Books: Hook's Pictorial Edinburgh

I got a lovely present from my grandparents a little while ago.   It was a book of photographs of Edinburgh, called Hood's Pictorial Edinburgh.   They bought on a holiday to Edinburgh during the 30s.   All the photos are from that time, and I love it!   I've always loved old photos of familiar towns, because I find it very interesting to see how they've changed.   It really is a lovely book.   Here are a few photos from it:

Show Reviews: The 39 Steps

I saw this play a little while ago, and loved it!   It was so clever and funny.   It's based on the novel and Hitchcock film of the same title, about the ordinary man, who through a chance encounter, finds himself caught up in an espionage mystery.   What's so entertaining about this play is that's it's done with 4 actors, who play 130 roles between them!   The changes are very slick and well rehearsed and add to a lot of the comedy.   Without such a great cast, it would never have worked.   The sets are very simple, with the actors themselves making them convincing, for example everyone jiggling when they're sitting on benches to represent the train.   The Forth Bridge is just done with ladders and it looks great!   All in all, a very funny show, out on brilliantly, by great actors.  Well worth seeing.

Ballet Reviews: Highland Fling

I went into this one knowing very little about it.   I'm not sure I liked the story.  It's about a young Glaswegian man who becomes obsessed with a fairy he saw while on pills.   In the end his obsession kills him.   Having said that, it was very interesting and very cleverly done.   I've never seen ballet mixed with gritty that way before.   The dancing was really clever too.   Somehow the dancers managed to use ballet to convey drunken stumbling out of bars and crap dancing.   And it really worked.   There was also tartan absolutely everywhere.   Not sure I really liked that either.   We get that it's Scotland, there's no need to ram it down our throats.   Still, a really interesting and clever show.

 

Films

A couple more film reviews for you.   The first is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.   I really enjoyed this.   It's set in India but has a quintessentially British feel to it.   It's about a group of British pensioners who, for various reasons, all decide to go and live in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India.   Each character has their own story, but all the stories are interwoven.   Some of them feel right at home in India and others can't cope.   It stars all the people you would expect it to, like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy.   It's the performances, rather than the story that make the film for me.   Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Celia Imrie were all great, but Dev Patel as Sonny, the eternally optimistic manager of the hotel was especially brilliantly funny.   A funny film that leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

 



And now, Brave, the latest offering from Pixar.   All of Scotland is going mad for it, because it's set in Scotland, and I must confess I'm no exception.   It makes Scotland look so pretty!   It's about a feisty young princess called Merida who doesn't want to get married, so she turns her mother into a bear.   As you do.   She then spends the rest of the film mending the damage.   Again, there aren't really any surprises in the casting.   Kelly McDonald, Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane etc.   It's a great film.   Cute and moving and very funny.   It's also really easy to watch.  I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but it felt like the film doesn't expect too much of the audience.   It makes you feel like you to watch it you don't have to be clever or "normal".   Like being you is fine.   It's a very accepting film.   Yes, I am a weirdo...

And finally, Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate).   It's a very odd, but very good Mexican film.   It's about a young girl called Tita who is forbidden to marry the man she loves.   She starts expressing herself through her cooking, and this has very strange consequences on all those who eat it.   Plenty of magic, plenty of mystery, plenty of Old Mexico and some really excellent performances.   A really unique film!

     

St. Andrews

I went to St. Andrews for a look around and to take a few pictures.   I had a very nice time looking round the pretty town and had a very nice lunch.   The wintery light was quite harsh, but I managed to get a few shots of the sea that I liked.   I didn't really do anything special to get these, just used an ND grad filter to keep some of the colour in the sky.

                                             Taken on the beach, with the town behind

                                          See the seagulls sitting on the darker rock behind?