An update on my Reason to be Cheerful post from January:
blue sky and sunshine
Lauren Laverne on BBC 6Music
chats with my nephews on House Party
cherry blossom falling from trees
Elis James and John Robins Isolation Tapes podcast
Zoom pilates classes
Quarantini Time
cauliflower cheese
This year, I have decided to fill in the gaps in my film knowledge and I’ve picked 20 films I feel like I should have seen to watch in 2020. I’ll keep you posted. In terms of new culture, there is untold amounts of good stuff on its way but this is what I’m REALLY looking forward to:
FILM
As well as the brilliant brilliant 2020 films I’ve already seen (Parasite, Rocks, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Portrait of Lady on Fire), I can’t wait to see No Time To Die (the new James Bond film - will we be able to tell Phoebe Waller-Bridge was involved with the script?), Top Gun: Maverick (guilty pleasure) and The French Dispatch (the new film from Wes Anderson).
I am horrified by the thought of a remake of West Side Story but apparently there’s nothing I can do to stop it so I will be sticking my fingers in my ears and singing lalalala in December when Steven Spielberg’s film comes out.
ART
It is great to see the gender imbalance of artist exhibitions in large institutions being addressed this year and I’m really looking forward to shows by Zanele Muholi and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at Tate, plus Marina Abramovic at the Royal Academy and the first exhibition of Artemisia Gentileschi’s work at the National Gallery.
I am a huge fan of Steve McQueen so I’m very excited at the prospect of his retrospective opening at Tate in February. Andy Warhol’s screen prints were my gateway drug into contemporary art so his show at Tate in March is also must-see for me.
TV
The second series of Sex Education starts on Netflix next week so I’ll be bingeing on that, and also particularly looking forward to the sixth (and final, sob) season of Schitt’s Creek, as well as Avenue 5 - the new series from Armando Iannucci - and Normal People - an adaptation of one of my favourite books of recent years. Oh and The Undoing comes later in the year and stars Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman. What’s not to love about that?
BOOKS
The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel’s third and final book in her Cromwell trilogy comes out in spring and I cannot wait. I am also excited about Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld, one of my favourite authors, which imagines Hillary Clinton’s life if she hadn’t married Bill.
THEATRE
I have tickets to see 4000 Miles at the Old Vic, starring Timothee Chalamet and Eileen Atkins, and the new production of To Kill A Mockingbird, adapted by Aaron Sorkin.
Photo from Timothee Chalemet’s instagram
2019 was a good year for film, I think. In no particular order, these were my favourite films of the year:
Rocketman is an inventive colourful musical full of joy which reminded me how much I love Elton John.
Booksmart is the funniest film of the year and not enough people went to see it. Please remedy this by making it a huge DVD/streaming hit.
Us scared the bejeezus out of me and its funny, brutal satire has really stayed with me over the months.
If Beale Street Could Talk is just beautiful and gorgeous and I’m still furious it didn’t win every award around.
Happy as Lazzarro is a captivating Italian magical realist fable which entranced me from start to finish.
Atlantics is unique and bewitching and I can’t wait to see what the director does next.
Knives Out is just about the most entertaining two hours you could possibly have in the cinema. With added Chris Evans.
Marriage Story is real and empathetic and beautifully written and performed.
The Favourite is, well we all know about The Favourite by now right?
Little Women is gorgeous, intelligent, warm and charming and I may well go and see it for a third time this week.
And for 2020? Well, I saw the following films at festivals/previews in 2019 and they are all absolute five star knockouts so look out for them…
Parasite (on general release in February)
Jojo Rabbit (on general release now)
The Personal History of David Copperfield (on general release in late January)
Rocks (on general release in April)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (on general release in February)
Inspired by a lovely article in yesterday’s Sunday Times Style by Nina Stibbe, I’ve been thinking about my Reasons to Be Cheerful this January:
the sound of rain on the roof when I have no reason to get out of bed
tuna tostadas
Schitt’s Creek, Fleabag, Succession, Derry Girls
reformer pilates
blue sky and sunshine
marmite on sourdough toast
going to the cinema in the middle of the afternoon
Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 6Music
a long beach walk
driving down the A3 singing loudly, or laughing at a podcast
walking into an art exhibition and finding I’m the only visitor
Venice
What are your Reasons to Be Cheerful?
BFI’s London Film Festival is one of the highlights of my year. I never have the time to see everything I want to so I spend a lot of time prioritising and planning my week. In the past few years I’ve seen La La Land, The Favourite, Roma and The Shape of Water months before their UK general release, which makes me happy as an instant gratification, don’t want to wait kinda gal. Also, festival audiences are also much more amendable than the lot at my local cinema - no chatting through the film, no checking phones every ten minutes and I always enjoy giving a good film a round of applause at the end.
Anyway, the films.
The opening gala this year was The Personal History of David Copperfield. Written and directed by Armando Iannucci, it is an utter delight. Sharp, hilarious, moving and contemporary, with an amazing ensemble cast. It is impossible to pick out any one performance but Tilda Swinton is a joy and Dev Patel has unfeasible amounts of charisma.
The Personal History of David Copperfield is on general release in January 2020.
My love for Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor Ragnarok) knows no bounds but I was wary of his latest film Jojo Rabbit. A comedy about a boy in Nazi Germany whose imaginary friend is Hitler? Eek. But I should have had faith - Jojo Rabbit walks a fine line tonally between humour and pathos and I loved it, although I would say it is probably quite a ‘marmite’ film.
Jojo Rabbit is on general release in January 2020.
Marriage Story is a beautiful funny and moving divorce love story starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. It is both hilarious and heart-breaking, the script is precise and empathetic, and both the leads are captivating.
Marriage Story is on general release and on Netflix in December 2019.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a quiet and beautiful film by Celine Sciamma about an 18th century female artist who falls in love with her sitter, which had a great reception and wonderful reviews when it was shown at Cannes earlier this year. Appropriately for a film exploring the female gaze, I enjoyed looking at it but didn’t entirely connect with it emotionally.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is on general release in February 2020.
And finally, to my favourite film of the festival, and I think of the year. Knives Out is a wonderful contemporary ‘whodunnit’ with a razor sharp script and a fabulous ensemble cast which includes Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and Jamie Lee Curtis. It is hilarious, smart, subtly satirical and its twists and turns are incredibly satisfying. Director Rian Johnson has reinterpreted the Agatha Christie style murder mystery for 2019 and I loved every second of it.
Knives Out is on general release in November 2019.
I have a love/hate relationship with Frieze Art Fairs. They can be exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure. This year was no different. Part of the fun is the people watching and there were significantly fewer botoxed women in impossible stilettos which was disappointing. However (and maybe related?) there was also less loud shouty conceptual art, which is a total blessing in my view.
I am always drawn to painting in large exhibitions and fairs and there was certainly plenty of that at both Frieze London and Frieze Masters this year. Portraiture seems to be my thing at the moment and I fell in love with the beautiful , colourful and timeless paintings by Claire Tabouret which were shown at several galleries. Her work intrigues with a sense of identities masked or frozen in time. My abiding love for the paintings of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye was also satisfied by a number of her paintings around Frieze London. If you are also a fan, don’t miss her beautiful show at Corvi-Mora this autumn.
Other stands to look out for include a lovely tribute to Joyce Pensato, who died earlier this year, at Lisson Gallery.
Frieze Masters focuses on pre-contemporary art, from antiquities to modern, including the last remaining Botticelli portrait in private hands outside Italy. I particularly enjoyed the focus on Michael Craig-Martin at Cristea Roberts, and The Gallery of Everything’s display of art by artists who felt their creativity was ‘spiritual’, including Madge Gill who was led by her spirit-guide to produce meticulous drawings and textiles.
Frieze London and Frieze Masters are held at Regents Park. They are open from today until Sunday 6th October.
I’m not angry with myself, just disappointed. I was so determined that this year was going to be the year that I really committed to my blog/website. But here we are.
So let’s put the last nine months of inactivity behind us, and press on. There is lots to talk about this week, and in the coming months.
So what am I looking forward to in 2019, I hear you cry? Settle in, here goes…
I am a latecomer to the marvellous Schitt’s Creek, the first four seasons of which are on Netflix, and I have already watched the whole lot twice this year. The fifth season is airing in Canada and the US now and I am resisting all temptation to stream it illegally so I can joyfully binge on the adventures of the Rose family when it arrives over here soon. I have no doubt that new series of Line of Duty, Fleabag, Game of Thrones, Big Little Lies, Derry Girls and Killing Eve will all be lined up on my sky box during the year.
Film-wise, I think I’ve probably already seen the best of the year in If Beale Street Could Talk which is simply wonderful, but I’m also looking forward to many many solo #kathsfridayfilms trips to my local cinema, to see films including Us (directed by Jordan Peele) and Loro (about Silvio Berlusconi).
Major exhibitions of work by Keith Haring, Olafur Eliasson, Bridget Riley and Mike Nelson are top of my ‘To See’ list in London, and I am really looking forward to my 2019 Venice Biennale visit in June.
I’m baaaackkk! Oh my goodness, it’s been so long. I have absolutely no excuse. So I’ll just shut up and get on with it.
It’s a New Year, I’m pulling on my running gear, drinking kale smoothies and looking forward to a year full of fabulous art, films and books (can we agree not to talk about the whole ‘hell in a handbasket’ state of the world, please?).
But first, let’s briefly look back at 2018.
FILMS
My favourite films of 2018 were, in no particular order, as follows. If you follow me on Instagram (@kathmellor) and check out my hashtag #kathsfridayfilms, you can read a bit more about why I loved them. I promise I’ll do better at reviews on this site in 2019.
Roma
A Star is Born
The Square
Faces Places
Cold War
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Lady Bird
A Quiet Place
Widows
The Shape of Water
with honourable mentions for Coco, which made me sob on a long-haul flight, much to the consternation of the elderly gentleman next to me, and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! which would be my guilty pleasure of the year if I believed in the concept of guilty pleasures.
ART
Neither of my two favourite exhibitions in 2019 were in the UK (sorry). First was a Gerhard Richter retrospective at QAGMA in Brisbane, which knocked me sideways and exceeded even my sky-high expectations. He is one of very few artists whose work genuinely moves me and I was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. The second was the Bruegel: Once in a Lifetime show at the Kuntschistorisches Museum in Vienna, which was just perfection. Three-quarters of all his existing work in one place, accompanied by absolutely fascinating insights into his materials, background and technique. A couple of hours of heaven for an art history geek like me.
In London, I really enjoyed seeing more of Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s work - on the Southbank, at Frieze and at the National Portrait Gallery. Her densely referenced and beautiful images fill me with joy. Elmgreen & Dragset at the Whitechapel was fun, as was Shape Shifters at the Hayward. The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition was more interesting than usual, probably because of Grayson Perry’s non-conventional curation. Tomma Abts’s beautiful jewel-like paintings at the Serpentine also cheered me, but my absolutely top pick in London for the year was The Clock by Christian Marclay at Tate Modern. It’s still on show as I write. GO AND SEE IT.
BOOKS
I got out of the habit of reading so much last year, which I plan to make up for in 2019, but my highlights were Educated by Tara Westover, which is just a barnstorming fire of a memoir which I will never forget, and Normal People by Sally Rooney which lives up to all the hype and manages to do that impossible thing of creating REAL people on the page.
TV
If you didn’t enjoy The Good Place, Succession and Killing Eve then I don’t know what to tell you.
Look, I know I'm late and the Oscars are old news, but this is the first year that I've seen all of the Best Film nominees and I have OPINIONS goddammit...
Best Film
To be honest, I would have been happier with any of the nominated films winning, apart from the tedious, cliched and irritating Darkest Hour. My own choice would have been Call Me By Your Name, but I also loved The Shape of Water which is a beautiful and magical fairytale so I can't complain too much. Having said that, Get Out would also have been a strong winner, or Lady Bird which I adored. It's such a strong year that it's a shame they can't have joint winners...
Best screenplay (adapted and original)
I am THRILLED with these winners - exactly who I would have chosen and great recognition for two of the best films of the year, Call Me By Your Name and Get Out.
Best actor
No no no. Gary Oldman obviously did a fine job as Churchill but I would have chosen Timothee Chalamet for his heartbreaking performance in Call Me By Your Name, or Daniel Kaluuya for Get Out.
Best actress
No real argument here, because Frances McDormand is an absolute GODDESS.
Happy New Year! (When does it become too late in January to say that, by the way? Is there some kind of etiquette?)
Without any further preamble, and specifically for Karen, here are a few of the things I'm looking forward to in the next few months:
FILMS
I mentioned Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri when I saw it at the London Film Festival in October, and it is now on general release in the UK. I watched it again last week and loved it just as much second time around. It is a tragicomedy that truly is both tragic and funny, and Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell deserve all the awards.
I also saw The Shape of Water at the London Film Festival and highly recommend it. It is hard to describe but it is weird and wonderful, a romantic thriller (if you can imagine such a thing).
In terms of films I haven't seen but am looking forward to, keep an eye out for Lady Bird, The Post, Phantom Thread, You Were Never Really Here and I, Tonya.
THEATRE
Network at the National Theatre is sadly sold out, but if by any chance you can beg, steal or borrow a ticket, DO. It is fantastic.
I am also looking forward to Beginning, Girl from the North Country and Julius Caesar. And I am very smug about having booked tickets for Hamilton back in December 2016. I'll let you know in April if it lives up to the hype.
ART
The fantastic Basquiat exhibition at the Barbican finishes on 28th January, so get there soon if you can. Don't miss Modigliani at Tate Modern which is on until April.
Cezanne's Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery is definitely worth a visit, as is Monochrome at the National Gallery.
Coming up are Picasso at Tate Modern, Andreas Gursky at the newly refurbished Hayward Gallery and Rose Wylie at the Serpentine.
COMEDY
And for something slightly different... if you can see Sara Pascoe do her stand-up show, you must. She's hilarious. Also touring this year and worth seeing are Jon Robins, Joe Lycett and Dara O'Briain. Plus my all-time favourites Flight of the Conchords. I am almost more excited about seeing them again in March than I am about my holiday to Australia in February. Almost.
It's that time of year again. The wine is mulling and the pies are mincing. 2017 has been a pretty rotten year in many respects, but it has been a great one for cinema...
Call Me By Your Name is my film of the year by a country mile. An exquisite and intelligent film, heart-warming and heart-breaking, with wonderful performances, beautiful cinematography and a perfect soundtrack.
La La Land was officially released this year but I saw it in September 2016 and I still LOVE it. Just perfection.
And the rest...
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
The Florida Project
The Death of Stalin
Toni Erdmann
Moonlight
Dunkirk
Get Out
I would also like to mention two films I saw this year which would have been very very near the top of the list, but which are actually on general release in the UK in 2018. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Square are both fantastic, and I can't wait to see them again in the coming months.
This week, I have been...
... watching Blade Runner 2049, possibly the most visually stunning film I've ever seen. Beautiful, provocative, heartbreaking, it's an art house movie on a blockbuster budget.
... visiting Frieze London and Frieze Masters. More on this to follow...
... swinging at the new Hyundai commission at Tate Modern - One Two Three Swing! by Superflex. Superficial and frivolous it may be but anything that engages kids and young people in art is fine by me.
... laughing at The Good Place on Netflix. Created by one of the writers of Parks and Recreation, it's right up my street.
... re-reading Never Let Me Go, in celebration of Kazuo Ishiguro being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
This week, I have been...
... watching mother!, a rollercoaster, batshit-crazy allegory for the destruction of Mother Earth by Darren Aronofsky starring Jennifer Lawrence. Several days after seeing it, I still can't decide if I loved it, or hated it.
... reading and loving Ma'am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown.
... listening to Phoenix on repeat since seeing their brilliant gig at Alexandra Palace at the weekend.
... laughing at the new series of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
... chewing off my fingernails waiting for the finale of Doctor Foster.
Every October, the art scene in London explodes as dealers and collectors from around the world descend on the city for the Frieze Art Fair at Regent's Park. Frieze itself is hard work - huge, hot and full of people who in my charitable moments I call 'interesting' and in my non-charitable moments I call 'AWFUL'. It's also expensive (around £50 to get into both Frieze and its companion fair Frieze Masters). I enjoy it because I'm a masochist and I love art enough that I am prepared to wear comfy shoes for the day.
Anyway, all the galleries in London pull out their big guns in October to vie for our attention, and these are some of the biggest shows to see this month:
Rachel Whiteread at Tate Britain (until 21 Jan) is a beautiful, challenging and haunting exhibition by one of our best sculptors.
Jasper Johns at the Royal Academy (until 10 Dec) should be a perfect introduction to this pioneering American artist.
Basquiat: Boom for Real at the Barbican (until 28 Jan) sounds like a fully immersive retrospective and I am greatly looking forward to it.
One Two Three Swing! by Superflex at Tate Modern (until 2 Apr) is the latest installation in the Turbine Hall. Comprising a giant playground based on models of economic and social production, it's one for kids of all ages.
As well as Frieze, there are other art fairs across the city this week. Worth checking out are the Sunday Art Fair, the Moniker Art Fair and the Other Art Fair...
This week, I have been...
... watching Logan Lucky, a sparkling if forgettable 'redneck Ocean's Eleven' from Steven Soderbergh
... seeing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, in which the quality of the performances of Sienna Miller and Jack O'Connell couldn't overcome the problem of the play itself.
... visiting the Soul of a Nation and Matisse in the Studio exhibitions (at Tate Modern and the Royal Academy respectively) and discovering the wonderful underrated work of Fahrelnissa Zeid (also at Tate Modern)
Depressingly, there is a distinct feel of autumn in London this week. But instead of praying for an Indian summer and sinking into a sulk about the end of the holiday season, I'm making plans for autumn. And there is a lot to be excited about. Here's what I'm looking forward to...
Art
There will be plenty of smaller shows at galleries to coincide with Frieze week (early October) but these are the big guns for which I'll be booking tickets:
Rachel Whiteread is one of the UK's most interesting working artists and this exhibition sounds like a must-see (Tate Britain from 12th September).
Basquiat: Boom for Real (Barbican Art Gallery from 21st September) will hopefully capture the essence and energy of the late artist.
Dali/Duchamp (Royal Academy from 7th October) looks to be an intriguing dialogue between two artistic greats.
Modigliani (Tate Modern from 23rd November) will apparently be a comprehensive show of his work and as he was the subject of my degree thesis, I'll definitely head to Tate Modern for this one.
Cinema
The London Film Festival will undoubtedly throw up some gems in October and I'm excited by the prospect of these films:
Blade Runner 2049 - Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford in a long-awaited sequel directed by Denis Villeneuve. What's not to love?
The Death of Stalin - Armando Iannucci is a comedy genius so this should be a riot.
Call Me By Your Name - the trailer for this film is enough to make me swoon so I can't wait to see Luca Guadagnino's follow up to A Bigger Splash.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer - another stunning trailer for this film starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman.
Suburbicon - written by the Coen brothers, directed by George Clooney, starring Matt Damon and Julianne Moore. 'Nuff said.
Every two years, Venice is taken over by the international art world for the Biennale. The event runs from May to November, and involves hundreds of countries curating exhibitions of contemporary art in their own 'pavilions'. The key sites are the Giardini and the Arsenale (historic naval warehouses and dockyard) but there are other pavilions and 'collatarol' exhibitions across the city. One could spend weeks and not see everything, so a plan of attack is necessary if you don't want to miss something wonderful.
To be honest, this year the Biennale was pretty disappointing, full of mediocre and instantly forgettable art. The standout pieces for me were:
- an incredibly powerful video work telling refugee stories by Candice Breitz in the South African Pavilion
- a series of beautiful black and white photographs in the Australian Pavilion by Tracey Moffatt
- a beautiful diorama-style film by Lisa Reihana in the New Zealand Pavilion
Of the non-official Biennale exhibitions, I was knocked out by the Diaspora Pavilion, particularly a striking and fascinating installation by Yinka Shonibare and beautiful disquieting photographs by Khadija Saye, who tragically died in Grenfell Tower.
Damien Hirst's much-trumpeted return to sculpture dominates the city, taking over two key contemporary art spaces at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. I was not expecting much and I think it's fair to say the exhibition lived down to my expectations. Hirst has a great concept and a few good gags, but I got the joke by the end of the second room and I really didn't need to be banged over the head with it ad infinitum.
Of course, some of the best times one can have in Venice are just wandering around and discovering little moments of magic round every corner. Support by Lorenzo Quinn is a perfect piece of public sculpture along the Grand Canal.
This week, I have been...
... watching Final Portrait, which is a bit more interesting than your usual artist biopic.
... reading They All Fall Down by Tamar Cohen.
This week, I am...
Reading... The Dry by Jane Harper and Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiney - both excellent, especially the latter which is really wonderful.
Watching... Dunkirk, which entirely overwhelmed me and moved me beyond any film I've seen in years, and A Ghost Story, which overwhelmed me in a totally different way. As I watched, I wasn't sure about its oddness, which always seems to be verging on pretention, but three days later I can't stop thinking about its adept and subtle exploration of loss and grief and the impossibility of time moving on without us.
Seeing... Angels in America, Part One. A totally stunning new production at the National Theatre of Tony Kushner's iconic play, with truly extraordinary performances from Andrew Garfield and James McArdle, amongst others. This is the final week, and it's sold out, but if you can catch it at your local cinema via NT live, DO.
Listening to... the second series of Homecoming podcast.