Only Lovers Left Alive - thoughts, not really a review
(Thanks for NOT auto saving my draft even though you said you did LJ, let's try this again)
So, took matters into my own hands and made the 1 1/2 hour trek to Northern Va to see "Only Lovers Left Alive" (AKA the movie of tall angular people). I did a little happy dance as we walked into the lobby of the theatre, no lie. Oh, it was awesome and EXACTLY what I needed. So to spare the uninterested I'm posing a bunch of random rambling thoughts below the cut, most of them probably say more about me than they do anything about the film. Maybe spoilers because I mention what doesn't happen? clevermanka, I cannot WAIT to hear what you think about it! It'll be in Baltimore 5/2 and I'm going to hit a show on my post-Fairie Fest-Monday-Recovery day off. Maybe with crepes. Definitely with a drink afterwards.
* Visually so pretty, so much to look at, great shots, just loved it.
* Tom Hiddleston was awesome. Tilda Swinton was MESMERIZING. And the shot from the trailer of the two of them on the bed? I think it was used simply because when you have such a physically matched and striking pair of people of COURSE you put a shot like that in your film!
* As one of my friends pointed out, the great thing about Adam being a musician were that there was a lot of attention to shots of his hands. And TH's hands? Yes.
* I said that I feel like the way the characters live is how teenage me thought my adult life would play out. Unstructured time full of music, reading, talking, lounging, just BEING. OK, not so sure where I thought I'd get any money or what I'd do about being a responsible adult.
* And Adam's house is the kind of place I thought I'd be living in. Hah, I'm pretty sure my place could descend to those depths pretty quickly if I let it, especially if I let Justin's music stuff take over the house. Serious Oriental rug, mood lighting, and velvet couch envy, though.
* I appreciate that the things that had the potential to be crises in the film do make dramatic moments but there is never a full, come to a head emergency. The previews build up the arrival of Ava, but that's only one thing in the film and though it does create change it seems more like a catalyst and less likes a crisis.
* The music geekery and the rocker errand boy both reminded me so much of hanging out with musicians when I was younger. The gear, the talk, the awkwardness, the schmoozing. Ugh.
* Thankfully the music is brilliant, I came home and looked up the soundtrack and now it's in rotation. I finally figured out some of it reminds me of Sigur Ros.
* I've had a serious vampire jones since I was about 15, and this is the vampire movie I've always wanted. It reminds me a bit of The Hunger, another favorite.
* And, like my amorphous teen dreams of a hazy future, what is it I envy about the undead? Their ability to have time, all the time to do and learn and love and to just be. I was wondering why Jarmusch wanted to do a vampire film and I would think part of that would be exploring how a relationship can play out when it's happening over centuries instead of just a human life time. On the other hand, he shows just how universal are the things we all go through.
* On the human note, I didn't think about it until later but at one point they are going through the dark house and yard with flashlights. Hello! Vampires! Can't they see in the dark or some other spooky shit like that? Makes me laugh.
* On another human note, there is a hilarious shot of Adam and Eve crashed out in bed that really needs to be made into a gif that says something like "Monday morning is for suckers". I'm gif making stupid, though.
* Years ago Justin went through Detroit on tour and told me, "You'd love it here, it's like Baltimore if something terrible happened years ago." We're actually planning on a road trip in the fall that includes a stop in Detroit, and now I'm even more excited, not just to see the infamous decay but also to see how people are maintaining it as a vital community. I have some more thoughts I'm still unpacking about this dichotomy, and about Detroit versus Baltimore, that I want to get back to. Also, I appreciated that the scenes of decay were of commercial buildings, mansions, AND humble working class homes. It illustrated how the crumbling manufacturing industry has touched everyone.
* For my own reference, here is a video of the cafe scene that happens late in the movie and the translated lyrics of the song are:
Solution ( hal ):
I adore you
and if a day passes without sight of you
I forget you
but why this time i envisioned you
the absence awakens the craving , and from the heart
the night is long and the day passes in the heart
oh fragility of my heart
the separation makes me ache
I have no solution
I have no solution
my heart only loves once
my heart only loves once.
I feel like I could probably keep going for a while, but I'll stop now.
So, took matters into my own hands and made the 1 1/2 hour trek to Northern Va to see "Only Lovers Left Alive" (AKA the movie of tall angular people). I did a little happy dance as we walked into the lobby of the theatre, no lie. Oh, it was awesome and EXACTLY what I needed. So to spare the uninterested I'm posing a bunch of random rambling thoughts below the cut, most of them probably say more about me than they do anything about the film. Maybe spoilers because I mention what doesn't happen? clevermanka, I cannot WAIT to hear what you think about it! It'll be in Baltimore 5/2 and I'm going to hit a show on my post-Fairie Fest-Monday-Recovery day off. Maybe with crepes. Definitely with a drink afterwards.
* Visually so pretty, so much to look at, great shots, just loved it.
* Tom Hiddleston was awesome. Tilda Swinton was MESMERIZING. And the shot from the trailer of the two of them on the bed? I think it was used simply because when you have such a physically matched and striking pair of people of COURSE you put a shot like that in your film!
* As one of my friends pointed out, the great thing about Adam being a musician were that there was a lot of attention to shots of his hands. And TH's hands? Yes.
* I said that I feel like the way the characters live is how teenage me thought my adult life would play out. Unstructured time full of music, reading, talking, lounging, just BEING. OK, not so sure where I thought I'd get any money or what I'd do about being a responsible adult.
* And Adam's house is the kind of place I thought I'd be living in. Hah, I'm pretty sure my place could descend to those depths pretty quickly if I let it, especially if I let Justin's music stuff take over the house. Serious Oriental rug, mood lighting, and velvet couch envy, though.
* I appreciate that the things that had the potential to be crises in the film do make dramatic moments but there is never a full, come to a head emergency. The previews build up the arrival of Ava, but that's only one thing in the film and though it does create change it seems more like a catalyst and less likes a crisis.
* The music geekery and the rocker errand boy both reminded me so much of hanging out with musicians when I was younger. The gear, the talk, the awkwardness, the schmoozing. Ugh.
* Thankfully the music is brilliant, I came home and looked up the soundtrack and now it's in rotation. I finally figured out some of it reminds me of Sigur Ros.
* I've had a serious vampire jones since I was about 15, and this is the vampire movie I've always wanted. It reminds me a bit of The Hunger, another favorite.
* And, like my amorphous teen dreams of a hazy future, what is it I envy about the undead? Their ability to have time, all the time to do and learn and love and to just be. I was wondering why Jarmusch wanted to do a vampire film and I would think part of that would be exploring how a relationship can play out when it's happening over centuries instead of just a human life time. On the other hand, he shows just how universal are the things we all go through.
* On the human note, I didn't think about it until later but at one point they are going through the dark house and yard with flashlights. Hello! Vampires! Can't they see in the dark or some other spooky shit like that? Makes me laugh.
* On another human note, there is a hilarious shot of Adam and Eve crashed out in bed that really needs to be made into a gif that says something like "Monday morning is for suckers". I'm gif making stupid, though.
* Years ago Justin went through Detroit on tour and told me, "You'd love it here, it's like Baltimore if something terrible happened years ago." We're actually planning on a road trip in the fall that includes a stop in Detroit, and now I'm even more excited, not just to see the infamous decay but also to see how people are maintaining it as a vital community. I have some more thoughts I'm still unpacking about this dichotomy, and about Detroit versus Baltimore, that I want to get back to. Also, I appreciated that the scenes of decay were of commercial buildings, mansions, AND humble working class homes. It illustrated how the crumbling manufacturing industry has touched everyone.
* For my own reference, here is a video of the cafe scene that happens late in the movie and the translated lyrics of the song are:
Solution ( hal ):
I adore you
and if a day passes without sight of you
I forget you
but why this time i envisioned you
the absence awakens the craving , and from the heart
the night is long and the day passes in the heart
oh fragility of my heart
the separation makes me ache
I have no solution
I have no solution
my heart only loves once
my heart only loves once.
I feel like I could probably keep going for a while, but I'll stop now.