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Hi guys!! Check out www.nighttimes.com. There's a review of my band's last demo cd, Listening To The Pop there. And it's a pretty good review too, on an American internet magazine! I hope it will open doors for us overseas, as I've long dreamt of getting Couple (my band) released on a pop label that I love like Not Lame Recordings, Parasol or Spinart. Thank you so much Mr Kevin Mathews for reviewing our humble little demo CD!!

We're now attempting to record our stuff properly in a proper studio. A mixture of old and new stuff. Will be in the studio again tonight to brush up on a few songs and re-record one song. Maybe even add another new song, if we have the time, and the mood!! So far, the rough mixes sound promising. I hope we'll manage to pull it off.

Saw Pickup On South Street by Samuel Fuller last week. Finally got the DVD. I saw it once before, but on a really crummy video tape where I can't even hear most of the dialogue properly. But now, thanks to Criterion, I'm finally able to see it in a glorious print, with glorious sound and subtitles as well. And what a little wonder of a film it is. It's got a film noir type set-up and story, but it's interest in the humanity of the main characters, who are all 'crooks' is thoroughly touching. The characters, one's a pickpocket, one's a stool pigeon (i.e. informer), a 'broad' (might or might not be a hooker), are so human, so real, you cannot help but care about them. And the performances are simply outstanding, especially by Thelma Ritter as Moe, the stoolie. This is one film I'm destined to watch over and over again. Tough as nails and tender in equal amounts.
Rating: 9 out of 10.

Also watched Far From Heaven again last weekend. Broke my heart all over again when the breakup scene came. That scene never fails to choke me. Never!! When Dennis Haysbert's character said to Julianne Moore's character, "Have a proud life. Have a splendid life.", it is simply one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of cinema, I think. You folks really have to see this movie if you haven't. It might be an homage to 1950's style melodrama, but the emotional truth is never dated. I've always loved this movie and thought highly of it. But now, after seeing it again, I think it has now knocked the door on my list of favourite films of all time, right up there with films like City Lights, Breaking The Waves, Shadows, Husbands, Rushmore, The 400 Blows, Apur Sansar and Tokyo Story. Movie heaven indeed.
Rating: 9 out of 10