People have always loved watching sports and it seems sports are now more popular then ever. One important reason for our love of sports is the fact that we can pretty objectively decide that someone is the best. When a sports figure does something great we can instantly realize that we are witnessing something great, if of course we are familiar with the rules of the sport. That is not really the case with for example music or film. A certain combination of notes or shots does not necessarily make a great song or movie. Some may think it's great, others may not. That may make movies and songs more interesting to talk about, but it also makes sports more universal. Everyone who is familiar with football will realize that Maradona's famous goal against England is a great goal.
We love to witness great achievements. One reason for it is the fact that our forefathers were witnesses of great achievements and told us about it. We've heard joyful stories about how great it was to see Star Wars in the cinema, the Beatles in concert or Michael Jordan playing. And we hope that one day we'll be able to tell such stories about greatness. As to confirm, at least to ourselves, that we lived in interesting, great times.
In the times we live in though it's much tougher for a sportsman (or a director, actor, singer, etc) to achieve greatness. Pele, Maradona and Cruyff were only compared with their peers and since they were a lot better then them, they were considered great. The current star-footballers are not only compared to their peers, but also to Pele, Maradona, Cruyff and all kinds of other footballers that were considered stars and to be considered great they have to probably be better than 99% of them. This is because of the emergence of all kinds of new media. On YouTube we can see the highlights of most great sportsmen whenever we want. Obviously this was not the case when Maradona or Cruyff played. Occasionally there might be shown some highlights of older players on television, but that was it. They only really had to compete for exposure and greatness with their peers.
Perhaps even more importantly, we saw less sports. For example in tennis the Grand Slams were watched, in football you had once a week a live game from the European Cup and the World and European Championships. In basketball you could see one game from the NBA. And the broadcast games were of course the ones featuring the best players. So great moments were rarer and therefore more special. On top of this, it were usually the same players who were seen doing great things.
How different is it now. We can watch every tennis tournament, any NBA game we want and footage from almost any slightly relevant football league. And on top of that a lot of footage from lower leagues or even amateurs. We have a great moments-overkill. We see a lot of great moments by a lot of different players. And because we have access to so many great moments, a great moment has to be a lot greater to be considered really great. We're not satisfied any more with a half-court buzzer beater, since we've seen hundreds of them. Some even by 12-year old nitwits on YouTube. And a player has to have a lot of really, really great moments to be considered great.
maandag 24 januari 2011
maandag 17 januari 2011
Blue Velvet- a short review
Blue Velvet is a very good movie, that's not exactly what I expected. It sure is an often absurd mystery, but it is also, and even more so, a teen-romance/coming-of-age- movie. The relationship between Jeffrey and Sandy is at the heart of the movie. I even would compare the movie with Say Anything or Juno and other movies like that. These movies are about young protagonists who realize they love each other, while dealing with overbearing fathers or pregnancies. Well, This is what happens in Blue Velvet too, only they have to deal with a lunatic Dennis Hopper. Though I really liked the movie I understand Roger Ebert's famous gripe with this movie. Isabela Rosselini does have a pretty thankless role. She is being used simply to show off Hopper's lunacy and as a problem that the two protagonists have to deal with. I must admit that it didn't bother me much. The story was engaging and it provided for some wildly inventive, absurd scenes. The weirdest of them all was the scene where Sandy and Jeffrey go on a ride with Hopper and his 'friends'.
I also found it rather brilliant to let Sandy and Jeffrey talk as if they were in a 50's movie, while the villains and Rosellini are (post)modern characters. This makes the villains an even bigger treat for the two heroes. Its not just that they are bad people. They are bad in ways our two protagonists never thought possible.
I also found it rather brilliant to let Sandy and Jeffrey talk as if they were in a 50's movie, while the villains and Rosellini are (post)modern characters. This makes the villains an even bigger treat for the two heroes. Its not just that they are bad people. They are bad in ways our two protagonists never thought possible.
zondag 2 januari 2011
America
-America (Razorlight, 2006) Last decade's best song. Unfortunately this was it from Razorlight. It's hard to match this song, but they never even came close. The song, about a man who seems to have lost all hope, should have given us a hint though. The songs I've heard from their next album were all depressing songs, sung in a depressive manner.
What a boring clip! It does fit the song though. All we see, besides Razorlight playing,are meaningless shots of American roads on the screen in the back. And in the end we see people holding up signs saying 'Lost' and 'feel nothing'. In the end there are also shots of a car, with somebody in it, that was involved in an accident. This is all simply a visual representation of what the text says.There is nothing on the tv or the radio which is meaningful, because everything is American import(Razorlight is a British band). This makes people miserable. So, this clip seems to say, you should listen to Razorlight. They are an intersting, serious band with substance that cares only about its (meaningful) music.
What a boring clip! It does fit the song though. All we see, besides Razorlight playing,are meaningless shots of American roads on the screen in the back. And in the end we see people holding up signs saying 'Lost' and 'feel nothing'. In the end there are also shots of a car, with somebody in it, that was involved in an accident. This is all simply a visual representation of what the text says.There is nothing on the tv or the radio which is meaningful, because everything is American import(Razorlight is a British band). This makes people miserable. So, this clip seems to say, you should listen to Razorlight. They are an intersting, serious band with substance that cares only about its (meaningful) music.
All Summer Long
-All Summer Long (Kid Rock, 2008)Kid Rock hasn't done anything interesting except for this song. But this is one of the best recent pure rock songs, even though it steals from two songs. Not just the obvious Sweet Home Alabama, but also from Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London. The song really does manage to make you feel the atmosphere of Kid Rock's favorite summer. It just is that nobody can believe that Kid Rock really feels that nostalgic about that summer. He most probably still smokes funny things and drinks whiskey out the bottle, while making love.
This is is a much more interesting clip, than the previous two I've discussed. It celebrates both Sweet Home Alabama and Kid Rock as true American icons. The first thing we see in the clip is an American flag attached on Kid Rock's motorboat. Kid Rock is riding his boat on, presumably, Lake Michigan where lots of people have fun while listening to rock and roll. Just like he did in 1989. The message of course is that these old-fashioned American rock songs like Sweet Home Alabama are timeless. Unfortunately the original singers are too old, or even dead now. Someone has to replace them. That's where Kid Rock comes in, according to this clip. He is both a real American and a real rock star. That becomes obvious during the scenes on the stage where he is singing. First of all he is dressed and behaves like a true rock star. on the floor we see stars like on the American flag and when we get a long shot of the floor we see it is painted, patriotically, in red white and blue. And in the final shot of the clip we see the word cowboy on the back of his boat. It can't get more American then that. So this clip tries to sell Kid Rock as the natural heir to the old great American rock stars. This is in accordance with the name of Kid Rock's album, Rock and Roll Jesus.
I also have All Shook Up (Elvis Presley, 1957) on my Ipod. It's a good old simple Elvis rock-song that is simply about a man in love with a girl. I am not a big fan of Elvis, but he was a pioneer and probably the first of those great American rock stars. Not much else to say about this one though and of course it doesn't have a videoclip.
This is is a much more interesting clip, than the previous two I've discussed. It celebrates both Sweet Home Alabama and Kid Rock as true American icons. The first thing we see in the clip is an American flag attached on Kid Rock's motorboat. Kid Rock is riding his boat on, presumably, Lake Michigan where lots of people have fun while listening to rock and roll. Just like he did in 1989. The message of course is that these old-fashioned American rock songs like Sweet Home Alabama are timeless. Unfortunately the original singers are too old, or even dead now. Someone has to replace them. That's where Kid Rock comes in, according to this clip. He is both a real American and a real rock star. That becomes obvious during the scenes on the stage where he is singing. First of all he is dressed and behaves like a true rock star. on the floor we see stars like on the American flag and when we get a long shot of the floor we see it is painted, patriotically, in red white and blue. And in the final shot of the clip we see the word cowboy on the back of his boat. It can't get more American then that. So this clip tries to sell Kid Rock as the natural heir to the old great American rock stars. This is in accordance with the name of Kid Rock's album, Rock and Roll Jesus.
I also have All Shook Up (Elvis Presley, 1957) on my Ipod. It's a good old simple Elvis rock-song that is simply about a man in love with a girl. I am not a big fan of Elvis, but he was a pioneer and probably the first of those great American rock stars. Not much else to say about this one though and of course it doesn't have a videoclip.
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)