Two questions for you:
a) When was the last time you examined the buttons on your clothes?
b) Are buttons a constant source of fascination to you?
If you have a life you’ll probably answer as follows:
a) Never OR The last time one fell off.
b) NO (caps emphatically locked).
As a consequence, if I were to propose a trip to a local Button Museum I doubt that you’d be able to summon up much enthusiasm. Continue reading
The Wicker Man is justifiably regarded as one of the best UK films ever made and was number one in my list of of best British cult movies.
The memorable ending can’t have had many viewers wondering what happened next. The finale was certainly conclusive enough for Police Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) and probably the only unanswered question was whether the human sacrifice achieved the objective of reviving the harvests for the Pagan community.
Director Robin Hardy must however have felt there was some unfinished business. He wrote a novel on similar themes in 2006 called Cowboys For Christ and The Wicker Tree is the misguided movie version of this story.
It is actually billed as a ‘spiritual sequel’ and Hardy is keen for it to be regarded as a black comedy and not a horror movie. A turkey is the most accurate label I can think of.
In The Wicker Man, the fruit and vegetable crops had floundered, in The Wicker Tree the community can’t produce any children after a leak at a nuclear power station. Resolving this problem once again necessitates the corruption and culling of devout Christians.
There are two doomed believers this time; a God-fearing couple from Dallas who are flown in ostensibly to spread the word of Jesus to heathen inhabitants of Tressock. Hardy regards fundamentalists from Texas as the most striking contrast to this fictional Scottish community.
The unsuspecting lambs to the slaughter have made a vow of chastity to one another. Beth Boothby (Brittania Nichol) is a singer who has turned her back on raunchy trailer trash pop in favour of gospel country music. Her naivety and virginal state make her an ideal May Queen as part of the fertility rituals – she is admired for the fact that she has “smell of the dairy about her….. with a hint of cowshit behind the ears”.
Steve Thompson (Henry Garrett) is her dumb cowboy fiancé, whose pledge of celibacy is quickly put the test and fails at the first hurdle. He is chosen as perfect fodder for the role as the Laddie to Beth’s queen and becomes dispensable once the fruit of his loins has been squeezed.
Graham McTavish as Sir Lachian Morrison is the nearest thing to Christopher Lee’s Lord Summerisle. Lee himself was slated for this role until a back injury ruled him out ( a lucky escape on his part!). Lee’s prominent billing on the credits is a bit of a con as it amounts to the briefest of cameos as an “old gentleman” and mentor to Morrison.
Orlando the policeman is the nearest equivalent to Sergeant Howie but his character is so sketched in I actually missed the fact that he was an outsider sent to investigate rumours of the sun god cult. He spends most of his undercover work under the covers with Lolly (Honeysuckle Weeks), one of the island’s numerous racy females.
The Hollywood remake of The Wicker Man starring Nicolas Cage was dire but worth seeing for the many unintentionally funny scenes – The Wicker Tree is dire and best avoided.
Rather than paying homage to a movie classic, Hardy succeeds only in pissing over its memory.
This black comedy came to my attention by virtue of the fact that the original soundtrack is by Calexico. In the event, this is not one of its major selling points. The music of Joey Burns and John Convertino is more suited to a spaghetti western than a police caper set in Ireland.
The story is essentially a vehicle for Brendan Gleeson as Gerry Boyle a nihilistic sergeant of the Garda (gaelic for ‘cop’) . He has the same droll, cynical manner as he had as the reluctant assassin he played for the film In Bruges, which was , not coincidentally, written and directed by the director’s brother, Martin McDonagh.
Boyle is no longer surprised by how stupid, cruel and corruptible human beings can be. He maintains his own unorthodox code of ethics which means that he sees nothing wrong with tampering with crime scenes, drinking on duty or hiring a couple of hookers on his day off. Continue reading
The full merchandise selection.
The trailer for the new album (Beware And Be Grateful) by the arty Chicago quartet, Maps & Atlases is intriguing. Is this the shape of record promotions to come- highlighting the band’s postmodern attitude rather than pushing the actual music?
A brief snippet of one of the tracks (Remote And Dark Years) can be heard at the end, but most is taken up with a curious monologue by a guy who looks the worse for wear.
He tells of being witness to a car on fire on a bridge and “whoever was inside” jumping into the river below he describes the flames as a “deep dark, like orange color – like a rotten pumpkin” and being surprised that there was no news coverage of the event.
Did he witness aliens? Should we open an X-file? What does this tell us about a pop band?
If I were to attempt a deconstruction I would say that Maps & Atlases are presenting their music as existing in a zone beyond what the guy calls the “preset garbage” that you hear on the radio – in a roundabout way they are telling us to trust own ears and not wait for some media endorsement.
The album is officially released by Fat Cat records on April 16th in the UK and one day later in the US – I have a review copy so have added my voice to the more traditional promotion at Whisperin’ & Hollerin’; the trailer is here:
With the release last year of live album/film Inni, Sigur Rós announced that the band were heading in a new direction implying that the final show at Alexander Palace in London marked the end of an era.
With the success of Jónsi‘s solo album, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if the Icelanders had called it a day and finished on a high note.
Fears that they might be moving into glitch-pop or jazz-funk can be laid to rest with the preview track Ekki múkk from the new album die out on May 26th.
The video for the tune, by Jónsi’s sister, Inga Birgisdóttir, shows a ship floating slowly across but not on a glimmering ocean and , although the album title – Valtari – is the Icelandic word for steamroller, this is the kind of dreamy, captivating sound we know and love.
If it ain’t broken, why fix it? appears to be the message, which is a relief to me personally as I have tickets to see the band in Verona this summer.
 | Anonymous on No tears for Mark Lanegan |
 | MaleFriends on IN PRAISE OF THE HAIRY CHEST |
| Anonymous on COPYCAT KILLER IN DUMB MOVIE |
