Willie Simpson

Tag: films

  • Hotel Chevalier, Prologue to Darjeeling Limited

    I’m not tuned in to every detail of the Wes Anderson universe, but I loved being surprised by them.  I was surprised by how much I loved “Fantastic Mr. Fox” when I saw it, despite thinking for over a year it was probably some horrible 3D childrens movie, (its nothing of the sort, and you…

  • Bob Dylan and Donovan, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

    Who was “baby blue?”  Was it Joan Baez, Dylan’s folk loving audience, Bob Dylan himself?  No one knows, maybe not even Bob.  “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” is one of the greatest pieces of symbolist poetry ever, one of the greatest folk songs ever, and one of Bob’s best.  Released in 1965 0n the…

  • Harry Belafonte, Jump in the Line

    And we’re back!  I’m now halfway around the world coming to you live from Seoul, South Korea, and I’d thought to celebrate the occausion by posting one of my all time favorite movie music sequences ever!  Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice was one of the most bizarre movies of the 1980s, and all one has to do…

  • Ella Fitzgerald, Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)

    You may be wondering why I’m putting up an old Cole Porter pop tune from 1928 up my website.  If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s glorious flick, “Midnight in Paris,” you know why, but if you haven’t, then a bit of explanation is needed.  In the film, a time traveling novelist played by Owen Wilson stumbles…

  • George Gross, Senior Break, Nanny Cam

    My friend George Gross is a brilliant filmmaker, but as he continues to rise to new levels of fame, he’ll have to compete with the world’s other famous George Gross, the one who made trashy (yet awesome) crime/sex posters like the one above.  It’s actually not bad company, as I think the only other famous…

  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Twist and Shout

    The greatest cover song the Beatles ever did was of The Isley Brothers 1962 hit, “Twist and Shout.”  Written by Bert Russell and Phil Medley, the original song was a tepid little dance song, but when John Lennon and the Beatles got their hands on it, they redefined rock and roll, and gave the genre…

  • Seinfeld, Brokeback About Nothing

    I’m getting pretty good at predicting trends.  Just a few days ago I posted a series of Seinfeld trailers cobbled together by a brilliant internet guy, and today I have a new one from a different guy who imagines Jerry and George lost somewhere on Brokeback Mountain.  His future film entitled, “Brokeback About Nothing,” is…

  • The Blues Brothers, Ray Charles, Twist it (Shake Your Tail Feather)

    How about that keyboard reflecting in Ray Charles’s sunglasses?  That’s rock and roll, or more specifically, the blues.  This legendary scene, from the “Blues Brothers” movie, is and irreplaceable document of blues rock awesomeness.  The Blues Brothers were a group formed by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, two SNL geniuses who loved the blues and…