Here's everything I've written so far about Inspiration...

Always Celebrating

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Someone’s made a film about Fine Before You Came. I’ve been lucky enough to go to Italy a few time over the years, and travel around with these guys either with The Little Explorer or Crash of Rhinos, on my own or with company. Because of Fine Before You Came we met Maurizio from Triste who ended up inviting us to Turin for a week-long recording session. Good shit just seems to happen around these five Italians.

These guys are the best kind of people. Really. I met them at The Victoria Inn in 2002. Since then I’ve made sure to go and be with them at least once a year. It’s a poor year when that doesn’t happen. The title of this film, made about their recent shows since the release of their incredible fourth album ’sfortuna’, translates to ’self-congratulation’. Literally, I guess that would be a kind of bad thing…but these guys haven’t got a self-indulgent bone in their collective body. It’s more like the celebration of The Self. If you meet these guys you’ll have a good time, and probably end up laughing until you throw up, even though you can’t understand a word they say. Go and download ’sfortuna’ from them for free here, then order the 12″ (it sounds immenso), then go and see them and say “Hi”.

Jim Henson’s Time Piece

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Back at work this morning, post-tour, logged in to Twitter thinking how, after a week without it, I don’t really need it anymore…but then found a link from Douglas Coupland saying, “Time Travel. No editorialising,” with a link to this short film.

The only picture of Jim Henson I’ve ever seen is in an incredibly beautiful animated short made in his honor called Overtime, so I didn’t recognise the protagonist in this rhythmical time bent piece until the credits rolled. Check it:

Frank Martins’ Magic Suitcase

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Picture 3

This is the film we showed at the Time Travel Opportunists night at QUAD earlier this week, where we filled an evening with TIME STUFF to compliment the Tuesday evening showing of Time Traveller’s Wife. A big thankyou to Ted Chung, who kindly gave us permission to show it. A hearty pat on the back for him n’all for making such a gorgeous film in only 24 hours:

I love that. Deceptively simple yet with layers of complexity from a story, screenplay, and photographic point of view. Pick a point of view and watch it a few times over, and you’ll learn something…if not about the film itself, then maybe time, or even something more personal…

While I’m here talking TIME and FILM in the same post, I might as well say that I thought The Time Traveler’s Wife was very very good. I expected to be disspointed or at least underwhelmed…but I wasn’t. In fact, I’d say I came out pretty satisfied. Not blown away, but satisfied. The flick handled Henry’s chrono-impairment really quite subtly…never overdoing it in a “Whoah check Henry out he’s TRAVELING IN FUCKING TIME” or anything. Wasn’t too sure about the doom-laden ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ though. A heavy handed choice of song in films at the best of times, Broken Social Scene’s version just didn’t sit right…

Anyway, whether it be a short or a full blockbuster feature, generally film + time and/or travelling through it is a winner. Yes, even in Timecop.

Update: If you watch On Time with the sound down while listening to ‘Mutual Slump’ by DJ Shadow, the film becomes another thing entirely…like something Jonathan Glazer would make…all desaturated greens and oddly placed subtitles.

Come On, Feel The Groningen!

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Scrolling through Vimeo last night and found this little beauty. Stunning photography, and the music reminds me of a cross between the Forrest Gump feather sequence, and Peter Broderick’s ‘Piano & Toy Piano’ from Ten Duets – two of my favourite things. These chaps need to triple their views to get points for their course so watch it a few times, show it to your girlfriend/boyfriend/mum/dad/brother/sister/friend/dog/friend’s dog a few times, embed it into your site and tell more people to do the same. Wonderful.

Des

Thursday, May 15th, 2008