...I was having a swell Saturday evening. First there was the first official celebration of the centenary for the absolution of the Swedish-Norwegian union ("hooray! and good riddance" being the general mood, har har) - they'd staged a huge show at the Drammen Teater, "they" being mostly people from that theatre I'm going to own one day, and I think it was a success. A couple of minor mistakes, most of which weren't really noticeable unless you were biting your nails and gnarling on your knuckles like I was, terrified something would go horribly wrong during the live, two-hour transmission. I was giggling about the number of Swedish performers portraying Norwegians, but apart from that I think they'd got the spirit of it all. Lots of flags; the way it should be during such a tremendous celebration. They'd mustered up quite a few talented and experienced actors, and I have to say that Hans Marius Hoff Mittet is becoming more and more impressive. If he goes on like this, he will end up being one of our most beloved stage performers; he just has to keep working hard. Never liked Mari Maurstad much, but she's rather good on stage and that's what matters. Jon Eikemo became a very annoying man some years ago but he's good to have around for those intricate "new Norwegian" lines. Sven Nordin (curiously Swedish name he's got there) is always a big presence whenever he enters a stage, and Linn Skåber is great at comedy (should be seeing her in more straight roles soon, there's a goldmine just waiting to be found, I'm sure) and Dennis Storhøi...well, he's Dennis Storhøi, isn't he? (That's rhetorical, by the way, or we'll enter a very long and philosophical discussion.)

Another great event of the evening was Gaygalan (The Gay Awards) on Swedish telly. Great music, and the host, Sissela Kyle, was terrific. She had so many costume changes it nearly put Charles Ludlam's The Mystery of Irma Vep in the shadows. And such funny lines and sketches. As it is in Heaven, the Swedish (and only Scandinavian, therefore also "our") nominee for an Academy Award in a few weeks' time, won over Monster and La mála educación in the category "Best film of the year", and now I'm intrigued. Is it really that good? Has it already been shown over here, or may I expect it to arrive anytime soon?

The greatest thing happening during the awards, though, was when Caroline Krook, the Bishop of Stockholm, won for "Hetero of the year", went up there, received the prize and - get this - said "Jag känner att kyrkan har en väldigt, väldigt stor skuld att betala av på, till er"/"I think that the church owes you a great, great deal". Standing ovations, and well-deserved, too. We've got a couple of those "gay-friendly" bishops as well (I think three out of nine), and they've done quite a lot but there's a long, long way to go, and not just for gays, but for the Sami/Lapps, the gypsies, the divorcees, and - if we go far enough back in time - those labeled "witches". And that's just in this country. I haven't even started with the missionaries, all the other aboriginal peoples around the world, the crusades... There's so much hatred within that religion it should be tried before the Human Rights Court.

My evening ended on a happy note, finally getting to see Richard Roxburgh as Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles. I managed to miss the entire run of the same film when it was shown repeatedly on some movie channel I used to subscribe to, so this was a nice surprise. The film was quite good, too; Ian Hart was brilliant as Dr Watson.

This weekend I have also managed to watch Mrs Doubtfire (for the umpteenth time), Memphis Belle and Home, the latter being a very disturbing story of a man, played by the magnificent Antony Sher, who locks himself into his house "as a project" and stays there for many weeks, first living off the food that was already present, then looking elsewhere for sustenance. We follow his journey into insanity (or, actually, perhaps that's where it all started) through his own video diary. It's already a classic in my opinion.

Hope you had a nice weekend, too!

Current track: Dimmu Borgir - Puritania

Labels: award shows, dennis storhøi, film, history, Norway, richard roxburgh, theatre, TV

I've spent many hours watching superheroes today. It started with (a borrowed) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which was by all means not the worst film I've ever seen, but it's not going to be among my favourites. It helped that Richard Roxburgh was in it. Unfortunately so was Sean Connery which sort of drags is back down, sorry to say. I then put on X-Men, followed by X-Men 2 (naturally.) They're both good films and I find myself shouting Wolverine! quite a lot during those films, even though I'm not particularly fond of neither him nor Hugh Jackman. I guess it's his coolness that gets to me. :-) At the same time, my favourite must be Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler - I think Alan Cumming is acting very well in X2. I finished the superhero evening by watching Spider-Man, which I think is fun and action-packed and I like the CGI a lot. Looking forward to the sequel which should arrive soon, especially since Alfred Molina is in it (albeit as a rather disguised person.)

But first, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on Wednesday. Go Snape! [cue evil laugh]

Current track: Aled Jones - Walking in the Air

Labels: alfred molina, film, richard roxburgh

This has always been a very special date to me. A mix of events, I suppose. It's the birthday of Michael Palin, the man who indirectly made me an anglophile. Three years later, in 1992, I became a fan of William Hurt's on this date. A year ago, just past midnight so technically May the fifth, I met Philip Quast for the first time. Not "met" as in "how are you," more like "gnnhyh...uhmm...err..." But still. He was there, so was I, that's all that counts. :-) He'd just given me goosebumps from singing "Stars" from Les Misérables (I don't care what you may think; I still think he's the ultimate Javert) AND I'd just heard Tommy Körberg doing "Anthem" from Chess - basically, I was in heaven. So May 5 is a special date to me. I was hoping today was going to be another May 5 to remember, but alas. We went to see Van Helsing (which I believe was the world premiére) and it was an ok film, elevated because of Richard Roxburgh and Huge Jackson Hugh Jackman (and Alun Armstrong, but he wasn't in it for long). The comic relief of the film was David Wenham as a monk friar, although we suspected the whole film to be a farce at one point. Sadly, it wasn't. If it had been, I'd've given it a better rating at IMDb. ;-) Anyway, the actors were doing their best and the special effects weren't half bad; some of them were even outright brilliant, but the ones that were crap ruined the film for me. Oh, and did I mention the story was a wee bit weak? *rolls her eyes* Oh well, I soon learned to sit still and get into the film, so it was quite entertaining for a long while. Definitely not the worst film I've ever seen, but they could have done better, for instance by editing it down another twenty minutes or so.

Apart from that, work is a near-hell-experience these days and has been for months now, coincidentally starting at around the same time my boss finally lost it completely. I swear I'm not lying when I tell you he's in need of some serious therapy. And a shower. But there's no hope. I'm amazed I've lasted this long. I think about quitting three times a week but I haven't done it yet. I bet you he doesn't think I will. He'll have a heart attack when I eventually do. I'm hanging in there, though. No choice, unfortunately; I've got a mortgage, a student loan, a credit card and several bills to pay. All the while he's sitting there on his millions; he'll probably die of tightfistedness and a lack of friends.

Why I didn't apply and audition for drama school at some point, I don't know. I'm not saying it would have helped me paying the mortgage, far from it, but at least I would have been looking forward to going to work every day (after graduation, naturally).

I'm not in a bad mood, though. Just venting. And WHY do I always end up sitting next to someone who uses snuff when going to the cinema? What did I do wrong to deserve that? For one, it stinks. It looks really, REALLY stupid and they just don't get it. AND it's very damaging to one's health, but of course they're young and nothing bad will ever happen to them and yadiyadiyada. (I'm a reformed smoker, by the way, I know how hard it can be to kick the habit. I also know what a relief it is when you finally do.)

Current track: Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time of My Life

Labels: film, Javert, michael palin, personal, philip quast, richard roxburgh, theatre, william hurt