The film listing has fallen severely into arrears...

... to the point I'm struggling to remember what I've watched. Some good stuff, though.

The thing I loved about Ammonite, a new film by Francis Lee about the fossil hunter Mary Anning is how sound is used. Especially early in the film the sounds are brought to the fore, it works very well indeed. The film fictionalises Mary Anning's sex life, but it is certainly true to history about how her work was treated because of her sex. Worth watching.

Les Miserables, no, not that film but this one:

Aggressive, violent, politically astute; really, very fucking good, the end is just excellent. Louise found it a bit much, but elder daughter and I loved it. A story that needed telling.

I don't really watch films for fun. I want to be challenged, I want the grey matter (however much of it is left) to be stirred into some sort of reflective process, analysis. But, hey, Palm Springs is fun. We all loved this. It's very funny, and, yes, there's a point or two to it as well, it's not just entertainment, after all, what if it was you? 

Photo by - sorry photographer I don't know who you are.

Now, if you've read this is Groundhog Day and you don't like that movie (c'mon, what?), don't be put off, it's not Groundhog Day, it's something that uses some of the same premis but twists it another way. It's a film about love, honesty, hope, betrayal, forgiveness, and it is also great entertainment.

Now about Parasite, I've watched half of it and then I had to stop. But I might try again, it might be better if I watched it with Louise, rather than on my own. Everyone (that is the critics) loved it, so surely I should too?

I've also watched two Wes Anderson films - The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. If I feel inspired I might give them a post. I've got beetle stuff to do tho'.

Zen motoring.

Everyone who uses our roads should be made to watch this. Indeed, it should be part of the Theory Test and questions should be asked. For example, what should you do if a pigeon sits in the road and refuses to fly away when you approach, or even beep! ? (Episode 2 I think.)

Click the pic for the link.

Pop music.

I do like a really good single. Rip It Up by Orange Juice is probably my favourite of all time. I used to have a version, on cassette, that played the lyrics backwards at one part of the song, it was even more fabulous than the original. (If anyone can reunite me with that piece of wonder please get in touch, I can't find it on Spotify.)

Definition of a pop single, released as a single, should have charted somewhere at some time, and most importantly, the first few bars make me smile (feet itching to move is an optional extra). Ideally, it should be a bit of an earworm too and have a personal, historical connection, a time and a place.

I'm inclined to agree with Paul Morley about the quality of Kylie's I Can't Get You Out of My Head.

I Can't Get You Out of My Head.

More recently Christine and the Queens' Tilted features strongly in my top ten pop singles of all time.

Tilted.

So what of this year? There's a contender, time may tell but I think it's a serious one.

Self-esteem - I Do This All the Time.

Musically sophisticated, complex but simple. Killer chorus. Lyrically, interesting.

I'm going to have to come up with the other six or seven now aren't I? (As I discovered that's an impossible number, but we don't want too many.)  I'll complete the list next week sometime, in the meantime I'm (uncharacteristically) listening to a lot of pop music.

They're arriving in installments, day at  time, perhaps.

Hole in My Shoe - Traffic.

From 1967, when I was 12. It was on the radio all the time and I loved it. Reminds me of holidays in Thorpeness, Suffolk.

 

Lupe mined a very deep seam in the mid 2000s, for me this was an exceptional record. We were living in North Yorkshire at the time and watched his set (on TV) at Glastonbury over and over.

From 1966, when I was 11, another earworm of my life, "All the leaves are brown and the skies are grey, I've been for a walk on a winter's day....." California Dreamin' by The Mamas and the Papas.

I'm not allowed Blackbird as it was, apparently, not released as a single (correction comments welcome) and I used to have "Hey, Jude" constantly in my head, but it's a bit bombastic. I never listen to the Beatles these days, it's interesting listening to a few songs now. Here Comes the Sun probably comes closest to a pop single for me, instead let's have some Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin. The reference to Brecht reflecting my political allegiances.

It's the music I grew up with, or at least closely related to the big band sound my dad was obsessed with and collected.

 

Ok, time for us hippies, here's Carly Simon, "You're So Vain".

 

That's 14 plus one, when's this going to end? There's a few more to come yet....

Everyone chooses Tainted Love, but this is my favourite. And more Brechtian links via Marc Almond. And there is a connection to the next, perhaps the best pop record ever made....

The sound of summer and tearing around Dungeness in my knackered Fiat 127.

 

I grew up with their TV programme. Fabulous!

The genius of Brian Wilson, and Mike Love. There's a new film about Brian, it sounds interesting, Long Promised Road.

I find it very difficult to choose which song of this time/genre. I spent a bit of time being a roadie for a Tamla/soul DJ. This is probably my favourite, but honestly, listen to the extended version for something exceptional.

Essential listening but make sure you get the Pts 1&2 version.

I still have my Two Tribes t-shirt, a bit tight on me these days! The story of making this wonderful record is here https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/aug/02/how-we-made-relax-by-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-sex-mix-gay-clubs

 

The problem with David Bowie is which record? So much wonder, but they're not really pop songs, are they? 

 

Lyrically prescient, 52 years ago Ray came up with a song that has continuing relevance.

 

I saw them shortly after this was released. Bradford University, they walked on, played for 45 minutes and fucked off. One of the best live performances ever. And another icon of my long lost vinyl collection.

 

And that's it. Twenty five amazing records and one that might be, given the test of time. But for all sorts of reasons, mostly just personal, these are the best 25 pop records ever released. I'm just editing my Spotify playlist of them now.

Now, about that list of dance tracks....

We watched a few movies over Christmas.

 So, there was a Spiderman film that I was coerced into watching. It doesn't even deserve a picture, and there are several in this franchise, I can't remember which one it was, awful shite.

Next, Don't Look Up. Peter Kalmus writes in The Guardian about this film, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/29/climate-scientist-dont-look-up-madness At one point he says: "Given all this, dismissing Don’t Look Up as too obvious might say more about the critic than the film." I disagree, yes, the situation is terrifying, but a crass "satire", is that really going to change anyones' mind? I'd be very surprised. I have another issue with this film which is the portrayal of women. We have a female President, but Meryl Streep plays a Trump-like self-interested idiot and Jennifer Lawrence, as the scientist who uncovered the crisis in the film, looses it on national TV with hysterical screaming, swearing and crying. I don't believe this film will do anything towards raising awareness of the climate crisis, it's just a waste of everyone's time, energy and a pile of carbon.

Photo: Niko Tavernise/Netflix.

Finally, we watched The Lost Daughter, not very seasonal. This is a film about regret and about loss, there is a slightly sinister edge. The film challenges our own feelings about the role of women in the family and in society. There is a minor element of the film I found unnecessary so leaving fifteen minutes or so on the cutting room floor would have helped, but then I find most modern films over-long. Jessie Buckley and Olivia Colman are wonderful as Leda at different times of her life. I loved Maggie Gyllenhaal's direction, particularly her use of portraits of faces. Worth a watch.

Photo: Netflix.

Sometimes I Might be Introvert.

 I don't know why I didn't put this in my albums of the year 2021. You don't have to like grime to enjoy this, it's quality.

Little Simz.