Film: Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein

Now, it's two more days of film, on my own. Last night - well, I finally got to see Frankenstein, as per Guillermo del Toro! Promised to be a supremely gothic epic, with Jacob Elordi as the monster, Christoph Waltz as the investor, and Charles Dance as the father of the scientist, Oscar Isaac, who brings the creature to life. Well, I've seen the exhibition, it was about time I saw the finished product! Showing in Hackney Picturehouse - and since everywhere was full the last time I was there, I booked for Pizza Express beforehand.

Got one of my projects done in nice time to head off a little early! Well, it'd take nearly an hour to get there by bus, so it made sense to leave early. One of the buses I could get was the #38 - two of which I saw drive past as I was waiting to cross the road. Never mind, Google Maps assured me that one was still due. Rubbish - when I finally did get to the stop, I saw I had nearly half an hour to wait! Right, I said, I'm taking the Tube. Central Line, it was - and as I went down the stairs to the platform, it was into an absolute sea of people.

I stayed as near as possible to the end of the platform - and luckily, just managed to squeeze on. Laptop bag and all - I must have been popular! A couple of us couldn't reach any rails to hang onto - I ended up grabbing the guy in front of me until I found something else to hold. Hey, how bad - he didn't seem to mind, and he wasn't bad looking. ;-) The lady in front of me was smaller, and really couldn't reach anything, so another lady volunteered to be her anchor. As she said, now if only Channing Tatum were to get on.. Sardines, we were playing - and it really didn't help that the driver (bloody idiot, as someone called him) kept starting and stopping, so the entire crowd was constantly falling over. And it was roasting hot. Mercifully, people did eventually start to get off, so we could breathe - ironically, a lady with a buggy got on just before I was supposed to get off, blocking the door. She was very good-natured about getting out of the way to let me off, though.

Well, the unfortunate thing about it is that the Central Line goes nowhere near Hackney. So now I needed a bus - that, or I had a half-hour walk, which just wasn't an option with my backpack. Have to hand it to Bethnal Green Station, the signposting is fantastic! I knew exactly which of all the exits to take to get to the stop I needed, came out right beside it. Two buses stop there - I could get either of them. Google Maps was being annoying, telling me both were due imminently - again, the departure board disagreed. I settled in for a wait - turned out to be even longer than expected. With the ETA constantly changing, a bus finally came after 21 minutes.. and was out of service. I settled in again.

Finally, a full half hour after I arrived, a bus came! And was crammed. I was one of the few who managed to squeeze on - managed to dump my rucksack at the ledge near the door, and squeezed down as far as I could - the driver wasn't moving till we did. Certainly wasn't his fault he was late - we stopped alongside another bus at one point, and he was asking the other driver what the hell was going on! "Do you know how late I am?!" as he exclaimed.

Meantime, it was occurring to me that I was going to miss my dinner reservation - now, this has happened to me before, and I decided to try to do as before, and move it to later.. they only keep it for 15 minutes. My original reservation was for 7pm, the bus didn't pick me up till after that, and was going to take longer than 15 minutes.. I couldn't edit the booking, so headed back to the booking page - where there was a slot at 7.30, lovely! I tried to book it, looping my arm around a pole so as not to fall over - I was still standing and crushed. The blasted page just kept looping.. I had to refresh, and then 7.30 was gone, but they could give me 7.45. OK, I said, that works - I really was quite early for the film - and of course, the same thing happened again. Now, they were giving me 8pm.. no, I said, there's a limit, I give up.

Then Santa Claus got on - or a Santa Claus wannabe, whom I first heard trying to blag a free ride from the driver, saying his sleigh had broken down. He then came to stand beside me - a young lad in a Santa suit (not at all fat enough, I have to say). Asked me whether I'd been good this year. I glared at him.

And so I arrived, at last, in Hackney - at 7.16, too late for my booking, and unable to get another. Took myself to the cinema bar again, and had wine and snacks for the next 1.5 hours until the film. Ah, as Santa of the bus had muttered, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.."

Film time came at last, and I took the lift upstairs - this is a very multistory cinema. I had to squeeze past people to the end of the row - but hallelujah, had plenty of space to dump my stuff.

Ah, as you'd expect, this film looks sumptuous - no wonder they had an exhibition of costumes and designs. They go to town particularly on the love interest (Elizabeth)'s costumes - but there's also the black velvet cloak the young Victor Frankenstein wears to his mother's funeral, and of course the look of the fantastical tower he works in. It's a feast for the eyes, all the way through. And on top, you have del Toro's terrific way of giving things a fairytale quality.. it's all kind of like a dream.

Story-wise, there's nothing new - but there wasn't meant to be; we get a ship, trapped in the ice on the way to the North Pole, the crew coming across an enfeebled Victor Frankenstein, and shooting at his pursuer. Bringing Victor on board, they hear his story from his lips, about his creation of the monster, and how everything went wrong. We also get the monster's story - as heartwarming as it ever was in the original book, he is feared and misunderstood, only learning to trust two people: Elizabeth, who is the only one to see him and immediately have sympathy for him, and the blind man whom he befriends.

It's an interesting telling, but as I say, primarily worth a look for the visuals, which are truly stunning.

And so home - and Google Maps told me to get the #55 bus from a nearby stop - and when I got there, exhausted, cold, and hungry, it was to a notice that the #55 was diverted. Dunno from where, I was too tired to look - and then a #30 arrived, headed to Euston, and I said you know, that's the right direction, roughly, so I got on it. And looking at the route, when I saw it was headed to Dalston Junction, I said, you know, I've been there before, I can get buses from there! Sure enough, just around the corner, I caught a bus to Shoreditch, where I could get the #47 all the way home. When it deigned to come. Anyway, it ran too late to blog. Blasted Hackney, I never have a good experience there.. And as for Google Maps, I think I might try City Mapper in future..

Tonight, I'm seeing L' Atalante, the story of a newly married couple, he the captain of the ship L' Atalante, which is now their home. Apparently a newly restored version, this is also showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury. And I got it at a discount, with my newly purchased bundle, yay!

Tomorrow is our monthly ex-colleagues' meeting - the only day James could make, and Martin swears he won't let anything get in the way this time. Mind you, poor James has a clash - a friend's 40th that evening - so he'll gave to leave early, which I've warned Martin about. Ivan is still AWOL - but I've asked a friend from my film groups along. I've made a series of bookings at The Phoenix - hopefully that goes ok! Nobody's cancelled yet anyway..

On Sunday, heading with CT to a Christmas carol concert by Mosaic at All Saints' Church in Notting Hill. Tickets also from Eventbrite.

On Monday, heading with 45+ Not Grumpy! on Paul's Christmas Pub Crawl - starts in the Lion & Unicorn in Waterloo, where we'll be eating, and heads towards my home, lovely!

On Tuesday, heading with my sometime travel companion again to Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes, at Sadler's Wells - eating in The Wilmington beforehand.

On Wednesday, back at Winter's Night Wonder Tales, at The Palmerston, as told by Alys Torrance. Always so atmospheric..

And then, three nights of Meetup. On Thursday, I just could not resist accompanying The Hideout to the re-released The Nightmare Before Christmas, by Tim Burton. Showing in the Cineworld Leicester Square, and we're meeting in Victory House beforehand - and finally, that means I get to book Bella Italia before that! Phew - I have vouchers, and it'd be nice to use one of them before it expires!

Next Friday, back with London Social and Cultural Meetup, who are doing a Winter Walk with Hot Chocolate - and heading in search of some mulled white wine, I hear! I'll have to leave work early for this one..

And on the 13th, our Christmas social with The Hideout and Movie Roadhouse London is back, happy days! Unusual to have it on a weekend, that's just the way it went - but it was very lucky this was my only free Saturday before Christmas. In the Main Bar at the BFI - and again, I've booked The Archduke for beforehand.