Filed under: on the projector
when you were a wee kid, did your ma ever tell you that you’d get square eyes if you watched too much tv? i really bloody hope that was a myth otherwise i’m going to get some verrrry odd looks when i go out :/
ever since my exam, which seems about three years ago now, i’ve been catching up on tons of films, old and new…so i thought i’d do another wee review…
ok, so 500 days of summer has to be my favourite film of 2009….it’s got zooey deschanel in for a start, joseph gordon-levitt who i think is a very good actor and stars in my favourite ever film, brick, anddd the soundtrack is sensational! also, the actual story is really good. true, it can get a little cheesy in parts, but the fact that it highlights the painful parts of a relationship rather than the regular ‘ooo, its going so well, now it’s not, now i’ve got her back, now we’re married, the end’, is refreshing and is a lot more realistic…i certainly could relate to it. nonetheless, there are great moments of humour mixed in as well, such as his jolly trip to work after their first night together, which represents a scene from a musical like Oliver and also the cringey moments where the boy wants to put a label on the relationship, whilst the girl constantly squirms to avoid answering (definitely a moment that has happened to me!). i was also able to relate to the characters, which probably makes my opinion slightly biased, but gordon-levitt’s character for example was obsessed with joy division and the smiths and was doing something he didn’t want to do but couldn’t really move away from, and he liked kooky girls who don’t automatically open up to the world. for me it was a film that was bang on!
fracture is a film i’d been meaning to watch again for some time. luckily, i remember really liking it but didn’t remember any of the storyline or twists, so when it came to finally seeing it once more, it was like a first time! this thrilling drama is a much needed step away from the common ‘whodunit?’ and instead the audience is shown the who the murderer is at the very beginning. moreover, the twists and turns that take place are not obvious like in some thrillers (well, not to someone who isn’t a lawyer) and you do find yourself trying to work things out yourself, without it being layed out on the table and for you to scream at the tv, ‘It’s so bloody obvious!’ in addition, both ryan gosling and anthony hopkins perform their characters particularly well and most obviously in the scenes when they are together. the only criticism i have is that the ending was quite sudden…but overall a very good film!
An Education. i thought this too was an extremely good film adapted brilliantly from the lynn barber bestseller by the wonderful nick hornby and very well directed by lone scherfig. the story itself is great and follows a young sixteen year old girl in 1960’s english suburbia who is pushed not only be her parents but by herself to work for a placement studying english at oxford. she is also however a fanatic of parisian culture along with its french film and female songstresses, so when a charming, thirty-something man comes along and compliments her on her tastes and takes her to jazz bars and auctions, she is smitten. he also introduces her to his high-class friends and even whisks her away to paris where all the her dreams are made…she gets to smoke foreign cigarettes, buy french novels and drown herself in culture. nonetheless, by doing so her education is being put at risk and there are further worries to come. the film also portrays the importance of class in 1960’s england and through the charm of the rich man and the acceptance of him by the middle-class parents, it shows how influential this was in society. finally, the cast offers the audience some of the finest british actors and actresses, including the new on the scene, yet fantastic carey mulligan, as well as alfred solina, dominic cooper, rosamund pike, olivia williams, emma thompson and peter sarsgaard (who is actually american, but puts on a very good english accent!). through beauty, amusement, sadness and lessons to be learnt, An Education illustrates just that…a young girl pushing for a top class academic education, whilst also tackling and being challenged by an education in life.
i must admit, i am an absolute sucker for audrey tautou and also (secretly) for most fashion based films…but don’t tell anyone about the latter! so i really enjoyed this. it was my sister who first got me into french film so i can’t thank her enough. Coco Before Chanel is, obviously, about the miserable life of a young chanel and her steps into love and fashion. she is played wonderfully by the stunning tautou who perfectly represents the radical side of chanel and also the hardship of poverty, the overpowering feeling of love and the despair felt after a loss. the film itself could have been improved as it did seem a little slow at times and, if someone had not known before seeing, which would have been odd mind you, it failed to explain who exactly chanel was and why she is now famous, until the very end of the film. nonethless, i thoroughly enjoyed it.
i was overwhelmingly eager to watch New York, I Love You having loved Paris, Je T’aime. however, the latter was certainly better than the former and i felt slightly disappointed. maybe it’s because i’ve actually been to paris and have only daydreamed about living in new york, i dunno. it was, as expected, home to another brilliant cast, including natalie portman, james caan, julie christie, john hurt, maggie q, andy garcia, bradley cooper etc. shia la beouf was also particularly (and surprisingly) good and made his section one of the most memorable. nonetheless, there are only four or five of the short stories that have stayed as memories and even some of these were pretty average or were rather similar to those of the paris movie. in addition, there was an obvious lack of different races, with the cast being predominantly white and reasonably well off. however, before i say any more i’m going to watch it again because there certainly were some brilliant moments, both sad and funny, romantic and unexpected and i did like it for the most part…it just hasn’t lived up to the first of these ‘i love you’ films and it hasn’t made a huge impression on me just yet.
The Road was really bloody good. i can’t say i’m a huge fan of the past disaster movies such as The Day After Tomorrow, Children Of Men and 2012 (although i never even thought about bothering with that last one), but this was top. a lot of reviews i read prior to seeing the film banged on about how it was far less vicious than the book by Cormac McCarthy, however i think it had more than its share of heart-thudding moments. the main characters, man (viggo mortenson) and boy (kodi smit-mcphee), come under many different threats and are almost killed several times by cannibals and thieves in this dark, dying world. in addition, mortenson and smit-mcphee provide fantastic performances, particularly in scenes when it is just the two of them as father and son in desperate times. finally, charlize theron plays her character as man’s wife and boy’s mother, prior to their trek to the coast, extremely well as a woman wanting to end it all with a bullet rather than see herself and her family starve to death. the only criticisms i could give is that the reasons for the end of the world were completely unexplained and it also sometimes felt a little stretched…when you thought it was going to finish, another problem happened, or they continued to walk on, and at times you just wanted it all to end so that they (not the audience…they were all on the edge of their seats or crying into their popcorn) didn’t have to go through this ordeal anymore!
i love films by the coen brothers and this one was also good…but just good…i don’t know if it was because i was watching it at ridiculous o’clock or what, but i just didn’t get this one. so instead of writing a review i’m going to watch it again and then let you know what i properly think :)
peter jackson is also a very good director and The Lovely Bones was equally good. although many have criticised jackson’s version of the film (much like the road) as not sticking to the novel and being less graphic in terms of blood and murder, i thought he did a good job…although giving it a rating of PG (apparently) is a bit daft as it was thrilling enough to probably scare children. also his airy fairy portrayal of heaven was bang on in my opinion, as it shows heaven seen through the eyes of a fourteen year old girl rather than an adult. he also directs well in tense scenes, not sticking to the obvious and then even double-bluffing, making it look like he isn’t and suddenly changing the plan at the last second. the acting is, for the most part very good, particularly by the lead role saoirse ronan, rose mciver (sister), mark whalberg (father) and stanley tucci (murderer). however other roles are surprisingly pretty poorly played, such as the mother (rachel weisz) and grandma (susan sarandon). although it probably could have been improved in some areas, i think it illustrated the horrors of a neighbourhood pervert particularly well and those teenage girls who do go to see this film expecting a happy clappy storyline may actually come out educated and more weary of what can happen in this world.
i though i’d end up watching Up on a whim at some point and that ended up being this afternoon. i have to say i thought it was a beautiful little film, taking me back to my childhood watching Toy Story over and over and over again. pretty much all of pixar’s films have been brilliant, however the most recent ones haven’t been as up to scratch as others…particularly Cars which i thought was awful! however Up was just great and brought to the screens the magic of pixar…beauty (particularly at the beginning as we see man and wife fall in love and grow old), laughter, sadness, adventure, love and happiness. it was top banana if you ask me
Where The Wild Things Are certainly wasn’t as good as Up..but i guess they are pretty different films :/ the problem is i must admit that i haven’t actually read the book, or, if i have, i really don’t remember it! it was certainly a good movie and brilliantly portrayed youth and the problems children can have around others as well as around no-one/just their parents. the wild things most definitely represented this and their child like personalities, squabbling and sense for adventure were perfectly done. however, there were times when it just seemed a bit slow and tedious and at others, pretty dark and upsetting for a film that i expected to be full of exploring, happiness and memories of youth. it was good, but not brilliant.
finally…yeh, i gave this a watch. but only because i wanted to watch something crappy, stupid and bound to make me feel 15 again haha! and to be honested it was exactly that…really daft, pretty awful, but on occassion brought a smile to my face :D
Filed under: on the film reel, on the mind, on the parchment, on the projector, on the screen, on the turntable
someone told me the other day that i have been roaming this deeelightful world in 4 different decades, 2 centuries and 2 milleniums…and i’m only 20 years old. i like that fact. it makes me feel like father time himself!
anyways, i got to thinking, although i’ve only technically properly lived for more than a few months in two of these decades, the 90’s in particular really were awesome. i do actually wish sometimes that i had lived my late teenage years through the 60’s and early 70’s, however the things that i treasure from my childhood really defined the 90’s as a top time for me…
here are some classics from down memory lane :)
gooooood times!
x
Filed under: on the parchment
this is one of mine…not particularly happy clappy, but please don’t think it’s how i personally felt at the time, it’s just a poem…
Dark Clouds
You feel like you’re trudging slowly through mud
getting nowhere fast and when you do it’s a dud
the people around you bring no satisfaction
a shrug of the shoulders is their only reaction
dark clouds gather in your mind repeatedly
yet you try to block them out determinedly
nonetheless, you feel like life is a prison
and in this caged world no one will listen
not wanting to cause trouble, not wanting a debate
you lock up your anger, but let it burn away
and so one night when your rage pushes through
and there’s no one around to delay or stop you
the dark clouds gather in your head once more
and strangle all your feelings, ideas and thoughts
your bloodshot eyes fill up with cold tears
and once again your heart is taken with fear
you begin to mull, over the options
is tonight the night to change ideas into actions?
cold glistening steel through winding blues and reds?
or braided fibres slipped over your head?
a cocktail assumed from above the bathroom sink?
or a fastball lodged in, before you can think?
is a literal hook, line and sinker perhaps another way?
or maybe a flame caused by a cliche?
you take another glug from the tennessee bottle
and roll another cigarette using the remaining dottle
when these dark clouds cast over there’s not much that can be done
except to hope and pray that soon, your time will come…
Filed under: on the parchment
just found my little book of poems/lyrics/general witterings so thought i’d share one or two with you (or in other words, the very few that are worth sharing)…over the next few weeks. however, last year i was unfortunately not feeling particularly tip top, so a number of them aren’t exactly full of jump for joy stuff, but not all of them are like that! also feel free to say what you like about them…criticise, praise or suggest improvements…whatever trevor!
to start, here are a few wee poems not written by me, but by my favorite idiot, karl pilkington, from the ricky gervais podcasts…
Jellyfish Part 1.
I don’t like jellyfish, they’re not a fish, they’re just a blob.
They don’t have eyes, fins or scales like a cod.
They float about blind, stinging people in the seas,
And no one eats jellyfish with chips and mushy peas.
….Get rid of ‘em!
Sheep Off A Cliff
Thousands of sheep fed up,
So they jumped off cliff into bay.
They shouldn’t survive,
But it just goes to show,
Where there’s wool there’s a way
Rome
Rome wasn’t built in a day,
It just looks that way.
Bank Holiday Monday
Bank holiday Monday
Bank holiday mundane
No shops open
Plenty of rain
Jellyfish Part 2.
It would be spiteful
To put jellyfish in a trifle
x
when i agreed to grow my beard for charity as part of this… www.virginmoneygiving.com/dominickay
two thoughts came into my head -
1. i’m not going to look daft, lots of people have beards and look cool…like brad pitt once, or my dad, or jesus!
2. it’s not going to feel wierd, it’s only a hairy chin…
now my friends i can tell you i was very wrong about both! first of all, i really don’t look cool and to be honested, neither did brad pitt and especially neither does my dad. it also still fails to grow properly so i look like a nobhead artisan or the ugliest of the three musketeers. And finally, since letting a squirrel take to my chin as a home, i can’t say i’ve had a great deal of luck with girls…and i’ve got to keep growing it until the end of bloody april :/ Secondly, it does feel weird…very fucking weird.
nonetheless… i have found these little gems, which somewhat eases me (despite the fact that the quotes are biblical!)
“How womanly it is for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them! For God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane. But He adorned man like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him as an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest–a sign of strength and rule.” St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.275
“This, then, is the mark of the man, the beard. By this, he is seen to be a man. It is older than Eve. It is the token of the superior nature….It is therefore unholy to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness.” St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.276
“It is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man’s natural and noble adornment.” St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.277
so…at least this guy likes them! Mr. Titus Flavius Clemens, respect :P
x
ps. feel free to go donate!
When Boreas, fell and doure,
Sharp shivers thro’ the leafless bow’r;
When Phoebus gies a short-liv’d glow’r,
Far south the lift,
Dim-dark’ning thro’ the flaky show’r
Or whirling drift:
Ae night the storm the steeples rocked;
Poor Labour sweet in sleep was locked;
While burns, wi’ snawy wreaths up-choked,
Wild-eddying swirl,
Or, thro’ the mining outlet bocked,
Down headlong hurl:
List’ning the doors an’ winnocks rattle,
I thought me on the ourie cattle,
Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle
O’ winter war,
And thro’ the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle
Beneath a scaur.
Ilk happing bird – wee, helpless thing!–
That in the merry months o’ spring
Delighted me to hear thee sing,
What comes o’ thee?
Whare wilt thou cow’r thy chittering wing,
An’ close thy e’e?
Ev’n you, on murd’ring errands toil’d,
Lone from your savage homes exil’d,
The blood-stain’d roost and sheep-cote spoil’d
My heart forgets,
While pityless the tempest wild
Sore on you beats!
Now Phoebe, in her midnight reign,
Dark-muffl’d, view’d the dreary plain;
Still crowding thoughts, a pensive train.
Rose in my soul,
When on my ear this plaintive strain,
Slow-solemn, stole:–
‘Blow, blow, ye winds, with heavier gust!
And freeze, thou bitter-biting frost!
Descend, ye chilly, smothering snows!
Not all your rage, as now united, shows
More hard unkindness unrelenting,
Vengeful malice, unrepenting,
Than heaven-illumin’d Man on brother Man bestows!
See stern Oppression’s iron grip,
Or mad Ambition’s gory hand,
Sending, like blood-hounds from the slip,
Woe, Want, and Murder o’er a land!
Ev’n in the peaceful rural vale,
Truth, weeping, tells the mournful tale:
How pamper’d Luxury, Flatt’ry by her side,
The parasite empoisoning her ear,
With all the servile wretches in the rear,
Looks o’er proud Property, extended wide;
And eyes the simple, rustic hind,
Whose toil upholds the glitt’ring show –
A creature of another kind,
Some coarser substance, unrefin’d –
Plac’d for her lordly use, thus far, thus vile, below!
Where, where is Love’s fond, tender throe,
With lordly Honor’s lofty brow,
The pow’rs you proudly own?
Is there, beneath Love’s noble name,
Can harbour, dark, the selfish aim,
To bless himself alone?
Mark Maiden-Innocence a prey
To love-pretending snares:
This boasted Honor turns away,
Shunning soft Pity’s rising sway,
Regardless of the tears and unavailing pray’rs!
Perhaps this hour, in Misery’s squalid nest,
She strains your infant to her joyless breast,
And with a mother’s fears shrinks at the rocking blast!
‘O ye! who, sunk in beds of down,
Feel not a want but what yourselves create,
Think, for a moment, on his wretched fate,
Whom friends and fortune quite disown!
Ill-satisfy’d keen nature’s clam’rous call,
Stretch’d on his straw, he lays himself to sleep;
While through the ragged roof and chinky wall,
Chill, o’er his slumbers piles the drifty heap!
Think on the dungeon’s grim confine,
Where Guilt and poor Misfortune pine!
Guilt, erring man, relenting view!
But shall thy legal rage pursue
The wretch, already crushed low
By cruel Fortune’s undeserved blow?
Affliction’s sons are brothers in distress;
A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss!’
I heard nae mair, for Chanticleer
Shook off the pouthery snaw,
And hail’d the morning with a cheer,
A cottage-rousing craw.
But deep this truth impress’d my mind:
Thro’ all His works abroad,
The heart benevolent and kind
The most resembles God
happy burns night everyone! i hope you’re all putting your haggis in the steamer soon and preparing the neeps and tatties and a big dollop of scotch whiskey gravy…yummy
although i have actually planned to do just this myself, i am however a bit concerned that i’m not actually going to stay awake for much longer. unfortunately half my housemates decided to stay up til 9 oclock this morning playing some shitty video game in the room right next to me and shouting and screaming at the tv which was also turned up ridiculously loud so that it basically sounded like the fucking blitz everytime a character said something, never mind took a shot or threw a grenade or whatever…. so yeh, as you might be able to tell im not in the best of moods as i too got fuck all sleep last night and still haven’t had a wink! butttt, fingers crossed i’ll be able to keep from my bed for another hour or two so that i can enjoy some burns supper :)
i wonder if robert ever had any trouble with restlessness? clearly this here poem suggests he witnessed the same kind of winters that continue to piss off most scotsman to this day, yet i doubt he was forced to go to boots for some earplugs because of flippin call of duty!
x
Filed under: on the mannequin
to me, michael caine is one of those actors who really can’t seem to act, (for example, i don’t think he’s ever used any other accent than cockney in any film ever), however i can’t not like him…it’s the same with ray winstone….but not danny dyer, he’s just a prick
and one of the reasons why is that my god was he a cool, snappy sod when he was younger…
i’ve got a lot of respect for people who dress well and god forgive me, i’m even warming to the people who wear twead and cravats! mind you, i still despise gillets and bloody chinos. personally, i still wander around in jeans, trainers, wolly cardigans, checkered tops and band t-shirts, yet i’ve already ended up planning what i’m going to wear when i’m older and have money, with the plan to be a snappy fella being at the very top of my list!
i also much prefer and therefore love girls who wear stuff like retro dresses rather than hotpants in summer and rock n’ roll leather jackets and boots rather than neon bollocks for another generic night at tigertiger, or just something with a 1960’s feel to it…they look a thousand times better than these fake tan clad bimbos on the streets these days
some obvious examples are…
zooey deschanel
cecile cassel
clemence poesy
lea seydoux
audrey tautou
remember those kids who received money etc for doing well in exams, or when they made their confirmation, or when it was their older siblings birthday and they’d get something too because the ma didn’t want the little-un to get nouty?
i personally wasn’t and to be completely honest, i found the parents of those kids pretty pathetic…however, i did get jealous of those select kids who got a ’special treat’ on friday evenings, because it was the weekend! whether it was a choccy bar, or a takeaway, or an extra hour of tv, i always wanted a ‘treat day’. by the way, it’s not like my rents never allowed me the odd packet of crisps before tea or late night watching the end of gladiators, it was basically the idea of having a select day when you’d get something amazing and then could look forward to it again for the next seven days
anyways… i’m gonna start doing a lucky dip each week from my mammoth itunes, of which i only actually listen to about 3%, probably embarass myself a lot, and that my dear readers will be your friday treat from me… how lucky are you!
this week’s pick is…..
haha! even i didn’t expect that! how bloody wonderful!
in other news… barry the fish has a new buddy in the tank… it’s one of your bog-standard goldfish, but man he’s vicious! he is however called irn-bru and is scottish, so that could be the reason for his plentiful attacks on poor baz
also, i watched ‘an education’ and ‘new york, i love you’ today… the latter wasn’t as good as i expected, especially compared with paris je’taime, but an education was reeeet good :)
