music

Music has always been a big part of my life. I started young, listening to what I now call ‘top 40’ music and then moved on. This ‘top 40’ music I now find to be insulting, it’s so non-offensive that it becomes offensive!

So my first progression led me to heavy (pub) rock. Unfortunately this was before I was old enough to go to these pubs to see them. And when I was old enough, my tastes had matured. I researched various rock magazines and books, sampled their suggestions and ultimately pieced together more diverse tastes. I found that I tend to like the best songs of each genre, taking exception only to grass roots styles such as blues, jazz and R’n’B as they each tend to come across to me as self-indulgent. American country almost makes me physically sick while the jury is still out on opera and classical music–maybe when I’m older.

Since the mid 90’s, I’ve found that music has shifted to a more visual medium with the marketing arm taking over and in turn stifling artist’s creativity. Only a few talented musicians have managed to break through despite this, so I guess they’re all we can hold on to until the musical revolution occurs—and it will—those of us who want more than bubble gum pop are growing in number and in turn creating a market for musicians who are hungered by desire creatively and not commercially. Lets allow them to once again take the stage both metaphorically and literally!

Lets face it, the music always has and always will be aimed at the kids.
So it's interesting how the industry has used this power to provide a kind of unofficial and systematic rebelliousness through thier music/media products pitched at these kids. Its reflected in a rock video and advertising world view that your parents are creeps, teachers are nerds and idiots and authority figures are laughable—i.e. nobody can really understand kids except the corporate sponsor. These huge authorities such as MTV and the like have therefore emerged as the unspoken super heroes of consumer culture :(

Music is proof of the existence of God - 1 Giant Leap DVD

top 7 'ish

OK, this is getting out of hand :P "The world according to Mark" wasn't intended solely for film reviews.. so just one more quick one (promise), and I'll take the rest over to a sister blog http://miesterx.blogspot.com/ created solely for that purpose ;)

In the meantime, being moved by Richard Linklaters 'Before Sunset', I felt it necessary to bundle this film up with it's prequel, 'Before Sunrise' and comment on this great mans ability as a story teller with 3 of his films now making my top 20...

He just gets it! “Waking life” showed a man prepared to explore the mystery that is our dreamlike states of consciousness - and through 'Before Sunrise/Sunset' he does much the same but this time pegs it back to just worldly concerns but does it with heart.

I must admit that he and I both share a similar take on both this planet and the people who reside in it and where we agree, of course others will differ. So if you're new to his subtle yet relentless opinionated style, you may want to feel the waters a bit before jumping in fully to the said films. Regardless, there are many who sing their praises, so lets push on...

I ran the gauntlet of emotions watching before sunrise/set, with my heart repeatedly getting ripped out Aztec style, then torn up, only to be repaired and replaced again and left beating stronger than ever despite bursting at its sutures. He does this through anticdotes and observations told via two uber intelligent, charismatic and grounded characters and manages to make the films work on both a personal level and broader terms - often in the same sentence! Yet somehow this creates a depth much greater than the sum of these parts.

There's no manipulation here, I can't recall a backing track used at any stage in ether of the films, which is a big risk. A risk however that pays off in spades and together with the heartfelt acting, only adds to the realism. At stages I couldn't tell where my empathy for the characters ended and my concern for subject matter they were discussing began, yet this meshing of thought process produced an explosive array of emotions which makes these films very hard to watch passively.

Choosing to surrender rather than intellectualising the story may result in watching thru a veil of tears at times but who cares?...all the more reason for repeat viewings of the work of this modern day poet in Linklater who hereby produced what in essence is a chick flick, but with lavish amounts of soulful relevance thrown in, making it so, so much more.

  

The media has become a subtle form of fascism - Richard Linklater

top 6

I just saw 'Dark Knight' and I think it may bump out one of my top 5!

So here's a review I wrote of it for somewhere else, so I'll paste that here cuz I can!!....

Christopher Nolan, ‘You had me at hello’ the title ‘Dark Knight’ smacks of post modern sentiment and had me intrigued from the get go. But fearing a high expectation would leave me disappointed, I went in with trepidation. After hearing certain scenes were shot for the purpose, I figured IMAX could be the only venue. At times I forgot I was watching a very large screen and at others times I thought I was the yet to be hatched Robin along side the pointy-eared hero. But IMAX may not necessarily take all the credit for that. Batman is a 3-dimensional character with depth. And he’s not even the total focus on this trip! Heath as the Joker gave justice to a portrayal that the script demanded and in fact pushed BM into a supporting role for mine.

All that aside, it is in fact the script that shines. A beautifully crafted web of metaphor and profundity. To be completely honest, I became so engrossed with the sub-plot that I missed a lot of what was to be taken at face value! I knew that something was up with BM. Why didn’t I like his character? and why wasn’t he as sure of himself as a super hero ought to be? Then when Morgan Freeman questioned his motives of surveillance my suspicions were confirmed. I think a repeated viewing is in order after my slowness off the blocks on this one.

So it’s not my perfect flick, but perfection as far as Hollywood goes in the sense of a first class script which manages to still satisfy its demographic. How Nolan cheekily squeezed all that out of what is in essence a cartoon character in a rubber suit amazes me. Questioning a super-power’s (oops, did I say that?) I meant a super-HERO’s motives would have at one stage have been unheard of! Seriously, I could go on for ages about how the themes in this film are as rich as the Batman franchise no doubt has become. But I’ll leave that for others and just address the I guess overall moral of the story in that Nolan suggests society has been told that we need to choose between either a wild murderous wasteland or lawless authoritarian rule. In fact neither absolute works and the present day mystic concurs on this – of course it’s everyone’s psyche that we need to address and it’s ironic that he uses a psychotic advocate of chaos in the Joker to enlighten us of this!

I luv this age we live in, and to see a post-modern mystical message explored in front of one of the biggest grossing films ever is nothing short of awe inspiring. ‘Hats off’ Nolan, if this sort of mind-set continues to be embraced by society, perhaps we may in fact fulfill the worlds potential rather than just completing its trajectory.

5 stars

Don’t point the finger in accusation, your own 3 fingers will always point back to you. - Norman Vincent Peale

top 5

And the top 5 are:

Donnie Darko – The only film I know which uses its soundtrack to add to the storyline (it introduces the characters through one song – Tears for fears no less – in 3 minutes in a way other films can dedicate ½ the running time to do). It is also a thought provoking intelligent post-modern story told in a classy way.





Hedwig and the angry inch – Think Rocky Horror but with better songs and maybe even a bit more cheek. Now I don’t particularly like musicals, but once you throw in a bit of charactor developement the way this film has, you get an extra dimension that many don't. Chicago goes close (closer if they cast Kylie as the lead) likewise ‘Rio Bravo’ and ‘Moulon Rouge’ (had it been ½ an hour shorter) and even Singing in the rain, but there's still daylight between these and anything else in the genre.




Mullholland Drive – Once you get it, you can’t help but be impressed at David Lynch’s ability to take you to another place – not a flick where you can just switch off from it and just go along for the ride.





Jean de Florette and it's sequel Mannon Des Sources – For their simplicity and ability to take you back to another time and place (however at 4 hours in total, it’s a big investment).



Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind – What a clever way to show how the romance can go out of a relationship with time! The film is a thought provoking (in more ways than one – you have to of seen it) journey to boot.






Notable Mentions include; Waking life, Fight club, Before Sunrise, American history X, Casablanca, Memento, Requiem for a dream, Almost famous and Lawrence of Arabia.

  

  

  

There is no cure for birth and death. Enjoy the interval in between.

pop culture

I wanna start with pop culture, namely film and how we judge their merit.

Don't you just detest two-dimensional Hollywood blockbusters? I do–unless they deviate a great deal from their traditional format. Now take cutting edge movies that push the boundaries of film making, that's a different story (literally)–film making should be an uncensored medium (unlike TV) and a visit to the flicks should not just be entertainment but an informative, eye opening or even a soul-searching experience. Leave the formula driven happy ending fodder to telemovies I say.

When it comes to rewarding the filmmakers, I see some fundamental problems in that presently, the movies which appeal to the lowest common denominator tend to get the kudos. The Academy Awards speak for themselves in this respect with members of the academy–who more often than not have one foot in the grave, given the power to allow a film to go down in history as great. They are a relatively small cross-section of the film-going public, so they lack depth, and the middle of the road films of course, win out–cuz the independent flicks with something to say don’t appeal to this group on a whole.

Now, this is hardly a conducive way to get cutting edge results! And the Golden Globes are far LESS legitimate. To achieve their results, they pretend to be all-inclusive by using the foreign press, a group of 90 or so hand picked ‘journalists’ (read: invited members who all now reside in Hollywood) who can be bought–and often are! and who become no more than puppets to the might of the big studios.

Now there's no point bagging sumthing unless you have an alternative right? So what is it? Simple.. films of each particular flavour that are voted on by people who understand this flavour i.e. if you like and understand Film Noir, YOU vote for the films that fall under that umbrella. Or if you can identify with Chinese gangster flicks, once again, YOU vote for it. This concept has been put into practice online with some websites allowing people to give their own ratings on the film of the day. If the site is well patronised and universally recognised, it can achieve a vast wealth (database) of knowledge. The end result is that people with more than a passing interest in films and also a knowledge of the subject matter of the particular film, are given the power to judge it. When we look at upwards of 10,000 (now knowledgeable) people voting on the film, it irons out individual bias and we get a clearer picture of any films worth. Ans any person can therefore find and watch a Japanese Samurai film that has scored well, with confidence that it is one of the best of it’s type around–power to the people! Furthermore, if that person understands the culture and identifies with its characters, he may be compelled to vote on the film himself!

So in saying that, next I intend to share some of the films I give my vote to.

They must find it difficult, those who have taken authority as truth, rather than truth as authority - Gerald Massey