Film review – Pride

Hi everyone!

I went to see Pride at the cinema a couple of months ago and was completely blown away. It is such a beautiful film – heartwarming, funny, and really inspiring.

Admittedly, when I read reviews talking of how it is “a film for everyone” and “enjoyable for all ages” prior to seeing it, I was a little skeptical. It seems to me that many films “for everyone” are just about tolerable to all age groups, but appealing to none, however Pride could not have been more different. I initially saw it with my parents who loved it, and then dragged my initially reluctant friends along to see it with me who all left the cinema talking about it and did not stop for the best part of the week!

“Pride” tells a true story set in 1984 of gay activists helping Welsh minors during the strikes, and they keep it truthful,  even down to the characters which are based directly on the real people involved. It does not get overly sentimental at any points however, instead keeping the feeling of optimism throughout.

This film went straight into my top 5 despite the genre not being my normal choice, so if you get the chance, watch this film. It is brilliant and I honestly cannot fault it:  Matthew Warchus’ directing, Stephen Beresford’s writing, and the entire cast’s acting – all incredible. 

For the first time in years, I witnessed the whole audience at my small local cinema applaud at the end of this film. Pride undoubtedly deserves all the good reviews it has received – the best film I have seen this year.

July favourites – Music (CD) – Tim Minchin And The Heritage Orchestra – by Tim Minchin

Most musical artists would probably struggle to adapt their songs as well as write brand new ones to fit an orchestra, but Tim Minchin certainly manages it. The sound of his witty lyrics accompanied with not only his usual incredible piano playing , but also with the entire Heritage Orchestra is astonishing.

As long as you ignore the occasional fangirl shrieking “I LOVE YOU TIM,” the recording being from live at a live concert also hugely adds to the CD . Hearing the audience react to his jokes and word play makes it even funnier, as well as highlight  the humour you may have previously missed.

Minchin’s songs address controversial issues from a controversial point of view, but he knows this and always manages to steer  his songs out of the “horrifically offensive” bracket to make it laughable; that’s not to say that no one is angered by his music, however.

His extraordinary view on different issues working together with and amazing sense of humour, incredible piano playing skills, and such a talented orchestra, to me, forms the perfect combination, and results in one of my favourite CDs.

Below I have linked “Rock N Roll Nerd”…enjoy!

July favourites – TV show – “Friday Night Dinner” – created by Robert Popper

“Friday night dinner” is hilarious. Whether it is the ingenious writing, the comical acting of the characters, or the uniqueness of every week’s plot line, I am left with tears of laughter running down my cheeks every week.

I have always been surprised by how little recognition this sit-com has got – if the brilliance of the whole program  hadn’t gained the attention of most, I expected the famous faces within it to attract more viewers: Simon Bird (well known to play “Will” from “The Inbetweeners”); Tamsin Greig (known to have played “Maggie” in “Shaun of the Dead” or ” Beverly Lincoln” from “episodes”); and Mark Heap (who played the character “Dr. Alan Statham” in “Green Wing”).

Like many sit-coms, each episode follows a fairly similar structure: it is Friday night, and the two, now adult,  sons of the family  return to their childhood home to have dinner with their parents; except their evening never quite goes to plan.

The comedy of the show (similarly to “Peep Show” or “The inbetweeners”, both of which writer Robber Popper has been involved with) is based primarily on the characters finding themselves in various awkward situations. “Friday Night Dinner” is more family friendly than these shows, and so has substituted some more adult humour for ridiculous and unlikely situations – something which a few other critics seem to dislike but I find endlessly amusing.

The third series has been shown throughout July, putting it in my favourites, however I do think that the occasional episode did not live up to my high expectations created from the previous two series, so if you do decide to watch this show (and you definitely should) then start from episode 1 – they’re all on 4oD!