Business Website Advice

If you still haven’t seen the movie Once as I suggested a month ago,  treat yourself. Take a break from your business work and see it.   Once gets my vote for Best Movie and Best Soundtrack of my year. 

I’ll even say your movie collection is incomplete without it. I even heard a ‘mature’ male recommend it to another ‘mature’ male so it isn’t just a chick-flick. 

 The soundtrack is feel-good pop folk with Irish soul.  Let me rave on about it and give you a link to where you can hear some tracks, see a clip and buy it. It’s a gem. 

Buy Once soundtrack  from NZ Fishpond by clicking the album image above or from Amazon below.

Buy the DVD from NZ Fishpond  by clicking below. You can watch a clip too.

Background.  Once is a love story that unfolds to the original music of the two main characters, real life musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.  The film got the Independent Spirit Award for best foreign film, 2007, an amazing feat coming from the teensy budget, US$160,000.  I heard it had funding from the Irish equivalent of our Creative Arts fund.

Plus the song “Falling Slowly” received the 2008 Academy Award and a Grammy nomination as did the whole soundtrack!  

Listen to a bit of it by clicking the top Once album cover.

View a video clip of them singing “Falling Slowly” by clickling the Amazon link below. View a different scene by clicking on the NZ Fishpond link for the DVD.

The storyline has a surprisingly sophisticated conclusion. It’s a modern day musical set on streets of Dublin about a 30 something year old broken hearted part time busker/parttime vacuum repair guy. Thus the song ‘broken hearted Hoover fixer sucker guy’. So Irish, so lovable, so singalongable. 

Broken hearted guitar playing guy meets Czech immigrant flower-seller piano playing girl. Both on their way to mending their broken hearts.  Did I mention neither are hard to look at? 

Amazon reviewers gave it a 4.5 stars.  Somehow Amazon has the movie rated R. I am dumbstruck as to how it’s R. I must not understand their little R, must be for Recommended!

The music:  Modern folk pop with foot taping rhythm, feel good fun with a dose of Irish-style reflective lyrics. Catch yourself singing along (but not nearly as good). 

As I recall, it was Glen Hansard’s band, The Frames opened for my hero Dylan last August at Vector.  I liked them heaps at the time and will never forget Glen’s humility talking about being blown away getting to open for the man, Zimmie himself.  What a whirlwind year this Irish chap has had.

Well here I am, blown away this time by Glen Hansard. Did I say he’s not bad to look at? Think I did. Check out the video clip below on Amazon.

I bought a second album by the duo because I enjoyed Once so much.  The Swell Season is also intelligent, a bit more mellow but just right for another dose of this talented duo, Hansard and Irglova.  Click the album cover to order from Fishpond NZ.

You want great music, reflection, soul searching, inspiration and general feel good. You’ll be glad you did.

NZ  DVD orders from Fishpond (save 25%).  Click the image below and watch a clip.

DVD orders from Amazon?  Watch and listen to a video clip of Hansard and Irglova singing their Oscar winning “Falling Slowly”.

Let me know what you think.

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