The Oscars have gone streaming

 

Perhaps I should start with the good news. At this year's Oscars, the awards for best actor and best actress went to films that went on general release in the UK. Whilst ignoring the former for obvious reasons, the only award on the night with which I agreed was for Jessica Chastain, the lead in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. As I noted in my post of the 15th February, she was not even nominated for the BAFTA's.

Otherwise those films which only had very limited or no general release were the big winners. I'm not sure if Apple's CODA (winner of best picture) was shown in a cinema in the UK, although I know Netflix's The Power of the Dog (winner of best director) did make it at a few screens, but none nationally. But  I cannot say if my favourite category (best original screenplay) was right. I avoided going to see Belfast. I never want to be reminded of the "troubles" in Northern Ireland. I just cannot imagine Kenneth Branagh winning something for writing? At least BAFTA got it right with Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza. The British knew to exclude Belfast.

Of course, CODA won best adapted screenplay, although Tom Shone in the Sunday Times condemned it as "soft focus crap" whilst extolling the virtues of his (and my) five star The Worst Person in the World. Why are screenplay awards so far down the list? They should be at the top! One day there maybe separate awards for those films on general release. Until then, I shall not be paying for AppleTV, Netflix (they must be livid not to be the first streamer to win best picture), Amazon Prime and all the others. 

PS The Power of the Dog is due to be shown at the Rex Berkhamsted in April. Shall I go?

The Garden in March

 

What a wonderful month March has been for being out in the garden. The daffodils have been great and there are still some other Narcissi to come into flower. The lawns have been mown twice and the edges cut.

Then in the last week the compost from the heap at the far end made three years ago has been spread in the long border and the wildflower bed. (Note: because I had turned over the heap a couple of times, it didn't have to be broken up in the wheelbarrow as in previous years). 

But before spreading the compost, I had to clear the long border of weeds and stones which meant getting next to the fence and behind the shrubs. That was not great on my back so maybe the last time I try that.

But the border does look better for being cleared.

I then needed four bags of new compost for the main border.

Other bulbs are now in flower including the Hyacinth above and below.

The primroses are as good as ever.

The viburnum in the middle bed is flowering well after being revived from that insect infestation.

Below is the  Osmanthus barkwoodi which I cannot before remember flowering in March.

The one thing that surprises me every spring is that many of the perennials have disappeared. Even the old growth has gone. Then bingo, tiny shoots appear coming up through the ground. Delphiniums, Salvias, Hosta's and Verbena fall into this category. One of the best bits about gardening.

This is the Hosta Fire and Ice.

Next the Verbena Hastata.

Then the Delphinium Pacific Giant.

And finally the Salvia Friesland.

However, the Penstemon and Astrantia do not disappear and are already doing fine.

The Magnolia stellata is not quite as healthy as previous years, but still a great sight this time of year.

The mild sunny weather also meant I could jet wash the pavings earlier than normal.

The pavings are showing their age(something like 25 years)  but the coping to the dwarf wall comes up a treat. I didn't use patio magic as I did in May 2019. Then they looked better as shown on my post of 6th May that year.

Tring Book Club - Spook Street by Mick Herron

 

After the horror of the prologue, I thought it was great that to lighten the mood, we had a long description of the antiquated heating system of Slough House, followed by an introduction to the people who inhabited it's offices. This is a typical Mick Herron spy story but it does help if you have some clue to the characters from earlier novels, although he does try to make them accessible to first time readers.

The plot is fairly easy to understand which, for me, says a lot. But far better than the pacy thriller stuff are the numerous one to one conversations between the various characters. These are often witty, poignant and always interesting. Sometimes the author tries too hard to be funny and this can be a distraction. But overall a well constructed and clever story. Unfortunately my choice for book club did not go down well. In fact, only one other read it all the way through. If only we had chosen my other suggestion, Jane Gardam's "Flight of the Maidens". A masterpiece.

Cyrano, The Batman and The Duke

 

A fine adaptation from the stage musical. However, I agreed with the BBC film critic Mark Kermode that some of the songs in Cyrano were unremarkable. But they were only a vehicle for the lyrics that express feelings, better than dialogue. And the pictures with these songs were quite fantastic. I guess that liking the music of The National helps (Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Matt Berninger, and lyrics with Carin Besser - I have just the one album). The song before the battle will stay with me for a long time. Wherever I Fall is quite something, as is the song over the final credits, Somebody Desperate. I was pinned to my seat. I also thought Every Letter was outstanding. And this from someone not a great lover of musicals. So no Mark, this was a brilliant film, especially the last half hour. The screenplay was only just so so, but Joe Wright's direction made up for it. Peter Dinklage was predictably great but I found Haley Bennett lightweight. Then we get a wonderful cameo from the brilliant Monica Dolan. I'm very glad I decided to see this underrated movie. 

When I realised after watching The Batman that it was directed by Matt Reeves (whose Cloverfield  I thought was great) I did see some similarities in the two movies. The dark, gritty photography, great sound and the concentration on making a fantasy movie seem as realistic as possible. Batman has no super powers, all those here are merely mechanics. Which made it much more interesting. Here is a "normal" human being excessively trained with expensively developed props and gadgets. He doesn't want to kill the bad guys. Robert Pattinson is somehow not the actor I know. He is much better in this. And Andy Serkis deserves an award for his tiny supporting role. 

I loved The Duke, it was so much fun. The writer Richard Bean (renowned for his brilliant play One Man, Two Guvnors - the most laughs I have ever had in a theatre) has adapted a true story into something poignant and heart warming. Director Roger Michell for his last movie has brought superb bravura  performances from Jim Broadbent as Kempton Bunton, and especially Helen Mirren. Hers is far and away the best acting I have seen for years. It was wonderful. 

One interesting fact, Kempton says he prefers Chekhov to Shakespeare. I agree for the more modern writer's big four plays, but he cannot match the far more prolific Bard.

Wuthering Heights at the National's Lyttleton Theatre

 

It was raining when I left Pret A Manger, but fortunately it was only a very short distance along the South Bank to The National Theatre. I had hoped that Emma Rice's company Wise Children would include Oxford on their tour as that had done on previous occasions. Here I saw Rebecca before Emma left Kneehigh and took off for that less than successful sojourn at The Globe. Then Wise Children (adapting Angela Carter's book and calling her company the same name), and Mallory Towers. Instead here they are at The National Theatre.

I'm sure I have been to The Lyttleton Theatre there many years ago, but my records fail me in this respect. However I'm sure it was not in the circle as my seat in the middle of the second row was probably the one I would have chosen given a choice anywhere in the auditorium. 

I couldn't remember all of the plot, it must have been a long time ago I watched a film or TV adaptation. The excellent programme gave me some background reminders. Emma Rice's version is, as always, a bit off the wall but terrifically theatrical. The Moor played by numerous members of the cast, explanations about who's who (thank goodness) and placards to tell us who has died (many). 

It's quite a long play, almost three hours including an interval, but there is a lot to get through. And songs. The cast is fine but not exceptional. Ash Hunter as Heathcliffe seemed a little one dimensional. But Lucy McCormick as Catherine was superb. There is also an amazing performance from the diminutive Katy Owen. her high pitched comic routine as first Isabella Linton and then Little Linton is an Emma Rice special. Never before will these two characters have been portrayed anything like they were here. That's why The globe didn't get her. But boy, did we need some light relief. 

The staging is, as always, quite brilliant. Very few props, mainly just a door as photo above. I liked the musicians at the back of the stage, often giving quiet background music to the dialogue. I will remember this production for a long time.

The journey home was amazing. Despite my umbrella, I was soaked from the rain walking back to Embankment Underground and somehow survived the treacherous flooded steps up and down the Golden Jubilee Bridge. However, I left the theatre dead on 5 pm, a train was waiting on Embankment's platform, and then finding I only had five minutes to get on the 5.30pm  FAST train at Marylebone (first stop Great Missenden!) which arrived at Stoke Mandeville at 6.15pm. Ridiculous. 

The Weston Tower and The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries

 

The Sunday Times called it "A Soaring Success", and the Guardian  said "Nestled into an armpit of Westminster Abbey, hidden behind a flying buttress that leaps up to the chapterhouse, stands what appears to be a gothic space rocket. Sinuous bronze tracery loops its way up the faceted shaft, framing crystalline windows between bands of lead arrowheads, like go-faster stripes shooting towards the heavens."

In October 2019 Sky showed a series called "The Art of Architecture" and I included this on my blog.

Probably my favourite of the series, Episode 5 looked at Ptolemy Dean's Weston Tower at Westminster Abbey. His design for an access stair and lift up to the new Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries is quite remarkable, blending modern metal and glass alongside the existing building. It respects the vertical aspects of the cathedral and has used sixteen different types of stone cladding to the lift shaft in bands, sampled from the history of the building with the earliest stone at the bottom rising in age to the top. The shape is an intersecting rotated square that looks quite something, with bronze tracery wrapped around the exterior. The glazing is a multiplicity of leaded windows that are extraordinary. The whole effect is amazing. I must pick a nice day to go.

My first visit to London for a long time brought me to the "new" Weston Tower at Westminster Abbey. I say new because that what it was when I saved the article from The Sunday Times nearly four years ago.

It had been on my list of new architecture since before lockdown and yesterday I had brought the ticket on my phone that I had booked a few days ago. Arriving at Westminster Underground to almost misty cloud, I had to walk around the Abbey, almost to the deserted back of the abbey to spot the tower hidden in a corner behind a patch of grass. You have to really search to find it.

And then inside the abbey, I had to ask twice to find the entrance tucked away in a far corner. The Guardian has an excellent piece about tower if you search "Weston Tower".

Some people use the lift but it's far better to take your time going up the staircase and take in the architecture and the views. I didn't see another soul as I made my way to the top.

The Sunday Times article has words from the architect, Ptolemy Dean. The tower is 26.95 metres high and came in at £22.9 Million. There are leaded panes of glass with overlaid tracery instead of plate glass. The timber frame, stairs and landings are all in oak and it looks wonderful.

At the top are the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, installed in the triforium ( as pace in a church above the central nave situated at high level) at the top of the abbey. 

Apparently John Betjeman called it "the best view in Europe". It is pretty good.

The collection is interesting, but not really what I came for. However this photo I found shows better than mine the wonderful structure of this space.

Here are a some of mine, starting with some stained glass panels from 1250/70.

A roundel of Sir Thomas Lovell attributed to Pietro Torrigiano about 1520.

I went back down in the lift and had time to wander around Westminster Abbey, although it all seemed extremely familiar having been there before. So I headed back to Westminster Underground for the short journey to Embankment, and the walk across the Golden Jubilee Bridge to the South Bank for my afternoon at National Theatre. There I found a Pret A Manger for a wrap and a very welcome cup of tea.

The BAFTAS 2022

 

 

Lets start with the good news. All five nominations for Best Costume Design at this years BAFTA Awards were on general release and I saw then all: Cyrano, Dune, The French Dispatch, Nightmare Alley and the winner in this category Cruella. Nomination for Best Make Up and Hair also featured three of the above plus The Eyes of Tammy Faye (the winner) and House of Gucci. I was also able to see all those films nominated for Best Production Design which included West Side Story.

But after that it made no sense. How can Power of the Dog win best picture and best director when it never had a general release? For Netflix to enjoy it's inclusion in the lists, it opened in just a very, very, very..... few selected cinemas. There was no release in the two big chains, Odeon and Cineworld. You would have to travel all the way into London or Oxford for a Curzon or Everyman cinema. Otherwise watch it on Netflix on a small screen. Until BAFTA revert back to films on general release, they are failing us cinema fans.

The same goes for other films having nominations. Drive My Car (winning Best Foreign Language film) when only the wonderful Parallel Mothers had a general release. Other winners with only selected cinemas included Coda (Apple tv) and After Love (Amazon?) I give up. At least, for me, the most important award being for Best Original Screenplay went to Paul Thomas Anderson for Licorice Pizza. It also received nominations for Best Director and Best Film. Thank goodness for small mercies. 

Milton Keynes 10K - 10110

 

It was two years ago that I last ran the 10K in the Milton Keynes Festival of Running. The 15th March 2020 was days before the full lockdown. Two years on and my times are distinctly slower, a minute and a half longer than 2020. This year I ran the 10K in 1 Hour 1 Minute and 10 Seconds, hence the title above. However, there were only two of us over 75 running, the other man was last! And there were only five men over 70 of whom I was third. I was 331st overall of 575 men and women, so being in the top two thirds is fine. However, my Age Grade was down from two years ago at 64.44 as against 65.97.

There was no way I could run at that previous pace of 9.27 minutes per mile. But I was so pleased with this year's 9.49. I knew I had to gain pace in the first half which has some gradual downhill sections and at the 5K I was there at 9.25 pace. It was obviously over 10 minutes per mile for the second half and it was quite hard on the uphill bits. 

Looking at my results for all the MK 10K's over the years, I found these:

2014 56.05

2016 58.45

2018 56.48

2020 58.46

2022 1.01.10

This year the number of runners was well down at 575. Two years ago it was 919 and even then quite a few did not run with the advent of Covid. There were 1321 in 2018!

It made all the difference with Alison coming with me. The day was fine and 10 degrees, but quite windy Afterwards we had tea and cake in John Lewis. It was great to see Nicky and Michael from parkrun at the finish.