| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4616 Registered: 05-2005 |
Shaun Micallef's Mad As Hell. The first episode was hilarious. The second less so. But it will pick up once federal parliament is back. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4617 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Late Late Show 50th anniversary special on RTE's website. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 591 Registered: 10-2006 |
Game of thrones - season 2 The main aim of this series sometimes seems to be to lay bare the massed ranks of young up and coming British actresses, not a wholly dishonourable intention in itself perhaps, but otherwise it does have a real sense of the epic which TV hasn't had for a while, casting me back to my teenage obsession for Tolkein, Moorcock, Leiber, Burroughs, Norman etc. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 727 Registered: 04-2005 |
Stunning Aretha Franklin performance from '68 in Amsterdam. Quite a few tunes from 'Lady Soul'. God, that voice... The first of 3 parts is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmxQLFIdr Wg&feature=youtu.be Seems like half the audience is actually seated on the stage ! When Aretha plays the piano there seems to be a boy about 14 years old sitting next to her. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4620 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Shadow Line. Second episode was all exposition. Hmmm. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4623 Registered: 05-2005 |
40 Sad Portraits Of Closed Record Stores http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/40-sad-po rtraits-of-closed-record-stores I spent many happy hours in the Dublin one. Also in the San Francisco Tower. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4624 Registered: 05-2005 |
Better news: 40 Portraits Of Independent Record Stores Still Open For Business http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/40-portra its-of-independent-record-stores-still-o p I've been to three or four of these too. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1662 Registered: 08-2006 |
Sad to see Dayton's Gem City on the "closed" list. My mom lived in Dayton for a few years and I hit up that spot on several occasions. The weird thing is - and this is true of so many of my record-buying trips to physical stores - I remember everything I bought there. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4633 Registered: 05-2005 |
Watching the football from Euro 2012. Can't wait till Ireland play. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1841 Registered: 10-2008 |
Sunday is shaping up to be a cracking day. Ireland against Croatia and Spain against Italy. With the England freakshow to come from Monday onwards. England are unravelling at a rapid rate and if they ended the group with zero points would anybody be surprised? In some ways I prefer the Euros to the World Cup. Sure it lacks the South American flair, and the emerging African nations but the early stages of the World Cup have too many weak teams involved and some of the games are dreadful. The Euros are more compact and most teams are of a relatively high standard. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4634 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just watched the Australia vs Wales rugby test. What a game. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2441 Registered: 10-2004 |
Padraig, thanks for that uplifting link. So sad. The only record store from that list I can claim to have gone to is the Tower Records in San Francisco. I actually have fond memories of Tower - in the 80s, it was actually a pretty good store. They had an expansive and well stocked import section. Bought quite a few LPs there. I miss record stores. There's only one (with LPs) in Bratislava, and it has a pretty low turnover in terms of its stock of new used vinyl. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 473 Registered: 05-2005 |
the rugby was brilliant as Padraig says, Australia on the rebound after losing to Scotland on tuesday were superb, they blew Wales away in the first half and ran sublime lines all game. Wales passing was poor and intensity not there in first half | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 594 Registered: 10-2006 |
Have to give the European football a miss this time round, the photos that have been coming out over the last year have just been too nauseating. But I was amazed to see that some bars (in Italy!!!) are doing the same. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2968 Registered: 03-2005 |
I don't check this thread often. I wasn't expecting that great link to independent record stores in the U.S.. Thanks Padraig! Jeff, the SF Tower Records has the distinction of being the place that turned me on to the Fall in 1986. I was on a rare and brief visit to the town and popped into the local Tower. They played "This Nation's Saving Grace" over the store's sound system although I had not properly noted at the time which album they played. I came home to Los Angeles and bought a copy of "Bend Sinister" from one of our now-long-gone independent stores, Aron's Records. I will always remember that SF Tower Records with gratitude. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2442 Registered: 10-2004 |
Randy, that's a cool memory. The SF Tower was an awesome store in the 80s. I always loved going in there. The Tower down the peninsula in Los Altos, not far from where my dad used to live, was similarly great, and it had an amazing import section. It was there that I made my very first Cocteau Twins purchase: Treasure. However, the Tower in Berkeley, on Durant just up from Telegraph, was always pretty mediocre. I mean, it had the infinitely superior (then, at least) Rasputin around the corner, and Leopold practically right next door. It was like, they didn't even bother trying very hard, because what was the point? Nobody really went in there except for clueless tourists. My friends and I only went into to the Berkeley Tower if we were desperate to find something that Rasputin or Leopold didn't happen to have in stock. It was nevertheless a bit disconcerting to watch Tower's decline over the course of the 90s. By the mid-90s it was already a mere shadow of its former self. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 601 Registered: 10-2006 |
La resa dei conti - Cracking spaghetti Western with Lee van Cleef and a way over the top Morricone score. Van Cleef always looks so elegant, he had a real physical grace. Good, lightly political story too here, and some excellent characters, including a suave, monocled Austrian bodyguard. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2232 Registered: 09-2006 |
I haven't lived in Seattle for 6 years so I was unaware that the Cellophane Square stores had closed. They and Tower (who had two Seattle stores, one a couple blocks from CS in the University District) were my hubs from the 80s onward. I have plenty of memories of buying records from and chatting with future members of Pearl Jam and the Young Fresh Fellows. The Descendants - pretty darn good. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4659 Registered: 05-2005 |
Watched episodes 4 and 5 of The Shadow Line last night. The various threads are finally knitting together. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4664 Registered: 05-2005 |
Apology to Cosmo: You are right. The Shadow Line was completely over acted and just not very good. The thing that annoyed me most was that every one of the seemingly one thousand plot twists was explained by exposition. The first thing you learn in film school is "Show me, don't tell me". The Shadow Line was almost exclusively "tell me". Sorry Cosmo, I'll listen more closely in future. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 481 Registered: 05-2005 |
No problem Padraig, our previous exchange made me think that I should be a little more cautious with my criticism in future. You are right about the exposition which is almost always the result of poor or lazy script writing. I actually really wanted to like The Shadow Line, god knows there is a pau city of good English TV drama but it was a failure and as one esteemed critic previously stated it sucked. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 603 Registered: 10-2006 |
Episodes Matt leBlanc embraces the obstreperous ghost of Joey, is extremely funny and wins an award. The fight scene between two guys who have obviously never been in a fight in their lives and have no idea how to go about it is wonderful. A bit hit and miss, as a whole, but still great fun. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4672 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dumb & Dumber. Needed to watch something laugh out loud funny to remove the bad taste left by The Shadow Line. Was surprised by how poor the DVD transfer is though. I bought it a long time ago and hadn't previously seen it on a decent TV, but it doesn't look any better than watching a VHS through a crappy TV. I presume it has been remastered in the meantime. I have a very basic DVD with no extras. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4681 Registered: 05-2005 |
Went to see Ted today. Very funny. And quite touching in parts too. (I was a touch discombobulated by the fact that everyone else in the cinema was teen/20s couples - I hadn't expected it to be a Sunday afternoon date movie). | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2386 Registered: 01-2005 |
Speaking of Dumb & Dumber, Jeff Daniel has got nice role that he can sink his teeth into as the news anchor in HBO's new series "The Newsroom". I'll watch the second episode when I get home this weekend. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2234 Registered: 09-2006 |
Moonrise Kingdom Being that I'm a huge Wes Anderson fan the chances of me not loving this were slim - the question would more be how much will I love it. I think it's one of his very best. Padraig, given some of the movies you've mentioned liking I have the feeling that you might like this one. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2235 Registered: 09-2006 |
It also includes a cute scene with the two 12-year-old leads dancing to Francoise Hardy (it takes place in 1965). | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 606 Registered: 10-2006 |
Project Runway, series 6, 7, 8 Too damn hot to work here in the afternoons so I have to hide in my sister-in-law’s cellar and watch this until the air in the upper world becomes breathable. And I’m now terribly addicted. While using all the usual sneaky reality mechanisms, in the end it’s down to the personalities and amazing creativity and flair of the young designers taking part, and some of the things they do are breathtaking, even to a slob like me who cares not a fig about fashion. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4685 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just back from a lovely trip to Dunedin. While there my daughter and I went to two movies. Ice Age 4 was OK (my daughter really liked it though), but we both had a blast at The Three Stooges. I applaud how they explained at the end that they had used rubber hammers and didn't really poke anyone in the eye. Allen, I will check out Moonrise Kingdom. I'm a huge Wes Anderson fan too. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4692 Registered: 05-2005 |
Life's Too Short on ABC iview | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4694 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Got it for $9 in Kmart in Dunedin. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2395 Registered: 01-2005 |
Into The Wild | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4701 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mike Scott reads from Adventures Of A Waterboy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAZn4-e-z UM | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4706 Registered: 05-2005 |
I hate graffiti, but this is funny http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/07/th e-affection-of-urban-infrastructure-on-t he-streets-of-olsztyn-poland/ | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2397 Registered: 01-2005 |
Anatomy of a Murder - Criterion edition. A great cast from stem to stern, James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden and Arthur O'Connell. Heck even Duke Ellington even shows up playin some jazz! Jazz in the UP of Michigan seen strange, but then again it was the 1950's and jazz was hugely popular back then. Amateur actor Joseph Welch plays the judge, but was more famous for his role in the McCarthy hearings with his retort "Have you no sense of decency" to the junior senator from Wisconsin. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2401 Registered: 01-2005 |
Paris, Texas - Criterion edition One of the best movies of the 1980's. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 733 Registered: 04-2005 |
“L’Appartement” (1996) by Gilles Mimouni. Great thriller with a great cast (Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci and Romane Bohringer), with more twists than a thing with a lot of twists. Very strangely it remains the director’s only cinema film (although he appears to have recently done work for French TV). http://most-underrated-movies.blogspot.c om/2011/03/lappartement-gilles-mimouni-1 996.html | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 734 Registered: 04-2005 |
Jacques Audiard’s “De rouille et d'os“ ('Rust and Bone'), with an absolutely incredible performance by Marion Cotillard. And without giving too much away “how did they do that with her legs?”. I was glad to be able to see it at the cinema, in the sense that the magic of being in that darkened space with the big screen and some amazing images worked its spell. But overall I felt the same as I had with “De battre mon cśur s'est arręté “ (‘The Beat That My Heart Skipped’), in the sense that you do not feel a depth to the characterisation and it is difficult to understand people’s motivations. I have not seen the director’s “Un Prophčte”, which received excellent reviews. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2414 Registered: 01-2005 |
The Detroit Tigers winning 13 of their last 15 games. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4744 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sherlock, season 2. Not as good as season 1, but still very good. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1928 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Sopranos Box Set. Even better after all those years. In a programme with many brilliant characters has there ever been such a fantastic creation as Uncle Junior? The violence towards women got a bit OTT in series 3 mind you. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2416 Registered: 01-2005 |
I've got some mixed reactions about the Sopranos these days. While the first few season hold up nicely, I didn't care for the last couple as much. Too bad HBO didn't continue with Deadwood, as their were many storylines they could have explored. From what I've read, Deadwood episodes were realy expensive and the cost factor was the reason HBO shut it down. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4760 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spooks, season 1. I've got all the DVDs, but have only regularly seen the last three or four series. I'm not sure I ever previously saw anything on season 1. Neither of the first two episodes anyway. It's quite amazing how something that is only a decade old looks so old. I think it's because they technology they used in later series was so futuristic, though I suppose the gear they used in 2002 looked futuristic then. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4776 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jo Nesbo's Jackpot. I think it was just called Jackpot in other parts of the world. I bet its name was changed in Australia to try to entice fans of the translated versions of Jo Nesbo's books to go to a sub-titled film. Judging by the neat empty cinema when I saw it yesterday, this has not worked so far, which is a pity, because the film is laugh out loud hilarious, as well as gruesome. I loved it. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 738 Registered: 04-2005 |
Marcel Ophuls masterful documentary 'Le chagrin et la pitié' ('The Sorrow and the Pity'). OK, accepted that the idea of a 4 and a half hour long film of people talking about the Vichy government may not be an immediately gripping prospect. Plus the film is the butt of a Woody Allen joke about great date movies in ‘Annie Hall’ (or is it ‘Manhattan’ ?). But there is maybe a good reason why the film regularly gets voted top documentary of all time? And the fact that the French did not want to fund the film at all, and didn’t even show it on television for at least a decade after it was released? But the reality is that it is extremely gripping. So gripping that I was extremely annoyed when the first DVD had a fault and refused to play after the first hour! Essentially the film sets out to present the history of this dark period in French history, centering on the town of Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne. So we have oral accounts from shopkeepers (one of whom placed an advert in the local paper to reassure his customers that he was certainly not of Jewish extraction even if his surname might have given that impression) to local peasants that were active in the resistance, one of whom is deported after being turned in by a neighbour. But those interviewed come from far wider afield too; from the leading French (Jewish) politician Pierre Mendčs France, to a very articulate Anthony Eden, to the French member of the aristocracy that joins the French division of the SS, to German soldiers. You realize how the resistance was so largely drawn from the left, and how the Vichy government seized the opportunity to unravel so much that the 30’s socialist government, the Front Populaire under a Jewish PM (Léon Blum) had constructed. But there is almost a sense that for some of the far right and the aristocracy they wanted to go further back and unwind what the revolution had achieved. It is notable that for the period of the Vichy government, the state motto of ‘Liberté,égalité, fraternité’ was replaced by the sinister sounding ‘ Travail, famille, patrie’ (work, family, fatherland). Before watching the film I had no idea that the British navy had attacked the French off the coast off Algeria in 1940, killing almost 1300 French sailors. Although they were not actually at war, the British were afraid that the ships would be used against the Allies and not receiving sufficient assurances from the French attacked. The result was a German propaganda coup, which the Vichy government used as well to whip up anti British sentiment. The whole issue of collaboration with Nazi Germany remains a complex issue for France. In the film Anthony Eden refuses to answer when asked his opinion of French behaviour, stating that any country that was not occupied cannot pass judgment on a country that was. Yet some issues such as the appalling efficiency of the rounding up of French Jews by the French state have only begun to be addressed in recent years. Maybe De Gaulle’s ploy of the myth of the resistance was the only way to quickly heal a country that would have torn itself apart otherwise? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2421 Registered: 01-2005 |
Thanks for the review of 'Le chagrin et la pitié' ('The Sorrow and the Pity'). I need to check it out so I'll add it to my short list. Have you ever seen Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie? | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 740 Registered: 04-2005 |
No Michael, but I would certainly like to. Just watched Chris Marker's 'La Jetée' on YouTube, a short film which has an enormous reputation in the history of cinema. Marker has just died aged 91 and seems to have been a very interesting artist. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3016 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks for that great summary Andrew. I've never seen "The Sorrow and the Pity" and I love ambiguous (and ambivalent) political history. Yes, I always associated it with Woody Allen's comic line. I think my second favorite thing I did while in London this past spring was visit the Imperial War Museum, notwithstanding how appalled I was when one of my travel companions suggested it. (My first favorite thing was to spend the afternoon with an ex-pat friend of mine who is homesick for the States.) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4789 Registered: 05-2005 |
I feel a bit shallow after all the posts above about war documentaries... I saw Campaign yesterday on Thursday night. It was good, with some very funny parts, but it was occasionally a little too crass even for my taste. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4792 Registered: 05-2005 |
I went to see Bernie last night. It's very good, though the whole thing can't help but make you think of mortality. The non-professional actors were fantastic. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4798 Registered: 05-2005 |
An Irish show called Hardy Bucks on YouTube. Very funny. I'd never come across it before, but was tipped off by a Kiwi friend whom I used to work with in Dublin back in the day. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4799 Registered: 05-2005 |
We went to an Australian film called The Sapphires last night. It's a great, feel-good movie based on the real story of an Aboriginal girl group from the 1960s. Highly recommended when it gets to your town. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4820 Registered: 05-2005 |
Clint Eastwood's speech at the RNC. Oh. My. God. Jaw droppingly awful. (My jaw literally dropped open). I feel so sorry for him. How dreadfully embarrassing for him. I've seen better speeches by drunken uncles at weddings. How could one of the greatest film makers ever do that to himself? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4821 Registered: 05-2005 |
It's here by the way. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2 012/08/30/video_of_clint_eastwood_s_rnc_ speech_.html | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4823 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thin Lizzy - The Last Filmed Performance. Recorded in Dublin on the Thunder And Lightning tour. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2434 Registered: 01-2005 |
Perhaps Clint should have thought this before stepping out on stage with that chair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VrFV5r8c s0 | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4838 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spooks, season 4. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4856 Registered: 05-2005 |
Madagascar 3. It was great. Recommended for any of you looking for something to take a child to see that you will enjoy too. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4865 Registered: 05-2005 |
Went to see The Watch this afternoon. Pretty stupid, but also pretty funny in parts. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 757 Registered: 04-2005 |
Clips from the French national archives here is the very very lovely Françoise... http://www.ina.fr/divertissement/chanson s/video/I05045439/francoise-hardy-ma-jeu nesse-fout-le-camp.fr.html | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4877 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spooks, season 5. Alan Partridge - Mid Morning Matters. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4895 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mid Morning Matters is absolutely hilarious. I loved it. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 563 Registered: 05-2005 |
New season of Sons of Anarchy is great, first episode crazy and sucked me back in right away. New season of Boardwalk Empire kicked off with a very good episode | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4898 Registered: 05-2005 |
The three of us went to Hotel Transylvania today. Mum, Dad and daughter all loved it. It's a pity my fellow Irish man, Bram Stoker, was not credited anywhere though. Stoker didn't invent Dracula, but he did popularise the character. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 646 Registered: 10-2006 |
Italian X-factor – the auditions The beauty of the Italian edition is that the production team went a bit out on a limb for the programme and drafted in two highly intelligent, articulate and amusing male musicians from the slightly alternative side, together with two women, one a powerful TV journalist/presenter and the other an eccentric, slightly off the wall soloist. So, juggling eras, as near as I can get in British terms, the jury would be one composed of Esther Rantzen, Sandie Shaw, Nick Cave and Viv Stanshall. Last year the hit of the auditions was a sweet-faced 16-year old girl choir singer who belted out a startling version of Whole lotta love and then went on to win, while another contestant was swiftly impregnated by one of the judges. Highly entertaining. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4905 Registered: 05-2005 |
Was Silvio a judge Stuart? | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 648 Registered: 10-2006 |
Masterful singer, raconteur and seducer as he is Padraig, fortunately not. And he's maintaining a low profile at the moment, which possibly implies another hair transplant. He will doubtless emerge in time for the elections, looking like Robert Smith. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4910 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sarah Silverman offering to take one for the team. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B5o6-qNk 6Q | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4911 Registered: 05-2005 |
Which led me to this SNL skit from a few months back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYjrdAbQ9 Ps | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4920 Registered: 05-2005 |
Various R.E.M. videos from the enhanced EP Not Bad For No Tour. The stand out is Losing My Religion, filmed in London at a South Africa Freedom Day Concert in 2001. It has taken me 21 years to get over the overplay of this song and get back to the genius it was before massive radio and video play ruined it for me for two decades. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4923 Registered: 05-2005 |
I went to see On The Road this afternoon. It was, necessarily, very episodic, but it was very good too. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2014 Registered: 10-2008 |
Padraig, I know what you mean about Losing My Religion. I feel the same way about The One I Love and Its The End Of The World. And that's the reason I won't be buying the 25th anniversary edition of Document which has just been released. It's not a bad album by any means (although poor in relation to what had come previously), but these songs have been massively overplayed to the detriment of the flow of this album what with them being back to back smack bang in the middle - I would probably stop playing the album after Strange which is only 5 tracks in. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2450 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kev, I thought I started to see a few chinks in the R.E.M. armour with the release of Document 25 years ago. The following year they stopped being my favorite band, which they had been for the previous 5 years since I bought the Chronic Town ep in June of 1983. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 654 Registered: 10-2006 |
The Bridge Danish/Swedish TV noir in the wake of the Killing, and very good too: not so much for the story, which is as tortuous as any Jo Nesbo and has the usual unbelievably thorough and multitalented killer at its heart – though, being Scandinavian, there's also a certain amount of "society is to blame" in there – but for the pairing of its two detectives, blonde, socially impaired, interestingly scarred Swede Saga and chunky, jovial, womanising Dane Martin, in an odd couple relationship that reaps rich rewards both in comic and dramatic terms. Like the Killing, though, the whole cast is extraordinarily good. There’s a suitably haunting theme song, too. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4944 Registered: 05-2005 |
I saw Monsieur Lazhar tonight. The first French Canadian film I've seen in a very long time. Very moving. The acting is superb throughout, especially the kids. I went to it with a Lebanese friend who had the advantage of not needing to look at the subtitles. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2451 Registered: 01-2005 |
The second season of Homeland and third of Boardwalk Empire. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2244 Registered: 09-2006 |
Michael, just starting in on the second season of Homeland, or rather, looking for the best place to watch it online, as we don't subscribe to Showtime. The first season is the very model of excellence in every department - amazing stuff. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2459 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, the second season of Homeland carries on with the same high standards set in the first. Boardwalk Empire on the other hand has turned very dark in it's third season, with mixed results. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 577 Registered: 05-2005 |
Michael, I agree on Boardwalk Empire, I cant really work out where they are going with it, Nucky's motivation seems vague and it lacks some dramatic credibilty, are you buying the whole jealousy thing with his mistress? With regard to Homelands I thought the first season was outstanding, brilliant television and I was totally gripped BUT I cant bring myself to watch the second season as I just cant believe there is anywhere to go with it and remain believable. If I am honest the end of the first season stretched things too far for me but I went with it because the build up had been so great (and I had a massive crush on Brody's wife). I have seen the reviews of Season 2 openers and they seem to be all good I just cant do it. Does anyone watch Breaking Bad or Sons of Anarchy? | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2024 Registered: 10-2008 |
Agree about Homelands, outstanding. First episode of series 2 carried on brilliantly from the end of series 1 and I am looking forward to the rest of it. Have watched series 1-4 of Breaking Bad, and thought 1 and 2 were fantastic, by 3 it was still great but slipping a bit, I didnt enjoy 4 as much, but that was probably more to do with my low attention span kicking in when it comes to TV shows. The characters in this show are amazing, one or two like Walters brother in law, Jessie, and the shady lawyer could have their own spin off shows. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2245 Registered: 09-2006 |
Cosmo, my wife's big gripe was that the whole suicide bomber thing didn't make sense, and that they should've just gone with the plot to infiltrate Brody into politics in the first place. In the making-of that comes with the DVD set the creators pretty much say that they're walking a line between realism and exciting TV, and the vest climax was a much more "exciting" one. I can see both viewpoints, have the feeling that the game plan is to get Brody installed as President,not just Vice-, and if that's the case am VERY curious to see what they do with that. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2246 Registered: 09-2006 |
Also, I'm curious...is the show called HomelandS outside the US? | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 578 Registered: 05-2005 |
no it's Homeland Allen, dont know why I added the S. I agree with your wife, my problem now is I can't believe the story can continue with Carrie back in the CIA AND Brody in politics after what happpened, just cant reconcile that. I am probably missing out but am sure I will find something else to watch, read or do instead. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4973 Registered: 05-2005 |
Killing Them Softly. I knew nothing about it before going to see it, other than that Brad Pitt is in it and it is getting good reviews. It was far darker and more dystopian than I would have expected a Brad Pitt film to be (though perhaps I'm being unfair to him; he is a good actor). I had no idea it had such a strong cast, with Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Vincent Curatola and Ray Liotta also starring. It was particularly nice to hear Mendelsohn play the part with his Melbourne accent. It seems every other Australian actor in American films and TV shows (and there are many) play their parts in a generic Brooklyn accent. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 764 Registered: 04-2005 |
"Camille redouble", which got some rave reviews at Cannes this year. The film was written by, directed by and stars Noémie Lvovsky in a wonderful performance. Although the film shares the same basic theme as Coppola’s “Peggy Sue Got Married”, it still feels fresh and is very witty and ultimately moving. Excellent soundtrack by Gaëtan Roussel (Louise Attaque) | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1112 Registered: 08-2004 |
I watched about 3/4 of season 1 of Homeland. Lost the will to watch it at that point. Kind of brought on by the aforementioned believability factor. I might go back to it. Still got them all Tivo'ed. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4985 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spooks, season 6. Episode two is absolutely, stunningly well written. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4994 Registered: 05-2005 |
Gangnam Style video. Half a billion YouTube viewers can't be wrong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19 f0 | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5008 Registered: 05-2005 |
Cardinal - Carbolic Smoke Ball video. Nice to see my old Harvard Square stomping ground featured in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOS3I0Rcd ww&feature=relmfu | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5030 Registered: 05-2005 |
Argo. Fantastic. Great performances from everyone involved. Brilliant to see Alan Arkin back on screen. Might just be my film of the year. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5058 Registered: 05-2005 |
On DVD - Parks & Recreation, season 4. In the cinema, this morning - Seven Psychopaths. Parks & Recreation is not quite as good as previous seasons, but definitely still has its moments. Seven Psychopaths is very clever, well acted and well shot, but I'm not sure it's all that brilliant. Worth seeing if you like Martin McDonagh's previous work though. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3068 Registered: 03-2005 |
Alain Bashung -- A L'Olympia Many thanks to Stuart for repeatedly reminding me to get this. The DVD is edited from two shows in June during his final year. His beautiful movie star hair lost to chemotherapy, Bashung still exudes a Continental cool from his ever-present shades through his casually excellent harmonica embellishments on down to his alligator shoes. He is backed by just four focussed musicians for a flawless set that pulls material from as far back as 1982 up to his final album in 2008. Contrary to the usual pattern for aging pop stars, Bashung's last three albums are arguably his best. And this DVD may be the best live video I have seen. If not, it's certainly in the top five. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 665 Registered: 10-2006 |
And his voice is in such amazing shape, too, considering.Glad you're enjoying it! I've ordered one of the earlier live DVDs to check out, too. What would the other top four live videos be, then, Randy? | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2253 Registered: 09-2006 |
Prometheus - on one level I don't want to come down too harshly on something aiming to try something more than the usual, but when they're so damn lazy in the trying and so annoying and stupid in other departments, I can't help myself. Aside from one classic, hair-raising sequence inside an automated surgery pod and a few lovely images, disappointing as hell. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3069 Registered: 03-2005 |
Oh, I'm just hedging my bets with that "Top five" comment Stuart. I'd put Magazine's "Real Life" in that group but nothing else comes to mind at the moment. If the technical quality were better I'd definitely put "That Way" into the Top Five but it's just too primitive. Or, at least, my copy is. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5077 Registered: 05-2005 |
In the cinema: The Sessions. It's fantastic. Expect multiple Oscars. On DVD: Trains, Planes & Automobiles. The Steve Martin swearfest at the car rental place is so funny, all the more so because it reminded me of a similar situation I was in years ago. I, somehow, kept a civil tongue though. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5082 Registered: 05-2005 |
On DVD, the just released latest season of 30 Rock. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2255 Registered: 09-2006 |
Cosmo, if you're still feeling leery, IMO Homeland is working out the credibility issues very well indeed. The last episode piled on maybe one moral dilemma too many, but other than that I'd recommend it. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 620 Registered: 05-2005 |
Allen, lots of friends have been saying similar things to me, I should probably just watch it, I read something in the paper this weekend referring to jumping the shark (though it was in a positive piece) and continue to be wary. Maybe when I run out of other things to watch, I currently have Sons of Anarchy , Boardwalk Empire, Dexter and Breaking Bad in play | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 768 Registered: 04-2005 |
Michael Haneke's 'Amour' Memerising performances from Emmanuelle Riva (85 years old) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (a mere youngster at only 81). But what is Haneke actually trying to communicate ? Getting old is a messy sad business ? PS On the subject of Alain Bashung, it is to my great regret that I didn't take the opportunity to see him on that last tour. In 2008 he played just a few kilometres from us in the village of Monpazier, in the centre square of one of the best preserved 'bastides' in the area. Must have been some evening... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1699 Registered: 08-2006 |
Saw "Lincoln" last night. Remarkable, and I mean really remarkable, performance by Daniel Day Lewis. Sally Field was quite good, too. If you go, it helps to know a little of the background of the passing of the 13th amendment and Lincoln's cabinet at the time. Oddly, Spielberg assumes a level of historical literacy I don't think most Americans have. And there are a few of those corny Spielberg feel-good scenes that pollute even his best movies. But this counts as one of his best, I'd say, if only for one of the finest acting performances I've ever seen. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2256 Registered: 09-2006 |
Andrew, I've have that "what's your point?" problem with Haneke on more than one occasion, especially with "Cache." His interview on the DVD didn't help much, as it was mostly taken up with him talking about how he can't think of anyone else in film who's doing the kinds of things he's doing. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 770 Registered: 04-2005 |
Allen, "Caché" is just infuriating ! But again maybe that's the point ? I do remember being very impressed by his 'Code Inconnu' back in 2000. Although it is uncomfortable viewing. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5086 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for the Lincoln review Rob. I'm not sure when it opens Down Under, but I will be going to it when it does. Is the 13th Amendment scenario about the difference between slavery being made illegal, rather than just being banned using war powers during the Civil War? (I know I'm oversimplifying it here). | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3077 Registered: 03-2005 |
The answer to your question is "yes" Padraig. I just saw the film last night. It makes me laugh to think of getting a Constitutional amendment through Congress in that time frame now. I think I always approach films with lower expectations because I know they're created with a large relatively unsophisticated audience in mind. Plus I'm more into the slow development of character and situation that books permit. I thought "Lincoln" had a really nice old-style 1940's or 1950's era film feel to it other than the occasional profanity. Yes, there was the expected Spielberg feel-good elements. And it was all about white people struggling over this moral thing about some people they didn't much interact with. But there was an honest attempt to depict the complexity of character in Lincoln and his wife. In all, it was a nice meaty tear-jerker for me. I never looked at my watch or wondered when it was going to end. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1700 Registered: 08-2006 |
Sorry, Padraig, somehow I missed your query, which Randy has ably and accurately answered. I thought "Lincoln" was surprisingly sophisticated and, as Randy mentions, meaty. I mean, who makes movies about constitutional amendments these days? | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2259 Registered: 09-2006 |
Andrew, I could be wrong, but in "Cache" Haneke seems to think that it's an actual complex moral dilemma to wonder if a young boy should be held responsible for something he unknowingly caused to happen, and to me there's just no question at all. There are also times where it seems like the whole film was designed just to get to the (very effective) shocking moment 2/3 in. And his aforementioned proclaiming of how original he is bugs me because he obviously nicked the idea of people recieving anonymous tapes showing the outside of their house from Lynch's Lost Highway. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5097 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andrew, Allen, I thought Caché was mostly rubbish. Another vastly overrated European director, alongside Almodovar. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5098 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've started watching series 4 of The Thick Of It. Still brilliant. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5099 Registered: 05-2005 |
This is the funniest/scariest clip I've seen in a very long time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N5OhNplE d4&feature=player_embedded |