Film: Lee Cronin's The Mummy & Walk: The Backstreets of Islington

Last night, third film in a row, I headed with The Hideout - second time in a row - to see Lee Cronin's The Mummy - same arrangement as last Thursday night, except we were in the Vue - and we were apparently having a mummy quiz before the film!

Well, it's been a couple of days of sheer rudeness on buses. Yesterday, I was sat on the outside of a rather large woman with a case left on the ledge in front.. had to perch on the edge of my seat, but whatever. Suddenly, as we approached a stop - not even there yet, mind - she abruptly moved, no warning, thumping me with the case and practically trampling me in her rush to get out.. no excusing herself. Jeez..

I was slightly late for my restaurant booking this time, unlike the day before - but had left as much time, and given that I was alone this time, I wasn't worried about being short of time! Took a seat at one of the small tables downstairs.. and saw that Pawel was working. As I said to him at the end of the meal - I always know when he's working, because the food is better.. and sure enough, although I had the same as the day before, this time the chicken was amazing! really succulent. I dunno, maybe the chef sees him coming and brings his A-game.. Also, of course, on this occasion, unusually, I had time for dessert, and the salted caramel ice cream is very moreish..

And so to Victory House, where I was the first to arrive. Once a few of us had got there, the quiz got underway - and it was, as I'd suspected, all about the Mummy franchise. Now, the 1999 film had a big effect on me - I loved it - but I never saw the sequels. So I didn't do as well on questions about them.. although I could guess some. Anyway, I came a creditable second out of.. four, I think.

And so to the cinema.. and not one of us was prepared for what followed. It does help if you know that the writer/director, Lee Cronin, also wrote and directed Evil Dead Rise - which I hadn't realised. (He also directed The Hole in the Ground, an Irish horror.. [he is Irish, and am I proud!].. which was very nicely done.) Now, I personally am not a fan of the Evil Dead films.. too much splatter for me. But add some of that style to a mummy film, and now you have something interesting..

Let me see, what can I point out that's in the trailer, and hence not a spoiler? Well, there are references that horror film fans will recognise - I noticed nods to The Exorcist and The Omen. The story concerns a family living and working in Egypt, whose daughter goes missing, then shows up years later in a sarcophagus, wrapped in bandages like a mummy. And isn't our little demon (I don't think it's a spoiler that she's possessed) just the most sinister-looking thing? Never mind that her nails have grown really long in the meantime - and her skin, predictably, could do with some moisturiser, it's as dry as paper - but she's got this creepy way of looking at you, and speaking to you..

The film is chock-full of special effects..and, shall we say, gets really nasty. I checked out the We Watched a Movie review - he loved it, and pointed out how great it is to see a director who's determined to disturb their audience. Me? I was disturbed - also frequently amused. Some images from the film will never leave me.. Loved being pushed by a film, for once - and most of the group agreed. Best horror film of the year for me so far, hands down.

I didn't have time to blog last night, because today, I was on another walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies -this one was The Backstreets of Islington. And no, the issue where the event demands prepayment with PayPal has NOT been resolved! So he just keeps an offline list of who's going. 

More bus rudeness - today, when I got on, the best seat I could see was beside a young lady whose bag lay across it. I asked her to move it - no response, she was engrossed in her phone. I asked her a number of times, waved my hand in front of her face - finally, I just sat on her bag. Until she finally noticed, a couple of minutes later, and whipped it away. Again, just barged out past me to get off, not a by or leave..

Anyway, it was a lovely, sunny day - roasting in sunshine, freezing in the shade. Typical. Now, I've done this walk before, years ago, but, predictably, remembered nothing of it - and it's a lovely area to explore, especially in the sunshine! We had a nice, large turnout too.

Oh, and this street name refers to the emblem of Edward IV! Well, he was from the House of York, which explains the "white"..

I'd forgotten about the different street levels being because of the mud etc.

No relation to the current Princess of Wales, but Sir Hugh Myddleton brought clean water to London:

So many buildings in Islington had previous existences that were so different from their current usage - this used to be a cinema:

I see someone keeps changing the Streetcat named Bob's attire:

And we made it back to the same church as before! The towers of different heights, as Laurence pointed out, were probably because one was bombed, and it was probably the one that's now a bit shorter..

Anyway, it was open, so in we went:

One alcove contains some rather lovely paintings, each depicting one of the last seven sentences that Jesus spoke on the cross:

We came across BJ's old house:

Had a very pleasant stop by the canal:

And ahh, came across Douglas Adams' old house:

And we had a most pleasant walk through the adjacent gardens, with their variety of bird nesting-houses:

Pretty much finished up with the words to "Pop! goes the weasel", inscribed around the base of the clock on City Road:

And so to lunch, gratefully, at The York. Where they had to evict someone from one of the tables reserved for us.. we ordered at the bar, and unfortunately some were left waiting a very long time indeed. I got mine in decent time - I'd ordered the steak n ale pie, which I discovered I couldn't finish, because the crust was too hard! Sundry people were left waiting for fish.. and even at the end of all that, some who'd just ordered nachos were still waiting when the rest of us were finished. No, definitely not up to the standards of The Bull, my go-to in Islington.

Now, the group members at one of the middle tables left early, and that table was occupied by strangers - which was unfortunate, because it split the group. Never mind, some of us headed off afterwards for a coffee in Redemption Roasters (the chain whose employees are ex-cons). I'm not a coffee drinker - I had hot chocolate: which was lovely, once I'd added a couple of sachets of sugar to it!

More in the next post..