I want the one I can't have: 500 Days Of Summer in review

Alright, so, the Nashville Film Festival. You know it's the Nashville Film Festival when the writer of one of the songs on the soundtrack is there to accept a certificate from BMI to congratulate him on the song having been played 4 million times and people in sparkly outfits called Doyle and Debbie kick off the screening with a song about trailer park residents.

500 Days Of Summer is going to be the indie hit of the year. It's easy to tell that from the second you see Zooey Deschanel's bangs in the trailer. From the second you see Joseph Gordon-Levitt sporting a cardigan, a tie, a messenger bag, and giant headphones. From the second the Smiths are mentioned. And it all matches up. Belle & Sebastian are namechecked within the first ten minutes, Regina Spektor and Black Lips songs are heavily featured, and the credits roll to Mumm-Ra. Say what you will, but I am in love with this movie.

Gordon-Levitt is earnest and heart-wrenching as Tom, a greeting card writer who knows deep-down inside that he's risking a broken heart, but keeps on hoping anyways. Deschanel as Summer is his heartbreaker who never does anything truly hateful; Marc Webb, the director, really drove that point home in the Q&A session. She is who she is--a person who is not easily tied down. The chemistry between them is pretty much what drives the movie, and it's certainly effective. The performances come across as being natural. This is a film about genuine people--the way it looks may be stylised and beautifully orchestrated, but the characters aren't.

This movie's got style. Webb's previous work on music videos really shows, and the parade-like sequence after Tom and Summer have sex for the first time is a stand-out, as is a scene where Tom envisions himself in a variety of classic films. The way color is used is great--blue is used to represent Summer--and I want all of Tom's and Summer's outfits, except for the part where Tom wears a brown jacket with black shirts all of the time. It was a beautiful world to be in for those 90-odd minutes.

An observation: On numerous occasions, Tom wears Joy Division t-shirts, one with the Unknown Pleasures artwork and one with "Love Will Tear Us Apart," but the band's music is never used in the film. I can only conclude that their sound is too heavy for the tone of the movie; despite being a story about heartbreak, there's still a sense of lightness to it.

Live: Flight of the Conchords at Ryman Auditorium 10 April 09

I wasn't sure what to expect from seeing Flight of the Conchords live, other than pure awesomeness. How do you approach a comedy duo that's also a band, anyways? Well, I still may not know, but it was pretty amazing. Kristin Schaal opened, and I love Mel even more now. I don't know much stand-up comedy, but she was hilarious and was wearing these fantastic silver sequined bermuda shorts.

But anyways, Flight of the Conchords. My life was made from the second they walked out wearing silver jackets and the robot heads and started with Too Many Dicks On The Dancefloor. They mainly played songs from the second season, for obvious reasons. For some reason I'd always found Bret to be slightly funnier, but I was nearly cracked a rib from laughing when Jemaine kept gesturing towards his rump during Sugalumps.

The most important thing is that the merchandise included magnets, featuring goldfish, Bret's mug, business socks, the keytar, a hotdog, and a robot head.

What does Charles Ryder really want?

Over the course of the past few weeks, I've been watching way too many movies that I ordinarily wouldn't have been interested in, just because Matthew Goode is in them and I'm secretly 14 years old. (Chasing Liberty made me want to repeatedly punch myself in the eye, and all I could think about was how weird it is that Mandy Moore married Ryan Adams. My Family and Other Animals was hilarious and a pleasant surprise, and Imagine Me & You was tolerable.) While I do think he is genuinely talented and not just a pretty face, he has unfortunately been in some films that aren't particularly good by a long shot.

Anyways, yesterday I finally got around to watching Brideshead Revisited, which I legitimately have been wanting to see for a while, having loved the book. I wish I'd seen it in theatres, because everything and everyone was beautiful. Castle Howard is so gorgeous. Anyways, I'm not really sure what I thought of it overall. Ben Whishaw's Sebastian was perfectly heartbreaking, but I do wish that there had been more time spent on the Charles/Sebastian relationship. While it was nice that the homoeroticism that was very obvious in the book was fully acknowledged on Sebastian's part, I didn't really get the impression that the attraction was reciprocated. Sure, there was the occasional sidelong glance or gesture, but my interpretation of Charles from the book was one who would have gladly kissed Sebastian. In the book, I thought that Charles' considered Sebastian's beauty with something between lust, infatuation, and an artist's aesthetic reverence. At the same time, Charles was also always very distant, which I thought Matthew Goode's performance captured well. Now, I know that I have to take the book and the film as completely separate entities, but I found the film to be much less passionate and compelling. The film was visually stunning, but fell short when it came to the script.

Fantastic!!

New Doctor Who set photos have emerged and I could not be more excited. I'll probably need an extra box of Kleenex for Ten's final episode.

Live: The Whigs at Exit/In 3 April 09

Tonight was my third time seeing the Whigs. They are, without a doubt, an incredibly solid band. Their bass drum-heavy take on Southern rock is just as at ease in a huge arena as it is in a more intimate setting. The Athens, Georgia trio aren't much for swagger or style like previous tourmates Kings of Leon, but they know how to leave a crowd satisfied with tightly-crafted tunes and a high energy performance. I've always been impressed with their live sound, not a letdown at all in comparison to the way they sound on record.

They played some new songs tonight, and their third album and follow-up to the breakout "Mission Control" looks to be very promising indeed. Still, there's always something magical about the 2008 single "Right Hand On My Heart."

Right Hand On My Heart - The Whigs

Setlist:
More Than Before
Hot Bed
Hundred/Million
I Don't Even Care About
Like A Vibration
Production City (short)
O.K., Alright
I Am For Real
Nothing Is Easy
Alabama Stars
Half The World Away
Mission Control
Technology
Right Hand On My Heart
Already Young
--------
Violet Furs
Need You Need You

Nashville Film Festival

On my to-see list at the Nashville Film Festival:

500 Days Of Summer
Sorry, Thanks
Poundcake
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
Ask Not
How To Be
The Heart Is A Drum Machine

Neglect

Last.fm will now be charging for its radio service if you are not a resident of the US, the UK, or Germany. Obviously, advertising isn't doing quite as much for them as they hoped it would. I'm not sure what this will mean for users outside those three countries. I know I wouldn't pay for it, but then I don't use the radio feature very often.

Lately I've been listening to:
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Johnny Flynn - A Larum
Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Peter Bjorn and John - Living Thing

Nothing too earth-shattering, but it's a good time for chill music.

No You Girls

Oh dear, there hasn't been much to post about over the past week or so, I'm still wallowing in my Watchmen obsession. However, Franz Ferdinand's newest single will be "No You Girls," which is easily my favourite track from Tonight. Here's the video.



Also, Gossip Girl is finally back, sort of. \o/

Watchmen in review

I know no one reads this because I've done nothing to promote it, but there are spoilers, okay?

I bet that it would have only been two hours long if there wasn't so much slow motion. That was an overload, and I say this as someone who owns all of Wes Anderson's movies.

Yeah, I love me some Nite Owl II. All of the shots of Archimedes looked so heroic and amazing. Patrick Wilson was perfect. I wasn't really digging all of the Dan/Laurie stuff, but I wasn't really fond of it in the comic, either. Dreiberg's awkwardness was totally endearing, though. It was way too cute when he was fixing his hair and such.

They should sell posters of those Andy Warhol prints, I would totally buy one or five. Damn, Ozyfabulous knew how to party. Despite not being canon, I thought all of that stuff was a nice touch.

That was the funniest sex scene I've seen since American Psycho. You'd think that Fat Dan getting his mojo back would be taken more seriously, considering how important it is to the character's growth. It's an important scene, but good grief, the music choice made it impossible to take it seriously. I don't think I can listen to Hallelujah again without laughing.

I don't think that there was enough emotional attachment to the characters. When I read the comic, I was legitimately sad when Rorschach died, but in the film it was just more like "oh...okay then." It was more tragic that Nite Owl II was watching, though, considering that he's probably the only person that Rorschach had ever genuinely cared about. That made it simultaneously more and less powerful than it was in the graphic novel.

So glad I got gore spoilers from people who had seen preview screenings, eesh. Most of that stuff wasn't even in the book, it was totally gratuitous. I preferred that the blood was limited in the book, because then it really stood out when something violent did happen. It was sufficiently cringeworthy that Rorschach just set the killer on fire rather than going full-on Patrick Bateman.

LOL NIXON'S NOSE.

I guess "Possibly homosexual" is "Definitely homosexual," according to Ozymandias' spank bank. There are so many nods to little things in the graphic novel that people who have read it will appreciate, like the people at the newspaper stand and the Gunga Diner elephants, but it's just not going to make sense to the viewers who aren't familiar with the comic. I definitely missed the Bernards and Joey, they added a more human, intimate feeling to the story.

I also think it was made too obvious that Veidt was the mastermind. He was definitely established as someone who could clearly have alterior motives. I know everyone's complaining that Matthew Goode's too thin to pull it off, but I think he worked well enough. I just didn't really think about it too much. I just accepted it without contemplating whether or not he could have thrown a 225lb person through a window, although I did notice that it was pointed out that he had the advantage of speed. I did notice the lack of Ozymandias workout videos, though.

Overall, I loved how faithful it was to the comic. I think it was a little too stylised, but apparently that's just the way Zack Snyder works. (I haven't seen 300.) The attention to detail was amazing, and it's obvious that Snyder cared a lot about the source material. I did go in with high expectations and I'm still not sure whether or not they were met, but I definitely enjoyed it.

BLUR BLUR BLUR BLUR BLUR

PERFORMING TOGETHER AHHHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.

INTERVIEW


OH, AND PETE AND CARL.

MGMT sue Nicolas Sarkozy, get creative while answering boring questions

Sarkozy's party, UMP, failed to give proper compensation for the use of "Kids" in online videos.

UMP has admitted using it, but said it was a mistake and has offered a symbolic gesture of one euro (£0.89).

LOL WHAT. There is something wrong with that. That is a straight-up insult if I've ever seen one.

On winning NME Award for Best New Band:


On winning NME award for Best Track:

"Credit crunch anthem," are you kidding me? I think I'm going to revive my 15-year-old self's dream of being an NME journalist, because apparently you can get away with asking incredibly moronic questions and being a terrible interviewer in general. Ordinarily, I'd say that Andrew must just be really high to come up with something like that praying mantis business, but I'm sure that after over a year, having to talk about the same stuff over and over again gets really boring. I think I've found my calling in life.

Picture.

NME Awards '09

Winners are bolded.

Best British Band
Bloc Party
The Last Shadow Puppets
Muse
Oasis
Radiohead
(Not surprising, although I don't know why you'd choose Oasis over Radiohead.)

Best International Band
Crystal Castles
The Killers
Kings Of Leon
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
(Seriously? Day & Age sucked.)

Best Solo Artist
Ladyhawke
Laura Marling
Lightspeed Champion
Jay-Z
Pete Doherty
(Pete Doherty, I will always love you.)

Best New Band
Glasvegas
Late Of The Pier
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
White Lies
(I can't remember if I voted for MGMT or Vampire Weekend. Still, good for them, they've come a long way in the past year. Also, I found it quite fitting that people out of the Skins cast presented the award to them, considering that "Time To Pretend" was such a huge part of the series 2 finale.)

Best Live Band
The Killers
Kings Of Leon
Muse
Oasis
Radiohead
(No surprises here.)

Best Album
Bloc Party – 'Intimacy'
Glasvegas – 'Glasvegas'
The Killers – 'Day & Age'
Kings Of Leon – 'Only By The Night'
Oasis – 'Dig Out Your Soul'
(But people in the UK are supposed to be familiar with their older and vastly superior work!)

Best Track
Kings Of Leon – 'Sex On Fire'
The Last Shadow Puppets – 'The Age Of The Understatement'
MGMT – 'Time To Pretend'
The Ting Tings – 'That's Not My Name'
Vampire Weekend – 'A-Punk'
(A good choice. And hey, it wasn't "Sex On Fire.")

Best Video
The Last Shadow Puppets – 'My Mistakes Were Made For You'
Late Of The Pier – 'Heartbreak'
Oasis – 'The Shock Of The Lightning'
Radiohead – 'House Of Cards'
Vampire Weekend – 'A-Punk'

Best Live Event
Glastonbury
Isle Of Wight
Reading and Leeds
T In The Park
V Festival

Best TV Show
Gavin & Stacey
The IT Crowd
The Mighty Boosh
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
Skins
(I really need to watch more Boosh.)

Best Dancefloor Filler
Bloc Party – 'Mercury'
Crystal Castles – 'Courtship Dating'
Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris – 'Dance Wiv Me'
Friendly Fires – 'Paris'
Late Of The Pier – 'Bathroom Gurgle'

Best DVD
Arctic Monkeys – 'At The Apollo'
Foo Fighters – 'Live At Wembley Stadium'
Kaiser Chiefs – 'Live At Elland Road'
Muse – 'HAARP'
The Rolling Stones – 'Shine A Light'

Hero Of The Year
Alex Turner
Barack Obama
Brandon Flowers
Noel Fielding
Noel Gallagher

Villain Of The Year
Amy Winehouse
George Bush
Gordon Brown
John McCain
Pete Doherty

Best Dressed
Alex Turner
Alexa Chung
Brandon Flowers
Noel Fielding
Noel Gallagher
(Alexa is so pretty!)

Worst Dressed
Amy Winehouse
Brandon Flowers
Johnny Borrell
Katy Perry
Pete Doherty
(Has she given up on those terrible slippers yet?)

Worst Album
Britney Spears – 'Circus'
Coldplay – 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends'
Jonas Brothers – 'A Little Bit Longer'
Razorlight – 'Slipway Fires'
Scouting For Girls – 'Scouting For Girls'
(hahaha. I must say, if I compare their to the bad emo poetry I was writing when I was 15, they're acceptable.)

Worst Band
Fall Out Boy
Jonas Brothers
Oasis
Scouting for Girls
Tokio Hotel
(I personally voted for Tokio Hotel. However, Jonas Brothers have that nasty thing where they're significantly more pervasive in culture than Tokio Hotel, thus upping their ability to be annoying.)

Sexiest Male
Carl Barat
Keith Murray
Matt Bellamy
Miles Kane
Pete Doherty
(This is a travesty. Keith Murray is much, much, much sexier.)

Sexiest Female
Alison Mosshart
Hayley Williams
Kate Jackson
Lykke Li
Stephanie Dosen
(Are people blind? How could you possibly compare Hayley Williams to Alison Mosshart?)

Best Website
Bebo
Facebook
Last FM
MySpace
YouTube

Best Venue
Brixton Academy
Manchester Apollo
London Astoria
Glasgow Barrowlands
London O2 Arena

Best Album Artwork
The Cure – '4:13 Dream'
Guillemots – 'Red'
The Killers – 'Day & Age'
Muse – 'HAARP'
We Are Scientists – 'Brain Thrust Mastery'

Best Band Blog
Foals
Lightspeed Champion
Little Boots
Noel Gallagher/Oasis
Radiohead

As far as red carpet style went, Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson from Franz Ferdinand looked like they went shopping in Ozymandias' closet, but they can do no wrong in my eyes. Noel Fielding wore some sort of burgundy velvet tunic thing that David Tennant would probably love and some totally awesome silver boots that I want to make mine. I also really want his bag. (Years ago, I accepted the fact that I dress like a British man.) The Geldof spawn continue to be disgusting, and Patrick Wolf continues to be fierce and crazy. Despite some sort of lace shirt with asymmetrical buttons being involved, MGMT's Andrew VanWyngarden was wearing the most normal outfit I have ever seen him in, though he probably had an emergency head scarf in his pocket. Despite some sort of lace shirt with asymmetrical buttons being involved and looking more busted than ever, I still find him weirdly attractive.

Scattered thoughts on Oscars '09

Oh my God. This was, um, this was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco and our entire cast, my producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell and Focus for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story.

When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married.

I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk.
--Dustin Lance Black

Thank you. Thank you. You commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect this, but I, and I want it to be very clear, that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often. But I am touched by the appreciation and I hoped for it enough that I did want to scribble down, so I had the names in case you were commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns, and so I want to thank my best friend, Sata Matsuzawa. My circle of long-time support, Mara, Brian, Barry and Bob. The great Cleve Jones. Our wonderful writer, Lance Black. Producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks.

And particularly, as all, as actors know, our director either has the patience, talent and restraint to grant us a voice or they don't, and it goes from the beginning of the meeting, through the cutting room. And there is no finer hands to be in than Gus Van Sant. And finally, for those, two last finallies, for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support.

We've got to have equal rights for everyone. And there are, and there are, these last two things. I'm very, very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant man president and a country who, for all its toughness, creates courageous artists. And this is in great due respect to all the nominees, but courageous artists, who despite a sensitivity that sometimes has brought enormous challenge, Mickey Rourke rises again and he is my brother. Thank you all very much.
--Sean Penn

Do a Holocaust movie, get an Oscar. Words of wisdom, Ricky Gervais.

Ben Stiller as Joaquin Phoenix was amazing. I couldn't even tell who it was under that giant beard until he turned to the side and I recognised his profile.

I almost cried during Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn's speeches, ngl. I'd say I was surprised that Westboro Baptist Church protested, but they've gone so far that they can't be shocking anymore.

As much as I love Paul Newman, etc., the In Memoriam thing took so long that I thought M.I.A. was going to recover enough to show up.

The dance routine to Jai Ho was so epic until John Legend came along. No surprises with Slumdog Millionaire--the little kids were way too adorable, and everyone involved obviously took great pride in their work. Dev Patel, let's get married.

THIS IS THE SKIN OF A KILLER. Our friend RPattz was clearly getting a headstart on looking like a tortured stalker.

Not that Hugh Jackman was bad, but it would have been nice if someone like Tina Fey had hosted. I think that these sorts of things generally go over better if a comedian hosts.

Dominic Cooper was lookin' fly (as were many other people), too bad Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens had to be involved in that musical extravaganza. I am so excited for An Education. The previews made me even more pumped for 500 Days Of Summer, too--Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are way too cute.

Brit awards results

Bolded are the winners, underlined are my picks.

British Album:
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Duffy - Rockferry
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Radiohead - In Rainbows
The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
While I try to not rate everything from a scale of 1 to Radiohead, In Rainbows is just so wonderful.

British Group:
Coldplay
Elbow
Girls Aloud
Radiohead
Take That

British Single:
Adele - Chasing Pavements
Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome - Dance Wiv Me
Duffy - Mercy
Estelle ft Kanye West - American Boy
Girls Aloud - The Promise
Leona Lewis - Better in Time
Scouting for Girls - Heartbeat
The X Factor Finalists - Hero
I genuinely do like Mercy, and American Boy really grew on me after hearing it so often during the summer.

British Male Solo Artist:
Ian Brown
James Morrison
Paul Weller
The Streets
Will Young

British Female Solo Artist:
Adele
Beth Rowley
Duffy
Estelle
M.I.A.
Seriously, M.I.A. is too fierce for words.

British Breakthrough Act:
Adele
Duffy
The Last Shadow Puppets
Scouting For Girls
The Ting Tings
Oh, Alex Turner, you've grown up so much.

British Live Act:
Coldplay
Iron Maiden
Scouting For Girls
The Verve
Elbow

International Album:
AC / DC - Black Ice
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Killers - Day & Age
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Day & Age was such a letdown. Meanwhile, there's not a song I don't love on Oracular Spectacular.

International Group:
AC / DC
Fleet Foxes
The Killers
Kings of Leon
MGMT
I kind of feel like the Killers and Kings of Leon have already gotten their dues in the UK, but I don't know what their records are like award-wise, at least not with Kings of Leon. But no seriously, I think I might have thought that Kings of Leon were British at one point because all I saw was people from the UK raving about them.

International Male Solo Artist:
Beck
Neil Diamond
Jay-Z
Kanye West
Seasick Steve

International Female Solo Artist:
Beyonce
Gabriella Cilmi
Katy Perry
Pink
Santogold
I don't know much about Gabriella Cilmi except that she was rather irritating on Buzzcocks.

Critics' Choice Award winner:
Florence & The Machine

Producer of the Year:
Bernard Butler

Apparently along with Katy Perry puking backstage, Jared Followill's ladyfriend got into a fight after spotting her boyfrand flirting with someone else. I'm not sure why you would try to pursue a serious relationship with a member of Kings of Leon--I think I knew that all of them were banging a different groupie every night before I actually heard any of their music. In other news, Matthew Followill has announced that KOL's next album will be "a little grungier," which can only be a good thing.

Photo by riotonsunset.

New Maccabees Video: "No Kind Words"

The video features Matt Horne and Matthew Baynton from Gavin & Stacey.



I'm digging their new sound--it seems sharper, darker, and I have half a chance of understanding the words. I also quite like Matt Horne; he was hilarious on Buzzcocks, especially when he and Martin Freeman were exchanging sighs and wistful glances, haha. I really need to get around to watching more of Gavin & Stacey, I've only seen the first few episodes. I still have my dedication to the original cast of The History Boys, though I wasn't quite dedicated enough to see Valkyrie.

Death At A Funeral to be remade

Touch and go! Touch and go!

Wow, time for a re-make already? This seems totally unnecessary, the original was brilliant. I don't recall there being very many culturally obscure references--plus, Love Actually has proven that Americans are capable of sucking it up and Googling if they don't understand something.

Death At A Funeral is one of those films that just works. There's nothing particularly out of the ordinary about the style or the setting, and there aren't any fantastic special effects, but the talent of the actors and the way the plot slowly builds up really make it something special. It's one of the funniest movies I've seen, and Americanising it would just cheapen it.

The Arcadian dream

Carl Barat refuses to reunite the Libertines

Once again, not unsurprising, yet still sad. I wish dear Carlos all the best in his future endeavours.

No, you can't stand me now

Carl Barat turns down Libertines reunion for Reading and Leeds

Oh, Carl. Yes, we know that you're getting into acting (and apparently New Age as well), but would it hurt to just play one festival and have your old band be paid £2 million for it? Blur are doing it!*



*Carl obviously has reason to still not trust Pete completely, but oh man it would be amazing if they could briefly reform.

I wish I could dance like Thom Yorke

If I was in the USC marching band, I'd probably be thinking, "Well, I guess I can die happy now, because my life can never be more epic than it was during the four minutes I spent performing with Radiohead at the 51st Grammy Awards."

Little Obsessions: The Lonely Island - Incredibad

The Lonely Island's album Incredibad leaked, and it is so amazing that I'm not even going to try to start talking about how much I love it.

I'M ON A BOAT