Thomas Pynchon - Inherent Vice

You can definitely tell that Inherent Vice is a Pynchon novel, but its hippie-era detective-noir-caper genre structure is something of a change of pace for him - not least in being centred around a character, perpetually stoned gumshoe Doc Sportello, who actually feels real. It's interesting seeing so many classic Pynchonian motifs in such an apparently different format - although of course all of his previous novels can themselves be read as sprawling, discontinuous detective anti-narratives. Indeed, in many ways, the plot of Inherent Vice is beside the point (just as with his other novels), even though it ultimately resolves after a series of increasingly unlikely coincidences and twists - tellingly, in that sense, its structure precisely replicates that of the genre in which it situates itself. Fun!

Assorted management books

* Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson - The One Minute Manager
* Loren B Belker - The First-Time Manager
* Stephen P Robbins - Managing People

Lent to me by PG - I actually found them quite interesting, though more for the concepts and ways of thinking about managing people that they suggested than the particular prescriptions they contained.

Sleepy Hollow

Burton plays it quite straight here, creating a dark, impeccably moody, almost painterly genre piece. In Depp's Ichabod Crane and Ricci's Katrina it has two archetypal Burton protagonists, and they're surrounded by a host of suitable supporting actors, not to mention a wonderful, gothically wracked landscape; the story gallops forward, and if there are no real surprises, well, it's still an enjoyable and sometimes strikingly spectacular ride.

(w/ M @ ACMI - last time I saw it was when it came out, in '99)

Please Give

One of those films that gets it exactly right - a pitch perfect dramatisation of NYC-style upper middle class manners and mores, complete with guilt, neurosis, aspiration and well-meaning misunderstanding of others. Clear eyed and so sometimes cutting, but ultimately kind to its characters in all their imperfections - and funny, too.

(w/ Steph and Sunny)

Valkyrie

Not that there was anything wrong with Valkyrie exactly, but it was kind of boring (I must admit, knowing the ending - ie, Hitler doesn't die - probably didn't help).

Talk To Her

Talk To Her is a difficult film to pin down - for all of the simplicity of its set-up, the film's many flourishes (the melodramatic twists, the structural sleights of hand, the film and various other performances within the film) and its subtle, allusive quality keep it from easy graspability...whatever else it may be, though, it's a very fine film, quietly powerful in a way that reminds me of The Sweet Hereafter.

Dead Like Me: Life After Death

Disappointing - has nothing of the charm that animated the tv series. Suffers from Rube's absence and from the substitution of a different actress to play Daisy, but more than anything it's a comprehensive failure to find the right tone which cripples this made-for-dvd feature - the characters are unlikeable (even with the significant stock of goodwill built up by the show to draw upon), the plot risible, the deaths perfunctory, the whimsy forced.

Made in U.S.A.

A cleverly ingenuous cinematic pleasure, just on the right side of being too cute. Loses a bit on a second viewing, but not much. (First time)

(w/ Penny)

Tift Merritt - Tambourine

I've listened to the one before (Bramble Rose) and the one after (Another Country), and with the benefit of that context, Tambourine sounds like Merritt's Memphis record; not coincidentally, it's also a notch above her others, both of which are extremely solid modern country albums. Tambourine invokes Dusty Springfield (see esp. "Good Hearted Man") as well as brilliant contemporaries like Patty Griffin and Lucinda Williams, and makes clear that, when at the top of her game, Merritt has the songwriting chops and vocal abilities to be far from disgraced by the comparisons. By turns swinging, rocking, and tenderly folky, and shot through with a distinct gospel flavour, Tambourine deservedly sounds celebratory. for it's immensely enjoyable and likeable.

Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs"

The Arcade Fire are kind of a totemic outfit for me. It started with Funeral, which didn't immediately hit me, but over time sank in, deep. That was in '05, as I was falling into country music in a big way, and I remember thinking that it might just be the last rock album that I'd ever love - a thought that probably, on some level, also owed a bit to the record's summatory, (end-)of-an-era sound. Then came Neon Bible, and while I didn't take it quite as much to heart, it had a grandeur and scale, coupled with a sense of intimacy and a distinctly human core, which equalled Funeral - and, if anything, these days I'm more likely to find snatches of that second album running through my mind.

So the appearance of "The Suburbs" in record stores a few weeks ago was a welcome sight - and even more welcome was the discovery that, while their sound has evolved, they've still got whatever it is that set them apart from the beginning. The tides and oceanic surges of their earlier records are still here, but in a more subtle, smoother form, and the album's intricacies sit easily with the melodic thrills it offers up, song after song. The Suburbs is thoroughly of the now, but it also takes many of its cues from the 80s - the Arcade Fire have always had something of the anthemic flavour of early to mid period U2, but they've before never sounded as much like them, and there's a strong New Order flavour to several tracks, and even, a couple of times, synth washes that could have come direct from classic Cure or Joy Division.

There are plenty of highlights, but so far two songs have most demanded the replay button for me: "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)", coming on like a lost Tom Tom Club track, all spritely (spelling/meaning intended) anomie, and probably the sweetest pop song they've ever recorded; and the jangly, building-to-high-drama of "Suburban War"...I also especially like the "Ready to Start"-"Modern Man"-"Rococo" run near the start (that last in particular perilously close to ridiculous, yet instead rather brilliant). End to end, it's another great album from them - I know I'll get a lot more out of it, and it has me looking forward to the next.