Entertainment Recently

Hello Hello

Just thought I would write an entry about entertainment I have enjoyed over the last couple of months, because I feel it has been a particularly interesting few weeks.

TELEVISION

Generally I don’t watch TV, unless there is something specific like a period drama that I have been waiting to see. There is just so much cheap crap. People buying houses, people buying houses abroad, people talking about building houses, people cleaning houses, people decorating houses, people doing gardens and people going for walks in the country side. Then there are Chavs screaming at mothers, mothers screaming at Chavs, television presenters playing physiologists screaming at Chavy mother and at some point everybody slept with each other and apparently they are all related....and of course there is big brother.

That’s British tv for you.

But I must say there have been a few things that have grabbed my attention.

Freefall – a drama sort of about the recession. Gritty, hand held camera style. With some of the best naturalistic and believable acting I have seen for ages....good stuff.

Pushing Daisies – American, Fantastical over the top romance of the un-dead kind, nice mystery plot lines with a cracking cast and some beautiful surreal moments. The musical parts are my favourite. And some really touching times when the love interests express their love by not touching.

LOST – the recent series of lost was I thought simply superb. It raced along, there was little flab or filler. The acting was excellent, and the twists and turns mind blowing. Many questions were answered and you weren’t let guessing too long which kept it fun. But retained enough mystery to really stay tense....and the last episode and the cliff hanger were breath taking....i have a theory and it involves Jacob being a sort of god (one that maybe represents science) and another guy (dressed in black) being the smoke monster sort of representing faith. But that’s all for another post...however ...good stuff.

Family Guy and American Dad – still funny. Still shocking. I think they are a little formulaic now, but there is still so much fun to be had with them.
I have been revisiting some older TV comedy – Spaced – It is one of the best comedy series written for TV in my opinion. Why there can’t be more things like it I don’t know. But it’s still fresh. It’s still funny. But mostly for all its overblown style and cinematic language it still touching and it still feels real. Real in terms of character relationships and relate -ability to its audience.

THEATRE

I have enjoyed a couple of trips to the theatre recently.

I was fortunate enough to catch Illyria’s open air tours of The Three Musketeers and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Both are stunning shows and are lovingly crafted with much energy, creativity and humour. They are touring the country all summer along with The Mowgli Stories.

The Winchester Hat fair was in town. So called because it’s a festival of street theatre, and traditionally buskers would lay out their hats for money. Of course many people now just turn up in silly hats. And there is nothing wrong with that. Some lovely acts. Beautiful puppet dragons, a brilliant painter who does a large portrait upside down and you can only tell what it is when he spins it around!

Next week I am off to see Lords and Ladies (a Terry Pratchett play on tour) and off into London to catch my idol Sir Ian Mckellen in ‘Waiting for Godot’.

FILMS

Star Trek – So much fun. JJ Abrhams really did himself proud I thought. Nice part of the story to tell. I loved how they reinvented it but kept it within cannon. Nice fresh cast, lots of new faces, sexy funny and exciting. And genuinely emotional at times. Great effects. A really good summer blockbuster.

Valkyrie – Hmmmm. It’s ok. Some nice moments. Some exciting bits. But why these Nazis were portrayed as so good they were frankly Jesus...I don’t know. Yes they tried to kill Hitler...but they were still Nazis! Confusing mix of accents as well considering they were all meant to be German. Ok so they speak English, and most of the cast had English accents, but then there were some American ones.... and Hitler actually has a German accent...I mean...Eh?! It’s like ‘Allo Allo’ on a big budget.

Bruno – One of the funniest films I have seen in ages. Some staged parts but the non staged parts are frankly knuckle scrappingly awkward, and seriously, Sacha Baron Cohen is fearless!!!!

Blood the Last Vampire – based on the manga film. Disapointing, and some terrible effects.

Confessions of a shopaholic – No! Just no.

Coraline in 3d – The new model animation from the Nightmare before Christmas creators. Felt a little long (but I may have just been tired) and quite scary for very little kids...but really staggeringly beautiful. The animation and characters are out of this world stunning.

Bolt in 3d – doesn’t have the depth or richness of character the pixar Disney films have, but it still pulls the odd tear out of the eye, and has some lovely animated moments, enjoyable.

Transformers 2 - Amazing effects, some sad moments, and some funny moments. really exciting. fan pleasing. yes the script is at times cheese and a bit too smart for its own good. But its transformers!! and they kicked arse!!!

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE – I’ll do a bigger review I think because I really liked it and feel like I need to discuss it...being the Harry Potter fan that I am. But I say oh yes!

Other things

I am off to see the Banksie exebition in Bristol tomorrow, looking forward to that. I'm also hoping to catch Sister Act in the West End, when money permits of course.

Take Care All

Bye Bye for now

Chris xx