ArkhamGlobe

That was pretty bad, from the pompously sentimental style to the maker constantly hitting you over the head with the MESSAGE and the TRAGEDY, treating the audience like a bunch superficial cretins, completely nullifying any pain or emotion inherent in the material. There is no pain or beauty in this, only a hollow prettiness, void of any kind of subtlelty or artistic sensitivity, just a portentous sense of worthiness. It makes Ron Howard look like Fritz Lang.

The complete list of awards and films and stuff can be found here. It's said to have been a pretty strong line-up, personally I'm mainly looking forward to seeing Jarmusch's and Cronenberg's films, but I'd happily watch any of the films that were in competition.

The only really weird dream I've had that I can vividly remember is from when I was about ten or eleven. It involved some pyramid from outer space rising up from under my school yard, inside were a bunch of androids that looked like Dot Matrix from Spaceballs. Me and some other kid climbed in and somehow got hold of some laser rifles, or something similiar, and defeated the androids. Then I was suddenly transported to some meadow overflowing with flowers, as I was on the way to visit some friends of my family. I got to their house, and walked into their living room, though no one was there, and, I believe, I just sat there and waited until I woke up. I also have a tendency to get attacked by huge, talking fish in my dreams at times.

"Zazie dans le métro" by Raymond Queneau, which thus far (five chapters) is really funny.

This is what I've watched over the week: Hotel - interesting Austrian film, with a strong visual sense. The director was a former assistant to Michael Haneke, which I think showed. Very short, but admirably managed to build a suitably oppressive mood. Hostage - felt contrived and overdone in places, but the mechanics were handled well and it was certainly watchable. Downfall - unfocused narratively, but it managed to provide an interesting analysis of the Nazi mindset, basically likening it to a suicide cult. Bruno Ganz was amazing in this. Melinda and Melinda - slight, but amusing, definitly a step up from Allen's other recent work. demonlover - this was pretty confusing in places, but, for me atleast, this was counterbalanced by Assayas' outstanding control of visuals, sound, movement and editing, all of which added up to a remarkably sinister and disturbing mood. Nice score by Sonic Youth, too. I definitely need to watch this again a few times.

On vinyl: Prince - 1999 Prince - Lovesexy

This song has some sort of weird hypnotic hold over me. Seriously, it's so outrageously over the top melodramatic and bombastic that it almost ceases to be ridiculous and veers into some kind of absurd artistic statement. Almost.

Los Olvidados is apparently out on dvd in Mexico and France, or so this site tells me, anyway.

Rain Dogs is easily my favourite Waits album as well, and one of the few albums that are pretty much locked at the top of my list of all-time favourites. My second favourite is Franks Wild Years, while I readily admit that Swordfishtrombones may very well be a better album, I just like Franks Wild Years more for some reason.

Some of the stuff I've watched in the last two weeks: The Life Aquatic - finally opened in Sweden, as I'd been longing for it for months. Thankfully I adored it. On Guard! (Le Bossu) - fun, old-fashioned swashbuckler. Very well cast (Daniel Auteuil and Fabrice Luchini especially), directed with an admirably light touch. 8 Women - pretty much a non-stop parade of camp, which admittedly was pretty amusing, but it was pretty thin in the end. Lovers on the Bridge - not sure how I feel about this. Visually stunning, some really good scenes, and Juliette Binoche was really good in it, but it never really coalesced into a satisfying whole for me. Million Dollar Baby - like The Life Aquatic, I'd been waiting for this to open in Sweden for quite some time, meaning my expectations for it were pretty high. They weren't let down. Shattered Image - I've been interested in sampling some of Raul Ruiz's work for some time, and this was the only stuff that was available for me to rent. The script felt like a silly mish-mash, but Ruiz's playfully irreverent handling of the material made it a lot more fun than it really ought to have been, conjuring up some tremendous shots along the way, plus an authentic paranoid edge in some places. Ruiz, to me, definitely seems worth exploring further. After that, I went on a surrealist film binge, during one day watching Blue Velvet, Un Chien Andalou, Mulholland Drive, L'Age d'Or and Belle de Jour. Good times.

I, unfortunately, haven't heard that much from them outside of Faust IV, but what I've heard from the first two albums has been really solid or better ("It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" from Faust So Far in particular). I believe there's a disc with both the first albums on it out, that might be worth looking out for (I'm looking to order it myself when I get more money).

The Blue Angel

That was fun. My highscore is 8451.

On vinyl: King Crimson - Beat Prince - Parade

Today's purchases: CDs: The Fall - Grotesque Frank Zappa - Weasels Ripped My Flesh Vinyl: David Bowie - Low Miles Davis - Miles at Newport

Faust - It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl Echo and the Bunnymen - Seven Seas Kraftwerk - Spacelab Tom Waits - Downtown Train John Cale - You Know More Than I Know

King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black

Nice review, gtd. From what I can remember I pretty much agree with you here (then again, all I can really remember from the film is the crying android on the train).

Echo & the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain John Cale - Paris 1919 Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We're Floating in Space

Yeah, it's one of the few films I've seen where figuratively my jaw just dropped and I sat and stared in amazement at the screen throughout.

Toshiro Mifune chopping up the safehouse in Yojimbo. I basically jumped out of my seat cheering the first time I saw it.

I guess it's time to update my actual top five. Looking back at the first I posted here, little has changed. My original list: 1. Pierrot le fou 2. Dr Strangelove 3. Celine and Julie Go Boating 4. Blue Velvet 5. Sherlock Jr The revised list: 1. Pierrot le fou 2. Céline and Julie Go Boating 3. L'Age d'Or 4. Dr. Stranglove 5. Sherlock Jr.

The riff from Louie Louie. Three powerchords: A D Em, repeat to infinity. You can always check out this site from tabs: www.olga.net

Saw it yesterday, excellent stuff. Alexander Payne's sense of timing is down-right unbelievable, I don't think he takes a faulty step throughout the entire film. Equally impressive is his ability to balance the comic and tragic elements in the film, and to quickly switch between them, absolutely seamlessly.

Twin Peaks