dots and spaces

Noir

We had a great time at SFA, a stripped down version of their usual crazy set. Gruff explained that the horn section, percussionist and backing singers had been kidnapped en route. Fair enough, it meant new versions of old favourites, the opportunity for a little refresh and the chance to see how beautiful these tunes can be.

I have to say it was a particular thrill to see Jim Noir in the support slot, presenting some new songs with a new band. I've heard a few negative comments about his old one, that they didn't particularly give him the chance to front up and display his own light and breezy personality. This set up seems to give him a bit more freedom and you can see it reflected in the new songs such as "Alright", which you can listen to on Jim's myspace page.

I've had a fondness for le noir for a while now since my friend Steve directed his "A Quiet Man" video. By the way, please check out Steve's site, full of the wonderful movies he's been making since film school. A talented man I'm sure you'll agree, with many good things in the pipeline. Be sure to check out "A Heap of Trouble" my personal favourite.

Cinema No.6

Cinema no.6 is the ideal place to get your fix of foreign films, american and british indies and the stuff that scares the multiplex. Its present home is in portsmouth's historic dockyard, at action stations. Since our move to Fareham, our usual haunt, Chichester's New Park Cinema is a bit far away, and we've yet to visit harbour lights in southampton.

So No.6 is where we go. Lately we've seen some amazing movies, Almodovar's Volver, the french film - The Beat that my heart skipped and also american movies Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (which was just about ok) and Little Miss Sunshine, which was fun and frothy. We keep hearing rumours that no.6 is in difficulty, but there are new monthly programmes and now a website where you can sign up to a weekly listings newsletter.

Cinema's like this exist not just as an alternative, which is a bit patronising, but should be regularly supported and should enjoy the same publicity as the multiplex down the road. So go on - enjoy your saturday night at the pictures.

Dogs looking up.. Part 3

ok, just a recap - the first post about dogs included a picture of floyd's looking up, and now this one - which I've finally after months/years have posted - this looks like conclusive proof, although I know many of you will respond that he isn't looking directly up (can humans do this then?) etc, etc, but now I think we might be onto something. But it took photographic evidence...shame on you all.

Many thanks to Ace for the photo, let the comments begin...again.

the beat that my heart skipped

Saw two films this week - A History of Violence which was played pretty straight for a David Cronenberg film, except for the blood effects, they were a bit more Cronenbergian.

Second film (picture above) was The beat that my heart skipped which was just blinding, another gritty and complex drama from Jacques Audiard and the writer Tonino Benacquista, whose book I just happened to pick up last year, having been the first book I'd read in ages in French. I was just facinated by the main character, a deeply unsympathetic person, a complex personality played brilliantly by Romain Duris.

We saw both films at our new favourite Cinema 6 which is the historic dockyards in Portsmouth. As far as we can gather they've formed a film club using the cinema at Action Stations. It seems to be early days and the audiences are picking up, its busier each time we've been. More information here You'll have to check the paper for listings, but there are some good movies coming up.

Steamboy

Following on from last month's mention of Akira is the news that a new film called Steamboy is due out any moment from Katsuhiro Otomo. I'm really looking forward to this one. As always, the visual detail looks amazing, and I'm excited because i got Metropolis and it reminded me that there should be something on the way...

Garden State

Caught this little gem on Sunday night, starring Zach Braff from Scrubs , Garden State is his first film as writer/director and has the main character, an actor living in LA return home for his mother's funeral in New Jersey, the Garden State. The soundtrack has songs from Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkle, The Shins and Coldplay. Its a promising debut, and has some real humour and strong performances from the lead characters. The Garden State also reflects the main character's emergence from psychiatric medication, as he rediscovers the places of his childhood and the friends he left behind. Zach Braff has a Garden State Blog that keeps you up to date with news and is written in a witty and disarmingly honest style. It made a nice change, I've seen quite a bit of rubbish at the Cinema recently, there doesn't seem to be much on at the moment.

Centurians - a short film

Found whilst leafing through some old work, scripts and notes for a short I was planning to make after Uni. Storyboards by Foz who is an old friend from Cardiff, who's doing very well and still making films. We all waited to the end of The Bourne Supremacyand cheered his credit, yay! Anyway, finding the drawings made me feel nostalgic and I thought I'd post his drawings with the relevant script sections.

I'm lovin' it

Pick of the bunch at the Chichester Film Festival, although combined with The Corporation, it was a full assault on corporate values and the frightening untruths and deceitful ways in which the big companies insinuate themselves into people's lives. Morgan Spurlock's film in particular is audacious and hilarious at the same time. Just watching him on his month long Mac attack is enough to put anyone off fast food for a lifetime. They should show this film to kids at school.

13th Chichester Film Festival

Chichester Film Festival is now in its 13th Year and still going strong. There's a good programme, and we're already booked for Super Size Me, Inside I'm Dancing, Coffee and Cigarettes which is a new film by Jim Jarmusch, and The Corporation. There's a Q&A session with Kerry Fox following An Angel at My Table, which is a beautiful and stunning film.

Can Dogs look up?

It seems that the question of whether dogs can look up? is bringing hundreds of people to dots and spaces. Google lists me as an authority, but I'm afraid I don't have much to go on. There might be a clue here, but someone pointed out that this might be due to not letting go of the rock. In the meantime, detailed research is being held at bugs, if you want to find a site that has tons of "SOTD" and "Spaced" information, then look no further than Spaced Out. Anyway, a quick straw poll shows that we're mostly divided on the subject of dogs looking up, please feel free to contribute to the debate.

*After all this time talking about this subject, the first photo has finally arrived...and its not conclusive. Is the dog merely looking forward towards the person with the dodgy camera phone?

Matt explains more: After seeing Shaun of the Dead again, I made an AIM screen name "dogsCANNOTlookup", after several dog owners argued with me about a dog's ability to look up, I agreed. Then I wondered: had my dog ever looked up?

I did a www.ask.com search and came across your beautiful debate on the subject. After reading through the many amused comments, I decided to check my old pictures of the Anti-Christ Pomeranians my mom owns, I came across this single photo. I'm not convinced dogs can look straight up though. I will try to get my dogs to look up and send a more convincing picture in time.

- thanks Matt...