Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Movie Challenge -- Day 1

And the list-making continues! Fresh off of the Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge, I’ve decided to make another Challenge list, if only to keep writing and prevent Jordyn from Popped Density from sliding into boredom-induced catatonia. With that, here comes the Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Movie Challenge. What makes this different than other Thirty Day Movie Challenges, you ask? Well, for one, I haven’t even looked at any of the other Challenges; all I know is that they exist, and I didn’t bother checking from there. This way, you folks will be getting a pure D original series, unlike some others I’ve pilfered. Anyway, let’s get to it!

Day 1 – One of Your Favorite Movies (But Not Your Favorite Favorite)

I bellyached at moaned at the beginning of the last series about bringing out the big guns first, so I’m doing things my way now! Yes sir, the movie you are reading about is not my absolute favorite, but it’s definitely in my top ten, if not my top five.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (Extended)

Yes, I am opening this intro by talking nerdy to you, but I just bought the three-film collection on Blu-ray last week, so I thought I’d talk about it. The Lord of the Rings is one of those nerdy mainstays that, by and large, most movie-loving folk can agree are pretty good. I was never a fan of the books (the descriptions felt far too distant from the actual goings-on with the characters), but I’ve always appreciated the larger story and world created by Tolkien. It helps that I had several friends who were diehard Rings fans, and they helped me get into the film series, securing the trilogy as one of my favorites in movies.

I’m choosing The Fellowship of the Ring because I’ve always enjoyed the quiet moments in Hobbiton near the beginning of the film. Not only are they a great contrast to the ramped-up battle sequences later in the film, they’re simply gorgeous in their own right; I love the greens and browns of Hobbiton, as they give the place a natural, downhome feel. In fact, the main reason I prefer the Extended Edition, apart from padding the film with several excellent character-building moments, is the Concerning Hobbits chapter. While the theatrical cut immediately cuts to Frodo reading by a tree after Galadriel orates the history of the ring, the extended cut pans to Bilbo writing the opening chapter of his book, in which he describes how hobbits live to eat, drink, smoke, and generally avoid any sorts of adventures. It does a fantastic job of establishing the world of Middle Earth, and adds to the weight of when Frodo and Sam finally leave the Shire on their quest.

Of course, there’s more to Fellowship of the Ring than lengthy anecdotes on the dining habits of a village of stout New Zealand folk. For my money, Fellowship provides the best balance of character moments, intense action, and impressive vistas. The cast is uniformly excellent (Sir Ian McKellen, Sean Bean, Elijah Wood, etc.), and the production design is impressive even to those not interested in behind-the-scenes work. I enjoy how the movie borrows dialogue directly from Tolkien’s novels, giving the characters a central voice different from other fantasy epics. Lastly, what can I say about the incredible score provided by Howard Shore, other than I listen to it all the g@#%$&@ time.

In truth, it’s almost pointless for me to write about Fellowship of the Ring; apart from my own smallish, personal reasons for loving Concerning Hobbits so much, nearly everything that can be said about this movie has been done so already. Still, it’s one of my absolute favorite movies, and easily the most-watched out of the Lord of the Rings series.

Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge -- Day 30: A Song That Describes You

After a cavalcade of posts on music, we’ve come to the end of the Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge (not entirely done in thirty days, but life happens, and since I’m paid to work and not to write this blog, one has to recognize one’s priorities). Out of all of the posts, this one has given me the most trouble; I have the narcissistic gall to consider myself a fairly unique mofo, and tracking down a song I could point at and say, “This is me” was difficult indeed. To finally decide, I did what I usually do when faced with a challenge: I made a hasty decision based on a convenient series of pre-existing lists (Class registration? Done. Wedding present purchasing? Boom. Which game should I rent this weekend? Cha-ching).

Queen – “I Want It All”

I first heard this song during “Paper From Hell,” a short film directed by my friend Brian Browitt and written by this guy. As the story goes, Greg was looking for what he called an “epic-sounding” song for a certain sequence in the movie, and our friend Stu was gracious enough to point him in the direction of this lesser-know-but-not-that-much-lesser gem from Queen.

How does it relate to me? Dear readers, I want to do everything. In school I studied computers, English writing, and theater. My personal blog covers movies, music, gaming, and several other topics. I constantly try to juggle my lives in Bozeman (where I live currently) and Helena (where most of my friends live (or did until recently)). I want it all. It’s because of this all-consuming desire that I don’t play MMOs, Bethesda games, or the Grand Theft Auto series: I can’t deal with too much optional content, or I’ll become overwhelmed at the choices and fail to accomplish anything significant. I want it all.

Aside from a few piddly personal reasons, “I Want It All” is a pretty catchy tune. It demonstrates several of Queen’s best aspects, including their shred-tastic guitar gymnastics, dynamic and catchy melodies, and a knack for nailing the springy, optimistic feelings often evoked by 80’s rock.

Welp, that’s it for the Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge! It may have taken slightly longer than the advertised timeline (I was doing well for a while!), but we finally finished. Stay tuned for another series (this one coming sooner than you might think), as well as Our Feature Presentation and other sundries associated with Diversion 2.0.

Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge -- Day 29: Your Favorite Song By Your Favorite Artist

Fall Out Boy – “Grand Theft Autumn (Where Is Your Boy)”

Like I said in my first post, I’m a man of few favorites, but I feel confident in saying Fall Out Boy is my absolute favorite band. A winning blend of punk rock simplicity, hardcore-influenced intensity, and soaring pop melodies, Fall Out Boy is an absolute beast of a group, and perhaps one of the most influential bands of modern pop-punk and emo. Their style is often imitated, but never duplicated, with acts like The Academy Is, Panic at the Disco, and many others capturing only a portion of their appeal.

If I were to guess why, I’d say that Fall Out Boy’s distinct and exciting sound comes from the band’s individual members. Bassist Pete Wentz’s ironic, clever-for-clever’s-sake lyrical styles have been done by other acts, but married to vocalist Patrick Stump’s straight-ahead delivery, they manage to sound witty without the smirky edge that drag down my enjoyment of other emo groups. Guitarist Joe Troughman adds flair to the usual four-chords-to-freedom pop punk structure, and drummer Andy Hurley gives each song a massive punch of energy through airtight drum lines and spaz-fills.

“Grand Theft Autumn” is from Fall Out Boy’s major label debut, Take This To Your Grave, and was my very first FOB song, which I found on a sampler I got from the 2004 Warped Tour. Other Fall Out Boy songs are more aggressive, have catchier melodies, or have more interesting instrumentation, but “Grand Theft Autumn” has the best combination of everything I like about FOB in one neat little package. Everything about this song is wonderful to me: the earnest, not-super-clever lyrics, the small guitar bits that paint the corners of the song’s sound, and the infinitely singable chorus.As an introduction to the group, it’s phenomenal, and one of my favorite songs to date.

Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge -- Day 28: Your Favorite Song This Time Last Year

Lady Gaga – “Alejandro"

I know what you must be thinking: “Andrew, what the crap is up with all of this Gaga?” An excellent question, and one that I ask myself nearly every day. I can answer this one, though: around this time last year, I was still coasting on my “Out for life!” mindset, and wanted only to rock all night and party e-va-ry day. What a fortunate time, then, for Lady Gaga’s brand of heedless, European dance music to be dominating the airwaves.

Also during this time last year, an amazing kerfuffle was starting to surround Lady Gaga’s next music video for “Alejandro.” Since “Paparazzi,” Gaga’s music videos had exited the typical “song intercut with a story” structure of music videos and had, instead, started to tread the ground of “Thriller,” where the actual song is ancillary to the visages and general weird s@$# that happens during the eight-to-ten minutes of running time. “Telephone” absolutely drove this notion home, and since the entire nation seemed to be going gaga (ha) over the young New Yorker, anticipation for her new video was reaching a fever pitch, including an appearance on Larry King where Gaga teased a small clip from the upcoming phantasmagoria of sight, sound, and other things that kids consider while waiting in bed on Christmas Eve.

The video, of course, was a bit of a letdown, but it was during this need for more info that I fully started to appreciate “Alejandro”’s sonic subtleties. Things like the off-time, pulsing synthesizers, or the three different competing melodies during the chorus. To top it all off, I had discovered a sweet mashup of “Alejandro” and Ace Of Bace’s “Don’t Turn Around,” which I adored both out of novelty and because it was rather well put-together.

To be honest, I can’t remember the exact favorite song I had at this time last year (though I had a list), but “Alejandro” was probably the closest I can come to guessing.

Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge -- Day 27: A Song You Discovered After Everyone Else

As I’ve mentioned in numerous previous posts, prior to just a few years ago, the world of classic rock was one big enigma to me. I’d hear a little INXS here or some Boston there, but, in general, I was ignorant of any guitar-based music older than grunge. As such, most rock “staples” from the 70’s and 80’s went largely unheard by me, leading to more than a few instances of excitedly telling my friends about a song they had literally grown up with. Today’s entry is about one such song.

Journey – “Don’t Stop Believin’”

There are times when you’re late to the party, and there are times when it’s just damn embarrassing. I discovered “Don’t Stop Believin’” during my freshman year of college during a play rehearsal. The play in question was a musical, and a piano was kept onstage as accompaniment for the cast members. During a bit of downtime, one of the actors showed off a bit by playing a few songs, to the general delight of the rest of the cast. I knew the first song he played—“Piano Man”—but was absolutely baffled at the next, piano-heavy tune he started, and was even more shocked when literally everyone in the house started singing along. “Just a small town girl,” shouted the men and women to my side, as though this song had somehow usurped the national anthem and they were singing along out of patriotism, “living in a lonely wo-orld!” I was frozen to my chair, bewildered at how so many people could know the lyrics to what obviously must be a rather obscure song, because I certainly hadn’t heard it before.

Later, I found out how borderline infamous the song was, and felt a bit silly.

Since my fateful run-in with Journey’s anthem to streetlights and people living just to find emotion, “Don’t Stop Believin’” has apparently taken the fast track to latter-day popularity, gaining a large following in the late 2000’s due to digital downloads and its use in various movies and TV shows. So much the better. “Don’t Stop Believin’” is a tremendous song, and perhaps one of the best group sing-along songs I’ve had the privilege to hoarsely shout along with.