Chatterbox - still talking nonsense

I watched the new film Passages this week.  It's been released on streaming via Mubi as well as having a limited cinema release.  The main attraction for me was Ben Whishaw, but there were wonderful performances by all three main actors.   What a sad movie though.  Passages takes its name from the film that Tomas (Franz Rogowski) is directing at the start of the film and we learn from this that he is self absorbed and insensitive, but is clearly feted as a genius.  The film takes a look at how Tomas's husband Martin (Whishaw) and new girlfriend Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos) respond as he flails around causing chaos in all their lives.    I understand there was a bit of a flurry about the sex scenes (it has been released unrated in the US and on Mubi and as X for UK cinemas), but they do provide a shortcut for understanding these relationships.  And the inclusion of that main scene is also a bit of a political act too, as it raises the question...

We trekked down to Chichester this week to see a matinee of this play which takes a critical look at how a fictional public inquiry gets blown off course by a mix of personal and political intrigues.  The issue being investigated is an environmental disaster of a polluted water supply, but the focus of the politician in question, Lord Chancellor Arthur Gill (John Hefferman) is on damage limitation of his own career  because of a potential leadership opportunity coming up.  The judge leading the inquiry, Lord Justice Deborah Wingate (played beautifully by Deborah Findlay) is not too interested in the politics or retribution, she just wants to get the report out, without it being stuck in 'Maxwellisation'.  I hadn't heard the term before, but a useful essay in the programme (you can find the full article  here ) explains that this is the opportunity for people criticised in a report to respond before it is issued.  I am used to the step where the report is di...

There’s so much in the world to be sad and worried about at the moment, I have been watching some films which are a bit escapist.  Mostly offbeat but all giving me a bit of hope for humanity in their different ways.  Pretty Red Dress  A warm funny drama stuffed full of music, all about a family given a proper shake up by a red dress. Travis (Natey Jones) is just out of prison, Candice (Alexandra Burke) is trying to get her big break as Tina Turner in a West End show, and Kenisha their daughter is having loads of trouble at school.  When Travis buys the red dress, it changes things for everyone in the family as they all work out they are all a bit 'off key' in their own ways  Very sweet but with a defiant core and a lovely sense of a proper family.   Days of the Bagnold Summer  Apparently this is an adaptation of a graphic novel so another one to add to the list!  Directed by Simon Bird, this is the story of a single mum (Monica Dolan)  a...

 Chichester Festival Theatre has a great auditorium which means that every seat has an excellent view, and even though we were at the side for this performance I don't think we missed a thing. With themes of toxic masculinity, immigration, culture clashes and uncontrolled passions, this 70 year old play feels as fresh as ever.  Although it's structured with a Greek chorus in the form of the lawyer  Alfieri  (Nancy Crane)  this actually feels quite Shakespearian too, and the operatic punctuation reminds us that we were watching grand emotions being played out in the very non-grand community of Italian immigrants living and working in the New York docks.  I am not sure I had the same response as lots of others in the audience, but I really enjoyed it, and we were talking about this all the way home.  I can't talk about it without spoilers though so be beware!!   I enjoyed all the performances here.   Eddie (Jonathan Slinger)  is ...

I found it very inconvenient that I have to go to work, otherwise I would have bought lots more tickets but I did get to see a few things over the past week… All Of Us Strangers As it’s not going to have a general release for a while I was really keen to see this with the cast of four amazing actors.  I don’t want to give any spoilers but this film about grief, love, loss and loneliness is just beautiful with sensitive and moving performances from all.  Just love Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal together - the energy each can create on a screen by themselves could power small towns and so together they are stunning.  And Claire Foy and Jamie Bell are just so delicate in creating a pair of parents from the eighties.  Great soundtrack too.  In my practical head though I am wondering what happens after the film ends.  It was my first time going to a gala performance at the LFF and we only realised at the last minute that there was a red carpet so we took the oppor...

  Untitled, F**k M*ss S**gon at The Young Vic Can a woke play about the tired, cliched representation of Asian culture and women by western white guys be entertaining?  F**k yes!   A play that has a repeating loop from Madame Butterfly via South Pacific, Mash and The World of Susie Wong, with each iteration bringing the stereotypical western viewpoint into clearer focus.  At the centre of this we have ‘Kim’ (an impressive Mei Mac) forced to repeat her tragic story over and over again and becoming increasingly frustrated with her lot.  It’s sharply funny, for example the made-up language ' kimono sushi ohio' being spoken by the square-jawed Clark (Tom Weston Jones) and Kim's increasingly frantic attempts to break out of the stereotypical narrative she's being forced into.  When we reach the modern day and it’s clear that atrocious liberties are still being taken, the Kim and the play get properly cross and more than a bit meta.  Can Kim get out of ...