Monthly culture: November 2022
Friday, December 2nd, 2022 08:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth03NOV22: Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall (Smeaton, 2022) -- Netflix
There is a limit to the number of renditions of 'Bad Moon Rising', 'Proud Mary' etc that I can comfortably experience in a couple of hours. That limit was exceeded. This was a film club pick, one I'd never have watched otherwise. My revenge will be sweet ...
04NOV22: Banshees of Inisherin (McDonagh, 2022) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
An (imaginary) island off the west coast of Ireland, in 1923. Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) go drinking every lunchtime (Padraic's sister Siobhan, played by Kerry Condon, is not invited). One day Colm says he doesn't want to be friends with Padraic any more. He claims Padraic is 'dull'. Colm, it turns out, is ... not exactly dull, and a talented musician and composer, but has some Issues. Padraic's friend Dominic (Barry Keoghan) has different Issues.
I was not convinced by claims that this was a comedy, but I was wrong: it is bleak and dark but also, often, hilarious, and the bleakness emphasises the humour. Oddly delightful and life-affirming, despite all the ways in which it is grim.
10NOV22: Wendell and Wild Selick, 2022) -- Netflix
Animated comedy with a distinctly grim ambience. Kat is an embittered orphan who blames herself for her parents' deaths; she's enrolled in an all-girls school and promptly allies with trans boy Raul, rather than the snobby rich girls. A mark appears on her hand, she encounters brother demons Wendell and Wild, and they promise to bring her parents back to life if she -- their 'hell maiden' -- gives them entry into the world of the living.
With, as they say, hilarious consequences.
(Also happy endings for nearly everyone, and justice served, and snobby rich girls doing the right thing.)
Utterly awesome soundtrack featuring TV on the Radio's 'Wolf Like Me', the Specials' 'Ghost Town', 'Germ Free Adolescents' and 'I am a Poseur' by X-Ray Specs, and quite a few newer tracks that I have subsequently hunted down.
11NOV22: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Coogler, 2022) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Is it me, or has the MCU become less witty, inventive, plot-driven? I found this disappointing. There were quite a few plot holes, and one (1) quip. Too many extended fight scenes, perhaps slightly too much mourning for T'Challa / Chadwick Boseman, and little connection with the rest of the MCU. I know it's early days for Phase Four but so far few of the films (Black Widow and Spiderman: No Way Home being the exceptions) have clicked with me.
17NOV22: Enola Holmes 2 (Bradbeer, 2022) -- Netflix
Great fun. I hadn't actually seen the first one, but my lack of relevant backstory was more than balanced by the fact I'd recently read a novel featuring phosphorus poisoning amongst 19th-century matchmakers. Henry Cavill is really rather good in this, though the scenes were mostly stolen by Millie Bobby Brown (who makes an excellent, if not entirely historically credible, ingenue) and the very decorative Louis Patridge as Tewkesbury. Strong women, non-white characters (yay Watson!) and a witty plot with several threads. We also played 'spot the London location', a perennial favourite as I am better at recognising places than faces.
24NOV22: Sabrina (Wilder, 1954) -- YouTube
Humphrey Bogart plays a steely-minded businessman; William Holden plays his playboy brother David; Audrey Hepburn is Sabrina, a teenager with a crush (on David), who happens to be the chauffeur's daughter. Not much chemistry between Bogart and Hepburn -- though obviously they are both worth watching -- and some fairly old-fashioned notions, because the past is another country. There's a strong subplot of social class and knowing your place, and -- pleasingly -- the age difference between Bogart (53) and Hepburn (24) is acknowledged, though Sabrina's (presumably platonic) affair with an elderly French Baron, who she meets at her Parisian cooking school, goes unexamined. Not my favourite of Wilder's films.
25NOV22: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Johnson, 2022) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
One of the most enjoyable films I've seen this year, and possibly the first one I've immediately wanted to see again. I have, as previously noted, very little ability to recognise actors, so kept having to nudge my companion and whisper 'who's that?': there are quite a few famous-name cameos. Daniel Craig is clearly having an immensely good time; Edward Norton as a tech billionaire who is nothing at all like Elon Musk is splendidly OTT; the show, however, is stolen by Janelle Monae, who I'd hitherto only encountered in a music context. She is awesome.
This is out on Netflix just before Christmas (see a plethora of news articles and opinion pieces bemoaning Netflix' approach: it was in cinemas for just seven days) and I am looking forward to watching it again.
06-14NOV22: The Devil's Hour (various, 2022) -- Amazon Prime
Bloody terrifying, cleverly plotted:, Jessica Raine plays Lucy Chambers, insomniac social worker with a son, Isaac, who seems to be on the spectrum; Nikesh Patel plays DI Ravi Dhillon, who is investigating a string of crimes to which Lucy is connected. Peter Capaldi plays someone who might be a criminal, a murderer, a detective, a fortune-teller, a victim, or all of the above. Bonus Meera Syal as Isaac's psychologist. The final episode was ... not uplifting, but clicks home like a puzzle piece.
There is a limit to the number of renditions of 'Bad Moon Rising', 'Proud Mary' etc that I can comfortably experience in a couple of hours. That limit was exceeded. This was a film club pick, one I'd never have watched otherwise. My revenge will be sweet ...
04NOV22: Banshees of Inisherin (McDonagh, 2022) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
An (imaginary) island off the west coast of Ireland, in 1923. Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) go drinking every lunchtime (Padraic's sister Siobhan, played by Kerry Condon, is not invited). One day Colm says he doesn't want to be friends with Padraic any more. He claims Padraic is 'dull'. Colm, it turns out, is ... not exactly dull, and a talented musician and composer, but has some Issues. Padraic's friend Dominic (Barry Keoghan) has different Issues.
I was not convinced by claims that this was a comedy, but I was wrong: it is bleak and dark but also, often, hilarious, and the bleakness emphasises the humour. Oddly delightful and life-affirming, despite all the ways in which it is grim.
10NOV22: Wendell and Wild Selick, 2022) -- Netflix
Animated comedy with a distinctly grim ambience. Kat is an embittered orphan who blames herself for her parents' deaths; she's enrolled in an all-girls school and promptly allies with trans boy Raul, rather than the snobby rich girls. A mark appears on her hand, she encounters brother demons Wendell and Wild, and they promise to bring her parents back to life if she -- their 'hell maiden' -- gives them entry into the world of the living.
With, as they say, hilarious consequences.
(Also happy endings for nearly everyone, and justice served, and snobby rich girls doing the right thing.)
Utterly awesome soundtrack featuring TV on the Radio's 'Wolf Like Me', the Specials' 'Ghost Town', 'Germ Free Adolescents' and 'I am a Poseur' by X-Ray Specs, and quite a few newer tracks that I have subsequently hunted down.
11NOV22: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Coogler, 2022) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Is it me, or has the MCU become less witty, inventive, plot-driven? I found this disappointing. There were quite a few plot holes, and one (1) quip. Too many extended fight scenes, perhaps slightly too much mourning for T'Challa / Chadwick Boseman, and little connection with the rest of the MCU. I know it's early days for Phase Four but so far few of the films (Black Widow and Spiderman: No Way Home being the exceptions) have clicked with me.
17NOV22: Enola Holmes 2 (Bradbeer, 2022) -- Netflix
Great fun. I hadn't actually seen the first one, but my lack of relevant backstory was more than balanced by the fact I'd recently read a novel featuring phosphorus poisoning amongst 19th-century matchmakers. Henry Cavill is really rather good in this, though the scenes were mostly stolen by Millie Bobby Brown (who makes an excellent, if not entirely historically credible, ingenue) and the very decorative Louis Patridge as Tewkesbury. Strong women, non-white characters (yay Watson!) and a witty plot with several threads. We also played 'spot the London location', a perennial favourite as I am better at recognising places than faces.
24NOV22: Sabrina (Wilder, 1954) -- YouTube
Humphrey Bogart plays a steely-minded businessman; William Holden plays his playboy brother David; Audrey Hepburn is Sabrina, a teenager with a crush (on David), who happens to be the chauffeur's daughter. Not much chemistry between Bogart and Hepburn -- though obviously they are both worth watching -- and some fairly old-fashioned notions, because the past is another country. There's a strong subplot of social class and knowing your place, and -- pleasingly -- the age difference between Bogart (53) and Hepburn (24) is acknowledged, though Sabrina's (presumably platonic) affair with an elderly French Baron, who she meets at her Parisian cooking school, goes unexamined. Not my favourite of Wilder's films.
25NOV22: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Johnson, 2022) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
One of the most enjoyable films I've seen this year, and possibly the first one I've immediately wanted to see again. I have, as previously noted, very little ability to recognise actors, so kept having to nudge my companion and whisper 'who's that?': there are quite a few famous-name cameos. Daniel Craig is clearly having an immensely good time; Edward Norton as a tech billionaire who is nothing at all like Elon Musk is splendidly OTT; the show, however, is stolen by Janelle Monae, who I'd hitherto only encountered in a music context. She is awesome.
This is out on Netflix just before Christmas (see a plethora of news articles and opinion pieces bemoaning Netflix' approach: it was in cinemas for just seven days) and I am looking forward to watching it again.
06-14NOV22: The Devil's Hour (various, 2022) -- Amazon Prime
Bloody terrifying, cleverly plotted:, Jessica Raine plays Lucy Chambers, insomniac social worker with a son, Isaac, who seems to be on the spectrum; Nikesh Patel plays DI Ravi Dhillon, who is investigating a string of crimes to which Lucy is connected. Peter Capaldi plays someone who might be a criminal, a murderer, a detective, a fortune-teller, a victim, or all of the above. Bonus Meera Syal as Isaac's psychologist. The final episode was ... not uplifting, but clicks home like a puzzle piece.
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Date: Sunday, December 11th, 2022 12:47 pm (UTC)I did also quite like Shang-Chi of the Phase 4 films, but both Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder were rather disappointing.