Film: The Last Showgirl

These two days, making four in a row for me, for film, back with Movie Roadhouse London! in Picturehouse Central, this time. Last night - well, they saw The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson as an ageing showgirl whose long-running Vegas show is about to close. I just couldn't resist, the shots of the Strip in the trailer made me so nostalgic! Included a recorded Q + A with her. Also stars Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jason Schwartzman as the casting director when she's auditioning for another part. Directed by Gia Coppola - niece of Sofia, granddaughter of Francis Ford.

I could have taken the #188 all the way there - or changed halfway to the #453, which would involve less walking, and promised to get there slightly quicker. So that's what I did. Now, what with a farmers' protest on, TFL said we were diverting via Northumberland Avenue - which was fine by me. Sadly, that's not what happened at all - no, we went across Waterloo Bridge and down High Holborn - exactly the route of the #188, in fact! Which I should have stayed on - because next, we went down the traffic chaos that is Shaftesbury Avenue. At least it dropped me even closer to the cinema than its regular route would have taken - but it was so late by this stage that there was no time to eat before what was quite an early showing, so I just went straight to the bar where we were to meet.

Bloody cold in there - the heating seemed to be broken. I grabbed a snack and joined the organiser, who was already there, getting some organising work done. And as the others arrived, we chatted - briefly, until it was time to go in. I'd ended up somewhat closer to the screen than I'd have liked, but the screening was packed.

My proximity to the screen was to be a problem, I soon discovered, due to how the film was shot - a lot of closeups, especially with all those sparkles, proved a hard watch. Ditto the shaky camera - a lot of the scenes were filmed with a handheld camera, so if people are running, or climbing stairs, it bounces a lot, and is difficult for the audience. I did have to wonder whether the blurriness to the sides of the screen also had something to do with my proximity, but discovered, talking to the group afterwards, that everyone had a similar issue. Now, it doesn't happen in the trailer - is that specific to this screen? Or perhaps some scenes are intentionally blurred, which they left out of the trailer. Answers on a postcard please, as they say..

Well, someone in the film describes our lead character's show as "trashy" - and you could say that about Vegas in general, of course. Mind you, as ever, the times are a-changing.. and after 30 years, they figure this show's on its last legs. As she herself admits, the cast is under half what it used to be, and the house seems emptier every night. It's a sad story, of a way of life ending, but also of ageism - she and her friends work in an industry where they trade on their looks, which necessarily fade as they get older. Indeed, she seems far and away the oldest person in the cast - the girls around her are fully young enough to be her daughters, and she ends up a kind of mother to them. Question is, what comes next - which is never really answered, apart from a cringeworthy audition, of which we see some in the trailer.

Jamie Lee Curtis is fantastic - I actually didn't realise it was her until I saw her name in the credits, remembered she was in it, and searched my mind for which one she could have been! Ultimately though, I couldn't really warm to the film - it's too divorced from any life path I would ever have chosen, and while I definitely sympathise, I ended up pitying the characters too much to feel any empathy with them. Not only the showgirls, but also the cocktail waitresses in the casinos represent areas of Vegas that I was never interested in, and while I couldn't avoid them when I was there, I didn't seek them out either. To me, it all leaves a kind of bad taste.

However.. the last scenes of the film, which seem to be a kind of dream sequence of how she wishes things were, is a true dream, all sparkle and glamour, everyone appreciating her act and seeing her the way she wishes she could be seen. And for a second, it's lovely. I also love that song in the trailer, which doesn't appear until that end sequence of the film but suits it perfectly, and which I discover is by Miley Cyrus! Well, kudos..

I didn't stay for the Q+A. After a very interesting chat in the bar afterwards, the others went their separate ways, and I headed to the adjacent Angus. Where the poor lady on the door told me, when I asked, that she'd be on till midnight. I have to say, the steak was exceptionally good.. unfortunately, proverbially, my eyes were larger than my stomach, and I couldn't finish it, or the sides I chose with it - but I'd have had trouble leaving any out, they're all so good! Barely made it home, and immediately conked out in a food coma. No chance of blogging last night!

And tonight, they're seeing September 5 - a tense thriller about the terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics. The trailer looks terrific - really tense - and it apparently includes some original footage. I don't think I'll head to the Angus again.. neither do I think I'll take the #453..

Tomorrow, a break from Meetup and from films - I'm back with Storytelling at Torriano Avenue! This one is "Queens of Albion"..

On Thursday - yes, back to film, this time on my own again - I'm going to Certified Copy, a nice pre-Valentine's Day romance, with Juliette Binoche showing an English author around Tuscany. Showing in the Prince Charles, one day only, and I booked, as it was beginning to sell out - and I'm planning to eat in my fave Bella Italia (Cranbourn Street) afterwards. I see French Film Fanatics are seeing it too, but they're meeting for a drink afterwards, and I want my dinner!

Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend - and despite it not being rated yet, the film is looking like Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, in which Renée Zellweger reprises the role of the lovelorn Bridget, married to Colin Firth but now, sadly, widowed. Also stars Isla Fisher, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emma Thompson as Bridget's doctor, Jim Broadbent as Bridget's dad, and Hugh Grant - although not as a love interest this time; no, this time she finds a toyboy.. by the name of "Roxster". Well, it looks decent - and it's the only film showing in the afternoon, that I haven't seen and am interested in seeing! Caveat - Limerick Omniplex hasn't yet published full listings for Saturday - but it's unlikely to differ much from the others. Bridget Jones is showing everywhere - I'll probably see it in Ennis.

And on Monday. back in London, and back with CT for a jazz & tap night at Piano Smithfield..