Movie Clip Wednesdays: Bad Guys

Go visit Boxer to see who else is participating.

I'd sure hate to find myself turning into one of those five-miles-up-hill-in-the-snow kinds of people, but when it comes to movies, I'm afraid I just might. Movies really were better way back when. Specifically, in the 1970s, when Hollywood seemed less concerned with big bucks and big deals and more with pushing the envelop of what was considered art in film.

To me, Badlands is one of the definitive films of the 1970s. Loosely based on the Charles Starkweather/Caril Ann Fugate killing spree (the pair murdered eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming over a two month period in 1958), the movie not only marked the directorial debut of Terence Malick, it also established him as one of America's most poetic young filmmakers.

With Badlands Malick created a movie that is compact without being rushed, spare without being mute, and chilling without being exploitative. Its subject – the celebration of the criminal as celebrity – was ahead of its time, as was its treatment of evil as a commonality of everyday life. Add to all that superlative acting, Tak Fukimoto's stunning cinematography, and a score that mixes classics like Carl Orff's "Musica Poetica" with contemporary pop songs, and you've got what is perhaps one of the best movies ever made.

Mute Monday: Furnishings

Movie Clip Wednesdays: Musicals

Baille Walsh has admitted that he probably never would have gotten his first movie, Flashbacks of a Fool, made had it not been for the fact that his good buddy, Daniel Craig, agreed to star. The director also managed to rope in American rapper Eve and English actress Claire Forlani, although he practically tossed her away in a too-brief cameo, except for the very last moments of the heart shattering ending.

When it premiered, Flashbacks of a Fool was roundly panned by critics for being overwrought and preachy, but I didn't find it half bad, mostly due to the performances of the two lead teenage actors, Harry Eden and Felicity Jones.

Not a musical per se, the movie does feature a fabulous soundtrack and one especially memorable scene in which the two lead teenage characters dance and lip synch their way through the achingly lovely final verse of Roxy Music's metamorphic "If There is Something," Jones as resplendently assured in the first flush of teenage love as Eden is painfully awkward.

Brilliant song. Brilliant scene. Best thing about the movie.


Flashbacks of a Fool - If There Is Something - Amazing videos are here


Oh, and how eagerly am I awaiting the release of this?



Totally cool!

To see what other folks are posting for Boxer's Movie Clip Wednesdays, head over to her place to check 'em out!

Mute Monday: Green

Dim Sum Sunday: Soup

Although we're about a month away from springtime on the calendar, if you're still looking at at least 12" of snow on the ground like I am, then springtime feels about as out of reach as the moon. Which means, soup still reigns at my dinner table. To me, there's nothing quite like a big ol' steaming spoonful rushing down the esophagus (gullet?) to warm the heart and the bones. Well, maybe brandy or scotch, but I'm pretty much on the wagon these days, so soup with spirits will just have to do.

Here's what I made last night. It's a simple tortellini and tomato soup, with a consistency that's more like a broth than a bisque. In other words, no creme, which means if you're guarding your waistline, this soup will do much less damage.

Hop on over to Shamu's to see what everyone else is ladling up for Dim Sum Sunday.

TOMATO TORTELLINI SOUP:

What:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup Marsala wine or cooking sherry
2 14-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon chopped basil
1 teaspoon chopped oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
48 ounces chicken broth
2 cups frozen or fresh tortellini
Grated Parmesan cheese

How:

Heat oil in a 5-quart pot and saute garlic until fragrant, but not browned. Add sherry and reduce for a few minutes until alcohol burns off. Add chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, and herbs and bring to a boil. With a hand held chopper or in a blender, puree mixture until smooth.

This product ROCKS.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover, bring to a boil, and add tortellini to broth. Cook until the pasta is just heated through and tender to the tooth. Ladle into individual bowls and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Movie Clip Wednesdays: Fight Club

Boxer started this. I thought I'd play along:

Surrender Dorothy

While I'm totally thrilled that the Saints beat the Colts this past Sunday, I thought the commercials were pretty lame. This was the one exception:



Funny. No?