Little Big Planet Metropolis Music
Terresa Cherrie
For me, there is nothing wrong with it per se, but its a little too fried for my ears. The vocal, the gritty sliding bass line. Maybe it would work better in the car or on the patio, but on my earbuds those sounds are just drilling into my head.
Does Aespa really credit Afrika Bambaataa for the sample? Because that sample was actually made by Kraftwerk in 1977. This was the days before sampling, so Afrika Bambaataa just re-played it note-by-note; so it seems to me, Kraftwerk are the ones who should be credited.
This is a total aespa track. Their music has never been my cup of tea but I have always appreciated how they never shy away from going all out on what they aim to do. The same goes for this as well. I am not a big fan of it but I appreciate it as a song. The prowess in bringing cohesion along with disorder is impressive. At some points, it reminded me of Lady Gaga for some reasons. After an underwhelming Drama, I am glad they are back on track.
The first science fiction movie I ever sawwas Things to Come based a story by H. G. Wells and starred RaymondMassey as John Cabal, with Edward Chapman as Raymond Passworthy. The film wasmade in 1936 and the sets were incredibly well made. I was only eight years oldin 1943. My mother and I were walking past the RKO Theater in White Plains andI spotted the poster and a few photos from scenes in the movie. I asked mymother if we could see it and we did. I have never forgotten this firstexperience with a science fiction movie.
Over the years, I had read several of hisstories in a large hard cover book that I got as a present. Later, I sawseveral other movies made from his stories such as The Invisible Man (1933),The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936), War of the Worlds (1953) and The TimeMachine (1960). Although some of these movies did not follow his original storyexactly, they were still some of my favorites and were well done consideringthe technology of the time. Although there were later remakes of a few of thesemovies, they departed even more including an overindulgence of special effects.
Things to Come was an excellent combination ofAlexander Korda as the producer, Sir Arthur Bliss for the music and H. G. Wellsfor the story. Wells, who was then 68, was determined to make a film of one ofhis books. Through his secretary, Russian refugee, Moura Budberg, he metAlexander Korda. Korda (left) was fascinated by Wells (right) and resolved tomake a film with him. Surprisingly, their first choice was The Shape ofThings to Come. Wells was able to choose Sir Arthur Bliss to write themusical score. Korda wanted to add the music after the film was shot andedited. However, much of the finished score was recorded before the scenes wereshot. Consequently, the rebuilding of Everytown by the giant machines was shotand edited to correspond to the music.
Wells knew that the future he predicted inthe movie was not a real projection of events the way things would really be.But he was concerned with getting people at least to think about the future andto see that it is a direct result of the decisions we make today. The filmopened on February 21, 1936 in London, had excellent reviews, but never earnedback the cost of $1,4000,000 to make it. Unfortunately, the film was cut from130 minutes for the British version to 100 minutes for the US release. It openedat the Rivoli Theater in New York City on April 17, 1936. Things to Comewas the most ambitious and expensive SF film ever undertaken until Kubricks 2001:A space odyssey, released in 1968.
Although the first part of the movie wasnothing but more war, it became most interesting to me when the futuristicscenes appeared. After all, in 1943 we were right in the middle of a real warin Europe and Japan.
I remember the sound that accompanied thebombers. It was the low pitched sound made by engines used in zeppelins of thattime. The propeller rpm seemed slow compared to large modern propeller planes.At age 8, I was familiar with the normal appearance of bombers andsingle-engine fighter planes but the appearance of these planes was mindboggling. Like the modern design of futuristic tanks earlier in the movie, Ihad never seen anything like them before. The scenes came and went so fast Inever really had a chance to study all of the workmanship that went into makingthese models. Of course, there were no computers to generate scenes like thisback then. In an earlier scene when the bomber was on the ground being loaded,I could see the planes were really gigantic.
The whole machine was mounted on multipletreads and actually moved. The large tube at the rear may have been for rockand dust removal. I didnt remember this from the movie. The top portion of themachine could also be tilted upwards.
Futuristic living is in one of theapartments. This may have been a future television like an LCD set or a printedwall decoration. The clear plastic furnishings were also fascinating for me. Inthe 1930s clear acrylic plastic was invented and known at that time asPlexiglas. It could be shaped into any desirable form and was used in manyairplanes.
When I first saw the movie in the 1940s, Iwas very impressed with the Autogyro, also known as a Gyrocopter. Many yearslater, when viewing the film, I thought it was an impractical movie version ofa futuristic helicopter. It was not until I recently researched the term that Ifound it actually works and the concept is still used today. The main rotor isnot powered at all. The propeller at the rear provides air flow to turn therotor and provide lift. Even if the propeller fails, the descent of theAutogyro will provide sufficient air flow to turn the rotor and enable a safelanding. I would love to have had a model of it to play with back then but itwas not until 70 years later that I found a model of it.
Raymond Massey holds the three sections of the filmtogether, his lean face and frame embodying the will and determination of a manwho has seen too much war and wants to put an end to it forever. His finalspeech, to Passworthy, is flawlessly delivered and one of the great moments inscience fiction film. I remembered this long afterwards.
Passworthy: I feel what weve done ismonstrous!
Cabal: What weve done is magnificent.
Passworthy: If they dont come backmy son and your daughterwhat of that,Cabal?
Cabal: Then, presently, others will go.
Passworthy: Oh, god, is there ever to be any age of happiness? Is there neverto be any rest?
Cabal: Rest enough for the individual mantoo much, and too soonand we callit death. But for Man, no rest and no ending. He must go on, conquest beyondconquest. First this little planet with its winds and ways, and then all thelaws of mind and matter that restrain him. Then the planets about him and atlast out across immensity to the stars. And when he has conquered all the deepsof space and all the mysteries of time, still he will be beginning.
Passworthy: But...were such little creatures. Poor humanitys so fragile, soweak. Little...little animals.
Cabal: Little animals. If were no more than animals, we must snatch eachlittle scrap of happiness and live and suffer and pass, mattering no more thanall the other animals do or have done. Is it thisor that: all the universe ornothing? Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?
Metro Man, another alien refugee from the Glaupunk Quadrant, is the adopted son of Lord and Lady Scott, a retired superhero and Megamind's initial arch-nemesis of good (later to be 'replaced' by Tighten). He, like Megamind and Minion, is the last member of his species.
When he was still an infant, his home planet was destroyed by a black hole. Before the planet was eaten, his parents sent him off the planet in an escape pod to Earth, where he 'landed' (after knocking Megamind's pod away) under the Christmas tree of the Scotts' home. Growing up, he constantly craved attention and praise, which caused him to (unwittingly) ruin Megamind's chance of having a better life.
Metro Man's origins are similar to Megamind's, his home planet was destroyed by a black hole and his parents sent him off into space in a golden escape pod to save him, during his trip he crashes against baby Megamind's escape pod until his own pod gracefully landed in the Scott Manor, right under a Christmas tree. leading his new mother to think the baby was a present for her while her husband agreed, not bothering to put down his newspaper, not even when their new son started flying across the room.
As Metro Man (his actual name was never given in the movie) was growing up, he was gifted with everything he could ever want. He attended Lil' Gifted School for Lil' Gifted Kids, the same school as Megamind was 'permitted' to attend, where he earned his first fans, including the teacher by using his superpowers and "kindness" to win their favor, often at the expense of Megamind.
After Metro Man 'forced' Megamind to become a villain, blowing a raspberry at the blue youth as he was carted off in the prison bus, he took the schoolhouse away to another (at the time undisclosed) location. Years passed and Metro Man became a sensation among Metro City, earning a museum of all the times he and Megamind had battled throughout the years.
Throughout the years, Metro Man has battled and defeated Megamind dozens of times, which earned him the praise and love of the people of Metro City. Some even being called "The Battle Of The Century".
Metro Man, in Megamind's latest scheme, attempts to rescue Roxanne Ritchi, but is instead lured into an abandoned observatory. Megamind and Metro Man taunt each other as Megamind's Death Ray warms up. Eventually, Metro Man attempts to escape, but fails, claiming copper removes his superpowers. The Death Ray hits, sending a skeleton with his cape to where Megamind, Minion and Roxanne are located. He is presumed dead, and with nobody to protect Metro City, Megamind takes over, and soon becomes disappointed as Metro Man was quite literally the purpose of his villainy. Inspired by Roxanne, Megamind would later using the cape to extract Metro Man's superpowers, inadvertedly converting Hal Stewart into "Titan". The plan however backfires, and with Titan on the loose, Megamind is forced to seek Roxanne for leads on Metro Man so they could figure something.
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