... let the good times roll...

... Just watching this great documentary on the highly-underrated TCM...

Let The Good Times roll is a documentary about the Rock-n-Roll movement in the 1950s. It was made in 1973, One of the earliest rock docs there is. At least of its kind. It is preceded by films like Lonely Boy and Don't Look Back (one of my favourite films around)

But this documentary is not Cinema Verite, as the others are. Pennebaker and Koenig were chronicling a revolution, a celebrity with their cameras. They determined the film by being present at the moment the images were captured.

Let The Good Times Roll is great because itstitches together live concert footage of a 1973 Rock Revival concert tour with news footage, educational reels, photos and clips from the era in which the bands were most popular. The acts range from Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Shirelles to Bo Diddley... everyone who began the revolution of rock and roll. And it speaks, FROM the 1970s ABOUT the 1950s by reaching back in time and creating a picture of a certain era using the cultural products created at the time. The films message has to be defined entirely through curation and editing.

And watching this film in 2010 adds so much perspective to that type of act of creation. It forces the viewer to become aware of its structure. The construction of the film, the choice of photos, the images from the present (in 1973) laid next to the pieces of the past show just as much about 1973 as it does about 1956. the message the filmmakers seem to be trying to send to Americans living through Vietnam, the Bicentennial and musical revolution in a post-Woodstock america seem to be that this future was inevitable, but that hope was to be found in rebellion.

The film seems to say that this "Wild and crazy hippie movement" was not so unexpected. The seeds of a life of love and passion, music and Life with a capital L, had been sewn over 20 years earlier. When those who passed laws, sent boys overseas and silenced protests were still young, just screaming mobs of high school students doing the Twist.

watch it....

... you're telling me....

I'm reading Plan B by Jonathan Tropper right now. After tackling the thought-provoking and subtle words of Ishiguro I felt that I needed a silly, American fluff, full of obvious plot turns and heavy on the sarcastic and familiar pop cultural references.... I went to Chapters looking for something a little more Nick Hornby....

And I found this novel. I am only 60 pages in right now. It seems ok, it is a bit "Jay MacInerney lite", but its exactly what i was looking for. Its about a group of college friends about 8 years after graduation, as they pass their 30th birthdays, with a little less than enthusiasm.

Its hitting close to home I guess, with the 30 staring me in the face. The idea laid out in the early pages about realizing the hopes and dreams of your childhood had become the expectations of your near future, and that you don't seem to be making the kind of progress you should towards becoming an adult. About how hard it is to let go of the enthusiasm of his 20s.

The protagonist, Ben, on first love:

"Lindsey did nothing halfway. She found something fascinating in every experience, and her enthusiasm was infectious. She drew me in with her ardor even discussing the most mundane things, and when she listened it was with rapt attention and an unwavering gaze. She could make me laugh not only with a sarcastic remark but simply by laughing herself. When she cried at movies she cried hard, and I would inevitably deel my own eyes watering. When I was with Lindsey I came out of a shell I didnt even know I was in, and it was as if the world was suddenly in sharper focus, with brighter colors. She gave me leave to discard my insecurities, and buoyed by her wake, I felt as if I was finally getting my moneys worth out of myself. I knew early on that if Lindsey loved me, she would bring the same passion to bear on me, and I spent countless hours in contemplation of that intoxicating possibility."

... i don't know about you, but I hate the idea of reaching a landmark where that kind of thinking is only considered with nostalgia... i want to own a house and all, but I am not sure I am ready to give up excitement.

... Never Let Me Go...

... y'know when you see a movie based on a great book and it just doesnt do it justice and you are all disappointed? There is only one thing worse.... seeing the movie first, and then reading the book its based on... Knowing it is never going to be as good as it would have been have you not seen the film yet.

That's why I was determined to read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro before the movie comes out in September. I will admit, I  didnt' know the book existed until I saw the trailer for the movie a little while back. And it definitely looks like its totally my type of flick.

But Ishiguro wrote the novel that was the basis of The Remains of the Day, an amazing film that swept the Oscars in 1994, one of the first years I took any serious interest in "grown up" movies.

I am definitely glad I read this book before the film.... Not because I think the film will be shit. It actually has, in my opinion, a 2 in 3 chance of being good, which is directly related to the starring trio of Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightly. Carey Mulligan totally captured me (and the rest of the world) in An Education last year. And Andrew Garfield was brilliant in the totally underseen 2007 film Boy A. Keira Knightly, on the other hand, is the wild card here. As the biggest "celebrity" among the three she has not really been in this kind of character and dialogue driven quietly powerful film in a while. But perhaps being taken out of that element will prove her as an actual talent... She was pretty good in Atonement, which has a similar subtle thrill to its narrative. I WAS disappointed when I went back and re-watched the trailer after finishing the book. It actually shows the entire plot of the book in the minute and a half that makes it up. But I guess thats the point.... there is very little STORY to this book... its how it gets there, how it tells it, that makes it so good.

And that returns me to my original point in this post... THE BOOK... which was amazing.

The story is a wolf in sheeps clothing.... its science fiction done up in the disguise of an idyllic tale of British Boarding School. And the first person retrospective of the narration perfectly teases the weird into the mundane. Its distinctly British... science fiction without a single computer, alien or flying car.

It is science fiction in its truest form. A novel that comments on the world of today by illustrating what could be with one element changed. The whole Butterfly/Tornado bit. And thats the best kind. It highlights the very basic elements of human nature... and does so beautifully. With amazing descriptive passages, metaphors and mental pictures.

I have to say, it has made me even more excited for the film.... But only because I have seen the one the book put in my mind... the one without Keira Knightleys lemon-sucking face on it... seriously, that girl has the BIGGEST lips on the smallest head. I met her once, I thought sneezing would literally knock her over....

Here, watch the trailer, read the book, see the film:

... the Kubler-Ross Playlist****...

y'know when music ain't just music? when you are living some cheesy teen movie in your head and your music collection becomes the soundtrack to your mini-major drama? I just had me one of those....


The very best thing to come out of it, I can now see, is the on-the-go playlists I created on my ipod. I will spare you the "10 Things I Hate About You" details and just tell you the tunes:




Denial:
Sam Cooke - You Send Me
The Kinks - Strangers
Guster - Center of Attention
Tragically Hip - Long Time Running
James Taylor - Walking Man
Smokey Robinson - Cruisin'
REM - Stand
Loggins and Messina - Same Old Wine
Ratatat - Tacobel Canon




Anger:
Tokyo Police Club - Favourite Food
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
The Love Language  - Heart to Tell
Menomena - Dirty Cartoons
Dashboard Confessional - The End of an Anchor
Phil Collins - That's Just the Way It Is
Vampire Weekend - White Sky
Good Old War - My Own Sinking Ship
Dispatch - Riddle




Bargaining:
Van Morrison - If I Ever Needed Someone
Good Old War - Coney Island
Good Old War - Tell Me
The Kinks - The Contenders
Samantha Crain - The River
Mos Def/DJ Dub - Respiration Remix f.Talib Kwali
The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo
Hold Steady - The Weekenders
Florence and the Machine - Girl With One Eye
Dr Dog - Jackie Wants a Black Eye
The Gaslight Anthem - We Did It When We Were Young
The Kinks - Got To Be Free
Three Blind Wolves - Hotel




Depression:
Florence and the Machine - You've Got the Love
Lady Gaga - Again Again
Two Hours Traffice - Sure Can Start
Miike Snow - Sans Soleil
Mos Def - Kalifornia
The Beatles - Come Together
Jett Valentine - Outlaws
The Powder Keg - Mariposa




Acceptance:
Sally Seltmann - On The Borderline
Hark The Herons - New Start to Start
Matt Ponds PA - Ruins
Mos Dub - Kampala Truth Work
The Crookes - Backstreet Lovers
Otis Redding - Down in the Valley
Born Ruffians - What to Say
Florence and the Machine - Dog Days are Over
Her Space Holiday - If You Want to Sing Out
The Futureheads - Heartbeat Song
Folded Paper Figures - Invent It All Again
The Hoof and the Heel - Lets Hangout
Otis Redding - Amen




I made a youtube playlist for the whole shebang, which you can find here






**** the Kubler-Ross model is the proper name for the five stages of grief