Last night just saw Sugar a movie about baseball, a sport for which I have no interest whatsoever... Well, there’s more to it than baseball because as in all sports it teaches you the lesson of life. In this case, the movie highlights the life of people I wasn’t aware of; young men facing high employment and economic misery dying to get out of their Island to find happiness and support their family back home. At least this is how It’s portrayed in the film. Written and directed by Half Nelson creators Anna Boden and Ryan Flec, the film isn’t about action shots home runs and pace throwing, It explores the culture choc and the numerous difficulties these young Dominican face when coming to north America. Pleasure and joy are are highlighted in a subtle way throughout their pilgrimage, from the youth academies to the minor leagues.
Definitely, one of the best impressions showcased in the film is how nasty and cruel culture choc can be, Foreigners living in Paris will definitely know what I’m talking about. But in this context, the film blesses friendship in a sincere and emotional way.
All in all, this a very honest film and shows us that there are several roads to happiness and a fulfilled life can be found anywhere.
Yesterday, Japandroids came to visit Paris for the first time and this was the kick off to the 2010 concert season. The gig started off with Semen Sundays, they didn’t do it for me really, the lead singer was pretending to have Tourette’s, his stagecraft was over exaggerated, you could tell he didn’t believe in what his was doing (rolling around the floor, miming playing the guitar with his mic...) and neither did the audience. They just sounded like a very ordinary Punk band, They played 20 songs in 20 mins, the good news is that there long track list went by rather quick.
Now, let’s move to Japandroids, As soon as Brian King (guitarist) hits the chords of his guitar I knew I was into something powerful tonight, It was loud and fuzzy, the sound powered through your body like a roaring Jet. Brian King pulled off an energetic performance bouncing from corner to corner and off the drum set, but all that blended in perfectly with the sound. Young hearts spark fire, wet hair, crazy forever, sovereignty were my best tracks that left hanging in the middle of the air, in this moment of teleportation you could sense that these tracks are perfectly executed rock songs with raw melodies.
For the ones who may have missed this, they’re coming back in May here. Until then, I’ll never forget last night
