So I received this email from a friend of mine last night: "A Scanner Darkly is on HBO right now. What a bizarro - fest. Love this movie." Well hey, I'm doing some research for a review while ignoring whatever was on the tube (American Chopper, maybe), so why not?
Yes, "bizarro - fest" just about covers it. The only problem was that I turned it on about twenty minutes in and couldn't quite figure out what was going on. I decide that I have to get back to ignoring the tube. While going backwards through the chunk of HBO channels we receive, I pass American Beauty. It's the scene where the two kids are watching the film of the plastic bag twirling around on the sidewalk. I sort of remember that there's some pretty important dialog going on there but my attention has already faded — exactly like the first time I saw the film.
When I first saw American Beauty, I had restart it after about fifteen minutes because I'd more or less missed everything that was going on — the music was so engrossing that it drew my attention completely away from the visuals.
Yes, completely. I was gone.
Gone. For me, it's the true rule of thumb for "goodness" in music. If it pulls me away from my surroundings and into its own aural landscape then it has achieved perfect resonance. It's an interesting phenomenon, this resonance thing. Why do some people like musician A, but not others? The question extends beyond music into all other forms of entertainment.
Like the television show Twin Peaks. David Lynch's own (but not only) "bizarro-fest". I remember seeing the pilot and thinking, "What the hell was that?" The next day at work we burned a couple of hours arguing its merits. Some people thought it was a complete waste of time, that it made no sense. Others (myself included) were very happy to have something completely fresh and odd on the screen.
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Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
Talk about bizarro-fest, I saw the movie never having seen the TV show. Very strange experience.
2 - Josh
As I've told you, I have an autographed copy of the American Beauty soundtrack by Thomas Newman, who composed it.
I'm not well-schooled in soundtracks so I can't call it the greatest, but it is my favorite. I can think of no other score that is as engrossing or emotional and stirring. The movie is fabulous in its own rite, but it is assisted by a magical score.
3 - JC Mosquito
Ummm... does anyone know if Agent Cooper ever got out of the Black Lodge, or is he still stuck there with the backwards talking midget?