My 10 favourite films of 2018 [5-3]

Part 1 of the blog was here! As I've written longer mini-reviews for the top five this year, but don't intend on writing a full review of the first-placed film (like I did last year with Dunkirk #twinksonabeach), I'm going to divide coverage of the top 5 as a 3:2 split!

05. The Favourite

Yorgos Lanthimos made my personal top 5 of 2017 for his deliciously wicked take on the Greek tragedy, The Killing of the Sacred Deer, and he does the business again with another amoral morality tale, although of a very different flavour.

LFF Film review: ON CHESIL BEACH (Dominic Cooke, 2018)

Summer 1962. In a Dorset hotel, overlooking the seaside, two virgins, Edward and Florence, navigate their wedding night with shared trepidation, although the root of their anxiety are worlds apart. He, a History graduate from a humble but loving home, can’t wait to get his hands on his beautiful bride. She, a talented violinist from a richer family, is filled with revulsion at the thought of sexual contact with anyone.

Film review: OF HUMAN BONDAGE review (John Cromwell, 1934)

Philip Carey (Leslie Howard), a man with club foot, embarks on medical school, having been told he has no aptitude for artistry. One day, when out with friends, he meets a tarty, coarse waitress named Mildred (Bette Davis). Despite her unattractive personality, her unusual but not altogether becoming looks, and her barely-disguised contempt for his physical condition, Philip falls hopefully in love with her, an attachment which she flagrantly abuses.

Film review: A UNITED KINGDOM (Amma Asante, 2016)

I've been making the most of the BFI London Film Festival - I saw this title today, and am seeing a horror movie on Sunday.

--

Seretse Khama, the prince of Bechuanaland (now named Republic of Botswana) is studying Law in London, primed for return to his country as King. One night, at the London Missionary Society, he meets Ruth Williams, a British secretary, and the two instantly connect. A whirlwind romance follows, culminating in his proposal of marriage and for her to return to his homeland with him, which she accepts immediately. It being 69 years in the past, however, their union is met with opposition from almost everyone they know.

Amma Asante's previous film, the delightful Belle, touched upon similar themes as A United Kingdom, and the two films both capably balanced delivering a true-life romance that crossed barriers, whilst defeating the insularity and racism that meet the protagonist.

Both also clocked in at 104/105 minutes, illustrating that important stories that deserve to get the film treatment do not have to suffer from a stodgy running time in order to get the message across. In both Belle and A United Kingdom's cases, with their concisely edited scenes and unfussy screenplays, Asante clearly has enough faith in the stories she's delivering to speak for themselves, without the need for frills. And both films are better for it.

A United Kingdom wouldn't be half as enjoyable it was without David Oyelowo's fearless, heartfelt performance. When he addresses the people of Bechuanaland, you can positively see the turmoil in his eyes, as his character juggles his national duties and his heart. I'm not ashamed to say I was moved to tears on no less than four occasions when Seretse spoke powerfully. Oyelowo just has one of those voices; one of those screen presences. It did not surprise me to learn, yesterday, at the Gala Opening of the London Film Festival that he and Amma Asante have known each other for 18 years; she seems to know her subject intimately, and doing so helps her coax a performance of great emotional intelligence out of him.

The path of true love never did run smooth, but for Seretse and Ruth, it's considerably less smooth than usual. The two main characters never wallow in self-pity, but instead conduct themselves with the grit and resourcefulness that all pioneers of history need. Some of the scenes where their relationship is met with opprobrium are difficult to watch, such as when Seretse is racially abused by some yobs, who then call Ruth a 'slut'. But such scenes are only reflecting what actually happened. The way the director and writer, Guy Hibbert, retain the impact of these scenes without sensationalising such events, is impressive.

After baring her teeth in Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike is reliably great in a role closer to her typical habitat, playing the sweet Ruth Williams. She's terrifically still in the majority of her scenes, projecting a calm exterior, but the occasional tell-tale sign of body language (for example, a shaking arm) indicates that her character recognises the full force of what she's gotten herself into by marrying the Prince of a small nation and she’s terrified, yet, no matter how difficult, she's robust enough not to give up. 

The supporting players are all well cast, some of the standout performers being Draco MalfoyTom Felton as the villainous Rufus Lancaster (incidentally, he also played a bigot in Belle), Jack Lowden perfectly embodying Tony Benn’s social conscience (Benn’s first introduction in the film was met with a delighted gasp by the audience), and Only Fool's and Horses' Nicholas Lyndhurst as Ruth's disapproving father.

A United Kingdom also delivers an important history lesson about the apartheid in South Africa and the not-so-blameless role Britain played in enabling it, although it affords gratitude towards the trailblazers who were bold enough to stand up against what was clearly not right. The film also has more levity than you would expect in one about such a weighty topic, and towards the end, when Seretse delivers a glib one-liner (that was delivered to him earlier by Jack Davenport’s slimy government official), it was met with applause in the audience.

Amma Asante has made the first film of 2016 to blow me away. A United Kingdom is a testament to the redemptive power of love, and how in the face of hatred and small-mindedness, as long as the couple love each other, this love will triumph over hate. Admittedly, such a moral is hardly revolutionary, but delivering the message with this true, remarkable story, of two remarkable people, and such talented cast and crew, who clearly moulded this picture with love, renders A United Kingdom a lovely experience.

9/10

Album review: SALUTE (Little Mix)

Little Mix’s second album is as bright and bold as their previous, with the girl group having newfound swag from their globe-trotting exploits to add to their music-making. As with DNA, Little Mix take co-writing credentials on the majority of their album, meaning that Salute is truly the concoction of fierce foursome Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall, as opposed to the bland music industry play-by-numbers girlband that many would expect from the product of a Simon Cowell TV show.

Romantic “Towers” exhibits their growing emotional maturity, a moving ballad about doomed love, a theme that I am personally feeling too strongly too much right now. “Once we were made like towers / Everything could've been ours / But you left it too late now my heart feels nothing, nothing at all” they croon forlornly, to a swelling, majestic string orchestra overlayed with RnB beats. It helps that all four of them are all talented performers, so the delivery of the lyrics sound heartfelt, when the song could have turned out mawkish in lesser vocal talents.

Being unafraid to borrow from their hip-hop sisters is another thing I really rate about Little Mix. They channel both Amerie and Lady Gaga in standout track, “About the Boy”, a feisty, sexy track about a fella who’s just got that one thing. Fabulous harmonisations, an extremely catchy beat, good blend of singing/spoken word and another topic that I have a personal experience or ten of makes for a wonderful song. And the crème de la crème comes at the jazzy refrain, where soon-to-be Mrs. Zayn Malik, Perrie Edwards gets to exhibit her fantastic pipes in her high note, which has to be heard to be believed. And then heard over and over again, because it is just that good.

Like the sass in DNA’s “How Ya Doin’”, the four girls strut their stuff proudly here too, with lyrics like “Boys will be boys, I got plenty knocking on my door / but none of them compare, you’re the one I’m waiting for” in "Nothing Feels Like You". For some reason, Little Mix have the likeability to carry off lyrics like this, whereas in lesser talents, such as Pussycat Dolls’ “Don’tcha”, they could have simply come across as arrogant.

As with most albums, there are a few duds. “These Four Walls” didn’t affect me in the same way as “Towers”, despite it going for the same thematic field, and the frailty that the producers were going for in the girls’ voices comes across as just weak vocals, which definitely undersells them. Similarly, in “Good Enough”, the girls demanding “Am I still not good enough? / Am I still not worth that much?” simply comes across as needy, and jars with the girl power vibe of the rest of the album, however well-sung.

Thankfully, the rest of the album is all about unabashedly celebrating girls and how terrific we are. “Boy” has serious Destiny’s Child-esque vibes, in both the beat, singing style and the Say My Name-type themes. Their single, “Move”, which they performed recently on X-Factor with gusto, is a hugely enjoyable dance track that is pure pop, with some cool rapping to boot. Perrie is my favourite singer of the four, and she belts out the bridge tremendously, showing an enviable opera-esque quality to her voice that complements her band members well.

In the void left by Girls Aloud, there hasn’t really been a girl band that have reached the heights of them. The Saturdays made a fair crack of it, but they lack a certain je ne sais quoi. Little Mix may have been fashioned as a cynical money-making ploy to fill that gap, but the make some damn good music. From the military-style Beyonce-esque drumming, messages of not allowing men to play us and cheap and cheerful RnB components, there is nothing in Salute that you won’t have heard before in millions of other songs, but such is Little Mix’s energy, that it all comes off into a pretty decent end product. I salute their second album.

Grade: A-

Book Review: Briefs Encountered (Julian Clary)

 

 

Celebrated actor Richard Stent has just won a BAFTA for his portrayal of the celebrated British actor and playwright Noël Coward, and such is his connection with the character that he leaps at the opportunity to buy Goldenhurst Manor, the Kent mansion that Coward occupied for him and his partner Fran. However, on moving into the house, he and his acquaintances all experience bizarre goings on in in that lead him to believe that the house could very well be haunted, and the spirit of Noël Coward is perhaps not fully at rest.

I was so entertained by Julian Clary’s novel Murder Most Fab that I rushed to grab a copy of Briefs Encountered, not least because the title is also a play on my fifth favourite film of all time. And, indeed, that’s all I thought the title was – a cheeky pun that worked because it just so happened to be the title of a well-loved Coward creation. However, late on in the book you actually realise that the title carries far more significance than that, and I chuckled to myself once again at Clary’s wicked sense of humour.

Such is his sense of humour, in fact, that Clary casts himself as one of the supporting characters in the novel– the previous resident of Coward’s abode, who sells it to Richard Stent, and he pokes fun of himself from the start. The novel is set out like a play, with it being divided into acts and scenes as well as there being as list of characters at the beginning, and Clary is introduced as “annoying camp actor and renowned homosexual”, which sets the tone for the amount of ribbing he dishes out to himself over the course of the book.

Throughout the novel, the main protagonists makes snide comments about Clary’s grubby flamboyance (despite Richard Stent being gay himself), or trying to avoid him, and Clary even writes a humorous, albeit cruel ending for himself that includes his career taking “a dive that Tom Daley would have been proud of.” Such self-deprecation is rare in comedians these days – they love making fun of everything and anything but one word of mockery in their direction and they show their true diva colours – but Clary isn’t afraid to poke fun at the aspects of himself that he knows people are saying already, and in doing so, the novel is ever the more charming.

The story itself takes the formula that many a women’s weepy novel has: alternating narration between Richard Stent’s first person in the present and Noël Coward’s story, written in third person. Both Stent and Coward have plenty in common: they are famous British actors, both are gay (though in the primitive times Coward lived in, he had to keep his sexuality much more under wraps), and both struggle with the testing work/life balance and the effect it has on the relationships it has on their loved ones. It is clear from the way Coward’s story is painted, and the wandering eye of his unsatisfied American boyfriend Jack, that their love story won’t be a happy ending, and it is with trepidation and eagerness that we turn the page to see if the same doom will be inflicted on Richard and Fran.

As with Murder Most Fab, Clary dabbles with all the themes he knows most about: celebrity (hilariously, at one point the “Julian Clary” character compares his fame with Stent’s, only for the protagonist to internally sneer), man/man relationships, sex, and doing naughty things when we really ought to know better. His writing style is both unpretentious yet incredibly sharp, and as with MMF, the observations on life and certain celebrities are absolutely bang on the money.

 

Noël Coward was famous for his liberal depictions of adultery in his plays, for which he was lambasted by some critics, but this laissez-faire attitude towards relationships and free love is shared by Clary, and so him writing a fictionalization of Coward’s life makes perfect sense. Elements of Coward’s songwriting and poetry are interspersed throughout the storytelling, and the fact that he was clearly a very gifted raconteur and damn funny bloke is captured in the book, which, for its depiction of his flaws, renders him lovingly. Clary has clearly done his research, and Coward’s encounters with Hollywood greats such as Katharine Hepburn in the novel feel so realistic, you can actually imagine the conversations happening.

Finally, whilst some books’ treatment of the afterlife feel either mawkish or overwrought (I’m thinking The Lovely Bones, which I did not at all consider a good book), Briefs Encountered paints the spirits so naturally that they don’t feel any different from normal people, and thus we can really believe they exist. There’s dry social commentary aplenty – in the Coward segment of the novel, the actor is hounded out of his mansion by a homophobic policeman who seems intent on arresting him, yet takes quite the nosy interest in his sex life, suggestion repression on his own part, as well as a twisty whodunit to pique our interest. With a fabulous sense of humour, polished writing style and a neat eye for pacing, Clary has once again produced a treat.

Grade: A

Favourite One Direction Lines

Yes, I am a little bit obsessed. Some of these are for the poetic value of the lyrics, or the way the boys sing them (such as the way Zayn belts out #8).

01. “Shot me outta the Sky, you’re my Kryptonite” – One Thing (Harry)

02. “The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed” – What Makes You Beautiful (all)

03. “It hurts me to think that you never cried” – Stand Up (Niall)

04. “I lie awake just to convince myself this wasn’t just a dream” – I Should’ve Kissed You (Liam)

05. "I'm blinded 'cause you are everything I see" – More than This (Liam)

06. “I hear the beat of my heart getting louder whenever I’m near you” – I Wish (Harry)

07. “And if we get together, yeah get together, don’t let the pictures leave your phone” – Live While We’re Young (Zayn)

08. “And giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl, you and I, we’re ’bout to make some memories tonight” - Live While We’re Young (Zayn)

09. “So come one, you got it wrong, to prove I’m right I put it in a sooooooooong” – What Makes You Beautiful (Zayn)

10. “I would walk through the desert, I would walk down the aisle, I would swim all the oceans, just to see you smile” – Stand Up (Liam)

11. "I used to think that I was better alone / why did I ever wanna let you go?" - Rock Me (Louis)

12. “Get out, get out, get outta my head, and fall into my arms instead” – One Thing (all)

13. “It feels like I’m constantly playing a game that I’m destined to lose” – I Would (Louis)

14. “I’ve tried playing it cool, but when I’m looking at you, I can’t ever be brave, cos you make my heart race” – One Thing (Liam)

15. “Now I’m climbing the walls, but you don’t even notice at all, that I’m going outta my mind, all day and all night” – One Thing (Niall)

16. “When he lays you down I might just die inside” – More than This (Harry)

17. “I see you every time I close my eyes, what am I gonna do” – I Should’ve Kissed You (Liam)

18. “Then I see you on the street, in his arms I get weak” – More than This (Louis)

19. “It took a minute, girl, to steal my heart tonight” – Stole My Heart (Harry)

20. “There is no place I’d rather be than right here with you tonight” - Stole My Heart (Zayn)

Review of the Songs on the “Heart” (S3E13) episode of Glee

In order they were performed in the show...

01. L-O-V-E performed by Mike and Tina It’s always a novelty to hear Harry Shum, Jr sing, and he sings surprisingly well. Jenna Ushkowitz, who is often sidelined by other louder members of the Glee cast, has a terrific quality to her voice and their two voices complement each other perfectly, buoyed by some snappy Fred-and-Gingeresque dance moves as well as hilarious cut-aways to Rory and Artie competing for Sugar’s affections by trying to best each other at giving her tacky Valentines’ presents. 

I particularly liked it when Tina whipped up a paper heart magically and incorporated it into the dance. A-

02. Let Me Love You performed by Artie

Rory tells Artie, “this is a four leaf clover. You’re going to need all the luck you can get”, and this was Artie’s pretty underwhelming respite. I was never a big fan of the Mario original, and Artie’s attempt to “boy band” it up to serenade Sugar just felt a bit flat. 

Harry Shum Jr was comfortably the best of all the back-up dancers, and truth be told, I was more interested in his moves and sharp turquoise cardigan than I was in Artie’s singing. D

03. Stereo Hearts performed by the God Squad

The God Squad this week were joined by a new face, a Joe Hart (not the footballer, lamentably, but lol at the coincidence), who Quinn describes as “a modern day Jesus”. He has a nice voice, and it is complemented well with Mercedes singing falsetto. I liked the incorporation of 'Trouty' in the rapping!

Halfway through the performance the song is lifted with a gospel vibe, which many felt a bit much for Gym Class Heroes, but I thought it was adorable, and an appropriately ~magnificent~ performance as it was a singing telegram for Rachel Berry, who herself is no stranger to the spectacle.  The background warbling during the refrain complemented the sweet lyrics well, too. A

04. Home performed by Rory

Damian McGinty sang and acted well in his performance, and his soulful rendition of Buble’s moving song certainly didn’t lack the swoon factor, but he was rooted to the spot and that bored me somewhat. I practically have ADD, OK, I need a bit more in the way of visual pyrotechnics! C+

05. I Will Always Love You performed by Mercedes

The showcase number of the show, as well an oddly prophetic song choice (R.I.P. Whitney Houston). Amber Riley’s acting during the performance is amazing – making us genuinely feel her dilemma, rather than before, when it’d seemed like somewhat of a first world problem that she had two potential suitors. 

The lilting guitar in the background works perfectly to accompany Riley’s powerful vocals (when she hits the IIIIIIII, I got shivers) without detracting from her performance, which would have been quite some achievement even without the sad news of Whitney’s passing. 

With it, though, it marks one of the most genuinely emotional performances amidst the peppy, superficial ones that we’re so used to in Glee. A/A+

06. Cherish performed by the God Squad

My girl Dianna Agron gets to take centre stage, and she has a voice to match her face; laced with honey. Her dulcet tones suit this cute number perfectly, and the many shots of Santana (looking beautiful) with her girl Brittany capture the schmaltzy, sweet side of Valentines Day. A-.

07. Love Shack performed by Blaine, Mercedes, Rachel, Brittany, Santana and Kurt

Blaine bungs up, “back from the dead”, as Sugar sensitively phrases it, to end this week’s Glee on a high, and a good chunk of Glee club also feature in his fun rendition of Love Shack. It’s very camp and karaoke, but Blaine’s vocals are always welcomed, and Kurt’s facial expressions when he does his lines are hilarious. B+

Favourite lines from Lana del Rey's 'Born to Die'.

01. “He got a soul as sweet as blood red jam and he shows me, he knows me, every inch of my tar black soul” – Off to the Races

02. “I heard you like the bad girls honey, is that true?” – Video Games

03. “We all look for heaven and we put our love first / Somethin' that we'd die for, it's our curse” – This is What Makes Us Girls

04. “Baby put on heart-shaped sunglasses, cos we gonna go for a ride” – Diet Mtn Dew

05. “All my friends tell me I should move on, I’m lying in the ocean, singing your song” – Dark Paradise

06. “You said I was the most exotic flower / Holding me close in our final hour” – Million Dollar Man

07. “Come take a walk on the wild side, let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain, you like your girls insane” – Born to Die

08. “Because I’m crazy baby, I need you to come here and save me” – Off to Races

09. “I want my cake and I want to eat it too” – Lolita

10. “Now my life is sweet like cinnamon / Like a fucking dream I'm living in” - Radio

Born to Die (Lana del Rey)

Celebrity. It’s a fickle business. When Lana del Rey’s “Video Games” first made its way onto the airwaves last year, people instantly fell in love with her. The song was beautiful, as was she. She was dubbed the “gangster Nancy Sinatra” and could do no wrong. An unsuccessful appearance on SNL that was torn apart by the twittersphere and the bombshell that she already had a past as failed singer and wealthy New York girl Lizzy Grant, however, contributed to all the haters crawling out of the woodwork and slating her, insulting every aspect of her music as well as speculating over whether or not she had had plastic surgery. Going into the release of her album, Lana del Rey was shrouded in negative publicity.

No publicity is really bad press though, and in the end, the joke was on her detractors but Lizzy/Lana shot to number 1 in eleven countries with “Born to Die”, a 15-track album with some true gems. The title track is a beautiful elegy with haunting vocals and of course, “Video Games” is unforgettable. Looking past these two obvious choices, however, there are some other contenders of gems of the year, “Summertime Sadness” captures the poetic side to the end of a summer fling that Grease can only dream of, and “Blue Jeans” is fantastic satire on the American dream. “National Anthem” is her ode to sex, drugs and rock and roll, and “Carmen” is fantastically sensual (Lana has a rare talent of making even the sleaziest lyric -
"While I'm standing over your body / Hold you like a python / And you can't keep your hands off me / Or your pants on" sound fabulous).

There are two songs on “Born to Die” that absolutely blow all of these out of the water, however. The first is “This is what Makes us Girls”, in which she sings of her past as a bit of a good girl gone bad. Lolita imagery is rife in her tale of sexual awakening and growing up as well as some cliches which she makes gorgeous, "Oh she starts to cry, mascara running down her little Bambi eyes." The icing on the musical cake is when she whispers sultrily “Pabst blue ribbon on ice” – it sounds like a joke (especially as Pabst blue Ribbon is always a beverage I associate with Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet), but somehow, she pulls it off. Her lines about the hopeful delusion of young love, "We all look for heaven and we put love first" are spot-on.

Even better than that, however, is “Off to the Races”, which yet again features Lolita imagery (interestingly enough, “Lolita” is also a song on her album, but it is probably the weakest one of the fifteen). Indeed, opening lines to Lolita, “light of my life, fire of my loins” are repeated as a bridge throughout the song, which is a bizarre story of a destructive love affair with a man who’s clearly wrong for her and vice versa, but she loves anyway. Musically, it is aurgasmic (the welling strings and RnB beat hit perfect notes), her voice is sensational (especially when it goes falsetto at the “I’m your little Scarlett, Harlot”). The lyrics are much, much cleverer than they initially seem, with allusions to Leaving las Vegas, and various pulp noir in jokes throughout. All that being said, there's just an effortless swagger in her voice and delivery, so much so that even listening to her recite names of wine sounds like poetry to me. I rarely get this excited about a song; one of my top 10 of all time now.

Thus, verily I say, Lana del Rey’s album is an unqualified success. I genuinely couldn’t give two hoots who she was in the past or whether she’s had collagen. To me, she is a sublimely talented singer-songwriter. There are some images that she seems to love and thus re-uses (eg, that of a red dress), but to be honest, I'm hardly one to talk about reptition, now am I? Take a bow, goddess.
Grade: A

The Social Vexwork.

I'm currently watching David Fincher's The Social Network, and I must say, I love how the protagonist goes on livejournal to whine about his fail of a love life. Because that doesn't sound familiar at all. ;)

It's Hard having fun when you can't see the sun any more.

Ohai. I'm kinda obsessed with Girls Aloud. So without further ado, my 2010 in a couple of GA lyrics, and how I hope my 2011 will be, in a few others.

2010
Gone are the days of magic. Those times were cool - Rollin' Back the Rivers in Time
I dont believe in Romeos, or heros any more - Life Got Cold
It really doesn't phase me how you spend your time - Call the Shots
Was it just the margaritas, or are you lookin' at me? - Wake Me Up
Now just when things are going groovy
I see the rain clouds coming in
Wham-bam my life's a disaster movie- Deadlines & Diets
One little slip and I hit rock bottom/Life is waiting but I'm not stoppin' no - Girl Overboard
Boy did you ever think that lovin' would be nothing more than walking me home? No No - Sexy! No No No...

But then my face turned pink cos/I believed him when he said he'd call - Real Life
Hey, what you got to hide? I get angry too, well I'm a lot like you - I'll Stand By You
When you’re standing at the crossroads, And don’t know which path to choose - I'll Stand By You
My Aladdin's lamp is down and I gotta fear, ooh baby right here - The Promise
Heart aches, God, it nearly breaks it/Ciao, I'm waiting for your call - Singapore

2011

I've been waiting all this time for you. And I've been hating all this talking baby, black and blue - Waiting

in the head don't count for nothing, you gotta move that ass/Revolution in the head don't count for nothing, you gotta beat the past - Revolution in the Head

Shoulda jumped a little higher, shoulda flutted my mascara like a butterfly - The Show

Here we go! Here we go! I'm your sugar-coated doll and you're my hero - Here We Go

I know the love shouldn't so hard and sometimes we're standing in the dark, but you light up everywhere I go - Untouchable
I can't speak french, so I'll let the funky music do the talking, talking - Can't Speak French
I got my hands already to touch your soul, gonna get the energy to wire me close to you, got my eyes on the prize I see - The Promise
From top to bottom I'm a woman sunshine - Sexy! No No No
Pretty soon shit will happen what a wonderful world - Androgynous Girls

Girls Aloud are never not relevant. Love 'em.

Bung’s Favourite Songs of 2010.

1. Forget You (Cee Lo Green)
I wasn’t too enamoured with this song when I first heard, but multiple plays on nights out with friends, not to mention the terrific cover done by Glee, has gotten me to really adore it. Essentially, it’s quite a sad tale of a man’s failed romance with a golddigger, but such are the upbeat tempo and tune that Cee Lo Green really has fun with his silver-tonguing.

2. Love the Way You Lie (Eminem ft. Rihanna)

Far and away, one of the deepest, most moving songs I’ve ever heard. It captures an abusive relationship that is massively detrimental for both parties involved, yet such is the power of the love (and hate) binding the two involved, that just walking away isn’t an option. This being something that both Eminem and Rihanna are very well versed in, it’s no surprise that Rihanna’s voice touches emotive highs and Eminem’s rapping really resonates.

3. Airplanes (B.o.B ft Hayley Williams)
Dreams, aspirations, shattered hopes, wishing upon airplanes… been there, done that. Hayley Williams has a beautiful voice, some parts of B.o.B’s rapping really hold true. What’s not to love?

4. Power (Kanye West ft. Dwele)
“No one man should have all that power,” notes Kanye, although I would argue that if anyone’s deserving of power, it’s him, for coming out of hiding after being publically denounced a thousand times last year to comeback and produce, write, score and rap and sing in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, by far one of the most complete albums I’ve gotten my hands on, this song on it being the crème de la crème.

5. On to the Next One (Jay-Z ft. Swizz Beats)
The video raised some problems with one of my super-Christian friends at work, but I absolutely adore everything about this song, from the Swizz Beats appearance (Cher Lloyd ripping them off irks me ever so), to Jay-Z’s all-round swagger and arrogance. “No I’m not a Jonas brother I’m a grown-up, no I’m not a virgin I use my cojones.” Tell me that’s not poetry.

6. Teenage Dream (Katy Perry)
If there is one song that invokes memories of Summer 2010, it’d be this. I turned 20 this year so am no longer a teenager, but the song itself invokes the memories of what it’s like to FEEL like a teenager when you’re in love. Brill.

7. Empire State of Mind (part II) (Alicia Keys)
Poetry, pure poetry. Alicia Keys is a goddess.

8. Kickstarts (Example)
Example actually came to my University several weeks back, and I missed the opportunity to watch him perform. Still not over it; this song is gorgeous.

9. Take One for the Team (Ft. Cyhi the Prynce, Keri Hilson & Pusha T)
For flat-out lulz, there’s no better than “Take one for the Team”. “He said that bitch wasn’t pretty enough to finger!” whines Cyhi the Prynce in one verse, whereas Kanye happily admits that despite trying to be nice, “You know what? I’m not a nice guy”. More honest.

10. Monster (Kanye West ft. Jay-Z & Nikki Minaj)
11. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)
12. Fireflies (Owl City)
13. Born Free (M.I.A.)
14. Tightrope (Janelle Monáe)
15. Waka Waka (Shakira)
16. Acapella (Kelis)
17. Good Intentions Paving Company (Joanna Newsom)
18. Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars)
19. California Gurls (Katy Perry)

20. Dog Days are Over (Florence and the Machine)
21. Like a G6 (Far East Movement ft The Cataracs & Dev)
22. You Got the Dirtee Love (Florence & Dizzee Rascal)
23. Billionaire (Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars)
24. What’s My Name? (Rihanna ft Drake)
25. We Dance On (N-Dubz ft Bodyrox)

Top 10 Girls Aloud song lyrics that I connect to.

Back to the Girls Aloud obsession once again! One of the many things I love about their songs is that I can always recognise something of myself in their lyrics. So here are 10 of their song lyrics which I feel I connect to:

01. “Without any meaning, we’re just skin and bone, like beautiful robots dancing alone” – Untouchable


02. “Boy did you ever think that loving would be nothing more than walking me home? No no” – Sexy! No No No…

03. “My Aladdin’s lamp is down and I got a fear, ooh baby, right here” – The Promise
04. “It might sound crazy but your voice still leaves me all funky” – Whole Lotta History
05. “You could be the one that’s the head of the pack, babe. You could be the power stealing the whole damn show” – Crocodile Tears
06. “Surfing channels ‘til I bleach out the pain” – Memory of You
07. “I got you, I know your game. Doesn’t mean I know how to play” – History
08. “Gone are the days of magic, those times were cool. I tried to make love not hate, what was I to do” – Rolling Back the Rivers in Time
09. “I've been waiting all this time for you / And I've been hatin' all this talkin', baby, black and blue” – Waiting
10. “Wake me up before I drop out on you / You treat me rough to show that you care / And I just can't refuse baby” – Wake Me Up

Oh, would you look at that, nearly all of them relate to love, and the pangs of disappointed love. Typical Bung!

From top to bottom, she's a woman, sunshine.

Set in Argentina, Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) is a young, suave hustler who drifts from place to place, with nothing but a loaded die for company. One day, amidst a mugging, he is rescued by Buenos Aires casino magnate Ballin Mundson (George Macready) and the tycoon, spotting a diamond in the rough, employs Farrell as his henchman. The two men enjoy a sucessful relationship, for along while acknowledging the only third party as Ballin's cane.

However, emotions become complicated when Ballin marries a beautiful but heartless woman, the eponymous Gilda (Rita Hayworth). Unknownst to Mundson, his loyal devotee and his new bride were once together, in a relationship that is the very definition of "tempestuous". Needless to say, that relationship did not end well, leading to both parties loathing each other, but also paving the way for one of the most wickedly entertaining three-handers in cinema.

Rita Hayworth shimmies across the stage in a wide range of figure-hugging silk dresses, her curves accentuated with shiny, bold belts. Her performance outshines ever the sparkliness of her belts, as she exudes sultry elegance in every frame. Her character is jaded, cynical and has no qualms with using and abusing any men she comes across, but one smouldering look from her and it's not hard to see why she has men going gaga for her.

Her chemistry with Glenn Ford (whom she would later bed in real life) is sizzling and their exchanges demonstrate perfectly that fine line between love, hate, and how easy it is for the two to fuse. It is this edge to Gilda and Johnny's repartee that make them such a curious couple, and their anti-hero characters so compelling.

So sexy that I'm surprised certain parts were permitted by the stuffy Hayes Code of the time and featuring two very different renditions of what is now one of my favourite songs Put the Blame on Mame, Gilda is a representation of the ultimate battle of the sexes. The film has been read by some has having soft homoerotic undertones between Ford's character and Macready's, but, I read it differently.

The love Johnny Farrell feels is all for the titular character, but, such are his jealouses and insecurities, that he fooled himself into believing otherwise, that he hated her and could do without her.

When she returns into his life, with her usual arsenal of conniving games, his world is rocked again, and so begins their vicious circle.

And, to be honest, that is what love is all about, really.

Favourite Individual Line Deliveries in Girls Aloud songs.

I've been listening to Girls Aloud religiously recently, they being my go-to band for songs when my boyfriend pisses me off (which is just about every day). I noticed some lines really, really lingered with me, whether it be for the delivery of them, the poetry in the lyrics, or a mixture of both. Thus, this list.

01. Nicola: "from top to bottom I'm a woman, sunshine" - Sexy! No No No...
02. Nadine: "like beautiful robots dancing alone" - Untouchable
03. Cheryl: "I gotta let you know..." - Can't Speak French
04. Cheryl: intro to Sexy! No No No...
05. Cheryl: "out of the fire that burns inside me, a phoenix is rising" - Call the Shots
06. Nicola: "through wind and rain we got here, now we're flying babe with no fear" - Untouchable
07. Sarah: "your kisses taste like cyanide and that's not good for me" - Graffiti My Soul
08. Nadine: "I was Snow White 'til I started to drift" - Close to Love
09. Kimberley: "and who could ever question any crying I do" - Can't Speak French
10. Cheryl's rap in Watch Me Go



Any I've missed out that you particularly love?

--

Nadine Coyle finally let us in on the full audio of her new single, Insatiable:

5. Brief Encounter (David Lean, 1945)

To most, having to have grit removed from one's eyes is not the best circumstance under which to make an acquaintance. But for Celia Johnson's Laura, this is how, on a railway station, she meets dashing doctor Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard). The two form a friendship that soon becomes more than platonic. Despite their love for each other, their relationship is never consummated. Caught in such a bad romance, they realise that due to social rules and their commitments to their family, the tempting option of running away together is simply impossible.

Cinematography goes a long way in telling the story. The camera shots are so close-up that they frame just Laura and Alec, suggesting that, for the time being at least, they are in their own perfectly formed world.

The fact that the title gives away the fact that Laura and Alec's romance is short lived does not detract from the poignancy and power of their brief time spent with each other. Although the two do not sleep together, there is no doubt of their desire to do so, making their restrain even more admirable (the scene in which they are interrupted by a prying friend was extremely frustrating when I first watched the film but now I see that it fits perfectly with the themes of social decorum and doing what is right rather than what we want).

Many things make Brief Encounter the gem it is, but two things stand out. The first is the usage of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto . There have been films which have been ruined by the terrible music in them, and others wherein the music is either so good or so bombastic that it deflects attention away from the film. In Brief Encounter, the elegaic piano tune complements the film perfectly. Used throughout, it evokes the emotions that Laura is feeling in us. And the second? Why, that would be Celia Johnson's exquisitely beautiful performance as the housewife who looks for an exciting, new thing in her life, only to realise that when all is said and done, however exciting, however much it thrills her, she cannot throw away what she already has. As Alec places his hand over Laura's shoulder as they say their goodbyes, tears never fail to come to my eyes. Brief Encounter is as deep and British a film as they come.

Adorable!

I've just seen the most beautiful wedding photos ever. A newly wed couple, Lynette and James, sculpted their wedding photos on Up. Lovely!













source

STUNNING!

I know this is a feeling that I just can't fight, you're the first and last thing on my mind.

01. Do you believe in the death penalty?
02. Do you believe in spanking your kids?
03. Do you own any band T-shirts?
04. Is anyone in love with you?
05. Last time you cried?

'Tis someone very, very special's birthday today.

All these people would also like to say Happy Birthday as well.