People that know me, will know that the latest gadgets leave me somewhat cold...I have my laptop and my battered solar powered radio and thats about it.............even our tv is a supermarket buy with a 12" screen!, so I was quite intrigued when Chris presented me with his old ipod yesterday!
He has a new , all singing, all dancing, even-makes-the-tea, ipad thingummy, of which he is extremely proud,so I have taken another step towards the 21st Century and have bought my first itune download......ok it doesn't take much guessing which single I bought? yep Mr Cardle.......but I put the whole experience down to experience!
My new ipod will be a constant new friend me thinks.....especially as my two main friends in North Wales have disappeared somewhat off the radar for very different reasons!
Anyhow, today, my first lesson ( after switching the bloody thing on) was to learn how to download! ( or is it upload?) anyway....after organising Mr. Cardle I ventured into the free podcast service from the BBC! FANTASTIC! ...so on a rather wet and uninteresting walk I listened to the sweet tones of Kirsty Young interviewing Jonney Vagas in Desert Island Discs followed by a compilation of Woman's Hour and The Archers......
It was lovely.......
and Nige, don't worry I will make an effort and keep the little scrap of miracles clean and dry!!!
I heard through the Internet grapevine that the movie Winter's Bone was well worth the price of a pint of lager...so tonight I braved the elements and popped down to the Scala to join eight other hardy souls in watching this slice of "Ozark dirt poor realism".
It's an depressing tale....but is an interesting one. Poverty stricken Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence ) is just seventeen but single handedly is looking after her two younger siblings and her mentally ill mother. Her father has disappeared before a court appearance and has put the family shack up as a bail bond, so in order to save the family home, Ree has to face the local criminal underclass in an effort to find out what has actually happened.
Yes it sounds all very Deliverance doesn't it?,the sense of dread, oppression and uneasy menace does in fact remind me of the 1972 Boorman film, and Winter's Bone on occasion crawls towards every stereotype we know about Hillbillies in the cinema........the rubbish strewn farms, the happy slappy menfolk and the women showing that Silence of the Lambs " shortness of bone".......but thankfully director Debra Granik focuses the films gaze upon the teenage Ree, and her hard-as-nails, unwavering sense of what is right for her family. Ree, unlike the drug riddled and oppressed mountain men she faces, is a mother tiger, frightened but fiercely passionate about saving her kin. With the reluctant help of her violent and frightening uncle "Teardrop" ( the chilling John Hawkes ) she eventually finds out the truth about her father in an awfully tense and almost unwatchable climax and it is Lawrence's amazing performance that is key to Winter's Bone's success. Without her, the film could have teetered down the uncomfortable road of a hic thriller , but with her powerfully centred Ree, we see a character that is both strong and moral, warm and intelligent. She is a mother personified and is never anything less than real. Lawrence never softens her characterization too much, she keeps the audience directly behind her at all times and I suspect she will be nominated for an Oscar ( still hot on the heels of the cracking performance of Melissa Leo in the similar Frozen River
8/10
I would be fascinated to hear what my American Bloggers think about this movie
It's an depressing tale....but is an interesting one. Poverty stricken Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence ) is just seventeen but single handedly is looking after her two younger siblings and her mentally ill mother. Her father has disappeared before a court appearance and has put the family shack up as a bail bond, so in order to save the family home, Ree has to face the local criminal underclass in an effort to find out what has actually happened.
Yes it sounds all very Deliverance doesn't it?,the sense of dread, oppression and uneasy menace does in fact remind me of the 1972 Boorman film, and Winter's Bone on occasion crawls towards every stereotype we know about Hillbillies in the cinema........the rubbish strewn farms, the happy slappy menfolk and the women showing that Silence of the Lambs " shortness of bone".......but thankfully director Debra Granik focuses the films gaze upon the teenage Ree, and her hard-as-nails, unwavering sense of what is right for her family. Ree, unlike the drug riddled and oppressed mountain men she faces, is a mother tiger, frightened but fiercely passionate about saving her kin. With the reluctant help of her violent and frightening uncle "Teardrop" ( the chilling John Hawkes ) she eventually finds out the truth about her father in an awfully tense and almost unwatchable climax and it is Lawrence's amazing performance that is key to Winter's Bone's success. Without her, the film could have teetered down the uncomfortable road of a hic thriller , but with her powerfully centred Ree, we see a character that is both strong and moral, warm and intelligent. She is a mother personified and is never anything less than real. Lawrence never softens her characterization too much, she keeps the audience directly behind her at all times and I suspect she will be nominated for an Oscar ( still hot on the heels of the cracking performance of Melissa Leo in the similar Frozen River
8/10
I would be fascinated to hear what my American Bloggers think about this movie
So, you have gone all techie on us, I see! I (seriously) wouldn't know what to do with it.
ReplyDeleteThe movie sounds interesting enough, hadn't heard of it yet.
my god! You and an ipod, you will be downloading podcasts next
ReplyDeletesigh
ReplyDeleteread the blog
I already have done
x
I have a very old given to me, Ipod Shuffle, that I could not do without on my runs!
ReplyDeleteI must admit I find Itunes to be less than user friendly and totally annoying at times! But what ya going to do...
I have everything from Country Western to New Age on my ipod shuffle. Its wonderful, if I am in a loose myself hit the zone, run till I drop mood, its Loreena Mckennitt... if I am in a how fast can I run for how long, I have songs for that as well.
Enjoy that new music toy!
Ummm, now this made me laugh..
stereotype we know about Hillbillies in the cinema........the rubbish strewn farms, the happy slappy menfolk and the women showing that Silence of the Lambs " shortness of bone"
LOL, women showing that Silence of the Lambs " shortness of bone"
tex
ReplyDeleteI DID say it was a stereotype=xxxx
Too, too depressing. (I am talking Nick Clegg, now, despite the smoking...) I hope that was helpful, despite the Britishness...
ReplyDeleteHave I ever suggested "The Winter's Guest" to you? With Emma Thompson and her mom?
ReplyDeleteJohn, welcome to my world! I got my first iPod (Nano) about a month ago and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!! Are you like me and are wondering what took us so long to get one? Oh yeah, we were both waiting for someone to give us one!! :-))
ReplyDeleteI'll let you know about the movie, it sounds interesting!
I loved your post from yesterday by the way--Everyone looks so healthy and happy!! It's a tribute to your hard work and being such a wonderful caretaker!
You better had keep it clean and scratch free! I'll be watching.
ReplyDeleteYou can get some nice protective sleeves for them - try Amazon.co.uk. It's the older (3rd generation) nano model that I think you've got, so make sure you order the right one because the latest models won't fit. Aesthetically, I think it's the nicest version, by the way - I think the latest models look a little strange.
I've never done the "Apple thing" myself, although I follow what the company does, of course. I've an old six-year old Zen:M player (which still looks like new, I might add) and I still think it beats the pants off the iPods, although it's rather chunky compared to the latest models. But I'm biased, of course.
I sometimes even use my 1999 vintage MiniDisc player. Sometimes you can have too much choice, and I like the discipline of only taking one album out with me sometimes. What I'd really like is an old 1970's eight-track, of course. You'll remember those from your CB days, perhaps?
[Whoops...shame alert]
Nx
I finally just watched the Triplets of Belleville the other night. (I was captivated and tapping my toes. Loved everything but the frog stew which turned me queasy, even animated.) Not sure I can do a movie like this one...I'm a sponge and can't shake my movie moods fast enough...but I'll put it on the list and take a peek.
ReplyDeleteI finally got a player last Christmas and was like you...immediately hooked. Have fun with it all!
My husband and I saw Winter's Bone a couple of weeks ago (I heard about it on a podcast!) and, despite its being so dreary, we both ended up really liking it. This is the Ozarks that I've always heard about but nowadays my husband's Midwestern friends talk about the Ozarks as being like Las Vegas, only closer. I think next time we go to Missouri for his class reunion we might visit the area where this was filmed.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love your blog.