charles would be proud

Cherished Galveston Dickens holiday festival toasts 50 years with genteel nod from UK Parliament

Dickens on The Strand received a notable mention from across the pond in honor of 50 years.

Photo courtesy of Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau

As generations of locals and travelers are aware, Galveston’s Dickens on The Strand Festivalimmerses visitors in the environs of the iconic author’s world of larger-than-life characters of 1830’s to 1840s England.

This year, the beloved cultural festival marks a major milestone this year as it celebrates its golden anniversary. Expect a host of special events and activations on Galveston’s popular Strand from December 1-3. Important details, a full schedule of events, and tick information can be found on the official site.

In a genteel nod to the cherished event’s 50th anniversary and its British origins, the Dickens on The Strand Festival — and its parent organization the Galveston Historical Foundation — just received a special and official recognition in the United Kingdom’s Parliament.

Specifically, this recognition came in the form of a Parliamentary motion tabled by Tracey Crouch MP. Notably, Crouch’s constituency includes the town of Chatham, Kent, where Charles Dickens lived for a number of years, according to press materials.

Dickens on The Strand Galveston Costumes make for serious people watching. Dickens on the Strand/Facebook

Crouch’s full motion can be found here. She declared, in part:

“That this House congratulates the Galveston Historical Foundation in Texas on the 50th anniversary of the annual Dickens on The Strand celebration from 1-3 December 2023; welcomes the expected 50,000 visitors to the festival which celebrates the life and work of Charles Dickens who spent many years of his life in Kent, most notably in Chatham; notes that the Tall Ship ELISSA – the official Tall Ship of Texas – which will host the ‘Salute to Sunset’ during the festival was built in the United Kingdom; celebrates the historical ties between the United Kingdom and the city of Galveston which was home to the first British Consulate in the State of Texas in 1846; and welcomes the role of the British Consulate-General in Houston as the presenting sponsor for this year’s historic event.”

Praise and acknowledgement went not only to the Galveston Historical Foundation for its deft running of the festival for 50 years, but also to some key Gulf Coast/UK ties. Galveston was home to the first British Consulate in the State of Texas in 1846. Meanwhile, the famed and historic Tall Ship ELISSA – the official tall ship of Texas – was built in the UK, and that Galveston was home to the first British Consulate in the State of Texas in 1846.

“Galveston Historical Foundation is honored to be recognized for this achievement in support of Galveston and the revitalization and restoration of our historic commercial area and the 1877 ELISSA,” said Dwayne Jones, executive director of Galveston Historical Foundation, in a statement. “We have hosted descendants of Charles Dickens each year since 1987, with the first descendant participating in 1976. We consider our relationship with the Consul General and his staff as a treasured friendship that recalls the important British story in Galveston from the 19th century.”

The fun runs December 1-3 in Galveston this year. Dickens on the Strand Facebook

Local cultural attaché the British Consulate in Houston, itself responsible for myriad Brit-themed activities across town, also paid tribute to Dickens on The Strand.

“I’m delighted that the work of the Galveston Historical Foundation and this festival has received this level of recognition in the UK Parliament. Dickens on The Strand is a unique celebration and one of the most colourful I have been to anywhere in the world. The British Consulate in Houston is delighted to be a part of proceedings, and I hope as many Texans as possible will take the chance to put on some Victorian clothes and celebrate with us in Galveston this December.”

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Galveston’s The Dickens on The Strand Festival runs Friday, December 1 through Sunday, December 3 on Galveston’s Strand. For tickets and a full schedule of events, visit the official event site.

Movie Review

Denzel Washington brings new spectacle to the Colosseum in Gladiator II

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Paul Mescal in Gladiator II.

There are some films for which making a sequel is natural, and others where a follow-up is wholly unnecessary. Gladiator, which made both tons of money and was named Best Picture at the Oscars, told an impactful stand-alone story that ended with the protagonist dead and no real loose ends. And yet because there’s always more money to be made, here we are 24 years later with Gladiator II.

The lead character this time around is Lucius (Paul Mescal), a general in a North African army who becomes a prisoner of war when the Roman army led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) bests him and his troops in battle. Taken back to Rome, he is put in the pool of captured men forced to fight at the Colosseum for the amusement of twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracella (Fred Hechinger).

Lucius is controlled by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), an ambitious schemer who bets liberally on his prized fighter and always has an eye to move up in the world. Meanwhile, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the sister of Emperor Commodus from the first film, is now married to Marcus Acacius and has a unique connection with Lucius that is fairly obvious from the get-go.

Directed once again by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa, the film commits a number of sins throughout its 150-minute running time, the most blatant of which is that, aside from a few embellishments, it essentially tells the same story as the first film. Lucius, like Maximus, is a deposed military leader who’s out for revenge on the person who killed his family. Instead of one obnoxious emperor, there are now two. And the only way for Lucius to earn his freedom is to fight his way out.

Stories told in the same world can echo each other and, if done well, overcome those similarities. But Gladiator II is shockingly boring for a purported sword-and-sandals epic. Scott and his team try to introduce new elements to the fights, like a gladiator riding a rhinoceros or a ship battle inside the Colosseum (with sharks!), but most of the sequences are inert with no propulsion to them.

The action fails because none of the relationships in the film amount to much. There are stand-out characters like Macrinus and the twin emperors, but instead of creating antipathy or strong feelings of triumph or defeat, the story just kind of happens without any sense of excitement or importance. Much of that issue lies at the feet of Lucius, who simply doesn’t inspire in the same way that Russell Crowe’s Maximus did.

Mescal is a fine actor who’s done good work in more intimate roles, but he’s not up to the task of being an action star, at least not in this film. Any bombast he shows with the character feels forced, and the story doesn’t give him enough opportunities to counteract that lack. Washington, however, fills up the screen with his charisma, and it’s during his scenes that the film comes closest to being rousing. Quinn and Hechinger are a lot of fun as the twin emperors, but in the end they feel like retreads of Joaquin Phoenix from the original.

Any sequel should have a purpose that sets it apart from what came before, but Scott, Scarpa, and the rest of their team fail in that respect in Gladiator II. It’s a mostly lifeless film that delivers scenes that would be exciting if they had any kind of good story to back them up.

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Gladiator II opens in theaters on November 22.

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Denzel Washington brings new spectacle to the Colosseum in Gladiator II