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Wine time: The Frogs - Southwark Playhouse

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For a show called The Frogs, there isn’t much amphibian activity in the piece. But being a show with music by Stephen Sondheim, you could be mistaken for thinking it’s a critical theatrical piece. But like Sondheim’s final musical playing at the National Theatre, while it may not be a musical that fills you with provocative thoughts, it’s a fast-paced romp through hell and back to save the world for the sake of arts. With rousing choruses, thrilling choreography and plenty of cheap laughs, what more can you want from the theatre? It’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse (Borough) . There isn’t much to the plot, except that Dionysus (Dan Buckley), disillusioned by the state of a divided world, and his sidekick and slave, Xanthias (Kevin McHale), cross the river Styx to the underworld to find a great writer who they can return to the world to teach the world about life. He has his mind set on bringing back George Bernard Shaw until he hears the poetry of Shakespeare.  This v...

Movies: No Country For Old Men


no_country_for_old_men, originally uploaded by Sky-Hunter.

My friend Adam decided to see No Country For Old Men without me saying that watching it me would be an awful experience as I would be gasping for air and yelling out "fuck" all the time in the theatre. Well I really do get carried away with what gets put up on the big screen so I couldn't blame him. So instead I caught the film with Mandy, who doesn't mind my quirks in the theatre as much as she likes to munch on the noisiest snacks you can buy at the candy bar. Tonight it was chilli flavoured rice snacks.

Anyway, both of us had long stressful days so nothing like an intensive taught thriller about a sociopath with a cattlegun to ease your nerves... Half way through the film Mandy hissed at me to be quiet because my deep breathing was disturbing her. Mind you, she had pulled her sweater almost over her head to avoid some scenes. It wasn't that it was particularly gruesome... But it was a particularly intense night out at the movies.

By the end of it we couldn't work out what the hell had happened. But I was somewhat relieved to find that I am not alone. Actually I was confused at many parts of the film. Following the plot of a movie isn't one of my strong points and I kept getting distracted by all sorts of things including wondering what was the motivation was behind Josh Brolin's moustache. Still this is a brilliant film that had Mandy and I re-enacting the "heads or tails" scenes on our way to the bar which went something like this:
Paul: Call it! Heads or tails bitch!
Mandy: No you're gonna make the decision anyway!
Paul: Oh whatever now do you Merlot or Pinot Grigio?
Bar lady: Well actually we're out of Merlot...
Well that's fate and chance for you...

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