Heavy, studious, beautiful and dumb
Welcome to a very A.D.D. edition of Word Practice, where there's way too many thoughts and laughs and songs roaming through my head, so I'm going to have to resort to that move of the desperate blogger: the list.
- Hotel Rwanda is not a movie that I could say is "good". Looking at a visual version of a story that seems horrible beyond imagination is so overwhelming that it goes beyond good/bad reviews. It had some things that you could pick at (not in the least Nick Nolte), but none of those matter when you're given a story of such unimaginable--and real--horror. Outside the theater afterwards, Dupont Circle looked like the most peaceful, privileged place on earth, and I wondered how I ever complained about my job, my love life, or Republicans.
- My office mate and I had one of those dizzying topic-jumping conversations this morning, mostly about history, but about a LOT of history, and I was reminded of one of my fantasy jobs: teaching a college course on the history of the Cold War through film. It'd definitely include Dr Strangelove, Wargames, and Red Dawn and would have a few surprises in there. No grade inflation in this class, though, and the jocks that took it for an easy A would be very, very disappointed. I would measure my success as a professor by how many students hated me.
- I'm still trying to wrap my head around this new Bright Eyes song ("Landlocked Blues") that Christian steered me in the direction of yesterday. On one hand, the melody is crazy beautiful, it has Emmylou Harris on it, it has a horn and piano midsection that could overwhelm even the hardest of hearts, and it's low-fi acoustic. On the other hand, Conor Oberst should just call all of his songs, "Don't you GET IT?! It's a METAPHOR!" The song is in the jukebox for you to make up your own mind.
- Even though it was already posted on Stereogum, the people who haven't seen it need to see Jennifer Garner's hilarious iTunes celebrity playlist, notable not for its song inclusions, but for her 6th grade descriptions of each:
JENNIFER GARNER'S "WORKOUT MIX"
Huh...that's interesting. Putting a song on a mix because you really like it? I should try that sometime.
1. Outkast "The Way You Move"
"this is a great song to either warm up to or cool down to. it makes me really want to move!"
2. John Mayer "Daughters"
"john mayer is one of my favorites so i had to include him in my workout mix!"
3. Alicia Keys "Fallin'"
"she is so talented! i love how she plays the piano. and her voice is incredible!!"
4. Gwen Stefani "What You Waiting For?"
"this is a great song to workout to! It really gets me going. and the video is awesome."
5. Beyonce "Crazy In Love"
"this song really gets me going!! it makes you want to dance."
6. Justin Timberlake "Rock Your Body"
"anything justin timberlake is good to work out to!! and I love the beat to this song!"
7. Maroon 5 "This Love"
"i really like this song. maroon 5 is a great group and it's a good song to sing along to."
8. Pink "Get The Party Started"
"this song is just so fun. she makes me really want to move when i hear it!"
9. Usher "Yeah"
"this is a great song for working out!! and usher is an amazing dancer."
10. Destiny's Child "Lose My Breath"
"this is a great new song. all these girls are so talented!!"
1 comment:
I haven't seen Hotel Rwanda yet, but I've read some decent things about Don Cheadle's performance. I might give it a shot. Two years ago at the Full Frame Documentary Festival, I saw a splendid documentary about the Rwanda event, called The Last Just Man , which is about a Canadian dude named Romero Dallaire who was the only one in Rwanda trying to organize peace-keeping efforts. He was there before it all went down, and in January 1994, three months prior to the massacres, had warned the UN about the impending disaster. He was shunned by Bill Clinton and the United States, shunned by the United Nations Security Council. By the time it was all over, 800,000 people had been massacred by extremists, and nothing was done to prevent it or to help after it started. Remember the UN and Bill Clinton refusing to use the word "genocide"? Anyway, this guy was doing everything he could to get help, but he got none. He was ultimately left with no troops at all. Eventually, Dallaire lost his mind and was relieved of duty. He said all along, and still says that this could have been avoided if they had heeded his warnings and sent some peacekeepers.
Anyway, it's a really great documentary that is sadly not available on DVD. It certainly doesn't make you feel good, but it's a really gripping tale. If you ever happen to hear about it coming on IFC or something, give it a go.
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