nessymon.com

Category: Film / TV

  • Watch and Listen // Hally – In a City

    Watch and Listen // Hally – In a City

    Sometimes, being away from home, you miss out on things, I don’t mean just birthdays or events. I mean, art projects, pop ups things that make a city scene, not just a art scene vibrant and alive.

    Alas, I must hold my hands up as Hally’s ‘In a City’ passed me by.

    I hadn’t heard of Irish singer songwriter, Hally in a few years, probably as I wasn’t on the ground on the Irish music scene. Hally has always been such a talented guy. When I saw ‘In a City”, I had to share it with you.

    “In A City” was part of a project Hally undertook in 2017 called “Peeling Onions”. Hally gave himself a task of writing, recording and producing a song and music video every week for the entire year. (Man, when did you sleep?)

    The music and videos were recorded and produced in his studio just outside Dublin and digitally released every Sunday night at 8pm via a Facebook Live introduction video, Youtube and Soundcloud.

    The music has previously been described as a “wildly diverse collection with Jazztastic Sympathies, Electronic Sprinklings, Verbal Ramblings… a poet and singer songwriter laid bear through the honesty and rawness of his words, music and visuals”.

    “In A City” was the release for week 19 and a collaboration between Hally and other artists. The lyrics and acoustic guitar track were provided by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Yes thee JGL) , Megan Kate performed the narration, Nico Finke – Tenor Saxophone, Gary O’ Reilly – Moog Synth, Electric Guitar – Ian Smith, Upright Bass – Ashley John Long, Kevin Brady (long time no see) – Percussion & Snare. Hally was responsible for Piano, Sound design, foley, bass, vocals, production, mixing and mastering.

    I asked Hally how he got involved in the project. “I’m a member of an artist community that he currates called hitrecord.org… its a platform where multidisciplinary artists come together to work on projects which then get published, released, licensed, etc through the hitrecord.org production company. I worked on various projects where Gordon has contributed or conceived.”

    The cinematography is a mixture of footage & stills shot in different cities, Brian Swift filmed the inner workings of Dublin City, Brian Cregan shared some of his still images. Hally also collected a lot of footage from different cities which he edited into the video. Additional footage was provided by ‘The Film Artist’, Philip Bloom & Adam Weinberg.

    Hally set himself a some tough rules for “In A City “. He only wanted to use analogue sounds or those of organic origin, so digital whatsoever. He recorded on one inch tape and then mixed tape to tape.. (I have experience of recording this way myself and it is totally exhilarating and makes your brain work in a different way).

    Hally explains, ” I felt this would bring a warmth and breath to the feel and texture of the piece, I wanted the whole piece to allude to the sense of the mayhem in a city but viewed and listened to from a safe and comfortable place, maybe looking out a window or from a balcony.”

    “In A City” does exactly this. This is a really interesting collaborative project. Amazing discipline, drive and determination to keep doing the ‘Peeling Onions’ project for 52 weeks. And having to come up with new ideas every week, not just musically but visually too. Bravo, hats off!

    Hallymusic will be releasing a curated 12 track Double Vinyl compilation from the “Peeling Onions” project later this year. A UK and Ireland tour with his band ‘The Hymns’ will follow the albums release.

    Find Hally’s own favourite Songs from the  “Peeling Onions” project here.

    You can find the entire Peeling Onions playlist here:

    Find out more about Hally on his website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

    Photo taken from here

  • The First Two Months With Odeon Limitless

    The First Two Months With Odeon Limitless

    One of the things I really miss about Dublin is how often I used to go to the cinema. I was also lucky enough to be able to go to press screenings and then write about those movies on the digital pages of this here blog.

    Here in London, commuting is high on my list of pet hates. It takes about an hour to get to and from work on packed trains each day. If you go straight home, there’s little incentive to actually get up and head back into town for an evening. It feels like a chore.

    Talulah was off for a couple of days for her birthday in June, (while I couldn’t get the days off) and headed for some chilled time in the cinema. Kinda jealous by that, we went to see another movie the following weekend when I was able to go.

    Before I go any further, this is NOT an ad, I’m just telling you about how much sense this makes.

    Here’s the thing. Cinema tickets are expensive, approximately £14.50 depending on the time of day and location. By going to two films that week, Talulah actually paid more than what we would pay per month if we got Odeon Limitless cards. You also get invites to movies previews and you get 10% off certain products at the counter. Those nachos and hot cheese are sooo bad for you but they taste so good!!

    Limitless cards cost us £19.99 per month as we include cinemas in central London. That’s about a fiver more than seeing one film. And there are more Odeon cinemas closer to us than any other so it’s a no brainer.

    We’ve now made a little ritual of going to the cinema. Once the following week’s times are released, we book for the Friday evening. In the space of two months, it’s become our thing.

    We signed up online and then went to see a film where we were given a temporary paper card until our actual card arrived in the post. It took about 7 working days. Just be aware, you need to take a photo of yourself on your phone before you apply online. The photo you supply will be printed on the card, so there’s no spreading the card around among your mates!

    Since then, we’ve seen films in four different cinemas. Covent Garden, Haymarket, Tottenham Court Road and Surrey Quays. I think our favourite is Covent Garden. Even though it is central London, it’s never extremely busy.

    The Haymarket Odeon must be experienced. There are, maybe, 50 seats, all recliner chairs, with a little arm tray for your drinks and nibbles.

    So what have we seen?

    • McQueen
    • The Happy Prince
    • Hereditary
    • Whitney
    • Sicario 2
    • The Secret of Marrowbone
    • Ant-Man and The Wasp
    • Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!
    • Mission: Impossible – Fallout
    • The Meg
    • The Darkest Minds

    Next Up:

    The Equalizer 2

    If you like your movies and want to make yourself leave the house, think about getting an Odeon Limitless card. Go as many movies as you want, as many times as you want to for £19.99 a month. Done Deal.

    So would you like me to review more movies? Let me know!

  • 27 Gone too Soon // Film Review

    27 Gone too Soon // Film Review

    27 Gone too Soon // Film Review

    Music mogul, Simon Napier-Bell, has managed an impressive list of bands in his time as a music manager. Wham!, The Yardbirds, Marc Bolan, Japan, and in more recent times, Sinead O’Connor. He co-wrote the lyrics of Dusty Springfield’s ‘You Don’t have To Say You Love Me and he has also written a number of books about his time in the music industry.

    He’s been there and done it.

    Napier-Bell has returned to the film industry, where he started his career. Following his documentaries ‘Sinatra: To Be Frank’ and the brilliant ’50 Years Legal’, he now delves into the music world’s infamous 27 club with ’27 Gone Too Soon’.

    Brian Jones (Rolling Stones), Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendricks and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27 between 1969 and 1970. The myth and legend of the 27 club was reignited with Kurt Cobain died and then later, Amy Winehouse.

    Through archive footage and contributions from Paul Gambaccini, Lesley Ann Jones, Olly from Years and Years, Gary Numan, Tom Robinson as well as a host of record company guys of the time, Napier-Bell looks at the reasons behind the demise of the artists in question.

    While tales from the past tell us that all these artists had a dependency on substances of one sort or another, Napier-Bell asks why they had this dependency. Vulnerable people, who had a childhood trauma so the became introverted and therefore developed their talents.

    What’s interesting to note is that during the film, it was mentioned that if the 27 Club was changed to the 26-30 Club, it would have 20 members.

    At 90 minutes long, ’27 Gone Too Soon’ is a good evening’s viewing. I was lucky enough to see its premier in London and the time flew by. There is a lot of information that music lovers will already know contained within this film. What really struck a chord with this viewer, was the human element: the reaction to the death of Amy Winehouse. It’s obvious that some of the contributors knew her and broadcaster, Lesley Ann Jones, was tearful when speaking about Ms Winehouse.

    The premier was followed by a Q&A which continued questioning all the artists’ vulnerabilities and the role of the music manager and record company in looking out for their artists.

    Yes, these artists were flawed. Yes, they were vulnerable. Yes, ‘someone’ should have done more. But by God they were talented and this film does more than remind of us that.

    27 Gone Too Soon is now available to buy on DVD

    Thanks to Terry at Cannonball PR for the tickets to the Premier.

  • Irish Indie Film Trampoline on Amazon Prime

    Irish Indie Film Trampoline on Amazon Prime

    Trampoline - film poster - nessymonTrampoline is an Irish made indie film, currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Written and directed by Tom Ryan, it tells the story of Angie Corbett, who returns to Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, after a stint in London.

    Why Trampoline? I guess it’s because Angie is bouncing around not knowing where her life is going. All her mates have left, her parents have divorced and there’s a lot of changes happening. She takes a job as an English sub teacher and she’s a little bit shite at the job.

    There are some things I could poke at regarding the production but here’s the amazing thing about Trampoline. It was made for €1000. Yes, one thousand euro. Between first time director Tom Ryan and Producer Claire Gormley, they managed to wrangle local businesses in Nenagh into sponsoring the film. In return for a mention in the credits, they get the exterior of their business featured in the film. Stroke of genius.

    Now, the pair have it streaming on Amazon Prime. Indie filmmakers across the land, what are you waiting for? The world is your oyster and there are new platforms to exploit and increase your audience. Whatever about the story and the production, this is the inspirational ending from Trampoline.

    Since the making of Trampoline, Ryan has gone on to make Twice Shy, the story of an unplanned pregnancy, and has recently won Best Young Director at the Irish Film Festival Australia.

    You can follow Tom Ryan on Twitter.

    Check out the trailer for Trampoline.