Jazzy D's Soul Notes

So on my first visit i picked up all the seasons 1- 6 of The Big Bang Theory for six quid. As the lass said in the charity shop "That will keep you busy".

Wow! I have just watched the most thrilling DVD starring Denzel Washington - Deja Vu This is exactly what he does.  It is an action thriler from  2006 with science fiction elements but is taut throughout the film. For those who want to konw what it is all about the link to wiki tells all (spoiler alert) but if you can rent it, Netfix it or whatever i highly recommend this well scripted drama.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_Vu_(2006_film)

It is overcast. A far cry from yesterday. Typical British weather, up and down like a yo yo.

So, today, posting of Ebay sales, and perhaps a trip down Folkstone way.

Last night watched a DVD of Get Shorty, based on the Elmore Leonard novel. Described as a crime thriller comedy, it is a very good film, with a great movie soundtrack provided by John Lurie.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Shorty_(film)

I was watching last night via You Tube , Bjork's Biophilia Live. If you have the time , about one and a half hour, i recommend watching it. I was thrilled, Here it is -



During the week so far i have watched DD's of -

An American Werewolf In London
Elektra
The Season Of The Witch

The first one is a horror based black comedy. Elektra , with Jennifer Garner (formerly in Alias) is based on the Marvel comics character, and the latter film is based around the Crusades with a possessed young lady and stars Nicholas Cage.

I have finished watching the four DVD set of Red Dwarf , which ends on Season 4 of the TV comedy series. I have sold it on Ebay so i am awaiting payment for it before i post it off. Some of the episodes were very funny and others were not. Also, i do embarrassingly realize how un-PC it was and that it would hardly be made these days. Terms like "Smeghead",which became an all too familiar cuss word by Lister, for example,aren't that nice, and sometimes the attitude to women are very seventies.

This box set was found in the Fleur Bookshop in Faversham. The shop is related to the town museum which is part of the Faversham Society. Interesting website link here, if you like history,conservation and archaeology.

http://www.faversham.org.uk/society

"Relying solely on volunteers, the Society runs the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre which includes a museum, gallery, heritage bookshop and Faversham's only Visitor Information Centre; it also runs the Chart Gunpowder Mill and Maison Dieu, Ospringe and manages a second-hand bookshop just around the corner from the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre."

They concentrate on selling second hand books and so when they get the occasional DVD or CD they sell them very cheap. The box set was only 50 pence. It was the same shop i got the excellent Firefly box set from.

So the next box set i have yet to devour is the Season Three Futurama one which was a charity shop find on one of my travels, which if my memory serves me correct, was the Red Cross branch in Canterbury.

House of Flying Daggers DVD


Set during 829 AD China as the Tang Dynasty is in decline and political unrest is on the rise, one of the most powerful rebel groups is the House of Flying Daggers. Two local military captains, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are ordered to capture the new leader which brings them to a local brothel where they meet a beautiful and captivating blind dancer, Mei (Zhang Ziyi). What follows is a journey through forests and meadows, with Jin posing as a lone warrior vying to gain Mei’s trust as they set out on their journey to the House’s secret headquarter. The plot thickens the further they go, with love blossoming, danger mounting, and nothing is what it seems.

This film is visually inventive and just all out dazzling, from the exquisite ‘game of echoes’ dance scene to the spectacular fight scenes in the bamboo forest as well as the blizzard battle at the end are breathtaking and a must-see for anyone who appreciates gorgeous cinematography. Apparently the use of colors is Yimou’s signature — kind of like John Woo is with his doves — and scene after scene is drenched with dramatic colors that is nothing short of a visual feast.

Acting-wise, I think it’s decent, though I have nothing to compare it to as I’m not familiar with any of the actor’s work. Zhang Ziyi is believable enough as a blind person, and as a woman torn between two lovers. Kaneshiro and Lau also deliver strong performances and I see now what the fuss is about Kaneshiro, who’s massively popular in Asia. He’s got quite a screen presence and that valiant quality perfect for a heroic leading man role (he’s like the Asian version of Legolas in this movie with his archery skill). The main issue for me though is the overly convoluted plot and as the film reaches its climax, one revelation after another just keeps piling on top of each other that not only it’s hard to keep track, but also throws me out on a loop. Overall though, it’s more of a style-over-substance kind of film but still far more unique than most of the formulaic fares Hollywood’s got to offer. Highly recommend this one.

We had a small flurry of snow this morning which soon dissipated due to increasing air bound energy that is generally known as warming up. This effect precipitated my expectancy in a good day at my favourite pub in Brighton with a midday tête a tête with my brother, only to be deflated by a text indicating the particle / wave duality of light and the measurement of such an event as bounded by Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle – that is , he cannot be in two places at once. There has been an obvious paradigm shift.

It is somewhat disparaging when Rugby football trumps a get together at the Evening Star, but then in wiser words than mine “Shit happens”.

So ,verily, I came up with other plans and had a meal in Seaford and some cans of beer to drink whilst watching more episodes of the Big Bang Theory on DVD. I have seen some of these already on either E4 or Channel 4, and yet, they still make me guffaw out load.

I needed some eye candy anyway, since the series has the rather tasty Kaley Cuoco as Penny, the neighbour in the flat next door to the physics geeks, Sheldon and Leonard. (She also appeared as Billie Jenkins in the last series of Charmed). Also it took my mind of a problem L dumped on me in that she needs to look for a place to stay, and do I know someone who has got a spare room she can rent, which needs to be found by the end of March.

Anyway, Mike has pencilled in March 17th to come down to Kent ,which happens to be St. Patrick’s Day , which I hope will come to fruition.

Tomorrow I shall visit Eastbourne for the day assuming that we are not snowed in during the morning.

This morning I download some e-books onto the laptop, a PC style Kindle platform, that mimics a real Kindle device. All out of copyright and hence free , such as Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein”.

Last night downloaded some mixes and cool free music from the web, some of which I will play at the Northern Lights gig this coming Friday.

On TV last night watched the documentary on Impressionism, and downloaded the music documentary of classical composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davis, which I watched afterwards.

Today I watched the 2010 DVD release of “Dorian Gray” , which I borrowed from Phil at the Dover Castle.

I have read the Oscar Wilde book once, and I know that this not a word for word faithful adaptation of the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” ,however it is very true to the heart of the novel and the meaning and purpose of it. The character portrayals are perfect and accurate. All changes are purely superficial. I know Ben Barnes as Dorian does not resemble the character of the novel however he does resemble Oscar Wilde himself, and since Oscar Wilde saw himself in Dorian, I felt this was a brilliant use of visual symbolism in Wilde's own relationship with Dorian Gray.

I know that some people have complained about the adding of the character Emily Wotton, whom does not exist in the novel. What people fail to remember is that nearly all film versions of The Picture of Dorian Gray have this 'redeemer' character. In the 1940s movie her name was Gladys. In the 1973 version of The Picture of Dorian Gray her name was Beatrice. In most versions she's Basil's niece or daughter but in this version she was Lord Henry's daughter.

What many don't know is that this character does exist in the novel. She's mentioned briefly near the end as a country girl named Hetty. Her part in the novel isn't as big as in the film adaptations but she does still exist and she works to add sympathy to Dorian's character.

You cannot see the inner workings of Dorian's mind in a physical medium like films or plays as you do with the novel so you you need a new way to see his moral struggle. And this is done through the presence of Emily.

Colin Firth was incredible as Lord Henry. That was the best portrayal of Lord Henry since George Sanders. This version of The Picture of Dorian Gray has more of Oscar Wilde's witty epigrams than any other version before it. The only line missing that I wish was in here is Lord Henry gives Dorian a cigarette case. In this one it's just inscribed with Dorian's name. In the novel it reads 'The World has changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curve of your lips re-write history.

The only character of the film I did not like was this version of Sybil Vane. (Sibyl in the novel). In this version Dorian seduces her into sleeping with him before marriage (as he does in the original film with Angela Lansbury in the role).
When Sybil starts talking about having a family Dorian argues that it is too soon, much thanks to the ideas planted in his head by Lord Henry. When this Sybil kills herself it gets revealed that she was with child. This takes away from her sympathy. It's true having a child out of wed lock was frowned upon in the Victorian era but it did happen. And it did not mean the end of the world. Look at the character of Fantine in Les Miserables. It was selfish of this Sybil to kill herself because she did not just kill herself, she killed herself and the unborn baby.
Sybil does kill herself in the earlier incarnations but at least she had never done it while carrying a baby and knowing she was carrying the baby, and having wanted to raise the child. It's hard to sympathize with this version of Sybil, especially since you know her brother Jim would have taken care of both her and the baby if not Dorian.

Basil, however, was very sympathetic. One thing I'm glad they cut was that in most versions Basil didn't just disapprove of Dorian's relationship with Sybil out of jealousy, he also had told him not to marry beneath his class. Basil doesn't do that in this version. Basil is the most sympathetic of Dorian's Victims in this film.

Dorian himself is played exceptionally well though my favourite character portrayal in this version is Lord Henry. Dorian goes from ruthless and cruel to sympathetic and tragic in a heartbeat. The struggle is perfect. You can see his conscience, and not just with the painting. He is fighting against his own darker instincts which adds to making him sympathetic.
I feel that they have captured the spirit of Oscar Wilde's intent. This was the best version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, with a true sense of the Gothic..

 Sunday i had time to go to Fabrica to see the Semiconductor installation "Brilliant Noise" as it was the last day.  Semiconductor make sound films that reveal our physical world in flux,cities in motion,shifting landscapes and systems in chaos.

Brilliant Noise is a film brought together of some of the sun's finest moments,an immersive,eleven metre wide moving image installation. The soundtrack of the piece reveals the hidden forces at play upon the solar surface and creates a symphony of the sun by directly translating the brightness of the image into audio frequencies.  

Semiconductor have two DVDs available "Worlds In Flux" (Fat Cat)  and "Hi Fi Rise" (Other Timeline Films). The latter DVD has guest films including two by local Brightoninans - Ian helliwell's "Crystallisation" and People Like Us "New Knowledge".

Both DVD's are well worth seeing.