Feel It

In the year 2007, a movie came out called 'American Gangster'. It was good. It wasn't great, but it was good. Although, I could probably sit in the dark and watch Denzel Washington eat soup for three hours, and emerge from the theatre proclaiming the experience worth the price of admission. Ridley Scott is pretty sweet too, (although if I were him I might have retired after Blade Runner. What else is left?). And Russell Crowe... his mere on-screen presence didn't cause me to hatch a vengeance plot involving the kidnapping of his dog, so that was a pleasant departure the usual. (No, I have no reason to hate him like I do. I just think he's a sucky actor, and honestly, it makes me feel left out that everyone digs him, and I totally do not. I think that if I had a cool accent and just acted really pissed off at everything on screen with me, people would tell me I was a good actor, too. It's not fair. You can't intimidate people into thinking you have talent. Well, maybe Russell Crowe can, sometimes, but it hasn't worked on me. Ok, Crowe? I'm not buying it. You stink.)

Anyway, the theatre in which I watched the movie in had lovely seasonal Harpoon on tap, so that quieted much of the animosity between Russell and myself, and made the Scott-direction that much more awesome. But the movie's appeal can't be explained by the Winter Warmer alone. (How could it be? They only let you buy one at a time, and I would have had to tromp all the way through the theatre, and then up some stairs, and then find my way back to my seat, holding an uncapped beverage no less.) There was some other element that made the American Gangster experience worth every nickel. Oh yes. The bananas soundtrack.

The ability to make a decent, original, surprising soundtrack to any event is a difficult task. Doing so for a movie must be (I imagine) that much more complex, what with all the copyrights out there just ripe for the infringing. Plus, movie soundtracks have to complement actual plot and character development, rather than, say, 'Joey's Going Away Party' or 'Chet's Engagement Soiree' or some other event that you will attend with 20 drunk friends who share your taste in music. A well executed movie soundtrack is a beautiful thing. And one you want to listen in your own home, on your own time? Spectacular.

Needless to say, I have found the American Gangster soundtrack pretty damn gorgeous. Along with supporting the actions of the characters in the movie, it's also ideal for washing dishes, or putting on makeup, or walking the dog, or picking out what to wear, or dancing around your kitchen to see if what you have chosen to wear will survive the evening. (I happened to be listening to it on New Year's Eve. I had many diverse tasks to complete.) It is incredible.

If you don't want to take a gamble on the entire cd (or you aren't one of the 19 people left in America who still buys cds) do yourself a serious favor and just get (by which I mean download, because I don't think you can even purchase a single anymore. Remember singles? Did itunes kill the single? So depressing.) Anthony Hamilton's 'Do You Feel Me' which is my favorite song of 2007, and most of the rest of the 2000's. If you don't sit down on the floor or cry or clap or something the first time you hear it...well, then you're probably just a whole lot more chemically balanced than I am, but that isn't really the point. You'll like it, I promise.

The soundtrack - and Mr. Hamilton's contribution in particular - made me like a Russell Crowe movie. There are transformative powers here.