markagorman
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Tales from business and personal life
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Ripley. The TV series with Andrew Scott.
If M.C. Escher had written a whydunnit he might have called it Ripley.
I say this because the recent Netflix masterpiece starring Andrew Scott and written & directed by Steve Zallion (he of Schindler’s List fame – more on that later) is an Escherian nightmare of wrong turns, about turns, smart turns and climbs that lead to nowhere.
The plot (Patricia Highsmith’s genius cannot be overstated…
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The Old Oak: Movie Review
I just love Ken Loach movies.
He is a one man opposition party to whoever runs this country, but most especially when the Tories are wreaking havoc.
In this film he has a triple attack on racism, poverty and immigration.
As usual, he employs a cast of largely amateur actors, real people, in the North (Durham area this time) and they have grievances.
A run down pit village is being repopulated…
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Baby Reindeer. The Edinburgh Fringe smashes it on Netflix. All Hail Summerhall!
Baby Reindeer has been receiving some great reviews, and I am going to add to that body of opinion.
It was written by, and stars, Richard Gadd but with a supreme supporting performance by Jessica Gunning as Gadd’s stalker Martha. In the stage shows, which provided the inspiration for this 7 part Netflix series, Gadd makes it crystal clear that it is an autobiographical story, in the TV…
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#Baby Reindeer#edinburgh fringe#Jessica Gunning#mark gorman#Nava Mau#netflix#richard gadd#Roundabout@Summerhall#Summerhall#Tom Goodman-Hill
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The Bear Season Two: Just watched
It’s funny how a programme can be so different from season to season and yet hold up its quality threshold and dramatic intensity.
Unlike the UK’s Boiling Point which is a one-paced act of unremitting rage (but great all the same) The Bear has many gears in its armoury and in Season Two, more so than one, it finds time to test drive them and show us serenity, rage, humour, regret and hope.
As…
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A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler: Recent reading.
This gets compared to the wondrous Stoner (an undiscovered novel of the 1960’s) by John Williams which I cannot recommend enough. It’s compared because like Williams’ classic this is the story of one man’s unremarkable life, told in an unremarkable way. And whilst this too is a beautiful (and recommended) read, it does not have quite the same depth, or class, of Stoner. Nevertheless it packs a…
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An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro: Book review
This might be his slightest novel, weighing it at only 205 pages, but it’s his densest.
Another unreliable narrator – an old Japanese painter and teacher – Masuji Ono tells part of his life story, often repetitively (maybe he has dementia) and full of false modesty. He’s actually an arrogant old fuck.
It’s set in an unnamed Japanese city between 1948 and 1950 as the Empire is setting about post…
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The Bear Season 1: Just watched
We were late to this as we didn’t have Disney +, except we had, thanks Natasha. Anyway, I’d read all the hype and last night we set out to watch it, and this afternoon we finished it.
I had to go back and rewatch Episode 1 because on first viewing I was a bit trailing in its wake because the loud music bed, deep Chicagoan patois and rapid fire (some sotto voce) dialogue meant I wasn’t really…
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Recent Reading: Maggie O'Farrell - This Must Be The Place and Instructions For A heatwave
I keep hearing good things about Maggie O’Farrell, the Irishwoman living in my native Edinburgh, and so I’d picked both of the above up in a charity shop some time ago, but left them languishing in my ‘to do’ pile. A conversation with my friend Victoria prompted me to start reading, and I’m glad that I did.
Both books share a strong sense of style. O’Farrell densely plots her novels so that…
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Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet: Book Review
Graeme Macrae Burnet rose to prominence with his Booker Shortlisted, His Bloody Project – a genuinely original historical crime novel, of sorts, that was transfixing from start to finish. He’s followed it up with this Longlisted Booker contender.
Again you could say it’s a crime novel of a sort in which no real crime takes place, but may have been autosuggested by the psychiatrist who plays one…
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My Aunty Margot. God Bless her. (TBH he already has).
My Aunty Margot is a bit of a legend in sport and in teaching but today, after a long period of ill health, she was joined by family and her beloved congregation at St John The Baptist RC Church in Corstorphine to be bestowed the Archdiocesan medal by the Archbishop Leo Cushley. This is a rare honour and reflects her devoted attention and dedication to the church. It goes back a long way and is a…
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The Zone of Interest: Movie Review
Four movies into his very slowly expanding movie CV (Sexy Beast, Birth and Under The Skin) Jonathan Glazer once again lands a punch that no-one could see coming. I mean, how could they?
It’s been ten years since the sublime and shocking Under The Skin (from a source novel by one of my favourite authors, Michel Faber) now he’s done it again with a novelistic source from Martin Amis. Having read a…
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Tomorrowland Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: Book Review
Ultimately it became clear why Gabrielle Zevin is a children’s book writer, but it took a while.
It’s an accomplished book that wants to be more than the sum of its parts and can’t quite reach its lofty ambitions. For a start it chooses one of Macbeth’s most famous soliloquies as its title and that’s bold. Macbeth is grieving the death of his wife and wondering what’s the point. It’s all just…
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The Holdovers: Movie Review
Why this has so many Oscar nominations is beyond me. Admittedly it’s a poor year, although the winner will be a good one. This will not be that winner.
Paul Giamatti dials in his performance as a grumpy (actually not THAT grumpy) teacher of Greek History in a second rank American private school.
He has to look after a bunch of kids during the Christmas/New Year holidays alongside the school…
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All Of Us Strangers: Movie review
I so wish I liked this movie more. It’s gorgeous and thoughtful and wonderfully acted by Andrew Scott ins particular. It’s a touching subject about grief, loneliness, the act of coming out, death and suicide.
But I’m afraid it’s just really boring. It’s way too darkly shot – the cinema projector simply couldn’t cope with how black it is and consequently you could actually see the projector’s…
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A nice possession.
This is my scalpel.
I’ve had it for nearly forty years.
I relocated it from the artwork studio of Hall Advertising in Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh.
At one time an artworker skilfully used it, or one of its bedfellows, to cut my tie in half after it descended upon a piece of flat artwork he was tending to.
Everybody laughed.
Even me.
(It was a life lesson in getting out of the way when…
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Macbeth: Review (the big fat fancy one)
This is underwhelming. But megahyped.
Tickets were selling in Edinburgh at an unprecedented £175 face value. This is frankly ridiculous.
Indira Varma does a good Lady MacBeth. But
Ralph Fiennes is too old, too decrepit to be a believable ambition driven monarch. He looks more like a nice wee spot in a care home would suit him quite nicely.
As we enter the theatre (makeshift and terribly…
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39 years in the trenches. Then versus now in advertising.
It takes time to become a veteran in this business (advertising). So, it takes a while (39 years in my case) to be asked to look back on the olden days of what I do.
I was honoured to be asked by Barry Hearn to join him for a 60 minute chat with The Lane’s Creative Director, Ian ‘Fletch’ Fletcher about advertising, then and now.
So here’s Barry’s Marketing Society / Lane podcast called leading…
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#Dentsu Creative#Edinburgh#Ian Fletcher#mark gorman#The Lane#the leith agency#think hard#whitespace#Work and culture
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