by MrMoth
In attempting to examine how and why there is such a huge streak of sexism and misogyny in videogame culture – and there is, let’s just take that as read, shall we, and press on – it helps to look not at sexism in games, but sex. There are bigger societal pictures to take into account, but that’s for someone else to give you.
by Mr Moth
DJ Fresh & Dizzee Rascal – The Power
I’m fond of Dizzee Rascal (Bonkers was number one when my daughter was born, plus he’s dressed as a shark in the video), and I can’t say I’m not partial to a bit of DJ Fresh – Gold Dust was one of the best, most summery pieces of pop* in the last few years and even the omnipresent Louder didn’t grate after so many repeats. So this should be the hit of the summer, right? Well, yes and no.
by MrMoth
I warn you now, this is about that most ghastly of things – parenthood. The experiences therein. Stuff I know, or think I know, ‘since becoming a father*’. If you don’t like that, well, I suggest you stop reading now because the first line of the next paragraph isn’t for you.
Since becoming a father I’ve started watching a lot of TV which isn’t made for me, and reading books which aren’t written for me. I’m not going to lie to you, people – a lot of it is terrible. Appalling, knock-it-out-on-the-cheap, thoughtless, insultingly bad trash hiding behind the defence of ‘it’s only meant for kids’, as if children aren’t worth spending time and effort to please. As if they’re not perceptive (actually, you know, they’re really not. The number of times I’ve got away with saying that ‘there is no TV on’ is shockingly and rewardingly high). As if we, the parents, aren’t going to notice.
I’m not here to talk about that stuff, though. The bad isn’t worth examining on any level above a rant (and I do plenty of that), it’s the good that’s interesting. Always. The bad is easier, the good is more interesting. I’ve already talked about the sort of Stockholm Syndrome that sets in after about a year of exposure to it, but there’s another phenomenon, related but very different. Further warning for those still reading – the next sentence will make me sound like I’m writing for Comment Is Free.
Trailer of the week – well, I would have put the trailer for Barbaric Genius here, but y’all saw it yesterday so I’m not going to repeat myself. Odeon Panton Street (that’s Panton Street, in God’s own city of London Town. If it’s not on near you, why not ask your local arts cinema?), this week only. So let’s have something we can get our teeth into instead.
Jeez. OK, so, it’s not a badly cut together trailer. ‘Magical pregnancy unicorn’ made me half-smile like Joey off of Dawson’s Creek, but maybe I was having a stroke. Hard to tell. I’d like to go back to the mid-nineties and show Chris Rock this trailer. Wouldn’t you? When did this become a thing, by the way? Narrative movies based on self-help books? I’m prepared to bet a substantial amount of money that someone is pitching ‘Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus’ as an ensemble piece right now. Jennifer Aniston as Venus! Ryan Gosling as Mars! Can we get Bennifer? Oh, wait. Oh. Oh, fuck. Incidentally, the What to Expect books are hideous.
Sturdy link for you – a roundtable chat with the creators of Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Deadwood. One of them is called Weiner, so… there’s that.
It’s been a GRATE week for MostlyFilm this week. Lovely stuff, and here it is:
A Study in Scarlett Part 2 – more of our Gone With the Wind frocktacular
This Was One of My Records of the Week – a wry, sideways (ha!) look at Top of the Pops 1977
Mostly Noise – unmissable gem on godliness in hip-hop
Are you sure you want to do this? – behind the scenes of Barbaric Genius, by director Paul Duane, also unmissable
Join us next week for LOTS OF GREAT STUFF. Seriously.
Stop! Trailer time! It’s The Raid. I actually know nothing about this, so I’m watching this cold.
Woah! Holy shit! And oh ho, don’t trust us with foreign-language, eh? Still. Fuck me. I’m going to watch that again. You don’t have to. That looks ridiculously great. Oh, endorsement from Nuts. Pah. Isn’t Barry Norman doing their cinema reviews these days, anyway?
Link time! Could this oral history of Friends be any meatier? No, it could not. Enjoy.
And here’s the (very strong, my friends) week in Mostly Film:
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, a personal take on a great film
Swallows and Amazons Forever, on the new musical version with songs by Neil Hannon
A Glimpse of Striped Stocking, Dark Shadows set in the line of sexy witches through the ages
A Study in Scarlett, viewing Gone With the Wind through the prism of Scarlett’s frocks
Join us next week for part two of A Study in Scarlett, NOISE, pop pickings and a genuine exclusive from the director of a new release.
We’re firmly in blockbuster season now, so what we got? Oh, hi, Tim Burton! Is that Johnny Depp? And Helena Bonham-Carter? What are the odds?
To be fair, that looks lots of fun, and I’m not as Burton-sceptic as some of my MF colleagues. Anyway, we have an article next week which talks more about Dark Shadows so I’ll leave it there.
This isn’t a link dump! But, since you ask, here’s an amusing fight over the use of poster quotes. Four stars, MostlyFilm.
THIS ISN’T A LINK DUMP, but here are this week’s MostlyFilm articles:
Café de Flore, our review of Jean-Marc Vallée’s new film.
All the world’s a stage, some highlights from the Globe’s current Shakespeare in Foreign season.
One Face, A Thousand Lives, on MoMA’s Cindy Sherman retrospective.
Join us next week for Blimp, Swallows & Amazons, sexy witches, frocks frocks frocks and MORE.
Trailer for this week? How about Takashi Miike’s Hara-Kiri?
Because there’s nothing like a bit of the ol’ ritual disembowelling to set you up for a Friday. This being Miike, I expect if the suicide does go through we won’t be spared the detail.
Link of the week is this Vanity Fair oral history of The Sopranos a set of screen tests for Gone With the Wind. You may consider yourself forewarned of future MostlyFilm content with that, too. Oh, yes.
Existing MostlyFilm content, which you may have missed:
Mostly Pop April 2012, snarky singles reviews.
Comics to Screen: Marvel Avengers Assemble, a look at comic book translation.
LOLs of Arabia, another gonzo Monoglot Movie Club entry.
Safe, Jason Statham kicking all kinds of bottom.
Join us next week for art! Theatre! film! A bank holiday!
by Mr Moth
Keane – Silenced by the Night.
Apparently, Keane have been releasing records fairly regularly since they stunk up the airwaves back in 2004 with Somewhere Only We Know. Amazing. A band who have risen without trace, they’ve had three number one albums. Seriously, what? Anyway, in a country where Adele’s 21 outsells Michael Jackson’s Bad, this will probably be another number one album. Which is a shame.
For one thing, I think – I think – we’ve already heard the Killers’ second album, which is what this song could be taken from. Not the video, though, because it’s, er. Actually, no, replace dish-faced Tom Chaplin with a scraggy-bearded Brandon Flowers and it is a video from the Killers’ second album. Which would be fine if the Killer’s second album was worth copying, which it clearly isn’t. Also, also, also, this video has my LEAST FAVOURITE video cliché, when the protagonists turn up where the band were, but – ooo-eee-ooo-eee – they’re not there! Just their instruments! Oh wow, spooky doo!
Anyway. I look forward to Keane turning up in a couple of years with big feathery shoulder pads.
Trailer-wise, well, there’s this, I guess. I don’t go for these pretentious arthouse flicks, but etc etc joke’s been done, man.
I’m not going to lie – that trailer could’ve made the concept of a bunch of superheroes kicking almighty amounts of ass more exciting. At times it’s a bit like ‘And then, oh, I dunno, Robert Downey Jnr turns up’, which is not really that amazing, unless you’re really into RDJ. I guess there is an emphasis on the Whedonian talky-talkiness, which is BALLS in a trailer. Start with a joke or a sententious bit of scene-setting, blow things up, have buh-boom, buh-boom fade ins and outs, end it on a line whispered over silence, url, done.
I’ve been doing a fair bit of arguing on the internet recently, and this is an invaluable guide to logical fallacies. Win every time! In your head.
OR! You could read a MostlyFilm post you may have missed this week:
La Grande Illusion – Renoir’s overlooked masterpiece, out on Blu Ray this week.
Making Music – a nostalgic ramble across the sacred turf of the romantic mixtape.
Mostly Records – a roundup of the best and not so best albums of the year so far.
Il Boom – Vittorio De Sica’s film about debt in times of economic prosperity.
Join us next week for: an actual opinion on Avengers! Pop pop pop musik! More Monoglot Movie Madness! THE STATHE!
by MrMoth
I saw a woman on the train with an iPod cover imitating a cassette. This is, I think, poor form. Like the chief of some ancient tribe wearing the head of a defeated tribe’s chief as a hat, it seems unnecessarily boastful of one’s victory. The mp3 player is, of course, smaller, more convenient, with better sound quality than the traditional Walkman. The boxy, (literally) clunky beast was limited to one album at a time, too, and if you wanted variety you needed to carry round a small satchel full of tapes. Or listen to a mixtape.
MostlyFilm 