Category Archives: Film

the age of anxiety and the lobster

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

the age of anxiety (‘Liam Scarlett sets Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony no.2, ‘The Age of Anxiety’, inspired by W.H. Auden’s epic poem’ more) on a bill between two other pieces; we watched the first and bunked the third: dance without a … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Film | Leave a comment

silence and the shape of water

Posted on March 5, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

SPOILERS silence shusaku endo’s novel (and scorsese’s film) is set during the persecution of portuguese jesuit missionaries in 16th-century japan, but its impact is more 20th-century existential: the story of rodriguez’s slow progress to apostasy is closer to winston smith’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Novel | Leave a comment

“What we did on our holidays”

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

[Spoiler alert – this is really meant for people who’ve seen the film] Official trailer line “Explores the meaning of life and suggests how best to live and love.” Fair enough. A brilliantly made, written and acted comedy based on … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Woman in Black

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Houyhnhnm

All good fun. I’d seen the stage play many years ago with a school group, and had, as everyone else, jumped with shock as the lights revealed the ghost woman rocking furiously on her chair. I’d always been amazed how … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Leave a comment

Lincoln

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Houyhnhnm

Absorbing and exciting, and dominated as everyone has been saying by an unreal performance by Daniel Day Lewis – even less real after I saw the actual actor getting an award. And the voice is at least as important as … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Life Of Pi (film)

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

[Megaspoiler alert: reading this really will spoil your enjoyment of the film] The story which Pi tells to the writer in this film is one which will apparently give the hearer faith in God. But after t-10 minutes I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Hobbit

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

In brief, it’s The Hobbit made into what it was after LOTR. In the appendices to LOTR JRR manages to fit the two novels together, sorting out the role and nature of Gollum’s ring, and making the Necromancer in Mirkwood, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Ginger and Rosa

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Advance reviews not good: poor script, poor Rotten-Tomatoes score. Luckily I don’t often read reviews, and when I do often ignore them, as I really enjoyed the film. Sure enough, once warned of poor script you’re on the look out, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Social Network

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Miserable film – what twats. Why didn’t the Winklevosses or Savarin just walk away and have an ordinary life? And Harvard – what an obnoxious place. And the students – both sexes – how horrible are they, and how horrible … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“My Week With Marilyn” or “quorum pars parva fui…”

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

A strangely unthinking film: Colin Clark’s diaries, the basis of the story, are used too straight: too often we hear a bon mot from a Great One (it may be Larry, it may be Sybil Thorndike), overheard at the door … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment