1. 54-46 Was My Number - Toots & The Maytals (3:12)
2. Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners (4:02)
3. Tainted Love - Soft Cell (2:42)
4. Underpass/Flares - Dialogue (1:08)
5. Nicole Gravenhurst - Instrumental (5:14)
6. Cynth / Dad - Dialogue (0:59)
7. Morning Sun - Al Barry & The Cimarons (2:56)
8. Shoe Shop - Dialogue (1:43)
9. Louie Louie - Toots & The Maytals (5:46)
10. Pressure Drop - Toots & The Maytals (2:53)
11. Hair In Cafe - Dialogue (1:00)
12. Do The Dog - The Specials (2:09)
13. Ritornare (8:47)
14. This Is England - Dialogue (1:25)
15. Return Of DJango - The Upsetters (2:31)
16. Warhead - UK Subs (3:03)
17. Fuori Dal Mondo (4:58)
18. Since Yesterday - Strawberry Switchblade (2:54)
19. Tits - Dialogue (1:32)
20. The Dark End Of The Street - Percy Sledge (2:45)
21. Oltremare (5:03)
22. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want - Clayhill (3:42)
23. Dietro Casa (3:49)
24. Never Seen The Sea - Gavin Clark (3:17)

http://rapidshare.com/files/152037502/This_Is_England_OST_-_kidd.rar

This is England is a very thought-provoking film which I watched some time ago. It treats about skinheads and racism in England. Surely, it shows the extreme end of the hostility of some white Englishmen towards people of ethnic minorities living in the UK. Yet, it did make me think about the present state of affairs when it comes to interaction between people of various racial origins here.

I did mention it before, I am sure, that the first thing I was enchanted with during my first visit to the UK over 15 years ago, was the multitude of Africans and Asians that I saw in London (I came here by coach then and so could see quite a few places we had to pass through). Then I thought naively that the large number of those people proved England to be a welcoming country for foreign visitors and expats. Well, I can't really blame myself or any visitor in the UK for thinking this way, as one can only have a relatively objective and true opinion of a place after living there rather than coming just as a tourist.

Even though, I have not met skinheads where I live, both me and my husband have experienced various forms of racial prejudice, and hostility at times from the English people. Racism is always a fruit of ignorance and many English folks often confess that education is not greatly valued and even mistrusted here, in the old Blighty. As I work in different schools, I can confirm this stand as true, I'm afraid.

The media have been reporting lately various cases of racism in the British (not only English) institutions, sadly the police force being in the centre of attention. The irony is that it's the police that execute the strict British regulations against any form of racial abuse.... Oh, well, it wouldn't be the first instance of hypocrisy here, would it? ;-) Still, I find it rather ridiculous that in the 21^st century, people of ethnic minorities (theoretically favoured by employers - see all the equal opportunities forms you have to fill in when applying for virtually any job) should be ostracized and forced to work twice as hard as their white colleagues to be, at least, considered for promotion! :-(

This, however, is not nearly as shocking as the fact that even toddlers can face racial abuse here. Just last week a nursery teacher was fined for racially harassing a little boy in her care . Hmmm.... some may find her behaviour funny... just another instance of the commonly misunderstood English sense of humour, perhaps? What comes to my mind is what John Dryden said:

 "There are only two truly infinite things, the universe and stupidity. And I am unsure about the universe."

England is a multicultural country, which does not mean that people of origins other than British (white Biritsh, that is) can ever fully feel at home here.

Et wéééééééé Tardis, Tennant, Master, Rose, Donna, bonheur, rires, larmes. Tout ça.
Toi lecteur qui suit la série, je sais que tu me comprends ! (et si tu me comprends pas, va regarder Doctor Who, ta vie n'en seras que plusse meilleur !)

Promis, dès que je comprends le visage totalement improbable de David Tennant, je fais plus de fanart !

None of my plans went as planned this weekend, but it was still fun. Yesterday I had work, and then Alex and I were going to go to Keith's birthday party in Brooklyn, but she had to work till close. :( Instead Frank came over! I ordered This Is England from netflicks, so we watched that. Amazingggg. I loved it. I'm never sending this movie back. I'm going to marry  Joesph Gilgun's character and adopt Thomas Turgoos as our son. Soooo cute.

We had a sleepover, and went to Red Lobster today with my gift card I won from work. :) Free food is always rad. I was supposed to go to The Chance tonight, but instead I'm home. Not cool. Oh well!

<3 cahleigh

This is England (2006): 3/5

It reminds me of American History X with a bit of A Clockwork Orange and (INSERT RANDOM PROPAGANDA MOVIE) and you've got This is England. England in the 80's, that is. The film indicates that it's a historical drama -an autobiographical one at that, by writer and director Shane Meadows.

It's about a 12 year old named Shaun who comes across a band of skinheads whom he befriends and gets treated like family. We are hinted towards a sort of hardish-core look at the movement during the 80's ('Maggie is a Bitch' graffitied on the walls) which makes the premise and everything about the movie interesting. It becomes Shaun's rite of passage when he meets an older and racist skinhead Combo as he suddenly gets hurled from innocence to experience.

I loved this movie. Catch it on a rainy evening or a sunny afternoon, it will definitely entertain. I didn't like the disappearing Woody character, though, whose generous screen time at the beginning would have lead us to think that he'd be one of the main characters but as the movie clocks in at an hour he suddenly disappears as we now turn our focus to Combo (so disappointing!).

But I digress! So what is this film really about? Certainly not racism (it was just incidental) but the underlying theme would probably be emotional deprivation from each of the characters. It's haunting and at times a bit disturbing, but hey like they said, This is England!

PS ignore that last sentence

1. Before watching the film, do some research about the concept of youth subcultures: how are youth subcultures defined? When and why do they emerge? What are the defining features of youth cultures? How are they perceived by society and by mass media? What impact might things like ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation have on the emergence of youth cultures? (You might like to refer to some key names such as Albert K. Cohen, Tim O’Sullivan, Sarah Thornton, Dick Hebdige, Angela McRobbie. Suggested source: The sixth chapter in Children’s Cultural Worlds (2003) by Kehily and Swann).
2. Before watching the film, do some research to find out about the “skinhead” culture: When, where and in which social, political and economic contexts did it start? Did they have a distinctive style? Why did young people associate themselves with this youth culture? How did they define themselves? What was the role of young men and young women in the emergence of this subculture? Did this youth culture change over the years? How were they perceived by society and by mass media? What images do you associate with the word “skinhead”? Does this subculture still exist?
3. Many film critics describe “This is England” as “semiautobiographical”. Do some research to find out about the director’s background and discuss how this information can be related to the film.
4. What is the function of the iconography used in the title sequence of the film? How might it help you understand the film?
5. Who is the story narrated by? What impact does the narrative voice have on you? Why?
6. How is Shaun represented at the very beginning of the film? How does his representation contribute to your understanding of him as the protagonist of the film?
7. What do you think about Shane Meadow’s depiction of the skinhead gang? What are their defining features? Does Meadows glamorize the gang? Does he demonize it? Give your reasons.
8. What is the function of Milky in the story? What does his name suggest?
9. What do you think about Shane Meadows’s depiction of Combo? Is it positive or negative? Discuss.
10. What does the gang mean to Shaun? What does Shaun mean to the gang? What is the function of Woody and Combo in relation to Shaun?
11. Examine the characters Woody and Combo as leaders. What does each represent in the film?
12. How do you interpret the last sequence of the film where Shaun throws the Union Jack flag into the sea?
13. The title of the film is drawn from a “Clash” song. In what way(s) could this be significant?
14. What does the film reveal about the concept of masculinity? Does the film represent masculinity in only one specific way? What is your view of how masculinity is defined in the film?
15. Explore the theme of loss-of-innocence/coming-of-age in the film.

© Ali Nihat Eken, Istanbul, September 2008
Buy the DVD.

this is england soundtrack

Set in the area between Euston Station, St Pancras and Kings Cross named Somers Town after the family who owned the land, the film follows the story of two boys, Tomo, a runaway and Marek, a Polish immigrant. It tells the story of their friendship as they compeate for the attention of a French Waitress, Maria. Tomo is played by Thomas Turgoose who also starred in This is England. He is fantastic and once again plays the role of a bad boy. Shot in black-and-white and partly in Polish the story is funny, heart-warming and beautiful. If you want a film that will leave you feeling warm inside then this one's for you. Listings of where the film will be shown are on the Somers Town Website. Go and see it today!

Set in and around the Somers Town area of London, it’s a tale of friendship found within loneliness, of growing up and growing wise, and of finding hope in the bleakest of circumstances. The excellent Thomas Turgoose of This Is England fame plays Tomo, a northern teenager who escapes his broken home life by jumping on a train to London. Here he gets roughed up and robbed but encounters the equally lonely Marek (Piotr Jagiello), the son of a Polish construction worker who is left to amuse himself while his dad is at work.  Marek spends most of his days taking photos and mooning over a French waitress and soon Tomo is equally smitten. So, for 71 minutes, this small-scale, black and white picture follows this unlikely pair as they mooch about their area, dreaming up moneymaking schemes, and basically whiling their days away. However, they do so in such an entertaining manner the running time simply flies by with lots of laugh out loud moments and genuinely amusing gems.

Although this is not as powerful as This Is England, Somers Town has a gentle charm about it – if only Meadows had been able to expand the storyline, adding depth and detail, then this would have been a proper feature rather than simply a taster.       Dee Pilgrim

It's been a while so this could end up being epic.

Craig Robinson, Darryl on The Office, has been arrested and charged with possession of a shedload of drugs including meth and ecstacy.

Check out Jezebel's 'Pot Psychology' this week, it's deeply strange and funny.

Samm Levine has been cast in Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards.

Here's a Q&A with Shane Meadows, director of Somers Town and my film of last year, This Is England.

What's the point in literary agents?

Here's a primer on the career and works of Woody Allen. (Start with Annie Hall and Manhattan and work around)

Sonatine enters the New Cult Canon.

Here's a list of thirty actor-directors.

The Wackness is dosing folks with nostalgia for early-90s hip hop.

Why do beach volleyball players keep patting each other on the arse?

Jackson Browne is suing John McCain.

Predictions on the future for China.

Iron Man's deleted scene with Ghostface Killah.

Twilight is moving into the space left open by Harry Potter.

Here's the trailer for 90210, the one with the old cast members.

Here's fiction from Joshua Ferris, writer of the pretty-decent Then We Came To The End.

Flobots are bringing politically-conscious hip hop back to the charts, according to PopMatters.

Jerry Wexler has died at the age of 91.

Michael Phelps has won yet another bloody medal. Seven! Seven gold medals!! Wow.

Here's what he listens to before jumping into the pond.

Rebecca Adlington has won her second for Blighty so massive well done to her.

The Riff has had a little listen to the new Verve.

'Good Morning, Captain', the piece de resistance of Slint, has been turned into a children's book...

America is killing another overseas TV series, this time Australia's Kath & Kim.

Check out Michael Hammett's White Denim covers.

A conversation between Werner Herzog and Philippe Petit, the tightrope artist.

AC/DC in 'fancy dress' return for Reading.

Vote in the Drowned in Sound Pluto Prize, the alternative to the Mercury Music Prize.

The top 5 accordion rock songs.

Here's an interview with mad genius Guy Maddin.

Here's one with not-mad but still-genius Art Spiegelman.

Best ever music producers?

The ten fastest guitarists are...

Finally, the Criterion edition of Bottle Rocket has been announced and I can't wait.

pictures:Ben Shermanonline.co.uk

I just managed to watch this film a short while ago, and I just loved it. Directed by Shane Meadows (and it's arguably his best film yet), it's set in 1983, a turbulent time in England's history following the Falkland war. We follow a young boy, barely 12 years old, named Shaun (Thomas Turgoose). Turgoose is a fantastic young actor with a promising future, and although he seems a little awkward with his character in the beginning of the film, by the middle he has truly nailed Shaun's character, complete with sad, drooping eyes.

Shaun, who is constantly picked on because he is so different, meets a gang of skinheads who immediately initiate him. The leader of the gang is Woody (Joseph Gilgun), a kind yet tough boy who Shaun warms up to. The whole cast is fantastic - Milky (Andrew Shim), Gadget (Andrew Ellis), Lol (Vicky McClure), and Banjo (George Newton), etc. However, trouble comes in the form of a 30-something man named Combo (Stephen Graham), who splits the gang up to fight the foreigners he believes are doing shame to England.

The film explores youth innocence as it tangos with guilt and morals, as well as fitting in and standing up. It delves deeper into the stereotype of skinheads that we are so familiar with, portraying them as more than just idiotic, uneducated fools. They are sucked in for various reasons - feeling unloved, looking for a place where they fit in, making their parnets proud - and persuaded into believing that what they are doing is right.

The lighting and colors of this film are top notch, reflecting the moods and meanings. For example, in the beginning of the movie, we see Shaun walking from his house to school - he is constantly enveloped in darkness, signifying that he, too, is in the dark - lost and different. The script is brilliant, leaving you smiling at certain comments or closing your eyes as events unfold. The cinematographer of this film depicts everything with a stunning realism, raw beauty, and cunning photography. The soundtrack also emphasizes poignant points in the film, chilling us to the point of goosebumps.

I would definitely recommend this movie, a grimacing look into Britain's past, that mingles with adolescence, morals, and, of course, skinheads. Truly memorable. I expect great things from everyone involved in it.

Buses, roads and trains are awash with litter and dirt – this isn’t because of a lack of cleaners working for public transport companies, this is because the adult general public are no better than vermin at the best of times. They have a holier than thou attitude that someone will always clear up their mess for them. WRONG. They should be taking responsibility for their actions. Is it really that hard to take your free paper with you where you can chuck it in a recycling bin? Could you not take your apple core with you rather than lobbing it from your car window, claiming it is biodegradable so it doesn’t matter? Can you not hang onto your bus ticket for a few more minutes rather than just littering the floor with it?

Being able to drive is no longer a respected privilege, people simply think it is a God-given right. The standard of driving in this country becomes worse and worse by the day, and the roads on a Friday when everyone is rushing to get home whilst simultaneously hollering down their mobiles to arrange their weekend social life are a deathtrap at best.

Footballers are prima donnas. Rugby players are rapists. Cricketers are alcoholics. Athletes are drug addicts.

Tourists are getting stabbed to death and torched. Kids are being shot and stabbed on the streets daily. What does the government do? Create ridiculous laws saying that you can pick someone for a job because they are female – hang on, if I am recruiting, I will pick someone based on (and here’s the clever bit) THEIR ABILITY TO DO THE JOB. I wouldn’t care if they were male, female, pink, blue, red or green, if they can do a job they are all just human beings at the end of the day.

The police do a fantastic job in fighting all sorts of crime committed by all sorts of people. They have to deal with all sorts of scum, putting their lives on the line day in, day out and they should be treated with respect. But when these criminals go to court, the Crown Prosecution Service ridicule the police’s job time and time again, dishing out pathetic sentences because the government cannot afford to keep that many people in jail. Even if people do go to prison, it isn’t a form of punishment, it’s a summer camp where good behaviour is rewarded with Sky Plus and a shiny new car. To me, good behaviour in prison should be rewarded with slightly less of a daily thrashing. Nothing more, nothing less. No wonder people re-offend, the threat of prison is so pathetic there is nothing putting these people off.

Then of course we look at the media. Vilifying fat and thin celebrities. Criticising the very government that they were partly responsible for bringing to power. Scaring people with stories about the so-called credit crunch, so that they are so scared to spend that they make matters even worse.

Papers even criticise TV for being full of violence and unsuitable content, then the papers themselves make their money by publishing pictures of war, crime and sex. This blame culture is pathetic. Even Noel Gallagher is blaming video games for the rise of crime amongst teenagers – it comes to something when even the token controversial rock star of the day is entirely out of touch with reality.

The great English summer no longer exists – ruined by persistent rain and yobs at Wimbledon shouting out and cheering double faults. You cannot get a pint for less than £3. You cannot go to the corner shop for a paper because it’s either been demolished or boarded up and daubed with graffiti. Post Offices are being closed down, the high street is dead and nobody cares.

Where did it all go wrong? Just because those who fought for this country’s freedom are mostly no longer with us, does not mean we should forget what they did and why they did it. Those brave souls who gave their lives for this country are essentially having their memories urinated on by those who would rather spit on the pavement than help a blind person across the road.

This is England – and frankly it’s embarrassing.

Now that Mr. Snow is no longer Mr. Bicycle and is back to being Mr. Snow, we are finally getting to work through our massive heist of DVDs from my last trip to Indonesia (all certified genuine legal copies of course, Mr. Customs Officer, in case you are reading this).

One of the best of this batch so far has undoubtedly been This Is England. I never thought I would describe a film about skinheads in early 80's Midlands Britain as sensitive and funny, but this film really is that. The opening montage sets the scene perfectly with scenes from then: Atari's Space Invaders, Charles and Diana's wedding, the Falklands war and great music that continues throughout the film.

Shaun, a 12-year old boy who lost his father in the war, gets drawn into and is slowly adopted by a bunch of older skinheads, and then by their more hard-core friend Combo. The sight of the little boy with his shaved head may seem shocking, as is the rascist abuse they literaly train Shaun in. But the film says just as much about the sad and depressed lives in the city where they live.

More a snapshot of one summer than a story about the movement, and all the more moving for it. Possibly the best film I have seen so far this year... and others would agree.

Année de sortie : 2007

Genre : Fiction

Durée : 1h37

Made in England

Pour continuer mon immersion dans la culture anglaise, j’ai regardé This is England, élu meilleur film anglais indépendant de l’année 2007 aux British Independant Film Awards. Pleine de ma toute récente motivation pour l’Angleterre, je suis donc partie à l’assaut du cinéma britannique !

Shaun, un jeune anglais de douze ans, se cherche une identité après la mort de son père, militaire durant la guerre des Malouines. Raillé par ses camarades de classe à cause de son look, il trouve refuge auprès d’une bande de skinheads, un peu glandeurs mais attachants. Rapidement, il devient l’un des leurs. Mais lorsque Combo, un ancien de la bande, sort de prison, les discours et le ton changent. Le temps de son séjour derrière les barreaux, Combo s’est radicalisé. Partisan du National Front, il tente d’entraîner ses amis dans une guerre contre les étrangers. Le groupe se scinde alors en deux et Shaun décide de suivre le dangereux Combo…

Un film simple et efficace sur le néo-nazisme en Angleterre dans les années 80, celles de Miss Thatcher. Loin du traitement parfois excessif d’American History X, le néo-nazisme est abordé ici de manière presque objective puisque le réalisateur lui-même a fait partie de la jeunesse skinhead. D’ailleurs, sa volonté de marquer une différence entre le mouvement skinhead et le racisme est, ici, évidente.

Récit d’une jeunesse et d’une innocence perdue, d’une naïveté exploitée au service d’une idéologie, This is England nous parle également de cette Angleterre des années 80, celle de la crise économique, de la lutte des classes sociales, du chômage… Shaun apprend, se construit dans cet univers rude et dans l’ombre de cette figure paternelle inquiétante qu’est Combo.

Mais ce film est aussi le témoignage d’une génération. On redécouvre avec une curiosité amusée la mode (bretelles, crânes rasés, Doc Martens, etc.) ainsi que la musique (ska, reggae, etc.) de cette époque. On est immergé brutalement dans le quotidien d’une banlieue grise et déprimante.

Parfois drôle ou tendre, d’autres fois carrément effrayant, This is England se regarde avec un certain malaise teinté de fascination. Mention spéciale au jeune acteur Thomas Turgoose (Shaun), incroyablement crédible dans son rôle de pré-ado à la fois dur et candide.

En une phrase : you have to watch this movie !

Una de las bandas que más está creciendo por eso, es la de los skinhead, que aquí en Valencia cada vez es más habitual verlos…lo que me ha llevado a indagar un poco más sobre ellos, por curiosidad y por haber escuchado demasiadas leyendas urbanas de ellos que quería confirmar.

Hasta antes de indagar un poco, sólo les conocía como se ve en “American History X”, que es una de las películas que guardo perfectamente en mi memoria porque me encanto y me transmitió mucho…pero no más alejado de la realidad, no me aportaba nada a lo que realmente son los cabezas rapadas.

Decidí ver otra película española bastante famosa que habla sobre el genero: “Diario de un skin”, que me pareció muy interesante, pero que me dijeron que era muy falsa en cuanto a lo que eran los skin…aquí empecé a mirar por Internet:

El nacimiento de los cabezas rapadas lo encontramos en la mestiza Inglaterra de los años '60. Allí existían dos tendencias juveniles principalmente. Los mods, jóvenes seguidores de la música negra y amantes de la diversión, la cerveza, el sexo y las buenas peleas (Prometo hablar de ellos también más adelante), sufrieron las influencias de la ola de hippismo que recorrió las clases medias hacia finales de la década. La mayoría de ellos se apuntaron a la nueva moda, pero los más orgullosos seguidores de la música negra, y especialmente los que pertenecían a familias obreras la rechazaron de pleno, y aun se cerraron más en las cosas que les gustaban, estos fueron los primeros Skins.

Os recomiendo una película en la que se ven los inicios de este movimiento, que no siempre era violencia y racismo a discreción: “This is England”, narra desde el punto de vista de un niño de 9 o 10 años como se mete en un grupo de skins y ve la diferencia entre los pacíficos, y lo que empieza a ser violento…muy buena la película

Partiendo de esto, si queréis mirar más información, os recomiendo estos enlaces:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/7892/skin/skinhead.htm

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mod_%28movimiento_juvenil%29

¿Sabias esto de sus orígenes? ¿También hay por tu ciudad? ¿Qué opinas de ellos?

'83'te ingiltere'nin içinde bulunduğu savaşta babasını kaybeden bir çocuk shaun, 12 yaşında. babasının ölümü onun hatası değil, peki insanlar neden devamlı babası hakkında konuşuyolar! suçlayacak birilerini arıyor. şimdi kimi suçlasın, hımm, thatcher'ın neo-liberalist/kapitalist politikalarını mı, neo ne? 12 yaşında o daha, ne bilsin! o zaman, 'o şerefiz pakistanlıları' suçlasın, 'işlerini elinden alan siyah böcekleri, ucuz iş gücü sağlayan soysuz piçleri' suçlasın. halbuki o kalbinde babasının onurunu taşıdığını öğrenmeden önce sadece stres atarak kendine bakabilirdi, yeni skinhead arkadaşları onu aralarına almıştı. onlarda insanlığı görebiliyordu, onlar sadece eğlenmek isteyen, can sıkıntısına ve haksızlığa dayanamayan gençlerdi. sonra combo geldi, ona orijinal dazlakları gösterdi, babasının ölümünün suçlusunun pakistanlı bakkal olduğunu, top oynayan müslüman çocuklar olduğunu hatırlattı. yeni oyununda takdir edilmektan hoşlandı shaun, küfretmek çok basit, bıçak sendeyken yarışmak çok kolaydı. arkadaşları onu terk etti, ama onlara ihtiyacı yoktu! onun bir kız arkadaşı, ona değer veren has dazlakları vardı.

ama olaylar combo'ya göre öyle değildi tabi, hapiste onu bir şeyler değiştirmişti elbet. ama o aslında tek aşkıyla ilgileniyordu, ve kızın ondan nefret ettiğini öğrenene kadar o da zararsız bir saldırgan olmaya alışmıştı. öfkesini çıkarmak için boş evleri talan etmezdi o, onlar mazideydi. artık bir intikam savaşçısıydı! bir düzen bekçisi! sadece kafası karışıktı. onun için de biraz tütün, biraz 'mal' yeterdi.
milky'mi? jamaikalı olmak büyük bir günah. hem de ingiltere'de... soylu insanların yaşadığı, güneşin batmadığı ingiltere'de. arjantin güneş'e yol açadursun; tanrının bekçisi, ülkesinin yenilmez savunucusu, kendisi için kız arkadaşını bırakan milky'ye kızmak için kendini zorluyordu.

onlar ırkçı değiller, nazi değiller, milliyetçiler. filmin sonunda bunları milky'nin sırıtışında da duyabiliyoruz.

filmin başarısına gelelim, american history x ile sıkça karşılaştırılan film anlatım biçimiyle diğer ırkçılık filmlerinden sıyrılıyor. öncelikle, this is england bir dönem filmi, bir çocuğun gözlerinden izliyoruz olayları. ırkçı combo'nun milky'ye yaptıklarından sonra döktüğü gözyaşları belki de bu filmi farklı kılıyor. american history x'in başarısında yatan öz ve çarpıcı senaryo bu film içinde uyarlanabilirdi, yönetmen bunu tercih etmiyor, hatalar, tercihler ve skinheadleri anlatıyor.
kendinizi olayların içinde hissettiren bir oyunculuk var, woody size dönüp sesini değiştirerek 'aym haavi en aym hiya tu giv yüu çip.' diycekmiş gibi geliyo izlerken, herkes yanıbaşınızda, sizin gibi konuşuyomuş gibi. rolün başarısından değil gerçekliğinden bahsediyorum, etkilenmiyorsunuz, hissediyorsunuz. combo rolünde stephan graham olağanüstü, shaun'u oynayan veletse hepsinden cesur olmalı, o iğrenç öpüşme sahnesine hangisi dayanabilirdi acaba? için şakası bi yana, şımarmıyor, her role çok sağlam giriyor, sinirlendiğinde vurmadan bırakmıyor, eğlendiğinde deli gibi gülüyor, esrar çekerken sanki gerçekten uçuyor.
yönetmenler hayatının filmini yaptığında genelde çarpıcı oluyor zaten, yönetmenimiz shane meadows'da, kendinden bahsettiği için belki de, çok özenmiş filmine. bunu anlamak için müzikleri duymak yetiyor zaten. bir dönem filmi yapmanın getirdiği zorlukları çok iyi idare etmiş, filmde yabancı duracak elemanlar aradım her yerde, bulamadım.
this is england, aldığı bafta'yı, ve daha fazlasını hak eden, 2006'nın en iyi filmlerinden. günümüzde yaşanan olayları ve politik sıkıntıları içinde görebileceğiniz ve tüm olan biteni ayar manyağı yapan bir film. bulduğunuz yerde kaçırmayın.

I'm not well-enough informed, socially, politically, or historically, to be able to talk about the film from those points of view, but what I do want to talk about is the clothes.

If there was one style of clothing which I truly wish I could wear but never have done, it would be this. Probably with jeans rather than mini skirts, but there's something about this style which really appeals to me. I do own two Ben Sherman shirts, although they're both prints, not checks. I've owned countless pairs of Doc Martens over the past twenty years, and despite the fact that Paul makes a face every time I show him photographs, there's something extremely appealing to me about that hair cut. I do remember going out in the 1980s wearing a white shirt, black braces and a trilby, but for all the Doc Martens I've ever worn, I've never even been tempted to buy a tall cherry red pair.

When I was a Goth, dressing was easy. Everything black, lots of eyeliner, pointy shoes or the most enormous boots I could find. For all the protestations of "individuality", what I liked best about being a Goth was having a group that I demonstrably belonged to, and I demonstrated it with my clothes. I like dressing up, I like the music, I like bats and skulls and books about vampires. It was easy for me to be a part of that group.

But dressing like a skinhead? That's much more problematic. When I was reading The Way We Wore, last year, it touched on a lot of the things I've been trying to think about coherently while I was watching the film.

The original skinheads, in the late 1950s, had nothing to do with racism and violence. Theirs was an inclusive culture, born directly out of living and working with Caribbean immigrants who'd recently started arriving in the UK. Without these groups mingling together, we'd never have had Ska and 2 Tone, and bands like Madness or The Specials. But, the economic climate in those times was terrible, and the feeling did develop that other people were coming into "our" country and taking "our" jobs and "our" houses. Racially-motivated violence was breaking out all across England, predominantly in working-class communities, and this escalated into the Notting Hill riots of 1958.

The same thing effectively happened during the early 1980s. The country was faced with record levels of unemployment, along with an increase in immigration from countries such as Pakistan. The Falklands war began in 1982, and with it came a surge of popularity for far right wing politics. The Teddy Boys, who'd been the main antagonists during the Notting Hill riots, had been all but forgotten, but skinhead, punk and the National Front became inextricably linked in the public image until the skinhead look unequivocally represented a uniform of racism and hatred.

There are countries where the skinhead image still represents what it did during the 1950s - a working-class background and the love of a certain type of music. Hel Looks, a website which documents street fashions in Sweden, demonstrates that the skinhead look is still popular. In parts of America, skinhead is more closely linked with 1970s punk.

I've worn some unusual clothes over the years. As a Goth, people were forever telling me to "cheer up", or reminding me that "it's not Hallowe'en". Having pink hair is apparently a license for people to point and shout at me in the street. I'm more than used to being stared at because of my clothes, and not always in an appreciative manner.

But to walk down the street, in England, wearing tall cherry reds, jeans, braces and a feather cut? However much I might enjoy the style and the music, I just couldn't do it.

(More here, from Wikipedia.)

Needless to say when I got home I was NOT in the mood to go to the gym. Let alone do Laundry. So of course the next viable option was to PJ it up, curl into bed, and scour my Media folder for a downloaded movie that I haven't watched yet.

So guess what I watched? OH YEAH. Untraceable.

I'm sure you're just like "Untraceable?! that sounds vaguely familiar..." That's right kids, this is the "cybercrime" thriller where Diane Lane fancies herself an investigator. The plot is okay at best, it's interesting but they reveal the killer far too soon and remove all the suspense -- you spend the rest of your time watching the film just being like "oh snap, I saw that coming, oh well". The upside is you get to hear Diane Lane refer to a backdoor trojan multiple times, as if she actually knows what it means -- and actual computer  geeks will get a kick out of it when they see The Dummies guide to MySQL sitting on her desk. I guarantee you that the interns in charge of getting props were also looking at Ruby on Rails books thinking that it would make the set so much more "Legit".  The problem that I really had with this movie was that there was no real explanation for why the killer just randomly decides to start kidnapping FBI agents (come on people, don't expect spoiler alerts here), why they decide to bring into the plot that she's a single mother, or bring in a half love interest and never really pursue it. I was hoping that the whole thing was going to be really fucked up and it was actually some guy on their TEAM. That would have been so much better.  Also the geeky guy who plays her partner, he's pretty cute, and desperately searching online for love. That's just so damn cute.

Now for some other movies/books that I've seen recently and have been meaning to Review. Hopefully you're okay with that.

This is England [2007]

I don't personally know a lot about English history -- particularly anything post WWII but this is a  stunning look into the 1980s lifestyle followed by impoverished kids. When I first started watching this I was thinking it was a much more harrowing example than that presented to the Weirs in Freaks and Geeks. But it covers some of the blanket ideas -- the rolling in of the Punk area, a struggle for identity, bullying and fighting, a gang of friends. It all starts out with Shaun, now he's a bit of a loner, off on his own all the time and struggling for some acceptance, he's picked on consistently at school mostly because of his trousers (he was wearing Flares -- eew, so 70's) on his way back home from a bad day he runs in to a bit of a gang, and they take pity on him. You've seen these kids before, black doc's and white shirts, tight whitewashed jeans, and surrounded by funny looking or freakishly dressed girls. They take him into their gang, and he's simply happy because he has a group of friends, there's nothing else that he wants. Fun ensues until the Skinhead Combo barges in.

He's fresh out of jail, returning to the gang and eager to take over the reins and lead them on a nationalistic battle to get rid of the immigrants who are stealing their jobs and to defend England to the death. This made me recall a lot of the lectures from when I was in Sociology of Violence -- the mentality behind the skinhead and Aryan movements here in America -- I'd never realized that such happenings were in England as well. Shaun, whose father died in the Falklands, must choose between staying with Woody and his friends or joining Combo on his violent quest to protect the homeland. Combo then leads Shaun down a trail of violence and hate that is completely unimaginable -- it makes one worry and understand just how impressionable children can be. Combo is a character that keeps you on the edge of your seat -- he is so unstable you don't really know what to do next and when he finally explodes in the tear-jerking heart-wrenching end scene you simply don't know how to react. It leaves your body feeling heavy, you feel weighed down will guilt. This movie is an excellent social commentary on society, and a good look back on what England was.

The Bank Job [2008]

Films that are based on true stories are by and large tough to take, as the line between fiction and reality is blurred to the extent that one wonders why it exists in the first place. The producers of The Bank Job suggest that the real facts about the 1971 robbery of a bank in Baker Street that had officials in Britain issuing a D-Notice (a gag order, essentially) and set off rumors about members of the Royal Family. I went back and read the wikipedia articles on most of the characters in the film are fairly accurate. According to the Wiki article on the movie "this movie is intended to reveal the truth for the first time,^[5] although it includes significant elements of fiction and the extent to which it represents historical fact is difficult to determine."

Overall, though, I enjoyed the movie, it's not one of those "OMG I'll watch it again and again" but I'd certainly reccommend it. Think Guy Ritchie-lite, and that's never a bad thing (Except Revolver, that was weird) In fact, Jason Statham’s even in it as the lead.

Jason Statham has an old childhood friend who conveniently stops by because she knows that he's always strapped for some cash. He of course trusts her implicitly, who wouldn't trust a beautiful woman? She enlists him to rob a bank. The snare is that she’s setting him up while the plus is that he’ll get to keep the money. Terry comes up with a rough and ready crew in a matter of a few carefully concocted but usual scenes and the heist is on (Think Ocean's 11 Remake).

The Bank Job has a very linear plot -- predictable, my only complaint is that the entire film is moving at a snails pace, though the movie is only 111 minutes.

Another problem here is that the back-story is very exciting and the film captures to hone in on it in just about every way. While we’ll probably never know the real story behind this heist, the conjecture is a hell of a good time. Take this portion from a February 2008 article from The Daily Mail: “Speculation quickly arose that compromising sexual photographs of the queen’s sister, the late Princess Margaret, had been uncovered in the bank vault. It was rumoured they had been stashed away by well-known underworld figure Michael X. A drug dealer and Black Power leader, he was convicted of murder and hanged in Trinidad in 1975. A government file on him will remain closed until 2054. The Mirror can for the first time reveal that Fleet Street editors of the day were approached directly by senior government officials and told to drop the story."

Awesome.

Some movies that I'm looking forward to are Mongol and Bagheads to be released later this month -- hopefully I can find the time to go to the theater. Maybe after I facilitate my move.

Things that I DID download while perusing the top 100 Movies list on TPB -- Prince Caspian (ch'yeah!) and The Other Boleyn Girl (reviews coming soon). Tonight I'm going out with Jason and we're going to go see Son of Rambow -- terribly cute movie, hopefully he finds it hilarious and doesn't hate me for being like "aw, but I love  indie films!" and grumble to himself about how he was hoping for something in Spanish and hopefully with a lot of sex scenes, A LOT.

More posts to come on some comics that I'm reading as well as books. I'm just tired of typing right now.

]]> http://goodreadings.wordpress.com/?p=38 Mon, 19 May 2008 18:15:08 +0000 goodreadings http://goodreadings.fr.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/innocence_lost_among_the_skinheads/ Set in 1983—just as the English skinhead youth subculture was losing sight of its working-class, Jamaican-influenced origins and descending into anti-immigrant sentiment, racism, and violence—Shane Meadows' 2006 film This Is England suggests that the skinheads' hatred was fueled not only by nationalism and xenophobia, but also by the psychological wounds afflicted by poverty, political powerlessness, and family abuse. The movie follows Shaun (played ably and movingly by Thomas Turgoose, who would have been roughly 13 when the film was shot, but who looks even younger on screen), a poor boy whose father was killed in the Falklands, as he finds friends among a group of amiable, non-racist teenage skinheads, and then later falls under the sway of Combo (played by Stephen Graham), an older, unstable, and dangerous skinhead of the racist/nationalist variety.

Shaun is the film's emotional heart, and he's a very sympathetic figure: it's easy to feel for him as he grieves for his father and struggles to find friends who'll accept him despite his poverty. But it's in the character of Combo where the film's underlying ideas find their expression: Graham plays him convincingly as a wounded, disaffected young man, who, furious at his own poverty and lack of opportunity, mistakingly directs his anger toward immigrants, rather than toward the government policies and broader economic circumstances that are the actual sources of his problems. But Combo is also the son of an abusive father—and it's extremely revealing when he can't bear to hear Milky (the lone black member of Shaun's circle of skinhead friends, played by Andrew Shim) talk about the happy (if poor) life led by the many members of his Jamaican immigrant family. Combo presents a facade of toughness—and is violent indeed—but he's also an emotional wreck, damaged by his childhood and heartbroken over what he sees as a betrayal by a young woman who he'd dreamed about throughout his entire time in prison. Meadows shows us the pain that shaped Combo into the confused and monstrous man he's become—and because of this, we fear for fatherless Shaun, who's particularly susceptible to Combo's arguments and charisma, given his own poverty, naiveté, and pain.

Film festivals, like any kind of festival, tend to have lots of things going on in a not-very-long period of time. This can lead to confusion and anger when scanning the programme and finding that the thing you wanted to see is on at the same time as the other thing and that the third thing has already been on and you missed it and AAAGH!

As such, a plan is required. Best way to break it down is to go through, from the 18th to the 28th, and pick one thing each day to go and see, with the pros and cons honestly weighed up for your perusal. Because let's face it, unless you're a journalist, an aristocrat, or the kind of person who REALLY plans ahead, you won't have the time, money, or sheer determination to fire into all the films at the festival. So here we go, the Moviebarn guide to the Edinburgh Film Festival...

13th and 14th - Outdoor film hi-jinks...

OK, so I said the 18th, but hear me out. The big open space outside the National Gallery on the Mound is being turned, once more, into a free open-air cinema for a Tour de France-style prologue to the Festival. The line up is something of a retro rummage through the collective DVD collection, with Back to the Future, E.T., Strictly Ballroom and Local Hero on display over the weekend.

PROS: It's free. Prior knowledge of the films in question, so no nasty surprises (ie shit-ness)
CONS: It's free, so it'll be busy. It'll probably rain. And you've seen these films before, and you didn't have to sit outside to do it...
Mound Precinct, All weekend, Free Entry

Wed 18th - The Edge of Love 

Ah, the opening gala. The beautiful people, the paparazzo, the... proles in a separate cinema? Hang the hell on. Yes that's right, the world premiere of Keira Knightley's latest crack at the WWII-drama whip is the big opener at this year's festival, but it's showing at 2 different times. In 3 seperate screens. So while you may enjoy Cillian Murphy, Sienna Miller and Keira bantering about in this tale of lost love in the midst of the Blitz, it'll be with your mind firmly on what kind of crazy parties are going on in the other rooms.

PROS: It's a genuine event. Potential to meet Keira Knightley.
CONS: Potential to meet Knightley diminshed by staggering of showings. Potential feelings of inadequacy and jealousy at not being at in the big boys' cinema.
Cineworld @ FountainPark, 9:45pm, £11 (£8.80 concessions)

Thu 19th - A Complete History of my Sexual Failures

For fans of the likes of Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace, ACHOMSF sees Chris Waitt look back over his failed relationships, and ask what went wrong. Not metaphorically. He actually goes and asks the women. Sounds tip-top...

PROS: It's an amusing set-up, and the fact that it's true makes it all the funnier.
CONS: May cause depression at seeing how many wrong turns you have taken as a man.
Cameo on Home Street, 8:30pm, £8 (£6.40 conc.) [Also on Sat 21st at 8:15pm]

Fri 20th - Somers Town

Grittiness. Shouting. These are just two of the things to expect from the new film from This is England director Shane Meadows (pictured). A young runaway, played by Thomas Turgoose of TIE fame, teams up with a Polish teenager as they do their best to get by. Described as 'bleak' and 'hilarious'. Hmm...

PROS: Pedigree, and a director and star who worked well by all accounts on their last project.
CONS: Not the populist choice if you have a load of mates who want to go to the cinema. May be a bit bleak for a Friday night.

Cineworld @ FountainPark, 5:30pm, £8 (£6.40 conc.) [Also on Sat 21st, 2:30pm]

Sat 21st - The Wackness

A drug-dealing buddy comedy starring Ben Kingsley as a slightly unhinged psychiatrist? Sounds interesting. His drug-dealing buddy's still at school? Hmm, I am even more intrigued. Mary-Kate Olsen and Method Man are in it? Now this I've GOT to see.

PROS: Big hit at the Sundance festival, and things that are tend to be quite good. Ben Kingsley's at his best when he's playing characters that are wildly off what he actually is - Sexy Beast, Gandhi etc.

CONS: Is it a stretch too far into Ridiculousland? Is Mary-Kate funny? Can she act? Can Method Man act?
Cineworld @ FountainPark, 9:45pm, £8 (£6.40 conc.) [Also on Fri 20th, 6:30pm]

That's part one of your guide. Check back for the rest of the Fest, with Dylan Moran, Brazilians shooting each other, and Wall-E!!!!

HAVE I MISSED SOMETHING? Do you think that there's better stuff going on but I haven't seen it? Comment, or email themoviebarn@googlemail.com

It rewards useless and obscure information, which I applaud; there's nothing wrong with someone showing off their knowledge of 19th Century railways in my book. The problem for me with this program is primarily to do with the smugness factor of some of the Eggheads themselves.

Daphne comes across as a sweet, elderly lady but this hides a razor sharp mind, or at least a capacious memory, as well as a determination never to be beaten. I like her, she's a proper English type you don't see very often these days....a Miss Marple archetype.

Chris, the ex train driver (as he and the host often remind us) is another English type, the slightly boorish trainspotter/know all. He's never satisfied with just giving an answer, he also has to give some related but unnecessary extra tit bit of information. I don't particularly like him but he's okay. When he's beaten by a punter I take great pleasure.

Kevin is probably a bank worker or administrator somewhere. He's very stiff on telly and always seems to me like he's being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman about sodomy, such is his look of discomfort.

The posh woman I neither like nor dislike, I think her name is Judith.

Now, CJ, where do I begin? I really don't like him. He rolls his eyes and feigns disbelief when one of his team mates gets a question wrong, even though he is far and away the least knowledgeable of the Eggheads and more often than not gets beaten by a member of the opposing team. He's good on popular culture and that is about as far as his talents stretch. He's a modern English type, arrogant, under informed and convinced of his right to a place in the higher echelon of society, in this case, the titans that call themselves "The Eggheads"