...it was 12,794, but he lost four points watching TV.
From Genius by John Glashan.
09 February 2008
08 February 2008
The Void on celluloid...
Control, the movie about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who took his life in 1979, came out last year, and guess which lazy blogger is only getting around to writing about it now?
As befits a film with photographer/video-tician Anton Corbijn at the helm, Control looks fantastic, especially the "live" footage. Musically it's something of a (pleasant) surprise too. The actors actually play their instruments reasonably well, and while they're no Joy Division, they come as close as you could ever get to evoking the spirit of the band in performance. Some of it is based closely on clips of the original band, playing live and on TV, and a lot of work obviously went into these very impressive sequences. And yes, it is in black and white, like many of Corbijn's great rock photos were back in the day.
Control is based on Touching From A Distance, Deborah Curtis' memoir of life with her late husband. The book itself was guileless and honest, and the movie has something of that tone. Unlike the book, though, Corbijn also draws on others' memories of the Joy Division years, so the portrayal of all that boys-on-the-road stuff, as well as Ian Curtis' affair with Belgian journalist Annik Honoré, is a bit better fleshed out.
It's interesting to compare this with the first half of 24 Hour Party People, which treated of the rise of Joy Division and Curtis' untimely suicide with less depth but great economy, and a certain amount of black humour. Control for its part tends to focus on romance and relationships. It reminds me more than a little of Walk The Line, which was more love-story-told-with-real-characters-and-based-loosely-on-real-events than straightforward biopic, but quite effective for all that.
This movie is clearly aimed at a younger audience, the sort of people who buy records by modern bands who've been namechecking Joy Division and Curtis as an influence. And why not? Control tells the tale with exactly the right balance of sympathy and objectivity, humour and honesty.
I really didn't expect to like this, but it was well worth watching. Like I say, it's a seriously good-looking film, with enough substance to justify all the pretty pictures. And if it gets a new generation into the music of Joy Division, then I for one will be very happy indeed.
I was not so happy about Once, directed by former Frames bass guitarist John Carney, which is only just out (though I managed to get hold of a preview copy last year). It features Frames lead singer Glenn Hansard (who first appeared on cinema screens as Outspan in The Commitments) and Czech songstress Markéta Irglova in a sort of musical romantic tale set on the streets of Dublin's fair city. I expected to like it - I've seen it several times now, and really tried to like it, but I'm sorry, it just left a bad taste.
I'm not a big fan of the Frames' music, though I do admire them for the fact that they've survived as a band despite all the begrudgery and sheer malice they've had to endure in their native land. The kind of spite that would be more properly levelled at, say, that other Dublin band, the one whose name consists of a letter followed by a number...
Anyhoo, Hansard plays a street busker and Irglova a flower-girl (awww) who also turns out to be a pianist. They bond over her broken vacuum cleaner, which he mends (that's his day job, y'see). Then they get to know each other and help each other out musically. And, well, that's about it.
Maybe I'm being too hard on this movie, but what is all the fuss about? Do Seppoes think they have, like, totally cute accents and stuff?
It's not that Once doesn't have some good qualities - Hansard and Irglova are both fine musicians, and though not 'proper' actors, they have a pretty good onscreen chemistry. Their friendship develops believably. The music isn't my cup of tea, but it's worked well into the movie. Director Carney clearly knows his stuff. The ending may be a bit of a cop-out but at least it's not standard boy-gets-girl schmaltz. It's just that I couldn't find anything in this that actually added up to, you know, A Movie.
Joy Division were a band whose music was associated with despair and alienation but actually had its own cathartic, uplifting power. And some of that came through in Control. Whereas Once, for all its celebration of the joys of music and the virtues of friendship and (tentative) romance, just leaves an empty feeling. As though one had just been watching an adaptation of Notting Hill for raggle-taggle groupies.
As befits a film with photographer/video-tician Anton Corbijn at the helm, Control looks fantastic, especially the "live" footage. Musically it's something of a (pleasant) surprise too. The actors actually play their instruments reasonably well, and while they're no Joy Division, they come as close as you could ever get to evoking the spirit of the band in performance. Some of it is based closely on clips of the original band, playing live and on TV, and a lot of work obviously went into these very impressive sequences. And yes, it is in black and white, like many of Corbijn's great rock photos were back in the day.
Control is based on Touching From A Distance, Deborah Curtis' memoir of life with her late husband. The book itself was guileless and honest, and the movie has something of that tone. Unlike the book, though, Corbijn also draws on others' memories of the Joy Division years, so the portrayal of all that boys-on-the-road stuff, as well as Ian Curtis' affair with Belgian journalist Annik Honoré, is a bit better fleshed out.
It's interesting to compare this with the first half of 24 Hour Party People, which treated of the rise of Joy Division and Curtis' untimely suicide with less depth but great economy, and a certain amount of black humour. Control for its part tends to focus on romance and relationships. It reminds me more than a little of Walk The Line, which was more love-story-told-with-real-characters-and-based-loosely-on-real-events than straightforward biopic, but quite effective for all that.
This movie is clearly aimed at a younger audience, the sort of people who buy records by modern bands who've been namechecking Joy Division and Curtis as an influence. And why not? Control tells the tale with exactly the right balance of sympathy and objectivity, humour and honesty.
I really didn't expect to like this, but it was well worth watching. Like I say, it's a seriously good-looking film, with enough substance to justify all the pretty pictures. And if it gets a new generation into the music of Joy Division, then I for one will be very happy indeed.
I was not so happy about Once, directed by former Frames bass guitarist John Carney, which is only just out (though I managed to get hold of a preview copy last year). It features Frames lead singer Glenn Hansard (who first appeared on cinema screens as Outspan in The Commitments) and Czech songstress Markéta Irglova in a sort of musical romantic tale set on the streets of Dublin's fair city. I expected to like it - I've seen it several times now, and really tried to like it, but I'm sorry, it just left a bad taste.
I'm not a big fan of the Frames' music, though I do admire them for the fact that they've survived as a band despite all the begrudgery and sheer malice they've had to endure in their native land. The kind of spite that would be more properly levelled at, say, that other Dublin band, the one whose name consists of a letter followed by a number...
Anyhoo, Hansard plays a street busker and Irglova a flower-girl (awww) who also turns out to be a pianist. They bond over her broken vacuum cleaner, which he mends (that's his day job, y'see). Then they get to know each other and help each other out musically. And, well, that's about it.
Maybe I'm being too hard on this movie, but what is all the fuss about? Do Seppoes think they have, like, totally cute accents and stuff?
It's not that Once doesn't have some good qualities - Hansard and Irglova are both fine musicians, and though not 'proper' actors, they have a pretty good onscreen chemistry. Their friendship develops believably. The music isn't my cup of tea, but it's worked well into the movie. Director Carney clearly knows his stuff. The ending may be a bit of a cop-out but at least it's not standard boy-gets-girl schmaltz. It's just that I couldn't find anything in this that actually added up to, you know, A Movie.
Joy Division were a band whose music was associated with despair and alienation but actually had its own cathartic, uplifting power. And some of that came through in Control. Whereas Once, for all its celebration of the joys of music and the virtues of friendship and (tentative) romance, just leaves an empty feeling. As though one had just been watching an adaptation of Notting Hill for raggle-taggle groupies.
07 December 2007
20 September 2007
10 September 2007
Thus We Refute Darwin, #3,422.
Customer: I'd like to get an interlibrary loan please. How long would it take?
Dogsbody: An interlibrary loan? Typically, about a week to ten days.
Customer: That long? I wouldn't be able to get one by tomorrow?
Dogsbody: Er, no. Unless you can find a library anywhere that could get a book to us by tomorrow.
Customer: Oh - you mean the books actually come from other libraries?
Dogsbody: An interlibrary loan? Typically, about a week to ten days.
Customer: That long? I wouldn't be able to get one by tomorrow?
Dogsbody: Er, no. Unless you can find a library anywhere that could get a book to us by tomorrow.
Customer: Oh - you mean the books actually come from other libraries?
Taw shay mahogany gaspipe.
Anois is féidir an ciclipéid arlíne is fearr leat a fháil as Gaeilge. Anseo: Vicipéid.
Mar shampla:
John Millington Synge;
Brian Ó Nualláin;
An Taoiseach;
agus mar sin...
Mar shampla:
John Millington Synge;
Brian Ó Nualláin;
An Taoiseach;
agus mar sin...
I want my, I want my, I want my N. D. E.
THE BIG GUY: I definitely don't feel well. But now I seem to be floating... floating... up to the ceiling. Yes, I'm up on the ceiling looking down on some fat fella... oh. That's me. I've definitely looked better. But what's that up there? A glowing white light... a light of uncommon purity. And who's that coming out of the light?
GOD: Hello Luciano. Are you ready to come home?
THE BIG GUY: Is that... really you, God?
GOD: Most certainly.
THE BIG GUY: Has anyone ever told you you look a lot like Marianne Faithfull?
GOD: I do get that sometimes, yes.
THE BIG GUY: So... so this is it, I suppose.
GOD: "It"?
THE BIG GUY: The end. The end of my life on earth and the beginning of... I don't know, really.
GOD: "Life everlasting", you mean?
THE BIG GUY: Well, I suppose that's up to you, isn't it? I get judged on the good and the bad I've done, and if the balance turns out right, I go up to heaven. And if not, I suppose I get sent to... that other place.
GOD: "Other place"?
THE BIG GUY: You know, the place Down Below. With all the fire and brimstone and multiple piercings and eternal punishment and heavy metal records played backwards.
GOD: I don't think there's any fear of that, Luciano my dear boy. You've done plenty of good in your time. You've raised money for charity. You've uplifted and inspired people with your music. You've kept thousands of restaurants financially solvent. Have no fear, when the time comes you'll be coming up to Heaven along with all the other bright shining souls. We are short a few tenor voices in the celestial choir, after all.
THE BIG GUY: "When the time comes?"
GOD: Well, this is it, you see. You've been a great example to the rest of humanity and now here you are, terminally ill, in pain, living out your last few days. The least I can do is give you a little slack time. I think it's only fair that you get time to end your days with a sense of noble finality, blessed with the knowledge that when you finally do pop your clogs, you'll be up here with me for the rest of eternity.
THE BIG GUY: So my time has not yet come?
GOD: Oh, it'll come sooner rather than later. It's up to you, really. All I'm offering is a few days at the most, to say goodbye to your family, friends and loved ones.
THE BIG GUY: Well, that's wonderful. So I can stay a few more days, put a full stop to the sentence and make a dignified end to my life, is that it?
GOD: If you want. Or you can come with me now if you prefer.
THE BIG GUY: That's a very kind offer. But I've made my peace with everyone. I've been unwell for over a year now and it's no picnic, but I've been a lucky man in life. I've had a good family, plenty of friends. I've said goodbye to them all, really.
GOD: Well, what about that Irish fellow you used to hang around with?
THE BIG GUY: You... you mean Bono?
GOD: Yes, indeed. Good old Bono. Lovely boy.
THE BIG GUY: Bono's back down there waiting for me?
GOD: It looks as though he might even start singing, any minute.
THE BIG GUY: All right, God. You can take me now then.
GOD: Hello Luciano. Are you ready to come home?
THE BIG GUY: Is that... really you, God?
GOD: Most certainly.
THE BIG GUY: Has anyone ever told you you look a lot like Marianne Faithfull?
GOD: I do get that sometimes, yes.
THE BIG GUY: So... so this is it, I suppose.
GOD: "It"?
THE BIG GUY: The end. The end of my life on earth and the beginning of... I don't know, really.
GOD: "Life everlasting", you mean?
THE BIG GUY: Well, I suppose that's up to you, isn't it? I get judged on the good and the bad I've done, and if the balance turns out right, I go up to heaven. And if not, I suppose I get sent to... that other place.
GOD: "Other place"?
THE BIG GUY: You know, the place Down Below. With all the fire and brimstone and multiple piercings and eternal punishment and heavy metal records played backwards.
GOD: I don't think there's any fear of that, Luciano my dear boy. You've done plenty of good in your time. You've raised money for charity. You've uplifted and inspired people with your music. You've kept thousands of restaurants financially solvent. Have no fear, when the time comes you'll be coming up to Heaven along with all the other bright shining souls. We are short a few tenor voices in the celestial choir, after all.
THE BIG GUY: "When the time comes?"
GOD: Well, this is it, you see. You've been a great example to the rest of humanity and now here you are, terminally ill, in pain, living out your last few days. The least I can do is give you a little slack time. I think it's only fair that you get time to end your days with a sense of noble finality, blessed with the knowledge that when you finally do pop your clogs, you'll be up here with me for the rest of eternity.
THE BIG GUY: So my time has not yet come?
GOD: Oh, it'll come sooner rather than later. It's up to you, really. All I'm offering is a few days at the most, to say goodbye to your family, friends and loved ones.
THE BIG GUY: Well, that's wonderful. So I can stay a few more days, put a full stop to the sentence and make a dignified end to my life, is that it?
GOD: If you want. Or you can come with me now if you prefer.
THE BIG GUY: That's a very kind offer. But I've made my peace with everyone. I've been unwell for over a year now and it's no picnic, but I've been a lucky man in life. I've had a good family, plenty of friends. I've said goodbye to them all, really.
GOD: Well, what about that Irish fellow you used to hang around with?
THE BIG GUY: You... you mean Bono?
GOD: Yes, indeed. Good old Bono. Lovely boy.
THE BIG GUY: Bono's back down there waiting for me?
GOD: It looks as though he might even start singing, any minute.
THE BIG GUY: All right, God. You can take me now then.
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