a peculiarity (or simply just a thing) of my lot in life is that i would appear to spend (considerably) more time away from my lodgings in this era of exile than i do in them. which is a matter i seldom to stop to consider, especially when paying the rent, look you see. of that time away (or not here), quite a bit appears to be down in Ealing, which is famously found in that there London (innit).
whereas there are, probably, lots of things what Ealing is famous for, it is likely that the most of these is the connection to cinema. the movie industry, if you will, since Ealing Studios hold quite the celebrated place in British film history. odd that i had not opted to go to see a film there before.
for the two (or so) years what i have been regularly in London (innit) it always kind of made sense to go and see films in Leicester Square. not that i have been to many. with encouragement and recommendation to go and see a (at time of writing) recent release i elected to have a gander at the cinema in Ealing. or to be correct cinemas, as they have more than one. two, at the least, and probably more than that but why keep looking when you have found what you seek.
it would probably, for anyone seeking a sort of review thing, be a good idea for me to say what it is that i went to see. the film i felt obliged to go and watch on the "big screen" was Civil War. no, i knew very little about it before going. for what i did know, Alex Garland made it and i was a huge fan of his novel The Beach. some i knew who saw it highly praised it. other than that, didn't see a trailer, the posters made it look like "a bit" of a sort of action film, and the vague plot premise i read suggested it was some sort of "race against time" to get to the American (USA) President during a relatively present day civil war.
no, i was not tempted to go and see Challengers, whatever that is. i think someone told me in passing that it has something to do with tennis. which to my memory suggests that there's been far more tennis related films out than i would have thought there is demand for, but there you go.
how was the film? quite frankly Civil War is superb, and likely to rank as my "film of the year", unless something truly phenomenal comes along. not really an action film, bar the superb final section. it's a well crafted, thought provoking film which does that rare thing of being a "blockbuster" release that both trusts the audience and treats them with respect. there is no way i would wish to spoil it for anyone else, so a *** SPOILER WARNING *** is in place for the rest of this. also a warning that right below here is one of them selfie things of me (moi).
yes, it was The Ealing Project what i went to see Civil War at. why? price. on a Tuesday they charge a lower fee than anyone else. fee plus booking came to £7.50, which was more or less (as neither north nor south) half price what the other cinemas were offering, so there we go. really good cinema too, it's excellent going down underground to watch a film. give them a go if you are in the area and wish to see a film. so far as i could work out the prices were not bad on days not Tuesday, looks like a standard ticket is just fragments north of £10.
the only thing stopping me from ranking Civil War, and a reminder of the spoiler warning, with the likes of Full Metal Jacket or even Apocalypse Now is that some scenes are a clear "homage" to those. both films get paid "homage" to at the same time in one (sniper related) scene. it's all done really, really well, so no complaints at all.
rounding out an earlier comment, the best aspect of the film is that at no stage was i spoonfed. the premise is that the film takes place towards the end of a civil war in America. at not stage is any reason for this civil war given, and there isn't the slightest hint of what the politics of either side is. just is, and that's the background to the story. for what the story is, it focuses on journalists racing to the White House in the hope of getting an interview with the ostensible President before the civil war ends. and for a variety of reasons, one is never quite sure which way the war shall end, as in who will, if anyone can in such circumstances, emerge triumphant.
mindful of me having no (real) concept of cinema ticket prices around the rest of our land i really have no idea how the concessions (snacks) compare. this didn't feel cheap, but it also seemed to be around what other cinemas charge. this large popcorn and large coke was £9.50, if that helps. i chose these as the price difference for (considerably) smaller sizes was around £1. let me tell you that coke was annoying, for some reason it kept bubbling up and spilling, as you can sort of see.
back to the film, and i was truly impressed with the way details of the civil war in Civil War were dropped in. landed on America in this depiction was suicide bombers, their dollar worthless compared to the Canadian variant and, well, all sorts. such may give the population of that nation pause for thought, but i would doubt such. overall, all of the cast were superb, and an extra special shout out to quite the remarkable sound of the film.
one very good friend in particular (Codename Magic) is delighted by the news that a prequel is being planned, showing (or explaining) the how, when, why and what have you of how the civil war in the film began. this i feel shall be a mistake, for it will immediately take away all trust placed in the audience to follow the story intended to be told. but, i suppose, if the film has been that much of a success, they will make more.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment