Film: Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Back in London, after a weekend in Ireland. Not a trivial story, mind - I left it too late to book a Ryanair flight back, and when I got around to it, discovered they were sold out! Happily, Aer Lingus had seats - at a much higher price, of course. Now, flying with Aer Lingus has advantages - by default, you check in your bag, so no lugging around of luggage. And you board by airbridge, rather than having to traipse outside in the cold and climb steps.. and the seats aren't plastic.. and it's rather nicer.

And then there are the disadvantages: you've checked your bag in, so you have to wait an indeterminate time when you land for it to be returned to you. And then.. you're in Heathrow! Which is in no way convenient for me, these days - I had to wait for ages for the Piccadilly Line to drop by, then the plan was to change to the Jubilee Line at Green Park, get off at London Bridge, walk home from there. Except then I realised it was quite late.. and sure enough, when I checked (WiFi is much better on the Tube, these days), I was going to arrive in Green Park too late for the last Jubilee Line. Indeed, at every station we stopped at, an announcement warned passengers that the last train had left, the station was closed, and they should leave immediately. So I peered at the map, and realised I could stay on till Holborn, and get a bus straight from outside the station, direct to my door! And they run 24 hours.. and that is what I did. I tell you though, it's an easier run from Stansted..

Safely ensconced, this evening I was back with The Hideout / Movie Roadhouse - well, I wasn't going to miss the second instalment of the original Star Wars trilogy! Jonny is starting to do these as double bills - you have a choice of two, on at the same time in the same place! This time, the place was the Prince Charles- the alternative was American Psycho. All meeting at Clubhouse 5. Tragically, my favourite restaurant was booked out for the evening, would you believe- instead, I booked to eat in the nearby Imperial. Another Greene King pub..

Another of those days when I raced to make it on time - I called my mother late, she kept me talking for ages, and I ended up just missing the bus I was to connect to. With none other predicted to come for nearly half an hour, I went by Tube - the notorious Central Line.. which wasn't as bad as I feared. Possibly because I was headed into town at rush hour. So I made it only five minutes late..

It wasn't busy at all, and I was sat very near where I sat the last time I was here, with the London Horror Film Club! Crikey, it's an age since I was last with them.. but they really don't seem to be advertising as much, these days. Anyway, I remembered the chicken being small and tough on that occasion - I knew the pie would be too much for me (it always is), and I fancied neither fish nor steak. So I ended up with my fallback option with Greene King - a small plate of karaage chicken, onion rings, and garlic ciabatta. Which are all gorgeous, and went down very well.

I was sipping my second glass of wine when someone messaged that they'd arrived at Clubhouse 5 - just a hop, skip and jump away. So when I finished, off I went. There were few enough at tonight's gathering - and all, apparently, for Star Wars. But we had a nice chat before we left to take our seats in the cinema.

Man, I had great fun today reliving, in my mind, every section of the film.. the first of the Star Wars franchise I ever saw. Again, we have the fantastic score - modified slightly to suit the action. Am I wrong, or is the wampa scene gorier than it used to be..? Anyway, we see Luke gaining in Jedi powers, Han and Leia growing closer.. as I said beforehand, this film is the most character-driven of the lot, emphasising love and friendship through adversity. Then there's that scene near the end, which went the equivalent of viral in its day, with the revelation of whom Luke's father is! And how many Star Wars films these days leave you on tenterhooks for the next instalment? Will Han be saved? Will Luke develop his training? Will the Empire succeed..?

Two of us, afterwards, scored it as "10+". Well, a no-brainer really..

Tomorrow, I'm going with the film list: very interested in seeing what's top of the list- Sing Sing, based on the true story of an inmate in the infamous prison, who got deeply involved with amateur dramatics. Showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury. 

On Wednesday, back with London Literary Walks for Ian Fleming, Winston Churchill, Isadora Duncan. Meeting in the Bag o' Nails pub beforehand- and wouldn't you know it, it's another Greene King! So I'm eating there beforehand. Possibly exactly the same as today - we shall see.

And on Thursday, we have a pre-trip Zoom meeting for our trip to Transylvania! Just finally got my holiday approved by work last week - my boss was probably prompted by the head of HR, trying to chase everyone to book their holidays by year's end! Anyway, booked my local Côte for dinner that evening.