:-) I had the most interesting evening.
It was similar to yesterday evening in two ways:
1. I had to get a Tube and bus to where I was going.
2. I didn't get to see what I was going to see.
In every other respect, it was different.
Let me explain.
So, I had to head to Harrow this evening, for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Turns out it was only showing there, and was a preview.
Interestingly, I got an email last Tuesday from ShowFilmFirst - I mentioned it in that day's blog, or yesterday's - offering free tickets to that same premiere. Great, I thought - only to discover, when I clicked on the link, that the free tickets were sold out. That's always happening now, and I complained to them on this occasion, mainly because they also advertised tickets to another premiere. Which started 1 hour and 20 minutes before the email was sent out. Huh! Predictably, they denied all culpability in their response, saying they simply had such a large database that it took time for emails to be filtered to inboxes.
Anyway, I thought, since the free tickets were gone, I should book a ticket with the website if I still could. Which I proceeded to do. So I headed off this evening with the booking made. Google Maps suggested I take the Piccadilly Line to South Harrow and a bus from there. Quite unlike last night, it all proceeded successfully. It did help that it wasn't raining, and that only one road runs outside the station, instead of six. Within some minutes, I was on my bus. Note; again, Google Maps is great for general travel directions, but untrustworthy for timings. All-in-all, the journey took me 25 minutes longer than they predicted. I was lucky that I could leave work early because the server was down! Otherwise, I'd have been late.
The cinema is within the St. George Centre. The bus lets you off right outside, and it's not hard to get your bearings inside. It's mainly one atrium, with five stories - only the bottom two have shops, the top two only have car park access and the middle also has toilets. The cinema is on the first floor, but it was too early to go I and I grabbed something quick to eat first - there seem to be more eateries there than anything else.
I then headed to the cinema. It was now a quarter of an hour till the film start time, and I could see a queue forming, so I joined it. I had my ticket by this stage, and noticed that those around me in the queue were brandishing A4 pieces of paper. I correctly surmised that they had free tickets to the same film I had a ticket to. However, there was a problem. Unspecified - there was a kerfuffle at the front, but it took ages to determine what was happening. Simply, they had run out of space for all these free ticket-holders. As someone said, why didn't they put it in a larger screen?
I thought I must be ok, having paid for a ticket. Indeed, she tore my ticket and I made my way to the screen. Which was full. The guy at the door seemed surprised that I had paid for my ticket, and sent me, with an usher, back out to the front, and the lady who'd torn my ticket. She had met some more people with the same issue by this stage, and apologised, saying that tickets should never have gone on sale for this - it was meant as a free preview. Instead, she offered me a full refund, coupled with a free ticket for whatever else I wanted to see tonight.
Yes please!
I had to ask to see the list of films showing, and the pick of the bunch was Anchorman 2: the Legend Continues. So I got a ticket for that, and was well pleased with myself, because its rating was low enough that I wouldn't have got to see it under normal circumstances. But I did quite fancy seeing it.
Since it wasn't showing for another hour, I mooched around the centre for a bit. Paid a trip to the toilets - my word! they could do with an overhaul. There were about 10 cubicles. The first had a broken seat, the second was filled with diarrhoea, most of the rest had turds left in them, and the only two completely clean toilets were in cubicles that contained no toilet paper. I ask you! Oh, and the first tap (sensor-controlled) I went to wasn't working. Nor was the first hand dryer. Hmph.
I had a squizz around some of the shops. Made some purchases in Thornton's, but not elsewhere. And in due course, it was time to go for my film. And.. the place was filthy. They hadn't got around to cleaning it yet, and there wasn't even anyone to tell me not to go in! Management is seriously lacking in that place!
As I was looking for someone to complain to, the cleaning crew came along - and there was, at least, a seating area where we could wait. And when I finally took my seat (which wasn't properly cleaned), I discovered it was very comfortable. There was an interesting trailer for a new horror film - Devil's Due. Sort of a Rosemary's Baby plot. Due for release next year, I hope it lives up to the promise of its trailer.
And so to the main attraction. Anchorman 2 continues the story of Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), portrayed as the greatest news anchor ever. His team comprises, again, the ever-cute Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and the hilarious Steve Carell, as Brick, the dumbest person ever to appear on television. And.. it's hilarious! It is the daftest, and the funniest, film I've seen in ages. Really, just go with it. It has some serious messages about the priorities of modern newscasting, but mainly it's just plain daft. And all the better for it. I see it's shot up in the IMDB ratings since I last checked, and is now rated higher than the film I was going to see. Well, fancy!
Certainly, they've raided Hollywood's star pool. Everyone seems to have wanted to be in this. We have Christina Applegate as Ron's wife, Greg Kinnear as her lover (when things don't work out between them), Harrison Ford as Ron's boss, and in an outrageous fight scene in the park, between rival news teams, there's a galaxy of stars: as well as the aforementioned, we have Vince Vaughn weighing in on Ron's side, Sacha Baron Cohen as the head of the BBC news team, Liam Neeson, John C. Reilly as a ghost, Kirsten Dunst as some kind of goddess, and Jim Carrey and Marion Cotillard as heads of the Canadian news team (with some hilarious Canadian stereotypes. She represents the Québecois, by the way).
Laugh-out-loud funny. Go see.
And tomorrow I have my Christmas Party! and afterwards, it's back to Ireland for Christmas. Lordy, it'll be good to have a rest..!
No comments:
Post a Comment