Which is a lyric from 'The Diamond Curch Street Choir' by The Gaslight Anthem on their album 'American Slang'. Last night, myself and my compadre Coates went to see the Anthem at Brixton Academy, which was the reason for a day of confusing ups and irritating downs. Really, odd day all around. Let's see if I can summarise how it all went a little.
Downs:
- The coach was nearly an hour late getting there (Greyhound SUCK)
- London was sweltering hot
- The price of a pint of coke in Camden is ridiculous
- The small rip in my jeans progressed across the day to go from the crotch all the way down to the knee
- The little pasta pot I bought at Asda in the morning didn't have a little plastic fork to go with it
- The coach going back wasn't at Victoria Coach Station (Greyhound still SUCK)
Ups:
- We got to walk around Buckingham Palace and St. James Park
- I found a second hand omnibus of the work of H.G. Wells in Camden Market for only £4, which was awesome
- I brought a spare shirt for the day because I figured I'd spill something on my white one, but ended up using it as a sort of apron to cover up the rip in my jeans
- The heat makes women wear less... whooo...
Of course, the one thing that completely tops the day was the fact that the Gaslight Anthem were unbelievably AWEsome. They played a kick-ass show with some serious passion. They were channelling some real Springsteen with this one and the crowd were loving it. I had to leave the front press after Diamond Street Church Choir because it was just so hectic, more intense than Sabaton, which is saying something! After that I enjoyed them from a variety of angles and distances, the Academy is a well thought out venue, I like it, even if it is £2.60 for a pint of coke. Oooooh, not at the Fat Cat, sir, not at the Fat Cat...
So yeah, it was a weird day, I knew this from the moment we stepped off the coach (half an hour late and in the wrong place), just had that feeling, but it was all worth it in the end.
In other news, my housemates are now both officially moved out (with an interesting set of escapades involving keys, of all things), so I am now alone at home. Well, until Dad arrives.
BROOKLYN'S FINEST.
This was a film I was quite interested in and managed to drag Marsh to at the last minute to catch an advanced screening at Vue in newbury, just before I left. Interestingly, it was also the first film of June... and this is the last post of June... which means I'm catching up to myself. Anyway, on about the film.
This is the first Fuqua film I've heard of in a while, the man has been laying low since the massive let down that was King Arthur. I think he was trying to recapture the mind-blowing greatness that was Training Day (which also starred Ethan Hawke) by going back to corrupt cops and the hateful world they live in.
It worked... but it just wasn't as good.
Don't get me wrong, I really liked this movie, it has excessive grit, great characters, moral dilemmas aplenty and very good acting... but it's not Training Day and I think that's what he was going for. You should never really judge a film compared to another by the same director, but unfortunately Training Day is the benchmark that Brooklyn's Finest has to live up to, so judged it will be.
Multi-protagonist dramas are always a little hard to pull off, especially if you minimalise the contact between all the characters, as they did in this particular film (there were precisely three scenes where they crossed over, one Hawke/Gere, one Cheadle/Gere and one Hawke/Cheadle, in that order) and in two of them they didn't even speak to each other. That being said, this film's heaviest point are the characters.
Hawke, Gere and Cheadle all give great performances, they're very believable in their roles and supported by a cool ensemble to make them more rounded.
In conclusion, I'd recommend this film to people who like gritty cop dramas, but not to someone who was looking to get into gritty cop dramas. That's still Training Day.
Next time: BAD LIEUTENANT
Downs:
- The coach was nearly an hour late getting there (Greyhound SUCK)
- London was sweltering hot
- The price of a pint of coke in Camden is ridiculous
- The small rip in my jeans progressed across the day to go from the crotch all the way down to the knee
- The little pasta pot I bought at Asda in the morning didn't have a little plastic fork to go with it
- The coach going back wasn't at Victoria Coach Station (Greyhound still SUCK)
Ups:
- We got to walk around Buckingham Palace and St. James Park
- I found a second hand omnibus of the work of H.G. Wells in Camden Market for only £4, which was awesome
- I brought a spare shirt for the day because I figured I'd spill something on my white one, but ended up using it as a sort of apron to cover up the rip in my jeans
- The heat makes women wear less... whooo...
Of course, the one thing that completely tops the day was the fact that the Gaslight Anthem were unbelievably AWEsome. They played a kick-ass show with some serious passion. They were channelling some real Springsteen with this one and the crowd were loving it. I had to leave the front press after Diamond Street Church Choir because it was just so hectic, more intense than Sabaton, which is saying something! After that I enjoyed them from a variety of angles and distances, the Academy is a well thought out venue, I like it, even if it is £2.60 for a pint of coke. Oooooh, not at the Fat Cat, sir, not at the Fat Cat...
So yeah, it was a weird day, I knew this from the moment we stepped off the coach (half an hour late and in the wrong place), just had that feeling, but it was all worth it in the end.
In other news, my housemates are now both officially moved out (with an interesting set of escapades involving keys, of all things), so I am now alone at home. Well, until Dad arrives.
BROOKLYN'S FINEST.
This was a film I was quite interested in and managed to drag Marsh to at the last minute to catch an advanced screening at Vue in newbury, just before I left. Interestingly, it was also the first film of June... and this is the last post of June... which means I'm catching up to myself. Anyway, on about the film.
This is the first Fuqua film I've heard of in a while, the man has been laying low since the massive let down that was King Arthur. I think he was trying to recapture the mind-blowing greatness that was Training Day (which also starred Ethan Hawke) by going back to corrupt cops and the hateful world they live in.
It worked... but it just wasn't as good.
Don't get me wrong, I really liked this movie, it has excessive grit, great characters, moral dilemmas aplenty and very good acting... but it's not Training Day and I think that's what he was going for. You should never really judge a film compared to another by the same director, but unfortunately Training Day is the benchmark that Brooklyn's Finest has to live up to, so judged it will be.
Multi-protagonist dramas are always a little hard to pull off, especially if you minimalise the contact between all the characters, as they did in this particular film (there were precisely three scenes where they crossed over, one Hawke/Gere, one Cheadle/Gere and one Hawke/Cheadle, in that order) and in two of them they didn't even speak to each other. That being said, this film's heaviest point are the characters.
Hawke, Gere and Cheadle all give great performances, they're very believable in their roles and supported by a cool ensemble to make them more rounded.
In conclusion, I'd recommend this film to people who like gritty cop dramas, but not to someone who was looking to get into gritty cop dramas. That's still Training Day.
Next time: BAD LIEUTENANT
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