Film: Hail, Caesar!

So, a film that I hadn't seen made it to the Friday night film schedule! Or, maybe I had, but didn't remember a thing about it. Anyhoo, I watched Hail, Caesar!, a Coen brothers film, set in Hollywood's golden age, in the 50s. It follows Josh Brolin - a film studio fixer - as he runs around putting out fires. Tilda Swinton plays identical twin gossip columnists, each perpetually harassing him for a story. During the film, he has three problems to fix:

• A major actor, George Clooney, is kidnapped from the very set of his latest movie, in the middle of filming!
• A major actress, Scarlett Johansson, falls pregnant outside of wedlock. With marriage not an option, the studio lawyer, Jonah Hill, is brought in to provide a solution.
• The hapless director, Ralph Fiennes, of a society drama, is lumbered with a leading man who's better known as a Western hero, performing stunts on horseback. An unrecognisable Frances McDormand has a cameo for this story, as the projectionist who shows the fixer some footage of the newcomer.

Firstly - it was an utter joy to watch the big-budget movie snippets that pepper the film, and were typical of the time. Particularly as I was watching it on my new, larger-screened, smart tv! (Not a frivolous purchase - my old one broke down, finally, on Wednesday night: which was great timing, as I was due to take my mother to town the following day. So I got the tv on that trip.)

Oh, I love the Coen brothers. And George, as usual, does a terrific comic turn in a truly surreal twist on the role of a kidnap victim. You really feel for the poor director, forced to compromise his work of art to accommodate the studio's wishes. And in general, in short, this is a delight to watch.. even when they nearly kill Frances..

Tomorrow, reliable Cultureseekers has another quiz, advertised late, as ever. This time, it's Guess the Author or Novel from the Cover! Worth a go - he often gives very helpful hints..

And Crazy Rich Asians is tomorrow night's tv movie. Awesome, another I hadn't seen.. being stuck in Ireland for the pandemic is at least helping me get through my film list..

Musical Performance: The Show Must Go On

Well, my mother finally got sick of the same old stories on the current affairs programmes tonight. Now, on Sunday - Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto watched a live stream from the Palace Theatre London! It was the swansong for The Shows Must Go On - a medley of songs from the famous musicals. Sadly, of course, I was stuck watching tv with my mother, as usual. But YESSSS - IT'S STILL AVAILABLE! For a week afterwards, it seems - so, until Sunday night, I guess. So I whacked it on my phone..

Oh man, it's awesome. I don't know how many times I broke down, just to see live musical theatre back. And the nostalgia of all the shows I'd seen - & Juliet, Hamilton, Mamma Mia!, The Book of Mormon, Come From Away, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera. The shows I'd booked, which got cancelled - Dear Evan Hansen and Tina. And all the others: SIX, The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Pretty Woman, Back to the Future (jeez, I didn't even know there was a musical of that!), Matilda, Wicked, and The Prince of Egypt!

Songs were introduced in pairs - one from each musical - and belted out with gusto. Even my mother listened to most of it - and decided that the singer of Bring Him Home from Les Misérables wasn't as good as Colm Wilkinson. She came with me to Dublin to see that - Phantom, we saw in London when I was a kid. I can't fault John Owen Jones' powerful performance, though. But the standout performance for me was Aisha Jawando - practically channelling Tina Turner in an explosive performance of We Don't Need Another Hero, from Tina. Oh, I MUST book for that again.

Peppered throughout the show are ads for Theatre Support Fund, where you can donate, or buy merchandise. I have my eye on the t-shirt, personally.. might wait until I'm back, though, and it's cheaper: and the whole spectacle finishes with a speech by Sadiq Khan (interesting to watch the chat at this point, where people wondered what he was going to sing), and a thrilling version of The Show Must Go On, performed by the whole company! Ah, if you love musical theatre, you just have to watch this..

They're advertising Crazy Rich Asians as the Saturday night movie. Awesome, another I hadn't seen.. being stuck in Ireland for the pandemic is at least helping me get through my film list..

Film: Yesterday

Was delighted for my tv-watching today - it's a bank holiday here, and as the bank holiday movie, they showed Yesterday, a Danny Boyle comedy about a young musician and big Beatles fan. He's in an accident, and when he comes to, he finds himself in a world where nobody's heard of them! So, what's a lad to do, except.. pass all their hits off as his own.. Ed Sheeran also makes an appearance, as himself, having heard the lad, and offering him a position as his support act.

It's an enjoyable film. Plenty of Beatles music, of course - and I surprised myself with how much I remembered! Interesting question - if you were to pass yourself off as the writer of the music of some artist you love, how much of their stuff could you remember, assuming you could no longer look it up anywhere? It's also interesting to note the other few things that are missing in this alternate reality. I don't think he ever comes out of it.. Anyway, in the course of his meteoric rise to fame, he discovers, as you'd expect, what's really important. In other words, the love interest (Lily James, looking winsome). Intermittently hilarious (look out for the scene where his family asks him to play them something, then all get completely distracted), it's a feelgood movie. V worth watching if you're a fan of the music.

And they just advertised Crazy Rich Asians as the Saturday night movie. Awesome, another I hadn't seen.. being stuck in Ireland for the pandemic is really helping me get through my film list..

St. Patrick's Festival: Clare Youth Trad Orchestra Online Performance

Today - Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto is watching a live stream from the Palace Theatre London! It's the swansong for The Shows Must Go On - a medley of songs from the famous musicals. Sadly, of course, I'll be stuck watching tv with my mother, as usual - enjoy, if you decide to watch! I'd love to join you, but there's no way, and I don't think it's being re-broadcast. As for me, having come across a gap in my tv-watching in the afternoon, I caught up with the ever-excellent St. Patrick's Day website, long may it last!

Well sure and begorrah, didn't I come across an online performance from the relatively recently formed Clare Youth Trad Orchestra (whom I'd never heard of)! The blurb to the side explains their history - but mainly, check out their terrific video! Rather short, but well worth watching, it shows three pieces, composed and performed online. Lovely to listen to - but also fascinating for someone who knows Co. Clare, as each little individual window displays the performer in a different location around Clare. Plonked in fields, on roadsides, in a church, in sundry living rooms.. one sits in a cowshed to play her pieces, the cows munching away contentedly behind her. It was interesting to try and spot locations - sometimes, they helpfully stand or sit beside signs: Lahinch, Ennistymon, Ennis Station, Barefield, Feakle - and Tulla, the closest to me. Sometimes, I had to guess - Bunratty Castle and the Old Ground Hotel (with the ivy) are obvious, someone sat in the statue of hands outside Ennis Cathedral, and Quin Abbey was the location for one or two, I think. And one lady sits plucking at her banjo in the Burren.Excellent stuff, cleverly edited - go see!

Excited for my tv-watching tomorrow - it's a bank holiday here, and as the bank holiday movie, they're showing Yesterday, a Danny Boyle comedy about a young musician and big Beatles fan. He's in an accident, and when he comes to, he finds himself in a world where nobody's heard of them! So, what's a lad to do, except.. pass all their hits off as his own.. Ed Sheeran also makes an appearance.

And they just advertised Crazy Rich Asians as the Saturday night movie. Awesome, another I hadn't seen.. being stuck in Ireland for the pandemic is really helping me get through my film list..

Cultureseekers Quiz - Guess the Ladybird Book Cover!

Today, reliable Cultureseekers had another quiz: this time, name the Ladybird book whose cover I'm showing you! Well, I figured I mightn't be able to identify them - but they're delightful to look at!

Overslept, grabbed brunch - but I knew it'd be ok, they always start late. As it turned out, I was just in time. And wouldn't you know it, just as I was trying to get ready, I got another unsolicited Meetup message - a week on from the last, and again, from a self-professed lonely young man. At least this one was in London. Again, an annoying barrage of messages - and I try to be polite, because you never know, they might be genuine. Anyway, I got a merciful reprieve with this one - he seemed to lose interest as soon as I wouldn't share my phone number. Huh.

Back to the quiz. It was really well thought out - the first 10 questions on fairytales, the next five from the "How it Works" series, then five on professions, and the final five a more modern set. The pictures on the covers were, indeed, gorgeous - I have all of them, and wouldn't you know, the only one of these I didn't recognise was The Elves and the Shoemaker! Even though I can guarantee I have it somewhere. Well, there's a blast from the past..

Again, only one wrong in the "How it Works" section. I got all the professions right - and none of the modern ones! I mean, really..

 

Although they look interesting! I do love what they've done with the modern range - strictly tongue in cheek.

Tomorrow - Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto is watching a live stream from the Palace Theatre London! It's the swansong for The Shows Must Go On - a medley of songs from the famous musicals. Sadly, of course, I'll be stuck watching tv with my mother, as usual - enjoy, if you decide to watch! I'd love to join you, but there's no way, and I don't think it's being re-broadcast. As for me, I'll spend any gaps in my tv-watching in the afternoon catching up with the ever-excellent St. Patrick's Day website, long may it last!

POP CULTURE QUIZ ... all new trivia about theatre, TV, music, etc.

Tonight, Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto had another of those quizzes on, so I signed up again.

Really tired tonight, after a long and tiring day - but I made it. And this time, so did most of the participants - turned out that there was a mix-up with the Zoom link last time, and two different ones got sent out. Lordy though, talk about many cooks spoiling the broth.. isn't it insane how people can't do something as simple as follow instructions?

We were given the link for Kahoot, which about half of the participants didn't know what to do with. We had people who didn't know where the address bar was, people who thought they couldn't type over what was already there, people who didn't know where the internet was on their phone.. people with weird problems they didn't know how to describe - it was like trying to troubleshoot my mother's internet issues over the phone! At least we had video, so could see what they were doing. But it just took the biscuit when the host tried several times to share her screen, not realising that there were different things you could share, and kept showing us the whiteboard instead of the screen with the game PIN on it..

Fifteen minutes after scheduled start time, we were off. And I started ok - until she started putting up questions that weren't multiple choice. TV shows I had some chance with, got a couple. But, to add insult to injury, the last several were on Canadian / American brands. I hadn't a hope - stuck it out until the last question, just out of curiosity, and signed out. Well, my highest score tonight was sixth. And everyone complained about the non-multiple-choice: the host remarked that the feedback was useful, but for heaven's sake, who wouldn't prefer multiple choice! And it was fun, with a lot of banter - a number of people compared it favourably with another quiz they'd been doing, which was more rushed and a lot less fun. True, and I'd attend again..

On Saturday, reliable Cultureseekers has a quiz of their own: this time, name the Ladybird book whose cover I'm showing you! Well, I mightn't be able to identify them - but they're delightful to look at!

Play: A Picture of Autumn

Well, I wasn't sure whether I'd attend tonight's offering from Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto - but (as so often) I'm glad I did. So, we were watching a free, online recording of a 50s English play called A Picture of Autumn, staged at the Palace Theatre, and broadcast by Mint Theater. The host explained, afterwards, that they offer "rescued" plays, that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day again.

As usual, very few attended the pre-show chat - and to be honest, there were some awkward silences. People just don't have much to say, these days. We don't get out much. Anyway, we all started watching a little early. Name and email address required, but as I say, free to watch, and available until the 27th. The play centres around an elderly trio, living in a decrepit country manor - the Lord and Lady of the manor, and his brother. Coming to visit are the Lord's and Lady's sons, along with the elder son's wife and stepdaughter - the elder son, wife, and stepdaughter just back from living in Somaliland. It's set in the 50s.

And it's absolutely charming. The genteel, slow pace of life at the manor, matched by the genteel manners of the three elderly people, is in sharp contrast to the officiousness of the elder son, who breezes in and immediately starts to try and fix things. Comic relief is provided by the family jokers - the younger brothers, one from each generation - who are the charmers, the dreamers. And, of course, there's the comical old retainer, deaf as a post and doing things her way.

The times, however, are a' changin'.. or are they? How far will these people allow themselves to be tugged from their familiar, old lives? A clever, well-written play, with appealing characters - it's strange that it's sunk with hardly a trace. But then, as the host suggested afterwards, perhaps the topic was a bit sensitive at the time of its release, when it would have struck close to home for people who were seeing their old worlds disintegrating. Anyway, well worth a look - highly recommended. And that theatre has another couple of offerings this month, too..

Afterwards, only a couple of people logged on to chat, apart from myself and the host - and gee, it wasn't nearly as late in the evening for them! But I'm delighted to have come across this group, it's really giving me something of a social life. Nice to be reminded how a proper conversation works.

Tomorrow night, the same group has another of those quizzes on, so I've signed up for that as well..

And on Saturday, reliable Cultureseekers has a quiz of their own: this time, name the Ladybird book whose cover I'm showing you! Well, I mightn't be able to identify them - but they're delightful to look at!