NOSTALGIC NEWS

15 YEARS AGO

Sympathy for Lady Venegance was released Callum Nelmes

10YEARS AGO

Stromae’s Cheese was released Morgan McMillan

The final entry in Park Chan-Wook’s masterful ‘Vengeance Trilogy’, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is perhaps the most introspective, tragic and beautiful film of the trilogy.

Exactingly paced and gorgeously lensed, Lady Vengeance weaves surreal, dream-like aesthetics and affecting cinematic lyricism into an elegant, intoxicating swirl of uncompromisingly brutal, traumatic violence and moral ambiguity never truly explored to the same passion as the previous two. The vivid motifs of snow and blood, conjoined with the astonishing central performance of Lee Young-ae as Lee Geum-ja and the stirring juxtaposition of classical music, lead the way towards a riveting, chaotic noir-esque narrative strung together in a maze of discordant memories and empty retribution, without forgoing a slight, but consistently efficacious humour, as dark and macabre as it is. Belgium is home to the best electronic dance music out there and Stromae’s Cheese further highlights the best of Belgian electronic. The lead single, ‘Alors on danse’, reached number one across Europe and is arguably one of Stromae’s most well-known songs to date. ‘Alors on danse’ on the surface sounds like a happy dance track, however, the song is about surviving daily life by dancing, with its melancholic atmosphere surrounded by rave synths, something that’s a staple of all tracks on Cheese. Stromae paints a world of grey and depression throughout Cheese, on ‘Rail de Musqiue’ Stromae goes into the detail on the drugs needed to get him through life “ma weed, ma coke, mon speed, mon crack, mon musique”. Though the album is fully in French, the pain and anguish are understood transnationally. Stromae put his heart into this record and we are able to understand the artist behind the upbeat bass. It may be called Cheese though but there’s nothing cheesy about it and is definitely worth a listen to everyone who enjoys crying on the dancefloor.

20 YEARS AGO

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released Katie Evans Ang Lee’s Millenial classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) turns 20 this year. The wuxia martial arts film that transcended borders with its co-production agreements became the highest-grossing international film in the United States making it a record-breaking achievement for pan-Asian cinema and beyond. The action-adventure masterpiece, fronted by the brilliant Chow Yun-fat as protagonist Master Li, is a tale of excitement. With its portrayal of multiple female characters with strong roles and important parts to play in the narrative, the film always feels like a somewhat feminist piece and will remain a masterpiece to this day.

The visual effects and choreographed fight scenes were new for Western audiences, opening viewpoints and blending cultural boundaries in more ways than one. Lee, who has since become an acclaimed Hollywood director with hits such as Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012), stunned with his piece which will remain an important piece of cinematic history.

NOSTALGIC NEWS

25 YEARS AGO

Enrique Iglesias’ Enrique Iglesias was released Olivia Dellar

60 YEARS AGO

A Bout de Souffle was released Katie Evans

King of Latin pop Enrique Iglesias released his debut album 25 years ago, and ever since then, he’s been stealing hearts of middle-aged mums everywhere, acquiring a reputation of the original heart-throb that was out there breaking hearts and bringing us absolute Latin bangers, what a man. But before romantic soppy ballad ‘Hero’ and party anthems ‘SUBEME LA RADIO’ and ‘El Perdon’ we first saw Enrique release a debut album that was worlds away and extremely different from the mainstream reggaeton and trap Latin songs we see him releasing now. It’s safe to say that the album is the epitome of Latin mellow bliss, every song starts with relaxed opening bars that exhibit his velvety smooth voice to no ends, just because it’s in another language it doesn’t mean you can’t vibe.

The debut album is one with light rock tones and soft pop ballads and bagging an Emmy for best Latin album, and he’s definitely not to be dismissed as a ‘pretty boy’. Breathless (1960), known by its official French title À bout de souffle, was released an incredible 60 years ago as the first feature film by the ever-so acclaimed and influential director Jean-Luc Godard.

Godard’s critically acclaimed crime drama has captivated audiences and theorists over time and has become one of the most notable pieces of cinema to have ever graced our screens, with the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) which started in 1960’s France, instigating an evidential trend of New Waves across the world - think Mexico, China and more...

The film explores both love and crime in a way that displays a delectable medley of ‘new wave’ splendour never seen before by classic era audiences. Handheld camera shots and sudden jump cuts formed a new style which helped define the work of not only Godard but the era of cinema in which his work proved a spectacle.

40 YEARS AGO

Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Uprrising was released Morgan McMillan Uprising is Bob Marley and The Wailers 12th studio album and was Bob Marley’s last album released during his lifetime, making the album a more sentimental anniversary for his fans. Within Uprising we see Marley explore and address his Rastafarian beliefs on a whole new level than ever before and we get an even deeper look at the soul of Marley.

‘Could You Be Loved’ and ‘Redemption Song’ are arguably the best songs on the album, they both take on a completely different tone but show Marley’s musical variety and ability to adapt any musical style into reggae. ‘Could You Be Loved’ embraces funk and disco while sticking to its reggae roots, whilst ‘Redemption Song’ is an “acoustic ballad without any hint of reggae rhythm” as said in the book Marley Legend. The song was written after Marley was diagnosed with cancer and the powerful message of the song, as said by Marcus Garvey, urges listeners to emancipate themselves from mental slavery as no one can free our minds but ourselves.