Kurt Vonnegut - Jailbird
Kurta Vonnegūta romāns "Ietupinātais" pēc paša autora domām uz viņa citu darbu fona būtu vērtējams ar A (amerikāņu sistēmā - 9), kas ir sliktāk nekā "Kaķa šupulis" un "Lopkautuve nr.5" un kas ir vienā līmenī ar "Titāna sirēnām", "Lai Dievs Jūs svētī, Rouzvotera kungs" un "Māti nakti". Tas tā - informācijai.
Six Days Seven Nights
Lai arī es to nezināju, šai filmai ir diezgan "kruts" režisors. Izcelšanās ziņā, ne tādā ziņā kā labs. Ivans Reitmans ir Slovākijā dzimis ebrejs, kas uzaudzis Kanādā un kā producents piedalījies daudzās vairāk vai mazāk labās filmās.
3-Iron
This is a film that I almost went to see when I went to King Kong instead. After failing to convince my girlfriend to go and watch this film I had to watch it at home and all by myself. I am personally far from the most Eastern-oriented person in the world but I thought: why can`t this Korean movie be great if everyone who has seen it claims that it is. A young fellow lives by breaking into empty houses and living there for a few days (or until the owners return). He sometimes repairs some stuff in the house which he has broken into and he also waters the plants. But what he doesn`t know is that when he breaks into a huge mansion is that the house isn`t empty at all... If you thought this was supposed to lead you to a horror story about dead chicks you`re dead wrong. A woman is in fact present in the house but she`s neither dead nor haunted, she`s just sad, unhappy and she doesn`t speak very much (neither does the lead character who doesn`t say a word during the entire film). When the husband of the woman arrives the young fellow hits him with golf balls (using a 3-Iron club) and escapes together with the woman. Eventually they get arrested and the guy is charged for murder (they find a dead man in one of the houses they`ve broken in). In the end he`s freed from prison and he returns to the house where the woman lives with her husband but he has achieved some ability of being invisible to people so the husband doesn`t see him. Therefore the husband thinks that his wife has suddenly come to her senses and started to enjoy the life with him but in reality she`s cheating on him with the boy. The film suffers from its main strength - the untrivial attitude and choice of techniqe - it`s brilliant but it`s boring. I`m surely happy that I didn`t watch it at a cinema for I`m sure that almost everyone whom I might have dragged along would find this a terrible way to spend his/her time.
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Iedomāsimies, ka šis nav apraksts albūmam, bet intervija. Es intervēju Džeimsu Hetfīldu - Metallicas dziedātāju. Protams, šāda intervija nekad netaptu, jo es neesmu mūzikas žurnālists un Hetfīlds parasti atsakās no garām intervijām blogiem ar 10 lasītāju auditoriju. Un tomēr...
Never Scared
Atzīšos godīgi - es pavisam nebiju ieinteresēts šī Krisa Roka stand-up comedy raidījuma skatīšanā. Vispār muldošie komiķi nav gluži mana iecienītākā humora variācija. Un vēl jo vairāk mani neinteresē rupjības bārstoši melnie amerikāņu kumēdiņisti. Tomēr es tiku piespiests to skatīties.
O Brother Where Art Thou
The Coen brothers are truly a legend. They were the masterminds behind "The Big Lebowski" - certainly not a perfect film, but quite a solid one nevertheless. And in this film they decide to remake the "Odyssey" by Homer. With the slight change that Ulysses ain`t the man who fought at Troy but a dude who ran off with two of his pals from Parchment farm in order to return to his wife who wanted to marry another man. Although at the first glance you won`t see very much resemblance to the Odyssey, but actually almost every scene is connected with the legendary epic. There are syrens, there are cyclops, there are prophets - you name it. And there`s hell of a good music - despite the fact that action takes place in 1930s. Ulysses, Delmar and Pete form a band named "Soggy Bottom Boys" and the play nice old-time music. By the way, Ulysses is played by George Clooney - I never expected him to appear in a film like this. The dialogue is witty, the characters are very interesting, the only minor flaw is that the film has too much singing in it - especially in the middle of the film, when it`s not the main heroes who do the singing. Still, there`s one more thing - the IMDB says this film is basically British, although everyone in it is American. I say - I never disagree with IMDB.
Wheatus - Too Much Monsoon
It`s been a while since I last heard anything from "Wheatus", a band that struck it big when I was still in high school and could perfectly associate myself with the loser person prom who`s perspective "Teenage Dirtbag" was sung. Since then some things have changed in the world while others have not. There was 9/11. Greece won at Euro 2004. My personal life has changed a lot (from zero to planning getting married). Ray Charles has died. Bob Geldof has organised a new Live Aid. Elton John has officially married his boyfriend. But the singer of Wheatus still has that cute falsetto he used on the last verse of "Teenage Dirtbag". The band still plays the same kind of alternative pop-rock as it did in 2000, relying on catchy choruses and simplistic instrumentation. The last aspect doesn`t come off as a wonder since the band has left a major label and is now recording and producing its album on its own. My personal favourite on this record is "I Am What I Is", a song with a title reminding of "You Are What You Is" by Frank Zappa. Overall the record does have one big problem - as it gets closer to the end the songs tend to get less and less interesting and more and more adventurous. Since I`m not interested in Wheatus for the bands ability to experiment I rather stay with "Something good" and "BMX Bandits" pop paradise and keep away from the less straightford tracks.
Kurt Vonnegut - Deadeye Dick
Viņš bija tikai vienkāršs divpadsmit gadus vecs zēns. Taču viena liktenīga nejaušība pārvērta viņa dzīvi. Tā Rūdijs Volcs kļuva par dubultslepkavu. Līķu Pēteris bija vārds, kurā viņu sauca.
H-Blockx - Fly Eyes
Kur tie gadi, kad es H-blokus uzskatīju par vienu no aktuālākajām grupām Eiropā? Tālu pagājuši, tas noteikti. Protams, šaubos, ka viņu mūzika mani jebkad būtu ieinteresējusi, ja ne tie traki jokainie un prikolīgie videoklipi, kas bija viņu pirmā albūma singliem (vai citādi es būtu Vācijā iegādājies legālu "Time to move" eksemplāru - kas to lai zina).
Deep Purple - Rapture of the Deep
The Purples are still rolling. Their lineup changes between almost any two albums yet the sound remains the same. Concerning "Rapture of the deep" this sound is pretty much the same as it was on "Bananas". And who would wonder about it - Ian Gillan`s pipes aren`t as powerful as they used to be and he can`t pull off some "Fireball"-like stuff. But he can be an angry granddad if nothing more - his angry growlings about "MTV" and how old bands can`t get their new songs on TV or on the radio. In terms of lyrics this album is straightforward as an arrow - it seems to me a bit that Gillan has for once thought that he may have a little statement on the latest record. But I don`t like "Deep Purple" for the message. I love "Deep Purple" for the loud guitars and for Gillan`s voice. I`d probably say that "Money Talks" is the best song on the album but I still can`t say that it`s particulary great. Maybe there`s little difference between this and the previous album but "Bananas" was a much more relaxed and uplifting record. It was funny while here "Deep Purple" sometimes sound like "Brutal Planet"-era Alice Cooper. And that`s not a good sign for a band that once did "Highway Star" and the "Speed King".
