A few years ago I was sitting in a movie theatre with some of my buddies. These are some old friends who I barely get to see anymore. Having jobs and families and other grown-up responsibilities makes it difficult to get together. Seeing movies has become our way of keeping in touch. The only hitch to all of this is that these guys have very different tastes from me. They want to see every bad horror film, every sci-fi rip-off, and while I'm rolling my eyes and trying to force an out-of-body experience during every cliche action movie trailer, they're screaming, "That looks awesome!" But these are my pals, so getting to be with them for even something I don't entirely want to do is better than never getting to see them altogether.
So it was in one of these bad movies that I found myself one night. Usually the previews are geared toward the audience, but all of the sudden instead of seeing something for The Fast and the Furious 9, a trailer for some odd little indie film came on. There were no muscles on display. No explosions. No cheesy tag-lines. No stars. Instead it was this quirky little movie about a pregnant teenager and her hysterically blunt parents. The dialogue was funny and the songs in the background were really cool. It looked great. Right as it ended, I turned to my buddies just as they turned toward me and smirked, "What the hell was that? That looks awful." I, of course, thought the total opposite and couldn't wait to get home and tell my wife about it. The movie ended up being Juno. It swept the nation, got nominated for numerous awards, and introduced the world to Ellen Page. Like Little Miss Sunshine before it, Juno proved to be the little movie that could. I never found out if my buddies saw it, but I still laugh about their reaction to it.
Though there are many things to enjoy about the movie, the soundtrack to Juno was just great. It had all of these quirky little tunes on it. A cover of an ABBA song by Sonic Youth, a mournful version of "Sea of Love" by Cat Power, oldies by Buddy Holly, The Kinks and the Velvet Underground, and all kinds of mini tunes by Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches. It seems that only indie movies ever really get the soundtrack concept right, and Juno got some heavy rotation in our house.
One of the great numbers on the soundtrack is the opener, Barry Louis Polisar's "All I Want Is You." I remember seeing the movie and hearing it over the opening credits. Immediately I thought, "What a weird, cool song!" The lyrics are great. The song is really just an assortment of metaphors, all about love and the singer's desire to be so many things for his lover. It's really goofy and fun, which should come as no surprise considering that Polisar is an award-winning children's musician and author. Not many people could get away with lines like "If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod" and "If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug." But you know what? There's nothing wrong with fun. Give it a listen. I don't know how it won't make you smile.
"All I Want Is You" can be found on the Juno Soundtrack. To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.
So it was in one of these bad movies that I found myself one night. Usually the previews are geared toward the audience, but all of the sudden instead of seeing something for The Fast and the Furious 9, a trailer for some odd little indie film came on. There were no muscles on display. No explosions. No cheesy tag-lines. No stars. Instead it was this quirky little movie about a pregnant teenager and her hysterically blunt parents. The dialogue was funny and the songs in the background were really cool. It looked great. Right as it ended, I turned to my buddies just as they turned toward me and smirked, "What the hell was that? That looks awful." I, of course, thought the total opposite and couldn't wait to get home and tell my wife about it. The movie ended up being Juno. It swept the nation, got nominated for numerous awards, and introduced the world to Ellen Page. Like Little Miss Sunshine before it, Juno proved to be the little movie that could. I never found out if my buddies saw it, but I still laugh about their reaction to it.
Though there are many things to enjoy about the movie, the soundtrack to Juno was just great. It had all of these quirky little tunes on it. A cover of an ABBA song by Sonic Youth, a mournful version of "Sea of Love" by Cat Power, oldies by Buddy Holly, The Kinks and the Velvet Underground, and all kinds of mini tunes by Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches. It seems that only indie movies ever really get the soundtrack concept right, and Juno got some heavy rotation in our house.
One of the great numbers on the soundtrack is the opener, Barry Louis Polisar's "All I Want Is You." I remember seeing the movie and hearing it over the opening credits. Immediately I thought, "What a weird, cool song!" The lyrics are great. The song is really just an assortment of metaphors, all about love and the singer's desire to be so many things for his lover. It's really goofy and fun, which should come as no surprise considering that Polisar is an award-winning children's musician and author. Not many people could get away with lines like "If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod" and "If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug." But you know what? There's nothing wrong with fun. Give it a listen. I don't know how it won't make you smile.
"All I Want Is You" can be found on the Juno Soundtrack. To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.
There is no anonymity on the web! Thanks for those kind words.
ReplyDeleteI thought you (and your readers) might like to sample my songs and wanted you to know that I have them all on my site for free: http://www.barrylou.com/currentCDs.html
Each CD you click on--including the new Tribute Album that is coming out soon--will give you samples, so you can waste hours of time listening.....
Happy listening!
Barry Louis Polisar