Monthly culture, May 2024
Friday, June 28th, 2024 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth02MAY24: Lady Macbeth (Oldroyd, 2016) -- Netflix
Based on 'Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District' by Leskov, transplanted to the north-east of England. Katherine (Florence Pugh) is married to a man twice her age, and lives with him and his monstrous father. There is also a maid (Anna) and a handsome groom (Sebastian, played by Cosmo Jarvis). Katherine ... gets what she wants, a lot, and does not care about the consequences for others. A horse is killed. Lots of natural light; Pugh's expressions (and the way they fade when nobody's watching) are awesome; everyone's a blank slate, with very little explanation of backstory. Also liked the fixed viewpoints (often with Katherine at dead centre), and the minimalist soundtrack (hardly any music). Bleak but with excellent performances.
There is also a characterful, and extremely nonchalant, cat -- which led me to discover Is there a cat in this movie? onTwitterX.
03MAY24: The Fall Guy (Leitch, 2024) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Good wholesome fun with RyanReynoldsGosling (look, I have poor face recognition) as the stunt man for Aaron Taylor-Johnson's action star. Emily Blunt is the love interest; there's a cameo from Lee Majors, whose 1970s/80s TV show this was based on; there are many, many well-constructed stunts. Fun, funny and cheerful.
Yes, there is a cat in this movie.
05MAY24: Ted's Space Nightmare -- Royal Observatory, Greenwich
How many ways can you die in space? Find out with Ted! Astronomy show for kids, but neither T nor I had ever actually been to the Planetarium ten minutes' walk from my house: the content of the show was pretty basic but the setting and presentation was splendid. Hoping to see more planetarium shows there.
No cats in space, apparently.
06MAY24: Nimona (Moretz, 2023) -- Netflix
On the Hugo shortlist for best long-form dramatic presentation, and it deserves it: utterly gorgeous animation, great characters, m/m romance, shapechanger with attitude (and curves), a threat of freestyle jazz, and some big emotional wrenches. (Only one of which was caused by repeated use of the phrase 'from whence she came').
There is a cat, sort of, in this movie.
07MAY24: Michelangelo: the last decades -- British Museum
Mostly religious drawings: beautiful but with little sense of Michelangelo the man. It describes his great love Tommaso de’ Cavalieri as a 'friend' and, in the part of the exhibition focussing on the artist's death, does not mention Cavalieri's presence at his deathbed (though it's noted earlier in the exhibition). Some interesting items, like his book of Vittoria Colonna's poetry, but it didn't engage me as much as I'd hoped.
Did not spot any cats.
NB: also discovered that the BM's new security rules preclude me from carrying a tiny (3cm blade) Swiss Army knife on my keyring. This is legal on aircraft but not near Culture.
09MAY24: Accidentally Wes Anderson -- 81-85 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington
Photos inspired by the Wes Anderson aesthetic, from the Accidentally Wes Anderson community: expect symmetry, bright colours and retro styling. Several opportunities to make your own AWA image in one of the seven themed rooms. Really rather joyful.
Cats, but very stylised.
09MAY24: Castle in the Sky (Miyazaki, 1986) -- Netflix
Steampunk sky pirates! A hidden city with technological marvels! Fox-squirrels! Beasties from Nausicaa! Rewatch: still good.
no cats, they would have eaten the fox-squirrels.
16MAY24: Marry My Dead Body (Wei-Hao Cheng, 2022) -- Netflix
Tropetastic Taiwanese gay romcom featuring a homophobic cop Wu Ming-han (Greg Hsu) who picks up a red envelope and finds himself married to a ghost named Mao Mao (Austin Lin), who was planning to marry his boyfriend when he was killed in a hit-and-run. Together with token female cop Lin Tzu-ching (Gingle Wang), and with the help of token gay cop (who's also fat and ineffectual) they fight crime! Mao Mao can provide critical insights into the operations of a crime gang. But in return he wants Wu Ming-han to investigate his death, look after his dog, and also visit his family (who effectively disowned him) and his ex-boyfriend. In both these cases, the truth turns out to be more complicated than it first appears.
Despite the stereotypes this was absolutely worth watching: lovely friendship building between cop and ghost, woman fighting prejudice, the importance of communication, and soooo many tropes (only one bed! fake dating! accidentally married! wings!) It did seem cluttered in the middle third, but the final fifteen minutes were awesome.
No cat, though: instead, a needy doggo.
19MAY24: Lankum + Andy the Doorbum -- Hackney Empire
Andy the Doorbum was almost a pastiche of early Goth: very deep voice, occult imagery, weird lighting... Lankum were amazing: intense, dark, spine-chilling renditions of (mostly) Irish folk songs. More of a blues feel than folk, and with pared-down and sometimes almost industrial music. Radie Peat's voice is astonishing.
No visible cats.
23MAY24: Roma (Cuarón, 2018) -- Netflix
Black and white (stunningly lit), set in Mexico in the early 1970s, this focuses on Cleo, an indigenous housekeeper for an upper-middle class family. Sofia, the lady of the house, is depressed; her husband is often absent; they have four school-age children. Cleo is unfailingly kind, helpful and cheerful, even when she falls pregnant and her (ex)boyfriend turns out to be a revolutionary. Some subtitling in Mixtec, a pre-Colombian language used by Cleo with her sister and friends. Yalitza Aparicio, who plays Cleo, had never had an acting job before: she is extremely impressive. Like Lady Macbeth this had long takes and minimal music. It was a fascinating character study, beautifully made: several strong women, and weak men: spooky child who kept talking about what seemed to be a past life. ('When I was older I drowned'.) I felt emotionally drained but glad to have seen it.
Did not spot any cats.
24MAY24: Furiosa (Miller, 2024) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Oddly disappointing. Yes, Anya Taylor-Joy is great in the title role, and has a splendid glower and an unblinking stare: yes, Chris Hemsworth (as Dementus) chews *all* the scenery and has a whale of a time (though OMG the fake nose: noooo). Yes, there may be some sly nods to the MCU (red cloak, horned sidekick). Yes, massive stunt budget. But it was too long, and just made me want to rewatch Fury Road. Best bit was Dementus at the end.
We were at a showing with subtitles and I hate them: they give away plot points.
Would have been improved if there were cats. But I suspect they have all found a cosy hidden enclave.
30MAY24: The Lure (Smoczynska, 2015) -- Netflix
The best (catless) goth musical about killer mermaids ever! Polish film, set in Poland in probably-the-80s-but-maybe-contemporary. Two young women sing alluringly to men on the shore (never trust anything that says it's not going to eat you) and turn out, on land and seeking employment at a nightclub, to be mermaids. Vulvaless mermaids. Their communication with one another is like dolphin-sounds; they both have marvellous voices; one of them falls in love, and is told (by a fellow sea-humanoid, Triton, who heads up a metal band) that she can lose her tail and become human but she'll also lose her voice. And if she doesn't eat his heart she'll become sea foam...
This is not Disney's Little Mermaid: murders, sex, metaphors for trans surgery (great article here), and nostalgia for communist-era dance halls. The story became rather muddled in the middle but was back on track for the last half hour.
Based on 'Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District' by Leskov, transplanted to the north-east of England. Katherine (Florence Pugh) is married to a man twice her age, and lives with him and his monstrous father. There is also a maid (Anna) and a handsome groom (Sebastian, played by Cosmo Jarvis). Katherine ... gets what she wants, a lot, and does not care about the consequences for others. A horse is killed. Lots of natural light; Pugh's expressions (and the way they fade when nobody's watching) are awesome; everyone's a blank slate, with very little explanation of backstory. Also liked the fixed viewpoints (often with Katherine at dead centre), and the minimalist soundtrack (hardly any music). Bleak but with excellent performances.
There is also a characterful, and extremely nonchalant, cat -- which led me to discover Is there a cat in this movie? on
03MAY24: The Fall Guy (Leitch, 2024) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Good wholesome fun with Ryan
Yes, there is a cat in this movie.
05MAY24: Ted's Space Nightmare -- Royal Observatory, Greenwich
How many ways can you die in space? Find out with Ted! Astronomy show for kids, but neither T nor I had ever actually been to the Planetarium ten minutes' walk from my house: the content of the show was pretty basic but the setting and presentation was splendid. Hoping to see more planetarium shows there.
No cats in space, apparently.
06MAY24: Nimona (Moretz, 2023) -- Netflix
On the Hugo shortlist for best long-form dramatic presentation, and it deserves it: utterly gorgeous animation, great characters, m/m romance, shapechanger with attitude (and curves), a threat of freestyle jazz, and some big emotional wrenches. (Only one of which was caused by repeated use of the phrase 'from whence she came').
There is a cat, sort of, in this movie.
07MAY24: Michelangelo: the last decades -- British Museum
Mostly religious drawings: beautiful but with little sense of Michelangelo the man. It describes his great love Tommaso de’ Cavalieri as a 'friend' and, in the part of the exhibition focussing on the artist's death, does not mention Cavalieri's presence at his deathbed (though it's noted earlier in the exhibition). Some interesting items, like his book of Vittoria Colonna's poetry, but it didn't engage me as much as I'd hoped.
Did not spot any cats.
NB: also discovered that the BM's new security rules preclude me from carrying a tiny (3cm blade) Swiss Army knife on my keyring. This is legal on aircraft but not near Culture.
09MAY24: Accidentally Wes Anderson -- 81-85 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington
Photos inspired by the Wes Anderson aesthetic, from the Accidentally Wes Anderson community: expect symmetry, bright colours and retro styling. Several opportunities to make your own AWA image in one of the seven themed rooms. Really rather joyful.
Cats, but very stylised.
09MAY24: Castle in the Sky (Miyazaki, 1986) -- Netflix
Steampunk sky pirates! A hidden city with technological marvels! Fox-squirrels! Beasties from Nausicaa! Rewatch: still good.
no cats, they would have eaten the fox-squirrels.
16MAY24: Marry My Dead Body (Wei-Hao Cheng, 2022) -- Netflix
Tropetastic Taiwanese gay romcom featuring a homophobic cop Wu Ming-han (Greg Hsu) who picks up a red envelope and finds himself married to a ghost named Mao Mao (Austin Lin), who was planning to marry his boyfriend when he was killed in a hit-and-run. Together with token female cop Lin Tzu-ching (Gingle Wang), and with the help of token gay cop (who's also fat and ineffectual) they fight crime! Mao Mao can provide critical insights into the operations of a crime gang. But in return he wants Wu Ming-han to investigate his death, look after his dog, and also visit his family (who effectively disowned him) and his ex-boyfriend. In both these cases, the truth turns out to be more complicated than it first appears.
Despite the stereotypes this was absolutely worth watching: lovely friendship building between cop and ghost, woman fighting prejudice, the importance of communication, and soooo many tropes (only one bed! fake dating! accidentally married! wings!) It did seem cluttered in the middle third, but the final fifteen minutes were awesome.
No cat, though: instead, a needy doggo.
19MAY24: Lankum + Andy the Doorbum -- Hackney Empire
Andy the Doorbum was almost a pastiche of early Goth: very deep voice, occult imagery, weird lighting... Lankum were amazing: intense, dark, spine-chilling renditions of (mostly) Irish folk songs. More of a blues feel than folk, and with pared-down and sometimes almost industrial music. Radie Peat's voice is astonishing.
No visible cats.
23MAY24: Roma (Cuarón, 2018) -- Netflix
Black and white (stunningly lit), set in Mexico in the early 1970s, this focuses on Cleo, an indigenous housekeeper for an upper-middle class family. Sofia, the lady of the house, is depressed; her husband is often absent; they have four school-age children. Cleo is unfailingly kind, helpful and cheerful, even when she falls pregnant and her (ex)boyfriend turns out to be a revolutionary. Some subtitling in Mixtec, a pre-Colombian language used by Cleo with her sister and friends. Yalitza Aparicio, who plays Cleo, had never had an acting job before: she is extremely impressive. Like Lady Macbeth this had long takes and minimal music. It was a fascinating character study, beautifully made: several strong women, and weak men: spooky child who kept talking about what seemed to be a past life. ('When I was older I drowned'.) I felt emotionally drained but glad to have seen it.
Did not spot any cats.
24MAY24: Furiosa (Miller, 2024) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Oddly disappointing. Yes, Anya Taylor-Joy is great in the title role, and has a splendid glower and an unblinking stare: yes, Chris Hemsworth (as Dementus) chews *all* the scenery and has a whale of a time (though OMG the fake nose: noooo). Yes, there may be some sly nods to the MCU (red cloak, horned sidekick). Yes, massive stunt budget. But it was too long, and just made me want to rewatch Fury Road. Best bit was Dementus at the end.
We were at a showing with subtitles and I hate them: they give away plot points.
Would have been improved if there were cats. But I suspect they have all found a cosy hidden enclave.
30MAY24: The Lure (Smoczynska, 2015) -- Netflix
The best (catless) goth musical about killer mermaids ever! Polish film, set in Poland in probably-the-80s-but-maybe-contemporary. Two young women sing alluringly to men on the shore (never trust anything that says it's not going to eat you) and turn out, on land and seeking employment at a nightclub, to be mermaids. Vulvaless mermaids. Their communication with one another is like dolphin-sounds; they both have marvellous voices; one of them falls in love, and is told (by a fellow sea-humanoid, Triton, who heads up a metal band) that she can lose her tail and become human but she'll also lose her voice. And if she doesn't eat his heart she'll become sea foam...
This is not Disney's Little Mermaid: murders, sex, metaphors for trans surgery (great article here), and nostalgia for communist-era dance halls. The story became rather muddled in the middle but was back on track for the last half hour.
