Billy Joel

The piano man himself, Billy Joel. A man that must be forgiven for some of the worst music ever inflicted on mankind (We Didn't Start The Fire - contender for one of the most dreadful songs ever recorded) for one song: New York State of Mind. Totally one of my favourite songs ever.

Things I did not know until five minutes ago, he used to date Elle MacPherson. He must be really good in bed or something. Come on, what's that about?

Billy is up there with Barry and Neil for me. He is one of the greatest songwriters and although he can't knock them out like he used to, he sure has a back catalogue to be proud of. Just The Way You Are, She's Always A Woman, Piano Man, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant... they just keep coming. He's not aged well, he wrote some terrible songs but I forgive it all for this. Check him out - the man is cool! Maybe Elle was on to something...

Summer songs - Hips Don't Lie, Shakira

I admit to having a soft spot for Shakira. I think she has a great voice and is more than just a pretty blonde shaking her booty. Anyone who can sing "lucky that my breasts are small and humble so you don't compare them to a mountain" is a legend in my book.

This song is featured in Dirty Dancing 2 (which is honestly, I promise you, worth a watch) but not with Shakira singing it. Once she came along it was a mammoth hit and rightly so. It's the very definition of catchy. I love it and it is, without a doubt, a proper summer song.

It's overcast and rainy here after our one day of 90 degree heat yesterday. So let's watch this and pretend we are in Cuba or somewhere sexy and steamy and are dancing with some handsome Latino man.

The Sure Thing

We come to one of my favourite films of the 80s. I never tire of watching The Sure Thing. Quite apart from the fact it has the wondrous John Cusack in it, it also had a young Tim Robbins and Goose from Top Gun! This makes it the Perfect Film.

College boy needs to get to California to meet The Sure Thing (Nicolette Sherdian in a white bikini) and somehow by means of comic japes, takes a road trip with uptight college girl. Guess what happens? I know, it's hard to see where that plot line is going. I'll give you a clue - they hate each other to start with.

Directed by Rob Reiner at the top of his game, The Sure Thing is a pure delight and a reminder that back in the 80s, there was no need for gross out humour. I miss those days. Call me old but I don't need to see bridesmaids puking and crapping themselves in the name of humour.

Anyway, Daphne Zuniga spent some years in the wilderness after this reappearing in Melrose Place. Last I saw of her, she was in One Tree Hill; she really deserved a better fate.

If you've not seen it (really, why not?) then don't watch this trailer as it's pretty much the whole film.

Summer songs - La Isla Bonita, Madonna

This is one of the all-time great summer songs. It simply oozes sunshine and sangria. Listening to this song in the winter is all wrong but listening to it on a sunny day in June transports you to the Costa Del Sol and the whiff of Ambre Solaire.

Another fab video from Madonna. I never quite got the appeal of the long haired geezer but she looks amazing. As usual, I can't embed it but you can watch it here. I am typing this as the sun finally makes an appearance in London after days and days of grey skies and rain. Here's hoping it's the start of a heatwave.

The Notebook

Sappy love stories, I love 'em. The Notebook is a modern classic of the genre and like Titanic, I shamelessly love it. I can't quite be doing with the present day bit of the story because it's too sad but the main part of the film, where they flash back to when they are young is wonderful.

I first watched this on a plane and had no idea how sad it was. By the end, I was weeping and they were coming round with dinner. The air stewards looked sympathetic and said "Hmmm, The Notebook?" with understanding in their eyes. My sister was next to me and in a worse state so technically this is a film I first saw with my sister although not sure it counts on a plane.

I've since seen it quite a few times and always enjoy it. It's another perfect sunday afternoon film. The leads are great in this and it helps they were dating at the time - it's certainly quite steamy but in a harmless, romantic way.

Here's the trailer. Oh the romance...

Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet

It's time for every teenager's favourite tragic story, Romeo and Juliet, or as Baz would have it, Romeo + Juliet. Ampersands are simply not hip.

This is a cool film with the lovers perfectly cast. Leonardo is at the top of his game here and looks so good. Yes, he is very pretty but he has a depth and intelligence to him. Claire Danes is also excellent.

Made back when Baz was good. Well, I say that, he gave us this and Strictly Ballroom and I thought he was fantastic. Little did I know that was it. Then came one of my most hated films ever; Moulin Rouge. I can't even talk about it I loathe it so much. Maybe another time.

Back to Romeo + Juliet which is a good film. It's cleverly done, I love the Rio setting, it's sexy and it has a wonderful supporting cast. Pete Postlethwaite anyone? Paul Rudd? I love Paul Rudd. We may have a post about Paul Rudd soon. It also has the perfect movie soundtrack with Lovefool being my favourite. Whatever happened to The Cardigans? It has one of the few Radiohead songs I like on it too. Although I love the scene where they meet by the fish tank, I could do without Des'ree's warbling but nonetheless it's a winner.

So now I have another film I need to watch again.

Summer songs - Summer Night City, Abba

To celebrate the longest day of the year, I bring you Summer Night City. This has long been one of my favourite Abba songs and it's nice to see them doing a happy video, I love Anna's disco dancing! Look how happy they look in this picture. Ahhh Abba, no band does it like you.

I must book a city break to Stockholm...

Reality Bites

I was reminded of this film today when I heard My Sharona on the radio. How could I have not blogged about it before? It's totally one of my desert island movies.

This film is a 90s classic capturing the end of the grunge period when actresses didn't look glossy and perfect and just relied on being, you know, pretty. It's an X Generation film and being X gen, I lapped it up. I first saw this on my year out in Albuquerque and it fuelled my latent desire to move to the West and just chill out man. Never mind that I am way too old for that now, it's a fantasy I am not willing to give up easily. I could have worked at The Gap!

It's a great rom com but it's so much more than just a rom com thanks to the leads. My love for Janeane Garofalo knows no bounds and she is the star of this movie, I crown her thus for this one line: "Welcome to the maxi pad!" Winona Ryder can be a bit tedious but she is cute in this and as for Ethan Hawke. Crush alert! He was so sexy, I don't know where it went all wrong.

Ben Stiller directed this and really, that man is talented. It's a witty script and here a few of my favourite lines:

"He's so cheesy, I can't watch him without crackers."
"I'm not going to work at The Gap for chrissake!"
"I'm late for a jeans folding seminar. Let's locomote!"
"Can you define irony?"

There are so many more. It also has a classic 90s soundtrack. Man, I just love it and need to watch it again soon.

Meanwhile, here's My Sharona:

M*A*S*H

I'm always surprised when I talk to people my age (or thereabouts) and they say they never watched M*A*S*H.  It was so good and I wonder what they had to do that was better on a Wednesday night. Maybe they had rocking social lives.

Mobile Army Surgical Hospital was a black comedy set in the Korean war. The film was a proper black comedy (if you've not seen the film, stop reading and go and watch it now). However the TV show was a little sweeter and more sentimental. The early seasons were sensational with the original cast of Frank, Trapper, Henry and Radar. It was truly hilarious. I was too young to watch those early seasons when they aired and so I probably came to it when they brought in BJ Hunnicutt and Charles Winchester. I've since watched them all of course and the early episodes are the best. The show lost a little something when Radar went home. As for killing Henry Blake, I still well up thinking about it.

In my research to bring you this post (mainly, looking up how to spell Hunnicutt), I read that the finale of the show had 106 million viewers. Extraordinary. It was one of the best finales to a tv show ever. When Hotlips and Hawkeye finally kiss! When Hunnicutt spells out Goodbye. It was fantastic.

My criticisms of it are I always found Klinger very unfunny and Alan Alda's sentimentality made the later shows a bit harder to enjoy. Minor points in the grand scale of things though and Hotlips atoned for all that - she was one of the best TV characters ever.

It also had great opening credits that captured the show perfectly. Here they are if a little fuzzy.

Summer songs - Boys of Summer, Don Henley

With this song we may have our first summer song AND power ballad. How exciting. I plumped for summer song in the title as it is summer. Apparently. Although it's not summer in London today. It's cold and wet.

I thought we could do with some sunshine and California dreaming and what better way than with this gem? The Eagles are one of my favourite bands and I always look with interest at any solo Eagles. I've always adored this song, it's so atmospheric. The video is hard to find but I tracked it down on YouTube. It may well be taken down soon as Don (or his record company) is a bit obsessive about copyright. Enjoy it while you can and pretend you are running along a sunny beach in Santa Monica. Ahhhh.