A film tonight, the first this week. Top of the list showing tonight, in terms of IMDB ratings, that I hadn't seen and was interested in seeing, was Oh Boy, showing at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. So, of course, the first task was travel planning, on account of the Tube strike. I could get close enough to the cinema on the Tube, but time would be tight as I came out, given that they are closing at 11 for the duration, and so I decided to use alternative means. TFL's website was obliging enough to inform me that the 14 bus runs from Piccadilly Circus to Fulham Broadway - just down the road from me. Ok then. I checked where to catch the bus, and where it lets off, and I was set.
At West Brompton, the announcer was kind enough to inform us that the train indicator was in the wrong again. Today, all trains were going into town. Well, that suited me just fine! It being past rush hour, I got a seat, and got off at Embankment, again. This time though, at least I didn't have to climb onto the bridge! Instead, I turned in the other direction, and walked up Villiers Street to the Strand. Then left, past Charing Cross, to Trafalgar Square, negotiated several pedestrian crossings, and passed through Admiralty Arch to the Mall. The ICA is on the right, at the end of the arcades.
And then a funny thing happened - they had long, thick, black curtains drawn across the entrance - presumably for the cold - and a sign saying that such and such an exhibition was up the Duke of York steps to the right, and turn right for the entrance on Carlton House Terrace. Now, as it happened, I took it to mean that there was something on at the regular entrance, and we should go the other way. Just as well I arrived early, I thought. Anyway, as I turned to go up the steps, it occurred to me that that couldn't possibly be the way I had to go, because the entrance on the Mall is where the cinemas are. There isn't a back way into them. But, I said, I'll head up there anyway, out of curiosity - I hadn't been aware they had an entrance on this side. And here's me criticising Google Maps for sending me round that side of the building! Oops.
By the time I got back, they were letting people into the cinema, and in I went. Screen 2, as usual. Oh Boy is a comedy about a 26-year-old man in Berlin - has a rich father, dropped out of law school two years ago (without daddy knowing - daddy's been paying him an allowance the whole time), and the first time we see him, he's breaking up with his girlfriend. Abruptly. He's trying to get dressed without waking her, but she wakes, asks him whether he wants coffee. No, he says, he has to get to an appointment. (He really should have taken the coffee - his inability to get any becomes a real theme of the film.) She asks whether she will see him later - he's noncommittal. She presses him, and when he won't answer her, she gets the message. Charming!
He really does have an appointment - with a psychologist, who has to decide whether he'll get his driving licence back - it was confiscated because he was slightly over the drink-driving limit. The psychologist was cartoonishly obnoxious, and this is where the film started to lose me. I decided it was one of these arrogant comedies, with some guy - too cool for school - looking down his nose at all the ridiculousness around him. It's funny, but I dislike the pretentiousness of characters like that.
And yet.. as the film progresses, it gets a bit deeper, and our hero gets a bit of a conscience, I guess you could say, and starts to behave uncharacteristically. We are left with no indication of what he's actually going to do with his life, but he's certainly changed from the blasé youth we met at the beginning. So yes, it's a good film - shot, unusually, in black and white. Has its moments, but no classic.
The bus arrived at the stop just as I did. Well, a bit before actually, but I didn't feel like running for it. I'd have missed it if not for the massive crowd waiting to board. Sat upstairs, which is always nicer - if the bus is crowded, it's a good idea, because you can't stand upstairs, so there's more breathing space. Some American girls sitting near me were chatting, and complaining about having to take the bus all the time, and about how all the bus drivers seemed grumpy at the moment.. Yeah, a constantly packed bus will make anyone grumpy, I guess! I was nearly at my stop when we passed a Vue cinema. What?! There's one that close?! And here was I, walking all that way to Cineworld. Well, I shall remember that in future. Although Cineworld is cheaper, I see.
And tomorrow? Likely to be Dallas Buyers Club, which gets its general release tomorrow. I'll probably head to the cinema near work - there's a showing just at the right time to do that.
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