Been sitting here listening to Parklife (because To The End was used in an episode of Misfits I watched earlier - brilliant show!) and wondering how I could have forgotten how good Blur were. I loved them intensely when I was a teenager, but then kind of forgot about them. I don't even own Think Tank. Maybe I'll have to rectify that next time I'm in Fopp. Because they really were bloody good. I missed them at Glastonbury last year (one of my two great Glasto regrets, the other being missing David Bowie in 2000), not because I didn't have a ticket - I did - but because we'd had a bit of a disastrous weekend and by Sunday evening I was so knackered that I was just ready to go home. And I thought Blur would just be a bit of a nostalgia-fest...amusing, but irrelevant. So I went home and watched the set on TV. And immediately wished I was back in that field. I'd have been squashed and hot and probably falling asleep on my feet, but I'd have been there. At the start of every song I was sitting there going "Oh, wow!", and I still remembered all the words, even after so long. Blur were one of my first musical loves, and are one of the few bands that I always wanted to see that I never did. It's a short list, and they're somewhere near the top.
I don't regret going home early, because I really think I'd have been dying on my feet if I had stayed there, but I do regret missing Blur. I need them to do a few more smaller gigs so I can see them! But it won't happen. They are now firmly retired.
So that's my little Sunday evening reverie. I'm gonna go dig out Modern Life is Rubbish.
Sunday 28 March 2010
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Shoot The Runner
Since I've already departed from film into books, I might as well depart further...into the subject of sport. Well, not sport exactly, but P.E. Physical Education. The bane of my school life (which, thankfully, is now many years behind me). A radical change of subject perhaps, but what brought it on was a comedy gig I went to tonight by Chris Addison (if you don't know who he is, I'm not going to explain. That's what Wikipedia is for!), and he was talking about being crap at sports at school. And I can sympathise, because I was likewise crap at sports. Not due to lack of talent as such (although there were some sports that I was genuinely crap at...what sadist invented rounders anyway?!), but due to lack of motivation. I had the body of a runner, but not the will of a runner. I just couldn't see the point. And I was a bit suspicious of the people who were seriously into sports, I wondered if maybe they were missing a crucial part of their brain, the part that says, "No, I don't want to go run in circuits round a field on a cold rainy day while being loudly berated by an angry P.E. teacher in short shorts that were probably never flattering even back when he was young enough to have the legs for them, for being too slow. I'd much rather curl up here where it's nice and warm with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. But thanks for asking".
So I was picked last for all the teams, or given crappy positions (what IS the point of a goal keeper in netball anyway? Because the shooter can just stand about an inch outside of your little circle that you're trapped in and shoot from there, and you can do fuck all to stop them! Netball is an evil sport). Or made to play rounders when everyone else was playing the cool sports like basketball or hockey on the dreaded Inter-Tutor Group Sports Day. Have I mentioned that I fucking hate rounders? Just, why? Fucking why?! A bat about the thickness of a twig, a tiny ball, and weedy kids who can't hit it more than 10 yards (if they can hit it at all). Yeah, that's gonna be a good game!
And now of course I'm an unfit lazy bitch who never does excercise of any form, and has such an inbuilt hatred of sports and sport centres that I would rather die of a heart attack than actually join a gym. And who is suspicious of people who run for enjoyment. Certainly city runners. I used to quite like going running in the countryside, usually while out with the dogs, but people who run in cities...there's got to be something wrong with them! What enjoyment is there to be had?
But cyclists, they are the kings of the mentalists: the lunatics running the sporting asylum. From the ugly aerodynamically-shaped helmets to the clingy lycra shorts, there is not a single thing right about urban cycling. For a start, you're just a moving target for impatient taxi drivers! What more reason do you really need to not do it?! Especially in a city like Glasgow where we have a road system so complicated that when you 're only halfway to where you wanted to go and it's taken twice the length of time you thought it should to get there, you really want to hit something! A passing cyclist could prove too much of a temptation for some people!
Disclaimer: I do not in any way condone the mowing down of cyclists as a form of anger management therapy, and nor would I ever consider practicing it myself. But I still maintain that cyclists are totally mental. Runners too.
So I was picked last for all the teams, or given crappy positions (what IS the point of a goal keeper in netball anyway? Because the shooter can just stand about an inch outside of your little circle that you're trapped in and shoot from there, and you can do fuck all to stop them! Netball is an evil sport). Or made to play rounders when everyone else was playing the cool sports like basketball or hockey on the dreaded Inter-Tutor Group Sports Day. Have I mentioned that I fucking hate rounders? Just, why? Fucking why?! A bat about the thickness of a twig, a tiny ball, and weedy kids who can't hit it more than 10 yards (if they can hit it at all). Yeah, that's gonna be a good game!
And now of course I'm an unfit lazy bitch who never does excercise of any form, and has such an inbuilt hatred of sports and sport centres that I would rather die of a heart attack than actually join a gym. And who is suspicious of people who run for enjoyment. Certainly city runners. I used to quite like going running in the countryside, usually while out with the dogs, but people who run in cities...there's got to be something wrong with them! What enjoyment is there to be had?
But cyclists, they are the kings of the mentalists: the lunatics running the sporting asylum. From the ugly aerodynamically-shaped helmets to the clingy lycra shorts, there is not a single thing right about urban cycling. For a start, you're just a moving target for impatient taxi drivers! What more reason do you really need to not do it?! Especially in a city like Glasgow where we have a road system so complicated that when you 're only halfway to where you wanted to go and it's taken twice the length of time you thought it should to get there, you really want to hit something! A passing cyclist could prove too much of a temptation for some people!
Disclaimer: I do not in any way condone the mowing down of cyclists as a form of anger management therapy, and nor would I ever consider practicing it myself. But I still maintain that cyclists are totally mental. Runners too.
Monday 15 March 2010
The Story of my Heart
So, I know this blog was supposed to be about film, but I've already mentioned television in at least one post, so I might as well branch out into books. Because right now I'm more into books than I am films. Because I've been buried nose-deep in some very good books lately.
So far this year I have read...
The second Amber series by Roger Zelazny:
Five books, all reasonably short, all quite gripping, making up one coherent story. Well, if you're being technical it's ten books, because this series follows the trials and tribulations of Merlin, son of Corwin, who was the narrator and (occasionally) hero of the first five books. Their stories, and their personalities, are quite different, so they do really make up two separate series. The second of which is very hard to find in a book store! You can get all ten books in one volume, or just the first five, but not Merlin's series on its own. Which is a shame, because Merlin is actually a much more likeable character than his dad. He is much more human...he just wants to slack off and explore the multiverse, but discovers that his family (especially his ambitious and ruthless mother) have bigger plans for him. I won't go further into the plot because I don't want to spoilerise in case any of my 2 or 3 readers feel like giving it a go! You have to read Corwin first really, to learn what you need to know about the world of Amber, and all the family politics and history, but don't let that put you off...they're also fairly short books, and also very gripping!
The Night Watch and The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko:
These books are the first two in a series of four. I've not gotten any further than The Day Watch yet, because I got distracted by another book that I'd been waiting to be released for a very long time (and which I will get to in a minute). The basic premise is that the Light and the Dark have been at war since the start of time, and their war is fought by Others, once human but endowed with magical powers, Light Ones and Dark Ones. But the war was creating too many losses (on both sides, and in terms of civilians), so a truce was called. The truce is upheld and enforced by the Day Watch (Dark Ones who keep a watchful eye on the forces of Light) and the Night Watch (Light Ones who watch the forces of Dark). Again, not going to spoilerise by going further into the plot, but will say that they are very, very worth reading! I found the first book a little more enjoyable than the second, mostly because it was narrated by Anton, who is a very interesting character, and it had a lovely style. The second book is written from several points of view, mostly in the third person. Which is a very good technique, because it allows you to see things from other angles and sympathise with the troops on both sides of their stalled war, but I have to say I missed Anton a little.
Both books are split into 3 different stories, which is again very cleverly done...the stories are all quite separate and unconnected at first, but then collide at the end of the book, tying things together. But not too neatly, because that would be boring. This series leaves plenty of room for grey areas, and that is what makes it so compelling.
The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin:
I'm still working on this one, and am only about a third of the way through, but I had to have a rave about it! I have been impatiently waiting for this book since I read A Madness of Angels in April last year (to which The Midnight Mayor is the sequel). I read the first book on the amazing strength of the review in SFX magazine when it first came out (it was the comparison to the work of Neil Gaiman that drew my eye), and they were damn right! About how good the book is, anyway. Comparisons to other authors are always dangerous and misleading...they are a little Gaiman-esque in that they deal with urban magic and are set in London (superficially like Neverwhere, also a superb book), but Kate (who also writes as Catherine Webb, and her teen fantasy and Victorian detective novels are also well worth reading) has her own style, and takes the ideas of magic and urban myth to very different places. And has created a highly likeable (and often pitiable!) character in Matthew Swift, narrator and reluctant hero of the two books. So go get your hands on a copy, and enjoy. You can thank me later!
So far this year I have read...
The second Amber series by Roger Zelazny:
Five books, all reasonably short, all quite gripping, making up one coherent story. Well, if you're being technical it's ten books, because this series follows the trials and tribulations of Merlin, son of Corwin, who was the narrator and (occasionally) hero of the first five books. Their stories, and their personalities, are quite different, so they do really make up two separate series. The second of which is very hard to find in a book store! You can get all ten books in one volume, or just the first five, but not Merlin's series on its own. Which is a shame, because Merlin is actually a much more likeable character than his dad. He is much more human...he just wants to slack off and explore the multiverse, but discovers that his family (especially his ambitious and ruthless mother) have bigger plans for him. I won't go further into the plot because I don't want to spoilerise in case any of my 2 or 3 readers feel like giving it a go! You have to read Corwin first really, to learn what you need to know about the world of Amber, and all the family politics and history, but don't let that put you off...they're also fairly short books, and also very gripping!
The Night Watch and The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko:
These books are the first two in a series of four. I've not gotten any further than The Day Watch yet, because I got distracted by another book that I'd been waiting to be released for a very long time (and which I will get to in a minute). The basic premise is that the Light and the Dark have been at war since the start of time, and their war is fought by Others, once human but endowed with magical powers, Light Ones and Dark Ones. But the war was creating too many losses (on both sides, and in terms of civilians), so a truce was called. The truce is upheld and enforced by the Day Watch (Dark Ones who keep a watchful eye on the forces of Light) and the Night Watch (Light Ones who watch the forces of Dark). Again, not going to spoilerise by going further into the plot, but will say that they are very, very worth reading! I found the first book a little more enjoyable than the second, mostly because it was narrated by Anton, who is a very interesting character, and it had a lovely style. The second book is written from several points of view, mostly in the third person. Which is a very good technique, because it allows you to see things from other angles and sympathise with the troops on both sides of their stalled war, but I have to say I missed Anton a little.
Both books are split into 3 different stories, which is again very cleverly done...the stories are all quite separate and unconnected at first, but then collide at the end of the book, tying things together. But not too neatly, because that would be boring. This series leaves plenty of room for grey areas, and that is what makes it so compelling.
The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin:
I'm still working on this one, and am only about a third of the way through, but I had to have a rave about it! I have been impatiently waiting for this book since I read A Madness of Angels in April last year (to which The Midnight Mayor is the sequel). I read the first book on the amazing strength of the review in SFX magazine when it first came out (it was the comparison to the work of Neil Gaiman that drew my eye), and they were damn right! About how good the book is, anyway. Comparisons to other authors are always dangerous and misleading...they are a little Gaiman-esque in that they deal with urban magic and are set in London (superficially like Neverwhere, also a superb book), but Kate (who also writes as Catherine Webb, and her teen fantasy and Victorian detective novels are also well worth reading) has her own style, and takes the ideas of magic and urban myth to very different places. And has created a highly likeable (and often pitiable!) character in Matthew Swift, narrator and reluctant hero of the two books. So go get your hands on a copy, and enjoy. You can thank me later!
Saturday 13 March 2010
Reflection of the Television
So, as predicted this blog is already looking lonely and unloved. What a bad Blog Mistress I am!
But I have been watching lots of films, so you could call it 'research'! Lately, I have been mostly watching....
Sam Rockwell films:
Quite a few of them! After Moon, I acquired Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke, and Welcome to Collinwood (which I had seen before). I also saw Everybody's Fine in the cinema the other week. And I don't really know what to say about all of these films, apart from: go watch them! They're all great in their very different ways, and all have one thing in common: the brilliance of Sam Rockwell!
Funny Games (the English language remake):
A very strange film. Creepy, shocking, and with an ending that is not typical of this type of horror film (which also makes it quite surprising!). I don't know if it is much like the original (but since it was remade by the director if the original I imagine it's not far off), but it is a brave and pretty original shocker, with lots of psychological tension and relatively little gore (compared to a lot of modern horrors), with most of the really horrible stuff happening off screen (which just makes it all the more disturbing). Not sure you could call it 'entertaining', it's too grim for that, but it certainly is compelling!
The Best Man:
From one extreme to the other - this is a fluffy, funny, charming Stuart Townsend film. With Seth Green attempting a half-successul London accent (which is a little weird!). A fairly conventional chick flick, but quite a sweet one. And it has Stuart Townsend. What more do you need?...
Dorian Gray:
...maybe Ben Barnes? He is a very, very attractive man. And not a bad Dorian, even though he's dark rather than blonde and cherubic, and despite the fact that the writers of the movie felt the inevitable Hollywood need to make Dorian a half-likeable character, which, in the book, he really is not. You pity him finally, right at the end, but you can't like him. I had sort of expected to hate the film, having read and loved the book not too long before it came out, but it was very entertaining (and Ben Barnes is very pretty), so I can forgive it for deviating from the book. It is, as a film, pretty good, and I can enjoy it and the book on different levels. Which is quite rare with book adaptations, because I do get very attached to my books and hate to see them butchered! But while the story is changed here, it is not actually butchered. At least, not enough to ruin the film! So Dorian Gray gets a surprised thumbs up from me!
Easy Virtue:
Yes, I get a bit obsessed. I watched Dorian Gray, so I had to go find another Ben Barnes film! Easy Virtue is adapted from a Noel Coward play that I've not read. Part musical, part drama, part comedy, it could be quite disjointed, but it actually combines these elements quite successfully, and is a very good film. With some very good singing from all the cast (except Colin Firth, who is a superb and classy actor, but who thankfully doesn't attempt to sing here! I've seen St Trinians, and the singing at the end was not pretty. But it was damned funny!), the heavy lifting being done by Barnes, who can both sing and play piano! Who knew? (having been in a boy band is not a guarantee of talent!).
So that's what I've been watching lately. The highlights, at least! And my favourite of all these films? Choke. A lewd, funny, charming and rather sad film. And a bloody good one!
But I have been watching lots of films, so you could call it 'research'! Lately, I have been mostly watching....
Sam Rockwell films:
Quite a few of them! After Moon, I acquired Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke, and Welcome to Collinwood (which I had seen before). I also saw Everybody's Fine in the cinema the other week. And I don't really know what to say about all of these films, apart from: go watch them! They're all great in their very different ways, and all have one thing in common: the brilliance of Sam Rockwell!
Funny Games (the English language remake):
A very strange film. Creepy, shocking, and with an ending that is not typical of this type of horror film (which also makes it quite surprising!). I don't know if it is much like the original (but since it was remade by the director if the original I imagine it's not far off), but it is a brave and pretty original shocker, with lots of psychological tension and relatively little gore (compared to a lot of modern horrors), with most of the really horrible stuff happening off screen (which just makes it all the more disturbing). Not sure you could call it 'entertaining', it's too grim for that, but it certainly is compelling!
The Best Man:
From one extreme to the other - this is a fluffy, funny, charming Stuart Townsend film. With Seth Green attempting a half-successul London accent (which is a little weird!). A fairly conventional chick flick, but quite a sweet one. And it has Stuart Townsend. What more do you need?...
Dorian Gray:
...maybe Ben Barnes? He is a very, very attractive man. And not a bad Dorian, even though he's dark rather than blonde and cherubic, and despite the fact that the writers of the movie felt the inevitable Hollywood need to make Dorian a half-likeable character, which, in the book, he really is not. You pity him finally, right at the end, but you can't like him. I had sort of expected to hate the film, having read and loved the book not too long before it came out, but it was very entertaining (and Ben Barnes is very pretty), so I can forgive it for deviating from the book. It is, as a film, pretty good, and I can enjoy it and the book on different levels. Which is quite rare with book adaptations, because I do get very attached to my books and hate to see them butchered! But while the story is changed here, it is not actually butchered. At least, not enough to ruin the film! So Dorian Gray gets a surprised thumbs up from me!
Easy Virtue:
Yes, I get a bit obsessed. I watched Dorian Gray, so I had to go find another Ben Barnes film! Easy Virtue is adapted from a Noel Coward play that I've not read. Part musical, part drama, part comedy, it could be quite disjointed, but it actually combines these elements quite successfully, and is a very good film. With some very good singing from all the cast (except Colin Firth, who is a superb and classy actor, but who thankfully doesn't attempt to sing here! I've seen St Trinians, and the singing at the end was not pretty. But it was damned funny!), the heavy lifting being done by Barnes, who can both sing and play piano! Who knew? (having been in a boy band is not a guarantee of talent!).
So that's what I've been watching lately. The highlights, at least! And my favourite of all these films? Choke. A lewd, funny, charming and rather sad film. And a bloody good one!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)