Recommended

I haven't posted anything that is not incredibly self indulgent and cryptic in ages. So here goes

Nine movies I've watched recently that I strongly recommend:

(In no particular order)

1) Withnail and I- British. Brilliant. And very funny. Comedy with a touch of black. Smells of the sixties. Watch it with Bacchus in your bed.

2) Andrei Rublev- Andrei Tarkovsky. Need I say more? If I have to, then it might help you to know that the Soviets wanted it banned and pulled it out of the Cannes in the last minute.

3) Hamlet(Olivier)- Shakespeare, but more Sophoclean than usual. Watch out for the sweeping, flowing camera shots.

4)The Rocky Horror Picture Show- Watched it in theatre, with a heckler, a small number of male strippers, a small number of female strippers, and a large number of them in between. This is the only way to watch it. Watch it if you want to feel sexually disoriented.

5)Grbavica - Post war Bosnian film screened at the St Louis Film Festival(SLIFF). Smart film. Worth a watch. May never enjoy a wide release.

6)Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench- A must watch for Jazz fans. Screened at SLIFF.Shot in high contrast black and white. Part documentary part musical. Searing trumpets, mindless sax and senseless violins, to borrow a quote.

7) A Serious Man- Incredibly Yiddish. Incredibly misanthropic. Retelling of the story of Job. I wouldn't recommend it for members outside the Coen Brotherhood. Almost Woody Allenesque in its depiction of the central character.

8)500 Days of Summer- Cynical Romantic Comedy. If that makes sense to you.

9) It Might Get Loud- Jimmy Page is adorable. Huge music geek. Watch it kids, to see how a real musician works.

Pilgrim's Shadow

Must I let my lost weekend,
if I shall from Lennon borrow,
on life's stretched canvas bleaken,
a sense of sweet tomorrow?

Now amidst my winter days,
that are neither possess'd
by rhyme nor season,
I lie troubled by treason

O! if speak I must of one lass,
sink in it must the fact,
that all things must pass,
even letdown's painful protract.

Relax! It happens!
smell the coffee, turn to work,
for comfort and delightful distraction,
pain is pain's panacea!

Among facts forgotten,
when life leaves it's rag threadbare,
is that it in the nature of good times,
to appear further away than they actually are