European Films on the great Catherine Deneuve's new project. She will have now worked with Andre Techine more than any other auteurPaste Magazine Scarlett Johansson's 5 father figures. Interesting piece
The House Next Door has a fine recap of the most recent Battlestar episode "Faith" which gave longtime fans a lot to speculate on. Have I told you recently that 'Six' is fast becoming my favorite character? First it was Roslin, then Starbuck, now Six?
Rope of Silicon has image galleries for Che, Blindness and Synechdoche New York.
Lazy Eye Theater grades some opening credit sequences
Simply Streep is a great fan site for Meryl. And they're still going strong with set photos from Julia & Julia and coverage of Mamma Mia!
i09 suggests who the next Marvel movies should feature. I have to agree that Doctor Strange is a far more cinema friendly superhero than Thor. Seriously... what is Marvel thinking? He probably had his peak movie moment in the Elisabeth Shue masterpiece Adventures in Babysitting (1986), you know?Low Resolution has a plan for "Joooey" and 500 Days of Summer
Cinemavistaramascope reports from extra work on the set of a new Sam Mendes movie. Fun
Heckler Spray serves up a list of sexiest women of the 80s. Some curious omissions but at least Basinger, Turner, and Pfeiffer are there.
Madge Mystery of the Month How will Nathaniel, who is currently without a proper corporate job and earning pennies on the web, afford M-Dolla prices for "Sticky & Sweet Tour". He will figure it out: Madonna being worth the money. She remains his only off-cinema obsession that still holds enormous sway over his appetites. Nobody puts on a show like her. But still... yikes. [And why am I speaking in the third person?] Pre-sales of various varieties start tomorrow. Who's going? I know some of you were waiting for my reaction to Hard Candy. In short: a mixed bag. Nowhere near as marvelous as Confessions or as interesting as hated/underrated American Life. High points --I happily gorge on: Candy Shop, Give it 2 Me and 4 Minutes. Still taste testing: Beat Goes On, She's Not Me and the rest. Nadir: Incredible. blech......I'm never putting that in my mouth again.
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13 comments:
Really enjoyed that piece on ScarJo. Thanks for pointing it out. What a lovely, well-written article.
I've already kinda moved on from Hard Candy. I still like it, but I listened to Confessions for months on end. Although I have warmed to "Incredible" a lot, actually whereas "Candy Shop" is still dirge.
Typically, Madonna has said she will tour everywhere except Australia. Yet again. What a bitch.
BTW, Nat, have you heard "Stamp Your Feet" by Donna Summer. It's more delicious than anything on Hard Candy.
I don't understand the hate on "Incredible." I just don't get it. It's an amazing song to me.
I see your Madonna concert and raise you...tickets to see Siouxsie Sioux! Yesssss.
I saw Siouxsie Sioux in the 90s but she only did CREATURES songs even though the ads on the radio kept playing "cities in dust" --false advertising but it was still a great concert!
I hate Candy Shop and Incredible! In order of preference, my faves off the album: Miles Away, She's Not Me, Give It 2 Me and The Beat Goes On -- the album falls apart after that song, IMO with the Cry Me a River remake #10938, though Voices is kinda OK.
Overall, a mixed bag (as you said) but after 5-6 spins, I'm actually beginning to get bored -- something that's never happened to me with a Madonna album before.
6 is your favourite now? But which one?!?!?! Sooo many to choose from, you must have enjoyed the death scene... ;o)
I'm staying 100% behind the mystery that is Starbuck!
"Incredible" is wonderful! One of the most interesting tracks. But I agree...A VERY mixed bag
Just had to review Hard Candy this last weekend. I do think I prefer Confessions more than this album but it's grown on me with repeated listens.
Some tracks I've found impossible to get out of my head, for better or worse.
My faves tended to be the more mellow tracks: Miles Away and Devil Wouldn't Recognise You.
Did anyone find themselves getting tired of songs halfway through? The average track length is 5 minutes!
On a completely unrelated note, your current banner reminds me that Michael Haneke is probably the coolest-looking director working today.
When I get older, I've got to have a beard like that.
Pfangirl, interestingly, on tracks like "Incredible" and "She's Not Me" (which both clock in at over 6 minutes) I thought they really kicked into gear in the second half as opposed to the other way around. At first I didn't like that they were so long, but now I just see it as a blissful homage to 12" disco tracks.
I bought Hard Candy, and it's still in the wrapper somewhere on the floor in my apartment. I just haven't felt like listening to it. I don't know why.
Kamikaze, I did notice that on about 90% of the tracks there's a definite shift - a kind of experimental interlude in the middle - before the song returns to its initial sound and eventually concludes.
It worked very well on She's Not Me, which, like you said, was much better in its second half.
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