Last night I saw Inside Llewyn Davis. It's one of the Coen brothers' intense movies. While it does focus on music like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, it doesn't have the lightness that film had at times. It's the story of a fictional folk singer, Llewyn Davis, who's an unlikable character.
I found the themes interesting. What stood out most for me was the choice to make the lead role a musician who isn't on the road to fame, who is good but not exceptional, who is struggling with personal issues and botching all his relationships in the process.
I enjoyed Justin Timberlake's performance as a clean-cut, hard-working nice guy who's in complete contrast to Llewyn. The scene where the two record a novelty song in the style of Space Oddity was a particular high point.
The soundtrack also stands on its own. I found myself singing Five Hundred Miles afterwards. Actors Oscar Isaac (Llewyn), Carey Mulligan and Stark Sands did their own vocals. Isaac arranged Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song) with Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons. The piece carries all the difficult emotions at the centre of story.
The poster shows Llewyn carrying an orange cat under his arm and the cat is definitely a character in the movie. Before the show I was waiting for my sister in a mall. There was a man standing beside the escalator with a cat, also orange, in a green knitted sweater. He was there for quite a while and he got all kinds of reactions. In the end was told to leave by security guards. The whole thing was unstaged.
Wednesday 12 February 2014
Tuesday 4 February 2014
Nick Hornby’s School of Rock
Nick Hornby is up to something I'd describe as a school of rock.
Hornby is best known as the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy. Last year he realized a unique project. He held workshops for school children and had them write song lyrics. He then got professional musicians to write and record songs using those lyrics. The collaboration was called Share More Air and the results are engaging.
Hornby is a founder of the Ministry of Stories, a non-profit organization. Big names such as Zadie Smith, Colin Firth and Emma Thompson have been part of the ministry's activities. In 2012, Hornby organized an endeavor similar to Share More Air. He taught kids about script writing and had them write their own soap series. The students were mentored by an EastEnders screenwriter and their series was fully produced.
Last fall Hornby was interviewed on Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service. Cocker rose to fame in the '90s as frontman of the Britpop group Pulp. They were my favourite band in high school, so I was thrilled to see Jarvis has recently been hosting a radio show. This year is a "fallow" year for the show, as Cocker describes it, however the BBC has posted plenty of clips.
Hornby is best known as the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy. Last year he realized a unique project. He held workshops for school children and had them write song lyrics. He then got professional musicians to write and record songs using those lyrics. The collaboration was called Share More Air and the results are engaging.
Hornby is a founder of the Ministry of Stories, a non-profit organization. Big names such as Zadie Smith, Colin Firth and Emma Thompson have been part of the ministry's activities. In 2012, Hornby organized an endeavor similar to Share More Air. He taught kids about script writing and had them write their own soap series. The students were mentored by an EastEnders screenwriter and their series was fully produced.
Last fall Hornby was interviewed on Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service. Cocker rose to fame in the '90s as frontman of the Britpop group Pulp. They were my favourite band in high school, so I was thrilled to see Jarvis has recently been hosting a radio show. This year is a "fallow" year for the show, as Cocker describes it, however the BBC has posted plenty of clips.
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