Thornton Wilder, Grace Wilder, Telegraph Hill & ButohDrawing
Titanic
Titanic
Kathy Bates - 1967
photographer unknown
Showing posts with label Kathy Bates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kathy Bates. Show all posts
April 20, 2021
November 1, 2018
1,001 LaserDiscs 8: Titanic
photos by
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its maiden voyage.
The film premiered on November 1, 1997, at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where reaction was described as "tepid" by The New York Times but positive reviews started to appear back in the United States. The official Hollywood premiere occurred on December 14, 1997. Upon its release, Titanic achieved critical and commercial success but the film has been derided by some as fluff, which it may be. However, I did not think of the film as fluff in any way. True, it is highly fictionalized, but that is part and parcel of what film makers do to make a film more interesting; one must have a suspension of disbelief if one is going to enjoy a movie. I can watch PBS if I want a documentary.
I loved it for many reasons. The facts of the cause of the sinking are true; the score composed by James Horner is brilliant and the love theme, My Heart Will Go On, sung by Celine Dion, is excruciatingly dramatic and beautiful. To say noting of the Special Effects which are astounding!
Since I was a kid, I have been enamored with the story, legend, mystery or whatever you want to call it, of the event that happened on April 14, 1912, the day the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg, sank the next day and took more than 1,500 people with it.
Also, my "niece", Lex, took us to see it when it opened. She was 13 or so at the time and had used money she had saved up from her weekly allowance to treat us. It is one of the sweet things I have experienced in my life and it is for this, if nothing else, that I love the film.
The film premiered on November 1, 1997, at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where reaction was described as "tepid" by The New York Times but positive reviews started to appear back in the United States. The official Hollywood premiere occurred on December 14, 1997. Upon its release, Titanic achieved critical and commercial success but the film has been derided by some as fluff, which it may be. However, I did not think of the film as fluff in any way. True, it is highly fictionalized, but that is part and parcel of what film makers do to make a film more interesting; one must have a suspension of disbelief if one is going to enjoy a movie. I can watch PBS if I want a documentary.
I loved it for many reasons. The facts of the cause of the sinking are true; the score composed by James Horner is brilliant and the love theme, My Heart Will Go On, sung by Celine Dion, is excruciatingly dramatic and beautiful. To say noting of the Special Effects which are astounding!
Since I was a kid, I have been enamored with the story, legend, mystery or whatever you want to call it, of the event that happened on April 14, 1912, the day the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg, sank the next day and took more than 1,500 people with it.
Also, my "niece", Lex, took us to see it when it opened. She was 13 or so at the time and had used money she had saved up from her weekly allowance to treat us. It is one of the sweet things I have experienced in my life and it is for this, if nothing else, that I love the film.
The Titanic ~ LaserDisc album cover is a gatefold format which I love because more information and photos are available . . .
The cast is excellent but for me the standout was Kathy Bates, whom I have loved for decades. She was perfectly cast as Margaret "Molly" Brown, a real-life person on board the Titanic when it sank and who was nicknamed The Unsinkable Molly Brown by the media after the sinking. A Broadway musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, was written about her; Tammy Grimes portrayed Brown.
I have always loved ships, however, I have only had one experience with one; It was a voyage from Cyprus to Israel in 2000 and it was stunning.
I have an article I've written on the Viewfiner about the World War I and II Dazzle Ships as well as the vinyl LP album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark which was based on them (links below).
Titanic ~ LaserDisc 1
Titanic ~ LaserDisc 2
NY Times ~ A Spectacle As Sweeping As the Sea review
Hollywood Reprter ~ Titanic: THR's 1997 Review Rotten Tomatoes ~ Titanic review
RollingStone ~ Titanic review
Titanic (1997) Sinking Scenes (8 min., 49 sec.)
Titanic Sinking Scene - Part 1 (9 min., 50 sec.)
Titanic Behind the scenes Part 1 (31 min., 16 sec.) Titanic: Behind the Scenes Part 2 of 2 (4 min., 19 sec.)
Celine Dion ~ My Heart Will Go On
This is dedicated to Lex!
Styrous® ~ Thursday, November 1, 2018
February 2, 2016
1,000,001 CDs 7: Flaming Lips ~ Do You Realize??
~
I have loved Do You Realize? since I discovered it a year or so ago. I fell in love with it not
just for the intense beauty and quality of the music but the deep significance of the
lyrics (below). It is my favorite song from one of my favorite groups, The Flaming Lips.
"Do You Realize?" lyrics
(If you'd like to listen to the song while you read the lyrics and the rest of the article, click here.)
Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we're floating in space -
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round
Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die -
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round
Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize
Writer(s): Wayne Coyne, Dave Fridmann, Michael Ivins, Steven Drozd
Copyright: Emi Blackwood Music Inc., Lovely Sorts Of Death Music
Wayne Coyne, who wrote the song, commenting on Do You Realize?
said, "Whenever I analyze the scientific realities of what it means to
be living here on Earth – in this galaxy – spinning around the sun –
flying through space – a terror shock seizes me!!! I'm reminded once
again of how precarious our whole existence is..."
CD single
photo by Styrous®
In 1977, while in high school, Coyne began working as a fry cook for a Long John Silver's restaurant in Oklahoma City. During his second year of employment, the restaurant was robbed and Coyne and other employees were held at gunpoint and forced to lie on the ground. Coyne was certain he was going to die. The assistant manager couldn't open the restaurant's safe, however, and the robbers eventually fled the scene. Coyne believes "this is really how you die...one minute you're just cooking up someone's order of french fries and the next minute you're laying on the floor and they blow your brains out. There's no music, there's no significance, it's just random."
Coyne says "I wish I did believe in God. It would be a great relief to
think, 'God'll take care of it. God'll put gas in the car tomorrow.'"
CD case end
photo by Styrous®
Wayne Michael Coyne was born on January 13, 1961, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His family moved from Pittsburgh to Oklahoma in early 1961.
Coyne formed the Flaming Lips in 1983 with his brother Mark singing lead and Michael Ivins on bass guitar. In 1996 and 1997, Coyne developed "The Parking Lot Experiments" (see Zaireeka link below).
Do You Realize? was issued on 2 CD singles, each with songs that were not included on the full-length CD album, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.
CD singles
photo by Styrous®
CD 1
- "Do You Realize??" - From Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
- "If I Go Mad/Funeral in My Head" - Unreleased
- "Syrtis Major" - From the Christmas On Mars Soundtrack
CD 1
photo by Styrous®
CD 2
- "Do You Realize??" - From Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
- "Up Above the Daily Hum" - Unreleased
- "Xanthe Terra" - From the Christmas On Mars Soundtrack
CD 2
photo by Styrous®
The two CD singles came in a a bundled pack and is an import from the
UK, which I had the fortune of finding at one of my favorite shops in
Alameda, Rocket Reuse.
CD single
photo by Styrous®
Do You Realize? was released as the first single from their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. It reached #32 in the UK Singles Chart and was adopted as the Official Rock Song of Oklahoma from 2009 to April 2013. The song was ranked #31 on Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the 2000s.
Viewfinder link:
Flaming Lips ~ Zaireeka
YouTube links:
Christmas On Mars Deluxe Edition (promo)
It's a beautiful song!
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, February 2, 2016
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