Fear Street Part One: 1994

My daughter and I finished watching this last night.  We had started to watch it before, and I have to say, I was shocked to find her cheering on the killer when the film started, but I loved the film. 

While I think that the best bit of the film is the soundtrack, that does not mean that I did not enjoy it. It had gore, twists and appealed to my sick sense of humour (though it is not a comedy).  While we watched it on Netflix, I would have been more than happy to have watched this in a cinema and I am looking forwards to watching the second part.  I felt it was written, directed and acted well and it will be interesting to see if the sequel stands up to this. 

The Addams Family

Our Halloween film today was The Addams Family.  My children has got the decorations out  from the loft and put them at the front door along with decorating the door itself.  They also discussed which film we should watch and the agreement was to watch Hotel Transylvania today and a Monster High film tomorrow.

However, me son changed his mind and wanted to watch The Addams Family, so I put it on, but tricked him as he had wanted us to watch the animated version.  To be fair, he stayed and watched it, even though he was tempted to leave before the end.

I knew I liked he film, but did not realise how much of it I had forgotten.  Yes, the CGI is dated, and parts of the plot were predictable, but this film is a great one, well put together with some classic scenes.  In fact, we all liked it, and especially as family film experiences are becoming rarer, that was the most important part.

Protesting about the Climate Change that is harming our planet

My daughter went to a local march for action on climate change today. I had wanted to go, but I am so tired from a late night out last night in Southend and also, I need to catch up at work (am typing this before I head back home).  I do hope she enjoyed herself there as she added her voice to the many who are trying to get our leaders to make the changes that our planet needs.  

At present, I am discussing this on Twitter with someone who refuses to acknowledge the seriousness of this.  Put simply, over millions of years, carbon dioxide has been locked away out of the atmosphere.  We need to act to drastically reduce the amount of fossil fuels that are putting this back into the atmosphere as well as looking at methods of carbon capture that means that we can take it out of it as well.

 

The French Dispatch

As a family, we went to the local cinema to watch The French Dispatch yesterdat.  I have to say I was surprised that my son decided to join us for this as I did not think that this would be his type of film and he has been absent during parts or all of many films that we have tried to watch at home as a family.  

The children said that they enjoyed the film, as did my wife.  I did enjoy it in parts, but I have to say that I am unsure if I would recommend it.  It told stories in a different way to how I have watched them on film in the past, and did make me laugh at times but I suspect that the deficiency in appreciating the film lies with me rather than the film itself.  

I know that this is a film that I will not be watching again.  What surprises me is that I think that this is the first film of Wes Anderson that I have got round to watching (I have wanted to watch others before).

The Tomorrow War

This film appears to be made to market a game. As a film, it is okay, though it is not one I would watch again but may be worth watching on the big screen.  I am glad that I did not pay to watch it considering the Time Travel Paradox that is present, and the way that the film skips from a war that may be won to one that is doomed so quickly.  There are better films to watch and I would rather I had watched them rather than have watched this. 

No Time To Die

Finally, a film in a cinema.  We watched No Time To Die with a friend and I have to say, I did enjoy it.  I will want to watch this again, but after watching the previous Bond films.  It started well, in typical Bond style and fabulous locations.  At over two and a half hours long, I did not notice how long the film was.  It had some of his classic lines and obviously, the gadgets.  

On the downside, he drinks and drives (but he drinks and fights as well), and the typical issue of leaving your car unlocked, as in many films, is also present.  There was a scene where there was an awful lot of firepower in the middle of nowhere and of course, there is the need for the villain to have the showdown with Bond.

But ignoring the minor issues, I would still watch it again.  And will do so when it is on a streaming service.

 

13 Reasons Why: Let the Dead Bury the Dead

First of all, we are back at home.  We got back yesterday and while the kids stayed at home, my wife and I took my brother out for lunch to the Lexden Crown. I like eating there and the food was good, though nothing compared to the Italian that we had eaten the night before. It was good to catch up, though he came out as a Spurs fan! Still, he ain’t heavy, he is my brother.  I drove him to the station after, but it was a rail replacement service to take him from Colchester and due to his ticket, I could not take him down towards London to get the train where he would swap back onto the train.

Leia was overjoyed to see us and could not contain her excitement. My brother taught her a few things and she will now fetch a ball to us and will sit again.

And I watched the final episode of the third series of 13 Reasons Why with my Son. I had watched it before with my daughter and knew who the culprit was, but my son had cheated and had looked it up on the internet. I think that Bryce was on the path to redemption, my son disagrees.  We will have to agree to disagree on that one. Though neither of us shed a tear over the death that occurred to another character.

Anyway, time to get out of bed and walk the dog around the garden as I have this week off.

Locanda Locatelli

Last night was amazing.  We went to Locana Locatelli.  We have not been here in some time.  I am not sure we have taken my son here, but we have been here since my daughter was born.  My wife and I love it here, and although last night was expensive, it was worth it.  She was a bit stressed about getting there on time as we had to leave the restaurant by a certain time (they had a booking after us) but we got there and that is when the experience started.  The service is warm and at the same time, professional.  The food is amazing and I was slightly annoyed that I had too much when my son and I had our late lunch.  Unlike Friday, the nice version of my son had joined us and I would like to think that we all enjoyed ourselves.  I know that my wife and I did, and I am sure my daughter did as well.

It will be a long time before we can put money aside to return here.  I am hoping that this will be for my birthday next year though!

Dishoom Carnaby

The day is not over but it has been a much better day for us all than last night was. 

First of all, we went to Dishoom, just parallel to Carnaby Street.  Like the TARDIS, it appears smaller on the outside, and like the TARDIS, it is full of surprises.  We loved the food, but my favourite was the chocolate Chai.

After this, it was shopping and while I had promised to take my daughter to the Doc Martens shop, we passed a place selling them. In addition to my daughter walking out with a pair, I did as well. My son had wanted some shoes, but sadly, it was not his birthday weekend and he had no money saved for this, but we may return in March and if they are still available...

Later, it was a journey to Brandy Melville, a store that has one size only.  I consider it the hell mouth as I think that it encourages eating disorders by only having one size.  My daughter knows my views on the place, but the day is about her rather than me.  So, she ended up with a jumper and a skirt.  

We met up with my wife who spent the rest of the day with my daughter, while I walked about town with my son.  He was keen on eating at YO! Sushi and we had to travel to Selfridges as some places had closed and one was fully booked.  Anyway, time to go as we are to have dinner soon.  It should be a good one! 

Pastaio, Carnaby Street

Today was the first day of our trip to London. We booked a place to stay for two nights.  We did not get here at the time we wanted, but got here early enough to make it to dinner at Pastaio.

The food and service here was just what we needed after what was an exhausting drive for my wife.  Things were complicated as my wife and son had a disagreement. She moved on from it but he stayed in a bad mood, which resulted in him wanting to return to the flat, and also at times, talked about returning to Colchester. 

One of my brothers had come up to Colchester to look after Leia as she is in season (and we do not want puppies) which meant our dog sitter was not able to look after her.  I communicated with him by text to ask if my son could stay with my Mum, in his room. However he reminded me about the spare room.  Hopefully this will not be an option that we need to take up, but is need be. 

Finally, the flat is amazing, the view fantastic and the location is superb.  We may see if we can use this place again in the future.

13 Reasons Why; And Then the Hurricane Hit

It is good getting back into this with my son.  And it was good again, which is not guaranteed when it comes to every episode this series.  It is building up to the climax with the identity of the killer of Bryce Walker becoming known.  

The most important part is the bravery of the characters when it comes to addressing issues of assault.  I am not sure that would happen in a school setting but I think it is important to show as it will mean those who watch it will be aware of how people should react.

Free Guy

Awesome!  I loved the film, though it did become a bit too Disney in parts but redeemed itself in a superb manner.  My wife watched it with my daughter, and while my son did not watch it with us, I do think that this is a film that he would appreciate.  

We watched it on our new TV so the picture was very clear.  I would imagine that this would be awesome to watch in 3D, but with COVID about, this is an experience that we have decided to pass on for now.

I would not consider this film to be a classic and I would probably watch it again if it was on television or with my son, but despite enjoying it, I doubt I will watch it again otherwise.  Ryan Reynolds is probably the best male actor for this and Jodie Cormer was fantastic in this.  I have to say that I am just amazed at the range of characters she plays.

Yes, the plot was partly predictable, but the solutions that were encountered were a surprise. I would have been happy to pay to watch this in the cinema, and it may be that that is the best place to watch it.

13 Reasons Why; There Are a Few Things I Haven't Told You

It has been a while since my son and I watched this.  And this was a very important episode when it comes to the issues of addressing the acceptance of misogyny.  Hopefully it will not be as long until we watch the next episode together.

Help with Jodie Comer

I loved this.  Loved maybe the wrong term to use considering the subject matter, but overall, it reflected a lot of what I saw.  Saying that, I did not see anyone from primary care wearing the full body suit as shown in the film and while our surgery tried to do things on a remote basis when possible, this was to reduce the risk of bringing infection into, or spreading infection around, the home.

Sadly, we know that the shortage of PPE did contribute to the premature deaths from COVID of those in care homes.  Exercise Cygnus had raised this as an issue before, but the government did not act on this.

Just a reminder if there is any doubt about COVID. 

 1 - COVID kills. I have treated people who survived as well as too many who died. A nursing home I am involved in looking after took ages to become full again after COVID killed many of the residents there last year. I have seen nothing that killed so many so quickly before.

 2 - Face masks save lives. Not just by reducing the risk of spreading it if you have no symptoms, but as seen by those working in healthcare, myself included, face masks prevented many from catching this when treating those with COVID.

 3 - Funeral homes were overwhelmed over the wave of infections seen in the winter surge of infections earlier this year. I know as I had to visit a few. One had issues coping despite the increased capacity that they had built. Speaking to someone who works in a funeral home, they said that they had never been busier during the winter wave.

 4 - People with no symptoms can spread COVID. We saw that with the super spreader events held by President Trump last year.  We have seen other diseases spread through those with no symptoms, a famous example of the past being Typhoid Mary and we also see that today with HIV.

 5 - Just because Boris has dropped restrictions, this does not mean that we can act like we did in 2019. Our local hospital is under pressure again, though not let to the point like they were this winter when things were limited to life and death operations only.

 6 - Vaccines work. We have seen that in the USA. The states where vaccination rates were lower had the higher numbers of COVID than those were vaccination rates were higher.

 7 - There are those who have spoken out against vaccinating people who have changed their minds once infected.  Those that survived that is.

In season

Leia has come into season now. It is expected as we knew it was coming, but it is frustrating as we have a few things planned, and she will not be able to go to the dog sitter as normal.  Which means I will have to find a way home tomorrow 

Arsenal and frustration

How can a team that took Spurs apart with ease play so poorly against Brighton? I know that Tottenham let us play, while Brighton did the best they could to frustrate us, but there was a huge difference between the two games.

I hope that we play like we did last weekend more often, but my faith in our ability to do so is limited.