The Sunday dozen
John Wyver writes: One of the pleasures of the past weeks was a day’s ‘churching’ with friends in Suffolk, during which we visited the tiny thatched church of Thornham Parva. Behind the altar is the astonishing and exquisite Thornham Parva Retable (above), the largest medieval altarpiece in England. This is thought to have been made in the 133os for a Dominican priory, and it escaped later iconoclasts by being removed from the church. It was only in 1927 that it was rediscovered, hidden in a woodpile.
Otherwise, apologies for missing a week last Sunday; here is this week’s selection of articles and more that have engaged me recently and enriched my understanding.
• Preparing for a post-Trump internet: at his pluralistic site Cory Doctorow is on fire; do please read this — and be afraid.
• Cinema as commons: the radical act of going to the movies: a rich essay for Mubi Notebook by Lena Mrachacz about the collective creation and viewing of films.
• The UK’s first arthouse boom: how Contemporary Films blazed a trail in bringing world cinema to British viewers: introducing a major season of films distributed by Contemporary Henry K Miller pays tribute.
• Remember filmstrips? These dedicated souls are racing to save them: Christian Kriticos for The New York Times [gift link] on the work of archivist Mark O’Brien.
• ‘You maniacs, you blew it up’: Corey Atad on Christopher Nolan and the Planet of the Apes movies.
• The Newcomers 5: John Boorman’s Brecht play: who knew that in 1966 director John Boorman, just ahead of making Point Blank in Hollywood, John Boorman staged Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan, in John Willett’s translation, at Bristol Arts Centre? The Festival of Ideas substack has the story, as part of a fascinating series of posts about Boorman in Bristol in the early 1960s, linked to a South West Silents screening on 12 September.
• ‘My Baby Just cares for Me’ by Nina Simone: Happy 50th Birthday Aardman Studios! here’s one of their earliest and most delightful productions:
• Bayeux Gallery: go to Reading for the remarkable faithful replica! Cheaper, far less crowded.
• After a reckoning and the toppling, what is replacing Britain’s symbols of empire?: I really appreciated Nadine White’s thoughtful Guardian essay.
• The Lucas Museum doesn’t have a narrative: a very fine and full report by Maximilíano Durón for ARTnews about the opening this week of George Lucas’ vanity project in Los Angeles.
• Hello Goodbye to the Saville Theatre: Charles Drazin on the remarkable history of a wonderful building on Shaftesbury Avenue, now seemingly condemned to a far from remarkable future.
• The Brandon Estate, Southwark II: ‘It was going to be paradise’: the second part of a fascinating Municipal Dreams report.
• La Scala removes LaScalaTV paywall, making its archive free worldwide: a report from motoperpetuo with great news for those of us interested in opera, screen adapatation and streaming.
• The claims of close reading: this Boston Review essay by Johanna Winant was published at the end of last year, and it has been circulating again recently online; it is well worth your time.
• Brexit Britain is still a tinderbox: the invaluable Chris Grey reflects on a summer of seeming stasis and looks forward to the continuation of troubled times.
• The left’s two nostalgias: valuable analysis from ‘Left wing of the possible’.
• And finally… Dolly Parton – ‘Jolene’: how else could I close out this column but with the late great singer and songwriter, here back in 1973?
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