a few random things
Jun. 23rd, 2005 01:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kodalai- I am reaffirmed in my conviction that Til Linderman* has the voice of a god.
*Lead singer for Rammstein.
Note I don't compare his voice to a sex god, like, say, Gackt. Nor am I attempting to assert that his voice is divinely good. But it's so deep and powerful and overwhelming that every time I listen to it, I get the feeling that if God were ever cast to speak in a radio drama, this is the voice he'd use.
One of the songs on their latest album, Reise Reise, is called "Amerika." It's the only one on there with lyrics in English. Or pseudo-English. It can be hard to tell.
We all live in Amerika
Amerika ist vunderbar
We all live in Amerika
Amerika, Amerika
It's a very creepy piece, as to be expected from a band like Rammstein, complete with schoolchildren singing the chorus in the background to this God-voiced guy. The verses are in German, except for a part in the middle where he breaks out into English again:
This is not a love song
This is not a love song
I do not sing my mother tongue
This is not a love song
...which doesn't mean much unless you know that Rammstein has commented in the past that all their songs are love songs, at least in the sense of being about love. All kinds of love. Even the kind of love that has one guy asking another to chop off his penis, cook it and eat it.
Man, I like this band.
- I really need a haircut. This just looks bad.
- I hate buying green bananas. They always go bad before they get ripe. Is there some trick to it?
- On sober reflection, I have come to the regretful conclusion that Batman Begins would not have benefitted significantly from the addition of shouta sidekicks in hot pants. It just wasn't that kind of movie. Alas. Well, there are always sequels.
I really liked the movie a lot, though. The soundtrack was top-notch. The visual effects were astonishing -- in the sense of being GOOD, not just in the sense of being flashy, which is the mistake a lot of SFX-happy directors make. The storyline and dramatic line progressed smoothly enough that it actually made hella lot of sense why a guy would go dressing up as a bat and jumping over rooftops -- it really drew you in that far. The camera, lighting & pacing choreography was perfectly done for pulse-pounding suspense -- as I commented to Emily, it was like being on the right end of a horror movie. Some of the dialogue in spots was cheesy enough to have me sniggering, but it didn't detract significantly from my enjoyment in the movie.
The token romantic interest chick was not nearly as useless as I feared she'd be, although some of her interactions with Bruce were pretty damn pointless. But hey, that's Hollywood for you. Can't have a movie without romance. It probably helped that Rachel was obviously not Bruce's highest priority. You got the distinct vibe of "Oh noes! My childhood sweetheart/companion scorns me for being a butterfly socialite while knowing nothing of my unrelentingly obsessive efforts to fight crime and promote justice! ....Ah well." *goes back to fashioning cool bat-stuff*
I thought towards the beginning that I was going to be pissed off by some of the messages they were sending -- particularly teeth-grinding was the assertion that the Waynes' death was his father's fault, for failing to have superhuman reflexes or aggression or what have you to fight back against a gun at point blank range. I can't stand that kind of mentality, that people have an obligation to learn how to kill or perform superhuman feats in order to survive in an ordinary life. I much prefer the line that the movie actually took, that ordinary people shouldn't have to do that, and that in order to ensure that they don't have to do it, a few people need to dedicate themselves to protecting ordinary people from danger and violence. Whether those ordinary people are superheroes, or policemen, or soldiers, or billionaire philanthropists who dedicate their lives to trying to cure the conditions that drive people to desperation and violence.
Yeah.
I also liked the line at the end, where Batman says "I don't have to kill you... but I don't have to save you, either," and leaves the guy to his death (pshyeah right, in comic books?) on the fiery train. Some people might argue that there's no difference between the two, and logically... there's not. But morally, there is. Oh yes, there's a huge difference. Just like there's a huge moral difference between flipping the switch to save the train or shoving the guy into the tracks to save the train. There's a difference and it's important because it's what seperates morally healthy people from morally sick people.
Their choice of villains, out of all the many Batman's faced over the years, was crucial and perfect. I'd never heard much about Scarecrow, although I had the vaguest idea of what he did, but HOLY SHIT he was freaky. Plenty enough without bringing the Joker into things; while the Joker was Batman's longest running and most hateful foes, he can be a bit tricky to deal with. And again, I didn't know much about Ras al-Ghul, but I knew enough to know that he/they was one of the most formidable and organized bad guys that Batman ever dealt with.
And Alfred is love. Yes indeedy.
- Man, it's hot here.
*Lead singer for Rammstein.
Note I don't compare his voice to a sex god, like, say, Gackt. Nor am I attempting to assert that his voice is divinely good. But it's so deep and powerful and overwhelming that every time I listen to it, I get the feeling that if God were ever cast to speak in a radio drama, this is the voice he'd use.
One of the songs on their latest album, Reise Reise, is called "Amerika." It's the only one on there with lyrics in English. Or pseudo-English. It can be hard to tell.
We all live in Amerika
Amerika ist vunderbar
We all live in Amerika
Amerika, Amerika
It's a very creepy piece, as to be expected from a band like Rammstein, complete with schoolchildren singing the chorus in the background to this God-voiced guy. The verses are in German, except for a part in the middle where he breaks out into English again:
This is not a love song
This is not a love song
I do not sing my mother tongue
This is not a love song
...which doesn't mean much unless you know that Rammstein has commented in the past that all their songs are love songs, at least in the sense of being about love. All kinds of love. Even the kind of love that has one guy asking another to chop off his penis, cook it and eat it.
Man, I like this band.
- I really need a haircut. This just looks bad.
- I hate buying green bananas. They always go bad before they get ripe. Is there some trick to it?
- On sober reflection, I have come to the regretful conclusion that Batman Begins would not have benefitted significantly from the addition of shouta sidekicks in hot pants. It just wasn't that kind of movie. Alas. Well, there are always sequels.
I really liked the movie a lot, though. The soundtrack was top-notch. The visual effects were astonishing -- in the sense of being GOOD, not just in the sense of being flashy, which is the mistake a lot of SFX-happy directors make. The storyline and dramatic line progressed smoothly enough that it actually made hella lot of sense why a guy would go dressing up as a bat and jumping over rooftops -- it really drew you in that far. The camera, lighting & pacing choreography was perfectly done for pulse-pounding suspense -- as I commented to Emily, it was like being on the right end of a horror movie. Some of the dialogue in spots was cheesy enough to have me sniggering, but it didn't detract significantly from my enjoyment in the movie.
The token romantic interest chick was not nearly as useless as I feared she'd be, although some of her interactions with Bruce were pretty damn pointless. But hey, that's Hollywood for you. Can't have a movie without romance. It probably helped that Rachel was obviously not Bruce's highest priority. You got the distinct vibe of "Oh noes! My childhood sweetheart/companion scorns me for being a butterfly socialite while knowing nothing of my unrelentingly obsessive efforts to fight crime and promote justice! ....Ah well." *goes back to fashioning cool bat-stuff*
I thought towards the beginning that I was going to be pissed off by some of the messages they were sending -- particularly teeth-grinding was the assertion that the Waynes' death was his father's fault, for failing to have superhuman reflexes or aggression or what have you to fight back against a gun at point blank range. I can't stand that kind of mentality, that people have an obligation to learn how to kill or perform superhuman feats in order to survive in an ordinary life. I much prefer the line that the movie actually took, that ordinary people shouldn't have to do that, and that in order to ensure that they don't have to do it, a few people need to dedicate themselves to protecting ordinary people from danger and violence. Whether those ordinary people are superheroes, or policemen, or soldiers, or billionaire philanthropists who dedicate their lives to trying to cure the conditions that drive people to desperation and violence.
Yeah.
I also liked the line at the end, where Batman says "I don't have to kill you... but I don't have to save you, either," and leaves the guy to his death (pshyeah right, in comic books?) on the fiery train. Some people might argue that there's no difference between the two, and logically... there's not. But morally, there is. Oh yes, there's a huge difference. Just like there's a huge moral difference between flipping the switch to save the train or shoving the guy into the tracks to save the train. There's a difference and it's important because it's what seperates morally healthy people from morally sick people.
Their choice of villains, out of all the many Batman's faced over the years, was crucial and perfect. I'd never heard much about Scarecrow, although I had the vaguest idea of what he did, but HOLY SHIT he was freaky. Plenty enough without bringing the Joker into things; while the Joker was Batman's longest running and most hateful foes, he can be a bit tricky to deal with. And again, I didn't know much about Ras al-Ghul, but I knew enough to know that he/they was one of the most formidable and organized bad guys that Batman ever dealt with.
And Alfred is love. Yes indeedy.
- Man, it's hot here.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 09:12 am (UTC)Put them in a paper bag for a few days, and they'll be ripe and even sweeter in no time.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 09:18 am (UTC)Hmm, guess it's time to buy some paper bags. :) Could use them for lunches anyway.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 09:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 01:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 11:13 am (UTC)I <3 Rein Raus but Spieluhr is my #1 song from them.
*screams and goes to listen to her MP3s again* Back on my Rammstein kick again! XD
no subject
Date: 2005-06-24 05:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-24 07:37 pm (UTC)