(M) Torst (Thirst). (Ingmar Bergman, 1949)Grade: C+

Thoughts: Thirst is part of the Criterion Eclipse series for early Ingmar Bergman work. Married couple Rut (Eva Henning) and Bertil (Birger Malmsten) are traveling through Italy on their way home to Sweden. Along the way they argue and fight and reminisce about their past lives. It was interesting and you could see where Bergman was laying down is groundwork for his later films but it was not great.

(M) Hamnstad (Port of Call). (Ingmar Bergman, 1948)Grade: C+

Thoughts: Port of Call is part of the Criterion Eclipse series for early Ingmar Bergman work. Berit (Nine-Christine Jonsson) is a depressed and troubled young woman who meets dock worker Gosta (Bengt Eklund). They are very much in love until Gosta learns about Berit’s tainted past. Much like Thirst, it was enjoyable but missing something that I think Bergman develops in his later works.

(M) Yi Yi. (Edward Yang, 2000)Grade: B-

Thoughts: N.J. (Nien-Jen Wu) is going through a bad midlife crisis – his mother is in a coma, his brother owes him money, his wife is trying to figure out her purpose in life, his company is making bad business decisions and he just reconnected with his first love from 30 years ago. The film could have been broken up into a television mini series the way it was shot and the length, around 173 minutes. However, it was one very long movie and though I enjoyed it, it was a bit too drawn out and I did not care of some of the characters.

(M) La Haine. (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995)Grade: B+

Thoughts: Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Hubert (Hubert Kounde) and Said (Said Taghmaoui) are three friends who live in the ghettos of Paris. The film follows them over a span of twenty-four hours and this is not the Paris travel agencies or movies like Amelie show. Although slow in the beginning, it picks up at the end with a powerful conclusion. It was a passionate look at racial tensions and social issues within the housing projects of Paris.

(M) My Best Friend’s Wedding. (P.J. Hogan, 1997)Grade: B

Thoughts: Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) and Michael O’Neal (Dermot Mulroney) are best friends. Then one day Michael calls Julianne to inform her he is getting married to Kimberly Wallace (Cameron Diaz) and Julianne realizes she loves Michael and needs to stop the wedding. This movie is a classic romantic comedy and one of the ones that solidified Julia Roberts’s box office career. Yes, the movie was predictable but Roberts was very charming and Rupert Everett who played George Downes, Julianne’s gay pal was so funny and entertaining.

Movie Count: 55

(M) Control. (Anton Corbijn, 2007)Grade: B+

Thoughts: I am a huge Joy Division fan and Ian Curtis’ story has always interested me. When I heard Anton Corbijn was going to make a movie regarding this topic, I was excited. Unfortunately, Control spent too much time on Ian’s personal romantic life and not enough about the band and the music. Sam Riley was alright as Ian Curtis but Samantha Morton who played Deborah Curtis, his wife and Toby Kebbell who was Rob Gretton, Joy Division’s manager, did excellent jobs. Overall, I found the movie enjoyable but I think 24 Hour Party People, though brief, showed a better history regarding Joy Division.

(M) Joy Division. (Grant Gee, 2007)Grade: A-

Thoughts: A solid documentary on Joy Division and their influential impact on Manchester and music. It had candid and personal interviews with Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Summer as well as other people who were involved with the band. This was a well done documentary regarding an amazing band.

(M) Bella. (Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, 2006)Grade: C-

Thoughts: Jose (Eduardo Verastegui) is a cook at his brother’s restaurant after his career as a big soccer player is derailed. Nina (Tammy Blanchard) is a waitress at the same place and has just learned about her unplanned pregnancy. According to some reviews online, this movie was suppose to be great but I found it to be a bore. I didn’t care for the two main characters and the ending was so contrived; the movie fell flat for me.

(M) Foxes. (Adrian Lyne, 1980)Grade: C+

Thoughts: Jeanie (Jodie Foster), Annie (Cherie Currie), Madge (Marilyn Kagan) and Deirdre (Kandice Stroh) are best friends coming to age in the San Fernando Valley during the 1970’s. A sort of made for TV movie with an early Jodie Foster, Scott Baio and Randy Quaid.

(M) Flower Drum Song. (Henry Koster, 1961)Grade: B

Thoughts: Mei Li (Miyoshi Umeki) and her father illegally come to San Francisco so she can marry her fiancé Sammy Fong (Jack Soo). Once there, she falls in love with Wang Ta (James Shigeta) who is in love with showgirl Linda Low (Nancy Kwan) who wants to be with Sammy Fong. I loved that the entire cast was all Asian because it really gave Asian actors an outlet during the 60’s. It was funny though that Japanese people were playing Chinese; I guess we really do all look alike. On a side note, James Shigeta was a FINE looking man back in the 60's, very easy on the eyes.

Movie Count: 50

I thought this comic was funny. My co-workers are all chatting about their upcoming weddings for their gay friends. Apparently, there are homosexual versions of bridezillas.

The Rachel Papers (Martin Amis, 1973) Grade: B+
Wouldn’t you know it? Love sucks. It’s confusing. It’s great. It’s both heaven and hell. That’s the basic premise of Amis’ debut novel, which follows a young lad pursuing “The Pull” of title character Rachel. The story explores first love in all its delusion and ecstasy and, as a contrast, a newly married couple dealing with compromise and an older couple who accept the imperfection (and infidelity) of their relationship. All of which is best described in Songs of Experience by William Blake (quoted below).

Earlier this year, New Wave blogged about a site entitled Stuff White People Like.com. Well, upon perusing their site today, New Wave discovers that the blog creator has signed a book deal with Random House, and the Stuff White People Like book will be released July 1, meaning the publisher approached this blogger quite awhile ago. All of this amazes me. I mean, yeah, the site was funny, but a book deal?! And you can tell the guy is running low on ideas. #103 was sweaters. Sweaters?! And the explanation for it was weak. Man, a book deal. I should start my own blog on something. Hm...

(B) The Ways of White Folks (Langston Hughes, 1934) Grade: A
I came across this book at the library and thought the title was funny. This is a great collection of short stories, and I definitely plan to read more of Hughes’ works. It’s also interesting to read this and think back to blacks’ struggles in light of Obama now running for president. My favorite stories were “Little Dog,” about a lonely white woman who is attracted to her black janitor, and “Home,” about an accomplished black musician who is killed when he returns home to the South. But really, what this collection communicated to me was that racism is ugly in all forms.

(TV) A Room With a View. (Nicholas Renton, 2007) Grade: B-

Thoughts: Lucy Honeychurch (Elaine Cassidy) and her chaperone/cousin Charlotte Barlett (Sophie Thompson) are vacationing in Italy where Lucy meets young and eccentric George Emerson (Rafe Spall). When she returns to England she must decide between marrying rich and refined Cecil (Laurence Fox) or follow her heart to George. When I first watched this I loved it but after seeing the 1985 version and reading the book I have to say it was enjoyable but not faithful enough to the novel. This adaptation goes a bit more in-depth by adding an ending based upon an essay written by Forester in 1958 on what happens to the characters after the book concludes.

(M) A Room With a View. (James Ivory, 1985) Grade: B+

Thoughts: Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) and her chaperone/cousin Charlotte Barlett (Maggie Smith) are vacationing in Italy where Lucy meets young and eccentric George Emerson (Julian Sands). When she returns to England she must decide between marrying rich and refined Cecil (Daniel Day-Lewis) or follow her heart to George. The talent in this is so impressive with a young Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Day-Lewis, Maggie Smith, Julian Sands and Judi Dench. This version is extremely faithful to the novel with dialogue lifted directly from the pages.

(B) A Room With a View. (E.M. Forster, 1908) Grade: A

Thoughts: Lucy Honeychurch and her chaperone/cousin Charlotte Barlett are vacationing in Italy where Lucy meets young and eccentric George Emerson. When she returns to England she must decide between marrying rich and refined Cecil or follow her heart to George. The novel takes place with two perspectives – one in Italy and another in England. Although it may seem like a romance novel, there is much discussion regarding the main character Lucy and her self-discovery. Forster is considered one of the great modern writers of our times and with A Room With a View, he laid down many of this key themes and devices he would use later on for other great works.

Movie Count: 45

Topic: The Cure - Santa Barbara Bowl, Hollywood Bowl, The Shrine

*Santa Barbara Bowl: I left LA around 2 pm and got to Santa Barbara by 4pm. It was an easy drive with no traffic so that was good. I got there early enough for free parking and to catch some of the soundcheck. Yay!

They did the Open/End start and finish for the mainset off the Wish album. Then I got to hear Catch and Doing the Unstuck, which had me dancing around and the real treat was Other Voices and Maybe Someday. It was funny to see the Cure playing in the daylight since they started their set around 7pm when the sun was still out :)
Overall, a great show to start my many others and I got home in under 2 hours on the way back so that was excellent.

*Hollywood Bowl: I got to the Bowl around 5:30 and bought a bit of merchadise (pins, program, shirt) then off to my seat. These nice girls ended up joining me and one of them traded her pit/pool ticket for my seat so she could stay near her friend. It was very kind of her :)

They did the Underneath the Stars/Baby Rag Dog Doll start and finish for the mainset off the new album. I love Underneath the Stars and playing it around dusk was JUST RIGHT. Treats for me were To Wish Impossible Things, A Letter to Elise and M (I love all these songs so much).

After the show, a friend and I were able to sneak into the Cure after party where I got a picture with Jason (the drummer) and Simon (the bassist) but sadly no Robert. Still a kick arse night. Oh and there were a few celebs out but the best one for me was Trent Reznor of NIN. Man he is awesome, I wish I took a picture with him as well.

*The Shrine: I got there around 6 pm and stood in the Pit line where you had to get a wristband to enter. I noticed the pit list said 53 meaning only 53 passes were given out so if you add a guest that would make the list around 106 people in the pit, which is crazy small. Once inside I get a place right in the front between where Porl and Robert stand. They did the Out of This World/Bloodflowers start and finish for the mainset off the Bloodflowers album which was really nice. I think this is the first use of this intro/outro from the rest of the North America tour. Treats for me were OOTW, Bloodflower, Kyoto Song, How Beautiful You Are and of course a very special Faith mixed in with a Happy Birthday to Simon. Overall, a very special show for Cure fans. As I was walking out I noticed people were crowded around someone and when I peeked it turned out to be Lol (one of the original members of The Cure) so I stopped and took a quick picture with him. He was quite nice. Oh and a random note, I did noticed the pit was filled to the max and found out later from a friend that people were paying the security to get into the pit and girls with big hooters got in as well. Good job there Shrine security.

*Onward to San Diego ... I am getting very tired though :).