David Tennant: the other hero of Blackpool

Ah, nice to see that Casyn over at The Slayer Library has the forthcoming Harry Potter film on her list of things to do this year. Not because I really like the Harry Potter films - though the last one, based on my favourite of the novels so far, was better than the other two by some distance - but because David Tennant is taking one of the role in it (Barty Crouch Jnr.)

Blackpool, was one of my favourite dramas of last year (see post here, though I could have sworn there were other mentions here... maybe I'm thinking of my personal emailings!). And the wonderful Tennant - from Paisley, no less [some of you may spot in that a theme/link/reason for my delight in his performance] - provided some of its most memorable moments. "These boots were made for walking" anyone?!

Anyway, if only for that, I have to approve of this casting - even if it was done on the basis of his performance in He Knew He Was Right (by that Victorian author I have never 'got', Trollope).

Additionally, what's not to love about a guy with a passing resemblance to el Jarvo...

Motto for the Day: Nietzsche

I know it's desperately unfashionable (is it? right now? who knows?) to admit enjoying reading Nietzsche, but on the mention of it from a student of mine in the context of inspiring some of our more dour fellow human beings to lighten up a little, I offer this little pearl:

And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.

I must check the source of this quote, otherwise I will feel myself to be a VBB (very bad blogger).

Or alternatively, I may be thought of as an accolyte of Marx with his citation of Hegel (just a little bit of history repeating).

Blog text returns...

ARGH! Okay, breathe Rullsenberg, breathe.

Cloud always says its the little things, inanimate objects mostly, that make me cranky. And, of course, lack of food...

I can get righteously indignant, cross, furious, passionate in debate, about actual important issues, but what will really get me into GRR mode will be those darn inimate thangs that should be within my ability to control but somehow aren't.

This has been one of those. Hopefuly, its all sorted!

Blog text size

Okay, I have just amended my Sidebar to include a Blogroll and for unknown reason my blog is now appearing in a larger font size. Apologies if this causes inconvenience: juts select View from your main toolbar and make it smaller if you have to until I work out what the F blogger has done to my font formatting (which, btw, I did not touch).

Yours, tetchily,
Rullsenberg-who-wishes-someone-would-tell-me-the-rules

Television Review: Law and Order - Criminal Intent

Ah, Vincent D'Onofrio - you've come a long way since Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket!

I acknowledge there is a lot that can be criticised about the series-begetting-series mentality of television drama, especially in the USA. The lack of imagination that allows Messrs Bruckheimer and Wolf full rein on dominating the US schedules with versions of their hit shows demonstrates a problem at the heart of broadcasting. It doesn't even take a lot of effort to come up with some commentary on the debate about "brands" and "franchises" (see this Scott D. Pierce story from Deseret Morning News, the first functioning link after googling 'opinion CSI franchise'). Nevertheless, I love the original CSI in LV - William Peterson's wonderful characterisation of Gil Grissom is always worth watching. I can also say that CSI: Miami was no where near as bad as Television Without Pity criticised it as being - I actually rather enjoyed David Caruso being put to good use again in American drama (remember his unceremonious dumping from NYPD Blue?) However, Gary Sinese in CSI: New York --- I feel this hits the law of dimishing returns. And it has nothing to do with the quality or reputation of the actors: Sinese has done some fine work, mostly by reputation on the stage.

In terms of Law and Order it does seem there is a difference though. Certainly, I know the show has underdone major shifts since its opening series in 1990 - does anything survive from the early series? The L&O: Special Victims Unit spin-off (started 1999) might not be to everyone's taste: there is something uncomfortable about the focus of all those cases. But it does present a reasonably open moral ambiguity (and anything that rescues the excellently misanthropic paranoia of Det. John Munch from Homocide: Life on the Street has to be a good thing. BTW can I just say, Channel 4: what were you thinking? How could you abandon Homicide: you condemned it to constantly-switching schedule slots at increasingly weird time of the late-night/early morning hours, even on week days?! Shame on you!)

Which brings me to L&O: Criminal Intent. Begun in 2001, I probably like this one the best and that reason is simply down to Vincent: cerebral in the best possible way, Det. Robert Goren, as with Gil Grissom, isn't afraid to wear his brain on his sleeve. I know, I know: its hardly THAT much of a breakthrough, but believe me those of us who treasure reading, intellectual pursuit, and thoughtfulness take our popular culture role models where we can.

And for that, I really enjoy this programme. Cloud noted with glee last night's line about using a library card to analyse a crime: ultimately, for all my love of popular culture, myself and Cloud like people who like books. Not a bad thing?

The Norm Blog Song Poll

Cloud seems to have beaten me to it in terms of posting on this (and it was belated anyway due to Xmas-imposed blog absence).

Never mind. The spectacularly intelligent and fascinating Norm Blog has a great song poll at the moment. Hurry to submit though, as it closes by 16 January 2005.

It's worth adding, btw, that Cloud's list was at least partially inspired by my purchase - and mislaying over Xmas - of the wonderful This is Uncool: the 500 greatest singles since Punk and Disco by Garry Mulholland.

The list I submitted to Norm was as follows. However, as is often the way, the more you think about it the more songs you think should go on it.

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop (inspired by the documentary)
Pulp - Common People ('cos everybody hates a cultural tourist)
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley (close call with the John Cale version though)
The Sixths featuring Momus - As You Turn to Go (some of the loveliest lyrics I know: darn near sure this won't get any other votes but I love it)
The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
The Smiths - This Charming Man
REM - Its the end of the world as we know it ...

Of course, Cloud's list was also heavily inspired by our thoughts whilst driving in the car home last night. So I hereby lay claim to the following from his list!

Surf's Up - David Thomas and Two Pale Boys (an amazing version of the Beach Boys song)
It's Alright Ma - Bob Dylan
Sign O' The Times - Prince
Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris (an excellent version of the Neil Young song)
Shipbuilding - Robert Wyatt
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
Monkey's Gone to Heaven - Pixies
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't Have) - The Buzzcocks
Never Stop - Echo and the Bunnymen [dude, that was SO my choice --- I would have thought you would have been The Killing Moon or perhaps Bring on the Dancing Horses...]
Perfect Day - Lou Reed [Cloud suggested including the wonderful demo version from the recent re-release of the Transformer album but I managed to dissuade him from such obscurantism... of course it IS a great version!]
White Lines - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Reward - Teardrop Explodes
Once In a Lifetime - Talking Heads
A New England - Billy Bragg
London Calling - The Clash
I Kill Therefore I Am - Phil Ochs
American Without Tears - Elvis Costello
Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield
Miss Otis Regrets - Ella Fitzgerald

Amongst the belated suggestions we added were also:
Hurt - Johnny Cash [perhaps one of the best covers ever]
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues and Kirsty Macoll [sniff]
Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks [close tie with You Really Got Me]

And...
Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
Tarmac - Hazledine ["hold me close, kiss me low..."]
(Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult [I get SO many kudos points from rockers for making this one of my first sel-bought singles!]
Picture This - Blondie
Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Crazy in Alabama - Kate Campbell
Pull the Wires from the Wall - The Delgados [Readers of the blog will already know this]
Hotel California - The Eagles
The Ballad of Lucy Jordan - Marianne Faithfull
Sit Down - James
Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack
Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
Born Slippy - Underworld
Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavigne [in my mental mind of the 15year old that I am, this rocks!]
I Don't Like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats
Keeping the Weekend Free - Licquorice
Groove is in the Heart - Dee-Lite [mostly because Billy Bragg covered it when I saw him at Rock City in Nottingham!]
A Design for Life - Manic Street Preachers
Labelled with Love - Squeeze
Golden Brown - The Stranglers

In the interests of making my tastes very clear I feel I should also include some specialist lists. Partly because my brain is not well-organised I tend to think through songs I like with a pattern, so these will be posted separately. At least one of these will be "Favourite George-inspired songs" which you can guarantee will include Landshipping's Deep Water and the Ballboy/Laura Cantrell duet of I Lost You (But I Found Country Music). You may even get some re-organised stuff from the above lists categorised into genres (at least slow/soft vs. loud/dancy).

Broken links - please report and I will fix!

Occasionally I make a bloop and put in some dodgy links. If you tell me I will usually fix them pretty quick. Ta Mr Cloud - the Svankmajer link is now all better!

Filmic Weekend: Reviews 3&4

Now we reach the final stages of the Filmic Weekend. Having fully indulged on Saturday, Cloud and I settled down to some DVD viewing on Sunday (well it beat writing lesson plans for my study skills course - which I STILL have to do... GRRR).

First up was The Game, that under-rated David Fincher film that came between the cultly admired Seven and Fight Club (two of my favourite movies). Now as this didn't gather anything like the same kudos as those two, it can be safely said this was a relative dud in Fincher's ouevre (though frankly no where near as flawed as Panic Room which is just a great opening sequence followed by a rather mundane thriller). The Game is one of the few films with Michael Douglas I can bear to watch - partly 'cos he comes so close to losing it - and despite all the plot impausibilities (the bullets, the phones, the X marks the spot) it does present a really enjoyable ride. We've watched the film several times now, and although that first viewing was utterly confusing and thrilling, it's still good to watch. Fincher has good vision and can weave the story well as a a director. If you've not seen it, make the time.

Second movie of the day was a real weepie favourite of mine, and probably my favourite Woody Allen film: The Purple Rose of Cairo. Awh shucks, what can I say? It was postmodern before the term was being bandied about like the grad-school theory it is. It's romantic, smart, and not a little bleak (always goes well with us). Mia Farrow looks luminescent - alongside Rosemary's Baby certainly her best performance. All in all the film charms, moves and makes one glad that movies exist. The refuge that can be taken in movies is a much underrated aspect of their purpose. And this movie has some lovely - and discomforting - things to say about that.

A filmic weekend: Review 2

Now to our second movie of the weekend, and I have to say a real treat. Of course I knew of the Lemony Snicket books, but I had never properly gotten around to reading them (though we certainly will do now).

Bizarrely, the film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is posted as a PG certificate (well it is in the UK). This puzzles me: the books are very dark and the film is pretty rivetingly scary stuff - call me a wuss, in fact call Cloud one as well, but this had a fair number of edge-of-seat moments and jump up like a scaredy-cat. It doesn't seem to quite match what kids would understand, and many younger ones were paraded out by their guardians before it reached the halfway point.

Having said that, adults and older children there REALLY seemed to get into it. The acting was superb (I know the subtitles did much of the work but the twins playing Sunny were simply cracking) and it was worth the price of admission just to see the closing credit sequence (some wonderful Svankmajeresque animation and drawings that call to mind all those wonderful Polish/Czech animations that would litter the UK television screens over summer holidays in past times). Sadly, many had left by then - what is it with the 'leave immediately the credits role' thang? - and only Cloud, me and three other 30-something adults were left gawping and giggling at the fantastic closing titles.

Can anyone tell me if the Hoffman sprogs are any relation to Dustin (who pops up in an uncredited cameo) 'cos it strikes me and Cloud as a good way to get on set with your grand-kids!

A filmic weekend: Review 1

A bumper weekend of films at the cinema and on DVD. Firstly, Cloud and I went for an almost private screening of End of the Century: the Story of the Ramones. I say private as there was us two, plus two other guys, plus two individual guys, and one guy who dodged in for the last 10 mins, obviously from a different film. (Did you spot there how I lowered the testosterone count?)

There's a really neat review of the film on the IMDB site by Jack Christal-Gattanella which is rather cool, but I guess it's worth adding my own twopenneth (Two Pennies Worth; minor contribution; US equivalent "two cents worth").

Whether you come to this as a documentary fan, a music fan, or a Ramones fan - and we counted as all threee - the film is a real joy to watch. It captures the history of a band, and the cultural moment they were formed from, and does a fine job of showcasing their funtastic tunes in a truly adorable fashion. At one point the band is shown beseiged by a stadium's worth of Brazilian fans (this is when the group was, as always still condemned to playing grotty clubs of 200 in the USA). All you can hear in the background as the car attempts to steamroller its way through the hoards is the sound of the crowd chanting "Hey ho, let's go" from the irrepressible 2mins12secs pop song that is Blitzkrieg Bop.

(Cue cute link to demonstrating the song's significance, despite not charting: number 92 on the Rolling Stone top 500 greatest songs of all time)

In less than three minutes, this song threw down the blueprint for punk rock. It's all here on the opening track of the Ramones' debut: the buzz-saw chords, which Johnny played on his fifty-dollar Mosrite guitar; the snotty words, courtesy of drummer Tommy (with bassist Dee Dee adding the brilliant line "Shoot 'em in the back now"); and the hairball-in-the-throat vocals, sung by Joey in a faux-British accent. Recorded on the cheap at New York's Radio City Music Hall, of all places, "Blitzkrieg Bop" never made the charts; instead, it almost single-handedly created a world beyond the charts.

Of almost equal adorability is how the film gives a nice overview of the characters in the band which can be easily synopsed as:
Joey - damaged, affable frontman: "how did he survive?"
Johnny - Republican asshole (he may have tightly organised their cashflow but he comes over as utterly arrogant)
Dee Dee - savvy but a smackhead
Tommy - important, under-appreciated, still left standing
Assorted Ramones: none as important as these but interestingly the only survivors are all former drummers.

Geek organisation

Am I the only girl geek who does that whole alphabetical / categories organisation thing of books, CDs, videos, DVDs, photocopied articles (on a database)...?

Just a question...

Post-Rock music recommendations

In advance of Christmas, Cloud and myself went to the wonderful world that is Selectadisc. Ahh, where the Post-Rock section exists; where Godspeed and their related subsidiaries have their own section; where to help the buying public the shop puts nice hand-written labels on the CDs hinting at advice on "if you like these, you'll like this."

Latest to catch our eyes and ears were Efterklang (Danish - kinda like Rachels being beep-click remixed) and 65 Days of Static (somehow in my head as 65 Seconds of Static --- maybe I have some time management difficulties!). Efterklang's album "Tripper" became one of our George gifts whilst we kept the 65's "The Fall of Math" for ourselves. 65 is, as name implies, suitably driven by static noise and is all the good for it.

PLAYLOUDER (www.playlouder.com) - 8 September 2004

Most bands form and then make a conscious choice to imitate, plagiarise and become a pastiche of their idols. The music buying public love to be reminded of the good times; the old times; the familiar. It’s the reason we've had The Beatles, The Clash and The Stooges clones plague our minds, radio, newspapers, TV, and our souls for the past twenty-five years. It’s the reason guitar based music has driven itself into a rut; become stale, bland, tired and overblown. Time for an overhaul. But that’s most bands, and it’s clear that 65 Days of Static have no intention of being some retro-fuck entity. Nestling themselves in a scene loosely called math-rock or post-rock, they appear to have broken the golden alt-rock rule of not using computers, samplers, electronics etc (it’s not real music you know). Instead of sounding like some scrappy, mix-genre soundclash, 65 Days of Static take your pre-conceptions and smash them into a million pieces.

[...]It is pure passion, and it’s clear that 'The Fall of Math' was created to worship the beauty of music. Radiohead took three albums to become this adventurous and IDM is still too afraid to include live instruments on this level; when the Mercury Music Prize comes around the judges won’t go anywhere near this.

Go home, take your play safe indie-punk records and burn them. 65 Days of Static have their heads in 2007 and everyone else is thirty years behind…… Magnificent. (4.5/5)
- Simon Smerdon.

Now you have to admit that sounds promising. And in the interests of fairness, here's a tip on Efterklang (remarkably just a few days after purchasing it, totally not having heard of them or anything from it, The Guardian covered it in their 'On the Edge' section of the Friday Review).

John L Walters
Friday December 24, 2004
Efterklang's Tripper (Leaf, £14.99), though it springs from a similarly brave new soundworld, is richer and more appealing. It begins with bumps and clicks that seem to come from the deeper recesses of an otherwise mute laptop, or a hot-wired CD player. At times, this Danish band evokes the melancholy electronica of Christian Fennesz, or the pulses of Four Tet. But that's only part of the picture. After the bleak opening to Doppelgänger, for example, they add voices, then piano, then drums and before you know it there's a choir and we're wallowing in new kind of grandiose pop, a contemporary rethinking of 1980s outfits such as Japan, Tears for Fears and the Blue Nile. There are moments when their expert blend of "legit" instruments (trumpet, piano, strings) with electronic sounds recalls the work of ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet and Jaga Jazzist.

Step Aside starts with a fast, skittering laptop pulse and an understated boy/girl unison vocal that leads into a beautifully lazy trumpet melody and then a choir. The transition from ultra-small to big - from urgent and jittery to relaxed and cruising - is so effortless that you hardly hear what's going on at first listen. You just immerse yourself. There is another sensibility at play in Efterklang's work that is nothing to do with electronics - the obviously "now" aesthetics of clicks and throbs - and that is the free and uncliched approach to melody they demonstrate in songs such as Monopolist and Swarming. You can hear something similar in Rachel's, and in Craig Fortnam's music for the North Sea Radio Orchestra, who make a point of not using electronics.

What may inhibit Efterklang's bid for pop stardom is the absence of an obvious "lead singer", since they tend to foreground instrumental and textural elements. Their use of twin voices, though pleasant, can make the songs seem a little unfocused. But these are hardly quibbles at all - aren't we all weary of lead singers emoting ineffectually, incontinently all over the shop? The vocal subtlety is one of many things that makes Tripper an album to savour over time rather than one that delivers an immediate hit (in two senses of the word). This is the album to spend your tokens on. Five stars.

Our sentiments? Go buy them - you know it makes sense!

Reading material

Between Cloud and myself we have about 3,000 books at home and, in the absence of incoming DVDs this Christmas, it was mostly books that were added to our household through the annual exchange of gifts programme that the festive period usually brings.

Having said that, Cloud is currently dedicated to reading The Crash at Hennington, which I read over Christmas - despite all our books we still use public libraries!

Still, at some point Cloud will get around to reading Q by Luther Blisset; the Disinformation Lists (bless Russ Kick and the quirkiness of conspiracy theories and poor referencing); and the Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish --- actually, he's already started with this one and the movie quotes section is causing much fun!

As for me, I got The X-Files Guide to Season 7 - which alerted me to the fact I haven't seen as many from that season as I thought - and which makes me want the season 4 and season 6 guides even more. I also got myself the Slayer Trivia book, but haven't dared bring that out as an extra present yet so I guess that's still off limits to comment on...

Films I am about to watch

As I try to repress the inner self who says "how trashy, how non-intellectual, how frothy" and the one who says "who am I fooling, I'm scarcely a film studies person?!" I contemplate that over the next few weeks I am going to be watching a lot of the following films:
Dirty Dancing
Two Weeks Notice
My Best Friend's Wedding
Love Actually
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
Sleepless in Seattle
Moulin Rouge
Muriel's Wedding

Spot the connection? Yep, they would all come under that dubious and despised category known as the Chick Flick.

For those who know me, these are not my usual movie fare - I'm a Fight Club girl myself (and that has NOTHING to do with Brad Pitt... Edward Norton, maybe, but mostly I love quirky narratives), who counts Terry Gilliam aongst her favoured directors, likes Alex Cox movies (Repo Man, Walker), and hefty amount of sci-fi and foreign films dominate her movie choices. We are a 15/18 certificate household mostly.

But I confess a love of froth and have now cornered myself into writing an article on Chick Flicks. Its mostly a polish of ideas and stuff I have written before but even the thought this may reach a public audience is making me excited! And not a little nervous. Wish me luck folks, and I'll keep you posted!

"Note to self: religion freaky"

Ah Buffy! Sorry, just had to post a brief note as this little gem came to mind much to late to have been given an appropriate context. New Year's Eve, Cloud and I spent the evening with our neighbours, and over the course of the evening the conversation turned to religion. Not in a bad way; it's just that round our way MANY of the people go to church and, in the words our our neighbour Sara "religion is just... funny" (she didn't mean ha-ha) and through the fog of copious glasses of wine I kept thinking "I know there is a Buffy quote just for this occasion". I just couldn't get my brain to function sufficiently to drop it in.
So I did it here.
Just thought I would share that.
I know, what's with the crazy?