Sunday, February 01, 2009

Rewind #10

Milosh: Meme (2006)

Xtimu discovered Milosh online somewhere and told me that we needed to get some of his music. I went out and found this album without having any idea what to expect. I simply wanted to bring a smile to Xtimu's face because that brings a smile to my face (she has a really great smile). Well, it turns out that he's quite a musician and producer. He started playing the cello when he was three and eventually studied music in college. Lucas recently started to play the violin and one of the reasons is that we wanted his life to be grounded in music. I've always been drawn to music. I can devour endless hours of music, continuously listening to any and all types. I walk around constantly creating mixes in my head. I read about music. I ask people I know about music. I am forever trying to become in-tune with the flow of the aural roll of the universe. I am music...but I never learned how to play. I knew that if I was to ever have children, they would learn and they would play. So now Lucas and I are learning together and as soon as Quinn is old enough, she's going to jump right in as well. The reason we're learning the violin is because I've always loved the beauty in the instrument. There's such an incredible lift that overtakes your spirit when you hear a violin played properly. Milosh is like that. His music has a beauty that elevates the human heart. It's such a pleasure to feel the drift wafting from our speakers and it was a nice surprise to discover this unknown aficionado creating such beauty for all of us.



Slumdog Millionaire: Danny Boyle (2008)

So we went to see Slumdog Millionaire because the hype was just too much for us to avoid. We normally don't go out to the movies anymore (which is why the list doesn't have so many movies from the past year on it) but from all that we read, it seemed like the exact type of movie we would love. It practically felt mandatory that we go. Now, when it comes to film, I want to know as little as possible about the movie before I see it. I don't like to read critiques or analysis that reveal too much about the structure of the film. I usually just need to know who made it, who's in it, maybe a quick concept to draw my interest and that's about it. With Millionaire, though I had read a lot, I intentionally went out of my way to know as little about the story as possible. But damn the hype! Sometimes the hype can overwhelm everything about the movie and that's what happened for me here. I still think it was a good film and it may very easily be the best movie of 2008 (like I said, I haven't seen many of those) but it's definitely not the best movie I saw this year. It just managed to squeeze into my top ten. Since "Shallow Grave", I've always liked Danny Boyle and generally want to see his films when they come out. Millionaire was no different but I don't think it's his best film (Uh...Trainspotting anyone?). Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie but...here's the way it works. A friend of mine received a text message the other day and here's what it said, "Slumdog Millionaire, far and away the best movie of the year." But this guy who wrote that text had no clue what Slumdog Millionaire was, had no idea when he bought the ticket, only went because the person he was with said let's go see it. He hadn't heard one word of the hype and that was the crucial difference. So yeah, it's a great film...but...

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