"Call My Name" -- Cheryl Cole
"Baby Come Home" -- Scissor Sisters
"The Weekend" -- The Wanted
"Call Me Jay-Z (Scott Melker + Friendly Greg Popped And Screwed Remix)" -- Carly Rae Jepsen + Jay-Z
"Time Bomb" -- Kylie Minogue
"Don't Worry Baby" -- The Beach Boys
Cinema
Sound of My Voice - This film was much more benign, and not nearly as weird, as I was expecting it to be. After Another Earth blew me away last year, I knew Brit Marling was one to watch, and she doesn't disappoint here, offering another enigmatic performance. However, as seems to be the trend with clever indie movies these days (see also: Martha Marcy May Marlene, among many others), the ending is a bit of a cop-out. The film could have made so much more of a statement than it does, and frankly I was expecting it to do so. By leaving so much unresolved and ambiguous, it failed to create a lasting impact.Headhunters - I was not expecting this film to be as brutal as it is. Perhaps I should have known better, being the Dragon Tattoo aficionado that I am - those Scandinavians sure know how to serve up a pot-boiler. Like Larsson's works, this film based on a book by Jo Nesbo offers up plenty of twisted violence, and plenty of gore. This is solidly adult entertainment, with a plot line that kept me guessing until the end. The fast pace of the action can make it hard to keep up with the sub-titles, but the wild ride is well worth the effort.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - There are so many good performances in this movie, it's a shame that the film itself is rather sub-par. Bill Nighy is far and away my favorite here; he manages to steal scenes in which he doesn't even have any lines. The man is a master of gesture and inflection. Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, and Tom Wilkinson also take admirable turns, but the problem is that none of these performances ever truly gel together. The whole thing comes across as disjointed and devoid of the life that the film tries so hard to express through bright colors and golden sunlight. This is one of those films that had a lot going on at all times, with the result being that by the end of the film, it felt like nothing much had actually happened.
The Avengers - I am torn about this film. While I understand why so many people like it and appreciate the spectacle of it all, the showiness and non-stop action didn't really appeal to me. My favorite moments were those in which the actors actually got to act, and interact, with one another on a face-to-face basis. RDJ steals the show (Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo also get to strut their stuff in satisfying doses), as he always does, and always should. However, that is just what I expected of the film, and perhaps therein lies the real problem. This film met, but did not exceed, the expectations that I had for it, and frankly I expected a little more from this cast and the man who brought me Firefly.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits - The thing I loved most about this film is the soundtrack. Using a Flight of the Conchords song is genius. The music set the perfect tone throughout. Hugh Grant and Martin Freeman both provide excellent voice work, and the whole thing is a delightfully fluffy confection. As kids movies go these days, you can do a lot worse. While this is no Wallace & Gromit, or even Chicken Run, it's still a nice way to pass the time and add a few chuckles to your day.
Hysteria - This movie would have been a trifling waste of my time if it didn't happen to showcase Rupert Everett at his finest. He is the gift that My Best Friend's Wedding never stops giving. As he did in his breakthrough role, he steals his every scene in Hysteria. If only he had been in all of them. Despite it's Victorian gloss, this film is silly and formulaic to its core.
Oslo, August 31st - A meditative tone-poem of a film, Oslo did not quite live up to the haunting beauty of Reprise. Yet, it showcases some powerful, subtle performances and the protagonist is a character with whom I was glad to spend a-day-in-the-life. Not to mention the fact that Norwegian is such a pleasant and lovely language to listen to.
Book Shelf
Started Early, Took My Dog, Kate Atkinson
Jackson Brodie: now solidly one of my favorite characters of fiction. This installment is the best one yet, with a good blend of past and present stories and a pitch-perfect level of absurdity. I find it hard to write much about Atkinson's books, and yet I love them so much, and absorb them like some life-giving force. They are comfortable and familiar, and yet always manage to surprise and delight. These days, a well-written and well-balanced novel that doesn't aim to be flashy seems a rare thing, so I can't help but treasure it when one crosses my path.
Win, Lose or Die, John Gardner
James Bond meets Top Gun! despite my love for each of these things separately, there was really no need to combine them, but thanks for trying John Gardner. This Bond installment was mildly entertaining, but the fact that the action was mostly confined to an aircraft carrier left a lot to be desired. As I've mentioned before, prefer my James Bond in exotic locales - the more exotic and more numerous the locales, the better. Also, the mention by name of specific world leaders in this volume removes the timeless quality that often makes Bond so appealingly immortal.
James Bond meets Top Gun! despite my love for each of these things separately, there was really no need to combine them, but thanks for trying John Gardner. This Bond installment was mildly entertaining, but the fact that the action was mostly confined to an aircraft carrier left a lot to be desired. As I've mentioned before, prefer my James Bond in exotic locales - the more exotic and more numerous the locales, the better. Also, the mention by name of specific world leaders in this volume removes the timeless quality that often makes Bond so appealingly immortal.
Brokenclaw, John Gardner
This entry in the series was particularly dull. I didn't think we could get more boring than an aircraft carrier, but that was before I had experienced a bunker in northern California as a primary setting. Yawn. To top it all off, the final sequence of the book was uncharacteristically graphic and gruesome. I think (and hope) Gardner still has a few good tales in him, and I applaud him for trying to mix up the Bond formula a bit. However, the truth is that part of Bond's appeal is the formula and structure behind the classic stories; deviate from it too much, and part of the man's essence disappears.
This entry in the series was particularly dull. I didn't think we could get more boring than an aircraft carrier, but that was before I had experienced a bunker in northern California as a primary setting. Yawn. To top it all off, the final sequence of the book was uncharacteristically graphic and gruesome. I think (and hope) Gardner still has a few good tales in him, and I applaud him for trying to mix up the Bond formula a bit. However, the truth is that part of Bond's appeal is the formula and structure behind the classic stories; deviate from it too much, and part of the man's essence disappears.
Krakatoa, Simon Winchester
This book is pretty slow going, but it does offer up some fascinating geological trivia. I had no idea that Plate Tectonics was still a theory as recently as the mid-1960s or that the fallout from Krakatoa led to some of the first research into and understanding of the Jet Stream. Winchester's tales of his own geology student days are some of the more interesting anecdotes here. In fact, the geology was more interesting across the board than the bits about Javanese culture. Also fascinating was the biological and botanical learnings that have come from the rise of Anak Krakatoa. Winchester reminds the reader how fortunate we are as a species that our planet lies the distance from the sun that is does. Not only does this distance allow for water and carbon dioxide to be in the proper states to support life, but it allows for the mechanics of plate tectonics, which are equally important to Earth's life-sustaining ability. It's nice to be reminded that we live on a pretty amazing planet that hangs in such a fine balance.
This book is pretty slow going, but it does offer up some fascinating geological trivia. I had no idea that Plate Tectonics was still a theory as recently as the mid-1960s or that the fallout from Krakatoa led to some of the first research into and understanding of the Jet Stream. Winchester's tales of his own geology student days are some of the more interesting anecdotes here. In fact, the geology was more interesting across the board than the bits about Javanese culture. Also fascinating was the biological and botanical learnings that have come from the rise of Anak Krakatoa. Winchester reminds the reader how fortunate we are as a species that our planet lies the distance from the sun that is does. Not only does this distance allow for water and carbon dioxide to be in the proper states to support life, but it allows for the mechanics of plate tectonics, which are equally important to Earth's life-sustaining ability. It's nice to be reminded that we live on a pretty amazing planet that hangs in such a fine balance.
Dune, Frank Herbert
A satisfying blend of medieval fantasy, messiah legend, and SciFi, I can see why Dune belongs in the Science Fiction cannon. While I found the prose to be a bit of a slog at times, I still enjoyed the rich universe that Herbert creates, along with a feeling that so much exists beyond the confines of the pages; it is the vastness of that universe that most appealed to me. It seems that so much is left unsaid, and there is a definite satisfaction to be had in connecting the dots using the framework that Herbert has provided around his core narrative.
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