Category: Films & Scores

Kurt Cobain died sixteen years ago and we’re still talking about him

Posted on by Keane Li

Nirvana | MySpace

Before our show at Red Devil Lounge last night, I had been watching music performance videos to sort of get me into “the mood,” which is, I think, the equivalent of watching porn before having sex. Though who does that, I don’t know. Anyway, I ran into a Rolling Stone article on Kurt Cobain, discussing the sixteenth anniversary of when the rock icon committed suicide. The article commemorates his life with an amazing photo collection and some updates on his legacy, including his inclusion in Rock Band and the planned biopic on his life, Heavier Than Heaven. Here was a guy, loved and hated musically, that stood for something beyond music, injecting something more meaningful than sex and booze into rock culture. And as destructive as he was, he was/is pretty damn inspirational.

As a musician, I think it helps to constantly reevaluate why you create music. I think great music comes through if it stands for something, if you’re motivated by something more than simply creating melodies for the sake of creating melodies. That’s what separates an artist from a hobbyist, I guess. Artists create largely because they have to. Like the need to drink water or breathe air, their medium is an ingrained form of expression that, whether they want it to or not, needs to come out. Not allowing it to would be akin to never speaking for a kid that can’t shut up.

Nirvana’s performance at Reading, regarded as their greatest, is available on an NME award-nominated DVD. I’m seriously considering finally picking this up.

Zen Guitarism Applied to Everyday Life

Posted on by Keane Li

What I love most about the guitar is its ability to create something big from relatively little. Unlike literature or painted art, audio physically surrounds the listener. It’s enveloping. And unlike other instruments like the piano, the guitar is unique in that the player has direct manipulation over the strings. New notes and sounds can be achieved via harmonics, slides and bends. You are truthfully the master of the universe that you create.

Rather than selling my soul to the Devil like Steve Vai’s character did in the movie Crossroads, I chose to do it the old-fashioned way like Ralph Macchio. (He is, after all, the Karate Kid.) And while running modal scales proved ultimately useless (I’m pretty sure I’ll never use Lydian), I did pick up a few philosophical lessons on playing and performing that I’ve been re-pondering hours before heading out to load for tonight’s gig at The New Parish.

So, here they are. Five life lessons that can be inferred from the guitar:

1.) Be Light As a Feather | Use the minimal amount of finger pressure while fretting to attain faster playing speed. It’s not how hard you press, it’s how efficiently you move.

2.) Find Your Balance | Relax and focus on what you’re doing now. Keep the future in mind but don’t wander too far or you might get lost.

3.) There Is No Wrong Way | Mistakes are only deviations from your desired path. Push through and don’t let these deviations bring you down or you’ll end up straying more. Don’t sweat the small stuff or you’ll end up drenched.

4.) Be Inspired | When it comes down to it, the goal of pursuing any artistic endeavor is to create something meaningful, expressive and aesthetically profound. Try and hold onto whatever it is that inspires you.

5.) Don’t Forget to Have Fun | Life is short, after all…

Great Holiday Ads / Happy Friday!

Posted on by Keane Li

Here are a few heartwarming ads I found particularly effective. I love a quality promo even if it has little to do with the actual product. It’s interesting how so many goods are now defined by a lifestyle, and how proper marketing can completely turn a company around (see: Jack in the Box, 1995). A good commercial is a good commercial, even if it’s from a dinosaur relic like JCPenney.

By the way, did you know Arizona Jeans are way affordable?


Saw this ad before Avatar and it damn near choked me up. Song: “Follow the Arrow” by Rosi Golan.


Who doesn’t want Jim Lehrer to tuck them in at night?


Another great one from JCPenney that premiered in theaters a few years ago.

Wait for the eyebrow raise.

In the Mood for Love

Posted on by Keane Li


Shigeru Umebayashi | Composer
IMDB | Film Description

I finally watched Wong Kar-Wai’s “In the Mood for Love.” While I’m not usually a fan of melodramatic HK cinema, this film was so beautifully executed and performed (by Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, two of the most stunning actors) that it’s set apart from the rest. The artfully shot drama follows the relationship between a man and a woman who realize their spouses are unfaithful. While they grow close, they vow never to be as adulterine as their other halves. It’s a film that examines what love can mean, whether you get it or not. Whether it’s happy or not.

Some movies you wish you couldn’t relate to. Even if they’re great, you’d rather they not touch a nerve or spark some flame inside. Better you’d smiled at the credits, clapped if you really loved it… turned off the TV and went to bed.

And that would be the end of it.

My favorite films (right now)

Posted on by Keane Li

Kingdom of Heaven | It’s visually lush and enchanting with a remarkable score by Harry Gregson-Williams. Jeremy Irons is fantastic and Edward Norton really delivers as the “leper king.” Still culturally relevant since its release, the film has more to do with the good and evil within people than that which exists between faiths. Also, Eva Green is in it.

Sunshine | Danny Boyle may very well be my favorite director. Sunshine hits the heart of the sci-fi genre: behind all the technology, it’s ultimately about humanity. Also, Rose Byrne is in it.

Pan’s Labyrinth | “A fairy tale for grown ups,” the film contrasts fantasy with the brutal reality of human violence.

The Motorcycle Diaries | A flat-out beautiful film with one of the best taglines ever, a quote from Che Guevara: “Let the world change you and you can change the world.”

Braveheart | Probably my favorite film of all time with one of the most moving scores ever by James Horner (Glory, Titanic). If anything can be both uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time, this is it. By the way, movie trailers in 1995 totally blew.

Fiona Apple – "Sally's Song" / A Song To Die For…

Posted on by Keane Li


www.fiona-apple.com
www.disney.go.com/disneypictures/nightmare

At the risk of sounding cliché by referencing The Nightmare Before Christmas, Fiona Apple’s cover of Danny Elfman’s “Sally’s Song” serves as a perfect example of everything I love about music: it’s emotive, flowing and experiential. Several instrumental voices seemingly dance around one another while still retaining an overall sense of harmonic unity. (The string descension at 2:28 is particularly powerful…)

RocknRolla Soundtrack / Lost and Found…

Posted on by Keane Li


IMDB | Film
Amazon | Soundtrack

“Something feels different about today…”

Lately, I’ve been losing myself. I lost my last two blog posts this morning to a server shift. And tonight, I lost a bag full of my stuff at a lounge downtown. Where do things go when they are lost and how do they find their way back? My bag returned via human decency and a late night phone call. The posts, mired in the sappy shit of the past, I can do without…

And myself?

When I backpacked the East Coast, I found inspiration with a series of songs and movies that guided me out of whatever metaphoric dark forest I was in. I overcame fear and found myself stronger than before. But the past few months were difficult… I commented once that, although I returned from holiday in January, I felt as if I didn’t really come back. I needed that inspiration again, to tackle something much more challenging, and I happened to find it…

People ask the question… what’s a RocknRolla?

And I tell ’em – it’s not about drums, drugs, and hospital drips. Oh, no. There’s more there than that, my friend. We all like a bit of the good life – some the money, some the drugs… others the sex game, the glamour, or the fame. But a RocknRolla, oh, he’s different…

Why?

Because a real RocknRolla wants the fucking lot.

I recently watched Guy Ritchie’s “RocknRolla,” and was pleasantly surprised. It offered twice the amount of slick badassery as one of my other favorite films, “Layer Cake,” only with a strong rock emphasis. The soundtrack, drenched in attitude and distorted guitars, reignited whatever it was inside me that needed a spark. And while I wouldn’t say the film will necessarily rock your world, it was enough to remind me that I always had a bit of RocknRolla hidden within.

What once was lost, now is found…

“Something feels different about today,” a friend commented in the afternoon…

I completely agree…

Today is the day I came back.

John Murphy – Sunshine OST – and Random Thoughts

Posted on by Keane Li


www.foxsearchlight.com/sunshine/
www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/artist_profile/john-murphy_profile.html

John Murphy, who collaborated with Danny Boyle on several prior films, composed a hauntingly uplifting soundtrack for “Sunshine,” a film of elegant poignancy. And while I can cross-analyze every note, I feel it a pointless endeavor, as you can simply decipher its greatness on your own…

Trailer set to “Lux Aeterna” from the Requiem for a Dream OST

I confess I haven’t been in the mood for writing lately. First of all, Performer Magazine consolidated its offices to Boston in an effort to survive the economic downfall, resulting in regional layoffs and massive organizational changes. Sadly, our West Coast Editor, Katherine Hoffert, is no longer with Performer. She’s a fantastic person and I owe her a lot (a lot). Katherine, best of luck to you (not that you’ll need it).

Secondly, and on a wholly separate note, the past month left me experiencing a form of true love I had never known before… and in a devious twist of fate, I learned it could never be. But for her, I’ll always hold a sense of caring that permeates deeper than anything else, that I could be content just being there always, if only to make her happy, even if I can’t truly be hers.

“Mercury” – Poignant and Simple

Anyway, it’s a new year and I thought it appropriate to share the soundtrack to “Sunshine,” one of my favorite films by one of my favorite directors. The film is hopeful but somber, and the characters find humanity through deep sacrifice and their ability to endure. Such is life.

And I promise I’ll try and write more

:-)

“The Surface of the Sun” – The Film’s Grand Number

“Only dream I ever have… is it the surface of the sun?
Every time I shut my eyes… it’s always the same.”