Monday, August 16, 2004
Oh dear, I seem to have rather over done it in that last post - snobbery for beginners. Maybe I should start giving lessons in it, except I don't have the handy house in Kensington to work out of.
Anyway, the point of it is to know better than others, and then do whatever you want regardless.
So, in order to counterbalance the bias in this blog, I shall now launch into the topic of "Dido".
What the hell is that latest thing about? This is Dido - she who creates music for those who don't like music. And now there's a song about her coming back from holiday. Woo! I mean, seriously, it's just dire. The lyrics are laughable, and manage to create that eerie feeling when one know exactly what's coming next. Some people might describe that as well-honed natural flow, whereas I think of it being cliche-ridden, paint-by-numbers rubbish.
How surprising it is that this song appears in mid-August, in peak coming-back-from-holiday season? Sorry, it just annoyed me with its pathetic comments, along the lines of "I should get on, and forget you, but why would I want to?".
That and it's a cynical attempt to foster familiarity by referencing common actions - such as not unpacking the moment you get home (although jetlag and dehydration are usually to blame - even monkeys will procrastinate until just before a deadline), or wanting to have a lingering bath, but thinking you ought to tidy the chaos you left as you packed. But these are all true of any time one leaves home in a hurry. If you're late for work, the post ends up scattered, milk gets spilt. You come home, knackered from work and the commute, and would like nothing better than to sag in a warm bath. But you can't, you've got other things to do, things to think about, and worry about.
Ok, so it's my fault for attempting to listen to Radio 1. So I've switched to the Storm now. The Storm being a "rock" radio station, whose audience will consist of white males between 14-24 (hence the strangely high repeat rate of The Androids "Do it with Madonna"). And strangely it has the only DJ I remember from SBN.
[In response to the radio] Fuck off Morrissey. Oh, hurrah, it's worked - the Storm's internet streaming appears to have packed up - except as I type it's come back.
And now for Consumption Corner.
- The Doves: The Last Broadcast [£3.99 in Smiths! Their other album was also £3.99]. Excellent music for packing on a hot, humid, sultry, summer's night.
- Black Hawk Down [Cheapish in HMV's sale. Studio, IMDB, Amazon]. I bought it on the recommendation of a friend. I'm now trying to work out what the friend was trying to say. A worrying film. Sumptuously epic in parts, but the subject...well it isn't quite what one expects from a modern American war film. The compounded errors are quite harrowing, and surprising. It's actually quite a good film, just not what I thought it might be. Confusing and slightly unsettling. Basically I was expecting more of a Speilberg "We're the good guys" theme, and the usual show of spectacularly overwhelming power. Instead it's a portrayal of misguided actions, stupidity, naivety and chaos. And wondering if it's worth it, and if there's a better way.
It's also quite fun playing "which classic novel adaptation did they appear in?". That's because there's a surprising number of British actors in it, and as any fool knows, British actors have to have been in at least one Austen-a-like. For example the Doctor was previously Daniel Deronda and ITV's David Copperfield.
I still want to know which compassionate parents choose to call their son Thomas, when their surname is Hardy?
Comfortingly, as I type this, I can feel the whump of a helicopter circling overhead.
- Monsoon Wedding [Um, on Channel 4 on Saturday. Studio, IMDB, Amazon, 1]. Was this made for foreign audiences? Most of the characters prefer to speak in English (though the funding came from a variety of European soruces). It was a great film, and didn't seem to get the balance of subtlety and speed right - it made hints at something, and then carried on making hints, and kept doing it for ages. They could have got away with making subtler hints for less time, and still people would have got it. If making sure people got the message was important, then why merely hint it?
It was interesting, but started to drag in places, but I'm not sure it could have been edited to reduce that without radically altering the feel of the film. It was quite slow moving, and pretty predictable.
I'm just not sure what it was the makers wanted it to be. It's a film, it's a cluster of love stories, it's a bit of social farce, yet there's nothing that hooks the audience. Which means one ends up studying the set (and trying not to get annoyed with the lazy characterisation of some of the bit parts). That and wondering why it flips between feeling like a docusoap, and an epic. It felt aimed more at television than cinema, if that makes any sense.
Not great, but not bad either. Almost indifferent.
As an aside, does anyone know if the shots of movie billboards in Delhi are for films that the studio made? A none-too-subtle plug perhaps? Or were they just whatever was there?
[1] About the Amazon page - I second whoever it was who recommended A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth instead of watching this film. Much more enjoyable and indulgent.
Once again this is tatty and distracted post - largely because I'm finding things to worry about, and think I ought to be doing.
Anyhoo,
Anyway, the point of it is to know better than others, and then do whatever you want regardless.
So, in order to counterbalance the bias in this blog, I shall now launch into the topic of "Dido".
What the hell is that latest thing about? This is Dido - she who creates music for those who don't like music. And now there's a song about her coming back from holiday. Woo! I mean, seriously, it's just dire. The lyrics are laughable, and manage to create that eerie feeling when one know exactly what's coming next. Some people might describe that as well-honed natural flow, whereas I think of it being cliche-ridden, paint-by-numbers rubbish.
How surprising it is that this song appears in mid-August, in peak coming-back-from-holiday season? Sorry, it just annoyed me with its pathetic comments, along the lines of "I should get on, and forget you, but why would I want to?".
That and it's a cynical attempt to foster familiarity by referencing common actions - such as not unpacking the moment you get home (although jetlag and dehydration are usually to blame - even monkeys will procrastinate until just before a deadline), or wanting to have a lingering bath, but thinking you ought to tidy the chaos you left as you packed. But these are all true of any time one leaves home in a hurry. If you're late for work, the post ends up scattered, milk gets spilt. You come home, knackered from work and the commute, and would like nothing better than to sag in a warm bath. But you can't, you've got other things to do, things to think about, and worry about.
Ok, so it's my fault for attempting to listen to Radio 1. So I've switched to the Storm now. The Storm being a "rock" radio station, whose audience will consist of white males between 14-24 (hence the strangely high repeat rate of The Androids "Do it with Madonna"). And strangely it has the only DJ I remember from SBN.
[In response to the radio] Fuck off Morrissey. Oh, hurrah, it's worked - the Storm's internet streaming appears to have packed up - except as I type it's come back.
And now for Consumption Corner.
- The Doves: The Last Broadcast [£3.99 in Smiths! Their other album was also £3.99]. Excellent music for packing on a hot, humid, sultry, summer's night.
- Black Hawk Down [Cheapish in HMV's sale. Studio, IMDB, Amazon]. I bought it on the recommendation of a friend. I'm now trying to work out what the friend was trying to say. A worrying film. Sumptuously epic in parts, but the subject...well it isn't quite what one expects from a modern American war film. The compounded errors are quite harrowing, and surprising. It's actually quite a good film, just not what I thought it might be. Confusing and slightly unsettling. Basically I was expecting more of a Speilberg "We're the good guys" theme, and the usual show of spectacularly overwhelming power. Instead it's a portrayal of misguided actions, stupidity, naivety and chaos. And wondering if it's worth it, and if there's a better way.
It's also quite fun playing "which classic novel adaptation did they appear in?". That's because there's a surprising number of British actors in it, and as any fool knows, British actors have to have been in at least one Austen-a-like. For example the Doctor was previously Daniel Deronda and ITV's David Copperfield.
I still want to know which compassionate parents choose to call their son Thomas, when their surname is Hardy?
Comfortingly, as I type this, I can feel the whump of a helicopter circling overhead.
- Monsoon Wedding [Um, on Channel 4 on Saturday. Studio, IMDB, Amazon, 1]. Was this made for foreign audiences? Most of the characters prefer to speak in English (though the funding came from a variety of European soruces). It was a great film, and didn't seem to get the balance of subtlety and speed right - it made hints at something, and then carried on making hints, and kept doing it for ages. They could have got away with making subtler hints for less time, and still people would have got it. If making sure people got the message was important, then why merely hint it?
It was interesting, but started to drag in places, but I'm not sure it could have been edited to reduce that without radically altering the feel of the film. It was quite slow moving, and pretty predictable.
I'm just not sure what it was the makers wanted it to be. It's a film, it's a cluster of love stories, it's a bit of social farce, yet there's nothing that hooks the audience. Which means one ends up studying the set (and trying not to get annoyed with the lazy characterisation of some of the bit parts). That and wondering why it flips between feeling like a docusoap, and an epic. It felt aimed more at television than cinema, if that makes any sense.
Not great, but not bad either. Almost indifferent.
As an aside, does anyone know if the shots of movie billboards in Delhi are for films that the studio made? A none-too-subtle plug perhaps? Or were they just whatever was there?
[1] About the Amazon page - I second whoever it was who recommended A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth instead of watching this film. Much more enjoyable and indulgent.
Once again this is tatty and distracted post - largely because I'm finding things to worry about, and think I ought to be doing.
Anyhoo,
