it’s the most wonderful time of the year…
It’s the end of the week when the weather inevitably resumed normality, and I count myself lucky to only have got soaked twice given that it’s been a busy one. Fingers crossed that it picks up a bit before the usual Bank Holiday deluge, when I will be safely out of the way in the Empire (as was) for the twentieth FrightFest prior to a few days recovery at Waterloo – yay!
As of lunchtime yesterday the last major FrightFest job of booking the Discovery (to the uninitiated, an additional three screens which run tandem to the main screens for virtually the whole festival) film tickets – a feat no less arduous than buying the pass itself – is done and I only really have to pick out civvy clothes to pack. Even this is more taxing than it sounds; given that most of the trips I pack for require equipping myself to sit around a hotel room in my pyjamas for the majority of the day and the only non-work time I need to throw some clothes on for is running out on errands while the room gets a going over, I’m not actually that used to having to think of things to wear; I generally have the clothes I sat on the train in, and that’s it.
The plan is to get a look at Once Upon A Time In Hollywood in before the FrightFest opener, and this had looked like a relatively easy proposition as the new-ishly refurbed Odeon Luxe on the other side of Leicester Square boasted an afternoon screening! Easy until I decided to be organised and book it in good time, only to be faced with the £40.75 price tag; whilst OUATIH is likely to be far and away the longest film I’ll see at the cinema this decade and the Luxe seats and sound system look very nice, not a fucking chance. I can still pick from perennial favourites the Screen On The Green, the Picturehouse Central and the two Curzons within a ten minute walk, and once I do I’ll have enough left over for a quick beer and donburi at the Tokyo Diner afterwards, although probably not quite enough for a trip to the Empire’s wallet-frightening Ben & Jerry’s counter.
First world problems aside I’ll struggle through somehow, and in the meantime I’ll still be in Scarborough until Wednesday – that’ll be it here for August and the year is marching on! The long awaited decorating will also be getting done sooner rather than later once I’m back so availability will be slightly limited, but the plan is to fit it all in over a weekend and hopefully that’ll be the end of it until it’s time to get on with the next job. We’ll have an actual decorated, furnished room again – woohoo! God, I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like.
I had also almost forgotten how glorious an evening watching films in the Somerset House courtyard is (even if the breeze made things a bit chilly later on and my big woolly hat had to be employed) but nowhere near as much as I’d forgotten what a good film Wild At Heart is, and a David Lynch fan I am not. An open-air view of Mandy capped off an unexpectedly manic week (and with apologies to those who were turned away; I’ll be back in Victoria before Christmas as usual if not sooner) and a lie-in followed by a good stretch was needed in the morning after six hours of stone floor too, but no harm was done and I was home in one (hungry, untidy and dog-tired) piece by Sunday evening. And true to form, it was raining. And has continued to all week.
It’s high time I was getting ready for Monday morning, which means getting to bed! There was never any competition for Song Of The Week anyway – back to Wild At Heart and Nicolas Cage it is, and quite right too. Sigh.
More soon! I’ll be back directly – frazzled, aching and square-eyed, but back…
September 3rd, 2019 at 2:51 pm
Always great film recommendations from you – ‘Wild at Heart’ is added to my to-see list. Hope you enjoyed Fright Fest! Are you planning to attend BFI Film Festival? ‘Color Out of Space’ (with Nicolas Cage!) is something you might like. :-)
September 3rd, 2019 at 4:01 pm
P.S. Back in August I saw an article about Kylie performing ‘Locomotion’ on the miniature train in Scarborough – it reminded me of you (not sure if you’re a fan of ‘Locomotion’ though :D ).