‘I just want to be treated like an ordinary … legend’

I went to see Rodriguez live in Cape Town the other night, and it was totally worth the R420 I paid. Wait … 420 bucks!? Is that a Big Concerts joke I only just got?

Anyway.

Because of one thing and another, I never got to see any of Rodriguez’s previous concerts in South Africa. After watching the documentary I rued not seeing that first concert in Cape Town, which looked so incredible and heart-warming, although a friend insists the reality was very different to the celluloid; that Rodriguez was so intoxicated he could barely sing, and that the crowd were more confused and disappointed than the enraptured and awed they appeared on screen. Don’t know if that’s true or not.

This time around perhaps the concert was lacking in other ways, after all Rodriguez is 70 now – and quite an ‘old’ 70, when I think of my sprightly 83-year-old grandfather. But it was still one of the best musical experiences I’ve ever had. Just to hear those great lyrics live, and that voice, which really hasn’t lost much since 1970.

Continue reading “‘I just want to be treated like an ordinary … legend’”

The best place to watch the moon rise and the sun go down …

Everyone living in Cape Town knows that the best place to watch the full moon rise is Lion’s Head … but I reckon the lesser known Kloof Corner is even better.

The sun going down and the full moon coming up over Cape Town.

Continue reading “The best place to watch the moon rise and the sun go down …”

Failed flashmobs, gumballs and a Visit from the Goon Squad

Here’s how today’s #GumballSA debacle reminds me of an excellent novel I just read.

Today a scandal broke on Twitter. Again. This time, videos were circulated of people doing odd things at Cresta Shopping Centre in Johannesburg. At first people thought these were failed and embarrassing flash mobs. Then, a couple of hours later, some other people started tweeting links to their blogs with the hashtag #GumballSA … and the ugly truth was revealed.

Continue reading “Failed flashmobs, gumballs and a Visit from the Goon Squad”

If Die Hard had a baby with Robocop …

Dredd is the best movie I’ve seen this year. It’s better than The Dark Knight Rises. It’s even better than The Avengers. It’s the best movie I’ve seen since The Immortals*. It is seriously good.

‘So why didn’t anybody watch it then?’

Continue reading “If Die Hard had a baby with Robocop …”

All one needs is a Protagonist of One’s Own

The Bechdel test, otherwise known as The Rule, determines whether a film, or any piece of popular culture, shows gender bias.

The rules are:

  1. There are two female characters
  2. Who talk to each other
  3. About something other than a man.

Before you scoff, try and think of a movie that passes. It will be tougher than you think.

For example, these all fail (yes I made this amazing gif!):

Continue reading “All one needs is a Protagonist of One’s Own”

What’s the plan?

Fritz Lang? Is that you?

Shadows and Fog review

Spoiler level: Nothing that can’t be remedied with a blow to the head.

Shadows and Fog is a German expressionist murder-mystery, set in an unnamed Kafkaesque town in the middle of the night.

A serial killer is on the loose, and Woody Allen’s character Kleinman is reluctantly recruited into a group of vigilantes out to catch him. Continue reading “What’s the plan?”

They drew first blood, not me.

Rambo: First Blood review

Spoiler level: First Blood is as old as me; if you haven’t seen it yet, tough.

I love this poster. I love the red mist, and the way they etched out Sylvester Stallone’s giant cake hair and gave it an outer glow. And then, because that would have been too subtle, added two more, progressively madder, Sylvester Stallones in the background. Rambo: First Two Clones.

Continue reading “They drew first blood, not me.”

Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, his lover, their child, and her five adopted and three biological children

I watched Mighty Aphrodite the other day. When I realised what it was going to be about, I checked the release date (1995), then I checked when Woody Allen left Mia Farrow for her adopted daughter (1992). This post basically wrote itself after that.

Woody Allen, Mia Farrow and Soon-Yi Previn in 1986

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The top 20 SA magazines on Twitter

I was working this list out again, to check how Kick Off was doing, and decided to publish the results here, in case anybody is interested.

Continue reading “The top 20 SA magazines on Twitter”

The best live act in Cape Town

Review: Lark, Gong is Struck (2012)

Lark are one of South Africa’s greatest bands EVER. I really believe they deserve to be world famous; Inge Beckmann is a most awesome frontispiece[1], and their live act is the most powerful thing you’ll see. They released their fifth album, Gong is Struck, in July.

One of many crappy pics I took at the lauch with my phone. If you click on it, it will get a bit bigger.

Continue reading “The best live act in Cape Town”