2.10.2009

Movies, oddly enough

In an effort to correct course and steer our blog back toward film, this post will be exclusively about movies. A novel thought to be sure. I was afraid that K2's final Sectors post would be a 3000 word dissertation on his favourite 2008 T-shirts but as it turns out it was a ranking of his previous 5 Sectors posts. What a relief...

On to the matter at hand.....

Radio On (1979) Director: Christopher Petit. PAL (but I ordered an NTSC copy for the FBW)

A revelation. Radio On is an existential masterpiece of understated post-punk angst set in pre-Thatcher Britain. It's technically a road movie I suppose, although substantially different in tone and execution from the American variety released earlier in the decade (Two Lane Blacktop comes most immediately to mind). The journey presented here is nearly random, existential in the extreme and motivated by the protagonist's desire to simply “find something out”.

Radio On is a sparse, sombre and haunting film, beautifully film shot in black and white by Wim Wenders' cinematographer Martin Schäfer. It takes the travelogue into unexplored territory: literally - the A420 to Swindon and Bristol - and figuratively: a Britain stricken by economic decline. This is a film in love with both exile and empty places, its characters drifting along without motive or direction. It may resonate with present day audiences more profoundly as we enter our own swift and seemingly unstoppable decline.

A final note about this outstanding film. Music. It defines and shapes Radio On in ways I don't think I've seen before. Music is central to the film and its characters. It is at once an antidote to the loneliness of these people and a point of reference when their paths cross. It reminds us how music – particularly that of our own time – says something of who we are, where we came from and in a way, where we're going. Radio On is a disaffected, evocative and yet strangely hopeful film.

A new entry in my all time top-ten list that bumps Don Siegel's Charley Varrick into 11th.

The Mighty Boosh, Season 3 (2008) PAL


A bit of a let down to be honest, the Boosh has long remained the most ridiculous (and often most hilarious) show on BBC 3 but this latest season was a bit flat. It has some great bits but I think this ship has sailed.

Female Agents (Les Femmes de l'ombre, 2008) PAL

Four French Resistance fighters stationed in Britain slip back into Vichy France just before D-Day to get a British geologist out of a Nazi hospital. The twist is... they're woman posing as nurses. Similar to Verhoeven's 2006 Black Book, this apparently true story is in many ways a straight up wartime rescue flick. It's well acted and zips along nicely. I think Hot Cross Bunnies would have been a far better English translation of the title.

6 comments:

Dropkick said...

radio on sounds terrif.
seriously going to have to hold that fbw copy at fbe for ransom soon.

this whole writing about movies thing seems absurd. why can't we talk about society?
how come no one has gone on the record to talk about how shitty this generation is? we suck. it's true.

Also, top 5 shirts

5:Pink one with sharks.
if this fit me tighter would be dope. as it stands it's good lounging wear. Maybe if i cut the sleeves off. that'd be fun.

4:Self Portrait of Rembrandt
alotta people dig this one. i don't as much as everyone else. but it certainly is a fun shirt

3:Bird Shirts
i really played these two out. i have one with birds on a tree and one with just a lone parrot. both are fun but i feel i've stretched them over time.

2: Hungry like the wolf shirt.
This is the shirt with all the cojanes. i really dig this one even if it is a little too big.
it's terrific and really brings out my spirit animal. The lone wolf among the forest with a piercing glare. That's me in a nutshell.

1:Nerds
Sporgey purchased my a Revenge of the Nerds shirt. It says booger on it. it's terrif. People get a kick out of it. thanks Sponge!

Dropkick said...

honourable mention to Britardeds Christmas gift
the mighty red "Manada" shirt sports a Mountie with a mustache.
i love it.
but i'll save it for 2009's editions of lists.

the coelacanth said...

my top 2008 t shirts:
5 - royal blue
4 - cranberry
3 - forest green
2 - sage
1 - brown

with a special nod to my blue that has sun-faded into a near grey. it feels so good...

oh yeah - i wanna see radio on, too.

La Sporgenza said...

First off – order Radio On from KRK Joe. It's on Plexifilm label. You guys should have it.

2008 Favourite T-Shirts....

5. Denver Hayes XL, colour: Black Truffles

4. Denver Hayes XL, colour: Detroit Ebony (dark black)

3. Fruit of the Loom XL, colour: Approaching Storm (black)

2. Ralph Lauren XXL, colour: Tea Kettle Black (a shade lighter than #4 but the black is substantially deeper than Approaching Storme) Has a small rip in the sleeve.

1. Denver Hayes "Stretch Fit" XL, colour: Charcoal Explosion.

Favourite pants

Cargo Pants, colour: Italian Plum Tomato

Worsenfunk said...

I want me some Detriot Ebony, Baby.

La Sporgenza said...

I'll leave it to you in my will Funkchild....and please, don't call me "Baby"