Back in January, our Irreverent Covers music post garnered an enthusiastic response, particularly for Brazilian musician/actor Seu Jorge’s Portuguese-language cover of David Bowie’s Changes. Jorge’s Bowie songs thread through the soundtrack of the movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and here, for your delectation, are a few more. Enjoy! Life on Mars: Lady ... Read More...
Film
This 1950 film from the British Council, entitled simply ‘Cricket’ opens with actor Ralph Richardson announcing: “My name is Richardson and I happen to have been born in Britain” and maintains that level of excellence for the duration. In between bursts of Richardson, we get the unmistakable Hampshire tones – the ... Read More...
In our occasional feature we invite guests to select the six cultural links that might sustain them if, by some mischance, they were forced to spend eternity in a succession of airport departure lounges with only an iPad or similar device for company. Today's voyager is John Halliwell, denizen of Cheshire, ... Read More...
What is music? What is it for? And what does it do, if anything? Was Heine close when he suggested that 'where words leave off, music begins'? Or was Stravinsky on the money when he pronounced that music was 'powerless to express anything at all' and that composers 'combine notes, ... Read More...
In the wake of its star, Natalie Portman, winning the BAFTA for best actress, Rosie Bell sorts the melodrama from the magic in Black Swan. This clip is my favourite piece of Black Swan, the melodrama that‘s doing the rounds at the moment. When I saw it one part of my mind ... Read More...
Earlier in the week Owen Polley reviewed The Way Back, Peter Weir’s first feature film since 2003’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Now as a Portsmouth lad I’m an absolute sucker for all things connected with the Age of Sail, and, for me, Patrick O’Brian’s genre-transcending 'Aubrey-Maturin' ... Read More...
Much praise has been righteously showered on Out Of The Ashes, Tim Albone and Lucy Martens’ film about the Afghan national cricket team, screened as part of BBC Four’s Storyville this week (Catch up with it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ydj1r). All of the big and obvious themes are there, but what makes it ... Read More...
There are plenty of English language films about the Holocaust, but very few about the Soviet Gulag. It might be the obvious angle, but it’s difficult to consider Peter Weir’s new film, The Way Back, in any other light. The wastes of Siberia now have their very own Hollywood blockbuster. The ... Read More...
In our occasional feature we invite guests to select the six cultural links that might sustain them if, by some mischance, they were forced to spend eternity in a succession of airport departure lounges with only an iPad or similar device for company. Today’s voyager is Barendina Smedley, a friend ... Read More...
I wasted about 100 minutes of my sleeping time the other night to watch an execrable film called Irina Palm. It starred Marianne Faithfull and I enjoy her singing, but her idea of acting is to be catatonic with slow, vague reactions. The screen play was dire - the story ... Read More...
