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The recent thread on best opening tracks reminded me of one of my favorite albums and its opening track.

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I don’t know about you all, but I love a good crowd-pleasing rock anthem. I think a good rock anthem needs a chorus you can sing along with, lyrics that can be applied to just about anything, and a sense of uplift. These are songs that give you a bit of hope for the future.

Therefore, I posit that the prototype of anthems is Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run.

He makes a life spent running from your problems seem positively enticing. Turning sadsacks into symbols of the American Dream? That’s an anthem.

Alanis Mourrisette’s One Hand in My Pocket is obviously going for anthem status.

Hand In My Pocket
http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=100009231,t=1,mt=video
Alanis Morissette | MySpace Music Videos
I really like this song and think it comes close to actual anthem status (it described me in my twenties pretty well). But she’s clearly trying too hard; setting the video at a parade in a small town? This isn’t a Jerry Bruckheimer movie.

Finally, there are those who aspire to anthem status, and who fail miserably. Guns and Roses knew how to write an anthem (see Paradise City), but once Axl was given free reign to pursue his demons you got schlock like November Rain (which I used to claim was deep). I don’t deny that the schlock is fun, but too much really is too much in pursuit of anthems.

Finally, since the genre is easily identified, there are those who choose to distort it. I hold that Jonathan Coulton’s song “Re: Your Brains” is an anthem in musical spirit, but it’s content removes it from widespread appeal. However, for a certain demographic (you know who you are), it must be hella fun to sing along with at top volume in the car.

So, care to dispute my takes on these epics? Or have favorite anthems to add? Or wanna comment on my ignorance of the music of the past 10 years (or in general)? Do it below.

I listen to the Filmspotting podcast a lot and one of the things that they have gotten me interested in (by which I mean wasting my time in) is Flickchart. The premise is simple: the website supplies you with two randomly chosen movies and you pick one. If you haven’t seen one (or both) you can skip it; if not, plunge ahead. The criteria is left up to you (I go with the one I would most like to see out of the two). The site tracks your choices and ranks your preferences. It’s not terribly accurate (Cloverfield is remarkably high in mine; higher than I would think), but it is kinda fun. I’ve had to choose between the Princess Bride and Groundhog Day (hard to do) and Back to the Future III and Attack of the Clones (hard to do for other reasons). If nothing else, this is likely Rusty’s dream website come true.

Here is my current top 20 (after having gotten about 200 films in the queue): Read the rest of this entry →

I think that this is a good way of finally getting all this Watchmen stuff out of our system.

So, what are your feelings on the book, the movie, or the Saturday morning cartoon?

I don’t actually have a lot of spare time, but I have decided to take what little of it I have and give myself an education in film history (it helps that I work at a library with an amazing film collection).  The purpose of this feature is to provide new reviews to movies that were first released at least thirty years ago.  Why?  Because I am cheap and don’t want to pay for first run movies, but also because I am interested to see how well many of these “classics” hold up.  These reviews will focus primarily on the movies themselves (I don’t plan on reviewing DVD features (because I don’t usually care enough to watch them)). Read the rest of this entry →

Please state your choice and your case for it below.

When they get radio play?  When they sign a major record deal?  When they start appearing on video channels? or… Read the rest of this entry →

Ok, folks. 5 questions. The one with the most right earns bragging rights and a prize to be determined later. Foretell the future:

1. Who dies? (no more than two names accepted)

2. Who lives? (no more than two names accepted)

3. Snape: loyal or evil?

4. Most shocking twist to come?

5. Best surviving non-Ron/Hermione couple?

Amaze and Astound Us!