Labels: 2000, coming-of-age, film, Jeffrey Blitz, photos, Rocket Science, stuttering 11:21 ; Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Rocket Science
I was becoming disappointed over the films of late that I've watched. They've all seemed to be unable to hit a mark - not left by another film, but certainly of a certain standard within my own mind. Selfish reconstruction maybe. Anyway, Rocket Science completely hit that mark for me. I could go on and on: great acting from such small players, soulful plot, amazing soundtrack that I can't stop listening to, that slightly dull, cross-processed tint of the film. Rocket Science is a little like The King's Speech and (500) Days of Summer, before they were even dreamed of - shot in the style of a Wes Anderson movie. And you know what? It's wonderful and I think Jeffrey Blitz has made a man out of this film. Or a really great film. What I personally adore is the fact that every character - literally every single one - I find something incredible about each of them. I really liked and saw the purpose of them all.
(more pictures, etc, below)Read more »
13:00 ; Friday, 15 July 2011
CHRONOLOGICALLY: #1
I've finished my A Level exams. I can breathe easy. I've also accumulated a list of films/programmes I've been meaning to watch all through that terrible exam period - and I'm just finally getting round to watching them all.
Firstly is the film "If..." (1968). Someone on my Facebook posted a link to a trailer and I was hooked on the 1960s aesthetic feel - it's incredibly surreal and part of that "British New Wave" movement in cinema. Directed by Lindsey Anderson, the film is set in a 1960s public school and satires the whole system of that kind of life. I'm a little unaware of it myself, but I think the traditions, deference and pomp of the boys being turned out is well-shown. In context, "If..." was produced during the counterculture/decadent society (depending on your views on life) and can be seen as an allegory - the ending mirrors the catasthrophic student uprisings of the 1960s!
The film casually switches between black and white, and colour scenes, which disconcerted me quite a lot - but it's so surreal that it worked in its favour. I can imagine that British sitcoms like Green Wing and Teachers obtained some influence from this. My favourite part is when Mick and Wallace steal a motorcycle and drive to a lonely little cafe, it's very surreal but more than enticing.
Look at me. Look at my eyes. I'll kill you. Sometimes I stand in front of the mirror and my eyes get bigger and bigger. And I'm like a tiger. I like tigers.
Labels: 1960s, British cinema, film, history, If..., Malcolm McDowell, photos
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22:33 ; Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Fortress of Solitude
I've been reading a great, spanning, geographically defying book called "Fortress of Solitude" - which is saying a lot when it stays relatively stuck in New York... Brooklyn, particularly. It's my first Jonathan Lethem, one that I picked up from Deptford Market for 50p because I liked the back of it, but I'm really glad I did. It focuses on best friends, Dylan (who is white) and Mingus (who is black), and their friendship as they grow up, change and face tensions - socially, racially, politically.
I haven't finished it yet. I'm about halfway. Did I mention it's quite a long novel? Except it is worth it. In a lot of ways - mostly heartbreakingly and sometimes longingly - it reminds me of Deptford. That sounds more lyrical than it really is: 1970s Brooklyn and Deptford. Not twinned so much as... there's a lot of experiences that Dylan goes through or feels that I know I've been through. Only, it's not as severe or adventurous. To be honest, I don't think teenagers in Deptford today are too worried about race - I don't think South London is in general. It's far more about class, which is alright because everyone in Deptford tends to be more working class. Uniting us like Northern Ireland and the Republic never did. So maybe I have no idea what sort of things Dylan goes through. Maybe it's some weird romantic attachment, stranger still since the novel paints a rather vulgar picture of Brooklyn.
"It's not too late for you to know, my profound child, the world is nuttier than a fruitcake. Run if you can't fight, run and scream fire or rape, be wilder than they are, wear flames in your hair, that's my recommendation."
"If someone asks you say you live in Gowanus. Don't be ashamed."
"Stuyvesant was Jewish white, wasp white, hippie white, Chinese, black, Puerto Rican, and much else but crucially it was nerd, nerd, nerd."
"You could grow up in the city where history was made and still miss it all."
(photos are of Brooklyn, most are circa 1980s - sourced from Google)
Labels: book, Fortress of Solitude, Jonathan Lethem, photos, places, South East London
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02:08 ; Saturday, 4 June 2011
The things people do when intoxicated....
A non-cliche observation of our drunken mistakes....
(all photos acquired not-so-gallantly from Tumblr)
i. Promise to take a go on a daring / beautiful / life-changing / longed for / sought for / time consuming adventure together. And never do.
ii. Sing. Or rap. Or both.
iii. Attempt to prove how much smarter you are then everyone else. And failing. And looking like an idiot.
iv. Play mental games.
v. Laugh at silly, trivial things. But feel great doing it.
vi. Get into the worst arguments with your friends. About things you've been thinking about for ages. About the truth. Breathe. Get back together. Hopefully.
vii. Drink more and more and more... it's a bad idea kid. You'll be faced with two roads: get puffy in the morning, bad headache, wishing you hadn't acted like a complete jerk. Or smile over the strangest things you did last night. Mostly it's the former.
viii. Stop thinking. Briefly. Enjoy it while it lasts.
ix. Like techno / house / dubstep - and the next morning you'll feel disgust. Noise noise noise!
x. Realise you're with the people you really care about. Most likely.
Labels: list, memories, mistakes, photos
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02:45 ; Friday, 3 June 2011
Excerpt #27
Judy "Jude" abruptly turns the wheel of Dorothy's "Dottie" tiny Beetle, forcing into Southridge Avenue, off the side of New Cross Hall.
Dottie: Are you insane?
Jude peers closer at the Corsa parked opposite. It's Darren's, her ex boyfriend's. The two university flat-mates both reach to the conclusion that Darren is staying at New Cross Hall tonight, at Gloria's.
Dottie: Well, when I said insane I meant...
Jude: That ... BITCH.
Dottie: Insane. I meant insane.
Jude gets out of the car and treads towards the midnight blue car, it sits innocently. Or menacingly. She whispers curses under her breath. Dottie goes to follow her. The loyal stead.
Jude: I'll show him... I'll show him whose moved on! (She looks back to Dottie, who sighs at the situational irony)
If he's that much of an idiot... he's left a spare under - (She reaches under the license plate and pulls out spare key)
Dottie: Wow. He is an idiot. (Jude throws the key to her. She looks apprehensive but opens the door and they seat themselves awkwardly)
Wait, why have I got the keys? Is this happening?
Jude: Well I've never been in the driver's seat before. ... (affectionately and with a smirk) Well, that's a lie..
Dottie: That's disgusting.And strangely admirable.
A beat.
So... (Jude fumbles around, begins to take off her underwear) Whoa what are you doing? No. No! you are not planting your underwear. Not here. Not ever.
Jude: Oh, it's happening. This is happening. (She looks around for a place to hide it, her underwear is a grey and lacey, and Dottie's face is a mixture of fear, shock and bewilderment. She's had enough of the weeks of attention seeking, the moaning, the pity. Her attempts at helping Jude have been futile, despite her best efforts. She's tired, she's afraid of getting an STD from a car seat and she's hungry. All she can say is...)
Dottie: This is pathetic.
Jude jerks her head to Dottie in disbelief -
Jude: What did you just call me?
Dottie: pathetic Jude, it's not hard to understand.
Labels: literature, photos, places, South East London
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16:00 ; Tuesday, 19 April 2011
la petit Wookie
Below are some of my favourite illustrations of Chewbacca and Han Solo (and AT-AT!) by James Hance. When I saw these in Empire magazine a couple of months back, I almost threw up a rainbow. They're so adorable - who could imagine a walking carpet as a lovable plaything? I'm buying these when I move out - my current four walls already resemble a jumbled jigsaw of pop culture and politics.
17:25 ; Sunday, 17 April 2011
Break; some photos
Some of my favourite photos from the Guardian Camera Club / photography page (i.e. they're not mine!) - I love the first one, it's of a house in Sunderland, but it's got that 60/70s tinge to it, and the last one reminds me of the Hogwarts train.
Labels: photos, The Guardian
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13:00 ; Saturday, 16 April 2011
Rationality
photo by member of the Guardian Camera Club.
words from Right Away, Great Captain!'s "Right Ahead, Young Sailor"
Labels: photos, Right Away Great Captain
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About me
1) I'm a lazy blogger
2) This blog will generally include writings on films, music, books, fashion, locations, and other worldly movements.
3) I'm short and the best thing I have learnt to combat this is sewing.
4) I'm very bad at html things. Sorry if the layout looks nothing like it should be.
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