Friday, March 31st, 2006
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
I took a while to warm to this but rather like Helen Hunt’s character I thawed. I also thawed towards the actress too. At first I kept disbelievingly muttering “she’s an Oscar winner you know” (as is Charlize Theron who actually looked a forties star) but eventually I shut up and enjoyed her performance (her pointy nose reminded me of Jodie Foster who is never a bad thing to be reminded of). The story was featherlike but charming, the supporting cast was top quality and I liked the few lines that acknowledged his age, nearsightedness and shortness (and baldness).
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Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
What does Joss Whedon have against happy couples and irenic personalities?
Posted in BtVS, Films, Firefly/Serenity, Television | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
Half of this novel by Lionel Shriver is stunning, thought provoking, insightful and dowright uncomfortable. However, it over reaches itself and descends into incredulity. I coped with six year old Kevin in nappies and not in therapy but reading about a parent who not just suspected but knew that their son was torturing his sister and did nothing is not believeable (not written this way anyway). The lost of an eye and still nothing doing is just daft.
This is a powerful book but only for half of it.
Posted in Books, Other people's written work | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 1st, 2006
I am not religious but I am going to give up swearing for Lent. I am allowing myself “nuts“.
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Wednesday, March 1st, 2006
I wish I was better at writing about music. I don’t think I can adequately express myself mainly because as much as love music I essentially have cloth ears. Although, recently I did do a University of Newcastle survey which showed that 21 times out of 25 (actually it was 25 times out of 30) I could tell the difference between similar tunes: this surprised me.
My first reaction is always to the overall sound that I hear then I pay attention to the instrumentation and the lyrics last. So unless the lyrics are spectacularly crass or dull then good lyrics are the icing on the cake.
Save Me by Aimee Mann is such a song. Aimee’s vocals are strong, the tune melodic and catchy and to cap it all the lyrics are “At Seventeen” (”to those of us who know the pain of valentines that never came”) revisited: “save me…from the ranks of the freaks who suspect they could never love anyone”.
Ghost World is another fine song which captures the essence of the comic (graphic novel) and the film (but, why bother with them? the song is so good):”I’m bailing this town – or tearing it down – or probably more like hanging around”.
With Paula Frazer and Tarnation, the lyrics are definitely secondary (tertiary actually). Her voice and the arrangements are awesome and often moving.
Posted in Lyrics, Music, Other people's written work | No Comments »