A Cultural Update
Films
A few weeks ago James bought a copy of the remake of the film 3:10 to Yuma which stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale so we watched it together. And it was really, really good. Totally gripping, and with some great acting. Crowe's character is entrancing, and I slightly changed my judgment of him because of that film. Maybe he can act after all - who knew?
Then a few days later we went to the cinema to see Robin Hood, also a recent remake and also featuring Russell Crowe. And, despite having low expectations, it was actually a lot of fun. There are some truly dodgy accents (why should 12th century peasants sound like 21st century working class Northerners?) and some hilarious plot developments (oh look, the lost boys are going to save the whole English army) but once you relax and stop taking it seriously, it's a hoot. I love the portrayal of England from an Australian perspective (if only it was still that green and idealistic) and thought the whole film was kind of like Lord of the Rings meets Monty Python. I won't be rushing out to buy the dvd but it certainly wasn't a wasted evening.
(Talking of wasted evenings, James is actually suggesting that we go and see Sex and the City 2 because the reviews are so bad he thinks it'll be fun. I just think it will be bad, and I don't want to give up 2 hours and 20 minutes of my time for such rubbish.)
Books
Have just finished Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier, and am very glad to have it out of the way. It's pure melodrama, complete with plucky yet stupid heroine, who of course falls in love with the mysterious and untrustworthy fellow who is younger brother to the evil bad guy, and who has lots of high ideals and values but is completely useless in a crisis. She's also constantly bewailing how hard it is to be female and therefore weak and prone to fainting fits; she'd much rather be a fierce and tough man and live on a farm by herself. Jeez, get over it.
It's a shame, because Rebecca is one of my favourite novels, but this one was rather a disappointment. The back pages of the book listed all the other novels by the same author, but I don't think I'll bother.
Now that's out of the way, I'm going to spend some book vouchers in Blackwells and Waterstones and indulge in book-buying. I hardly ever buy books. Ooh the excitement!
Music
Last week I decided I'd better rejoin the modern world and seek out some recent music because I was fed up of listening to the same things all the time and James' choices have gone very eclectic recently so I can't steal his cds. (He is currently listening to funk all the time, which I think is dreadful.) So I bought the following:
I am... Sasha Fierce by Beyonce. Yes, I bought it because I really like Put a Ring On It and I thought there would be other songs like it, but there aren't so I'm slightly disappointed. It's a long cd - 16 tracks - but the best ones are the songs released as singles (Halo and Beautiful Nightmare). I've only listened to it once so far but I'm struck by how such a powerful and influential woman can spend so much time singing about how she can't breathe whenever some boyfriend isn't around. I hate to break it to you Beyonce, but I don't think anyone has ever died from suffocation due to relationship problems. Feel free to sing about missing this guy, but why so much emphasis on loss of breath? It's unnecessary, frankly, and not worthy of your status as female role model.
Fame/The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga. I think I must be the last person of my generation to notice her and her songs, but I think she's been quite controversial for a year now. I'll admit, this purchase was Glee-related as I liked their cover of Bad Romance and thought I should check out the original. (But was not convinced that the one song Rachel Berry really wanted to sing with her long-lost mother was a ballad version of Poker Face. It was rubbish!) So far I'm actually quite impressed with the album. (Not sure why there are two disks, but they could probably be boiled down to one amazing album instead of two really good cds.) I can understand now why Lady Gaga is often compared to Madonna - her voice even sounds similar and the type of songs she sings have much in common. I really like Bad Romance and Paparazzi and am warming to several of the others. Some of the songs are too club-culture for me but I can imagine that lots of people much cooler than me like them a lot. So in conclusion, pretty good.
Strike by The Baseballs. THE BEST THING I'VE BOUGHT ALL YEAR. I love this album so so much already. I'm sure lots of people think me very uncool, but as soon as I heard the advert for this album I knew I had to have it. For those who aren't converted yet - The Baseballs are a group of three men who sing modern songs in a 50s swing style. It's awesome! Watch their cover of Umbrella here. I love the bounce to the music - I'm pretty sure I'm the happiest person on Oxford Road when I walk to work listening to this album. The other songs are all covers too, and how I feel about them depends partly on how I felt about the original - I loved Umbrella, and Crazy in Love by Beyonce, and Hot'n'Cold by Katy Perry - so I love the covers - but I really don't like Don't Cha or Angels (the Robbie Williams song - so overplayed) so I don't really like the covers either.
I'm truly enamoured with the style of music now too, and am even pondering the possibility of swing dance lessons. Hmm...
However, now I'm based in an office on my own I have downloaded Spotify and signed up to their free account. (Only 20 hours a month? Woe.) So, please recommend me music to listen to while I'm working! Particularly easy-listening stuff - I've been exploring lots of country artists recently, but am keen on folk or indie too. What are your favourite artists? Enquiring minds want to know!
A few weeks ago James bought a copy of the remake of the film 3:10 to Yuma which stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale so we watched it together. And it was really, really good. Totally gripping, and with some great acting. Crowe's character is entrancing, and I slightly changed my judgment of him because of that film. Maybe he can act after all - who knew?
Then a few days later we went to the cinema to see Robin Hood, also a recent remake and also featuring Russell Crowe. And, despite having low expectations, it was actually a lot of fun. There are some truly dodgy accents (why should 12th century peasants sound like 21st century working class Northerners?) and some hilarious plot developments (oh look, the lost boys are going to save the whole English army) but once you relax and stop taking it seriously, it's a hoot. I love the portrayal of England from an Australian perspective (if only it was still that green and idealistic) and thought the whole film was kind of like Lord of the Rings meets Monty Python. I won't be rushing out to buy the dvd but it certainly wasn't a wasted evening.
(Talking of wasted evenings, James is actually suggesting that we go and see Sex and the City 2 because the reviews are so bad he thinks it'll be fun. I just think it will be bad, and I don't want to give up 2 hours and 20 minutes of my time for such rubbish.)
Books
Have just finished Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier, and am very glad to have it out of the way. It's pure melodrama, complete with plucky yet stupid heroine, who of course falls in love with the mysterious and untrustworthy fellow who is younger brother to the evil bad guy, and who has lots of high ideals and values but is completely useless in a crisis. She's also constantly bewailing how hard it is to be female and therefore weak and prone to fainting fits; she'd much rather be a fierce and tough man and live on a farm by herself. Jeez, get over it.
It's a shame, because Rebecca is one of my favourite novels, but this one was rather a disappointment. The back pages of the book listed all the other novels by the same author, but I don't think I'll bother.
Now that's out of the way, I'm going to spend some book vouchers in Blackwells and Waterstones and indulge in book-buying. I hardly ever buy books. Ooh the excitement!
Music
Last week I decided I'd better rejoin the modern world and seek out some recent music because I was fed up of listening to the same things all the time and James' choices have gone very eclectic recently so I can't steal his cds. (He is currently listening to funk all the time, which I think is dreadful.) So I bought the following:
I am... Sasha Fierce by Beyonce. Yes, I bought it because I really like Put a Ring On It and I thought there would be other songs like it, but there aren't so I'm slightly disappointed. It's a long cd - 16 tracks - but the best ones are the songs released as singles (Halo and Beautiful Nightmare). I've only listened to it once so far but I'm struck by how such a powerful and influential woman can spend so much time singing about how she can't breathe whenever some boyfriend isn't around. I hate to break it to you Beyonce, but I don't think anyone has ever died from suffocation due to relationship problems. Feel free to sing about missing this guy, but why so much emphasis on loss of breath? It's unnecessary, frankly, and not worthy of your status as female role model.
Fame/The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga. I think I must be the last person of my generation to notice her and her songs, but I think she's been quite controversial for a year now. I'll admit, this purchase was Glee-related as I liked their cover of Bad Romance and thought I should check out the original. (But was not convinced that the one song Rachel Berry really wanted to sing with her long-lost mother was a ballad version of Poker Face. It was rubbish!) So far I'm actually quite impressed with the album. (Not sure why there are two disks, but they could probably be boiled down to one amazing album instead of two really good cds.) I can understand now why Lady Gaga is often compared to Madonna - her voice even sounds similar and the type of songs she sings have much in common. I really like Bad Romance and Paparazzi and am warming to several of the others. Some of the songs are too club-culture for me but I can imagine that lots of people much cooler than me like them a lot. So in conclusion, pretty good.
Strike by The Baseballs. THE BEST THING I'VE BOUGHT ALL YEAR. I love this album so so much already. I'm sure lots of people think me very uncool, but as soon as I heard the advert for this album I knew I had to have it. For those who aren't converted yet - The Baseballs are a group of three men who sing modern songs in a 50s swing style. It's awesome! Watch their cover of Umbrella here. I love the bounce to the music - I'm pretty sure I'm the happiest person on Oxford Road when I walk to work listening to this album. The other songs are all covers too, and how I feel about them depends partly on how I felt about the original - I loved Umbrella, and Crazy in Love by Beyonce, and Hot'n'Cold by Katy Perry - so I love the covers - but I really don't like Don't Cha or Angels (the Robbie Williams song - so overplayed) so I don't really like the covers either.
I'm truly enamoured with the style of music now too, and am even pondering the possibility of swing dance lessons. Hmm...
However, now I'm based in an office on my own I have downloaded Spotify and signed up to their free account. (Only 20 hours a month? Woe.) So, please recommend me music to listen to while I'm working! Particularly easy-listening stuff - I've been exploring lots of country artists recently, but am keen on folk or indie too. What are your favourite artists? Enquiring minds want to know!