Chico and Rita

Originally I heard about Chico and Rita back in November and I was intrigued.  I made plans to see it at the Picturehouse, but unfortunately those plans fell through and I wasn't really in a cinema mood for a while after that.  When I finally looked for a cinema that was still showing the film, I was so disappointed to find I'd missed it.  I couldn't find it anywhere.  I couldn't even find it online *shh - I was desperate*! 

Thank God for facebook.  After an impassioned plea Film Chick came to my rescue and pointed me towards a little cinema off Leicester Square for film lovers.  It shows films that have finished their general release as well as some old flicks and preview screenings.  They were showing Chico and Rita until the end of the week.  So today I took myself to Green Park, strolled down Piccadilly and settled into my leather seat in Leicester Square, hoping that all the effort had been worth it.

Check out the trailer:

How beautiful is that?

It was definitely a readjustment, remembering how to appreciate hand drawn animation.  The imperfections, the movement, the facial expressions all added to "el espíritu de la película"**.

Visually the film was a treat.  Musically it surpassed even that.  Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie made two of many jazz musician cameos.  There was a little Casablanca, a little Josephine Baker and the song - Beseme Mucho.  I don't know who sung it originally, but Nina does it justice below. 

The film was never silent.  40s/50s jazz played a starring role with its own moods and the characters seems to act in accordance with the music rather than the other way around.  The film could have been a music video - and that is meant in every way as a compliment to the way that the images and the music combine for a truly sensual experience. 

Sadly even after all of this I left the film spectacularly annoyed!


HERE BE SPOILERS...

today i...

...extracted 2 wisdom teeth from 2 different patients in 2 hours - funking fabulous!



...spoke to my northern friend, who forgets me on occasion but is loved nonetheless



...finished off the vegan blackforest gateau i made for Father's day
(vegan does NOT mean tasteless - it was full of chocolately/ cherry goodness)



....screened my calls - I'm refusing to let that nokia rule my life. Leave a message, I'll get back to you, maybe



...made plans to see terminator 4 (finally), last big blockbuster of the summer (i think), will it enter my top 3 of 2009?

robots in disguise!

Saw Transformers II last night - screen 11 at the o2 (naturally).

And it was....

....alright.



HERE BE minor SPOILERS....continue at your peril....





The jokes were predictable, the human side of the story line was predictable. The Twinz irritated me - and the next person who calls them the "black ones" will get decked because last time I checked robots are melanin deficient and do not originate from Africa. Robots chatting like bloody Tim Westwood. It's Jar Jar Binks all over again!

The screen was beautiful though - I think the term Visual Candy is totally appropriate here, everything just looked goooooooooooooooood! The sexy camaro that is Bumblebee would still have looked better with me in it (i wish). Guys have Megan Fox for their eye candy. She looks more sexy than filthy in this film which is great, because recently shes been looking a bit Try-sexual. Shia LeBoeuf, great name and cute, but the ladies also have Tyrese (a black guy who's every line contains "ass" or "shit" - how original) and Captain Lennox *drool*.

Some free newspaper reviewers were complaining that they were unable to tell the Autobots and Decepticons apart during the fight scenes. To them I say "should've gone to Specsavers". It's really not difficult,

bright coloured = good

gun metal grey = bad

I guess the problem was that I was bored. I didn't care about the Fallen. Megatron seemed like a bit of a chump compared to the Fallen. The robots just seemed like they'd been tacked onto a storyline about a guy going off to college and trying to avoid saying the L word before his girlfriend does.

And I didn't care!!

Last night the o2 also dropped a little in my estimation, as did my company. Renovations to Car Park 4 and 3 events occurring at once meant the car parking nearby was full and I had to park some ridiculous distance away.

*unimpressed*

Film finished after 11.30 (it was 2.5 hours long!!), it was dark, it was a lil chilly, roads were empty. Am I wrong to expect to be walked to my car? Maybe I've been spoilt in the past but I expect friends,by virtue 2 being safer than 1, to show at least a passing concern for my safety after I've been out with them. Ah well I'm still in one piece and none the worse for wear - no harm, no foul I guess. I'm pretty sure that it won't happen again though.

current thoughts

• Arnie's bum in terminator 1 is a thing of beauty. Sculpted and firm. Yum!

• My new sexy flatscreen is deceptive - it makes films look better than they are.

• I have a list of uni stuff to do and no time to do it in.

Welcome to a lil slice of my world....