No, seriously. This is an entire Villagers set, recorded live at La Maroquinerie, Paris, on the 11th of April, 2011, and made available on YouTube courtesy of Le Hib00. There are better ways to spend a Tuesday evening, but, post-economic meltdown, you probably can’t afford any of them. In black and white. From Paris. You can taste the culchur, can’t you?
New in the inbox is Kevin Smith’s latest, Red State, is due for Irish release on September 30th. Described as “hell bent on leaving audiences uncomfortable” (not something we’ve come to expect from the man who brought us Clerks and Dogma) it’s a thriller set in Middle America (part of the Askewniverse Yes/No?) and tells the story of three teenagers lured to an older woman’s home by an online invitation for sex. The schoolboy fantasy turns sour when the boys are held hostage by a Christian extremist preacher and his congregation who force them to witness executions before preparing them for their own deaths. Not quite Jay and Silent Bob territory is it? Quentin Tarantino’s comment is “I fucking love this movie” and John Goodman’s in it so we’re still quite looking forward to it all the same. Trailer anyone?
When you think through the plots of any number of romantic comedies, they largely involve one or both parties keeping secrets or some false pretence, going to questionable lengths to maintain their lies, only for things to unfurl in the last act. Sometimes lessons are learned but there can be no denying that the leads are actually very unlikeable with both romance and comedy largely missing in action. What sets ‘Friends with Benefits’ apart from the melee is that it introduces us to two likeable, self-aware characters which immediately gets your buy-in, delivering a refreshing, enjoyable movie.
