Film: Thor - Love and Thunder

Interview for another contract last Friday morning. Went so well that I'm pretty much a shoe-in - problem is, of course, it's a contract and I'd rather that permanent job that just won't get back to me! Not to mention, this one is all the way out in Hammersmith.. Then, of course, I was back to Ireland for the weekend again. Wasn't quite as easy as that, of course - with the Tubes on strike, they weren't an option to get to Liverpool Street for the Stansted Express - plus everyone was driven onto the roads, and traffic was horrendous! With visions of the same thing happening as last time, I ended up on Uber - still didn't make it in time, with the gate technically supposed to close five minutes before I got there - but the flight (as usual) was delayed, and the gate was kept open a bit later, phew. (Plane was filthy, BTW - with that, and the terrible service, I am dying for one of those surveys they always send out!)

Film for the weekend was - finally - Thor: Love and Thunder. Well, I'd seen everything better - no longer showing in Ennis, so I saw it at the Omniplex. Stars Chris Hemsworth in the title role, with, jeez - Natalie Portman as his ex-girlfriend: Christian Bale heavily made-up as the (very scary) villain: Tessa Thompson as a valkyrie, as in Thor: Ragnarok - although in this one she's a king: the voice of Taika Waititi as an old god (he also directs and co-writes): Russell Crowe as (a fat, middle-aged) Zeus: Chris Pratt as a star lord (no, me either): Dave Bautista as a kind of sympathetic mercenary (sorry, I just don't follow this stuff in general!): the voices of Vin Diesel (as a talking tree) and Bradley Cooper (as his raccoon sidekick) - I only remember one scene with them: Ben Falcone as the Asgardian stage manager (!): Simon Russell Beale as Dionysus (way!): Tristan (Thor as a kid) and Sasha Hemsworth (an Asgardian kid) - Chris' twin sons (I tried, but couldn't pick them out): Matt Damon (uncredited) as an actor recreating Loki's part in Thor - Ragnarok: Luke Hemsworth (yes, Chris' brother) (uncredited) as an actor recreating Thor in Thor - Ragnarok (how appropriate!): Melissa McCarthy (uncredited) as an actor playing Loki's daughter: and Sam Neill (uncredited) as an actor playing Odin. Gee, you think they all really wanted to get involved..?! Most of them only had one line! Anyway. I loved Thor: Ragnarok, which is hilarious.. this wasn't supposed to be as good, but as I say, was top of what's left! and stands on its own merit.

I arrived a little late - it was that kind of a day - but I don't think I missed much. I came in in the middle of a battle, where Thor is helping some aliens fight some other aliens. Happily, as in this scene, much of the soundtrack is Guns n Roses, so I was a happy bunny - ages since I listened to them. Seems so appropriate for this film, too - sort of happy hard rock, as Chris Hemsworth wanders around in a bulked-up hero suit and cape, wielding ferocious weapons and fighting big ugly creatures. That villain is The Business; Christian Bale is unrecognisable and v scary, setting about destroying not one god, but all - and inhabiting the Shadow Realm, where everything switches to black and white. In a side-story, Thor has a love interest  - and that bit is done really well, Natalie Portman playing IRL an astrophysicist, unfortunately dying of cancer. She finds that wielding Thor's hammer gives her a new lease of life, so she ends up becoming the latest superhero. CGI is terrific.

So - why isn't it better? Me, I think it's because the jokes that worked so well in Thor: Ragnarok just didn't hit their mark here! They make such a difference - here, you can see where they were (ahem) trying to be funny. Ah well, it's not a bad film.. it could just have been so much more! Anyway, that's ticked off the list..

Was redoing the film list last night, so it ran too late to blog. (As I keep saying, the listings just don't come out in time any more.) Flew back tonight - and wouldn't you know it, the flight wasn't delayed as much: so even though the Stansted Express was, once again, out of action (engineering works), so I had to take the bus: and even though that bus, for some reason, refused to take the main road - I still made it in time for O' Neill's! Yum..

Tomorrow, planning another film. There I was, checking film times for a couple of films at the top of the list I had, both showing at Hackney Picturehouse. Looked up the films showing there that day - and lo, I got a list of films, many of which were not mentioned on the overall film listing site yet at all! Added them to my list - and thus, I had a new film at the top, for this week. Girls Can't Surf is a documentary about how women broke into the male-dominated world of surfing. I'm not into surfing - but am always up for a feminist tale! Showing in a number of Picturehouses.

And then the new film list completed over the weekend. Top for the week - wouldn't you know it - were a glut of Indian films. There was a time when I would have been a lot more adventurous - but after my previous disastrous experience with a high-ranked Indian film, I'm now very dubious! Frankly, there wasn't much to choose among the six trailers - none of which were available in English, I might add! I gave up on the lot of them. Which still left me with a completely new film at the top of the list - I Came By is a UK (phew) thriller, seems to be previewing, and concerns two taggers (including our protagonist, George MacKay), who graffiti the homes of rich people to show their radical disapproval. Kelly Macdonald plays his mother, Hugh Bonneville an ex-judge whose house he breaks into, only to find something in the basement that could prove incendiary, and dangerous for him and his family.. nearest showing to me is the Everyman King's Cross, a new one to me, and curiously, seemingly mostly composed of sofa seating! which severely limits the single seating. Still, doesn't seem to be selling out.

On Tuesday morning, my final interview for that contract. In the evening, I had already booked for Tom, Dick & Harry at Alexandra Palace. This is the story of the POW camp escape, during WWII, which was fictionalised in The Great Escape. ("Tom", "Dick", and "Harry" were the names of the escape tunnels.) I got my ticket from London Theatre Direct. And then, wouldn't you know it, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) decided to go the same night! So I'm going with them, which will be nice. Sadly, I missed out on the deal they snagged from TodayTix, which is even cheaper..

On Wednesday - well, with a dearth of alternatives, I'm thinking of Soho Comedy Factory Shows and Socials again.

On Thursday, I'm back with UITCS - crikey, when's the last time that happened, twice with them in one week! This time, it's for Yeast Nation in Southwark Playhouse. Bless, they always put on something interesting.. Anyway, with my old payg subscription used up, I've taken out another - £60 gets you five tickets, over an unlimited period. Excellent value! and I have such good memories of evenings spent in the bar here. Sadly, these days, memories are all I have of it, with this group unwilling to drink after shows.

On Friday, I got a cheap ticket with TAC to the Cabaret All-Stars!

Saturday is going to be busy - I'm back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners for a walk called Glorious Greenwich. So popular, he's reached capacity and there are six on the waitlist! He's having trouble finding somewhere to squeeze us all in for lunch after.. sadly, is having to suggest we split up!

That evening, I was supposed to be meeting two ex-coworkers for dinner and drinks. But it turns out one got her wires crossed, and is now doing something else. Unfortunately, the other can only manage central London - Greenwich is too awkward for him. We're going back to Imad's Syrian Kitchen.. perfect location, great restaurant!

And on Sunday, I'm off to Rye. London and Sussex Walking Tours - whom I joined during lockdown - are running a daytrip! called Rye - Pirates, Ports and Jazz (they also have a jazz festival that weekend): and I've never been. It's a bit of a palaver to get to, involving two trains - but well, it's about time I travelled a bit, and it's not too early a start. And the tour itself ends early in the day, so I have plenty of time to eat and explore before my train(s) back.