London Still Rocks!

Tonight was another film, and what came up was Vie Privée (A Private Life), in which Jodie Foster , mostly speaking in French but with a few scattered words in English, plays an American psychiatrist living in France and investigating the death of one of her patients, whom she believes was murdered. Showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury - I used the last of my extra bundle of free tickets on it, my membership is expiring soon. The road is still torn up because of a burst water main, the #188 isn't an option, so I trudged off to get the #1 , which would take me straight there. Strangely, as I walked to the stop , a #188 passed me.. on a route it wasn't supposed to be going on (i.e. its normal route)! And ironically, it was a #188 that came first, and I ended up taking. I was to discover that that route is stopping short, at Aldwych , until Wednesday, because of gas works! And.. I caught a #1 from there, arriving a little late - but I was in time for the trailers. I spent most o...

Last Monday , second film in a row, finally got around to  Toy Story 5 . Aw, I do enjoy them.. and this one has the traditional toys competing with AI. V topical. Nearest showing to me is in Everyman Borough Yards . So, out I went on foot, braving the heat.. by the time I got there, I felt cooked: medium-well, I think. Got there ever so slightly late, which means the trailers were just starting - I grabbed a glass of wine with my ticket. Before the film, we had a introductory speech - the guy remarked at the unusual lack of under-8s for this film! and speculated whether it was nostalgia, or we were just all escaping the heat. Tsk, has the man never watched one of these..? Well, we start in the household of Bonnie, who has most of the toys, headed by Cowgirl Jessie  (voiced by Joan Cusack ), for whom the astronaut Buzz Lightyear ( Tim Allen ) holds a torch. He keeps trying to propose, bless him, and bottling it. Anyway, trouble arrives in the form of a new, internet-connected ...

Yesterday, second film in a row , it was looking like Toy Story 5 ! Aw, I do enjoy them.. and this one has the traditional toys competing with AI. V topical. Nearest showing to me is in Everyman Borough Yards . But since I didn't see Nino on Sunday , I decided to go to it last night - again, in the Curzon Bloomsbury for an evening show. It's  about a young Parisian man diagnosed with cancer. This time, it was later than on Monday , and I ate beforehand - in GBK again. Same table, same food.. if it ain't broke, don't fix it.. and I'm glad to see they still have the half-price burger deal. Have to say, their chicken burgers are particularly succulent these days! Again, had a delicious meal and was finished in nice time for the film. There was another raucous reception in the cinema bar - perhaps a continuation of the same one..? Anyway, again I passed on the chocolate, having just eaten and feeling stuffed. And this time, I arrived in the screen before the ads sta...

It was l ooking like film for these two days. Yesterday, it was looking like Nino , about a young Parisian man diagnosed with cancer. Again, in the Garden Cinema . But since I didn't see Effi o Blaenau on Saturday , as planned, I saw it yesterday - in the evening, it was in the Curzon Bloomsbury . Booked, because it was filling up - used one of my free tickets . (Thought it was my last, because of the way it's displayed, but I actually have a few left - just as well I'm getting to them, they expire when my membership is up for renewal, on the 7th August!) It's a Welsh-language film set in rural Wales , and based on the most excellent Iphigenia in Splott , a play that I saw years ago. Working-class girl, bored of life, gets an exciting glimpse into another world when she starts dating a wounded soldier - falls pregnant, and discovers the future she'd dreamed of with him isn't happening.. if the film was half as good as the play, it'd be worth it - and thi...

Last night, headed to the cinema - to see  Two Prosecutors , a  Russian  drama set during the  Stalinist  era. Described as a  Kafkaesque  satire on bureaucracy, it did look good.. I headed to the  Curzon Bloomsbury . I had used all my free tickets that membership entitles me to, though.. bought their "bundle" offer to "buy" more free films. Not cost-effective for documentaries, which are cheaper, but then, this isn't a documentary.. had the usual problems with the app, which didn't even give me the option, so had to buy on a browser, then log out of the app and in again for it to register.. Wow, it turned out a hectic evening, with the last post to finish! Was doing it on the buses on the way in, and still finishing it in GBK , where I went to eat, as usual. I'd left a bit later than intended, but knew I'd be served quickly here - and I was. Wow, they didn't skimp on the sauce either - lovely, I do like it. And I was finished just in time to go...

Today, second film in a row,  decided on   Underland , a documentary about people working, and researching, underground. Showing in the  Barbican , which is closer, but only in the morning - so I fancied going to the  Curzon Bloomsbury  in the evening. Handy for shopping, of course.. especially significant, considering my local Tesco was closed today, being Easter Sunday! And I booked, because it saves time in the cinema. I was just in time for the bus - which was rammed. Finally found a seat upstairs, at the back - it was worth the effort, I'd be on for a while. The stop indicator wasn't working at all for most of the trip - when it came on, it was running behind. Not too helpful then, for all the tourists, out and about! There were certainly a lot of families with children. (No change of drivers though, imagine!) For this trip, it's handier and quicker if I get a second bus the last bit - it wasn't a long wait, but boy was it cold! Made it early to the cinem...

Tonight, second film in a row , finally headed to see  No Other Choice , a dark comedy about a middle-aged  Korean  man who, finding himself unexpectedly unemployed and with a family to support, and faced with competing with younger, brighter applicants in the jobs market,  decides that the only reasonable course of action is to eliminate them.. Handiest close showing to me was in the  Curzon Bloomsbury  - I booked it with the last of my year's free tickets. Always good to use a free ticket for something that's not a documentary, and so is priced higher.. A nice late start again.. but the last blog post was such a mammoth undertaking that I wasn't finished it by the time I left! This evening, Buses Due was triumphant again in its prediction of when the #188 would arrive! Mercifully, because Google Maps said I'd just missed it.. Was adding to it as I went in on the #188 - so it helped, although vexingly, when we had to stop for a change of drivers. And t...

Today, decided on another film - second in a row - and what came up was  The President's Cake , set in  Iraq  when  Saddam Hussein  was in power, and schoolkids had to prepare a gift for his birthday.. the rating has dropped, but I preferred it to anything higher-rated. It's showing in a couple of  Curzons  - I decided on the  Curzon Bloomsbury , it's handy for shopping. Later showing, obviously - at least giving me time to blog first! Before setting out, I decided to book the ticket - I still have credit for free tickets, and it's handier to do the booking in advance. Now, when I checked, it looked as though most of the seats were free - however, it turns out that Curzon has an annoying policy of displaying the free seats in black, the occupied ones in a pale colour: the opposite of what you'd expect. So I was to discover that, in fact, there were only two seats left, in the front row! I booked one straight away. Headed off in good time. The...

Last night, stuck with my plan to see a documentary called  This Is Not a Film , made by the banned  Iranian  director  Jafar Panahi , mostly on a mobile phone, and reportedly smuggled out in a cake - that bit is said to be untrue. Showing, as good documentaries tend to do, in the  Curzon Bloomsbury . I could leave nice and late - and immediately knew the buses were delayed, from the unusually large crowd of people waiting for them. In the pouring rain, I managed to squeeze under the bus stop canopy - and one did come eventually. I had to change, and had to squeeze under another bus stop canopy, watching for any bus to come, through the drips from the edge.. it was only two stops to go, but I wasn't walking in that! It took a while, but I was early - any bus would do, and I was eventually deposited near the shopping centre . And so to my standard for food here, GBK - where only one server was on duty, and a wee bit inexperienced, I think; with the place mos...