3 for 1

In earlier blogs I wrote about songs that were covered (re made by another artist) but now I’m gonna talk about movies that were re made.

Will Smith is a wonderful actor. He has been in plenty of movies. He’s done action, drama, and comedy, pretty much whatever you can name. He did a movie called I Am Legend. Based after the 1953 novel I Am Legend .The movie takes place in an abandoned New York City where Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. The movie was good. I liked both the theatrical ending and the alternate ending that was featured on the DVD.



The Original titled Omega Man.



Some say this film along with a movie called “The Last Man on Earth” are all remakes of the 1953 book titled I am Legend.

My Kind of Horror

"Editorial: The Sound of Music (in Movies)." By Gary Hoppenstand This editorial focused very briefly on the importance of the relationship between the movie’s plots, and how the story is played out as well as the music in the film. It talks about how if the relationship between those elements aren’t coherent then the film sort of falls apart.


28 Weeks Later was a horror film like no other. First of all it was a sequel. Not many sequels are good especially if it’s a horror film. In a way it was part sequel part prequel ( the story before the story) because it went back in the movie and told what happened from another person’s point of view.



The movie was great. The plot was good and it was coherent with the first movie. I remember this scene from the movie. The thing that made me remember this scene the most wasn’t just action but the song that was playing in the background.




This movie was great. It’s been talks of making a third one and having it take place in Russia. Humm I don’t know sometimes it’s good to just leave the nice movies alone and let them be. Hopefully if they do make a third one it won’t be bad.

Funny But Freighting

Zombie Land was an excellent movie. It was funny and scary all at once. The movie had a great cast. I really liked the plot. I must admit I would be terrified if something like this happened in real life but they made it fun and funny to watch. It wasn’t you’re typical zombie movie with a hopeful ending. It kinda just ended like…….well I don’t wanna give it away if you haven’t seen it already but it is really funny!



Shaun of the Dead is another funny zombie movie. It’s scary but had a great plot. It was serious and sad at some parts but I will say this movie sorta has a happy ending. If you haven’t seen it, sorry. 

More Melody

“Trying to Find a Heartbeat” by Jesse Schlotterbeck This article discusses the relation that music in musicals as well as films in general. The article talks about movies such as “Ray”, “Walk the Line”, and “Beyond the Sea”, all of which have musical numbers in them.



Ray is a great movie with talented actors. Jamie Foxx almost because Ray Charles and it made the movie great. Another good movie was Walk the Line.



Johnny Cash is a great artist and Joaquin Phoenix did a wonderful job at portraying him.

Gifted Ears

“Variations On A Theme." By Ken Tucker is an article about the movie “August Rush” and the success it had. The movie is about an orphaned boy who is musically gifted with hope that his music will help find his parents and bring them together.



August Rush was a good movie with brilliant talent and actors. It’s a very touching film and I think everyone should see it if you haven’t already. One of the original songs from the movie is called “Raise it up.” I like the song because it says a lot and is sung with passion

This clip is from The Young and The Restless but this is the song that was in the movie and the young woman that sings the song in the movie is also in the clip. I liked this version the most so here it is.



It’s truly a movie for all ages and music lovers all over the world.

Off Key

Off Key: When Film and Music Won't Work Together by Bruce Johnson author expresses the feeling of how they feel today’s music and movies are being poorly integrated. I must say sometimes people just get all crazy with putting music in films and it seems as though they didn’t’ think about the outcome of it. Seems like they just stuck to song in there because they liked it.

It is important that people don’t abuse the relationship between music and the movie’s plot because then you get the views like the one that Bruce Johnson has.

I can’t really think of any bad movies off hand but there are some out there!

While we're sorta on the topic of bad movies one comes to mind. The movie Stepfather. This movie just wasn't that good to me. It really dosen't have anything to do with the music because most horror or suspense movies don't have that much music in it. I must admit there are some horror films that had good music but anyway thos movie was too predictable and I can't stand movies like that. Much hype but couldnt live up to it's own hype(like most movies).

Lend an Ear

So I made post about good song covers and now I want to share to you all what I feel were not so good covers. Let’s take Michael Jackson legendary right? Well his song “ Smooth Criminal” was covered by a band called Alien Ant Farm. I’m not really fond of this version of the song. And no it’s not because it’s Rock. I listen to everything truly but I feel like when they covered this song is lost something….not sure what but it lost something!

Here’s the cover


The original



So what do you think? I just think sometimes you have to leave some songs alone. But it’s just my opinion. Prince is my favorite artist of all time and he deserves to have his songs covered the right way (as all artists do). I ran across one of my favorite Prince songs and I noticed it had been covered by another artist that I think is cool. Let’s just say I wasn’t too pleased but you be the judge.

The cover

• When Doves Cry by Ginuwine

More Ginuwine music on iLike

It's hard to find Prince songs on the interent because he keeps taking them down for people to listen to especially on Youtube but if you go to this website page
http://www.whosampled.com/cover/view/5039/Ginuwine-When%20Doves%20Cry_Prince-When%20Doves%20Cry/ you can listen to both of the full songs. It a pretty cool website to go to anyway. You will be surprised how much pepole sample and cover other artist.

The original


I don’t think his version was horrible but it could have been a lot better in my ears lol.

What Do You Think?

I like music a lot! I know this is a little off subject from my normal movie blogs but I think about this stuff a lot. So I hate it when artist do covers of other artist and they don’t do it justice. It irritates me. I feel like if you are going to remake a song then do so either as good or better.

I have examples!! As usual

The Beatles song “Yesterday” is a beautiful song. I like it. A group called Boy II Men covered the song and I think they did a good job.



And now the cover



So what do you think? I like them both. They both have different sounds to them but I respect them both for the music they make. Both groups are very talented. I think as artist one has to respect the other in order to truly make a truly good song cover.

Another song cover that I just adore is the song This Woman’s Work originally sung by Kate Bush. The song was covered by another great artist Maxwell.



The cover



So what do you think? I LOVE both versions. Kate Bush sung the song with a lot of emotion and passion and you could feel what she was going through. Maxwell’s version is unique because it’s almost like he’s on the outside looking in while he understands what the woman is doing while he appreciates her because he is singing the song originally sing by a woman. Nothing like good music.

How Is Your Hearing?

"Stop the Music: Oscar Misses The Melody." by Eric Felten is an article that discusses why the Oscars did not have any nominees or give an award for the best original song category. The author says that there isn’t that much music that is being created for new movies these days. The author then goes on to say that today’s movies aren’t producing music for the films the way they use to in the past.

I wonder why the Oscars felt the way they did. I feel like there were some movies that had some pretty decent original scores in them. Hopefully they will get the category back soon!

Here are some movies that I think were just great in the films.
Mary J. Blige- I Can See in Color from the movie Precious. I like this song because it defiantly fits the film. Precious is a very serious movie and this song kinda sounds like the Blues to me, a genre that goes with the mood of the film.


There have been older movies with great songs in them as well. Take the movie Armageddon. It was a good movie but this song puts the icing on the cake. If you hear this song and don’t feel what’s going on in the movie, maybe you should watch them lol but really it really adds to the emotion on the movie.

Aerosmith - I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing


Bottom line I think they were just being lazy and hopefully someone's great work can and will be recognized in the future at the Oscars.

On the Outside? Look In.

Precious is a movie about life in the eyes of a young black girl that lives in a very abusive household and has little education and who is also pregnant with her second child by her father. Precious is a film that was adapted from the book Push by Sapphire. She said that the book was a bunch of stories that she heard from her students when she use to teach.

The movie is based off of true events. The most important thing to me is to remember that this story applies to a lot of people’s lives but their story isn’t getting told. As harsh as it was too read, its even more harsh to watch but it is the truth.

It’s time that the abused boys and girls, men and women, have their story told because it is viscous cycle and the abuse will continue if no one speaks up.



I will say this movie is hard to watch indeed but it needs to be seen by everyone if you ask me.

Precious did not win the Academy Award for Best Picture but it did get one for Best Supporting actress. Precious speaks volumes because it applies to people of all races, colors, gender, and religion. I advise that you see Precious if you haven’t already because you could be the one to help stop the abuse.

Take a Look

While doing more searches about movies and music I ran across this book called BEYOND THE SOUNDTRACK: REPRESENTING MUSIC IN CINEMA by Jan Baetens. This book takes a very intense look at the effect of music in cinema. The author touches on the importance that music has in shaping the experience of film. The book claims that film music is at its best when it goes unnoticed making it out to be an essential element to the proper development of the film. It might be hard to understand now but try watching a scene from a movie without the sound. You might notice a change. But sometimes you don’t need music to express the mood but you must also realize that the absence of music is important because of the presence of music if that makes any sense.

Here is a scene from one of the movie’s I adore, Jerry Maguire. If you listen closely in the scene you might noctice a little music playing in the background. It can easily go unnoticed.


And of course one of the most famous parts of the movie is show below. But notice the feel of the scene.



Some might feel like music would have ruined the scene. I think it’s just fine the way it is but there are parts in the movie that would not have been right without the background music.