Tate Modern and Up reviews
Oct. 18th, 2009 08:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearFinding myself at a loose end on the South Bank on Friday afternoon, I wandered into the Tate Modern and rediscovered that I really don't understand modern art.
The exhibits ranged from very occasionally quite cool, through incomprehensible, to downright disturbing, and I'm sure most people took more than half an hour to get round them all. The most memorable, however, was also the most pointless (in my view) - the empty shipping container in the Turbine Hall, which was supposed to be about "confronting the void" (by walking into an almost completely dark space). To me, it was more like experiencing the zombie apocalypse, as the pale faces of the other viewers kept emerging gradually out of the darkness, and the uncertainty with which everyone moved made them look like the shambling undead.
Last night, Dave and I went to Finchley Lido to see Up in 3D. I presented my Empire Movie Club card, as per usual, but this time ended up having to speak to a manager about it, who initially said they don't accept them. When I pointed out that they'd let me in for free with the card a couple of weeks prior, she allowed this again but said she would be checking to see what the official ruling is so they will know for next time. I've actually just done a Google search and discovered a forum thread about this very issues, which came to the conclusion that the deal between Empire and Vue cinemas came to an end in May 2006 - oops! My honesty sensors are telling me I should stop trying to use the card now - damn brain!
Still, the film itself was really good. I wasn't blown away by the 3D experience, which didn't quite mesh for me (wearing the 3D glasses over my normal glasses) and gave me a bit of a headache by the end, so I think I'll be sticking to 2D showings for the time being. However, the combination of very adult and poignant themes of ageing and loss, with wacky kids adventure excitement was just bizarre enough to work really well. I laughed, I cried - all round, it was a great cinema experience. And the talking dogs, in particular, were brilliant. I also really liked the short film that preceded the main feature, in which an entire mythology was created in the space of a minute, and a very entertaining story was told without any dialogue. Pixar rule!
The exhibits ranged from very occasionally quite cool, through incomprehensible, to downright disturbing, and I'm sure most people took more than half an hour to get round them all. The most memorable, however, was also the most pointless (in my view) - the empty shipping container in the Turbine Hall, which was supposed to be about "confronting the void" (by walking into an almost completely dark space). To me, it was more like experiencing the zombie apocalypse, as the pale faces of the other viewers kept emerging gradually out of the darkness, and the uncertainty with which everyone moved made them look like the shambling undead.
Last night, Dave and I went to Finchley Lido to see Up in 3D. I presented my Empire Movie Club card, as per usual, but this time ended up having to speak to a manager about it, who initially said they don't accept them. When I pointed out that they'd let me in for free with the card a couple of weeks prior, she allowed this again but said she would be checking to see what the official ruling is so they will know for next time. I've actually just done a Google search and discovered a forum thread about this very issues, which came to the conclusion that the deal between Empire and Vue cinemas came to an end in May 2006 - oops! My honesty sensors are telling me I should stop trying to use the card now - damn brain!
Still, the film itself was really good. I wasn't blown away by the 3D experience, which didn't quite mesh for me (wearing the 3D glasses over my normal glasses) and gave me a bit of a headache by the end, so I think I'll be sticking to 2D showings for the time being. However, the combination of very adult and poignant themes of ageing and loss, with wacky kids adventure excitement was just bizarre enough to work really well. I laughed, I cried - all round, it was a great cinema experience. And the talking dogs, in particular, were brilliant. I also really liked the short film that preceded the main feature, in which an entire mythology was created in the space of a minute, and a very entertaining story was told without any dialogue. Pixar rule!
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-18 09:14 am (UTC)Amen to that. I particularly love the shorts. I was at a conference earlier this year where someoone showed one I'd never seen before (the one with the trainee alien abductor, if you know it), and it was probably the best bit of the entire day.
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Date: 2009-10-18 10:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-18 02:02 pm (UTC)The only modern 3D film (i.e. not 80s Jaws3D style rubbish) I've seen is Coraline and, ignoring the irritation with the glasses, it was incredibly effective. I wasn't expecting to be impressed, but I really was.
And now I need to see the trainee alien abductor film :)