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Thursday, September 16, 2004
Well, Mr Cat's bust my computer and it's refusing to come back to life, so its blogging from work for me. (Hence no nice pictures from my digital camera of the London Eye which you all really wanted to see.) So erm, quick catch up on what I've been up to purely for my memory purposes -
Went on the London Eye and suprisingly didnt get vertigo. Saw an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's The Elephant Vanishes" Saw They Might be Giants and the genius of Corn Mo at the Astoria. Went to the Make Trade Fair gig at the Hammersmith Apollo which featured REM, The Thrills, Razorlight, Jamelia, Ricky Gervais and erm, Minnie Driver - often all together in collaboration type things. So, at least I've been getting out of the house. Starting a new job monday, so not sure when my next blog-on will be.......
A Tale of Two Sisters
A disturbing if ultimately very confusing Korean ghost story, concerning two sisters, their wicked stepmother and some ghostly goings-on. I don't scare easily, but for two thirds of this I was genuinly unnerved, due to a combination of drop-your-ribena-carton jumps and a creepy atmosphere. I could tell it had got to me due to me genuinely thinking things like "dont go in the closet!" when in most horror films I'm willing whoever the next victim is to go into the closet as quickly as possible. I was also intrigued as to what the hell was happening - I only wish I was any the wiser now, having watched the final third with its myriad of plot twists, flashbacks and more and more unnecessary jumpy bits. The ending, to put it mildly, is open to interpretation, and it would maybe make more sense if I watched it again - though I doubt it. I'd recommend it if you like feeling scared and confused, but not if you're hoping to reach the end of the film feeling any less scared and confused.  Thursday, September 09, 2004
Seemingly inspired by the Space Banjo's eating habits, a guy with a funny ginger moustache decides to eat nothing but McDonalds for a whole month. You can read all about it on his website here. This documentary follows his descent into burger addiction and health problems the doctor's hadn't even dreamt of. At first, as a man who does like burgers, the film made me feel pretty hungry, as Morgan starts to tuck into his first few juicy meat sandwiches - however by the end I was feeling pretty sick, and longing for a shot of a piece of fruit or a vegetable to make my eyes feel less greasy. His girlfriend, a vegan chef (I empathised with this guy straight away) is at first less than impressed with his experiment, then apalled as he becomes impotent, then scared as it looks as if he may well die from his McDiet.
The film intersperses his weight gaining with interviews and facts and figures about the McEvil corporation and fast food in general - similar to the sort of stuff found in Fast Food Nation and No Logo. All in all, its an entertaining film, although whether anybody really needs a film to tell them that eating nothing but mcDonalds for a month makes you fat and unhealthy is another matter. Thursday, September 02, 2004
Fahrenheit 911
Well, a lot has been said about Michael Moore's documentary. So erm, here's a bit more.... Its an impassioned, but over-simplified mess of a film basically - although the fact that what he's saying has been deemed at all controversial (ie. george bush is an idiot, war is wrong) shows you we are quite possibly living in worrying times. The film is a dizzying montage of information and propaganda, taking in everything from George Bush's early years of incompetence, through 911 and up to the war in Iraq and the abuse of prisoners. At times its over-milked for emotion, or shock value, and some issues are given nowhere near the screen time they deserve - its almost like a collection of trailers for some much more in-depth documentaries. The star of the show is undoubtably good old Dubya Bush - though Moore can't take much credit for this, because it seems you only have to point a camera in the president's direction and he'll say something stupid and grin like a lobotomized chimp. For anyone who's taken an interest in current events and read some of the left wing press there's a lot here you'll know already - however, whilst in the UK there'll be a large element of preaching to the converted, Moore is only really targeting anyone in the US who may even possibly be thinking of re-electing Bush - indeed the UK barely gets a mention throughout. The hope is that for those spoonfed disinformation by Fox News this film will provide an introductory lesson into why Bush is not only a moron but quite possibly the most dangerous man on the planet. Indeed, for UK audiences, probably the most eye-opening thing will be the Fox News excerpts which come across like a cross between the Day Today "war!" episode and the news clips in Starship Troopers. That and the "patriot act" - a piece of legislation that makes you think someone in the Bush administration read Orwell's 1984 not as a cautionary tale, but as an instruction manual. So, to sum up I didnt find it as enlightening or as well-made as Bowling for Columbine, but a lot of that has to do with the film not being aimed at me whatsoever. However, if it can influence enough people to vote against Bush, it could well be the one of most important films of all time, even if it is nowhere near one of the best. And Moore should be applauded for at least showing that the right wing don't have the monopoly on fat loud-mouths. Wednesday, September 01, 2004
The Motorcycle Diaries
The film follows the journey of a young Che Guevara (before he went all revolutionary) and his best mate as they go on a road trip through South America. It starts off like fairly flippant road movie about two gap year students on a mission to pull chicks across Latin America. However, as the journey progresses, it becomes more like a documentary as the duo encounter the disenfranchised poor (many played by actual "real" villagers and peasants) and Che's social conscience begins to grow at the injustice of it all. The social commentary is never overwhelming, with his friend Alberto still providing comic relief to offset Che's seriousness. The acting is superb, and the scenery stunning, and all in all I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Its enough to make you want to go out and buy a Che t-shirt and start a revolution..... |
