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Monthly culture, June 2024
06JUN24: Tallis Scholars -- Cadogan Hall
A splendid programme of Renaissance choral music, including Thomas Tallis' 'Spem in Alium': utterly gorgeous and very restful.
13JUN24: Laapataa Ladies (Kiran Rao, 2023) - Netflix
Two brides veiled in red, two grooms wearing the same jacket, one late-night train journey: what could possibly go wrong? Shy Phool is abandoned by her pleasant husband Deepak, who accidentally disembarks with Jaya. Phool is approached by Jaya's husband, Pradeep, who is not pleasant: she ends up working at the station's food stall and making friends. Jaya (who's given her name as Pushpa) seems to have a secret agenda, and the local police chief (Manohar) becomes convinced that she's a thief... Phool's helplessness, Jaya's plotting, Deepak's honest confusion and Manohar's innate decency made this an intriguing comedy of errors, with a theme of female independence. Lots of excellent women! All turns out well in the end, for everyone except Pradeep who is a nasty bit of work.
Yes, there is a cat in this film.
15JUN24: The Sorcerer (Gilbert and Sullivan / Charles Court Opera) - Wilton's Music Hall
A seldom-performed Gilbert and Sullivan operetta which owes more than a little to Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. The setting is a small country village where the engagement of posh young things Alexis and Aline is being celebrated, while most of the rest of the cast bemoan their unrequited loves. Alexis thinks everyone should be in love, so hires a respectable London sorcerer, a Mr Wells of St Mary Axe (very much the Arthur Daly of the moment) to provide alove potionpatent oxy-hydrogene philtre, with which he spikes the tea at the wedding feast. Everyone falls in love with the first unmarried person of the opposite sex that they see.
All well and good, if a little more constrained by social propriety than Shakespeare. But the sorcerer's a spiv, the bride and groom fall out over whether they should test it themselves, and more than one romance crosses boundaries of class (or age, but nobody seems too bothered by that). Charles Court Opera's usual joyfulness, and massively overworked pianist (standing ovation!) made for an excellent afternoon, and we were inspired to book for their Yuletide panto, Napoleon.
No cats, though.
20JUN24: Godzilla Minus One (Yamazaki, 2023) - Netflix
Saw this in the cinema, was very happy to watch it again on the small screen: I think it's even more poignant the second time around. Poor Godzilla. Stupid industrial-military complex.
I don't recall actual cats, but Godzilla has some feline traits.
26JUN24: Missa Solemnis (Beethoven): Parliament Choir and Southbank Sinfonia -- Royal Festival Hall
A very hot evening but the RFH was deliciously cool (and had many empty seats, due to the imminent election: MPs who'd block-booked were now on the campaign trail...) I listened to the Parliament Choir (featuring my friend M) performing one of my favourite of Beethoven's works -- massive, poignant, overwhelming. Like any good concert, it was fascinating to get a better idea of the music's structure by watching as different sections of the choir, and different soloists, handed the music from one to another. Contralto Jess Dandy was especially awesome.
27JUN24: Hit Man (Linklater, 2023) - Netflix
In which Glen Powell assumes a variety of increasingly improbable disguises (possibly based on characters from big-name movies? see here) as his mild-mannered philosophy lecturer pretends to be a hitman for hire: then falls in love with a client. Oops.Clunky script and non-credible romance (if I were newly single I would not start dating someone I believed to be a murderer), but there are multiple cats (named Id and Ego), hurrah!
28JUN24: Kinds of Kindness (Lanthimos, 2024) - Greenwich PictureHouse
Nasty, brutal and long. Murder, mutilation, rape and suicide. I thoroughly disliked this film: yes, it was beautifully shot and acted, and yes, some scenes were darkly comic.
There was a cat but it did not, could not, redeem this film.
A splendid programme of Renaissance choral music, including Thomas Tallis' 'Spem in Alium': utterly gorgeous and very restful.
13JUN24: Laapataa Ladies (Kiran Rao, 2023) - Netflix
Two brides veiled in red, two grooms wearing the same jacket, one late-night train journey: what could possibly go wrong? Shy Phool is abandoned by her pleasant husband Deepak, who accidentally disembarks with Jaya. Phool is approached by Jaya's husband, Pradeep, who is not pleasant: she ends up working at the station's food stall and making friends. Jaya (who's given her name as Pushpa) seems to have a secret agenda, and the local police chief (Manohar) becomes convinced that she's a thief... Phool's helplessness, Jaya's plotting, Deepak's honest confusion and Manohar's innate decency made this an intriguing comedy of errors, with a theme of female independence. Lots of excellent women! All turns out well in the end, for everyone except Pradeep who is a nasty bit of work.
Yes, there is a cat in this film.
15JUN24: The Sorcerer (Gilbert and Sullivan / Charles Court Opera) - Wilton's Music Hall
A seldom-performed Gilbert and Sullivan operetta which owes more than a little to Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. The setting is a small country village where the engagement of posh young things Alexis and Aline is being celebrated, while most of the rest of the cast bemoan their unrequited loves. Alexis thinks everyone should be in love, so hires a respectable London sorcerer, a Mr Wells of St Mary Axe (very much the Arthur Daly of the moment) to provide a
All well and good, if a little more constrained by social propriety than Shakespeare. But the sorcerer's a spiv, the bride and groom fall out over whether they should test it themselves, and more than one romance crosses boundaries of class (or age, but nobody seems too bothered by that). Charles Court Opera's usual joyfulness, and massively overworked pianist (standing ovation!) made for an excellent afternoon, and we were inspired to book for their Yuletide panto, Napoleon.
No cats, though.
20JUN24: Godzilla Minus One (Yamazaki, 2023) - Netflix
Saw this in the cinema, was very happy to watch it again on the small screen: I think it's even more poignant the second time around. Poor Godzilla. Stupid industrial-military complex.
I don't recall actual cats, but Godzilla has some feline traits.
26JUN24: Missa Solemnis (Beethoven): Parliament Choir and Southbank Sinfonia -- Royal Festival Hall
A very hot evening but the RFH was deliciously cool (and had many empty seats, due to the imminent election: MPs who'd block-booked were now on the campaign trail...) I listened to the Parliament Choir (featuring my friend M) performing one of my favourite of Beethoven's works -- massive, poignant, overwhelming. Like any good concert, it was fascinating to get a better idea of the music's structure by watching as different sections of the choir, and different soloists, handed the music from one to another. Contralto Jess Dandy was especially awesome.
27JUN24: Hit Man (Linklater, 2023) - Netflix
In which Glen Powell assumes a variety of increasingly improbable disguises (possibly based on characters from big-name movies? see here) as his mild-mannered philosophy lecturer pretends to be a hitman for hire: then falls in love with a client. Oops.Clunky script and non-credible romance (if I were newly single I would not start dating someone I believed to be a murderer), but there are multiple cats (named Id and Ego), hurrah!
28JUN24: Kinds of Kindness (Lanthimos, 2024) - Greenwich PictureHouse
Nasty, brutal and long. Murder, mutilation, rape and suicide. I thoroughly disliked this film: yes, it was beautifully shot and acted, and yes, some scenes were darkly comic.
There was a cat but it did not, could not, redeem this film.