RIP Sir Ian Holm

1931 - 2020

RIP Dame Vera Lynn

1917-2020

~We'll meet again~

Finding Your Feet

Again this is a film I have only just discovered recently, and it is sort of another attempt at the romantic comedy canon, but unusually it does have a distinctive flavour to it all of its own.

I think, in summary that nuance is to be found in the fact that this film makes no apology for focusing on the numerous factors of getting on in life, and of the numerous hardships that life throws at you, and the different ways people find to carry on regardless.

A quite remarkable cast is led by the sublime Imelda Staunton as a settled woman who's established way of life is shattered in her autumn years and we see how she has to drastically readjust with her sister, played beautifully by Celia Imrie, and friends.

I believe the charm in this film, lies in its unabashed featuring of the mundane and heightening it with its wonderful cast - sometimes subtlety and sometimes not. Yes, occasionally it's supporting cast are not used to the best of their ability - David Hayman and John Sessions for example seem a tad one dimensional. But really, the main characters are executed rather wonderfully and unapologetically - resulting in a marvellous, mischievous, alluring and powerful Imelda Staunton, a sassy, sexy, vulnerable and lovely Celia Imrie and a grounded, charming, doeful and gritty Timothy Spall (even Joanna Lumley comes into her own in showing a different side to her in her few scenes) and most of the time the results are very good to watch.

Future classic? Hmm maybe not. But a charming British romantic comedy that gives one pleasure to watch? Absolutely.

Again catching up, this is a poem I wrote a couple of years ago - -

The Many Faces of Alone

 

Alone is your mind, your space, your hole in the dark

It’s your refuge, your hideaway, your safety; it’s where you make your mark

Alone is your home, your first thought and last stand, it’s where you can be you

It’s your common theme, your default setting. It may be sad but it’s true

 

 

Alone is also your champion, your boost, your pick me up when I’m down

Alone can be laughing to yourself, a cheeky smile to wipe away your frown

Alone is your friend and your lover, your father and your mother; the feather in your cap

Alone keeps you focused, keeps you going. Alone can keep you on track

 

 

Alone is anger, it is despair, it is rage against the dying light

It is your sorrow, it is your misery, and it is your fear when you have no more fight

Alone is your tears, your anguish, and your hall in which to cry

Alone will keep you imprisoned, when all you want to do is fly

 

 

 

Alone is your wisdom, your glory and your power

Alone can be your victory, stood atop your shining tower

Alone is reflection, happiness in your feat

Alone can be job done, battle won, challenge accepted and complete

 

Alone is suffering in silence, the battlefield of the mind

Alone is you cowering in the corner when the world is so unkind

Alone is depression, recession, regression – it’s something you cannot escape

Alone is when you have no more hope, when it is all too much to take

 

Alone can be a good book, a great film, a cheeky little nap

It can be a solo drive, a breath of fresh air, or your dog lying in your lap

Alone can be a song in the moonlight, skipping stones on the shore or dancing in the dark

Alone may be a sunset bench, a fireside chair or chilling in the park

 

Alone is your resistance, your passion, your strength and your steel

Alone can be what bounces you back, full of zest and full of zeal

Alone is you saying “no more”, “that all you got?” and “do your worst” too

Alone can really be all you need, to help you say – “hey world: fuck you!”

 

 

 

 

Alone can be those you loved and lost, with you forever and a day

Alone can be all the moments that you regret, filling you with shame and dismay

Alone can also be a reminder of lighter moments, of sweeter times gone by

Alone can let you choose to laugh, when you might be moved to cry

 

Alone is at your shoulder, with you every night and day

If it’s just yourself, or in a crowd of hundreds, alone is there come what may

Alone sneaks up without notice. Alone is ready and always there

Even if you can forget for just a moment, alone stays when you are not aware

 

Alone is with you whether you walk or run, when you stand in light or in dark

Old or young, fat or thin, rich or poor, happy or sad – alone cannot tell us apart

So alone is with you however you feel, thus on you it truly all depends

For alone may or may not be how your song started, but alone is how it ends

October 2018

STAGED

It so happens that my decision to at least partially return to the world of blogging just so happens to coincide with the Covid-19 based lockdown. Who new?

A few months into this situation and the world is becoming already used to the idea of "lockdown TV" being the new way any novelty is achieved through entertainment. I confess, I haven't bought into that much of it - preferring to binge watch series or films the old fashioned way, if that's even still possible. One thing I have enjoyed (and something I devoured very quickly via BBC iPlayer) was the new lockdown series of comedy drama shorts - Staged, lead by the ever-brilliant duo of David Tennant and Michael Sheen.

Capitalizing on the pair's established friendship and insane levels of on-screen chemistry (see Amazon's Good Omens, a TV highlight that occurred during my blogging exile - possible retrospective review to come?) this series gets very meta very quickly - seeing all the characters play "versions" of themselves (think a lockdown version of The Trip, without the overly egotistical savagery and glamorous locations) as actors who have been home-bound without being able to produce a play they're about to star in, and try to "rehearse" via everyone's favourite online convo enabler Zoom.

Devised, directed and indeed also staring renowned director Simon Evans (not the comedian) and also starring the respective spouses of the two leading chaps Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg as well as some truly awesome and insanely hilarious lockdown cameos - this series is a real treat, limits of technology or not.

Despite the brilliant array of faces that pop up on screen, Tennant and Sheen (or is that Sheen and Tennant?...You'll get it if you watch it) carry off the whole thing with aplomb.Over six 15-20 minute shorts the result is charming, very funny and I would say just the tonic that is needed about now.

Returning...

To any of you who have ever paid this humble little blog a visit, thank you earnestly.

About three years ago, I mothballed this here blog for a variety of reasons, but I did say that at some point I would re-visit it as it gave me great pleasure to craft and contribute towards. Well, recently I have felt the inklings of the urge to take it up again.

So, without wishing to sound melodramatic - I'm back. 

Or I do believe I am - I'm not promising anything in terms of amounts of posts, or certainly quality of content going forward as the return will probably be phased and gradual...plus there is quite a bit of housekeeping to do looking back on previous posts etc. What's more I can't promise the future results will not still seem quite quaint, old-fashioned and subjective...but there ya go.

Thank you, and hopefully see you soon.

*DISCLAIMER*

Though it probably goes without saying, I'm going to say it anyway -

The words and opinions cited within this blog, past present and future - are my own.

I do not claim creation, ownership of any images, posters or clips - that credit belongs solely to the individuals, organisations, creators or others concerned.

Thank you