a pint and some films with spiros

hey there


well, yes, the title of this post probably does say it all, look you see. all of any immediate relevance is right there, to be sure, so if you happen to be in a rush i suppose you could just have a quick scroll down and a gander at the pictures, then get on with whatever it is you need to do that is more pressing, or important, or simply more interesting.

for those in not so much of a rush, or just wish to read more (by choice or via having absolutely nothing better to do), well, then, i will do my best to make this interesting, at least in part.

my recent (brief) adventure in that there london place meant, of course, a chance to catch up with Spiros. this was straightforward to arrange, really, for if it were not of his generosity as a host i would not be in london, as i simply could not afford their outrageous ideas of what they believe to be modest accommodation fees. in regards of how we opted (or selected) to make use of the time whilst i was down there, well, see the title.

yes, indeed, no that is not the sort of drink you would expect to be seeing Spiros waving around. usually it would be a pimms, or some sort of elaborate so-called 'cocktail', or a more straightforward babycham or similar, whatever is currently de rigueur in such circles. unless, in respect of the latter, curiously named eastern european lagers is now where it is at.

the pub, or bar, what he took me to was also not what i was expecting, or what you, the enthusiastic readers of the adventures of Spiros, might have expected. for a start, there seemed to be a pretty even balance of male and female patrons, with one or two open displays of hetero relationships. also, it was hardly at all that Spiros disappeared off to the lavatory in the place, so as to form a short term but mutually beneficial friendship with a fellow gentleman patron. just the once, from what i could recall, when a particularly dashing chap in a TfL uniform caught (or gave) him the eye.

if this was an unusual way of having a drink with Spiros, then stranger was yet to come with film watching. on previous experience, Spiros recommending a film more often than not would see me follow him to a less than official sort of cinema, to be seated in a makeshift auditorium with an audience made up exclusively of men, in order to watch a (to put it broadly) graphically romantic film featuring an all male cast. when he has been lured to more conventional, or mainstream cinema, at his behest i have found myself watching things like Titanic, Brokeback Mountain, Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park and American History X. quite peculiar, then, to be in his company watching films which appeared to lack such rigid components.

but, in fairness, i would say that neither of us knew a great deal about a film called The Dead Don't Die prior to watching it. the title rang a vague bell in my mind, but these days that could mean much of anything.

as the film commenced, all looked like it would be good, then. we got an early glimpse of Bill Murray, which is usually a sign (or indicator) of good things to come. there too was him out of Star Wars, well, the new ones, that Adam Driver lad, who was not too bad.

everything seemed and felt like it would be a decent modernist, perhaps self-knowing "zombie" type of film with a very decent cast. but then came along, very early on, a quasi "break the forth wall" moment, where him out of Ghostbusters said that the song on the radio sounded familiar and him out of Star Wars (new ones) pointed out they had just heard it on the movie credits. oh, it is was going to be one of those films, was it.

yes, indeed it was. this is one of those films best described as "meta". for better or worse, as in some of you will find immediate appeal in such, whilst some shall go look for something else. on the whole, and for what it is worth, i am kind of somewhere in between those two approaches.

it is so, then, that The Dead Don't Die has quite a selective audience. this film is for those who don't mind watching actors and a director basically let you watch highlights of them messing around with an idea for a movie rather than an actual film. also, it is for all of those who cannot get enough of heavy-handed anti-fracking commentary, and indeed anti-anything which is not considered "cool" by all the "cool" twitter users or whatever.  bravely the film concludes *** SPOILER WARNING *** with a declaration of how certain addicted smartphone users are the modern day zombies, which struck me as rather attacking those most likely to think in favourable terms of the film.

would i recommend The Dead Don't Die to anyone? kind of, i suppose. the bloke what made it did Broken Flowers, which i always considered excellent, and he did a few things with Talking Heads too. i do feel some sort of compelling partial would not mind thought to have another look at it, to see if i missed something. but no, if you are looking for a conventional horror, comedy, zombie film, or any sort of conventional film, this is not for you. and that does not mean you are wrong.

there was some mild disappointment expressed by Spiros when i confessed that i had not ever gotten around to watching a motion picture called Grimsby.  he insisted that a remedy (or fix) be applied to this as soon as was possible, and so i agreed to watch the movie with him.

do i need to give you a plot summary? very well. some lad living in Grimsby (Sacha Baron Choen) pines for his brother, who he was separated from in circumstances that are revealed as the film goes. it turns out his brother (Mark Strong) is now a quite well to do, somewhat violent espionage spy secret agent type. and so a reunion happens, with somewhat predictable consequences.

predictable, but exceptionally funny consequences. yes, the humour here is puerile, tasteless and what have you, but if that is what so happens to be funny then there really should not be a problem. sure, certainly, there is a certain high brow, clever element to some of that which Sacha Baron Cohen has done over the years, but mostly it's all about generating laughs and entertainment with the shocking and the unthinkable. well, perhaps obviously not unthinkable, since obviously either Sacha or one of his crew (gang, perhaps) had to have had the thought, otherwise they could not have done what they did.

again, and as usual, i am uncertain if my recommendation for a four or so year old film what had a built in audience is going to be of any value. but, if such is required or of interest, yes, this was all jolly funny, and well worth a look.

right, then. i have a stack of other things to post off of my trip to the london, but they shall not, alas, feature Spiros or a pint or two. perhaps some, in a tenuous way, links to films, but that might be pushing it some.

for now, then, i would just wish to express my thanks as ever to Spiros for his hospitality and entertainment, and of course for the fact that i may very well (co-incidentally) now require a new kidney, or similar, depending on how accurate the doctor was with his diagnosis.





be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!