Film: Smile 2 & Walk: Old Street & Moorgate

Last Friday, I was hardly going to miss a trip to see Smile 2 with The Hideout! I loved the original, was always interested in seeing this anyway.. we were seeing it in the Odeon West End. And I booked beforehand in Bella Italia - Cranbourn Street, not Irving Street, which is nearer, but booked up before I could get to it. Ooh, and I was to get a free starter because I reviewed my last trip to a branch of theirs!

Well, the bus was one of the slowest ever. It stopped twice to "even out the gaps in the service", then we stopped to change driver.. and to cap it all, it terminated at Aldwych. Checking, I figured walking was as fast as any other way of getting to the restaurant - so, walk I did. I arrived half an hour late - thought I might as well try them, I'd planned on being early anyway, which meant I now still had time to eat before meeting the group! I asked whether they had a table for one - she said yes, if I didn't mind eating outside? They have good heaters - I agreed. As she led me to my table, she asked whether I'd had a booking..? Must have recognised me!

Anyway, when I sat, I asked her about the voucher, which I amazingly remembered - she checked it, then said to produce it when I was paying. I had my usual, it was delicious.. service was quick.. a bit before 7.30, when we were supposed to meet, the organiser messaged to say he'd got there early. With no sign of my server, when I finished, I went to the till and paid - and yes, the voucher got applied, which made it lovely and cheap!

And so across the square to the Odeon. I've probably been here before, but I think it must have been before I moved over here - I don't make a habit of it, these days. Tickets are certainly expensive enough, although when it's once in a while, I'm not inclined to complain. Flashed the ticket on the way in and made my way to the bar, where the organiser was sat prominently near the entrance. And we drank and chatted.. and for over an hour, it was just us! wherever everyone else got to. Anyway, it was good to catch up - and a third member did join us in due course. And when it came time, in we went. Seats are all recliners, but as that just means the seat raises so you can elevate your legs, but not that the back inclines, it feels a little weird..

So did the film. It focuses heavily on a pop star, who - understandably, with her high-pressured lifestyle - has a drug dependency. Now, she's recovering from a bad car crash that occurred while she was in the throes of this, and in which her boyfriend - a famous actor - was killed. She still suffers back pain as a result of the accident, but because of her addiction, she isn't prescribed sufficiently strong drugs to deal with it. So, of course, she turns to illegal drugs - and lo, she conveniently has an old school friend who became a dealer! And we see her go over to his place one evening. Not much of a spoiler to say he's the one who starts acting weird, as though he's seeing something horrific she can't - then suddenly smiles inanely, and proceeds to kill himself in front of her. Details of how he does that are irrelevant - although I must say, they do find some inventive ways of killing people, in this.

And now she's got the bug too. They do describe it as a parasite in this - seems as though they're slowly trying to formulate an analysis of it, which I'm not entirely convinced is a good thing. Anyway.

Honestly, most of the film irritated me - it's a riot of mascara and long fingernails. Jeez, almost every time I look at her, she's plastered with mascara - often running down her face, as she's often just been through something horrific, and has been crying. And then there are the glittery nails, clattering on her phone. And then there are the crazy outfits. Oh, and every time she turns around, she's glugging water - she keeps a fridgeful of bottles at home, and there's always one in her dressing room. It's like a cat, which when in doubt will wash itself - when she's in doubt, she downs another half - or full - bottle of water. Seriously, at one point I thought she was going to drown herself with the stuff - you can have too much, you know.

Of course, it's the expensive-looking stuff, too. (You can tell I'm not really into the lifestyle, huh?)

Well, what happens after this suicide is best described as a fever dream. The film goes completely OTT as one thing after another happens, each stranger than the last. Someone subsequently asked me whether it was scary - no, I would rather describe it as, well, weird! I was to be found looking at my watch..

And then.. it all suddenly makes sense, in quite the most unexpected way possible. And I came to see that it was all a massively devious and brilliant plot development. Really simple, when you think about it - we just had to go down the rabbit hole first. And so I came out thinking it was excellent. Goes to show, eh - endings are so important..

Rained on me on the way home, which it wasn't supposed to. And then I had to be up early enough yesterday that I didn't have time to blog. Because yesterday, I was back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies - the walk was Old Street & Moorgate, around where I used to work. And lo, the buses were delayed.. and would you believe, the stop on London Bridge, where I was going to change to another bus, was closed! I ended up having to cross the bridge on foot..

Finally got to Old Street, where we were to meet, a couple of minutes after the scheduled time - and where roadworks meant I had to walk down the wrong side, and cross when I got to The Coffee Tree, where everyone was inside, sheltering from the rain. Which had been pouring down overnight, and lasted longer than it was supposed to, but was now petering out. Laurence popped out to greet me and said we could now probably start, except there were a couple of people in the loo - everyone who was coming was there already! A number had backed out, for one reason or another..

Our first stop was St. Luke's, with a slippy pavement (and me with my shoes that slip on wet surfaces, goodee). Crikey, it's years since I went to a concert here!

The creature on top of the spire is apparently supposed to be a dragon - according to Laurence, people thought it looked more like a louse, which led to the nickname "Lousy St. Luke's"..

And so back across the road, to a plaque that I took a photo of, just because I thought that was an excellent name!

Turns out, as well as having an excellent name, she was also good at her job.. the plaque declares that she was "the second-best whore in London"! Which begs the obvious question - who beat her to first place?! Laurence didn't venture an opinion..

We did come across some great street art - never knew there was so much, around here!

We also came across the site of the apparently notorious Whitecross Debtors' Prison - which, as the plaque tells, Nell Gwynne donated £20 per annum to, to provide for a good Christmas for the inmates!

We strolled along Bunhill Row, which seems to have gotten its name from "Bonehill Row". The Krays used to live there, apparently, and it was there they were arrested. And we moved from there to Bunhill Fields, which has more than its share of graves of famous writers. For instance, one of the more impressive tombs belongs to John Bunyan, of The Pilgrim's Progress fame!

Much simpler is that of Daniel Defoe:

..who has, as his neighbour for eternity, William Blake:

Not someone I studied in school - I have come across him secondhand through U2, Bono being a fan; two of their most recent albums, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, have titles inspired by his work, Songs of Innocence and of Experience..

For goodness' sake, so many famous people are buried here, they have a map:

And so on to the Wesley Chapel, with John Wesley himself, founder of Methodism, presiding:

What with so much to see inside, including a museum, and 10-minute film about the movement, we had about 20 minutes here:

There's also a smaller, simpler, Foundery Chapel to the side:

I skipped the gift shop, not fancying yet more John Wesley imagery. Outside again, we discussed the impressive facade of the Artillery Company:

Further on, I've often taken notice of Habib House:

..considering I used to have a co-worker of that name, when I worked around here. Used to be known as Oceanic House, seemingly - that's Neptune, above the door. Well, there's something more interesting around the corner:

Seems that lighthouse can actually light up..!

As many have said before me, you see lots more in London if you look up:

For one, we were confused as to what African flag this might be - turns out it's the "Pan-African flag", designed as an anti-racism symbol in 1920:

Lunch, after our meanderings, was in the Lord Aberconway again.. followed by another round (for most of us) in The Globe, where Keats was apparently born:

Now, I'd normally have been headed home after this. Except.. The Hideout was off to Carrie, the same night, in Picturehouse Central. Yes, they're reshowing the restored original these days, directed by Brian de Palma, starring Sissy Spacek as the bullied girl with telekinetic powers, living with a fanatically religious mother (Piper Laurie). One of her schoolmates is Amy Irving. Based on the debut novel by Stephen King. And we were chatting, coming out of Smile 2 on Friday, and the others mentioned that the group was headed to this last night.. and I was thinking about going to it anyway.. so I said sod it, why not! Gee, Stephen King films, two Saturdays in a row..

Well, someone from the walk decided to walk with me in the direction of Picturehouse Central - which suited me, as I had shopping to do on the way. So off we went! Passing sundry sights along the way.. and as she said, how much you don't see as you zip from place to place! Makes a nice change to walk between places..