Much Ado About The Weekend

The CCA came through for me again this weekend as they screened Japanese director Hideo Nakata’s latest film, Dark Water, which I caught this past Saturday night. Nakata is the fabulous director of Ringu, a film which was remade for English audiences as The Ring. He has the gift of being able to create truly frightening movies that never resort to shock tactics or gore. I liken it to a well-told campfire-side ghost story that raises the hair on the back of your neck. When the story is over, you think “Ha! What a great story!” but then find yourself especially aware of strange noises coming from aroung you. If you haven’t seen the original ‘Ring’, seek it out, and keep your eyes open for ‘Dark Water’ as well. Strongly recommended both.

For a change of pace, I also caught a performance of Much Ado About Nothing, performed by the Glasgow Repertory Company in the Botanic Gardens of Glasgow's West End. The acting and performance was fantastic, but I was especially impressed with the stage direction. It was held alongside the River Kelvin on a nature walk path which, during a performance, is limited to the performers and the audience only. This alone added a great touch of charm as actors would hide behind trees and would ride bikes down the path. After a major scene, the stage director would have the audience walk down the path towards the next "scene". A great touch to a great performance. Plus – there is just something about the British accent that brings an added touch of credibility to a Shakespeare performance.

This weekend also marked the end of Big Brother 4 – and thank god for that too. I can now get my life back between 10 and 10:30 on weekday evenings, and hopefully can salvage some personal credibility after allowing myself to get hooked on reality TV rubbish. My favourite housemate did win though – Cameron, the 32-year teetotal virgin from Orkney, Scotland. “Jings, I didnae think I could win!”, said he.

Could it be that some of my favourite bands (who always seem to break up on me) are starting to get back together? First the Super Friendz release a new album, and now rumours that the mighty Pixies might make a comeback. Cocteau Twins, are you listening?

Is it just me, or did July go by really fast? Remember when you were in grade school, and the summer was amazing and never seemed to end? Now it’s amazing and ends before you even realise it started. Quite sad, that.