At the movies for a decade...

Last time we promised to advert to Donald Clarke's Irish Times list of the best movies of the decade, but taking a look at Richard Brody's 10 Best list in The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2009/11/best-films-of-the-decade.html), I realised that where lists used to have value a couple of decades ago because they showed convergence regarding what movies really mattered to the critical canon, that no longer happens anymore.
The only movie I have seen of Brody's list is the shockingly bad “Knocked Up” (sorry that I have so far missed Wes Anderson's “The Darjeeling Limited”: I love Anderson's work) but the simple fact that it is on the list gives me much pause for thought. Otherwise, Brody's list is completely unknown to me, a rather good thing, except for Knocked Up.
The huge response to Donald Clarke's list in the 'Times shows how much people love lists, and love disagreeing about them, something I note my children also love despite their youth.
But the astounding disparity between Clarke and Brody's list has to give anyone pause for thought, so rather than doing lists, let's move sideways, and do this:

Studio of the Decade: Pixar. Ending the decade with Wall-E and UP is a sign of utter confidence such as no other studio can exhibit. My favourite, mind you, remains The Incredibles, but any movie that could make me weep as much as UP is a killer.

Director of the Decade: Guillermo del Toro: any fat Mexican guy who can swing between Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth is truly gifted. A wizard.

Writer of the Decade: Charlie Kaufman: Kaufman knows what it is like to be a performer – the fear; the projection; the loneliness – and he writes it better that anyone else. Adaptation took a lousy book and turned it into a masterpiece.

Thriller of the Decade: The Bourne Trilogy. How anyone can watch a Bond movie after Bourne is beyond me. Lean, relentless masterpieces that understand tension and release better than any movie since “Terminator”.

Surprise of the Decade: Lost in Translation. How did Sophia Coppola ever get the nerve to go anywhere near to a camera again after the disaster that was “Godfather 3”? But thank heavens she did, for only a woman would have had the nous to show us Scarlett Johansson's bum in such an unflattering way, and also manage to coach such a stoic performance from beloved Bill Murray. Utter enchantment, which is what movies are supposed to be about.

Not Getting It...

Back on Tuesday, The Irish Times reckoned it was the best disc of the last ten years.
So we went to see what the guys at Pitchfork reckoned, and they said it was the second best disc of the last decade.
So, we put on the copy of “Funeral” by Arcade Fire that a friend burnt for us a few years back and we listened once again.
And we don't get it. We just don't get it.
I mean, the fact that Pitchfork put Daft Punk's ‘Discovery” at No.3: we get that. Fleet Foxes? We get that (though not initially, it should be said). Elbow? Yeah, well John McKenna likes it, anyway. He also likes “Free All Angels” by Ash, and so does everyone else.
But Arcade Fire?
What's to like? Sure, it's ardent. But Youth Defence are ardent. Richard Bruton is ardent. Ardent isn't enough.
And when the girl in the band sings the last song and can't get anywhere near the tune, we want to scream.
Are we just too old? Well, our mate Tony Clayton-Lea was one of the Irish Times guys who selected Arcade Fire, and he's the same vintage, just about.
We just don't get it...
More tomorrow on what we think about Donald Clarke's best movies of the decade. “There Will Be Blood”? Hmmm...
It all passes the time as we anxiously await the return from the printer of the new Bridgestone Irish Food Guide...

Corner Boys...

So, here are Ian and Peter, and Ian and Peter are the guys in Dublin who everyone seems to be talking about.
They have opened up The Exchequer and Leslie Williams likes what they are doing: “Had a very fine Venison pie with beetroot salad last night in the Exchequer on Exchequer Sreet. (on the corner of Dame Lane). Pie was whole with pastry all round with well cooked meat - clearly stewed first before being put in the pie. Mushrooms were a mix of regular and wild (from dried) but tasted good and mushroomy. Beetroot was young fresh sweet baby beetroots with a mix of leaves including of course beet leaves. We also had very good crispy chips with mayonnaise. Beers on tap include Urquell and College Green Belfast Blonde and lots of funky bottled beers. Staff very friendly and good other stuff on the menu sounded good such as calf liver and deep fried ling and chips”.
Caroline Byrne, meantime, writes: “Very excited about this place - this is what the pub should be: creative, great food and drink, Irish, sustainable, great value.... Let's hope the location doesn't kill them! The bar's doing great at weekends, they're just what we need - and it's two young guys too. Another gem for Dublin during the recession!!”
So, meet a Belfast Blonde with a deep fried ling at The Exchequer.
http://www.theexchequer.ie

Eurotoque Awards

So many awards are given annually in every sector of society – especially the world of food and drink – that many have become all but worthless. But one gong is truly worth having, and that is the annual Eurotoque awards to specialist food producers.
This year, the Eurotoque guys got it right once again, presenting awards to Con Trass's The Apple Farm, Kitty Colchester's Happy Heart Oil, Jorg Muller's Solaris Botanicals and, a brilliant and brand new arrival, Martin and Noreen Conroy's Woodside Farm, who produce superb pork products. There was also a special award for Connemara Hill lamb, which has been awarded PGI status.
Cyril Byrne's pic shows Minister Trevor Sargent with Prea Munian from Solaris, Con Traas and Kitty Colchester. Pity the Conroys couldn't make it, but shouldn't they have had a Connemara Hill lamb is the shot somewhere? Maybe next year.
You will, of course, be able to read more about all the winners, all of whom feature in the new Bridgestone Irish Food Guide, when it hits the shops in a couple of weeks time.

Reading

Fintan O'Toole: Ship of Fools (Faber & Faber)

“Ship of Fools” is a polemic, and a good one. You could read it from cover to cover in one sitting, and you will emerge suffused with righteous anger, and disappointment.
The anger is on account of the persistent stupidity of the political class, and the persistent greed and perfidy of the bourgeois and banking class in Ireland.
The disappointment is that we have let unacceptable behaviour derail our economy once again, and once again a future generation will pay for the present generation's naivete and lack of simple decency.
O'Toole traces the stupidity and the perfidy right back to Charlie Haughey and Guinness & Mahon bank, and the DIRT scams of the banks back in the 1980's. He paints a picture of a governing party – Fianna Fail – which is so wrapped up in its own code of omerta that it doesn't know which way is right, and which way might be left, or even just wrong. Next time you wonder if Brian Lenihan is the man for the job, remember that this is the man who spoke at the funeral of Charles Haughey, the man who stole money donated to pay for his father's liver transplant operation.
O'Toole is not just angry, he is also funny, and superb at puncturing the inflated egos of politicos, bankers and builders.
But, whilst all this is fine and good, there is one major question that arises. It is clear from this book that Fintan O'Toole actually seems to know all about ... Coronation Street! Quite how Ireland's leading public intellectual has time to worry about Ken and Deirdre (if both those characters are dead or written out, forgive us: we are out of our depth here) we just don't know. But there is something fine and clever and appropriate about being able to discuss the strange case of Bertie Ahern in the context of two soap characters.

Rua Xmas

As you will soon be able to read in the new Bridgestone Irish Food Guide, the McMahon family of Castlebar are building quite a food empire in the town, an empire that has taken a mighty step forward with the opening of RUA, the splendiferous deli and café overseen by Aran McMahon.
You don't need an excuse to visit the shop – you are a person of discrimination, after all – but if you do, then please note that Aran has lined up some special visitors and exhibitors over the coming weeks, including Graham Roberts of the Connemara Smokehouse, and Enrico Fantasia of the brilliant Grape Circus.
RUA also have an amazing range of hampers which have exactly what a discriminating person like you requires, including a “Best of the West” hamper. Get all the gen at: http://www.caferua.com/hampers.shtml

Listening/Cooking

Alina Ibragimova: Bach; Sonatas & Partitas (Hyperion)
Sheer wonderment at how a woman in her early 20's can play Bach like this is the only critical response. Beyond belief, beyond time.

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (Impulse!)
A date from 1963, half a dozen sings from the tenor player and the husky baritone, and pure gorgeous for every second of its too-short duration.

Kurt Elling: Dedicated To You (Concord)
The greatest living singer takes on Coltrane and Hartman in this act of homage, part of the American Songbook series, with Ernie Watts brave enough to play at being Coltrane. Elling is a star, and a truly magnificent performer.

Bruce Springsteen: Live in Dublin (Columbia)
With his Sessions Band, and what a blast from 2006. The horn playing, in particular, is stupendous, referencing every American style from New Orleans onwards. Wild.

Cooking:

Carmel Somers: Eat Good Things Every Day (Atrium)
No question that this is the best cookery book of the year. Polemical, passionate, and beautifully photographed by John Carey, and the food eats beautifully.

Wing & Scott: The Bread Builders (Chelsea Green)
Daniel Wing and Alan Scott's beautiful book is subtitled; Hearth Loaves & Masonry Ovens. Boy does this make you want to have your own simple, bread-baking oven in the backyard.