Harry Potter And The Cursed Child

...Doesn't add a great deal to the Potter mythos. We see Harry and his gang as they are in early middle age- but all the significant action takes place in the past or in alternative realities- which allows for cameo appearances from most of our favourite characters- good and evil- including a number of significant resurrections. It's not a stand-alone work; prior knowledge of the books and/or films- most particularly Goblet of Fire- is essential. The action zaps about all over the place, the magic isn't stinted- and it must be an amazing theatrical experience. At the heart of it- holding the farrago together- is a parent-child relationship that needs putting right.

The Oscars Loom

"Oscars on Sunday", said Ailz.

We have a great nephew called Oscar. "So what's he up to?" I wondered.

Then I thought about Oscar Wilde.

And only at the third attempt did I catch her drift. "Oh, those Oscars...."

I don't have any favourites. Or any tips. I don't believe I've seen any of the films that are up for awards- apart from Peter Jackson's Great War movie- the one that slows down and colourises old newsreel; I think that's up for something- and really ought to win because it's a landmark.

I don't keep abreast of the movies anymore. I read the reviews but if I get to see the films themselves it's usually a long time after their release. I only just got round to seeing last year's best picture winner, The Shape of Water. And it disappointed me. 

To be honest most of the new(ish) movies I get to see disappoint me. I started taking notice of cinema in the late 60s- and I don't think it's just fogeyism that causes me to think that that was a golden age and the one we're living through now is at best silver and maybe no better than bronze. Are there filmmakers working now who make the heart leap the way Bergman, Fellini, Kubrick, Antonioni, Pasolini, Godard or Resnais did- or indeed the Hollywood New Wavers who followed shortly after? I'm happy to concede that TV is better now than it was then, but cinema- no.

Still...

We were in Sainsbury's in Hastings this week and I found a rack pushed to the back of the shop which had cheap DVDs on it- and on the side that was hardest of access there were copies of Carol, 12 Years a Slave and Phantom Thread- all movies I thought I'd quite like to see a few years back- and I bought them- and when I get a moment I'll be giving them a spin.

Eleven And Counting

Defections from the opposition are one thing, defections from the governing party are something else.

If I'm counting right it's now a gang of eleven.  The new independents must be close to holding the balance of power. 

This is getting very interesting.