"Song to the siren"

I watched a bootleg dvd of 'The Lovely Bones' the other day with a friend. Not that I was expecting much from the film, but I was especially disappointed with the selection of music. It is bad enough that "Alice" by the Cocteau Twins is featured in the film (and the trailer) but someone had the gall to include This Mortal Coil's version of "song to the siren" to sappy effect.
I can't remember when or where I first heard the track, but I do recall it taking my breath away. Dark, subtle and hauntingly beautiful, the song gave me chills and still does. At the risk of sounding sentimental, only a few songs have managed to burrow so deeply into my heart and I feel very protective of them and their use in film and TV. This Mortal Coil's "song to the siren" has no place in 'The Lovely Bones.' It has also been used in 'Lost Highway' (1997) and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (2003) but I feel it somehow fits the scenes in those films a little better. That being said, enough is enough. I firmly believe that once a song is used on a soundtrack it shouldn't be used again and some songs shouldn't be whored out on soundtracks in the first place.

"Song to the siren" was originally written and performed by Tim Buckley in 1970:


But I much prefer the version by This Mortal Coil released in 1983:


Lyrics:

On the floating, shapeless oceans
I did all my best to smile
til your singing eyes and fingers
drew me loving into your eyes.

And you sang "Sail to me, sail to me;
Let me enfold you."

Here I am, here I am waiting to hold you.
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when I was full sail?

Now my foolish boat is leaning, broken love lost on your rocks.
For you sang, "Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow."
Oh my heart, oh my heart shies from the sorrow.
I'm as puzzled as a newborn child.
I'm as riddled as the tide.
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or shall I lie with death my bride?

Hear me sing: "Swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you."
"Here I am. Here I am, waiting to hold you."

Here it is being used in the trailer for 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (2003):


and featured in a scene from 'Lost Highway' (1997):


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Happy (Anti) Valentine's Day

Me, a few years ago:


One of my all time favourite slasher films, the Canadian made 'My Bloody Valentine' (1981):


My favourite track off My Bloody Valentine's 1991 album 'Loveless':


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R.I.P McQueen

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Depeche Mode- "hole to feed" (video)

I am a huge fan of Depeche Mode but their most recent album, 2009's 'Sounds of the Universe,' totally slipped through the cracks for me. I never end up playing it because it is boring. That being said, I stumbled across the weird video for "hole to feed" the other day and it really disturbed me (at least that is something). I can't stand the sight of people licking the tongues of other people or messy makeout sessions. Keep your tongues in your holes!
Check it out here because youtube took it down.

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Christina Ricci for Donna Karan - 'Four Play' video

From 'The Ice Storm,' to 'Buffalo '66' to 'The Opposite of Sex,' Christina Ricci has delivered some of my favourite female performances in some of my favourite films. A few years ago a friend of mine was working for the Toronto Film Festival and I was helping him run errands. We had to drop off a package at the Intercontinental Hotel but accidentally went to the wrong room. Instead of some bored publicist opening the hotel room door, Christina Ricci did. It was one of the few times I have been star struck. Surprisingly, she was really sweet and down to earth which only increased my liking for her.
Connecting to my little run in, Ricci stars in the video advertisement for Donna Karan's Eldridge bag, 'Four Play.' She plays the Dreamer, the Expressionist, the Paramour and the Voyeur, four versions of the same woman who interact in a hotel room.



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Xiu Xiu- "Dear God, I Hate Myself"

Xiu Xiu are set to release their new album 'Dear God, I Hate Myself' on the 22nd. I am really looking forward to it based on the single and video for it of new band member Angela Seo repeatedly sticking her fingers down her throat and forcing herself to throw up.



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'Greed & Generosity' - a short video

In 2007, my favorite chain smoking Romanian film professor assigned us a project where we each had to interpret a poem by Rumi and make a short video. Here is mine:



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