A slight regression.
Last weekend I found myself on my own with only the dog for company for two days and nights. A rare occurrence and immediately I began making plans to visit people or have people come round… perhaps even a party! But these plans were soon abandoned as I warmed to the idea of just being at home with music, booze and film. In many ways I returned to my teenage self ( without the ciggies), I did wash… once… but I had a brilliant time listening to stuff at full volume whilst rustling up ‘experimental’ dishes made from leftovers and swigging Keith Floyd volumes of wine whilst doing so. In my youth I would have had to have gone to the video store and perused the shelves for a good while before choosing 3 or 4 videos to enjoy. Now we have countless streaming services vying for our attention so the choosing becomes an exhausting process but I settled on films I hadn’t seen before and a couple of classics. ‘Three Billboards just outside of Ebbing, Missouri’ is a classic that grows in stature with each viewing. A brilliant work that swings the viewer through countless emotions and has one of the great cinema performances of the last couple of decades in Sam Rockwell whose character arc has to be seen to be believed. ‘Young Frankenstein’ is still hilarious, particularly to someone partial to sight and language gags. One of the funniest films ever, I assure you.
And so to the new stuff both coincidently on Netflix. ‘El Conde’ is a bonkers Spanish language film with an English voiceover by Margret Thatcher. The story centres on Augusto Pinochet and how he was in fact a vampire who had been alive for 250 years by the time of his ‘death’. It involves a beguiled nun, Thatcher herself ( another vampire) and the Pinochet family in a riotous parable about greed, bloodlust and revenge. Beautifully filmed and very funny. And to finish another foreign language film this time German. By ten pm and a bottle of wine in all I wanted was some action with some humour and no subtext. I could have gone for a spaghetti Western but I chose ‘Blood and Gold’ and by crikey what a film. It has all the trappings of a spaghetti western – hero nearly hung at the beginning, a plot involving stolen gold, murderous troops, a mad, deformed psychopath, bloody revenge and stunning set-piece shoot-outs. I really can’t recommend this enough if you love your Leone or Tarantino. A hoot and a tremendous watch. I had completely regressed to the schoolboy; entranced and excited by great filmmaking whilst a little bit pissed. Perfect.
Some for the stuff that I listened to at full volume would bear recommendation here. I have been turned onto the Malmo band Wildie by a brilliant correspondent, Fiona, from that fair city. Thank you, Fiona. And to follow some more Half Dream, who are shaping up to be my breakthrough band of the year. This song being an extraordinary thing of beauty. They also feature amongst several others on the latest broadcast which also features Dawes, Christian Kjellvander, Bob Dylan, Justin Currie, Vic Chestnut, KD Lang and many more. As ever take what you want or need.
