The Cinema

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I can hardly believe it; I have just been to the cinema twice in less than 48 hours. Once to a large multiplex and today to a smaller auditorium in a converted station. What makes the two visits most unusual is that I cannot honestly remember when I was last there: a year perhaps, maybe even two. The entrance to the multiplex was a vast hangar of neon lighting, popcorn and posters. The converted station by comparison is an historic delight, lacking only the steam train puffing through what is now a bistro area.


With darker and colder days, watching a film seems like an enticing activity and, in the run up to the Oscars and other award ceremonies, there are invariably some exciting film releases.

In our pre-retirement life, we would always intend to see the films that were commended to us by friends or rated in independent reviews. Regrettably we never quite got ourselves sorted in time and occasionally resorted to buying the DVD a few months later or invariably not even managing to do that before the film was given its television première when, frequently, we would forget to either watch or record it.

Now, in what I shall refer to as "my double decker moment," (you wait for ages for a bus and then two come along at once), I have seen both "Gone Girl" and "Mr Turner."

The first was a psychological thriller with unexpected twists along the way and an ending that I had not anticipated. The second was a masterpiece of acting by Timothy Spall as he took on the role of an eccentric JMW Turner.

If I had been working, I have no doubt that they would both have been on my To See List. In retirement it has however turned from a wish list to a check-list, with entries ticked off.


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