Month: March 2023

Fan Fun Movie of the Month: The Escapist

“You know the one thing you’ve got going for you, Frank? You’re too old to die young.” – Rizza

source: superiorpics.com
source: superiorpics.com

The Escapist is a prison escape movie. But not your typical prison escape movie. It is a healthy combination of an action movie and an art house movie giving you the grim prison life. You feel the brutality. You feel the daily presence of threat. You, in fact, live the violence without even seeing it. You feel very disturbed by the place.

An Ireland-UK co-produced ensemble piece directed by Rupert Wyatt, the film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival to critical applause.

The Escapist premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, source: Getty Images
The Escapist premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, source: Getty Images

Frank Perry (a BRILLIANT Brian Cox for whom it turns out Rupert Wyatt wrote this role!) is in prison for life and he has made his peace with the fact that he will never see outside life again… Until he gets a letter, the first one in 14 years, that his beloved daughter is a drug addict and, following an episode of overdose, she is critically ill. This makes Frank to think about escaping. He plans his escape with fellow prisoners Lenny Drake (Joe Fiennes, a Guildhall class mate of Damian’s!), Brodie (Liam Cunningham), Batista (Seu Jorge) and Lacey (Dominic Cooper). These five “good guys” make the movie poster. Continue reading “Fan Fun Movie of the Month: The Escapist”

Throwback Thursday to a Lesson in Rhetoric: Damian Lewis as Antony

To be filed in the category of “This is a guy who makes you want to go back to school”, we learned and reported (on our lovely sister site damian-lewis.com) that Damian’s version of Antony’s funeral speech from Julius Caesar, for The Guardian’s video series Shakespeare Solos, was featured in a seminar on rhetoric. This wasn’t an avenue for literary criticism or drama theory, but a newsletter on effective public speaking.

How is speaking any different from writing and reading, you may wonder? Well, there are components to classical rhetoric, when dissected, can show you what makes one speech different from another. Such an analysis would reach your brain (or at least attempt to). Alternatively, we can talk about how a speech makes you feel. Granted we’re not seeing much great oratory from our current elder statesmen, so examples are few and far between. But, there was a time, wasn’t there? In our not too distant history, when a leader spoke, it did a heart good to hear, didn’t it?

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to a Lesson in Rhetoric: Damian Lewis as Antony”

A Magical Evening with Damian Lewis and His Band at Hoxton Hall

Damianista’s note 03/22/2023: Since the Hoxton Hall gig has been recorded professionally and that it will be released later this year, we cannot share the live videos we made at the gig. But you may find live videos from Damian’s other gigs on our YouTube channel.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I had a 48-hour lightning trip to London for fun with fan friends and a fantastic evening of music at Hoxton Hall in East End with the one and only Damian Lewis and his fabulous band. And when I asked my blog mate Gingersnap before my trip that whether she thought I was crazy, I got this response.

“You’re not crazy. But you have a new name. Groupie!”

Seriously, how many times do you need to travel to see a musician in action to qualify as a groupie? 🙂

It was such a magical night that, ten days later,  this groupie still the under the spell of Damian’s spectacular performance and ready to tell you all about how our Ginger Elvis has ruled on stage and off – he has made time for everyone, his guests and his fans, after the gig. He had pictures taken, gave autographs as well as bear hugs.

So please come join me in the historic and intimate music hall that is Hoxton Hall, and live or re-live ( if you were lucky  enough to be there!) every single detail from that terrific evening.

Continue reading “A Magical Evening with Damian Lewis and His Band at Hoxton Hall”

A Spy Among Friends on MGM+, Episode 2: The Admiral’s Glass

Elliott: Do you remember The Admiral’s Glass?

Philby: The Admiral’s what?

Elliott: Glass. By Southwark Bridge.

As her husband picks up the carrots he grew in their London backyard, Lily Thomas listens and re-listens to the Beirut tapes. What happened at The Admiral’s Glass? And why on earth is Philby seriously alarmed when an ambulance with sirens on arrives at their building? Continue reading “A Spy Among Friends on MGM+, Episode 2: The Admiral’s Glass”

A Spy Among Friends on MGM+, Episode 1: Boom-ooh-yatatatah

A Spy Among Friends has finally arrived on MGMplus today! The first episode is FREE without subscription and you can now watch it here. They are dropping Episode 1 and 2 today followed by one  episode per week for the next 4 weeks. That is what I will do with my episode recaps as well.

First things first: Since I was not patient enough for the mini-series to arrive in the US, I watched it on ITVX via VPN back in December. And As someone who read Ben MacIntyre’s book twice, I find Alexander Cary’s adaptation very clever. Nick Murphy’s background in documentary is evident and Joanna Eatwell proves once again she is the master of costume design. Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce, Anna Maxwell Martin and Stephen Kunken give off-the-chart brilliant performances.

A Spy Among Friends is slow-cooking, captivating and elegant. It is  cinematic to a degree that I envy the viewers who could see the first two episodes on big screen at the BFI London Film Festival. There are flashbacks and you need to pay attention – don’t text and watch 🙂 So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, A Spy Among Friends is exactly my cup of tea!

So shall we?

Continue reading “A Spy Among Friends on MGM+, Episode 1: Boom-ooh-yatatatah”