You certainly don’t need me to remind you that 2016 was in many respects a terrible year – an annus anus, so to speak – and an extremely worrying one in terms of what we may expect of 2017 and thereafter. And I am not going to darken your mood still further by listing the many greats who passed … Continue reading My year in movies, music and books (what I liked best, anyway)
It’s now 30 years since I first saw Gary Oldman act – as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986) – and almost 20 since I first met him in person – at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, for an interview about his debut as writer-director, Nil by Mouth (1997). Though both those works – … Continue reading Through Gary Oldman’s eyes: the star gets behind a camera again
This tribute was written for and first published by the BFI at http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/comment/obituaries/geoff-andrew-remembers-abbas-kiarostami With Abbas Kiarostami and translator Massoumeh Lahidji on stage at the Marrakech Film Festival, December 2015 When I first met Abbas Kiarostami on the evening of 21 June 1999 – I know the date because it was the night before I interviewed him on … Continue reading Abbas Kiarostami: a remembrance
I must confess that until now, I’d never really found the paintings of Paul Nash (1889-1946) particularly striking. Perhaps that’s not so surprising. Apart from the fact that I’d only ever seen two or three examples of his work at any one time, I wasn’t aware of any especially great claims having been for him … Continue reading Stranger than expected: the Paul Nash exhibition at Tate Britain
Since I first came to live in London 40 years ago, there’s been a handful of American jazz favourites I’ve made a point of seeing on each and every occasion they’ve crossed the Atlantic to play a gig. It was certainly that way with both Ornette Coleman and Charlie Haden, and it’s still the case … Continue reading Not in Their Names: Carla Bley and Liberation Music Orchestra in London
This piece was written for and first published by BFI online. See http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/all for further pieces. Why this might not seem so easy Despite being one of the most important American directors of the modern era, the late, great Robert Altman (1925-2006) is surprisingly often omitted from discussions that happily namecheck such figures as Spielberg, Scorsese, Eastwood, Lynch, Mann, … Continue reading Where to Begin with Robert Altman…
While I may have reservations about the sheer size of the London Jazz Festival, I long ago stopped asking myself whether this or that act can really be described as ‘jazz’. What matters for the individual in the audience, after all, is whether he or she enjoys the music, and the organisers’ highly inclusive approach … Continue reading Norwegian good: the Nils Økland Band in London
Should you find yourself in central London with half an hour or more to spend, there is currently a terrific exhibition - admission free - at Somerset House. It's devoted to the photography of the late Malick Sidibé, who died earlier this year aged 80 or thereabouts. Sidibé, who as a boy in the late 1930s … Continue reading An Eye on Mali: the Photography of Malick Sidibé
I have loved the music of Jean Sibelius and Dmitri Shostakovich ever since my teens. Back then they were probably more important to me than Beethoven, and right up there with King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator, David Ackles and other rock favourites. I bought their symphonies and concertos on budget labels like Classics for … Continue reading Two musical evenings: Shostakovich and Sibelius
It’s fitting, I suppose, that for my first-ever blog I should write about what was my highlight of the recent BFI London Film Festival – fitting not so much because of my professional involvement with the Festival, but because the highlight in question featured a combination of film and music, two of the … Continue reading Great old movie, great new music by Garth Knox
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 