The stars of "Once" make beautiful music together again

If you saw the thoroughly charming little Irish film "Once" three years or so ago, you surely remember the names Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Well, musically at least, they're back together again, and they sound as good as ever as The Swell Season.

Following - or perhaps concurrently with, I'm not sure - their on-screen romance in John Carney's flick, they were an actual couple too, but have since broken up. And be warned: The fact and feeling of that breakup resonates throughout The Swell Season album "Strict Joy," which I bought from the Itunes yesterday (and have listened to at least three times through since then.)

The sadness of it creeps up on you slowly, however. I was so hypnotized on first listen by the sheer beauty of the music (and, though I'm prone to it from time to time, I'm not exaggerating one bit here) that I didn't really notice it at first. In perfect harmony, the two of them explore all kinds of variations within their basic folk music motif, and they all work (and I guarantee you won't be able to get Irglova's rhythmic chant of "you're every now and then on my mind" on the best track, "I Have Loved You Wrong," out of your head for a long time.) And besides, if you spring for the two-disc special edition, you also get a live album featuring all the great tracks from "Once" and more, so how can you go wrong?

And in some kind of odd convergence that I suppose can only be put up to coincidence, rather big news about Carney's next film, his first with any actual Hollywood stars, has dropped today.

Zach Galifianakis and Amy Adams are about to sign on to star in Carney's comedy-drama (or dramedy, I suppose, if you must) "The Town House," based on the debut novel by Tish Cohen.

The story centers on an agoraphobic man (Mr. Galifianakis, I'd have to presume) who lives with his teenage son in a historic Boston townhouse that he inherited from his rock star father. With royalties from his father's work dwindling, the man is forced to come to terms with his life. A call girl (Adams, maybe, which would by force have to be pretty fascinating) strikes up a friendship with the man.

As I was typing all that, I stopped to add the only John Carney movie I could find there to my Netflix queue and moved it to the top of the list (so I'll get it after returning either Lee Daniels' "Shadowboxer" or Guillermo Del Toro's "The Devil's Backbone," since my wallet forced me to drop back to two movies at a time.) It's called "On the Edge" and it stars two of my favorites, Stephen Rea and Cillian Murphy, and I love me some John Carney, so I can't wait to see it.

Except for that today, all I've got is a trio of videos that are varying degrees of fascinating. First up comes a rather extended look (eight scenes and more than 12 minutes) at Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus." You get glimpses of Heath Ledger and the three men who replaced him - Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell - and even better, several looks at Tom Waits as Beelzebub himself. Even if this does turn out to be a trainwreck, I'm still thoroughly psyched to see it when it finally drops on Christmas Day and I'm in NYC. Enjoy.



Next up comes the second (I think) trailer for Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," and it's of course very heavy on Mr. Depp as the Mad Hatter. I have a feeling that when this finally comes out in March I'm going to be permanently haunted by that gigantic Cheshire Cat head. Enjoy.


Alice in Wonderland - Extended Trailer

And, though I had my doubts, I think I've definitely saved the best for last with the first trailer for Clint Eastwood's "Invictus," which stars Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman (as a certain man you may have heard of known as Nelson Mandela.) I'm always suspicious of Eastwood's movies because he makes everything so obvious, but I adored "Gran Torino," and this looks even better. Judging from this brief look, I'd say he's captured this magical moment in time, and will take home all the Oscars (and more) that he deserves. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Wednesday. Peace out.

"Once" upon a magical Oscar moment

For someone who watches as many movies as I do, I have a rather perilous confession to make: I often zone out in the middle of the Oscars.

I can't be the only person who usually watches the first hour or so, then turns it off for the middle third and then comes back for the big guns. Last night, however, it managed to hook me from start to finish.

I'm sure there's gonna be some carping from people (only the stars, really, I'd assume) that there weren't any bloated-beyond-belief acceptance speeches, but I thought it was a very brisk, mostly very enjoyable affair. And Jon Stewart deserves a lot of credit for that, even though he couldn't wait for more than about 10 minutes to tell the four people in America who might not have known already that Diablo Cody was once a stripper. (Yes, if I can digress for a moment, I did say stripper. Having worked briefly as a blackjack dealer in the back of a strip club [hey, a man's gotta eat] I can tell you there's nothing terribly "exotic" about any dancing that goes on there. So let's just retire that term, OK.)

OK, I'm back. It was a deservedly big night for the Coens (giving the Hollywood Reporter the chance to roll out this groaner of a headline: "No Country: Four Gold Men.") Some other thoughts that ran through my skittish mind were: I guess it's nice that the technicians behind "The Bourne Ultimatum" won at least three awards for giving me a throbbing headache, and wow, I guess they really didn't have to put much makeup at all on Tilda Swinton to make her so pale as the White Witch (beautiful woman, to be sure, but is she some kind of albino or what?)

But anyone who's been here before knows that, even more than seeing Helen Mirren break into a devilish grin when she says the word "cojones," one thing I truly love is the film "Once." Easily the most charming movie of 2007, it also provided the most charming moment of last night's Oscars ceremony.

After watching the three extremely elaborate set pieces for the songs from "Enchanted" (and man, can that Kristen Chenoweth belt out a tune), I was sure that one of them was going to prevail. But then, near the end of the night, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, armed only with their instruments, performed their beautiful nominated song "Falling Slowly," and as everyone probably knows by now, came out as the big winners.

And the biggest victim of the rather brisk pace at first seemed to be the lovely Ms. Irglova, who, just as she opened her mouth, heard the music start to play and was ushered offstage. They probably could have let it at go at that and people would have just dismissed it and moved on, but after the commercial break, Stewart was nice enough to bring her back and give her 30 seconds to say something about the importance of indie artists (amen, sister!)

Perhaps I'm exaggerating the significance of this, but I almost never stay up until 11:45 on a Sunday night, so that's what's stuck in my mind at this early hour.

And yes, in case anyone's wondering, there is news out there today, and some pretty big stuff: Evidently set on giving me another massive migraine, Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon have both agreed to come back for a fourth "Bourne" flick. Bully to that, I suppose.

But I'll leave you today with just a bit more about "Once": The actual performance of "Falling Slowly" by Mr. Hansard and Ms. Irglova at last night's show. Once you get past the rather awful French voiceover of Colin Farrell's introduction (do they actually watch the whole show like that? what a nightmare!), the audio is great and the song is even better. Peace out.

John Carney's "Once" is a real charmer

Irish director John Carney's "Once," which was presented Sunday by the Macon Film Guild and hits DVD in about eight days, works just as well for what it is as for what is isn't.

Thankfully, it isn't either of the two things I had thought it might be going in, being neither a sappy romance nor a straightforward musical. I could probably fall in love with one or the other, but rarely can I stomach them in tandem.

Instead, Carney's movie presents a completely convincing snapshot of one week or so in the life of two people who connect on a very high level on the streets of Dublin, which play a huge part in the story.

And it works so well in equal part thanks to Carney himself and to his two actors, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who are also musical collaborators who released the CD "The Swell Season" in 2006.

What Carney brings to the table is a simple style that just lets the story unfold at its own pace, with only natural lighting (and unfortunately, as I'll address later, problematic sound.) What he accomplished with just $160,000 (which he apparently gave to his actors) is not much at all short of remarkable. It contrasts favorably with the muddy look of Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding" (which I also enjoyed quite a bit, in spite of its lighting shenanigans.)

And it's clear from the outset that Hansard and Irglova are friends who have a real chemistry despite their obvious difference in age (which gives the movie much of its spark.) Hansard, leader of the Irish band The Frames (because, as "The Commitments" made clear, every band should be a "The"), handpicked the Czech Irglova to be his co-star. Their naturally awkward flirting gives you both hope for the two of them and at the same time the sense their relationship is doomed from the start.

You may remember Hansard as Outspan Foster in his only other movie role (I believe), the aforementioned "The Commitments," and the two flicks make an interesting contrast in styles. They both open (or nearly) with Hansard busking on the streets of Dublin, and they both in their own way tell the story of the formation of a band. But whereas "Commitments" was a ribald ride full of energy (and still one of my favorite films), Carney's low-key approach to Hansard and Irglova's recording project gives it an organic feel that's almost as enjoyable.

As for the songs themselves, they're far too earnest for me on paper. I listen to much sillier fare, a lot of Southern soul and more hip-hop than anyone of my age ever should. Hansard's tunes do, as the lone critic to put this down at Rotten Tomatoes (Chris Cabin) put it, often sound as if "James Blunt sat on a stage in front of an empty bar saying 'this one's for the lady in the back.' " I can say, however, that if you let yourself get taken away by this charming little tale, the songs' shortcomings start to matter less and less.

And my final quibble with this otherwise thoroughly satisfying movie: The sound is not particularly good at all, making it often hard to understand the Irish and Czech accents. Though I was certainly never tempted to do so, the older couple behind me actually walked out because they couldn't make out what was being said, a valid complaint. In fact, as I was going home I couldn't help having the rather depressing thought that this is exactly the kind of magical European movie that American producers like to throw a lot of movie at, then suck the life out of them for soulless remakes (please believe me, that's not what I'm suggesting that anyone do with this one!)

With it still fresh in my mind, John Carney's little movie is hovering just near my Top Five for the year, and may still make that cut when 2007 finally comes to a close. Sound issues aside, I encourage everyone to rent this when it hits video next week (and remember, if it is a problem, you can always turn on the subtitles!)

Two tidbits and a trailer

That went on already a little longer than I had planned, but I did want to share a couple more things, one good and one bad, plus a somewhat promising trailer.

Turn on the "Lights"
First the good. Despite the ongoing strike, it seems that network TV's best drama, NBC's "Friday Night Lights," has six or so more episodes already completed and ready to go when the show returns early next month. And, in even better news, the show's move to Friday nights seems to be paying off, with it winning its time slot among the coveted 18-34 crowd (of which I, of course, am no longer a part.) Huzzah to that!

Stop me if you've heard this one before
Never ones to back away from a blatant ripoff, the Wayans brothers (all three, including Keenan) are getting back in the "movie" movie game with an idea they clearly stole from the sublimely silly "Hot Fuzz" (which will be on my year's best list too.) Yes, having crapped all over horror movies for years now, they're now turning to a "spoof" of action movies. Though I probably don't have to, I still beg of you please, please, please don't go see whatever comes out of this madness.

"How to Lose Friends" trailer

And, judging from this trailer I found on YouTube, "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" may well debunk my belief that it's impossible to shoot something with "Hot Fuzz" star Simon Pegg in it and have it turn out anything but hilarious. Here he just seems to be annoying, but watch the trailer and decide for yourself, and have an entirely bearable Monday. Peace out.