St. Patrick's Festival: Sean-Nós Dance from Connemara

Well, I usually have the telly on while I work. But lo, there was a hole in programming today, so I turned to the St. Patrick's Festival website. Where the next thing up was Sean-Nós (Old Style) Dance from Connemara, from the same dancer who also has the dance class that I watched yesterday.

This is a series of three short films - the one that you click through to from the above link is actually the third; you have to click through to YouTube for the others. But honestly, there's not a lot of difference among the three - each is about 10 minutes long, starts and ends with beautiful aerial shots of Connemara, and has an introduction of about four minutes, during which the dancer says pretty much the same thing, introducing the idea of sean-nós dancing. Following this, the video alternates between her performing to a lone accordion player, and solo pieces from the player himself, in various atmospheric cottages.

Worth watching though - or listening to - she has a beautiful, smooth style of dancing, and the music is relaxing. Quite soothing - and as I say, the scenery is gorgeous. They got a fine day.

Still plenty there for me to watch on Saturday..

Film: Triangle

I'm enjoying tracking down horror films on Amazon Prime..! So, with another gap in programming this evening, I turned to it again - and the next I could find on my list of horror films - that is, indeed, showing on Amazon Prime Ireland - is a little horror I never heard of, called Triangle. So I had a go at that.

It's set in the Bermuda Triangle - hence the name - and is the story of a group of friends who go sailing, only to have their yacht capsize in a freak storm. Happily, a cruise ship passes that way, and they climb onboard - only to find it completely deserted. Well, almost completely - and what happens next will make them wish they never bothered.

There's a hooded killer. But no, you really can't tell the plot from that - well, bits of it, but not fully. You won't even come close. This is a lovely piece of psychological horror, which I can't go into detail about without giving far too much away. I'll just say this - I found the beginning of the film confusing, but I later found out why. Also, anything you might be confused about throughout the film will be explained. Piece by piece, you'll put it together. I spotted one thing that might be considered a minor glitch, but maybe that would have been explained too, if the film had gone on for a bit longer! Stick with it - I loved the ah-hah! moments, when they began.

For Saturday, pending the Cultureseekers quiz announcement, there's always the St. Patrick's Festival website..

Film: Denial & St. Patrick's Festival: Introduction to Sean Nós Dance with Emma O' Sullivan

Late last night - another tv film that I hadn't seen! Denial tells the true story of an American academic, Rachel Weisz, who's Jewish, and has spent her career fighting holocaust deniers. Unexpectedly, she finds herself being sued by David Irving (played by Timothy Spall), a famous holocaust denier, for defamation. What's more, he's taking the case in London - where the burden of proof in a libel case is the opposite to that in America, in that the accused must prove that what they said was not libellous.So, she must prove both that the holocaust happened, and also that he knew, and lied about it. Happily, her publishers agree to fight the case.

Her barrister is Tom Wilkinson, her solicitor the delectable Andrew Scott - he has to explain the difference to her. Wouldn't you know it, he's quite the celebrity - he handled Princess Diana's divorce! Well, she decamps to London, and amid rain showers, battle is joined..

Lovely shots of the Royal Courts of Justice and the Temple - I've always loved that part of town. But the standout element of the film is this desperate court case, which, if lost, will give people free reign to deny the holocaust. And it's absolutely gripping - she is infuriated that her legal team will not let her take the stand, to be attacked by Irving, who's conducting his own case. Neither will they let any holocaust survivors be subject to, as they say, insult by him. They also insist on not having a jury present - as they explain to the judge, the matters to be discussed should not be left to the layperson. Her constant fury provides a compelling focus for us throughout the film, blasting a path through what could otherwise appear dry and dusty proceedings. Really, highly recommended.

Afterwards, I was too tired to blog. Today, with sport and quiz repeats on the telly, I had another quick look at the St. Patrick's Festival website - and next up was an Introduction to Sean Nós (Old Style) Dance.

Now, I can do Irish dancing - but this should be interesting for those who can't. Sean Nós is actually a really easy style, with one basic step sequence, designed for limited space - and generally performed on a wooden board, to emphasise the tapping sound. And she spends about half an hour going through it nice and easy, counting out the rhythm, demonstrating with a video of someone performing the steps. Right, off you go.. no excuses!

Quiz: The British Royal Family (1980 to Present) & Film: The Vast of Night

Cultureseekers finally announced today's quiz on Thursday - and wow, this is what you might call my specialist subject! The British Royal Family (1980 to Present) was one I might reasonably expect to do well in..

And I did. The first question kind of threw me, though - I knew that Charles and Diana married in 1981, but he wanted the exact date. I'd have been at a loss if it hadn't been multiple choice - but it was, and I had a choice of June, or early or late July. Now, I remember watching this on tv, and that we were on holiday at the time, and I had a feeling that it was late July. Which it was! He asked two more questions about royal marriage dates, also multiple choice, and I was fine because I knew the years, and each choice was for a different year. Similarly, the question about whose marriage lasted longer - theirs or Andrew's and Fergie's - was really easy, given that we'd already established, from multiple choice questions, that Charles and Diana married first. So, all you had to know was that both couples divorced in the same year..

In all 25 questions, I only got four wrong:

1. How long were the Queen and Prince Philip married? I know they were married in 1947, and of course he just died this year, but I didn't know what month they were married in, so I had to guess 74 - it was 73.
2. What restaurant did Andrew say he was eating in, during his disastrous tv interview in 2019? I remembered it was a fast food restaurant, down south somewhere, but not exactly where it was.
3. For the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of the character that the Duchess of Sussex played in Suits, back when she was an actor. I never used to watch it regularly.
4. And no, the closest city to where she and Harry live isn't L.A., it's Santa Barbara!

With double points for knowing their new baby's full name, I came out with 22 - which placed me joint fifth (two tied for the win at 24), out of 42 participants. Eh, not bad.. Oh, and he made one mistake; Peter Phillips is 17th in line to the throne, not 16th!

Almost nothing on tv afterwards, if you're not into sport. Mind you, having exhausted the first list of the best horror films on Amazon Prime, I took the precaution of looking at another last night - and so I had one lined up, and just finished watching The Vast of Night. Set in a small town in New Mexico at the end of the 50s, this tells the story of a young switchboard operator who hears a very weird noise over the line one night, when most of the town are at a basketball game. So she enlists the help of her good friend, who works at the radio station..

Not really a horror, this is like a 50s version of the X-Files. And in New Mexico in the 1950s - you know you're talking about UFOs, even if the radio operator is convinced it's the Soviets! Beautifully shot - the director's debut, and everyone is raving about it - the script is excellent, the pacing is excellent, and it's a real period piece, playing on the paranoia of the 50s, with the start of the Cold War. Why, even the opening shot tells you what you're going to experience - channeling The Twilight Zone, the camera zooms in on a television screen, on which all of the action will ultimately unfold as part of one of those "mystery theater" shows. Lovely piece of work, quite compelling.

If I'm stuck for something to do tomorrow, there's still the St. Patrick's Festival website.. or indeed, Amazon Prime; I'm in my last month of free subscription, so have to make a decision soon about whether to keep it up..

Film: The Mule

Midweek movie!  Not always worth watching, or something I haven't seen - but this week, it was The Mule, which sounded interesting enough, and I hadn't seen. This is another of the films directed by, and starring, Clint Eastwood, who - since he reached a certain age - has seemed to find a wealth of material about elderly blokes. This film is based on the true story of an elderly man who has some Latino fellows working on his farm. He's short of funds though - the farm is mortgaged, the bank is foreclosing, and with his granddaughter getting married, he'd love to help out, and as he's been estranged from his family for years (Dianne Wiest plays his ex-wife, and it's so long since I last saw her, I couldn't put a name to her), this'd be the perfect opportunity to reconcile with them. So when one of the Latino chaps passes him a phone number, related to a job opportunity, well..

It turns out that they just want a nondescript fellow, such as himself, to carry some stuff for them in his truck. Apart from the fact that they have to teach him how to text, it's quite easy - and very lucrative. So he does it again. It takes him a few trips before he even becomes curious as to what he's carrying - and is shocked to discover large quantities of cocaine. Well, he's very good at his job, excellent at deflecting police suspicion, and is old enough not to arouse suspicion, in general. But how's he gonna fare with the hardnosed drug cartel he's now part of?! On the other side of the fence, we have Bradley Cooper as a DEA field agent, and Laurence Fishburne as his boss, hot on the cartel's trail.

It's a truly interesting story - and what an anachronism, this elderly guy hanging out with guys for whom machine guns are a tool of the trade. Clint is as watchable as ever, and the film held my attention throughout, as I waited to see what was going to happen. A good watch, recommended - and very non-judgemental, of course, on the role of the drugs mule.

For Saturday, Cultureseekers finally announced their quiz - and wow, this is what you might call my specialist subject! The British Royal Family (1980 to Present) is one I might reasonably expect to do well in..

Film: Suspiria (2018)

Last night, nothing on tv, and I wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet. So I decided to try Suspiria (2018), which is available on Amazon Prime. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much, after having watched the supposedly superior original. But I was curious.

Straight away, you notice the difference - for a start, there's a terrific Thom Yorke soundtrack. The action has moved to Berlin, some time when it was still divided - the school is right across the road from the wall. The American student is played by Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton is the school director - and, looking at the cast list, I see she also played the school founder (who, to be fair, is hardly ever seen, and heavily made up when she is) and, more impressively, she plays the psychiatrist who treats the expelled student, whose ravings gradually lead him to believe that something suspicious is going on behind the school's facade. Really versatile, that woman.

I said that the trailer led me to believe that the film is greyer - it is that. It is also a revelation. An hour longer than the original, it really is a remake - the American student falls more readily into the role they have prepared for her, and the story is generally more coherent. Oh, and they've completely changed the ending.. I absolutely loved this, it really appealed to my darker side.

Unfortunately, I was too tired afterwards to blog. TV was good enough today to keep me ticking over, and for Saturday, there's always the St. Patrick's Festival website to fall back on..

Film: Suspiria (1977)

Well, another dearth of programmes this afternoon. So I said I'd treat myself to Amazon Prime again. :-) Trawled through the list of horror films that are supposed to be on it - sadly, many actually aren't.. but then I came down to Suspiria (2018). Now, I remember when this was released - I was curious, but as with so many, never did get to see it. Then, when I checked further.. I saw that the original was also available! Supposed to be a classic. So I watched that instead..

An American student comes to a prestigious dance academy in Freiburg. She soon learns that there's something very odd about the place, as strange things start to happen, girls begin to disappear.. and what she eventually discovers is more horrible than she could have imagined.

Wow, this is weird. Right from the start, it's a riot of colour - predominantly red. Indeed, a lengthy introduction explains how they restored and remastered the original. I took some time to get the volume right - every time someone is killed, the soundtrack becomes a deafening cacophony; happily, it doesn't happen too often.

Several times, I thought about quitting it - but something made me stick with it. And ultimately, as it reaches its conclusion, it does become a little less surreal, a bit easier to get a grasp of. The soundtrack did also produce a little snippet of tune that became a hook for me. So, ultimately I found it watchable. However, I don't think I'll be hurrying back to it. A brief look at the remake tells me that there seems to be less colour - it seems to be a more serious affair. Well, might give it a try.

In the meantime, there's always the St. Patrick's Festival website to fall back on..