Tag Archive: Nebraska


CHRIS ECKMAN BRINGS THE DUSTLANDS TO NORTHERN ITALY

Filed under: Italy, Music — Leave a comment
May 10, 2014

CHRIS ECKMAN – Piazza Saffi, Forlì 9th May 2014

Chris Eckman (left) onstage in Forlì with Paul Austin.

One of the best things about living in Italy is that outdoor concerts and other open air events rarely need to be cancelled due to bad weather.

In the UK, washouts are frequent and music festivals often turn into mud baths.

This free show by Chris Eckman took place in the main square of Forlì in Emilia-Romagna on a pleasantly cool, clear evening. It marked the start of a new season of concerts organised by Strade Blu who in recent years have brought quality artists like Devendra Banhart, Steve Earle, Lambchop and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy to the region. The focus is mainly on folk or alt.country.

When he’s not playing solo, Eckman is part of The Walkabouts from Seattle and he was joined on stage by Paul Austin of that band. Austin played electric guitar backing to the Eckman’s earthy vocals and crisp acoustic guitar. Continue reading →

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ON THE ROAD TO NEBRASKA

Filed under: Movies, Parenting — Leave a comment
March 19, 2014

NEBRASKA directed by Alexander Payne (USA, 2013)

Today is Father’s Day in Italy so it seems the right day to be reflecting on this movie.

As with Payne’s  About Schmidt & Sideways, character comes before plot and goes some way to explaining why the premise of the film is so contrived. We have to take it as a given that Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is gullible and naive enough to believe that he has won a million dollars in a magazine’s prize draw even though none of his other personality traits make this particularly credible.

Woody is cantankerous, fiercely independent and unsentimental. Thick-skinned and mule-headed, this old man shows no particular affection towards his wife or his two sons.

On the contrary, he seems to regard the younger son , David (Wil Forte), as a schmuck. This negative judgement gradually softens as, unlike the older sardonic son Ross, played by Bob ‘better call Saul’ Odenkirk, David has a limitless patience and tact. He alone is prepared to humour the old man’s obsessive demands rather than concede that he should be confined to a care home. Continue reading →

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