Haunted by Bill Murray

In a sense, the last couple of weeks has seen two hauntings by Bill Murray.

First time was obvious - we went to the Tim Minchin musical of Groundhog Day at the Old Vic. The film has been a favourite of mine for a long time, although I can also see its flaws. The musical was actually a pleasant surprise, in that many of those issues were fixed, it was still funny, it contained new surprises, there was an interesting undertone of horror, and the lead, Andy Karl, does a passably unpleasant Phil Connors. However, and of course, I could feel an echo of Bill Murray's original performance. Probably impossible to avoid it.

And then this week to Asteroid City, at the local multiscreen in Peckham. If you like Wes Anderson, this is a very Wes Andersonny film, so you'll probably enjoy it. Lots of fourth wall breaking. Many well known American actors, including Steve Carell as the motel manager. Bill Murray was originally going to play the part, but caught Covid and had to withdraw. Floating around on the Internet there is a short film, made made by Anderson after the main shoot, of Murray playing a different (fictional) actor whose part was cut from the play, but who is doing an advertising intro for the show. Fun and odd, and all very metatextual, of course; and once seen, I had a retrospective feeling that he was perhaps a ghostly presence in the whole film.

These things feel inevitable. So, looking ahead, does anyone know: What echoing link does Murray have with the Dial of Destiny? I need to be prepared...

NHS at 75

 

Chasing Dreams

 

The Pubs Around Nunhead 25: Top 10!

A month or two after publication, but we at thr Trees thought it was worth sharing.

The otherwise perfidious Time Out magazine has published a list of the Top 50 pubs in London.

The #1, two of the top 10, and four of the top 25 are local to Nunhead/Peckham.

The top 10 are:

1. Skehans, Nunhead

2. The Southampton Arms, Gospel Oak

3. The Coach & Horses, Soho

4. The Duke, Bloomsbury

5. The Chesham Arms, Hackney

6. The Tavern on the Hill, Walthamstow 

7. The Blythe Hill Tavern, Catford 

8. The Cow, Notting Hill

9. The Salisbury Hotel, Harringay 

10. The Ivy House, Nunhead. 

The Prince of Peckham is at #19 and The Gowlett #23.

Other pubs of note are the Mayflower in Rotherhithe (#35), the RVT (#44) and the Camberwell Arms (#46).     

To be fair, we have only visited 8 or so of them.   

Work to do!

Pride of Lions

 

After Impressionism

Last week to the big National Gallery exhibition, After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art.  That title itself may indicate some of the problems with the show (at least to the mind of the Trees).

Probably originally intended as a follow-up to the 2015 Inventing Impressionism, this new show covers the period roughly from 1886 - and the last of the Impressionist Exhibitions - to the outbreak of the First World War.

And it is annoying.

It presents a rather old-fashioned idea of art-historical development, which has been seriously challenged in recent years.  And it leaves out most of the women.

Rather than go on a long rant about it, we at the Trees would direct readers to this rather good Guardian critique of the show, by Eliza Goodpasture.

Elsewhere, of course, the paper has a more friendly review of the exhibition.  But for us, the Goodpasture piece broadly says what needs to be said.

And yet.  We kind of think you should go and see it if you can.  

Ignore the narrative, which as noted is a bit rubbish.  But the art is pretty damn good.

New Romney, and Romney Marsh...