Winchester News Online
One Battle After Another – Review
“Are you going to put that on your twitter or your instagram?”
Paul Thomas Anderson returns after an “interesting” addition to his filmography with One Battle after Another but is it a true return to form?
Sean Penn delivers a captivating performance as Sgt Lockjaw a man who can only be described as purely evil, his physicality across the film evokes RFK Jr’s style of movement and speech that feels completely alien to the viewer and truly marks him as different from the rest of the cast, Paul Thomas Anderson’s sense of crude dark humor as seen in Punch Drunk Love is shown throughout Penn’s lines as he speaks so passively about his superiority to other races and later describes how he was used by a “Semen demon” (Teanna Taylor) which explains why he has a mixed race child.
He plays an aspiring member of the “Christmas Adventurers Club” a seceret white supremacist group pulling all the strings as a secret cabal drawing comparisons to the Trump administration in America.
In their one of two major scenes they speak in newstalk so passively about wanting to cut Lockjaw’s privates off as he has been tainted it truly shows how little humanity and empathy they have left speaking in effectively a different dialect to anyone else that we see in the film.
They eventually turn on him as he focuses down his hunt for Leonardo Dicaprio’s character’s daughter in the town where the Club holds lots of their business exploiting and hiring illegal immigrants using them for cheap labour and discarding them empowering figures that are harsh on immigration and will deal with immigrants brutally by choice.
Leonardo Dicaprio delivers a reserved yet heartfelt performance that subtextual represents the fact that as the domineering race for most of human history white people are on the outside of the revolution are are able to switch off and attempt to live a normal life like Leo does compared to the constant turmoil and warfare that his contemporaries from ethnic minorities face
The score is masterfully composed by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood with a leitmotif of the piano underscoring almost every element of the film, changing key and pace to mark the start of Willa’s eternal battle against inequality and for the revolution but always bringing a sense of tension to every scene it appears in, such as the road chase towards the latter half as the camera ebbs and flows on a dolly going up and down the roads mimicking the cars we are constantly switching between diegetic and non diegetic audio; nonstop building tension towards the inevitable conflict
The story makes useful comments on religion as Willa is held secretly in a nun’s hideaway far away from the incoming Lockjaw as he remarks “What an affront to god” that they would hold someone he sees as “evil” offering commentary on the white Christian nationalism that is becoming ever so common across the world, with Trumps hard stance on immigration.
Where else to converge the primary storylines than a holy place with nuns where God’s omnibenevolence is supposed to be demonstrated; invaded by an authoritarian government under the guise of “Christ’s Work”.
PTA’s (Paul Thomas Anderson) complete control over shot composition is demonstrated all over the film, as typical in his films there is lots of tracking shots and dutch angles are used beautifully in the nun hideout reflecting how unsafe the characters truly are and how small they are in the face of the government hunting them down, the nun hideout allows PTA to truly experiment with his shots being in a dessert
The Poem “the revolution will not be televised” by Gil scott Heron is referenced constantly in the film and reminds the audience that the battle is constantly in the shadows and is a thankless job “The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb or Francis Scott Keys, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Engelbert Humperdinck, or The Rare Earth The revolution will not be televised”.
The first half of the season has been a good combination of good showing that is close. The Harriers are doing well, but they realize they have to do better going forward to get further up the track. And with a handful of key games in the pipeline, the second half of the season will be the deciding factor in whether they can convert effort into yet another win.
On the sidelines, the club is readying for changes. After ten seasons at Oasis Academy, the Hampshire Harriers will shift to Apple More Health and Leisure in Dibden to play games as funding for the team increases and costs climb.
The squad remains focused on performance despite difficulties they may face on the court or off it. “We’ve played really well, even in the matches we lost this season,” said club representative David Morgan. “We have produced good numbers and we have that to give us hope. Some days, we’ve just been getting close (tied up) and things haven’t gone our way. We also will be moving to Apple More Health and Leisure in Dibden, which we will have to get used to. The biggest thing is that we keep our heads, we stay together, and we go through it as a team. If we work hard and remain unified the results will come.”
The venue at Oasis Academy has been a significant contributor to the Harriers’ growth over the last 10 years. It’s also given them stability and a good local presence. While this is the close of a lengthy chapter the club will continue its quest for further progression and play both on and off the playing floor.
The Harriers expect a good run into the next half of the season as they near critical moments. As that stage of the season comes in, they want the season to continue on well. And whatever obstacles lie in the way they just want to end their fight and finish up the campaign well powered through.
What do fireworks and iguanas from Costa Rica have in common?
Within the cork-bored walls of a Church hosted an Iris tucked delicately next to a divine landmark of Winchester.
Or maybe you might prefer the TV display with an elderly man thinking whether ‘to smile or not to smile’, or the Sandhurst Passing Out Parade.
With a white dahlia and friendly faces that were willing to greet you at the door.
From DSLRs to the cameras we keep in our pockets, this was the magic that was The Bishops Waltham Photography Society’s annual exhibition.
Boasting around 55 members, from ‘seasoned amateurs’ to those with newly bought cameras, the showcase has been running for 13 years, and is consistently held in the United Church.
The society, starting in 2008, was created by a small group of people who wished to share their passion for the life behind the lens with those in the local area.
For those under 16, do not fret, as the society also hosts a Junior Competition for those living within the local parishes. Those who were placed received a certificate from the Mayor of Winchester.
If you enjoyed a particular photograph, for example, the macro shots of black and white beauty which hosted a trio of unforgettable sights, you may liaise with the creator to buy the print. There were also cards for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going back to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.
So whether your fancy is taken by the Northern Lights or a red-eyed tree frog, the Bishop’s Watlham Photographic Society Annual exhibition is one to keep on your to-do list.
ITS TIME!!
The festive period is truly upon us.
The Cathedral is the home of Christmas in Winchester, and this year they are branching out their events.
They are no stranger to a Christmas concert, but this year they have arranged their first ever interactive concert.
A Christmas cracker concert – a celebration of music, traditional literature and community, personifying the meaning of Christmas.
Lay Clerk Simon Irwin worked with Reverend Canon Andrew Micklefield worked together to create a night of entertainment, they hosted the event as a duo, creating a new dynamic for the cathedral.
The Christmas Cracker Concert bought a new audience in, people of all ages and faiths, coming together in a moment of reflection in a different perspective to usual.
Many people see the cathedral as simply a home for those who follow the Christian faith, but the cathedral are wanting to welcome more people in to see the beauty within, the Christmas cracker concert steered away from the typical sermon.
With iconic Christmas songs, from Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ to ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ and a combined effort to fill the cathedral with a loud rendition of the 12 days of Christmas.
It wasn’t just Christmas songs being bought to life but a reading from Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, the Lay Clerks bought to life the Christmas classic.
They were joined also by the Girl Choristers for some more traditional songs, the audience were wowed by the raw talent echoing through the navel of the cathedral.
The evening was a great success with both Simon and Andrew telling me they hoped to host more events like this in the future to welcome in more diverse audiences.
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