Adjectives

I was fortunate enough to see the movie The Holiday over the weekend. It's a romantic comedy with (in order of stalkability) Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black. My verdict: It is what I thought it was. No suprises. Engaging cast. Not bad. Not great.

I went on Rottentomatoes.com to see what the critics thought and was particulary struck by one review, the New York Observer's Rex Reed who describes the movie as "so loaded with charm that it makes you glow all over and puts a smile in your heart." To describe a movie as "loaded with charm" instantly makes me want to see movie. This got me thinking to what other types of reviews would make me want to see the movie. Here are my top 5:

5. "Packed with so much vein-popping adrenaline that it makes crystal meth feel like a cup of coffee."

4. "Loaded with so many laughs that your sides will literally split and begin to bleed."

3."Filled with sassy CGI talking animals with celebrity voices and a myriad of pop culture references that make it meanlingless after next year."

2."A movie that shows the gritty conflict between a idealistic young cop and the his fellow officers who are jaded by what they see in the line of duty."

1. "A film that is coated and dripping with delicious covering of wry irony that sardonically savages current American culture/poltics/people."

Cliched but Nonsensical

I once read somewhere, I think it was Pitchfork, that the lyrics written by Coldplay's Chris Martin pull off the dreaded combination of being both hackneyed and cliched while not making any sense at the same time. This is quite a feat.

With the rise of Coldplay's popularity, however, more artists are trending towards this lyrical aesthetic. Example Mat Kearney's, Nothing Left to Lose:

Something's in the air tonight
The sky's alive with a burning light
You can mark my words something's about to break

And I found myself in a bitter fight
While I've held your hand through the darkest night
Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon

[bridge]
To a kid from Oregon by way of California
All of this is more than I've ever known or seen

[chorus]
Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try, one last time
I'm off the floor one more time to find you
And here we go there's nothing left to choose
And here we go there's nothing left to lose

So I packed my car and I headed east
Where I felt your fire and a sweet release
There's a fire in these hills that's coming down
And I don't know much but I found you here
And I can not wait another year
Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon

[bridge]

[chorus]

I can still hear the trains out my window
From Hobart Street to here in Nashville
I can still smell the pomegranates grow
And I don't know how hard this wind will blow
Or where we'll go

[chorus]

I have no idea what this song is talking about. Absolutely no idea. It's got some great cliches though. I count about 25 different ones. And the melody is melancholy and significant sounding. It's a hit!