Whipsnade
Posted: Thu 23 January, 2014 Filed under: Domestic, Reviews(ish), Travel Leave a comment »Yesterday I went off to Whipsnade Zoo – somewhere I haven’t visited in decades. I remember doing it as a school trip, and also with family, but that’s a long time ago, so I thought while I’ve got some time, I’d see what it’s like these days.
I’m not a massive fan of zoos in general. I think the work they do for conservation, and allowing people to see these glorious animals, is amazing. The breeding programmes and so on are remarkable, and there’s a lot of value to them. But – ah, there’s always a but – I really don’t like seeing them in cages, and particularly when they exhibit ‘trapped’ behaviours. I went to London Zoo about 30 years ago, and never went back – seeing (particularly) the polar bears just trapped on their plastic rocks with a tiny pool was a truly hateful experience.
It was a fairly crappy day when I arrived- grey, cloudy and with dollops of rain – but that was fine with me. I was hoping for less people anyway, just wanted to walk round the place and see what it was like. It’s bloody expensive – even in winter, it’s £18.50, and that’s with half the place closed up. That, in my humble opinion, is taking the piss.
Anyway.
The actual place is OK – although that doesn’t mean I actually want to re-visit it any time soon. A number of the animal environs are still too small, in my opinion – they’ve improved, certainly, but still several of them seem to be small, even for the number of animals within them.
The one that got to me the most was the tigers, where one of the two was just padding along the edge of the pen, back and forth. Maybe I caught it on an off day, but it brought back all the memories of that polar bear in London Zoo.
All told it was a good day, including walking somewhere around five miles. But I can think of other places I can do that without paying nearly £20 for the privilege, and where I don’t finish up slightly wishing I hadn’t gone in the first place…
12 Years A Slave
Posted: Fri 10 January, 2014 Filed under: Films, Reviews(ish), Seeing Films Leave a comment »On Tuesday, I went to see the new film “12 Years A Slave” at the cinema. It’s been reviewed as being harsh and unforgiving in its view of American Slavery, but also reported that some members of the audience have walked out, shocked and horrified, and even felt ill and faint.
The film is the story of – well, more accurately it’s based on the story of – Solomon Northup, a free-born ‘African American’ from New York, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. In many ways it’s a remarkable story, and a remarkable film.
No-one walked out of the showing I was in – well, none in shock/horror, more just bloody-awful bladder control – but it’s an uncompromising view of slavery and the attitudes towards slaves. It’s another of those films that’s worth seeing, but it’s not one you’ll enjoy, if that makes any sense at all? A couple of the scenes in it are very unpleasant, leading you to wonder how it got away with a 15 certificate – but for me the real horror is in the perception and treatment of slaves.
I know I’m not the most charitable soul – file under “Sherlock, Shit, No” – but I find it truly horrific to see that belief that a slave isn’t human, is just a possession that the owner can do with as they will. All they’re ‘worth’ is the price paid. Nothing more, nothing less – and even seeing them exchanged as commodities, a way of passing on that debt. I know it happened (and probably still does in places) but it’s a vile attitude to have about anyone, regardless of skin colour, ethnic origin, gender, belief, or anything else.
It’s a grim film, and hard to watch in places, but it should be seen – and seen by lots of people – almost as an essay in how people shouldn’t be treated.
My Films of 2013
Posted: Wed 1 January, 2014 Filed under: Cinema, Films, Geeky, Reviews(ish), Seeing Films, Thoughts, Words, Writing Leave a comment »Yesterday, Karen made a comment on a previous post, and asked for my top five films from 2013. And I thought “Well, why not?”. Although be warned, my taste in films is rotten.
5. Gravity – Probably the smartest sci-fi film (albeit with some bugs still, mainly around orbital mechanics – and the fact Sandra Bullock doesn’t bloody die) of the year, Gravity is short and powerful. Worth seeing in 3D (which is saying something – I’m no 3D fan at all) although I can well imagine it could kick off a dollop of illness in those prone to motion sickness. But that disorientation is almost key to the film, it manages to convey some of how it must feel to be weightless and with no idea what your orientation is.
It also gets a lot of the tech stuff right (although a fair amount wrong, as well) as well as keeping the story tight. I was in two minds about seeing it, if I’m honest (not being a massive fan of Sandra Bullock at the best of times) but I’d say it’s probably the best thing she’s done – in my opinion, anyway.
4. Elysium – Another smart sci-fi, with a dark ‘them and us’ premise that seems to be becoming all the more feasible. Hell, even Jodie Foster was good in it – which is a real revelation, as usual I can’t abide her in films.
The basic premise – that as the majority of the world’s population get poorer, the rich opt to take off to a space environment/station, where they carry on their lives, with the best of technology, medical care etc., effectively leaving the poor to their own devices – is pretty dark, but also (I found) very believable, even though you know the required leaps in technology would be huge. I’m a fan of the director’s previous stuff (particularly District 9, another near-ish-future scifi) and also looking forward to his next film.
3. Iron Man 3 – Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, written and directed by Shane Black? I’m *so* there. IM3 lived up to its premise, far more than 2 did. Indeed it pretty much ignores 2 for the heap of crap it was. Smart snappy dialogue, some great action scenes, a glorious twist (that again seems ever more feasible in reality) and Robert Downey Jr just being himself. You can usually tell when people had fun making the film, and that comes across in this one.
And yes, I’ve even ended up watching it again on TV over the Festering Season. And it’s still fun, even when you know all of how it works out. Besides, just how damn good an actor is Guy Pearce?
2. Pacific Rim – I never expected anything more from Pacific Rim than what was in the trailers – big robots fight big monsters. If you expected more than that, you were – at best – frighteningly optimistic. But going in with no expectations more than that, I loved this film. Yes, it has some epic bugs and plot holes – the biggest being “if they’re clones, how can one be pregnant, FFS” – which rankle more on repeated viewing. (And yes, I’ve seen it rather more than once!) But still, epic effects, an absolutely cracking soundtrack – which I also bought – and it’s just ridiculous, fun, and probably the most entertaining film (for me) of the year. So why isn’t it at number one?
1. Mud – And the answer to that is ‘because Mud is’. I don’t know why this appealed to me as much as it did, but it’s probably the film that stuck with me the most through 2013. Matthew McConaughey has really grown on me as an actor since he’s stopped doing all the rom-com shit, and he’s really pretty versatile. This one’s more ‘American Mythology’ than anything else, I suppose – matched up with a doomed love story, coming-of-age stuff, and a whole lot more. For whatever reason, I just really liked this one.
And just for fun (and I won’t even credit them with links!), my five worst films have been…
5. White House Down – I was aiming for brainless entertainment. I got brainless.
4. I Give It A Year – I have no idea why I even went to see this. Romcom tat that was about as funny as infected piles.
3. The Counselor – Great expectations from a great trailer, but the film just wasn’t what had been expected. Beautifully shot, and some great set-pieces, but all told a real disappointment of a film.
2. Ender’s Game – One of the few this year that left a really bad taste in the mouth – the whole child-soldier thing, with some very dark morality (and no, I hadn’t read the book, so didn’t know what to expect) and again that feeling that somehow it’s not a concept that America would have any great issues with in the future. All-told, really quite unpleasant.
1. Only God Forgives – In a similar vein to Counselor, a film that didn’t live up to it’s trailer, and turned out in truth to be a very different film from that portrayed. Very arty, beautiful, but utterly up itself. Probably a good film when you’re in the mood for an art-house essay about violence, vengeance and [whatever else] but I wasn’t, so I really didn’t like it.
But bear in mind, there’s a lot of others just outside that list – including Last Stand, Man of Steel, Pain and Gain, and The Paperboy…
Durham Lumiere
Posted: Tue 19 November, 2013 Filed under: Art, Domestic, Reviews(ish), Travel Leave a comment »
As per a previous post, over the weekend I went with some friends to the Lumiere Festival in Durham. It wasn’t one I’d heard about before, but was well worth the visit. Even in its third incaranation at Durham, there were a fair number of organisational bits that really could’ve been done better, but overall the entire thing was bloody good.
As it turned out, the grim weather preceding the weekend had meant that some things couldn’t be done/erected/finalised – including one I’d wanted to see, but didn’t get to for other reasons. I’d have been mightily pissed off if I’d slogged the extra mile-ish out of town to see it, only to find out it wasn’t working!
Anyway, organisational issues (and they were legion) aside, the actual festival itself was great, and I absolutely loved some of the exhibits. (Less so with others, but such is life and personal perception) All were based around light and projection in various guises, and some with additional sound and spectacle.
In no particular order, my own favourites were…
Elephantastic – a projection of a full-size elephant (with synchronised soundtrack of footsteps) on the archway over one of the bridges in Durham. From the city side, you got the see the elephant’s arse, and coming into the city, the face-on view. Because of the height, you actually walked under the elephant to get onto the bridge. It was a very simple idea/projection, but really effective – and lots of people appear to want to make it a permanent fixture (which would be weird, but excellent)
Consumerist Christmas Tree – a conical christmas tree made of illuminations within discarded carrier bags. As it turned out, it wasn’t just the tree, but the entire street had ‘chinese lanterns’ strung above it with the same illuminated bags. It somehow made a very effective comment about the disposability of christmas tat, as well as the consumerism etc., while also managing to be really pretty, making people look up and think.
Crown of Light – projected onto the outside of Durham Cathedral, the story of the cathedral and the Lindisfarne gospels. We ended up seeing this four times – from different ranges and viewpoints – and each time there was something different that we noticed, even though it was the same thing on repeat. I think that seeing it that many times without getting bored – indeed, still actually watching it – says a lot about how interesting the entire thing was. All told, probably my second favourite piece of the many we saw.
Dresses – set within the cloisters of Durham Cathedral, three mesh-work dresses made of (or lit by, I’m not sure) fibreoptics that changed colour through the process. They were really ghostly, quite magical, and you almost expected to see them moving across the lawns. The effect was only ruined by pissknuckle cretins trying to take photos of them with the flash still on (or not being able to turn the bloody thing off), not realising that the flash would just render the scene as a meshwork dress, and you wouldn’t see the colours, the setting etc. (Dickweed morons with phones, cameras and flashes were another annoyance throughout the evening)
Volume Unit – although we couldn’t hear the music being played in sync, we walked past this and it was really impressive, projected against (apparently) one of Durham’s least-loved buildings (very sixties/seventies concrete brutalist block).
Overall though, my absolute favourite – that I could’ve sat and watched for hours – was [M]ondes, which was truly magical. There’s no way of adding an image for Mondes, it was so ephemeral (and again, with flash photography the secret was revealed, with none of the magic), with fleeting bits of illumination in any one shot. Earthshatteringly simple, and the mark of a warped genius – clouds of wire were suspended in the ceiling of the cathedral, with rays and circles of white light reflecting off the wire. But because the light-beam was so tight, and moving all the time (with different shapes and colours on the overall projection) the entire effect was the same as a crowd of fireflies, or dust motes flickering through a torch beam. It was absolutely enchanting, and so, so clever (yet simple). I’d love to see that type of effect done in other similar venues, it really is something special.
We did see others that I personally wasn’t as keen on, but the entire thing made for a really interesting use of Durham’s streets, buildings, spaces and architecture. I’m hoping there’ll be at least one more to go to!
Neil Gaiman, “Fortunately, The Milk”
Posted: Wed 16 October, 2013 Filed under: Domestic, Gigs, Literacy, London, Reviews(ish), Sociable, Words, Writing Leave a comment »
Last night I was in London to see Neil Gaiman‘s one-off reading of his new children’s book, “Fortunately, The Milk” at the Methodist Central Hall in London, (also known as Central Hall Westminster) which was also fortuitously a friend‘s birthday (I won’t say which one) As it turned out, we also bumped into Clair
It was excellent. I’d been lucky enough to get tickets when they went on sale, but I know it sold out pretty quickly. The tickets also included a special signed copy of the book as well, so definitely value for money.
It’d been billed as “with special guests”, but with no real clues as to who might turn up – and it turned out that (among others) Neil’s wife, Amanda Palmer came along as a surprise – even to Neil – and Lenny Henry was also there, along with Mitch Benn, and live drawings from the book by Chris Riddell. (who is just ridiculously talented) There were several others who I didn’t immediately recognise, although some research has helped on that score.
The book itself is brilliant – if you’ve got spawn, add it to the Christmas list – and the performance of it was great, with lots of humour, and a brilliant atmosphere all the way through.
As for the venue, well, I want to visit that again and look at it properly – it’s quite amazing in and of itself, and even more so when you look at the history of the place. It’s spectacular inside, and totally not what I’d have expected from the name. It’s about as restrained and subtle as Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
A brilliant evening, even with a jam-packed train ride home. (Apparently there was some sporting event on at Wembley as well, which meant lots of happy football fans)
Roy Lichtenstein, Tate Modern
Posted: Mon 27 May, 2013 Filed under: Creativity, Domestic, Getting Organised, London, Reviews(ish), Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »Over the weekend, I took a trip down to That There London, primarily to see the Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the Tate Modern. It’s been on for a while, and I’d meant to see it earlier, but then checked last week to realise yesterday was the final day. And so, the plan was born to get down and see it.
I’ve loved a lot of Lichtenstein’s work for many years now, and the exhibition had the originals of a couple of my all time favourites (Particularly “Whaaam!”) so it was definitely a good reason to go and see it.
But what I hadn’t realised was that this sort of stuff was only a small part of his work – although the style remains the same, there’s a lot more that I’d never known about.
My own particular favourites (in no particular order) were the Lichtenstein versions of other classic artists (including Mondrian and Picasso) and also his versions of classical Chinese landscape portraiture, which are just excellent.
I was really pleased that I’d got down to see the exhibition – although I do find that most of the stuff in Tate Modern is unconscionable piss, every so often they throw out a gem.
Sweary Hypocrisy
Posted: Sun 14 April, 2013 Filed under: 1BEM, Charm School, Cinema, Cynicism, Hypocrisy, Offensive Repetition, People, Reviews(ish), Seeing Films, Sweary, Thoughts, Weirdness Leave a comment »I’ve found a new source of amusement – the “Parental Guides” for films on IMDB.
A perfect example is here, for the new Tom Cruise film “Oblivion”
Why is it so amusing? For wondrous things like this…
bitch used 2 times bastard 1 time ass 4 times shit 6 times 1 use of fuck. Son-of-a-b***h is used once.
It’s the hypocrisy of it all – coupled with the tweeness. In the example above, it’s OK to write bitch, bastard and fuck, but son-of-a-bitch gets asterisked out? Fuck me.