Once

I went with a good friend to go see a movie last weekend while Annie and Syd were out of town. I debated between seeing Once, 3:10 to Yuma, or Across the Universe. I ended up deciding on the movie called Once. It's a great little independent film and a refreshing break from the typical studio fare. It's somewhat of a musical, but that could be misleading. The protagonists in the story are musicians. They don't break out into song randomly while doing the dishes or something like that, but they do sing in the film. When they do the lyrics relate to the story so I guess that classifies it as a musical. It's so much more than that though. It's a great film about relationships and musicians/artists struggling to make it. My friend compared it to the making of an album and at first I wasn't quite sure about his comparison. But after letting a bit of time pass and thinking about the film and his comment I think that is a great comparison. It's like a peek inside the making a an album with all the personal struggles and triumphs that lead to the final product. The soundtrack is fantastic and if the song Falling Slowly doesn't get nominated for an Oscar I'm going to punch somebody. ;) The film won the Audience Award at Sundance and they are a tough crowd to please. If you can find the film playing near you I highly recommend checking out.

Also we were treated to this trailer for film called the Rape of Europa. The documentry looked completely facinating. It's about the Nazi's quest to steal great art from all over Europe during WWII. You can find out more about it and see a trailer on the official website for the film here: www.rapeofeuropa.com

And lastly, this will most likely be my last post before I start Animation Mentor (AM) next week. I am so excited I can hardly wait. This means that most likely my posts from here on out will be work in progress pieces and final assignments. I would love all of your feedback during this process . Please feel free to critique and don't be afraid of being too critical, it will only serve to improve my work overall. I'm sure I will occasionally post non AM bits here and there. Until then...