Musical Artist Movie Hall of Fame

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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
3 more! GO clazor!!

That scene in he studio after Diamond sings "Love on the Rocks" and the guy kicks him, somehow, causes me to chuckle too. No idea why.
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
It wasn't easy, but after a few rewatches, I finally separated my feelings for the movies from the music, and I sent in my ranked list for this HoF, (WITHOUT the two movies listed as "Ineligible")
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
gbgoodies' list made this hall of fame just a little more interesting now.
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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe



Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny

A rude and crude comedy of two men seeking the utter limit of rock legend, but ending up saving the world instead.

What I like most about this (aside from the awesome music, of course )is the two lead's simultaneous love and saterical mockery of all things rock. I defy you to watch/listen to Master Exploder without being aware of the high level of satire found within. Here is a man litterally proclaiming his own awesomeness while his best friend stands beside him and repeats the last word he said as they both get more and more draped in stereotypical rock ware. If played seriously, meeting these men
in real life would mean risking obliteration due to being pulled into the black hole created by thier combined delusions of grandeur. But they do know that they're no such men. They freely admit to being nobodies, losers. But they can still dream, which is why they set out on this quest of theirs; to chase that dream, something they continue to try for even after saving the world from damnation.

Now, might I be reading to deep into what basically is a story about two dudes trying to win a band battle to pay their rent? Most likely...but I'm still going to continue because I think it's fun. Onwards!


I'm kinda amazed that they managed to rope so many famous people into being a part of this movie. Meat Loaf and Dio aside, how did they convince Tim Robbins to play an ambiguosly russian wierdo with a missing leg, or John C. Riley to join for a five minute role as Sasquatch (not kidding, look it up). My favourite though must be getting David Grohl (of Foo Fighters and Nirvana), dressed up in make-up and prosthetics to play Satan. Only Tim Curry's Darkness can rival this man in red paint.

In the end, it's the smaller stuff I like about this movie. The story might not be the best, but the execution of it, the knowing, self-mocking tone and the love of the material makes it fun. The dialouge is basic, but the way they say the lines makes it work. When JB asks what it's going to be, **** or destiny, Kyle doesn't just say "****", he pulls up his shirt, thrusts his chest out and wispers "****", only to then turn on his heel and go back to the table of girls.

It's the small things.

P.S.
Two guys setting out on an epic quest of music to secure monetary funds? They stole that from Blues Brothers, didn't they?!
D.S.
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Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?



Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
Right, I got two movies left to review. I saw Pink Floyd's The Wall yesterday, so I'll write that review tomorrow. Then I'll watch and review School of rock on Thursday and send my list in.



Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
Pink Floyd's The Wall

So...I got his need for a father figure and his attempt to find a substitute. I also understood his views of the school system as an never ending asembly line turning humans into automatons/dolls/fodder for the meat grinder. This view's hardly surprising as he learned first hand how the teachers supressed any form of creative outlet.

Past the shaving scene though...they lost me. Guess it's one of those you have to see multible times. Anyway, while wierd, it was entertaining.

I also found the different animation segment interesting. The flowers in particular were beautifully animated, and while I'd seen the goose- stepping hammers before, the final grouping of the trial were...intense. Everything had a frantic pace that only accelerated until the very end where the wall comes crumbling down. Which...would be a good thing? As he's isolated himself from anything and everything, building a wall around himself...would the involuntary destruction of that wall set him free...or drive him insane?

Food for thought.

As for the music itself, I think I found the opening segment to be the most impactful. Seeing his father sitting underground, listening to the intro, ending with his death as the music falls silent...it was powerful, even more so than the trial or the factory line.

All in all a strange, powerful 90 minutes that I didn't grasp half of. Still, it was interesting to watch and I might just return to it sometime...with someone who can explain it to me.

Interesting pick, Ed. Rock on.



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
Amadeus

I know it took me much longer than it should have to say a few words about this film. But like I said to Citizen Rules, I think I just ran out of words after that 1776 review. I needed time to collect them again.

Amadeus. The film that I wanted to nominate.

Isn’t this a strange film for kids to watch? But I swear every kid I knew watched this when I was in school.

I think I have mentioned before – possibly in a song tournament thread – that I have always been into classical music. When I was a kid the radio station with the “fancy” music had to be put on before I went to sleep. I also had to go on every field trip to the symphony when they were happening. I guess that love that I had for that music helped me to have an interest in this film when I was a little kid. But I grew up and so did my love for Amadeus.

Could I be a little biased as Mozart is my favorite composer? Possibly. But the fact that I love him so much (I do enjoy what I know about the man, also) could also hurt my feelings towards this film. But I am very happy to say that that isn’t the case with this one.

Let’s just get the obvious out of the way. I love the beautiful costumes (although the wigs are hilarious sometimes ). I love the absolutely gorgeous sets. The rooms are beyond words for how incredible they are to me (one piece of the set that I just want to mention is how much I love their bed! I would love to have one like that! ). And, of course, the music. That is a given. I’ve always loved the choice of music to play throughout the film. It was a fantastic way to weave the man’s genius into the story. And I am a sucker for a good Requiem mass. For me, Mozart’s has always been the best.

While I like Salieri as a character – I think he is one of the best villains in fiction – I was never that impressed with F. Murray Abraham’s performance. I know I will be in the minority with all that I will say, but I don’t care! I don’t understand, and have never understood, how he won the Oscar that year. He is good, yes. But great? No. As I mentioned before, I saw a stage production of this. The man that I saw as Salieri put Abraham to shame.

I have always preferred Tom Hulce’s performance. I will tell you why I admire his. It is his ability to go from being a giggling, childish, almost simpleton-like being to a serious, intelligent man. It is almost as if he is portraying two different people at one time. He can switch from one personality to the other in an instant. And the laugh. People think it was annoying? That is the whole point of it! The idea that this crude, arrogant and somewhat obnoxious creature can create music that is perfection. And about the laugh, that couldn’t be an easy thing to do. I don’t care if he suddenly lets a big laugh out or a little burst. It is almost fascinating to watch him do it. Aside from any of that, as I have said countless times before, I am a HUGE fan of actors who can act by expression. Tom Hulce is so underrated when it comes to that part of his talent. Heck! Tom Hulce is underrated as an actor all the way around. Period. I’ve always said it, and I always will. Hulce was much more deserving of that Oscar. Disagree with me if you will, but I couldn’t care less.

I watched the Director’s Cut of this film (it is the one that I own). When you see it in its entirety, it just makes it more complete. And I will not even shy away from using the word “Masterpiece” to describe this film. I won’t do it. I think this film is a Masterpiece.

I honestly don’t have too much else to say about the film. I am simply in love with it. Even if it is quite a bit inaccurate, historically speaking. The story was told so well that its inaccuracies don’t even matter to me. One of the few times that it doesn’t matter that much to me.

I do want to add a little bit of music to this. If you have any interest in hearing one of Salieri’s pieces, this is a pretty good one, in my opinion:


But if you want to know what I think is perfection, it is this piece by Mozart. My absolute favorite of his. And it is the one that I nominated in the Instrumental Music Song Tournament:

When I listen from about 8:08 to about 8:40, all I think is that the man is a god. It is that simple.

Oh! And one more thing about Mozart’s laugh in there. You want to know what I think is the best moment in the entire film? At the end when you hear it. Why? Because Mozart definitely has the last laugh at the end of the story. Love it.



Anyway, a little bit of nonsense that doesn’t have anything to do with the film, but indirectly does with the play. I don’t think I mentioned that I crashed the cast party when I saw the play of Amadeus. That was purely unintentional. All of a sudden these people came into where I was and, well, I wasn’t going anywhere now! I had met "Mozart", but I had a nice, long talk with "Salieri". It wasn't about music, though. It was about acting. It was a good night.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
It is, very much, an enigmatic film and there's been all kinds of speculation of what happens to the character Pink at the end. Does he die? Go completely insane? Or, possibly, as you considered, there is a brand new beginning? Which is something I honestly never considered. Since this first came out when I was a teenager. Always thought the worst. Though that IS a nice thought. The children picking up the broken pieces. . .

And yes, the final moments of his dad's life ALWAYS hit me pretty hard. So did the scene of the ignored baby buggy and mom resting some distance away for some reason.

And past the shaving scene it does get a bit bizarre and it basically a really, really bad drug-filled daze/dream/nightmare.
Which, is kinda the entire move, really. lol

Rock on Clazor



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
THAT was beautiful, @SilentVamp!!
I am COMPLETELY with you when it comes to the laugh. Always have and always will LOVE IT. And to end with it, is truly perfect for me.

This watch was the very first time I got to see the extended version and that made the re-watch SO MUCH MORE.

I'll be listening to the pieces you posted this evening. Should be a wonderful time, indeed. The oldest in our huge family (9 of us, I'm #7) got me into Classical as a kid and both Mozart's music AND the person was quite a favorite and remains so.

Also, great unintentional crashing the cast party. ANNND to talk music and acting with BOTH actors??!! SERIOUSLY COOL.



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
@edarsenal
After you've listened to the music, you have to tell me what you think. Particularly the Mozart piece.

And you're number 7 of 9 kids? I'm #6 of 6. So, the baby and the only girl. Not that that has helped out in life like people would think it would've. Everyone seemed to have their own musical preferences in my house (mine was classical), but what everyone liked seemed to still appeal to the others.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I definitely will be. I used to listen to a lot of Mozart when I was younger. There was something about his string arrangement that bordered on the angelic

The only girl? The ONLY one with their own bedroom, though, I'm sure.
There was a run of 4 boys from #5 to #8 So I didn't sleep alone until I was about 14. Never got a room of my own.



Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
School of Rock

While not being as restrained as I remembered, Black plays the man-child character of his with an fierce intensity, while still indulging in his somewhat manic periods of uncontrolable motions.

It's a basic plot; an immature guy gets a ridiculous scheme, succedes most of the way, but when he's set to finish, he realizes he cares more for the people he used than his scheme, so he comes clean/gets caught but still gets redeemed in the end. Not a very original plot, nor the best version of it, but as with my other nomination, I feel it's the execution of it that makes it worth watching.

Had they setteled for a more mediocre group of children, the entire movie would've been bereft of the comical give and take between Black and the class. Had Black himself not put in the effort he did, it would just have been boring. And had they gone for the stock strickt authoritarian/oblivious doofus for a headmaster instead of Joan Cusack, the movie would've suffered tremendously. Cusack in partiular was a great addition; filling out the character and giving us something to relate to beyond her duties as the headmistress resulted in a character we sympathies with and made the entire latter third of the movie possible. A lesser crew might've skipped that, leaving us with a far poorer movie for it. And she's a great physical actress as well, utilising small gestures and facial expessions to comedic effect. Her manerism as she walks into her office, filled with angry parents and declares that their children are gone were perfect, a mix of trepidation and (I thought) a bit of smugness as she tells them that they can't keep track of their own children. She is, in my mind, the best character in the movie.

All in all, a great cast doing a great job resulting in a fun movie, despite working with a very basic plot. It is, as I said, all about the execution for me, and here they did a great job with what they had.



Wow, you guys still rolling? I'm very interested to see the ranking once this is concluded and I have high hopes for School of Rock to take a one of the first three places. Please let me know once you start to announce the winners if possible.
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Nothing good comes from staying with normal people
And that's me done. Just sent my list to Vamp, so now I guess we're down to three if nothing else has happened.

And thanks for the vote of confidence, Miklos!



Pink Floyd's The Wall
...As he's isolated himself from anything and everything, building a wall around himself...would the involuntary destruction of that wall set him free...or drive him insane?
It wasn't an involuntary destruction of the wall...The trail, the judge and the plaintiffs are symbolic of Pink coming to grips with his own demons. In the end he ultimately decides to start letting people into his life...by tearing down the wall, thus setting himself free.

Past the shaving scene though...they lost me. Guess it's one of those you have to see multiple times. Anyway, while weird, it was entertaining.
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd said the band had grown disillusioned at performing their music in concert, as the fans didn't care what they sung about, as long as they put on a big show.

So in the movie that scene shows the hostility Pink feels towards a mindless audience who's only there for the spectacle, thus Pink gives them what they want.

The key is in the songs that are playing. During the Nazi like concert after Pink shaves his head, they play In the Flesh, which starts off like this:
So ya Thought ya
Might like to Go to the show
To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow
I've got some bad news for you, sunshine
Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel
And they sent us along as a surrogate band
We're going to find out where you fans really stand
From there the song antagonizes the audience, ending with the line:
If I had my way, I'd have all of you shot!



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
The only girl? The ONLY one with their own bedroom, though, I'm sure.
There was a run of 4 boys from #5 to #8 So I didn't sleep alone until I was about 14. Never got a room of my own.
No. I didn't have my own room. Always wanted to but it didn't happen for years. There were 2 bedrooms for the kids. The two oldest shared a room and the rest of us were in a room with two sets of bunk beds. I got the top one, though, and I quite liked that up there. But I would say I was about 11, I think, when I was getting to finally have the room to myself. And then one would move back, and then I would get stuck with whichever one was back in the house because one set of the bunk beds was still up (and the purpose for that was so there would be a place for a friend to sleep when they'd stay overnight - my friends and I did a lot of that at each other's houses - looking back on it, I really don't know why this was happening at someone's house every weekend. - but my friends didn't get to sleep there because I had a brother take over the bed, anyway ). So, I was maybe about 14 when I FINALLY got it all to myself. FREEDOM!!!


Please let me know once you start to announce the winners if possible.
I hadn't forgot about you.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
A bed to call your own really is a wonderful thing LOL
For me, it was taking long showers with left over hot water; being in a huge family and one of the last in line. Weird thing is, I can't really take an actual hot shower since I didn't grow up taking them. Tried. Always gotta turn it down some.

And excellent "inside" commentary about Waters, @Citizen Rules!



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
@SilentVamp the Salieri actually sounds familiar. Do you know if it was used in a period piece film? Can't help but feel that I've heard it or perhaps renditions of it somewhere.
I continually had a mental image of horseback riding through a forest for most of it. The tempo and the cascading score was a very enjoyable "race" as it were. To where, as we drew to the conclusion the intensity with bursts of more gentle emotion that kept the earnest aspect as it moved back and forth was something I really enjoyed.
I still kept thinking of the movie and remarks about waiting for the Bang to let the audience know when to clap. lol


And now, Mozart. . . ahhh, Mozart. Hearing one, then the other it really is easy to see where the writer imagined the jealousy that would inspire him for the story for Amadeus. Where Salieri wanders, quite beautifully, through glens and meadows; Mozart soars. Over majestic landscapes and mountain tops. To express and describe his music, you MUST wax poetic. Words like fantastical and ethereal pour out. This is passion. Unhindered, unabashed, unfettered and without restraint.
This.
This is Mozart.

I used to have a few of his CD's. One was a collection of concertos. Been ages since I listened to them. Truly need to go searching and dig them back out if I still have them. And revisit. Bless you, SV for posting this particular piece of his. Thank you.
And of course, for Salieri's as well. A very delightful piece as well. Thank you.