Fri 1st Apr - STEWART LEE, Leeds Playhouse
Sat 16th Apr - The Vaccines, Leeds Academy (chaperoning)
Fri 6th May - STEWART LEE, Bradford St George's Hall
Wed 22nd Jun - YES, York Barbican
Sat 17th Sep - KING'S X, Holmfirth Picturedrome
Sat 19th Nov - THE SAW DOCTORS, Leeds Academy

I think that's it.  That last one a completely unexpected announcement and I nabbed a ticket today; 10 years since they last played that venue - it was on my birthday as well..!

Seems to be a pretty substantial bounceback of cases after they were tumbling for a while. Of course, the real focus is on serious outcomes, and it looks very much like we're in a much better position on that score.

Got a message today from the host of a function I was at last weekend - apparently 12 positive cases amongst the attendees have been declared since.

I have absolutely no symptoms at the moment.  As far as I'm aware I've somehow dodged Covid, even including when I spent long hours during a week of daily visits to a Covid isolation room sitting by my mum's bedside when she was seriously ill last year (albeit with Covid, as opposed to from it).

There's still little room for complacency.

Dom is 100% correct on this.

I have plenty of time for CoS but consider it the weakest of their 70s-era albums; that said, whatever its flaws it also turned out to be critical in the evolution of their body of work.

Old Rush good, new Rush better. 

12 Years A Slave

Rating: ***

Been on the list for a long time since it won the Oscar for Best Film in 2014.  If the rating may surprise then I count myself among that number.  So I will explain, as briefly as possible.

First, the impressive and powerful elements of this film undoubtedly leave their mark, just as intended: Steve McQueen is a very accomplished director who has a particular talent for innovative camera movement that resembles Alfonso Cuaron, who is one of the masters of that craft, and despite the profoundly emotive subject matter this skill is utilised extremely well here;

Chiwetel Ejiofor is tremendous in the leading role - the pain and sadness suffered by his character evident in his eyes even in the scenes where he isn't being treated abominably;

and, speaking of the sickening violence and inhumanity unsparingly depicted on screen (in any other context this would not be a 15-rated film), I thought, as difficult as it is to watch, this was all portrayed appropriately, and some critics' accusations of over-the-top "torture porn" quite misguided (see Mel Gibson's ridiculous The Passion Of The Christ for a genuine example of OTT sadistic violence - or, rather, don't).

However, I can't overlook a couple of significant flaws, which really are technical but nonetheless often took me out of the story: some of the dialogue - in thick Deep South accents and often mumbled - is inaudible, which is possibly why some characters and sequences don't seem to have a narrative purpose.  So even though the film is almost 135 minutes long it still seemed choppily edited and I felt it could have benefited from more breathing space.  Another minor issue I had was with Hans Zimmer's score, which didn't seem to capture the depressing overall tone of the film very faithfully. 

I was prepared for a similarly grim experience as from watching The Painted Bird (my long review for that elsewhere now lost!) and this was often as harrowing; however, where that film had a cast iron grip and numbing of the senses for 160 devastating minutes, 12 Years A Slave for me didn't quite have the same impact due to some unfortunate shortcomings - nonetheless,  I wouldn't let that put anyone off.

Schoolboy error - I didn't put my gig diary on TNMS anywhere for safe keeping.

I've pinned a few e-tickets in my email account - Stewart Lee x 2, King's X, for example - but I'm going to have to reconstruct my list the long way round.

Quote from: Slim on February 28, 2022, 04:11:40 PMThere must be some acceptable way that he can be claim to have profited for his audience at home.

Does he not have pretty much complete control over State media - they'll obediently pump put any old horsesh!t claim he makes.

How much of the proletariat buy it is another matter.

Too many Championship standard players in the Leeds squad, I fear - the money splashed on Rodrigo and Firpo looks a spectacular waste of resources; they've been atrocious signings.

Promising Young Woman

Rating: ****

A kind of avenging angel comedy/drama/thriller with a very dark edge, this won the Oscar for Best Screenplay in 2021 and was nominated in several other categories (writer/director is Killing Eve Season 2 showrunner Emerald Fennell).

One such was Best Actress for Carey Mulligan - and I have to say she is utterly astounding, so quite how Frances McDormand was preferred for the award for the underwhelming Nomadland is baffling.

Some reviews described this film as a furious statement for the "#MeToo" movement, but that strikes me as far too simplistic - this is a multi-layered film that slowly twists the viewer round its finger, culminating in one of the most tense and disturbing extended final scenes I have endured in a long time.

Highly recommended; but, as mentioned, do be warned - it's pretty dark!

Helloooooooo, HelloOOOOO, HELLOOOOOOOOO!!!

First of all, thanks you James for ensuring the old TNMS bunch didn't wind up homeless - I wasn't looking forward to an inevitable feeling of emptiness once our old, familiar home - or more accurately public house, I suppose - closed its doors for good.

Great to see many of the Usual Suspects here - which leads me perfectly on to a request for a dedicated Film forum; that's probably the place I enjoy(ed) posting my (re)views and reading those of others the most.

Thanks again!