Essential August

Essential viewing:
- Quentin Tarantino is back with his long awaited WWII fable Inglourious Basterds. Not the nonstop bloodshed many might expect, even though it certainly has its share of that too, as always with Tarantino the action here lies within the dialogue. From its dazzling opening to its gunblazing finish this picture is filled with treasures. A great cast with Christoph Waltz stealing the whole movie from under Brad Pitt's feet. The third act might be a bit weak and we don't get the massive payoff we feel we deserve, but this is still a great return to form for Tarantino, after the disappointing Death Proof (2007).
- Michael Mann returns to crime, this time in 1930's America with his new film Public Enemies. Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger and even though the story is hardly original it is an interesting study of an era where criminals were considered heroes for fighting against the bankrupt government. The style might throw you off at first (the entire film is shot on an ultra high resolution format) and you might reap more rewards upon a second viewing, but Mann once again proves himself a master of the medium.
- I Love You, Man is one of the best comedies of the year so far. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are becoming best buddies in this sharp and informal flick and they have enough appeal between them to make you laugh all the way through. It is director John Hamburg's fourth film and easily his best one yet.

Essential listening:
- Broken is the new album from Soulsavers, the English band with strong ties to singer/songwriter Mark Lanegan. Lanegan features on several tracks on this album too alongside other contributors such as Richard Hawley and Mike Patton. A raw and lovely mixture of rock, country and (obviously?) soul. With autumn approaching this is the perfect soundtrack for long walks in the dark. And everything else actually.
- After dabbling with fellow rockmate Jack White with The Raconteurs, Brendan Benson is back on his own with his first solo album in four years, and boy is it good! My Old, Familiar Friend might be his strongest outing yet. A wonderful collection of pop and rock songs with terrific lyrics. It is obvious that after his spell with The Raconteurs, Benson has been missing the opportunity to release his own brand of catchy tunes with playful riffs and headnodding beats. One of the finest albums of the year so far.
- Arctic Monkeys return to the spotlight with "the difficult third album". The title is Humbug and might be a gutpunch to the expectations themselves. However, they have nothing to fear because they are still doing their job well. Having turned to Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme for producing duties, there is still enough rock to go around, but also a surprising amount of more old style popular tracks. The Sheffield quartet has deliverd a strong album and might be demanding to be taken a bit more serious after establishing themselves as the favorite band of urban rock teenagers. Appearantly there is more to these punks than meets the eye.

Summer Song

Summer is coming to an end and everyday life is back to normal for most people by now. I had a great summer. I spent most of it up north with my family and also got to see some old friends. The best part though is always to see my three young nephews again. I got to hang out with them quite a bit and here is one of my favorite moments from this summer. I'm with the youngest one here, who has just turned seven. He's having a swim in my uncle's pool (which is built in on the cliff by the occean, how cool is that!) and is enjoying a song. Unaware I'm filming him with my phone, he's carrying out one of his signature tracks "I Believe I Can Fly". I love how when he forgets the words he just hums along or better yet just switches to norwegian!
Guaranteed to make your day.

Upcoming Treats

One of the few things that is positive with summer coming to an end is that autumn is the high season for the release of new quality films! After a summer packed with the usual blockbusters and franchise movies there are certainly plenty of really exciting ones to look forward to. Here are some of the ones I really can't wait to feast my eyes on:
- "Where The Wild Things Are" is the new movie by Spike Jonze, the director of the truly brilliant "Being John Malkovich" (1999) and "Adaptation" (2002). Based on the book by Maurice Sendak, it is an adventure movie for kids but surely the rest of us will find plenty in it too. From the look of the trailer this really could be something special. Check out Trailer 1.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/wherethewildthingsare/
- "Moon" is a modern day sci-fi with another lead role for the wonderful Sam Rockwell. Directed by brit Duncan Jones, it looks to be something very deep and psychological with a thrilling atmosphere. Could very well be the finest thing to happen to sci-fi since "2001".
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/moon/
- My comic heroes Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant are currently shooting their first feature film together "Cemetery Junction". The creators of already legendary shows "The Office" and "Extras" are looking for a change of tone here, but I am sure it will still be one of the finest films of next year. Okay, so the trailer doesn't actually have any footage of the film in it, but if the movie itself is anywhere near as hilarious as this it should be a real kicker!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-ESq-Z8Vqc
- After his gigantic productions of spectacle in "The Lord Of The Rings" (2001) and "King Kong" (2005) Peter Jackson turns back to more low key storytelling. "The Lovely Bones" is based on the novel by Alice Sebold and looks to be a really interesting thriller with some incredible photography.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thelovelybones/
- The Coen brothers achieved mainstream stardom with their Oscar loving "No Country For Old Men" (2007). After the minorly disappointing "Burn After Reading" (2008) they are going back to their roots with "A Serious Man". An independent production with mainly unknown actors, it looks to be another original cracking movie.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/aseriousman/

"Walls"

another night in an asphalt bed
shallow days in a cold july
endless traffic in a lonely house
you say everything is fine

eyes filled with year long pain
in a face like an empty screen
carry this with you for another day
walls all around you but one has a crack

defeat in conversation
a red light in the corner
an enemy just crossed the room
tell time by this days light

come all this way to find a mirror
this will be your lesson
look out the window to see what happened
everything is fine