Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

Why am I so rarely satisfied with what I read, watch or hear? I`m not really sure about that. Probably, my standards for the world are plainly too high, otherwise I may be an ego-obsessed maniac. Still I can`t find force within me to say that this album is particulary good. Barenaked Ladies is a fun pop/rock act that got popular (at least I got to know about it) with the titles "One Week" and "Alcohol". And since they are keen on recording goofy songs, so is this Christmas album full of goofieness. And it`s all right with me, for I wouldn`t give up my life for blasphemy upon hearing a funny version of "Jingle Bells". Which by the way, is one of the best songs on the entire disc - switching to a sappy and sad beginning into a funny ending with silly lyrics. Then comes "Green Christmas" - an original composition of the Ladies and it`s also quite good. Everyone says it`s cool that they used Casio sintesators in some songs, but I say - it`s ok. Still, all the songs about Hannukah are lame (and not because of the context but because of the music and singing). And if I needed to compare this album to "Warten auf das Christkind" by `Die Toten Hosen` which also is a parody X-mas album, I`d say the Germans come out on top. There`s simply not enough diverse songs on this album here. (but while relistening to it right now I decided that it actually isn`t as bad as I thought it was)

Gee, it`s a romantic comedy with Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda. The former isn`t exactly an actress, more like a singer with an enormous ass and certain capabilities in acting. The latter is a famous actress that just happens to be pretty old and yet somehow hasn`t been in a single film I`ve even heard about. So together they form the rivalry of a woman that wants to marry Kevin whom she loves and Kevin`s mother who thinks that Charlotte (Lopez) is too bad for her son. As you can probably guess this film is so cliched that I`m even ashamed of using the word "cliched" describing it. Not that it really bothers me - this film may be a collage of "Legally Blonde" (which was one of the films this director without a name did before), "Bridget Jones`s Diary" (with the exception that Lopez`s character is much more generic than that of Zellweger) and "Meet the Parents/Fockers" with the exception that nobody flushes the dog in the toilet. Yet, since I hadn`t at least seen any other JLo`s film before it didn`t strike me that she`s about as diverse as Angus Young of AC/DC. I did have my laughs, I didn`t have my two hours of high art, so basically it was a good deal for a film that I could watch at cinema without having to pay. Only it occured to me that it would be very smart of the cinema establishment to provide me with free popcorn. Not that I liked popcorn that much but it would still be nice.

(valoda: franču; subtitri: angļu). "Ibrahima kungs" tapis pēc Ērika-Emanuēla Šmita stāsta (romāna?) "Ibrahima kungs un Korāna ziedi". Tajā galvenajās lomās ir pavisam jaunais Pjērs Bulanžē un arābu kino superleģenda Omārs Šarifs. Sižets, loģiski, ir tāds pats, kā grāmatai. Mozus ir 16gadīgs zēns, kas ar savu tēvu dzīvo kaut kādā Parīzes nomalē 60to gadu sākumā, tēvs ir diezgan valdonīgs un nejauks, un Mozum ar viņu nekāda kontakta nav. Toties pamazām viņam izveidojas kontakts ar stūra veikaliņa īpašnieko Ibrahimu - vecu arābu (kurš gan patiesībā ir sikhs, nevis arābs). Šajās attiecībās, kā par brīnumu mūsdienu pasaulē, nav nekādas pedofīlijas, pederastijas (skaists vārds, ne?) vai kaut kā tamlīdzīga. Ibrahims vienkārši ir normāls vecs tips, kas rūpējas par zēnu, par kuru neviens nerūpējas un kuram sagadījies būt dzimušam tādā reliģijā, kurai ar islāmu un Korānu nav nekādas labās attiecības. Kad Mozus tēvs pazūd un pēcāk izdara pašnāvību, Ibrahims viņu adoptē un pat kopā ar Mozu dodas uz Turciju, Ibrahima dzimteni. Filma gandrīz 100% seko grāmatas saturam un līdz ar to, neko sliktu par filmu pateikt nevaru. Precīza ekranizācija lieliskai grāmatai.

(valoda: angļu) Stāstu krājums, kurā, manuprāt, īpaši daudz kopīga starp dažādajiem stāstiem nava. Mēģināšu noskaidrot, cik daudzus stāstus vēl spēju atcerēties divas nedēļas pēc grāmatas izlasīšanas (der pieminēt, ka nekādā dižā sajūsmā par šo grāmatu nebiju). "True Trash" - par likteni, kas piemeklē dažādus vienas bērnu vasaras nometnes dalībniekus. "Hairball" - par modes žurnālu darbinieci, kurai izoperē viņā bijušu viņas dvīņa aizmetni (diezgan krīpi), "Isis in Darkness" - par kaut kādu dīvainu dzejnieci un džeku, kas viņā ieķēries. "The Bog Man" - neatceros. "Death by Landscape" - neatceros. "Uncles" - diezgan interesants stāsts par meiteni, kurai nebija tēva, bet bija vairāki tēvabrāļi. "The Age of Lead" - neatceros, manuprāt, bija labs, bet esmu aizmirsis, par ko tas bija. "Weight" - neatceros. "Wilderness Tips" - borings stāsts par kaut kādām mājām. "Hack Wednesday" - neatceros. Apskatoties mazliet detalizētāk: "The Bog Man" stāstīja par purvājā atrastu kaut kāda ne gluži akmens laikmeta, bet senu cilvēku, un sievieti, kas bija gultas draudzene tā atradējam un kas bog man` dēļ ar savu draugu sastrīdējās. "Death by landscape" - īstenībā arī bija labs, par sievieti, kas būdama vēl meitene, kļuva par liecinieci(!) savas draudzenes pazušanai kalnos un kuru daudzi uzskatīja par iespējamo draudzenes slepkavu. "The Age of Lead" - kļūdījos, nē tur nekā laba nebija, par kaut kādu atsaldētu (ledājā atrastu līķi) un kaut kādu mirušu bojfrendu Vincentu. "Weight" - atkal labs, par sievieti, kas pavedina vīriešus, lai dabūtu no viņiem naudu labdarībai, un kuras draudzene-fonda aizsācēja apprecēja maniaku, kas viņu nogalināja un sagrieza gabalos. "Hack Wednesday" - joprojām nespēju atcerēties. Daži labāki stāsti, daži sliktāki, kopumā - nekas īpašs.

This book by the eastern German she-writer doesn`t get too much recognition nowadays - even on amazon.de you won`t find a single review of it. I`m not really sure why - probably it has something to do with the fact that the book is poorly written and uninteresting. It`s probably about a couple of Eastern Germans going to Yugoslavia in order of getting married, and on the way or already being there the bride tells a lot of boring stories to her groom which would probably cancel the wedding in real life because Paul (that`s the groom) would leave Bella for some cheap Yugoslavian slut he`d pick up in a crack joint. In this book he doesn`t do that and nothing really happens. A borefest galore.

(valoda: krievu). "Lieta" ir turpinājums Krečinska kāzām, kas no komēdijas pāraugusi drāmā. Ļida tiek apsūdzēta pirmslaulības sakarā un sazvērastībā ar Krečinski, kas lugas gaitā viņas tēvu ved postā un bankrotā un nāvē. Tas viss norisinās lugai pietiekoši garā stāstījumā, kas ir pretdabiski garlaicīgs. Ja Suhovo-Kobiļina humors ir nīkulīgs, tad dramatiķa talanta viņam nav gandrīz nemaz, līdz ar to šo lugu var uzskatīt par spilgtu neintersantas un nekvalitatīvas lasāmvielas paraugu.

A film by Luis Bunuel, director of `The Discrete Charme of (..)` features two actors from the already mentioned film. A man who`s on a train from Seville to Madrid explains to a few other people why he spilled a bucketful of water over a pretty young Spaniard. Basically it`s a very strange love story about a man who knows what he desires but doesn`t really know that he desires only the desire (or something like that). An interesting thing about the film is that the leading female role Conchita is played by two women, and the change of those women every time shows also a change in her behaviour. It`s sad and it`s funny, it`s cynical and it`s romantic. It`s everything I want from a film.

At last I have seen my first Tarkovsky movie. I liked the ideas about the true goal in a man`s life, how nobody cares about the meaning of life when he`s happy, etc, etc. Visually the film also was strong, much more than you could expect from a Soviet film. What was not so good was the length - it was even more of a problem than in the case of Space Odyssey. What else? The dialogue was pretty crazy, most of the time it seemed that nobody spoke in full sentences, as if something was cut out. I also liked the scene with the rain both inside and outside the house. I should watch the Soderberg version to be able to compare which one I like most. And there`s also the book by Stanislav Lem. Therefore it`s not the final word you hear from `Solyaris` on this page.

Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman and Michael Palin. Do you know who these people are? Do you at least know where you are? You`re lost in America. But these people were once known as the "Monty Python`s Flying Circus". That was way back - some 30 years ago they disbandoned for different projects only occasionaly performing the good ol` Python stuff. And this was one of the occasions. In lates 70`s they played the same arena where the only official Beatles concert album was made. And boy did they know how to make people laugh! The "When we were young we had it tough" sketch absolutely makes blood in my veins turn to wine, and so does "the ministry for silly walks". At some parts video material is shown to the audience, for example the majestic soccer final between Greek and German philosophers, where Greeks become the champions thus predicting the victors of the 2004 European Championships. Still some of the sketches aren`t particulary entertaining but you can always skip them for the best stuff.

I guess I had never listened to a whole Elton John album that came out later than in mid 1970s. For it`s known to most people that he`s nothing more than an old fart who records piano ballads. But somehow I got the news that this album here is a fairly good one, so I said to myself - why not give it a try? The album starts off with a typical Elton John ballad "Porch Swing in Tupelo", which clearly showcases all the pros and contras of this album. What`s good is that Elton doesn`t try to be hip and record something cool-sounding, he just sticks to his known winning formula. And the contras? He sticks to his bloody formula. While the songs may be not bad as such - on the contrary they`re moody and beautifully sounding but they are absolute rip-offs from John`s older stuff (especially "Your Song" and "Candle in the Wind" come to mind). Sometimes he records a bit more rocky tracks - like "They Call Her the Cat" - which reminds me of something from his early recordings. Of course, his old songs are good, therefore the new ones don`t come out bad as well. But listening to this record you can`t be sure that you haven`t heard everything on it sometimes before.