Bath

I began to wish I had dressed more appropriately as we approached the county of Somerset, South,West England in the slushing of rain. I was expecting it to be a miserable August afternoon spent cowering for shelter inside a museum, merely glimpsing exterior architecture whilst wading between various venues of interest. I had to remind myself that this was just a characteristic of our wonderful country and that I should accept it and enjoy it in all its glory. In doing so I think I stopped the rain.  As we arrived in Bath it became pleasantly sunny. The streets were lined with exquisite Georgian townhouses, the back drop of many a period drama. I was awestruck by its classical beauty, humbled by its charm and immersed in its history.

 We were famished after our two and a half hour drive and so before our tour we embarked on finding somewhere for a quick bite to eat. Typical 21^st Century chains would be obscenely unfitting in the surroundings yet we did manage to find a Subway near a Tesco and I even saw a McDonalds poster.  These things were obviously placed in a rather modern area. Everywhere else was unspoilt. Chain stores and shops were uniformly subtle in there appearance.

Our first stop was the Historical Roman Baths. I could literally spend hours absorbing the ancient structures and imagining myself standing there 2000 years ago trying to build up a picture of what life would have been like. The video and audio presentations really helped to conjure that up for me as it took us on the journey not only of the Roman times but also the discovery to the reconstruction of the baths. There were the statues of many famous Romans such as Emperors Julius Caesar , Hadrian and Claudius. Images of Gods.  I felt that the baths took us on a journey through time of the ordinary people. For example, the people traditionally had curses engraved onto fine lead to throw to the gods for consideration and when these were discovered and translated they were found to be quite petty and mundane. They would wish ill health on someone who nicked there clothes or the equivalent of a couple of quid.  Cultural traditions and different faiths were practiced in the Roman baths. Religion played very big part in those times. It all felt very familiar to me, the whole human civilization. I wondered if some day in thousands of years time, they might dig up Brent Cross Shopping Centre in the North of London, the first of many indoor shopping malls built in 1976. They might reconstruct the fountain and the rusty old escalators and talk about people through the ages from the 20^th century.

The  green water.

The loud steaming water of a Roman drain.

The Golden Head of Sulis Minerva

The Roman Baths is an absolute must for anyone visiting the city no matter how enthralled or not you are by history. The ancient artifacts, the modern visual re-enactments displayed on video screens make for a great experience.  The hot mineral water bursting from the ground eventually tamed by the Romans had always been considered to be a gift from the gods. Now it is lime green with Algae. We were not supposed to touch it because it was untreated but curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to be sure it was hot, I wasn’t taking anyone’s word for it and I could wash my hands after.  

Over priced Rugby shirts

After walking around the delightful City, it was time to go to the Jane Austen Centre. It wasn’t a huge building with a lot to see but an absolutely marvellous experience for a literature buff.  Her life and the history of her family  was passionately presented by a Jane Austen adoring fan dressed up as Kitty Bennet from the famous novel Pride and Prejudice. Then we toured the building 40 Gay street which is similar to No 25 Gay street where Jane Austen lived for a short time. 

During my visit to Bath I tried to imagine what it might have been like with out the intrusive sound and presence of traffic. I was able to see it so clearly in a visual presentation of Jane Austen’s life in Bath set to an enchanting clarinet concerto by Mozart.  

As you can see, we were able to dress in costume.

When I held the quill I encountered romantic notions of living in Bath and becoming an author.

The Royal Crescent Designed by the architect John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom and is a Grade I listed building.^[   It has been used as a film location for many things but the most memorable one for me was The musical Oliver made in 1968 based on Charles Dicken’s Novel  Oliver Twist. The scene was for the song “Who will buy”  It was a beautifully choreographed, colourful scene. I grew up being a huge fan of that musical as I would play back the sound track on vinyl over and over. I adored Mark Lester who played Oliver, was fascinated with Ron Moody’s portrayal of Fagan and petrified of Oliver Reed’s Bill Sykes.

I fell in love with Bath. It’s a truly inspiring place which I will return to again and again. I am intrigued to learn more about the Roman Empire from where I left off at school and now keen to follow up other old haunts of Jane Austen. Next stop Chawton and Winchester.

www.romanbaths.co.uk

www.janeausten.co.uk

Jupiter Ascending

Written and directed by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski from the makers of The Matrix Trilogy, this charming story of Jupiter Jones, (Mila Kunis) a young girl born under the night sky destined for greater things. 

She grows up in the family business as a chamber maid and is seen to be cleaning and fixing toilets until one day a fine looking creature from outer space Cain Wise (Channing Tatum), genetically engineered military server comes to earth to seek her out. His indestructible spirit is on a mission to protect and transport the lady to her greater destiny which is on another planet in another galaxy.

Unbeknown to our planet and many others, we had been seeded by alien royalty and are under the rule of the Abrasax Dynnasty of which  Kaleque (Tuppence Middleton), Titus (Douglass Boothe) and Balem (Eddie Redmayne)  are  Aires. Planet earth is about to be harvested in order to give these rulers eternal youth.

Where does Jupiter come into this? Well as it turns out, she is the most perfect molecular  reincarnation of the parent of this dynasty and she actually owns earth. This girl has power in her hands she never even knew about.

Kalque, Titus and Balem were her children in a past life and each one is more corrupt and greedy than the next. The cause is down to the commodity known as  time and it's eternal youth is only obtainable by the death of human beings.

This story has a certain amount of romance aimed at the teenage soul. As usual, amazing effects which are becoming less impressive the more we see.  There was a little too much action which became tedious.The acting was  excellent and in my opinion, the story was  good.

I don’t see this film having a sequel but it probably will. Some things are best left alone.

Ex Machina

Man’s fascination to become a creator of life has been expressed through fiction over the ages in the likes of Frankenstein. However when it comes to making the sexuality of the artificial life female, man never ceases to aim for physical perfection.

Written and Directed by Alex Garland,this film is a calming masterpiece with few characters and not much action. It is pure storytelling through characters and script.

Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb, a young man who works for the biggest search engine in the world, has won a competition within his company to spend time with a top CEO in his secluded home in the mountains.

It is top secret and he is dropped into the middle of nowhere by helicopter and given instructions on how to find the rest of the way on foot.

The multi billionaire Nathan played by Oscar Isaac is extremely intelligent and it is no coincidence that the chosen winner is this boy. He has actually been hand picked using data from his browsing history.

Nathan is a man of extremes. He appears to be a bit of an alcoholic by night and a fitness freak by day. He has spent much of his time alone and this in itself has given rise to such eccentricities. In any case, it’s a new angle of mad scientist and a far more realistic approach than the classic freaky haired white coated professor.

His creation is a Ava played by Alicia Vikander,  a beautiful robot girl with a sorrowful demeanor. Caleb has been instructed to carry out the Turing test. To find out if the machine can exhibit intelligent behavior and can learn emotions.

Ava gently flirts with Caleb and is able to stir emotions in him.

The film leaves you with many thoughts about many future possibilities of artificial intelligence. Well worth seeing. 

Into The Woods

This film was an adaptation of a musical and well known story about lots of other stories. That’s originality out the window for a start.

On a positive note, it was pleasing to the artistic eye, richly painted with both colour and darkness with good use of scenery and costume. Portraying a tragic tale in monotonous, repetitive rhyme,

It was an impressive ability of all the cast to sing such unmelodious and unmemorable songs.

Particularly the very young and talented Daniel Huttlestone (previously in Les Miserables ) born September 17 1999.  Originating from Essex, this boy sang with a strong accent, characteristic of Dickens’s London and suggesting his station in life. Tracey Ullman played his mother.

The film was heavily laden with very big names but with so many characters it was hard to decipher whose story it was.  

Meryl Streep’s amazing ability was put to great use in this film with her spell binding wrath.

 Jonny Dept’s Wolf character was cringe worthy as it bordered on paedophilia.  If he had been a real wolf he may have got away with it but not as a man dressed up as a wolf. The words that spilled from his mouth as he pursued the little girl in a red cape were inappropriate, as was the sinister way he played the role.

Halfway through the film we hit a conclusion and I would’ve been happy to leave it there but then a strange turn of events took us down another path and the film carried on.  In a world of so many distractions who could carry on concentrating on this.

I left the Cinema not understanding whether or not this was for adults or children. I came to the conclusion that it’s one of those artistic pieces you dare not criticize or you will be found out to lack culture.

The film had some good moments, namely Meryl Streep, but all in all it was drawn out for too long.

Mojo Dollar

If you love sixties music, this band is for you in fact even if you don't like sixties music, this talented bunch of musicians will convert you because they were absolutely brilliant. I went to see them play at the Old House at Home in Locksway road, Portsmouth on Saturday night and was blown away.

This five piece band played Mod, Beat, Blues,Motown and party stuff. They revive the sounds of the all time greats like the Who, The Stones, The Beatles and many more.

At the back of the pub if you're small like I am you couldn't see them but small people can inch their way to the front easily as I did. However, the music alone got people of all ages bopping around.

The drummer was completely insane and quite mesmerizing to watch.

The band has already got an enormous following of all ages. It's amazing how passionately they play the music of fifty years ago and make it sound totally trendy.

A great night out.

The Theory of Everything.

Written by Jane Hawking directed by James Marsh. It opens in 1963 at Cambridge university.

The story of Professor Steven Hawking who was authentically portrayed by Eddie Redmayne. It doesn't matter if you are not interested in science as there were hardly any equations at all in the film. It's a story of love, perseverance and the gift of life. It explores commitment and loyalty within the binds of a tragedy. A brilliant mind determined to explore and share his theory of time against all odds.

Eddie Redmayne was absolutely brilliant, so much so  that I could almost believe he actually was Steven Hawking. His sparkly eyes and smile shone through behind the progressively dying body.

Jane (Felicity Jones) cared for him and their three children on her own for many years but cracks began to show as time went on. She joined a choir and became friendly with a man named Jonathan who becomes very close to the family offering help and support.

There were bursts of nostalgia in the background of this film with genuine representations of the era such as furnishings, costumes or cars. For me there were moments of “I remember those” or “My aunt had that T-Set” throughout the production.

Mostly though, it was very emotional. This atheist physicist married to a church going girl who never gave god any leeway some how surpassed this illness miraculously.

A dramatic, thought provoking, tear jerker and best film so far this year.

Elf The musical

Last year I saw this in Dublin and this Christmas it will be at the Dominion Theatre in London well worth seeing.

December can be a stressful time of year for some and this show will make you sit back and forget who you are for a couple of hours. I thoroughly recommend it.

Broadway musical based on the film of the same name, it's the story of Buddy the Elf and it makes me want to burst into song as I write. The film is up there with all the classic Christmas movies and I watch it every year, so it makes complete sense that it should be made into a musical. This fabulous comedy production was put together by Morgan young (Director and Choreographer) and Michael Rose (Producer) at Plymouth's Theatre Royal and The Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin up until January 10^th 2015. 

It opens with Santa,( Mark McKerracher) narrating the story.Buddy was human but raised in The North Pole by the elves at Santa's work shop. Innocent and full of Christmas cheer, Buddy goes to New York City in search of his real father who just so happens to be on Santa's naughty list. He is misunderstood in this cruel city which lacks Christmas spirit. It's a very funny tale for all ages. Although it's essentially a Festive show, it had all the lustre of a long running west end production.

The Bord Gais Energy Theatre is an astounding work of modern art. I felt as though I had set foot in the future. It has given Dublin's Docklands a reason to celebrate as people flock to see shows in a once business only zone. Restaurants and bars now bustle with people. With comfy seating and plenty of leg room it was the ideal place to show Elf.

bordgaisenergytheatre

The set design and special effects were awe inspiring and the changes were slick. These included the North Pole, Santa's workshop, interior and exterior of the Empire State Building, Macy's and so much more. Costumes were lavish and colourful.

Graham Lappin (Stressed Store manager)

 The make up artists and wig department worked wonders transforming the characters, in particular the manager of Macy's toy department, Graham Lappin. With superb choreography and even ice skating, it was magical to watch. The whole production moved seamlessly from scene to scene.

The music and songs were really catchy I'm still humming them to myself now. The cast and ensemble were dynamic. This was after all, the last show of the season. Multi talented Ben Forster played Buddy with such exuberance it was contagious.

Ben Forster with Santa Mark McKerracher.

 Stunning Aoibhinn McGinty played Jovie  (The girl he falls in love with.)

Aoibhinn Mc Ginty

 Joe McGann played Walter Hobbs the workaholic father teamed up with Jessica Martin as his wife Emily bringing a wealth of experience to the production.. 

Joe McGann 

Jessica Martin

Several young boys played the part of Michael Hobbs, Buddy's little brother. The boy I saw was extremely talented at only ten years old he had a beautiful singing voice.

Michael and Buddy

There was some magical moments especially at the end of the show which I can't give away as the success of this tour means it should be going to the West End next Christmas. Ok Santa needed a stunt double (Paul Hutton) and that's all I'm going to say.

I overheard some people in the foyer saying that they would go to this show at any time of the year and I agree. I'll be booking my tickets for next year as soon as they are available.

You can't see in this photo but they have ice skates on.