Killing Bono!!!!

We saw our third free film of March this evening and I think it was the best. I really enjoyed 'Limitless' but for laugh-out-loud laughs Killing Bono beats it hands down. If you loved 'The Commitments' you'll probably really like this movie too.
We didn't realise that the book the film comes from is a true story (Big Man's favourite kind of film....when I told him, after watching 'Public Enemies' that Babyface Nelson died after John Dillinger in real life, rather than before him as in the film, Big Man said that I had 'totally ruined it' for him. Go figure.) and one that is set in the city where I grew up and almost in my era there too. The premise is that two sets of schoolboys start bands - one band has a pair of brothers in it, the other goes on to be U2. We all know what became of U2 but the story really concerns the brothers and that's where all the comedy comes from.
Although the film is ostensibly about the band there isn't a great deal of music (I didn't think so anyway) because it's mainly about the relationship between Ivan and Neil McCormick (I think Neil wrote the book 'I Was Bono's Doppelganger') played by Robert Sheehan and Ben Barnes, who does a pretty good Dublin accent imho. It also has Peter Serafinowicz in a very funny role and Pete Postlethwaite in his last film. If you get a chance please go and see it - a feel-good, very funny movie. And we saw it for free which always adds an extra star for me.

Incidentally (this is a bit of showing off here!), U2 may be every Irishman and woman's favourite musical sons now but when I saw them supporting The Clash at the Top Hat in Dun Laoghaire back in 1978, in a half-empty hall, they were treated with absolute contempt. I remember their current songs of the time were '11 O'Clock Tick-Tock' and 'I Will Follow' and there was certainly none of this messianic, sunglasses-wearing Bono carry on then. U2 were merely an annoyance before The Clash appeared.
I've just read on the 'net that thousands now claim to have been at that gig (probably U2 fans) but trust me....this ex-Dublin Punk was there!

Does that make me officially cool?! ;P

Date Night #2

It was a toss-up tonight between describing our latest date night and my work this week. I've decided to leave the work post until Friday.

The free movie this evening was called Limitless and starred Bradley Cooper (I think he's quite the heart-throb is some quarters but I'd never seen him before), Abbie Cornish (another new one on me) and Robert DeNiro who is looking more and more like my dad the older they both get. Goodfellas is just about my favourite film of all time so anything that stars Mr D is fine by me.

The film's described as a paranoia-fuelled action thriller. It starts almost in a comical way - the hero (or perhaps anti-hero) is a loser whose girlfriend dumps him and who is unable to start the book that he has been given an advance to write. However it gets darker as it goes on and there is an uneasy ending that you might not really agree with. The idea is an interesting one and you come out of the cinema wondering whether you would want to try the pill Eddie takes, were it available. There was one part in Limitless when I wondered what the point of the particular story-strand was, but mulling it over later I think I see why it was put in. It is the kind of film that you'll think about afterwards. The characters were fairly well-drawn - Eddie is a consistently weak man who gets an enormous stroke of luck and runs with it but doesn't really question the ethics of what he does; Lindy, Eddie's girlfriend, is his conscience but ultimately shows herself to be corruptible (don't think that's too strong a word); but Robert De Niro's captain of industry disappointingly ends up rehashing the retired Jimmy Conway. Still, he tries his best with a limited part and in all honesty it's totally Bradley Cooper's film. 

Having said all that, I did leave the cinema saying 'I loved that film'. It's escapist and it has some holes in it but if you want a good date movie you could do worse than Limitless. BTW, our own Anna Friel is in a small role, almost unrecognisable and with a strange Estuary/NYC hybrid accent.

Strange as it may sound I think Big Man and I enjoyed the movie more because we weren't able to sit together. The showing was in a smaller screen than normal and because we didn't get there 'til 6:15 for the 6:30 start there were no 'two-at-the-end' seats left. Big Man likes to be on the aisle on account of his bad knee - it needs to be stretched out when he's sitting down - so he sat in a single disabled seat (a PREMIERE one, no less!) whilst I sat a few rows further forward in an aisle seat. Win-win situation - Big Man didn't have me commentating on everything (yeah, yeah, I know I'm a pain in the ass patron but don't hate me for it); gasping and hiding my face at scary bits; and I wasn't squished up next to him, feeling constricted and resentful.

There's more than one reason I call him Big Man y'know.......

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!

Cheap Date!

Most people would think that 11:00 on a Sunday morning is an odd time to see a film that doesn't feature talking animals or cartoon baddies. But if you love movies but don't love paying cinema prices it's a great time to see previews. This morning I went with Big Man to a preview of Russell Crowe's latest film, 'The Next Three Days'. We were disappointed with the last one we saw him in, 'Robin Hood' (complete with Irish accent!!) but were really impressed with this latest offering. I knew that it was a remake of a French film, 'Pour Elle' but other than that didn't know what to expect. Well, all I can say is if you get a chance to see it then go! I'm a real drama queen at the cinema...I get so into it, gasping, hiding my face, watching through my fingers. I'm like a cavewoman would have been the first time she saw fire!!! And there were plenty of face-hiding opportunities, especially near the end. It's a great film with a great story and great acting. And best of all it was free! We got tickets from http://www.showfilmfirst.com/ via MSE - if you subscribe to the (I think) Fantastic Freebies thread on the forum you get notified of free previews coming up. You can also join the Showfilmfirst Facebook group too and get notifications. I'm aiming to see as many free films as possible this year. I guess we could have been even more frugal if we'd walked to the cinema but that would've entailed getting up earlier and I'm not quite ready for that yet.....!