RATING BATMAN

The 9 year old son of a friend I visited while in England was mad on Batman. Not the latest dark incarnation or even Tim Burton’s gothic version, but the 1960s TV shows. He had all the episodes on DVD and watched them continually so was able to tell us what was coming next and quote key lines. I asked his Mom & Dad if he liked the recent movie versions and they said that he hadn’t seen them yet. This was a deliberate policy on their part to preserve the innocent pleasure he is getting form Adam West’s camp depiction of the caped crusader. I grew up watching these shows so could understand the appeal. They are hugely dated now and were oddities pretty well as soon as they were made.

Certainly, the contrast between the colourful comic strip action and the shadowy sense of menace in the new Dark Knight film could not be more pronounced. At the cinema in Brighton where I saw it, the parental guidance alongside the 12A rating said that the movie contained “moderate violence and continuous threat” which I’d say was quite accurate.

ENGLAND’S VEGETARIAN MECCA

Just back from a three week non blogging break in the UK including ten days in London-by-sea aka Brighton. A manic final three days in London proper emphasised that the quality of life in Brighton is far superior. It also has floods of tourists but somehow the town can accommodate them much better. The chief advantage is obviously the coastal location - the pleasure pier and wide beach-side promenades means that you are among crowds in a less claustrophobic way.

We were staying in Kemptown midway between the pier and the Marina. Our first walk towards the Marina complex took us past the naturist beach (bracing!) and footpaths infested with huge rats (scary!). This was disconcerting yet perhaps appropriate to the town’s quirky and slightly seedy charm which still survives despite the obvious upgrades and gentrification.

For vegetarians like me it’s always been something of a mecca but now you are positively spoilt for choice. There’s even a Vegetarian Shoe Shop where my daughter got a cool ‘Real Fake’ leather jacket.
For the record, and because everyone else has their own list, here is my top 5 choice of best all veggie eateries :

ALL THE TOUGHS

Thom Gunn

In the 1980s I had the good fortune to attend a free lunchtime poet reading by Thom Gunn in London. I remember him for his warmth and humanity. He is perhaps best remembered for his moving and compasionate portraits of friends and AIDS victim in his 1992 collection ‘The Man With Night Sweats’.

A poem of his that has always intrigued me , however, is called ‘Lines For A Book’ from a 1957 collection called ‘The Sense of Movement’. This reflects a harsher side to his character and suggests to me that he was not really at ease with living the life as an intellectual wordsmith.

The poem is critical of living only in the mind and strongly advocates against suffering fools gladly. It resonates for me as someone who has always felt a mixture of fascination and revulsion towards macho role models which as a ‘real man’ I am supposed to admire unconditionally.

In Gunn’s insistence on action and toughness it borders on the reactionary but is ,all the same, a honest counterargument to those ivory tower dwellers who delude themselves that high minded wisdom alone will make the world a better place. Here is the complete poem:

AFTER LIFE

The premise of this highly original and intriguing 1998 movie is that when you die you arrive at a literal half way house en route to the infinite. Here you are helped to choose one memory were you happiest, most fulfilled or most at one with yourself.

When you have made your choice this moment is recreated on film and you spend eternity replaying this single fragment of time.

The movie is a Canadian production with all Japanese cast and is directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. His concern for realism is such that the stories that made it into the film are the actual ones the actors told him as their favorite memories.

I watched this on DVD but this is a movie to see in the cinema - not because it has I-max Batmanesque visual set pieces but because its strength lies in slowly drawing you into the interplay between the helpers and the newly deceased. It transpires that the helpers are also dead and take on this role because they themselves were unable or unwilling to choose.

The matter of fact, unsentimental way in which death is treated together with the absence of any religious overtones make this a reflection on how these individuals lived rather than how they died.

Inevitably while watching you cannot help thinking what moment you would choose and forces you to reflect that if you cannot think of a defining moment, you’d better go out and get one quick.