Cinema, Ballet and Friends


Despite feeling like shit, it's all worked out for the best really. Arrived in London at midday yesterday and walked down from Euston, via the British Museum, and Shaftsbury Avenue to soho where I walked directly to the Curzon arthouse cinema to be in time for a 1pm showing of Nocturnal Animals
I was so glad that I did for the film is one of the best I have seen this year, and two hours out of the drizzle in the warm cucoon of a dark cinema was just what I needed.

Right, you have got to keep up with me here.
Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) is a successful yet somewhat haunted gallery owner. Slowly realising that her second marriage is on the rocks, she finds herself obsessing about her first marriage which she ended cruelly some two decades earlier. The catalyst for this is the arrival of a gift in the shape of her ex husbands first novel ( in proof form). The book is a violent and disturbing story of murder and revenge, which captures Susan's imagination, and it's veiled subtext of how her ex husband  Edward ( Jake Gyllenhaal) dealt with his feelings of grief and loss after their split, causes her to question her own motivations within their brief relationship.

It sounds good on this simplistic level, does it not?  but when you add in the complication of seeing the read novel unfold on film, with Gyllenhaal playing the traumatised Tony Hastings who lost his wife and daughter to an arbitrary act of violence during a road trip through the Texan desert, fiction blends almost seamlessly with fact as Susan realises just how much she has traumatized her first husband.
Director Tom Ford has crafted a sylish, almost hypnotic film here.
The violent desert scenes bookend the aseptic and slightly detached nature of Susan's life perfectly as two other characters come into play, to almost steal the show. The first is a tour de force cameo by Laura Linney who in flashback plays Susan's dominant and coldly pragmatic mother in one wonderfully icy scene and the second is an underplayed almost reptilian turn by Michael Shannon as a dying Sheriff, assigned to solve the murder of Hastings' family and who wants to do the right thing even though the law isnt quite on his side.
How does the story end? Well  you will have to see the movie to find out. Suffice to say, the whole piece will leave you thinking well past the time that the final credits roll.
It's a great movie
9.5/10
.,


After all that I met Nu after work and we had a good natter until we went to Sadler's Wells to see only the second performance of Mathew Bourne's production of The Red Shoes.
I knew I wasnt the most sparkling of company but I tried my best! 

Bourne's work is always a real treat, and The Red Shoes didn't disappoint even though the production was not as " magical" as some of his other ballets,the scene where the evil shoes take control of Victoria  (Ashley Shaw) has to be seen to be believed and is well worth the price of any ticket!

I'm exhausted but happy that I touched base with Nu....it's 9am and I'm aleady on my way home dosed up with antibiotics and paracetamol 

36 comments:

  1. I'd love to see Bourne's Red Shoes; lucky you!

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  2. Yes it was a treal treat..and only its second performance!

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  3. All this highbrow art is in stark contrast to the usual chicken shit and scotch eggs. You are a multi-faceted human being.

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  4. Anonymous11:02 am

    The film sounds amazing. Copy, paste because I can't spell his name, Gyllenhaal was quite luscious in Broke Back Mountain. I don't think I have seen a movie in 2016, so this one might be it.

    I hope you had a good recuperative nod off on the train home.

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    1. Its a great watch...and yes i am feeling just a little better.......

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  5. Bravo, glad all went well.

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  6. A day away, in civilization

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  7. A good break for you...glad you are on the mend. Not a good time of year to be ill. Well no good time but this is an especially hectic time.

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  8. The film sounds amazing, it's on my 'must see' list for next week. I'm glad you had a good catch u with Nu ... I hope you didn'tleave her with any of your germs!!

    I went to see The Nutcracker, a live link up with the ROH Covent Gardens at Llandudno Cineworld last night , it was absolutely magical :-)

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  9. Powell and Pressburger film. Somebody will be happy

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  10. Are you coming to the school production this evening John? Eve and Liv would appreciate your artistic critique for their performances !!!

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  11. Great movie review . . .
    I must see. . . .
    Rest up, feel better . . . SOON!

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  12. I don't think I could emotionally handle this movie. The violence would disturb me. Tthe cast is outstanding so maybe I will wait till I can see it in my home and bypass those scenes.

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  13. Thanks for the review and how fortunate to see ballet. Glad you feel a bit better.

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  14. Sounds like a great day out!

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  15. I'm so glad you were able to enjoy yourself. The Red Shoes is something I would like to see.

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  16. Speaking of ballets, they had the nutcracker at a local venue. And it was ridiculous on how much tickets were. I was thinking about it but now I'm not seeing it.

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  17. I hope your recommendation of Noct. Animals gets more to see it who might have otherwise not bothered - and what a stratospheric score you give it. I think there's been only three films in my entire life which I'd score even with a straight '9'!

    I used to be quite a regular at that Curzon cinema when I lived in London. I dare say that its admission prices nowadays would put it well out of reach for us humble folk living on a pension.

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  18. I believe I'd pass on the movie. It's enough sorting out my feelings without some fictitious woman's memories shoving their way in.
    Would love to see the Red Shoes and dinner out with a friend. Think if I was feeling like shite, I would enjoy the train ride home the best.
    Get well soon, John!

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  19. It sounds like, sick or not, a nice few days away plus a soothing train ride home without any demands on your time.
    thehamish is making Christmas Cards today on the blog.

    cheers, parsnip

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  20. Oh mannnn ... My husband took me to see the American Ballet(in NYC) when I first met him, what a perfect first date ... Red Shoes the film was one of his favorites and now mine .. oh how good that film is.

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  21. Glad you enjoyed it all in spite of everything. Go to bed with a good stiff drink and stay there.

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  22. That is a very high score!

    and I am somewhat reluctant to admit it, but I was thinking the same as YP except substituting the word poo, of course :)

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  23. Glad to hear you are on the mend.

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  24. Good to hear that the movie is excellent. The trailers certainly have me interested. Glad you are feeling better and got to enjoy yourself.

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  25. Well, for someone who probably should've been home in bed, you certainly fitted a lot of great things into a short time! The movie goes straight onto my "To See" list, and I envy you your ballet and the museums and art galleries. New Zealand is pretty bereft of such cultural opportunities.

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    1. My cousin in Dunedin is Stage Manager at a little local theatre. They put some great plays on there. My Bestie volunteers at a local art gallery in Stanmore Bay.

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  26. I like Amy Adams. I like Jake even better! I went to the panto last night with Grandaughter Numero Uno. I laughed from start to finish and was known to 'boo' the evil one occasionally. Widow Twanky was an absolute hoot. Left me feeling all rather Xmassy!!Glad you had a good time despite the lurgy!

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  27. I had forgotten that is what your Brits call tylenol.

    Are the antibiotics 'shotgun' therapy or did they do cultures.

    Hope you and Chris have a happy holiday.

    Mike

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    1. I was surprised by the antibiotics as well.

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  29. I still can't decide whether I liked Nocturnal Animals or not. I change my mind about it on an almost daily basis.

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