Off Topic The Review Thread

Down in the smoke for a couple of days with the wife for a pre Christmas break.

At Ronnie Scott’s last night to see the always excellent Ray Gelato and the Giants playing swing, jive standards from the great American songbook. Music that I would never listen to at home or in the car, but which I love live. We’ve seen Ray and various incarnations of the Giants five or six times since about 1990, in venues ranging from the Bulls Head in Barnes (audience of about six), to a packed Pata Mata’s club in Milan to the 100 Club a couple of years ago. Really great musicians although a little too much comedy this time.

Ronnie Scott’s is interesting, hadn’t been before. Very expensive and obviously lots of tourists, but good atmosphere and the downstairs room, where the ‘names’ play very like a 50’s US nightclub, quite cool. Apparently the upstairs bar is where the ‘new’ experimental jazz happens. The place is open, with live music, until 3.00 every morning. Niiice. We’ll be back to see Ruby Turner (not really jazz) in February I think.

I always love spending time in my home town, and the west end was very lively for a Wednesday night when it’s pouring with rain. But man is there a lot of homelessness. Walking up to the club we were intrigued by a crowd just off the Strand. Turned out to be at least 100 people queuing for a meal from a Sikh run mobile soup kitchen. Multiple panhandlers working the queue to get into the club. Tents and bundles of sleeping bags all over the place. I’ve spent time in Paris, Chicago, Amsterdam and New York over the last six months. All have issues but none, at least in my experience, at this level in the heart of downtown. Though I’m told Los Angeles and San Francisco have very bad problems.

Off to the V&A today. One of my 18th century ancestors was a silversmith and we are going to try and find a sugar bowl he made which is in the museum somewhere.

 

It’s the cult of celebrity Ubes. Although some really do only have one trick, Mark Rylance for example has conned the world into thinking he’s the new Olivier by staring into the middle distance and mumbling. I actually think Micheal Caine (contrast Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to Get Carter) has a much broader range than De Niro, who is always just vaguely (and genuinely) threatening, even when he is playing a transvestite pirate captain in Stardust or a rogue plumber in Brazil.

The really good stuff, where you do forget the real name of who you are watching and even sometimes that you are watching a performance, often comes from women actors. Whatsherface in Three Billboards for example. And Julianne Moore in Still Alice.

 

Whatsherface is a great actress (as opposed to actor. I know, I know).

I do still like de Niro, though.

I watched Michael Caine playing Scrooge in The Muppets Christmas Carol last night (I know, I know, part deux) and he was actually really good. Nothing compares to his performance in Jaws: The Revenge, though.

Walken is always Walken, but great. Same with Malkovich.

Joaquin Phoenix seems to be on his way to being rather good.

 

I like De Niro in serious roles, but he should never have tried to do comedy. Rupert Pupkin doesn't count.

I think DiCaprio is a seriously good film actor.

 

Me and my son went to see the latest Star Wars film today. I really enjoyed it, not so much of a hit for my son though. I think it's really dependant on where you stand with the whole Star Wars saga - having grown up with the original films in the 70s, I've invested a lot of years in the Star Wars universe, and seeing it come to a conclusion was quite satisfying. The latest film is by no means a classic though, and parts of it are pretty predictable - there's no sense of jeopardy as you can guess the final outcome, but the action scenes are choreographed well, whilst the CGI for the backdrops and space battles are pretty breathtaking, especially the light-sabre fight on the old Death Star.

Recommended for anyone of a similar age who grew up with the originals - 7.5/10 - if you're not a Star Wars fan it won't stand up as a stand-alone movie, so don't bother!

 

Final episode of Season One of His Dark Materials on BBC1 tonight. I've really enjoyed this, it's been fabulously made, and the attention to detail to the original book has been brilliant - the only deviation being the scenes located in "our" world, which doesn't occur until book 2 but really sits well in this as background to what will happen when Season 2 is released next year. I don't think I've seen an adaptation from a book as good as this in a long time, the production has been top-class. Well done BBC and HBO

 

I didn't watch past the first three episodes. It's all recorded in case I want to go back to it, but that's unlikely. I just didn't get it. Do you think that it was overly geared towards Pullman officionados, or am I just dumb?

 

N'ah, you're just dumb

I think if you've read the books it's a fantastic watch, although I could see how the story could be a bit difficult to grasp if you hadn't. Did your wife enjoy it, as you said she'd read them? I'm really looking forward to see how they do the next two seasons, there's a hell of a lot more going on in them, through multiple worlds, which will be interesting to see how they interpret them all.

I'm hoping Santa is bringing me the new Pullman book on Wednesday, the second of his prequel trilogy.

 

I don’t get it at all. Somehow I got the impression that Pullman is an atheist, or at least anti organised religion, and this was a work for teenagers to help them take a rational perspective. I never bothered reading the books because I figured I would just agree the **** out of them, and that they were for kids.

But from the bits I’ve glimpsed it looks like Narnia, and everybody not only has a soul, which is a bit odd from an Atheist perspective, but it takes the shape of a poorly animated animal. Plus the lead actress brilliantly played the baby Wolverine in Logan, cheerfully decapitating people and talking Spanish, which is hard to forget.

I suspect I have the wrong end of the stick entirely, but what I have briefly seen hasn’t engaged me at all.

Just read Philip K Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, which is brilliant, on the surface an alternative history, but a lot more going on than that. I’m aware that this has also been made into a TV series, can’t imagine what they could add to the book. Probably quite a lot would need to be taken out, it’s not especially PC.

 

Oh my god, The Man in the High Castle is another one! I watched the first series and found it both enjoyable and intriguing, but then the finale convinced me that I hadn't really understood any of it. Yet to watch series two.

Really enjoyed A Christmas Carol on BBC tonight. Not much you can do with the story, but the production and performances were wonderful, I thought. Stephen Graham is fast becoming our best acting talent.

 

They must have added a lot to High Castle to spread it over two series, it’s a short book.*

Stephen Graham also plays a crooked union official of Italian extraction in The Irishman. He’s very good, but I was a bit bemused to see him in this role. Like seeing Ray Winstone as a Boston gangster in The Departed. I’ll catch up on A Christmas Carol. Guy Pearce is a superb actor.

Why have you got a quote misattributed to Goebbels as your signature?

* I’ve just looked the TV series up. There are now 4 series of ten episodes each, dozens more characters than in the books and plot lines that aren’t there either, including the ‘American resistance’. Looks like ‘based on’ is the relevant term.

 

I think you'll find it's a Dominic Cummings quote.

Is it not Goebbels then? Truth is difficult to discern.

 

Pullman is definately anti-religion. There was an interesring show with him and Alan Yentob where he discusses why he finds all forms of religion wrong. The His Dark Materials books definately throw this into the mix, especially in the later books, where the religious heirarchy find themselves in battle with those opposed to religion. I read the books to my son a few years ago, then re-read them all recently - they are a bit deeper than teen-literature.

I watched Logan again recently, the girl was brilliant in that!

I've enjoyed Man in the High Castle, although I'm yet to watch Season 4 (which will be the final season). I stuck with it as it was a complete headfuck at the end of season 1, but it starts to make sense through season 2. Did realise it was based on a book, but haven't read it so haven't been disappointed by how they've strung this out.

Have to agree, Stephen Graham is bloody brilliant - from This Is England through to The Virtues, his acting ability is superb.

 

It’s from the introduction of Hugh Trevor Roper’s biography of Goebbels. It might have been what Geobbels thought but they are Trevor Roper’s words. Not that it really matters, I get the point.

So Pullman is anti religion but fills several volumes with what looks like magic and mystery to demonstrate this? Odd. I’ll give it a read, seems I am missing something, which I am unlikely to get from the telly.

I’m willing to bet that in 20 years time Logan is the only super hero film which is regarded as a decent stand alone piece of work. Probably because it’s essentially a remake of Shane, which is itself about integrity rather than cowboys.

 

This was really good...

imagine..., Winter 2017/18: 4. Philip Pullman: Angels and Daemons: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09vdpzw via @bbciplayer

Unfortunately not available now...

 

One of my guilty pleasires is Masterchef - Joe Bloggs off the street, celebrities or professional - love them all. This years professional series has just finished, and when the final four were whittled down to three, fhe finalists were sent off to Lisbon to learn from Portugals only 2 Michelin star chef, Jose Avillez at his restaurant Belcanto - I have never seen food so amazing. His take on traditional Portuguese fare is an eye-opener - my brother-in-law is from Lisbon and regulary cooks some great dishes for us, but this took it to a whole new level that has to be seen to be believed....

MasterChef: The Professionals, Series 12: Episode 20: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000cf4r via @bbciplayer

 

Wanting a chilled 90 minutes, something to have on whilst struggling with a hangover, or to enjoy whilst downing a good bottle of port? Fully recommend "The Last Igloo" which was on BBC4 last night - following an Inuit on the ice-sheets of Greenland as he heads out on a hunting trip with his huskies, and watch him build his igloo before spending the night under the Northern Lights.

Spectacular scenary, a glorious clear night with a great light display. Also, a very poignant message about global warming and how it is effecting life in these remote areas.

 

Anyone like a good murder/mystery? Check this out....

Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming, Series 1: Episode 1: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000d2cw via @bbciplayer

Two episodes on iPlayer following the case of Margaret Fleming. Whilst this may be a new case to most of you, this happened less than 5 miles from where I live, in a lovely village along the coast where my in-laws live....interspersed with views of the local scenary (don't get too jealous, it's beautiful around here in parts) and some very candid 'in-court' scenes, it's a fascinating watch, and quite unbelievable. My wife has had dealings with the accused whilst he was in custody prior to conviction - she's not painted a pretty picture of him, and he does himself no favours with either the prosecution, the defence, or even the judge!......

"A mystery disappearance, a suspected secret guarded for 16 years, a murder trial in search of answers - two-part documentary Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming has unprecedented access to the investigation and subsequent trial of co-accused Edward Cairney and Avril Jones.

Filmed by Bafta Scotland award-winning director Matt Pinder, this groundbreaking documentary takes the audience into the very centre of the trial at Glasgow’s High Court and beyond as carers Cairney and Jones face trial for the murder of 35-year-old Margaret Fleming.

Offering a compelling insight into the work of the police and prosecutors in bringing the two suspects to trial, the documentary also shines a light on the work of the defence teams representing the two accused of Margaret’s murder.

In 2016, an application for a Personal Independence Payment raised suspicions. When authorities couldn’t contact the applicant, the police were called, and it was discovered that a 35-year-old woman had seemingly vanished from a village on the west coast of Scotland. Margaret Fleming was a vulnerable adult understood by authorities to be in the full-time care of Cairney and Jones, living in a remote coastal property in the village of Inverkip. But when police started questioning Margaret’s friends and family, they were told no-one had seen her since 1999. In the 2019 murder trial that unfolds, Cairney and Jones stand accused of killing her, disposing of her body and claiming benefits in her name for 16 years.

With remarkable in-court access to an unfolding trial that gripped Scotland, Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming tells the story of a prosecution without a body and a community without answers. Filmed both inside and outside of the courtroom, this case takes viewers deep into the inner workings of Scotland’s justice system as a small community is coming to terms with the prospect of a potentially brutal and calculated crime occurring unnoticed in its midst."

 

Not so much a review, more of a realisation.

The guitar/drum intro to the Pistols’ Pretty Vacant is one of the high points of human evolution.

Any other contenders?