Film: Sinners

For today, Sinners was showing mid-afternoon, finally, in the Vue! Well, about time.. It's a very highly rated vampire film set in the world of gangsters and speakeasys.. and the rating has been rising! Indeed, The Hideout and Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) went to see it yesterday in London, and of 17 ratings, not one was under 7/10.. As they say, the Devil has the best music.. I booked, as it's cheaper. Now, all I had to do was find the place - I'd never been there before!

Raced out the door after completing the usual chores - most of which were landed on me by my mother at the last minute. Unsure how to get there, I looked up Google Maps - and, for the first time, used their satnav feature - I hadn't even realised they had one! Wow, how handy was that.. I ended up getting there with no problem at all, and the AI-generated female voice led me past the toll roads and everything. I made the cinema with some minutes to spare - then squandered them, and then some, waiting to buy chocolate, behind a family seemingly intent on buying up everything in the place - apparently only having arrived on a whim, they didn't even know what times the showings were at. Never mind, when it was eventually my turn, I unloaded a lot of change.. and still arrived during the trailers. None of which I was particularly enthused by. Terrible price for bags of sweets, BTW - almost as much as the ticket!

Woo-hoo! I am so glad to get to see this at last. You know, when I saw the trailer I thought it mightn't be my thing - a bit too gory, a bit violent. But well, then not only did it come out highly rated, but the rating rose.. So along I went. Set in Mississippi in 1932 (October), it follows the story of twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan), recently returned from working for Al Capone, with cash in their pockets, and a dream of opening their own "juke joint". 

Mississippi is known as the home of the Blues - indeed, this seems to be set near Clarksville, where they meet people off the train, and which, these days, has a Blues Museum! Sure enough, the whole film drips with music.. the twins go around recruiting people, much like in The Blues Brothers, for their Opening Night. One young man in particular - their cousin - plays music that makes all that hears it stop in their tracks; he's quickly signed up to play. But, throughout the film, the refrain is quoted that some people have the gift of playing music that can awaken spirits of the future, and the past.. and not all the sort you might care to invite in..

So, of course, everything hinges on this Opening Night. And the various musicians play - and when this young man plays, well, it all becomes surreal, with - sure enough - spirits of past and future joining the party: but you know, it all works! It's the most ecstatic and exuberant event you could imagine. And there's a party of pale-faced observers on the outskirts, attracted by the sound..

It's more a music film that happens to have vampires, than a straight horror. But wow, when the horror does strike, it's an absolute frenzy - kudos, I love that sort of thing. And aw, what a nice touch - not only do they stock "Irish beer" at this shindig, but when the vampires arrive, their leader, at one point, breaks into an Irish accent and leads them all in singing "The Rocky Road to Dublin"! Heh, love that one.. they even try a bit of Irish dancing. Well, the actor, Jack O' Connor, has an Irish father.. and the Irish are generally rumoured to throw the best parties..

Absolutely love it. The music is to die for, and the vampires are, again, of the scary persuasion. It looks beautiful, sounds beautiful.. what's not to love?! Run out and see it, the rating is justified! FYI, the satnav didn't do quite as well on the way home.. but hey, it's a terrific resource.

Back in London tomorrow evening. I did the film listings, thinking of a film on Tuesday - of course, I could just have skipped all that effort, it was pretty certain I was going to Nosferatu (again) with The Hideout. I've figured out what I like so much about it, you know.. it's not the scariness, although it has that; it's the sheer exuberance with which the film embraces the horror. I like it in much the way I like chocolate fudge cake - it's rich, it's indulgent. It's showing in the Prince Charles, and they're meeting beforehand in the bistro + wine bar in Victory House. However, I couldn't for the life of me find a menu online - except for breakfast - and I read some iffy reviews: so as usual, I'll be eating, before that again, in the local Bella Italia. I have a £10 voucher from the last one I ate in, for completing their survey!

On Wednesday, going to The Hideout's Cherry Blossom April Social! In conjunction with Movie Roadhouse London, of course - the name, mind you, conjures up summery-er weather than we have now. In the BFI as usual - the lounge though, this time. I'm eating in The Archduke beforehand.

And on Thursday, back to storytelling - this is The Hairy Girl, back at Folklore Hoxton. Courtesy of the Crick Crack Club. Interestingly, the same night, they have Hugh Lupton telling the story of The Homing Stone at the Story Museum Oxford - which always does streaming tickets! So I've bought one of those as well - they're always available for a week afterwards. Now, if I could only remember to watch them..