THESE DAYS / RUNNING ON EMPTY / FOR A DANCER

"Don't confront me with my failures,
 I had not forgot to make" 

-Jackson Browne

 Jackson Browne wrote 'These Days' when he was 16. In the performance below, he was in his mid fifties.

The video contains two songs: 'These Days' and 'Running on Empty'. I recommend turning your phone off and closing your emails, just for eight minutes. Indulge in this. The payoff is huge. Jackson Browne is one of those artists who manages to influence everybody, yet somehow stay under the radar. But there's something about him, that voice, the delivery. It's profound. You'll find yourself in this. Just give it eight minutes, trust me. 

And then there's 'For a Dancer'. A beautiful song about life, and loss. I have an urge to write a lot about it, but then again; with Jackson Browne, you just have to listen, really listen, it's all that matters.

"I don't know what happens when people die, 

Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try"-

Jackson Browne

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From FILM BLOG to MUSIC BLOG

For the next week I'm going to blog about music. I love music as much as I love film. You've probably noticed that over the years here.

The great thing about music is that it has nothing to do with my career. I can't sing, can't play music. So my love for it doesn't get caught up with my own ambitions and insecurities and all that stuff.

So, for the next week, this is a music blog! I feel liberated already to lift the shackles of 'film blog'. Maybe I should rename the site for a week. 'Kid In The Corner With The Headphones On'. Okay, that's terrible. No renaming. Just no writing about films or filmmaking for a week. That's something to sing about.

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Important Questions: Please Answer!

1. What great films have you seen recently?

2. What TV show are you currently working your way through?

3. What song describes how you're feeling right now?

Please answer in the comments section!

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Headhunting The New Salmon Girl On The Way To Heaven

1. I saw 'Salmon Fishing In Yemen' today. We got in there late (due to my friend Charlotte faffing around with the whole popcorn issue, which I'll explain shortly). We missed the start and then nothing made any sense. Ewan MacGregor was doing something with Salmon, or taking Salmon somewhere, I don't know, I still don't really know-- I didn't get it. And I was all bitter and angry that Charlotte made us miss the beginning of the movie, so I was in a rage for most of it.

Anyway; eventually the film won me over. Ewan and Emily Blunt are just so darn likable. The film is likable. It just slowly works its spell on you. The first half of it you're sitting there repeatedly saying 'Why the fuck do I care about salmon?'. After a while, the people in the cinema say "Stop saying why the fuck do I care about salmon?" so you stop saying it, and focus on the movie.

And it wins you over. A very satisfying movie watching experience, just don't ever go to the cinema with Charlotte. Here's why.

2. The worst thing about buying popcorn, apart from it spilling all over you, is women who steal all of it, as I explained here. I've learned my lesson -- when Charlotte said she likes salt popcorn, I immediately ordered the sweet popcorn. So she had to buy her own; HA! That will teach her. No more popcorn stealing; perfect.

All was going to plan, but then she decided she wanted to buy some pick 'n mix... so off she went to stock up on sugar-covered-strawberry-thingys and cola-bottles and strawberry-thingys-that-aren't-sugar-covered and many other things. She took ages!

So we missed the start of the movie. I sat there ANGRY AS HELL. But luckily, I had MY popcorn to myself.

But then I got extremely curious about the salty popcorn. I offered her my popcorn. She said "No thanks". Did she offer me some of hers? NO!

And then she started munching away on the sugar-covered-strawberry-thingys. EATING POPCORN AND SUGAR-COVERED-STRAWBERRY-THINGYS at the same time. WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS! She was sitting there munch-munch-bite-yum-yum-oh-this-is-so-delicious RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! What!!? And offered me none!? I sat there, ENRAGED!

3. 'Headhunters' is a cool film. It's Norwegian. The first half is riveting, the second half is very good, but not riveting. I give it a 7/10 but it's a strong 7/10, meaning-- definitely go see it if you can.

4. Seen her in a heap of stuff recently and, as a result, I'm currently a little in love with Emily Blunt.

5. I'm listening to Phil Collins. Everyone likes Phil Collins, just admit it.

6. Collins is cool, but he's not a hero of mine. For that you need to be someone like Jackson Browne. It's not just the voice, or the lyrics, or anything you could make a reality show about --- it's something deeper. He just has wisdom. And soul. All the indefinables.



7. I started watching 'New Girl', because the recommendation came from a friend I completely trust. That's how word of mouth works. It needs to come from someone whose tastes and beliefs we believe in. She said "Watch 'New Girl' and love it, or I don't know you." It's wonderful! Fresh, funny, just a pure joy to watch. 

8. 'My Fellow Americans' is a very heartwarming and hilarious movie. I just can't get enough of watching Jack Lemmon. Still makes no sense to me that he's dead. How can somebody like that pass away? He should still be here, making movies.

9. Season 6 of 'Seinfeld' is beyond genius. 

10. 'The Double' is a decent flick. When Richard Gere and Martin Sheen are on screen -- they carry real weight, dramatically. I'd watch Martin Sheen in anything. Or I could just watch him again and again in 'The West Wing', which of course I do. 

11. Phil Collins - Something Happened On The Way To Heaven. Come on, that's a good tune right there. My parents like Phil Collins, so I blame them. But blame is a strong term -- maybe they set me on this path. There's often been this joke in my family -- they're like where did he get all this film stuff from? Interestingly, I've always linked it strongly with music. When I give examples of creativity or artistry, more often than not I look to musicians rather than filmmakers, because it's easier to spot and explain. And I think so much of my tastes and sensibilities come from listening to my parents records when I was a kid. It was stuff like Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Diana Ross! And I know, uncool right? You wanna be able to say your parents were into Led Zeppelin -- but actually, listening to Phil Collins right now; I can hear me in it. The music my parents have always loved is good, honest, heartfelt stuff. It's not about whether it's cool or mainstream, it's about it being truthful and connecting. That's what I've always gone after in my work. I have great parents and they have terrific taste in music, you should know this. They love a good bit of Motown, too. 

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THE SON OF NO ONE - Film Review (DVD)

I love this movie.

I have yet to find anyone else who shares my opinion, but screw it. And yes, I'm probably a bit biased, because I've always been a bit of a Dito Montiel fanboy. 'A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints' is one of my all time favourite films.

'The Son Of No One' crashed at the box office, never made it to the cinema in Europe, and has received negative reviews everywhere.
 

But it resonates with me. And that's all I can really care about. I'm a fan of Montiel's movies because of how they impact me personally. The emotion in the film is, at least to me, extremely real. And it bugs me that people are slamming the performances of Pacino, Tatum and Katie Holmes, because I think they were fantastic! 

As for me being biased; it's because I love the style, I love the stories, I love the team he has around him. The music Jonathan Elias and David Wittman created, it seeps right into me. How to describe it? There's just something about their sound --- the subtlety of it, the rawness. It has truth in it. And you know what I think about Jake Pushinsky's editing. Also, the way the movie was shot by Benoît Delhomme, I felt like I was right there! I felt the same with '..Saints'. Dito has a way of placing you right in the heart of the movie. I didn't grow up in New York, I was never involved in crime; but these movies feel like they were about me. There are precious few filmmakers who can achieve this feeling; and that's why I crave it. 

The film seamlessly flows between the present and the past (a similar device was used in 'A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints') - and again, and sorry to overuse this word, but it resonates. It's just the way I am, the way my brain works -- I'm in the present moment but always conscious and present in where I came from, who I was. The structure of this film, the way it's edited, it feels extremely natural to me.

A few issues bugged me at first. I don't know if they had problems with the sound mix, because there was a heap of dialogue I couldn't make sense of. Either it got better after a while, or it stopped being important to me, because I sank right into it and had no complaints. 

'The Son Of No One' is like a great crime novel; the character gets deeper and deeper into the shit, to the point where he has nowhere to turn, no-one who can make it okay. And gradually it unfolds that the whole police force is corrupt and working to protect him. The film ends with him having to make a decision -- to figure out where his loyalty lies, and it's riveting. 

But look, I'm wise enough to know that if a film gets trashed to the extreme this film has been trashed -- then it must be less than perfect. But I don't see the prejudice of my bias as a bad thing, I just see it for what it is -- I bring myself into the movies I watch. Who I am and how I process the world, and art, it's there in the room with me. And something about 'Son Of No-one', 'A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints' and (to a lesser extent) 'Fighting' really works for me. I respond to the emotion in them, I relate to the characters and the predicaments. Most importantly of all; the watching of these films completely grabs my attention and won't let me go. 

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