Tom Waits--Wow.

He is amazing!! I just listened to his concert on NPR where he did an awesome, epic concert where he played songs he has never done outside the studio. Unfortunately, I don't know which songs those where. I found at least 8-10 new songs that I adore. I've only started listening to him at the beginning of the month, and now look forward to every time I have the chance to listen to his musical genius and the legendary raspy, jazzy voice. I knew about 5 songs in the whole set; about 7 more I have heard of. Hearing his music and stories makes his music even mean so much more to me. He is compared to Bob Dylan a lot, yes, sometimes they are similar but yet two completely different. I've tried finding similar artists' to Tom. Can't find any. That's pretty cool. The only comparison I have to say when I talk about him to friends is that he is jazz/blues/rock/folk. Really cool guy. His voice has a cool Louis Armstrong thing going on. During the concert he told ironic stories, and the story behind songs...which are sometimes stories. I was planning on maybe getting the chance to see him live. Now an official dream of mine. On his Glitter and Doom Tour, he was going to pass through the southern part of our country. If I only payed attention to the date, I would have realized that I was a month too late. I was upset, mad, sad, frusterated. He is musical genius and I don't know when he is going to tour again. I'm guessing by the time I'm officially an adult, I'll probably own his whole collection of albums. I'm already 3 cds in about a month. His trademarks are his voice and fedora. So him. In case you still haven't heard his music. Try it out, you'll find something you will like or in my case love. Imagine Bob Dylan and Tom doing a concert together, their own destint voices mending together on a song--maybe Like a Rolling Stone. Think about the song- it would fit both of their tastes. Maybe Tom can add a cool spin and sound to make it even better. He has played in a few movies, in 'The Outsiders' he played a bartender (completely fits him) and I was excited to see it because it was when Tom was either working on Swordfishtrombones or Rain Dogs. Now the two albums of which I own. He is a genius. Everyone doesn't have to know who he is, and that's a good thing. I don't think he wants everyone to know that. You have to find his music, it's not superexposed. He is truly a diamond in the ruff. When I say ruff, I mean ruff.

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An outlaw. A legend. A man highly respected or hated. This man was Jesse James. In the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford shows this in a thrilling way. I was interested in everything every character had to say, and what it meant to the story. It was like a thriller in a way because you never knew what was next or what someone was going to do. In certain instances, when the camera moves and you are quite shocked to see what is now in front of your eyes. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck definitely show their amazing talent in front of the screen in this motion picture. You believe them playing the characters. Brad still amazes me with his talent, how every movie that I have seen he's terrific-- acting perfect for the part. Some roles however seem simple or less complex and it seems so easy for him. I didn't know much about Jesse James all I knew he was a 1880's version of Robin Hood. Jesse is known for stealing from the rich, giving to the poor; being the legend he is still known as today. Amazing, you have your eyes glued to the screen wondering what is going to happen next? What is Jesse gonna do? There is an air of mystery in this film that is undeniable, while dying to know if you have right or wrong accusations about what is happening next. This movie has been nominated and won various awards for the acting, cimenatography, musical score and they all truly deserve them. This movie was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I waited a while before seeing this movie, well worth the wait.

Heath Ledger

Friday I watched the E! True Hollywood Story on the guy mentioned above. I had this feeling of wanting to know more about his career, who he was as a person, and see how his acting ability had started. He started young, and soon went on to harder and more challenging roles came to him, and he took the roles to change his identity of the characters Heath would be playing. I like that, you never know what next will come from him, like playing "The Joker" in the new movie The Dark Knight which I'm excited to see because as I watch commercials for it I don't notice Heath, I see the craziness of the character of which he is playing. Heath has this James Dean quality of him, of trying to be the best actor he can be, while being himself at the same time. Also their tragic deaths are a similar situation, both dying young at the top of their game. Sad, but reality that anyone can go tomorrow; the talent they may have shown or not and we must let them live through the work they have done and the latter work done in honor of the person being the one of tribute. He liked to do his work in acting in the film, but not of all the interviews about his private life. That is understandable, doesn't everyone want privacy in their lives? Especially when your private life is on printed pieces of paper for everyone to read. Heath had the chops to make it huge in Hollywood and has. Too bad his life was cut short, but maybe his life touched someone and inspired them. What a great legacy, he had experimenting with who he is and who he will play. He had a gift, and everyone who has seen his work knows that.

The Holiday

The Holiday sounded like a good movie, but as I was watching it I wasn't falling in love with it. Strange a pun about a romantic comedy. Story sounded good, but as I was watching it seemed like one-of-those cheesy romantic comedies where you knew how everything was going to end up. Predictability, can be a good thing, when a writer uses it to make the reader or watcher enthused in the media that the story is made into. The movie didn't have much substance, that quality that makes you keep watching the film. Having an eager and excited look on your face just to see what is going to happen next. Some movies have that, unfortunately do not. I have not seen any of Cameron Diaz's work before but in her character I just didn't believe her playing Amanda Wood, I saw Cameron not Amanda. Kate Winslet and Jack Black have great chemistry in this movie, a good pair, unexpected but great because you would not think of them in a movie together. Jack still is like his normal self in his films-- loud, funny, playing with music in whatever form you give him, and of course silly. Kate did amazing in this film, she was believable. They make a few references to some of my favorite classic movies--Casablanca and The Graduate. I'm glad those are great movies. In the movie there is a trailer for another movie starring James Franco as I think you would know that I am impressed by his talent and enjoy his work. He is the star of an action movie, I so wish that was a real movie. The music in the film is great, but too bad the movie didn't lead up to the expectations.

Here are...The Beatles

I have always loved The Beatles, since I was little. I could write pages on their influence around the world, the legendary artists that were in the band, John Lennon and his peace efforts, song meanings- I never knew there could be so many, conspiracies considering the band, how their songs still translate now, there is so much to talk about. It seems like their music seems to strike a place in my brain where it just gets all happy when I listen to it, it seems to get you in good, happy mood. La-dee-da, La-dee-da. No cares in the world. They wrote about peace, everyday life, yellow submarines, love, anything at all. They made classics for everyone, if you haven't heard of The Beatles you have. They are a fantasic group. The songs are fun to sing-whenever, wherever. Amazing hooks, great British accents. Fun, lively, true characters that you understand. From Prudence, Jude, Lucy, Sadie, Jojo,and many more in the lyrics come to life. They produced music that just sounds right. One can't complain about it, the music is terrific! Well all Beatles lovers' I hope you enjoy my explaination. Now go listen to it!!!!

Across the Universe

Across the Universe is such a cool film for anyone, and everyone who loves Beatles music--done right for the movie. This movie takes place during the early 60's all around the world, showing a lot of the history and current events that happened and how the characters come to life and the songs describe and show the different ways of looking at the songs. The Vietnam War is going on, Detroit riots, the hippie years, the communist revolutionaries, and just musicians trying to make it in New York City. It's a very artistic film, so some things you might have to think about what the scenes are trying to say or express ideas. And there are some things that you might not even want to get. I like that, you don't have to understand everything to enjoy something. Leave stuff to your imagination. It's a wonderful place where everything is wild, crazy, zany, peaceful, anything you'd want. Jim Sturgess is shows off his amazing acting ability, while singing classic Beatles songs and definitely gives them justice. The writers do a great job putting the characters of those songs into real life. This movie is terrific and did deserve the Oscar nomination. One of my favorite musicals--and it's a not so normal one either. Who cares? Normal can get boring. Great movie!!

Tom Waits-my new liking of him.

I've just recently got into Tom Waits. He is who he is also, which as you can tell is a common thread between the people I admire their talent and the people they are. His music tells stories of what he's been through, his not-so-normal life. His music has been here for a while and probably always will be. His music a mix of rock/jazz, has a metal influence, a southern blues singer mentality with life stories as the lyrics. Tom Waits does music well. When I looked him up, I liked two albums right away, and was thinking about a third. Normally if I like the artist, I purchase a cd, listen to it, look up more and decide which of many cds' I prefer to add to a list. In this case, I love three albums. That's so cool to me, I've never really had a liking to an artist and liked so much really quickly. To any Tom Waits fans, I like that you do appreciate his talent, and in if you have not listened to him, give him a chance. He is so worth it. If you don't like it at first, try again. That is what happened to me.