A quick appeal: I’m looking for UK (ideally London) based people who are involved or interested in the film industry for a new collaborative project that I am about to start working on. I need people who are intelligent, film literate, have some idea of what’s going on in the industry and who can write well. If you think that’s you – e-mail me on tom[AT]plasticbag.org.
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On the world premiere of Snatch…
So I went to the world première of Snatch last night, and I can now give you the low down on the film and the event. Quick bit of preliminary guff first though – I wasn’t actually looking forward to going because I felt under a considerable amount of pressure to like the film, since my flatmate worked on it. I was terrified that I’d have to look her in the eye for months and tell her how much I loved it when I’d been cringing in my seat and squirming with horror. And worse, I’d have to be convincing. As it turned out this wasn’t necessary – thank god.
The movie is similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in that it takes place around London’s seedier parts, has a large cast of wide boys and loveable (and not so loveable) gangsters and rogues, has large amounts of stylised camera angles and slo-mo, and almost cracks under the weight of the soundtrack, which is bombastic, ever present and – at times – rather over-bearing. The most obvious difference between the two films is that Snatch is a much darker enterprise – with more violence, more cruelty and a much darker wit.
The first ten minutes are excruciatingly bad. Whether that is to do with the sound levels or the fact that it involves a group of people dressed as orthodox Jews holding up a diamond warehouse while talking about Catholicism is hard to say, but it really is astonishingly poor. But once you’re past that, the film is a success, with Brad Pitt being a particular treat. There has to be a fair amount of comedy in having a $20 million star in a film and not being able to understand a word that he says…
It’s not really a date movie, it may be more of a guy film than a girl film, and it’s not for the faint of heart. There’s one scene with a couple of dogs and a hare that will probably rile a number of people as well. But at heart it really is a good film – and well worth watching.
I’m off to the world première of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch this evening. I have such a glamourous life sometimes. It’s a strange one this one, because about half of all the people I know in the world seem to be going to it, because they all know my flatmate who worked on the film, and she seems to have invited about fifty of them. I hope it’s good – I wasn’t that keen on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
I still can’t get over the name of the film. I still remember the day that Kate and I met in a bar and she said, “You’ll never guess what they’re going to call it…”
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Welcome back, 0sil8…
I can state quite clearly what my reasons were for getting heavily involved in web design. They were Derek Powazek and Jason Kottke. I’d been building sites here and there for a while before that, but I’d never really approached them as anything more than a basic idle hobby. Sites like fray and particularly 0sil8 made me see that there was scope for create work on the net that wasn’t just about fan sites (although I love them) and personal homepages (although I love them too).
Weirdly enough after creating a number of other creative sites (which lasted different amounts of time), I find myself back where I began, with a personal site (this one) and a fan site (this one). But that’s more coincidence than anything else. And it’s all about to change…
In the meantime, after a considerable lull, one of the sites that inspired me originally has finally come back from the dead, which is a tremendous delight to me. Welcome back, 0sil8, and here’s to the Minneapolis Sign Project!
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Welcome to plasticbag.org…
Welcome to plasticbag.org – the new home of what was barbelith.com, and what is soon to be the hub of a re-energised and fully functioning system of sites that I have had at the back of my mind for a few months now. By Christmas, I can guarantee you’ll have a new film site, a webzine and a re-energised and redesigned discussion forum, with plasticbag.org forming the hub to it all.
All of the archives from barbelith.com have been moved over to the new domain, but there are bound to be a few dodgy links here and there for a few days while I go through the process of weeding them all out. I’ve been putting off this move for so long now that I don’t think that some of my confidantes thought I’d ever get around to it. In the end it came down to brute determination to put it out there and damn the consequences. In the short term, please ignore any rough edges, and prepare for the inevitable refinements that will occur when I get used to writing for a new space. In the meantime, don’t hesistate to send me your opinions.
Barbelith is dead – but death is not the end. Introducing: plasticbag.org – the site that will be taking over all weblogging duties from now on. Please adjust your bookmarks and any links you may have on your website, and I’ll see you over at the new place. It’s been a blast. And no doubt it will be again…
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On the End of Things…
1 On the End of Things:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”
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On redesigns…
2 On redesigns: Mark has finally gone and partially designed hero.nu, which we said about nine months ago was going to be a collaborative project between him and I. Unfortunately, we never got around to actually doing it. The new site is a weblog for a girl called Heather – and it’s really rather nice. But he’s not resting on his laurels, because riothero has been redesigned as well. I asked Mark about the new look, and his comment was, “I ‘ve been trying to get a penis on my page for ages”. After his recent appeal for pictures of people nude, one can only assume that this is a cry for you lot to e-mail him…
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On countdowns…
3 On countdowns:
I can’t actually believe I’m having to come out and say this – but in response to a couple of letters: Yes! The countdown does mean something. Something will happen to barbelith when the countdown reaches zero. You know – like in the movies..
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