Just Sayin

Sometimes I have something I want to share - a link, a snippet, a screengrab, whatever - but I don't particularly want to write a whole long post about it. Just a few bullet-points.

- I've seldom written about "The Wire" here because its the type of show that attracts obsessive fans, many of whom create blogs devoted exclusively to excavating its recesses, and I can't possibly hope to match that focus. In other words, there are already plenty of great blogs about "The Wire" out there, if you're interested.
Kevin Lee is a current hot topic in the filmblogosphere. He creates video pieces to critique films, narrating his arguments over instructive clips. Its possibly the best format for film criticism, and anybody whos ever taken a Film Studies course will be more than familiar with the technique. Lee is a good critic, and his pieces are generally more likely to spur somebody to want to see a film than not, but Youtube have removed all of his - several hundred - posts from that site on the grounds of copyright infringement, based on a complaint by and unnamed party. I'm sure that the videos will reappear elsewhere, but for the moment, This is a link to a series of video critiques Lee was involved in which dissect the opening credits of each Season of "The Wire", discussing visual motifs, soundtrack choices, and thematic pointers intelligently and concisely. They are great stuff and worth a look for any fan of the show.

- This Julian Lennon - yes, that Julian Lennon - video was directed by, wait for it: Sam Peckinpah- yes, that Sam Peckinpah. Its not even any good, really, as 80s in-the-studio videos go. Paycheck gig, I think, but interesting purely for his involvement:



- This is the kind of thing that usually goes in a GolGolGolGol post, but I can't save it. The best demonstration I've yet seen of just how fast football is at the highest level. One second play is at the halfway line, six seconds later the ball is in the back of the net and the away end is going mental. The fact that its all captured on a mobile phone or camcorder just adds to the verisimilitude. Ronaldo, for all that I dislike his personality, is an incredible talent on his day:



- The sub-genre of the British Crime film having splintered into sub-sub-genres (the Guy Ritchie-esque geezer caper, the Danny Dyer wannabe wishfulfillment flick, the nostalgic "hoods were of a better class in the old days" period gangster film etc) we only get a half-decent one every five years or so. But Nicolas Winding Refn is one of Europe's most interesting directors, his track record in the crime genre is peerless, and Tom Hardy looks to have finally found a role worthy of his undoubted talent:



- 2009 will be a year in which films by both Michael Mann and Terence Malick are released. There will undoubtedly be a "Public Enemies" trailer soon, but Malick is a harder sell, commercially speaking. "Tree of Life", nonetheless, sounds fascinating:



- The picture at the top? Claudia Cardinale. Just because.