Monday 16 March 2015

Seen & heard


1. I was very pleasantly surprised by Friends With Benefits. With some very funny lines and a central plot that, while not entirely blameless, is still less anti-feminist than many rom-coms, it's one that I'd watch again. Justin Timberlake is surprisingly winning as a romantic lead, and Mila Kunis is wonderful as always. Just... we keep being told that Kunis's character is emotionally damaged and fucked up, yet being shown no evidence of it. She's no more damaged than any other human being, as far as I can see. It's no use just telling your audience something is true, we need to see something to back it up.

2. In A World is such a fun film, but one I'd never have thought to watch based on the plot summary alone. It features Lake Bell (who also wrote and directed) as the daughter of a legendary voiceover artist trying to make her own way in what turns out to be a rather cut-throat industry and competing with her father for a prestigious trailer voiceover job. It's a lovely, quietly funny film, in the vein of other indie comedies such as Garden State or The Station Agent. 

3. Wild is the true story of Cheryl Strayed's 2000+ mile walk along the Pacific Coast Trail, following a descent into drug abuse and sex addiction after her mother's death. I loved Wild: beautifully shot, moving, funny in parts, and Reece Witherspoon is brilliant in the lead role.


At the moment I'm excited about new music in a way that I haven't been for a long while - years, even. With the exception of Father John Misty, I mostly want to be listening to music that sounds like it could have come from a circa 1992 Riot Grrrl mixtape.

1. Father John Misty is the latest alias of my long-time favourite, Josh Tillman (who's also recorded as J. Tillman) and I Love You Honeybear, his second album under this name, is a thing of beauty. Moving from electronica (True Affection) to the Todd Rundgren-esque 70s soft rock of When You're Smiling And Astride Me, to Bored In The USA and the lush orchestrals of the title track, both of which reminded me of Release The Stars-era Rufus Wainwright, this is a wide-ranging and eclectic mix of songs. I've listened to little else since buying it two weeks ago, with lead single Chateau Lobby #4 being a particular favourite.

2. Tuff Love are from Glasgow and make fast, scuzzy garage pop music. New single Thats' Right has been getting some airplay on 6 Music, but the rest of their Dross EP is also worth a listen for those into grunge-era grrrl bands.

3. And speaking of grunge-era grrrl bands, Colleen Green's new single, Pay Attention, sounds eerily like Veruca Salt. I love it.

11 comments:

  1. I loved In A World - I had no idea what to expect from it but it turned out to be such a smart film.

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  2. I really want to watch Wild - I loved the book. And I must check out Colleen Green :)

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  3. I watched In A World and really didn't like it, although I think i'm of the few that didn't like it!

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  4. Ah ha, disqus is working :) I loved In a World and I'm gutted I missed Wild at the cinema, deffo something I need to catch on Netflix.

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  5. I am interested in this - Wild was tempting to me but I was not sure if I would actually enjoy it. I like Father John Mistry too :)

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  6. Yay! Hopefully got all the Disqus wrinkles ironed out now. Yep, Wild is definitely one to watch.

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  7. I just love this new album, it's so expansive and eclectic compared to his previous stuff. I mean, I also love his quieter acoustic albums but I Love You Honeybear is something special.

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  8. I feel the same about Safety Not Guaranteed - everyone kept saying it was great, it seemed just my kind of film, but I really didn't like it (in fact, we turned it off after about an hour).

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  9. I've got the book of Wild but haven't got around to reading it yet - I've heard such good things about the film that I'm tempted to just skip straight to it...

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  10. Ooooh, they sound intriguing! I'd like to try the indie one, x

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  11. I now have to watch In A World and Wild.

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