Eagle.cool

The Creation (German: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn (H. 21/2), and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis.

If the recognition of one's peers is the true measure of success, then few men are as successful as composer, arranger, and conductor Henry Mancini. In a career that spanned 40 years, writing for film and television, Mancini won four Oscars and twenty Grammys, the all-time record for a pop artist. For 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's alone, Mancini won five Grammys and two Oscars. Breakfast at Tiffany's includes the classic "Moon River" (lyrics by Johnny Mercer), arguably one of the finest pop songs of the last 50 years. At last count, there were over 1,000 recordings of it. His other notable songs include "Dear Heart," "Days of Wine and Roses" (one Oscar, two Grammys), and "Charade," the last two with lyrics by Mercer. He also had a number one record and won a Grammy for Nino Rota's "Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet." Among his other notable film scores are The Pink Panther (three Grammys), Hatari! (one Grammy), Victor/Victoria (an Oscar), Two for the Road, Wait Until Dark, and 10. His television themes include "Peter Gunn" (two Grammys, recorded by many rock artists), "Mr. Lucky" (two Grammys), "Newhart," "Remington Steele," and The Thorn Birds television mini-series. As a child, Mancini learned how to play a variety of musical instruments and as a teenager, he became enamored with jazz and big bands. He began to write arrangements and sent a few to Benny Goodman, who wrote the teenager back, encouraging him to pursue a career in music.

Tangerine Tree was a project from 2002 through 2006 that was dedicated to the collection, preservation and distribution of unreleased concerts and other audio material by the band Tangerine Dream. The creators of the Tangerine Tree project received permission from Tangerine Dream to release the collection on a strict non-profit basis. Several of the Tangerine Tree volumes have been used as the basis for official Tangerine Dream releases. The project collected just under 300 hours of material (291:39:26).

In the effort to watch every film made by charismatic actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, this reviewer happened upon a 1995 stinker called School Days. A Taiwan-Hong Kong production, the film stars Kaneshiro as Eagle, a reformed rebel who still scares the bejesus out of all his classmates. His too-cool stoicism comes into play when new kid Jimmy Lin moves into town. He's from a rich family, is mighty cute, and dances real well during recess. Sadly, the evil bullies envy him, which leads to lots of…well, bullying. Thankfully, Eagle has his back, but not because he really gives a crap about the new kid; he just likes to stop people from bullying others. Somehow a friendship is born, and our heroes manage to go bungee-jumping. Meanwhile, the audience falls asleep or gets a high score on "Tetris" for their Game Boy. Yes, this garbage is made-to-order crap for twelve or thirteen year-old girls, but it lacks the depth of an ABC afterschool special, much less an entire feature film. Nothing that occurs in this film is worth your time, unless you simply have to watch every Takeshi Kaneshiro movie ever made. I thought I wanted to. After this movie, I didn't want to anymorefilm, when it's not.

Chris Lee Kin-sang spins this high-budget period epic set in occupied Shanghai during Japan's invasion of China. Up-and-coming gangster Wong Tai-kwong (Roy Cheung Yiu-yeung) ventures to the city to buy back his girlfriend Nancy (Yu Li) from the clutches of crime lord Ngai Ting-yim (Damian Lau Chung-yan). Ngai strikes Wong a deal: kill an enemy of his and he gets the girl. Impressed with Wong's stellar fighting abilities after he handily dispatches with his mark, Ngai forges an alliance with the out-of-towner. Later, Wong becomes connected with the Daggers, another crime group which opposes the Japanese invasion. When the Daggers try to kill Ngai for his alliance with the invaders, Wong finds his loyalty tested.