The Minories

My daughter has been unwell for the last few days and all of us in the house hope we do not catch her illness.  At work, there have been a few people off work with COVID, but we all are hoping we escape her germs. In fact, my youngest brother also has COVID (I must text him later).

Yesterday my wife and I went out to The Minories with a friend where we listened to music, I got to dance, and we saw an old friend of ours. I have to admit that I would probably not go out of my way to listen to the music but the choice of music and the setting was enchanting.  I look forwards to doing the same again with my wife another day.

Today my son and wife and I went to a local vineyard for lunch. My daughter was meant to come but did not feel well enough to join us, so stayed at home with our dog.  All in all, a relaxing weekend. 

Alice, Darling

After a run of average films, it was good to watch something better. I suspect that this film is more of a female than a male film, the topic being psychological abuse in a relationship. In my job, I have come across victims of this, but for obvious reasons, the victims prefer not to see someone male.

It does deal with a lot of the issues which are present, the victim being socially isolated, made to feel that they don’t deserve to be loved, the need not to risk offending the partner through others taking an interest in the victim and so much else. I would not rate this as a great film, but is is the best one since last weekend. 

The Babysitters

Sometimes, I watch a film and wonder what the point of it is.  This is one of them.  To be fair, it was acted properly and it was directed well.  Though when I say the plot made sense, there were no major plot holes, other than so many teenage girls from middle class families being willing to engage in prostitution at such a young age.  

When it comes to deciding if a film was good, one is if I would have paid to watch it, the answer for this is no.  Another is if I would want to watch it again, and again, the answer is no.  If it was on TV, I would switch past it.  It is not terrible, it is just not something I would recommend watching. 

However, there are some films which I consider to be a waste of time.  This was not one of them.  In fact, the image is essentially the plot. That and the trailer. If you watch it, there is not much else to add with the film.

In Time

An interesting film. It is based on a decent idea, but I do not think it was executed properly.  I would argue that it would be an acceptable B movie.  I would also argue that it is not worth making an effort to watch it.  There are many better films in the genre.  

The main advantage of the film is to make the viewer appreciate good films.  Because this is not one of them.  Saying that, while it started poorly, it improved and finished better than it began. 

This is best summarised by its trailer. Watch it and you will not need to watch the film. 

The Virgin Suicides

I watched this with my daughter who had watched it earlier this week and also she has read the book a while ago. 

It was an interesting film, beautifully shot for an American film. Watching it after working in my job was interesting as well.  What I found the most interesting was how the teenage generation of the time never had it so bad when it came to mental health issues.

I am glad she made me watch it, and it is a film that I would recommend for others. 

Is it coming home?

England have got to a third European final.  Of course the women’s team have won the competition, but the men’s team have yet to do so. There will be many who will point out that England were lucky as we did not deserve the penalty that was awarded, but I think that our players were as surprised by the decision as the Dutch ones were.

But I remember the match in 1993 when Ronald Koeman, the current manager of Holland, should have been sent off for a professional foul when he was the last man, and then, while still on the pitch scored a free kick. We did not qualify for the World Cup then so I would like to say that an injustice was corrected.

Fingers crossed that we are the better team a Sunday and win the final! A view that I think is shared by all where I work. 

We are all together again

Leia loved seeing me! I picked her up around lunchtime and she spent the first few minutes licking my face.  I collected the family later in the day.  I did try to indicate that Leia was not in the car, but none of them believed me.  We all agreed that while we loved Gerald in Spain, we missed and love Leia so much more.

Our hosts in Spain were from Austria and Holland, the man stating that he only felt Dutch when it came to football.  Needless to say, he did not wish us luck in the match, but they all wished us a good journey.  The family were touched by the affection shown by them when they left as well and while I doubt that we will return, if any one is to go there, I cannot recommended it more.  It is an amazing place, but there is so many other places in the world to explore.

I am just hoping that the referee tonight is not going to make the mistakes that have happened before.