Films: Black Bag & Mickey 17

I'm back in Ireland for the weekend - although it was something of a close thing. Unlike my normal winter practice of flying to Ireland with Ryanair, and back with Aer Lingus, I'd left it so late to book, this time, that Ryanair turned out to be more expensive - so I flew Aer Lingus (I'll fly back with Ryanair). So, for once, I had to go to Heathrow - and decided to try the Elizabeth Line to get there.

I started on the Jubilee Line, which was packed, as usual: not anything like as bad as the Elizabeth Line though! Which I was to discover when it finally came - not that there are such delays between trains, but they're less frequent than Tubes. But OMG, when it pulled in, it was so crowded.. and with the delay I'd probably have to the next one - I couldn't afford to miss it! So I squeezed on, case and all.. and only just. It then took forever for the doors to close - and as if it wasn't bad enough, the guy behind me started pushing fiercely against me, finally even asking me to stop pushing back, he had no room! Jesu, and him towering over me - mercifully, at that point the doors finally closed and I could move an inch.. as I remarked, now that I was no longer in danger of falling out, I could actually move slightly.

I couldn't even reach my bag until people started getting out - which, happily, was at every stop thereafter. And a couple of stops from the airport, I even got a seat. But Lordy, I wouldn't fancy that journey again.. perhaps if I got on earlier. Or perhaps I'll just take the Tube next time, if there is a next time. 4.20 on a Friday evening, this was - you have been warned. It isn't a journey I'd recommend to anyone.

Well, I've had a hectic weekend since, running up and down stairs, fetching things for my mother. So there hasn't been much time to blog - but I did get to my films. I originally thought of Mickey 17 for Saturday, a SciFi comedy with Robert Pattinson as a guy who's sent to do dangerous jobs, and keeps getting killed and replicated - problems arise when two of the replicants meet each other, which isn't supposed to happen. Also stars Mark Ruffalo as the leader of his own church, who has the idea of populating another planet, with Toni Collette as his cooking-obsessed wife. Directed by Bong Joon Ho.

I was thinking of Last Breath for yesterday, starring Woody Harrelson in the true story of the rescue of a deep-sea diver. Both showing in the Omniplex. However, when its rating finally came out, I plumped for Black Bag instead, and with its rating rising, went to that first, on Saturday! It's a thriller about a happily married couple of spies, Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, whose cosy relationship is threatened when he is asked to investigate her for treason.. Pierce Brosnan plays the boss of the organisation, with Naomie Harris as the in-house psychiatrist. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Omniplex again - it's handy for Tesco..

On the drive, I saw that they've now put a new, lower speed limit on the back road I take to Limerick - which is a good thing, and only a reflection of the speed you have to restrict yourself to anyway. Arrived just in time, got parking fairly near the door - a notice on the door proclaims that they'll be closed for the rest of the cinema week, from tomorrow, for restorations: so it's a good job I fitted my films in early! Inside, sure enough, there's plastic sheeting over much of the lobby - they seem to be constructing another desk, to the side of the entrance, and I can see they've made a new, wider entrance to the toilets. The old couch area is completely blocked off, so I can only imagine they're completely revamping that. Anyway, I queued to pay in cash, as I have it to get rid of, and had to ask whether they had my chocolates - they're changing that area too, and have most of the stock concealed under the counter. They had, and I paid, and was directed into the large Screen 1 - which was almost empty. Maybe half a dozen of us.

Black Bag was described in reviews as "clever", and I'd spent some time wondering what they could do with the plot, to entertain us. I'm delighted to report that I couldn't have come up with what did happen! I also picked up on some small facts afterwards, some subtle clues dropped into the film that, while they might help your comprehension, still aren't required to understand what's happening. This is marvellous - Michael Fassbender plays an almost robotic lie detector, the polygraph expert, and the perfect one to investigate the small group of people that even knew about the technological gadget that has been stolen. Cate Blanchett does a great job of being admiring of him. The term "black bag", by the way, doesn't refer to a physical item - rather, it's the term any of them use with their loved ones when they have to disappear somewhere and can't give them the details.

It's stylish, it's sexy - these people are well-paid, and their London homes are coolly sophisticated apartments that obviously cost a fortune. And I love how they used real locations.. The club at the start, where Michael Fassbender goes to meet someone, does exist, and is one I actually know - it's The Scotch of St. James, and was THE place in the swinging 60s. I actually came across it on a guided walk, mind. They apparently opened it early for shooting. Our spying couple's home is a real house in Islington (although the interiors were built on set). The office scenes, however, were filmed on location - the lobby of the Financial Times building, and in an office block in Whitechapel. Near the start of the film, a team of agents meet at the Cadogan Arms - a pub that, surprisingly, I don't seem to have visited! Mind you, it doesn't seem to have been a wise choice for them, given that it's in Chelsea, and afterwards, they were supposed to be headed to a dinner party with Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, in Islington.. which is miles away.. 

When they go to the cinema, it's in the Regent Street Cinema - apparently, the seat rake is quite steep, allowing a good view of the actors. One scene takes place in a Pret - they're careful to hide the logo, but anyone familiar with it can tell. This one's in Broadgate Plaza. I'm not familiar with the restaurant where Cate Blanchett meets Pierce Brosnan at lunchtime, but it is a real restaurant -  apparently, his lunch choice isn't available, though.. The hotel rendezvous, again, takes place at another place I'd never heard of - The Zetter, Clerkenwell. 

And Cate Blanchett even gets to go to Zurich for a night! Cue me trying to spot locations there, as well - the river, of course, and also the Grossmunster.. Sadly, I've tried and failed to find the location of the posh London apartment depicted.

And do have fun trying to figure out what's going on. Delightfully, the action takes place over the course of a week, and is bookended by two dinner parties that Michael Fassbender throws, as a way of getting to the bottom of the motives of these people. Very, very cleverly done.. and with one younger character exclaiming in despair that it's impossible to form relationships, because nobody outside the organisation would understand, and everyone inside is a liar.. Well, indeed! Do remember that fact - everyone in the place is a liar, and nobody is as they seem. By the end of the film, your opinion of practically everyone will have been upended. The only thing you really can depend on is that this married couple are devoted to each other. Cling to that.

A really, really excellent film - gorgeous to look at, and with a wonderfully convoluted, and original, plot. Highly recommended.

And so yesterday, to Mickey 17 - I got delayed doing things for my mother, or course, plus the city centre was blocked to traffic - probably something to do with St. Patrick's Day, today. Plus, passing some really cheap petrol, and needing a refill, I took some time to do that. And an awful queue at the concession desk, with only one person serving for ages. So, despite getting a space really close to the front door, I missed the very start. I don't think I missed anything important - came in on a scene where Mickey is facing death, and just being left to it - that's the thing, his job title literally is "expendable", and he's regularly pushed into deadly situations.

I'm not that familiar with Robert Pattinson - and for the longest time, I couldn't see the appeal, as he lurched around being depressed. You might ask why anyone would apply to be an expendable - of course, a vicious loan shark is involved. And he sees his quickest way out as getting on this colonisation trip to a new planet. Mind you, with our world basically screwed - there's a little scene that hints at that, as the weather conditions outside blow constant sand drifts onto the glass covering of the building, and an announcement warns of weather-related delays - the colonisation trip is desperately over-subscribed. Sponsored - and led - by Mark Ruffalo, it only takes people who are perfect biological specimens - good for breeding - or have some other marketable skill - like science, or engineering. Mickey doesn't qualify, of course - until he spots the Expendable category, and puts himself down for it, without bothering to read the fine print.

There is a dark humour throughout - Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette are suitably ridiculous, and the scientists are certifiable nerds. Mickey always gets the short end of the stick, the underdog even on the spaceship - and his miserable puss prevents us from ever getting too amused. Until his doppelganger shows up - now, whenever he dies and is reprinted, his memories, which are stored on a device that's plugged into the 3D printer, are included: but it's an imperfect process, and his personality seems to change every time. And lo, his next incarnation.. smiles! Also seems to be something of a psychopath, but hey, you can't have everything.

I really liked it. Also have to give credit to the excellently designed alien creatures they meet on the new planet - although Toni Collette describes them as "croissants dipped in shit", they looked more like furry woodlice to me. And they're cute..

The film vaguely tackles lots of themes, without delving too deeply into any of them - whether replicating the body replicates the soul, for instance, or the craziness of invented religions, or the climate crisis, or the ethics of eating meat.. but although it's been said that the film is confused, with all these ideas, I didn't find it so. Nor did I think it needed to delve into them - mention the thing and move on, it's irrelevant to the story: at least in its finer points. No, this tells a specific story, with reference to some topical themes, and it's fun. Again, recommended. It's a pretty good time for films.

Today is a bank holiday over here - so I've taken today off as well while I'm at it, and will fly back tonight. 

Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for The Score, starring Brian Cox as Johann Sebastian Bach, in a play about his explosive relationship with Frederick II of Prussia. Showing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (e-tickets only, I notice) - but I got my ticket from Seatplan, thereby not only saving 75p on the ticket price, but another £4.25 on the restoration levy and booking fee that the theatre charges! (Plus, I get Seatplan points..)

On Wednesday, I'm back with Movie Roadhouse London for Last Breath - at the Odeon Luxe West End. So I've booked Bella Italia on Cranbourn Street again for beforehand.

And on Thursday, I've got a streaming ticket for the Crick Crack Club - they're doing Dionysus in the Story Museum Oxford. But you know, they always provide these as a recording too, available for a week afterwards - so I've also booked one of the last tickets to a free performance of Beethoven's Septet, by the Philharmonia Chamber Players, at the Royal Festival Hall. Heading to The Archduke again afterwards.