September 2020 chit chat

Wheeeeeere is everyone???? It's September already! There's possibly a new Clooney film being released online soon. Why so silent?????!

Think I may have overdone the caffeine today.

Just sneaked in to see if there's any news here - and you've been so busy! Thank you so much for all your hard work here  

Abyway, I'm off to go to bed now

Ah well, I guess once again I'm alone here.  Wondering where all the George Clooney fans are?

Hey, has anyone seen Tenet?  I went to the cinema last week (thought that it being a Nolan film, it'd be better to watch it on the big screen).

Thought about it, Katie, but all the small picture houses in London get booked up so quickly

becos of the limited number of seats and it's THE film to see at the moment.


What was the experience - film and cinema trip - like in these dodgy times?


(Actually going to a drive-in version later this weekend)

The experience was pretty much same as normal.  I decided to go to an afternoon showing, on the assumption that there'd be fewer people there, and indeed there were only about 25 of us in the whole place.

The weird bit is that to be honest, I forgot all about covid 19, so went and bought my popcorn and drink, then sat in the cinema with my mask on, wondering how the hell I'm supposed to eat and drink!  Next time, I'll skip the concession stand as I feel bad for eating (with my fingers of course), after having been on a bus and gone shopping - even having used sanitiser I thought it wasn't my smartest move.

Drive in sounds great. What are you going to see?

The film itself? Hmmm, bloody loud!  But weirdly, the sound is muffled, so it's really hard to hear what they're saying.  I think the film's premise, with time-travel and what have you is reasonably straightforward to follow, but not being able to understand more than half of the dialogue is what makes it really confusing.  I'm assuming that with all the beset sound technology available to him, that this was Nolan's choice to make the speech muffled.  Not sure why.  Perhaps he was scared that if the audience could hear what the actors were saying, nobody would be baffled by the plot and leave the cinema saying how clever he is?

This speech thing seems to be all the rage with directors - I'm guessing dystopian tones (it's

all Margaret Atwood's fault!). But a lot of recent and brilliant plays on the BBC etc have been critiqued as

ruined because not only are they dark, but the audience can't figure out through the dark

what some of the actors are saying!.

Kind of defeats the object.

I am going to drive to Alexandra Palace, a Georgian pile that overlooks London (and has a terrace

for drinks! Bit chilly tho.) to see Knives Out - has a HUGE cast - and it looks as tho the owners of the house have set

themselves up nicely to make some money during COVID

This young man!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGYaDEs-K3I

Amazing speech......

You're lucky you have the option of seeing a film. Theaters here are still closed,There are a few drive-ins in the area, but they're hard to get into and, from what I've seen, they're showing old movies I've already seen.

Are drive-ins common in the UK, or is it just a covid related thing? There's no novelty in them for me since we used to go all the time when I was a kid in Pennsylvania.

(Quick aside: Has something changed with COH? I haven't been getting notices of new comments like I used to.)

party animal - not! wrote:This speech thing seems to be all the rage with directors

 Oh, rather like the vogue for handheld camera to evoke immediacy and a sense of being part of the action to drive up excitement in the audience, when all it achieves is to leave the audience feeling sea-sick?  (Ok, this member of the audience. Have often contemplated bringing dramamine to the cinema with me)

party animal - not! wrote:I am going to drive to Alexandra Palace, a Georgian pile that overlooks London (and has a terrace
for drinks! Bit chilly tho.) to see Knives Out - has a HUGE cast - and it looks as tho the owners of the house have set themselves up nicely to make some money during COVID

Oh boy - I saw that pre-lockdown.  Really quite disappointed.  Interested to read what you thought of it.  

LizzyNY wrote:(Quick aside: Has something changed with COH? I haven't been getting notices of new comments like I used to.)

 Nothing I've done, but sometimes the site developers change things around.  Maybe have a look at your own profile and see if there's a setting in there that could be changed?[/quote]

Thanks. I think it might be something my end. Trying to sort it out.

PAN - I'd like to know what you think of "Knives Out", too. I haven;t seen it but have heard a bit about it.

Wow, nobody had anything to chat about in almost three weeks??

I'll go, then: I think it's time to start taking socks seriously again now that the weather has become decidedly autumnal. Sigh. I miss my summer sandals.

Me too...

Sorry. Not sock weather here yet. It's nice and warm and right now the sun is shining. I think we might have another couple of weeks of Indian summer before it starts to get really cool.

Envy....

'Knives Out', for anybody who still might be interested - reporting far too late. Apologies

Well, it's different - and clever in its way - and not at all like a Marvel film. A bit Agatha

Christie (huge house, multiple characters, intriguing murder, dark halls in huge pile etc)and

massive cast and plot). Seems to have got several award nominations. Possibly just the thing

to watch in a lockdown..........

I guess it's a possibility if we ever get our theaters open again . Right now it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon. For the last few weeks YouTube has been saving my sanity. For some reason I can't get into any of the stuff on the streaming services - even though I'm paying for a couple of them - but I can spend forever trolling YouTube! Go figure. 

Speaking of which - you guys have the best tv shows ever! I wish we could import them all instead of adapting (and usually ruining) them. Just discovered "QI" with Steven Fry hosting. Brilliant! And  there's just so much great stuff online for theater nerds! "Shows Must Go On" is back with "Fame" last night, a Michael Ball concert on Oct. 2 and an Alfie Boe concert on Oct. 9. And there was a "Hairspray" number on Britain's Got Talent last night. Happy, happy camper here!

I'm glad that you can get to see all this stuff, Lizzy! One of the biggest advantages of the BBC

programmes like QI is no ads!

And they're funny as hell! We're such prudes over here something like QI or 8 Out of 10 Cats would never get on the air (Well, maybe late at night on some cable station). God bless YouTube! Without it I'd never get to see any of the stuff I watch.

Oh, I loved QI (haven't watched it in ages).  My fave podcast is 'There's no such thing as a fish' which is made by the researchers for QI and funny as hell.  Often listen to it in bed when I can't be bothered to read.

So, did you like Knives Out, PAN?  I went to see it when it came out before the pandemic and found it a bit . . . odd.  Couldn't get over Daniel Craig's accent.  I know he was trying to do something southern, but to my English ears, it just sounded really odd.

Thanks, Katie. Now I have something new to look out for. Coincidence: I just saw the "There's no such thing as a fish" episode of QI a couple of days ago on YouTube. So funny!

Still haven't seen "Knives Out", but I know what you mean about accents. If something about an actor's accent seems a little "off" I find it very distracting. I do sympathize with American actors trying to do a "British" accent because there seem to be so many, where the "American" accent is much more universal here - maybe 3 or 4 regional accents - but none of them is as distinctive as yours seem to be.

Here you go, Lizzy. For my money, the best podcast there is: https://www.nosuchthingasafish.com/

Thanks! I just wish they were on YouTube, because Google charges $.99 minimum per episode and $9.99 for full seasons. Sigh! Nothing's free in this world. WTH, I'm already paying for multiple streaming services so what's one more.

That's odd - the podcast is free on iTunes. You can also listen for free on their website, although I get that that mightn't be the most practical way of listening.

party animal - not! wrote:'Knives Out', for anybody who still might be interested - reporting far too late. Apologies

Well, it's different - and clever in its way - and not at all like a Marvel film. A bit Agatha

Christie (huge house, multiple characters, intriguing murder, dark halls in huge pile etc)and

massive cast and plot). Seems to have got several award nominations. Possibly just the thing

to watch in a lockdown..........

PAN,  from your post can’t tell if you really liked it or not.  I almost watched it this past weekend but picked something else.  Katie said it was ‘odd’.  You say clever.  Is it worth the time?

I’m going through my third go round of ‘Mad Men’.  One of my favorites.  I’ve never watched ‘The Americans’ so think that one is next on my list.

I just realized I haven't heard from Joanna since March. I tried emaililng her but the email didn't go through (mailbox not available) and she hasn't answered when I pmd her (which I just did again on the off chance she'll answer). Has anyone heard from her? I'm really concerned.

Lizzy - she was last online here on 1st August, which is quite some time ago now. Oh dear. Don't have a good feeling about this.

Katie - Neither do I. I'm not sure how, but I'm going to try and find out if she's alright. Meanwhile, fingers crossed and I'm praying for her.

party animal - not! wrote:'Knives Out', for anybody who still might be interested - reporting far too late. Apologies

Well, it's different - and clever in its way - and not at all like a Marvel film. A bit Agatha

Christie (huge house, multiple characters, intriguing murder, dark halls in huge pile etc)and

massive cast and plot). Seems to have got several award nominations. Possibly just the thing

to watch in a lockdown..........

Filmed in the great state of Massachusetts.  Got to see a bit being made, but no star sightings up close

Admin wrote:Ah well, I guess once again I'm alone here.  Wondering where all the George Clooney fans are?

Buying socks  



Wonder if Amal wears designer cashmere socks, or winter wool??

'Knives Out' was formulaic but fast-paced and engaging, I thought. Fun, entertaining. Not accolade-worthy, though.

PigPen wrote:Wonder if Amal wears designer cashmere socks, or winter wool??

Nothing but silk would fit into stilettos

I think cashmere but then I don't like wool.

Ugh, flat-pack furniture. Someone make me put my dining table and chairs together, please!

Try a glass of wine (or two if necessary) before you tackle your table and chairs Katie.  Cheers!

Thanks Way2 for your take on ‘Knives Out’.  So a bit clever, odd and engaging.   Sounds like it’s worth a look.

I too hope Joanna is ok.  She has the most lovely spirit and it shows in her posts. She’s really missed here.