Film: Free Guy

Yesterday - now that I'm mobile - I promised to take all those empty wine bottles that had built up, down to the bottle bank. And wouldn't you know it, that's on the way to Limerick. ;-) Now, as I waited for Saturday's film, I watched a trailer for Free Guy, which made me feel like I might like to see it. I wasn't sure at first about this comedy where Ryan Reynolds plays a videogame character (called Guy) that's happily going about his daily business, until one day he discovers that he is actually in a videogame.. but the trailer looked decent, and goodness knows, he's easy on the eye. With or without glasses. And they're showing Free Guy in Limerick Omniplex. So I booked it, for late yesterday afternoon. Well, it's free to book, there.. and I was getting worried, with all the seats that are blocked off as soon as any seats are booked.

Of course, I left it late enough to leave that I didn't have time for the bottle bank. At the cinema, parking wasn't a problem - at the entrance, I was accosted by an usher who, quick-fire, asked had I prebooked my ticket? Had I booked food and/or drink? Did I want any? ("Yes, No, No".) She then shooed me - unnecessarily - towards the ticket check. Where my code - which showed up in the email, this time! - was scanned, and I made my way to the cinema screen. I'd chosen a snug seat at the side, away from the main section, where quite a few seats were occupied. Ooh, and I'd forgotten the lovely, leather, rocker seats they have here..

I loved this. So glad I gave it a go! We already know, from the Deadpool films, that he's a terrific comedic actor - and he doesn't disappoint. He's an NPC - non-playable-character - in this game, which means he's basically a background character, added for colour. Specifically, he gets up every morning, puts on an identical outfit to the day before, says hi to Goldie the goldfish, has breakfast, grabs a coffee (medium, two sugars) at the coffee shop, and goes to work as a bank teller. His catchphrase is "Don't have a good day - have a GREAT day!" And every day, the surrounding mayhem - car chases, explosions, and the daily armed robbery of his bank - phase his cheery demeanour not at all.

The significance of the glasses is that those wearing glasses are actual players - and as his friend, the equally cheery and unphased security guard, says, the likes of them don't mix with glasses-wearers. So it's quite an event when a sexy young lady (Jodie Comer) catches his eye - a young lady who happens to be a glasses-wearer. She chats to him, and - thinking he's also a player, as he's wearing glasses he took from the most recent bank robber - remarks that he's at a very basic level (as she can tell from the information imparted by the glasses he's wearing). She advises him that he can increase his points score by killing people - but he's not into that, he's too nice - so she remarks, "Well, you can do it by performing good deeds, although hardly anyone chooses to do that." So he turns into a sort of superhero..

Back on the other side of the screen, IRL, we meet the young female avatar's alter-ego, a young lady who designed a complex videogame with her partner at the time. They then sold it for a lot of money to the company that now runs "Free City", the game that Guy is a part of - her partner works there too now, but she doesn't, and is in fact taking a lawsuit against the owner because she thinks he's illegally using the software that they designed, but not for the purpose for which it was intended..

I love the interaction between the game and real life. Reminds me of Tron, a film I adored as a kid (but with much more realistic graphics). In both cases, someone IRL is looking for evidence in the computer world, and needs the help of a character to do it. Also needs to go in themself, which is much easier in this film than it was in Tron. And again, there's romance between a human and a computer character..

Ryan has great fun, zipping around the place with superpowers (when wearing glasses), and learning to play the game like any of us might. And I had a ball watching him, and loved the references to other films. Highly recommend this film to anyone with a gaming obsession, who likes Ryan Reynolds. I tell you this though, I wouldn't recommend it to the army of small kids who attended that screening - older kids yes, but younger kids wouldn't play this kind of game, and probably wouldn't have got much from this film - not all games are equal, you know!

Afterwards, I headed back - there's no longer anywhere to sit and eat at that shopping centre. And yes, I did get to the bottle bank on the way back.. Didn't have time to blog though, as I had to be up early today.

Still here for the time being, waiting to get my car tested on the 3rd. So for the weekend, I'll be hoping for more fare from the local cinemas, but no showtimes have been announced yet..

Films: Don't Breathe 2 & Unless

Ah, it's great to have my car fixed! Whee, serviced n all, and sitting outside. So the plan for today was to go get it washed - as my taxi driver friend remarked, it was so green it looked like Kermit's car. Now, there's an excellent handwash car service - cheap too - on the way in to Ennis. So I thought.. if I got done in time, Don't Breathe 2 has a matinée showing at the Arc Cinema in Ennis.. I wasn't so impressed with the original, but what the hey, I said I'd give it a go. Again, with hardly any seats booked, I thought I could afford to head in without booking. Of course, parking isn't free on Saturdays, nuts - would just have to grin and bear it. (And I'd be tempting fate, because I was at a film in the same cinema, the day my car broke down. Ah well..)

I wasn't even sure the carwash was open - you can't see it as you approach. So it was with some relief that I saw a queue, which I joined. Shortly, I was second in line - and I could see the sole carwash worker giving me the odd look. He was done with the car in front in about five minutes - it was hardly dirty - and I drove forward and parked where he indicated.

And that's when he got a proper look. He spent about five minutes just scratching his head, looking at it, walking all around, scrubbing at some of the dirt with his hand. He duly ran off to get his mobile and take a photo of it. He felt obliged to ask me how on earth it got in this state.. um, parked under trees? I mean, over the last year and a half, it hasn't had much exercise, and has indeed been parked under - and near - greenery, as opposed to outside my taxi driver's house, where it is when I'm in London, and where there isn't as much. Well, he duly started his task.

15 minutes into the wash, I was texting my taxi driver - for something to do - to let him know it was getting washed at last. It took 40 minutes in all, and he charged me just under double the basic price for a small car. (Well, it does say "from.." on the price list.) Well worth the money - an automatic carwash would never have managed it! The car that came in behind me gave up and left - the car behind that one stayed, the driver taking the opportunity to do his shopping in the adjacent store, pump his tyres with the convenient airpump beside him.. Water-blasted, washed and waxed, I rolled out of there in a sparklingly clean car. Unreal. The environment had better keep away - next up is valeting, and the test is scheduled for the third of next month; Ennis is the more convenient centre, but didn't have availability before that week, which I conveniently have off - and didn't have a convenient time until that day.

Right! That sorted, I had about an hour before my film - drove around and around Abbey Street car park, but couldn't get a spot, and finally parked a bit further away - it's not a large town anyway. Waited a bit - I didn't want to pay too early, as there's only supposed to be two hours' parking, and the film wouldn't be over by then. Not that anyone probably checks, but wouldn't that be just my luck.. Parking in that part of town is just €1 for two hours, and I headed off in due course, bought my ticket (and a packet of chocolate M&Ms, just because it's been so long), and the lady who took my ticket actually took it upon herself to show me to my seat! There were a few people sat at the back - wow, that made the screen feel positively crowded..

I had just settled myself when the lights went down. They don't have a long ad program here, but what they did show was a trailer for Free Guy, which has made me feel like I might like to see it, now. I wasn't sure at first about this comedy where Ryan Reynolds plays a videogame character (called Guy) that's happily going about his daily business, until one day he discovers that he is actually in a videogame.. but the trailer looks decent, and goodness knows, he's easy on the eye. With or without glasses.

And so, without delay, to the main feature. Now, the original film has a blind guy, ex-military, providing more than able resistance to the gang of thieves that invade his house. He also has a fixation on getting another daughter, to replace the one he lost in an accident. Well, in the sequel, he has one - and I have to say, Madelyn Grace is the most bright-eyed and bushy-tailed youngster I can think of since Shirley Temple! Not that he'd know that, being blind. Anyway, unsurprisingly, she's not actually his - he found her after a house fire, and pretended to be her father as he raised her, and taught her survival skills. It's not much of a spoiler to reveal that her real father shows up - but is he really any more fit to raise her than the man who did..?

So, it's better than the original - the blind man is more sympathetic here, there's more of a plot (even if it is over the top), and it's a bit less gruesome. Still not terrific, but interesting - and a couple of beefy dogs for the aww factor. I wouldn't rush to see it, but it's not terrible.

Rising quickly to leave (I wanted to get back to the car), I was surprised, when I looked around, to see that all the others had beaten me to it! Crikey, they moved fast. Anyway, I got back to my unrecognisably clean car - this was the first proper look I'd got at it since - to find.. that no-one had penalised me for overstaying. Gee.

My mother was spoiled when I brought back prawn crackers from my last trip - they're good at An Teach China, the closest Chinese to us, and I'd promised her I'd stop there again. Didn't fancy the same as last time, so I decided on fillet beef szechuan (always go for the fillet, it's melt-in-the-mouth). Mind you, the young lady they had behind the counter was completely stumped when I ordered the mint trufito - just as well I had a poster I could point to! She had to bring out the manager. Nonetheless, I was served quickly.

An uneventful drive home - the car survived - the food was still hot when I got it back, and ooh, was I right in my choice! Delish. I was stuffed - couldn't manage the trufito, which is still in the freezer, and we only had some of the prawn crackers - but they kept for several days the last time, so we wrapped them up and will eat them as we feel like it.

Tonight's late-night film was one I just had on tv in the background, but soon paid more attention to. Unless has Catherine Keener as a middle-aged woman whose happy life is turned upside-down when her and her husband's eldest daughter suddenly drops out of college to go and sit on the side of the road and beg. Refuses to communicate with anyone. Sleeps in a shelter.

My attention was immediately caught when I heard a Leonard Cohen track playing, close to the start of the film. A very easy way to get me onside. But although no more of his music was on the soundtrack, I found this a compelling and intense watch. Silence is always powerful, and that of this girl now sitting on the pavement is complete. The family has to deal with a host of people who don't understand, and with a lot of useless advice - as for the girl who's caused all the trouble, everyone can only speculate why she's doing what she's doing. We do get an explanation at the end - but the film is more powerful while she remains a mystery. I really liked this - watch, if you get the chance!

Well, tomorrow - now that I'm mobile - I've promised to take all those empty wine bottles that have built up, down to the bottle bank. And wouldn't you know it, that's on the way to Limerick. ;-) And they're showing Free Guy there. So I've booked it, for late tomorrow afternoon. Well, it's free to book, there.. and I was getting worried, with all the seats that are blocked off as soon as any seats are booked.

Series: The Purge (Season 2, Episodes 9 & 10)

At last, tonight, I got back to Season 2 of The Purge, on Amazon Prime. Episode 9 was next up.. and what a riot of action, as the programme whips from one story to another, each at a critical moment. For the duration. I was seriously stressed by the end of it, as - as usual - we don't know who will survive, or even entirely what is going on, just yet.

And so - nervously - into Episode 10, which opens with a scene of them testing the security of the NFFA broadcast room, just prior to the very first Purge. Unfortunately - as with so many tech demos - it doesn't work, and the guy demonstrating is reduced to nervously video-calling the guy who installed the system. Who looks strangely familiar - it's Ethan Hawke! who starred in the first two films of the series. Fancy. You see, there is a logical timeline to the Purge - check it out on their Wikipedia page, linked to above (contains spoilers - don't read if you haven't finished the tv series). Anyway, nice throwback.

And then we're into our familiar characters' stories again, which start to make more sense, and start to join together. By the time we're substantially into the episode, it's apparent that this is the last in the series. :-( Aw nuts, two episodes fewer than the first season!

Anyway, not everyone survives - which is good, I hate an ending that's too happy. But the stories are nicely concluded, and we finish with the start of an anti-Purge movement - this links nicely into the timeline, coming just before the major anti-Purge swing in The Purge: Election Year. Man though, I'm really gonna miss having this to watch - especially when Season 2 has fewer episodes than I expected. Ah well.

Hey, in better news - my car is fixed! Whee, serviced n all, and sitting outside. So the plan for tomorrow is to go get it washed - as my taxi driver friend remarked, it's so green it looks like Kermit's car. Now, there's an excellent handwash car service - cheap too - on the way in to Ennis. So you know what I'm thinking.. if I get done in time, Don't Breathe 2 has a matinée showing at the Arc Cinema in Ennis.. I wasn't so impressed with the original, but what the hey, I'll give it a go. Again, with hardly any seats booked as of now, I think I can afford to head in without booking. Of course, parking isn't free on Saturdays, nuts - just have to grin and bear it. (And I'll be tempting fate, because I was at a film in the same cinema, the day my car broke down. Ah well..)

Series: The Purge (Season 2, Episode 8)

Now, one point today saw programmes that I'd be happy to watch, showing on three different tv channels. I know this, because they were all repeats of episodes I'd seen before! Seriously, there are so many repeats it's ridiculous. So I squeezed in another episode of Season 2 of The Purge, on Amazon Prime.

Each episode in the series starts with a kind of general observation on the Purge, unrelated to any of the specific characters. This one has the world's weirdest teenage dress-up party, with the girls donning crazy, sexy outfits - and masks, of course. When the dad of the girl whose room it is makes the mistake of knocking on the door and opening it, he's faced with her swinging a silver morning star and threatening him that he'd better get out NOW! which he hastily does. Ah, teenagers, eh?

Why are they trying on outfits? Well, welcome to the next Purge Night! The season takes us through a whole year, Episode 8 starting on the next Purge, a year after the one in Episode 1. And how things have changed, for all our characters. Not all are still alive - of those who are, a couple finally know who tried to purge them last year, a few others have had their entire world-view changed.. and one has gone postal, ultra-violent. And as we hunker down for another night of threat and menace, it turns into a mini-horror film. The suspense is dreadful - and by the end of the episode, we're still only a few minutes into the Purge. And because we've spent the whole season with these characters, acting out fairly normal plots (apart from the intense plot twists), being dropped back into the mayhem is all the more frightening. And we care about them from the start, as they barricade their windows and arm themselves..

Awesome series, and I'm still dying for the next episode.

Still waiting for my car to be returned - it's to be serviced as well before he gives it back, and as soon as I get the ok that nothing remains wrong with it, I can book a car test. And then, all sorts of things become possible..

Series: The Purge (Season 2, Episode 7)

This weekend, tv kept me well-occupied with the Olympics. Ireland had its largest team ever, and for once, it was terrific that we had someone in action every day! First time that's happened, and our first time in a number of disciplines. And well done, all! Anyway, no time for Season 2 of The Purge, on Amazon Prime. But I sneaked in an episode today, finally. ;-)

In the time-honoured tradition of including something political at the start of each episode, Episode 7 starts with a mask company - that produces masks for the Purge - basing a new design on that of a real-life serial killer. Ooh, tasteful.. as the episode progresses, the different stories start to coalesce, and at least one thread gets resolved. Not that that's the end of the story! As usual, these are terrific storytellers, and the plots are truly unexpected.

Looking forward to continuing the stories..

As to what is happening next - the car can be fixed with an alternate cable, as he finally told me when I asked. It'll be drivable, but the gearstick will feel a bit looser. The proper cable needs to come from the UK - and because of the ever-troublesome Brexit, will take weeks to arrive! So, he asked, do I want the alternative cable? Duh, YES! And why he had to wait for me to message him in order to tell me that.. So, watch this space, everything is up in the air.

Series: The Purge (Season 2, Episode 6)

I sneakily squeezed in another episode of Season 2 of The Purge, on Amazon Prime. Episode 6 begins with a scene that introduces another cute Purge idea.. the new symbol of social status is this website where you can track how many people want to purge you! (i.e. kill you on Purge Night). So, we have one radical spokesperson, who attracts a lot of opposition, and is only thrilled to have over a million hits! Oh well, each to their own..

Later in the episode, there are plenty of "ooh" moments, as the stories take unusual twists. Terrific storytelling, as usual - and one chase scene that's straight out of a thriller, someone trying to evade capture on a street full of pursuers. Yep, a real must-see, this..

And with the car still at the garage, and no news, and Cultureseekers having moved their quizzes midweek in favour of in-person Meetups at the weekend - this will be my main diversion, for now!

Series: The Purge (Season 2, Episodes 4 & 5)

I've squeezed in a couple more episodes of Season 2 of The Purge, on Amazon Prime. The angles that the series takes continue.. Episode 4 starts with a viciously hard-hitting "remembrance day", taking place three months after Purge Night, where families who have lost loved ones are presented with a finely crafted souvenir box, containing a framed photo, and an urn of ashes, among other things, and are thanked for their "sacrifice".

Meantime, our characters' stories continue, with ever-more intriguing twists and turns (as seen in Season 1). Honestly, I keep changing my mind about which story is most interesting to follow. A couple of them, however, examine the NFFA claim that Purge Night leads to a decrease in violence for the rest of the year.. expect more intriguing developments on this theme, I think. And ooh, I'm dying to see how they turn out, unconstrained as they are from having to take place over one night, now!