Making the Case for ‘Skyfall’ #TheLAMB

Awards Season is upon us as mainstream and indie films vie for Hollywood’s most coveted honors from the Screen Actor’s Guild, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to name a few. This also means it’s time for the Annual Awards Nerdism blogathon, hosted by Stevee Taylor at Cinematic Paradox.

The subject is Making a Case for Movies that Probably Won’t Get Any Awards Recognition. So in the name of Taylor’s blogathon, here is a movie that probably won’t get major love in terms of award nominations in the Music categories but I think it should: Skyfall.

Best Original Score
I haven’t bought any movie soundtracks in a long time and composer Thomas Newman’s work on “Skyfall” will change that. There are moments during this latest James Bond film where the music had just as much as, if not more, of my attention than the action taking place on screen -- not in a poor sound mix or unwise choice by the music supervisor or sloppy timing with the editing kind of way but in a "oooh, I’m feeling the intensity of these tunes so much that I want to download them from iTunes" kind of way. The score and the imagery -- complete with great performances, pacing, editing (and everything else happening on screen) complemented each other in a way that is rarely noticeable in the average film.

The score in many films are either so ordinary that I forget that it even exists or these tracks have something going for them but not enough to justify playing in an audio-only listening session. In other words, they aren’t useful in any other medium outside of the movie that they represent. Newman offers audiences -- both movie fans and music aficionados alike -- a film score that can stand on its own with or without James Bond in the picture.

Yes, the “Skyfall” soundtrack may not be expected to serve as nothing more than a suspenseful supporting foundation for which M16’s dangerous missions can be carried out. Maybe that’s why this movie makes for a good “Best Original Score” nominee -- the underlying music carves out its own role as a character operating on equal playing field with 007 himself. That is why I think “Skyfall” is deserving of an award nomination in the music category.

Best Original Song
“Skyfall” by Adele may become my most favorite James Bond theme song, to date. Until now, I favored “Another Way to Die” by Jack White and Alicia Keys, on the “Quantum of Solace” soundtrack but Adele takes the cake -- for almost the same reasons that I’m making a case for Thomas Newman’s score. I say almost because although the song does fit within the movie well, it’s more enjoyable when played as a standard music track on iTunes or YouTube or Pandora, etc. than during the “Skyfall” movie’s opening title sequence. Adele’s voice lends to the music but both elements are beautifully in sync, setting a nice tone for the film’s plot.

It would be easy for anyone who is not familiar with, or aloof to, the James Bond character and “Skyfall” to assume that the Adele’s song is about a couple dedicated to each other, even in times of turmoil. After watching the movie, however, all I can think about is how much this song can be interpreted to reflect a bond between 007 and M -- their sentimental values as well as their unshakeable, yet unspoken, will to protect and support each other, as it relates to the roles and responsibilities that they have taken on at M16.

Have YOU seen “Skyfall” yet?

If YOU were a voting member in a film-industry related organization, in what category would YOU nominate “Skyfall” for an award?

A First Favorite Short Film and Related Loves #amblogging #blogfest

I now interrupt our regularly scheduled Monday Movie Meme* (see the bottom of this post for details) program for the following event...

 

Today, Captain Ninja Alex is hosting the First Loves Blogfest. Participants post their first loves - first movie, first/song/band, first book and first person. Here are mine..

My First Movie: “The Red Balloon” is my first favorite short film. I think I saw it when I was in school, maybe. I don’t quite remember. I do know that it is one of many short films that I would watch again.

 

My First Rock Song: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. Although my mother introduced me to The Beatles and Bon Jovi when I was a kid, I didn’t take a liking to their music because I was preoccupied with Michael Jackson as well as R&B and rap tunes that they played on the radio -- specifically the Power 99FM radio station.

My First Rock Band: No Doubt is my first favorite rock band. Although I’ve probably heard their songs on the radio prior to attending college, I didn’t pay much attention to this group until the “Hey Baby” song was released. A few fellow classmates played the tune during one of our assignments for a summer program, and I was hooked on it ever since. The track piqued my interest in No Doubt and I’ve been a fan of their music ever since. “Hey Baby,” however, is not my favorite No Doubt song, at least not anymore.

My First Book: After searching around for the author, product listings and the name of one of my first favorite childhood books, I came up empty. All I know is it’s red with black letters on the cover that spell out the main character’s name, which is Darlene or Danielle or something of the sort. Therefore, I’ll move on to my first favorite novel, which is “Jack” by A.M. Holmes. I read “Jack” when I was in high school and it’s the only book that I enjoyed reading, as far as fiction is concerned.

My First Person: Johnathan Taylor Thomas is the first actor that I remember (at the time of this writing) having a crush on. I used to enjoy watching episodes of the ABC comedy “Home Improvement” starring Tim Allen, because it was a funny show. Thomas’ presence, however, made me look forward to those prime-time airings of Home Improvement even more.

Crushing on Johnathan Taylor Thomas is also the main reason I watched the action/adventure film “Wild America,” about three brothers who travel across the country to get rare footage of a bear cave. “Wild America” is based on the true life story of Martin “Marty” Stouffer and his brothers Mark and Marshall Stouffer.

Marty Stouffer produced and directed the PBS animal documentary TV show called “Wild America” that aired in the early 90s. He and his brothers have produced many award-winning documentaries about endangered species. Today, I find it ironic that when this movie came out, I was a high school student with expectations of my future being centered on fine arts, yet, I eventually took a different route after graduation -- filmmaking -- go figure!

*Tune in next week for a new installment of the Monday Movie Meme, as it takes a break this week.

You Got Me with Loyal Movie Quotes #atozchallenge

“If you don’t worry about where I been or who I saw or, what club I went to with my homies, baby don’t worry, you know that you got me”

“You Got Me” by The Roots is a Grammy winning song that I’ve enjoyed listening to on many occasions. Although the hook to “You Got Me” is performed by singer Erykah Badu, this entire tune was written by R&B/ Neo Soul singer Jill Scott, who often performs with The Roots at their concerts, in place of Badu. Both The Roots and Jill Scott are from Philadelphia, PA -- where I currently am.

From my understanding, “You Got Me” is about a couple, particularly the lead performer of The Roots band and an unnamed female -- and how his traveling on the road and her schedule causes insecurities or jealously and/or other conflict in their relationship. The main point of “You Got Me,” however, is that this woman is trying to get him to understand that she is always in his corner and will not will not seek comfort or attention in the arms of another man.

So basically, this particular song by The Roots is all about loyalty, at least as far as I’m concerned with it. That also got me thinking about loyalty among friends, families, partners, lovers, co-workers, communities, etc. as portrayed in film. -- or the lack thereof.

After FINALLY watching Spike Lee’s directorial debut “She’s Gotta Have It” for the first time recently, it is nice to know that there are people out in the world who are loyal to one another -- even if those people do not include Nola Darling, her three boyfriends and her one lesbian suitor.

In honor of the principles laid out in “You Got Me,” here are some movie quotes that appear to describe loyalty among the main characters in film -- something that Nola, Jamie, Greer, Mars and Opal know nothing about (Still their disloyal behavior toward each other doesn't change the fact that "She's Gotta Have It" is a good and funny movie).

Movie Quotes that Say YOU-GOT-ME in one way or another:

"We ride together, we die together. Bad boys for life!" - Detective Mike Lowery (played by Will Smith) in "Bad Boys II"

“I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. ‘Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee.’ And I don't mean to. I don't mean to.” - Sam (played by Sean Astin), the Hobbit, in “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”

“I know all of the people you would hire to come after me. They like me better than you” - Danny Ocean (played by George Clooney) in “Ocean’s Thirteen”

“I need your help. I can't tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we're gonna hurt some people.” -- Doug MacRay (played by Ben Affleck) to his friend Jem in “The Town” / “Whose car are we gonna' take?” -- Jem’s (played by Jeremy Renner) response to Doug in “The Town”

“This is Maddy’s card, you call her when you get to Conakry, alright?...And don’t trust that pilot for a second. You point this at his head if he fucks around! Take your boy home.” -- Danny Archer (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) in “Blood Diamond”

Can YOU name any movie quotes showing some form of loyalty among the main characters?

What does loyalty mean to YOU?