Going to hell for laughing
“It’s all about the greater good”
It’s your typical buddy cop film, but what sets it apart is the fact that it makes you laugh, instead of making you want to gouge your eyeballs out using two stalactites. Hot Fuzz is love letter to action films and it’s got everything that you would want from a comedic piece. Memorable set pieces, quotable lines, great characters and that jolly british dark humour. What I loved the most about it is how the plot gets more and more ridiculous as the film progressing, culminating in a ending so silly, that you can’t help but smile.
"It's a fairytale f*cking town, isn't it."
At a first glance In Bruges is just a funny film about two hitmen and at second glance it still is that, only difference being the themes. Resentment, punishment and redemption are some of them, which are tackle through the usage of jokes or genuinely touching pieces of conversation. Morality and religion are also a big issue being at stake during the film. Albeit the humour is dry to say the least, it’s a British humour after all, the film is surprisingly heartfelt and beautiful at moments. Is as if the characters used humour to cope with their problems. A disguise where they can hide. However, no matter how serious or deep the movie is, at the end of the day, it still is a comedy and In Bruges is one where every single joke hits, where you find a quote in every single alcove and where the characters aren’t just japes machines. Meaning, that they don’t exist just to make a funny remark.
“That rug really tied the room together.”
A movie with seemingly no plot, only existing for the sole purpose of showing The Dude’s life and relationships. It’s a trip filled to the brim with excellent performances channelled through out of the world characters such as Walter, Donny, Jesus, the nihilists and many more that help create a surreal atmosphere all throughout the film. All of the jokes hit the bullseye. There are endless quotes and funny moments, thanks to the sharp script, making the movie very memorable. So memorable that it’s got a festival. The Big Lebowski is the quintessential ‘bro’ movie, quotable and seemingly meaningless, but at the end of the day, that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
Jazz
"Bitches Brew"
By: Miles Davis
The first thing that Bitches Brew made clear is that Miles was keenly interested in expanding the idea of what his music could be, and was starting to stretch it way out. The title track runs 26 minutes, which then and now is at the extreme end of what a side of vinyl on an LP can hold; the opening "Pharaoh's Dance" also breaks 20 minutes. And these pieces weren't lengthy compositions or single jams, but were assembled by Miles through editing-- unrelated tracks could become one piece through the miracle of the razor blade and magnetic tape. For an improvisatory art form that was founded on the idea collective expression in the present moment, the idea of stitching together pieces into a new whole was radical enough on its own. Pure bebop jazz, enjoyable at its best, Miles is simply playing himself, a crazy music Picasso in his unpatterned world of the cool.
"Best of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong"
By: Ella Fitzgerald & Lous Armstrong
Some albums mark a decade. Others mark a generation. And others go far beyond all that, managing to change the face of music history forever. Armstrong always delivered imaginative, original cornet lines which greatly enhanced the songs. Recording-company executives immediately knew they had something special on their hands. But Louie was to prove a bigger success that even they had expected: the man could sing, too. What’s more, he had a raspy, deep-drawling voice which contrasted beautifully with the more peasant, whiny voices of artists. Ella was THE best singer at the time, where skat and impro were her field of excellence. Combining both, even a deaf bro could know how good this could reach. From crooners classics to new jazz, this album offers it all. Best when played with bros on a rainy afternoon.
"Blue Train"
By: John Coltrane
Coltrane is undeniably the best saxophonist virtuoso of his time. Imagine that New York’s 52nd Street jazz scene never died and John Coltrane lived his life out there, playing an endless series of jam sessions. What if he had never passed through the portal of Miles’ and McCoy’s modal playing, down the rivers of Africa and the Middle East, propelled by the Black experience of the 1960s? Blue Train gives a taste of what that might have been like, as well as a taste of what was to come. This reissue of the 1957 album finds Trane blowing hard on one of his first albums as a band leader. A cool but complex rhythmic variety album to be enjoyed between bros on an urban road trip.
