Once

I don't get out to the movies as much as I used to, back in the day. I notice that something I want to see is on the silver screen, and I mean to go, but stuff gets in the way, and I miss it.

Fortunately, there is Pay-Per-View, and for what are called "little movies," where the story or characters are the engines and the EFX don't need to be seen wall-to-wall and thirty feet tall, that's a good option.

Last summer, the movie Once, about a Irish busker (street guitarist) and a Czech girl who sells flowers on the streets of Dublin, came out and kicked serious ass at Sundance. I wanted to catch it, but it came and went in a hurry.

Finally got around to it last night, and if you play music, especially acoustic guitar, and you haven't caught it, you really ought to. It's short, the accents are thick in spots, the camera shakes a bit here and there, but this is a jewel of a movie, sparkles like a fine black opal in the noon day sun, and the soundtrack is outstanding. (I got my copy via iTunes.)

I think it cost them about $4.95 to make, and is a testament to both style and substance compared to just about any big Hollywood blockbuster you want to point at.

It's a love story, but not quite what you expect, and nobody even has a name, save, of course, for the drummer. The credits say "Guy," "Girl," "Mom, "Dad," like that. The drummer is "Timmy."

It stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, as themselves, and they wrote and performed the music. Hansard you might have seen before, in the Irish rock movie, The Commitments which is another fine musical experience, viewing and soundtrack.

One of the Once songs has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, and I sure hope it wins.
If there is any justice in the world, it will.