Culture Diary w/c 24-06-13
Monday – Much Ado About Nothing 3.30pm @ FACT
When Joss Whedon’s Avengers became the third highest grossing film in cinema history, while also receiving broadly warm critical reaction, the oft-used phrase of the geeks inheriting the Earth rang that bit truer. Whedon, creator of much loved but regularly cancelled genre TV (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Firefly), now turns his hand to Shakespeare. Shot in just 12 days in his apartment, Much Ado About Nothing is how the director spent his time ‘off’ from Marvel.
Tuesday – Lambchop 7.30pm @ the Kazimier £20
Like The Simpsons, Coca Cola (there are other fizzy drinks available) and Madonna, Lambchop seem always to have been there. Unlike those other American pop exports, they have rarely loomed large in the shared cultural consciousness, existing instead on the periphery. Of course, there is a nobility in this, as with their output. Perhaps Pitchfork put it best describing recent release, Mr. M, thus: “Kurt Wagner and co.’s masterful 11th album is one of the best to emerge from their strange, modest universe.” Full preview.
Not Fade Away 8pm @ Camp and Furnace £3
Interesting on a number of levels, not least that it features the recently departed James Gandolfini, Not Fade Away also happens to be David Chase’s directorial debut. Creator of the New Jersey-set The Sopranos, Chase revisits the state, but this time from the point of view of a group of suburban friends who form a band and try to make it in this nostalgia-hued period piece.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Thursday – Munch 150 7pm @ FACT £12-£15
2013 marks 150 years since the birth of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. This screening of the special anniversary exhibition, billed as ‘the most comprehensive presentation’ of his work ever displayed, is surely an unmissable opportunity to see and hear about so much more than his best-known piece, The Scream (above).
Friday – Love Your Blog Workshop #2: Creative Thinking 1.15pm @ Tate Liverpool £15
The first Love Your Blog workshop dealt with motivation and ideas. The second gets to grips with an equally difficult area: creative thinking. Fortunate then that award-winning journalist Laura Brown and the winner of the 2012 John Moores critics award, Linda Pittwood, are on hand to discuss content ideas, writing with purpose, structure and editing. Further inspiration, if any were needed, comes in the form of a ticket for Chagall: Modern Master (reviewed here) bundled into the deal.
Outfit 8pm @ Blade Factory FREE (booking advised)
Liverpool’s favourite band™ in free gig shock! Whether you agree with that piece of (slightly spurious) trade-marking or not, what could be better than the delightful combination of Friday night with a gig, gratis? Frankly, we’re struggling to top it. With Outfit running through their debut album Performance, and support from Bird and Ex-Easter Island Head, this is one to look forward to.
Saturday – Of Time And The City 3pm @ FACT
Part of the RIBA-fronted Love Architecture festival, any excuse to show Terence Davies’ Of Time And The City works us. Fascinating archive footage (below) is combined with personal commentary from Davies to produce a twisted love letter to the city of his birth.
Loved Ones 8pm @ the Scandinavian Church £7
This week sees the release of Loved Ones’ debut album, The Merry Monarch. Marking the occasion, the band are holding a party within the hallowed confines of the Scandinavian Church, with support from fellow Wirralites, The Laze and the happily ubiquitous Nadine Carina.
Not Arsed 8pm @ Drop the Dumbells
Bringing a ‘spoiled-for-choice’ feel to an already busy Saturday, if we had to pick just one of today’s options, we would probably – after much um-ing and ah-ing – plump for Not Arsed; not simply because of the inspired title either. Featuring rarities from a who’s who of our favourite Liverpool-based artists (TDN artistof the month alumni Will Daw, Sean Wars and Alice Duke among them), alongside DJ sets on the night, we’re already there.
Sunday – Metropolis 5.30pm @ FACT
The second in FACT’s architecture-related screenings this week is the re-issue of Fritz Lang’s iconic masterpiece, Metropolis. Director Lang’s stunningly-rendered vision of a dystopic future (recently restored following a near-miraculous discovery of lost footage in a Buenos Aires museum) continues to captivate and was previewed for a previous screening in full here.