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this week's going to be a slightly different - it's an album and a film. first, watch the trailer...
if you have not already seen the film Once, it's about as perfect as a film gets. the film won at Sundance, and Peter Travers from Rolling Stone (who is known to be a pretty harsh critic) said "Once may well be the best music film of our generation." the soundtrack won a Grammy, and the main song "Falling Slowly" won both a Grammy and Oscar.
so go watch this movie already (preferably with someone you love...not alone. $3 on Amazon or Google, but i'm sure your local library has it.
guaranteed you'll be tearing up and/or humming the tunes for the rest of the week. it's an intimate portrayal of friendship and music, that leaves behind all the trappings of most typical romances.
yes, it's technically a musical. but it's not cheesy/sappy, i promise. it's real, almost documentary-like. i typically prefer to stay away from soundtracks in this klub, but will happily make the exception for when a majority of the tracks are from the same artist, who, in this case is the epically talented Irishman Glen Hansard (frontman for the Frames), accompanied by the bewitchingly sweet Czech singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová,
on it's own the album is quite good. in the context of the movie for which the music was written, it is simply amazing. i seriously cannot stress how much you should watch this movie (and enjoy this soundtrack): https://app.box.com/s/odqwhrl1g1xw3f1jnl3h
enjoy.
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PS - if you do indeed enjoy the film please please please, don't see the Broadway play/musical of the same name. despite it also winning many accolades, and as great as the live performances of such great songs are, the stage adaptation pretty much only shares the name - it is a an entirely different beast. the characters, acting, plot and dancing of the theater adaptation IMHO, drop a giant deuce on an otherwise beautiful thing.
if you have not already seen the film Once, it's about as perfect as a film gets. the film won at Sundance, and Peter Travers from Rolling Stone (who is known to be a pretty harsh critic) said "Once may well be the best music film of our generation." the soundtrack won a Grammy, and the main song "Falling Slowly" won both a Grammy and Oscar.
guaranteed you'll be tearing up and/or humming the tunes for the rest of the week. it's an intimate portrayal of friendship and music, that leaves behind all the trappings of most typical romances.
yes, it's technically a musical. but it's not cheesy/sappy, i promise. it's real, almost documentary-like. i typically prefer to stay away from soundtracks in this klub, but will happily make the exception for when a majority of the tracks are from the same artist, who, in this case is the epically talented Irishman Glen Hansard (frontman for the Frames), accompanied by the bewitchingly sweet Czech singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová,
on it's own the album is quite good. in the context of the movie for which the music was written, it is simply amazing. i seriously cannot stress how much you should watch this movie (and enjoy this soundtrack): https://app.box.com/s/odqwhrl1g1xw3f1jnl3h
enjoy.
=
PS - if you do indeed enjoy the film please please please, don't see the Broadway play/musical of the same name. despite it also winning many accolades, and as great as the live performances of such great songs are, the stage adaptation pretty much only shares the name - it is a an entirely different beast. the characters, acting, plot and dancing of the theater adaptation IMHO, drop a giant deuce on an otherwise beautiful thing.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I can comment on its soundtrack.
ReplyDeleteThere are tracks that I like a lot, mainly those of the beginning, some that really bother me.
The opening one, Falling slow is really melancholic and nice, without being too cheesy.
The very short track Dylan-like Broken hearted hoover sucker guy is very charming.
I like the fragile tone and voice of Marketa's songs.
My favorite song of the album might be Fallen from the sky, that reminds me a lot to Rufus Wainwright.
Now, there are few songs when the guy shouts a bit at the end of the song, (like in Leave or Say it to me) and that bothers me a lot. A LOT! No that shouting bothers me in general, but his shouting, I don't like.
so, globally, a good 3 for some very nice songs :)
I gave the album two listens, but I've been having a hard time getting motivated to listen to it more and get into it. It's pleasant, well crafted and well written. I don't have any complaints, other than I'm just in the mood for it right now. I'm going to file this as a 3 and wait a while longer before I revisit it...
ReplyDeletejosh - watch the movie first!
ReplyDeleteIs it as good as "Step It Up: All In"?
Deletedon't say such silly things. of course it's not.
DeleteI followed instructions and watched the movie before listening to the album. The movie was good - I enjoyed it- but it did feel a bit like an extended music video at times. I liked the characters but not a huge amount to offer in the plot/story department.
ReplyDeleteWatching the movie definitely meant I enjoyed the album more, but I don't think it will sit long in my playlist. Couldn't escape the sense that they were going for Damien Rice but kept falling short.
With the exception of Say It To Me Now, which is the highlight of both the movie and the album, I thought the music was good but not great.
I was quite interested to hear this one. I have a bit of a thing for soundtracks, the music of a movie is just like another character for me. I think too it's because music will remind me/let me re-visit the emotions I felt while watching the pictures.
ReplyDeleteAnd therein lies the problem for me on this one. I confess I also like 'happily ever after for everyone' endings (I know... not very adventurous of me) and while this certainly wasn't 'shakespearean-everybody-dies-tragic', after watching it I felt like I'd been put through an emotional washing machine and I don't think I'll want to revisit that too often.
I'm giving "Once" a 3. I liked "Falling Slowly" the best with an honorable mention for "Say it to Me" for sounding so powerfully, emotionally raw.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I finally gave this album a listen. I enjoyed some parts of it but I really didn't enjoy anything sung by Glen Hansard, who I assume is the movie's main character? It doesn't bode well for me enjoying the movie... 2 for me.
ReplyDelete