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Do You Understand The Words Coming Out Of My Mouth?

Ann Althouse posted a discussion on the “lost art” of lip-synching, brought about by the recent release of the film version of the musical Les Miserables. Funny thing is, when I came across this whiny little news bit of former American Idol loser Adam Lambert being a total queen on the subject, I was going to post something along the same lines on facebook yesterday, but never got around to it.

Worst lip-synching movie ever?

Mad Max – 1979 US release.

OMG… What a horrible job they did on that. And why? It’s not like the actors were speaking Japanese or something. After I found out that the dub was a US release, and that there was an original version with the original voices out there, I longed for many years to find that version. It was released stateside in about 2001, and it’s soooo much better than the dubbed one.

The other thing that really really bugs me is the modern predilection of putting mood music in every single scene. You know, music can be a very effective way of conveying mood. But to have it in every scene???… It’s almost as if the director doesn’t trust the actors enough to convey emotions so that we the audience can perceive them, and gee, I guess they think we need help with music cues telling us how to feel every frame. Nobody understands subtlety anymore!

In the movie “Heat”, during the final 15 minute pursuit, with detective Al Pacino chasing villain Robert DeNiro across an airport tarmac, there is no music except at the very end. It was wonderful!

Try finding the soundtrack to Alfred Hitchcocks “The Birds”. Guess what… There isn’t one! He didn’t have any music in the whole movie! Except This!

What a fantastic scene! And that is the most music that is in this movie!!!

One Day At A Time….

Remember this guy?

If you recall, after this went viral, Ted Williams was quickly hired by a media firm, and then, just as quickly, got into trouble due to an immediate relapse. For a while, it certainly looked like he was not going to make it.

I’m very happy to see that, after the shock of the sudden fame and the pressures that must have fallen on his shoulders, Mr Williams has found the balance in his life to stay sober and utilize his talents, and finally found the success we hoped he would.

And he’s giving back too. He’s formed a charity to help those who are in the same situation he was.

I’ve not had to deal with addiction myself, and don’t know first hand what it’s like to try and wrestle your life from the grips of addiction. Unfortunately though, I know of too many friends and relatives who have. And some have died from it. Maybe my fight against myself, punishing myself for being gay, trying to force myself to have straight feelings and attractions, and dealing with the stigma that existed in the 80’s is similar, but I doubt it. That’s a different type of personal torture I imagine.

We live in a throw-away society, and, unfortunately, we do the same for people that we do for our belongings. If they are not “useful” to us, we throw them to the curb, sometimes literally. I’m very happy that Mr Williams is on a good road. Nice to see good news break out of the usual insane asylum styled stuff we’re typically offered.