A Meticulously Planned Weekend

We are back at home for the weekend because we were looking forward to a fairly eclectic weekend in Birmingham. Tears For Fears had scheduled a gig at the conveniently central NIA so that we could both revisit our youth (or earlier youth, as obviously we’re still in our youth) but then they cancelled. This had ruined our meticulously planned weekend which included Birmingham by train, a hotel and the next day, for L, the Birmingham 10k.

What’s worse the rescheduled date is in midweek next year and at the hopelessly located NEC, not helpful. I did try to swap the tickets to another gig but they are all as good as sold out and we had really good seats at the NIA.

Anyhow we still go ahead with the rest of the weekend and have a great time. We even get to walk the 10k course ahead of the race by strolling out to the MAC (Midlands Art Centre) to see a film.

Funny Cow is about a stand-up comedienne (Maxine Peake) taking on the men at their own game in the dingy working men’s clubs of the 1970s. It is in one such place in the north of England where she sees the depressive Lenny (Alun Armstrong) up on stage, going through the motions with his dire material, and effectively dying, that inspires her in the first place.

When she talks to him about his act, he assures her that ‘women aren’t funny’, and suggests she tries singing or stripping instead but it is comedy that she wants to do. Comedy is a release for her from her miserable life. 

From a childhood living with an abusive father (Stephen Graham) through to a dysfunctional marriage to the violent and controlling Bob (Tony Pitts) via a mother (Lindsey Coulson) driven to drink by life.

Finally leaving her husband and taking up with bookshop owner Angus (Paddy Considine), who takes her to see foreign films which fall way outside her comfort zone, turns out to be not that much of a trade up.

Meanwhile she struggles to gain a foothold in the world of the gungy pub carpet. She suffers from terrible nerves when she attends an audition where she is up against a singer (Richard Hawley), a ventriloquist (Vic Reeves) and an Elvis impersonator (John Bishop) with his dog (Bilko).

Eventually she blags her way on to stage when the promoter has little choice when faced with an empty stage. There she finally gains acceptance, and later success, but only by winning round the hostile audience by embracing the 1970's reality of doing racist and homophobic gags, while dealing with the inevitable hecklers.

In the film we see her after her success, then before, then after again in series of Dave Allen like scenes in front of the camera. Scenes that for me distract from the narrative of the film and therefore drag down what was a generally strong film. 

The later scenes seem to show her just as cynical and disillusioned with everything as she was before she became a comedienne. Even being a success doesn’t appear to have brought her any happiness but then she probably never expected it to.

(Saturday 5^th May)

Role Play

After a late night out it proves useful that the clocks go back this weekend. I think they actually went back before we got to bed, so I’m not sure whether we can say we had an extra hour in bed or not.

When we’re all finally up, Doggo and I go fetch the Sunday paper while MD and L go on the park. We used to then meet up on the park but now we’re all getting older, it takes longer for us to fetch the paper and MD can’t keep going as long on the park. Today, despite leaving first we don’t make it to the park and bump into them on their way home.

In the afternoon I head over to watch the Veteran’s Cycling Championships at Derby Velodrome. They’re all older than me... and they’re all faster than me...

In evening we’re at Broadway with Daughter and several police role play scripts.

Armando Iannucci’s ‘Death of Stalin’, adapted from a graphic novel, shows the aftershocks of Josef Stalin’s (Adrian Mcloughlin) death in 1953 through decidedly British and comedic eyes. Indeed the Central Committee of the Communist Party is portrayed as about as well run as the worst of the worst of British’s Councils back in the 1970s, only more violent. 

The film opens before Stalin’s death with the authorities having to restage a piano concerto because Stalin has asked for a recording of it after the fact. So rather than tell Stalin it’s not possible, the producer (Paddy Considine) forces the orchestra and the audience to stay put while they do it all over again. This involves bribing the pianist (Olga Kurylenko) and finding a new conductor, who turns up in his dressing gown.

Then Stalin has the audacity to die which causes chaos. For a start they can’t summon a competent doctor to confirm his death or to ascertain the cause of it because Stalin has imprisoned or executed them all.

Meanwhile the jockeying to succeed him has already begun. Georgi Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor) temporarily and controversially assumes control but he will have to battle to hold onto the leadership as Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) and Vyacheslav Molotov (Michael Palin) state their cases. While Khrushchev is the semi-decent reformer and tries to take a more measured path to the top job, Molotov would remove anyone who got in his way. His approach is mild though compared with Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale), who is the head of the secret police, but he doesn’t have many supporters and is messily executed for treason. 

The only people to say anything good about Stalin, perhaps not surprisingly, are his daughter, Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough) and his hot-headed son, Vasily (Rupert Friend). Things then liven up further when Marshal Zhukov (Jason Isaacs) turns up. Nothing portrays this more as a British spoof that Zhukov who appears to be a Yorkshireman with a very broad accent.

Depending on how good your knowledge of Russian history is it can be difficult to follow everything as the film is more focussed on it’s comedic angle than about walking you through the history. Although it is still informative in this way and appears to be highly accurate. You just might have to hit Wikipedia to fill in the gaps.

Although very well acted, I’m not sure the film is actually that funny and, for me, the history of it is easily the most fascinating aspect. An out and out drama might have been more effective but then would anybody else have watched it.

(Sunday 29^th October)

Zombies

It’s the Shelton Striders 10k today which a race I’ve not done for quite a while and I’ve not done it at all since it moved to its new home at Boulton Lane Park Community Centre. My Mum and Dad come to see us at the start and then depart to watch along the route. We head to their place afterwards for coffee.

The race starts on the old canal path before heading off towards Sinfin, doing a bit of a loop which included the new road to what I think they call Infinity Park before returning to Shelton Lock where it finishes again on the canal path.

L runs with the 65 minute pacer and almost goes under 65. I am just over 46 minutes, which is a bit disappointing. A 45 would have been nice.

Back home I cut the lawn but it’s more a case of hacking it short as it’s still very wet.

I have promised L death, gore and zombies this weekend so later we go to Broadway to see the Girl With All The Gifts. The film opens with children being strapped into their chairs and being wheeled under armed military guard to their school classroom. Clearly in the future all truancy problems have been solved.

Well, not quite. What we have here is a futuristic tale that is a slight variant on the currently fashionable zombie film genre. The zombies which inhabit this world have been created by a fungal infection but act pretty much like your stereotypical zombie. e.g. see a human, chase it down and eat it.

However these children appear to be different. They were infected while still in the womb and evolved into a next generation who think more like humans but still have the overpowering desire to eat human flesh. 

The remaining 'real' humans have managed to stay safe from them by using blocking gel to mask the tantalising smell of their own flesh and, of course, by locking the children up while they try and find a way forward.

For Dr Caroline Caldwell (Glenn Close) the way forward is to find a vaccine and that is how Melanie (Sennia Nanua), seemingly the most intelligent of the bunch, eventually ends up strapped to the Dr’s examination table about to be chopped up in the name of science.

The group’s teacher, Helen Justineau (Gemma Arterton) prefers a different approach. She sees enormous potential in working with these children and when the military base where they are housed is overrun by the undead, she is the one who rescues Melanie.

A group of them are now on the run under the command of Sergeant Eddie Parks (Paddy Considine) who would rather just obliterate them all. Melanie repays her teacher’s kindness by helping the group stay safe by distracting the hordes of zombies who lurk in the streets.

Along the way they find out that the fungal infection will eventually move onto a second even more disastrous stage.

The film has an interesting concept but it’s problem is it really struggles to get this across and it’s very difficult to see where they are trying to go with the story. Although clearly it is trying to ask who is being the more humane... the humans or the new breed of zombies?

It also has the usual horror film problem of people doing nonsensical things and getting themselves killed. In this case, a soldier laying down his arms, his armour and his radio. Oops.

It’s not a bad film but I think it could clearly have been better. It’s also best avoided by cat and dog lovers.

We have a drink in the Lord Roberts before, then a Supreme and pizza 1n Broadway afterwards. Then we head to the Peacock where yet again the OP isn’t very fresh and I think it’s about time to give up on that place. The Golden Fleece isn’t even open which is a shame, so we end up at the Poacher. The Salem Porter doesn’t seem that fresh either but Sherwood Reserve is in good shape.

Both of L’s sister’s kids moved are now at University in Nottingham. Somehow, accidentally, they ended up not only in the same city but at the same Uni and in the same accommodation block. We don’t see either of them staggering around Nottingham drunk tonight but then it was a Sunday.

(Sunday 2^nd October)