why don’t you call me I feel flying in two…
Well that took longer than expected! Christmas, New Year and my birthday are all over and done with, although thankfully there’s still some chocolate stashed for Easter.
The cold weather and dark days are fading and Spring is well underway – I stepped out of Sadler’s Wells at the end of my annual New Year’s Eve Matthew Bourne matinée* at 4pm and it was lightish at best, now eleven weeks in I can actually go without putting the lamps on until 6ish – yay!
It’s been a promising start to the year; my Film Of The Year bar has not only been set but by a British film – The Bone Temple is still my new favourite, although the main competition is likely to come later in the year. I do urge anybody to go and see EPiC while they can; Elvis, in his own words, in IMAX is pretty much everything you want from a night out if if you didn’t know it.
As well as some top cinema action early on, I’ve also enjoyed the stunning Tracey Emin exhibition at the Tate Modern (the last one was at the Hayward Gallery; it’s been far too long) and managed what may well have been gig of the decade with Underworld at Brixton after having casually bought a ticket one evening while browsing the presale section on the O2 Priority app – I later found out they sold out in two minutes, and it’s not hard to see why. Thankfully I’ve been going to Brixton Academy for 30+ years and walking out feeling like I’ve been hit by a train (and deaf in both ears as opposed to just the one) is nothing new, but lordy. If you only go to one more gig, go and see Underworld.
The best news of the entire year (and I’m aware that I’m setting the various bars very early on) has got to be the return of Dead By Dawn in Edinburgh next Spring – the reopening of the Filmhouse last summer was a day many thought would never come and the thought of it turning into a Wetherspoons was almost enough to make me get on a train one night and gather up a posse to torch the place, but good has prevailed and my favourite horror festival is back! Five days in Edinburgh has not got any cheaper since the last time I went in 2019, but it’s worth every penny
Back to the important stuff; as the vigilant will have already noticed I will be away for two weeks from Thursday, which realistically means until after Easter since the following Friday is Good Friday and I doubt anybody wants to pay double time for the Bank Holiday. My phone will not be with me.
But more of that when I get back. For the time being, tomorrow and Wednesday are the days to watch and whilst there may be limited time available Thursday morning, my phone will not be on after Wednesday evening if it isn’t booked before then, so (for once) texting on the day isn’t the best option.
I have been dying for a reason to insert a clip from Sinners for Song Of The Week and even more so now to celebrate the score winning the Academy Award, but it would be a travesty to watch it on a mobile phone. Staying with the film theme, we’ll head back to the Bone Temple and I’m saying nothing more about it.
More when I get back! This time next week it will be 32 degrees…
* the matinée was sold out Timothée, you insufferable little prick. The performance of Giselle I saw on a gloomy Tuesday evening last week wasn’t far off too (none of those performing have ever won an Oscar either though, so there’s that).