I’ll write about some places that made my six-month stay in East London bearable.
First, on Whitechapel road, a seven-minute walk from my flat, is Genesis cinema.
With only five screens, there’s a quick turnover: movies are shown for one or two weeks at most. The selection is eclectic; for instance this week, Genesis features A prophet from France, Breathless from South Korea, Disney’s The princess and the frog, Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (which I was at some point considering watching out of boredom)…
Non-English movies are in their original version with subtitles (which is great!). Every Tuesday, the ticket is £4 for everybody.
After a long history as a music hall and theatre, the place has become a cinema. More here. A bar is available, and drinks are cheap (compared to average pubs). Besides, you can take your beer or cocktail to your seat. That’s England, mate! (there’s also five to seven ads for liquors or whisky before each movie, in the evening and for 15-years old classified films).
Now, what made my experience in Genesis unforgettable are the special screenings which took place there.
First, the 8O’s cycle.
Seeing The Breakfast club, Karate Kid and The Thing on a cinema screen was overwhelming, especially Karate Kid’s ending. What an intense moment, with audience applauses’!
These special screenings are put together by Club Elf, may they praised for eternity.
Fucking A!
To name a few movies I enjoyed at Genesis: Up, Fantastic Mr Fox, Where the wild things are, Avatar, It’s a beautiful life, The book of Eli.
Gosh, been a long time.
December 2009:
- Where the wild things are
- It’s a wonderful life
- A serious man
- Paranormal activity
- Avatar
- A Christmas carol
- Le ruban blanc
- Twilight
- Abyss
- Die Monster Die
- Near dark
- A.I.
- Brüno
- Embrassez moi vampire
- Thelma and Louise
- L’empire de la terreur
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead
- Batman anime
- Revenge of the Nerds
- National Lampoon’s vacation
- Rec
January 2010:
- Matrix
- Sherlock Holmes
- Nowhere boy
- The Road
- Sex & drugs & rock’n'roll
- Miami Vice S1 E1
- Chungking express bonus
- QUadrophenia
- Doomsday
- Daybreakers
- Into the wild
- Viande d’origine française
- Suspiria
- Karate Kid 2
- Get Carter
- Spaced
- Art school Confidential
- Funny people
- The book of Eli
- Abandoned
- Saturday night Sunday morning
- Ed Wood
- Blow up
- Un prophète
In London you could:
- be accidentally hit by a cricket bat while walking in a park
- fall from a ladder while talking at Speaker’s corner
A few of the movies watched in November… And I got lots more on my list in December (damn, this will never end).
- Braveheart
Ouch!
A mystery solved : they have underwear under their kilts! Thanks, Mr Gibson.
- Happy Together by Wong Kar Wai
Dusk, train, red hotel sign… These elements also appear in 2046
Hong Kong upside down.
- Police Story 2
Jackie Chan gets dumped pretty harshly in the loo
A master of disguise.
As usual in Jackie Chan’s films, the ending credits show the failed stunts; that one must have hurt.
- Point Break
Johnny Utah buys lemonades while a gang carries on a heist.
You only die once, so why not use this unique occasion to do something exceptional you could tell your friends and family about?
In London, you could:
- Cross the road while watching the wrong side of the traffic and be run over by a double-deck bus
- Have fish & chips, get a bone stuck in your throat and die from suffocation
Expect more (if my inspiration doesn’t die and my memory doesn’t fail me before).
Today, the word is: Snow
Today, the word is: Pie
Pear pie rules.
‘Why waste those cute little tricks that the Army taught us just because it’s sort of peaceful now? ‘
The original movie made in 1960 with the Rat Pack (Sinatra, Martin, Davis Jr, Bishop, Lawford) centers around a group of eleven army veterans that Danny Ocean (Sinatra) convinces to run a heist in the biggest casinos of Las Vegas.
Catchy punchlines and coolness ensue.
Dean Martin and Akim Tamiroff (également vus dans La Classe américaine)
The movie takes place during Christmas and New year’s period
Dean Martin is crooning
Planqué dans les poubelles dans l’attente des éboueurs: le grisbi, le pognon, la thune, l’oseille…
The glowing footsteps: a smart trick used by the 11 in the heist, and nice images for the screenshot fan
Ocean’s eleven: an entertaining heist movie, with witty lines and charismatic actors (Sinatra as a leader, Martin as a crooner, Richard Conte as a dying man crushed by his responsibilities). The scenes in Las Vegas show the huge cinematographic potential of the city and casinos with their beautiful settings.
The reasons why it’s the perfect to watch it during end of year period:
- The heist occurs during New year’s eve
- Dean Martin’s voice is, as usual, heart-warming
- Las Vegas climate and atmosphere will cheer you up
‘Magistrates is over, thanks for everything, we will all be working on other musical projects, we’ll let you know more news in the new year. I’m sure we will meet again.’
As seen on their facebook page.
I discovered them at the Eurockéennes Festival, in France. Under the scorching sun and in front of a scattered crowd, they gave an intense performance, full of promises for their album.
A sad ending for a band that could have released more great songs:
More:
Take away show for the Blogothèque: *¤*
An article by the Guardian: *¤*
Their myspace: *¤*
‘And all together it went well
We made pretend we were best friends
Then she said “oh you’re a freak”
“They ordered me to make mistakes”
Together again, like the beginning
It all works somehow in the end
The things you did, the thing you hide
For the record it’s between you and I’
from’ Barely Legal‘
The album that permanently left its mark on me during this decade is The Strokes’ ‘Is this it?’.
The first time I heard of the Strokes was during a 2 week language trip I did in Lowestoft, England, in 2001. With a group of French teenagers, we spent most of our time listening to our CD players, chatting about music, and sharing albums. A girl from my class had bought ‘Is this it?’ from the second-hand record store located in front of our school; drums and electric guitars playing loudly through her headphones, she told me with a gleeful face that these sounds were produced by a band called the Strokes. At that time, I was keen on Jamaican music and 2-tone, and uninterested in rock music, so didn’t ask to borrow her CD.
My knowledge of the Strokes remained undeveloped until a few years later (around 2006), when a friend of mine lent me the CD, and I finally was open-minded enough to give it a try. I sat on my desk, and played it. Instantly, the first song, ‘Is this it?’, intrigued me, as I had never heard anything like it.
Casablancas’ juvenile and mild voice, the catchy guitars, the laid-back but lively melodies, and the lyrics about a youth’s daily life, sometimes mysterious and abstruse, yet always authentic…
For all those reasons, I listened to the album over and over, three to five times a day, often twice in a row. I seldom like all the songs from an album. ‘Is this it?’ was the first album I could listen to repeatedly, loving (or liking) each of its tracks.
‘Is this it?’ had an amazingly fresh attitude; I admired the band’s coolness (and to be honest, also the way the dressed, hence my habit to wear ties). Genuine, bold, effortlessly brilliant; so were the Strokes.
My two favourite tracks:
- ‘Barely legal’: this song begins gently, and then an unforgettable chorus follows (see the beginning of the article)
- ‘Hard to explain’: making sense can be tough
Where are they now?
The Strokes were aged from 21 to 23 when they made that album; the following albums did not equal the quality of ‘Is this it?’, except for some songs. Cf 12:51 and You only live once.
Albert Hammond Junior made two great albums; Julian Casablancas released his solo album in December 09 and is currently on a world tour.
The band is to reunite and record a new album soon; with each member solo’s experience, 2010 could be the beginning of a new successful creative cycle for the band.
