Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

"Češīras kaķa" atrašanās manas MP3 kolekcijas otrajā diskā patiesībā ir vairāk nekā nepamatota - pārāk augsts numurs tik nebūtiskam albūmam. Tomēr tā nav arī neloģiska - vidusskolas laikā "Blink 182" bija viena no tām grupām, kuras klausījos ar īpašu prieku to neķītrās un dumjiem jokiem pilnās lirikas dēļ. Tomēr "Cheshire cat" arī tad man nešķita ne tuvu "Enema of the State" kvalitātes albūms - un ne jau tāpēc ka teksti tajā būtu vājāki, tieši tekstiem nebija ne vainas. Pirmais, kas mani visu laiku kaitināja, bija šausmīgi zemais vokālu mikss šajā ierakstā, kā rezultātā vienveidīgie ģitāras griezieni un tipiskais Blinku bungu ritms dziedāšanu vispār pilnīgi aizēnoja. Tagad gan atklājās, ka šis defekts bija tik aktuāls tikai uz manas tā laika skaņas sistēmas (vai vismaz tas nav manāms, klausoties šo ierakstu austiņās), līdz ar to mani iebildumi pret šo ieraksta komponentu ir zaudējuši kvalitāti. Taču nekur nav zuduši citi šī albūma mīnusi:

The Beatles go to America for the first time, play the Ed Sullivan show, instead of lip-synching we get some pretty low quality live performances (because of the sound quality). The Beatles make their first movie. The best part is probably Ringo telling, why his performance was better than the others - it`s because of him having a hangover most of the time, therefore he didn`t need to act to show himself feeling miserable. Since I find that particular film quite good, the story of making it is also interesting for me. After that the Beatles go to Australia and do some shows back there. The music isn`t still what I want it be - because we don`t come past "A Hard Day`s Night" stuff. But it`s interesting to see and hear what the Beatles were like live, why those little girls got crazy from their performance. Probably I wouldn`t go mad but they still were a pretty good live band, especially concerning that they never could hear themselves during the performance.

Not a great songwriter, but a great performer, that`s who Joe Cocker is. On his debut album he`s performing prime quality material and he delivers it as only he could. You couldn`t believe from the sound of this record that Joe was a young fellow back when he done it, on the other hand you`ll most likely never believe that Cocker was ever young. His partly bald head is such an unmistakable characteristic that you can`t imagine him looking differently. His style is quite similar to that of "The Band" (actually I`m talking about the backing band and not about Cocker himself, but who cares). This record is mostly famous for having the title track on it - a great cover of the Beatles original. Then there`s "The New age of Lily", a cover of "Just Like a Woman" by Bob Dylan, a cover of "I Shall be Released" by Bob Dylan and a cover of "Feeling Alright" by I don`t know whom. It`s a very good record but I`m not in the mood discussing it right now.

Man allaž ir patikušas filmas (tāpat arī grāmatas), kas tev piedāvā savādāku pasauli. Ar to es nedomāju to, ka šajā pasaulē obligāti jāmitinās elfiem vai pokemoniem, bet gan pasauli, kurā "normal things don`t happen very often". Un Marka Fostera (Finding Neverland, Monster`s Ball) "Stranger than fiction" tieši tā dara. Starp citu, tā kā Marks Fosters ir šveicietis, man pret viņu arī pēc statusa ir jājūt zināmas simpātijas.

"Biohazard" pirmām kārtām man neasociējas ar šo grupu, bet gan ar maģisko dzērienu iz Bubļika vectēva krājumiem - paštaisīto un viegli etiķaino vīnu, kuru es gan esmu dzēris maksimums vienu reizi.

I`m not much of a fan of documentaries about animals. I never considered it a necessity to watch the famous film about migrating birds, I don`t own the entire National Geographic 200 disc box set and I don`t go in the wilderness in order to watch rabbits mate. This film was recommended to my girlfriend by one of her professors at law studies. By the way, it was a fellow specialising in authorship rights. Does that mean anything? Yes, it means that he gave an advise that resulted in an illegal downloading action. Let`s skip the authorship question and jump straight over to the film. The film tells us about the mating habits of the Emperor`s penguin - the largest penguin there is. It proves to be quite a complicated thing which involves long walks for some 20 days (which are repeated many times over the mating season), starving without food for 4 months, dying from the cold, surviving in the most grave circumstances in a cold where you`d most likely die sooner than you could say: "Penguin!" The film is done in an interesting manners where penguins tell you about their lives themselves, proving to be loving and caring as you`d never expect from a funny bird like that one. It`s a sad film, of course, since many of the penguins don`t survive. But it`s a beautiful film, a majestic film, shot in a way you`d expect from a big budget movie and not from a documentary.

Uzrakstīt par Nensijas Maiersas "The Holiday", nepieminot "Love Actually" laikam gan nav iespējams. Tāpat kā neizbēgami pieminamajā filmā šeit ir sapulcināts patiešām ekselents aktieru ansamblis - no britu puses tie ir Džūda Lovs un Keita Vinsleta, no amerikāņu - Kamerona Diaza un Džeks Bleks. Kad krutā filmu treileru veidošanas kompānijas īpašniece Amanda (Diaza) izšķiras ar savu draugu Ītanu neilgi pirms Ziemassvētkiem (kas, kā zināms, ir gada romantiskākais laiks), viņa izlemj uz pāris nedēļām aizbēgt no savas dzīves un par savu patvērumu viņa izvēlas kādu Anglijas miestiņu, piedaloties "apmainies ar mājam" projektā, savā mājā atstājot anglieti Airisu (Vinsleta), kura jau vairākus gadus ir iemīlējusies savā kolēģī Džasperā, ar kuru viņai reiz bija sakars (starp citu, Rufusa Sjūela vietā gandrīz nav iespējams neiedomāties šajā lomā Hjū Grāntu, jo tas ir tieši tas personāžs kuru zilacainais Hjū atveido visās savās filmās jau savus gadus. Džūda Lovs, kas spēlē Airisas brāli, patiesībā ir vēl viens Hjū Grānta personāžs (tikai beigās izrādās, ka viņš nemaz TĀDS nav). Kā lai arī nebūtu, Amanda nonāk tajā angļu miestā, bet Airisa - milzīgajā Amandas mājā Holivudā. Tur Airisa iepazīstas ar pensionēto kino scenāristu Artūru, kurš viņai māca kļūt no "draudzenes" par galvenās lomas atveidotāju, kā arī iepazīstas ar jauko un mazliet tusnīgo Džeka Bleka varoni (vārdu šamam neatceros). Jā, Džeks Bleks šajā filmā, protams, paliek uzticīgs sev, iepinot ar mūziku saistītus elementus (mazliet atsaucot savu performanci iekš "High Fidelity"), tomēr šoreiz viņam ir ievērojami nolīdzināti stūri un viņš nav ne tuvu tik ekspansīvs kā citās savās lomās (patiesībā gan laikam vienīgā filma, kur viņš nemaz nebija viņš pats, bija "King Kongs"). Nav grūti nojaust, ka beigās Airisa paliek kopā ar Džeku Bleku, bet Amanda - ar Džūdu Lovu. Pārim Anglijā sižetu sarežģī tas, ka Lovam ir divas meitas, kuru eksistenci viņš slēpj, tāpat kā savu atraitņa statusu, bet Amanda domā, ka viņš vienkārši satiekas ar dažādām sievietēm, kas viņam visu laiku zvana (līdzīgi kā iekš "Fierce Creatures" par zoodārza direktoru bija aizdomas, ka viņš ir seksa maniaks, kamēr viņam mājās bija vairāki kustoņi, kas taisīja trobeli). Tikām Airisai un Blekam sarežģījumus rada tas, ka viņi līdz šim bijuši tie, kuri mīl, bet kurus nemīl, kā rezultātā mīlestības objekti viņus abus diezgan pamatīgi izmanto.

Mīlēt AC/DC un nemīlēt "Highway to Hell" ir tā kā mīlēt piena produktus un nemīlēt saldējumu. Vai tā kā mīlēt sievietes un nemīlēt Sandru Kalnieti. Ok, tas tikai tā iestarpinājums.

According to the IMDB this is a great film, showcasing all the positive patriotism an American may have. According to me (and not to St. Mathew) this is a stupid piece of propaganda, just like the Russians liked films to be. Mr. Smith is just a normal leader of an organisation similar to boy scouts, when he`s called by the governor of the state to become a member of the US senate. And he takes the job, without knowing that he`s gonna be used as a voting dummy (it`s just what the Russians thought about American democracy). But he`s an honest person, a bit religious, absolutely patriotic and he does everything to keep a certain mr. Taylor who pratically owns Smith`s own state from his dirty plans. But Taylor blackmails him by the help of Smith father`s best friend another senator. Smith falls in love with the senators daughter, and he`s taken advantage of. In the end of course, the good guy wins, and Taylors plans come out, when the other senator decides to give in his lies. The ending sucked, for in the film the line that the lost cases are the most important ones was repeated over and over again, but in the end it was a won case that counted the most. A complete dissapointment. (btw., this film comes from the 1930s)

We now reach the mid point of this massive documentary. The Beatles do Hollywood Bowl, go to America for the second time, get the MBI (member of the British Empire) from the Queen, John does some silly stuff on the stage (I guess, this may have influenced Monty Python`s Flying Circus, but I`m not really sure about that). After that they do the "Help!" film, which is a complete silliness. But now I know the reasons for that - the Beatles simply asked the scriptwriters to insert scenes in regions they had never been to - so they go to the Bahamas and skiing in the Alps, not caring too much about the plot of the film. And then there was the problem with the drugs - none of them was capable of remembering his part. But the most interesting part is Paul telling how he wrote "Yesterday" which came to him in a dream of his and he later was sure that he had heard the melody somewhere, for such a beautiful can`t come in a dream. And the other Beatles made some fun of this song as Paul`s solo number like introducing the song: "And now for Paul McCartney of Liverpool - opportunity night..." - and so he`s left alone on the stage with his guitar. And then there`s a cool introduction to a song done by Ringo who says: "There he is - all out of key and nervous he`ll sing "Act Naturally" - Ringo!" - a nice way to introduce himself.