In Memory of Fred Knittle

I'm re-posting the following from October 15th in memory of The Young@Heart chorus' Fred Knittle, who passed away on January 1, 2009. There's a lovely article written about Fred's life HERE.

His performance of Coldplay's Fix You in the Young@Heart documentary has brought me to tears numerous times. See it for yourself at the end of the post, but be sure to read the background story above the video.

If you haven't seen this documentary yet, what are you waiting for?

--

I put in my latest Netflix pick, a documentary called YOUNG@HEART. I've had quite the streak of excellent choices over the past couple of months (see my "I Just Watched" section in the right sidebar), and this one fell right in line with some of the best documentaries I've ever seen:

Double-click on either 'play' arrow if you have trouble with the video

Prepare to be entertained by the uplifting individuals of YOUNG@HEART, a New England senior citizens chorus that has delighted audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash to Coldplay. As Stephen Walker’s documentary begins, the retirees, led by their strict musical director, are rehearsing their new show, struggling with a discordant Sonic Youth number and giving new meaning to James Brown’s “I Feel Good.” What ultimately emerges is a funny and unexpectedly moving testament to friendship, creative inspiration, and reaching beyond expectations.

Lately, my mind has been more than a little preoccupied with loved ones I've lost and people in my life who are currently having health issues, so I found myself crying more than once during this moving doc. Every once in a awhile, a good cry is exactly what I need to keep moving forward. Especially when the tears are brought on not only because of a little sadness, but also from profound moments of inspiration, and there are plenty of those in YOUNG@HEART.

One of my favorite songs, Fix You by Coldplay, is featured in YOUNG@HEART. Do you know the story of that song? Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, wrote it for Gwyneth Paltrow (his girlfriend at the time/now his wife), shortly after her father tragically died when he & Gwyneth were in Rome on her 30th birthday. It's a heart-wrenching story all-around. Now try listening to the song Chris wrote for the woman he loves while she was grieving and see how little time it takes you to get misty-eyed. It's a stunningly beautiful song and I always get chills when I hear it.

When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones,
And I will try to fix you.

High up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones,
And I will try to fix you.

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face, and I

Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones,
And I will try to fix you


The scene in the documentary as described on the song's Wikipedia page:

Fix You was performed in 2006 by the New England octogenarian chorus group Young@Heart. The group's performance was led by former chorus member Fred Knittle, who suffers from congestive heart failure and breathes with assistance from an oxygen tank.

The performance was originally planned to be a duet between Knittle and Bob Salvini, another former chorus member, but Salvini died shortly before the show. Knittle performed it as a solo, as a tribute to his friend.

OHMYGAH, PASS ME THE KLEENEX. Then, go rent this documentary!

If by "You Got Served", you're referring to our beverages... then yes, we got served

We had a little too much fun staying in and keeping it low-key this weekend. The tone was set late Friday night. We had just enough wine to stumble upon and actually sit through the Academy Award-winning film, You Got Served*. What's that? It didn't win an Oscar? Well, it SHOULD have, let me tell you. It's only a slight overstatement to say that we've never laughed so loud in all our lives. 

Wait, it wasn't a comedy?

Oh.


You (Had to Get) Got Served (to watch this movie)

*In case you don't already know this, the slang meaning of "You Got Served" is to teach someone a lesson. This is what the movie title suggests, except that it's in the context of teaching someone a lesson by beating them in a dance-off.
__

Saturday night we made a delicious dinner, lit some candles and braved Tristan and Isolde, a movie Netflix recommended based on my previous 4-star rating of 300. It was MUCH better than our Friday late night flick, though I did notice similarities in the plot lines. During one of the battle scenes between the English & the Irish I blurted out,

"If they just added some club music to this scene and the warriors had a hulking, 5th century style dance-off instead of all this violence, they could have easily called the movie, "YE Got Served".

Then we laughed so hard, and for so long, that it was difficult to take the rest of this beautifully shot movie seriously. It was still funny to us in the morning, so I decided to put a little something together in Photoshop, using a Tristan & Isolde cast picture:


"Ye Got Served". Oh boy, did we ever. ©HouseofJules

Lights will guide you home and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you

I opted against watching the debate tonight for a couple of reasons:
1) I could barely sit through the first two debates because I was so anxious, and
2) They're going to re-play everything 1,000 times over on all the news channels starting the millisecond after it ends anyway.

Instead, I put in my latest Netflix pick, a documentary called YOUNG@HEART. I've had quite the streak of excellent choices over the past couple of months (see my "I Just Watched" section in the right sidebar), and this one fell right in line with some of the best documentaries I've ever seen:

Double-click on either 'play' arrow if you have trouble with the video

Prepare to be entertained by the uplifting individuals of YOUNG@HEART, a New England senior citizens chorus that has delighted audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash to Coldplay. As Stephen Walker’s documentary begins, the retirees, led by their strict musical director, are rehearsing their new show, struggling with a discordant Sonic Youth number and giving new meaning to James Brown’s “I Feel Good.” What ultimately emerges is a funny and unexpectedly moving testament to friendship, creative inspiration, and reaching beyond expectations.

Lately, my mind has been more than a little preoccupied with loved ones I've lost and people in my life who are currently having health issues, so I found myself crying more than once during this moving doc. Every once in a awhile, a good cry is exactly what I need to keep moving forward. Especially when the tears are brought on not only because of a little sadness, but also from profound moments of inspiration, and there are plenty of those in YOUNG@HEART.

One of my favorite songs, Fix You by Coldplay, is featured in YOUNG@HEART. Do you know the story of that song? Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, wrote it for Gwyneth Paltrow (his girlfriend at the time/now his wife), shortly after her father tragically died when he & Gwyneth were in Rome on her 30th birthday. It's a heart-wrenching story all-around. Now try listening to the song Chris wrote for the woman he loves while she was grieving and see how little time it takes you to get misty-eyed. It's a stunningly beautiful song and I always get chills when I hear it.

When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones,
And I will try to fix you.

High up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones,
And I will try to fix you.

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face, and I

Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones,
And I will try to fix you


The scene in the documentary as described on the song's Wikipedia page:

Fix You was performed in 2006 by the New England octogenarian chorus group Young@Heart. The group's performance was led by former chorus member Fred Knittle, who suffers from congestive heart failure and breathes with assistance from an oxygen tank. 

The performance was originally planned to be a duet between Knittle and Bob Salvini, another former chorus member, but Salvini died shortly before the show. Knittle performed it as a solo, as a tribute to his friend.

OHMYGAH, PASS ME THE KLEENEX. Then, go rent this documentary!

*Take this sinking boat and point it home, we've still got time

Like all good things, Once was worth the months I've spent waiting for the DVD release; happily biding my time playing the gorgeous soundtrack. See, I'm a real music & lyrics junkie. Just about every genre is represented in my music collection, and am always on the hunt for new voices/sounds to covet and eventually share. I thrive on and actually crave songs that get under my skin, emotionally speaking. Add a film featuring that kind of music, and I'm in!

Since I read that the 2 stars of the movie are actually Irish and Czech musicians who have written and performed music together for years, I knew if the movie was half as good as the story their soundtrack revealed, that I would love it:

Once is a 2006 Irish musical film written and directed by John Carney. Set in Dublin, this naturalistic drama stars musicians Glen Hansard (of popular Irish rock band The Frames) and Markéta Irglová as fictional struggling musicians. Collaborators prior to making the film, Hansard and/or Irglová composed and performed all but one of the original songs in the movie.

Once has been not only billed, but also glowingly reviewed as a modern musical (but thankfully is nothing like this kind of crap). The musicality of this film is so naturally weaved in, that the fact it may fall under the definition of the word musical will not really occur to you.

Some of you commented and/or emailed me after the previous post that it looked like a chick flick; and I get where your disdain of that type of movie comes from. Many times I find chick flicks don't give enough credit to the audience, and their endings can be shallow cop-outs. Don't get me wrong, I still love When Harry Met Sally but it's not what I want out of every movie-watching experience. This particular movie is not a chick flick because it's not at all sappy.

I don't ever listen to the critics, but in case you want the male perspective and what 2 dudes who get paid to review films (I'm just jealous!) have to say about it, watch this:


I even had 3 of my straight male friends tell me to see this movie, so that counts for something with you other men, right?

I was mesmerized and got goose bumps from the following scene; which starts 4 minutes into the movie (right after the initial difficult-to-understand scene that I needed the closed captioning for). Believe me when I tell you that literally one minute & 20 seconds into this scene, there was no more struggling to decipher the meaning of what he was trying to convey. I found myself caught up in all of that authentic emotion, and because of that, the gravitational pull of this entire movie for the duration:


"Scratching at the surface now, and I'm trying hard to work it out. So much has gone misunderstood... this mystery only leads to doubt and I didn't understand when you reached out to take my hand. And if you have something to say, you'd better say it now..."


Despite it's title, I've watched this movie three times since Wednesday, and it's quite possible I'll watch it again with friends before the long holiday weekend is over. You should do the same.

Gentlemen, if you still aren't sold on this idea, and if you have a 'special friend' or wife, trust that getting this movie for an evening together will do nothing but score you major brownie points (even without the sappy ending she usually goes for). Do it up right, though. Get a good bottle of red, fire up some candles, snuggle up under a blanket; and enjoy.


*The titles of this post and the previous one are song lyrics from Gold and Falling Slowly off of the soundtrack.

**I hesitated to give away too much of the actual storyline, so if you're interested in reading more, including (unfortunately) plot spoilers, click here.

Walking on moonbeams and staring out to sea

I have had the heart-shatteringly beautiful soundtrack for this movie on constant rotation for months and have had the movie itself in my Netflix queue for just as long. I got some exciting news yesterday, though:


I just know it's going to be worth the wait, but the anticipation has nearly killed me.

So if I don't respond to your e-mails, phone calls--or your advances for that matter--tonight, that's why. Oh, who am I kidding; I'll always respond to your advances.

Day Man, fighter of the Night Man, Champion of the sun! You're a master of karate and friendship for everyone!

Sometime in 2005, my good friends Sue ("Scooter" to me!) & Todd insisted I watch FX's Thursday night show, 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'. They've never steered me wrong, so I made sure to catch the very next episode. By that time I was only able to see a few from the first season but it was so absurdly funny that I'm anxiously awaiting seasons 1 & 2 from Netflix so I can officially catch up.

FX is currently airing season 3, and I really wish I had been religious about watching it from the beginning because it has to be the funniest show on TV right now. The writing will offend everyone, and in my mind that is a good thing. Anything that can make you think and make you laugh at the same time usually creates a dialogue, and what's better than a good conversation... besides this show?!

If you're still skeptical, watch this unbelievable clip--possibly the funniest 2 minutes on TV this season--which had me in tears (the good kind):


"Day Man, uh-ah-ahh! Fighter of the Night Man, uh-ah-ahh! Champion of the sun! You're a master of karate and friendship for everyone!"


I suspect their song delivery might have been inspired by (and rightly so) this classic Queen performance:


Freddy Mercury's version of this particular song paved the way for massively epic hits like "Day Man". What a legacy.


If all of that STILL hasn't piqued your interest (what's it gonna take?), it should be noted that Danny DeVito stars in the show, and that adorable little limoncello-loving bundle of fun should be reason enough for you to tune in:


In a move of marketing genius, he later capitalized on this drunken appearance and created his own limoncello.


'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' airs Thursday nights at 10 (Eastern) on FX.

Bravo!

This movie was the perfect thing to see last night. If you like foreign films about adorable orphans--and if you have a heartbeat--you'll enjoy it, too.

Hang in there if you start watching and are unsure if you want to continue to the end. Even though I knew it won 30 industry awards, I wondered a few times if movie's (perfectly suited) depressing, grey pallor from the dreary Russian weather--that seemed to bleed from the screen, turning my comfortable living room into a claustraphobic chamber--was ever going to lift.

I had hopes that it would, but I wasn't quite prepared for the ending.

It felt like being strangled for over an hour and then suddenly breathing in your lung's maximum capacity of the purest, cleanest air on the sunniest afternoon. It took my breath away, and then gave it back 1000-fold.

As the credits started rolling we rewound the last 10 minutes and watched the ending again. And again.

I'm sure there is a word for something that is both simple and complex at the same time; altogether gorgeous in the most humble of ways-- that's what the ending of this movie is.

America, F**K YEAH!

I know Team America: World Police came out a couple of years ago, but I just saw it. The guys who created South Park are responsible for this movie, so you'd be a fool to expect anything less than maximum irreverence--but this was off the charts... and HILARIOUS. I have never seen a better musical/action farce. Adding to the charming offensiveness is that there is not one live actor in this movie. It is all marionettes, all the time.

The theme song is titled, "America, F**K YEAH!", and is perfectly suited to the movie. It's basically what every action movie theme song strives to be. You can hear snips of all the great songs from the movie if you do a search for Team America on iTunes. The country twanger "Freedom isn't free" taught me that freedom actually costs each of us "a buck-oh-eight". Brilliant.

WARNING: Do not listen to it at work, around children and especially your judgmental mother-in-law. You've been warned.

I'll leave you with a small taste (distaste?) of the twisted genius that is the collaboration of Matt Stone/Trey Parker and Team America:

If you've ever seen the Broadway show RENT, you will probably laugh out loud at this movie clip.


It goes without saying that everyone having AIDS, and the AIDS epidemic in general, is not funny in any way, shape, or form. Except in the above movie clip.

Good thing I wasn't drinking red!

I just finished watching the last episode of Extras 2nd season on DVD. Approximately one minute into this scene with David Bowie & the show's creator/head writer, (the brilliant) Ricky Gervais, I laughed so hard I spit out my wine.

Double-click on either 'play' arrow if you have trouble viewing video


Even though Ricky Gervais wrote the lyrics to this song in the script, Davie Bowie has a history doing this sort of thing with the new people he meets. After all, he did write that song about Blue Jean. You know, the girl with a camouflaged face and no money.

Due mostly to lighting and "scenery": A Good Year, a good movie

Ahh yes, the scenery: A vineyard in Provence


More notable scenery: Russell Crowe. Oh, and Russell Crowe. (You men will enjoy the lovely french actress, Marion Cotillard)

No telephones or concierges were injured during the making of this film. Some wine however, was certainly killed (at least while we were watching it).

If you like watching movies that feature scenery as gorgeous as the people, this is a good pick. See the trailer here.