Tag: library
Redwood City Daily Photo Spring 2015 #29
Day #29: Tiny library near the county courthouse.
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
True or not? Discuss.
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
True or not? Discuss.
Redwood City Daily Photo Spring 2015 #17
Day #17: At first glance, this appears to be a harmless painting of happy white people enjoying a Summer day in Redwood City, but a closer look reveals more disturbing undertones.
A blond ambigiously-gendered individual is approaching an abandoned outdoor coffee table. We can deduce that two people, most likely an adult and a child, have left behind a coffee cup, a sippy cup, an mp3 player, a library book, a book bag, and a squirrel. Is the blond person about to steal their stuff? Did he/she scare them away? Or is he/she the owner of the coffee cup who is returning from a unisex bathroom break to find their child missing? Do the gay couple at the other table know something we don't? Why are they looking at the abandoned table so suspiciously? What does the dog represent? Are the people in the far distance the former occupants of the table? Does the parent normally listen to music on earbuds while taking their kid to the library? Why? Karla & I have spent many hours staring at this mural trying to figure out what it means. If you think the back side of the kiosk has any answers, you're sadly mistaken. If anything it only raises further questions. Such as, is this supposed to represent the landscape of Redwood City in the primordial dinosaur times? If so, is the courthouse dome really that old?
A blond ambigiously-gendered individual is approaching an abandoned outdoor coffee table. We can deduce that two people, most likely an adult and a child, have left behind a coffee cup, a sippy cup, an mp3 player, a library book, a book bag, and a squirrel. Is the blond person about to steal their stuff? Did he/she scare them away? Or is he/she the owner of the coffee cup who is returning from a unisex bathroom break to find their child missing? Do the gay couple at the other table know something we don't? Why are they looking at the abandoned table so suspiciously? What does the dog represent? Are the people in the far distance the former occupants of the table? Does the parent normally listen to music on earbuds while taking their kid to the library? Why? Karla & I have spent many hours staring at this mural trying to figure out what it means. If you think the back side of the kiosk has any answers, you're sadly mistaken. If anything it only raises further questions. Such as, is this supposed to represent the landscape of Redwood City in the primordial dinosaur times? If so, is the courthouse dome really that old?
Redwood City Daily Photo Spring 2015 #14
Redwood City Daily Photo Spring 2015 #6
Happy International Women's Day. Here's a weird mural from the library.
Green Fades To Brown
Song #8: 8:18
"8:18" is the third song in the Brad trilogy. If you didn't know Brad, this one might seem like the most cryptic; if you did, it's the most obvious. I'll annotate it for those of you who didn't know him and also because I've always wanted to do such a thing.
From the windows of College Terrace
1. Brad worked at the College Terrace Library in Palo Alto. The promo photo for "Ultraviolet Garden" was taken there, using light from a large window.
To the ushers in the dark
2. Brad also worked at the Stanford Theatre which shows classic movies, and the Aquarius, which plays current indie movies.
From the Hewlett Packard heiress
3. The Stanford Theatre is owned by the Packard foundation. I don't really know if there's an heiress, but I liked the rhyme. Let's just say that the theater itself is the heiress.
To the donkeys of Barron Park
4. The Barron Park donkeys are well known in Palo Alto. One of them was the model for the Shrek donkey.
In Peet's and in Piazza's, the stars no longer shine
5. Karla & I volunteered at Wildlife Rescue in Palo Alto for 5 years before we moved to Redwood City. Before our shift we would usually get a sandwich at Piazza's and a drink at Peets. I guess this isn't directly about Brad except for the fact that he lived in that neighborhood for the time that I knew him.
The protesters of Lytton Plaza have set aside their signs
6. Lytton Plaza is the central square of Palo Alto and it is often filled with demonstrators & conspiracy theorists: Women In Black, 9-11 Truthers, Code Pink, Hare Krishna, etc.
In 8 minutes, 18 seconds the sun will touch our skin
Vitamin D, in spite of windy, rainy weather
We'll still be together
And poppies will bloom once again
7. The chorus was a separate piece, inspired by a magazine article I read in Sportivo Coffee House about Vitamin D and seasonal depression. Angela & Karla set it to music, I added it in to the song I was working on, and of course it made the song 100% better. I like the contrast it creates with my more melancholy, minor key verse parts.
No movies at the Aquarius
8. As mentioned above, Brad worked at the Aquarius theater.
And the fountain ceased its spout
9. The California Avenue Fountain was a huge controversy in Palo Alto for several years, which was eloquently covered by Karla Kane in the Palo Alto Weekly. It seemed like whenever I had something for Brad that I was supposed to drop off, like the key to the practice room, I'd go by the Cal Ave Fountain & he'd coincidentally be there. It was always unplanned.
And in the old libraries the last book has been checked out
10. Again, College Terrace Library.
The letters on the marquee say we'll be back in the spring
As we sit here in the dark we don't believe a thing
11. I remember walking by the Stanford Theatre a few days after Brad's funeral and noticing that the marquee said something like "Temporarily closed while we prepare our Spring program". It struck me as a powerful sentiment, if not a sign from Brad. Life carries on, the poppies will always be back. In real life people change and sometimes disappear, but when you go see a movie at the Stanford, there's Cary Grant or Judy Garland on the screen, and they're 25 years old forever. You can still experience a world that no longer exists and life is all the better for it. I suppose that's the main reason humans do things like make movies, record albums, & write blogs. We don't want our ideas, thoughts, voices, and images to be erased from history.
The nights we spent in Midtown
12. Midtown Palo Alto is the area where Brad lived and where the Variable Stars practiced in 2003-4.
The days of deviled egg
13. In 2008 we had a weekly open picnic in downtown Palo Alto. The description was thus:
Hear ye, hear ye: Hosted by the Holy Roman Brad and the Elusive Magnificat Karla, this event will take place in Cogswell Plaza, downtown Palo Alto roughly once a week.
*Everyone is welcome and no one shall be turned away.
*Time and date will be posted in this group whenever a picnic is about to take place.
*Bring a small snack food item to share.
*Bring an instrument and play us your latest song, or show us an amusing video of your pet from your mobile phone. It's like Facebook except live and with food.
*In the unlikely event of rain or cold, an alternate indoor location will be chosen.
Brad would often bring his famous deviled eggs, and grape juice.
The Mormon tire breakdown
14. Long story. Read it here if you dare.
The grape juice by the keg
15. See note 13.
We'll walk down University with no adversity
And poppies will bloom once again
16. University Avenue is the main street in downtown Palo Alto, and where the Stanford Theater is located. I'm going over there right now.
Notes On The Recording:
*This is the first Corner Laughers recording on which I sing lead. Scary.
*The amazing Jeri Sykes from the Preoccupied Pipers played flute & clarinet and did the woodwind arrangement.
*It was my intention that this sound kind of like a Belle & Sebastian song, after Brad's favorite band.
*Karla plays bass.
*Many digital music players or storage sites will not allow a ":" in a song title.
Wikipedia Trivia:
*The distance from the Earth to the Sun varies because the Earth's orbit about the Sun is elliptical. At it's closest, the distance is 91,402,000 miles and it's farthest distance it is 94,512,000 miles. This gives an average distance of 92,957,000 miles. Light travels at 186,282 miles per second. Dividing the average distance by the speed of light gives 499.01225 seconds which is 8.3168708 minutes. Rounded off, 8 minutes and 18 seconds.
*The Stanford Theatre is a classical independent movie theater in Palo Alto, California. The theater features neo-classical Greek/Assyrian style architecture and generally screens films made between the 1920s and 1960s. Often an entire month is devoted to film festivals for various genres, directors, and actors, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis, and Cary Grant. Designed by architects Weeks and Day, the theater was originally opened in 1925. In 1987 was purchased and restored by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. It is currently operated by the Stanford Theatre Foundation, led by David Woodley Packard, the son of Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard. The Stanford Theatre frequently accounts for as much as twenty-five percent of all classic film attendance in the USA.
*Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids. In humans, vitamin D is unique because it can be ingested as cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) or ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and because the body can also synthesize it (from cholesterol) when sun exposure is adequate (hence its nickname, the "sunshine vitamin"). Although vitamin D is commonly called a vitamin, it is not actually an essential dietary vitamin in the strict sense, as it can be synthesized in adequate amounts by all mammals from sunlight. An organic chemical compound (or related set of compounds) is only scientifically called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. However, as with other compounds commonly called vitamins, vitamin D was discovered in an effort to find the dietary substance that was lacking in a disease, namely, rickets, the childhood form of osteomalacia. Additionally, like other compounds called vitamins, in the developed world vitamin D is added to staple foods, such as milk, to avoid disease due to deficiency.
"8:18" is the third song in the Brad trilogy. If you didn't know Brad, this one might seem like the most cryptic; if you did, it's the most obvious. I'll annotate it for those of you who didn't know him and also because I've always wanted to do such a thing.
From the windows of College Terrace
1. Brad worked at the College Terrace Library in Palo Alto. The promo photo for "Ultraviolet Garden" was taken there, using light from a large window.
To the ushers in the dark
2. Brad also worked at the Stanford Theatre which shows classic movies, and the Aquarius, which plays current indie movies.
From the Hewlett Packard heiress
3. The Stanford Theatre is owned by the Packard foundation. I don't really know if there's an heiress, but I liked the rhyme. Let's just say that the theater itself is the heiress.
To the donkeys of Barron Park
4. The Barron Park donkeys are well known in Palo Alto. One of them was the model for the Shrek donkey.
In Peet's and in Piazza's, the stars no longer shine
5. Karla & I volunteered at Wildlife Rescue in Palo Alto for 5 years before we moved to Redwood City. Before our shift we would usually get a sandwich at Piazza's and a drink at Peets. I guess this isn't directly about Brad except for the fact that he lived in that neighborhood for the time that I knew him.
The protesters of Lytton Plaza have set aside their signs
6. Lytton Plaza is the central square of Palo Alto and it is often filled with demonstrators & conspiracy theorists: Women In Black, 9-11 Truthers, Code Pink, Hare Krishna, etc.
In 8 minutes, 18 seconds the sun will touch our skin
Vitamin D, in spite of windy, rainy weather
We'll still be together
And poppies will bloom once again
7. The chorus was a separate piece, inspired by a magazine article I read in Sportivo Coffee House about Vitamin D and seasonal depression. Angela & Karla set it to music, I added it in to the song I was working on, and of course it made the song 100% better. I like the contrast it creates with my more melancholy, minor key verse parts.
No movies at the Aquarius
8. As mentioned above, Brad worked at the Aquarius theater.
And the fountain ceased its spout
9. The California Avenue Fountain was a huge controversy in Palo Alto for several years, which was eloquently covered by Karla Kane in the Palo Alto Weekly. It seemed like whenever I had something for Brad that I was supposed to drop off, like the key to the practice room, I'd go by the Cal Ave Fountain & he'd coincidentally be there. It was always unplanned.
And in the old libraries the last book has been checked out
10. Again, College Terrace Library.
The letters on the marquee say we'll be back in the spring
As we sit here in the dark we don't believe a thing
11. I remember walking by the Stanford Theatre a few days after Brad's funeral and noticing that the marquee said something like "Temporarily closed while we prepare our Spring program". It struck me as a powerful sentiment, if not a sign from Brad. Life carries on, the poppies will always be back. In real life people change and sometimes disappear, but when you go see a movie at the Stanford, there's Cary Grant or Judy Garland on the screen, and they're 25 years old forever. You can still experience a world that no longer exists and life is all the better for it. I suppose that's the main reason humans do things like make movies, record albums, & write blogs. We don't want our ideas, thoughts, voices, and images to be erased from history.
The nights we spent in Midtown
12. Midtown Palo Alto is the area where Brad lived and where the Variable Stars practiced in 2003-4.
The days of deviled egg
13. In 2008 we had a weekly open picnic in downtown Palo Alto. The description was thus:
Hear ye, hear ye: Hosted by the Holy Roman Brad and the Elusive Magnificat Karla, this event will take place in Cogswell Plaza, downtown Palo Alto roughly once a week.
*Everyone is welcome and no one shall be turned away.
*Time and date will be posted in this group whenever a picnic is about to take place.
*Bring a small snack food item to share.
*Bring an instrument and play us your latest song, or show us an amusing video of your pet from your mobile phone. It's like Facebook except live and with food.
*In the unlikely event of rain or cold, an alternate indoor location will be chosen.
Brad would often bring his famous deviled eggs, and grape juice.
The Mormon tire breakdown
14. Long story. Read it here if you dare.
The grape juice by the keg
15. See note 13.
We'll walk down University with no adversity
And poppies will bloom once again
16. University Avenue is the main street in downtown Palo Alto, and where the Stanford Theater is located. I'm going over there right now.
Notes On The Recording:
*This is the first Corner Laughers recording on which I sing lead. Scary.
*The amazing Jeri Sykes from the Preoccupied Pipers played flute & clarinet and did the woodwind arrangement.
*It was my intention that this sound kind of like a Belle & Sebastian song, after Brad's favorite band.
*Karla plays bass.
*Many digital music players or storage sites will not allow a ":" in a song title.
Wikipedia Trivia:
*The distance from the Earth to the Sun varies because the Earth's orbit about the Sun is elliptical. At it's closest, the distance is 91,402,000 miles and it's farthest distance it is 94,512,000 miles. This gives an average distance of 92,957,000 miles. Light travels at 186,282 miles per second. Dividing the average distance by the speed of light gives 499.01225 seconds which is 8.3168708 minutes. Rounded off, 8 minutes and 18 seconds.
*The Stanford Theatre is a classical independent movie theater in Palo Alto, California. The theater features neo-classical Greek/Assyrian style architecture and generally screens films made between the 1920s and 1960s. Often an entire month is devoted to film festivals for various genres, directors, and actors, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis, and Cary Grant. Designed by architects Weeks and Day, the theater was originally opened in 1925. In 1987 was purchased and restored by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. It is currently operated by the Stanford Theatre Foundation, led by David Woodley Packard, the son of Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard. The Stanford Theatre frequently accounts for as much as twenty-five percent of all classic film attendance in the USA.
*Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids. In humans, vitamin D is unique because it can be ingested as cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) or ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and because the body can also synthesize it (from cholesterol) when sun exposure is adequate (hence its nickname, the "sunshine vitamin"). Although vitamin D is commonly called a vitamin, it is not actually an essential dietary vitamin in the strict sense, as it can be synthesized in adequate amounts by all mammals from sunlight. An organic chemical compound (or related set of compounds) is only scientifically called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. However, as with other compounds commonly called vitamins, vitamin D was discovered in an effort to find the dietary substance that was lacking in a disease, namely, rickets, the childhood form of osteomalacia. Additionally, like other compounds called vitamins, in the developed world vitamin D is added to staple foods, such as milk, to avoid disease due to deficiency.
Owl Stretching Time
10. Camelot (1982) My rating: 7/10. IMDB summary:
Part of the cable series "HBO Theatre", this is a videotaped presentation of the 1980 Broadway revival of the musical.
How many times has this happened to you? You type the word "Camelot" into your local library's online catalog search; the first DVD result that comes up says "Camelot - Richard Harris - Broadway Musicals", so you click "Reserve", completely convinced that you're going to be getting the 1967 big-screen spectacular. When you pick up the DVD at the library a few days later it turns out to be a 1982 live recording of the Broadway revival. Disappointing, but I did pledge to watch every filmed adaptation of Arthurian legend that I could find, and this definitely counts as such. Once you get accustomed to the weird early-80s medieval costumes and hairstyles it's really not a bad version at all. Richard Harris is always great, and the fake Julie Andrews almost sounds like the real Julie Andrews (who was in the original Broadway musical but not in the 1967 movie). The story sticks to the familiar legend, starting a few years after "The Sword In The Stone" and flashing back to several events mentioned in that movie. I'm a big fan of the Lerner and Loewe soundtrack and I always enjoy seeing stage acting up-close on film, but... I'd still rather see the real movie.
11. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974) My rating 8/10. IMDB summary:
King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many very silly obstacles.
Is there anything left to say about "The Holy Grail" that hasn't been said? It's the "Spinal Tap" of King Arthur movies: everyone my age knows every single line and quotes it constantly to the point of annoyance. As part of the Arthurian cannon it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was never meant to. The 3-disc deluxe reissue does have a lot of stuff I hadn't seen before, including, and I quote: "extremely expensive packaging". I'll leave you with some fascinating trivia:
*The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles per hour, beating its wings 7-9 times per second rather than 43. It's true: a 5 ounce bird cannot carry a one pound coconut, but furthermore, no swallow weighs 5 ounces. The barn swallow, which is what most English people mean when they say "swallow", weighs only 20 grams (2/3 of an ounce).
*Funds earned by Pink Floyd's album "The Dark Side of the Moon" went towards funding The Holy Grail. The band were such fans of the show they would halt recording sessions just to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus.
*As part of their stained glass and interior decoration, several medieval cathedrals included illustrations of virtues and vices. The vice of cowardice was depicted as a knight running away from a rabbit. Notre Dame in Paris has no fewer than three such medallions of the "Killer Rabbit".
Part of the cable series "HBO Theatre", this is a videotaped presentation of the 1980 Broadway revival of the musical.
How many times has this happened to you? You type the word "Camelot" into your local library's online catalog search; the first DVD result that comes up says "Camelot - Richard Harris - Broadway Musicals", so you click "Reserve", completely convinced that you're going to be getting the 1967 big-screen spectacular. When you pick up the DVD at the library a few days later it turns out to be a 1982 live recording of the Broadway revival. Disappointing, but I did pledge to watch every filmed adaptation of Arthurian legend that I could find, and this definitely counts as such. Once you get accustomed to the weird early-80s medieval costumes and hairstyles it's really not a bad version at all. Richard Harris is always great, and the fake Julie Andrews almost sounds like the real Julie Andrews (who was in the original Broadway musical but not in the 1967 movie). The story sticks to the familiar legend, starting a few years after "The Sword In The Stone" and flashing back to several events mentioned in that movie. I'm a big fan of the Lerner and Loewe soundtrack and I always enjoy seeing stage acting up-close on film, but... I'd still rather see the real movie.
11. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974) My rating 8/10. IMDB summary:
King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many very silly obstacles.
Is there anything left to say about "The Holy Grail" that hasn't been said? It's the "Spinal Tap" of King Arthur movies: everyone my age knows every single line and quotes it constantly to the point of annoyance. As part of the Arthurian cannon it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was never meant to. The 3-disc deluxe reissue does have a lot of stuff I hadn't seen before, including, and I quote: "extremely expensive packaging". I'll leave you with some fascinating trivia:
*The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles per hour, beating its wings 7-9 times per second rather than 43. It's true: a 5 ounce bird cannot carry a one pound coconut, but furthermore, no swallow weighs 5 ounces. The barn swallow, which is what most English people mean when they say "swallow", weighs only 20 grams (2/3 of an ounce).
*Funds earned by Pink Floyd's album "The Dark Side of the Moon" went towards funding The Holy Grail. The band were such fans of the show they would halt recording sessions just to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus.
*As part of their stained glass and interior decoration, several medieval cathedrals included illustrations of virtues and vices. The vice of cowardice was depicted as a knight running away from a rabbit. Notre Dame in Paris has no fewer than three such medallions of the "Killer Rabbit".
Impudent Piece Of Crockery
8. The Sword In The Stone (1963) My rating: 4/10. IMDB summary:
Arthur (aka Wart) is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for Wart beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give Wart an education (whatever that is), believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.
Like all nerdy people my age, I assumed I had seen this movie when I was a kid, but now I'm not so sure. It didn't seem all that familiar, so maybe I just read the storybook or had the re-recorded soundtrack record/book set. You'll forgive me if I add it to "My Movies 2012" as a movie that I had not previously seen. And what a huge disappointment it is,
zimbra1006's warnings notwithstanding (Or maybe super-withstanding). First of all: the animation - was this drawn in a cheap Korean sweatshop? Disney would never release such a shoddy product nowadays. It looks like the bad 70s Hanna Barberra and Underdog cartoons that I grew up with. The backgrounds are all stationary paintings. The moving characters are bare bones outlines. The mouth movements don't even match the dialogue half of the time. Not that it matters because the voice actors are God-awful. The fake British accents wouldn't fool Dick Van Dyke, and the guy playing Wart isn't even trying. Sometimes he's from California, sometimes he's from the South, but never is he English. The plot and character motivations are almost non-existent. We never find out where Wart comes from or why he deserves to be the king. All through the movie they keep foreshadowing a big tournament that the viewer expects to be the climactic finale, but it never really happens. I guess they decided it would be too expensive to animate. Maybe the most annoying production element is the incessant clarinet / saxophone combo that punctuates every movement and action. The Sherman Brothers did the music, so you'd think that would at least be halfway decent, but it's not. There's even a bonus feature where the Sherman Brothers kind-of apologize for the soundtrack and play some of the songs that got cut, all of which are better than the ones that made it into the movie. So why did I give it a 4 rather than a 3 or 2? I liked the owl.
I knowclyde_park probably reviewed this for his animated Disney project a few years ago. I purposely did not re-read his review before posting this. I'll go look at it now and see how many things we agreed on.
9. A Kid In King Arthur's Court (1995) My rating: 3/10. IMDB summary:
Young Calvin Fuller is pulled into King Arthur's court by Merlin. His mission: to save Camelot. To do this he must overcome the villain known as Lord Belascoe, train to become a knight, and rescue the Princess Katherine whom he has fallen in love with him. Ultimately, He must help Arthur regain his confidence before he can go home.
Another Disney take on the King Arthur myth, and another piece-of-crap movie. Where to begin? How about: "That's not a clamor - that's ROCK 'N' ROLL." And every other 90s G-rated teen cliche. Bad, unlikeable actors. Nonsensical plot. Villain has foreign-sounding name and is only dark-skinned guy in movie. New-world foods eaten in old-world times. Rollerblades, again. There's only one good thing about this movie, and it's a spoiler but I'm just going to say it anyway in an attempt to prevent any future viewings of this by anyone: Kate Winslet is the black knight.
Arthur (aka Wart) is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for Wart beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give Wart an education (whatever that is), believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.
Like all nerdy people my age, I assumed I had seen this movie when I was a kid, but now I'm not so sure. It didn't seem all that familiar, so maybe I just read the storybook or had the re-recorded soundtrack record/book set. You'll forgive me if I add it to "My Movies 2012" as a movie that I had not previously seen. And what a huge disappointment it is,
zimbra1006's warnings notwithstanding (Or maybe super-withstanding). First of all: the animation - was this drawn in a cheap Korean sweatshop? Disney would never release such a shoddy product nowadays. It looks like the bad 70s Hanna Barberra and Underdog cartoons that I grew up with. The backgrounds are all stationary paintings. The moving characters are bare bones outlines. The mouth movements don't even match the dialogue half of the time. Not that it matters because the voice actors are God-awful. The fake British accents wouldn't fool Dick Van Dyke, and the guy playing Wart isn't even trying. Sometimes he's from California, sometimes he's from the South, but never is he English. The plot and character motivations are almost non-existent. We never find out where Wart comes from or why he deserves to be the king. All through the movie they keep foreshadowing a big tournament that the viewer expects to be the climactic finale, but it never really happens. I guess they decided it would be too expensive to animate. Maybe the most annoying production element is the incessant clarinet / saxophone combo that punctuates every movement and action. The Sherman Brothers did the music, so you'd think that would at least be halfway decent, but it's not. There's even a bonus feature where the Sherman Brothers kind-of apologize for the soundtrack and play some of the songs that got cut, all of which are better than the ones that made it into the movie. So why did I give it a 4 rather than a 3 or 2? I liked the owl. I know
clyde_park probably reviewed this for his animated Disney project a few years ago. I purposely did not re-read his review before posting this. I'll go look at it now and see how many things we agreed on. 9. A Kid In King Arthur's Court (1995) My rating: 3/10. IMDB summary:
Young Calvin Fuller is pulled into King Arthur's court by Merlin. His mission: to save Camelot. To do this he must overcome the villain known as Lord Belascoe, train to become a knight, and rescue the Princess Katherine whom he has fallen in love with him. Ultimately, He must help Arthur regain his confidence before he can go home.
Another Disney take on the King Arthur myth, and another piece-of-crap movie. Where to begin? How about: "That's not a clamor - that's ROCK 'N' ROLL." And every other 90s G-rated teen cliche. Bad, unlikeable actors. Nonsensical plot. Villain has foreign-sounding name and is only dark-skinned guy in movie. New-world foods eaten in old-world times. Rollerblades, again. There's only one good thing about this movie, and it's a spoiler but I'm just going to say it anyway in an attempt to prevent any future viewings of this by anyone: Kate Winslet is the black knight.
Some Of Your Fingers Are Out Of Place
6. King Arthur (2004) My rating: 6/10. IMDB summary:
Although the legend of King Arthur has not been historically established as fact, this film attempts to place King Arthur within his possible historic context, smack between the fall of the Roman Empire (just a few hundred years after Gladiator) and the long road through the Dark Ages (roughly set in the 5th or 6th centuries). The magic and fantasy of the legend is absent. (Merlin may still be around; just not performing the magic seen in Excalibur.)
I was really hoping to be able to complain about how awful this one was, based on the rockin' extreme-o DVD cover in which Keira Knightley sports an action bikini, but alas, it was far better than expected. It was filmed in the now-familiar dark, ominous green-filtered-lens style that is so common to historical epics these days, and most scenes take place in snow and ice. There are no magicians or swords in stones. The closest they get to that is a scene in which young Arthur pulls a sword from his father's grave. There's no love triangle with Guinevere and Lancelot either. In fact, Guinevere is a kick-ass soldier who kills a bunch of Saxons. Lancelot (spoiler alert) does not survive. There's also no Morgaine or Lady Of The Lake. There's a Merlin character, but he only has a few lines and is not a wizard. It is set in the 400s, as decreed by Geoffrey of Monmouth, rather than the erroneous much-later settings that you so often see. I do like the idea of going back to the historical source material and removing the supernatural elements, at least for one movie. Of course, history geeks have pointed out numerous anachronisms, only one of which is at-all worth noting here:
One of the knights flies a hawk in several scenes. The hawk is a Harris' Hawk from the Americas, which had no commerce with Britain until nearly 1000 years later.
The only real complaint I have is: "Why does Clive Owen's Arthur character have to tediously hit us over the head every 5 minutes with what a great guy he, himself is because he fights for liberty and equality for all and you don't?" One mention would have been enough, or even too much. Just show it.
Bonus points: One of the DVD extras is a "Roundtable" with the filmmakers. Ha.
Although the legend of King Arthur has not been historically established as fact, this film attempts to place King Arthur within his possible historic context, smack between the fall of the Roman Empire (just a few hundred years after Gladiator) and the long road through the Dark Ages (roughly set in the 5th or 6th centuries). The magic and fantasy of the legend is absent. (Merlin may still be around; just not performing the magic seen in Excalibur.)
I was really hoping to be able to complain about how awful this one was, based on the rockin' extreme-o DVD cover in which Keira Knightley sports an action bikini, but alas, it was far better than expected. It was filmed in the now-familiar dark, ominous green-filtered-lens style that is so common to historical epics these days, and most scenes take place in snow and ice. There are no magicians or swords in stones. The closest they get to that is a scene in which young Arthur pulls a sword from his father's grave. There's no love triangle with Guinevere and Lancelot either. In fact, Guinevere is a kick-ass soldier who kills a bunch of Saxons. Lancelot (spoiler alert) does not survive. There's also no Morgaine or Lady Of The Lake. There's a Merlin character, but he only has a few lines and is not a wizard. It is set in the 400s, as decreed by Geoffrey of Monmouth, rather than the erroneous much-later settings that you so often see. I do like the idea of going back to the historical source material and removing the supernatural elements, at least for one movie. Of course, history geeks have pointed out numerous anachronisms, only one of which is at-all worth noting here:
One of the knights flies a hawk in several scenes. The hawk is a Harris' Hawk from the Americas, which had no commerce with Britain until nearly 1000 years later.
The only real complaint I have is: "Why does Clive Owen's Arthur character have to tediously hit us over the head every 5 minutes with what a great guy he, himself is because he fights for liberty and equality for all and you don't?" One mention would have been enough, or even too much. Just show it.
Bonus points: One of the DVD extras is a "Roundtable" with the filmmakers. Ha.
Pack up your ambition in your old kit bag.
5. The Mists of Avalon (2001) (TV) My rating: 7/10. IMDB summary:
Based on the bestseller by Marion Zimmer Bradley It tells the story of the women behind King Arthur; including his mother, Igraine; his half-sister, Morgaine; his aunt Viviane, the Lady of the Lake; and his wife, Gwenwyfar.
I've never read the famous novel upon which this film was based, butgoldenmoonbear is obsessed with it and was able to keep me informed about which parts were accurate and which parts were pure Hollywood. The book is epic, and although the miniseries (presented on the DVD as one continuous movie) is over 3 hours long, it apparently leaves out a huge percentage of the story. Nonetheless, I found it to be well-done and compellingly watchable. The 3 main roles are played by highly recognizable American actresses and it's clearly intended for American audiences. The old English religions and Pagan goddesses are overly explained, as if we've never heard of them. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, since most Americans probably don't know or care very much about English or religious history, as indicated by every poll or survey I've ever seen. Departing from the majority of Arthur re-tellings, Morgaine is portrayed as a sympathetic, tragic figure who only wants the best for Arthur and Britain. Avalon is a real place (full of Averbury-esque megaliths) that only certain followers of the religion know how to find, but there are no dragons or gryphons or hocus-pocus magicians. All of the major elements of Arthurian mythology are present, including the sword / stone bit which takes place inside a burning building with only the hologram of The Lady Of The Lake as a witness. Bonus: young Morgaine was played by Tamsin Egerton, who 10 years later played Guinevere in the CBC series "Camelot", which was on my Netflix cue but has now been rescinded and labeled "not available". Booo.
For further (entertaining, not too scholarly) reading about ancient Britain, the old religions, and insight into how languages develop and what words and stories really mean, I highly recommend:
The Modern Antiquarian - Julian Cope
Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd
The Sacred Mushroom And The Cross - John Allegro
Based on the bestseller by Marion Zimmer Bradley It tells the story of the women behind King Arthur; including his mother, Igraine; his half-sister, Morgaine; his aunt Viviane, the Lady of the Lake; and his wife, Gwenwyfar.
I've never read the famous novel upon which this film was based, but
goldenmoonbear is obsessed with it and was able to keep me informed about which parts were accurate and which parts were pure Hollywood. The book is epic, and although the miniseries (presented on the DVD as one continuous movie) is over 3 hours long, it apparently leaves out a huge percentage of the story. Nonetheless, I found it to be well-done and compellingly watchable. The 3 main roles are played by highly recognizable American actresses and it's clearly intended for American audiences. The old English religions and Pagan goddesses are overly explained, as if we've never heard of them. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, since most Americans probably don't know or care very much about English or religious history, as indicated by every poll or survey I've ever seen. Departing from the majority of Arthur re-tellings, Morgaine is portrayed as a sympathetic, tragic figure who only wants the best for Arthur and Britain. Avalon is a real place (full of Averbury-esque megaliths) that only certain followers of the religion know how to find, but there are no dragons or gryphons or hocus-pocus magicians. All of the major elements of Arthurian mythology are present, including the sword / stone bit which takes place inside a burning building with only the hologram of The Lady Of The Lake as a witness. Bonus: young Morgaine was played by Tamsin Egerton, who 10 years later played Guinevere in the CBC series "Camelot", which was on my Netflix cue but has now been rescinded and labeled "not available". Booo. For further (entertaining, not too scholarly) reading about ancient Britain, the old religions, and insight into how languages develop and what words and stories really mean, I highly recommend:
The Modern Antiquarian - Julian Cope
Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd
The Sacred Mushroom And The Cross - John Allegro