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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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We’re warned at the start of the show with an upbeat number that this is not the usual sort of musical. And it turns out to be just that. But with boundless enthusiasm and energy from its two leads, who deploy a range of voices and breathtaking energy to create a series of voices for puppet characters, a bedtime story becomes a silly oddball tale about four souls stuck in purgatory. With puppets. And various toilet humour references. It’s currently playing at Upstairs At The Gatehouse . The piece starts as a bedtime story. Daddy (Mark Underwood) is about to read a bedtime story for Louise (Sarah Louise Hughes). But her stomach felt funny, and soon, she went to the bathroom. Then, for reasons that seem to only make sense in the confines of the show, they start telling the story of four people who died in unfortunate circumstances in the bathroom. Depicted as puppets, they’re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesn’t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...

Film: Physique er Casino Royale


Casino Royale, originally uploaded by peter-noster.

Tuesday night I managed to catch Casino Royale at the Odeon at Leicester Square. It is a big cinema with a big screen and every inch of screen counts with this Bond outing. There are explosions, there are chases, there is a fantastic free-running stunt and there are those swimming trunks. You need a big screen to take all of that in...

I have to say I was very impressed with this Bond flick. Sure the script had some pretty bad dialogue at times and the direction wasn't always slick, but as a package it all hung together very well. It helps with Daniel Craig in the lead as someone who can act and fight too. This film has set him up very nicely to set Bond in a new direction (if that's what the punters end up wanting).

I have never read any of the Ian Flemming novels and I understand that the film version is fairly faithful to the book as it explains how Bond gets his double-o status. It is what is referred to as a "reboot" of a franchise. Well after all the special effects overkill of Die Another Day it was good to get back to some great stunts and great set pieces.

Ultimately Casino Royale surely has to be remembered primarily as a series of fighting and action scenes held together by lingering shots of Daniel Craig's muscular physique. This physique was on show naked, partially naked, or wearing those swimming trunks throughout the film. Actually even when he was clothed you could still tell which side he dressed, but I lost count the number of times his shirt was ripped off to reveal his ripped torso... Then there was the testicle torture scene (don't ask) which showed off his very well-developed hamstrings and glutes (among other body parts)... And then there were the beach scenes which showed off his lats, his pectorals and well you get the picture... The Bond girls couldn't compete with this physical perfection. They were flat-chested without tone and had to wear bizarre gowns that looked inspired by some sixties futurist/modernist movement.

And as for those James Bond swimming trunks, apparently only Selfridges in London sell the £55 Grigio Perla trunks Craig wears (twice) in the film and reportedly are close to selling out of them as WAGS snap them up. Pity that it is too cold to be wearing them here... Perhaps next summer every beach will have a few James Bond wannabes on them... Here's hoping by then they will have the body to match. It is definitely a Bond for our times... The time when the metrosexual gym bunny reigns supreme... I can't wait to see what they do next time... But lets hope it isn't "Pumping Iron 3: the Bond Flick"...

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