I identified four films showing locally this week that I might be interested in, and only one showing in the Omniplex in the afternoon. So I've booked that one for Sunday - it's The Lost City, and stars Sandra Bullock as an author, Channing Tatum as the model for the hero on her book covers, Brad Pitt, and Daniel Radcliffe as an eccentric millionaire in another of those lost-city-in-the-jungle capers.
The other three films only have afternoon showings in Ennis - so, it's there I'm bound for them. They charge for booking, and are not booking out, so I haven't. Highest rated, and therefore the choice for today, was The Northman, a Viking caper about a young prince (Amleth) whose father, the King (Ethan Hawke), is murdered, so it falls to the lad to avenge him. Nicole Kidman is the Queen, Alexander Skarsgård the adult Amleth, Willem Dafoe and Björk are oracles.
So, Amleth's father, the King, is murdered by his brother, who seizes the kingdom and takes his widow, Gudrun. It falls to Amleth to avenge his father's death. Hmm.. this story is sounding familiar! Turns out that this film is actually based on the hero, Amleth, from the Norse sagas, on whom Shakespeare's Hamlet was based. And the saga was actually set in Denmark, too. Having said that, it does take liberties, and as the director, Robert Eggers said, he threw in whatever was cool from the sagas. Interestingly on that point, there's a YouTube video discussing the historical accuracy of the trailer - this hasn't had a worldwide release yet, so possibly the maker of this video hasn't seen the entire film, at time of writing. I'd love to know his thoughts on it!
As one of the reviews says, "Wow!". It is a long one, but it's dazzling from the start - I watched much of it open-mouthed. It's almost relentlessly violent, but that is the kind of story we're dealing with, and you have to expect some. Besides, it shies away from the worst, leaving much to the imagination. It's not gratuitous. The scenery is suitably stunning - some was shot in Iceland, and it's a great advert for it. Having said that, they were trying to shoot during the pandemic, and ended up shooting most of it in Ireland, a place called Sallagh Braes standing in for the Icelandic village. Early in the film, a fight scene in the mud made me think immediately that it had to be Ireland - it comes with the territory!
The soundtrack is suitably menacing - I would love to be able to get the full version, which I guess won't be available until it's had a full release. Someone remarked to me that he hates seeing Nicole Kidman these days - her face is frozen. I watched her closely during the film - it mostly isn't an issue, there isn't a lot of smiling to be done in the film anyway! and a lot of her shots are taken from the side. There is just one scene where I'd have to say, it looks as though he's right, she does seem expressionless. Sadly.
As for the rest - crikey, I knew I recognised Alexander Skarsgård from somewhere; I didn't realise, not having seen it for some time, but of course, he played Eric Northman in True Blood! Willem Dafoe and Björk play suitable spooky oracles - and I love all the supernatural elements, woven as deftly into the story as they were into the sagas. FYI, in the trailer, the woman seen screaming on a horse is a Valkyrie, and those teeth don't have braces on them, they're carved! which was a common Viking practice.
I absolutely loved this, but it's tough if you have a problem with violence. Otherwise, in the name of the gods, go see! As someone in one of the online reviews said, it's so good to see a film treat Norse mythology properly! My only problem with it was the kid (who looked too young to be there, but no-one was checking) in the row behind, who got bored in a quiet bit where nobody was being killed, and started kicking the seat in front of him. Which wasn't mine, but it made the whole row vibrate, and I had to move to the one in front. Happily, the cinema was mostly empty - a good side-effect of matinees!
Walking back to the car (this being a cinema without a car park), the sun was pelting down for the first time today. Put everyone in a good mood, which must have been why, every time I had to cross a road, the drivers stopped to let me across..
Anyway, afterwards I thought to go to Jade Cottage, where I haven't been in a while. I actually got the same table I was at the last time! Decided to choose chicken spring rolls to start this time - which were delicious, especially with the sweet chili sauce that came with them. For my main course, I had General Tso's chicken, simply because the one I had yesterday was disappointing. And it was beautiful - but again, like last time, I was stuffed after them. Might choose something a little lighter next time. Gorgeous wine, too - this is an excellent place, and staff passed so frequently, and were so efficient, that it was easy to catch them. Will be back.
I have five days in which to see the remaining films - watch this space as to when that'll be. In descending order of rating, they are:
Operation Mincemeat stars the ever-dependable Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, and Penelope Wilton in a comedy based on the true story of how, during WWII, they put the Nazis off the scent by handcuffing a case of fake "secret" papers to a corpse, and letting it be found. They've made a play about this too, you know! Planning on this for tomorrow.
Finally, Morbius is another of those superhero things - an antihero, rather. Jared Leto is the hapless biochemist who accidentally turns himself into a vampire - with all the powers that entails. Also stars Michael Keaton.
Well, my friend got back to me - they're away in the middle of next week, back on Thursday, so the most sensible thing to do seemed to be to visit next Friday, which I've now arranged with her. Happily, my boss was also fine with me taking that week as holiday. Anyway, I'll fly back to London on the 24th. And on the 25th, I'm off to The Corn is Green, at the National.
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