On Saturday afternoon, I attended Up in the Cheap Seats' summer social, at The Oxford Market. Managed to get myself out of bed in time.. bus was the plan, but it just ended up taking me as far as Waterloo. Google Maps gave me a few bus options from there - but when I looked at the departure boards, nothing was going across the bridge.. sure enough, a refresh of Google Maps told me that all buses were stopping there, because of a demonstration on the other side. Northern Line it was, then - and my exit options from Tottenham Court Road were limited, but I managed. I then had a shortish, but uncomfortably hot, walk to the pub.
As I approached, someone waved - three had made it before I did. And taken a lovely table outside, shaded by a huge umbrella - we stayed there for the duration, and with a light breeze blowing, it was the perfect escape from the heat. I got wine at the bar - also ordered food, but was lucky to get my order in early; the others had to wait until he came to the table. I had a chicken schnitzel, with egg - had to order the fries separately. I was rather glad I had, though - the dip was lovely, and the fries were much nicer than the chicken, which was a bit tough. Meantime, conversation was good, I saw some people I hadn't seen for a while, and we passed a most pleasant afternoon!
That was finished in good time to head over to the BFI, where The Hideout was seeing Videodrome, a body horror by David Cronenberg, that evening. Stars James Woods and Debbie Harry. Love a bit of Cronenberg. I couldn't see anyone when I arrived, so just took a seat down the back of the bar. The organisers didn't show up at all beforehand - I ended up having to take that role, once it'd gone past a certain time with no sign of anyone.. Sure enough, I attracted a couple of people, then an older hand, and with one more person arriving before the film, we chatted away until screening time. It had changed screen, so seating was now unassigned, and we could sit together.
Definitely, this won't be for everyone. Cronenberg is a particular taste - as I say, I love his stuff - and the sfx are so compelling, so horrific, that they tend to distract from the plot. I found it hard to concentrate on the story myself, except that James Woods is a TV exec, looking for ever more new and extreme programming, who is intrigued by this "Videodrome" channel, which seems to show snuff films (on a side note, I remember that being a big thing in the 80s, lots of concerned parents afraid of it affecting the young people..). As he investigates further, however, he starts to hallucinate - an apparent side-effect of the broadcasts. And it just gets weirder from there.
Some would find the violence against women in the film disturbing - and it can be brutal. However, someone raised the interesting point afterwards - with which I fully agree - that the insidious undermining of young girls' minds, simply by presenting them with images of what they should aspire to look like.. and I would also argue, how they're supposed to act.. is a lot more damaging - at least you can be fairly sure that most "right-thinking" people will object to the kind of violence in this film, and not seek to reproduce it outside the cinema. Whereas, the kind of reality tv show rubbish that's shown can have a real effect..
Anyway, a compelling watch. I didn't give it a perfect score, but I loved it..
On Sunday - the only day this month they could make it - I met Ivan and James (Martin couldn't make it in the end) for our monthly social, and we decided to try The Phoenix again. We were meeting too early - and I was too tired - for me to blog the night before.
Got to the pub first of the group- and it was so much quieter than last time! Got a corner table down the back, the others arrived soon after, and we ordered lunch - James the fish n chips he had last time, which was good as before, but he was jealous when he saw the Sunday Roasts that Ivan and I got! Me chicken, he beef. These weren't even an option the last time - and oh man, I have to say, this place rivals The Archduke for the best roast chicken in town! So succulent.. they had brownies, I wasn't tempted. Meanwhile, we were being entertained by possibly the best pub magician in London - serves behind the bar, but is always ready to whip out a magic trick! And I do mean literally - out of his arm, out of his hand.. I asked, and he said he used to do it professionally. Check him out if you're in the area - he's the guy with the tattooed arms..
Well, we had a long day there chatting, and it was seriously good to catch up. Again though, it ran too late to blog that night, given that I had to be up early yesterday, to put in the hours so I could leave early.. for which, please see the next post!
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