Film: The Age of Adaline

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was supposed to be going to a talk tonight, on Ghostly Manifestations in London. It was to be hosted by the Seriously Strange Meetup group, and I'd been looking forward to it for ages.. then it got cancelled, late last night. No idea why - we were not contacted, I just found out by chance when I checked the Meetup page and saw it wasn't there anymore. I contacted the person listed as organiser, who told me she wasn't the organiser any more, has left ASSAP, of which Seriously Strange is a part, and had nothing to do with the cancellation.

It was still listed on the site of ASSAP earlier today - it's gone now, and they've finally got around to putting "Cancelled" in large letters on top of the event page on Meetup. Mind you, she's still down as organiser of the next two of their monthly events - I hope they don't go the way of tonight's!

So to Plan B for tonight - a film. Checking what films were actually showing, I was down to three at 7.4. One was a music documentary I just wasn't interested in. One was Anti-Social, based on the real-life jewellery heists by thieves disguised in burqas.(Down to 7.3 now again, interestingly.) But it's generally showing only at about 11pm! and the only place where it's showing earlier is all the way over the other side of town, in Barking. Tube practically to the end of the line, then a bus. Over an hour each way.

So that left The Age of Adaline. This is proving very popular, but I wasn't sure how interested I was in it myself. Still, it's showing in my local Vue, within walking distance. And it was a beautiful evening for a stroll. Plus, Helen had introduced me to a listings site, Londonist, which had a link for an offer on Vue tickets. I only just remembered that today, and bought myself a cheap ticket voucher from Yplan. Then it turned out I was supposed to redeem it on their phone app - but it's not compatible with my phone! Then, when I opened the ticket on my computer, there was no barcode or reference number! Aargh! Had I wasted my money?!

What a day I was having. Anyway, I went and had lunch, and afterwards, my reference number and QR code had magically appeared - seems there's a delay. Unable to access them from my phone, I printed them out - the QR code came out very large. And later this evening, I set off in brilliant sunshine to try my luck. At the cinema, the shorter queue was for a quite young-looking lad. Oh dear, I thought. But he turned out to be quite knowledgeable, knew all about Yplan. He wasn't used to such a big QR code though.. the scanner wouldn't accept it, and he held it in front of himself and backed further and further away until the scanner blinked green. Excellent! I foresee a future of cheaper cinema for myself.. might try to print it smaller in future though!

There's a row of seats with an aisle in front, and I sat there - no legroom problems, then. Unfortunately, I found myself forced to sit through another trailer for Pitch Perfect 2.. it was a relief when the feature started.

The Age of Adaline is essentially a fairytale. Adaline is involved in a freak accident at the age of 29, and thereafter never ages. So she spends her life running, living in isolation - until true love comes a-knocking. Ellen Burstyn plays her daughter (in later life), Harrison Ford is the guy who knew her long ago, meets her again and recognises her for who she is, still young while he is old.

A newspaper review of this film remarked that if this were a real cure for aging, starlets would flock to try it. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, though! It could've been so silly - it isn't. It's got a dreamlike quality, helped by a wistful narrative in parts, but mostly by the ethereal Blake Lively, who stars as Adaline. Frankly, she's stunning in this. She's magnetic - it occurred to me that you would want someone to play Adaline who could be believable in different eras, and she is perfect. She glides elegantly through the film, exuding the air of someone who really has seen it all, really does know it all, and is slightly aloof. Until she isn't, anymore, near the end.

It's also an unexpectedly touching film. I kept bursting into tears. Ironically, one of the Meetup groups saw this yesterday - I'm rather glad I saw it alone, I'd have been embarrassed. Goes to show though - these ratings do mean something. If it's this highly rated, it's likely to be good.. I'm rather glad now that my other event was cancelled, or I might never have got to see this!

For tomorrow, the Meetup group All Things Baroque is off to Tintinnabuli. I'm not a member because you have to fill out an information sheet about things Baroque, and I don't really know enough about it! I just like it. So I Googled the event, and discovered it's a concert by the Tallis Scholars, in Cadogan Hall, not far away. Lovely - I booked one of the few remaining tickets.

I'm back in Ireland for the weekend, and heading to see the comedian Pat Shortt perform in Glór on Saturday.

I have another Meetup booked for Monday - with the Crick Crack Storytelling Club again! This time, it's in the Soho Theatre, so might be a bit more conventional.

On Tuesday, I'm back with the Film Nite Meetup group, who are having a discussion about the film Gone Girl. I love that film, and am looking forward to the talk. It's in Soho House again - I should find it more easily this time!

Finally, on Wednesday, I'm attending my first meeting with the London European club, who are having a talk about Ireland, of all things! Should be interesting.