Monthly culture, September 2023
Sunday, October 8th, 2023 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth02SEP23: Jurassic Park: 30th Anniversary (Spielberg, 1993) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Some of this felt dated -- people smoking, fat-shaming, no acknowledgement of massively traumatised children -- but the pre-CGI special effects hold up surprisingly well, and the story's still good.
I note that, when this came out, the whole 'asteroid impact extinction event' was still very new.
07SEP23: The Two Popes (Meirelles, 2019) -- Netflix
Jonathan Pryce (Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis) and Anthony Hopkins (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI) are both astonishing in this: I hadn't expected to enjoy a film which is basically about two old white men discussing theology, but it was awesome. Beautifully shot, with a 1950s feel to the cinematography; sometimes harrowing (especially Bergoglio's past) and sometimes very sweet; delightful details, such as Bergoglio liking ABBA, and a Swiss Guard having his mobile phone tucked away in his medieval uniform. Based on a play, adapted for screen by Anthony McCarten -- who also wrote the screenplay for Bohemian Rhapsody.
10SEP23: Unthanks, Barbican
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset performing the album 'The Bairns'. My abiding recollection of the Unthanks was an uncheerful performance of WW1 songs back in 2014. This concert was much more cheering! Marvellous strong voices, singing folk songs from the north-east of England, with a definite gothic undertone that was not in the least diminished by clog-dancing. We didn't stay for the evening concert (Sunday evening gigs are Not Good, due to age) but did catch a bit of the Big Sing in the foyer before the afternoon concert.
14SEP23: The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Sharpe, 2021) -- Netflix
I'd intended to see this in the cinema so was glad it had come to Netflix. Benedict Cumberbatch is good as Louis Wain, tormented by mental illness but optimistic, loving and creative. He supports his mother and sisters with illustration work; starts drawing cute cats; marries a governess and acquires a kitten; a series of deaths and poor business decisions; insanity, in Tooting. There are SFnal elements (his vision of the year 1999; his theory, declaimed before an audience in New York, that cats will evolve to be (a) blue (b) as large as humans (c) ?smart) and a lot more grief and tragedy than I'd expected. Unevenly paced with some real tear-jerker scenes (rescue from the asylum!) and some underdeveloped characters. (Was his sister Caroline truly that awful?) Some odd but effective imagery, rather as though the film had been superimposed on Edwardian postcards or Thomas Kinkade art. Also, at least one of the cats gets subtitles, hurrah! And Nick Cave cameos as H G Wells, a fan of Wain's art, and Taika Waititi makes a brief appearance as an American editor Max Kase.
Best line is from his wife (Claire Foy): "Cats have been worshipped as god and maligned as the evil allies of witchery and sin, but I think you are the first person to see that they are, in fact, ridiculous. They're silly and cuddly. And lonely and frightened and brave. Like us. One day, I don't think it will be so peculiar to have a cat in the house as a little pet." There is something to the argument that Wain's drawings popularised the notion of cats as household pets, rather than mere ratters or (occasionally) companions to the rich and eccentric.
21SEP23: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Reynolds, 1991) -- Netflix
This has not aged well. Racism, misogyny, colonialism, Costner's unapologetic American accent... Marion (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who seems to have given up acting) starts off well as a warrior woman, but then ends up softly-lit and rather Pre-Raphaelite. Morgan Freeman as Azeem (solidly and seriously acted, unlike most of the other characters) is much more tolerant of Robin and his band than any sensible person would be. The redeeming factor is Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham, deliciously evil -- but even he was considerably more rapey and sordid than I remembered.
Worth rewatching the bit where they go from Dover to Nottingham by way of Northumberland, because the much-mourned Sycamore Gap tree plays a starring role.
28SEP23: Shutter Island (Scorsese, 2010) -- Netflix
US Marshals Teddy Daniels (Leonardo di Caprio) and Mark Ruffalo (Chuck Aule) arrive at a remote asylum in search of a missing patient. People keep giving Daniels cigarettes and drinks. He is increasingly suspicious and confused, suffering migraines, flashbacks to the war and the liberation of Dachau (this is set in the 1950s) and memories of his dead wife Dolores. There are elements of horror, and some serious violence, and some unsettling camera angles. There is a lighthouse, which is apparently where they take the most violentprisoners patients to be lobotomised. And there is a twist, of course.
I am not sure I liked this but it was extremely well executed: so many little clues, so many scenes that could be read in more than one way, so many oddly weighted lines of dialogue. Stellar performances from di Caprio and Ruffalo in particular. (It was a very male-dominated film.)
We were reminded of Inception with its uncertain realities, dreams, dead wife, mystery children, OMINOUS SOUNDTRACK etc.
30SEP23: Semele (Handel / Congreve, 1743) -- Blackheath Halls
Another engaging performance from Blackheath Halls Opera, the community opera company (featuring local schools, community choir, and students from Trinity Laban, as well as established singers) that I used to be part of when I could breathe enough to sing. This was beautifully staged, from the opening grey-toned wedding scene (where Semele jilts the well-meaning but mortal Athamus to run off with Jupiter) to the mountaintop 24-hour party palace, where Cupid and Jupiter keep Semele's glass topped up, and everybody wears vibrant jewel colours. Some gorgeous singing, especially Francesca Chiejina (Semele), Katie Bray (Juno, with precipitous gold stilettos and a harried PA Iris) and Matthew Rose (Cadmus and Somnus). But there wasn't a weak spot in cast or chorus.
Shout-out to the world-class cowering of the nameless waitress in the diner scene. And to Bacchus, bringing his gift of iPhones. A joyful and witty production with gorgeous design.
Some of this felt dated -- people smoking, fat-shaming, no acknowledgement of massively traumatised children -- but the pre-CGI special effects hold up surprisingly well, and the story's still good.
I note that, when this came out, the whole 'asteroid impact extinction event' was still very new.
07SEP23: The Two Popes (Meirelles, 2019) -- Netflix
Jonathan Pryce (Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis) and Anthony Hopkins (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI) are both astonishing in this: I hadn't expected to enjoy a film which is basically about two old white men discussing theology, but it was awesome. Beautifully shot, with a 1950s feel to the cinematography; sometimes harrowing (especially Bergoglio's past) and sometimes very sweet; delightful details, such as Bergoglio liking ABBA, and a Swiss Guard having his mobile phone tucked away in his medieval uniform. Based on a play, adapted for screen by Anthony McCarten -- who also wrote the screenplay for Bohemian Rhapsody.
10SEP23: Unthanks, Barbican
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset performing the album 'The Bairns'. My abiding recollection of the Unthanks was an uncheerful performance of WW1 songs back in 2014. This concert was much more cheering! Marvellous strong voices, singing folk songs from the north-east of England, with a definite gothic undertone that was not in the least diminished by clog-dancing. We didn't stay for the evening concert (Sunday evening gigs are Not Good, due to age) but did catch a bit of the Big Sing in the foyer before the afternoon concert.
14SEP23: The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Sharpe, 2021) -- Netflix
I'd intended to see this in the cinema so was glad it had come to Netflix. Benedict Cumberbatch is good as Louis Wain, tormented by mental illness but optimistic, loving and creative. He supports his mother and sisters with illustration work; starts drawing cute cats; marries a governess and acquires a kitten; a series of deaths and poor business decisions; insanity, in Tooting. There are SFnal elements (his vision of the year 1999; his theory, declaimed before an audience in New York, that cats will evolve to be (a) blue (b) as large as humans (c) ?smart) and a lot more grief and tragedy than I'd expected. Unevenly paced with some real tear-jerker scenes (rescue from the asylum!) and some underdeveloped characters. (Was his sister Caroline truly that awful?) Some odd but effective imagery, rather as though the film had been superimposed on Edwardian postcards or Thomas Kinkade art. Also, at least one of the cats gets subtitles, hurrah! And Nick Cave cameos as H G Wells, a fan of Wain's art, and Taika Waititi makes a brief appearance as an American editor Max Kase.
Best line is from his wife (Claire Foy): "Cats have been worshipped as god and maligned as the evil allies of witchery and sin, but I think you are the first person to see that they are, in fact, ridiculous. They're silly and cuddly. And lonely and frightened and brave. Like us. One day, I don't think it will be so peculiar to have a cat in the house as a little pet." There is something to the argument that Wain's drawings popularised the notion of cats as household pets, rather than mere ratters or (occasionally) companions to the rich and eccentric.
21SEP23: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Reynolds, 1991) -- Netflix
This has not aged well. Racism, misogyny, colonialism, Costner's unapologetic American accent... Marion (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who seems to have given up acting) starts off well as a warrior woman, but then ends up softly-lit and rather Pre-Raphaelite. Morgan Freeman as Azeem (solidly and seriously acted, unlike most of the other characters) is much more tolerant of Robin and his band than any sensible person would be. The redeeming factor is Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham, deliciously evil -- but even he was considerably more rapey and sordid than I remembered.
Worth rewatching the bit where they go from Dover to Nottingham by way of Northumberland, because the much-mourned Sycamore Gap tree plays a starring role.
28SEP23: Shutter Island (Scorsese, 2010) -- Netflix
US Marshals Teddy Daniels (Leonardo di Caprio) and Mark Ruffalo (Chuck Aule) arrive at a remote asylum in search of a missing patient. People keep giving Daniels cigarettes and drinks. He is increasingly suspicious and confused, suffering migraines, flashbacks to the war and the liberation of Dachau (this is set in the 1950s) and memories of his dead wife Dolores. There are elements of horror, and some serious violence, and some unsettling camera angles. There is a lighthouse, which is apparently where they take the most violent
I am not sure I liked this but it was extremely well executed: so many little clues, so many scenes that could be read in more than one way, so many oddly weighted lines of dialogue. Stellar performances from di Caprio and Ruffalo in particular. (It was a very male-dominated film.)
We were reminded of Inception with its uncertain realities, dreams, dead wife, mystery children, OMINOUS SOUNDTRACK etc.
30SEP23: Semele (Handel / Congreve, 1743) -- Blackheath Halls
Another engaging performance from Blackheath Halls Opera, the community opera company (featuring local schools, community choir, and students from Trinity Laban, as well as established singers) that I used to be part of when I could breathe enough to sing. This was beautifully staged, from the opening grey-toned wedding scene (where Semele jilts the well-meaning but mortal Athamus to run off with Jupiter) to the mountaintop 24-hour party palace, where Cupid and Jupiter keep Semele's glass topped up, and everybody wears vibrant jewel colours. Some gorgeous singing, especially Francesca Chiejina (Semele), Katie Bray (Juno, with precipitous gold stilettos and a harried PA Iris) and Matthew Rose (Cadmus and Somnus). But there wasn't a weak spot in cast or chorus.
Shout-out to the world-class cowering of the nameless waitress in the diner scene. And to Bacchus, bringing his gift of iPhones. A joyful and witty production with gorgeous design.
