Two films in two days – not bad going even for me. Friday night was Shadow of the Vampire with Pippa. Every individual scene of the movie was pretty much flawless – I don’t think you could fault them if you tried. Many of the performances were pretty good as well. So how come it felt like it had about twenty minutes of build-up missing? A clumsy little film which is worth seeing if you have nothing else to do.
Saturday night was much more entertaining: Almost Famous at the Swiss Cottage Odeon. While Kate wandered off to watch The Claim, the rest of us downed a couple of double-vodkas before causing trouble in the auditorium. Mella and I whispered to each other, “Is it?”, “I think it is!”, “Shall we say something?” in hushed giggles before turning around to Nick behind us and asking quite loudly, “Excuse me, are you Joseph Fiennes?!” He was less than amused. As were his immediate neighbours. If we disturbed any of you people out there, then we are heartily sorry…
Of course the first consequence of seeing a film about rock-n-roll and love is that I would be completely caught up in the romance of it all and start thinking about my personal absence of both. There’s a moment in a Simpson’s episode which I think sums it up for me – the Comic Book Guy is walking down the road just before an atom bomb hits Springfield. And in his final seconds, with sudden realisation and total resignation he says ‘Eh. I’ve wasted my life.’