Film: Jaws

It's a Hideout weekend! Today, was back with The Hideout and Movie Roadhouse London for the 50th anniversary showing of Jaws - at the BFI Imax! Now, that promised to be spectacular..

Was all ready to go, but was slightly delayed when my taxi driver in Ireland messaged to say that my broken-down car, which he looks after when I'm not there, wasn't as bad as thought - so I was delighted when a bus appeared about a minute after I started to wait for it! It's not too long a trip for me - and I arrived in the IMAX cafe to find a lot of the group already sat in a kind of circle, so I joined them to say hi, before popping up to get brunch, which was wine and crisps. I had great fun telling them about last night's play.. could have some takers for it..

It occurred to me that it's years since I was last here - and that was with the same groups. Anyway, after a nice chat, we headed upstairs to the screen, and to our seats. In a nice touch, the cinema were showing Jaws stills on the screen before the start. We also had a safety briefing - and when the guy asked how many hadn't seen it before, a surprising number of hands went up! My first time seeing it on a big screen though - as I suspect was the same for many.

Ah, Spielberg.. this is the film that made his name, and justly. Thinking about that, I was reminded of The Fabelmans, the film he made about his early years, and the tricks that he used.. and in this, you see what a great storyteller he is: how he sets a scene, ramps up the tension slowly, makes us care about the characters.. then pounces, all action and excitement.

Roy Scheider did a great job as the harassed police chief, Richard Dreyfuss as the slightly comical nerd who has all the theoretical knowledge about sharks. Also, watching their scenes on the boat, I was reminded of the play, The Shark is Broken, about the delays caused by the temperamental animatronic shark used on set, and how they used boat scenes as fillers.

Nonetheless, it does help with character development. And it's amazing how much of the story I'd forgotten - so much of it came as an honest surprise. It is, of course, an epic struggle between man and fish - and to see it played out on the biggest screen in the country was equally epic, particularly when we get the underwater sequence where you see the shark glide past in all its immensity. I had my hand to my mouth for much of it.. exactly as the maker intended. A superbly crafted film, the drama perfectly scripted, the characters personable, the action dramatic.. pure Spielberg magic. No wonder it played to a packed house today! This film doesn't age.

Afterwards, one of the group joined me for dinner - we headed to The Archduke, where unfortunately they've changed to tomato soup, so I skipped it. I had my usual chicken, he had fishcakes - and we had a great chat, albeit having to shout, the live music was so loud..

Tomorrow, back with The Hideout for The Toxic Avenger, at the Prince Charles again - well, the organiser plumped for a free ticket for me, so.. and I'm loving the casual timing this weekend, with plenty of time before events start. What a luxury!

On Monday, I'm headed to Every Brilliant Thing, a play about depression at Soho Place. Four different actors are taking the part in succession - I'm getting Jonny Donahoe. Eating at The Royal George, Soho beforehand.

On Tuesday, thinking film again - and top of the list, again, is the Palestinian documentary, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk - the photojournalist interviewed in the film was apparently killed the day after the film was released. This is the one I didn't get to on Monday. On Tuesday, it's in the Curzon Bloomsbury - not selling out yet, mind.

And on Wednesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Good Night, Oscar, at the Barbican. Stars Sean Hayes. Eating beforehand in Cote Barbican.