On the Road: Far from home

Heading from London to Los Angeles for two weeks in February, you'd rightly expect to have warmer weather. Surprise! It's colder and wetter here in California than it is in England at the moment. But at least it's sunny. I've been busy spending time with family, but managed to catch one movie here: the survival drama Arctic, starring Mads Mikkelsen as a man stranded in an endless snowscape after a plane crash. It's a bare-bones thriller, with no backstory and only one other character (who barely speaks). But it's strikingly well directed by Joe Penna, shot with skill to bring the audience right into the character's odyssey. It's hard not to shiver in the cold during the film, wince at the pain and even panic a little over the hopelessness. Even if you know it can't end as bleakly it looks like it will.

The only other film I've watched in the past week is Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), which I revisited on the plane. It's a personal favourite, and its scrappy charm and pungent emotion hold up, as do the iconic songs. John Cameron Mitchell's writing, direction and acting are masterful. And it's great to see the young Michael Pitt in his breakout role, as well as a very young Miriam Shor (most recently seen in Younger).

I'm now bracing myself for Oscar on Sunday, hoping the winners are a list of surprises and that the ceremony takes some risks to shake things up a bit. It's well worth watching that jaw-dropping opening number from the 1989 ceremony, the last time there wasn't a host - which is so increasingly insane that it almost seems sad something like that could never happen again (google: rob lowe snow white oscars - then settle in for 11 minutes of pure "what were they thinking" joy). I'll post my picks on Saturday...