On this day in music history - River of Stars, by 2002 (2000):

River of Stars

Album by 2002,

released January 11, 2000.

Track list:

River of Stars; Elysian Fields; Stella Maris; First Daughter of the Moon; Starwalkers; Heaven and Earth; Lovers' Bridge; The Dreaming Tree; Tanabata Moon; Rays of Light.

On this day in music history:

The Beautiful Voice by Renée Fleming (1998)

Mission (2013)

Tonight: Welthits von Berlin bis Broadway by Renée Fleming (2014)

Connections by Sherry Finzer (2022)

Clouds Below by 2002 (2023)

The Beautiful Voice

Album by Renée Fleming

with Jeffrey Tate and the English Chamber Orchestra,

released January 7, 1998.

Track list: Depuis le jour (Louise); Jewl song (Faust); Gavotte (Manon); Songs my mother taught me (Gypsy melodies); The last rose (Martha); Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (La rondine); Mariettas Lied (Die tote Stadt); In trutina (Carmina Burana); Morgen!; Vocalise; Csardas (Die Fledermaus); Vilja-Lied (Die lustige Witwe); Epilogo (Luna); Bailero (Chants d’Auvergne).

Mission

Directed by Olivier Simonnet.

Cast: Cecilia Bartoli, Philippe Jaroussky, Franck Delage.

Released January 7, 2013.

Tonight: Welthits von Berlin bis Broadway

Album by Renée Fleming,

with Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann and Klaus Florian Vogt,

released January 7, 2014.

Track list: Lincke: Frau Luna: Berliner Luft (Live); Gershwin: Pardon My English: The Loreley (Live); Gershwin: Strike Up The Band: Overture (Live); Bernstein: West Side Story: Maria (Live); F. Loewe: My Fair Lady: I Could Have Danced All Night (Live); Weill: One Touch Of Venus: Foolish Heart (Live); Bernstein: West Side Story: Tonight (Live); Tauber: Der singende Traum: Du bist die Welt für mich (Live); Gershwin: Lady Be Good: Fascinating Rhythm (Live); Berlin: Annie, Get Your Gun: Anything You Can Do (Live); Tonight - Welthits von Berlin bis Broadway (Live).

Connections

Album by Sherry Finzer,

released January 7, 2022.

Track list: Peace at Home; Through the Veil; Red Hawk Hill; A New Day; Connections; Bella’s Moon; Highland Waterfall; Wind Spirit; Ever Same; Greatest Blessings; The Crossing Place; Journey With Spirit.

Clouds Below

Album by 2002,

released January 7, 2023.

Track list: Soulmate; Glimmering Hope; Landing; City Blue; First Light of Dawn; The Flight Home; Clouds Below; Air and Light; Riding the Current; Everyday Miracles.

On this day in movie history - Narc (2002):

Narc

directed and written by Joe Carnahan,

was released in the United States on December 17, 2002.
Music by Cliff Martinez.

Cast:

Jason Patric, Ray Liotta, Chi McBride, A.C. Peterson, Lina Giornofelice, Karen Robinson, Krista Bridges, Myles Donaldson, Gavyn Donaldson, Anne Openshaw, Stacey Farber, Carly Marie Alves, Mallory Mahoney, Alan van Sprang, Donna Croce, Paulino Nunes, Thomas Patrice, Tony De Santis, John Ortiz, Marilo Nunez, Busta Rhymes, Richard Chevolleau, Bishop Brigante, Carson Durven, Lloyd Adams, Booth Savage, Dan Leis, Kevin Rushton, Darren John.

On this day in movie history - About Schmidt (2002):

About Schmidt

directed by Alexander Payne,

written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor,

based on the novel by Louis Begley,

was released in the United States on December 13, 2002.
Music by Rolfe Kent.

Cast:

Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, June Squibb, Howard Hesseman, Harry Groener, Connie Ray, Len Cariou, Matt Winston, Phil Reeves, Mark Venhuizen, Cheryl Hamada, James M. Connor, Jill Anderson, Vaughan Wenzel, Judith Kathryn Hart, Marilyn Tipp, Robert Kem, Melissa Hanna, Tung Ha, James J. Crawley, Mary Beth Nelson, Steve Heller, Lester Kills Crow, Thomas Michael Belford, McKenna Gibson, Emily McNaughton, Beth Heimann, Linda Wilmot, Chris Huse, Joe Kunze, Angela Lansbury, Mark J. O'Leary, Robert Kingston Phillips Green, Lonnie Ray Senstock, Michael Tolochko.

The Telephone Box (1972) - it’s enough to give you phone phobia!

La Cabina / The Telephone Box (1972)

Shortly before New Year, we watched Phone Booth (2002) again, a great thriller starring Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell, and Kiefer Sutherland.

Farrell plays an unscrupulous New York publicist who answers a ringing phone in a booth he’s standing next to.

The caller warns him he’ll be killed if he attempts to leave the booth … and … the story develops from there.

The claustrophobic atmosphere of Phone Booth reminded me of a 1972 Spanish short movie I saw on TV during the mid-‘80’s called La Cabina (aka The Telephone Box).

A unfortunate guy (José Luis López Vázquez), in a world long before the invention of the cell phone, attempts to make a call in a street booth.

The door closes on him as he discovers the phone doesn’t work.

He tries to leave, but the door is locked tight.

He’s trapped in there a long time as a crowd of onlookers gather … and … the story develops from there.

La Cabina is quirky and dated, but still worth the half-hour to watch, with an original story that delivers a surreal and scary twist.

Although street booths have mostly disappeared, La Cabina is a great reason to own a cell phone … but then you have to consider what happened in Stephen King’s novel: Cell.

Yikes!

I read that folks in Spain, shortly after La Cabina was released on December 13, 1972, took to preventing the door in phone booths from shutting completely by keeping their foot in the gap.

I can’t imagine why.

On this day in music history - A Word in the Wind, by 2002 (2009):

A Word in the Wind

Album by 2002,

released December 10, 2009.

Track list:

1054 A.D; A Word in the Wind; Spirit Moves; Ancient Circle; Promise of the Ocean; Free to Fly; Raindance; The Singing Stone; Dreaming Cloud; Mirage; Trismegistus; Seven Rays.

On this day in movie history - Star Trek: Nemesis (2002):

Star Trek: Nemesis

directed by Stuart Baird,

written by John Logan,

based on a story by John Logan, Rick Berman and Brent Spiner,

was released in the United States on December 9, 2002.
Music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Cast:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Tom Hardy, Ron Perlman, Dina Meyer, John Berg, Kate Mulgrew, Shannon Cochran, Jude Ciccolella, Alan Dale, Wil Wheaton, Majel Barrett, Stuart Baird, Bryan Singer, Whoopi Goldberg.