Get Smart, Hellboy II and Rocknrolla

I didn't expect much from Get Smart, so I was pleasantly surprised with this light comedy spy drama. I'm not a big Steve Carell fan, but he fitted the part of the main lead pretty well. And Anne Hathaway is always worth the price of admission. Reasonably funny in places mixed with some tidy action sequences, it was just OK.

I was not captivated by Hellboy II as had been most of the critics. It just seemed to me to be an advanced class in CGI. I found most of the film quite boring, it is hard to be positive about any aspect. I now remember the first half hour being a great opening (no CGI here), but I guess I just find Ron Perlman totally objectionable and wooden. I will not be going to the sequel.

Now Rocknrolla is a different story. Panned by many of the critics, it was my sort of movie. A comedy thriller right in the mould of Lock Stock. Lots of interesting characters ( this is the part Tom Wilkinson was destined to play, a great chief villain equal to Michael Gambon in Layer Cake.) Good story and dialogue, a fast pace and great editing. A real treat. Well done Mr Ritchie.

Memorable Mondays

With Alison's contract at an end, it was an opportunity to start visiting some of the places we had been talking about for some time. It transpired that the weather dictated that the only decent days of a pretty miserable August were Mondays. I had been to Cambridge a few times, but never as a tourist. What a treat was in store. The colleges were beautiful in the sunshine, and most of them were open. We looked inside the church of Great St Marys and I persuaded Alison to go with me to the top of the tower. It was worth it for the views.We spent some time around King's College, especially the chapel. The River Cam was fairly quiet, and it was just nice to stand on one of the bridges and take in the views.

We even found the quiet back road of Portugal Place and the exact terraced house where some of Alison's ancestors lived. She says that is why she always felt at home when she lived near the city.

The following Monday we were off to the Tower of London. We did go about eight years ago, so the only incentive for me was to see again the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula where most of the main characters of my screenplay were buried after their executions. However, I was surprised how much I could not remember from our last visit. This time we just went everywhere. The medieval palace above Traitor's Gate was just wonderful.

I had been trying to remember if we had ever been to Kew Gardens. We had talked about visiting for many years. When we arrived, it was obvious we had not been before. Being a Monday, the gardens were very quiet. Not only were the main large conservatories very impressive, but it was great just to walk around the grounds. Well worth the visit.

Spotted - a Grey Phalarope

When I arrived at the reservoirs at Marsworth this morning for a Sunday walk, I thought something must be up as there were a number of people clustered around the bank with cameras and binoculars. The object of the excitement was a plain little bird swimming on his own. When I asked what it was, I had to ask again. I had never heard of a grey phalarope. It normally frequents the arctic regions and the northern oceans, only coming this far south when there is stormy weather. He was still there when I returned from my walk, and twitchers were still arriving in the car park. Good of him to wait.

Famous Blue Raincoat

Reading advertisements for the mammoth Leonard Cohen tour reminded me how his monotonous and melancholic voice would put me off going. Instead, I will listen again to one of my all time favourite albums Famous Blue Raincoat. Jennifer Warnes has never recorded anything so beautiful as this, and the reviews on Amazon confirm I am not alone in this view. It is hard to believe that it was released in 1986, it sounds so fresh every time I play it. The combination of her voice and the Cohen songs is just perfect. A work of art.

How to be Good, The Outcast and In Cold Blood

Not the best Nick Hornby novel I have read, but How to be Good is quite funny in parts. Unfortunately, it does become a little tiresome and repetitive. If it had been squeezed into a book half as long, it could have been much better.

I found The Outcast to be spellbinding. It starts at the end of the war before plunging into the late 50's, so it conjured up something of my childhood. A cloud of menace hangs over the story, so it was never going to end well. The writing is poignant and subtle. Crucial events have slow beginnings which build beautifully to their inevitable climax. This should become a classic, especially for schools.

Ever since I had seen the two films about Truman Capote, Infamous starring Toby Jones and the inferior Capote with Philip Seymour Hoffman, I had wanted to read In Cold Blood. However, I found the true life story of the murders of the Clutter family in November 1959 heavy going. There was just too much information. There were too many peripheral and obscure characters whose backgrounds and intensively detailed. But I did find if I skipped these passages, I could enjoy the narrative much better. I will stick to fiction for my reading.