The Tasting (La Degustation) at the Rex Berkhamsted

 

The Tasting is a wonderful French film set in the town of Troyes. All you need to know about wine is here as shop owner Jacques (played by Bernard Campan) is the expert. And who should arrive at his shop but Hortense, beautifully played by Isabelle Carre. So this is a romcom about middle age, although Hortense looks decades younger than her fifty plus years. I wondered what a twenty something was doing with this older man. She's a midwife, struggling with her childless self as time is getting short. Stood up at the altar and now looking after her mother. Jacques is an alcoholic and his wonderful doctor  played by Olivier Claveries tells him he's on borrowed time. So off to group therapy.

But what makes the film stand out is that it is so funny. The witticisms come thick and fast and we all laughed a lot despite the subtitles. Apparently this was a stage play before being adapted as a film, and all those who appeared on the stage are actually here. Director Ivan Calberac has done a fine job. His photography of the medieval city of Troyes is superb and there is not enough. So a story about people with their own histories who find a kind of unbalanced relationship. As in all these films, things go awry and the laughter fades. There are two side stories that did not work as well. The introduction of the young workshy Steve, and the bunch of homeless guys who are hosted by Hortense in her spare time. 

But the script is a little marvel, and yes, we get a tasting session or two. Apparently Isabelle Carre has.  appeared in more than seventy films since 1989 and lots on the stage. All in France. We have missed a wonderful talent. But I just loved this movie. Thank you The Rex.

Oh, and one last thing. The music is all excellent, but standing out for me was Petite Fleur, an instrumental written and performed on soprano saxophone by Sidney Bechet in 1952. But I always preferred the version played by Monty Sunshine on clarinet. The single became a huge international hit in 1959. I thought it was on my old 1956  LP The Best of Barber and Bilk but that was Monty's Hushabye featuring bandleader Chris Barber on bass, Lonnie Donegan on banjo and Ron Bowden on drums. Equally excellent. I think Monty and Lonnie had both left Chris Barber's Jazz Band by the time I saw the band at Dunmow in 1962/3. 

Inside Cinema: Shorts - Episodes 81 to 90

 

Here are the next ten episodes of Inside Cinema: Shorts starting with Episode 81 The Lord of the Wings, narrated by Catherine Bray. She tells us about the new age of digital effects (CGI) when this kind of film could not have been made before. Typically, we see the motion capture technique for Gollum. And we hear about the number of techniques employed by director Peter Jackson. Lots of clips, including how they aged Bernard Hill.

In Episode 82 Roll Credits, Michael Leader explains how end credits have a long history. Some films use outtakes, some (boringly) include scenes from the sequels. Here the Marvel cinematic universe are the masters, or should that be the worst borers?  Then Toy Story had fully realised fictional clips made just for the end credits. Or we can see how stunts were created. Does that spoil the effect? But this was a terrific episode.

There just had to be an episode (number 83) that dealt with Merry Christmas. It's James King who throws at us all those predictable recent movies. But first we go back to 1898 and the very first Santa Claus. A silent short. We fast forward to 1940's and World War 2 with Holiday Inn (1942) and post war with Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Then all those Dicken's movies before the more recent Love Actually and The Holiday. Although the even more recent unfestive thrillers are not the same.

Looking wistful in the picture above is David Bowie, the title of Episode 84 introduced by Rhidian Davis. I'm not sure he deserved his very own episode ahead of much more famous actors. So we get films that inspired him (why?) including A Clockwork Orange for his Ziggy Stardust. His acting never really made it above hammy, as can be seen in The Man who fell to Earth. Or just watch him in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. 

On to Episode 85 and Mike Muncer's Carry On. Thirty films, would you believe, in the 1960's and 70's, that tapped into every single genre they could find. Infantile but highly successful. That familiar ensemble cast used time and time again (well underpaid and no one star), and cheaply made at Pinewood Studios, All that innuendo. The first was Carry On Sergeant (1958) about army recruits. But in the 1970's their "outright smuttiness" was "embarrassing". But they are a "snapshot of a particular era of Britain". "Infamy, they've all got it in for me". Say no more.

It's Tom Huddleston who introduces Episode 86 Star Trek. From 1966 through to 1979 was the hey day of the TV series. We used to watch it a lot. But then, predictably, came the movies. Star Trek-The Motion Picture (1979) etc. Back to TV and The Next Generation (1987-1994) and then their films: from the thrilling First Contact (1996) to the dreadful Nemesis (2002). But then seven years later saw a new young crew in Star Trek (2009) where the original crew are shown in their younger days. Only for awful sequels.

I'm just not so keen on these episodes on just one star. How many could there be in the future? But in Episode 87, Tim Robey looks at Hugh Grant. All those leads he played in rom coms. But in his early days he played serious stuff as an upper class stuffed shirt. From Maurice (1987) to Impromptu (1991) and Remains of the Day (1993). But it was his next movie that paved the way for all those roles that followed. Four Weddings and a Funeral  (1994) made his name. After that he was everywhere. Notting Hill, Nine Months, Mickey Blue Eyes, Love Actually and Extreme Measures. However his career changed with more grown up roles. Bridget Jones Diary (2001) was followed the next year by About a Boy and Two Weeks Notice. Then the Paddington films. But his roles became serious as he aged with a more mature Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins and A Very English Scandal. Robey thinks "how much we underrated him all along". But I never did. 

Another bio is Episode 88 Olivia Colman narrated by Anna Smith. She starts by looking at her early work. From TV's That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006-2010), to the Green Wing (2004-2007) and Peep Show (2003-2015). Not forgetting Flea Bag (2016-2019). Olivia's film career took of with Tyrannosaur (2011) in Paddy Considine's "brilliant directorial debut". Then came The Lobster (2015). But stardom awaited for her next movie: she won the Oscar for best actress in The Favourite. This was followed by Mothering Sunday (2021), and The Lost Daughter (2021). That last one is on my to see list.

Episode 89 by Rhianna Dhillon is Will Smith.

The last in this batch is Episode 90 Martin Scorsese. It's Christina Newland who has so many films to get through. Starting with Italianamerican from 1974, she races through all those masterpieces at a ferocious pace. Before heading back to 1973's Mean Streets that started it all off. 

La Traviata at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

 

Alison was convinced we had been to the opera before but I was not so sure. So when Ellen Kent's company were performing La Traviata in Aylesbury on Thursday evening, it was too good an opportunity to miss. Especially as this Ukrainian production has a full live orchestra. The tour itself, including other operas, covers thirty dates over four months. In the poster below is soprano Viktoria Melnyk who played the main role of Violetta. 

I thought that opera sopranos were meant to be big, but Viktoria is not. She is by far the best thing in this production. Which is fortunate as she has as much to do as the rest of the cast put together. In comparison with the ballet (that I prefer) it is that the orchestra only accompanies the singers. There are times when they ramp up the sound, but normally they are more restrained. Verdi's score is excellent, although the lyrics (with subtitles high above the stage) are quite repetitive. The one set is fine, especially for the party scenes.

But I shall always remember Viktoria's high class singing. She really is a star.

On a final note, I had been to the opera once before. My post of 1st December 2009 reminded me that we went to see a Glyndebourne on Tour production of Cosi Fan Tutte at Milton Keynes Theatre. But Thursday night was much better.

Power Rake to the Lawns

 

The last two years I haven't needed to rake the lawn of moss. But this year it is back with a vengeance. Maybe the worst over the last thirty years. Stage one was get out my electric raker, plug into an extension cable and run over the whole lawn, back and front.  If that isn't hard enough, raking the moss into piles is even worse.  No, collecting the moss into bags is the hardest part. Then transporting it to the brown bin. The only trouble was that this was soon filled so I still have lots in bags and even piled up at the far end.

We are not done yet. Next up is to mow the lawn. This collects the remaining moss as well as cutting the grass. Except the grass has hardly grown since the first cut. It has been so dry, not a drop of rain for well over two weeks. The photos below are after mowing, lots of bare patches and some places where the moss turned yellow underneath the dead black stuff. 

All the photos above are of the back lawn. Below is the front, equally bad, if not worse.

One last job. I had two tubs of Pro Kleen Grass Green fertilizer left over from last year. I just spread this by hand as that seemed to work last time. Needless to say, I'm glad that's all done, all in one day. All I need now is for some rain overnight to save me watering it in. I will definitely need some help next year.

As a reminder, this was the lawn after it's first cut on 6th March.

Then how it looked after the moss killer the day after.

 

The Garden in March

 

We can see the daffodils from the kitchen window, always a beautiful sight this time of year.

The forsythia has flowered again despite finding out that it's not in the right place. Full sun is, apparently, something to avoid.

Most of the crocuses have died off already, but this one is still hanging on.

The laurels at the far end have come into flower.

There are a few primroses that come up every year, these are just two.

So not a lot of colour at the moment, although there are plenty of shrubs and plants in bud. Which is always nice this time of year. Just like the iris in this pot.

A Real Pain, Mickey 17 and Black Bag

 

Yes, Kieran Culkin is exactly that. In A Real Pain, he plays the part of writer/ director Jesse Eisenberg's cousin on their way to Poland to honour their later Grandmother's escape from the holocaust. They could not be more different. One (Culkin in his Oscar winning supporting actor role) veering between lovable and embarrassing, someone you would deliberately want to avoid. The other so diffident and quiet.  But more interesting was the group with whom they tour the "sights". So it worked as a kind of ensemble piece that is well written with a diverse cast. I didn't agree with the sniffy (but full page) review by Arjun Sajip in Sight and Sound Magazine. It worked for me.

I thought there was one important scene in Mickey 17 when Mickey (Robert Pattinson) in his seventeenth creation exploring a new plant, falls down a crevice but is abandoned by his crew (an eighteenth Mickey would be fine). But he is unexpectedly saved by the planet's indigenous inhabitants, the Creepers. Has something like this ever happened in the history of mankind? I don't think that this event is in the original book by Edward Ashton, but director and co- adapter Bong Joon Ho has told us something highly significant. It's 2054 when all this happens.

Well, what about Robert Pattinson. Not all the reviews were positive and, indeed, at the start I thought his lines had been dubbed. But no, just this weird accent. Then, according to Tom Shone in the Sunday Times:  "Less enjoyable is Mark Mark Ruffalo as the mission's cult like leader". He is the villain of the piece, turning into a Trump-Musk composite later on. His wife, Toni Collette is a Lady Macbeth, urging him on. Naomi Ackie is different as Nasha, here in security. But didn't I just love Patsy Ferran (see previous post 8th April 2019) as the scientist Dorothy. There are lots of references to "capitalism, climate change, income inequality" etc. But it's all good fun.

Now Black Bag isn't really a fun movie. But Tom Shone (again) thinks that director Steven Soderbergh has made a movie for grown ups. But it's writer David Koepp that Wendy Ide in The Guardian says is the problem. I thought it was OK.  Someone else called it "an original, sophisticated and entertaining studio" movie. A pretty theatrical film that actually starts at a dinner party for all the main characters. Now that seemed to me like it was the start of episode four of a serial. We had no real introduction to the characters, they are just there interacting strangely. They are all actually spooks. The dinner takes place in the home of leads Michael Fassbender (looking a little older now) and Cate Blanchett (almost unrecognisable). 

The film turns out to be the hunt for the traitor in their midst. At 94 minutes, the film does not hand around. Absolutely no padding. Sight and Sound magazine says in it's five page spread "this is the kind of film studios are not supposed to be making.....this film exists in what is referred to as "The Dead Zone" which is mid level budget movies ($60 Million is a lot) with movie stars and made for grown ups". The cast are all fine. The most interesting part, for me, was later when they all face a polygraph test with quick fire cuts between each of them under interrogation. I could watch that again. The sets are equally good, the filming exquisite. And finally the music, David Holmes' jazzy score straight out of a Harry Palmer movie. Well, Fassbender does wear Michael Caine's big glasses. 

Pride and Prejudice (sort of) at The Oxford Playhouse

 

When last September I found that Pride and Prejudice (sort of) was returning to the Oxford Playhouse, I booked straight away. So it was six months later that yesterday afternoon I went for a second helping. That earlier performance (see review here on 13th March 2020) was one of the best things I had ever seen in the theatre. But five years later it seemed to have lost some of it's magic. 

Everything was almost  exactly as it was from before. The play was always for five or six actresses. Last time it was six and yesterday we were down to five. That makes little difference as, in any case,  they are all playing a number of parts. I didn't think that this cast was a patch on those who appeared last time. Or maybe that's just me. In that original production the creator of this play, Isobel McArthur, also acted as Mrs Bennett, Mr Darcy and Flo. I think that the others were inspired by her.

The songs are basically the same, although this time there were some that were missing. The first number just happens to be the best as the whole cast gather to sing Elvis Costello's Everyday I write the Book. We do get most of the old favourites with Young Hearts Run Free, Holding on for a Hero, Everybody Knows, At Last, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, You're So Vain. I Need a Hero and Lady in Red.  I think that these are the best things about the show, although yesterday they seemed to peter out in the second half. But I love this show, as did a sold out Oxford Playhouse.

The journey there and back was excellent. I parked at Princes Risborough station and it was half an hour on a quiet train to Oxford. The return was fine, a train waiting for us to board. It just so happened that this was one of the coldest days of the year. Fortunately the theatre was nice and warm.