Blog post #3
Before the lockdowns, I was a quiet cinema-sceptic. Although I loved sitting in a dark room, where a tall screen opened before me with heavy sounds concentrated as if in a space shuttle, I more often stayed at home. People annoy me all the time, especially at the mainstream cinema venues: talking, crunching, flitting through their phone screens. Since when did it become acceptable to sell nachos? Or, even, popcorn – one of the noisiest foods ever to exist?
Once, in an unusual moment of courage, I told people on my row to shut up. It was during an early screening of The Hateful Eight in Leicester Square, projected on 70mm, with an audience of Tarantino fans whooping and cheering throughout. There was an intermission, after which these people decided to continue whatever blandly indulgent conversation they were having. It seems a lot of people don’t realise: a dialogue by Tarantino is most likely more interesting than any debate you’ll ever have, and I wanted to savour every cadence.
My teenage years were spent alone with a flat-screen at home, discovering and digesting Lynch, Malick, Kubrick, Leone, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Kieslowski, Haneke, Kurosawa and Godard (sorry, the list is very white and very male). It was safe, despite the stories being anything but. An experience comparable to reading: completely personal, unburdened by the views or imagined opinions of others. At the cinema, after the lights came up, I would hear them. Whether they aligned or contradicted mine, my heart would still sink. I’d doubt myself and settle into a kind of chameleon syndrome. The film was always better in my head.
And yet, the romance of cinema has grown in me since the closures. The news that Sony’s slate of films, including No Time To Die, has been delayed until October-time only increases that nostalgia. This united, decorous, near-spiritual pastime feels like a memory vanishing from history. Something we’d have to explain to the next generation, like handshakes and zeppelins. But there’s a lot of optimism, especially from the latest issue from Empire magazine (co-organised by Edgar Wright) which interviews stars and filmmakers and members of the public about their favourite cinema experiences. The common line is that this is a period of hibernation, not extinction. And although I’m a cynical person – even this week, as Joe Biden takes the responsibilities of a vastly divided nation – I can’t help but hope for the curtains to part from these special screens again.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
It’s A Sin, Channel 4
Photo: Channel 4
There was a point during the final episode of It’s A Sin, after a day bingeing all of them, when my Mum came in with a cup of tea. It was perfectly timed, as the best cuppas are, because I was in tears. And, yes, she also had to hug me. Often I need both comforts when watching hard dramas, especially those featuring families. This Russell T. Davies drama follows those affected by the Aids virus in the 80s, showing in honest detail the families who didn’t (and don’t) dare mention it – the shame infecting and killing the love they once felt.
But it’s not all doom and gloom: there’s also a lot of fun following a gaggle of gay men as they plunge into the London social scene. It’s a difficult balance between comedy and tragedy that should be impossible, especially with a lethal virus, but Davies is a master of his craft. I can’t imagine liking any show as much this year. Read my five-star review.
What else I’ve watched this week
Call My Agent!
I finished Call My Agent, shortly after the final season was released last Thursday. Because I’m writing a feature about it next week, I needed to watch all four seasons quite quickly. But, if you haven’t already, please savour each episode. It’s a cliché to seek anything escapist in these times, but Call My Agent really does the job. The ending was satisfying, with some of that anticlimax felt in most TV finales, but it’s hard to leave all these characters behind. In any case, au revoir.
Staying on TV from France, I also watched Lupin. I haven’t warmed to this silly crime drama as much as millions of others, but it’s decent mainstream entertainment. It follows a fiercely attractive con-man who can charm, barter, and cheat his way through any situation – especially when it comes to stealing valuables. It’s a thin premise, loosely based on the popular Arsène Lupin books (like a French antithesis to Sherlock Holmes), but the action sequences are worth waiting for. They propel with speed and fury, thrillingly choreographed.
Lupin
I’m worried WandaVision is on the route to explaining its surrealism, but I’m still enraptured by its daring. Even though I’ve only seen Avengers: Age of Ultron once (and didn’t like it), the reference is episode three made my insides flutter. Whenever Wanda’s fantasy is skewered by an outside reality, she attempts to patch up those rips. But you can tell she’s going to have to face the awful truth.
I also watched Silenced: The Hidden Story of Disabled Britain, and I advise you do the same. Being disabled myself, it’s shameful how little I knew about the history of ableism in Britain and more people should know about it.
What I’ve written this week
My review of It’s A Sin (see above)
My review of The Bay season 2, episode 1. This ITV detective drama really wants to be Broadchurch, but there’s little of the same sense of community or vengeful paranoia. Good fun, though. All episodes are available on ITV Hub, and they’re also airing week-by-week on Wednesdays at 9pm.
Excited by the Peaky Blinders news, I drew up a preview for season 6. Peaky is exiting in the Community formula: with six seasons and a movie. I can’t wait to see what Steven Knight has in store.
Production starts on Peaky Blinders season 6
I wrote up a list of likely nominees for this year’s Oscars. It took all day and night to complete, but I really enjoyed the research. I’m particularly curious about Judas and the Black Messiah, which ran into many issues during its pre-production according to Variety.
My review of Malcolm & Marie. I’m a big Euphoria fan, but writer/director Sam Levinson slightly disappointed me here. It’s well-shot, stylish, with vivid performances from Zendaya and John David Washington. But the script felt too stagey and repetitive.
