Film: 28 Days Later

Tonight, The Garden Cinema was showing what looks like a quirky French offering, called The Marching Band. But well.. The Hideout was going to 28 Days Later, showing at the Prince Charles - obviously in anticipation of the release of 28 Years Later, the latest in the franchise. So I said, well, I'll have a better time at that - and booked. Booked for Bella Italia again - for which I had a voucher - and we headed to Victory House again for drinks before the film.

Got busy, so left a little late - the bus coincided perfectly with me, so I took it to the station, and Tube from there. (With a stressful time at work, I took it out on one of the chuggers who had the temerity to speak to me - can't stand them!) I hadn't been able to get a reservation before 6.30, so was leaving around 5.30 - and wouldn't you know it, the Tube was much less busy! Even got a seat.. and arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes early. You'd know the people who knew me weren't there - service was very peremptory, and I was told, at that stage, I could only eat outside. Which I did - it was neither cold nor wet. Got my regular, and was served fast enough.. I was only half finished when the organiser messaged to say he was already there! Nuts..

He was on his own when I arrived, but we were soon joined by plenty of others. Service at the "bar" was as terrible as ever - consider this is supposed to be a wine bar, but they didn't know Sauvignon Blanc was a white wine (I had to tell them to look in the fridge), they didn't know what kind of glass to serve it in, and they didn't know how much to serve. When I complained about the amount, she just kept pouring, and told me to say when to stop! Having said that, it was cheap enough.. and conversation pre-film was good. I did visit the toilet before we left - and yes, the path there is labyrinthine..

Oh my goodness, I'd forgotten how good this is! There's a reason it became a franchise. Cillian Murphy awakes from a coma to a deserted London, is about all I remembered.. Well, then he meets other survivors of what we can describe as a zombie apocalypse, including Brendan Gleeson, and they meet a group of soldiers who could be described as worse than the "infected"!

It's good because it focuses more on the survivors than the monsters, asking what it would take to live in a society that had completely broken down. Also asks questions of our preconceptions of authority, and whom we can trust. Action-packed, it's still not that gory. No really profound answers, but very watchable indeed. And as ever, good to see the group!

Tomorrow, heading with TAC for the first time in an age, to Blithe Spirit, by Noel Coward, in The Courtyard. Eating beforehand in Schnitzel Heaven - where I might try something other than the katsu, for once!

The next two days are film again, which is featuring strongly at the moment - on Friday, London Social and Cultural Meetups are headed to see Shanghai Express, with Marlene Dietrich, at the Cinema Museum. Seemed to be the best thing on, and it'll be great to see them again! so I'm going to that too.

And on Saturday, headed with Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) to The Phoenician Scheme, at Regent Street Cinema. This isn't terribly highly rated - but it's Wes Anderson, so I'll probably love it. Stars Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, Scott Shepherd, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Rupert Friend, and probably lots of other people I'll recognise and wonder from where..

On Sunday, a long-booked return to storytelling from the Crick Crack Club (CCC) at the British Museum - this is Psalms from the Horse's Mouth, by Hugh Lupton.

The next two days, thinking of film again, although I don't have it booked - on Monday, thinking of Stray Dog, a 1949 Kurosawa film set in Tokyo about a young police officer whose guns is stolen. Showing in the Garden Cinema.

And on Tuesday, thinking of heading to The Marching Band at last, which by that stage is showing in the Cine Lumiere.

Next Wednesday is the May Social from The Hideout and MRL, in the BFI as usual - upstairs at The Riverfront.

And on the 29th, storytelling from CCC again! This time at Folklore Hoxton - and it's Maui Trickster. Where, considering what a nightmare it is to get to the understaffed bar, I might get two drinks to be going along with.. Eating at The Blues Kitchen beforehand. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend - it was booked already, and I have stuff to do there.