Fix You

Until yesterday I had only heard the song Fix You by Coldplay once.  Actually I had only heard the first verse even at that.  It was on an episode of Ricky Gervais' Extras in which Chris Martin (Gwyneth Paltrow's husband and lead singer of Coldplay guest starred.) This clip shows what I saw and heard then.



Having somehow never heard it before I assumed it was just a little bit they made up to do on the show and that was the end of that... until yesterday.

I don't think I've ever mentioned here that I really like the movie WALL-E and in particular there is one scene that is one of my favourite movie moments ever.  It's the scene where Eve is putting WALL-E back together again.  More on that later but for now I'll just say that I was reviewing some of my YouTube favourites yesterday and a clip of that scene was one that I rewatched.  Following that I just clicked on one of the "related clips" on the side just for fun and this is what I found.



I think this is the best amateur movie clip montage/music video that I have ever seen. It's pretty much perfect in fact.  It really captures the essence of the whole movie and the song fits so well.  As the clip began I first realized that this was the same song that Apple's daddy sang on Extras.  Having not been particularily impressed with the short version at that time I wasn't expecting much but decided to watch to the end anyway. About two and a half minutes into the song the guitar kicks in and I suddenly realized that there was going to be much more to this song than I had imagined.

The entrance and urgency of the guitar expresses so well Eve's sudden change when she discovers the plant and WALL-E's desperate chase as he tries to reach her before she is taken away by the space ship.  The drums join in to bring the music to full force as the ship blasts off with WALL-E barely hanging on.  The song is finally complete and epic when the now multivoice harmony vocals return to compliment WALL-E's sense of wonder as he does the old hand drag through planetary rings vortex trick. (Suddenly sticking your hand out of the car window on the highway seems extra mundane.)  Of course the song must return to it's humble beginnings at the end and this too fits with the end of the movie. 

Finally as promised, the reason that the scene where Eve fixes WALL-E is one of my favourites.  The urgency and speed with which Eve acts is what I love.  It surely wouldn't have made any difference to the outcome if Eve hadn't worked quite so quickly.  But she loved WALL-E and her desperation and unnecessary speed showed it.  The exact moment that still gets me even now when I recall it is when Eve, having finished rebuilding WALL-E whips up her arm and blows a hole in the ceiling to immediately bring in WALL-E's life giving sunlight.  Surely no one would have thought it strange if she had taken the extra half second to move WALL-E back outside herself but to her every millisecond counted.  It was if she was trying to save him from drowning.  That is what I love most about the movie WALL-E and this newly discovered YouTube clip brings it all back to me.

A great song and an inspired video, the two together are much greater than the sum of their parts.  Another in my growing list of YouTube favourites.

So, have you seen it yet?

No, not Harry Potter silly, Tangled of course!

Maybe I'm mistaken but I can't help feeling that this little gem is being passed over by a lot of people for whatever reason.  It kind of seems that everyone will rush out to see the Shreks, the Ice Ages, the Madagascars or any movie with penguins, especially talking ones.  Maybe Tangled just didn't get enough hype. Maybe it suffers from NOT having an "agenda."  Now that I've seen the movie and have gone back to watch the trailers for it I admit I am a little disappointed to see that Disney even tried to target the Shrek demographic with their quite misleading previews. Nearly all of the scenes which would appeal to those who enjoy trendy, sarcastic, parody humour are in the trailers.  In fact I'd say that about half of what is in the trailers isn't even in the actual movie.

As I said in my review, although Tangled is very funny and a lot of fun (not quite the same thing), it is completely sincere and it will make you feel as though you've received an antidote to so many of the animated movies that have come out over the last couple of decades.  You may come out feeling like the fog has lifted, that things had gotten worse so gradually you hadn't really noticed and then the sudden return to a bright ray of sun is almost shocking.  I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt as heart warmed and happy as I did at the end of Tangled. 

In case you're waiting to see it at the cheap theater or on DVD I would urge you not to wait.  This movie needs to been seen in 3D, shown by an expensive projector in a theater where a popcorn and pop will cost you $14 (not saying you have to buy it, just that it needs to cost that much if you do);  not at some sticky smelly theater/homeless shelter where the image is projected onto a (not even 100%) cotton sheet hanging unevenly in front of an unpainted and slightly moldy concrete brick wall.  The animation in Tangled is new and improved and it does look absolutely beautiful. The 3D does make a big difference in a very good way.

I know I've mostly been preaching to the choir here but I just wanted to make sure anyone who is on the fence about seeing this movie will do so.  It's my new favourite Disney film EVER! There, I said it and I meant it.  Maybe the songs aren't quite as good as The Lion King or The Little Mermaid but the story and in particular and couple of specific scenes in Tangled just made it the best to me.

The following YouTube contains the first song which plays as the credits begin to roll at the end of Tangled.  The people in it are many of the crew who made Tangled at Disney Animation Studios.  It's a fun little clip and it may even bring back the happy feeling and warmth you felt or will feel at the end of the movie. Enjoy!
(The first girl who appears in the clip is Grace Potter who is the actual singer of the song.)