Long Time No Blog

It’s been over a year since I could say ‘I haven’t blogged in a while’.  While I feel moderately guilty for my lack of input to this blog over the last two months, I must admit it’s a little freeing not to have to write here every day.  And I know I’ve barely had time to sleep recently, let alone write!

It has been a busy few months.  I’m doing the SAT in May, so I need to do some study for that.  I’ve been involved in organising Inter-House debating in my school this term.  I took part in an Applied Maths quiz last week (and we came ~7th I think), because I’m cool like that.  I’m starting my History RSR soonish (I am 99% sure of my topic).  I’ve had a mountain of homework every weekend, and I need to start studying for my 5th Year exams shortly too.  5th Year is wonderful, guys, it really is.

So, other than school work, what else have I been up to?

Well, I’ve been listening to Houdini by Foster The People a lot (550 plays in my iTunes since January 12 what).  In fact, this live version is even better:

I went to see The Hunger Games yesterday.  The movie was excellent, even if I wasn’t as overwhelmed by the books as everyone else appears to be (review).  I liked the cinematography, which captured the mood really well, and the clever absence of a score at certain crucial moments (the silence at the Reaping was unnerving, in a good way).  Plus Jennifer Lawrence was a perfect choice for Katniss.

Also, the Mahogany jokes are just not going to get old.

Other than that?  I haven’t been up to much lately.  I’m not even sure who I’m addressing this to, as I’m unlikely to have any sort of an audience anymore.

But hey, this is the Internet.  As long as I have a keyboard, who cares if anyone’s listening?

Rethinking It

There’s been a lot of talk in the last week or so about the Internet, copyright and personal freedoms.  I’ve been giving it all a bit of thought – that’s from SOPA, to ACTA to the proposed anti-copyright legislation in Ireland – and here’s my two cents on the matter.

I’m 17, and in truth I’ve never really known a world without the Internet.  I probably started using it on a regular basis when I was about 9 (Neopets…), and since then it’s been a major part of my life.  Rare is the day that I don’t check Twitter, or Tumblr, or access the Internet in some way – it’s almost always when I’m out of the country.  Roughly 90% of the non-academic information I consume in any given day is fed to me via the Internet, and that’s true of a lot of my generation at the moment.

When I was a child, music was bought on CD, but cassettes were still around.  I can still remember clearly the first DVDs we bought – Tarzan and The Iron Giant were among them – because I was about 6 years old then.  I remember the first iPod, using iTunes for the first time, getting my own iPod, using the internet on my iPod Touch, downloading my first song from iTunes (with the aid of my Dad and his credit card, naturally).  The Internet itself is something which has only become widely-available and widely-used in my lifetime.  It has changed forever the way we regard and consume media of all kinds, in a terribly short space of time, and it’s easy to see why the people who own the copyright are becoming increasingly nervous about it.

Copyright is tricky in this age of the Internet.  Illegal downloading has become a social norm, particularly in the music sector, and most of us don’t even bat an eyelid at paying for nothing for an album or two.  We know it’s wrong, and yet we do it anyway because we can.  Personally, I think something needs to be done about illegal downloading, but simply cutting off all access to copyrighted materials online is not going to do the entertainment industry any good.

In many ways, the Internet is the best thing to have ever happened to the entertainment industry.  It’s given music artists a bigger audience than ever before and it’s given rise to the speediest method of word-of-mouth (technically) ever known to man.  The Internet is easily the best form of free advertising when it comes to music and film.  I can’t count the number of artists I would have never discovered were it not for the Internet – Foster The People, fun., Bon Iver, Coeur de Pirate, just to name a few – and each have benefitted financially from that.  Similarly, I would have never gotten into Castle had I not been able to watch it online, simply because it was aired at awkward times on RTE, but I have since become a big fan of it, and bought the three novels and the first season on DVD (and intend on buying the second, third and fourth when they finally become available in Ireland).  Hey, my family pay UPC and a TV license, and I watch Castle on TV too a few months later anyway – where’s the harm, really?

A little bit of creativity is what’s needed to address copyright infringement online.  The Internet is a fantastic means of sharing culture, and certainly exposes more people to more media than ever before.  Business models in the recording and film industry need to be re-thought to adapt to this new technology, because clearly it’s not working for them, and clearly people will not stand for sledgehammer legislation which curtails their Internet freedoms.  iTunes and Netflix are examples of brilliant, innovative services which have adapted well to the entertainment consumption habits of the 21st century.  I still think individual songs are much too expensive on iTunes, considering how direct a service it is, but at least they’re embracing technology instead of condemning it.

I won’t deny that copyright infringement is rife on the Internet, and it’s getting out of hand, but it is also true that not all of it is bad for the industry.  The Internet is truly the home of the ‘fandom’ – the community of users who share a love of a particular film, artist or TV show – and that’s what creates wider brand awareness.   That usually involves some form of ‘copyright infringement’, in the form of fanart, fanvideos and fanfiction (I don’t know how they’ll be treated under ACTA, etc), but wow do those things contribute to and foster fanbases – undoubtedly the most valuable asset any film, artist or TV show can have.   If people can share in their excitement over something they love, they’ll be more likely to keep interested in it, and other will be more likely to discover it, and pay for it.

The Internet has already proven its potential for good, what needs to be addressed now is its abuse.  It desperately needs regulation, but the way that’s being approached at the moment will only serve to suck all the goodness out of it.  Perhaps it is naive of me to suggest this, as I know what the people with power in the entertainment industry are interested in is money, but a broader understanding of how the Internet is used is necessary before major decisions are made, decisions which would certainly have implications that reach farther than just the entertainment industry.  Unfortunately, I doubt that these things will be taken into consideration, because art seems to come behind profit margins, but I do hope in the future they will be recognised.

Best Of 2011: My 2011 [Part 2]

July

At the beginning of July, I came back from France (sadly) and the proceeded to do another week of work experience in TV3.  That time around, I was working with the news crews, going out with them to cover stories.  Again, it was really interesting.  I’m not sure I’d consider it as a profession, but it certainly gave me a unique insight into how the news we watch every day is produced.  Other than that, I don’t think I did very much in July (except for flailing about how close Fifth Year was to starting…)

August

In August, I went to Spain with Fiona Caverly, her family and her friend Sin Ki.  It was a contrast to France, where the weather had been pleasant but mixed; it was a lot hotter than any holiday I’d been on in recent years!  I had a great time, and it was quite a relaxing holiday.  Towards the end of August, then, I got even more excited for going back to school, and not just because I missed school in general.  It was my first Summer without Facebook, and I actually missed talking to people.  School started in the last few days of August, and it was certainly nice to be back.

September

September wasn’t a month where anything of any particular significance came to pass.  I got back into the swing of school work (so much of it) and allowed myself to gradually get excited about going to Italy in October.  I started my Japanese classes with Eleanor, Sadhbh, Emma and Alice (and a whole bunch of other people like) on the 10th, and it’s been going great ever since.  I don’t even consider Japanese my ’9th’ subject anymore, because it’s a lot less work (and easier) than Music and History…if that makes sense.

You wish your flashcards had this much swag

October

The highlight of October was easily going to Italy with school.  We spent five days there, staying on Lake Garda and visiting such places as Venice, Milan, Gardaland and Verona.  Yes, my precious iPhone went missing in Gardaland and I never got it back, and yes I did let my anxiety get the better of me thereafter, but it didn’t quite ruin the trip for me.  I still had a load of fun on what felt more like a holiday with ~60 girls and 6 teachers, than anything else.  We had a lot of free time to enjoy the beautiful places we went to (plus to do some shopping), and had some memorable bus journeys in between, too.  It was a lovely trip, and I wish we could do it all over again (perhaps leaving out the losing of the phone part, though).

November

I didn’t do much in November apart from study, study, study.  I don’t regret that, because it paid off in the exams, which were the last week of November, but it was sort of a downer that my social life went to ruin.  Oh well, things seem to picking up lately, now that school is over for Christmas.  I actually have plans for New Years, if you can believe that.  I also turned 17 in November, which was nice, though I didn’t make any huge effort to mark it for the aformentioned reasons.

December

Ah, the last month of the year.  With exams over and the Carol Service in a few weeks, school was much more easy-going.  We kept up the work, and got our test results back little by little, and awaited the snow which never (really) came.  The Carol Service was really nice, but I regretted the number of classes I had to miss for it.  I have yet to catch myself up on a lot of the lessons I missed…

Of course, the highlight of December had to be Christmas.  I didn’t ask for much this year, as my new iPhone 4S was basically a combined birthday and Christmas present.  I won an iPad a few weeks earlier, from a blog writing competition (see?  Blogging does pay off sometimes) and got a keyboard case and stylus for it, among other presents including Castle Season 1 on DVD.  On Thursday, I watched a few episodes of it with Eleanor and I’ve decided that it will just never get old.  I’m tempted to order Seasons 2 and 3 from Amazon.fr, because they’re not available on the UK site for some strange reason.

So now, there’s only a few hours left of 2011, and my daily blogging has (finally) come to an end.  It’s strange, isn’t it, that this is my 365th post this year.  It doesn’t feel like it.  Wait, no actually it does.  It’s been a long year, and writing a blog every day has been…demanding, at best.  However I can’t deny the opportunities it afforded me, and as I look over at that white iPad 2 I have admit it was definitely worth it.

4oD app = beautiful alternative to television

What next for La Vie En Ross?  Well, I’m not going to be giving up entirely.  Expect a blog per week from now on, hopefully of a much higher standard than I’ve been churning out recently (this past week not really included).  Writing every day was nice, but I’m also quite glad not to have it hanging over me anymore.  I’m going to enjoy not feeling compelled to write something every evening, but I still enjoy writing when I have something to say.

Thanks to everyone who read and commented on my blog this year.  So long, and thanks for all the – wait for it – hits.

(Please don’t judge me for that terrible pun)

Best Of 2011: My 2011 [Part 1]

2011 was a great year for me.  My life was chronicled on this blog for the last 364 days, and I’ve probably written about the highlights already this year, but I feel a two-part recap wouldn’t go astray, especially for my last two days of blogging daily (!)

January

I suppose the most notable thing I did in January was go to “Science Boot Camp” as I liked to call it.  It was the training for the European Union Science Olympiad, following on from my gold medal in Biology at the IrEUSO the previous November.  I didn’t make it onto the team, but I think in hindsight that was a good thing.  Attending the two days of training in DCU taught me at least one valuable lesson: science probably wasn’t the road I should take.  I knew almost immediately that working in the lab just wasn’t for me.  I’m not actually a big fan of practical lab work in Science (and now in Biology).  I’m impatient when it comes to the fine details and measurements, and it doesn’t light the fire in me that I expect something I want to pursue for the rest of my life should.  Indeed, it bored me.  So I didn’t go to the Czech Republic, fine, but lots of important decisions I made (and will make) were affected by the experience, not least of which my subject choices for Fifth Year.  I’m still doing Biology, and of course Applied Maths, but turning against Science also gave me the opportunity to explore the other options for college, which led me to take up History.  As it happens, I’m currently leaning towards Maths or Computer Science + French, which aren’t a million miles away from Science, but I’m sure I never would have considered anything other than Science or Medicine had I not had that experience.

February

If I had to choose a highlight for February, it’d probably be the nomination for the 2011 Irish Blog Awards (which came on the 28th).  That was good, considering I’d only been actively blogging for two months.  Other highlights included seeing Confessions for the first time – it was just stunning – and, eh, dissecting that rat.  Sad as it sounds that was actually kind of great.  Other than that, February wasn’t the most eventful of months, it seems.  My lacklustre blogging for that month seems to agree.

March

A fair few things happened in March.  Firstly, we staged our TY musical.  I made no secret of the fact that I hated 90% of the preparation for the musical, didn’t want to be on stage and disagreed with the fact that it was compulsory, but when it did finally go to stage I think we all enjoyed it.  The best part of putting it on was knowing that soon it would all be over.  And I have never looked back.  Musicals just…they aren’t my thing, okay?

Secondly, I went to the Irish Blog Awards.  I didn’t win ‘Best Youth Blog’, but it was a good night regardless.  It’s unfortunate that there won’t be another such ceremony next year, but I probably wouldn’t have much to do with it anyway as I’m going to be cutting back on the blogging significantly in the New Year!

April

Where to start with April?  I did two weeks of work experience for the two weeks before the Easter holidays.  The first was in the DCU Library, and I really enjoyed it.  The week flew by and I really learned a lot.  The second was in St Nicholas Montessori School – my own primary school – where I was working mainly in the 3-6 year old classroom.  That week was definitely more tiring than the previous one, but again it was fun and an interesting experience.  Probably the really highlight of April came at the end of that week, when I interviewed An Taoiseach Enda Kenny at a conference in Dublin Castle.  Kind of hard to trump that, alright.

(Photo: John Shiels)

May

May was the month when I finally said goodbye to TY.  Even though I’d gotten a lot out of the year, I was glad when it ended.  I was ready for a bit more work, more focus, all of which did come in FifthYear.  While now I look back and envy my TY self for all the time she had available to her, I still understand why I wanted the year to end so badly.  It was also in May that we found out about our Fifth Year trip, which ended up being to Italy in October, and made our Leaving Cert subject choices (I picked History, Music, Biology, French and Applied Maths in the end).  Exciting times.  Oh, and we also went on our Gaisce hike on the Wicklow Way.  That was fun.  I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and I’m already a little stoked for the Silver hike…

Best photo I've ever taken

June

June began with the end of my TY exams, shortly followed by a week of work experience in TV3.  It was fascinating, to say the least, and I returned for another week in July.  Then I headed off to France with my family, and fell in love with the lake we were staying by, Lac de Chalain.  It was near the border with Switzerland, in the Jura region, and I just really want to go back there sometime.  It was simply gorgeous, particularly at sunset.

Ok, that’s the first six months of the year covered briefly…tune in tomorrow for the latter half of the year :)

Best Of 2011: TV

It’s been a good year for television – isn’t every year, though (save for 2008 when the Writers’ Strike just brought everything down)? I don’t watch a whole load of actual television, on the TV, mostly because I don’t get a chance to. Instead I follow my programmes online, whenever it suits me to. It’s not ideal, but I hate waiting for US TV to be broadcast over here anyway. So this is isn’t really a comprehensive list of the best TV of 2011, more an account of both the highs and lows of those shows I was actively watching throughout 2011.

[Spoiler Alerts abound for the latest seasons, which may or may not have aired in Ireland yet, guys]

House – Disappointing

Season 7 of House was really underwhelming.  I quite liked it when House and Cuddy were (finally) in a relationship, but when that went southwards so did everything else.  The finale was ridiculous, and didn’t motivate me to come back for Season 8 at all.  It’s as if they just ran out of ideas and decided ‘House be crazy’ and had him crash a car into Cuddy’s living room.  Cuddy was unnecessarily harsh, sending him to the wrong place for dinner, but that just didn’t fit with House’s character development at all.  And he was always supposed to be a nice person under that acerbic outer layer, right?  Oh well, I may yet go back to watch Season 8 but I don’t really feel compelled to.

Bones - A Let Down

I’ve been saying it for a while – Bones has been steadily declining in quality since about Season Four.  In my opinion, this was due to a poor combination of trying to be the comedy it never will be, and delaying the inevitable relationship between Booth and Brennan.  I used to be quite invested in the show, you see.  At the end of its sixth season, in the penultimate episode, the two finally slept together.  Or at least that was what was implied, because it was never explicitly stated, nor were we given conclusive visual indication of any sort.  It was confirmed in the finale, set about a month later, when Brennan announces that she’s pregnant in the last twenty seconds.  Yep.  And you know it was only written in because Emily Deschanel was pregnant in real life.  Six seasons of pussyfooting around the issue (really quite badly) and then – as Booth unwittingly put it – “Bam! Mama Bones!”.  Yeah, it was as bad as it sounds.  I know the two of them were basically dating for a few seasons, but then again they really weren’t.  I think the time has passed to draw comparisons with Castle, but one thing watching that show has demonstrated to me is that your characters can be much flirtier and overt about their attraction while still keeping up the suspense.  They can address the UST without resolving it, and still be entertaining.  Bones failed to do that, and tried to make up for it by throwing them in at the deep end of a relationship at the beginning of Season Seven.

Brennan tells Booth she's pregnant. That shouldn't be the first confirmation an audience gets that they're together, really.

Season Seven picked up in the fifth month of Brennan’s pregnancy, and it’s going marginally better (even though we missed the parts where they have to break the news to everyone else, which I was looking forward to).  I’ll never abandon Bones the way I let House slip away, but I’d be satisfied if this were the last season.  The writing-acting combination is a bit boring now, and I’m just not as interested as I used to be.  2011 definitely was the year that I finally decided Bones was just not good anymore (probably later than I should have admitted that), and I suppose that’s sort of sad.  At the same time, these things do have to just run their course, don’t they?  I just wish it could have done its (very loyal) fans a little more justice, is all.  And this isn’t even guaranteed to be the last season…

Glee - Impressive

The Christmas special was so terribly cheesy it was good

I gave up on Glee towards the beginning of Season Two – around November 2010 – because  I felt it had really lost its spark.  There was no continuity, the plots were boring, it just wasn’t drawing me in like it used to.  So I stopped watching, and then suddenly everything got better.  Go figure.  I picked it back up again in August, when E4 was rerunning both seasons, and I’ll admit I actually really enjoyed it.  Rachel and Finn continue to bore me to tears (they’re just so uninteresting it hurts), but characters like Santana, Brittany, Kurt and Blaine make it worth watching.  It’s still a musical soap opera, and it’ll never be the pinnacle of television, but I still get a kick out of it.

The Warblers, led my Blaine (Darren Criss) had some of the best numbers in all of Season Two

I liked the introduction of Blaine and the Warblers, how they dealt with Kurt being bullied, and how they developed Santana from a generic, sassy bitch into a layered, complex character.  Maybe I wasn’t wholly convinced by how they handled her coming out (‘I Kissed A Girl‘?  Really?  That song completely flies in the face of the point they were trying to make), but at least they’ve made an effort to give Naya Rivera the screentime she deserves.  Santana really did have some of the best lines (along with Brittany) – anything to do with Lima Heights just had me in stitches.

Santana (Naya Rivera) shone in Seasons Two and Three

Either way, I’m definitely sticking around for the rest of Season Three.

Modern Family – Best Comedy on TV

No show makes me laugh the way Modern Family did in 2011.  It’s really the single funniest comedy I watched this year, with the best ensemble cast of any show.  Not one member of that family (and there’s 13 of them) doesn’t have their moments.  The lack of a laugh track and the use of mockumentary set-up is really effective, and I find myself laughing at episodes I’ve already seen.  I think my favourite character has to be Gloria, played by Sofia Vergara.  She’s just…hilarious, no two ways about it.  And her accent just adds to that.

And Cameron is just the best stereotypical gay man on TV

But really, the whole show is just brilliant.  I’ve been stockpiling it on the DVR for weeks now and I’m looking forward to rewatching it all.

Castle - Exceeds Expectations

Castle professed his love for Kate when she was shot in the season finale, but she pretends that she didn't hear...It's less like a soap opera than I'm making it sound, promise.

Castle shot up to being my favourite show at some point this year.  I mean, it’s always been up there (since, you know, late 2009 when I started watching it), but it really came into its own in the third season, the first I got to watching entirely week-to-week (I caught up on most of Season 2 online, so it wasn’t quite the same).  In sharp contrast to Bones, which like I said isn’t that similar but shares some common elements, the unresolved sexual tension between Beckett and Castle has been developed really well and with great continuity (really great continuity).  Yes, in its fourth season they still aren’t together, but they’re inching in that direction.  And they have legitimate reasons to not be together, plus secrets which have yet to be uncovered – and promise to cause ructions later this season.  Castle, its writers and cast have managed to carry it all off so well this year, and it makes for entertaining viewing.  It’s a shame that the show isn’t more popular this side of the Atlantic, and that’s purely because it doesn’t get the airtime that more well-known shows do.  It’s shown on Alibi, which isn’t a mainstream channel, and Season Four won’t start here until March.  It’s just a pity, because I think Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic (as well as the rest of the talented cast) are just doing a great job and look to continue as such.

Personally, I think Stana Katic deserves an Emmy for her performances this year...

[Best moments on Castle this year summed up in a montage of GIFs]

So yeah, here’s hoping to some more brilliant television in the New Year.

Best of 2011: Songs

I decided to do this separate to the Albums post because there’s a bit more variety of artists and such and because I wanted to fill up another day’s post . I spent about 75% of 2011 either listening to music or battling with a song stuck in my head, so once again this list was hard to narrow down. In fact, I’ve included two lists: one for songs released in 2011, another for other songs I discovered this year (and probably overplayed).

Top 20 Songs of 2011:

20. We Found Love – Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
19. Super Bass – Nicki Minaj
18. Battery Kinzie – Fleet Foxes
17. Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People
16. Video Games – Lana Del Rey
15. Radioactive – Marina & The Diamonds
14. Anti-D – The Wombats
13. The Words That Maketh Murder – PJ Harvey
12. All This And Heaven Too – Florence + The Machine
11. Under Cover Of Darkness – The Strokes
10. Perth – Bon Iver
9. Give A Little Love - The Mostar Diving Club
8. Atlas Hands – Benjamin Francis Leftwich
7. Mission Bells - Armistice
6. Charlie Brown – Coldplay
5. Saint Laurent – Coeur De Pirate
4. Princess of China – Coldplay & Rihanna
3. We Are Young – fun. (Acoustic)
2. Time Of My Life – Patrick Wolf (Alternative Recording)
1. Holocene – Bon Iver (also favourite music video)

Top 10 Discoveries Of 2011:

10. Teeth – Lady Gaga
9. Winter Song – Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
8. Shades of Marble - Trentemøller
7. Slow Show – The National
6. Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur – Sigur Rós
5. Lost In The World – Kanye West ft. Bon Iver
4. Just Breathe – Pearl Jam
3. Be Calm – fun.
2. Monster – Kanye West ft. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj (I discovered this very late in 2010, so let’s just count it as 2011, ‘cos it’s great)
1. Fake Empire – The National

Best Of 2011: Film

2011 saw me make more trips to the cinema than ever before. So slimming this list down to just 10 was difficult, to say the least, but I think I got it right in the end.

10. Potiche (‘Trophy Wife’)

This light comedy set in the 1970s sees Catherine Deneuve abandons her life as a trophy housewife to take over the running of her husband’s umbrella factory. It’s funny, satirical and bursts with 70′s colour. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s a nice film all the same.

9. In A Better World (Hævnen)

A slightly disturbing coming-of-age tale set in idyllic Denmark (it made me want to just up and move there). Its Danish title literally means ‘the Revenge’; it sees two young boys learn a valuable lesson about revenge, and how to deal with perceived injustice. This plot is contrasted with how the father of one of the boys handles an unjust situation in the Sudan, where he works as a medic. An emotional, thought-provoking and visually beautiful film which certainly deserved its Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

8. Never Let Me Go

Like the book it’s based upon (one of my favourites), this film – starring Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan – raises ethical issues and makes you think about potential dystopic futures, while still successfully conveying a love story. Possibly the best part of this film (which was unique to the film) was how well-chosen the three leading actors’ child counterparts were chosen. Only on Glee was a younger version of a character so aptly-picked (for Chris Colfer). A solid adaptation of a classic book.

7. Submarine

Directed by Richard Ayoade (better known as Moss from The I.T. Crowd), this quietly hilarious film deals with the general awkwardness of being a teenager in a fairly novel way. It features quirky but likeable characters, and doesn’t try too hard to be as witty as it is.

6. Hugo

One of the few films I’ve seen that makes excellent use of 3D, I simply adored Hugo. It’s a stunning movie, with a heart-warming, novel plot, which twists in directions you won’t have seen coming. Asa Butterfield (of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas) shines as the star, and though I was a little disappointed by Chloe Moretz at the beginning, she did prove herself as the film wore on. A really gorgeous film.

5. Black Swan

Easily the 2011 film with the most potential to make my skin crawl. No character in this film appears to be completely mentally-sound, not least of whom Natalie Portman’s Nina, who struggles with ambition, a tenuous relationship with her mother, naiveté, sexuality and general psychological instability. Portman absolutely shines in this disturbing, visually-stunning film.

4. Bridesmaids

One would expect this film to be a chick-flick, but, well, it really isn’t. It has a sort of universal appeal, in that its humour is sort of…base. But not in a negative way. It’s actually quite a clever comedy, easily the funniest film I’ve seen all year. When we saw this in the cinema, everyone was just in stitches. And that’s really all you need from a comedy, isn’t it?

3. Confessions (告白, Kokuhaku)

Here’s another fairly creepy film (which also, as it happens, deals with revenge). Though at times a little hard to follow, and certainly in its prime in its opening, it’s difficult not to like. I’m itching to see it again, now that I’ve taken up Japanese, actually. A haunting, unsettling film that one can’t help but admire.

2. We Need To Talk About Kevin

What can I say, this film was just magnificent. I’m not sure why, but some of the best films I saw this year were the most unnerving. I suppose knowing how this film was to end may have eliminated a lot of the suspense, but even still there were definite moments of tension. I have to commend not just Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller, but the two boys who portrayed a younger Kevin. They did a great job of carrying off the disturbed child. You expect the conclusion of this film to be the centrepiece, but in reality it’s what led to it that takes the main focus. Yes, the climax is important, but Kevin’s childhood is equally important and captivating. It all begs the question – what causes a monster? That’s left up to the viewer to decide.

1. The Skin I Live In (La Piel Que Habito)

I was really blown away by this film. Uncomfortable at times, but undeniably brilliant. It’s like nothing else I’ve seen before. It’s engaging, grotesque, and yet beautifully executed. The plot isn’t exactly predictable, although towards the end you can sort of see the twist coming. The soundtrack is great too, featuring the truly haunting Shades of Marble by Trentemoller. A really disturbing yet fantastic film, and certainly the best of 2011.

For the record, here’s a list of films I didn’t get to see this year, but really want to:

• For Lovers Only (Stana Katic! How I’ve managed to not download this from iTunes yet I don’t understand)
• Super 8
• The Help
• Wuthering Heights
• Drive
• The Ides Of March
• Incendies
• Le Quattro Volte

And equally, here are the films I wish I hadn’t bothered with:

• The Tree Of Life (biggest load of pretentious crap I’ve ever seen)

Actually that was about it. There were other bad films (Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part II wasn’t great), but I don’t exactly feel like any other films robbed me of 2 hours of my life in the same way that The Tree Of Life did.

I hope 2012 will be an equally good year for film. I’m already looking forward to Big Sur, The Dark Knight Rises, The Iron Lady and – forgive me for it – The Hunger Games, and I’m sure many, many more gems that I’ve yet to hear of will come along too.

Best Of 2011: Albums

Oh it’s that time of year again!  I won’t lie, I’ve been looking forward to the last week of the year for several reasons, this being one of the main ones.  The last few months have seen a pretty poor standard of blog writing, between a lack of inspiration and a shortage of time.  But come the end of the year, I finally have something to get my teeth into.  And that’s rounding up the highlights of the year.  I’m going to start with albums, but between now and Saturday I’ll be writing about films, songs, TV moments, and personal highlights, too.

There were many great albums this year, though I did spend a lot more time listening to individual songs rather than enjoying full albums.  I’m only going to cover the top 5 in any real depth, but here are some which didn’t make the final cut:

• Adele – 21 - it was the overexposure that ruined this one for me.  I loved it in February, and think inherently it’s a great album, but ten months later I’m sick of it.
• Elbow – build a rocket boys! - another solid album, but too much of a slow burner.
• Glee - Glee: The Music Presents The Warblers - My only legitimate reason for not putting this on the list is that it’s Glee.  Also 6 is an unorthodox number for a ‘Best of’ list.

5. Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials

Florence, you can do no wrong.  I adore this album, though I haven’t given it nearly enough attention in the last few weeks.  While not as 100% solid as Lungs, Florence Welch’s voice is still unparalleled.  Even by Adele.  I find it does try a little bit too hard to top its predecessor at times, but as an album it flows quite nicely.  From the catchiness of Shake It Out (impossible not to join in singing, however dire a singer you may be), to the uplifting power of All This And Heaven Too, it’s a beautiful work.  And for its faults, it’s still one of 2011′s best offerings (that I’ve listened to, of course).

4. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto

I really wasn’t looking forward to this album.  I loved Viva La Vida and Death And All His Friends, but I thought this album looked a but gimmicky in the early days.  I wasn’t overly impressed by Paradise (I’m not, still), but as soon as I heard Charlie Brown I was won over.  It’s a diverse album, I think there are elements of all their previous albums scattered throughout it, along with some new sounds.  For example, Us Against The World and Up In Flames are very ‘Parachutes‘/’Rush Of Blood To The Head‘-like, but Princess Of China (featuring Rihanna) is completely different to anything they’ve produced before.  It’s a bit uneven, as albums go, and far from the greatness of its predecessor, but it’s a fun album, and a welcome addition to the Coldplay discography of which I’m so fond.  I also love the album artwork, just as an aside.

3. Patrick Wolf – Lupercalia

I spent a great deal of my time in France this Summer listening to this the whole way through, and in particular keeping Time Of My Life on repeat (more on that to come later in the week, believe me).  It’s not Wolf’s best work by any means, but it’s a lovely album all the same.  It’s bubbly and optimistic, and utterly charming.  I find it hard to dissociate it with the summertime and sunshine, even its darker moments (like Slow Motion).  At its most basic, Lupercalia is an extended love story of an album, and I just loved it.

2. Coeur De Pirate – Blonde

Not as well-known as she rightfully should be, Béatrice Martin, aka Coeur de Pirate, only improved with her sophomore album.  Singing entirely in French, this album is slightly more mature, though still at its heart vibrant and fun.  I find myself tapping my foot or nodding my head constantly to songs like Adieu and Golden Baby, and it’s got a bit of a retro feel to it (particularly evident on Verseau, which is very 1960s in its chorus).  I fell for this album the first time I listened to it, and I hate that she’s so unknown in this part of the world.  Her music is refreshing, and not just because it isn’t in English. I’m not the greatest at French, but I do detect a certain melancholia in the lyrics – I believe the album was mostly inspired by a break-up – nowhere more evident than on my favourite track Cap Diamant. But meanings aside, this album is brimming with life, retaining the bounciest elements of her eponymous debut offering while ‘growing up’ just a bit.

1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Well, what else was it going to be.  This is a sublime album, and deserved each of the Grammy nominations it got (except, perhaps, ‘Best New Artist’ nom; Bon Iver released For Emma, Forever Ago four years ago…).  Perth is perhaps the best opening of an album I have ever come across, and Holocene is…it still gives me the chills, it’s so good.  I delight in listening to Bon Iver the whole way through, when I can, but there isn’t a single track that doesn’t work on its own, either.  This is certainly not an album I’ll be forgetting about any time soon.  It’s simply beautiful.

Merry Christmas

So it’s finally here, Christmas! I won’t lie, Christmas is not the same when you’re not an innocent little kid running around the place eating too many sweets and generally being hyper. I still love the holiday, but it’s certainly different through teenage eyes. That’s not to say I didn’t eat far too much Lindt chocolate and thoroughly enjoy my presents, though. How could I possibly miss out on that?

To be honest, I haven’t much to say. I’m exhausted, even though I feel like I’m still riding the sugar rush a little bit. Presents-wise, the highlights were this keyboard/case, a Wacom Bamboo stylus for iPad, new Sennheiser headphones (I really needed to ditch the standard iPhone ones…), Season 1 of Castle on DVD and this glorious volleyball.

Come on, how can you not appreciate that?

I got plenty of other gifts as well, of course, which I will get a chance to enjoy over the next few days.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and indeed aren’t reading this tonight because you all have better things to be doing with your Christmas evenings!

It’s (Nearly) Christmas!

It’s Christmas Eve, in case you hadn’t already noticed.  There are gifts still to be wrapped, and a good night’s sleep yet to be had, so I won’t dwell on this post for long.  Next week begins the ‘Best Of’ posts, upon which I’ve just started to work, and hopefully those will be much better than this blog’s more recent offerings…

For now, I’ll leave Chris Colfer and Darren Criss’ rendition of Baby It’s Cold Outside, partly because I love it, and also because it’s so mild outside that it’s kind of ironic.

Have a merry Christmas :)