Distractions

Deputy editor Ed Chamberlin brings you the latest music, books and cool stuff

1 LIFE-AFFIRMING FILM
The First Day of the Rest of Your Life
Director: Rémi Bezançon
Starring: Jacques Gamblin, Zabou Breitman, Déborah François, Marc-André Grondin, Pio Marmaï
The passage of time is a frequently explored theme in film, as it is possible to skip back and forth at will; the results can be messy or deeply moving, and in the case of this critically acclaimed new French film it is the latter. With a simple yet effective premise – focusing on a pivotal day in the lives of five family members – Rémi Bezançon creates an emotional story arc, lasting 12 years, documenting the trials and tribulations of a thoroughly normal, i.e. dramatically dysfunctional, family. Husband and wife, two sons and a daughter, all experiencing a decade of life’s changes – mid-life crises, the storms of adolescence, marriage, job-seeking, joy and tragedy. But when the dust settles, will things ever be the same?
Out now across Europe, 25 August in the UK.

1 RECORD IN DANISH
Kyst
Under Byen
Having inflicted Whigfield, Junior-Senior and Aqua on the world, the Danes desperately needed to make amends. But even if no more music ever came out of the country, Kyst – by Aarhus eight-piece Under Byen – would more than make up for it. Released in 1998, it won them Best New Band at the Danish Music Awards, with its mix of waltz-time rhythms, strings and pianos, and a vocalist channelling somewhere between Björk and Portishead.
Prices vary

1 TRIPPY BOOK
Elephants on Acid and other Bizarre Experiments
Alex Boese
Victor Frankenstein, Dr Strangelove, Doc Brown from Back to the Future, we all know the stereotype of the mad scientist. But there have been some deliciously macabre experiments done in the past, and this extremely funny and interesting read documents some of the more bizarre things scientists have tried out, including giving acid to an elephant. Described by the author as a “toilet reader’s guide to science” – a subject he’s devoted chapter eight to – it is a genuinely well-researched and fascinating insight into the lengths people will go to satisfy their curiosity. €9

1 SLACKERS’ BOOK
We Could Be Heroes
Ben Dirs and Tom Fordyce
“Oh yeah? Well I won a belching contest at work!” Homer Simpson once said to trump a Pulitzer Prize winner he had over for dinner. It doesn’t matter how bizarre your talents are, there is probably a competition you can excel in. This notion is what inspired two fun-loving, empty-awards-cabinet-owning layabouts to hatch a plan: travel the world for a year entering every bizarre alternative sports championship they could find in search of glory. Not the kind of glory that gets on you on the sports pages, but glory nonetheless. Everything from coal carrying in Essex to sauna endurance in Finland was entered by our intrepid heroes. Did they get the glory they wanted at any point? Well, that would be giving it away, wouldn’t it. Plus, I couldn’t be arsed reading the entire thing… €14