Captain America: Civil War (Film, 2016)

If you haven't seen Civil War by now, then shame on you, because it's a great comic book film.

There has been a heck of a lot of history established via the previous Marvel films. We've seen tensions build throughout the solo Iron Man, Captain America and Ant-Man films, not to mention of course the two Avengers flicks. By the time Iron Man and Cap trade blows, it's not unexpected: it's inevitable. Unlike Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, this is a film that earns the right to have its main characters at loggerheads. (And yes, perhaps it's unfair to pit Civil War against Batman v Superman, but if you have two rival franchises with similar themes, side by side in the cinema, then comparisons are unavoidable.There cannot be any question that Civil War is the better film, both in terms of craftsmanship and enjoyability.)

You see, unlike in Batman v Superman, the heroes in Civil War have very good reasons for fighting each other. It's established very early on that both Cap and Iron Man are having their own personal issues, which may or not be adversely affecting their thinking, and by the time Civil War reaches The Big Battle between the two sides, there is plenty of bad feeling behind every angry punch. What's also significant is that some allegiances are unexpected and sides are switched. This isn't a film that's eager to paint a black-and-white picture of internal conflict, and in the end there really aren't any winners or losers.

If all of this seems very heavy, don't forget that this is Marvel, not DC - there is a lot of humour, especially from the likes of the 'lighter' characters such as Ant-Man and Spider-Man. That's not to say that those characters are there for comedic relief, but they do fulfill that purpose very well; indeed, if Civil War hadn't come out so soon after BvS you could be forgiven for thinking that the former was almost mocking the latter's overly-dour drudge-fest.

Everything about Civil War has been carefully thought out by people who know what they're doing. The film's directors, the Russo brothers, were smart enough to know that the audience doesn't need another Spider-Man origin story (unlike Batman v Superman, in which we saw Bruce Wayne's parents murdered yet again). And it works in unexpected ways, too. Before this film, I felt little affection for many of the supporting characters - War Machine, Black Panther, Falcon, Hawkeye - but each had an important role to play, and all of them won me over in their own way. Well, maybe not Hawkeye.

Perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay Civil War is this: I needed the toilet about 10 minutes into the movie, and while I kept waiting for a section that felt unimportant so that I could nip out to relieve myself, that section never arrived - the whole film was unmissable. And what's more, it was worth two hours of mild discomfort. In fact, I probably would have happily held on for another hour if necessary. It's really that good.

The Jungle Book (Film, 2016)

You might be forgiven for thinking that Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book had already been done sufficiently well to make another film adaptation quite superfluous, but actually director Jon Favreau has managed to breathe new life into the story.

Disney’s 2016 update is a darker take than their previous 1967 animation:  there are only two songs used (The Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You), but more importantly there are frequent moments of what the BBFC would probably term “mild peril”, along with a few very strong incidences of emotional shock. The film is 99% CGI, which is always a bit of a risky path to take, but the hyper-reality of the fictional jungle actually suits the film very well: it helps to think of it more as an animated live-action film. Neel Sethi’s Mowgli is perfect (he manages to somehow replicate the mannerisms of the 1967 animated character, which is amazing given that he had no prior acting experience), and all of the CGI animals are voiced well. My only criticisms would be that the CGI is great but not quite perfect, and Christopher Walken’s rendition of I Wanna Be Like You – delivered in his trademark staccato delivery – is pretty poor. By and large, though, the film is a very enjoyable adventure romp, and these days cinema-goers rarely get a solid two hours of pure entertainment (*cough* Batman vs Superman *cough*).

I’d probably hesitate to let a very young child watch this version of The Jungle Book due to those few intense moments, but of course that’s why the film has been classified as a PG in the UK. It’s certainly a good enough film to warrant a preliminary viewing by any cautious parents who want to ensure that it’s appropriate for their children.

The Lumineers (Albert Hall, Manchester - Tuesday 19 April 2016)

If last night proved anything, it was that The Lumineers really know how to put on a show - but so does their audience!

I don't think I've ever been to a gig where the crowd was so involved with the act on stage (okay, maybe The Rocky Horror Show, but that's different). My theory, for what it's worth, is that this is down to The Lumineers' particular brand of folksy rock - there's a lot of hand-clapping, foot-stomping and singing along, all of which encourage - even necessitate - participation.

The band's set list was well balanced between their two albums to date and kept the energy flowing for a full ninety minutes. I particularly loved the fact that, after four or five songs, not only did the band respectfully ask the crowd not to take any further photos so that everyone could just get on with enjoying the performance, but that 99.9% of the attendees obliged. From my seat in the balcony I had a great view of the stage, the upper tier and the crowd below, and I barely saw a single camera screen glare for the rest of the gig. And you know what? It was fantastic to know that the audience was so focused on simply enjoying an act they'd paid good money to hear.

Special mention must be given to Manchester's Albert Hall - a converted church - which is a great venue and contributed significantly to the amazing atmosphere. How can you fail to enjoy a gig when there's fading sunlight streaming through huge stained glass windows? So far I've only been to the Hall twice, albeit coincidentally both events took place within 48 hours of each other, but I'll definitely be looking out for future events there. I'll also be keenly awaiting The Lumineers' next trip to the North of England!

Pete

(P.S - A quick call out in support of Twickets, the website and app through which people can buy and sell unneeded tickets at face value. Help the fight against scalps by refusing to pay over the odds for sold out events!)

Adam Buxton’s BUG Special: David Bowie (Albert Hall, Manchester on Sunday 17 April 2016)

Last night’s BUG Special on David Bowie, hosted by Adam Buxton, was great fun. I’ve been a fan of Buxton since his mid-nineties show with Joe Cornish on Channel 4. In fact, when you add up all of his output – The Adam & Joe Show, Adam & Joe Go Tokyo, the Xfm and 6Music radio shows, Bug, The Adam Buxton Podcast – it turns out that I’ve consistently been watching and listening to Adam Buxton for around twenty years (!), which is slightly creepy. Or is it? That’s the thing these days – with social media and whatnot the fine line between fandom and stalker is increasingly blurred…

Anyway, this was the first time I’d been able to see Adam Buxton live. Knowing both that Buxton was a huge Bowie fan and had recently lost his father, I was perhaps a little concerned that the evening would be quite melancholic, but this was quickly dispelled when, straight away, Buxton joked that he wasn’t enjoying Bowie’s latest “phase”. What followed was two and a half hours of Bowie videos, rare interviews and Buxton’s own brand of comedy genius (you know the sort of stuff: Lego animations of David and Angie Bowie trying to decide what his next alter-ego should be). There was even a “Stephen!” from one of the two ladies sat next to me (and I make no apologies if you don’t get that in-joke).

Sadly, my wife and I had to leave early due to the fact that Metrolink are incapable of understanding that people might want to travel by tram on a Sunday evening any later than 10.54pm, so we missed whatever happened after 10.35pm, but hopefully it wasn’t much.

For anyone attending the second show tonight – enjoy!

Tibor Reich at the Whitworth Gallery

The Whitworth Gallery in Manchester currently has a very good exhibition on Tibor Reich. His name was not familiar either to me or my wife – essentially we stumbled upon the exhibition whilst exploring the Whitworth’s glorious £15m extension – but I think it’s fair to say that we both fell in love at first sight. 

Reich was a Hungarian immigrant moved to the UK prior to WWII and thereafter established himself as one of Britain’s greatest post-war textile designers. His striking fabrics were extremely popular in the 1950s and 1960s, to the extent that his designs were used to decorate Concorde (a small framed piece of the planes’ seating material was available for purchase in the gift shop, but at over £100 I gave it a miss). Reich’s focus was on ensuring that his designs were heavily textured, which led to rich fabrics that were full of colour and depth. Although the exhibition isn’t huge, you do get to see a wide range of materials – ceramic tiles, pottery, wallpaper, fabrics – as well as a brief video featuring the man himself explaining and demonstrating his fascinating design process. 

The exhibition was a fantastic, unexpected find, and is well worth a visit. It runs until August 2016, but if you’re not able to get to the Whitworth then I can recommend the brilliant book Tibor Reich: Art of Colour & Textures (Sue Prichard & Mary Schoeser, ISBN 9781526200006), which is available online at http://www.tibor.co.uk, https://www.margarethowell.co.uk, and possibly from other retailers.