Archive for the ‘Read/Listen/Watch’ Category
Things That I’ve Liked for the Past Few Weeks
1. Florence and the Machine’s album. I heard it at a friend’s house a few weeks ago. Go listen to it on Spotify. I dare you not to fall in love with the track “Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)”.
2. The Thick of It on BBC Two. I’ve never watched this show before. It’s Armando Iannucci’s satirical political comedy. Sort of like The Office, only less difficult to watch, and funnier. It follows the Department for Social Affairs and Citizenship, and it’s head Nicola Murray. Currently trying to get my hand on the first 2 series…
3. Lincoln by David Herbert Donald. Great biography of Abraham Lincoln. Wanted to find out more about him, as Obama has styled himself as a modern day Lincoln. Still plowing through it (it’s long), but it’s a great and easy read.
And what I didn’t like…
Voter’s repealing the gay marriage law in Maine. One day, hopefully, the bigots will disappear and realise that to deny happiness and equality to people is, frankly, sickening.
Read, Listen, Watch #2
- Read: The Partial Repoter [link]
A new blog focussing on the media industry and Northern Irish politics. It’s new, so it doesn’t have many posts, but I have high hopes :)
- Listen: Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim [iTunes]
I first got this album about a year after seeing her perform some of her song on Jools Holland. I’ll admit, the first few listens, I wasn’t so keen on it, but after a while I fell in love with it. The lyrics in the album are amazing, and the stand-out track for me is “Ghosts” (It turned out I’d been following him, and he’d been following me).
- Watch: Paris, Je T’aime [IMDB]
This film is a collection of 18 short five minute films about love, each concentrating on a different area of Paris. A captivating, and thoroughly enjoyable film. My favorite segment is the one starring Juliette Binoche about how she deals with the loss of her child.
Read, Listen, Watch #1
Every weekend I talk to my mum back in England, and I always suggest films she should watch. She watches them, and most of the time she likes them. So, on Sunday’s I’ve decided to do a short blog called “Read, Listen, Watch”, where I recommend things I’ve come across during the week that you should, well, read, listen or watch.
- Read: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. [Amazon.com]
I love Swedish crime novels, particularly Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander books, so this book really appealed to me. Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced financial journalist, accepts a case to investigate the disappearance of teenage heiress Harriet Vanger. Helped by sociopathic hacker Lisbeth Salander he unravels the mysteries of her disappearance. I cheated and listened to it on audiobook, but it’s a gripping story that’ll have you hooked.
- Listen: Fist of God, MSTRKRFT [iTunes]
There were quite a few contenders this week, as I also got Röyksopp and Erin McCarley’s new albums. As much as I love these, MSTRKRFT’s new one is the one I’m going to recommend. It’s a brainless album, and seems to take a lot from Justice’s debut Cross. It’s intense, the only down tempo track being John Legend’s Heartbreaker, and it’s the first album I’ve listened to in a long time that left me worn out after the 39 minute run-time.
- Watch: In the Bedroom [IMDB]
I’ll be honest, this film wasn’t what I was expecting. Instead, the story begins with a college kid, Frank, back at his parents home in Maine where he is dating an older women with two small children. Her ex-husband returns, and after a few violent episodes, he kills Frank. The film portrays his parent’s relationship and life as they grieve for their son. A powerful film.
