I take a bus to the cinema, not a train. I go on my own, then do my shopping on the way home. And as I emerged from this nice, old-fashioned film this afternoon, there was a nagging thought at the back of my mind. The 1s9d's are now £8 (and that's without a ladies' orchestra in the intermission). I wasn't wearing a neat little suit, with a hat; I was carrying a Bag for Life not a wicker basket, and I didn't go to the Kardomah, just grabbed a free, soap-suddy coffee in Waitrose (yuck, no wonder Trevor Howard isn't hanging around at the counter on the pull).
But have I really turned into this?
If anybody else likes some movie escapism with the weekly shop, Brooklyn is so much more enjoyable than the rather plodding Suffragette.
Saw the preview and thought it looked good.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite true to the book, Janet; at least, as far as I can remember - it's a long time since I read it.
ReplyDeleteSo looking forward to seeing Brooklyn, Mary! It's going to end up like every customer complaint at the library...'they all come in at the same time!'. I suppose the really good films are at the end of the year so they're fresh in people's minds for Oscar season. Glad to have your reviews!
ReplyDeleteWas looking for a recipe for tea cakes (the toasted kind) and found one for Devonshire Splits. Is that the same thing? Put me through to Mary Berry if you're not sure.
Don't they just, I hadn't been to the cinema for weeks if not months and now there's one film after the other -like waiting for a bus. You'll like Brooklyn; I was wondering if it was already on in Canada, as it's filmed in Montreal.
ReplyDeleteDevonshire splits and teacakes ... sorry, completely different. Splits are a sweet bread dough, quite soft and chewy, then they're split sort of vertically/horizontally - more like a deep gash - and filled with jam and cream, always, then dusted with icing sugar. I have made them, but most people would probably buy them from a local baker's. (Not a supermarket thing at all.)
Teacakes are a spiced, curranty dough made into flat buns and then cut in half horizontally and toasted with lots of butter. We'll get you some to bring back next time you're here; they're reasonably easy to transport, and the others definitely aren't. We need to get you up to the north, Darlene, where old-fashioned bakers have survived rather better than in London.
This is the book you need for the finer nuances of cake. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cakes-Regional-Traditional-Julie-Duff/dp/1904943195
What do you think of The White Road ? Personally, I gave up and took it back to the library with out finishing. Loved the Hare, of course !
ReplyDeleteHis pots are overrated too, the display shelves look like IKEA specials.
Emperors new clothes and all that
Feel better now, got that off my chest...
Best to you
Herts
I think it's 50/50 whether I'll finish The White Road, Anon. Some of it is wordy, pretentious twaddle - what I call artspeak - and then it changes pace and I'm more interested. But it's not The Hare, that's for sure. I think he needed his editor to go through it and ask him at regular intervals what the **** did that sentence mean? There's no excuse for it! perhaps after a best-seller the editor feels too intimidated.
ReplyDeleteBut if he's so into purity of form in porcelain, I think he should pay the same respect to the English language.
I was irritated by the brown Hare sticker on the cover - although, of course, I do see that Christmas sales are all on the back of the first book. But it's a bit cynical .... the perfection of white but, whoops, the money's in brown.
Totally agree, l liked the bits about himself & early struggle, but he does not want to give way too much.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there's a third book in the pipeline...
Funnily enough l'm off to the RA today to see the Chinese bloke's stuff, not holding my breath !
Best
Herts
I wasn't that tempted, felt more drawn to Liotard - maybe I'll go back another day. I saw the sunflower seeds and just felt sorry for the poor women who painted them.
ReplyDeleteI saw Brooklyn last weekend and I loved it! A beautiful film and a heartwarming story. I wish I had read the book, not sure why that passed me by. It must have been good!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Sunday. I read it for book group; it seems ages ago now. I think maybe in the book, there's a slightly darker edge towards the end and it's made clearer that she's tempted bigamously to marry the Irishman. At least, that's how I remember it; maybe if I re-read it, I'd find it wasn't like that at all. I can't see it on my shelf, though, so I must have had it from the library.
ReplyDeleteI loved the way her clothes change when she gets to New York - as if colour has switched on in her life. That's one thing that definitely works better in the film.
Went to see Brooklyn last week with my husband. Enjoyed it, very gentle pace, but sadly I found it instantly forgettable. I didn't feel the young woman was committed to either her husband or her new love in Ireland until it was demonstrated what a poisonous community she had inhabited before she went to Brooklyn, hence her return. It was that which caused her return, I felt, not the love of or for her new husband. The best part was the cinematography, the clothes, the stylishness (or lack of) of the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
Like you, I enjoyed it at the time, Margaret - and two weeks on it has faded completely! Clothes were definitely the best of it. Passed an afternoon pleasantly and that's as far it went.
ReplyDelete