Long time no blog, I know. I have been finishing up my final year of uni and been way too distracted for anything other than uni and working. But alas it is over and I am free to spend my time doing whatever I please.
Since I last spoke to you, when I was a film journalism student I have decided not to pursue a career in journalism or film. Sad, I know but to be honest, I cant think of anything I would rather not do. So this brings me to a very unsettling crossroads in my young and unpredictable life, what happens next?. I have some vague ideas about what I would like to do in terms of a career and some definite ideas about what I don't want to pursue. But nothing set in concrete and I'm nowhere near having a "proper job", I do have a job at the moment but I only see it as being temporary, it's by no means my ideal job. So what is my ideal job? to help me figure out what is, I made a brain storm over the last week with various ideas about what I want to do. So for the next how ever many weeks I am going to be writing about each of my chosen idea and hopefully it will help me to figure out if it something worth pursuing.
It will be easier to understand once I actually do my first one and maybe in the middle of all these posts about boring career stuff I might slip in some stuff about my favourite bags of all time or something (I'm not just a film geek you know).
Yea I know I write about films but this is a very important part of my life and so it deserves a place on my blog. OK?
You know what they say about first loves, no matter what, you will always have a place in your heart for that special something.
In this instance I’m not talking about boyfriends, I am talking about music. From the age of about 15 I really got into music, like a lot of teenagers do at that age. I had always been interested, my dads obsession with music had rubbed off on me a little and I didn’t take much notice up until then. But in my last year of high school I was made aware of these indie bands that didn’t sound quite normal but too intriguing to ignore. The Killers and Interpol were the CDs stuck in my walkman for about 2 months solid. Maximo Park, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, The Futureheads and The Strokes were pretty much all I listened to. Obviously there is more but these were the ones that really hold a special place in my musical headquarters.
Interpol, especially has become an unconditional love for me. First Interpol song I listened to? Obstacle 1 but at the time of me first listening to them, Evil from Antics was the latest single. Quite an interesting first impact to have on a 15 year old girl, seeing a singing puppet jump around. But I still embraced it and along with exact same love and obsession from my best friend I felt something quite unique about the music this band made. Even, 6 years later, my favourite band is still Interpol. My heart still skips a beat when I hear new music and the absolute pure euphoric moment of seeing them for the first time on stage, is well, unforgettable. My two favourite ever gig experiences have been when I have seen Interpol. It’s a feeling that rarely happens with other music I listen to.
I can’t quite explain or even begin to understand why I love them so much, especially because this band are so unmemorable to other people. But they said that about Blue, maybe it doesn’t help that I have the biggest crush on their lead singer, Paul Banks. My boyfriends brothers used to think he looked like Paul Banks before we met, I always like to tease hehe. But I’ll put that aside and tell you why I love the music and not just the eye candy. Well, honestly, I have no idea. Fascinating voice? Interesting lyrics? Composition? Melody? Who knows. It just all seems to add up for me, I love it all.
Turn on the bright lights is as lovely as lovely music can get for me. I will never love another like I do this. Each song reminds me of so much from those few years in my life where everything changed every month. An age when the only things you care about is yourself and music, the respect and love for this bands music is something that will hopefully stay with me for the rest of my life. But with each new album from Interpol I have liked them less and less and I have no I idea if I will like the new one. But out of pure respect and dedication I will listen and try to understand what it is they’re trying to tell me this time.
As it's the beginning of a new year (and decade) I have decided to compile a countdown list of my top 5 films of 2009.
Looking back, there have been some very good moments and I have to say it's going to be difficult to pick just five. But I shall do my best, you may completely disagree with the films I have chosen, but it just means your wrong and I am correct. Ill just get into it then... Oh, before I begin, some may notice that Up isn't in my top 5, its not an accident. I loved the film but I wasn't surprised that it was going to be good, the following films were a surprise to me.
5. Inglorious Basterds- Not being a fan of Tarrantino, I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this film but the press coverage for the film was huge and I have always been interested in the directors work. The first scene of the film is what gets it into my list and Brad Pitt's stupidly funny Eye-talian accent. Not to be taken so seriously, its a entertaining and fresh film that was a delight to watch.
4. Star Trek- Highly visualised, MTV generation, glossy blockbusterised. All the things they decided to do with one of the most iconic and popular TV series/ films of all time. We all should of hated it, but we didn't, it was amazing. Breathtaking visual effects and a great cast are what make this film so impressive. JJ Abrams does the unthinkable and gathers a whole new generation of Star Trek fans to enjoy the adventures of the USS Enterprise for more years to come.
3. Moon- The directorial debut from Duncan Jones, Moon is a compelling and thrilling story of life alone on the Moon. Unpredictable and almost flawless, this films represents perfectly today's fascinations with space, future and our eventual need for new resources. Sam Rockwell is perfect and the soundtrack is, well, amazing.
2. Let the right one in- Vampire films seems to be the trend in most films of 2009, but one of the first, just after the arrival of Twilight, was Let the right one in, the Swedish adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's book of the same name. Unlike other films from the same genre, it uses a female child as the vampire and sets around her relationship with a young troubled boy. A film to definately see, it kept me fascinated from start to finish.
1. Drag me to hell- Yep thats right, my number o ne favourite film of the year is Drag me to hell. I loved it, every single second of it, I loved. Not only was it highly entertaining, it restored my faith in a good old fashioned horror flick. Reminiscent of the 1970s American classics, it breaks away from the widely popular torture porn flicks of the decade. Doing what very few horror films can do, it not only provided scares in the right places but gave us some right chuckles.
I'm back with an update on all the films I've seen over the past, 2 weeks, I think. Yea so, again I've been watching loads but I only went to the cinema once :(. We went to the Cornerhouse in Manchester to see the new Cohen Brothers film "A Serious Man" which for some reason is only being shown in selected cinemas, which is why we went to see it there. Tell you more about that later though, I've done my "The Third Man" review but it's being marked so it'll be up if it's done good :).
Hmm where to start, things that stick out hmm. Well one of the funniest, in places films Iv seen has to be the south Korean film "The Host" (Gwoemul). It's a sort of "Godzilla", "Cloverfield" thing, but a lot better. This is only my second south Korean film that I've seen, the first one was "I am a cyborg" which is really good, check it out. It's basically about a mutant fish that grows in a river and causes havoc all around the city. The things I liked about this film were, the humor because you laugh at things in this film that you wouldnt even dare laugh at in American/westernised films. And also the story which is just amazing, completely entertaining from start to finish and fills you with a million different feelings all the way through.
In quicker news, I've also watched "Closer", the Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen film that is extremely personal and sometimes makes you think "should I be watching this" great acting though. "Run Lola Run" which for some reason I always thought was American but it's not, it's German and very good. Quick pased and never boring. And probably a few more films which I cant remember so they obviously wasnt that good.
I am a big Cohen Brothers fan, Fargo and Barton Fink, oh and No country for old men will all be on my favourite films of all time list. But sadly, this film wont be. Larry Gopnick's (played by Michael Stuhlbarg)life is'nt going so well, his wife, Judith has decided she has had enough and wants a divorce so she can get together with patronising Sy Ableman (played by Fred Melamed). His brother is living on his couch and his neighbour is planning to build a shed that he doesnt agree with. But with his son's aproaching bar mitzvah he must carry on as normal for the sake of his family and his sanity. So it's a film about a Jewish family living in Midwest America, just your usual Cohen Brother type stuff. Everyday, normal people going through a normal life disruption with relatively funny moments seems like the basis of a good film but why does the most interesting part happen in the last scene of the film?. At the end I felt cheated and a little annoyed, I watched this 2 hour film, which was really rather boring in places to be left unfulfilled and wishing I had'nt bothered. Yea ok, the Jewish family aspect was interesting and funny at times but it just was'nt enough to keep it going. I didnt connect with Larry, I thought he was annoying and I was glad his wife wanted to leave him. I have often heard the Cohen Brother's argument that there films are pointless and lead nowhere but I have always disagreed. I have stood up for them, time after time even with "Burn after reading" but I can't with this film. It just did'nt do it for me, honestly boys, the next one has to be better. 2 (out of 5) STARS!!
I have been busy, busy watching lots of films lately and getting some stuff down for uni work. But I thought I best check in. There has been some really good little films I'v seen over the past couple of weeks, some of them were a bit rubbish but y'know my saying is "you have to watch the bad ones to appreciate the good ones". I do plan to go to the cinema at the weekend, not sure what to see though hmm...
Most recently, well this morning I watched "Son of Rambow" just a little British comedy, something lighthearted that made me giggle in places. Last night though! I got round to watching "Freaks" y'know, the one that was banned back in the day. Well, I watched it and it's still playing on my mind. I dont think it was offensive really, I understand why it would of been but I thought the storyline was really interesting and not something I ever could of imagined being written all them years ago. The chicken woman though, really scared me.
I have also watched "The Third Man", which I wont talk about because Im doing a review on so you shall see that another time. I watched "The Life Aquatic" with Bill Murray which was really interesting and had some really great music in from Seu Jorge. I also watched two biographical films, on the same day. "Veronica Guerin", with Cate Blanchett was really not as good as it could of been but what do you expect really from Joel Schumacher.
But the film I wanna talk about is "Control", the Ian Curtis story directed by photographer Anton Corbijn. I have been doing a lot of work on this film for uni, I think I've written about 3 pieces but they're not really that good. I got round to watching the film last week and the more I think about it now actually the more I like it. I was majorly impressed by the director Corbijn, I thought there was some spectacular shots in the film that just were mind blowing. It was almost like the pictures we had seen from the 70s had been brought to life and the feel of the film being in black and white made it feel so much more real. The actors in the film are great to watch, my favourite performance was Samantha Morton playing his wife Debbie she played her with the subtleness you would of expected her to be but also with the strong willingness it must of took for her to leave him. The story however started it off really good, I was getting into the music, because I am a Joy Division fan so them parts were entertaining. But then towards the end it gets a bit boring, I dont really know why because thats probably when it should get interesting but I think it was this. Curtis was a man of great talents, few muscians can write like this man and he was in one of the biggest up coming bands of the 70s. He was married (sort of happily) and had a child, the only bad part about his life was his epilepsy. He starts an affair and it all seems to go belly up and then he kills himself. I just could'nt grasp that and the thing that I dont understand the most is that it actually happened, its not just a badly written film, it's a real persons life. Maybe he felt trapped and confused and maybe the film cut or added things to the story to make it seem better but even so, it's difficult to understand why he did it.
This is a review I did for my uni course (Film journalism and Media studies at Huddersfield). The film's called "Dry River Road" and it's directed by a guy called Rory Haines who is originially from Bradford, which is why it is being shown at the Bradford Film Festival next year, sometime in March, I think. Here's the website if your interested, should be good.
Oh! Also it's the Leeds Film Festival next week as well and thats on till the end of the month. Should be going up there at some point to watch a film, not sure what yet but it shall be very exciting.
And!! Christopher Lee was finally knighted the other day which is very cool, well done to him. Still my favourite Christopher Lee character is Lord Summerisle from one of my favourite films ever "The Wicker Man".
Dry River Road is a story of desperation, depair, greed, racial distrust and a huge misunderstanding. Film student Rory Haines has made a film about a young man named Leo who is desperate but hopelessly trying to find his way.
Leo Whitlock, played by Justin Paul Kahn, needs a job but he lives in his car and seems more like an individual who gets into trouble after a few too many beers than a law abiding citizen. He needs a job before he can see his son who is seemingly absent from Leo's life.
Leo seeks help in the form of his "friend" Akeem (played by Rene David Ifrah), Akeem isn't sure of his relationship with Leo, but he knows they are not friends. He asks for a job at Akeem's petrol station. But Akeem is reluctant to give Leo a job, giving that he knows what type of character Leo is, he doesn't want the trouble and he knows just how unreliable he is.
Leo's latent aggressive nature is apparent throughout his thirteen minute film but he tries his hardest to keep it under control. This can lead to some unsure acting by Justin Paul Kahn who doesn't quite manage to pull of the this aspect of the character.
Akeem is an Arab immigrant who owns his own business and is doing relatively well, Leo is the complete opposite and is likely to have just come back from service in Iraq. He cannot get a job and therefore support his family but because of his previous circumstances he feels his country owes him the oppurtunity to get his life back to normal.
The theme of racial tension and discrimination is something which frequently re appears in this film without intention. Just the characters, especially Leo, who you would expect to be racist (his attitude and mannerisms with Akeem show this to us), bring an extra layer to the film which can lead the audience to feel uneasy but interested by the story.
The director has chosen to use some interesting camera work especially with his use of tracking shots and lack of cuts. The hand held camera work and the setting (which gives a documentary type feel), all help the audience to believe that this story probably has happened many times before in America.
The characters and the surroundings are important to this story especially in the case of Leo's temporary home, his car. He sees this as his safe haven, a place where he can escape and be protected from his life and mistakes but at the end of the film the director breaks into Leo's "world" and he's left to deal with someone else's violent act.
The film aks a lot of questions about today's American society and the people we come across. The characters are well written but something lacks in the performance. It doesn't ruin the good writing of the film but what makes this film interesting and appealing is the direction and the feelings it brings to its audiences.
Ultimately it is a classic tale of a deeply unfortunate misunderstanding, brought up to date with the new issues our world has to live with. A good little film well worth the watch.
So I went to the cinema the other week to finally go see the new Disney Pixar flick "Up" I heard really, really good things about this film for almost a year, I think. So you could say I was expecting quite a lot from this film.
We got to the cinema to find we could only see the film in 3D, oh my I thought, Im not really a fan of 3D, dont really get it but anyway. We got our rather cool 3D specs and found a seat in the cram packed auditorium (haha had to get my dictionary out for that one) and braced ourselves for, personally one of my most exciting cinema moments, ever.
The little film at the beginning, just a little five minute feature that you normally see before a Pixar film was good. Nothing as entertaining as the others I have seen but it got us used to the whole 3D thing which was making my boyfriend have a headache :s.
Im not going to go into the whole ins and outs of the film because everyone knows by now but I will say this. Never before and hopefully not for long time have I ever cried like this whilst watching the first ten minutes of a film. Even the opening sequence from "Saving Private Ryan" didnt get close to the reaction I gave when I watched the beginning of this film. Honestly, it was heart breaking and not something I'm sure children would understand. But that isnt the point, the point is this film just has something about it that pulls on them old heart strings and makes people incredibly involved in this poor mans heartbreak.
I am glad I was not dissapointed by this film, it made me glad I still have faith in Pixar/Disney collaborations (Toy Story 3 better be good). The characters are loveable and there are some amazing scenes with the house moving through the clouds that must be great to see as a little kid. I was'nt quite sure on the setting for the film, although it did have a "Lion King" feel to it, it just seemed a bit too scary. I really hope there was some little kid out there who came out of the cinema after watching "Up" like I did when I saw "Toy story" and wondered what happened if dogs and toys really could talk.
