Summer comes to Cambridge
Inevitably, the second everyone starts leaving Cambridge for Easter the weather improves and it actually becomes possible to wander around outside without having to bother with a coat. The last few days have really seen the end of winter and today was incredibly warm and sunny- a really nice change after several months of really cold weather.
After watching an Italian film (Rossellini's Paisa, if anyone cares) Clover and I decided to spend our afternoon wandering around a sun-drenched Cambridge and generally enjoying the weather. The Deer Park's daffodils are all in full bloom and there are bluebells everywhere, so the atmosphere was very nice indeed- we even enjoyed our first ice cream of the year sitting outside Kings whilst laughing at the tourists. In the evening, Alex and I joined Clover's cinema lecture class for a drink next to the Cam- the place was teeming with people as everyone took advantage of the warmth. The traditional Cambridge pastime of laughing at tourists trying to punt was also happily revived.
We then rounded off the night by going to see the most controversial film in British cinema at present, 9 Songs. Again, it was the sort of thing that would leave Daily Mail readers puce with rage- it is after all the first sexually explicit British film to be awarded a mainstream certificate. Unfortunately, this doesn't make it a good film. Far from it. I never thought I'd think a movie lasting for 70 minutes was 65 minutes too long, but 9 Songs manages it perfectly. The story is essentially that of a relationship set to the backdrop of a series of pop concerts in the summer of 2004, and the format is pretty constant throughout- 5 minutes of graphic sex, 5 minutes of music (which incidentally is awful, an impressive feat considering that artists featured involve Franz Ferdinand, Super Furry Animals and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club), and a few minutes of monologue about the Antarctic, for some reason. Repeat this 9 times and you have the entire film. The same effect can be easily replicated by spending an hour channel hopping between VH1, some crap porn and the Discovery Channel- what fun!
None of this is to say that we weren't entertained though- we just spent the entire movie giggling at how rubbish it was- subtly at first, but then with increasing obviousness as more and more people walked out until we were practically the only ones left in the cinema. By the time the film reached it's devastating emotional... err...climax, we were hysterically laughing and pointing at the screen.
Tomorrow we're going out for a picnic, so I should be able to promise lots of sunny photos of Cambridge.
(Originally posted by Ed)
After watching an Italian film (Rossellini's Paisa, if anyone cares) Clover and I decided to spend our afternoon wandering around a sun-drenched Cambridge and generally enjoying the weather. The Deer Park's daffodils are all in full bloom and there are bluebells everywhere, so the atmosphere was very nice indeed- we even enjoyed our first ice cream of the year sitting outside Kings whilst laughing at the tourists. In the evening, Alex and I joined Clover's cinema lecture class for a drink next to the Cam- the place was teeming with people as everyone took advantage of the warmth. The traditional Cambridge pastime of laughing at tourists trying to punt was also happily revived.
We then rounded off the night by going to see the most controversial film in British cinema at present, 9 Songs. Again, it was the sort of thing that would leave Daily Mail readers puce with rage- it is after all the first sexually explicit British film to be awarded a mainstream certificate. Unfortunately, this doesn't make it a good film. Far from it. I never thought I'd think a movie lasting for 70 minutes was 65 minutes too long, but 9 Songs manages it perfectly. The story is essentially that of a relationship set to the backdrop of a series of pop concerts in the summer of 2004, and the format is pretty constant throughout- 5 minutes of graphic sex, 5 minutes of music (which incidentally is awful, an impressive feat considering that artists featured involve Franz Ferdinand, Super Furry Animals and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club), and a few minutes of monologue about the Antarctic, for some reason. Repeat this 9 times and you have the entire film. The same effect can be easily replicated by spending an hour channel hopping between VH1, some crap porn and the Discovery Channel- what fun!
None of this is to say that we weren't entertained though- we just spent the entire movie giggling at how rubbish it was- subtly at first, but then with increasing obviousness as more and more people walked out until we were practically the only ones left in the cinema. By the time the film reached it's devastating emotional... err...climax, we were hysterically laughing and pointing at the screen.
Tomorrow we're going out for a picnic, so I should be able to promise lots of sunny photos of Cambridge.
(Originally posted by Ed)
posted by Mark at
1:24 pm
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