Saw Dana Popa’s – ‘not Natasha’ exhibition about sex trafficking. In contrast to the film Lilya 4-ever there was very little direct imagery – it was more references to the people left behind, the spaces that are empty, and some scarred portraits of women that have had their lives wrecked by trafficking. This mean’t there are fewer mixed emotions aroused by the images than more salacious portrayals might have aroused.

In Lilya 4-ever you were left gutted and horrified by what had happened, with this exhibition I came away more with a feeling of grim sadness.

When art photography tackles such a subject, there is always some degree of questioning of the motives of the photographer. Also the photographic treatment of such subjects can sometimes beautify the subject when perhaps it shouldn’t.

I didn’t come away feeling this was the case with this exhibition. It’s certainly worth a repeat visit, more would be seen on a second viewing I would say.

Second week running to Club Academy in Manchester, last week Mugison, this week Frightened Rabbit. Mugison’s gig great on different levels – his music, his stories and humour and his rapport with the fairly small crowd.

Frightened Rabbit however had sold out the Club Academy and arriving at 9.15 it was pretty full in there. The crowd seemed much more mainstream than for Mugison, and I was slightly disconcerted to be surrounded by a quite straight looking uni crowd. Is this what my music taste had come to I wondered, or were Frightened Rabbit a bit different as I’d thought when I listened to them.

They came to my attention when I saw they were from Selkirk. Birthplace of one my relatives, Selkirk has a saying: ‘A day out of Selkirk is a day wasted’. It is a small self contained town on the Scottish Borders, which doesn’t seem at first glance to have much need for more glamourous activities that may be found in the cities to the North and the wider world.

Frightened Rabbit came on to what came close to a punk noise … quite unexpected and a little exciting … their singer seemed pretty uncomfortable with the rock star role, and there was quite a bit of ‘turn my instrument/mic up please’ from various members of the band – which is actually probably quite a good thing – they really cared about the music, and it wasn’t just an image thing for them. They had maybe 5 top tracks that really made them stand out, and were playing some new tracks from the album just released.

I had a couple of early qualms thinking of comparisons … U2 … Simple Minds … but these were unfounded – they were kind of different and in the end I couldn’t think of any bands that were closely like – the singers slightly disfunctional emotive approach – a little shy maybe and probably quite honest – his voice was pretty different and it was a good gig. One of the best for them they said too – they are a band that are on the verge of going huge … they just need the songs to match up to their last album – but maybe they’d be happier the way they are …

Mugison: Saw this guy first on a DVD I picked up in Iceland. He was playing in a tiny attic with a band mate, then later in an isolated little used church. Seeing the gig advertised, thought if I can’t go to Iceland, at least I can see someone who is Icelandic.

Arrived at Manchester Oxford Road station at 7pm on a Friday night – the place was buzzing, Manchester gearing up for a good night out. Nipped into Adbul’s for a bite … of you guessed it … chicken kebab. As always fantastic – a little smaller than the kebabs down at Whitworth Park but still the most tasty I’ve ever had. Left the shop with mouth burning with the chilli sauce.

Walked down to the University, plenty of time to get there, and into the student’s union. Another gig was on in the same building that night – 80s rock group Europe. Lots of hair around me going up the stairs, and the ticket guy said I was the first person he’d seen with a Mugison ticket.

Into the bar, and the place was thronged with middle aged rockers of all shapes and sizes. I looked around wondering if I’d spot Mugison in the bar. I remembered he had a beard, but all these Europe fans had beards. I went down to the gig room in the basement. It was completely empty. Must be the smallest Academy venue – I’d never been there. I went back upstairs hoping a few people at least were going to turn up.

I decided to skip the support. I’d hoped he would be Icelandic, but his name suggested he was from the UK, maybe I missed a treat?

Going back down for 9.30, the room had filled out a little – still nowhere near half full, but when Mugison came on, the response he was getting was enough – it seemed like a nice crowd.

He started with two songs dedicated to his wife. He was telling stories in between songs in his wonderful Icelandic accent – his wife was a ‘great practical joker’, she booked his tour dates and sometimes as a joke would book him on an airplane to the wrong city, so he would then have to travel across by his own means

Sometimes playing with a band, tonight he was on his own, and most of the songs were with guitar, though on a couple he played a strange small computer gadget that made loads of weird noises … samples from ‘broken guitars’ etc. At one point he stood up and searched his pockets. He was looking for a pick … a girl from the audience volunteered one.

His stories were very amusing, some of an ‘adult’ nature … such as the ‘Ice Breaker’ – a sailor he had met fishing off the coast of Russia, and also an onstage trouser accident he had had in Brussels – very funny.

A couple of songs he had the audience particating, with an wicked smile he had the girls responding to ‘Jesus is a good name to moan’ … I think he enjoyed that one … haha

He is ‘a bit afraid of encores’ so he stood up took a bow then sat back down and immediately played the ‘encore’ … a reference to the ‘final countdown’ caused a few chuckles … then he strode across to the bar his job done … who knows where his night went from there.

For me it was a walk back down Oxford Road, getting a telling off for walking into the wrong exit of the coach station, a short wait to get on the last coach back across the Pennines. In the seat behind a very pretty girl from I know not which country was having a phone conversation in an unknown language, and I was lulled by her murmurings and slightly dirty laugh back across the M62.

Celeris Engineering website – preview video

Looking back at the collection of films I got from my year or so with Love Film I’d say there are quite a number of films in there I would have never have seen otherwise. Many were very good, quite a number very random – owing to my lack of knowledge of film due large parts of my life without a TV, and a few stinkers.

But … having left Love Film (for no good reason), I have been picking up most of my films from local charity shops in the video section – between 25p to £1 a shot. And after a year I’m still finding films I haven’t seen that are worth watching. There are a lot of films (bad ones) that come up again and again, but nearly always there’s one or two that are worth watching. Maybe if I’d had a TV for more of my life I wouldn’t think this … but for now …

I did hear one argument … I asked what advantages DVD had over video … the only response ‘you dont have to rewind them’ … for me the quality isn’t so important, the quantity and diversity of film produced on video that now nobody wants and just offloads in bulk – films from the mid 90’s back to the 50’s – thats a lot of film in video format …

… so for now Love Film I’m not coming back … British Heart Foundation wins the day …

> Film 2009

La Mepris (Jan) – a English film with Brigitte Bardot in about the breakdown of a relationship. Ok but not great I would say.

Kung fu hustle (Jan) – very entertaining, with great special effects.

Idioterne (Jan) – peculier Danish film about people ‘finding their inner idiot’ – very odd film

Red Road (Jan) – set in the Glasgow underworld and estates, about the obsessive relationship between a CCTV operator and a man who has commintted a crime against her.

The night of the sunflowers (Jan) – gripping Spanish thriller that doesn’t go where you expect. Good one.

Ping Pong (Jan) – great little Japanese film – comparisons to Rocky nonsense

Betty Page (Feb) – somehow have my doubts about how innocent all the protaganists portrayed in this film – they can’t really have been that naive.

Foreign Land (Feb) – Set in Brazil/Portugal, this films starts off slow and builds to a climax. By the same director as Motorcycle Diaries, this has a much grittier black and white feel, is far less feel good, and generally for me a much better film.

The Big Blue (Feb) – Luc Besson ‘love story’ about two free divers. Beautiful visuals and diving footage, but really spoilt by the continual pathos in the role of Rosanna Arquette who came across as a total sap. Jean Reno didn’t manage to rescue the film, and Jean-Marc Barr’s role as the obsessive non communicative diver was a bit hard to stay with for the duration of the film.

La Spagnola (Feb) – great film about Spanish immigrants to Australia in the 60’s. Beautiful and innovative photography, some excellent comedy moments, in a film that was entertaining throughout.

The Soft Skin (Feb) – B&W French 60’s film – love affair between a married man and a air hostess. He can’t help himself, but makes a series of mistakes in both his relationships with dire consequences.

The Lives of Saints (Feb) – slightly unpleasant but very good film set in a somewhat underworld London community. A peculiar boy is found who transforms all their lives.

> Film 2008

Australia – Land Beyond Time (Feb) – good documentary discussing landscape and wildlife – was an IMAX film

Globe Trekker – Indian Ocean Islands (Feb) – Lonely planet guide to these islands – good.

Hidden Hawaii (Feb) – not now it aint, but good photography

India – North and East (March), India – South and West (March) – more Lonely Planet guides – describes diverseness of India in interesting way

India With Sanjeev Bhasker (March) – entertaining documentary from BBC. Very good.

Sigur Ros – Heima (March) – beautful photography of Iceland, and the bands unanounced tour

Pingu – Pingu Forever (April) – Pingu, you rock!! Pingu is jealous is a classic

The Simpsons movie (April) – funny for about 20 minutes – mm isn’t that the length of the normal episode

Shakira – Oral Fixation (April) – Yeah Shakira!

Globe Trekker – Tuscany (May). A few places not the usual suspects worth watching for.

Bjork – Volumen II (May) – nice companion to the live gig

Splash (May) – I should be ashamed of myself, and Tom Hanks as well – nooo!

Valentin (June) -Excellent little film

Cat Balou (June) – very entertaining spoof western – Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin amongst others

Judge Dredd (June) – Silvester Stallone was truly terrible in this role … but who else? Arnie better?

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (June) – I actually almost fell asleep in this amidst the mayhem – says more about me than the film though. Quite liked it on the whole.

Ghost Dog (June) – Good one Jonny.

Fantastic Four and the Rise of the Silver Surfer (Jun) – I remember thinking the Silver Surfer was so cool when I was 11 – he still is in this film, but the rest of the cast weren’t so.

Grom Surf (June) – Amazing seeing an 11 year surf the Hawaii breaks like a pro

Blood Surf (June) – Thought this was gonna be a documentary about surfers in with sharks. Turned out to be about a 31 foot killer croc called Mad Mick or something like that. Really bad, but a bit of a laugh.

Thailand – A Trip Through The Northern Area (June) – Truly terrible quality, you had to laugh at the incredibly patronising and dull filming.

Destination Thailand, Malaysia And Laos (July) – Both parts excellent – now I want to go, especially Malasia. Ian Wright and Justine Shapiro both do an good job.

Trop Belle Pour Toi (July) – strange discontinous timeline through this, I have to admit I lost interest by half way and didn’t finish watching.

Les Valseuses (July) – probably the best Depardieu film – back when he was wild and angry.

Historias Minimas (July) (S) – Nice little film about an old man and his lost dog in Patagonia.

Photography Masterclass with Jon Gray (July) – this guy was one of the top ‘glamour’ photographers of the eighties and he did have a lot of knowledge about lighting shots with sitters. Overall though the video was very dated, and you can see why he probably fell out of favour. The production quality of the video is poor and use of the smoke machines pretty much summed up the era that the DVD came from. Poor overall – I’d love to find something that tried do what this video claimed but in a contemporary way.

Helvetica (August) – ecky thump, a whole film about a font. WOW.

Underground Shorts – Vol. 3 (August) – some great little films – see blog for details.

Visions Of Light – The Art of Cinematography (August) – an interesting film about the unsung heroes of film making. Of interest to both those with a liking for film and for photography.

Road Trip (August) – some funny moments, for those of teenage boy mentality

Man’s favourite sport (August) (S) – Rock, you are a seriously grumpy git in this film.

The Chumscrubber (Aug) – subject matter similar to Brick, treatment more like American Beauty. Pretty good.

Rock and Roll Swindle (Aug) – Still a crazy well strange film. Worth watching.

Metronomic & Co: French Animated Shorts – Vol.1 (Aug) – 2 shorts were good from this: Geraldine – about a man who wakes up a woman, and Who wants some pate – about a small boy surrounded by glutinous adults.

Vertigo (Aug) – James Stewart not quite so irritating in this Hitchcock classic.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Sep) – Daniel Day-Lewis plays the sleazy doctor brilliantly ‘Take your clothes off, I’m a doctor’…

Golden Balls (Sep) – An entertaining reference to the 80’s building boom in coastal Spain.

Lilya 4 Ever (Sep) – Harrowing, immensely powerful study of a Russian girl lured into sexual slavery.

Harper (Sep) – Newman as cool as ever. Good story set in Los Angeles with many oddball characters.

Fat Slags (Oct) – Terrible, not funny, and the fat slags in question in no way resembling the magazine.

Cruise Hawaii And Tahiti (Oct) – Truly awful American sales pitch for these islands.

Discovering Hawaii (Oct) – In contrast, a pretty good overview of the islands, the extras pretty good too.

Design (Oct) – found some of this interesting. Not all the products were to my taste though

Species (Nov) – I got some derision over this one, but I kind of enjoyed it

Hud (Nov) – Still not seen a bad Paul Newman film

Iron Man (Nov) – RDJ made this a watchable film, using a ‘proper’ actor make these comic book blockbusters much more attractive

The Lemon Tree (Dec) – Made it to the cinema for this one. Good little film … see the blog for more details.

> Film 2007
Tout va Bien (Oct 07) – Jane Fonda in Jean Luc Godard sixties film about relationship between American journalist and French film maker.

2001 – a space oddessey – classic sci fi, not quite how I remembered it.

The Snowman (Nov 07) – Raymond Briggs animation … love film should have known and sent this at Christmas

Ramones – End of the Century (Nov 07) – documentary describing the rather sad story of the Ramones

The Swimmer (S) (Nov 07) – Burt Lancaster film about the re-emergence into his social scene of a man recovering from a breakdown

Wild Caribbean (Dec 07) – documentary of Caribbean with focus on ‘wildlife’, though has some stuff about the locations

Destination Australia – South East, South West (Dec 07) – Ian Wright (Lonely Planet) travelogue – very brief mention of locations

Destination Hawaii (Dec 07) – travellogue with fairly irritating American female presenter. Nice to see the locations again tho

X – Force Extreme Adventures (Dec 07) – Surfing real life story of New Zealand surfer wanting to surf Hawaiian big waves and his preparations

Jules and Jim (Dec 07) – Sixties french ‘classic’ – ok but not great

Lists … yeah sign of old age … some top gigs and a few that weren’t …
Artic Monkeys, Ash, Baaba Maal, Be Your Own Pet, Beck, Belinda Carlisle, Biffy Clyro, Bjork, Boomtown Rats, Breeders, Buzzcocks, Cape May, Cat Power, Cortney Tidwell, Cramps, Darts, Datsuns, David Thomas Broughton, Dinosaur jnr, Evan Dando, Fluffy, Foo Fighters, Giant Drag, Goldfrapp, Grandaddy, Help She Cant Swim, Hives, Howe Gelb, Howling Bells, Jeffrey Lewis, Jon Spencer Blues, L7, Lloyd Cole, Local Pricks, Lucinda Williams, Marc Almond, Metallica, Metric, Motorhead, Nina Nastasia, Paddingtons, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Ramones, Regina Spektor, Skin, Sky Larkin, Sleater Kinney, SLF, Spunge, Steven Malkmus, Stranglers, Strokes, Test Icicles, The Hellicopters, The Others, The Pogues, Tori Amos, Tricky, Weezer, Wolfmother, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

quickie … where the wild things are : brill, loved it … avatar : seemed aimed pretty squarely at the 15 year old sci fi geek, but having said that it was ok, 3D effects toned down after the ads – didn’t really notice them that much in the film, just substitute a large boat for the alien worlds and explosions for explosions, all hinged around a love story really … joanna quinn : got to see the animations at the back of the show – excellent, could have watched much longer … new stuff at impressions to see still …