I've been playing panicky catch-up at the cinema. Saturday was the much vaunted "No Country for Old Men" which admittedly was less catch-up than almost advance guard viewing. I liked it though a little eye-shutting through the gory bits was required for this squeamish female. The ending was a bit of a shock but I think I shall agree with Ross and appreciate it. Not sure about it being an Academy Award candidate though. But there you go. If anyone deserved an Academy Award to my small mind, it was Kelly Macdonald for an amazing portrayal of a down-trodden trailer-trash wife. But I think Cate's hogging most of the nominations there.
Sunday was Ang Lee's "Lust Caution". I feared the sex scenes as everyone seems to have been fussing about them. But they were far less pivotal to the film than I'd imagined from the outrage. Beautiful looking film I thought. Beautifully acted. Of course I liked the "let's do a play" scene at the start. Aside from the disparaging remarks made about directors. It was probably a little longer than it needed to be and featured some disappointing gaps in the plot. But that aside, a much more enjoyable way to spend 2 hours and 38 minutes than I'd imagined.
In between this, I managed to squeeze in the Lyceum's Glass Menagerie. Here, of course, I am hypercritical as I have imagined myself both acting in and directing this particular play many times over. And I carelessly saw a super production in London last year so I did rather doubt that this would measure up well. On the plus side, the Lyceum's Laura was a thousand times more convincing - and more endearing - than the crazy parody of a girl with a club foot who dragged herself around the West End stage last year. And there was some pretty respectable acting from the mother and the son. And the gentleman caller was lovely. But the set was clumsy, the lighting was a bit clunky, the music was inconsistent and some of the direction was just a bit amateurish. Who am I to comment?? But I am very fussy about this play so don't take me too seriously here (in case you ever do).
Sunday was Ang Lee's "Lust Caution". I feared the sex scenes as everyone seems to have been fussing about them. But they were far less pivotal to the film than I'd imagined from the outrage. Beautiful looking film I thought. Beautifully acted. Of course I liked the "let's do a play" scene at the start. Aside from the disparaging remarks made about directors. It was probably a little longer than it needed to be and featured some disappointing gaps in the plot. But that aside, a much more enjoyable way to spend 2 hours and 38 minutes than I'd imagined.
In between this, I managed to squeeze in the Lyceum's Glass Menagerie. Here, of course, I am hypercritical as I have imagined myself both acting in and directing this particular play many times over. And I carelessly saw a super production in London last year so I did rather doubt that this would measure up well. On the plus side, the Lyceum's Laura was a thousand times more convincing - and more endearing - than the crazy parody of a girl with a club foot who dragged herself around the West End stage last year. And there was some pretty respectable acting from the mother and the son. And the gentleman caller was lovely. But the set was clumsy, the lighting was a bit clunky, the music was inconsistent and some of the direction was just a bit amateurish. Who am I to comment?? But I am very fussy about this play so don't take me too seriously here (in case you ever do).
posted by Claire at 6:26 pm
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