Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

Captain Beyond has absolutely nothing to do with Captain Beefheart, in case you wonder. No, it was a hard rock/prog rock outfit from LA which had Rod Evans of Deep Purple for the vocals (ok, he left "Purple" before they became really huge, but he did sing on "Hush"!), a guy who had played with Johnny Winter (so what? is Winter that much of a hero for me to know every ballsucking dickwad he used to play with? ok, probably I was a bit harsh about him but who cares), Lee Dorman who played the bass for "Iron Butterfly" on "In-da-gadda-da-vida" and one more fellow who seems to be an average loser not even capable of being tossed out from a band like "The secondhand Beatles". So, they all got together and recorded an album of jolly molly rock music, which is somehow marketed as progressive rock. To me it`s just your basically hard rock of "Deep Purple" without Ritchie Blackmore but with more emphasis on more complicated sound and a concept for the record. I`m not particulary interested in the concept, of course, since to me the record is an inoffensive collection of hard rock songs, sometimes spoiled by some silly sounding crap like the talking on "As the moon speaks the sea". Oh, I figured - this band is a mixture of "Deep Purple" and "Cactus". Listenable, but not memorable at all.

Uz šo brīdi svaigākā Kamerona Krova filma kritiķiem īpaši pie sirds nav gājusi, lai gan, protams, kritiķi nav tā publika, kuras viedoklim vajadzētu šausmīgi ticēt. Pretējā gadījumā varētu secināt, ka "Elizabettauna" ir sliktāka filma nekā "Ali G Indahouse" (29% iekš rottentomatoes pret 50%). Orlando Blūma varonis Drjū šajā filmā ir nupat atklājis, kāda ir lielākā atšķirība starp "failure" un "fiasco" - otrais ir tāds, kas citiem liek justies labāk tāpēc ka tas nav atgadījies ar viņiem. Un Drjū patiešām ir mazliet iekāpis sūdos - viņa dizainēts jaunās paaudzes sporta apavs ir izrādījies tik katastrofāli neveiksmīgs, ka kompānijas vadītājs rēķinās ar vairāk nekā 900 miljonu dolāru zaudējumiem un Drjū, dabiski no darba būs jāatvadās. Tiesa, vēl paies dažas dienas, līdz to uzzinās pasaule, kad iznāks žurnāls ar ekskluzīvu Drjū interviju, kurā viņš atklāj šādas tādas sava fiasko detaļas. Viņš pārnāk mājās ar tikai vienu domu - pašnāvība. Viņš ir jau izmetis uz ielas visas savas mantas un pārtaisījis istabas trenažieri par nāves mašīnu, kad atskan telefona zvans - miris Drjū tēvs un viņam jābrauc uz kaut kādu dienvidu pilsētiņu savākt līķi un aizvest to uz bērēm. Taču lidmašīnā uz to pusi viņam notiek liktenīgā tikšanās ar Klēru - vienīgo reisa stjuardesi, kas apkalpo viņu - vienīgo reisa pasažieri. Klēra ir diezgan runātīga un uzmācīga, kas kļūst par sākumu viņu attiecībām, kas vislielākajā mērā attīstās nakts garuma telefona sarunā. Vēl filmā iesaistās pāris izteikti kolorīti personāži, tai skaitā Drjū lauciniecisks brālēns, kas reiz spēlējis koncertā, kur "gandrīz" iesildījis Lynyrd Skynyrd - savus absolūtos elkus, un tā paša brālēna dēls - pustraks sīkais. Filmas žanrs: romantiska komēdija ar lielu daudzumu mūzikas, principā - diezgan prognozējams žanrs Kamerona Krova filmai. Vēl daudzi pārmet šai filmai lielu līdzību ar Garden State, principā iespējams, bet kāpēc divas līdzīgas filmas nevarētu abas būt labas? Nesaskatu tam nevienu iemeslu. Vismaz es abās no tām varu saskatīt gana skaistuma. Protams, tas nav "Almost Famous", bet vai tad ir daudz filmu, kas ir "Almost Famous"? Laba mūzika, interesanti un glīti personāži, svaigs humoriņš, tas ir pilnīgi pietiekams komplekts ļoti labai filmai.

(valoda: krievu). Atzīšos uzreiz, ka šī ir grāmata par ebrejiem. Atzīšos uzreiz, ka to sākotnēji negribēju lasīt. Ebreji man, ja tā pavisam godīgi, ir piegriezušies. Ne jau tādā ziņā, ka viņi pie visa būtu vainīgi vai pie nekā nebūtu vainīgi, bet lai nu kas nevar žēloties par publicitātes trūkumu, tad tie ir ebreji. Tomēr man izdevās sevi piespiest iedot šai grāmatai iespēju (kur lielu lomu spēlēja tas, ka sestdien Liene bija savā pamatskolas salidojumā, bet manā rīcībā bija vairākas stundas vientuļas sēdēšanas mājās) un izrādījās, ka te tomēr runa nav tikai par ebrejiem un holokaustu. Romāna galvenais varonis Daniels Štains bija vēsturiski reāla persona (kurai gan nomainīts uzvārds), ebreju jauneklis, kam izdevās noslēpt savu tautību un kļūt par tulku gestapo, kur viņš iespēju robežās centās glābt savus tautasbrāļus, tai skaitā organizējot bēgšanu no Emskas geto, kuras rezultātā no nošaušanas izglābās aptuveni 300 ebreju, no kuriem gandrīz puse sagaidīja dzīvi arī kara beigas. Pašam Danielam izdevās arī izbēgt no soda par izbēgšanas organizēšanu, kas rezultēja viņa pārejā kristietībā (katoļticībā) un vēlāk - kļūšanā par mācītāju. Daniels nokļuva Izraēlā un tur vadīja kristiešu draudzi, mēģinot apvienot savā kristietības izpratnē dažādos kristiešu grupējumus, tā sakot, vienojot visus zem kopīga Jēzus jumta, tikai, protams, neviens īpaši viņā neieklausījās, jo dažādi kristieši, jūdaisti un musulmaņi nekādi negribētu atteikties no savu baznīcu atšķirībām. Romāns nenorisinās īpaši hronoloģiski, sastāvot no dāžādu personāžu atmiņām, iesaistot milzīgu daudzumu varoņu (kurus visus paturēt atmiņā ir gandrīz neiespējami), pārejot no notikumiem kara laikā pie mūsdienām, tad uz septiņdesmito gadu vidu, iekļaujot darbā audiokasešu atšifrējumus, vēstules, NKVD dokumentus utt. Principā - ļoti intersesanta un pamācoša lasāmviela, vienīgi manuprāt, no apmēram trešdaļas satura romānu varētu arī atbrīvot, jo liela daļa epizožu īpaši nepapildina pārējo saturu, veidojot tādu kā lieku balastu, turklāt vienīgais patiešām aizraujošais sižets un vienīgais patiešām aizraujošais varonis ir Daniels Štains, kamēr, piemēram, Eva Makuņana un viņas dēla seksuālā orientācija varētu lieliski tikt "ierobežotas" grāmatas lapušu ziņā.

First, let me put it out clear, why I decided to take this book from a public library - the title about escaping into a piano seemed to promise a bizarre tale not making very much sense - and it`s what I like in books. Later it proved though that there`s nothing strange about the book - it`s written by an old Austrian female writer and tells a story of a man who leaves his native Czechoslovakia because of the comming of the communist regime. Is it innovative? You gotta be kidding me - there`s that fictional writer who hears the story of Jirzi`s life and writes it down in the most casual manner one has ever experienced. Does it keep ones attention? At least partly, for the book is certainly good written but there are no big revelations comming up. What about the piano? Jirzi`s family owned a piano fabric once and he himself was keen on playing piano and did it in all his wanderings around the globe - slaughtering rabbits in Australia, cleaning a hospital in the States, living in a monastery in the USA, learning to become a priest in Rome, being a priest in Texas, retiring in Austria and finally visiting his homeland after the fall of the communism. And to give my final word - it`s one of those books that you read and later don`t remember a single thing about them.

Audray Hepburn is what we get here, although all those young thin actresses look pretty similar, but that`s not the worst - I`m absolutely unable to tell different male actors from the fifties-sixties-seventies one from another, especially in American films. Most of the leading actors look like Roger Moore, the Bond man, some of them are older, some of them are younger, but they have the same hair style, they wear the same clothes and quite often are the same character indeed only under different circumstances. But nevermind my attitude towards that kind of films - Breakfast at Tiffany`s is indeed a nice comedy/drama with more of the former to it, that tells about a young woman who wants to marry a rich man but falls in love with a writer with no money who is some sort of a gigolo. "Cabaret" comes to my mind, hell, Paul even looks like that guy from `Cabaret`. Here we go again. There`s a nice cat in this picture, there`s mafia, there`s a ring from a box of cracker-jacks that gets engraved at Tiffany`s, a nice romantic film indeed. What should I say to put it down? Not to be watched in a strictly male company (consisting of more than one person), but it ain`t no bad thing at all.

Oh my God, for the first time I`m rating a piece of Latvian creation. It`s a double LP by my favourite Latvian band. The impression on the record is somewhat divided - while the first disc consisting of self penned material is pretty good - songs like "Don`t Forget", "Disaster" or "Lullaby" could fit on an album by a major band (those wouldn`t be the best songs on such a record but anyhow) but the disc of cover tunes is mostly a dissapointment. For example, why would anyone bother to cover `Hero` by Enrique Iglesias or (sic!) "You`re my heart you`re my soul" by you-know-who. And what is a total disgrace - it`s the cover version of `Cocaine` by J.J.Cale (falsely credited to John Cale in the liner notes) which is turned into a silly disco piece of garbage. "These boots are made for walking" are ok, but not as good as the version by Megadeath. "Don`t worry be happy" is not relaxed at all. The only highlight on the second disc is "Cecilia" by Simon & Garfunkel which sounds really fresh and energic. There are also two songs by Beatles on the covers disc but neither "Rain" nor especially "I`ve Just Seen a face" sound good on here.

Somewhere I found out that this was a film that said the same things that `Beware of a Holy Whore` did but in a better way. Since I didn`t really understand what that Fassbinder movie was about it seemed a natural choice (!) to watch this film here. It`s by Allain Resnais and tells a story of a man who tries to persuade a woman that they`ve met a year ago and that they were something like lovers. What I didn`t get, why is the supposed place of their meeting Fredrichsbad while the title says Marienbad. It`s not very clear which scenes happen in the past, which in the present, and which don`t happen at all. Changes of cameras from one location on to another while the same phrase goes on and the situation is still the same are quite interesting. There`s a third man present (not to be confused with that `The third man` film) who is probably the woman`s husband (by the way, characters don`t have names around here). Though the woman is played by Delphine Seyrig (I know her from `The Discreet charme of... ` by Bunuel where she plays one of the bourgeoise women). Overall the film would get maximum points for the idea, while it was by no means a very entertaining film.

It is very highly praised, not only because it`s directed by Clint Eastwood but mainly because of the leading actors - Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon. To be frank the film is not much more than a Crime movie (a detective so to say) although to some people it seems to be more than just that. As three kids play in the streets one of them gets abducted by pedophiles and his life never becomes the same. As a matter of fact, he`s not the only one affected by that. Many years later one of them who by that time is a retired criminal loses his daughter who`s shot under strange (not really) circumstances. One of the two former boys is a cop who works on the case, while the other one is the prime suspect. I`d lie if I would say that the film was no good, but one thing ruined it from becoming a long-time favourite of mine - and it was the ending which I found to meaningless and a bit dull.

A island somewhere in the ocean gets partly destroyed and some of the celebrities of the music world participate in a benefit concert for the already mentioned island. Featuring are Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins, Elton John and Carl Perkins. What is my impression of that? First, the concert is a bit boring - not that it is such a surprise that a benefit concert lacks real energy. About the participators: Clapton is technically advanced as usually but the way he treats `Layla` can not be approved by me. Macca has never been a good live musician and he hasn`t become better while getting old. Mr. Knopfler is just not my kinda of musician, which can be also said about Phil Collins. Elton John does his usual piano stuff and is not too bad with it. Last but not least - Carl Perkins performs - guess what! - `Blue Suede Shoes` and is surely better that I expected him to be.

"Once there was a king of Paris, there once was an emperor of Brazil...." This is a song by Roger Waters, and it has absolutely nothing to do with this film. Ok, there once was a high rabbi of Prague but it still has nothing to do with the higher mentioned song. When the king of the land -I guess it must have been the Austrian emperor told that jews needed to leave their gheto in medieval Prague, the rabbi created a monster from clay that became the servant of jews and their protector from the emperor. This golem was running on a chip inserted into his body - that rabbi was one cool dude, if he knew that much about chips in the middle ages! But there was a problem - his daughter`s secret admirer and probably even a stalker didn`t like that she made love to an emperors servant and he unleashed the golem upon him. Everything would be good, except for the servant, if there wasn`t such a thing that after he had completed his work the golem should have been never used for otherwise he could go berserk. And that`s just what he did. But as you could guess in the end it was still possible to turn that damn thing off, and lock it away. Oh, I almost forgot - the film is not only black&white but also silent, and if it was running on the same frame speed like modern movies it would have been one hell of a bore, but for a silent film it`s still fairly consistent.