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gill moore photography

Archive for the 'Best Of' Category

Best of 2009: Music and Films.

Published
by
admin
on Friday, December 18, 2009
in 2009, Best Of, film and music
. 3 Comments

2009_bestfilms_music

Indeed, it is that time of year again when a cultural reckoning is required.  Did you have any favourite films this year and what was cooking up a storm on the music front?  Just like a friendly chinwag round the internet campfire, all are welcome to spend their two-pennies worth, please share your own Best Of’s for the Year 2009 and leave a comment.

I shall kick things off with my choices:

Best singles:

    Laura Marling - Alas I cannot swim (came out in 2008)
    Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
    Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
    Richard Hawley - Truelove’s Gutter
    The xx - xx
    Wilco - Wilco
    Wildbeasts - Two Dancers
    Yeasayer- All Hour Cymbals

Bubbling under
Tunng- Good Arrows (came out in 2007) / The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love / School Of Seven Bells - Alpinisms / Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz / Polar Bear - Polar Bear / Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs / The Antlers - Hospice

Best Films(roughly in order, best first)

    Fish Tank
    The Damned United
    Mesrine Killer Instinct
    The Class
    Moon
    Caramel (2007)
    Sleep Furiously
    Coraline
    Doubt
    35 Shots of Rum
    Frozen River
    Let the Right One In
    The Reader
    An Education
    Inglorious Basterds
    Slumdog Millionaire
    Syndoche new york
    Public Enemies
    State of Play

…. sadly there were others but they didn’t even make the cut.

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Shot Up North exhibition reaches Newcastle @ the Biscuit Factory in March …

Published
by
gill moore
on Monday, March 9, 2009
in 2008, 2009, Art Gallery, Best Of, Launch Night, Leeds, Show, art, artist, award, competitions, creative, culture, event, exhibition, galleries, manchester, newcastle, northern, photography, preview, prize, talent and uk
. 1 Comment

biscuitfactory_ext

I blogged during the light nights of June 2008 about my decision to enter the Shot Up North Awards.  SUN is a showcase designed to reward the best in professional photography north of Birmingham and to increase the profile of Northern Photographers in general.  50 images are chosen to be printed in the SUN catalogue, this wings its way to most of the movers and shakers in the Northern creative fraternity.  The winning work is also printed and framed and exhibited at various venues including Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham, Newcastle, Belfast and Birmingham.  So not a bad little showcase at all.

This was my first time for entering any kind of award, so I tried to canvas opinion from my inner advice circle (you know who you are - and thanks!).  In the end there were 3 or 4 images that seemed to be the most popular, which I then entered via the Shot Up North website.  Each image entered incurs an entry fee, so it isn’t just a case of entering hundreds and hoping one will produce success - unless you have money to burn of course.

After the judging I discovered I was successful with one of my images, which I had taken during the summer, at the Feast Festival in Manchester.  It was chosen for exhibiting, inclusion in the SUN catalogue and is also available to purchase as a limited edition print (framed or unframed) via Comme Ca Art.

I had to supply some blurb to go in the brochure and having to write this proved far more strenuous than taking the shot I can tell you!

“I find our physical world fascinating in all its forms from tiny seeds to panoramic landscapes, even crumbling buildings have a soul which sometimes cries out to be captured.

The image (see below titled “lanterns”) was taken at a recent Festival in Manchester, locals placed the floating lanterns on the Lake and created such a beautiful and powerful scene, I just tried to catch the moment - the merging of the community, nature and mankind in harmony, rebirth or farewell?  It made me think of so many things.”  (Gill Moore).

biscuitfactory
The exhibition has now reached what looks like a very nice venue in Newcastle called the Biscuit Factory.  It is Britain’s largest commercial gallery with two floors of space.   Apparently my image has been chosen to go on the front cover of their latest gallery brochure which previews the SUN show, which, if true I shall take as a real compliment.  I will endeavour to get my hands on a copy and post up on the blog.

For now here is my image “lanterns” and the overall winning image (and my favourite too) a stunning shot titled “Alpine Choughs” taken by Robert Pogson.

lanterns

robertpogson_sun

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My favourite films of 2008.

Published
by
gill moore
on Thursday, January 8, 2009
in 2008, Best Of, World Cinema, award, cinema, culture, favourite films, film, film director, links, list, movies, photography, prize and talent
. 0 Comments

filmframe

I usually bore all my filmy mates with my favourite films of the year, but hey, now I have a blog I can be even more indulgent!  My favourite music list will follow shortly, as soon as I’ve taken some more evaluative pills.

  1. There Will Be Blood /Paul Thomas Anderson, USA … ambitious, layered, passionate, engrossing, well acted.  Old-fashioned parable, epic in a good way.  Stunning cinematography.  Needed a great central performance and thankfully we got a top of the range Daniel Day Lewis acting class.  Powerful stuff.  Just spoilt by a drawn-out ending.
  2. The Dark Knight /Christopher Nolan, USA … very enjoyable, disturbing, moody and magnificent, Heath Ledger’s Joker lifts it notches higher on the entertainment levels.  Delve deeper and the messages are thick and potent.
  3. Juno /Jason Reitman, USA … original, funny, involving, imagine a comedy about abortion working so well. Great screenplay.
  4. No Country For Old Men /Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, USA … clever and creepy, vacuous, mans dark side exposed, not much hope on show.  Always interesting but worryingly uninvolving.
  5. Happy Go Lucky /Mike Leigh, UK … just the antidote I needed post “Old Men” and “Will Be Blood”, light of touch, beautifully acted, jaunty, charming and sweet. A film with a heart.
  6. Lars & the Real Girl /Craig Gillespie, USA … I really loved this, its original, affecting and thoughtful.  You are slowly drawn into a quite odd world which is brought to life wonderfully.
  7. Of Time and the City /Terence Davies, UK … rich, moving, interesting, thoughtful, individual, a very personal elegy and an essay on life.
  8. Charlie Wilson’s War /Mike Nichols, USA … entertaining, well acted, surprisingly better than I thought.  Philip Seymour Hoffman should have won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this.
  9. Gomorrah /Matteo Garrone, Italy … realist and gritty, suffers a little being post-”Sopranos”, anti-gloss gangster deconstruction. Tight jumpy editing, visually strong and visceral.  Deserves to be seen widely.
  10. Sweeney Todd /Tim Burton, USA/UK … rich in colour and pantomime,  good fun, I closed my eyes sometimes but the sounds were even worse.  Burton back on form.
  11. The Kite Runner /Marc Forster, USA … emotive, a strong visual hook tells a universal tale.  Strong but slightly flat.
  12. Wall-E /Andrew Stanton, USA … innovative and exciting first 40 minutes, imaginative story then plummets to dullness. How could such potential diminish so quickly?  Massively disappointing.
  13. Indiana Jones /Steven Spielberg, USA … couldn’t resist, my hero returns for more hokum.  Better than Indy 3 nowhere near as good as Raiders.  Old Harrison just about pulls it off, thankfully the laconic Bogart delivery doesn’t diminish with age.
  14. Gone Baby Gone /Ben Affleck, USA … well told crime tale, sturdy acting.  Delayed release due to freakish parallel with real UK child abduction case in the news.
  15. Burn After Reading /Ethan Coen/Joel Coen, USA … poor, almost embarrassing acting and casting, the Coens back to coasting mode.
  16. Hellboy 2 /Guillermo del Toro, USA/Germany … what a let-down, the best bit by far (which produced the only audience laugh) is the singing of a Barry Manilow song.  Save your pennies and watch that clip on YouTube.

Missed but heard good things on:

Hunger (UK), 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania), The Class (France), Waltz with Bashir (Israel), In Bruges (UK/USA),  Man on Wire (UK/USA)

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