the flicker club film review:
Now I know that Jim Carrey is not to everyone’s taste but surely there can be no doubt that this blokes a phenomenal talent. We have the meticulously crafted 'The Truman Show', the laugh out loud rib tickler 'Liar Liar' and the head scratching 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'. Have you caught the 3D 'A Christmas Carol' yet? It's a whole lot better than it should be. Really well written, beautifully made and voiced with consummate skill by good old Jim as Scrooge and ALL the ghosts!
But the movie I want to applaud today is 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'.
I was invited to the Royal Command Performance of this cinematic outrage. The Queen herself was in attendance, gawd bless Her. I can remember sitting in the auditorium thinking that this must be the least appropriate movie ever screened for HRH.
Then Jim Carrey walked onstage and spoke my thoughts aloud. 'We know we don't belong here,' he declared with that crescent moon smile of his challenging us to forcibly remove him. I think I've been a devoted fan ever since.
I can recall cringing when the Grinch proffers the wrong end of his dog for the sleeping Mayor to kiss. 'Not in front of Liz!' my very soul screamed in horror. I turned around and could swear I saw her guffawing, but I could be mistaken.
Ron Howard orchestrates the movie with considerable flare, but it is Jim Carrey, buried beneath prosthetics, that utterly thrills and delights playing to the kids and adults in a superbly judged grotesque theatrical firework display.
Clive for the flicker club
the flicker club quotation:
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken
Oscar Wilde
the flicker club Christmas gift:
This little projector lets you beam videos from your iPod or iPhone onto any decent surface. With images up to 70in, it’s a bit like having a home cinema in your pocket.
the flicker club art exhibition recommendation:
Pump House Gallery, Battersea Park, London, SW11 4NJ
Until Sunday December 19
The Tardis-like four-storey brick tower of the Pump House Gallery, with its windowless front facade almost hidden from view within Battersea Park, is a fitting venue for the final installation of Hayward's touring 'Magic Show'. The exhibition explores the relationship between fine art and theatrical magic, as opposed to the occult kind.
The selected works by 24 artists illustrate this idea through film, photography, sculpture and installation. Susan Hiller's internet-sourced photomontages show people appearing to levitate. Zoe Beloff's 3D film explores Freudian ideas of delusion and hysteria, in the format of a vaudeville musical. Tom Friedman presents a sinister white plinth and asks us to imagine the work hovering above it.
Curators Jonathan Allen and Sally O'Reilly have provided context to the artworks with the inclusion of historical advertising posters for stage magicians - stunning graphic works in their own right - and a cabinet of magic props and magic themed products. These demonstrate that it's not just the art world that has co-opted the power of magic. Religion, politics and advertising have also used the magical to seduce and persuade.
Politicians are no strangers to the magic prop or gimmick either. The dove that landed on Fidel Castro's shoulder during his 1959 victory speech, shown here in a photograph, was as well-trained a performer as any Equity member. George W Bush also used a simple stage effect to create a dramatic entrance before making his speech in Madison Square Gardens in 2004. Bush remained hidden behind two stars 'n' stripes screens as they were wheeled on to the stage. When he did emerge, he seemed to have appeared miraculously from nowhere.
What this show most tellingly reveals is that it's not just artists and performers who have a close relationship with magic. It's used by anyone who has a desire to make others perceive the world from their point of view. It's wise advice to never underestimate the power of the set-up
the flicker club reviews:
So after everyone banging on about it for ages I finally took myself down to The Museum of Everything, and Lo' what a treat. It's in Primrose Hill, which can be quite sweet if you like that kind of thing. It's free, which is always a joy in my books and it's really small so you can be out within 45 minutes without having to miss loads of it (because you can't keep up the pretence of enjoying yourself in a Museum for much longer really, can you).
On top of all this, there are some fine examples of Soft Porn Needle Point, A Hall of Mirrors and surely a must see for all, a whole room of Victorian Taxidermy, not the usual rubbish but proper stuff like The Squirrel Boxing Match and a Bar Room Brawl incorporating around 20 stuffed rats. Genius, puts Poly Morgan to shame God Bless her. (Litttle in house taxidermy reference to prove what sort of git I really am). Shed a little tear for the Funeral Procession of Cock Robin though. A Masterpiece for sure.
Stephen for the flicker club
Blowing at Southwark Playhouse
There is something enchanting about Southwark Playhouse. Situated off the main Tooley Street on Shipwright Yard we felt as if we had walked into a pocket of a bygone age. We took the short walk from London Bridge through winding tunnels, past the London Dungeons to The Playhouse. There are parts of this city where we actually smell the merge of London Old and London New. This is one such part. 'tis like Punk Dickens.
Southwark Playhouse. A healthy 130 seat Theatre in a cavernous and atmospheric vault space. And that's where we watched 'Blowing', a play by Jeroen Van den Berg. Van den Berg is billed as one of the most talented contemporary playwrights in the Netherlands. His dialogue is sharp, witty,
full of pathos and believable. So simple and yet so complicated. The company, fanSHEN tell us on their Home Page that they 'create work which is both dynamically physical and affectingly psychological'. I heartily concur.
Louise Bush takes the central role of matriarch, crumpling on the inside but ironed to perfection on the outside. No one must know her family isn't perfect no matter how many times they have to stop, rewind and start again. As we watched the family fall apart our discomfort grew. This was cleverly broken up with humour delivered skilfully by the cast.
I was amazed to discover afterwards that fanSHEN is a touring company spending as little as one night in some venues. If they come to a Theatre near you, make haste and grab a ticket!
Daisy for the flicker club
Agnews in Mayfair was a mighty busy gallery on both of the two levels of the private view for Andrew Gadd’s latest show. Paintings large and small graced the walls while a decent house wine was supped.
© Joel Chant
Gadd’s paintings at first look gloomy. Many are dark in both form and content. With titles like the Devil’s Station Master and Below the Unreal City he’s exploring some moody territory yet there is light to this shade, as in God and his dog. Interesting & thought provoking paintings..
© Andrew Gadd
Joel Chant for the flicker club
11 Nov 2010 - 16th January 2011
Lured to Mick Rock’s private view at the Idea Generation Gallery in Shoreditch with promises of rum based drinks, yum, and classic rock photography we were not disappointed.
Peter Gabriel © Mick Rock, 1974, 2010
The exhibition is an interesting retrospective of a rock photographer who’s been there, shot that and got the T shirt as well as some iconic images from the 70’s and 80’s. Seminal photos from the 70’s such as the band Queen from their album cover Queen II hung in the Idea Generation Gallery’s impressive east London space along side those of Bryan Ferry, the Prodigy, Blondie and a myriad of rock names. Good to see so many strong photos on the walls including double height, which could be viewed from below and from the mezzanine floor.
© Joel Chant
The gallery was full of music people of every ilk and the place buzzed with energy. The show runs until 16th January 2011 and is well worth a visit.
Joel Chant for the flicker club
We were so thrilled and honoured to be invited to the private party and screening of the first episode of the 7th series of The Peep Show by our lovely friends Sam and Wendy Bain.
Off to deepest darkest South London always makes us a bit nervous, but imagine our delight when we pulled up outside this lovely looking venue and we’re ushered up to the warmth of the lovely gathering.
The episode was terrific, very funny and so very bitter sweet and now, not only have I had to clear my Monday night for the foreseeable future to watch The Trip, looks like my Friday nights will also be spent in front of a roaring fire, tele turned up and cup of tea in hand watching the brilliance that is David and Rob.. Not too shabby.
Thanks Sam and Wendy and see you on the 19th xxx
The Queens Hairdresser’s 50th Birthday Party
I had to write a blog on this, simply because of the title. Who would have thought I’d ever get the chance to say that..! Off to Hampstead with CJ to celebrate Hair to the Throne, Ian Carmichael's big 5.0. Dance to Phantom of the Opera and drink bubbles in the former Beatles photography studio with lovely friends, old and new. Happy Birthday you gorgeous thing. X
What’s on Stage Awards 2010
What’s this, What’s this, the flicker club were thrilled to be invited to the Café de Paris at 12.45pm on a Tuesday afternoon for bubbles and as much theatrical glitz as you can fit under one roof. Tuesday lunchtime is the new Friday night dontcha know.
© Whats On Stage
Added to this the thrill of our dear Tamsin Outhwaite getting very rightly nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for Sweet Charity, which we blogged here. Well done young lady, best in show.
Juliette for the flicker club
