Author: Bouquets & Brickbats

Ong Gie

17/12/16

Brougham Place, Edinburgh

I’m almost ashamed to admit that, in all my years on this planet, I have never eaten Korean food before – and we pass by this neat, pristine little restaurant on Brougham Place nearly every day of our lives on our way to the Quartermile – so, we tell ourselves, why not give it a whirl? I’m very glad we do.

There’s a scrupulously clean interior and a decidedly friendly atmosphere at the Ong Gie. A gentleman called Wan strolls over to the table and introduces himself. This is his place, he tells us and, if we need recommendations or advice, he’s happy to oblige. Wan, it has to be said, is a bit of a charmer and in moments we’re chatting happily away as if we’ve known each other for years. I can’t help feeling that every restaurant should have somebody like Wan front of house.

For starters, we choose two dishes – Jumbo Chicken Wings and Seafood Pancakes with spring onion and courgettes. The former are just what we expect – four generously sized pieces of chicken with a crispy coating and a deliciously sticky sweet chilli sauce. The other starter, however, is a real surprise – four chunky potato pancakes, generously stuffed with prawns and satisfyingly glutinous. These have a soy dipping sauce. Both starters are spot on and we look forward to the main courses. (I should perhaps point out that the service here is excellent, Wan clearly running the place with precision.)

For mains we order Crispy Rice with Seafood Stew – the rice makes a deliciously crunchy base onto which is poured an aromatic casserole featuring king prawns, mussels and squid. There’s a lovely touch of theatre when the stew is poured onto the rice at the table making a delightful hissing sound. Talking of theatre, we also opt for the Yang Gogi Jumool Luk, which is a lamb barbecue. It hasn’t escaped our notice that set into each table is a rectangular grill. The spicy marinated lamb is brought to the table in a bowl and we are invited to cook it ourselves, bit-by-bit or all at once. It certainly makes for an appetising experience as the meat hisses and sizzles in front of our very eyes. Once it’s done to our satisfaction, we pop it into a lettuce leaf, add some sauces to taste and away we go. With the main courses we share a bowl of Udon noodles, served cold and simply perfect to cut through the exotic flavours of the marinaded meat.

As if all this isn’t exciting enough, I feel I have to say something about the price. This place is extraordinary value for money. Our meal for two, including a bottle of prosecco and a Tsingtao beer, comes to around sixty pounds. Have we enjoyed our first meal of Korean food? Oh yes we have. Would we recommend it to others? In a heartbeat. And will we be coming back again. Try and stop us.

5 stars

Philip Caveney

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

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17/12/16

There are prequels and there are sequels – and then there are ‘inbetweenquals’ like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, helmed by brit director Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, making a surprisingly confident transition to action hero territory. But the ultimate question that must inevitably hang over this production is this: as a standalone, does its justify its place in the already extensive Star Wars canon? And the answer is… just about.

After JJ Abrams crowd-pleasing revamp (a film that even those who didn’t much care for Star Wars could easily enjoy), Rogue One is clearly aimed much more at the obsessive fans of the series – and it must be said that the must successful parts of this film really are the ones that recall classic moments from the original movies.

The events of this film take place sometime after the end of the clone wars and before those outlined in Episode IV – A New Hope. Young Jyn Erso (Jones) is the daughter of Death Star designer, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), now estranged from him because of his apparent return to the Empire after the murder of his wife at the hands of Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). Captured by stormtroopers and on her way to prison, Jyn is rescued by members of the Rebel Alliance and made to accompany handsome young rebel Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) on a mission to find her father, in order to try to discover a way to defeat the terrifying weapon before it makes mincemeat of all who oppose it. We already know, of course, that the Death Star was destroyed at the end of Episode IV – this film, then, seeks to explain how the information about a fatal flaw, planted in the Death Star’s workings gets into Princess Leia’s hands in the first place.

Edwards makes a reasonable attempt at this – there’s some convincing world-building going on and enough references to later films to keep all the fan boys and girls happy. However, there’s a seemingly endless series of battles and the film only really hits its stride in the final third. There’s also one gasp-out-loud moment when a character turns around to reveal the face of deceased actor Peter Cushing – or rather a walking, talking CGI recreation of him, testament to just how adept these special effects have become – but sadly there’s not an awful lot here in terms of character development and it says a lot when some of the strongest aspects of the script are the droll quips of the film’s main android character, K2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk), which lends some much-needed humour to what is a parade of rather po-faced antics.

Star Wars diehards will doubtless approve of this. It ticks enough boxes to earn its place in the pantheon, and there’s a cameo by classic character Darth Vader. Those like me, who enjoyed the first two films, hated the next four, but loved the relaunch, may simply find this a bit of a Star Bore. Choose wisely my young apprentices- and may the force be with you!

3.4 stars

Philip Caveney

Snowden

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14/12/16

To some, Edward Snowden is a menace, a man who endangered the security of the USA. To others, he is an unsung hero, somebody who sacrificed his career in order to tell the truth about the ways in which the CIA was covertly spying on everyday citizens. (Trust me, this film will almost certainly have you sticking a plaster over the camera on your laptop). It’s perhaps no great surprise to learn that Oliver Stone, one of America’s most infamous liberals, belongs firmly in the latter category; and as portrayed by Joseph Gordon Levitt, Snowden is a decent man, a gifted computer nerd who loves his country, and becomes increasingly dismayed by the lengths that the organisation he works for is prepared to go to in order to ‘preserve the nation’s security.’

Stone has been off form for some years now. It’s a very long time since he dazzled us with the likes of Salvador and JFK – and the unmitigated disaster that was Alexander the Great is perhaps best brushed under the Persian carpet. Here, he’s on much more confident form, ably assisted by a measured central performance by Gordon-Levitt and a nicely Machiavellian turn from Rhys Ifans as shady wheeler-dealer, Corbin O Brian. The likes of Nicholas Cage and Timothy Olyphant pop up in cameo roles, while Tom Wilkinson, Melissa Leo and Zachary Quinto portray the trio of journalists who help Snowden break the story that sends him into exile.

It’s a prescient story and an important one. Stone manages to pull off an inspired trick by having the real Edward Snowden portray himself in the film’s closing section. While this may not be up there with his finest efforts, this is definitely Stone’s best work in quite a while.

Here’s hoping that the powers that be will eventually be shamed into giving Edward Snowden the pardon he so evidently deserves.

4.2 stars
Philip Caveney

Last Christmas

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13/12/16

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

The Traverse does grown-up Christmas theatre, and we’re thankful for that. It’s not that we don’t enjoy stories for younger audiences (Philip is a children’s author, after all), but it’s good to have a little variety, and the festive season often seems a little one-note, catering only for those with youngsters in tow. Not here, though. Here we have Matthew Bulgo’s Last Christmas, a monologue about grief and love.

Welshman Tom is angry and depressed. He’s struggling to cope with his father’s death, and hates the forced jollity of the office Christmas party, especially when Suse, his despised boss, tries to make him pay actual cash for the privilege of being there. He has relationship problems too: things with his girlfriend, Nat, are moving faster than he can deal with, and he’s really not sure that he’s going to make it through the holidays. A visit home to see his mum helps him to confront his demons, and to come to terms with both his future and his past.

It’s a strong performance from Matthew Bulgo, who succeeds in taking us with him through a whole gamut of emotions. There’s no set, no props, no obvious costume. Just one man, casually dressed, talking us through a few days of his life. And it’s well done: understated and convincing. Okay, so it’s a slight tale, and there’s no moment of high drama, no resounding climax to round things off. But it’s very nicely told, and certainly worth going to see.

3.8 stars

Susan “Suse” Singfield

The Birth of a Nation

11/12/16

The Birth of a Nation arrives on our shores burdened by the weight of considerable expectation. Premiered at Sundance in January, this independent production garnered rave reviews and a record-breaking sale to Fox Searchlight pictures and, at the time, there was much talk of Oscar nominations. Since then, however, the water have been somewhat muddied by the revelation that star/writer/director, Nat Turner was accused of rape back in 1999 (although he was subsequently acquitted) and that the film, though clearly heartfelt, might not be quite as accomplished as early reviews suggested.

The title itself is also controversial, since it is shared by DW Griffith’s infamous silent movie of 1915, which made heroes of the Ku Klux Klan and had them riding to the rescue of a young white woman (played by Lillian Gish), menaced by pantomime black villains.

Turner’s based-on-true-events film tells the story of Nate Parker, a young slave raised on an antebellum cotton plantation in the deep South of America, who manages to teach himself to read and, encouraged by one sympathetic slave owner, goes on to become a preacher, travelling from plantation to plantation in order to spread the word of God to his fellow slaves. In doing this, he is helping to earn money for his repellant master, Samuel (Armie Hammer) a once powerful patriarch, now a hopeless alcoholic, obsessed with living up to the reputation of his late father. As Nate travels, he witnesses the kind of everyday brutality meted out to black people in the system (a scene where a man’s teeth are taken out with a hammer and chisel is hard to watch) and he begins to feel a sense of outrage over their predicament; but it is not till the rape of his own wife, Cherry (Aja Naomi King) at the hands of white ‘slave-chasers’ that his thoughts finally turn to bloody rebellion.

Some of the scenes depicted here will inevitably outrage any sane viewer, but the film also commits the cardinal sin of being rather dull for long stretches and there are some decidedly ill-considered moments – Turner’s occasional visions of a angel are particularly mawkish. This is by no means a bad film; indeed, as a debut, it’s more than competent, but it must be said, that it’s certainly not the masterpiece we might have been led to expect; and judging from the few bums on seats at the afternoon performance we attended, it’s not exactly pulling in the punters either.

Brutal, hard-hitting and worthy of attention – but not as assured as it could have been.

3.3 stars

Philip Caveney

Alice in Wonderland

09/12/16

Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

The Lyceum’s Alice is a sumptuous affair, with a gorgeously decadent design aesthetic. Of course, the imagery is all there in the source material (by which I mean both Lewis Carroll’s novel and John Tenniel’s original illustrations), but it’s beautifully realised here by designer Francis O’Connor, with a set and costumes that are at once familiar and completely new. The script focuses on some of the lesser-known scenes from the book – that is to say, those not immortalised by Disney: the duchess and the pig-baby; the mock-turtle and the gryphon – but sensibly includes the most dynamic moments too: we’re not deprived of the tea-party, nor the ‘off-with-her-head’ trial. And the special effects are truly mesmerising, with Alice’s final transformation a particular delight.

If there are problems, some of them lie with the tale itself: it’s an episodic story, famed more for its eclectic characters than for any narrative thrust. This Alice doesn’t even seem too bothered about finding her way home and, without this aim, the play is lacking any real drive; there’s just no sense of peril here. Some scenes work well anyway – giant Alice trapped in the rabbit’s house, for example – but others are somehow lacklustre, let down in part by the music, which just isn’t toe-tapping enough for a children’s show (although it might sound better if the singers were mic’d so we could actually hear the lyrics properly).

Jess Peet, making her professional debut here, is a lively and appealing Alice. And the ensemble cast work well together, convincingly populating Wonderland, although there are only nine of them. Their brief moments of audience interaction feel a little grafted-on, but all-in-all this is a decent show, and the kids in the audience certainly seem enthralled.

3.6 stars

Susan Singfield

Black Beauty

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08/11/16

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

If they gave out awards for Shows That Aren’t What You Expected Them To Be, then the Traverse’s production of Black Beauty must surely be a contender for the top prize. I genuinely roll up to this expecting a more or less straightforward retelling of Anna Sewell’s classic novel – so I spend the first ten or fifteen minutes in WTF? mode as I am introduced to the McCuddy brothers – Big Andy (Andy Cannon) and Wee Andy (Andy Manley) who make up the front and rear end of a pantomime horse called Hamish. The boys are on their uppers, because sadly nearly all the available roles are going to pantomime cows these days (even the coveted animal role at this year’s Kings Theatre show!).

These opening sections are played for laughs and it quickly becomes apparent that the show is aimed squarely at the younger members of the audience, some of whom are so impressed with what’s going on, they decide to do a running commentary throughout, something that the actors deal with expertly.

Just as I’m beginning to think that this has absolutely nothing to do with that famous novel, the brothers reveal that the book was their late mother’s favourite read and they begin to retell the story in their own quirky style – whereupon the show settles into its stride (or should that be trot?). The staging is simple but ingenious. The horse trailer in which the brothers travel opens up like a box of mysteries to create a host of different locations – and our equine hero is portrayed by all manner of random objects – wellington boots, a handbag and sometimes even by ‘Hamish’ himself. It’s all rather charming and exerts that charm increasingly as the story progresses. There’s a lovely ‘George and Lenny’ interplay between the two brothers – Manley is particularly endearing as the man-child, Wee Andy, always being passed over in favour of his big brother – and the physicality of both performances is precise and wonderfully comedic.

There’s a final, inspired joke at the play’s conclusion, one that really is aimed at the older viewers – indeed, the kids must wonder why their parents are laughing so uproariously – and ultimately this is a lovely family production, suitable for all ages, and – once you get over that initial confusion – really rather fabulous.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Jack and the Beanstalk

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30/11/16

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

I thought I knew what to expect with this one. I’ve seen a lot of pantos in my time (and even performed in a few amateur productions when I was a kid). But I have never – NEVER – seen one as accomplished as this. The sheer scale and spectacle of it is genuinely awesome. I left the theatre feeling light as air and full of joy. And surely this is what pantomime is all about?

Allan Stewart (Dame Trot), Andy Gray (Hector) and Grant Stott (Fleshcreep) have made their collective mark as King’s Theatre panto regulars – and it’s easy to see why they’re so popular. They have an easy rapport with each other, as well as with the crowd, and they’re genuinely funny, milking the script for all its worth, as well as ad-libbing profusely to excellent effect. And the supporting cast are all good too, with no weak link among them.

It’s nice to see a pantomime that values its host city; typically, they seem to make jokes at the town’s expense, rather than celebrating its fabulousness as this one does. The good fairy, for example, is presented as ‘The Spirit of the Castle’ (Lisa Lynch), which rather obviously implies that the city itself is a protective one, with goodness at its heart. It’s a lovely touch.

The production values are very high. There’s clearly been no expense spared, and every penny has been well spent. From the superb costuming (the animals are particularly appealing) to the special effects, this is truly a spectacular piece of theatre. The giant, for example, is extraordinarily rendered, a looming monstrosity of a prop, prompting the whole audience to gasp – although even this pales in comparison to Dame Trot’s jaw-dropping beanstalk ascent.

If there’s a criticism, it’s a tiny one: the giant’s demise is perhaps a little underwhelming after everything that has gone before. But honestly, it doesn’t matter. With a show where everything – the music, the choreography, the acting, the writing, the jokes, the scenery – is this impressive, it seems churlish to criticise.

By far the best pantomime I have ever seen: a standout production.

5 stars

Susan Singfield

Mascots

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26/11/16

This latest film from Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel) takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of professional mascots, those stalwart individuals who don outlandish costumes and help to promote football teams/organisations/products around the world, usually by prancing about to a musical backing. This is a Netflix original, but Guest’s methods seem to be largely unchanged from the likes of earlier films, Best In Show and A Mighty Wind. Like so many of his ‘mockumentaries’ this follows a bunch of random characters as they prepare themselves for the equivalent of their Oscars, the Fluffies, cutting effortlessly from scene to scene as the action unfolds.

The Mascots themselves include: young Englishman, Owen Golly Jr. (Tom Bennett), carrying on a family tradition as football mascot, Sid the Hedgehog, under the baleful glare of his dad, who formerly played the role; Mike and Mindy Murray (Zach Woods and Sarah Baker), a middle-aged couple desperately trying to rock their double act despite the fact that their marriage is falling apart; and art-obsessed Cindi Babineaux (Parker Posey), whose armadillo character seems aimed at an entirely different audience. And, of course, the judges and organisers prove to be a thorny bunch, most of them coming to the competition with their own hidden agendas. Guest himself performs a cameo as Corky St Clair, a pretentious dance trainer helping to put Cindi through her paces. British comic Kerry Godliman also makes an appearance as Owen’s delightful and supportive wife – making them pretty much the only non-dysfunctional couple in the entire movie.

This is wry, whimsical stuff, not exactly laugh-out-loud funny, but nicely judged and constantly amusing. It’s evident just how many artists – from Ricky Gervais to Larry David – have taken inspiration from the Spinal Tap model, which – back in 1984 – was one of the first feature films to venture down the spoof documentary trail.

Mascots is right there on Netflix, and, if you’re already a customer, you’d be crazy not to check it out.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney

A United Kingdom

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25/11/16

Amma Asante’s A United Kingdom tells the true story of Prince Seretse Khama of Bechuanaland (now Botswana), and the extraordinary international response to his marriage to Ruth Williams, a white, middle-class Londoner. Ruth’s father (Nicholas Lyndhurst) isn’t happy and vows to disown her; Seretse’s uncle, Tshekedi (Vusi Kenene), believes it renders his nephew unfit to rule. But their combined disapproval is nothing compared to the horror of colonial might, and the crushing forces of British and South African politics. It’s a disturbing account of late imperialism, laying bare some awful truths about our not so distant past.

David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike are perfectly cast as the central couple, committed as much to their ideals as to each other. They are at once proud and humble, resolved and open-minded. The film’s focus on Khama’s emotional reactions personalises colonialism in a way I have never seen before, illuminating the brazen greed, hypocrisy and gross sense of entitlement of those seizing rule of lands that are not their own. Jack Davenport, as the brutal, arrogant Alistair Canning, embodies this with ease.

The post-war era is beautifully evoked, with both London and Botswana rendered real and immediate; the cinematography is very good indeed. If there’s a problem, it is perhaps in the feelgood cosiness that somehow permeates this film, despite its immersion in some very ugly deeds. Nevertheless, this is a mightily important tale, and definitely one worth going to see.

4 stars

Susan Singfield