"Help" comes closest to what I was wondering about & may well be a case in point! Thank you. "The Sound of Music" is a film adaptation of an existing musical, so not quite that. And pretty sure Morricone wrote the theme music for "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" for the film; the film wasn't made in order to feature his already-existing compositions, right? Thanks for reading!
Hi Naomi. You wrote: a "movie made to feature a song..." The Beatles song/move "Help" comes to mind. Or "The Sound of Music" another. Or the unforgettable (for some) spaghetti western theme song written by Ennio Morricone, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." Perhaps? Well, no doubt a very deep rabbit hole.
I was so inclined to comment that I even made a Substack account. One day hopefully I'll start writing stuff down as well.
Some observations:
- The cinema looks so cool. Take me there when I finally get to visit you in Sacramento!
- Suzuki is a wild one. Like the guy a lot, but need to watch much more. Tokyo Drifter is phenomenal.
- I feel like I'm doing a full circle on Von Trier. Liked him a lot in my early days of cinephilia; later on, started thinking of him as an annoying poseur; am now going back to him and feeling that, hmm, he's definitely got *something*. Even the provocateur vibes are coming off as flat-out hilarious nowadays. Still hate Nymphomaniac, though.
- I frowned a bit when I read Marienbad described as "moody, boring", but then I thought a bit about it, and... yes, I think I agree. There's something about Resnais that feels dated (and so French, my God) nowadays. I remember really enjoying Marienbad and Hiroshima back when I first watched them, but not that long ago I watched "My American Uncle" and suffered the whole way through.
- Regarding the song bit: have you seen Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar? Not sure what's the story behind the music there, but for musically curious, genre-defying, colorful, over-the-top filmmaking, I think it doesn't get much better than that.
Comrade Lucas! I'm so tickled that I'm the one that lured you to Substack :-)
The only other Von Trier I've seen is "Breaking the Waves," which I loved. I saw it when it first came out in the U.S., years ago. I wonder how I would feel about it now. I suspect I'd still love it, honestly.
You know, I thought of you when I typed the words "moody, boring"! (I thought, Ah, Lucas is going to disapprove of this, but alas, it was my experience of the film).
I've never seen "Johnny Guitar," but thanks for the recommendation!
Film written for a song, I love that! Also love the song now and added it to my playlist on Spotify (I know, I should probably not have a Spotify account because it’s bad to the artists, but it’s so convenient for a music love like myself). I’m also adding Tokyo Drifter to my ever-growing must-watch list. I watch a lot of TV/streaming series and films for a living that I sometimes miss out on so much because I stay away from screens on my free time sometimes. Needless to say, my must watch-list is backed up as the moment. I also love the idea of a small cinema experience. Watching a film on the big screen (the way it is intended) is so much better than any high-definition 100-inch flatscreen (do they make those yet) can offer. The audience adds so much to the experience! It has also been a little while since I’ve watched a film on the big screen. Sometimes I get to screen the films I subtitle for work on small screening rooms, but I don’t think that counts. And to circle back on the whole “film written for a song” idea, I find most of my creative inspiration to come from music. Yes, I am typing this as I listen to Spotify play my current “most played” songs in shuffled. :)
Thanks for reading & commenting! It's such a catchy song, right? It's been stuck in my head for two weeks now. (And I get the Spotify dilemma. That's where I listen to nearly everything these days.) Your work as a film/TV subtitler sounds so interesting, but I can see how then watching movies might feel like what they used to call a "busman's holiday."
"Help" comes closest to what I was wondering about & may well be a case in point! Thank you. "The Sound of Music" is a film adaptation of an existing musical, so not quite that. And pretty sure Morricone wrote the theme music for "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" for the film; the film wasn't made in order to feature his already-existing compositions, right? Thanks for reading!
Hi Naomi. You wrote: a "movie made to feature a song..." The Beatles song/move "Help" comes to mind. Or "The Sound of Music" another. Or the unforgettable (for some) spaghetti western theme song written by Ennio Morricone, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." Perhaps? Well, no doubt a very deep rabbit hole.
Comrade!
I was so inclined to comment that I even made a Substack account. One day hopefully I'll start writing stuff down as well.
Some observations:
- The cinema looks so cool. Take me there when I finally get to visit you in Sacramento!
- Suzuki is a wild one. Like the guy a lot, but need to watch much more. Tokyo Drifter is phenomenal.
- I feel like I'm doing a full circle on Von Trier. Liked him a lot in my early days of cinephilia; later on, started thinking of him as an annoying poseur; am now going back to him and feeling that, hmm, he's definitely got *something*. Even the provocateur vibes are coming off as flat-out hilarious nowadays. Still hate Nymphomaniac, though.
- I frowned a bit when I read Marienbad described as "moody, boring", but then I thought a bit about it, and... yes, I think I agree. There's something about Resnais that feels dated (and so French, my God) nowadays. I remember really enjoying Marienbad and Hiroshima back when I first watched them, but not that long ago I watched "My American Uncle" and suffered the whole way through.
- Regarding the song bit: have you seen Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar? Not sure what's the story behind the music there, but for musically curious, genre-defying, colorful, over-the-top filmmaking, I think it doesn't get much better than that.
Comrade Lucas! I'm so tickled that I'm the one that lured you to Substack :-)
The only other Von Trier I've seen is "Breaking the Waves," which I loved. I saw it when it first came out in the U.S., years ago. I wonder how I would feel about it now. I suspect I'd still love it, honestly.
You know, I thought of you when I typed the words "moody, boring"! (I thought, Ah, Lucas is going to disapprove of this, but alas, it was my experience of the film).
I've never seen "Johnny Guitar," but thanks for the recommendation!
Film written for a song, I love that! Also love the song now and added it to my playlist on Spotify (I know, I should probably not have a Spotify account because it’s bad to the artists, but it’s so convenient for a music love like myself). I’m also adding Tokyo Drifter to my ever-growing must-watch list. I watch a lot of TV/streaming series and films for a living that I sometimes miss out on so much because I stay away from screens on my free time sometimes. Needless to say, my must watch-list is backed up as the moment. I also love the idea of a small cinema experience. Watching a film on the big screen (the way it is intended) is so much better than any high-definition 100-inch flatscreen (do they make those yet) can offer. The audience adds so much to the experience! It has also been a little while since I’ve watched a film on the big screen. Sometimes I get to screen the films I subtitle for work on small screening rooms, but I don’t think that counts. And to circle back on the whole “film written for a song” idea, I find most of my creative inspiration to come from music. Yes, I am typing this as I listen to Spotify play my current “most played” songs in shuffled. :)
Thanks for reading & commenting! It's such a catchy song, right? It's been stuck in my head for two weeks now. (And I get the Spotify dilemma. That's where I listen to nearly everything these days.) Your work as a film/TV subtitler sounds so interesting, but I can see how then watching movies might feel like what they used to call a "busman's holiday."