Absolute Classics - II

Artist: Television Personalities

Album: ...And Don't the Kids Just Love It

Label: Rough Trade

Release Date: 1980
Genre: Post-Punk, Alternative Rock

Television Personalities (TVP) 的歌跟主唱 Dan Treacy 的命運一樣，玩世不恭，卻充滿了悲傷。而他們對於上一輩的樂團甚至影響其大 （現在很少聽到提及 TVP 的樂團，除了MGMT，還寫了一首歌送 Dan Treacy）。根據 Creation Records 老闆 Alan McGee，如果沒有 Television Personalities，就不會有 Creation Records。而如果沒有 Creation Records ，又哪來的瞪鞋樂？

TVP的音樂製作相當的粗糙，寫的歌曲也保有了天真的一面；就像畫筆在小孩手中，自由隨意的在畫紙上遊走。比起九零年代的低傳真風潮，他們早在十年前就在玩這樣的音樂了。曲風上融合了一些迷幻，龐克和流行的精神，做出了既不龐克也不流行的音樂。而這就是他們的特色。他們的音樂是直覺性的，或許沒有很悅耳，但他們做音樂是為了發洩，為了表達他們的想法，不一定是為了讓人喜歡。這不就是搖滾的精神嗎？這是他們的第一張專輯，還保有些龐克的精神，雖然也有不少慢歌。但是後來的他們寫的歌就比較 indie pop，特別是 Sarah records/C86 的風格了。關於 TVP 還有很多可以講，像是他們的現場表演，Dan Treacy 的毒品問題。不過，就先在這打住，聽歌吧！

Eyes Wide Shut

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Arthur Schnitzler (novel), Stanley Kubrick, and Frederic Raphael
Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack and Todd Field
Year: 1999
IMDB

My Rating: 8/10

Frank Ocean got me into watching this film. He effectively quotes the movie, makes reference in his songs. The combination kind of interests me - R&B singer + Stanley Kubrick.

The film is a very fine production, just look at the opening tracking shot, flawless. This is about... reality vs. dreams, the fantasies and burdens of sex, secret society, and things you'll never understand. Great film, a masterful work of art, and a good way to end a prolific career

And I hate Tom Cruise, he's such a prick. Maybe I've project too much reality into his character, but he's not that good actor, a good faker though.

La Grande Illusion

Director: Jean Renoir
Writers: Charles Spaak, Jean Renoir
Stars: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Erich von Stroheim and Pierre Fresnay
Year: 1937 (France)
IMDB

My Rating: 9/10

This film was made long time ago, but it's still so fresh. It's funny, it's sincere, it's a different way of looking at things, which is always good. Timeless, indeed.

Naked Lunch

Director: David Cronenberg
Writers: William S. Burroughs (novel), David Cronenberg
Stars: Peter Weller, Judy Davis and Ian Holm
Year: 1991 (UK)
IMDB

My Rating: ???

Exterminate all rational thought.
Um...right, I have to admit I don't quite know how to rate this movie.
But it's definitely a very different experience, cinematically speaking.

I remember I borrowed this book from library, but didn't finish it, and I can't remember what it was about, oh drugs or something. I don't know, maybe william s. burroughs is just not for me...

The Leopard

Director: Luchino Visconti
Writers: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (novel), Suso Cecchi d'Amico (screenplay)
Stars: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale
Cinematographer: Giuseppe Rotunno
Music: Nino Rota
Year: 1963 (Italy)
IMDB

My Rating: 10/10

This is really one of the rare films in history, that looks after every little detail in every frame, for nearly 3 hours! Yes, you have heard of expression like every frame is like a beautiful picture, but for this film, you can study the details of beautiful pictures frame by frame. Stunning and epic cinematography. I think the fact that Criterion Collection restored it, makes it even more grandeur and extraordinary.

The story fascinates me too. It's a profound study of a man in a position of power facing the changing times, and seeing his culture and fortune wane in the face of new generations. Burt Lancaster did an absolutely amazing job as "The Leopard". Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale are both great at their supporting roles. This is seriously an awesome film, you don't often see that everything in a film (script, actors, art, editing, music...) come together so well.

Things will have to change in order that they remain the same.

The Adventures of Augie March

What a masterpiece!

This book actually took me quite a while to finish, and I enjoyed very much. Saul Bellow has become one of my favourite novelists, his writing always gets me. He discusses things like fate, death, family, love, power, sense of belonging, all the topics that I'm interested in. Interestingly, the story he told about brothers, more or less happen to me in my life, I feel like I'm reading my fate. I guess history has a funny way of repeating itself, only when you look back on it, you see how little difference you're entitled to make. True, a man's character is his fate.

“Everyone tries to create a world he can live in, and what he can't use he often can't see. But the real world is already created, and if your fabrication doesn't correspond, then even if you feel noble and insist on there being something better than what people call reality, that better something needn't try to exceed what, in its actuality, since we know it so little, may be very surprising. If a happy state of things, surprising; if miserable or tragic, no worse than what we invent.”

City of Women

Director: Federico Fellini
Writers: Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi
Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Prucnal and Bernice Stegers
Year: 1980 (Italy)
IMDB

My Rating: 7/10

Fantastical as usual, as you'd expect from late Fellini.

So, this is Fellini's answer to feminism, mid-life crisis, and sexual fantasy. I can see Fellini was trying to capture of the glory from his days of La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2, but it just doesn't work that well in this film. Anyhow, I think it's still worth seeing.