Category
Film
Various writing on films, most of which I’ve seen. Warning: may contain opinions.
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02.06.08Game for a laugh (or something darker): deceit in popular cultureLast night, out for dinner with a group of friends in celebration of one of our number's birthday, I mentioned that I had noticed that in an awful lot of articles lamenting the lately departed entertainer and king of trivia and video clips, Jeremy Beadle, he was referred to as a "Prankster". In fact, a casual search on the interwebs shows that he's been referred to as such online on no fewer than 464,000 occasions, and that his name occurs in nearly a fifth of all search results for "prankster". This is surely the only proof required. This got me thinking about ...
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01.03.08My Week In MediaChallenged by m'colleague Neil to reveal what I've been consuming, media-wise this week, I am delighted to flash my digital hem, as it were, particularly because it affords me the parallel opportunity to apologise for being AWOL since before Christmas. I've been away, you see, and as a result, my media consumption for the past week has been a bit different in many ways to what I might otherwise have consumed. What I read Despite not being in the office (or perhaps because of it), I've enjoyed reading the paper: The Guardian, of course and particularly enjoyed the NYE quiz special edition ...
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07.15.07Harry Potter and the Cult of ConformityI've just come back from seeing the latest HP outing, in which Harry and chums do, y'know, wizardy things in the face of evil. This is the fifth in the series (the 'difficult' fifth Harry Potter tome is apparently much like most recording artists' 'difficult' second album) and I don't think I'll be spoiling it for anyone if I tell you that the fact that there are two more books after this one both of which contain his name means that Harry scrapes through this one ok. This was the book I didn;t read - or rather, this was the one ...
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06.29.07A couple of thingsI'm away for a few days (in Scotland, where the weather is beautiful and I got sunburnt today while pootling about in a boat) but still in touch with the world, and wanted to note: a) The untimely passing of Fopp. I first went to Fopp in Edinburgh in...ooh, must have been 1992 or 93, and continued to pour money into their tills while I worked in Aberdeen during the 90s. Fopp furnished me with most of my Tom Waits collection, actually, now I think about it. It was, for a long time, the perfect shop for a lover of eclectic ...
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06.25.07Oui, je regrette quelque choseI went to see La Môme (La Vie en Rose), the acclaimed Edith Piaf biopic, this weekend. On the positive side: Leading actress Marion Cotillard was very good, managing to not only span four decades but also various physical and mental states during the film. Her approach to the character was embodied, in everything she did, and that made her engaging to watch. The girl sure knows how to lip-synch along to vocal performances. Kudos for that - it's easy to look fake (see Top of The Pops in days gone by for that) but hard to not just match the pace but ...
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04.27.07Something for the weekendIf you haven't already seen it, there's a great opportunity to catch An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's double-Oscar winning film about our environmental crisis, this Sunday afternoon, 29th April. In fact, if you haven't already seen it, then this might be your last chance to do so on the big screen, as it's no longer available on general release. There's a special charity screening at The Tricycle Theatre, which is a great little independent place, on Kilburn High Road in NW6. It's handy for the tube/north london line train and loads of buses go up there. Here's a map. The screening starts ...
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02.08.07Being a list of films I watched between January 2006 and January 2007Before we go any further, can I just point out in my defence that a) I spent a lot of time on planes last year, and when on planes, I watch crap b) I spent a lot of time being stressed last year, and when stressed I tend towards mindless pap on DVD, a cat on my knee and a nice cup of tea c) I spent a lot of time last year craving big comfy cinema seat, total blackness, popcorn and an immersive bigscreen experience. Sometimes I'll go and see things at the cinema just because they're on. d) My DVD rental service ...
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11.21.06On Bondage (no, the other kind)Saw Casino Royale on Friday night. Here are a few thoughts: [Warning: Spoilers] Daniel Craig is hot. Hotter than his pre-Bond publicity would have revealed. ...and doesn't he have a touch of Steve McQueen about him? The director totally knew that, too. ...but he pouts waaaaay too much. I thought he was going to bust into Blue Steel at any moment. The Parkour bit at the beginning was awesome. Sebastien Foucan is unbelievable - some of the things he did looked like stunts, but I'm reliably assured that they probably weren't. I liked how Bond wasn't totally invincible ...
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03.28.05No wire hangers EVER!!Is your mother Joan Crawford?
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03.07.05Quick linksWho's on first? In the video shop. Bricktastic. My favourite is the Into the Forest one, if only because I've had that track playing in my head for days.
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