Film: The Irishman

Tonight.. well, 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners were off around the Southbank Christmas market. So I said, well, I could do that on my own - thus avoiding the Meetup fee, and I wasn't pushed about the meal. Good chance to start on my Christmas shopping. But then I thought I might go to a film - the listings change on Fridays - and gee, what came out on top of the list but The Irishman. Never mind the plot, or that it's three and a half hours long - for goodness' sake, it's directed by Scorsese, and just look at the cast list. Robert De Niro plays the eponymous Irish-American, Frank Sheeran, who works for the mob. Anna Paquin is his disapproving daughter, Peggy. Joe Pesci is his mob boss, Russell Bufalino, and Ray Romano plays his cousin, and Jimmy Hoffa's lawyer, Bill. De Niro ends up working for Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Harvey Keitel is the leader of another crime family, Angelo Bruno. I was so there. Showing in my local cinema too - and the Barbican has comfy seats.

It wasn't quite half sold out for most of the day - but I checked just over an hour before the showing time, and it had passed the halfway mark. So I booked. And it occurred to me, as I trudged up the road (at least I could walk, tonight!), that I was very glad - on this freezing, damp night - that I wasn't doing something outdoors. Like a Christmas market. As it was, I was so very relieved to get there - and was soon in my comfy, leather seat - a wall seat, just behind the aisle. In that row (E in Screen 3), you don't have anyone in front of you to obstruct your view, and there's a low wall - which the people sitting outside of me used to rest their feet against.

Right. This is a Scorsese epic, and yes, it's everything you have a right to expect. It's easy to see why people love gangster films - they're charismatic, sharply dressed, and frequently eating something that would probably be delicious in reality. And we get all of that. But our Irishman soon moves on to working with Hoffa, so you get a whole heap of politics, too - and a good impersonation of Bobby Kennedy! They don't bother getting anyone to play JFK, since it seems Sheeran never actually met him - we just get some TV footage.

The one thing I wasn't expecting was for the film to be as moving as it is. This is based on real-life memoirs, and we go right through from memories of his time fighting in Italy during the Second World War, through him working for the mob and then Hoffa, being an old man in prison, and ending up in a care home. And all of this takes so long that I guess we get close to him - I certainly found myself quite unexpectedly emotional towards the end. Speaking of the passage of time - they do marvellous things with CGI here, to both age and de-age the actors. Mind you, I believe the hardest part was getting them to move like younger men.

Pacino overacts like crazy, which suits the larger-than-life character of Jimmy Hoffa. De Niro - who co-produced with Scorsese - is his usual, charming self. I was surprised that Anna Paquin had about two lines in the whole film! I guess she really wanted to be associated with the project. Anyway, this is a blokey film - no female part was bigger. And the verdict? A classic, must-see if you like the genre. Oh, and you get to find out both who killed JFK, and what happened to Hoffa!

A bitterly cold walk home - I must start to carry my gloves. Tomorrow, I'm with cheap ticket source #1 - you have to book something with them every three months, or be expelled (!). Honestly, I've never heard such draconian regulations. So I'm going to Stop Kiss, above the Stag. Mercifully, it's in the evening, so I can lie in. And the cheap ticket people sent me a "kindly reminder" this evening (with a handy attached pdf of my booking) that they'd be checking with the venue, and if I didn't show - and didn't cancel at least three hours beforehand - I'd be expelled from the club, no exceptions. (And I also know that, as a new member, my first six bookings can't be cancelled at all, or my membership will be revoked.) Well, I hope it's good at least.

On Sunday, back with the Crick Crack Club (CCC) for 1001 Nights, at the British Museum. Mea culpa, I recently told people that this was The Embers Collective - nope! Turns out it's not. Ah well.

On Monday, back, after a week, with Up in the Cheap Seats for Falsettos, at The Other Palace. An aisle seat, as usual - legroom is poor, here.

On Tuesday, back with them again for Acosta Danza - Evolution, at Sadler's Wells.

On Wednesday, Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities Group is off to a performance entitled Virginia Woolf - Killing the Angel, at the LSE. So I'm going on my own, and saving the Meetup fee - I haven't had that much luck with socialising with them, anyway. And now that Meetup is full.

On Thursday, back with Spooky London - the John Snow Pub. Then another weekend in Ireland.

On the 25th, the CCC is back with Rebel Children, at the British Library. Ben Haggarty & Jan Blake - ooh yeah!

On the 26th, my annual trip to Winter Wonderland - heading to Cirque Berserk and the Ice Kingdom, as usual. Someone said he might come along.

On the 27th, the first night in ages with North London Friends! We're at A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, at Trafalgar Studios.

And on the 28th, our ex-company's social group's Christmas meeting. We had a tiff about the venue - the organiser decided on Thai Square, which I think is overpriced and underwhelming. So he started to grumble about the difficulty of getting somewhere before Christmas - which will take a group, and doesn't cost the earth. Still though, he came up with an alternative - we've decided on the Warwick Castle pub in Little Venice. Lovely area, the pub sounds nice - with a Christmassy open fire, and a room we can book - and hey, it's a pub, which won't throw us out as quickly! Must get on to booking their wine deal.. 10% off if you order at least £150 worth. Which I'm sure, among the dozen or so that are coming, we'll manage to drink. And gee, he's had us choosing what we want off the menu..