A quick catch-up

Posted on October 7th, 2008 by bryan.
Categories: Films, General, Theatre.

It’s been a while since I posted a blog, so here’s a quick update about what I’ve been doing:-

  • Graeme and I enjoyed another two BBC Prom performances (Nos. 66 & 75), including the Penultimate Night of the Proms.  I know the latter does not have the kudos of the Last Night, but Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 (’Choral’) was outstanding: I’ve wanted to hear it live for years, and now I can’t wait to experience it again.  Ratings - ****/5 & *****/5.
  • We also got the use of a Royal Albert Hall box for Classic FM Live.  The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor, Vasily Petrenko, were on fine form, with a programme featuring Bizet, Puccini, Schubert, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky.  There were also quality clarinet and trumpet solos by Emma Johnson and Alison Balsom; and the voices of Alfie Boe and Kate Royal - especially when united for Ave Maria - were sublime.  The canons and fireworks of the 1812 Overture were a fitting end to a great evening.  Rating - *****/5.

  • My sister visited us for a long weekend, which included a night at the cinema (’Taken‘ is excellent - ****/5) and a day trip to Whipsnade Zoo (very cold, but great fun - ****/5).  However, the best part of the weekend was a visit to Alton Towers, undoubtedly the UK’s best theme park.  My queasy tummy and dizzy head testify to us trying most of the big rides (’Oblivion’ and its vertical drop was the best), but my favourite ride was probably the ‘Runaway Mine Train’ - plenty of twists and turns, kids laughing and lots of smiles, all without the need for a post-ride sick bucket!  We visited on an October weekday outwith the school holidays, which I would definitely recommend.  Alton Towers - *****/5.

That’s all for just now.  B x

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Edinburgh Fringe 2008: 6 August

Posted on August 7th, 2008 by bryan.
Categories: Films, Theatre.

Wednesday 6 August

Today started with a check-up at the dentist and the news that I needed a filling. Great - just what you want to hear when you’re on holiday! Thankfully he could see me the next day, but still …

Anyway, I was in Edinburgh to enjoy myself. G and I met at The Beehive Inn, a well-known pub in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, one of my favourite areas in the city. After a quick drink (more to shelter from the rain than anything else), we headed over the road to the Apex City Hotel, the obscure venue for our only show today.

‘A Brief History of Scotland - We Done Loads!’ (venue: Sweet Grassmarket) is a humorous look at Scotland’s contribution to culture, science, art and religion, from Adam and Eve through to Neds and Weegies (via Bonnie Prince Charlie). Although at times painfully stereo-typical, it is a good laugh - and you even get to see five men in kilts! Rating - ***/5.

We had planned a wander round the Fringe venues, but the weather was awful - rain bouncing two feet off the ground and heavy flooding. So instead we had a Chinese buffet at Chinois China China, before going to the cinema to watch The Dark Knight. This latest outing for Batman and The Joker was eagerly anticipated and I think the best. Christian Bale as Batman is good, but nothing special. Heath Ledger’s The Joker, on the other hand, is excellent - dark, funny and very seriously disturbed. There have been reports that the film will leave children brain damaged, but this does not credit them with any ability to contrast fact from fiction. Yes, at times, things get violent - but there are much worse films and the guts and gore are left to the imagination. Comply with the BBFC 12A classification, ignore the cheesy ‘invasion of privacy’ argument between Bale and Morgan Freeman and don’t take the plot too seriously, and you are sure to enjoy this film. Rating - ****/5 (and an Oscar nomination - but not award - to Ledger).

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Sweeney Todd ****

Posted on February 6th, 2008 by bryan.
Categories: General.

According to today’s Guardian, a fair proportion of cinema audiences have been walking out of Sweeney Todd because they’re ’stung at paying to see a collection of tortuously constructed Stephen Sondheim tunes when they were expecting a gory Gothic thriller’. Apparently, some have complained about the trailer’s failure to mention the whole musical thing to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Hopefully the ASA will not spend too much time, effort or money considering these complaints. Sweeney Todd IS a musical - if audiences didn’t realise that in advance, then that is their fault (and, bluntly, they’re stupid). The movie received lots of publicity in advance, not least because it was Johnny Depp’s first singing role (that should have been a clue). And what’s so wrong with it being a musical? It didn’t make the film any less gory; nor was the storyline hard to follow. The actors (none of them known as singers) were all natural, in particular Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman.

Also, walking out of the cinema because a movie turned out to be a musical? What ludites! Couldn’t they give it a try? Clearly they had more money than sense!

The movie was a masterpiece of the movie musical genre. But it shouldn’t be thought of as just that. This was Tim Burton at his best, a dark, graphic thriller that has secured three Academy Award nominations (including for Depp as ‘best actor’). If you like gore, musicals or Depp (which together should keep most people happy), you will come away from Sweeney Todd with happy nightmares.

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Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man’s Chest ****

Posted on July 9th, 2006 by bryan.
Categories: Films.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man’s Chest was a worthy second installment in the trilogy of adventures featuring Captain Jack Sparrow and the crew of his Black Pearl. Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley both gave great performances, but it was Johnny Depp’s flamboyant (and clearly at times un-scripted) portrayal of Captain Sparrow that stole the show.

On the day of their marriage, ‘wannabe’ pirates Elizabeth and Will (Knightley and Bloom) are arrested for helping Jack to escape from Port Royal. A stooge of the East India Trading Co offers to have the charges dropped if Will can retrieve Jack’s unique compass, which leads the way to Davie Jones’ heart, and through it control of the seas. Needless to say, everyone else wants to get to the heart first, ensuring a film full of action and the odd bit of absurdity - the ‘big wheel’ get-away from a tribe of cannibals is a hilarious example. The scenes that follow, involving Jones (Bill Nighy) and the equally un-dead crew of his Flying Dutchman, show the special effects of the Disney studios at their un-nerving best. POTC2 also features cameos from Bootstrap Bill (Will’s dad), ex-Commodore Norrington (Elizabeth’s ‘intended’ in the first film), a creepy swamp-dwelling fortune teller and Jones’ pet, a giant Kraken (a squid whose ‘breath reaks of the corpses of a thousand souls’!).

If all this sounds good, and you enjoyed the first installment, you’ll almost certainly love this Depp-Bloom-Knightley reunion. The only flaw - at two and a half hours, this film is almost certainly 30 minutes too long. Of course, this could just be preparation for POTC3, which sadly is not due out until the summer of next year ..!

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