I ran across this 18-minute film called Plastic Bag that Ramin Bahrani directed, wrote, and edited. Despite what you might expect from the title of the 2009 film, the movie is not about the recent environmental debate about plastic bags. Instead, it is about what it means to be human.
The gravity of the film’s themes is amplified by the narration of famous director Werner Herzog. The addition of Herzog’s voice to anything makes it sound important.
Open Culture reports that Plastic Bag was one of several films “released in the Internet Television Service’s Futurestates film series exploring ‘what life might look like in an America of the future.'”
When he was asked to do the narration, Herzog recognized that the short film is about something more than a piece of plastic or arguments about plastic bags. As he explained to The Guardian, “the movie’s about something else, something more … it’s about a journey.”
The film reminds me of Steven Spielberg’s AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Plastic Bag takes something non-human, and it discovers something human in the act of taking a journey to find meaning.
You may find the existential movie funny. Or you may find it strange. Or you may find it touching. But Plastic Bag is worth a few minutes of your time. Check it out.
What do you think of Plastic Bag? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On July 20, 1969, astronauts in the Apollo 11 Mission landed on the moon, and the first humans walked on another world. People from around the world watched on live television in breathless anticipation of one of humankind’s great accomplishments, which still seems amazing looking back at the level of technology across nearly half a century ago.
On that date, the Lunar Module Eagle separated from the Command Module Columbia, which was being piloted by Michael Collins. On board the Eagle were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
NASA had originally planned for the astronauts to sleep after the Eagle landed. But with everyone wanting to move forward, Armstrong and Aldrin instead began preparing to walk on the moon.
After several hours, Armstrong emerged from the hatch. As he took the first step on the moon, he uttered the famous words: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Many listeners did not hear the word “a” that Armstrong meant to say, which affects the meaning of the sentence. So experts still debate whether or not he said the word.
About twenty minutes after Armstrong’s first step, Aldrin joined him on the moon. The two men spent 21 hours, 36 minutes on the moon’s surface before the Eagle ascended to join the Columbia for the trip back to earth.
This short NASA video features footage that television viewers saw during the landing. To really appreciate the accomplishment, try to take yourself back to 1969 when the outcome was uncertain. And remember when we recognized that human beings could do some pretty amazing things.
Where were you when people first walked on the moon? Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo via public domain.
The new trailer for The Magnificent Seven (2016) has me cautiously optimistic that the movie will do justice to the very good original film from 1961. That movie starred Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, and Charles Bronson. The new film also features a great cast, with Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ethan Hawke, and Haley Bennett. From the trailer though, it looks like the movie is largely a Washington and Pratt show.
Antoine Fuqua, who previously directed Training Day (2001) and King Arthur (2004), directs the new film. From the trailer, it seems he at least roughly follows the story of the 1961 film, which was directed by John Sturges. That film, in turn was based on the great Japanese film, Seven Samurai (1954), which was directed by Akira Kurosawa.
The trailer shows a widow (Bennett) seeking help to get vengeance for her husband’s death. As in the original The Magnificent Seven, the new trailer indicates one thing leads to another, so that the rag-tag band of seven has to stand up against an army to protect a town. Check out the trailer below.
The Magnificent Seven heads into theaters on September 23, 2016.
What do you think of the trailer? Leave your two cents in the comments?
One of the great songs of the 1960s is The Righteous Brothers recording of “Unchained Melody,” a song that has been covered by many great stars, including Elvis Presley. But The Righteous Brothers were not the first to record the song. And why is the song called “Unchained Melody” when the word “unchained” occurs nowhere in the song?
Although The Righteous Brother version was released on July 17, 1965, “Unchained Melody” had its origins decades earlier. Songwriter Alex North worked on the music in the 1930s, and at one time Bing Crosby turned down the opportunity to record an unfinished version of the song.
The Movie That Gave the Song Its Name
But North did not give up on the music. In the 1950s he and Hy Zaret were contracted to write a song for a prison movie. With Zaret adding lyrics to the music, the two came up with the completed song for the 1955 film, which was called Unchained. Hence, the song from the movie became known as “Unchained Melody.”
The movie Unchained was about an inmate who struggles with the decision of whether or not to try to escape. Todd Duncan recorded the song on the soundtrack and he appeared in the film as a prisoner singing part of the song.
Duncan had the chops for the song. He was the first black singer to join the New York City Opera when he performed there in 1945. Below is the clip from Unchained with Duncan singing “Unchained Melody.”
The Righteous Brothers Hit
Others recorded versions of the song before The Righteous Brothers. Performers who recorded “Unchained Melody” included bandleader Les Baxter, Al Hibler, and Jimmy Young.
Of course, the version we know best is by The Righteous Brothers. But the original recording did not include both brothers. It featured only Bobby Hatfield and did not include the other “brother” Bill Medley.
After the song was a hit in 1965, it once again climbed the charts in the early 1990s after it was featured in another movie, Ghost (1990). We should be glad that the song was first featured in Unchained. Otherwise, we would be calling it “Ghost Melody.”
And that’s the story behind the song. What is your favorite version of “Unchained Melody”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The first time I fell for Buddy Miller‘s music is when I heard his cover of Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis.” At the time, I’d borrowed Miller’s 1995 CD Your Love and Other Lies from my friend. Although I eventually came to love the entire album, it was “That’s How I Got to Memphis” that grabbed me on the first listen and never let me go.
I have followed Miller’s career since then, buying and enjoying all of his albums. If asked to name my favorite Buddy Miller album, it would be Cruel Moon (1999).
But asked me to name my favorite Buddy Miller recording, though, I would have to go past all of the wonderful original songs of his. And I’d name his cover of “That’s How I Got to Memphis.”
Buddy Miller’s Relationship With the Song
Considering how that song has remained a standout in Miller’s catalog for me, I was fascinated that the Tom T. Hall song means so much to him. In this video recorded at Tom T. Hall night at Music City Roots on November 16, 20111, Miller explains how the song is his favorite and how it has become his “touchstone.”
Miller has been playing the song since it came out. And he has played it at every gig. Additionally, he played it the first time he met his wife, the singer-songwriter Julie Miller.
What Is the Meaning of the Song?
The title of “That’s How I Got to Memphis” gives you and idea about the question of the song (how did the singer get to Memphis?). But it is Tom T. Hall’s great storytelling ability that tells you just enough to answer the question and leaves just enough unclear, so that everyone may hear something different in the song.
In “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” the singer explains how he is seeking a lost love and how that journey brought him to Memphis. The song does not answer all of the questions, like why the woman went to Memphis, what kind of “trouble she’s in,” or the exact reason she left the singer. But the singer’s quest to find the answers to these questions allows the listener to fill in the blanks, even as the story breaks your heart.
The song is about life and loss. If the song were from the woman’s point of view, one might be tempted to categorize it as a song about a stalker, even as we wonder why she left and why she always threatened to go to Memphis. But because the song is in the voice of the broken-hearted man speaking to another person who may be a stranger or a friend, a great singer can remind you of the pain of losing something you once loved.
Or you may see the song as more about the journey of getting to another place. The beauty of Hall’s song is in the ambiguity, which leaves a lot to be revealed in the connection between the singer and the listener.
Other Versions of “That’s How I Got to Memphis”
Several other artists have covered the song, sometimes shortening the title to “How I Got to Memphis.” The song has been recorded and/or performed by artists such as Bobby Bare, Bill Haley and the Comets, Solomon Burke, Rosanne Cash and the Avett Brothers. More recently, Jeff Daniels sang the song on the series finale of HBO’s The Newsroom.
“That’s How I Got to Memphis” first appeared on Tom T. Hall’s 1969 album Ballad Of Forty Dollars & His Other Great Songs. Below is his version.
What is your favorite Buddy Miller song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The new trailer for The Magnificent Seven (2016) has me cautiously optimistic that the movie will do justice to the very good 
