Mark Gatiss News

[J.P.]

I doubt if Frankenstein will ever appear in cinemas here.

[Arcadia]

Sorry ... another film I wanted to see, but missed. That happens a lot, I'm afraid.

[J.P.]

Mark's Dracula is out there:

https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/dracula-1409

[J.P.]

I have to say I enjoyed Dracula a lot. It's interesting to get to know the original story.

 

I couldn't help grinning at some Mark's lines - because I couldn't help imagining him at the studio. I bet he had the time of his life :D

 

There is a bonus of interviews and a soundtrack in the package. Plus an extra bonus: I could understand everything without having to concentrate on what I'm listening to. Why all Brits don't speak like this?

[Bluebell]

I have to say I enjoyed Dracula a lot. It's interesting to get to know the original story.

 

I couldn't help grinning at some Mark's lines - because I couldn't help imagining him at the studio. I bet he had the time of his life :D

 

There is a bonus of interviews and a soundtrack in the package. Plus an extra bonus: I could understand everything without having to concentrate on what I'm listening to. Why all Brits don't speak like this?

 

I guess it's like with the germans or other languages - there are different dialects and accents, mostly depending on the area they come from. Also depends on your own understanding.

For example - It's easier for me to understand people from Scotland or nothern area of England than a Bavarian...

But ask a Bavarian - they have a hard time understanding Berliners as well (I am actually one of the few 'native Berliners' left, they are hard to find here these days, haha...). :D

 

I just didn't get it with the Dracula - is it a CD, and like an audiobook or an audioplay (is Hörspiel audioplay in english or is there a different word for it...?), or what is it? Not a film on CD, right?

[J.P.]

Hörspiel is it. It is a dramatization of the book, with passages of the text read as diary entries (I assume the book was written this way), and parts are spoken dialogues.

 

As for the speaking - Mark has a funny accent but it's the pace that makes all nice to listen to. They don't rush it. Which you cannot tell about Mark as himself.
And you don't have to explain the dialect thing to me: I'm still traumatized by the first encounter between my rudimentary school German and the local version of it.

[J.P.]

Ian Hallard posted pictures from the Blenheim Palace Triathlon yesterday

https://twitter.com/IanHallard

[J.P.]

An evening with Coriolanus encore:

 

Drove in the rush hour to Stuttgart. Baaad trafic + road works. My car was doing funny noises, which made me drive slowly (by German standards), so it took a while.

 

Freezed my butt off in the cinema. Me, a lonely Gatissanbeterin* under (assumed) Hiddlestoners.

 

Suffered through the Shakespearean English I'm still incompatible with (it will stay so, I'm afraid)

 

Drove back (still slowly) at night, which I hate. Still managed to get caught by a radar trap (hello speeding ticket!)

 

Came home at midnight completely knackered.

 

Things I do for that man!

 

 

*German wordplay - Gottes-anbeterin means praying mantis, literally God-worshipper. Well, draw your conclusions ;)

 

[Arcadia]

Sooo.... did you enjoy it, then?

 

 

And how does one drive "slowly" and end up with a speeding ticket? In Germany, which is famous for having no speed limits.......

[J.P.]

 

And how does one drive "slowly" and end up with a speeding ticket?

Hah, you need a talent for this (being dumb is not enough)

 

And yes, we DO have speed limits. When you don't expect them.

Was driving some 100-110 kmh to be able to turn to emergency lane, in case the car would start to fall apart. Was there not an interchange section with 80 kmh limit.

 

I did enjoy the play, despite the language. Had a look at the movie adaptation with Ralph Fiennes lately, but it helped only a bit as the stories differ a lot.

 

As a contrast to Barbican and Hamlet, Donmar Warehouse is tiny, the scene is not much bigger than a boxing ring and is surrounded by seats except one wall at the back. The production was minimalistic, but cleverly done IMO, even if using the same actors for multiple (small) parts was a bit confusing.

 

Was thinking few times that shortening the text would do the story a huge favor, but the finale was terrific (got me a bit teary) Found the "shower" scene a bit too much, but maybe because it made me think about the cut shower scene from STID. :P

 

Was not so happy with Mother and Wife, but it's hard to beat Vanessa Redgrave as a militant mummy and very delicate Jessica Chastain. IMO there was absolutely no chemistry between Tom and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and the actress felt out of place.

 

Mark was (of course) great with his dry humour and earned some laughs, both in the thearte as in the cinema. I wish he had more on-scene-time

I don't know if it's better, that his Menenius didn't commit suicide like the one from the movie. A suicide scene would be surely great - but a downer.

 

Story-wise I can definitely better relate to the tragedy of a misplaced soldier than the young prince that cannot make his mind.

Plus, the end proves Mycroft right (again) - caring is definitely not an advantage. ;)

 

Still have to read a translation or a synopsis to be sure I understood everything right. I just hate guessing, even if it's a line or two.

[J.P.]

Just because I love her so much: a snippet written by my fav Polish blogger about Mark's part (translated mostly by Google, sorry)

 

Admittedly, Coriolanus is not a one-man show. Mark Gatiss as Menenius got a big part. His role should theoretically be reduced to a good counselor and father figure in the life of Coriolanus. But Gatiss' Menenius grows into a much more interesting figure. On the one hand he is the politician on the scene - it perfectly shows in the first scene, with the parable of the stomach (…) when he beautifully shows how to talk to people. At the same time one gets the impression that Menenius has some plans of his own. Perhaps, like most heroes of the play, he also sees Coriolanus as a project. An entirely political project, that at some point starts to disintegrate before his own eyes.
Gatiss' Menenius manipulates Coriolanus (although with incomparably more kindness than his mother), but he's the only one in the whole play who is ready to take responsibility for it. I must admit that his "man in the background" drama of a man ready to face the consequences of his own actions, sometimes seems more interesting than what happens to Coriolanus. Gatiss' last scene is perhaps even more touching than the death of the main character. Mostly due to the striking mix of sadness and tranquility he managed to show in very restrained manner. Interestingly, Gatiss found his way within the play without creating his own plot. I am impressed, even though I always thought about Gatiss as an excellent actor, only now I had the opportunity to see how well he plays in a classical repertoire and how beautifully he can add his own distinctive manner to speaking in Shakespeare's phrase.

 

[Bluebell]

Thanks for reviewing the play, here it was on last week, but I somehow managed to miss it again ...also, why I didn't buy an early ticket this time - I wasn't sure if I would survive another shakesperean thing because I had recently seen the Hamlet encore. Same as you, the shakesperean english is not really my area, also was wondering why some of the people wore Hipster clothes (???) and how they would go with Shakespeare, so I think I have to let this sink in first before I see another one. I like Tom Hiddleston most in the Avengers, and the only shakesperean there was Tony Stark making fun of Thor when chasing Loki in the park:  'Doth mother know you wereth her drapes?' which ist more fun. :D

 

'Gatissanbeterin' is a very funny wordplay - now the fans of Mark have also a 'name' ? (and sounds so much cooler than 'Cumber-youknowwhat' , haha!)

[J.P.]

 

now the fans of Mark have also a 'name'

Sadly, only the German ones, because it doesn't work in English. Or one, because I think I invented the name.

 

I cannot decide which T-shirt I should make for a photo with him at the next Sherlocked: a "mantiss" one (which is only a blurry idea so far), or the one outing me as Mycroft's Goldfish... decisions, decisions...

[Van Buren Supernova]

..., but maybe because it made me think about the cut shower scene from STID. :P..

 

Aaaaand........ I filtered out everything else you said.

Totally your fault. Of course.

[sittything]

I was like, what is a Gatissanbeterin?!  lol  I mean, I can be that if needed.  Anything for Mark.

 

I too saw Coriolanus this past week.  While still Shakespeare (I feel your pain JP), I thought both Hiddles and Gatiss were very good in it.  I was also pleasantly surprised how large Mark's role was!   I expected him to get little stage time.  I was never so happy to be so wrong.

[J.P.]

[J.P.]

Would anyone have mercy on me and write down the text? I get lost at some lines. Pretty please
 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I think I got it right (sentence structure might be off slightly; can I blame Mark and how he spoke):

 

Hell is a wheel and it doesn't stop turning.  Like the call of the raven or the claw of a scarecrow, it scratches at your soul.  Oh and the memories, how they linger, the unwelcome guests at a dinner party.  Hell is a room.  Outside the room is a corridor that leads onto another.  You find doors along the way each revealing at a more ghastly horrors and the 7 billion corridors of the 7 billion minds continue to stretch out into the dark as do you, as do I.  

 

We should have stopped when things started turning strange.  We should have stopped when we started seeing clocks by roadsides or when the walls started to grow teeth.  The motion lust gravity, a string of stars, a flash of light, a shot glass, apply pressure, lose pressure.  Resistance only means that something pushing back.  We should have stopped when we started catching glimpses of men too tall to be real or when the crooked people started waiting at our window.  We should have stopped my dear when you pushed and I fell.

 

 

[J.P.]

Thanks!
 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

You're welcome JP

[J.P.]

OMG, now Mark visiting Auschwitz starts to make sense:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4645330/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I see that Andrew Scott is in it as well.  I may have to watch that one with my son this fall when I opens in the US.

[J.P.]

And we have a trailer.

 

There is a possibility that they even shot in the camp. Not sure if I've heard Mark's voice and seen his nose in a split second...

 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

When I watched it earlier, I definitely heard Mark's voice.  Missed seeing him if he was in the clip.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Haven't clicked on the trailer, but I'm on, not because of Mark or Andrew, just intrigued by the story. I am curious to know what is the reaction and challenge back then for the awareness of Holocaust.

 

I have to keep sharp eye though, this is not the kind of movie that gets good reception over here, or maybe they don't show it at all. :(