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July's list

This month I have been listening to:

  1. Take A Bow – MUSE. ‘Burn, you will burn, you will burn in hell, you will burn in hell for your sins’ – you couldn’t be more blunt than that, could you?
  2. Map of the Problematique – MUSE. Stonking electro-rock number that has been on repeat for ages.
  3. Starlight - MUSE. Okay, just get Muse's new album Black Holes & Revelations, right? Because it's addictive, overblown rock drama, even if Matt Bellamy has a tendency to sing in a range more suitable to dogs ears than human hearing.

  4. Last Request - PAOLO NUTINI. Nice voice, nice looking bloke, nice song.
  5. Smile - LILY ALLEN. Good, summery song about smiling after you get your revenge on your ex. Heh.
  6. Hips Don't Lie - SHAKIRA. Don't tell my housemate I like this song, because I've made fun of Shakira's strange warbling voice and bizarre lyrics about her mountain-like breasts before. And then of course, she has to come out with an infectious song like this. Damn that woman. And she has a nice ass.

I have watched:

  1. Constantine. I didn’t read the comics so I don’t have an axe to grind about how true/untrue the movie is to its original version. Yes, it’s Keanu Reeves but he happens to be good at playing terse, non-communicative characters. (In the same way that the reason Arnold Scharwzenegger was so effective in The Terminator was because he played a robot). I like fantasy stuff as long as it doesn’t descend into a too bleak dystopian world. Entertaining movie with good chemistry between the leads. Worth it for the rather spooky Tilda Swinton as Gabriel and the very brilliant Peter Stormare as the Devil himself, even when he was only on-screen for all of ten minutes .
  2. Four Brothers. Strange one this. I’m not quite sure what sort of movie it’s trying to be. Is it a gritty family drama? Is it an all-out guns-and-gore-revenge-fest? Is it a comedy? Is Garrett Hedlund, the actor who plays the youngest brother, single? At the end of the movie, me and my friends were satisfied that ‘oh yes, all the proper baddies got their come-uppance’ until E said, “Hang on. Why was the mother killed in the first place?” Err………
  3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. My housemate raved about this, but I was rather underwhelmed by it. It's not bad but it's obviously intended for a more innocent mind and lower age group than mine. There were, however, some quite scary bits in it and an undercurrent of menace that kept it interesting enough, provided by Tilda Swinton(again).
  4. Cheaper By The Dozen. I just wanted something easy and non-taxing to watch. There are days when you need movies like this.

I have also read:

  1. Neverwhere – NEIL GAIMAN. Surprising, well paced, fantasy with plenty of interesting characters (the Marquis de Carabas, for one) and a satisfying ending.
  2. Stardust – NEIL GAIMAN. Why didn’t I discover Neil Gaiman earlier? A bittersweet adventure romance set on the borders between the real world and Faerie. Don’t be put off by the blurb on the back or the word ‘Faerie’ – this is definitely a book for adults.
  3. The Sparrow - MARY DORIA RUSSELL. Winner of the 1998 Arthur C. Clarke Award, this book truly deserves to be on the list of all time classics you should read before you die. It's unfortunate that being classed as science fiction will probably not make it into the public consciousness nor make people take it seriously. The story starts in the year 2059 with the return of Father Emilio Sandoz, the sole survivor of a 38 year scientific Jesuit mission to the world of Rakhat, where alien life had been discovered. Father Sandoz comes back an emaciated, broken man - physically, spiritually, mentally - preceded by grisly rumours of murder and prostitution during his time in Rakhat. The mystery of what happened in that first mission to Rakhat is told in flashbacks but the heart of the book itself is the touching stories and relationships between the diverse crew members and Emilio's lifelong search for God. There's lots of theology thrown in there and thoughtful discussions about the nature and existence of God between Emilio and the atheist doctor, Anne Edwards. I don't claim to understand it all but the message that came through to me is that you can argue about God all you want but in the end you have to live with other humans, and it's how you handle those relationships that can bring you peace and harmony, and closer to God. If you so wish, of course. I look forward to reading the sequel.
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Kere said…
You won't regret it, I guarantee. I'm buying a bicycle!
01 August, 2006 10:51
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