Following the recent revelation by Nick Clegg in The Guardian that there are songs that make him cry, various contributors then went on to list the songs that bring a tear to their eyes. The list included songs by people as diverse as Spiritualized, Patsy Cline, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Will Young.
This week the public chose the songs that make them cry. Again, the list is quite eclectic, but there are a number of artists that feature more than once. Artists such as Radiohead, The Cure, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, The National, Elbow, Bon Iver and LCD Soundsystem. This is a subject quite close to my heart as I regularly have a good cry over a song. In the article it says, “music needs an extra emotional connection to have a lasting effect. A sad song only becomes poignant when it reminds you of something or someone, else.” I agree with that statement to a greater extent, but sometimes a song doesn’t need to remind me of someone or something. Sometimes just the song alone is enough to set me off.
Songs that remind me of a time, a place or a person are poignant, certainly. Ride On by Christy Moore would fall into that category. It reminds me of a time, a place and a handsome Irish boy, and it gets me every time. There was a Christy Moore session on BBC4 recently that I watched through misty eyes. Maybe it’s the masochist in me, but I fast-forwarded to Ride On, just so I could remember.
Sometimes, though it’s the lyrics that get you. The lyrics to Somebody by Depeche Mode are simple and beautiful. It’s about loving someone and wanting to be loved in return. It reminds me of a summer I spent in America and playing the song quietly on a late-night bus trip home so as not to wake the others. Coles Corner by Richard Hawley is a similarly poignant song about loneliness and wanting to find a connection with someone. It breaks my heart.
Then there are the songs that don’t hold a particularly strong emotional connection for me but nevertheless still have the ability to hit me with a punch. It might be the chord structure, it might be the minor key change, it might be the lyric. Codex by Radiohead is one such song. It floors me. The feeling starts almost from the opening bars of the piano, but it’s the horn section that just sets me off bawling. Most recently on a crowded train.
Another song that packs a punch is Sacrifice by Lisa Gerrard from the album Duality. The song is best listened to on headphones with your eyes closed and with your mind cleared of all distractions. Each time I emerge at the end of the song, I feel drained, purged and oddly euphoric.
I remember shedding quite a few tears at Ray Davies’ Glastonbury set last year as Ray and the choir sang Waterloo Sunset, followed by a spine-tingling rendition of Thank You For The Days, sung as a tribute to a friend who had recently died.
Of all the artists in my record collection though, the ones that have induced most tears is Elbow. At their recent concerts I found myself crying on a number of occasions. Firstly to Lippy Kids, then to Great Expectations. But the song that never fails to hit me with a punch is Friend of Ours from The Seldom Seen Kid album. I played it when someone close to me died and it reminds me of them. The sweeping strings, the horns, the “love ya mate” lyric leading into Craig’s beautiful piano riff just kills me.
There are probably many, many more songs I could mention. A good cry every now and then is something I can recommend. Why not dig into your own record collection and do the same…
Wednesday 13 April 2011
Saturday 2 April 2011
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Part One
Now, I’m no Barry Norman but I do love a good film and spend a great deal of my spare time in darkened rooms watching images flickering on a screen. Often, when I leave a cinema, I leave with a range of emotions. Sadness, exhilaration, anger, hope, inspiration, confusion. I love every trip I make to the cinema, not least because I enjoy the anticipation of what I’m about to see and the emotion I’m going to leave with two hours later.
So far, between January and the end of March I’ve seen 22 films. That doesn’t include the 10 short films I saw at the Dublin Film Festival. Below is a snapshot of what I’m calling The Good, The Bad and The Ugly* of 2011. *For Ugly read Disappointing.
The Good
To be fair there have been quite a few gems so far this year, but then there usually are in the first few months of the year as studios try to cram in films for consideration in the race for the Oscars. The Kings Speech was the first film I saw of 2011, which set the bar very high. Such a good film, it was inspiring, funny and actually rather interesting, so long as you include the poetic licence that was no doubt sprinkled on for good measure. Who knew a film about a speech therapist and a future king could be so compelling or downright entertaining? Colin Firth has deserved all the awards he’s been given, but I’m actually more delighted that Helena Bonham-Carter won a BAFTA and is finally getting the recognition she deserves. She’s a criminally under-rated actor who deserves more attention for her talent, rather than for the outfit she is wearing or who she happens to live with.
So far, between January and the end of March I’ve seen 22 films. That doesn’t include the 10 short films I saw at the Dublin Film Festival. Below is a snapshot of what I’m calling The Good, The Bad and The Ugly* of 2011. *For Ugly read Disappointing.
The Good
To be fair there have been quite a few gems so far this year, but then there usually are in the first few months of the year as studios try to cram in films for consideration in the race for the Oscars. The Kings Speech was the first film I saw of 2011, which set the bar very high. Such a good film, it was inspiring, funny and actually rather interesting, so long as you include the poetic licence that was no doubt sprinkled on for good measure. Who knew a film about a speech therapist and a future king could be so compelling or downright entertaining? Colin Firth has deserved all the awards he’s been given, but I’m actually more delighted that Helena Bonham-Carter won a BAFTA and is finally getting the recognition she deserves. She’s a criminally under-rated actor who deserves more attention for her talent, rather than for the outfit she is wearing or who she happens to live with.
Animal Kingdom was another cracker for the start of 2011. A taut, visceral thriller about a family of career criminals living in Melbourne, it fairly crackled on screen. Ben Mendelson gave a mesmerising performance as the elder brother, Pope, who will go to any lengths to stay out jail, including intimidating his own family and committing murder. And to think, he used to be the nice one in Neighbours. The ubiquitous Guy Pearce was also brilliant as the police officer trying to turn the young nephew into becoming an informer and testifying against his family. The ending was violent, shocking and, depending on your viewpoint, entirely justified. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you check it out when it’s released on DVD. Bring a strong constitution, though…
Another gem was The Secret In Their Eyes, an Argentinean thriller and winner of the foreign language Oscar in 2010, about a retired justice officer, Ricardo Darin, whose writing leads him to revisit the case of a young woman who was brutally raped and murdered two decades before. As he deals with the ghosts from that case he’s also forced to deal with the ghosts of unrequited love that he felt for his boss many years before. Ricardo Darin has previously starred in the critically acclaimed Nine Queens that was remade as the somewhat disappointing Criminal. The fact that he bears a striking resemblance to a swarthier Noel Gallagher should not put you off. He’s a fantastic actor. The story has several twists and turns as what happened twenty-five years before is slowly unpicked and exposed, until two decades’ worth of secrets is finally revealed. Devastating but brilliant.
Finally, we come to Submarine. I’d be lying if I said my main motivation for wanting to see this wasn’t because it features Paddy Considine, one of my favourite British actors, in leather trousers and a mullet. That said, he teeters close to the brink of parody in Submarine, playing a new-age spiritual guru called Graham, and only just gets away with it. If you’ve read the reviews, all the plaudits are richly deserved for Richard Ayoade in his first directorial feature. It’s the story of a 15 year old boy trying to lose his virginity, whilst trying to keep his parents’ marriage intact. Visually it fairly sparkles. I like all the visual tricks it serves up, such as the homage to the Nouvelle Vague coolness of films such as Jules et Jim in the grainy, Super 8 montage. The acting is great too. Newcomers Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige are brilliant as teenage lovers Oliver and Jordana, while Noah Taylor and the marvellous Sally Hawkins brilliantly play Oliver’s parents in all their toe-curling awkwardness. The soundtrack by Alex Turner compliments the film beautifully. And I don’t think I’ve seen a more magnificent mullet this side of 1985.
Honourable mentions:
Another gem was The Secret In Their Eyes, an Argentinean thriller and winner of the foreign language Oscar in 2010, about a retired justice officer, Ricardo Darin, whose writing leads him to revisit the case of a young woman who was brutally raped and murdered two decades before. As he deals with the ghosts from that case he’s also forced to deal with the ghosts of unrequited love that he felt for his boss many years before. Ricardo Darin has previously starred in the critically acclaimed Nine Queens that was remade as the somewhat disappointing Criminal. The fact that he bears a striking resemblance to a swarthier Noel Gallagher should not put you off. He’s a fantastic actor. The story has several twists and turns as what happened twenty-five years before is slowly unpicked and exposed, until two decades’ worth of secrets is finally revealed. Devastating but brilliant.
Finally, we come to Submarine. I’d be lying if I said my main motivation for wanting to see this wasn’t because it features Paddy Considine, one of my favourite British actors, in leather trousers and a mullet. That said, he teeters close to the brink of parody in Submarine, playing a new-age spiritual guru called Graham, and only just gets away with it. If you’ve read the reviews, all the plaudits are richly deserved for Richard Ayoade in his first directorial feature. It’s the story of a 15 year old boy trying to lose his virginity, whilst trying to keep his parents’ marriage intact. Visually it fairly sparkles. I like all the visual tricks it serves up, such as the homage to the Nouvelle Vague coolness of films such as Jules et Jim in the grainy, Super 8 montage. The acting is great too. Newcomers Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige are brilliant as teenage lovers Oliver and Jordana, while Noah Taylor and the marvellous Sally Hawkins brilliantly play Oliver’s parents in all their toe-curling awkwardness. The soundtrack by Alex Turner compliments the film beautifully. And I don’t think I’ve seen a more magnificent mullet this side of 1985.
Honourable mentions:
The Fighter – Great performances from everyone, but particularly Christian Bale, and some awesome fight sequences.
NEDs – A blistering story about Glasgow street gangs of the 1970s, directed by Peter Mullan. The performances from the young lead, Conor McCarron and Peter Mullan as the Da were outstanding. Biutiful – Javier Bardem is, in my opinion, one of the greatest actors in the world today. The film isn’t the most cheerful, dealing as it does with the tragedy of illegal immigration and terminal illness, but Bardem is as breathtaking as ever.
The Bad
I have a fairly good nose when it comes to sniffing out the celluloid wheat from the chaff so it’s rare that I go to see a film that is genuinely awful. I honestly can’t remember the last film I went to see that I wanted to walk out of because it was so bad. There are films that disappoint me, and they’re listed below, but I generally stay till the end then work out how I feel about them during the drive home. The only exception to this is Knocked Up which I watched on DVD based on some reviews that said it was good. Note to self, just because Radio 1’s James King says it’s a “laugh-out-loud comedy classic” doesn’t mean it is. Knocked Up is the story of a beautiful, successful television producer Alison (Katherine Heigl) who falls pregnant after a frankly, unlikely, one-night stand with habitual slacker Ben (Seth Rogen). This leads to a “hysterically funny, anxious and heart warming story” as they decide whether to have the baby and raise it together. I’m sorry, but was I watching the same film? It was offensive, un-funny, far-fetched and frankly a waste of two hours of my life. I’m clearly not this film’s target audience. And I'm very thankful for that...
The other film that I’m going to mention in this category, though I do feel a little unfair doing so is Le Quattro Volte, a docu-drama I saw at the Dublin Film Festival about a goatherd living in a remote Italian village. There was no dialogue to speak of, very little if any plot but there was an over-abundance of goats. It was sparse, bleak and confusing. It wasn’t offensive or hateful, but it wasn’t great either. A shame.
The Ugly/Disappointing
Over the years there have been more films that have found their way into this category than any other. Film reviews have tended to become more hysterical and over the top in recent years, which has probably added to my disappointment levels. Hype is the biggest killer for any film-lover. A couple of films that have fallen into this category for me so far this year are The Adjustment Bureau and Norwegian Wood. On the face of it, and from the trailer, The Adjustment Bureau was setting up to be a great film. Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, John Slattery and Terence Stamp in a kind of alternate universe, fate versus free-will stand-off. The trailer looked action packed, the guys in hats looked menacing and the chemistry between Damon and Blunt looked tantalising. The comparisons to Bourne and Inception were misleading, frankly. It started out as a taut, exciting thriller and became a sappy love story about two people who couldn’t bear to be apart and who would fight the forces of fate to be together. Pass me a bucket. The saving grace of the film was the chemistry between Damon and Blunt who were great foils for each other, but the plot had more holes in than a piece of Swiss cheese. Such a missed opportunity.
The other film in this category is Norwegian Wood, a Japanese film set in the 1960s about a young man’s love for his mentally unstable girlfriend and the twists and turns in their relationship. Cinematically it was stunning. I don’t think I’ve seen a more aesthetically pleasing film. It was beautifully filmed, giving it a soft, iridescence glow. The way it captured Tokyo in the late 60s and the way the sets were framed was also, quite gorgeous. The huge disappointment was the story. At over two hours, the story was long and drawn-out, with too much of very little happening as the guy waited to hear from his girlfriend who was receiving treatment in a secluded, mental health institution in the country. I know it’s based on a book that is loved by a great many people, so I feel unqualified to really comment on it, but based purely on my reaction to it, my body, but my arse in particular, has never been more grateful to see the end of a film.
So there you have it, my review of the films I've seen so far this year....feel free to comment if you don't agree or if there are any films you think I might like.
The Bad
I have a fairly good nose when it comes to sniffing out the celluloid wheat from the chaff so it’s rare that I go to see a film that is genuinely awful. I honestly can’t remember the last film I went to see that I wanted to walk out of because it was so bad. There are films that disappoint me, and they’re listed below, but I generally stay till the end then work out how I feel about them during the drive home. The only exception to this is Knocked Up which I watched on DVD based on some reviews that said it was good. Note to self, just because Radio 1’s James King says it’s a “laugh-out-loud comedy classic” doesn’t mean it is. Knocked Up is the story of a beautiful, successful television producer Alison (Katherine Heigl) who falls pregnant after a frankly, unlikely, one-night stand with habitual slacker Ben (Seth Rogen). This leads to a “hysterically funny, anxious and heart warming story” as they decide whether to have the baby and raise it together. I’m sorry, but was I watching the same film? It was offensive, un-funny, far-fetched and frankly a waste of two hours of my life. I’m clearly not this film’s target audience. And I'm very thankful for that...
The other film that I’m going to mention in this category, though I do feel a little unfair doing so is Le Quattro Volte, a docu-drama I saw at the Dublin Film Festival about a goatherd living in a remote Italian village. There was no dialogue to speak of, very little if any plot but there was an over-abundance of goats. It was sparse, bleak and confusing. It wasn’t offensive or hateful, but it wasn’t great either. A shame.
The Ugly/Disappointing
Over the years there have been more films that have found their way into this category than any other. Film reviews have tended to become more hysterical and over the top in recent years, which has probably added to my disappointment levels. Hype is the biggest killer for any film-lover. A couple of films that have fallen into this category for me so far this year are The Adjustment Bureau and Norwegian Wood. On the face of it, and from the trailer, The Adjustment Bureau was setting up to be a great film. Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, John Slattery and Terence Stamp in a kind of alternate universe, fate versus free-will stand-off. The trailer looked action packed, the guys in hats looked menacing and the chemistry between Damon and Blunt looked tantalising. The comparisons to Bourne and Inception were misleading, frankly. It started out as a taut, exciting thriller and became a sappy love story about two people who couldn’t bear to be apart and who would fight the forces of fate to be together. Pass me a bucket. The saving grace of the film was the chemistry between Damon and Blunt who were great foils for each other, but the plot had more holes in than a piece of Swiss cheese. Such a missed opportunity.
The other film in this category is Norwegian Wood, a Japanese film set in the 1960s about a young man’s love for his mentally unstable girlfriend and the twists and turns in their relationship. Cinematically it was stunning. I don’t think I’ve seen a more aesthetically pleasing film. It was beautifully filmed, giving it a soft, iridescence glow. The way it captured Tokyo in the late 60s and the way the sets were framed was also, quite gorgeous. The huge disappointment was the story. At over two hours, the story was long and drawn-out, with too much of very little happening as the guy waited to hear from his girlfriend who was receiving treatment in a secluded, mental health institution in the country. I know it’s based on a book that is loved by a great many people, so I feel unqualified to really comment on it, but based purely on my reaction to it, my body, but my arse in particular, has never been more grateful to see the end of a film.
So there you have it, my review of the films I've seen so far this year....feel free to comment if you don't agree or if there are any films you think I might like.
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