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jacquelinebOne thing you should understand when I read or watch something; I rarely do it purely to relax. Unless I'm putting on a film or show I'm familiar with, I am usually constantly analysing it, assessing, judging.
This is not to say that I'm being objective. Far from it. Nor is the enjoyment lessened. I'd even argue the enjoyment is enhanced; because I have a sense of what a writer/creator goes through to make a story work, I get even more excited when it does - and also more disappointed when it doesn't, when the flaws are so obvious that it grates.
I've given brief reviews of the plays I saw but not of the books or films because that would take up more time than I can put to it - though if anyone wants an opinion on something I'm happy to comment on it.
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Reasons for seeing: Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, together on stage. Need I say more? (Well, coupled with seeing them perform one of the 'greatest plays of the 20th century'(tm), what other excuse did I need?)
Date and time: (trying to find ticket to remember...)
Brief review: To my pleasant surprise, Simon Callow was also in the cast, and I'd enjoyed him doing a show on Dickens a few years back in Sydney. What really made the play was the rapport between McKellen and Stewart. Obviously, they've worked together for a long time before, but it really shows here as they come across as two old friends who know each other really well. The set was effective; full of rubble and dust with the sole bare tree and leaf standing out in contrast. Callow brought the right air of pomposity to his character as well.
Speaking in Tongues by Andrew Bovell
Reasons for seeing: John Simm in the first place, Ian Hart in the second. Thirdly, it's an Australian play that went on to become Lantana, a film I greatly admire.
Date and time: 22nd September 2009, 7.30pm
Brief review: I saw the play in preview, which usually means they are ironing out a few aspects of it. Despite that, I still really liked the production. Oddly, I wasn't as impressed with Simm as I have been with his TV performances, but I suspect he was having an off-night, particularly in the first half. Hart I thought was marvelous, particularly his character in the second half of the play (actually, I was incredibly moved by him in this role, playing a very still, and the scenes with Lucy Cohu and Kerry Fox playing opposite each other were very good as well. The staging was rather effective, films screens being used to suggest window views, and in the second half the missing woman in the forest.
The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie
Reason for seeing: it's the longest running play in theatre history, and sister and I were after some lighter entertainment.
Date and time: 24th October 2009, 7.30pm
Brief review: Both surprising and not so. Not so, because it had all one can expect for a Christie story, really. But I was rather surprised by both the humour of the script, which was at times rather sly, and there was some genuine moments of tension. The cast was fine and seemed to be enjoying themselves, and our seats, despite being high up and peering down on the cast, were actually quite good at £20. I suspect the longevity of the play's run is somewhat self-fulling - go to see because it's the longest running play, and so it continues to be so.
I really want to get more on top of my reading, which I have talked about in an earlier post. So here is my rather (in my opinion) dismal list of books read last year.
The City and the City by China Mieville
Hillsborough: the Truth by Phil Scraton
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 1 by Hayao Miyazaki (manga)
Cowboy Bebop Vol 1 by Hajime Yatate (manga)
Cowboy Bebop Vol 2 by Hajime Yatate (manga)
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black
Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve
Looking for Jake and Other Stories by China Mieville
Best Boys (A Cracker novelisation) by Gareth Roberts
Iron Council by China Mieville
Masks: Rise of Heros by Hayden Thorne (see author website to purchase book)
King Rat by China Mieville
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
31 Dream Street by Lisa Jewel
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman
Grave Peril – Dresden Files Book 3 by Jim Butcher
Firmin by Sam Savage
Daylight by Elizabeth Knox
One of the best things I've joined this year is LOVEFiLM. Why? In the past when I've gone into a video rental shop, I tend to have a small fit as I try to decide on what exactly I want to hire, because there are an awful lot of films and TV shows I want to watch. LOVEFiLM takes the pain out of that in so many ways by letting me put hundreds (I have close to 300 titles on my 'to rent' list now) on there, and send them to me as they become available. Takes so much of the 'angst' away from it, and I've been able to see so much this year as a result.
Cat People (film, 1982)
See No Evil: The Moor Murders (miniseries - 2006)
Kes (film, 1969)
Red Riding - 1974 (made-for-tv film, 2009)
Breakfast On Pluto (film, 2005)
George Gently - Episode One (made-for-tv film, 2007)
3:10 To Yuma (film, 2007)
Prime Suspect 6 - The Last Witness (made-for-tv film, 2003)
Crime And Punishment (miniseries, 2002)
Miranda (film, 2002)
Wanted (film, 2008)
Dog Soldiers (film, 2002)
Human Traffic (film, 1999)
Saving Private Ryan (film, 1998)
Code 46 (film, 2003)
24 Hour Party People (film, 2002)
The Devil's Whore (miniseries, 2008)
Shooting The Past (miniseries, 1999)
The Escapist (film, 2008)
Anner House (made-for-tv film, 2007)
Hunger (film, 2008)
Sex Traffic (miniseries, 2004)
Canterbury Tales (tv series, 2004)
Cracker (tv series, 1993-1996, 2006)
Zombieland (film, 2009) - seen at cinema
Inglourious Basterds (film, 2009) - seen at cinema
Cuckoo (film, 2009) - seen at Cambridge Film Festival
Star Trek - Reboot (film, 2009) - seen at cinema
O'Horten (film, 2007) - seen at cinema
Watchmen (film, 2009) - seen at cinema
This is not to say that I'm being objective. Far from it. Nor is the enjoyment lessened. I'd even argue the enjoyment is enhanced; because I have a sense of what a writer/creator goes through to make a story work, I get even more excited when it does - and also more disappointed when it doesn't, when the flaws are so obvious that it grates.
I've given brief reviews of the plays I saw but not of the books or films because that would take up more time than I can put to it - though if anyone wants an opinion on something I'm happy to comment on it.
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Reasons for seeing: Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, together on stage. Need I say more? (Well, coupled with seeing them perform one of the 'greatest plays of the 20th century'(tm), what other excuse did I need?)
Date and time: (trying to find ticket to remember...)
Brief review: To my pleasant surprise, Simon Callow was also in the cast, and I'd enjoyed him doing a show on Dickens a few years back in Sydney. What really made the play was the rapport between McKellen and Stewart. Obviously, they've worked together for a long time before, but it really shows here as they come across as two old friends who know each other really well. The set was effective; full of rubble and dust with the sole bare tree and leaf standing out in contrast. Callow brought the right air of pomposity to his character as well.
Speaking in Tongues by Andrew Bovell
Reasons for seeing: John Simm in the first place, Ian Hart in the second. Thirdly, it's an Australian play that went on to become Lantana, a film I greatly admire.
Date and time: 22nd September 2009, 7.30pm
Brief review: I saw the play in preview, which usually means they are ironing out a few aspects of it. Despite that, I still really liked the production. Oddly, I wasn't as impressed with Simm as I have been with his TV performances, but I suspect he was having an off-night, particularly in the first half. Hart I thought was marvelous, particularly his character in the second half of the play (actually, I was incredibly moved by him in this role, playing a very still, and the scenes with Lucy Cohu and Kerry Fox playing opposite each other were very good as well. The staging was rather effective, films screens being used to suggest window views, and in the second half the missing woman in the forest.
The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie
Reason for seeing: it's the longest running play in theatre history, and sister and I were after some lighter entertainment.
Date and time: 24th October 2009, 7.30pm
Brief review: Both surprising and not so. Not so, because it had all one can expect for a Christie story, really. But I was rather surprised by both the humour of the script, which was at times rather sly, and there was some genuine moments of tension. The cast was fine and seemed to be enjoying themselves, and our seats, despite being high up and peering down on the cast, were actually quite good at £20. I suspect the longevity of the play's run is somewhat self-fulling - go to see because it's the longest running play, and so it continues to be so.
I really want to get more on top of my reading, which I have talked about in an earlier post. So here is my rather (in my opinion) dismal list of books read last year.
The City and the City by China Mieville
Hillsborough: the Truth by Phil Scraton
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 1 by Hayao Miyazaki (manga)
Cowboy Bebop Vol 1 by Hajime Yatate (manga)
Cowboy Bebop Vol 2 by Hajime Yatate (manga)
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black
Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve
Looking for Jake and Other Stories by China Mieville
Best Boys (A Cracker novelisation) by Gareth Roberts
Iron Council by China Mieville
Masks: Rise of Heros by Hayden Thorne (see author website to purchase book)
King Rat by China Mieville
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
31 Dream Street by Lisa Jewel
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman
Grave Peril – Dresden Files Book 3 by Jim Butcher
Firmin by Sam Savage
Daylight by Elizabeth Knox
One of the best things I've joined this year is LOVEFiLM. Why? In the past when I've gone into a video rental shop, I tend to have a small fit as I try to decide on what exactly I want to hire, because there are an awful lot of films and TV shows I want to watch. LOVEFiLM takes the pain out of that in so many ways by letting me put hundreds (I have close to 300 titles on my 'to rent' list now) on there, and send them to me as they become available. Takes so much of the 'angst' away from it, and I've been able to see so much this year as a result.
Cat People (film, 1982)
See No Evil: The Moor Murders (miniseries - 2006)
Kes (film, 1969)
Red Riding - 1974 (made-for-tv film, 2009)
Breakfast On Pluto (film, 2005)
George Gently - Episode One (made-for-tv film, 2007)
3:10 To Yuma (film, 2007)
Prime Suspect 6 - The Last Witness (made-for-tv film, 2003)
Crime And Punishment (miniseries, 2002)
Miranda (film, 2002)
Wanted (film, 2008)
Dog Soldiers (film, 2002)
Human Traffic (film, 1999)
Saving Private Ryan (film, 1998)
Code 46 (film, 2003)
24 Hour Party People (film, 2002)
The Devil's Whore (miniseries, 2008)
Shooting The Past (miniseries, 1999)
The Escapist (film, 2008)
Anner House (made-for-tv film, 2007)
Hunger (film, 2008)
Sex Traffic (miniseries, 2004)
Canterbury Tales (tv series, 2004)
Cracker (tv series, 1993-1996, 2006)
Zombieland (film, 2009) - seen at cinema
Inglourious Basterds (film, 2009) - seen at cinema
Cuckoo (film, 2009) - seen at Cambridge Film Festival
Star Trek - Reboot (film, 2009) - seen at cinema
O'Horten (film, 2007) - seen at cinema
Watchmen (film, 2009) - seen at cinema
