Top Ten Films of 2010

Okay, here's a more relevant list (in honor of last night's Golden Globes)

1) The Fighter (dir. David O. Russell)
2) Animal Kingdom (dir. David Michod)
3) The Social Network (dir. David Fincher) - Maybe I should change my name to David.
4) The King's Speech (dir. Tom Hooper)
5) Inception (dir. Christopher Nolan)
6) The Town (dir. Ben Affleck)
7) Shutter Island (dir. Martin Scorcese)
8) Cyrus (dir. Jay & Mark Duplass)
9) 127 Hours (dir. Danny Boyle)
10) A Prophet (dir. Jacques Audiard)

Once again, thoughts and comments are welcome.

Ta,

John.

Top 10 Films of All Time:

After an ill-advised cup of coffee earlier on, I am now wide awake in the middle of the night and have been watching videos of my favourite directors top films of all time. Thus I felt compelled to create my own list. It's alot harder than you might think and is definitely subject to change--

1) The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

2) Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

3) Raging Bull (Martin Scorcese, 1980)

4) American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)

5) Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)

6) Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)

7) Goodfellas (Martin Scorcese, 1990)

8) Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

9) Seven (David Fincher, 1995)

10) The Big Lebowski (Cohen Brothers, 1998)

Thoughts and comments are welcome.

Cheers,

JB.

Can We All Agree...

...that this is a tune? Thanks.



John.

Shaping Up

Two things I loathe. 1) Hollywood, or at least the image the word has come to represent. 2) The Gym. Thus, signing up to 24 Hour Fitness slap bang in the middle of Sunset Strip was probably not the best idea I've ever had. Don't get me wrong, I love to exercise. I just cannot stand the thought of moving on a stationary object for 40 minutes while surrounded by what I like to call..."c*nts"...the entire time.

And this gym in particular is choc-full of such people. To offer but one example, yesterday while feebly trembling my way through some lady-weights, I happened to hear sporadic grunts to my right. Not the grunts of someone reaching their physical peak I might add. More the grunts you might hear at the start of a Notorious BIG song. As these strange noises got my attention, I turned my head just in time to see a lantern-jawed freak begin rapping. Yes, rapping. At the top of his voice. It was at this point that I decided that this place might not be for me.

So, I sauntered off to the swimming pool. What better than a nice relaxing swim to cool me off, right? Nope. The pool was also filled to the brim with hairy-backed pond life. So it was time to hit the showers, which turned out to be exactly what I imagine prison showers to be like...minus the rape of course. There was literally a cue of naked blokes waiting to use each stall - much like waiting for the pisser at White Hart Lane. There are not many more akward feelings than trying to have a wash with a slabbering ape constantly checking his watch behind you....a naked ape at that.

I am fast concluding that a life of wheezing atop flights of stairs is a vastly better option than this. Yes, I might die earlier than people 'in shape', but after spending the evening with the rapping pole-smoker and his peers, I think that might be a fate I'm willing to live with.

Peace,

JB.

Dialogue of the Day

"Do you honestly think I meant to run you over?"
"You just happened to step on the gas right as I walked in front of the car?"
"Did I do it on purpose?"
"Well, what would Freud say?"
"He would say I really wanted to run you over, that's why he was a genius"

From Manhattan (1979)

Classic Albums - Nevermind

I remember it clear as day. I was 11 years old, sitting watching TV in my living room. Suddenly this long haired chap in a green stripy shirt surrounded by smoke and moshers in a disused basketball gym came on the screen, singing and smashing the shite out of everything. From that moment on, my life was changed. I am of course referring to my first viewing of the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video. At the time, being the wide-eyed little innocent that I was (sort of) I had no idea that I was watching the defining moment of a generation, but whatever it was, I was sold.

Thus I immediately went out and bought "Nevermind". My friends and I would spend hours jumping around and singing and debating about what the f**k Kurt Cobain was on about.

This was 1991. Fast forward 20 years and I find myself still listening to this album, it still sounding as fresh as it did then, and still not knowing the sodding words! It's the first real record I bought (aside from novelty singles and Now compilations) and I believe it sparked the undying love for music I have today.

Every single track here is outstanding but my favourite is probably still "Lithium". I tells ya, they don't make them like this anymore.

Heroes To Humanity: #208 - Banksy

After watching the very excellent "Exit Through The Gift Shop" I instantly went and dusted off my copy of "Wall and Piece", which is a book displaying the art and thoughts of the living legend that is Banksy.

Now, I know that now, in 2011, it is extremely trendy to be a fan of this chap. I can even hear people (as in, wankers) at art shows saying things like "Yah, you know what I love the most about his work though Tarquin? It's the subversive, anti-establishment rhetoric he consistently slaps us in the chops with"......gag! However, I am proud to say that I have been on the bandwagon since I had the pleasure of seeing one of his works in London several years ago. It was a stencil of two policemen in a romantic clinch. My only thought in passing was "that is genius" and on I went. Then I found this book and lo and behold, there it was, the same picture.

Now, while I am a sucker for the elusive, fuck capitalism element to his work, I think it's easy to lose just what a great artist the man is. Everything he does is not only cutting edge and indeed edgy, but it's bloody good. Thus meeting my first criteria for modern art - could I do that myself? If the answer is no, it's passes round one.

Just have a look at his catalogue: Banksy - Outdoor Collection

So here's to Banksy, a scoundrel who openly laughs in all of our fat, ignorant faces and makes boatloads of cash doing it.

Welcome to 2011

So, it's a new year. A fresh start. Forgetting all the sins and imperfections of the past and turning over a new leaf. A time to clear out, shape up and hop to it with a spring in your step and a smile on your face.

"No Innuendo Intended"

It's funny isn't it, but at the end of last year (i.e. a few days ago) you couldn't have paid me to do anything productive. I mean, I worked here and there but overall I decided to just relax and enjoy the Christmas period as best I could. It ended up being a most pleasant yuletide, despite having to attend said job on occasion. It even rained for me, which I was most delighted with. Yet not a single solitary moment of inspiration came my way.

Cut to now, 2011. The new year, the land of hope and opportunity, and here I am laying out plans for the year, working till all hours writing and sharpening my skillz (with a "z", bitch) and being flooded with idea after idea. Thus proving that, for some humans at least, the fact that everything moves in cycles is a good thing. I am feeling nothing short of giddy with excitement for the prospect of this upcoming year. I am a lemming, I know.

If all goes to plan, which of course it will, then this year should be a good one and by December I should look like Brad Pitt, have Kelly Brook up the duff and be touted as a hot favourite for an Academy Award. Simple really.

"Just looks right doesn't it?"

In the meantime though, it's back to the grind of finishing my film, selling some scripts (hopefully) and getting my act speeding along the road to prosperity. No more ballsing around. It's time to get paid.

Oh, I feel all "gangsta rap".

Salutations,

JB.

P.S. - RIP Pete Postlethwaite....one of the finest actors ever.