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Post by Marwood on Jan 5, 2024 20:18:55 GMT
Received an email saying it will be back at the Coach & Horses next month if you too want to experience this : I have no interest iim seeing it again or in seeing any more shows put on like this in pubs, I couldn’t see half of what was going on but I’ve been able to sleep at night since without pondering what I missed.
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Post by Marwood on Jan 5, 2024 15:32:22 GMT
I saw this on Wednesday and really enjoyed it: it could have done with fifteen minutes or so being removed and I thought proceedings sagged in the middle but all three actors seemed to be at the top of their game and having a ball.
Having seen Cyprus Avenue previously, I had an inkling how things might turn out and while it doesn’t have any bin bag moments like that did, it still cranked up the ultraviolence (I was perturbed by the idiot sitting behind me chuckling like he was watching Tom & Jerry when it began, as if a blood covered woman was some kind of punchline in itself ) but whatever David Ireland does next, I think maybe any such violence should be given a rest (the mention of Tarantino in the play, and of Martin McDonagh in the interview with Harrelson in the programme gave a hint as to the inspiration for this, but together with comments about Diana and Thatcher in the play, bits of it seem a bit dated to be honest)
The actual space the play was in seemed a bit daunting when I saw how many people were in the room, but the view I had from the centre of the second row was faultless: no craning my neck to see what was happening at any moment and I was close enough to be able to read everyone’s expressions perfectly. Yes it was expensive but still cheaper than most of the theatres in the West End, I’m glad I got to see it.
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Post by Marwood on Jan 1, 2024 23:43:54 GMT
Its transferring to The Shed in New York in ‘Fall 2024’ if anyone is interested (I saw it advertised while seeing Here We Are there last week)
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Post by Marwood on Dec 31, 2023 22:13:03 GMT
Saw this on the last night of my week long stay in New York over Christmas: worth seeing but I just thought it was far too dark : great performances from Aubrey Plaza and Christopher Abbot (who did the whole show with crutches, don’t know what happened there) I’m glad I saw it but I’m thinking seeing Appropriate a few days previously raised the bar awfully high.
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Post by Marwood on Dec 30, 2023 20:21:59 GMT
Ulster American on Wednesday and Old Friends on Saturday
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Post by Marwood on Dec 30, 2023 13:09:19 GMT
The top two of my top five were in New York so I don’t know if anyone will argue their merits but my top five for this year are:
1.Appropriate at the Hayes Theatre, NYC 2. A Dolls House at the Hudson Theatre, NYC 3. A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic 4. Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre 5. The Motive and the Cue at the National
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Post by Marwood on Dec 27, 2023 15:51:57 GMT
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Lucille Lortel Theatre tomorrow.
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Post by Marwood on Dec 27, 2023 15:50:49 GMT
I saw this last night and to be honest, I really thought the first act wasn’t my kind of thing, a Southern family thing that didn’t really catch my interest but the second act was so, so, good: it just built and built before exploding both verbally and physically (Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll were both excellent, I didn’t think there was a weak link in the cast) and the ending is certainly a WTF moment (in a good way though)
One of the productions of the year for me: I don’t know if it will ever transfer out of the US but highly recommended if you get a chance to see it.
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Post by Marwood on Dec 24, 2023 23:24:25 GMT
If you’re coming to the states and are looking for Criterion BluRay’s, your best bet is to try a Barnes & Noble bookstore. They all have Criterion sections in their (dwindling) movie departments. I’m going to Vegas, staying at the Mirage and from what I can see, there aren’t any Barnes & Nobles anywhere near the strip and I’m in a mixed mood about getting an Uber to one only to find out they either don’t do Blu-rays, or if they do it’s only a few best sellers : not sure if there will be much demand for Luis Bunuel films in Nevada 🤣 Looking in the Barnes & Noble in Union Square earlier today, the only Bunuel films they had was a boxset at $100 and I don’t think you would miss out not having seen them: if you’ve seen a production of Huis Clos you might a general idea of what (might) be going on
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Post by Marwood on Dec 23, 2023 22:12:14 GMT
Appropriate at the Hayes Theater on Boxing Day
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Post by Marwood on Dec 23, 2023 21:14:01 GMT
Saw the matinee performance of this today and thought it was ok rather than anything if rush to see again but it wasn’t helped by a 🍆head sitting down 5 minutes before it started and then telling his theatre companion about all the dreadful roles he had been auditioning for really, REALLY loudly then laughing at every f’in line in an aggravating high pitch laugh fit the duration. Overall, I thought it was too long and could have done with some editing in the second act, the theme does go a lot darker in the second act which is maybe why there wasn’t a surfeit of songs but there were a couple of nice nods to The Ruling Class and Young Frankenstein (among others) which I thought was a nice touch.
I dont know if this will go to the UK (but I bet it does) but I’m glad I can say I saw it with the original cast, and I was impressed it was a full turnout from the cast on a matinee 2 days before Christmas.
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Post by Marwood on Dec 17, 2023 21:58:25 GMT
Well I had a ticket for a Lord Of The Rings all dayer at BFI IMAX today but after having my works Christmas party on Friday then seeing Leftfield last night I wasn’t in the mood to be sat in a cinema all day, so I gave up on that and went to the singalong screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol at the Prince Charles Cinema instead this afternoon: I haven’t seen it in 30 years or so but I thoroughly enjoyed it (I didn’t remember Michael Caine doing so much singing, the audience singing was a bit subdued by the time he burst into song but I think I did just as good a job as he did vocals wise) but it was a nice thing to see so close to Christmas
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Post by Marwood on Dec 17, 2023 17:50:19 GMT
I won’t be seeing any more shows in the UK before the end of the year but I have three lined up when I go to NYC next week (and they’re theatrical shows, I know I include a lot of gigs in this thread), I shall endeavour to come up with my list before the end of the month/year
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Post by Marwood on Dec 17, 2023 13:34:30 GMT
Here We Are at The Shed on Saturday.
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Post by Marwood on Dec 10, 2023 16:52:05 GMT
Panda Bear and Sonic Boom at Heaven on Thursday, Leftfield at the Kentish Town Forum on Saturday and that’s it for 2023 for me (in this country anyway)
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Wonka
Dec 10, 2023 16:49:03 GMT
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Post by Marwood on Dec 10, 2023 16:49:03 GMT
Slightly off topic sorry, but as someone who very rarely goes to the cinema I was wondering which is the ‘better’ option to watch this in? Dolby in Leicester Square or IMAX at the BFI? Have no idea what the difference is. Whereabouts in Leicester Square are you thinking of seeing it? Dolby just means the sound is in stereo, the IMAX is a super sized screen but I wouldn’t bother going there if all that is available are seats towards the front.
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Post by Marwood on Dec 7, 2023 21:32:51 GMT
Saw this last night and really enjoyed it (with a couple of exceptions): my knowledge of this was limited to seeing filmed versions so not knocking him, but I thought Christopher Eccleston didn’t seem grouchy enough before he is visited by the ghosts compared to Michael Caine or Alistair Sim (I wasn’t that keen on the Albert Finney version) but I was impressed he toned his accent to fit the location of the production: it’s quite something when areas like Blackfriars are mentioned that are within walking distance of the theatre.
I had a good view of proceedings from the stalls (don’t know if I would have been as impressed in the upper levels) but I just enjoyed the atmosphere of what happens: the music, singing, bell ringing (and yes, mince pies) and it made me think of just what has happened to the significance of Christmas in the years since this was written (I think I might have got a bit of grit in my eye by the time Silent Night was played but thankfully Christopher Eccleston didn’t do any singing)
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Post by Marwood on Dec 7, 2023 19:24:35 GMT
Suede at the Winter Gardens in Eastbourne on Saturday
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Post by Marwood on Dec 3, 2023 21:39:10 GMT
She hosted the q&a with Tom Hanks to launch his new book at the Prince Edward tonight: it was a fun night (although I’m not sure if the FAO Schwartz piano from Big still exists in Manhattan? she said she is planning on visiting with her daughter) but oy vey, the amount of people waiting by the stage door upon my exit 😝
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Post by Marwood on Dec 2, 2023 19:15:37 GMT
Eileen: I missed out on tickets for this when it was on at the London Film Festival and Edgar Wright has given it a glowing recommendation on his Instagram, telling people to know as little about his as possible before seeing it: it’s had next to no promotion that I’ve seen so apart from a couple of photos when it was screened at the LFF I knew next nothing about it.
It features another tour de force performance from Thomasin McKenzie in the title role (with this, Jojo Rabbit and Last Night In Soho she is really making a name for herself), strong support from Anne Bancroft and Shea Whigham (Bancroft plays more of a supporting role than you would expect from looking at her billing on posters): I don’t want to give anything away apart from it’s a period noir (set at Christmas but it’s one of the least festive films I’ve seen) and it kind of trundles along nicely with a few bumps and surprises but there was one revelation in the closing stretch that I thought was a bit too much and the ending just kind of happens, leaving the viewer to put together the pieces in their head.
Glad I saw it but disappointed by that ending: 6.5 out of 10
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Post by Marwood on Dec 2, 2023 13:25:28 GMT
An Evening With Tom Hanks at the Prince Edward tomorrow night, and A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic on Wednesday.
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Post by Marwood on Nov 29, 2023 14:58:37 GMT
A heads up to those of you wanting to see All of Us Strangers: there will be a preview screening followed by a Q&A with the director Paul Haigh at BFI Southbank on 17th January.
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Post by Marwood on Nov 26, 2023 1:03:01 GMT
I saw Napoleon today and wasn’t impressed: time seemed to really drag watching it and the battle scenes seemed to be lacking any excitement or sense of scale: we’re told that there are three hundred thousand troops at Waterloo but what we are shown looked more like some kind of Sunday afternoon amateur re-enactment. Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby were ok (I thought she did better than him) but nothing more but it looked like they didn’t have any money to fill out the rest of the cast list, it was entirely stocked with C listers (and apart from Tahar Rahim, a distinct lack of French actors, and no one bothers attempting a French accent: a couple of Ello Ello ‘I was pissing by your window’ moments would have livened it up no end.) Two stars from me.
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Post by Marwood on Nov 23, 2023 20:57:00 GMT
Reviews so far have been less than stellar, there’s been predictions that the box office take will be a lot less than expected for a movie with a budget this size: I think I will give it a few weeks and wait to see what the general opinion is from the public before deciding whether I see it (I’m not keen on Timothee Chalomet which isn’t helping to fuel any excitement)
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Post by Marwood on Nov 21, 2023 17:41:09 GMT
The Cult at Brixton Electric tonight, Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Popil at Heaven on Friday.
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Post by Marwood on Nov 14, 2023 16:35:24 GMT
Starring Steve Carrell, Alison Pill, Alfred Molina and others, starting April 24th. I haven’t enjoyed either of the versions of this I’ve seen in London and I wouldn’t go all the way there just to see this but part me is looking at that cast and thinking ‘wow’ 🤣
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Post by Marwood on Nov 11, 2023 22:20:35 GMT
Saw The Marvels tonight: best thing I can say about it was that it lasts less than two hours (unlike every other Marvel film I can remember seeing) but good Lord it was dreadful, I don’t know what it is supposed to bring to the big jigsaw of Marvel films (as far as I could see it offers nothing that connects it to the last half a dozen or so of their films), but I don’t know what was worse: the ‘musical’ section (Sondheim can rest easy going by what was served up), the abundance of kittens or the dreadful Ms. Marvel momma who soon outlived her not so hilarious welcome, and that’s just for starters. I have no idea what film they have lined up next (sure there will be about ten of them) but that’s me done with this.
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Post by Marwood on Nov 7, 2023 21:06:55 GMT
Have a backup. The numbers for this show don’t make it very likely it’ll still be here at Christmas. They’ve announced its closing on November 26th so I dodged a bullet there (yes I would have got a refund/credit but it would have been a lot of bother I could have done without)
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Post by Marwood on Nov 5, 2023 1:07:05 GMT
Saw The Age Of Innocence at BFI Southbank this afternoon: probably the third or fourth time I’ve tried watching it but only the first time I’ve lasted until the end (and I was nodding off at least twice while it was playing): sorry but I just found the whole thing dull as dishwater (not helped by an ending that seemed to have been cobbled on with some diabolical aging makeup used on Day-Lewis): I won’t make out I’m a philistine who only likes Scorcese films if they have a mob plot,industrial strength swearing and some of the old ultra violence as I liked The Last Temptation of Christ but I think this is the film of his I’ve enjoyed the least: I’ll be generous and give it 5 out of 10
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Post by Marwood on Oct 29, 2023 21:31:22 GMT
I saw it tonight and thought it was…ok and nothing more (about 70 minutes for those of you working out how much they are charging per minute): Robert Bathurst was ok but is looking very haggard in this from what I remember of seeing him in Toast Of London and Cold Feet, and not in an award winning alcoholic at deaths door way either. I had paid for a barstool seat and was emailed to say get there 20 minutes before the show started: I got there 15 minutes before and wasn’t impressed at having to make do with a stool right at the end of the bar, yes there were moments when he was stood right in front of me but there were a lot more moments where I couldn’t see anything (the egg trick in particular) but the shape of the bar and it’s location in Soho means it’s not one to see shows in (the amount of times some bellend in a rickshaw rode by pumping out loud sh*te ruining any tension put the kibosh on a lot of punchlines and dramatic moments) Not sure we will ever get to see the full length version again in a theatre, it’s very much a report from the ‘good old days’ but I’m glad I got to see it here.
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