Films: Mothers' Instinct, Godzilla x Kong - The New Empire, & The Hole in the Ground

Back to Ireland for Easter - and it was touch and go, with Storm Nelson felling a tree on the line just as I was taking the Stansted Express to the airport! Not actually on the train, I hasten to add - it was ahead of us though, and the train stopped in Harlow, with the conductor advising us that, if we had imminent flights, we'd be better off in a taxi, and that there was a rank just outside the station. I didn't need telling twice - but oh, what a drag to have to lug the case up one set of stairs and down another. In the queue for the taxi rank, I booked an Uber, figuring I'd take whichever came first. It was the Uber, of course - and as well as the licence plate number, they provided me with a little cartoon of the car, so I knew it was red!

A girl behind me in the queue asked whether I'd like to share - so I had her company on the journey. And when it came, she came in handy in telling me how to open the door - it was a Tesla, which I'd never been in before! I hadn't known you push the handle instead of pull it.. when we were underway, the driver mentioned something about the police not letting Uber into the stations any more! Well, he got us there in time, was the main thing.. 

I had a couple of films lined up for the weekend - but one of them, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, was only released on Friday, and not yet rated, so I didn't know until then which I'd be going to first. In the end, they turned out to have the same rating! So I went to Mothers' Instinct first, only afternoon showing in Ennis. This has Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain as next-door neighbours and best buddies in suburban 60s America. They're both living traditional lives as housewives, each with a successful husband, and their sons the same age - and of course, they do a lot together, with their sons attending the same school and all; Anne Hathaway picks both kids up from school, for instance, and is involved in the school's various activities. And they're round each others' houses all the time.

So it's a great blow for Anne Hathaway in more ways than one when her little boy falls off the roof one day, doing something he shouldn't, and dies. Not a spoiler, it's in the trailer. She can't have more children, so that's her life shattered - nor is she welcome around the school any more, people think it's weird. There's also that suggestion that it was her fault, because she wasn't keeping an eye on him. So, there goes her social life as well. Her husband goes into deep depression, drinking heavily. And while she does still try to socialise with the couple next door, it's awkward - Jessica Chastain thinks Anne Hathaway blames her in some way for her son's death, because she was closest to him, and saw it coming, but couldn't get to him in time.

Anne Hathaway is also obsessed with Jessica Chastain's son - to an extent that freaks Jessica Chastain out, as she sees Anne Hathaway as trying to replace her son with him! Unfortunately, seems Jessica Chastain has a history of mental instability, as her husband reminds her when she tries to raise her concerns with him. So, this is a psychological thriller - is the woman next door really planning something nefarious, or is it just Jessica Chastain's fevered imagination?

It's beautifully staged, of the period, and the suspense builds nicely. Lovely acting from all, as well. It's based on a French-language story, Derriere la Haine (Behind Hatred) - I haven't read it, so don't know whether they kept the same plot line throughout, but for me, I found the ending a little weak - perhaps the acting just wasn't quite compelling enough to carry it. But anyway, it's a decent watch.

Tried to blog it, and would you believe, the blog site was down! So I had to wait. And yesterday was, finally, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, in the more convenient (for shopping) Limerick Omniplex. Traffic on the approach to Limerick was very slow, but I did leave a bit early, and when I saw the traffic seemed mostly to be headed to the side, presumably for a match at Thomond Park, I became more optimistic. Sure enough, despite it being a bit sluggish again before I escaped the city centre, I did make the cinema in decent time. There was no parking in front, but I got parking around the side, and made it during the trailers.

I went to this on foot of Godzilla Minus 1, which had such spectacular special effects, it made me a fan. However, I did get the distinct impression, watching this, that it's a sequel to something I haven't seen. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it seems. Well, in this new one, Godzilla lives, em, on the surface - he normally hangs out in the Arctic, but now he ends up sleeping in the Colosseum, to the understandable irritation of the Italian government.

Kong, meanwhile, inhabits this region called "Hollow Earth" - a strip of surface-like land that exists somewhere under the Earth's crust - you get there through "portals" in the oceans -  and it inexplicably has both oxygen and what looks like sunlight. Oh, and gravity inverts halfway through, which means they can walk on both "floor" and "ceiling", if you like. Which is imaginative. And it's packed with radiation, which rather than imparting radiation sickness, allows its creatures - like those in the title - to grow to scary sizes. And it's populated by what I can only describe as a perfectly woke human tribe, which communicates telepathically, so they don't seem to be able to hear (aww, no music!). And they, you know, live a simple life, in harmony with nature. And I bet they're all vegans, although it doesn't come up. Certainly, they're vaguely aboriginal-looking, and all quite slim and attractive. And they have a telepathic bond with Kong, who protects them.

Well gee, Godzilla seems to be storing up radiation energy - which he uses as a weapon - for some perceived threat on the horizon. Again, it's no spoiler to say that this threat comes in the form of others of Kong's kind, who are planning world domination or such. And it seems - and in light of previous films, this is hardly surprising - that Godzilla and Kong are mortal enemies, and should never meet, or they'll attack each other. But now they must unite against their common foe - all in the trailer.

The effects are spectacular, as expected. And they have a fine old time, destroying ancient monuments - all in Europe (with a brief foray to Egypt to destroy a pyramid or two). (Are they making a point that we should remake antiquity in their image?) They do also make a mess of Rio, mind. But yeah, they stay away from the States.. I guess the audience wouldn't appreciate them going there. But you know something? There are so many effects, I felt overloaded - with all of them packed on top of each other, they just blur together and become fairly unnoticeable. So.. Godzilla Minus 1 it ain't. I'll try to avoid further films in this series.. but it's enjoyable enough.

Last night, another horror film on tv! This one turned out to be Irish - The Hole in the Ground is a very accurate title for a film that has a single mother move into some massive pile, deep in the wilds, on the edge of a forest - with a strange kind of sinkhole in it. Weirdness also comes in the shape of the local madwoman, whose son died, and who always maintained that he'd been swapped for a changeling. Well, if this young mother - our protagonist - doesn't start to notice something similar! She starts to notice her son acting in a way that's odd for him.. another of those where you have to wonder whether it's just her imagination..

I won't give away what happens, and indeed it's very light on plot, but it's terrifically atmospheric! Nice little watch, with some very good effects. Afterwards, and with the clocks going forward as well, it was too late to blog. And today? The only decent thing remaining roundabouts is Immaculate, which isn't showing anywhere at a time I can make. But honestly, I'm glad of a day of rest..

I'm just spending the bank holidays here, flying back tomorrow - so after that, on Tuesday, I'm back with CT at Shoreditch Balls for Stage Time, the Improv Variety Show.

On Wednesday, I'm back with Over 40 Living the Life - and for the first time, joining them on their "Gastronomical Tour" of countries alphabetically. That evening, it's Azerbaijan! and we're headed to the Land of Fire restaurant. Hmm..

And on Thursday and Friday, back with CT - and the Backyard Comedy Club! Always a great atmosphere..