Life's Essentials, part II
This is the non-chicken bit.
To update swiftly, got turned down by an agent, kicked off BSSC at the second hurdle, and didn't get selected for Spark. What a cracking week that was. Is it any wonder I'm writing a novel at the moment, not a screenplay?
But now to the purely observational:
Went to West Yorkshire Playhouse to see Casanova, by Told by an Idiot - this is a collaboration between the company and poet Carol Ann Duffy, where Casanova becomes a woman. It was an interesting play, with Hayley Carmichael as Casanova being particularly engaging, but ultimately it left me cold. The physicality of the play was impressive, but it seemed to scoot too quickly over the actual motivations of Casanova herself. Here, she was a person all too willing to give, and therefore was exploited, which ends up being a play about the exploitation of women's generosity and good nature - would it have been the same with a male Casanova, adn the motivatiosn for his giving nature? I don't know.
Then saw Northern Ballet Theatre perform Midsummer Night's Dream. With music by Mendelssohn and Brahms, and choreographed by David Nixon, this is an utter delight. I saw them do this a couple of years ago and loved it so much that I had to see it again. The sets and staging are lovely, and speaking purely as an audience member with no technical knowledge of dance, it is engaging, charming, wonderfuly performed and well worth making an effort to see. Go, even if you're not sure whether you like ballet or not. Just for the music, it's worth it.
This time last week, was at the opening night gala reception for Bite The Mango in Bradford; saw lots of people I knew at the reception, which was fun, (there was a display of Bollywood dancing which was fabulous, Nina we definitely have to do that!) and also got to chat to the star of the opening night film, Jimi Mistry - he is uber-cute and very lovely indeed. He was ultra-patient with the hoardes of people who wanted their photo taken with him - huge kudos to him for being so charming and not in the slightest bit starry and arsey.
The film was Partition, a Romeo and Juliet story set in 1947 and beyond, as Hindus and Muslims moved between the newly partitioned India and Pakistan. I loved it, and thought it was beautifully pitched as an examination of a bigger story through the experiences of two individuals. The cinematography is simply gorgeous, capturing the lusciousness of the landscape and contrasting it with the horrors of war. Jimi Mistry does a fabulous job as the farmer returned from war who falls in love just when he doesn't expect to. Rob and Sue thought it was too sentimental but I thought it was pitched exactly right. It's a story that rips your heart out, and so it should. Jane and I both had tears dripping off our chins at the end. Go and see it if it comes your way.
Nina and I have had two film nights since I last blogged, hoorah for the Cineworld Unlimited card! Astonishingly, we both liked a film, at long last - 3:10 to Yuma, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, directed by James Mangold. A classic, old fashioned cowboy movie - lots of horses, lots of desert, lots of guns. The battle of wits between Wade (RC) and Evans (CB), and the growth of the Evans character alongside the humanising of the Wade character was played to perfection. Anyone who grew up on Saturday teatime cowboy films on TV should go and see this.
We also saw Michael Clayton, written and directed by Tony Gilroy, which we were both looking forward to, on the basis that two hours of looking at George Clooney never hurt anyone. However, we were both disappointed. This film wants to be a John Grisham legal thriller, but it just isn't. I spent most of the film thinking "it'll get going in a moment" - then it ended. It's OK, but no more than that. It's not a twoey, that's for sure.
Not sure what we'll see next week, I still have to see Bourne Ultimatum, and I also want to see Ratatouille, despite the fact that in the ads, the title comes with a pronunciation guide for the totally thick. On the other hand, it may be time for a girls night in.
To update swiftly, got turned down by an agent, kicked off BSSC at the second hurdle, and didn't get selected for Spark. What a cracking week that was. Is it any wonder I'm writing a novel at the moment, not a screenplay?
But now to the purely observational:
Went to West Yorkshire Playhouse to see Casanova, by Told by an Idiot - this is a collaboration between the company and poet Carol Ann Duffy, where Casanova becomes a woman. It was an interesting play, with Hayley Carmichael as Casanova being particularly engaging, but ultimately it left me cold. The physicality of the play was impressive, but it seemed to scoot too quickly over the actual motivations of Casanova herself. Here, she was a person all too willing to give, and therefore was exploited, which ends up being a play about the exploitation of women's generosity and good nature - would it have been the same with a male Casanova, adn the motivatiosn for his giving nature? I don't know.
Then saw Northern Ballet Theatre perform Midsummer Night's Dream. With music by Mendelssohn and Brahms, and choreographed by David Nixon, this is an utter delight. I saw them do this a couple of years ago and loved it so much that I had to see it again. The sets and staging are lovely, and speaking purely as an audience member with no technical knowledge of dance, it is engaging, charming, wonderfuly performed and well worth making an effort to see. Go, even if you're not sure whether you like ballet or not. Just for the music, it's worth it.
This time last week, was at the opening night gala reception for Bite The Mango in Bradford; saw lots of people I knew at the reception, which was fun, (there was a display of Bollywood dancing which was fabulous, Nina we definitely have to do that!) and also got to chat to the star of the opening night film, Jimi Mistry - he is uber-cute and very lovely indeed. He was ultra-patient with the hoardes of people who wanted their photo taken with him - huge kudos to him for being so charming and not in the slightest bit starry and arsey.
The film was Partition, a Romeo and Juliet story set in 1947 and beyond, as Hindus and Muslims moved between the newly partitioned India and Pakistan. I loved it, and thought it was beautifully pitched as an examination of a bigger story through the experiences of two individuals. The cinematography is simply gorgeous, capturing the lusciousness of the landscape and contrasting it with the horrors of war. Jimi Mistry does a fabulous job as the farmer returned from war who falls in love just when he doesn't expect to. Rob and Sue thought it was too sentimental but I thought it was pitched exactly right. It's a story that rips your heart out, and so it should. Jane and I both had tears dripping off our chins at the end. Go and see it if it comes your way.
Nina and I have had two film nights since I last blogged, hoorah for the Cineworld Unlimited card! Astonishingly, we both liked a film, at long last - 3:10 to Yuma, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, directed by James Mangold. A classic, old fashioned cowboy movie - lots of horses, lots of desert, lots of guns. The battle of wits between Wade (RC) and Evans (CB), and the growth of the Evans character alongside the humanising of the Wade character was played to perfection. Anyone who grew up on Saturday teatime cowboy films on TV should go and see this.
We also saw Michael Clayton, written and directed by Tony Gilroy, which we were both looking forward to, on the basis that two hours of looking at George Clooney never hurt anyone. However, we were both disappointed. This film wants to be a John Grisham legal thriller, but it just isn't. I spent most of the film thinking "it'll get going in a moment" - then it ended. It's OK, but no more than that. It's not a twoey, that's for sure.
Not sure what we'll see next week, I still have to see Bourne Ultimatum, and I also want to see Ratatouille, despite the fact that in the ads, the title comes with a pronunciation guide for the totally thick. On the other hand, it may be time for a girls night in.
posted by Sal at
11:14 pm
2 Comments:
Sal! How's about a screenplay about a woman who makes a fortune selling a tonic wine that cures asthma, but who has to keep the "secret ingredient" very secret indeed - even from her own employees?
Sal its Nina, we so have to go to Bradford... we could do the film museam and bombay stores? and view some bolliwood films. I'll check to see if there's anything I can record on skymovies too.
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