Light and Sound

'All the crazy shit I did tonight, those will be the best memories, I just wanna let it go for tonight, that would be the best therapy for me'

A few years ago, before turning eighteen, the idea of dancing, or 'getting my freak on', or 'getting my ass down' or 'busting some moves', would probably have filled me with dread. Getting introduced to the world of clubbing certainly changes all that. I remember the first time I ever walked into a club, about a week or so after I'd turned 18, and feeling so ridiculously grown up. I suppose it was my first time in an 'adult place', somewhere that was exclusively for adults- that felt pretty damn exciting. Drinking and dancing in the same place as all these 'proper adults', in this big place that blinded me with light and blasted me with bass fuelled sound. Now, just two years on, I feel like one of those 'proper adults' looking down on all the young uns taking over my clubs! Times change, but I still very much love the feel of being completely wankered, on a dancefloor, with all my friends. I can't imagine that ever changing.

Not that I'm now claiming that I'm some seasoned dancer and show it. I'm fairly sure we still all look like complete bellends on dancefloors. Just slightly more confident bellends now! This of course isn't a bad thing. You get your good bellends in clubs and your bad. You don't want to be taking the whole thing too seriously- then you look like a bad bellend. That comes with confidence, and confidence that alcohol alone can't give you. You have to be prepared to just go out and have fun, to just not care. Let's face it, that's the beauty of clubbing for people. A night of fun and not caring, usually after a week of stressful work or uni. I like to think we do the whole having fun and not caring well. That gets better and better over time.

Summer nights are always the best by far. It's difficult to explain why. You can just sense a better mood, amongst your friends, amongst the whole club. A real shared emotion throughout the crowd. Everyone's there for the same reason as you, and that's always a nice feeling. It's a similar feeling to one I get at gigs or at parties. Just knowing that everyone is there to have a fun night and be happy and be drunk and have some great memories (or not depending on how much you drink!) by the end of it. That moment in a club when everyone, gathered together, drunk as hell, hears a song they instantly recognise; could be an old classic, could be a big dance tune, could be a new chart entry or an indie singalong, it will be one that unites everyone in a big old song and dance. Those are moments that definitely stick in the memory no matter how much you've had to drink.

Nearly 3 years of clubbing have brought about many many many memories like those. I feel like I need to be making the most of it all while I'm still young. These are the times to enjoy. It's changed my tastes in everything. My taste in alcohol- I used to love lager, now I prefer things like vodka red bull and VK's. My taste in music- I used to hate dance music and all chart music, and now I rather love dance and even buy Ministry of Sound CDs and DJ's albums. My taste in clothes- it has provided me with an insane love of shirts and dressing up smart. The list goes on. Long may the good times continue!

Bring on London (MoS/Fabric?) for my birthday and Ibiza in, hopefully, the near future!

'These are the good times in your life
So put on a smile and it'll be alright'

The Runaways

'Dead end kids in the danger zone
All of you are drunk and stoned'

THE RUNAWAYS (Released August 26th 2010, UK)
Dir. by Floria Sigismondi
Starring Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon

The Runaways were an all-girl teenage rock group formed in LA in the 1970s and have now become the subject of a new film by Floria Sigismondi in her first major feature. The band had a short career, spanning from 1975 to just 1979, but released 4 albums, had a number of hits and toured all over the world. The film covers this career from the very formation of the group as producer Kim Fowley introduced rhythm guitarist Joan Jett to drummer Sandy West, both of whom had approached him with the idea of creating an all-girl group. And the rest, as they say, is history.

With an influx of musician biopics (Walk The Line, Control et al) over recent years it is perhaps tough for the latest in the genre to avoid the standard formula set forward by its predecessors. While The Runaways doesn't necessarily avoid this structure, it is set apart by the interesting issues it raises with regards to feminism in the 1970's. In many ways the film could be seen as a representation of 'girl power', of a group of young women making their voices heard and making their mark upon a male-dominated market. The band were, in this respect, hugely influential, encouraging a generation of girls to pick up electric guitars and immerse themselves in the practice of rock and punk genres.

But the film has its dark side, and does not completely shirk from presenting the exploitation of the band and the dramatic effect it had upon relationships within the group. Fowley, while undoubtedly a talented music producer, was seen by many as a monster and stories have emerged since about the extent of the verbal and sexual abuse the band suffered from him. Credit to him, he provided the group with everything they dreamed of musically, but in order to encounter such success Fowley exploited the gender of the group, sexualising girls perhaps too young to fully deal with the inevitably very adult effects of being a sexual symbol. This was particularly difficult for lead singer Cherie Currie, thrust headfirst into a grown-up world, and eventually led to her alienating herself from both Fowley and the rest of the band.

The film is based upon Currie's memoir 'Neon Angel' and thus hers is the only family backstory we are provided with. Currie's is undoubtedly the saddest story; she seemed so unready for the adult world and was therefore the one so easily exploited by it. Dakota Fanning is an absolute revelation in the role, building astonishingly upon her younger roles in, amongst others, War of the Worlds and Man on Fire. While her earlier performances were strong they also on occasion invited irritation amongst audiences, her bug-eyed cuteness adding a little too much sugar to dramatic films; there is no such problem here, Fanning providing a very real portrayal of a young woman losing her innocence. The girl has most definitely grown up. Kristen Stewart, meanwhile, invests her take on Joan Jett with a wonderful sense of teen rebelliousness and punk attitude, capturing Jett's swagger and natural boyishness. Stewart is becoming steadily, film by film, a young actress of genuine talent. The Runaways is another example of just what she can bring to a role more compelling and better written than that of Bella Swan, and may even be her most assured performance thus far.

With the band experiencing such an eventful 4 year career it is only necessary and expected that the film can only deal with so much. It can perhaps, therefore, be forgiven that so much emphasis is placed on Currie and Jett and so little on the other band members. Badly written though they may be, it is quite understandable that the filmmakers decided to focus on the two biggest personalities and in Fanning and Stewart they have two actresses perfectly capable of bringing them to the big screen. The film also skirts over some of the more scandalous events that took place during the band's career, including Currie's abortion, bass player Jackie Smith's suicide attempt and the extent of the sexual experimentations within the group. It does, however, have interesting things to say about the band; the moment Jett and Fowley write the band's biggest hit 'Cherry Bomb' on the spot prior to Currie's audition for the group is particularly revealing, as well as the explosive reactions the band received in Japan, which Jett compared to 'Beatlemania'. 'The Runaways' is a solid biopic lifted by all-round superb performances and a coming-of-age story constantly tinged with sadness at the loss of youth and innocence.
3.5/5

'Rock 'n' roll is a blood sport, a sport of men. It's for the people in the dark, the death cats, the masturbators, the outcasts who have no voice, no way of saying I hate this world, my father's a faggot, fuck you, fuck authority - I want an orgasm! Now, growl! Moan! This ain't women's lib, kiddies - the is women's libido! I wanna see the scratch marks down their fucking backs! Now, do it again. Again. Like your boyfriend just fucked your sister in your parent's bed. LIKE YOU WANT A FUCKING ORGASM!'

Summer 2010

'Dressed to kill, you look so right
I am drunk with lust tonight
Your wounds are opening wide
And they might be just my size' - Alexisonfire, Sidewalk When She Walks

I'm at the start of my summer and I'm loving every second of it already. Bring on 4 more months of this! The weather is amazing at the moment and inspires me to get out there and do stuff. I feel good creatively, keep on getting some nice ideas together and writing lots of script shizzle. Starting to shoot some preliminary scenes for my summer film, feels nice to have made some sort of start on it. Once I have this done I can crack on with my big script, the one I've had in my head since I was like 15. Exciting times!

Listening to a lot of The National, Plan B and Tiesto's greatest hits.

Got the new Empire mag through the post today. Dear god Inception looks good. Come out already!

An intro

So, to my first blog! Something to keep me busy when I'm bored and somewhere to store my thoughts and feelings on this, that and the other. I've finished uni for summer and I feel the need to be creative, write scripts, make films, take photos. Live every second of it and make the very most of it. All kinds of excitement.