Last night, second evening in a row, I also decided on film - specifically, Project Hail Mary at last! It's one of those that a lot of people I know have seen, but I hadn't gotten around to it - stars Ryan Gosling in a dystopian future where the sun is dying, and he has to go into space to perform a kind of rescue mission. Sandra Huller is the project leader. Along the way he meets a cute little alien being. I'd heard people rave about it, and he's always watchable, so I was perfectly happy to give that a shot! Closest showing to me was in the Everyman Borough Yards - I booked, for convenience. I could walk, and it was a decent day for it.
Ah, the joys of a late showing - I stayed late at work, and still made it in good time to eat! Nando's Clink Street, it was.. where I had earned enough Nando loyalty points for free food, excellent! I even had time for dessert - but I was too stuffed. Too early, still, for the film, I figured I'd stay on and have another glass of wine in Nando's, which is cheaper.
Google Maps' directions brought me around the back of the cinema - which was fine. I made my way in, and was directed straight into the screen, and given a menu on my way in - before the film, they take orders at the seat, here. Found my seat - having to squeeze past three guys in the process - and finally managed to order another glass of wine when the waiter made his way over. Took him long enough to deliver it too - although he did have other customers to serve. They don't do it once the film starts - if you want anything after that, you need to go out to the bar. And yes, the wine is nearly twice the price of Nando's, here.
Well, it's a sweet and heartwarming film - Ryan Gosling is, indeed, watchable, Sandra Huller plays a formidable team lead with a soft heart (carefully hidden). It's only gradually that we get the full story of how he came to be on the mission - apparently, he suffered short-term memory loss after hibernation. He wakes to discover all his team-mates have died en route! something that's never explained - why them and not him? Anyway, as I say, next he meets this alien space creature and figures out some way to translate what he's saying. The alien's sun is dying too, and they must work together to find a solution.
Someone I was speaking to wasn't impressed with the idea of the alien, thought it was ridiculous that this thing was supposed to come up with a brilliant idea to save the species. That's not what happens, of course - they bounce ideas off each other: and if you're already ok with the concept of bacteria attacking the sun, technology that enables you to travel years through space (evidently not perfected, if it kills most of the crew), and an alien being that looks like a crab made of rock, that communicates in what sounds like whale noises, then the rest of the science is quite plausible.. I won't give it away, but the alien ("Rocky") only comes up with one idea, albeit the crucial one, and it is quite logical.
Of course, it's more worth seeing for the emotion - and it's a tearjerker, as this unlikely pair become friends, then have to deal with the various conundrums that space travel necessarily throws their way. Again, I won't give it away, but it does end on a poignant and thought-provoking note. In his situation, would we have done what he did? Certainly an enjoyable film, and a good evening spent. Making my way home, I disagreed with Google Maps, and just used it to find the cathedral - I could make my own way from there.
Last night, it ran too late to blog, firstly because I was booking ahead again. Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) to see Heart Wall, a drama about a woman returning to a home where she no longer feels she belongs. Karaoke apparently begins 15 minutes before the show, and audience participation is welcome. Showing in the Bush Theatre. Problem is, there's a Tube strike, so getting there could be fun.. I can get there by buses in an hour and a half - assuming they're not too packed to board, and assuming the traffic isn't crazy. If it's too bad, I'll just have to cancel. As it is, I have to leave early - which meant a slightlier earlier night than usual.
Next, two nights of cheap shows courtesy of CT. On Thursday, I'm seeing Ancient Grease, a parody of the famous musical, Grease, but - well - set in Ancient Greece! specifically, on Olympus, and focusing on the love affair between Hera and Zeus. Showing in the Vaults Theatre - which I could walk to, in a pinch, considering another strike is coming that day. Happily, we've been absolved of the duty of going into the office this week, because of the strikes.
On Saturday.. well, someone from LoMAZ suggested creating an event to eat sachertorte. Apparently the Lanesborough Hotel is hosting a temporary pop-up, giving you the chance to eat sachertorte and apfelstrudel prepared to the original recipe of the Hotel Sacher in Vienna. However, wouldn't you know it, that's the only day this month that suits James to meet! And he, Mark, and Martin aren't members of that group, and it's a private group event.. the group is headed to a ceilidh that evening, but I said I'd skip it and hang out with James and Mark and Martin, if it suited.. ah, the difficulties of scheduling!
But then, when I asked about timings, the organiser said he'd completely forgotten about it - and was it on Saturday or Sunday? Well, I didn't have anything for Sunday, so asked for that, and he was fine with it.. but a couple of others weren't. Unfortunately, I was outvoted.. and then someone else couldn't do Saturday, so now it's on Sunday after all, phew! Sorted.
Next Tuesday, thinking of film - and what's coming up is The Blue Trail (O Último Azul), a Brazilian film set in a dystopian future where the elderly are shipped off to a colony.. except for a rebellious old woman who's decided she's got too much left to do to be bothered with that! Unfortunately, the closest showing to me is in the Rio, which is quite a ways..
On the 29th, back with UITCS for The Authenticator, which is described as a Gothic psychological thriller. Love anything that describes itself as "psychological". Showing in the Dorfman - and all seats left at the cheapest price were described as "severely restricted"! so I went for the next price bracket up, which was just "restricted". Eating in The Archduke beforehand - wow, it's months since I was last there!
On the 30th, delighted to be back with Spooky Isles! Well, when I say "back".. once upon a time, I knew them as "Spooky London", when they were a great Meetup group, we'd meet in pubs with a spooky history and conversation was fascinating. Sadly, it died a death over the pandemic.. but was resurrected (appropriately, I guess) as Spooky Isles on Facebook! This is their first face-to-face event since, a social evening in honour of Walpurgis Night and Beltane, featuring a talk by a paranormal researcher, and is happening in my old stomping ground of the King & Queen - I used to live right next door! Tickets from Eventbrite.
And on the 1st, back with The Hideout for Deep Water, a thriller about a plane that crashes in shark-infested waters - Ben Kingsley is one of the pilots. Details TBA.
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