A live recording of me on vocals and Boyfriend on bass, doing our own version of Britney’s Toxic, based on a version by Yael Naïm.
What do you think, darlings?
First image from HERE, the rest from HERE.
When I first heard about the movie Nine, my toes started tingling with anticipation. It seemed to have all the right ingredients: the director from Chicago, Colleen Atwood doing costumes (in case the name isn’t familiar, she’s done the costumes for movies like Public Enemies, Sweeney Todd and Memoirs of a Geisha, and she’s my absolute favourite), it’s set in the 60’s (which means great hair and costumes), and features names such as Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench and Marion Cotillard. Oh, and it’s a musical.
What I liked about Nine:
♮The styling. It’s coiffed hair, perfectly winged eyeliner, fantastic clothes and lots of sexy lingerie all the way through, a pure feast for a vintage-loving girl, I tell you.
♮The music. Slightly Chicagoesque, but less jazzy and more varied. Lots of good audition-material here (but I suppose everyone will be doing these songs for a while now because of the movie), and I’m still amazed they managed to make tambourines look sexy. If you have Spotify you can listen to the soundtrack here.
♮Penelope Cruz’s “A Call From the Vatican”. That dance is the sexiest thing I’ve seen on-screen for a very long time. And not in that self-tanned, sweaty way that I’m a little bit fed up with, but in a powdered and stylized burlesque way. Now I only need to find a way to install hanging ropes in my bedroom…
♮Marion Cotillard. Why is it she is always the best thing about any movie she’s in? I was terrified I’d hate her singing, but it turns out I adore it. She’s got that cabaret-like feel to her voice, and manages to convey emotions in a wonderful way. Both her numbers made me hold my breath all the way through them. I don’t normally use phrases such as “girl crush”, but it perfectly describes how I feel about her.
What I didn’t like about Nine:
♮Daniel Day-Lewis’ part. The character Guido Contino struck me as a very selfish, very greedy man, and I just couldn’t manage to feel the least bit sorry for him. This made his oh-poor-me-numbers just feel slightly pathetic to me (sorry, Guido), and – without revealing too much for those of you who haven’t seen it – it also made me feel the ending was a bit undeserved (you’ll know what I mean if you see it).
♮Nicole Kidman’s version of “Unusual Way”. I hadn’t heard any of the songs from the musical before watching the movie, but this song was just weird to listen to. I think the main reason is that it felt like they’d tried to revive Nicole’s (incredible!) character Satine from Moulin Rouge, but it just felt like a bad copy. Which made me a little sad, as I generally like Nicole and definitely liked her styling in this movie (that hair!).
♮Judi Dench’s role. Don’t get me wrong, I think she did a perfectly fine job, it’s just that she’s played this part so many times – the slightly harsh, but also caring older woman who plays a small, but important part in the main character’s life. I much prefer her doing that in Chocolat, although her hair is definitely better in this one. I wish they’d either given her more room to develop her character, or that they’d cast a different woman to play her part.
♮Hudson’s number “Cinema Italiano”. Now, she sang it all right, and I’m sure some girls will love it, but it’s just not my kind of music. Or styling, or dancing. At all.
♮Sophia Loren’s face. It just made me sad to see her almost not being able to express any emotion because her face was so tight (I’m guessing from plastic surgery). I much prefer women like Judi Dench, who look fabulous and experienced and alive, to those plastic faces.
Conclusion:
If you’re interested in fashion or music, go see it, definitely! You’ll get 118 minutes of eye candy, and will want to be Italian for weeks afterwards. But if you are like me, the character of Guido Contini will probably annoy you, and you’ll wish the movie was only about his women – because most of them are spectacular. Too bad the main character is such a one-dimensional douche bag.
PS: I know this review comes a little bit late for some of you, as it was released almost two months ago in the USA, but Norway is always shamefully late when it comes to movie premieres.
This is us, Sordid Affair, playing Blow – or, a little part of it. I wrote it two and a half year ago while walking home from a night on town and feeling rather pissed off (hence the lyrics, I guess). We call it our “garage rock song”, simply because it’s all about energy and being fed up with things, not carefully considered and planned music. Boyfriend (he’s the tall guy right behind me playing the bass, by the way) edited the movie and mixed the sound – he’s such a nerd ♥
What do you think, darlings? And do you want more?
Most of you probably know that I have a band, Sordid Affair, where I’m the vocalist and songwriter. I usually prefer to perform my own songs, as I find it hard to make other people’s songs “my own”. Doing covers in exactly the same way as the original is not for me, as the original is usually great and it will only sound like a bad copy if I try to replicate it. Well, in a week I’ll be doing a whole show with just cover songs (though in our own, special versions), which is slightly intimidating – but I think it might be lovely if we manage to pull it off. I’ve persuaded Boyfriend (bass) and one of the guitarists from Sordid Affair to join me, which is good since they know what I like and can figure out what I’m trying to say when I can’t find the proper words. I’m actually rather excited!
If anyone happens to be in Tromsø next Saturday (the 28th), you are most welcome to stop by! It’s free of charge, and should last about an hour. For the rest of you – I’ll be needing some opinions concerning my stage outfit, so I’ll make a post of my alternatives soon. Perhaps you could be wonderful (as always) and help me decide?
