I’m not quite sure if it was busyness or laziness, yet the truth is that I only watched two flicks in April. Both decent, though nothing that would make one scream. Here they are:

1. Life Is a Miracle (2004) (Serbia and Montenegro/France)
Knowing previous Kusturica’s movies, there is no surprises. Partly unusual comedy, partly bizarre drama supported by great sceneries, awkward characters and energetic music. A story of an engineer finding himself near the front line of a rising war in Bosnia and losing his family for a short time-being. It is imaginative and multilayered, nevertheless feels a bit slow and somehow tiring.

2. Down in the Valley (2005) (USA)
I enjoyed this one. Starring Edward Norton as mentally unstable modern cowboy (read drifter) and Evan Rachel Wood as underaged object of his desire. What starts as a romance after a casual sex changes into a psychodrama, or rather a drama with a psycho. The change is gradual so viewers get to acknowledge Norton’s character as a weird hero, before he metamorphoses into a freaky anti-hero. Nice indie film. Recommended.

Do you associate a song with a certain event or vice versa? I do — quite often — not intentionally but rather subconsciously. It just happens to be that way. When I hear a song, I can re-create an occasion; or another similar moment reminds me of a certain tune.

Take The Beatles. I can link their music to the particular time of my youth. I was listening to Help! when I was in the seventh grade; Rubber Soul was my favourite in the eight one. White Album by the summer of that year, just before Let It Be took over completely. Lennon came next and Plastic Ono Band ruled my days as I advanced to the grammar school.

I remember discotheques by a DJ’s favourite track. T Club, a Uni club where I used to hang out while underaged — Forever Young. A high school ski trip — What a Wonderful World. A disco at school premises — I Love To Hate You. My last trip to the border of civilisation with a bunch of young mathematicians — Violently Happy. I could go on and on like that for hours.

Mentioning What a Wonderful World, there’s something else crossing my mind. Songs that are forever a part of one’s memory because of technology: people have learnt to set their own ringtones or alarm tunes that follow them through months until they become annoying and get changed. I had few ringtones replaced, yet I’ve been waking up to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s rendition of What a Wonderful World/Over the Rainbow since 2005, and it seems it’s not giving up.

Then, there are numbers that are shared and have untouchable intimate quality… ‘Cos one happened to listen to them while being with someone exceptional; and those are moments that are rendered unforgettable. It may be ironic enough that one can recall also tunes used to heal (or enjoy) a broken heart. How good is Stand by My Woman or Into My Arms? How weird can Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft sound?

And a very special category are the songs written for somebody. I managed to pen one or two clumsy ones (with indisputable Gabriel’s help) and seeing they work, they give a loved one goose pimples or make her cry — because she’s been touched! — is the most rewarding experience. Simply amazing.

Of course, fame and money would not hurt either. (But hey, that’s just me trying to be sarcastic to hide that I’m sentimental…)