Posted on November 10th, 2006 by Andy
I love when things I love like comics and music overlap so seeing this in Drawn and Quarterly or a Galaxy [sic] 500 poster in Craig Thompson’s “Blankets” will always give me a buzz (sad huh?).
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Posted on August 18th, 2006 by Andy
More cartoon pianists - but still inspiring. This is from the enjoyable Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
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Posted on July 20th, 2006 by Andy
Tom & Jerry - Cat Concerto (1947)
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Posted on April 21st, 2006 by Andy
So this is by way of a “coming out”. Latecomer as I was to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, like a born-again Christian or a reformed smoker I have become fanatical and obsessed. Having said that I am still a minor Buffy nut compared with Hazel.
So the two of us are stitting down to watch the entire run again - we manufactured an “excuse” involving Angel (which we haven’t seen as yet) but to be honest we just wanted to watch it again - and it’s not like we have anything else to watch (maybe 30 or 40 films and a few TV series - not really that much).
The most obvious difference this time around seems to be that the storyline, which was the most important thing first time around, has become only a minor player in our enjoyment of the show. The character development and interaction, and mostly the hilarious dialogue are more important - so we can watch an episode like I, Robot…You, Jane and thoroughly enjoy it despite its woeful plot - the big test for this theory will come with Beer Bad.
Just to prove she’s a bigger fan than me Hazel is blogging her thoughts on each episode as we go through it (Let’s Fold Scarves). As for me…I’ll just remain a detached and cool music snob and continue to whine preciously at the perilous state of the music and media industries…
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Posted on January 3rd, 2006 by Andy
Oh I meant to do so much here - with lists and links and music and books and stuff - but in the end a miserable cold just had me staring blankly and uninspired. We’ve all had a cold since christmas so our house has been a cacophony of coughs, sneezes and moans.
records (in no particular order)
books
I know they’re both quite old but they were the best books I read last year
Ugh that’ll do - I’m off to sneeze again - have a great 2006
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Posted on September 28th, 2005 by Andy
Well I’ve now sat through Martin Scorcese’s lengthy look at the early years of Bob Dylan’s career and it was a fascinating look at this puzzling personality particularly through the eyes of his associates. It was fun to see the myth of the lovely Pete Seeger with an axe backstage at the Newport Folk Festival so gloriously perpetuated. It was great to see Joan Baez struggling to keep her bitterness down at Bobby’s treatment of her - and interesting to see Bobby admit that he hadn’t been the perfect partner. And of course it was intersting to see just how angry the “Dylan goes electric” tour of the UK was - it was so much more than just one guy shouting "Judas" at the Manchester Free Trade Hall.
One concern was the way that Albert Grossman’s relationship with Dylan was completely ignored. It rather devalues the whole documentary that someone whose influence on the whole Greenwich Village scene and on Dylan in particular was virtually ignored (with the exception of a comment about his manipulation of Peter, Paul and Mary.
No Directrion Home (DVD) - from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
Bob Dylan - No Direction Home (CD) Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
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Posted on August 31st, 2005 by Andy
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - so there still hasn’t been a great adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic but this is about a billion times better than the 1971 abomination
Nashville - I finally got around to watching Robert Altman’s “masterpiece” about the country music business - lots of interconnected stories cleverly realised and rounded out with great performances and enjoyable songs. I also recenlty watched Altman’s Cookie’s Fortune which was also fine, it differed from Nashville in having a more cohesive and simple plot around which the charactes lives were wrapped. Both are well worth catching.
Donnie Darko - I finally got around to seeing this highly regarded film and if you’re happy not fully understanding a film and then enjoy cross-examining it for days afterwards then it’s a good film. I do so I quite enjoyed it, although I’m a little puzzled that it makes it into the IMDB top 250
Bringing Up Baby - classic “screwball comedy” and, like all screwball comedies, you have to be prepared for lots of shouting and hit and miss gags. Katharine Hepburn was great and Cary Grant was just Cary Grant but the supporting cast were a little overwhelmed. So was I.
The Great Escape and Chicken Run - Watched these two escape classics again and enjoyed them both - I’d forgotten just how downbeat the ending of The Great Escape was so appreciated the success of the chickens breakout.
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Posted on August 1st, 2005 by Andy
We saw Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow on DVD at the weekend and what a pile of poo it turned out to be. Sure it looked fine enough (most of the time) but whoever was led to believe that either Gwyneth Paltrow or Jude Law had the talent to carry this picture was sorely disillusioned. Sure they may have been hampered by a weak story and crap dialog but just maybe the action could have carried the film if the actors had been good enough. Angelina Jolie proved that she could turn a rubbish part with rubbish dialog in a rubbish film into something memorable. Utter Rubbish.
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Posted on May 10th, 2005 by Andy
Here’s a post just in case anyone does actually look at my blog. I intend renaming and jazzing up this blog and tryiong to use it to keep on top of all my music, film and literature opinions (and anything else really).
I’ve spent most of the last coupld of weeks reading Wodehouse - and laughing out loud on the bus - it does mean I normally get a double seat to myself!
I’ve spent a lot of time listening to the new Damon & Naomi album, The Earth is Blue, but that goes without saying. Less that two weeks until they’re in London - should be good…
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Posted on February 8th, 2005 by Andy
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Christopher is an unusual boy who sees the world more literally than most kids of his age would and as such this story, told from his perspective, makes an interesting and often fascinating read. The story starts off as a straight whodunnit when a neighbours dog is found dead and Christopher decides to investigate its death - the story then twists and turns and exposes us to the difficult world that Christopher lives in. Difficult not just for Christopher but for those around him.
The way the story is told is clever in that it sucks you into seeing the world the way that Christopher does. However by the last third of the book I found myself getting tired of it, particularly as it seems to slow down the book just when the story should have been picking up pace.
I somehow had expected a more poetic and magical story from a poet but Face was a very straight read and as much as I enjoy Zephaniah’s poetry I must admit that this novel was pretty tame by comparison. The story is about Martin a bright but slightly wayward schoolboy in the east end of London and how he, and his friends and family, come to terms with a personal tragedy
The story was predictable and even the twists were telegraphed well in advance and the only thing that kept me reading was the fact that the story was at least an interesting one.
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