Totally ubiquitous, and totally ignored, movie sounds
Below are two of the most common (and commonly underacknowledged by the general moviegoing public) movie sounds out there. They’re kind of like that NBC jingle. Almost comfortingly familiar, yet you don’t take the time to think of how it came to be that way, or why it would even be comforting at all. You just automatically gloss over and accept the sound.
Hmm, sorry, didn’t mean to take that in kind of a disturbing direction. But anyway, here they are:
The Wilhelm Scream - producing satisfyingly bloodcurdling shrieks since 1951
Deep Note (aka, that THX sound; no relation to Watergate… or the “adult film,” sorry) - blowing your mind, in a trademarked way, in many theaters near you
Of course, this all comes back to… as it always does… (cue John Williams)
That’s right. I brought it all back to “pop culture you can buy.” That’s just how I roll.
Pixar’s short films - what everyone really cares about
(I’m just paraphrasing of course and not quoting anyone in particular. I don’t really think they’re exaggerations of the critical acclaim heaped on most of Pixar’s productions though.)
However, we all know the true source of Pixar’s popularity: its short films. Sure, you might think of Nemo
They set the stage for the feature film after all! And they’re much more challenging. I mean, they have to tell a funny, clever, visually stunning story in just a few short minutes. A few minutes of pure, unadulterated genius. For the most part. Plus, the studio uses the short films as a training ground for soon-to-be Pixar gods (i.e., career advancement for staff), and to test new methods and ideas.
Thankfully, Pixar (or its new parent, Disney) recognizes the genius of the shorts as well, and last year released a collection of them, ranging from the mid-1980s all the way up through 2006. Here’s what the collection includes (plus bonus features), according to Wikipedia…
Batman: Gotham Knight
There’s no denying it - it’s definitely a ploy to suck as much money out of this monster hit as humanly possible (although not as much of a ploy/Oscar hungry grab as the planned re-release of The Dark Knight in January… that said, I’ll of course still go to see it). But that doesn’t mean it automatically has to suck.
One of the awesomest Hollywood memorabilia auctions EVER
Recession, shmecession: on December 11th, some of the coolest Hollywood TV and movie items go on sale, and if you can afford it, you may want to seriously think about joining in on the rampant spending.
Indiana Jones’s fedora? Check. Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber? Check. Clark Kent suit worn by Christopher Reeve? Check. Magic wand from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Joker card used in The Dark Knight? Check and check. And for the most part, it’s all stuff that was actually worn or used on set.
Even if you can’t buy any of it (sigh, like me), looking through what’s available is just plain fun. The Telegraph has a nice slideshow of a few of the items available, but if you really want to see what’s there, go to the auction’s official site to browse through the 400 or so items up for bidding.
For example, here is some of the stuff not mentioned in the slideshow:
Twilight - yes, we need another post on it
Or rather, you’re probably not - it’s just yet another High School Musical-esque tween clinical obsession, right? There’s one of those, like, every four minutes. Who cares? I mean, why is this any different than Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Tamagotchi, Beanie Babies, or other similar, manufactured phenomena?
In a few words, it’s not. But that shouldn’t turn you off to it; yes, I know it’s common to not want to read or engage in something just because it’s everywhere, and everyone’s telling you that you should know about it. Don’t let that stop you. After all, there’s often a reason things are so popular.
Spirited Away
Instead of watching Scream, or The Shining
Well, in any case, all that was just the long way of saying this: this Halloween, watch Spirited Away instead. It’s “haunting.”
And yes, yes, I know it’s a foreign film, but you’ll be high on candy, or something, anyway - if you don’t like subtitles, watch the dubbed version or just watch the pictures, they’re gorgeous. And don’t worry, despite appearances from the trailer, if you buy the DVD from Amazon you should get all three options: subtitles, dubbing, and, for you cool people who can actually understand Japanese [!], just the plain ol’ Japanese version. (FYI: Disney distributes Spirited Away in the US.)
To prove my point, here’s the English (and whoa, heavily Disney-fied) version of the trailer… Trust me, though, the movie’s much more like the trailer above, than the one below, whether you watch the dubbed version or not:
-
string theories
What line of work you in, Bob?
- Ryan the Temp to "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration" at The Office's Christmas party
-
featured brown paper packaging
What is it with accessories and DVD sets these days? Are knick knack companies going through some rough times? Or are studios just really desperate to sell DVDs? (Probably the latter.) First there was A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition), with its cookie cutters, recipe book, apron, commemorative Christmas tin... (Whoa, I know.)
And now there's The Notebook (Limited Edition Gift Set), which comes with a scrapbook album (with stickers!), notecards, envelopes, and "themed" bookmarks. But... wait for it... no new DVD extras or features! So totally worth it. Check out Entertainment Weekly for the lackluster DVD set review (a grade of D - harsh). Or, even better, Amazon's video montage of the contents, set to the soothing, Jane Austen movie-esque sounds of The Notebook's theme music. Hey, they know their audience.
