Monthly culture, November 2025
Tuesday, December 30th, 2025 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth01NOV25: Frankenstein (del Toro, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
I loved the vivid palette, and Jacob Elordi as the Creature (a definite Winter Soldier vibe -- or perhaps some Winter Soldier fanfic echoes Frankenstein) and the mishmash of eras and styles. Mia Goth was unsettling as the fearless Elizabeth (with shades of Mary Shelley) and Oscar Isaac splendid as the eponymous Doctor. Plenty of Christian-inflected imagery and poignant moments. Spectacular.
05NOV25: Puccini and Bernstein, Parliament Choir -- Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street
Puccini's Messa di Gloria and Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, sung in the splendid Holy Trinity (Arts and Crafts design, east window by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones). The Puccini was unexpectedly interesting, with definite echoes of opera: I was there for the Chichester Psalms (I blame Maestro) and was not disappointed.
06NOV25: The Boys in the Band (Mantello, 2020) -- Netflix
Set in Gay New York in the late Sixties: film version of 1968 play, featuring out gay actors -- Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Andrew Rannells, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Brian Hutchinson (who plays the 'straight' friend who shows up unexpectedly at a birthday party). In some ways very much an artifact of its time -- with bitterness, campness, effeminacy: but also true love, real friendship and loyalty. I found it very sad.
07NOV25: Bugonia (Lanthimos, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Kinds of Kindness put me off Lanthimos but this film restored my faith in his work. Emma Stone leads, luminously, as Michelle Fuller, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company: she's abducted by Teddy (Jesse Plemons), the son of a clinical trial patient who suffered adverse effects, and his autistic cousin Don. Teddy is convinced that Fuller is actually an alien in disguise. He cuts off her hair so she can't communicate with her people. There is torture, murder, suicide, nastiness. The film does have a happy ending though, and I liked it a lot.
13NOV25: Frankenstein (del Toro, 2025) -- Netflix
Again, with film club. Still good: we discussed the moral questions (stated instead of really explored) in the film, the subversion of motherhood (Victor is an appalling father), and the fact that Elizabeth is the only person who respects the Creature's pronouns.
20NOV25: Clueless (Heckerling, 1995) -- Netflix
Rewatch, though I didn't remember much about it: a 90s teen version of Austen's Emma, with Alicia Silverstone as Cher, the privileged and slightly vacuous protagonist. Fun, not least for the hilariously bad 90s fashions. Sensible shoes, though! not a stiletto in sight! and some great lines.
21NOV25: Time (Luxmuralis, 2025) -- Old Royal Naval College
Gorgeous son et lumiere: projections on the splendid architecture of the ORNC. I was particularly impressed by the looping text of The Time Machine, and the 'life on Earth' sequence. Thoroughly worth seeing if they do anything near you.
28NOV25: Pillion (Lighton, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Described by co-lead Alexander Skarsgard as 'dom-com', this is the story of Colin (Harry Melling) and Ray (Skarsgard). Based on, but I suspect much less brutal than, Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones. This is one of my top three films this year. The performances are superb (kudos to Lesley Sharp as Colin's mum); the emotional (and sexual) negotiations complex and non-verbal; and the ending open. I'm not sure I would call it a romantic comedy and the romance is very much between the lines, but it is there. Great article by Adam Mars-Jones about going to Cannes to see 'his' film
29NOV25: Wake Up Dead Man (Johnson, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Actually quite an anticlimax after Pillion. Fun, twisty, great actors doing their thing (Close, Craig, Brolin etc), interesting discussions of power and its abuse.
I loved the vivid palette, and Jacob Elordi as the Creature (a definite Winter Soldier vibe -- or perhaps some Winter Soldier fanfic echoes Frankenstein) and the mishmash of eras and styles. Mia Goth was unsettling as the fearless Elizabeth (with shades of Mary Shelley) and Oscar Isaac splendid as the eponymous Doctor. Plenty of Christian-inflected imagery and poignant moments. Spectacular.
05NOV25: Puccini and Bernstein, Parliament Choir -- Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street
Puccini's Messa di Gloria and Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, sung in the splendid Holy Trinity (Arts and Crafts design, east window by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones). The Puccini was unexpectedly interesting, with definite echoes of opera: I was there for the Chichester Psalms (I blame Maestro) and was not disappointed.
06NOV25: The Boys in the Band (Mantello, 2020) -- Netflix
Set in Gay New York in the late Sixties: film version of 1968 play, featuring out gay actors -- Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Andrew Rannells, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Brian Hutchinson (who plays the 'straight' friend who shows up unexpectedly at a birthday party). In some ways very much an artifact of its time -- with bitterness, campness, effeminacy: but also true love, real friendship and loyalty. I found it very sad.
07NOV25: Bugonia (Lanthimos, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Kinds of Kindness put me off Lanthimos but this film restored my faith in his work. Emma Stone leads, luminously, as Michelle Fuller, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company: she's abducted by Teddy (Jesse Plemons), the son of a clinical trial patient who suffered adverse effects, and his autistic cousin Don. Teddy is convinced that Fuller is actually an alien in disguise. He cuts off her hair so she can't communicate with her people. There is torture, murder, suicide, nastiness. The film does have a happy ending though, and I liked it a lot.
13NOV25: Frankenstein (del Toro, 2025) -- Netflix
Again, with film club. Still good: we discussed the moral questions (stated instead of really explored) in the film, the subversion of motherhood (Victor is an appalling father), and the fact that Elizabeth is the only person who respects the Creature's pronouns.
20NOV25: Clueless (Heckerling, 1995) -- Netflix
Rewatch, though I didn't remember much about it: a 90s teen version of Austen's Emma, with Alicia Silverstone as Cher, the privileged and slightly vacuous protagonist. Fun, not least for the hilariously bad 90s fashions. Sensible shoes, though! not a stiletto in sight! and some great lines.
21NOV25: Time (Luxmuralis, 2025) -- Old Royal Naval College
Gorgeous son et lumiere: projections on the splendid architecture of the ORNC. I was particularly impressed by the looping text of The Time Machine, and the 'life on Earth' sequence. Thoroughly worth seeing if they do anything near you.
28NOV25: Pillion (Lighton, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Described by co-lead Alexander Skarsgard as 'dom-com', this is the story of Colin (Harry Melling) and Ray (Skarsgard). Based on, but I suspect much less brutal than, Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones. This is one of my top three films this year. The performances are superb (kudos to Lesley Sharp as Colin's mum); the emotional (and sexual) negotiations complex and non-verbal; and the ending open. I'm not sure I would call it a romantic comedy and the romance is very much between the lines, but it is there. Great article by Adam Mars-Jones about going to Cannes to see 'his' film
29NOV25: Wake Up Dead Man (Johnson, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Actually quite an anticlimax after Pillion. Fun, twisty, great actors doing their thing (Close, Craig, Brolin etc), interesting discussions of power and its abuse.
no subject
Date: Tuesday, December 30th, 2025 11:27 pm (UTC)