Monthly culture: December 2021

04DEC21: Under Milk Wood (Dylan Thomas, Sian Owen) -- NT At Home
Dylan Thomas' poem with a framing narrative, featuring National Treasure Michael Sheen. ( Read more... )

09DEC21: Single All the Way (Mayer, 2021) -- Netflix
Gay Christmas romcom, featuring some classic tropes: fake relationship! only one bed! blind date! wearing only a towel! surprise plumber! And, of course, ( Read more... )

16DEC21: tick, tick... BOOM! (Miranda, 2021) -- Netflix
Curiously depressing biopic based on an autobiographical stage show by Jonathan Larson, composer of Rent. Andrew Garfield is brilliant as Larson( Read more... )

17DEC21: Spiderman: No Way Home (Watts, 2021) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
I liked it very much indeed( Read more... )

18DEC21: Rockets and Blue Lights (Winsome Pinnock) -- NT at Home
Two entwined stories: in the present day, a young actress is trying to get to grips with her role in a film about the artist J M W Turner; in the 19th century, a Black sailor and his lover deal with freedom, and J M W Turner.( Read more... )

28DEC21: Last Train to Christmas (Kemp, 2021)
Billed as Christmas time-travel comedy drama (starring, again, National Treasure Michael Sheen) but I did not find it especially amusing. ( Read more... )

29DEC21: Happiest Season (DuVall, 2020)
Another gay Christmas rom-com, with almost the opposite plot to Single all the Way.( Read more... )

30DEC21: The Lady in the Van (Hytner, 2015) -- Netflix
Young playwright in 1970s Camden unwillingly befriends cantankerous old woman who parks her van on his driveway. Alan Bennett (for it is he) has many conversations with himself( Read more... )