Public Static Final

I've been bragging about Session 9 in and out over the years, and I would even go so far as to say this is THE scariest movie I've been seen in my entire life so far.

Yes it scared the bejesus outta me the first time, and every time afterwards. Maybe I have a thing for abandoned hospitals/asylums, but this is a gem that didn't really receive enough hype it deserves.
 

Trademark Almodovar comes again. A soap opera condensed into a two-hour frame. Film-in-film. Love and Revenge. Overly dramatic. Insanely hilarious. Red and bright. Sad but hopeful.

And best of all -- His women. Penelope Cruz should absolutely stick to Spanish films, where she belongs and shines. Her beauty takes your breath away, and PA saves his iconic scene for his new muse: Lena walked in and dubbed herself in her own spy video, and walked out of that door. It was a magical and powerful moment that speaks louder than a thousand words.

The rest of the cast are pretty much PA veterans. Blanca Portillo had the most difficult role in "Volver" but pulled it off with such tear-jerking performance. Here I find her a bit overwrought, yet she's adequate. The real show-stealer is the woman in the final cut of that precious film "Girls & Suitcases", whom I've definitely spotted in numerous PA films. No kidding every time she opened her mouth, I found myself in stitches, and had to genuinely control the urge to either roll on the floor or do a round-off back flip or something. Seriously, that woman could kill me in a heartbeat. The last ten minutes were not only a comical relief, they also leave the audiences fulfilled, which, is a usual personal touch in all of PA's works. Plus they are clearly paying tribute to PA's very own "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" -- Everyone enjoys a farce when its done right.

I do hope PA would consider turning that vampire movie script into production. It was a RIOT I swear in the theatre when people just couldn't help but burst out laughing loudly. (Or maybe it was just me....lol....Jesus Christ i love a well-told witty adult joke)

My only complaint is that it ran a bit long, and dragged occasionally. But I adore this film too much to even care.

Keane was formed as early as year 1995, nonetheless their debut album wasn't released until 2004. Had co-founder Tim Rice-Oxley decided to join Chris Martin's gig band circa 1997 (Coldplay...you guessed it), he would've probably been known as Coldplay's keyboard player and we would've never heard from Keane ever again.

I so can picture myself running through the park in slow motion with this super-catchy song. Post-brit-pop bands are surely getting easy on the ear.

  

Fitter Happier by Radiohead
Fitter, happier, more productive,
comfortable,
not drinking too much,
regular exercise at the gym
(3 days a week),
getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries,
at ease,
eating well
(no more microwave dinners and saturated fats),
a patient better driver,
a safer car
(baby smiling in back seat),
sleeping well
(no bad dreams),
no paranoia,
careful to all animals
(never washing spiders down the plughole),
keep in contact with old friends
(enjoy a drink now and then),
will frequently check credit at (moral) bank (hole in the wall),
favors for favors,
fond but not in love,
charity standing orders,
on Sundays ring road supermarket
(no killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants),
car wash
(also on Sundays),
no longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows
nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate,
nothing so childish - at a better pace,
slower and more calculated,
no chance of escape,
now self-employed,
concerned (but powerless),
an empowered and informed member of society
(pragmatism not idealism),
will not cry in public,
less chance of illness,
tires that grip in the wet
(shot of baby strapped in back seat),
a good memory,
still cries at a good film,
still kisses with saliva,
no longer empty and frantic like a cat tied to a stick,
that's driven into frozen winter shit
(the ability to laugh at weakness),
calm,
fitter,
healthier and more productive
a pig in a cage on antibiotics.

Sample looping in background: [This is the Panic Office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit. Activate the following procedure.]

- They encored twice. The crowd just wouldn't let go. I know I couldn't.
- Surprisingly, "Never let me down again" was not the ending piece. Instead, Dave and Martin sang a duet of "Waiting for the night".
- "Strangle Love" featured a voluptuous lesbian porn as the background.
- Martin solo-ed twice, but didn't include either "A question of lust" or "Somebody" in the repertoire, which is a shame.
- Dave in leather pants and vest. Martin in silver glittering jumpsuit.

  

I certainly wasn't world's biggest fan of Tarkovsky, and I suspect I ever will be. Unlike some young lady i met yesterday, who obviously decided to throw her undying love for the "poetic and profound" russian director at me. It was so random but I listened to her attentively, and I darenot mock her sincerity.

Even Tarkovsky himself was not afraid to admit Nostalgia is slow and boring at times. Doesn't the poet mutter something like "I am sick of all this beautiful scenery" at the beginning?  That about sums it up.

The magic is somehow he always brings everything together, probably in just one long take. Then it would totally blow me away, in a positively  "poetic and profound" way.

The last take of Nostalgia, where the rural Russia eventually juxtaposes with the Italian ruins.
The last take of Solaris, where homeland is zoomed out to become the first island of the "Ocean".
The opening and dream sequences of Stalker with that haunting music

I live for moments like those, as they make me peaceful.

New York Philharmonic Summertime Classics
Jul 9th  -  Bolero and other French Delights

Bizet + Saint-Saens + Berlioz + Ravel... Need I say more?

Revisiting Tarkovsky @ LCFC
Jul 10th - Solaris (Solyaris)
Jul 11th - Ivan’s Childhood (aka My name is Ivan)
Jul 12th - Stalker
Jul 13th - Nostalgia (Nostalghia)

A Tarkovsky tribute is just what I need right now: A breakaway.