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John Carney is a sneaky bastard. With a super modest budget of only $130,000 and two non-actors in the lead roles, he was able to release a wee movie that made big waves in the indie festival circuits. If it weren't for Diablo Cody's very PR-able persona and the built-in American/mainstream audience of Juno, Carney's Once would have been 2007's authentic little movie that could.
The film begins unassumingly enough. We meet Guy (Glen Hansard) out in the Dublin streets, earning a little extra during the day by singing covers. In the evenings, he wails his way through original compositions that get the attention of Girl (Marketa Irglova), a Czech immigrant living with her mom and daughter in Ireland.
In the course of a week, they discover exactly why they were meant to meet each other at that particular time of their lives--to make music that becomes more beautiful in every line they don't sing. And in between composing new songs, going on impromptu trips and enjoying the well-concealed frenzy brought on by limited togetherness, Guy and Girl find what everyone craves--real connection.
Carney's budget did not leave much room for sweeping shots and grand vistas, but the few scenes he picked to be most dramatic work to full effect. Expect to be overwhelmed with silently growing emotions by the final scene.
Hansard and Irglova, both real-life musicians (and now real-life lovers), make the whole film look like a lovely intrusion into a blossoming romance that never quite get there due to prying eyes. It's the expectation that Carney weaves so well, so much that you'll hate the well of intense feelings Once will undoubtedly leave in you.
Once won the World Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance and continues to enjoy a 97% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Unsurprisingly, as the music alone is incredible. Hansard's intense, soaring vocals and open-hearted compositions work perfectly with Irglova's plaintive style. The theme song Falling Slowly's tentative opening notes make you sit up, and by the time the song (and the scene) sweeps you up, you'll have fallen for the potential of their love and remember when you were hopeful, too. Critics were unanimous in declaring Once as the musical film of this generation.
The theme is sure to touch many. Indeed, who doesn't have a short, profound affair that changed one's life? The trailer harps on the painful question: How often do you find the right person?
And like this treasure of a movie, such things only happen Once.
The only thing left for me to say is Thank You to everyone involved in this project, and to my sister K for showing it to me. I have never loved a movie as much as I loved this one.
On its very scruffy sleeve, Once wears a heart that's immense.
Chris Lindner, with his beautiful head of golden hair, shows us Pinoys how to find happiness from various heights. Sanuk, the sandals-not-shoes, brings the hot sport climbing champ to little ole Pinas for days of rock, surf, food and all-around kasiyahan.
Dinner and drinks with Mr. Zuluaga. Started at Grappa's, then Krocodile, then Grappa's again. How's that for resto-hopping, hmmm? Knock knock. Who's there? Scooby Doo...
...so the e-heads concert had to be cut for ely's health reasons. damn. i was so looking forward to this. ah, well.
i'm glad the promoters and the band explained it in such a good way, though. i was actually surprised that no one in the thousands-strong crowd boo-ed. poor ely. it must have been something to see such a huge crowd turn out for his old band. hope he's okay.
LeRoi Moore, saxophonist of my one and only Dave Matthews Band, has diedunexpectedly of complications from an ATV accident that happened last June.
i have never seen them live. and now he's dead. i am so seriously sad. i want to cry. i don't want to believe this has happened. sorry, drama. but it's LeRoi. DMB won't be the same. i don't know what to say or do or think. i am grieving over a musician who helped form a big part of who i am. #41, still my favorite song in the world now, won't be the same, ever.
it's on my list of life dreams to see them live...
i will go in this way, and find my own way out... why won't you run into the rain and play? let the tears splash all over you.
rest in peace, o dreadlocked one. thank you. Thank You. THANK YOU. for making music that matters and saves lives.
the truth is, i'm not particularly very good at it, but this thing that my friends introduced me to makes me feel like nothing else.
i started surfing in 2005, before la union was as popular and crowded a destination as it is now, but still many years after my friends first got into it. i would probably be a third or even fourth generation model if surfers were marketed like ipods.
generally, i'm pretty resilient but many, many, many things have really started beating on my armor. sometimes, i really do feel there's nothing left for me on this planet, except for trying to take care of my internal organs so someone can make use of them when i can't anymore. and in between seriously considering if i have mononucleosis or, well, that thing that will put you in the 7th circle of dante's hell, is the shining thought of paddling out towards the horizon.
everytime i catch a wave, life feels completely peaceful. i don't have a care in the world but for the speed of the water that's carrying me, the wind on my face, and the shore that's coming up to greet me. then i paddle back out, raise my upper body with every wave i meet, and crash down on the water with the board as my protector. there's nothing more exhilarating than maneuvering myself in a current that's always changing and deserves the utmost respect. the perfect marriage of man and mother earth.
and when the city, with all its unnecessary trappings and misplaced priorities, staggers me with a sense of profound futility, nothing jolts me awake quite like the thought of hopping on that bus and getting ready to greet the water. and i move on with a renewed sense of joy, looking forward to my next surfing trip.
the mighty, mighty water and what it can do to and with you, that's something to worry about, not the rules that the modern world dictates. money, sex, beauty, social image, i don't really care. what would hefty savings and "name" mean if i went through this life an empty shell--cooing over my next gadget or fashion purchase, or worrying too much about money that i've forgotten the richer gift of loving?
and when the story feels like it has gone on too long, has become too tiring, or is going around in circles, an ending seems the best solution. or i can just throw the book out.
and once more, i retain my tenuous hold on the tether to life for just one more ride, or even just one more wipeout. the water--it keeps moving me along :)
those who really know me might be surprised to find out that this song is getting ready to dislodge Dave Matthews' Band's #41 as my favorite song of all-time. yun lang. some early morning fangirling while i await a meeting :)
Fitzcarraldo and personal myths... Please do watch this, or at least listen. I find this new song of the moment, which pays tribute to a movie about a man with a crazy dream, very poignant. It swells and silences you, especially at 4:11 onwards...
Even the good stars can fall from grace and falter, like the lapdogs that shroud the mystery. And her last words were "I'll see you down in history." It's the long, lonely way that we can go."
fangirling. sharing. reviewing soon. have a listen and i'm sure you'll want to get your own copy. best tracks: Falling Slowly, When Your Mind's Made Up, Gold, The Hill, Fallen from the Sky, Leave and Say It to Me. *hikbi*
my ex used to call me fangirl. blame these Boston boys who are clearly having just a little too much fun these days :) i really know how to be a good fan (slash stalker? har har), and i daresay the comeback is proof that good, clean fun never goes out of style. yes, they are old, but they were, like, pioneeeers, man! the originals still do it best. the song is smooth and simple pop. aah the days when people wore less emo makeup and had fun dancing more often. don't you love feeling like a kid again? =) a clip from a music awards show. i love that even the young ones are still screaming.
EEEEEEPPPP! catch me, hihimatayin ako! louie! lookit! see, i told you guys in january that we'll experience a 90s redux. *squueeaal*
joey and donnie's still so cute. and they all look good for dudes pushing 40 (nearly). Here's Their Latest Music Video (addictive pop hook, i thought. Me Likey):
awww...gulay that brings me back :) i imagine they were laughing like anything during the silhouette dance seqeunce. my 14-year-old self is smiling like an eejit. now where did i put my nkotb earrings (yes, earrings), collectible cards and file keeper?
i asked this group before if we can implement a game in Manila (yeah, yeah, fat chance) and i got a response from Eevil Midget of their Shadow Government, with side comments about how his Supreme Commander and Mustache Commander have preferences for strip clubs. I refrained from emailing my well-composed fire-and-brimstone response.
ah, well. someday, soon. i can feel it in my twinkle toes.
Now this is a comeback. After all the trouble with booze, drugs and (was there?) a drunk driving charge, former heir to the serious-actor-slash-matinee-idol throne Robert Downey Jr. shows he still has what it takes to wow audiences. This may even be his blockbuster-est movie yet. What could've been a hokey let's-turn-over-a-new-leaf story was more believable from across Downey's eyes (the same ones that made you cry in Chaplin).
the other nuts: Jeff Bridges - Whoa!!! I didn't think he could be that menacing, in a very human way, too. Made it more disturbing. Gwyneth Paltrow - Never liked her much but she was woefully underused here. Maybe they have plans for the second.
and my super squeal moment: yes, nick fury and s.h.i.e.l.d.!!! i clapped my hands like a giddy kid shrieking "whoo! nick fury and s.h.i.e.l.d.!" while remembering how fun it was to geek out over comic books with my brother when we were younger.
that's all, you guys have already said everything else :D
