I never thought I’d say this, but there hasn’t been enough prattle on this blog lately. Well, at the very least I think I’ve done enough Cake and Soul since the launch just over a week ago, but no ‘Prattle’ posts have appeared so far. I’m putting that right now.
We drunkenly watched the BAFTAs on Sunday, and whooped like it was a football game every time The King’s Speech won (so… a lot). It reminded me how easily a good film can grip hold of your loyalties, until even the slightest glimpse of Colin Firth makes you become incoherent. I think the easiest way to ensnare me is with a single, magical song. Here are five of my faves that give me tingles:
1. Pure Imagination – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Reminding me every reason and more why I love chocolate. And Gene Wilder’s bonkers old goat of a Wonka. But most of all reminding me how much fun it is to be a child with an imagination that knows no bounds.
2. I Will Always Love You – The Bodyguard
Pure, unadulterated cheesefest. I should really be ashamed. But this song has always and will always remind me of Mama, even if only because once we secretly filmed her screeching it whilst doing the washing up, and her reaction to realising she was on camera will go down in history as one of the funniest moments ever. That, and it’s one of her favourite films. Play me this and I wlll be sure to weep incessantly for about twelvety hours.
3. A Waltz For a Night – Before Sunset
Before Sunset is the sequel to Before Sunrise, and both films are achingly gorgeous. So I think it’s saying something that this moment elevates above all the rest into something truly goose-bumpy. His face when she says ‘Jesse’. Seriously.
4. The Winner Takes It All – Mamma Mia
I hate Abba. God, I hate them. And I mean every song they ever did. To the point where I almost got a kick out of despising them. An unhealthily big kick, that I couldn’t let go of. This movie was my rehab. This song even gave me tears and everything.
5. Finale B – Rent
Rent is easy to satirize, and even easier to laugh at: oh look, a bunch of drug-addled, bohemian gays with AIDS – how very eighties. But that’s only funny to people that haven’t seen it: believe me, once you’ve watched it, you can’t but take it seriously. This song is exactly why. This is the end of the musical (maybe don’t watch if you don’t want to find out what happens yet!) but it has never failed to send shivers to my every extremity and make me feel more alive than I’ve felt in a long while. There’s a reason why until recently this blog was called No Day But Today.
Cake, Prattle & Soul 