Rev Stan's other stuff

Sunday cinema and Radio Five Live

Had a stack of ironing to do on Sunday night and wanted to listen to something talkie to keep me entertained so I decided to give Radio Five Live's weekly cinema review show a spin via webstream. The main film featured was David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises which I'd watched that afternoon.
The usual presenter Mark Kermode was away so they had this idiot called James somebody in his place. I say idiot because I don't think he'd actually watched the film.
He got plot details wrong and he claimed that in the central fight scene, which takes place in a sauna, all the opponents are naked when in fact it is only Viggo Mortensen's character which is. (So if you were listening and are hastening to the cinema to see naked male group grappling you'll be a bit disappointed.)
He also said he found the plot very complicated and would need to see the film a few times to really 'get it'.
I count myself among those people who generally do get easily confused by complicated films but this was one and in fact had a fairly linear story.
Perhaps he should stick to kiddie-films and cartoons.

Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises is about the Russian Mafia in London. A midwife called Anna, played by Naomi Watts, accidentally crosses one faction, while trying to find out the identity of a baby's dead mother by translating her diary. Mortensen plays the big baddies chauffeur, Nikolai, who develops a bit of a soft spot for Anna.
Cronenberg does tense very well. Power and loyalty are key to the story and he shows brilliantly the length's they'll go to get it and demonstrate it. And while there are only two and a bit violent scenes in the film, they are extremely violent and it is the 'less is more approach' which aids dramatic tension: you know these people are extremely nasty and you are waiting, waiting, waiting for it then bam it does.
Not one for extreme violence I had to look into my lap but it was interesting to hear the audience's response: a mixture of urghh's,yeeuw's and laughter.
But ultimately I think the premise of the film is floored. The way the story was resolved seemed just a little bit too simple and in building up the loyalty angle, it was far to easily shot down. I didn't buy it.

The X Factor - 27 October

So I've had a few days to digest. Sharon's 'back', not that I ever believed she'd gone. The major disappointment is that the one bit of eye candy has gone, Daniel, even though he didn't perform well at least he was nice to look at (yes I'm shallow).

Wasn't particularly blown away by any of the performances really but then I did have a dodgy tummy so wasn't in the best mood.
Nikki did well but not quite as good as the first week. The boy band were good for, well a boy band and similarly the girl band. Neither my cup of tea but fairly competent performances compared to the rest of the bunch.
Sharon's group is the weakest and I'll be surprise if either of her remaining contestants last too much longer. I think the 15 year old (see I can't even remember her name that's how much of an impact she made) is being kept in because of her age and people feel for her, being so young and having to do homework as well as rehearse. Life's hard.
Rydian was far too theatrical for my taste and I'll be interested to see how he does during the inevitable Abba week - I'm cringing already.
And Celine Dion the celebrity coach for the week, that woman should audition for a South American soap opera. I've never seen such fake and overblown flattery. I briefly watched her performance of her new single which was hideous even for Celine so maybe it wasn't such a good idea getting her in the help out.
Want out next: Limp Leon - he's completely out of his depth
Predicted to win: Girl band/boy band with Rydian second

It's not the money

So British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton is leaving Britain because he's fed up of press intrusion. Where's he going? Oh yeh, tax-haven Switzerland. Mmmm. Say 'Hi' to Schumacher when you get there Lewis and if you get bored I hear that Monaco is also good for 'keeping away from the press' you can also rub your success in the face of fellow Brit racer David Coulthard who I believe is resident.

Vox Hunt: [this is a good time]

Show us a good time.

Birthday bear - in more ways than one

Not quite sunday cinema

Got tickets to a preview screening of Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I

followed by a Q&A, via satellite link with director Shekhar Kapur and Geoffrey Rush, last night.
I'd really enjoyed the first film and having seen clips of this one, which includes the very handsome Clive Owen, I was quite looking forward to it.
The cinematography is imaginative and beautiful, with some scenes like carefully posed photographs. The costumes, especially Elizabeth's - played by Cate blanchett - are stunningly decadent and vibrant. How it must have felt to wear them?
In the first third of the film, the relationship between the Queen and Sir Walter Raleigh, played by Owen, dominates. His forwardness proves refreshing for the Queen and results in some amusing repartee but then the film lags as their relationship develops and the inevitable war with Spain draws closer. Raleigh, while central to the main thread of the story, seems to fall into the background. Elizabeth's internal struggles fail to engage and there are numerous sub plots detailing conspiracies to kill the queen which are underplayed

The very handsome Clive Owen

and confusing.
Although the director readily admits to playing loosely with historical facts the plot verges on the indulgent and contrived at times. The result is that the lead up to the final battle with the Spanish Armada has little drama and Raleigh's heroics seem to be an overblown Hollywood add-on.
Only an appearance by Clive Owen or Cate Blanchett would have made me stay for the Q&A - Geoffrey Rush's character Walsingham just seems very peripheral. Apparently Khapur spoke at length about religious imagery and the royalties belief of divine right. It goes some way to explaining some of the camera angles and direction but does little to change my overall opinion.

Eat deep-fried Mars bars* and save the planet

It seems kind of appropriate that this is being trialed in Scotland.

 

* A Scottish 'delicacy' for those from outside the British Isles

QotD: This One Goes To 11

What's the best music documentary or concert film you've seen?

If Mosh was answering this, he'd say Spinal Tap.
One I have seen, and with Mosh too in one of his very rare trips to the cinema, is Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which I really enjoyed. I'm not as big a fan of the band as Mosh but I couldn't help welling-up at the end when their usual intro was playing at the first big, live gig after nearly splitting up. (Mosh looked a bit watery-eyed too!)
It was interesting to see the actual people behind the heavy metal rock star persona's, particularly when they were in group therapy.
And I shall never forget the scene where lead singer James Hetfield is shown going to pick his daughter up from her ballet lesson and he's sat at the side of the class in jeans, t-shirt, tattoo's and tash waiting with all the primped, posh Mum's and nannies. Very rock n' roll.

Vox Hunt: My Favorite Local Band

Show us your favorite local band.
Submitted by Soup.

London being the hot bed of talent that it is, there is plenty to choose from. Or there would be if I actually followed the 'local' band scene. But I don't. But I can post this track from the marvellous Brian Jacket Let Down who I haven't seen live yet but I have their album and they are from London and they aren't a big band...yet, so I'm hoping they sort of count.
I love them mainly for their lyrics which silly but up-lifting because of it.

The Brian Jacket Letdown- "Piratas"

QotD: My Lecture on Life Lessons

Dr. Randy Pausch, diagnosed with terminal cancer, delivered a last lecture on life lessons that has been viewed online over a million times.  What would be in your life lessons lecture?

Perspective. On your death bed what will be the things that you'll recall with true fondness and pride. Little else really matters.

The X Factor Saturday 20th October

2006-02-15T16_18_36-08_00

I apologise in advance because as far as I am aware none of my neighbours are X Factor fans but it's my guilty pleasure so hey, I'm going to write about it.
And you never know, some kindred spirit my find me.

So Saturday night was the first live show and a first chance to see just how talented and skilled at coping with nerves the final 12 are.
Most of them were pretty poor and I think it is a little cruel to have last years winner Leona Lewis singing her new single on the results show because a) she is truly talented and b) it really shows you how crap the finalists were in the first show.
But it is early days and some of them might settle into the weekly trauma.
The right person was kicked off: Kimberley. (See her performance here) I always thought that Sharon had made a mistake in choosing her. After all it isn't just a singing competition, it's called the X Factor and sorry but she looked like dumpy barmaid from a back street boozer in Birmingham. And she didn't stand a chance in that awful red dress they'd put her in. It looked like a cheap copy of something Britney wore in a video back in the good old days but made for fat girls. I won't even mention what I thought the lipstick shaped belt buckle looked like.
The only singer who made me sit up and take notice from my lap top was Nikki who did a beautiful version of Nothing Compares to You (and that is one of my other guilty pleasures so it takes a good performance to please me).
And finally, Sharon Osborne needs to get over herself. She's there to manage and support her contestants and should be putting them first rather than stomping off like a spoilt child that doesn't win the present on pass the parcel. If she'd  a) chosen better from her potential pool of finalists and b) chosen better songs for them then perhaps she wouldn't have had two in the sing-off.
Want out next: Rydion or however you spell his name (isn't so full of himself now his crapping his pants having to sing in front of a live studio audience) or Same Difference (Secondary school does Steps)
Predicted to win: Based on Saturday's performance I'd like Nikki but it will probably be the boy or girl band

Vox Hunt: The Good Doctor

Show us your favorite doctor.

Can't decide between these two...mmm

QotD: Take Two of These...

What's your cure for the common cold?

Try not to get one on the first place. (Plenty of fruit and veg and zinc tablets)

Ouch!

I fell off my bike while cycling home tonight. I blame work for making me so tired, its the only explanation I can give for clipping the curb with my peddle.
One second I'm approaching a red light in the cycle lane and the next I'm on the road in front of my bike, virtually under the bumper of flash car that happened to be stopped at the lights.
A kind lady helped me pick my bike up which seems to be fine except for another chunk out of the twist-grip gear leaver.
I've got a bruise on my knee and another on my elbow with a bit of a graze. My arm is a bit achy but I can wriggle all my fingers and generally move everything in reasonable comfort so I think I'll live.
The pavement bruised my pride though.

QotD: The Song Remains The Same

Led Zeppelin will finally offer their music online starting next month.   Of the music you buy, about how much of it do you download and how much do you buy on physical formats (CDs, vinyl, etc.)?

I've very quickly converted to digital, mainly because I'm impatient. If I come across some music I like on the web or someone recommends something or I like the music in a film I've just seen I can buy it and be listening to it within 10 minutes.

Then there is the fact that I'm an iPod junkie.

I've also run out of space on the two shelves allocated for CD's

Not Sunday cinema

After a long day pounding the computer keyboard alone at home, a film like Control was just what I needed to take me out of myself. And now I can't get Love Will Tear Us Apart out of my head.

Sam Riley as Ian Curtis in Control

The attraction was more the reviews and Samantha Morton than the story of Ian Curtis and Joy Division although I do know a handful of their songs.
Morton, who I've always thought to be one of the best actresses of her generation, storms it as the hard done by girlfriend and then wife of the tortured soul that was Ian Curtis. And what a tortured soul he was, played superbly by Sam Riley.
There are some real laugh out loud moments from some of the larger than life characters that surrounded the band, and some of the other band members themselves but it is the gentle and ultimately tragic character of Curtis that enthrals.
I'm off to listen to Joy Division...

Control

Sunday cinema

There has been a really good run of European films in the last year or two and yesterday I went to see another one: The Counterfeiters.

The Counterfeiters

Set in a German concentration camp during the second world war it tells the story of a group of Jewish prisoners who, because of certain skills and talents, are made to work on producing counterfeit money and documents for the Nazis.
They are kept separate and almost in secret from the rest of the camp.
But while they are treated relatively well with comfortable beds and clothing, given enough to eat and  music to listen to while they work, the horror experienced by the unseen inmates on the other side of the wooden fence is never far away. And the precarious nature of their essentially privileged position is a presence that can't be taken for granted.
The central theme is survival and how they reconcile their own treatment with what is happening beyond the fence. Should survival be at any cost?
There are some wonderful moments and, naturally, some harrowing ones. It was both an interesting and thought provoking film.

Vox Hunt: These Are My DVDs

Show us your DVD collection.

No, because there are too many guilty pleasures in there and my reputation is already in tatters.

Vox Hunt: My Latest Download

Audio:  Show us a song or album you've recently downloaded.

I was a bit naughty and bought a couple of albums from iTunes last night: Goldfrapp's Felt Mountain and Beirut's new one The Flying Club Cup. No audio clips because both are file protected, sorry, but I found a video of one of Goldfrapp's tracks, Lovely Head, which is just fabulous.

Goldfrapp - Lovely Head (Version 1)

Telly that is just wrong

Doing a bit of channel hopping and caught a few minutes of Street Doctor. The premise is that a qualified Doctor takes his surgery to the, er, streets.
I came into the programme part way through a discussion between the Street Doctor and a woman about urinary infections and cystitis. It was taking in place in the street.
After explaining what they were the Doc decided to see if the woman had indeed got a urinary infection and sent her off to a nearby, what looked like cafe, with a sample container to pee into. Cue panning shots of local shop windows presumably to take your mind off what is going on in the cafe toilets.
She then returned with her specimen sample clasped in hand which the freshly be-gloved Doc took from her, placed on a convenient window sill and proceed to test for a urinary infection with what looked like a sophisticated piece of litmus paper.
When he started to say "And yes this indicates that there is blood in your urine a sure sign of a urinary infection" I'm afraid I had to turnover.
There are certain things I don't want to see on telly. A strangers sample of piss is one.
A strangers sample of piss being tested in the street, well I don't know who was more mortified me or her. Did she somehow think it would be more embarrassing to go and visit her GP, in the privacy of their surgery, than airing her ailment to a strange man on the street in front of a film crew?
What is wrong with these people?
I mean, how do they set it up? Do the film crew arrive and a producer runs around, with clip-board, looking for volunteers with health issues they'd be happy to have diagnosed on camera? Did this woman think, 'oh yeh I've got a burning sensation when I pee I know I'll get that seen to on air'?
It's 'info-tainment' gone mad. I admit, I'm completely aghast.

Pension tours

There was a time not so long ago when the idea of seeing Led Zeppelin live would have been up there in my top five fantasy gigs. However now that it has become a reality, on reflection, I'd really rather not.
The Led Zeppelin I'd like to see would be full of frenetic, youthful and drug-induced energy combined with a heavy dose of rock arrogance.
The songs may be the same but the performance thirty or so years later would be more like watching your dad trying desperately to recreate some life's highlight from his youth that is slightly embarrassing now - albeit pulled-off with superb technical skill and competency.

Music I'd forgotten I liked

Just listening to PJ Harvey's White Chalk on my iBook and when the last track was over the next song in the list alphabetically started to play and it was this instrumental entitled Bulletproof Cupid from Sleeping with the Enemy by Placebo. I'm going to call these tracks random rediscoveries.

Bulletproof Cupid

Vox Hunt: Hot Ticket and Hamlet generally

Show us some tickets you bought for an upcoming event.

This is my most recent purchase and I've got to wait until next August before I can redeem it. But it was definitely worth getting the ticket early because David Tennant (Dr Who, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Casanova) is playing Hamlet and Jen and I will have front row seats!

Hamlet ticket

Hamlet is my favourite Shakespeare play and it will be refreshing to see quite a young actor in the role. I've always felt the lead should be played by someone youthful so as to best represent the turmoil and indecision that inevitably comes with someone of a young age having to deal with such dramatic events in their life. There is also an element of 'me, me, me' in the character which is tinged with teen.
But this isn't the only production of Hamlet planned for the big stage. As Tennant finishes his run, Jude Law (Closer, Talented Mr Ripley) takes up the reins for the Donmar Warehouse in London.

David "Dr Who" Tennant

Now Jude Law has never struck me as a particularly outstanding actor. Indeed one colleague, and fellow lover of the stage, commented on hearing the news that Law was play the great Dane: "You might as well throw a tea bag on the stage".

Jude "tabloid fodder" Law

I've subsequently heard that Law is a fairly accomplished stage actor and has been treading the boards since his teens. It will be 2009 until I get to decide which is the closest assessment because I certainly plan on going to see it, if only to compare the two performances.

PJ Harvey - White Chalk

I'm a bit of a PJ Harvey fan. When I'm in the mood for her. I saw her live once and she was superb, putting so much energy into her performance that she actually fell over backwards mid-song. She just got straight back up and carried on as if no one had noticed. I don't think she had really so entranced was she in the performance.
Her new album sees her recording with just a piano and drum which is a bit of a departure from her normal guitar-led recording.
There are some songs that immediately caught me and others that really grated. And that hasn't changed with repeated listening.
The first two-thirds of the album is definitely the stronger or easier to listen to depending on personal preference. The later songs deteriorate into the sort of screechy amateur-sounding singing that French and Saunders parody.
Here's a clip of one of my favourite songs being performed live recently - the MP3 files I bought are all locked, bah*!

PJ Harvey - Silence in Manchester

Fingers crossed, I've unlocked it:

01 Silence

PJ Harvey