I’m not the best at really anything. I can’t organize the best, I can’t build the best relationships, I can’t write the best, I can’t talk the best, I can’t play the best. But something I’m good at is getting people riled up. I know this might seem inconsequential but hear me out…

First of all, this is a selfish act.

This is really something I do because it makes me feel better about the world and this little tirade is just an attempt at justification for me thinking that I’m the smartest guy around and “why the fuck don’t the rest of you assholes get it?”.

But beyond that; there really is more than me thinking that I’m the smartest or coolest or whatever. The real deal is that I really just give a shit. And honestly the great injustice to me is that more people don’t.

I think sometimes that I get mad for other people. I have to compensate in some cosmic, karmic way for all the dumbasses that are sitting around watching “American Idol” (is that still what the kids are into?) And put out enough energy to get noticed through that Iron Curtain of (yeah I’m gonna use the most cliche word in the punker dictionary) apathy.

So you understand that the very little progress that might get made by me can’t really compare with the fact that everyone else wants to sit on their ass and not fix things.

Yeah, yeah, trust me I know; you work two jobs, you got two kids and a wife, or maybe and ex, a mortgage and interest on college loans that’s a burden to your unborn children. But quite frankly I don’t give a shit; because: I don’t know what the threshold is… and neither do you.

Tell me: what would be enough? What life situation absolves you of responsibility? Tell me how many hours do you have to work in your shit ass job with people you fucking hate for what reason you don’t even know to justify not thinking about anything greater?

Why is it that everyone just can’t wait until they’re off the hook?

What I mean is that most people just can’t wait to start talking about American Idol or the football game or whatever other stupid inconsequential bullshit happens to be occurring at the time.

Now you might be thinking “Hey! Football is not inconsequential!” or “You just can’t play football so you’re talkin’ shit” but I’m not talking shit about football, or baseball or sports or American Idol anything really. (Ok, I really am talkin’ shit about American Idol).

I happen to like watching sports.

I’m simply making the point that most people will quickly devolve into a pathetic panicky frenzy whenever anything substantive or rather of social consequence is brought up.

The point isn’t what people can’t wait to talk about, it’s that they can’t wait to talk about something that doesn’t fucking matter.

People just can’t wait to agree on something. Jesus, is that what everyone is really longing for? A world without disagreement?

This is what really bothers me: I just hate social chickenshits.

Now I don’t hate you if you’re shy.

I don’t hate you if you have panic attacks and shit; that’s not what I’m talking about.

What I’m talking about are people that don’t seem to suffer from either of these ailments when we’re talking about sports or fucking chicks/dudes, or car insurance or getting drunk or anything else that couldn’t matter a bit. But the second something of importance that is generally disagreed upon, is brought up they run for the fucking conversational exits and start claiming that “they don’t talk about politics at their house,” or “we’re just tryin’ to have a good time” or blah blah fucking blah.

The point is; don’t casually talk endless amounts of racist, sexist, classist, narrow minded, ill-informed shit until somebody calls you on your bullshit and then cry foul. You know what I’m sayin’?

Tell me how much shit you have to put up with before you can finally not care. Because the truth is you don’t really care anyway…

It’s really funny how some good music can stay with you forever and almost become the soundtrack to a part of your life. It evokes certain feelings in you and the same thoughts just keep coming back every time you listen to it. A good tune, a good band has that effect on you and you welcome it.

A record I have came out in 2004 and instantly made a huge impression on me. It was a band I already loved and the music is almost instrumental which somebody like me loves most of the time. That means that I get to put it on and just disappear for a while and let the emotions just take me away. My mind can drift away and be absorbed by the wonderfully emotional songs emanating from my speakers.

This time I had a rough time due to a death in the family and this meant that we would all go back to our homeland for the funeral. I hadn’t been there for a long time and would now get to walk the same steps as I had over decade prior to that.

I was really nervous because I had no idea of how I was going to react when I got there. A large number of my family members would be there and we would spend time together in our home town for the first time in 13 years but it would be under difficult circumstances. I wanted to experience it but at the same time I was dreading it because it would probably be the last time we would do that together in the place where we were born.

Whilst listening to this special record I just closed my eyes every time and imagined my self walking along the streets of my childhood and to be honest it fit perfectly.
If I was going to make a documentary then that is how it would look.

Being there in the end was really strange but quite satisfying. Not ultimately satisfying because I still didn’t get to see certain places that I wanted to and wasn’t able to revisit all my childhood tales, but I left with refreshed memories of my birth place. I had seen it as a grown man and now carry those memories with me all the time. Along with a soundtrack.

(The album is Panopticon by Isis. If you’re into heavier music the definitely check these guys out.)

It is important to understand the pretext to the following observations. I spent the last two years in a place nearly devoid of popular culture to include television, movies and music. Part of my re-integration into ‘normal’ society has to do with coming to terms with the changes in society. When change happens around us gradually we tend to not notice it. But a sudden reintroduction into the general public highlights many of the more dramatic changes. The following is just one of my quick observations.

I recently returned home from a much needed vacation and noticed a rather disturbing trend. I’m not really sure when it happened. But apparently big, gaudy, bug-eyed style sunglasses are back in vogue. My response is WTF! For some reason, women feel the need to resemble The Fly and guys are nostalgic for Top Gun and CHiPs. I understand the trends change and fashion is often very transitional. But come on. What’s next? Bell bottoms and platform shoes? The madness needs to stop. Put down the glasses and get to therapy. The 80s are over. Let’s never, ever, bring them back.

Set in Minnesota (some of it in Saint Cloud) Juno has a certain appeal to it that reaches beyond the simple yet appropriate soundtrack, the impeccable cast and clever writing. Director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking) has created a movie full of heart.

Juno McGuff (played by soon-to-be-nominated Ellen Page) plays a sixteen year old with her own unique blend of self confidence, smart-mouthed arrogance, cynicism, feigned independence, and aloof self-determination that is so right in so many ways. Page nails it. Writer Diablo Cody nails it. And Michael Cera has built an entire career upon it. Anyone who doesn’t like Cera has deep seeded issues which they need to resolve on their own terms. From Arrested Development to Superbad to Juno, Cera has shown an interesting arc as an actor. Every line of dialogue (while occasionally hokey) rings true for that age group and every action is utterly convincing; Cera may play variations upon the same character, but he invests that character with everything he’s got and plays it like his life depends upon it.

Juno has an interesting sneak attack, a way of skittering into your heart through the back door and falling asleep on the couch before you’re even aware of its/her presence. And it’s well aware of this. There’s an effortless charm, an intrinsic enticement that stems from being so awkward and so at ease that there is no alternative other than to fully embrace that which is uniquely you.

And that’s the charm of Juno: these characters know who they are and where their boundaries lie. They are not ones to be bogged down by relativism or morbidity. Instead, they celebrate their quirks, their limitations and their passions, without regard for what others may think. The film’s most poignant moment is when Juno tells Paulie Bleeker (Cera) that he’s the coolest person she’s ever met without even trying to be, and he confides “I try really hard, actually.” It’s a moment of honesty that few films — hell, few people — would dare.

These are people who understand they are not mass-marketable. They will appeal to their small coterie of friends, and they will cherish them for all their flaws and failings as much as for their virtues. But if they’re going to be disliked by the world at large, they’re going to be disliked on their own terms.

Characters like these could travel one of three roads: they could try to fit in with the so called “cool kids” and feel the sting of rejection, they could actively alienate people to prove a point, or they could become irrepressibly themselves in spite of the social acceptance they may forfeit. To many, the last two options may seem like the same thing in different words, but anyone who appreciates this film with their heart in addition to their brain will know that one will leave you empty whereas one will leave you edified. And those are the people who will champion these characters and smile uncontrollably during the film’s indefectible finale.

It would have been so easy for a film like this to degrade into silliness or ugliness, and yet somehow, Reitman, Page and Cody have colluded to create one of the greatest cinematic outcasts and one of the most unique, interesting, beguiling, and utterly irresistible coming of age films I’ve ever seen. It’s a winner, and it’s a classic.

**** (4/4)

A few days ago I finished reading Cormac McCarthy’s utterly majestic ‘No country for old men’ because I wanted to be out in good time before the movie hits our cinemas.
Unfortunately for us Europe is always behind when it comes to movie premieres which makes it utterly frustrating to check sites like IMDB and read people’s comments about how good or useless something is 4 months before I will even get near it. But I’m not bitter even though the longing to see this movie is giving me sleepless nights.

A fun thing that happened was that I decided to kill some time by compiling a list of my favourite big screen adaptations of great novels and since I mentioned lists, I think it’s suitable to start with High Fidelity. Never has a book resonated with me like this one because I’m a music geek and a complete curmudgeon way before I should be. The film is awesome as well. I watch it all the time and the casting is absolutely perfect. Nick Hornby’s books usually make for a very enjoyable transition to the big screen and ‘About a boy’ along with the original version of ‘Fever Pitch’ are comedies I can generally watch any time.

I’m writing this while watching ‘Wonder Boys’ for about the 27th time which should give an indication that I really love that adaptation as well. The book is one of my favourites of all time; I just love the utter weirdness and comic genius in it and I can’t find many faults with Curtis Hanson’s take on it.

The dialogue is unforgettable and I crack up every time Michael Douglas utters the following: “Ok James, I’m sorry you shot my wife’s dog. Just because me and Poe weren’t what you would call simpatico doesn’t mean he had to take two in the chest”.
Deadpan delivery at its best.

‘Fight Club’ along with ‘Fear and loathing in Las Vegas also need to be mentioned in this context. Classic novels and awesome films that will always top my list.
You’ll notice that I have neglected to mention several obvious choices but that is because I simply don’t find them as interesting as the above mentioned. These are my choices and a good portal to my tastes in popular culture. There are many more that can be mentioned here but if I continue then this is in grave danger of turning into an anthology, so we’ll cut it here.

Of course, none of the movies are as good as the books but that almost doesn’t need to be mentioned and it’s not the point either. This is just about mentioning the occasions when a director came close to capturing an author’s vision.

What’s the next list to have some fun with? I’m thinking favourite soundtracks for a possible next one…

Get rich quick schemes used to be reserved for late night television preaching riches if you mailed a nominal sum for the packet containing instructions on how to master said system. Currently at all hours of the day can you find someone promoting a “system” or insider knowledge that has as much to do with chance as anything else.

Surprisingly this is a main theme of the Coen Brothers’ latest film No Country for Old Men. Llewelyn Moss (James Brolin), arguably the main character, stumbles on a drug deal gone the way most movie drug deals go – poorly. A number of poor moral decisions lead him to finding a large sum of money that belongs to another man Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) who is probably the most terrifying villain since Robert Mitchum in both the 1962 Cape Fear and Night of the Hunter. Llewelyn’s desire to hold on to the $2 million leads him running down a path for his own life and the life of others.

As always with a film by the Coens the dialogue is the strongest point of the film and technically this is probably their best work. The big gripe about the film is the ending. It doesn’t really have one but at the same time it does. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) opens and closes the picture with a monologue. By paying attention to his scenes additional themes begin to develop and emerge from the story. The film isn’t so much plot driven - although it is for 80% of it - but revolves around the characters and their traits.

If you go in expecting everything to be tied up in a nice package like National Treasure then you will be disappointed. No Country for Old Men is closer to John Steinbeck’s East of Eden where the aforementioned Nicholas Cage project is closer to Where’s Waldo. The man in the striped red and white costume is there on the page, you just need to keep your eyes open. Steinbeck requires you to dig a bit deeper and examine the story and not just on the superficial Cain and Abel that they make reference to multiple times.

No Country for Old Men has layers of depth and meaning to it but it will require some work on the viewer’s part to dissect it. It is definitely worth seeing and might be one of the big winners come Oscar Night.

**** (4/4)