Rick Astley...

...is never gonna give me up.

Or get out of my head, apparently.

Yeah, I have Rick Astley stuck in my head.  You know, I really don't have a lot against the 1980's.  After all, it made tacky clothing acceptable.  It was the era of punk/goth music, bringing one of my favorite groups - the Cure - into existance.  It gave us Blondie and U2 and the Go-Go's and Tom Petty. 

The '80's brought around Pac-Man and Predators, for crying out loud.  MTV.  White-Out.  That song "Tainted Love", which I love.

But I am not sure I can ever forgive the '80's for giving us Rick Astley.

I have been "Rick Rolled" so many times it's not even funny anymore.  The song "Never Gonna Give You Up" is such a freaking earworm.  I even remotely think about it and it gets stuck in my head.

It is a change of pace from what I did have stuck in my head for two days straight this week: "Claire de Lune".

Don't get me wrong, I love Debussy.  I think he was a great composer; I find his music relaxing, and I love "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair".  But having "Claire de Lune" stuck in my head for two days straight was starting to get on my nerves. 

I love classical music, but after a while you just need space from it.

I would listen to Ben Folds; five minutes after the last line of "Late" and the moonlight (that's what it translates into) would be back.  I tried singing with Pink's "Glitter in the Air" multiple times; as soon as my mind drifted, it was back.

I watched the 'Darjeeling Limited' yesterday, and ended up pausing it so I could get up to get something.  As soon as I came back and pushed play, a scene where Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason whatshisname (I can't pronounce nor spell it - I apologize if I offend) are sitting around a campfire in the middle of India.  What's playing in the background?

"Claire de Lune".

I can't escape it.

Speaking of the 'Darjeeling Limited', it was ok.  I loved the trailer.  It looked like it had such potential, it really did.  And Wes Anderson, the guy who wrote and directed it, is a pretty good director.  (He did the 'Fantastic Mr. Fox', which I just put on hold at the library.  I haven't seen it, but I've heard massively good things about it...)

I felt the film fell flat.  It didn't have the movement that I was expecting, and the ending felt unresolved to me.  Owen Wilson's character (Francis) bothered me throughout because of how he kept trying to play the parent (maybe because I could almost-not-quite-relate as I too have the older child syndrom, as I've heard it called), Adrien Brody's character (Peter) annoyed me towards the beginning because he left his pregnant wife to go on this trip, and Jason Whatshisname's character (Jack, I think?) bothered me because he was such a freaking indecisive push over.  Granted, I eventually became ok with both Peter and Jack; I never really warmed up to Francis.

I will give the film some credit.  It had it's moments where it was very good.  I liked when they are at the Indian village after saving two of three children in the nearby river.  (Peter's didn't make it; I cried.)  I felt like it was a turning point in the movie where the characters were finally starting to come into their own.  I like where they met up with their mom and realized that nothing was going to change; you could see the characters grow in themselves, which is exciting to me (because I'm a writer).  Also, they are always running to catch a train.  I feel like this is a great metaphor for life and for the characters, whether Anderson meant it that way or not.

So all in all, it was ok.  I wouldn't pay money to see it.  I probably won't buy a copy of it to watch over and over again (unlike the 'Pianist' or 'Whip It', which are movies I feel like I'll never get tired of), and I may or may not watch it again before I return it to the library. 

But for a film that didn't cost me a dime to watch, it was pretty good.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, so that could be either a good thing or a bad thing.  Maybe I should watch it again; it could be one of those movies that grows on me.  I don't know.

Or maybe I just don't get it.  That's been known to happen to me.  Everyone said the 'Hangover' was brilliant, but when one of my friends made me watch it, I was bored out of my skull. 

In other words, don't listen to my movie reviews, dear readers.  I have no idea what I'm talking about 90% of the time.

I put 'Splice' on hold at the library.  I'm not exactly sure why I did it.  It was one of those films that I saw the trailer when I went to see a movie last year (I don't remember which movie I was seeing, which is kind of sad) and got so freaked out that I had my eyes closed through a good chunk of it.  I like horror films, I like films about experiments gone wrong (the whole principle behind zombie films, which I love), and I like sci-fi to a degree.  But I'm not sure about this one.

I've heard weird reviews about it.  Roeper gave it a D+, but he's been known to miss from time to time.  I think I may be influenced by Jimmy Kimmel on this.  (Long story there best for another blog.)

Oh well.  I'm in postion like 85 for it at the library, so I have time to think about it.  That's what happened with 'Dorien Gray' when it came in.  I just decided I didn't want to see it anymore and cancelled the hold.

That may be how this goes.  We shall see.

School starts in less than a week.  Last night I had this nightmare about forgetting my backpack and not having notebooks (I still need to buy them).  It was awful.  I think it's my equivalent of having dreams where you appear someplace without clothes; I've never had one of those but I have these kind of dreams all the time when I'm anxious, stressed, or nervous.  Go figure.

Man, I've got "Claire de Lune" back in my head.  I need to go get that out.

Until we meet again, dear readers.

~Meaghan