Rev Stan's other stuff

Inception teaser trailer and Leo's weight loss

Now this I am intrigued to see when it comes out next year.

I'm also intrigued why they flash up 'From Christopher Nolan' then almost as an afterthought: 'The director of Dark Knight'. It's as if a film geek is sitting next to you whispering: 'He's the director of Dark Knight, you know the one with Heath Ledger as The Joker and the cool motorbike'. If they are worried that people won't know who Chris Nolan is why not just flash up 'From the the director of Dark Knight'?

Then there is Leonardo DiCaprio's diet. According to this story and others circulating on the web he needs to look emaciated at the end of the film and has embarked on a weight loss program. I'm all for actors of his pay packet suffering for his art. Make 'em earn every penny I say.

Summer's evening beside the Thames

London Eye and Shell Building, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Gorgeous summer's evening as I walked home from the National Film Theatre tonight. These two are my favourites.

Talking

More cinema: Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos)

The talented Penelope Cruz

I love Almodovar films. They just tap into a romance and passion that I always associate with Spain and feel like a little two hour trip away to the Iberian peninsula.
Broken Embraces sees Almodovar teamed up with talented and gorgeous Penelope Cruz again and like many of his films has entangled relationships and revelations at its heart. It jumps back and forth in time through the life of a blind script writer and four people who have all been part of his life, as he comes to terms with the events of the past and ultimately moves on.
It is an engaging, charming and intriguing film and the only criticism I can level is that the pace gets a little soggy three quarters through.
Here are some others views:

Guardian "Broken Embraces is a film in which the director demonstrates a continuing, virtuoso fluency in a cinematic language that he himself invented. It's an embrace I want to submit to."
The Times "Spain’s most famous auteur has slightly overcooked his usual recipe this time."
Digital Spy "Film noir belongs to the black-and-white era, but every now and then a director comes along to make it shiny and new again."

And I just love the trailer - it gives just enough away.

ABC's

Nicked this from Minim although I have edited it a bit as I get the impression it was originally devised as a bit of sly market research for computer manufacturers. Haven't done one for ages but I really like reading them...

Alcohol: Wine and at the moment I'm going through a rosé phase
Believe in God?: No I don't believe in God or Gods
Chocolate: Montezuma's because they do vegan truffles
D&D character: Adam. He's the only person I know who plays
Eggs: Soft boiled, gotta love a runny yolk
Food: Yep but have a particular penchant for south east Asian and Japanese
Gemstone: Er...only have semi precious that I've made into necklaces and the choice of stone depends on the colour scheme
Hairdresser: Shingo at the Witches Hut. Genius who never lets me down
Icecream: Dairy upsets my stomach sadly and if I was going to risk it I'd have cheesecake
Jeans: Gap, boot cut, short fitting, stretch
Karaoke choice: Private performances only, my voice is best not shared
Left or right handed: right
Music: Oh gawd this is tricky because it totally depends on my mood and what I'm doing. My favourite band is Muse and I do lean towards guitar-based music but I listen to all sorts from Classic FM at work to Edith Piaf on a sunny Sunday morning
Nationality: British
Occupation: Journalist
Perfume: Jo Malone French Lime Blossom
Quest: To win the lottery, buy a flat in Covent Garden, get a personal yoga instructor and become a patron of the arts. Failing that just to enjoy life as much as possible, it's the only one I've got.
Rant: At the moment, still railing at the NHS for its treatment of my Mum
Seafood: Nommy, nommy, nommy (except whelk and sea snails).
Twitter: Yep for work (increasingly useful) and pleasure (fun and informative)
Uncontrollable urge to: Buy more theatre tickets
Vice: Only because of the amount I spend on it: Theatre and cinema
What I wear to work: Casual/smart-casual/smart depending on mood and/or meetings
X-men character: Can I go for Wolverine because I fancy Hugh Jackman?
Yesterday I: Cleaned the windows, hoovered, met a friend for tea and cake at Patisserie Valerie in Soho, bought friends membership at the Royal Academy and went to the breathtakingly beautiful John Waterhouse exhibition there, went to see Broken Embraces at the Clapham Picture House. (I had the day off work, my Friday's aren't normally so indulgent)
Zodiac sign: I'm full of bull

Inglourious Basterds: The Verdict

Must admit that I've been agonising over what to say about Tarantino's latest effort. I had my reservations as anyone who visited my blog yesterday will know but sat down with my mind firmly set on 'pop corn movie' and hoping at least to be entertained.
It's not that it was one of what I like to call 'three star-er's' ie a film that is OK, not brilliant but not terrible. Three star-er's don't make me agonise over what to say about them. I suppose the key problem is that it is both brilliant and terrible.
Brilliant because, as Mark Kermode says in his review for Radio 5, which I've linked to below, Tarantino has an incredible skill with set pieces of dialogue. There are some great performances as a result.
But terrible because it is way too long and indulgent and if Tarantino had been sat next to me I would have slapped him and told him to get over himself.
There weren't many people in the cinema as it was a weekday matinee but one person walked out three quarters of the way through and at the end someone actually applauded which I think says it all.
And, I know Waterbaby disagreed with a comment that Ginger Sister made on my last post about the gratuitous violence well I think that a lot of the violence is gratuitous, in this film. I had to look at the seat next to me on a number of occasions.

Here are some other reviews but I'd just like to point out that I've singled out Mark Kermode because on this film his views are on the money and I don't very often feel that way about a review.

Mark Kermode - Pretty much summed up above really
Guardian - Quentin Tarantino is having what Martin Amis readers might call a "Yellow Dog" moment - something which happens when, following a worrying, mid-to-late period of creative uncertainty, a once dazzlingly exciting artist suddenly and catastrophically belly-flops, to the dismay of his admirers
And the movie blog (video embedded below) Summed up starts out great but not enough action and too long

QotD: Technology & My Future

How do you think technology will impact your future?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.

Well once I can teleport then it will give me so much more time to do more interesting things.

Trailer coyness and film dilemma

Brad Pitt with tash

What is it with film companies these days that don't like people embedding their trailers from YouTube? Surely it can only benefit the promotion of a film by having the trailer seen by more people.
Anyway with that little grumble out of the way you now know why I can't illustrate this post because I can't embed the trailer so I'll have to make do with an image instead and linking to YouTube.
My dilemma is this: When I first saw a trailer for Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds I wasn't particularly impressed. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable watching such a frivolous take on a such a tragic and serious period of history. And no one is more surprised than me that it should sit so uncomfortably because I'm normally all for piss-takes.
But now it is out I'm torn. It's got Brad Pitt in it which means eye candy if nothing else, although I'm not digging the tash he sports.
I would have said that the fact that it is a Tarantino directed film is a draw but actually when I think about it, I've only seen Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown. I think the violence in the Kill Bill's put me off, although I will watch it at home at some point, and Death Proof and it's predecessor I can't even recall the name of just looked awfully gratuitous.
So shall I go and watch Inglorious Basterds?

British summertime

British summer, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Weather was gorgeous in London today. Clear blue skies and just enough breeze to take a bit of fierceness out of the sun. Too good an opportunity to miss trying out my replacement camera.
This is my favourite shot I think. Taken at the little known (by tourists anyway) roof garden at Cardinal Place.
There had been some sort of outdoor entertainment the day before, hence the beer bottles, which were curiously grouped together as if someone has started collecting them up.
There were only three people making the most of this quiet, secluded green space one of which was a sunbather. 

More of today's piccies on my Flickr page.

Muse

Great interview with the band on Times Online. As tongue in cheek as Matt Bellamy is I still think he's a bit scary. Or maybe because that's I'm just in awe?

QotD: Trash Talk

What's something you should throw away, but can't?

Throwing stuff away is something I'm actually quite good at. Yes I do get sentimentally attached to things but I have a one bedroom flat and and I like space so I'm ruthless. And despite what my sister thinks my flat isn't minimalist, I wish it was!

I try only to keep stuff that I'm going to look at/enjoy/read/watch/use again. There's something nice in seeing a cupboard or draw or shelves that were previously rammed with space and a big bag to go to the charity shop.

Sunday afternoon cinema: Sin Nombre

Edgar Flores as Willy in Sin Nombre

I hate it when films are described as the 'new' something because it invariably means they are a poor imitation and, well, lack the originality of the first for which they were so charming or memorable.
But the trailer for Sin Nombre, described as the 'new City of God' on some posters, looked really promising and without reading anything else I decided to give it a go.
And I am so glad I did. It is certainly a contender for one of the films in my top five this year (and I see a lot of films).
Sin Nombre is set primarily in Mexico and tells the story of Willy, a gang member on the run, who meets Sayra who is travelling from Honduras with her family to attempt to cross the border with the US and start a new life.
It is at times brutal and touching. Edgar Flores plays Willy and from what I glean on the internet is a relative new-comer to the world of acting but nonetheless puts in a startlingly emotional performance. He has such an expressive face that it gives him an incredible screen presence.
There is also a beauty to the gritty realism which isn't really suprising as this is the diretorial debut of Cary Fukunaga who was a cinematographer. He also wrote the film.
It has a couple of hand over mouth incidents but not where you would expect. City of God shocked, this does too but in a different way.
It is really good, go and see it.
I can't find an embedable version of the trailer without the annoying American voice over* but if you click here it's on the Empire website.

What the professionals say:
The Times "To say that this brutal, brilliant film about Central American migrants travelling through Mexico doesn’t pull its punches is an understatement."
NY Times "The caressing, honeyed light in “Sin Nombre” beautifies and softens every ugly moment in this equivocating (inspirational yet hard-boiled) story about geographic and moral border crossings."
Empire "Captivatingly naturalistic performances and cinematography almost makes up for the lack of a larger political framework."

* It just completely ruins it with that stereotypical trailer voice-over that booms something akin to: "He was on the run... she was looking for a new life". I think the simpler European trailer is far more evocative.

Muse interview

Just found this little interview Muse did with Radio 1's Zane Lowe about the new album. Haven't commented before but I love the new single Uprising. An instant hit in the Stanley household that had me dancing around the kitchen. Bit of a relief because I really wasn't sure about United States of Eurasia when I heard it.

RIP little Pentax Optio A40

Took my faithful little digital camera out of my bag yesterday to discover that the screen has shattered. How poo is that? I feel like someone has taken away my favourite toy. I carry that camera pretty much everywhere and there is a mild sense of panic that I might now miss a picture.
And I can't decide whether to get a straight replacement, as you can get the particular make and model a lot more cheaply now it's 18 months old or whether to splash out and get an upgrade?
While I decide here are some of my favourite photos I took with it.

Ancient Olympia, Greece

Children playing in fountain at Somerset House

Winter sunset on the South Bank

Theatre news

Ben Whishaw says hello to the stage again

I've been scouring the internet for months and months for news of when sometime Stanley stalker and actor-fav Ben Whishaw would be treading the boards again.
He's got films in the can (Bright Star & The Tempest) but I crave the live performance, so imagine my joy when I discovered this little golden nugget on a theatre website.
Yep Mr Whishaw is taking to the stage at the Royal Court Upstairs in November in a play called Cock about a man who falls for a women while on a break from his boyfriend. It's in a small intimate theatre, with unallocated seating so I'll be practising my elbows-out dash to the front row between now and Nov 20 (yep booked tickets already). Just hope he doesn't fling anything at me this time.

QotD: After Death, Then What?

What do you think happens to you after you die?

You become worm food. Unless of course you choose cremation in which case you become rose bush fertilizer.

A rose bush

Picture courtesy of cjc4454 on Flickr under creative commons

I want my tea in that

As yummy as chocolate teapot courtesy of Choccywoccydoodah, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

You know the phrase "as useful as a chocolate teapot"? Well I'd put this one to good use. It comes courtesy of fabulous chocolate shop Choccywoccydoodah in Brighton. Choccywoccydoodah specialises in making stuff out of chocolate and cakes and it's making my mouth water just thinking about it. I've never bought anything, I just like to go in and breath in the chocolate and sugar fumes and besides Montezuma's, the god of chocolate, is on the other side of the road

Here are a couple of the other creations courtesy of Choccywoccydoodahs and I'd love to know how much of this is actual 'cake' and how much is chocolate because all you can see in the pic below is chocolate:

Choccywoccydoodah cake

Candy teapot

QotD: My Very First Movie

What is the first movie you saw in the the theater?

I think it was Watership Down. I went on a school trip when I was six. I remember crying and feeling sad about the story.

Before they were famous

My sister's been sorting through stuff at my Mum's house and unearthed all sort of stuff from my youth. Most of it is rubbish (why would I want to keep my guide badges?) but there are the occasional hidden gem such a file of old theatre programs from plays I saw as a student.

Theatr_clwyd

It's been a trip down memory lane for example I went to see a production of Hamlet at Theatre Clwyd in Mold (I was studying the play at University in Liverpool so it was organised by my tutor). It was such a memorable performance, in a good way, purely because Getrude was played by a man. I could never remember the name of the actor but now have the program (it was Martin McKellan) and he did such an amazing job when it could have gone horribly, horribly wrong. Such was his performance that you completely forgot it was a man in drag and totally bought into the emotion he was conveying as Hamlet's distressed mother. (And yes I know in Shakespeare's time all the actors were male.)
The performance was also memorable because one of the characters costumes caught light on a candle but no one was hurt fortunately.

Rhys Ifans now he is famous

However, as well as revealing the name of the fabulous Getrude actor I am now stunned to see a smattering of names who back then were in the infancy of their careers but have since gone on to bigger and better things. For example Jack Davenport of This Life and Pirates of the Caribbean fame played the minor role of Francisco in his professional debut and Rhys Ifans who's been in loads of stuff since but I always remember as Spike in Notting Hill and Jed in Enduring Love (and soon to be seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as Luna Lovegood's Dad) also played the small part of Marcellus.
Sadly Martin McKellan's career doesn't seem to have taken off in the same way. The most recent listing for him on IMDB is an episode of The Bill. Which is a shame.
Other names you may have heard of are Stephen Beckett who went on to play key characters in Coronation Street and Emmerdale and Toby Jones who has one of those faces you know you've seen in a bunch of stuff and will be voicing Dobby the House Elf in the last two Harry Potters.

Theatre for the financially challenged

I have an expensive theatre habit as regular readers may have guessed. Many a DIY job sits undone because there is always a play I'd rather spend my hard earned cash on and I still don't get to see everything I'd like to. Naturally, I'm always on the look out for cheap tickets or discounts. 
And this innovative deal from the Southwark Playhouse, which is a fab tiny little theatre tucked under the railway arches near Waterloo Station, got my attention (thanks to theatre buddy Debbie). I've never seen this type of offer before, but the way it works is that you pay £35 and get five tickets to see any shows at the theatre. That's just £7 a ticket and there is no time limit on when you use them.
The only restriction is you can't use more than two tickets for any one show, so you'd only be able to take one other person but as I quite often go on my own anyway that isn't a problem.
Its a great idea and one that definitely appeals especially as £35 barely covers a decent seat at one of the West End theatres (Waiting for Godot was £52!). I like good seats but Southwark is such a small theatre you are always going to be close to the action.
It's pay day tomorrow so I'm going to sign up. Will keep you posted as to what I go and see.

QotD: Unusual Nighttime Ritual

What is your most unusual nighttime ritual?

Going to sleep, usually.

Comic book films

Just love the look of Frank Miller films and I'm not even into comic books.