My Favorite Themes - Part VII

Score: Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams

About the film: What is there to tell? It's your basic 'adventurer-professor has to keep a powerful artifact from ending up in the hands of the Nazis' story. Seriously, like North by Northwest, this is one of those movies where if you haven't seen it, then you've wasted your life. Jones, Belloq, Marion, world travel. Need more be said?

Title: "The Ark of the Covenant". A delicate melody for strings and winds which is interwoven throughout the score. It really comes into its own when mixed with choir ("The Map Room: Dawn", "The Miracle of the Ark") or turned into a march ("Ark Trek").

Other themes of interest: There's the beautiful love theme ("Marion's Theme"), the terse Nazi motif, prominently on horns ("Desert Chase"), the exciting (and quite memorable) 'Raiders March', as well as a pair of sub-themes associated with Indy's searching.

Availability: It was released on DCC Records in 1995. It now goes for exorbitant prices on eBay, but if you can find it cheap, go for it. Seriously. It's a damn fine work.

"In a world, where laughter was king..."

Ah, the glory of YouTube. Not only can you upload your own videos, but you can find favorite music videos, TV episodes...and trailers. One of my Holy Grails was discovered last night. If you have never seen the trailer for the 2002 documentary feature Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian, then you are really missing out:

One of the best trailers ever!

Belate than never.

I had hoped to tell you about this on my brand new laptop (dreams do come true!), but there's a lot of crap I need to settle first. Yesterday was my birthday. The big 2-5. Hopefully, by 2-6, I'll have found a new job and a new pad.

One of the other things I'm proud to own is the special edition DVD of Singin' in the Rain. It honestly seems like I'm at work everytime it's on. Problem solved.

Here's hoping that I get wiser as I get older...but don't bet on it.

Vacation, all I ever needed.

Next week, I get a week off of work. Bad news: I used all the hours for time off last fall, so if I take a vacation this week, I won't get paid for it. And I'm fine with that.

Money is scant consolation for peace of mind, which, God willing, I'll get on my vacation.

Even if I had to writhe naked over miles of broken glass and hot coals...if I didn't have to do it at the store, I'd be happy. (Can't you tell how much I need this?)

Lent to me.

Well, Lent is just a few hours from over. I can't believe I was able to give up chocolate for such an extended period of time. The other thing...maybe next time. There were a number of vices I could've given up over the season, but didn't:

swearing - a) I do this so unconsciously sometimes, I hardly notice it. I'd have lost at this before lunch, and b) As long as there are stupid people in the world, there will always be the need for profanity and the compulsion to take the Lord's name in vain.

sugar - It should be enough that I gave up chocolate.

the internet - In the last few years, this has become as much a part of my daily routine as going to the bathroom, and I don't see myself giving that up anytime soon.

Just my contribution towards self-improvement.

A bad day to pie.

Weak "PVP" reference. Never mind.

The office was pretty much closed up, but then, one of my supervisors needs to send a Western Union transaction. He knows what time we close. Another supervisor was sure that this could be done, as it was done at another store where she worked. Jesus H. Christ, I need to get out of there! It's one thing when the customers can't tell time, but the managers not knowing how is quite another. Full disclosure: I was in special education for six years of my life, so if I can tell time, everyone else better God damn know how!

And while I'm mainlining venom, let me give you a tip: stay the fuck away from Snapple Pie! It's like this: the otherwise good people at Snapple liquified an apple pie and sold it as a beverage. Maybe it's because apple pie is more of a sometimes thing with me, but it tasted awful. There are much better flavors out there. Trust me on this.

'Inside' job.

The other day, I heard something rather amusing: that the terrific Spike Lee thriller, Inside Man is reminiscient of the underrated Bill Murray comedy Quick Change. No, really. I heard it here.

SPOILERS AHOY!






(I mean it!)




The comparison is made due to the fact that the robbers manage to get out with the thieves. That seems a tad tenuous, as the methods of escape are quite different. The films are the same inasmuch that the crooks get away with the spoils while going unrecognized by their pursuers until it's too late.

I like to think that Man is more like the classic thriller, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. The banter between Dets. Frazier and Mitchell isn't too far removed from that of Garber and Rico in Pelham, and it's a little hard not to see Dalton Russell and get flashbacks of Mr. Blue. (In fact, the method of codenames is similar, but I believe that Pelham's color-coding is superior to Inside's Steve variations.) Also, echoes of David Shire's excellent score can be heard in Terence Blanchard's music...as well as an inexplicable (if not unwelcome) hint of Shirley Walker (happy birthday, by the way).

This is much like how 16 Blocks was something of a re-do of Eastwood's The Gauntlet. This is what we need a bit more of: not remakes, but films with the feel and heart of classics (and near-classics).

The ultimate battle between cutouts and cutaways.

The talkback threads at Ain't It Cool News can be a never-ending source of amusement. This one, about the recent "South Park" episode that takes several potshots at "Family Guy" while poking fun at itself, is a particularly good one.

Now, "Family Guy" can be amusing when it's not stretching out gags way past their natural parameters or needlessly picking on Meg, perhaps the least cartoony of the Griffins. Unfortunately (along with the hit-or-miss cutaway gags), that seems to be all the show is nowadays. Shame, really.