I saw this film on 28th December at Stratford Picture House
This was a surprisingly enjoyable and well done film. Not only did I not want to look at my watch once but I would probably enjoy the film as much if I saw it again.
The presentation of Holmes' character was an interesting interpretation but fitted quite well with what we have previously been shown of him. The bangs, fires and explosions struck me as rather overdone, although that is the current fashion. Irene was shown as being rather young but I do not remember if Conan Doyle told us how old she was supposed to be. Tower Bridge, shown almost continually and in the process of construction made a good finale but I wish they could they have found a way of either getting there more realistically or more slowly, it is after all quite a way from Westminster.
This Monday afternoon performance at Stratford was well attended.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Sunday, 20 December 2009
The Habit of Art
I saw this performance on 19 December at the National Theatre Olivier.
I thoroughly enjoyed this production and I have been trying to work out why. I had almost no knowledge of Auden and Britten before I saw the play and not a great deal more about either afterwards. Alan Bennett makes me a spectator of a world I half know and shows me what is as real to me as a house across the road. In earlier plays I saw people eating in Betty's Cafe from the top of the 46 trolley bus in Tyrrel Street. Hector's school was not mine, but was clearly another Grammar School a mile or two down the road. Auden's Oxford was not the one I experienced but I know that is how many had been in other colleges. Go and see it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this production and I have been trying to work out why. I had almost no knowledge of Auden and Britten before I saw the play and not a great deal more about either afterwards. Alan Bennett makes me a spectator of a world I half know and shows me what is as real to me as a house across the road. In earlier plays I saw people eating in Betty's Cafe from the top of the 46 trolley bus in Tyrrel Street. Hector's school was not mine, but was clearly another Grammar School a mile or two down the road. Auden's Oxford was not the one I experienced but I know that is how many had been in other colleges. Go and see it.
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Avatar
I saw this film on 16th December at Stratford Picture House
This was a very enjoyable film. The storyline was simple and easy to follow. The baddies were predictably bad. There were a few unexpectedly good goodies. The hero was heroic and the ending was reassuring. Although very long I did not find myself either falling asleep nor wanting to look at my watch.
The 3D and computer anmation were well done and for the most part made me feel part of the film rather than having the feeling that the film was being inflicted upon me by overdone or in-your-face special effects.
This preview was the best attended showing I have ever seen at Stratford with hardly any empty seats. A small group of people left with noisy comments about thirty minutes before the end; I'm not quite sure why, perhaps because their supplies of popcorn and cola had run out.
This was a very enjoyable film. The storyline was simple and easy to follow. The baddies were predictably bad. There were a few unexpectedly good goodies. The hero was heroic and the ending was reassuring. Although very long I did not find myself either falling asleep nor wanting to look at my watch.
The 3D and computer anmation were well done and for the most part made me feel part of the film rather than having the feeling that the film was being inflicted upon me by overdone or in-your-face special effects.
This preview was the best attended showing I have ever seen at Stratford with hardly any empty seats. A small group of people left with noisy comments about thirty minutes before the end; I'm not quite sure why, perhaps because their supplies of popcorn and cola had run out.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Law Abiding Citizen
I saw this film on 7th December at Stratford Picture House
The blurb for this says "Contains strong bloody violence, torture and sexual violence"; so as I am a bit squeamish I was not sure if it was for me. I was wrong: this is a great film. It starts off with extreme violence (although they don't show the most horrific act) followed soon after by more extremely nasty action. The rest of the film is a how-did-he-do-it with violence that was appropriate to the plot and (nearly always) took me by surprise. If you cannot stand violence then avoid, otherwise grimace and bear it. Jamie Foxx and Gerald Butler as the two leading actors were superb, especially the psycopathic Clyde (Gerard Butler).
For a Monday showing this was a surprisingly well-attended performance, Unfortunately many were latecomers who made almost as much noise eating and slurping as they did chatting and making comments about the action on screen.
The blurb for this says "Contains strong bloody violence, torture and sexual violence"; so as I am a bit squeamish I was not sure if it was for me. I was wrong: this is a great film. It starts off with extreme violence (although they don't show the most horrific act) followed soon after by more extremely nasty action. The rest of the film is a how-did-he-do-it with violence that was appropriate to the plot and (nearly always) took me by surprise. If you cannot stand violence then avoid, otherwise grimace and bear it. Jamie Foxx and Gerald Butler as the two leading actors were superb, especially the psycopathic Clyde (Gerard Butler).
For a Monday showing this was a surprisingly well-attended performance, Unfortunately many were latecomers who made almost as much noise eating and slurping as they did chatting and making comments about the action on screen.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Paranormal Activity
I saw this film on 30th November at Stratford Picture House
This film has a cast of five but only two appear for more than a few minutes. The action at times seemed more like Big Brother before breakfast than a horror story, an impression helped by the low quality 24-hour camera footage. The real action when it came was not quite worth waiting for. I found neither main character convincing, surprisingly the male character was more so: geekish and techie obssessed, he is a fool who does not appreciate what he might be dealing with nor how dangerous it might be. She on the other hand, appreciates all of this from the beginning but goes along with his daft approach. The only sensible one is the cowardly ghost expert.
Unusually the film had no closing credits.
For a weekday matinee the performance was surprisingly well attended by a largely well-behaved audience but with quite a lot of nervous giggling.
This film has a cast of five but only two appear for more than a few minutes. The action at times seemed more like Big Brother before breakfast than a horror story, an impression helped by the low quality 24-hour camera footage. The real action when it came was not quite worth waiting for. I found neither main character convincing, surprisingly the male character was more so: geekish and techie obssessed, he is a fool who does not appreciate what he might be dealing with nor how dangerous it might be. She on the other hand, appreciates all of this from the beginning but goes along with his daft approach. The only sensible one is the cowardly ghost expert.
Unusually the film had no closing credits.
For a weekday matinee the performance was surprisingly well attended by a largely well-behaved audience but with quite a lot of nervous giggling.
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