Cultured week this week - Tuesday night, an evening at the theatre. We went to see Ghost Stories at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. Written by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson (one of The League of Gentlemen) it tells three stories narrated by a professor of parapsychology (played by Nyman) which are intertwined with a good twist at the end. Some really 'jump out of your skin' moments along with a few laughs...had a touch of Inside no9 about it. Excellent stage set up, with scenary switches really well done, eapecially the scene that introduced a car on stage. Thoroughly enjoyable evening. Tonight we've been to the Armadillo in Glasgow (if you saw the building, you'd understand the name) to watch Greg Davies on his stand-up tour...****ing hilarious, there were parts of the show I could hardly breathe for laughing so much. As per most good stand-ups, he focussed on stories from his past, including growing up in 1970s Shropshire, his lack of sex-education, problems with his prostate and bluffing his way to a fancy dinner at Buckingham Palace. Brilliant show. Only downer was getting stuck in the traffic leaving Ibrox after Rangers match with Bilbao this evening
Just finished watching Branagh's Henry V film on BBC. Never seen it before, but really enjoyed it. Quite an achievement for the 30-year old Branagh. Now, suitably roused, off to the Rs. Do Bristol have any Frenchies in their side? Cry, "God for Marti!, Rangers and Saint Jude!" .
Much discussion over here regarding the new 4 episode Netflix show "Adolescence". I thought the first two episodes were excellent, but the next two with the psychologist and the "Nonse" shopping trip dragged somewhat. Check this out from the BBC: https://bbc.com/news/articles/cvgppe0p0jjo
On reflection I may have dozed off for part of that one, showed the inherent aggression within the boy.
Just finished watching This City is Ours on BBC - one of those gangster dramas where it's near on impossible to like any of the characters. Despite this, and despite the scouse accents, and despite the somehwt implausible plot turns, I found it surprisingly enjoyable. Fine acting and excellent direction make it very tense and involving. The music soundtrack is great, too. Recommended.
Watched about 20 minutes of this over a couple of episodes. It was on for longer but I wasn’t really watching it. No debate about the acting, soundtrack etc and the fun of guessing when Sean Bean would cop it, as he does in nearly everything. I’m just full of these ‘shows’ which use crime and violence (not sure how many women were victims in this one, but implicit misogyny is also an element of these things) to ‘entertain’ us. If all the characters had been killed in the first episode it would have been better…… …..as Breaking Bad and The Sopranos would as well. Heresy, burn him!* * it’s just personal taste. I like some violent stuff, like a lot of Scorsese films, just not stretched out over hours of episodes and with at least some kind of meaning.
I largely agree and have always had a nagging problem with 'mob' movies, even great ones like The Godfather, or Goodfellas. How do we relate to (let alone like) these people? I started off disliking this series for that reason, but it got the better of me. It wasn't misogynistic, either. If anything, the women were stronger than the men.
I probably fool myself with films like the Godfather and Goodfellas that they are about human corruption and that the violence, though graphic and startling, isn’t all pervasive and is an illustration of the theme. I haven’t watched any Tarantino films since the 90s because the violence (often against women) seems to be the only point, a kind of sadistic voyeurism, no matter how artfully done and how snappy the dialogue.
I just finished season 3 of Gangs of London, now that is full of gratuitous violence, by both male and female characters. It's well made, but totally unbelievable storyline. The new series Mobland, with Tom Hardy and Pearce Brosnan is a few standards above, excellent script, acting and soundtrack. Hardys character is the only likeable one, he's a fixer/go-between for the different OCGs.
I've only seen previews of Gangs of London, but it looks totally ridiculous and I wouldn't bother my arse with it. Coincidentally, we've just watched the first two episodes of Mobland (my daughter makes us watch this stuff), which seems to be an updated version of the Kray/Richardson conflicts of the 60s. More unrealiistic nonsense, but once again very watchable, with a really great cast. Tom Hardy, like Stephen Graham, is great in everything he does. Helen Mirren is still hot, too. Have you watched This City is Ours?
Tonights entertainment - train up to Glasgow to meet jnr for evening meal - plumped for Babs, an "authentic" Greek restaurant in city centre. Giros, Souvlaki, Kebabs and some funky fries - £40 for two of us (no alcohol tonight) A walk around town to kill some time then off to St Lukes, one of my favourite venues to see Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (yes, that"s their name). St Lukes, as the name suggests, is a converted church in the east end of city centre. It has really ornate stained glass windows either side of the stage and at this time of year the light is still coming through them which is very atmospheric. The band were loud as ****, floorboards shaking with the bassline. Seen them a few times, this was as good as any time I've seen them. They play stoner rock, a mix of psych and heavy rock - and he's stolen Lemmys voice
Not yet, been bingeing my way through a pile of Korean stuff at the moment, and the weather has been good, so sat outside reading during the day when not working. Just finished Aimen Deans Nine Lives, about his time as a jihadi, bomb maker then turned and became MI6/MI5 spy at high levels inside Al Qaeda - until the ****in yanks burst his cover. Fascinating read, well worth the time. I've been listening to his podcasts for about 5 years now, but this puts a whole new slant on his back story
Just watched series 3 of reacher Quite liked series one Series two not so much but series three has to be one of the biggest poorly written piles of **** ever made Only good thing about it was the songs chosen for the final credits of each episode Also watched the last of us this week and I quite enjoyed that
I liked The Last of Us. Jnr tells me season one is very close to how the game played out. Is all of season two available, or are they drip feeding that an episode a week?
Drip feeding season 2. Waiting 'til all available so i can watch it over 3 nights. Reviews are very good so looking forward to it.
Saw the trailer for Mobland. I know Brosnan actually is Irish, but his accent is very odd. Lots of violence in 3 minutes and ‘Guy Ritchie’ the poor man’s Tarantino (and you know what I think of him) plastered all over it. Are there any Albanian gangs in it? However, Hardy has said a second series of Taboo is planned. He has said this before of course and it hasn’t happened, which is a shame because the original was great (yeah I know it also had a lot of violence but consistency was never my strong point. Like QPR). I’d have to watch the first series again as I can remember virtually nothing about it apart from enjoying it in a menaced kind of way.
Series two has just started on poor people's tv More than happy to wait til it's finished to watch it Not sure I should try to download something called taboo
I recently re-watched Taboo, as good second time round. Would love to see a second season Taboo is great. It's on iPlayer I think, if you've got a VPN
