Well thank goodness – there’s been considerably less rain this week and the brook at the bottom of the appropriately named Brook Street has returned, more or less, to its pre-flood capacity. Instead of the rain we’ve had cold and frosty mornings with clear blue skies. Daisy comes home from her morning and afternoon walks less coated with mud than has been the case recently which is a good thing. Normally, when she is caked with mud she receives a, no doubt, “refreshing” hose down. Over the past few days, the hose has been frozen so she has escaped that particular humiliation, much to her relief I’m sure.
We’ve been in kind of a movie mode this week – we’ve watched a couple of films on the television, either those we’ve recorded or courtesy of one of the streaming services to which we subscribe. And, we also went out on a date night (actually, a triple date night) to the Light Cinema in Banbury. Some good, some terrific and the occasional clanger. In no particular order (mainly because I can’t remember in which order we watched them):
Bohemian Rhapsody – the story of Freddie Mercury and Queen which was terrific. Not only was it delightfully nostalgic with great, great music, but Rami Malek who played Freddie Mercury was nothing short of sensational, deservedly winning the Oscar for Best Actor. I know it’s been around for a while but we missed it previously so I’m glad we were finally able to catch it.
We also watched Knives Out, the first of the Benoit Blanc films. Both of us thought it was somewhat less than terrific even though it has received very good reviews and ratings. I thought it was pretty ordinary and Penny had to grit her teeth every time Daniel Craig opened his mouth with his ridiculous faux southern accent. We had watched this in anticipation of going on to watch the second, Glass Onion which has more recently been released. On second thoughts, I think we’ll probably give it a miss even though, again, it has received pretty decent ratings.
On Wednesday evening we watched the new All Quiet on the Western Front, which was terrific if, not surprisingly, somewhat dark and depressing. I guess we’ve all read the book and/or seen one of the earlier versions but this was absolutely first rate especially in depicting the brutality and futility of war as a means of solving grievances. Why can’t we learn?
On Tuesday evening we went out on a triple date night with some of our lovely neighbours. We went to the cinema in Banbury to see Empire of Light starring Olivia Colman which I thought was excellent in spite of its having received only mediocre/modest ratings. Indeed, our group of six had very differing reactions. I liked it very much, most of the others thought it was OK.
Colman plays a cinema manager with ongoing mental health issues – she is schizophrenic. She copes as long as she takes her medication and doesn’t allow herself to get too stressed. A new employee is hired at the cinema and they soon become good friends. She is happy and no longer needs to take her medications. Until he announces that he is hoping to go to college and train as an architect. This sends her into a tailspin with fairly predictable consequences. The story is, I suppose, fairly ordinary and perhaps predictable but I thought it was a lovely film (beautifully filmed) and Olivia Colman’s performance is Oscar-worthy. She runs through the whole gamut of human emotions and is utterly believable throughout.
Then, on Friday evening we watched The Bank of Dave, an amiable comedy with Rory Kinnear playing the role of the afore-mentioned Dave. It’s based on a true story about a self-made millionaire from Burnley in Lancashire who makes loans to local people and eventually decides to set up a local bank, the Bank of Dave. In order to do so, however, he has to secure a license from the financial services regulator and, not surprisingly, the big banks and financial institutions throw obstacles in his way in an effort to prevent the establishment of his new bank. Good, wholesome, light entertainment.
And while we’re at it, a couple of series we’ve watched recently which we enjoyed. Firstly, The English starring Emily Blunt. An English woman (Emily Blunt) arrives in the wild landscape of the West hoping to take her revenge on the man who she sees as responsible for the death of her son. She meets a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout whom she succeeds in saving and he then returns the favour, on numerous occasions. It’s beautifully filmed if somewhat brutal at times as, I guess, the West was. We had it on the BBC so I don’t know where it will ultimately appear for those of you without access to iPlayer.
And lastly, we watched a new three-part series on the astonishing tale of John Stonehouse called, simply enough, Stonehouse with Matthew Macfadyen and Keely Hawes. For our foreign friends who may not be familiar with the Stonehouse saga, John Stonehouse was a promising Labour MP in the early 70s who was once touted as a future Prime Minister. He secured a number of positions in the governments of Harold Wilson but got into financial difficulty (as well as starting an affair with his secretary and, allegedly, spying for the Czechoslovakians) and ultimately tried to fake his own death. He left a neatly folded pile of clothes and swam into the sea from the beach in front of a large luxury hotel in Miami. Assuming the identity of a former constituent who had died he resurfaced in Australia where he was eventually questioned by the police who initially thought he was Lord Lucan (who had disappeared only a few months previously). He was extradited to the UK where he stood trial and was sentenced to seven years in prison. It is an astonishing story and it beggars belief that he thought he could get away with it. Worth a watch if it shows up on a platform to which you have access.
Finally, Happy Birthday to our darling boy Nick last Friday. He popped over for a quick visit and walk and then we had lunch in The Crown at Weston. Wonderful.
Meanwhile, keep happy, keep smiling, be careful, wear a f**king facemask in crowded places and keep your distance. And keep safe. And be gentle to wasps and bees.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg
Wise to pass on ‘Glass Onion’. Thought ‘Knives Out’ pretty mediocre and this is truly sub par. I similarly found Daniel Craig’s southern accent teeth grittingly irritating. Have seen ‘Tar’ – a brilliant performance by Cate Blanchett, but way too cerebral to appeal to all but the most discerning movie watcher. You might like it.
Always loved that very funny shot of Nick.