Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

I have this project, you see - there`s a list of German-writing authors who`s work I want to become familiar with. And among those 78 persons there`s this Mr. Schnurre here. This work is called "a novel of stories" or something similar to that. And this is exactly what it is - we get short (mostly) stories from a boy`s childhood that aren`t really connected one to another apart from the fact that it`s the same boy`s life we read about in all those stories. It`s the 20`s-30`s Germany where he grows up - in the poverty with the nazis rising. But these stories are mostly positive, although not too happy. His dad has no work most of the time, so he spends it with his son, trying to make a jolly good childhood for the boy, and he succeeds at that. Among the stories the standouts are "The Gift" about the boy`s first love (at the age of something like 5) who dies from a disease but since she had assured him that death is not bad he doesn`t get sad about that and people surrounding him think he has no heart. It`s not the only great story, of course, the book is very humane, and it`s easy to read, although it describes no beautiful fantasy world. And what it reminds me of is "Bille" - a novel of stories by Vizma Belsevica - a Latvian writer - that was in the same stylistics only in a much more minor key. Not that I think that there`s any connection between these two books.

This film spun a massive controversy because its very sexual content. That was probably the thing Bernardo Bertolucci was aiming for, `cos otherwise his new work might have been unnoticed. Mathew is an American student that goes to study to Paris in 1968 and happens to be there at the time of student riots. Yet he doesn`t participate in them for he rather plays sex games with Isabelle and her twin-brother Theo. All of them are fans of good films and music, and they live in a world of peace and boheme. Before watching this film I was informed that there would be quite a lot of sex in it, and it was. Sadly apart from being beautifully done this film hasn`t got very much else to offer. As a matter of fact I`d think that it is a perfect film for a person that thinks of itself as a film expert but actually isn`t one (me for example). There are references to films by Godard, scenes from some old films are shown and once you recognise one of them you think of yourself very highly. If you don`t recognise the scene you think that it only proves the greatness of this film. As for me, I`m not a fan of French new-wave, but "The Dreamers" seemed to me being just a kinkier version of "Zabriskie point". And "Zabriskie point" isn`t my favourite film either.

Вот уж не думал, что о Голливудских фильмах буду писать по-русски. Однако иного выхода нет, так как даннуй фильм я действительно смотрел на русской ДВД-шке. Сюжет у фильма такой замороченный, что даже описать сложно. Слевин только что потерял работу, увидел, как его подруга занимается любовью по-собачи с другим парнем, да и к тому же бандюга разбил ему нос. Теперь он окалачивается в квартире у своего приятеля Ника, которого по какой-то причине нет дома. Вдруг оказывается, что все его принимают за Ника и ему нужно как Нику убить гомосексуального сына одного раввина - гангстера с одной стороны и вернуть 33 тыщи баксов этому самому раввину с другой стороны. Еще в игре участвует странный тип (Bruce Willis) - профессиональный киллер Добрый Кот. Сначала все происходящее на экране кажется какой-то чушью, ни черта не понятно, а потом оказывается, что, как это часто бывает в подобных фильмах, история то не очень на самом деле запутанная, зато нелогическая, а хитрый план мог и вообще провалиться, если бы кто-то из замешанных лиц действовал иначе. Вот это мне не нравится в фильмах про "cons" - что тебе в конце фильма подкидывают ключ к всему сюжету, который переворачивает весь рассказ в противоположную сторону, да только те, кто спланировал историю, получается, уже изначально знали, как все остальные участники игры будут себя вести - а это не особо достоверно. В фильме достаточно много звезд первой величины - Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley и второй величины - Lucy Liu, Josh Hartnett, Stanley Tucci, но чего-то "Счастливому числу Слевина" явно недостает.

After having seen Werner Herzog`s film about Kaspar Hauser I knew I`d try to watch something else by this director. And Aguirre is considered to be his best film. Actually I didn`t get the reasons for that. Probably it is interesting for some people to watch an endless journey on a river where people are looking for the legendary Eldorado. Sadly there ain`t particulary anything going on. So, there is Aguirre, a military man who overthrows the leader of the expedition, names a stupid fatso the kig of Eldorado and lets most of his people die in hideous deaths. But even those deaths aren`t very entertaining. And nothing else in this film is. Boring! The ending was good though. I also must admit that the camera work is good, and maybe even the actors aren`t half-bad, but the pace of the film is just too slow for me.

I`ve seen quite a lot of cartoons lately and that has left an impression upon me that all they do is recycle from other cartoons. Tak "Over the hedge" for instance. First, there`s a hyper active squirrel that`s not allowed to use coffeine (a nod to "Hoodwinked"), then there`s a duo of possums that play dead on many occasions ("Ice age 2" anyone?). Then there`s the story of a racoon infiltrating in a group of animals whom it wants to use as helpers for gathering some food for a hungry bear but then the racoon learns to know what love and family is (that was used in the original "Ice Age" when Diego the tiger first approached Syd the sloth and Manny the mammoth planning to drive them to other tigers). Of course, according to a cartoon tradition you absolutely must paint a skunk into a cat (or vise versa), so a skunk-cat couple could be created (no one actually cares that they are different species) - this reminds me of a cliche from some "Warner Brothers" cartoons with the french speaking skunk and also of "Shrek" where the donkey had a dragon for spouse. The leading racoon is spoken by Bruce Willis, one of the racoons is Avril Lavigne, still the characters aren`t especially original, bright or memorable in any other way. Animation is pretty good though, still it doesn`t have a strong story to build upon and that hurts a little.

This is what you call a traditional novel. Not that the author is very traditional, or the period where the action takes place. But it stil is traditional. There`s Hans Baumann - a young lad who goes to the "big" town searching for a job as a journalist, and he finds it working as the press person for the local factory owner Volksmann with who`s daughter he studied together. He doesn`t really love her, but it happens that she gets pregnant from him, and has an abortion. Then we switch to a gynecologist named Benrath who refused to perform the operation, who`s wife commits suicide because he`s cheating on her. Later we meet Alvin, his advocate, who`s one of the leaders of the local christian-socialist-liberal party that also is cheating on his wife, but when he accidentally runs over a drunk in his car, his political career is shaterred. And last but not least there`s Klaff, an unsuccessful writer who wanted to be employed by Hans but had no luck at that, and he commited suicide. There we have 4 dead persons in the book - the unborn child, the drunk, the wife and Klaff. I guess it`s enough for one novel. Overall the book isn`t particulary interesting or uninteresting, it just is.

This is a documentary film about a man eating hamburgers. I has nothing to do with the legendary documentary film "Man getting hit by football" where an old man gets hit by a football in the groin (you can watch this film on an episode of the Simpsons). I have to admit that I never eat burgers anyhow so this film couldn`t have a huge impact upon me. But it was interesting to watch it, although I probably wouldn`t want to do it again (as it happens with most documentaries). This surely isn`t art, but it is good.

Desmit gadus pēc tam, kad Sex Pistols aicināja nelikties ne zinis par pautiem (bollocks), Chumbawamba paziņoja, ka nav vērts likties zinis par vēlēšanu biļeteniem (ballots). Patlaban varētu teikt, ka šī tēma arī mūsu novadā ir aktuāla, līdz ar to mazliet parunāšos par to. "Never Mind the Ballots" diezgan izteikti turpina gadu iepriekš izlaistā "Pictures of Starving Children" stilu - dziesmas, kurās parādās runāšanas gabali ar politiķu imitāciju. Atšķirībā no pirmā albūma, "Never Mind the Balots" ir izteikti vienots. Tas sākas ar radio raidījumu "Always tell the voter what the voter wants to hear", kurā piedalās liberāļu un konservatoru pārstāvji un kuri abi sola visu ko, noliekot līdz ar zemi savu konkurentu. Pēc tam "Let`s do the revolution" izņirgājas par pseido revolūcijām. "The Wasteland" stāsta par to, kā partijas piesaista par saviem atbalstītājiem dažādas minoritātes, lai tās pēc tam piekāstu. "Today`s sermon" ir mācītāja stāstījums par to, kā iekļūšana valdībā palīdzējusi viņam uzlabot savu dzīvi. "Ah-Men" ir atkal partiju politikas stāstījums. "Mr. Heseltine Meets His Public" ir uzbrauciens konkrētam britu politiķim un viņa uzskatiem. Līdz ar "The Candidates find common ground" notiek abu pretējo pušu vienošanās, ka viņu galvenais kopīgais mērķis ir ekspluatēt strādājošās klases. Noslēdzošais "Here`s the rest of your life" pieliek svītru visai vēlēšanu padarīšanai, atkārtojot pamatdomu, ka nekas nemainīsies, ka izvēles nav. Kopumā pieeja ļoti tradicionāli pankiska, pat "Toten Hosen" ar "Opium Fuer Das Volk" to izmantoja. Taču Chumbawamba galvenā īpatnība ir tas, ka tie ir vienīgie (man zināmie) anarho-panki, kuriem ir nospļauties par pankmūzikas formu. Pateicoties tam Chumbawamba albūmus var klausīties arī neatkarīgi no to izteiktā "message", bet vienkārši foršas mūzikas dēļ (turklāt šī mūzika nav truli vienveidīga un primitīva, kā tas ir visai daudzu līdzīgas tematikas grupu gadījumā). Lai gan iepriekš šim albūmam biju maz pievērsis uzmanību, jāatzīst, ka tas noteikti nav sliktāks par "Chumbas" debijas ierakstu, un tas jau ar nebija švaks.

"Before night falls" is one of the last films before Johnny Depp turned into a real pop star and as they say "sold out". I know that selling out isn`t that easy to identify in case of one being an actor loved by billions of teens all over the world, but there`s no doubt htat "Before Night Falls" isn`t a mainstream movie. First, it`s directed by someone named Julian Schnabel - a director I don`t know nothing about. Then comes the story line which isn`t a story really but the life and death of the cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (played by Javier Bardem who got an Oscar nomination for this role and who later appeared as the main star in "Mar ardento". Reinaldo Arenas was a lonely boy from a poor cuban family who went to join the revolution at the age of 13-14. Later on he became a writer and a homosexual and he wasn`t particulary popular in Cuba for various reasons. He spent two years in prison and stay alive by writing letters to the loved ones of other convicts (for they learned to know that he could write). When the possibility arose he fleed from Cuba to the States where he didn`t get much recognition either and where he died of AIDS in 1990. That would be the life of Reinaldo Arenas. As for Johhny Depp, his role isn`t very big. At first we see him as a transsexual who`s able to carry lots of stuff in his rectum, in order to deliver it to a safe place. Later on we learn to know that he`s in fact leutinant Victor and that he didn`t deliver Arenas`s novel to no other place than his own office. Lt. Victor forces Arenas to sign a paper where he denies all his life until now and admits that he has to change and that he has sinned (blah blah). Meanwhile the only thing Arenas can think of is Johnny Depp`s body and he imagines how the leutinant forces him to suck his gun (revolver that is). The film was not made for the viewer`s fun, of course, but mostly to tell the tale of an untrivial character that could eventually become a world wide sensation but didn`t.

It didn`t take me long to watch this film - merely half a year had passed since I borrowed this film from a friend when I finally watched it. What were my prejudices to this film? First, I expected it to be too melodramatic for my taste. Then I`m not really a piano lover, and I was pretty sure that there would be enough of this instrument in this film. It proved that my concerns were true indeed. Ada is a woman that hasn`t spoken to anyone since she was 6 years old, and for no particular reason. She arrives to Australia to meet her new husband whom she hasn`t seen before. She also got a daughter, that does speak. Since the husband doesn`t care for Ada`s piano it`s picked up by a neighbour of his who asks Ada to give him piano lessons. As you can probably guess, it`s not piano what he wants. Obscurely Ada also becomes attracted to him and not to her husband, who becomes a bit violent and chops one of her fingers off. As for melodramatic elements there`s one huge positive aspect in this film - since Ada doesn`t speak she also doesn`t have hysterias. That`s awesome `cos hysteria is just one thing I can`t stand at all. As for the music it was good, probably this film won`t be a long-time favourite of mine, but it was good.