Date Night. No, Wait....Make That Afternoon

This afternoon Big Man and I went on one of our free movie screenings and today's was not at all like our usual fare. Not that there is a 'usual' for us - a free film is a free film after all, whatever the subject matter. I managed, through Facebook, to get a pair of tickets for our local arthouse cinema, showing at 4.00 this afternoon. Not a particularly popular time of day but our working hours are pretty flexible so we were able to go and I'm really pleased we did.

The film is called 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams' and is that rare creature, a Werner Herzog film in 3D. I'm not mad about 3D to be honest...when something flies towards me I tend to react the same way as neanderthal woman did the first time she saw fire. But this is a truly beautiful and haunting film. If I say it's about a fairly recently discovered French underground cavern filled with cave art that's 32,000 years old it might not sound too appealing, but it really is. The art is incredible; horses, bison, mammoths, cave bears, leopard. Just wonderful. No less magical are the rock formations within the cave. We saw something similar at a grotto in the south of France a few years back but nowhere near as remarkable. Big Man tells me that the Blue John Mines here in the UK are even better but I'm inclined to think that's the Midlander in him talking!
The film's not perfect - they could have shortened it by maybe a third if there had been fewer talking heads, even though a couple of these are inadvertently comical (the man with the spear), and the music gets a bit over-shrieky in parts - but overall it's a real cinematic experience. Try to catch it at your local arthouse cinema (I have a feeling it will have a limited release!) or wait to watch it on the History Channel, which I think, produced it.

All that and home by 6.00!!

 

True? If You Say So.....

Anyone who has read my ramblings so far will know that a) I like films, and b) we have a Date Night here once a week where we see a movie, sometimes eat out but always have a little sweet treat to go with it. Tonight it was The King's Speech, the multi-Oscar -nominated Colin Firth film, with Butterkist popcorn. We'd had free tickets to see it right at the start of the year but didn't go for one reason or another and then every time we saw it advertised I kept saying 'Oh, I wish we'd gone to see it when we had the chance'. So this evening we saw it.
Hmmmmm.

This is clearly the Royals as America sees them, despite it being a British film. All cuddly and warm-heartedly egalitarian beneath their stiff upper lips. I can go with it being a true story in as much as King George VI, the Queen Mother (as she became) et al really existed but I'd say that's probably all that's true about it. Some of the scenes between Colin Firth as Bertie, and Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist were just cringe-making. I'd go so far as to say ludicrous in fact. That's not to say that the performances aren't splendid - they are (despite Helena Bonham-Carter's teeth being far too good for her to really pass as the Queen Mother). It's just that the whole thing is Royalty Lite - Royalty how silly people might like to think they are. Just like us underneath. Well d'oh. For one thing we all know that you can't put a hand on any of them - remember the uproar a few years back when the Prime Minister of Australia, or maybe Canada, put his hand on the Queen's back to usher her along? If they're like that now, what were they like in the 30s?

No, I'm sorry King's Speech. You've disappointed me deeply. Epic fail, as Mr Charming would say. And don't expect too many Oscars....the accents are all wrong.

Date Night

We decided that one night a week would be a date night where we have a nice dinner, get out a dvd that we haven't watched before (believe me, there are quite a few of those since I Don't Know When To Stop), open a pack of sweets and cuddle up on the sofa. So far we've watched The Departed (great movie) and National Treasure 2 (Nicolas Cage hamming it up as only he can do). Tonight we had free tickets for a preview of 'Morning Glory' so we decided to make an evening of it by using a voucher for Prezzo restaurant, courtesy of MSE.

The food was delicious (the offer was 'buy one main at full price, get the second for £1') and the film was far better than I was expecting it to be. It stars Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams and is set in a breakfast TV studio. It's fun right from the start, there are some real laugh out loud moments and it has a happy ending too. Harrison Ford is finally playing someone his real age and is all the better for it, though I do love him as Indiana Jones too! If you get a chance to see it I promise you'll enjoy it.
I decided that I would see as many free movies as I can this year and so I am seeing one on Sunday morning - 'Barney's Version' and at the same time Big Man is taking Carb Addict to see 'Tangled' at a different cinema. Yes, Carb Addict is a 17 year old chap and yes, 'Tangled' is a girly Disney cartoon based on the fairy story Rapunzel, but there's no accounting for (autistic) taste. I just wonder how he's gonna get on with the 3D glasses!