"The Hundred-Foot Journey" by Lasse Hallström (2014)

This is the cutest movie I have seen in cinema last year and last night again, because I wanted to show it to my friends (who loved it and reacted exactly as I hoped). For some reason I had not mentioned it here so now I need to correct it.

Helen Mirren was the main reason why I went to see this one and it was delightful. 

It turned out to be just right combination of ingredients (food, France, good actors, bittersweet story) that works for me - some complained that it was too nice and predictable but if you ask me, I am well and truly saturated with cinematic violence, brutality, explosions and all that meaningless murders/detective/police clichés and welcomed this cute, little slice of real life like a breath of fresh air. How refreshing to finally experience something that is sophisticated enough that deliberately brings message trough light-hearted approach without being preachy and avoids ugliness - everything looks beautiful, food is juicy, scenery magical, little French town is inviting, actors are attractive and charismatic, it leaves you uplifted and feeling good. I have no problems with feel-good movies and if this is cinematic comfort food, please bring more of the same.

The story is cute: displaced Indian family in search of the new start gets stuck in the middle of little French town and they decide to open restaurant right opposite of snooty competition, where Helen Mirren rules with iron fist and leads her own classy, upscale dining heaven (awarded with Michelin star). Before long it turns into a war between newcomers and those who hold on to the tradition - nobody is truly evil here and both sides show delightful humanity that finally brings everybody together. Even if it does feel predictable occasionally, it is still a wonderfully warm-hearted movie that benefits from excellent cast. Both Helen Mirren and Om Puri are absolutely adorable.  

40 Trashy Novels You Must Read Before You Die

40-trashy-books-that-are-actually-worth-reading/

Jack Kerouac

Bessie (2015) Original Soundtrack

When some four decades earlier the soundtrack of "Lady sings the Blues" became best-seller, there were many who complained that Diana Ross doesn't sound like Lady Day at all. On the other hand, the soundtrack served quite nicely as reminder about legendary Jazz singer and revived her cult status in media so in my opinion it was a good thing after all, because it inspired listeners to check out original 1940s recordings. It was, after all, artistic impression of that music and if I remember correctly, somewhere at the start of that movie, you could hear kind-like down & dirty Bessie Smith impersonator as this was what young Billie heard around whorehouses that she cleaned in Baltimore. Personally I never found any fault with that soundtrack, except that I always preferred original sources.

Same for this soundtrack that now finally brings Empress of the Blues to movie screens: it is a (very careful) impression of once popular music from almost a century ago. It is surely very far removed from what we hear as popular music nowadays, for one thing early 1920s Blues was very slow, sassy and had its own rules - once you hear original recordings of not just Bessie but all her contemporaries, you notice that music was very much alike, it was hypnotising, seductive, sexy and full of attitude but it definitely followed certain rules. Personally I must admit that I love these ancient recordings very much and at certain point of my life had collected quite a lot of it, because I always found them magical and timeless. The old, muddy sound of primitive recordings never bothered me, in fact it gave them even more stardust because they were time capsule of a world long gone. 

Soundtrack of "Bessie" will definitely work for audience new to the phenomenon and story of this majestic singer - the music was carefully re-created and every now and than we are treated with original, remastered sound of 1920s artists like Louis Armstrong, Sippie Wallace and Fats Waller. (Dirty song by Lucille Bogan was heard in the movie but is not included here). Several artists are also heard singing new versions of these old Blues classics and without exception they are all more convincing than Queen Latifah: she did great acting job and suggest right spirit, attitude and Amazon-like spirit but vocally she can't even touch that massive power that real Bessie once had and we can't really blame her for that - after all, even in her time Bessie Smith towered above competition and in all history of recorded music only Gospel queen Mahalia Jackson came close to that sound (which in itself is curiosity that suggest the link between sin and religion, similar source that fuelled deep roots of universal human emotions). I admire Latifah's bravery for attempting this heroic task, but when you hear electronic duet between herself and the original ("Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer") you clearly hear the difference between artistic impression and the real thing. New listeners might be intrigued, however I have lived with original music for decades and they will always be my first choice.

Joe Mikulec

Slice of cinematic fast-food

You might be a gourmet who enjoy sophisticated, chosen delicacies but once in a while you might just desire fast food and some nasty, greasy fast food. Same for the movies: as much as I love deep thoughts, universal messages about life & truth, brilliant acting and something mind-boggling, occasionally I am just in the right frame of mind for simply entertaining bite of Pizza. Last night was just perfect, I was enjoying drinks with good friends in relaxed company and we gulped not one, but two movies like this. Just a perfect summer night. Silly movies, mosquito's and beer.

The whole plot of "The Lazarus Effect"(2015) was already shown in a trailer, which prompted me to question the point of watching the movie - instead of intriguing its potential audience, trailer had basically shown everything. WTF? Its kind of science fiction horror film with group of young scientists who experiment on serum that might bring animals from death. One cliché follows another and if you have ever watched any movies in your life, you might recognise zillion ideas stolen from different corners of cinema history, from Frankestein onwards. We simply know what follows next, that reanimated dog will behave strangely, that catholic religion will be involved somehow, that there will be fires and explosions, you name it, its here. I am not even sure this is not a parody. Critics loved to slam this movie with brutal reviews and its easy to poke fun at it but actually I think people take themselves sometimes too seriously - this is good, old-fashioned fun and it needs to be taken as such. How else to approach the movie about mad scientists, revived corpses and so on - you know what you are getting yourself into, the moment when you start watching something like this where group of young and pretty, fresh-faced lab technicians play around with the needles and serums. What probably upset all these critics (and audience) is the missed opportunity to dive into more serious questions of moral issues of such experiments and how right or wrong we might be when playing with nature, however this was not directors intention so all we got was lots of screams in the dark, fires and explosions. 

"District 9" (2009) turned out far better than I expected, mainly because the story cleverly plays on parallel with real-life apartheid history of South Africa. When gigantic space ship gets stranded afloat Johannesburg, alien creatures are locked up in a ghetto, treated with cruelty and contempt, local criminal gangs quickly proceed to make business with them and not only humans call them degrading names but at certain points government decides to re-locate them in another place (basically concentration camp) in order to be less visible to our sensitive eyes. This had actually happened in 1960s Cape Town when 60,000 people were forcibly removed from District 6 which was declared "white only" zone. Replace word "aliens" with any ethnic minority and the parallel is all clear. Where movie is original is in presenting how its main character (silly and selfish official Wikus van de Merwe) unwittingly falls into the trap and becomes one of the hunted himself. This sudden turn of perspective, where suddenly he sees and feels how it is to be a victim, is the heart of the movie. The story has certain similarities with "Avatar" in a sense that shows humans as cruel, greedy and easily manipulated with media and I must say it was all very cleverly done until certain point where it became just another big shooting/explosions extravaganza that director just couldn't resist. Special effects are naturally dazzling and the whole story just calls for a sequel.

"Bessie" by Dee Rees (2015)

Long-overdue and obviously made with good intentions, this TV biopic of legendary 1920s Blues queen suffers from usual script trouble: how to condense someone's life in a two-hour story without making it all like a cartoon. The project was already planned for decades, I remember media talking about possibility of this movie even in early 1970s, right after "Lady sings the Blues" and back than Roberta Flack (who was white-hot at the time) was considered for the main role. Not that Bessie was ever forgotten - "Columbia records" kept her complete works on the market, Janis Joplin paid for her gravestone, there were theatre plays and books about her life, notably by Chris Albertson who became world's greatest authority  on the subject (and was curiously ignored in making of this movie). It took four decades to finally have this biopic made and contrary to my great expectations, I am saddened that it all resulted with such a predictable stereotypical fantasy.

Ingredients are right: cast is spectacular and gives its best shot. Not just Queen Latifah in the main role and Mo'Nique (as Ma Rainey) but countless  actors playing the circle of lovers, husbands, boyfriends and relatives are impressive, particularly Khandi Alexander (as vicious cousin) who steals the scene every time she comes up on the screen. Clothing, scenery, visually everything works just fine and for a while you might even enjoy the thrill of re-created world of 1920s specially as actors are so sizzling and determined, there is a very fascinating insight into a long-gone segregated, brutal world of woman who escaped crushing poverty and became breadwinner for everybody around her. BUT (and there is a big but) even though ingredients are right and yes, it actually happen just as shown in the movie (it can be checked in her biography, yes she did spit out and was rejected on her first recording audition, yes she faced the Ku Klux Clan, yes Ma Rainey sang ""Black Bottom Blues", yes she travelled in her own train caravan) after a while script rushes so much that everything becomes one big blur of short episodes piled on top of each other to the point that it really seems like cartoon version of Bessie's life, short nuggets and photo shots. Concerts. Click. Racists. Click. Dominating boyfriend-turned-husband-turned-manager. Click. Bootlegged booze. Click. Fights. Click. Pale white boys interested to make money out of her. Click. She's bisexual. Click.

No doubt movie is fascinating for young audience who are finally introduced to artist and those who have never heard of this feisty lady and her contemporaries might be impressed to find out that almost a century ago there were proud black women fighting like lionesses for their own place in the world. Not everybody was a maid, washerwoman or prostitute - Bessie, Rainey, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Victoria Spivey, Lucille Bogan and Sippie Wallace (to name just a few) were heroines of their time and even though they represented "sin" it was still better option than to scrub the stairs in Baltimore. So on one side it works as reminder about important chapter in American history and kudos to good intentions, it might intrigue kids to search for original recordings.

Where the film fails is to dig just a little deeper under the surface and explain reasons for Bessie's behaviour - we all understand she was this brilliant artist but what we see in the movie is woman who drinks, fights, cusses and basically intimidates everyone around. It is a testament to Queen Latifah's acting that she suggests vulnerability hidden deep inside under all that bravado and there were few short scenes (mostly when she is alone with herself, coming home after the concerts) that glimpse in direction where this movie did not dare to go and which would work much better had the creators or script writers decided to explore her inner world instead of giving us point-by-point well-known snapshots. Curiously, film decidedly ends on a upbeat note, going so far to even present Bessie's triumph in Carnegie Hall (which never happened) and completely ignoring circumstances around her death. I have been living with her music for decades now so naturally after initial excitement about the movie I feel saddened that this big chance is missed now and since it took 78 years from her death for her story to finally reach the movie screen, I doubt that in my life I will see another attempt. 

46 Anniversary of the First Landing on the Moon

Since recently we had accomplished quite a impressive list of space explorations (Pluto, Mars, landing on the passing comet) its just fitting that now we celebrate the 46th anniversary of our very first landing on the Moon. It is a truly stunning feat, considering that for centuries everything went incredibly slow and now suddenly we are up there, sending all sorts of machines left and right, far beyond what was known previously. However, we did not really managed to send people further than the Moon. Not exactly sure why is it so and does it really matter, it just naturally places a question does it work the same way from (presumably) some other, alien side? I have no doubts whatsoever that there is a life somewhere out there in some kind of form, though would it be good for us to actually contact them is another question. Looking around here, in our own planet and history, every time one culture met the other, usually stronger one ruthlessly exploited and destroyed the weaker one. So who is to say we wouldn't be eaten or enslaved or simply destroyed by either chemical weapons or killed by alien germs (like Native Americans who died during first contact with European flu and such)? I am a bit suspicious about the contact because there is no 100% guarantee that alien life will be friendly and benevolent. 

Back to Apollo 11 and its landing on the Moon, on July 20, 1969: no doubt it was absolutely monumental achievement and the whole world held its breath until guys actually landed. Unless you count doubters who still refuse to believe it actually happened. Which for me is the same as people who refused to believe there was a Holocaust in Europe and claimed the pictures were faked. I still find all the pictures and movies made back than extremely exciting because for me there is no machine or robot that can match the real human contact with out-of-space territory. 

The names of three brave guys are Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin and in my mind they are on the same level as heroes from Greek mythology. 

"Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of "Inside Llewyn Davis"

One-night-only live concert performance where all-star folk aristocracy old & new celebrated the music that inspired 'Inside Llewyn Davis" movie about early days of New York Greenwich Village. Contrary to a intensely gloomy movie (which I loved) music here is joyous, virtuosic and perhaps more in tune with what we expect folk scene might have been - for everybody who complained that movie presented those times as too dark and depressing, this concert will be a revelation because its all about camaraderie, togetherness and collaborations. 

The idea behind the concert was to give each performers one old and one new song to show off their skills - that new songs often sound as they are ancient just proves that genre still has huge appeal and freshness, specially as this is mostly acoustic, kind of unplugged setting. As someone who had survived synthesisers and 1980s , to me this is surely wonderfully real music and no studio wizardry spoils effect of musicians creating magic on the spot. Apparently the audience shared my opinion because they yell, whoop and applaud the whole way trough the concert, it must have been great experience. There is a huge list of performers so it would be unfair to single out a particular name, however its a joy to hear people as awesome as Rhiannon Giddens whose passion and focus echo legendary Odetta. Obligatory cameo by elderly veterans (Joan Baez, Bob Neuwirth) are welcomed with great affection for what they once represented but at this point they are clearly past their prime and they can't match energy of their younger colleagues. Although at first it seems that Elvis Costello don't really belongs here, he is joy to hear as wonderful Oscar Isaac who was not only main focus of the movie but is actually surprisingly good singer. I dare anybody not to sing along when band joins him on refrain of "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me".

Places: Hallstatt and Salzburg, Austria

Out of the blue, my friends here came up with idea let's go somewhere and as we usually do, this somewhere was something somebody had mentioned somewhere so it was about you know, that magical place in Austria. I googled "magical place in Austria" and got Hallstatt which is a tiny village near some mountain lake in Austria and off we went there fearlessly and guided with automatic navigation in the car. Hallstatt turned out to be truly prettiest little spot, very quiet and reflective, absolutely adorable postcard-like village situated on the mountain lake, I believe it was one of the prettiest places I have ever visited (and I am travelling for work so I am familiar with many vacation spots). Its usually on the lists of places you have to see before you die. Its completely pedestrian and you can walk from one end to another in 30 minutes. Lots of tiny little streets, rustic Austrian architecture, explosion of colours in the window seals (flowers everywhere), little church, shops with local products (interesting artifacts from salt, as this was a famous salt mine in the past), if locals are bothered with all these tourists, they don't show it. The road to Hallstatt was finally built in 1890 and until than this place could have been reach only by lake or mountain road, truly isolated from the rest of the world and you do have feeling that time stands still there. You can sit there, sip your cappuccino and relax while the world troubles and worries pass by.

Next morning we continued our journey and completely by accident found another lake (apparently there are lots of lakes around) with a cutest guesthouse where we enjoyed our morning coffee with a spectacular view. This lake is called Wofgangsee, than and there I decided that I prefer little mountain lakes and places to a crowded touristy coast line where you can't even find a space to sit down and locals are always unfriendly - here you really relax and enjoy + Austrians are really orderly people, even when there is a little beach spot, everything is so neat and arranged, no garbage anywhere, its truly heavenly. And a quiet everywhere, no sound coming or car or anything, just pure mountain air and water looking like a glass.

Salzburg did not impress me at all. Its good we went there because it was nearby but it was just another touristy place. Pretty Austrian architecture but you can see it elsewhere. If Mozart wasn't born there, I doubt anybody would bother to visit - while he lived there, locals didn't think much of him and in fact he was famously kicked out of town by some local big head, now the whole tourism is based on the fact that Salzburg happened to be his birthplace (he made career in Vienna and Prague, not here). Its a bit of Mozart overkill - all sorts of trashy souvenirs based on Mozart: ashtrays, famous candies, perfumes, shawls, aprons, you name it. After a while you get sick of too much Mozart trinkets. Of course we have seen his birthplace, his monument and the cathedral where he was christened but honestly, after 30 minutes there's nothing else in the old town (besides perhaps visit to a impressive fortress on top of town, however it was so hot that we just couldn't survive that adventure). We checked out pretty gardens around Mirabel palace and ended our tour in some beer garden, it was just unbelievably sizzling and hot day, you wouldn't expect Austria to be so hot. I am very pleased with this little journey, however mountain lakes and their little places were far more magical and impressive than Salzburg.

"Inside Llewyn Davis OST" (2013)

Well, the movie was haunting but one thing that confused me was that I wasn't sure is this a parody or sentimental look back at early 1960s folk trend - judging by soundtrack, it could be both. Repertoire here touches traditional songs as expected, with addition to some well-known folk chestnuts like "The Last Thing On My Mind" and "Five Hundred Miles" and actors pull of the singing surprisingly well. There is absolutely nothing wrong with singing voices of Oscar Isaac and his colleagues and I could listen them some more elsewhere (in fact, he did perform on live tribute concert to this movie). Most of the music here is decidedly downbeat as those songs used to be anyway and it makes sense because movie was serious itself - except wonderfully silly "Please Mr. Kennedy" that in the movie was a symbol of musicians compromising themselves for some quick buck, but here in studio version actually sounds great, uplifting and joyous. I believe versions here are not exactly the same as ones in the movie, because Stark Sands for example was wimpy in the movie and perfectly fine here. Inclusion of unreleased recording by Bob Dylan makes perfect sense, because it fits with the rest of the music. Surprisingly strong soundtrack.

Books, books and more books

http://spitalfieldslife.com/2015/07/13/the-antiquarian-bookshops-of-old-london/

This was a recent Internet discovery that reminded me on my passion for books, something that I always found so mysterious. Why is it that some people are simply born with passion for books, while other's won't even touch them once they are not forced anymore in the schools? I am almost sure it has to do with nurture or the simple fact was the love for reading encouraged in one's childhood. Than again, how about all those kids who grew up into readers without being encouraged to do so? Mystery of mysteries!

From my personal perspective, I think it was encouraged with my mother reading me all those children's books and buying me little books with gramophone records (from Disney stories) that functioned as simple audio books and usually added songs from the movies. Once I memorized all those read-along stories and songs about Aristocats, Bambi and Dumbo, it wasn't long before I dived into comics completely by myself and at the age of four nobody had to read me the adventures of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or Popeye. Come start of the school, while other kids were learning how to spell, I was already far ahead and reading books. One of the main, life-changing experiences for me was when the sweet old neighbor lady (a retired teacher who recognized what kind of person little me was) gave me some cash to enter a public library (something that nobody in my family didn't think about) and I started to visit local library sometimes twice a week. Its also interesting to note that nobody in my close family thought about encouraging me to read and they just took it for granted - obviously its not just a nurture but one has to have natural predisposition for it, just like for sport or anything else. 

Maybe its an escapism, surely it is. As a kid I soaked in everything I could put my hands on, though must admit I have also read a lot of crap trough the years, which was necessary in order to hone my own personal taste. All those best-sellers in public libraries (Sydney Shelton, Harold Robbins) don't appeal to me at all anymore but hey, what did I know back than? Erich von Däniken thrilled me once, now I find him repetitive and slightly silly when compared to later similar writers. I clearly remember being tortured with the literature schools forced on us and I still believe this is the reason why lots of kids never experienced the thrill of reading - had they been offered something appropriate, like Alexandre Dumas, Jules Verne, Zane Grey, Karl May or Mark Twain they might have caught the bug, unfortunately most of us were bored to death with analyzing dour, sour and depressive stories written by artists acclaimed by academic circles (therefore not the popular ones) + there must be something abut teachers plowing uninspired trough daily routine. So I read what I had to for the school and than enjoyed Agatha Christie in my spare time. The first (and only) time when these two came together was when I encountered obligatory school task of reading Nobel winner Ivo Andrić whose "The Bridge on the Drina" turned out to be magnificent piece of art, but at that point I was already sophisticated enough to search for something different than just usual crime/thriller fluff. 

For the longest time, public libraries were my temples, as I never really had enough money or space to collect books by myself as a teenager. This is something my parents frowned upon (same as collecting music records) calling my hobby pointless, which reflects the atmosphere where I grew up. Later in life I made up my mind that this is something that makes me happy, its my own money and it doesn't hurt anybody. So when I think about the biggest loves/passions of my life its books, music and movies, in that order. When eventually I spread my wings across the borders of my geographical accident of birth and found wonderful bookshops around the world, I was a bit taken aback first - there were just so many different genres and subjects to explore, much more than my own Croatian public libraries could ever dream of. Out of curiosity I had dived head-on into celebrity biographies first, because this was something I never had before but eventually I found that non-fiction is my true pleasure, all about history, science and less known facts about our world. On the other hand, I am also aware of the classics so every now and than I remind myself that I have to read occasional classic, though often I do find them moth-eaten and than run back to something that appeals to me. I have quite voluminous book collection + tons of e-books at this point, probably much more than I can ever finish in this lifetime & lot of books still unread around me. At the moment I am struggling a little bit with "Famous Last Words" by otherwise brilliant Canadian writer Timothy Findley whose "Pilgrim" and "Not Wanted on the Voyage" I really loved before, but this one just fails to catch my interest and I am very close to just leave it. Books, like everything else, have their own moment and maybe I just need to wait for the right time. 

This Internet article is something that inspired my own essay here and its all about magical places around London, those Antiquarian shops where book lovers feel so thrilled - I never cared much for distinction between second-hand and new books, for me its all the same (in fact, I might even prefer second-hand books). One of the greatest pleasures of my world traveling is that I am familiar with the cities and know where to find a bookshops everywhere I go. On the other hand, it saddens me a lot that I don't really know many other book lovers because on daily basis I deal with people who refuse to read, complain they can't focus and simply have no habit of reading. Which I find so interesting - why is it so that books have no appeal to some, while others absolutely love them? One of my ship roommates told me he had never read a book in his life - he was a gym person who loved his biceps, triceps and healthy shakes, could and would not read anything even if you point a gun at him. 

From the top of my head, here is a list of some all-time favorites:

The Soul's Code (James Hillman)

Derviš i smrt (Meša Selimović)  

Embers (Sándor Márai)

One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez)

The Once and Future King (T.H.White)

A World Lit Only by Fire (William Manchester)

Dune (Frank Herbert)

The Good Soldier Švejk (Jaroslav Hašek)

Alias Grace (Margaret Attwood)

My life (Isadora Duncan)

The Story of Mankind (Hendrik Willem Van Loon) 

Memoirs of Hadrian (Marguerite Yourcenar) 

The Five people you meet in Heaven (Mitch Albom)

Jonathan Strange and Mr.Norrell (Susana Clarke)

1491 (Charles C.Mann)

Blues people (LeRoi Jones) 

The World without End (Ken Follett) 

The Shadows of the wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafron) 

The Daughter of time (Josephine Tey)

Bolja prošlost (Petar Luković)

Supernatural (Graham Hancock)

Civilisation (Kenneth Clark) 

The God Delusion (Richard Dawkins) 

A short history of nearly everything (Bill Bryson)

Narcissus and Goldmund  (Herman Hesse) 

The Aleph and other stories (Jorge Luis Borges) 

Island at the centre of the world  (Russel Shorto)

On this day: Live Aid 1985

"It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for: Live Aid ...."

For millions around the world this was one of the days that created out collective, shared memories. Long before Internet, long before we got all connected electronically with Facebooks and what not, this satellite wonder that was happening simultaneously on two continents was the first time that the world was really united and for the good purpose, to collect the funds for starving millions in Ethiopia. It was easy to be cynical - and many were sceptical, pointing that its just one huge publicity stunt - but nobody could deny that all those music stars did not have to be there, these people actually performed for free, convinced this is a good cause and for once the superficial world of pop stars had outdid politicians and governments in order to actually do something concrete.

We all remember where we were at that particular day, that's how important it became. 

Strangely, it was also both party, celebration of good time and awareness of something very serious. Of course it had started with Bob Geldolf and charity single  "Do They Know It's Christmas?" that forced American pop aristocracy to react with their own answer "We Are the World" but the road to realisation of two-continent concert extravaganza was long, difficult and full of push-and-pull between managers, producers and egos. It seems not everybody was convinced at first, lots of performers were constantly pulling out and at the end when it became clear this is the place to be, eventually everybody wanted to be part of it. Watching this on TV screens was joyous, exhilarating and a bit exhausting, after all it was previously unseen music marathon that went on forever.

For me personally it was important because I was adolescent, around 16 years old at the time and in the right age to have been awed by current pop stars (something that I lost long ago). As it happened, I was in the hospital that summer, recovering from a serious lung troubles and it took me four moths to heal properly. I clearly remember watching this on TV in a hospital living room and when my poor, late mother came to visit me that day I just couldn't wait for her to leave so I can continue watching it. The list of performers was sensational - who's who of everybody who meant something in popular music present and past to that point - though naturally with time many of them fell sideways. 

I clearly remember Status Quo opening with their usual stuff, Geldolf singing his one and only hit "I Don't Like Mondays" that became classic because of this all story, beautiful Sade crooning and showing off some sexy skin, young and upcoming U2 being absolutely overshadowed by gigantic performance of Queen (but so was everybody else), David Bowie, Elton John, Alison Moyet duetting with Paul Young but for some reason I did not catch much of US concert, probably because it interfered with hospital dinner timing.  What I do remember is Jack Nicholson and Bette Midler introducing some artists, young (and overdressed, for once) Madonna dancing up the storm and when the whole US concert went into late hours (for Europe) me and my hospital room buddies were listening transistor in order not to miss anything. And than around 4 a.m. I sneaked back in the hospital's living room and watched in awe as Mick Jagger invited Tina Turner to join him on the stage - they rocked, it was glorious and it is still the video clip that I really enjoy watching from time to time. For many years it was just a memory until I managed to buy 4 disc DVD box set and loved it all over again, though must admit when I showed it to my ship colleagues some of musicians were not so hot anymore and only the biggest stars were remembered. In fact, I probably remember it much better than it was in reality. Now, 30 years on, shows became far bigger and spectacular so from today's perspective "Live Aid" is pretty simple without any stage gimmicks that musicians use today but whoever was around on this day in 1985 will never forget it.

p.s.

Not everybody who was invited had responded: I clearly remember wondering why Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Prince didn't come (to name just a few really big stars of the 1980s) but the list is much longer: Culture Club, Eurhytmics, Depeche Mode, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Cindy Lauper, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart and Donna Summer all gave some weak excuses of being unavailable, on tours, recording albums and such - the bottom line is, if you wanted to join in, all the previous obligations could have been re-arranged as shown in example of Tina Turner who cancelled her bookings and paid on her own expenses just to arrive in Philadelphia when Jagger invited her.

"Inside Llewyn Davis" by Joel & Ethan Coen (2013)

Hallelujah, it seems I started enjoying movies again, after a period of not really caring for them anymore. Honestly, everywhere I looked there were explosions and special effects, people flying or jumping from the tops of the buildings, it was all so immature and predictable that I started to wonder whatever happened to good, quality movies. Not that I think its always necessary to search for something deep or life-affirming (good old fashioned fun is always welcome) but I simply didn't know where to find something that was not about super-heroes, wizards, dragons or another police detective solving the murder case (with a lot of brutality , usually towards women). However, recently I had slowly started to get some recommendations and also followed my own curiosity, voilà I'm back on the track.

British SF drama "Ex Machina" led me here because of charismatic actor Oscar Isaac who was quite unforgettable, so I decided to check out what else he did. It turned out he was not a newcomer, but had already been awarded for his work in this movie directed by Cohen brothers. "Inside Llewyn Davis"is re-creation of New York's Greewich Village music scene in early 1960s but not as seen trough just some any nostalgic, rose-tinted glasses - where others might have chosen to present it as a sunny beehive full of pot, enthusiasm and brotherhood, we see it here as a struggle between young musicians and industry that mercilessly exploits them. "I don't see any money here" says famous producer (F. Murray Abraham) after one heartbreaking audition and just like folk club's owner Max Casella, he doesn't care for music or the facts that musicians are obviously hungry and wet, money talks and folk music might just be the next trend. I happened to like the atmosphere shown here: cold, windy and rainy streets where the snow beats upon starving musicians, underground and coffee bars as the places to warm up, hunt for a friends with couch (or floor) to spend the night... it all feels very realistic and possible, very far removed from idealistic vision of love & peace, camaraderie and togetherness. This is a struggle and constant compromise between art and commercialism (see hilarious studio recording of novelty song that is obviously prostitution but brings some money in).

Main character is Oscar Isaac and he is brave enough to be unlikable. That he might be great talent is almost besides the point, he refuses to be nice to people, insults them and lash out of frustration when hosts expect him to sing after dinner. Time and time again we quietly root for him, though odds are really against him and at the very end, on the same night when he is supposed to finally get a break, we get a glimpse of another performer, a certain guy from Minnesota and this is when we understand Isaac might be just another hopeful who perhaps never made it. For every successful star, there were thousands who slipped in oblivion or simply gave up the fight with the windmills. The rest of the cast is mostly used as cameo roles (excellent John Goodman, unexpected Justin Timberlake and sweetly green Stark Sands) and there are lot of people who find inclusion of the cat as something symbolical, though I am a bit wary of searching for deep meanings since the movie is quite heavy already.

"Ex Machina" by Alex Garland (2015)

The more I think about this latest British SF drama, the more I like it and even now, morning after,with relatively clearer mind some things appear even more multi-layered than upon first sight. First of all, there is freshness in approaching artists that are not yet familiar blockbuster faces so story unfolds in front of us without having any previous connection to them - we are forced to simply follow and soak everything in without burden of celebrity background that often works against the movie. Than there is a story that is gripping and unexpected to the very end, very rare thing indeed. The claustrophobic atmosphere, background music, high-tech wizardry that is in the heart of the movie but always serving the script and never overshadowing it - its all very well done and it almost reminds you how movies can be work of intelligent art and not just brainless clichés we are constantly faced with. And lastly, characterisation and acting is excellent which is naturally required in order to make everything convincing - and darn convincing it was, since I continued to discuss the movie long after it ended with my friends and each of us had his own point of view, almost like we saw different story. 

Musing about it morning after, I am aware that its allegory that works on so many different levels: God, creation, spirit, independence, religion, feminism, manipulation, Bluebeard, you name it. Of course you can also take it as a pure SF story if you are not inclined to analyse anything but I found it impossible as my brain constantly worked overtime, finding hints and meanings between the lines. There are just so many questions about moral and immoral here that the movie stays with you much longer than you might expect. Perhaps the only thing that felt wrong was the beer-guzzling, almost truck-driving personality of Nathan (who is supposed to be this intellectual superpower and mad genius) but power of Oscar Isaac's acting was so strong that I quickly forgot that personally I would rather see him as some mad Einstein professor, it works at the end. This must be one of the best and most unforgettable movies I have seen recently. 

"Honky Tonk Girl: The Loretta Lynn Collection"

This is great fun although it took me some time to warm up to Loretta Lynn - coming to her music unprepared and not aware of her legend, her lonesome wail struck me first as strident, specially in earliest recordings. Out of curiosity I have actually invested in this 3 CD box compilation and than I listened, wondering what was so special about her, slowly getting acquainted with her particular voice that had neither soulfulness of Patsy Cline nor fluffy girlishness of Dolly Parton, in fact at first I found her sound quite anonymous. But very soon I started enjoying her good-natured fun songs and clearly audible, likable down-home, unpretentious personality that shines trough.

Of course, in the meantime I have seen the movie about her life and read the autobiography that inspired it so now my perception of Lynn is quite different than at our initial introduction. I understand that for millions of her fans back in 1960s she was embodiment of real country gal, someone you might see daily in the neighbourhood and who would wink at you over her clothing line while she's hanging baby clothes to dry. That at certain point in mid-1960s ("Wine, Women And Song") she found her true voice as strong-willed, no-bullshit woman with her own point of view who would stand up to any guy (or other woman) on her path just added extra dimension to her allure and cemented her image as something of a role model for many. And she certainly had a knack for writing good songs as this compilation proves - "Happy Birthday", "You Ain't Woman Enough", "The Shoe Goes On The Other Foot Tonight", "Don't Come Home A'Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)", "Fist City", "Your Squaw Is On the Warpath" are where her legend was cemented forever and it seems that at certain point in 1960s/early 1970s she was quite unstoppable. Her versions of occasional pop hit were also irresistible ("These Boots Are Made For Walking", "Blueberry Hill") and if by this point you didn't warm up to her music, perhaps country is not for you at all.

Just as with Tammy Wynette, as compilation progresses material slowly becomes less inspired, overproduced and disc 3 slowly shows certain blandness reflecting either state of country music or simply lack of drive which is easy to understand when it comes to veteran musician who had passed her peak. Hits and collaborations continued long after this compilation but the real reason to get this CD box are Lynn's glory years when she forever changed the way female country singers were perceived and showed to the world that her humorous take on relationship could be very refreshing way of looking at things.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" by George Miller (2015)

I have something to admit: not sure why is it so, but lately I feel that I have lost interest in the movies. 

Which is strange because movies, books and music were always the biggest passions of my life but somehow I felt subjects constantly repeating themselves, technical wizardry became end in itself and very rarely I find something original that has not been already done before. Seriously, I don't remember when was the last time I truly enjoyed the movie, without squirming and having déjà vu experience. This is why it caught me as a surprise that I enjoyed latest "Mad Max" movie, which was a long awaited sequel to now-classic trilogy from 1980s.

First thing that I was aware, was how old I am - I actually saw the original trilogy in the cinema and that was some 30 years ago. Than I started thinking how much each movie topped previous one, which is actually perfection as it should be. First movie was brilliant at that time and put both director and Mel Gibson on the map. Second part pulled no stops and was breath-taking back than. The third part went into Fantasy full-time and had some truly inventive scenes (fight in Thunderdome) along with already expected car racing trough desert that we learned to love. Now we have fourth part and it by far eclipses anything we have seen so far in "Mad Max" even though I thought there can't be anything possible to add to it.

It is great adrenaline rush with everything we know from before perfected to appeal to new, young audiences. From the scenery (filmed in deserts of Namibia) to the script, actors and overall apocalyptic feel of the story, I was truly hooked and again squirmed in my seat but this time from excitement.There were quite a few innovative touches (warriors on a poles jumping on racing cars!), the visual effects of the desert storm were brilliant and best of all, there are some serious psychological touches between the lines that totally transcend action genre and prove that George Miller is brilliant inventor indeed. And contrary to what I expected, I did not miss Mel Gibson at all.

Johnny Cash

Looking back, I always had music phases, almost like different chapters reflecting my current experiments and experiments & explorations. As a kid and teenager I followed pop charts because young person often follows the herd and soaks in everything that is trendy as it should be because at the very young age one wants to belong to the group, hence sharing similar memories and music that belongs to certain generation. Later in life I even worked on a radio as a DJ and it was lesson that taught me how music industry works: pop hits of the day had to be played with or without my preferences and this is when I stopped listening to the radio in general, because it became predictable and brainwashing. From that moment on I continued to listen music but trough my own hit-and-miss experiments and it seems that different times of my life had their own discoveries and what was my current passion at the time. It still works that way, today more than ever Internet makes my discoveries much more easier than previously when I depended on recommendations and literature. I still avoid anything that is hyped and follow my own muse, specially now when I'm on vacation and have all the time in the world - and privacy - so this summer it is country. I have already covered a little bit about Willie Nelson, Lefty Frizzell, Eddy Arnold and Tammy Wynette so here goes one and only man in black Johnny Cash.

"The Fabulous Johnny Cash" (1958)

Impossible as it sounds, since I truly love that old classic Sun record "With His Hot and Blue Guitar" but this is as brilliant as my old favourite, perhaps even better if you are lucky to get remastered version - move to bigger recording company did not compromise Johnny Cash's artistic integrity one bit and he was basically left to do what he was already doing, using small backing band and legendary The Jordanaires as occasional vocal backing chorus. Doing wonders with what is actually limited instrument (his baritone is effective but could hardly be described as extraordinary voice of say, Roy Orbison calibre) Cash projects natural cockiness and assurance, he swaggers quite irresistibly and I'm sure he appealed to both women and men, who probably identified with him. Material here is almost consistently first-rate, middle-tempo, chugging rockabilly/country ballads with occasional religious twist that is part of his charm, after all it reflects his background and gospel number "That's Enough" is not out of place here at all. Since Johnny Cash had this image of lonely cowboy wanderer it just sounds completely natural that he turns to Lord when cold, wild wind comes. Than he does something heartfelt as "I Still Miss Someone" and its such a beautiful, universal message that t could have been written centuries ago, real classic. And how about "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" about young, doomed cowboy who becomes a victim of his own youthful inexperience, another classic. Album ends with country gospel "Supper Time" that could have been corny but is sung with such feeling and honesty that it actually made me reflect on my own similar experience and this is what great music does.

"Hymns By Johnny Cash" (1959)

I have no problem whatsoever with artists doing religious material if it's done with passion and conviction, after all I am the first one always checking out churches and temples everywhere I go around the world. However, if you know anything about Johnny Cash than you know that recording gospel album was his main motivation behind leaving "Sun Records" and joining "Columbia" - than he comes along with this pretty unexciting collection of stately country gospel. It sounds just as you would expect, nothing different from his previous work except that backing vocals of The Jordanaires were beefed up by some anonymous, quasi-operatic voices that were frankly not really necessary. There's no doubt Cash was dead serious about this but after a while the sameness creeps in. Yes, he had descended from a preaching grandfather but his artistic persona was markedly different and I prefer just occasional spiritual to the whole album of them. (Another curious example of artist who had the best intentions was Nat King Cole whose father was Baptist minister and he himself was church organist, but his own gospel album was so darn polite and respectful that it ended as footnote instead as a statement.)

"Songs Of Our Soil" (1959)

Gospel album out of the way, Johnny Cash returns to business as usual with this delightful, classic album full of little masterpieces like "Five Feet High And Rising", "Hank And Joe And Me", "The Caretaker", you name it, they are all excellent little dramas in music. What strikes me immediately is how effective and strong these stories are and they are all under three minutes its almost like some really good, focused short stories from a wild west. Almost everything is written by Cash himself but he also adds some traditional material and occasional oldie like "Clementine" that fits perfectly with the rest of repertoire here. Just as I already noticed, gospel numbers are fine when served in small doses ("The Great Speckled Bird") and sometimes there are not even pure gospel, but sentimental, old-time ballads like "Don't Step On Mother's Roses" and "My Grandfather's Clock" that would probably sound cheesy in some other hand's but Cash is so dead serious about them that he makes them irresistible. Wonderful, old-time country album.

"Ride This Train" (1960)

A concept album about trains and hobos, travelling life, depression that forced people to move on and dusty little towns along the way.

Its very ambitious work and Johnny Cash pulls it off wonderfully, giving each song a little recited monologue which is joy to hear, because he has really effective talking voice with that serious drawl that sounds just right, you can tell he knows what he is talking about. This is not something just anybody could have done, definitely not some city slicker who just pretends but Cash, man he is right there all dusty and sweaty and dreamy, following his star. Its a music equivalent to a good novel and as I grew up reading, this have exactly the same effect as some good old western about  cowboys moving around, looking for job. Am I the only one who noticed that at the very beginning, when he recites names of native tribes who lived along the rivers, the way he rhythmically chants their names precedes what we know today as rap? It probably confuses people used to listen for hits because its not about that at all, this is album you listen from the start to end. In awe. Its as good as Marty Robbins's "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs", absolutely in the same league.

"Now, There Was A Song!" (1960)

Affectionate glance back to hard-core country classics written by other people, kind of call-covers album that Johnny Cash sings with such conviction that it sounds like they are his own originals. Composers are Kenny Rogers (?), George Jones, Marty Robbins, Ernest Tubb and Hank Williams so its a first-rate selection of twang Heaven. There is deliberate, slight change in sound because this album have pronounced traditional country atmosphere, with fiddles and all - though he can't resist to throw in some rockabilly ("I Feel Better All Over" where he whoops with pleasure and shows off a bit but I dare you now to whoop along, because his joy is contagious). "Transfusion Blues" is absolute highlight, little happy ditty about the man who killed his wife and its delightful in spite of its subject - its probably the happiest song about murderer that I have ever heard. Guy gets 99 years in a jail and you sing along with him.

"The Long Black Veil" by Lefty Frizzell (1959)

Country singer Lefty Frizzell cemented his legend in early 1950s with a list of good-time, honky tonk hit singles like "If You Got the Money, I got the Time" and "Always Late with Your Kisses" where his sweet, yearning voice brought him fame and success but it seems that at certain point hits have dried up. Just when you think he was destined for has-been category, along came this brilliant song written specially for him. It is definitely a work of Nashville composers though it has a feel of an ancient folk song, with lilting melody and haunting lyrics in the best style of campfire ballad.

"The Long Black Veil" is sung from a perspective of a dead man, wrongly accused for a crime he didn't commit but the only witness who could give him alibi was somebody who could not speak out. You see, that night he was in the arms of my best friend's wife and this code of honor was stronger than anything he might have said to save his life at the court. Fully understanding that its all about exposing her infidelity and creating trouble for a woman he secretly loved, protagonist went to his death protecting her secret. Singing from the other side of the grave with a voice of a ghost, Frizzell describes how his secret lover did not share a tear during the court but in the night she visits his grave, wearing long black veil and she cries all night long for what was probably the true love of her life, somebody who actually gave life for her.

Even when listening this song on a double CD compilation of Frizzell's biggest hits, "The Long Black Veil"suddenly stands out as something special and unforgettable. The music, the lyrics, the atmosphere and above all, the idea of dead man telling his story comes across as something so striking that it must have been seismic at the original time of its release. Its surely one of the all-time greatest country songs.