Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Reflection Pond #14

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke (2009)

This is my guilty pleasure for the year. A pot full of fun mixed with an ounce of nostalgia. I used to live in Chula Vista and every summer we would play out in the street all day long: baseball, basketball, football, hide-n-seek, flirting and kissing. I was fourteen and we were going to move to a new house. I would be at a different school, trying to discover new friends and new adventures. I was scared out of my wits. That's when Matthew Broderick stumbled upon Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfieffer's doomed loved. They were cursed, you see, couldn't ever see each other in the flesh; Hauer was to be human by day and wolf by night, while Pfeiffer was a hawk by day and human at night. They traveled together but only ever caught a glimpse of each other during sunrise and sunset when they transitioned from one form to the next. It's a great concept and one that my teenage self connected with, but unfortunately, like most movies during the 80's, it had a certain sense of the ridiculous. They tried to keep true to the style of the medieval tale but let's just say that the 80's version of a movie score often left a lot to be desired. I loved it though and still find myself quoting lines from the movie to my children, so when I heard about a woman who was going by the moniker of said film, I immediately felt a kinship. It's perfect too! Her music has the same sense of 80's nostalgia but geared toward our current decade. It's a little ridiculous at time but always seems to catch itself at the right moment and come skating back into harmonious bliss. Phillipa "Pip" Brown creates wonderfully smooth music and if you were ever a gawky teenager during the 80's who didn't quite know how to transition into the great night of adulthood that loomed before you, then this is the album for you. Since it's Ladyhawke's first, hopefully we have many more years ahead of us to delve into the light of those days, only catching a glimpse of the divide between the two.


Hawaii, Oslo - Erik Poppe (2004)

Okay, this was my favorite movie for awhile this year. I love movies that take you along a strange circuitous route through the lives of a group of people who are somehow connected and where you know there is going to be some profound revelation at the end. We see these types of films all the time and half the time they totally suck (Crash anyone?) but the other half of the time...well, sweet fucking bliss according to moi. But then I confided my love of Hawaii, Oslo to someone I know that I respect more than anyone else in the world and convinced this person that they must watch it. So we watched it together and all of the interesting aspects of the film that I enjoyed so much before, really began to annoy this person and now that I knew the ending, all of the rest of it seemed terribly plodding and monotonous the second time around. So my suggestion is that you watch this film once and have appreciation for what it is: an extremely well-made film by an auteur who has a succinct vision. Just allow the gravity to pull you in and Hawaii, Oslo should be a pleasant viewing experience. There are guardian angels all around us everyday and in turn we ourselves are also guardian angels as well. We all have a need to take care of certain people in our lives and that obligation allows an element of protection for those people's lives. Whether it's that great teacher that we had in fourth grade or the doctor at the emergency room who takes special care of our son or our own parents, spouses, friends. These special people in our lives love us whole-heartedly and that love guards us in wonderful and profound ways. Those are the angels and spirits that I believe in and I don't need to look to heaven to feel them in my life.

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