London - 24 Mar 06

It occurred to me that it might be interesting to record the top 10 movies and singles in the UK while I am here, at least once. So, here they are, the top ten UK films:

1. Pink Panther
2. V for Vendetta
3. The Hills Have Eyes
4. Chicken Little
5. Syriana
6. Date Movie
7. Walk the Line
8. Lucky Number Slevin
9. Big Momma’s House 2
10. Tsotsi.

And the top ten singles are:

1. No Tomorrow – Orson
2. It’s Chico Time – Chics…or something like that
3. Pump It – Black Eyed Peas
4. Beep – Pussycat Dolls
5. Put Your Records On – Corinne Bailey Rae
6. Whole Lotta History – Girls Aloud
7. Red Dress – Sugababes
8. Touch the Sky – Kanye West
9. Sorry – Madonna
10. Thunder in My Heart Again – Meck ft. Leo Sayer

I might add that I have only seen one film on the movie list, Syriana. It was good. As far as the songs go, I know the sound of two of them by name even though I know all of them have been played on the radio while within earshot. I would like to get some of them even though they may not be amazing songs, they might bring back a little of London for some time to come.

As you can see Brits like some crappy movies and music too. The Hills Have Eyes? Big Momma’s House 2? Freaking BEEP? Yes, they have taste, but sometimes their distaste, just like the distaste of Americans, is how they are known. I did give a listen to every one of those songs when I got home. I ended up not getting one of them. They are all not in my taste. Some songs like Madonna’s “Sorry” bring me instantly back to say, a McDonalds, any McDonalds in London was playing that song five times a day. The music listed above doesn’t bring back the London I love at all. It brings back the fabrication, the Americanization of a wonderfully British city, and that is something I won’t mind revisiting.