Film: Nouvelle Vague

Last night, second Meetup in a row of five, I was with Movie Roadhouse London - for the new Richard Linklater film, Nouvelle Vague. Referencing the French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), it primarily focuses on the making of Breathless, directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Showing in the BFI, and I headed to The Archduke beforehand - although when I looked, there were only two timeslots left, and I ended up having to book quite an early one! So I had have lots of time before meeting the group.. Didn't think I'd have soup, after the last, disastrous visit.

Walked from the office in pouring rain, shoulders aching from dragging the laptop - arrived a bit late, which wasn't a problem: the lady at the desk recognised me, checked me in, and said my "favourite" table by the window was waiting for me. Hmm.. did they read my online review and equate it with me? Anyway, service was quick and friendly - to be fair, it usually is. And my table had a lovely view of the pouring rain. And the waiter remarked, as I took my seat, that the soup was pumpkin squash. So I said I'd risk this one.

It was gorgeous, and the chicken was back to normal, happy to say. I didn't fancy a dessert, so had a dessert wine instead - I had time to kill. The organiser of last night's event had said we had a table booked in Benugo, which caused me no end of confusion - I didn't realise the main BFI bar was a Benugo! Anyway, got a drink and joined him - and there were a few more too. I swear it wasn't me that brought up horror films in conversation, but it's funny how the conversation always tends to swing that way.. anyway, we chatted before it was time to go in.

I wasn't there when it happened, I can't say how true to life it is. But man, c'est chic.. sunglasses and cigarettes, breezily arrogant directors, and a completely laissez-faire attitude to a work ethic.. Linklater is patently a fan of film, and this is a film fan's film. I haven't seen Breathless, the film they're talking about, but from the trailer, they seem to have captured the mood. Very cool, and the theme music rang in my ears for the rest of the evening. Absolutely recommended if you like that sort of thing.. I certainly do. Happily, the roadworks have completed, so my bus is no longer diverted.. Ran too late to blog last night, though.

Tonight, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) tempted me back with Guidelines, at the New Diorama - a play about the horrors of the internet, basically.

Then the weekend belongs to London Museums A-Z.. tomorrow, we're off to Bletchley Park, the ticket for which is valid for a year. I got a cheap train ticket on Uber, with a promotion knocking £5 off, plus £10 Uber credit - which was most of the cost of the ticket. And afterwards, we're headed to the fetchingly monikered Captain Ridley's Shooting Party! (It's a pub.) The history reads as follows: In 1937, the estate passed into government hands. Then, an undercover MI6 group arrived using the name ‘Captain Ridley’s Shooting Party’, with ‘an air of friends enjoying a weekend at a country house’. Their real purpose was to see whether Bletchley Park would work as a wartime location.

And on Sunday, it's an Unlimited event, where they don't cap numbers - we're off to the British Museum to see fragments of the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as previewed last Sunday of course, followed by a social in Penderel's Oak, as usual.

I was stuck for something to do on Monday, until I remembered something I saw advertised on Facebook - there's a talk about British Folk Horror that night! I was too late to book an in-person ticket, so I booked one for the livestream - tickets from Eventbrite.

On Tuesday, I'm thinking of heading to see Is This Thing On? A comedy about a guy who, having marital problems, heads to a bar - only to find it's open mic night, and he can't get a drink unless he does a turn on stage: so, for the first time ever, he attempts a bit of stand-up comedy. Directed and co-written by Bradley Cooper, it stars Laura Dern as the wife - and as told to me by someone at The Cartoon Museum, it's inspired by the story of John Bishop! Nearest showing to me is in the Curzon Aldgate.

Then it's two more days with UITCS - on Wednesday, Ballad Lines at Southwark Playhouse (SP), booked on their excellent (but now, sadly, expired) PAYG offer, where you paid £60 for access to up to five productions. I made sure to book another set before they expired!

On Thursday, we're at Monstering the Rocketman, in the Arcola - the true story of the biggest libel suit in British history, with Sir Elton John suing The Sun for falsely claiming he'd used prostitutes. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend- good weekend not to be in London, with Valentine's Day in the middle..

And on the 16th, back with UITCS again, at SP again, and again with PAYG, for Beautiful Little Fool, the story of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, as told by their daughter.