a book of photographs taken documenting the tour.  You can get the whole box set for about $260 – or buy it piece by piece like me.  I just received the book in the mail.  It is normally $45 but right now on Amazon its $9.  My friend Jimmy tweeted that deal to me and I immediately snagged it!

I didn’t want to take too many pictures of someone elses photography – so here is the cover and my favorite shots – Meg and Jack sleeping on a plane.

So I am back from my little trip to Chicago.  I was there for a photography workshop which was so fun, so informative, and so worth it.  It has really given me a new little push of excitement.  I got to meet a lot of people who have the same passion as I do and want to learn more.  I got to meet people that I work with (online).  And I got to see people who have taught me in the past and will continue to do so.  I was also able to travel with a couple of gals who I work closely with weekly and we really had a lot of fun together.  We all took a ton of hipstamatics and Imma gonna share some!

We flew out Saturday, checked into the hotel, ate some Chipotle, and went to a welcome party!  Sadly we didn’t get any outfit/party shots.

Started and finished this within the hour.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn – and I gotta say – it was nice.  Awesome fitness center, great breakfast, coffee AND flavored creamers, to go cups, sleep by number beds, and really nice bedding.  My husband thinks I’m nuts because I tend to base my hotel selection firstly on the fact that they better NOT have bedspreads.

Sunday was an all day long workshop with the ladies.

just a few of the nice ladies!

Charlie – the incredibly creepy and real looking practice newborn.

After that we had dinner and finally saw Black Swan.  The movie was SO good.  The costumes were beautiful.  The dancing was spectacular.

Monday we awoke to another day of workshop, Chicago deep dish pizza for lunch (!) and then flew out of Chicago just in time to miss the big blizzard.

Started this on the plane.

Some portraits I took during the workshop.

I’m spending the day on the computer – in blogland, editing from my last JJP wedding, ordering product.  Over on ye olde tv Cold Mountain is on.  If you haven’t seen this movie – go watch it.  But even more importantly.  Go listen to the soundtrack.  The movie is moving in and of itself, but paired with the music….the music kind of makes it for me.  The music is “The Crying Game” worthy I can tell you that.  Some songs on the soundtrack are religious – which I am not – but I still frequently listen to them.  The music is raw and full of emotion.  Please, go listen.

Here is Jack White performing “Wayfaring Stranger” live.

Tim Eriksen, Riley Baugus, Tim’OBrien – I Wish My Baby Was Born