Film: Marty Supreme & Lunch

Now, I was supposed to head to Backyard Comedy with CT again last night - but then, while I was on holiday, Over 40 Living the Life advertised a trip to the immersive Macchu Picchu exhibition, which sounded much more interesting, for last night. However again, the Meetup page didn't work from Norway, would you believe. Which turned out just as well, because in the meantime, Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) advertised a trip to Marty Supreme. Based on a table tennis champ, played by Timothée Chalamet, who also co-produced, also stars Gwyneth Paltrow. They were seeing it in Cineworld Leicester Square, meeting in Victory House beforehand. And of course, I was back in Bella Italia before that! Had to leave work a bit early.. ah well.

I ended up about 10 minutes early for my booking.. knew a couple of the staff members, who were delighted to see me, and Happy New Years were exchanged! Now, my usual here is the Chicken Milanese - but the last several times I had it, it was burnt - so I was delighted to see a new, Christmas menu: and honestly, I was spoiled for choice. I eventually plumped for the Pollo Funghi - which turns out to be a large dish of penne pasta with chicken and mushrooms in a mushroom sauce. Really, if you're a mushroom lover, this is so moreish.. a man heading for a table upstairs paused to ask me what it was, and whether it was as good as it looked - it was. And Bella Italia have an offer of £5 pasta until the 29th, which made my dinner very cheap! Boy, was I stuffed though..

And so to Victory House, where the only person ahead of me was the organiser. A couple more arrived in due course, and we had a good chat until it was time to head to the cinema:

Most really liked this film - I've heard people say it's really funny, although they do acknowledge it's quite long, takes forever to get anywhere, and indeed, that the lead character is very unlikeable. All true, I have to say. Gwyneth Paltrow is very good though, as a rich older woman that he seduces in a bid to get her to finance his trip to the World Championships.

Yeah, that's it then. That's all I liked. I was the carbuncle, the Devil's advocate, who hated it and gave it, as I described, a "generous" 4/10. I haven't changed my opinion - it's frantic, almost all of the characters are unlikeable, and I spent the entire film willing him to lose. I suppose he did give a good performance. And there's a dog, and you can't dislike dogs. Sorry, that's it then, I hated everything else. And yes, we were all bursting to go to the toilet by the time it finally finished. It was nice to see the group, though.

So, that was the first of five days in a row of Meetups, with six scheduled altogether! Today was supposed to start with a walk titled Southwark: Seedy and Sublime with none other than Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies! Haven't seen him since September, would you believe.. Last night, I was too tired to blog, and of course I had to be up for this. And that was not easy. At least I could walk to The George, where we were to meet. I got there a couple of minutes late - natch, coming from home.. only to be told that he'd managed to fall and injure himself sufficiently to require a hospital trip, so the walk was off. Dunno why some others got a notification for that, but not me - anyway, seems he was in a bad way, but when I messaged him a while ago, his funny bone was at least intact.. he's talking about rescheduling the walk, so I have a couple of dates pencilled in my diary. And yes, I was royally miffed about having had to drag myself out of bed unnecessarily..

A few of us hung around to tell anyone who might arrive, and not have got the message - and then four of us repaired into the George - The Coach House specifically, a more modern pub on the grounds, where they do breakfasts. The others had coffee, I had a lemonade - and we spent a while chatting. During the course of this, BTW, I had cause to open Flicks, for the first time in weeks - and do you know, not only had it logged me out, but even when I logged in again, it had no saved details for me! Ah, how soon they forget..

Anyway, one of the group then took herself off to see Hamnet - and the rest of us headed for lunch at the nearby Barrowboy and Banker, outside of which I've so often caught buses, but which I'd never been inside. They turned out to have a kind of bouncer, who asked whether we were there to eat, and directed us to an upper level with table service. With all free tables being reserved from later, we picked one that had a later reservation than the others - and a lovely view of Southwark Cathedral:

Two of us had pies - mine was steak and ale, with mash, and red wine gravy on the side. Our drinks came quickly enough, but it took forever for the food.. never mind, it was worth it; my pie was delish! Delighted to have breached their doorway at last. And we had a long chat, being in no particular hurry. Following which I came home. Hello.

This evening, I was supposed to be back with The Hideout (TH) for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, but the release has been postponed. Heard about that during my trip, but I was so busy I completely forgot about it! So now, instead, their sister group, MRL, has advertised The Housemaid for this evening - looks a bit like a comedy horror, with Amanda Seyfried advertising for a housemaid, but apparently turning out utterly psychotic. Sydney Sweeney is the unfortunate job applicant. And gee, as per the trailer, they seem to have equally really long hair.. They're seeing it in Picturehouse Central, drinks beforehand. I hear rumours there's a waitlist for it, which would be unprecedented for this group.. Heading off shortly.

Tomorrow, back with London Museums A-Z for T is for Thirst: In Search of Freshwater, an exhibition at The Wellcome Collection. Advertised, would you believe, while I was looking at my phone but not especially busy, in The Rockingham Arms - and this being the next unscheduled date in my diary, I was one of the five to snap up a place in the first minute! Social afterwards at the Marquis Cornwallis.

On Monday, with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) again, for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - a dark comedy set in Iraq - at the Young Vic. Booked for Bar + Block Southwark beforehand. Ooh, another place I haven't been in an age..

And on Tuesday, I'm back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group for The Makropulos Affair, by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, at the Barbican - one of the group with a wildcard ticket couldn't go and kindly offered it for free, so I snapped it up. Eating at Cote Barbican beforehand - it'll be fun trying to get the discount on my app. And gee, you guessed it.. Haven't been there since September, but was with the group slightly more recently, in October..

I was having terrible trouble finding anything for Wednesday - and then Nell Phoenix came to my rescue, with another storytelling evening at Torriano Avenue! (I see she's still advertising it as £7, but it's actually £10.) Anyway, that evening, it's Yamamba, with Laura Sampson!

Then a few more days of Meetup. On Thursday, back with UITCS for Safe Haven, at the Arcola - the true story of Operation Safe Haven (1991), which protected, and provided humanitarian aid to, Kurdish refugees in Northern Iraq after Saddam Hussein defeated the Kurdish rebellion. Jeez, hard to imagine it happening these days..

On Friday, back with La Isla Flamenca Club, olé! This show is called Light & Shadow, and is happening in The Gold Bar in the COLAB Tower (walkable, lovely.. as long as the weather warms up a bit) - tickets from We Got Tickets. I managed to get an Early Bird ticket, but they're now sold out - regular and student tickets available.

And on Saturday, that postponed trip with TH to see 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple..