If a double decker bus
Is such a heavenly way to die
Crashes into us
To die by your side
And if a ten ton truck,
Kills the both of us, (So what!)
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure, the priviledge is mine.
There is a light that never sleeps – Morrissey
but the new Morrissey live album – Live at Earls Court – is truly amazing. A mix of songs from last years ‘You are the Quarry’ and stuff from his earlier works. There are some truly majestic works on here…a great version of ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’ and ‘Don’t make fun of Daddys Voice’ and the stand-out track for me ‘The more you ignore me, the closer I get’. Theres also a point that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up…on ‘there is a light that never goes out…’ Morrissey sings ‘To die by your side, is such a heavenly way to die….’, and you can hear the whole crowd singing along….truly remarkable.
I have a strange relationship with Morrisseys music…at the peak of The Smiths popularity, I hated him…and them…hated their music and image, but somewhere recently I had a renaissance and really started to enjoy his performance, and lyrics. This live album is a perfect example of what I like…theres a pomp and occasion which I really appreciate – along with some really tight music and lyrics which make for a fantastic live event.
Thought that i could organise freedom
How scandinavian of me
You sussed it out, didn’t you?
Genius!
Layer Cake. Another British gangster flick? Sienna Millers first movie? The natural successor to Snatch? You could say all of those, but I’d prefer to leave this one on its own…its true that it has an all star british cast, its true that the script is on fire and that the editing and camerawork is electric…but theres a few things you don’t expect in here.
I mean…you don’t expect that all the british young-guns will be upstaged by two old hands, Kenneth Cranham and Michael Gambon are the real hard men in this one, you don’t expect Sienna Miller to appear in only three scenes (seeing as thats her Agent Provcateur scanties that were plastered all over the bill boards), and you certainly don’t expect the ending to be like it is. Its a really well made movie, suitably glamourous, violent and laden with charlie inhaling, pill gobbling loonies. I bloody enjoyed it!
This could be a long post…I’ve been away for about 10 days, in Beijing….photos to come from that trip…but while I was away, I watched a few movies which I need to catch up on…first up was Sideways – watched on the plane, courtesy of British Airways.
Its the first ‘laugh out loud’ movie I’ve watched in a long time, featuring two friends on a roadtrip around Northern California as they prepare for the wedding of one of them…they trek round vineyards, and bedrooms…and get themselves into some very funny situations. Its excellently observed, and sharply scripted. I really enjoyed this.
Then on my return trip, I watched two movies – Vera Drake – starring Imelda Staunton…who plays an amazing part as a quiet, humble woman who performs ‘backstreet’ abortions in 1950′s London. She sees it as a service (justifiably) but when one of her ‘girls’ becomes ill, the law step in and see things with different eyes.
Imelda Staunton is truly remarkable in this film – managing to convince you from frame one of her intentions and natural goodness…the cast around are excellent, with Phil Daniels playing her husband. Its a fantastic film, a little heavy in the content at times, but very watchable.
With an 11 hour day-time flight (and little sleep_, you need to back up the film watching – so I turned to the latest movie starring one of my favourite actors – Christian Bale (soon to be Batman!). The Machinist stars Bale as Trevor Reznick in a very dark tale of obsession, guilt and psychosis – as Bales character tries to deal with the aftermath of a life changing event.
This is a very dark story – almost free of time or geography, but pressed by an amazing sense of the feelings inside Christian Bale, which gives a good idea of how fine an actor he is developing into. He lost 60 pounds to play this role – and his emaciated body is truly one of the key factors in making the film believable. Its not for the squeamish or faint-hearted, but it is really worth checking out if you enjoy the film-noir.
…on watching movies, but this week I managed to watch Ladder 49 – with Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta. Its a simple story of a young fireman (Phoenix) who gets injured in a particularly bad accident, and as he lays injured – recalls his life as a firefighter. 
I have to confess to crying like a baby during this film…but I won’t say why – no spoilers here! What I will say, is that I really enjoyed this…its dark enough to feal realistic about the fires…and theres some very clever camerawork to give an impression of claustrophobia and disorientation when the fires are being fought. Phoenix is great as a young man growing into his role as a life-saver, and the old hands in the fire house (led by Travolta) play their part in his rites-of-passage. Its a little cheesy (in an american hero kind of way) but ultimately very enjoyable and well made. Enjoy this one…
I’m not so sure to be honest…I mean, on paper – you’d have to say that Alexander looks an attractive prospect, Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer and Anthony Hopkins along with a pretty strong supporting cast. And then, they’ll throw millions of dollars at it, and send them into the desert to film it, with Oliver Stone running things…I mean, that can’t be bad can it?
Well, unfortunately – the stuff that was bad far outweighed the stuff that was good. The scenery, the costumes, the battle scenes and the storyline…were pretty good, but I had real trouble forming any kind of bond with the characters, Colin Farrell had all the inner rage required, just none of the bravery and steel that you would expect from Alexander of Macedon….Angeline Jolie played Olympias like a crazed lunatic (with a bad accent). Kilmer and Hopkins were OK, but the distraction of Colin Farrells accent and acting, put me right off. Enjoyable for the action and the scenery….not for the acting.
I don’t often watch comedy DVD’s, but Christmas time bought the Ricky Gervais stand up show – Politics, and tonight I fancied some light relief…so I thought I’d check this out.
Once you forget the fact that he played David Brent in the Office…its easy to see why so many people rate his stand up work – top timing, great topical gags…and even some classic old jokes retold with a new twist. Its brilliant stuff and the whole DVD flew past…theres some extras on the DVD – documentary, and interviews – so its worth the investment if you fancy a good giggle!
I’d forgotten how good live music could be – its been ages since I checked out a live gig, but Tuesday night saw me in London at the Electric Ballroom in Camden to see The Dears from Montreal.
This six piece first popped onto my radar courtesy of the dude working in HMV London, as I wandered round I was listening to the shop PA playing tracks from their recent album – No Cities Left. They are often compared to The Smiths or the lead singer to Damon Albarn – but I prefer to think of it as simply really cool power pop, huge anthemic songs with a strong voice to top it all. The Electric Ballroom is still intimate enough to get a good feel for a band, and they managed to really rock the place – key tracks like 22:Death of all the Romance and We Can Have It, sat well alongside some new material. Check the album out, its well worth the ten quid, and if you get a chance to see them live…then take me with you!
Is my favourite line from the follow up to the remake – Oceans 12 – which stars a whole host of people, even the Arsenal Football team, who show up looking cool, and inadvertantly help the crooks out during an escape.
The whole cast are back from Oceans 11 – but a couple of cool additions pop up to add some variety, Catherine Zeta-Jones as a very sexy and cool European detective, Vincent Cassell as the coolest gentleman thief ever and Bruce Willis shows up playing….well…Bruce Willis! The stars of the film are still George Clooney and Brad Pitt – who run around looking as cool as ever, robbing people of impossibly expensive bits of art. Brad Pitt still dresses better than every one else in the world. Don Cheadle still turns in the worst cockernee accent since Dick Van Dyke, and Andy Garcia is back being mean and nasty all round. This is an excellent movie with some great twists and plot devices, 2 hours of pure diversion and good looks. Go and see it…its essential watching for 2005.
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