Off Topic The Review Thread

I've seen it before, but watching Darkest Hour on BBC now. What a stunning performance by Gary Oldman.

 

Can anyone get their head around this....

94% of the universe's galaxies are permanently unreachable - Big Think

It's all too much for my little brain.

 

I was asked to sit at the back and shut up in physics aged 13. But essentially I think these galaxies have got such a big head start and are moving so fast in practical terms we can never catch up (that’s what I gleaned from the introductory paragraph). Or perhaps it’s one of those special physics things that are kept secret from the likes of me.

Still, as there are two trillion galaxies that still leaves a good few we can reach. Probably in the time it takes QPR to find a place for an acceptable stadium.

 

Perhaps we can catch them up when they get to the end and have to stop.

 

@Stroller you probably already know, but new season of Taskmaster starts on C4 tonight.

Frankie Boyle, Ivo Graham, Jenny Eclair, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Mae Martin the new contestants. Can't wait

 

Yeah, Frankie Boyle should be interesting.

 

Just watched the first episode of Blue Lights, the BBC drama about policing in Belfast.

Excellent.

 

this looks a treat

 

Sunshine on Leith, the musical. The film was great, so my wife booked tickets for a stage production in Brentwood, which she assumed was being performed by a professional touring company. Doubts rose when we got to the theatre, though. It was tiny. We'd been expecting something like the Beck in Hayes, but this place only seats 179 (I checked this morning) and the size of the venue turned out to be appropriate for the quality of the production, which was pretty dire. Again having checked this morning, the performers were amateurs (the Billericay Operatic Society) so no blame attached to them, but it really showed. Some decent singers, but awful acting and very mixed attempts at Scottish accents. Not at all what we were expecting. The songs are good, though.

 

Would recommend a couple of movies that my partner and I saw last week at the Boynton Beach Cinemark Theatre (14 screens), near deserted (5 people at the 1st movie, 9 at the 2nd - only $5.50 for seniors, very plush stadium seating - if you wish, you can drink beer and eat pizza inside the theatre too:-

1) A Good Person (with Morgan Freeman, story of redemption - maybe we will together get an Amor Fati - "love of one's fate" tattoo, first ever, the opposite of Carpe Diem - "seize the day", maybe both?

2) Jesus Revolution (take a step back to 1968 and the hippy revolution, where some turned to Jesus rather drugs - Calvary Church still around, one just around the corner from where we live in Fredericton, New Brunswick - maybe check it out on our return from Florida in a couple of weeks?)

 

Just seen Julius Caesar at the RSC. This production has taken a pasting from the critics. One to three stars max. Nothing on the stage except a rotating cube providing a screen for projection and a couple of sets, all modern dress (as if the actors had just walked in off the street on a scruffy day), both Cassius and Brutus (and several other male roles) played by women. A deaf actor playing Lucius, other actors signing when he was on stage. Pronouns a bit mixed up (‘She’s an honourable man’) Black paint instead of fake blood. No recognisable names in the cast. My heart sank as it started with the whole cast doing weird dance with a guitarist, a trombonist and an opera singer making a noise on the top of the cube.

But after this it was great (mostly, the odd and unnecessary choreography made another couple of appearances). The unfussy production made you focus on the words, which have huge relevance today. As always Shakespeare uses 500 when 10 would do, but sometimes they are so arresting that it doesn’t matter. Anyone who has a problem with gender blind casting has a problem full stop. The lady- Annabel Baldwin -playing Cassius was great, especially as she was standing in at the last minute. William Robinson as Mark Anthony was really very good indeed. The man playing Caesar was not charismatic enough to make you believe that he was a populist god, but he was quite funny.

It’s good to know that the critics don’t necessarily reflect the audience response, which was really positive.

 

Anyone seen Mr Inbetweener on Disney+?

Strange, as the main character is a violent psychopath bouncer/hitman yet somehow oddly likeable. It’s mainly drama, a bit comedy too as the lead character struggles to look after a terminally ill brother whilst also dealing out beatings and hits for his bosses.

I saw a review for this in the Sunday Times a week ago and have watch about a dozen short episodes since.

I’m enjoying it. I’d say if Breaking Bad, Ozark etc ticked your box, then in a lighter, less invested way, you’ll like Mr Inbetweener.

 

I'm afraid your positive review is not enough to make me want to see this.

 

You’re too working class for that Strolls
Leave the bourgeoisie to their high class entertainment

 

I’d like to be able to find a molecule within my lardy, philistine body that would not far prefer spending two hours having root canal treatment than sitting through what you have kindly reviewed. It really sounds like you have taken one for the team.

 

Fair enough. Is it the description of this particular production or this play or Shakespeare in general you take against? For full disclosure I’m not a massive Shakespeare fan and I hated having to study it at school. This production is certainly divisive. And there were members of a particular demographic who clearly struggled with it. But it’s a great political play, how do you respond to a populist despot?

I would have thought that with your avatar you would have at least a working knowledge of history, its core to Marxist thinking……Shakespeare plays and the theatre in general were definitely a working class entertainment in Elizabethan times. Plenty of £10 tickets available last night too, bit less than your streaming site subs I guess. But you are probably right, you should stick to endless serial killer/organised crime/cop procedural box sets, the neo-opiate of the people.

 

No one likes a clever ****

 

I’m embarrassed to say that the only reading relating to Shakespeare that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed was Bill Bryson’s fascinating book.

At school, Shakespeare was somewhat rammed down our throat and perhaps that is what turned me off. When my son was young I bought him a collection of what amounted to ladybird type books which hugely condensed about a dozen of the major Shakespeare works. Reading my son each story when written in modern abridged English was interesting for sure but was sufficient for me.

Combining old tongue (which I struggle to interpret) with what sounds like a load of woke unnecessary gender 8olloks and modern dance, really would turn me off.

Having said all that, I’ve a nasty feeling that this evenings 90 minutes holds no great prospect of providing better entertainment.

 

Saw Medea this week in the West Ends newest theatre. Soho Theatre was a lovely setting and smelled like a new car. I do “enjoy” a Greek tragedy and they don’t come more tragic. Sophie Okonedo was fantastic as Medea, supported by a very able cast. At the end I think I decided who I shouldn’t have sympathy for. 5 stars

 

I think it was the avant-garde nature of the production as you described it that put me off. I don't think I've ever seen a live production of Shakespeare, so this probably wouldn't be the best place to start.

Probably significantly better than the Billericay Choral Society, though.