Do ya feel lucky punk? (Dirty Harry)

Chalk and cheese. The earliest citation of the phrase is in John Gower's Middle English text Confessio Amantis, 1390:

Lo, how they feignen chalk for chese

It's a phrase used to indicate the differences between things.

Unbroken and American Sniper are two movies SWMBO, Jade (visiting for a few days) and I watched over the last few nights: both American made movies about the effects of war on people (in Unbroken - set during WW2 - just on men) and the motivation on men to do what they do (in post 9/11 American Sniper - multifaceted and complex).

Angelina Jolie and Clint Eastwood - chalk and cheese.

Jolie goes for the BIG MESSAGE (um - the title gives it away) while Clint's a much more nuanced series of messages.




There is a ring of authenticity around Clint's movie (and his other movies) that other directors struggle to have. American Sniper feels gritty, real. Steven Spielberg is a great director but he couldn't have pulled off American Sniper (like Clint couldn't do ET). Man's gotta know his limitations.

I bought Unbroken for potential use with my Year 11 class (ditched that idea after seeing it), but American Sniper I bought for us to watch.

Can't say I actually enjoyed either one and pretty sure I never need to watch Unbroken ever again. 

American Sniper will join Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker and Apocalypse Now in the Wozza DVD library under 'War'.

Love and peace - Wozza

Who calls the English teacher daddio? (The Coasters)

With all my worldly possessions from Abbey Road Two in boxes I went to grab some fresh DVDs/ CDs from The Warehouse and what a disappointment.

I'm always optimistic that I'll find something cool to buy but I couldn't find any new issues in either category that excited me enough to lay down the cash.

My focus then shifted to finding a suitable new film for my Year 11 class to watch for a film study (you'll remember my criteria I'm sure re nudity, sex, language, drug references, worthiness of characterisation and theme). This has become a bit of a hardy perennial.

I ended up buying Imitation Game for a senior class, Unbroken and Jupiter Ascending potentially for my Year 11s based on the blurb and the M rating. Channing Tatum is a big hit with the girls usually.

Got back to school, checked Common Sense media for their thoughts and deflategate settled in: luke warm reviews for Angelina Jolie's Unbroken and they reckon Jupiter is 'laughably bad but slick looking'. They also pointed out some nudity which wasn't indicated on the box. Shucks - I may have to stick with Save The Last Dance again.

Back on point though - what a lousy selection of product out there at the moment. I guess there are always peaks and troughs in quality and we are firmly in a trough in 2015 baby.

The CD market appears to be in a coma on life support. Very sad.

Love and peace - Wozza