Beginners: a tale of love and uncertainty
January 9, 2012
hope
love
trust
friendship
failure
loss
partnership
laughter
An evening with men on the moon
September 17, 2010
Last weekend, I spent a day in blistering sunshine dancing to techno at Green and Blue festival in Frankfurt. In stark contrast, this Wednesday saw me taking my seat at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall to watch a performance of something quite unbeknown to me – Brian Eno’s Apollo. A far cry from bass fuelled house music.
For those of you equally unacquainted with the man and his work, Mr Eno is an English music composer who is best known for his ambient sounds, for being a member of the glam rock band Roxy Music, and for his collaborations with rock and super stars such as U2 and David Bowie.
Back in the 80s, Eno was commissioned to craft the soundtrack for two years worth of footage filmed during man’s first trip to the moon. In the film (which has been edited and its speed increased thankfully), you follow the astronauts on their journey from blast off to life on the moon, plus witness the infamous moment when Neil Armstrong proudly erects the USA’s flag. Unsurprisingly, not one single word is uttered along the way. Instead, this silent movie is accompanied by an extraordinary tale told through the sound of oboes, pan-pipes, electric violins, guitars, flutes and drums all played by the 13 strong ensemble Icebreaker, and guest starring the legendary 70s musician BJ Cole on his pedal steel guitar.
The performance is an eerie experience, a poignant trip that at some moments lead you to believe you may have accidentally encroached on a lover’s holiday to an alternative Hawaii (thanks to a couple in space suits frolicking together to the sound of Cole’s hula hula synth notes).
The reality is that together, the footage and live orchestra make this an undeniably magnificent journey. It’s an experience that ironically, brings you and your feet back down to earth and awakens the vulnerability of human kind within you. Deep? Maybe. Unmissiable? Absolutely.
Be the best you can be, be a pioneer
July 27, 2010
Check out this incredible short film made by the iconic denim brand Levis and directed by Australian Screenwriter John Hillcoat (director of 2009 film The Road).
The message is simple: be inspired, be the best at what you do. Heed Levi’s motivational words now, go forth and fulfil your potential. What is there to wait for?
What’s your guilty secret?
April 17, 2009
Whilst i’m not one to be shy so to speak, there’s a certain prerequisite in society that prevents everyone from being their true self a lot of the time. At work, in the presence someone new, at an interview – probably more than you realise. But everyone has a guilty secret right?
On my way to work, I was pondering this thought. This included thinking that what I considered a perfectly non-guilty secret, is probably not considered so by some others. At which point I thought, ”well, who cares what other’s think, right?”. It also happens to probably be more of a dirty secret (or as of the next paragraph, not so much of a secret any longer).
So, here it is: I shamelessly love Jason Statham films and for one reason and one reason only; the man himself. Beefed up, covered in dirt, gravelly voice and all. Yes, most of his films (including the recently watched Death Race) are utterly awful but for me, well, let’s face it, it’s not exactly about the plot.
So there you have it; Guilty Secret mark one – of probably a thousand others. Which prompts me to ask the question, what’s yours?
After all, maybe a guilty secret shared is a secret halved of guilt…
It’s not that he’s not into you, It’s just not that good a film.
February 12, 2009
I was reading the book almost four years ago at a time when i was in the midst meeting someone that really was that into me – according to ‘The Book’. So, when I heard there was a film being released with a star studded cast including Jennifer Anniston, Ben Affleck, Scarlet Johansson, Kevin Connolly, Jennifer Connelly and Drew Barrymore, I was keen to see if He’s Just Not That Into You the movie was any good. So last night, as in similar form with Sex And The City the movie, myself and a gaggle of girls went to watch it.
Despite heavy Americanisms, the book itself holds a truth that every girl seems to constantly avoid when dating. If he’s not calling, if he’s not sleeping with you, If he’s not marrying you – he’s really just is not that into you. It’s that simple and it’s a motto that all girls should seriously adopt and pronto. Stop checking your phone for missed calls and messages six billion times, clinging onto the hope he’s going to call (whether your care to admit it or not, we’ve all done it). If he liked you, he’d have called.
The movie focuses on three couples at common relationship stages and one womans quest (Ginnifer Goodwin) to find love. Jennifer Connelly and Bradley Cooper (of Yes Man fame) are married in the film. Scarlet Johansson and Kevin Connolly are friends ‘with benefits’ and Jennifer Anniston and Ben Affleck’s characters are childhood sweethearts. Drew Barrymore’s quest for love seems to be an almost secondary story to the film. The characters all follow a journey to find out whether they follow ‘The Rule’ or are ‘The Exception’ to it. Without giving too much away, there are some very funny, some utterly truthful and some heavily unrealistic scenes (but we all need a happy ending to make a good film right?).
Essentially, I was heavily disappointed with the film version of He’s Just Not That Into You which I suppose, as a horror fan as opposed to rom com, isn’t too surprising. Whilst the advice simply couldn’t be more true, if you haven’t read the book, my advice is to buy it now, skip the film (unless you really aren’t getting the message) and hold true to the advice offered from both.
Ok, so the plot is guaranteed to be horrific (and i don’t mean scary) but anyone who knows me will testify to how much of an over enthusiastic horror fan i am. So, it’s that time of year again (well almost) and Valentines day is almost upon us. Spurn the chocolates, slushy cards and head to the movies to watch My Bloody Valentine in 3D. I will be.
It’s in cinemas from tomorrow and is a remake from the original 1981 version. Set in a little US town named none other than Harmony, it’s a classic revenge tale starring an almost fairly decent cast. Enter Sin City’s lesser known eye candy Jaime King and horror aficionado Kerr Smith who earned his horror stripes in Final Destination. Fans of TV series Lost will be interested to know that Zack Grobler had a hand in producing this remake. And, following a slasher trend, it’s the second horror to be released in 3D with Scar 3D previously released in November 2008 (as opposed to this January 09 as i mentioned earlier).
You can watch the trailer on the website which itself is trying very hard to be 3D. Seems like web 2.0′s not quite there yet. It’d also appear the web designers who created it have failed to consider that it makes navigating the site a royal pain in the ar*e.
However, regardless of a really rather crap trailer, missing plot and low budget cast, i have every confidence My Bloody Valentine will have bums on seats purely for the 3D factor. As a horror devotee, i for one will be celebrating early and treating myself to a bloodbath of a Valentines day this coming weekend. Slushy stuff can wait ’till next year.
Scar 3D – Slasher horror just got a whole lot scarier
October 21, 2008
As a bit of a horror film enthusiast, imagine my excitement in discovering that in January, the first horror film in 3D will be released.
Scar 3D is due to hit the cinemas in January 2009 and has been filmed using cutting edge Real D technology, enabling it to be shown in High Definition live-action 3D. If you’re a horror fan (and I don’t know many other than myself), it’s worth checking out the website here for all sorts of ‘making of’ and post production stills. With a z list cast and fairly unknown filmmakers including director Jed Weintrob (sorry who? I doubt many of you will remember his 1994 film Pumpkinhead II), this is definitely a flick to check out simply for it’s gory cutting edge technology – including ‘spraying’ the audience in blood. Roll on January…here’s hoping it lives up to the hype.
