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Post by foxa on Oct 14, 2017 19:56:17 GMT
Saw my last film festival show today, so to sum up: 'Good Time' - thriller/crime caper with Robert Pattinson - very stylish, excellent performances, recommend. 'The Venerable W' - documentary by Barbet Schroeder about anti-Muslim Buddhist monk - Schroeder is very skillful and this is beautifully filmed. I learned a lot. 'Thoroughbreds' - first feature of an American playwright - has echoes of 'Rope' and 'Heavenly Creatures.' particularly notable for the final performance of Anton Yelchin who is excellent in this. 'The Shape of Water' - very beautiful film. 'Downsizing' - loved this - superb performances and design - I would expect a lot of Academy Award nominations for this.
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Post by foxa on Oct 14, 2017 17:03:45 GMT
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Post by foxa on Oct 13, 2017 23:35:04 GMT
I liked it. Very Chekhov: matriarch, house in the country, money, retainers (or modern equivalent), family, change.... Very well cast. Luke Thallon was excellent, as were Victoria Hamilton, Vinette Robinson and Margot Leicester (who managed to make me laugh just with the reluctant way she said 'hello' at one point.) It's a bit baggy in places but after some of the recent duds I've seen, this was a pleasant surprise.
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Post by foxa on Oct 12, 2017 13:51:37 GMT
I agree, a lazy review. I would put the play between 2 and 3 stars, so it's not that I thought his rating was way off - it was, as dani says, 'the mulling.' To have a go at Julian Bleach (who IMO gave one of the best performances) of over-acting the Dragon. Really? How small and naturalistic did he want the Dragon performance to be?
I think the National is going through a funny patch at the moment, but I do have a fondness for it. I love the big public spaces (there's a good poster exhibition on in one of them at the moment) and though there are lots of flops there are some winners too....
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Post by foxa on Oct 11, 2017 22:02:24 GMT
Snutte, yes, I felt the same - but I was also really hungry for the last half hour, so I think that distracted me a little. ;-)
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Post by foxa on Oct 11, 2017 15:24:24 GMT
I was down in the stalls for the The Shape of Water (not slow-clapping.) Even once they dimmed the lights some people were still shouting things like 'About time,' etc. This was the fourth LFF screening I've gone to this year and the first which started so late and didn't have any sort of introduction/Q&A. But yes, it's a beautiful film.
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Post by foxa on Oct 11, 2017 8:09:26 GMT
Yes, two hours should be good (we did it in a bit less than that) - just make sure you leave a good amount of time for the last room. That is the one where you can sit and there are huge surrounding screens showing excerpts from operas like 'Einstein on the Beach' or 'Written on the Skin.' Hope you enjoy it!
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Post by foxa on Oct 10, 2017 20:58:40 GMT
Went to the V&A exhibition today and it's great. If you go, really allow some time (they recommended at least 70 minutes.) It's beautifully curated and ends with large screen showings of some key recent operas.
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Post by foxa on Oct 7, 2017 22:51:32 GMT
My impressions are close to those of tmesis.
The set by Rae Smith is fantastic, the music by Grant Olding is also very good and there are some strong performances, particularly Julian Bleach as the Dragon, Richard Goulding as Henry and yes, Heffernan who was in lively wide-eyed mode and very entertaining. There was also a very good child actor (not sure which of the two boys was on tonight.) None of the women in the cast particularly shone - possibly, at least in part, because their characters made so little sense.
But, oh my, the play. It starts off as an allegory (with an inventively staged dragon fight) and then turns into something else, messy and confused. There were a few jabs at the state of what we're like (about football,about progress, about small acts of protest) and then, well, a scuffling odd ending. Having seen 'Wolf at the Door' by the same writer, I think he sometimes has a bold central idea, but he isn't particularly interested in characters or structure. At the end, in both cases, I just thought, heh. There were a fair number of empty seats at the sides back of the circle and perhaps a few leavers (the man next to us scarpered) and at least one sleeper (also next to us.) We were front row circle and the view from there was very good.
I think it has curiosity value at least and it may improve.
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Post by foxa on Oct 7, 2017 15:26:07 GMT
We're off to see it tonight - lured by front row Dress Circle tickets for £15 and the promise that it would be off-beat.
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Post by foxa on Oct 5, 2017 23:08:13 GMT
Ha, Marwood - as you were walking out of NFT1 I must have been getting ready to walk in. We saw the Pattinson film 'Good Time' and had, well, a good time. Q&A afterwards with director and Pattinson, but crowd, I would say very much not a Twilight group, though I did see a small group of fans gathered outside.
If you find yourself with some time to kill at the BFI, I recommend the mediatheque - the area where there are booths where you can watch a wide selection of films for free. We chose a silent film called 'A Cottage on Dartmoor.' Think my husband enjoyed that more than 'Good Time.'
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Post by foxa on Oct 3, 2017 9:25:27 GMT
Hmm londonmzfitz that sounds frustrating. For me, an advantage of how it turned out is that I was charged preview prices for what will now be an after opening performance. I gather you won't get it you decline the tickets rather than accepting the date they have chosen for you? It says you get an access code but doesn't say you will pay the same....But I'm glad at least you are sorted to see it!
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Post by foxa on Oct 2, 2017 20:46:34 GMT
It's weird. They said that they cannot accommodate for my dates because a lot of people want to see it in December. My requested dates were March., not December. They gave me a ticket for January. Makes no sense! That is weird. I asked for two dates in December and one date in January and got the January date, so can imagine that December might be impossible to fit people in, but I am surprised that March was too difficult. It might be worth checking just to see if it was a mistake.
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Post by foxa on Oct 2, 2017 20:26:03 GMT
Oh dear. So what are they suggesting?
(My email says they can accommodate one of my 3 dates but as the Squire says the page won't load - but I'm assuming it's the date (10th January) on the Print Receipt that someone here kindly pointed out a while back.)
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Post by foxa on Sept 29, 2017 23:26:12 GMT
Saw this tonight - an early preview. My first thoughts: Tamsin Greig is a marvel - as has been mentioned above, you would not know that she hadn't been originally cast. They were very, very lucky that she was able to step in. In a nutshell, the play uses some of the conventions of comedy/farce (near misses, misunderstandings, physical comedy, silly props, etc.) and some time trickery to explore Labour's ups and downs for the past 26 years based in the microcosm of a constituency office of an MP and his agent, Freeman and Greig, respectively. Positives: Greig and Freeman are very watchable performers and the play has ambition and scope. I found the second act particularly interesting/entertaining - that's when the time trickery began to pay off. Negatives: Most of the other parts are woefully under-written and there many contrivances that I just didn't buy. If you are in the rear stalls you will miss some of the stuff on the big screens. Audience reaction: Very keen with a good portion of the audience giving it a standing ovation at the end.
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Post by foxa on Sept 28, 2017 20:53:46 GMT
Saw this at today's matinee and enjoyed it. I agree with westendclub's description of CRH's performance. But the rest of the show was more charming and uplifting than I had expected. There was some good staging and performances, 'Easy Living' was a highlight. Rooster was outstanding and Warbucks was warm and likeable. All the orphans were great. A great escapist afternoon.
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Post by foxa on Sept 28, 2017 20:28:35 GMT
I'm going tomorrow.
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Post by foxa on Sept 20, 2017 7:33:53 GMT
I book previews because I often like to see shows before the reviews are out and because the tickets are cheaper, like Kathryn says. I don't do it through ignorance or these bizarre bragging rights that have been mentioned - I'm not sure those would get me very far. I live in London and go to the theatre a lot but don't walk by that particular theatre so hadn't really known about the state of its refurbishments. In this instance, I knew enough not to book for the first previews, those are so often cancelled, but a week in seemed fairly safe.
As long as I have okay tickets earlyish in the run that the person I booked with and I can go to (as seems to be the case from the ticket receipt, though Ticketmaster haven't sent a confirmation) , I'm not upset. It's just a minor hassle. But if others are, after the trouble of making arrangements, etc. , it seems a bit weird to have a go at them. Sure stuff happens, but that doesn't mean that people can't get upset about that stuff. This show has been so hyped and one of the by-products of that is that people will feel very invested in it.
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Post by foxa on Sept 17, 2017 16:26:58 GMT
I just tried this and it looks like I got (I think) my third choice date. I was previously Dress Row L Seats 8-9 and am now Royal (is there even a section called Royal? Or are they trying to butter me up ;-) ) 39-40. But we'll see once it's all been confirmed. Dress Circle and Royal Circle tend to be used interchangeably. I've never known an Upper Circle to be called the 'Royal', depending on the number of levels, the upper circle can be the balcony, or the upper and balcony can be separate levels. In a three tier theatre (and I'm presuming the Victoria Palace remains just 3 tiers), I'm expecting Stalls, Royal/Dress Circle and then Upper/Grand Circle/Balcony - but I wouldn't be surprised to see a rebranding of the tiers, along with everything else! That's what I was thinking. I just went down to my husband and said Royal can't be worse than Dress can it? He was like, 'No that would make a mockery of the idea of royalty.' ;-) If it is where I think it is, it should be fine. A little more to the side, but closer.
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Post by foxa on Sept 17, 2017 15:49:24 GMT
I just tried this and it looks like I got (I think) my third choice date. I was previously Dress Row L Seats 8-9 and am now Royal (is there even a section called Royal? Or are they trying to butter me up ;-) ) 39-40. But we'll see once it's all been confirmed.
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Post by foxa on Sept 14, 2017 15:40:23 GMT
I saw this last Saturday but was hesitating to write anything because I didn't make it past the interval. It was the end of a long day and then the damn thing was so dull that I was seriously afraid I was going to nod off and end up in the lap of the stranger next to me. So I fled into the cool Islington night.
'Teddy Ferrera' was a very flawed play but, as Steve says, much better than this (or to be fair - what I saw of this.) 'Ferrera' seemed to be about real things, which this wasn't. I didn't even like Whishaw (who I know can be v. good) - I found him plodding and calculated and unappealing - there I've said it - but maybe he came into his own in the second half. I'll never know.
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Post by foxa on Sept 13, 2017 10:50:40 GMT
Ooo am I first seeing this? Smashing. I bloody loved this. First time at The Globe in 10 plus years (went on a school trip to some very dry Shakespeare went I was a lad) and being stood in the yard in the drizel did make me wonder if I was mad, but the show was fantastic from start to end. Great book, I think written mainly or completely in iambic pentameter (I wasnt playing close enough attention to be sure) telling a story I remember from school: British warrior queen takes on the Roman empire. Fantastic fight choreo that had us groundlings ducking for cover. Worth it for the act 1 closing scene alone. Both looked and sounded epic too. Pretty bonkers in parts, but in a good way. As said above not the most subtle of shows, but a very thrilling experience. Deserves to be as big as Nell Gwynn in my opinion. Thanks to firefingers' positive review I gave this a go last night - and agree with pretty much everything in the above review. It was a testament to its power that despite the heavens opening, very few, if any, left during the interval. The use of the space is wonderful (when you see it you'll know what I mean) and the second act has a series of strong female duologues which, I suspect, will have drama students rushing to buy copies of the play. I love Gina McKee but I thought she seemed a little tired vocally and physically, but she does the intense, intimate stuff really well. Joan Iyiola, as Boudica's daughter Alonna, had some of the most interesting scenes and Forbes Masson is a standout. Great movement work. Do not miss the opening of the second act.
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Post by foxa on Sept 11, 2017 18:18:56 GMT
I usually do book for the musicals at the Menier ('She Loves Me' and 'Assassins' were two of my favourite theatre experiences of the last couple of years) but 'Barnum' doesn't strike me as being in their league as a musical and with no casting announcement and what seems to me to be slightly higher prices.....I haven't booked today and will see if there are any offers later. If not, I may well be kicking myself but can accept that possibility. And it's currently showing excellent availability for most dates. Who could they announce in the cast that would get us all booking?
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Post by foxa on Sept 11, 2017 18:15:25 GMT
I usually do book for the musicals at the Menier ('She Loves Me' and 'Assassins' were two of my favourite theatre experiences of the last couple of years) but 'Barnum' doesn't strike me as being in their league as a musical and with no casting announcement and what seems to me to be slightly higher prices.....I haven't booked today and will see if there are any offers later. If not, I may well be kicking myself but can accept that possibility.
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Post by foxa on Sept 11, 2017 18:08:03 GMT
I know they said up to 10 days but has anyone heard back trom Ticketmaster yet after submitting their 3 choices? Not helping my stress level one bit Nope, nothing. Ten days is a long time to hold three dates open (sorry, that sounds pompous, but December does get booked up!) and I'm going through all my usual anxiety stuff (What if they didn't get my form? What if I miss their email? What if I don't like what they offer me? You get my drift.) I'm sure it will be fine - people who did get the automatic rebookings mainly seem happy with what they've got. It must be like a gigantic crossword puzzle trying to figure it out.
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