Welcome to the Layer Cake son...

We went to see Layer Cake last night at the newly opened Odeon eight-screen cinema in Bath. The cinema is great. Nice styling and very well run. Assigned seating in all theatres for all showings too, which was a bit of a novelty. We also had dinner at the King Of Wessex pub next door, which is a Weatherspoons pub, i.e. very modern and very cheap. The pub and the cinema make a great combination.

Layer Cake is a great movie. Promoted as a "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch" type film, it is actually somewhat different with an altogether more polished style. There are similarities to the Guy Ritchie films - British urban crime drama with a hard alternative edge and a complex plot line - but this is on a bigger scale and slightly less gritty. It has some fantastic locations and great performances (especially from Daniel Craig, who carries the movie along very well). Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.

Post-weekend report...

We just got back from a brilliant trip to Liverpool. This is a photo I took late in the second half of the match (I've used Photoshop to brighten it considerably because my flash did not reach into the gloom). You might be able to see that Liverpool are winning 2-0, which was the final score.

It was a long journey up to Liverpool, with a lot of traffic jams. It was even touch and go whether we would make it to Anfield in time for kick-off, but once we were there it was great. A good win for the "Reds" with two great goals and then a fab time with Rachael's cousins in the evening and the next morning. Plus a short excursion into Liverpool city centre for a bit of shopping at the LFC shop.

It was a good sporting weekend all round really because Bath rugby won their European Cup match and the Miami Dolphins won their first game of the season. I've also just learned that the Red Sox beat the Cardinals in game one of the World Series. I guess I am actually rooting for the Sox in this series so that is a good result too.

Liverpool vs Charlton...

We are off to Liverpool tomorrow. Match kicks off at 5:15pm. We will be picking up Rachael after her netball game at about 12:00 or 12:30 and driving straight to Anfield. It might be cutting it a bit fine, but hopefully we will get there in time to find a parking space nearby. Last time we went we found a small car park at the Goodisen end of the Anfield Road. Our plan is to park there again, the only difference is that last time we arrived a good 3.5 hours before kick-off whereas this time we will maybe only have 1.5 hours. Fingers crossed. Griff is driving (so fingers crossed about that too!) so might be willing to drive a bit faster than my dad did last time.

Last month's guests...

Finally I post the only picture I took of Maggie (far left) and Sarah (far right) while they were here last month. This was taken with Lacock Abbey in the background.

Movies and football...

The weekend is nearly over. We didn't really do a lot this weekend. Today we were especially lazy. I did play tennis this morning but have had two short naps this afternoon! Last night we were at Rachael's new flat (with Rach, Paul & Griff) for dinner and a pre-Anfield trip discussion. The plan is for us to pick Rach up after her netball match next Saturday and drive straight to Liverpool. We might be cutting it a bit fine, but hopefully we will arrive about an hour and a half before kick-off.

We also watched Bridget Jones's Diary. Using the "Esch system" of movie selection the final choice was between Bridget Jones and the original version of The Thomas Crown Affair (my choice, which lost 3 votes to 2). Bridget Jones's Diary is funny but not great; and Renee Zellweger is not a favourite if mine. But it was entertaining fare nevertheless.

Liverpool won 4-2 away to Fulham yesterday. It was the team's first win away from home this season. They were 2-0 down at half-time, so it was an especially gutsy (although a bit lucky) performance. Hopefully they will keep their good home form going so that we see a good win next Saturday.

Underrated Movie No. 1...

We watched Catch Me If You Can the other night and I have to say that I liked it very much. What I don't understand is why more wasn't made of this film when if was first released? It's directed by Spielberg, which is normally enough to over-enthuse people, plus it stars two of the biggest actors around today (Di Caprio and Hanks). It just wasn't hyped at all and therefore didn't really gain any attention. I think one reason for this is that it is not really a hype-able movie. It's not a blockbuster with massive explosions, it's not an epic and it's not a romantic comedy. It's just a well made, well acted movie with a great screenplay. It did receive a couple of Oscar nominations (for the music and for supporting actor, Christopher Walken), but perhaps deserved more.

Anyway, if you haven't seen it, I recommend it highly.

Anfield, here we come... again...

Well, I finally made it through to the LFC ticket line. Spoke to a lovely Liverpudlian lass and ordered four tickets to the Liverpool vs Charlton game on the 23rd of October. We are in the Main Stand, Row 16, Seats 311-314. It's in the corner apparently, but row 16 sounds nice and close.

Marla, Griff, Rachael and I will be going. We are all quite excited already and we don't even have the tickets yet. The next step is to figure out what to do about accommodation. The match is at 5:15pm and so the drive back would be very late. I think the plan is to stay somewhere overnight. Somewhere cheap.

All I get is a busy signal...

I am trying to call the Liverpool FC credit card ticket line today to get tickets for the game against Charlton on the 23rd of Oct. Nothing but and earful of busy!

We went to see Hero at the cinema last Saturday. I was expecting quite a lot but it was far too stylised for me. Everything seemed contrived. The flying ( a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which I loved) was far too much of a feature and the set-piece duels were all too choreographed and self-conscious. It was a movie that was always saying, "Look at me, look at what I can do!" It had some great moments but they were sometimes lost in the movie's effort to make every scene an important one. Very beautiful with some good martial arts, but in the end, too full of itself.

On a completely different level, we watched Starsky & Hutch last night on DVD. I liked it.

My Top Ten...

A few years ago I started a website for people to submit their top-ten movies. I think it is time to try to resurrect that project. The website still exists: http://www.pagerealm.com/sunface/. And to get you started, here's my own top-ten:

1. The Bridge on the River Kwai
2. Casablanca
3. LA Confidential
4. The Usual Suspects
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. The Godfather, Part II
7. Unforgiven
8. Lawrence of Arabia
9. Three Kings
10. North by Northwest