We got back into the swing of our Orange Wednesday cinema visits this week after missing a couple of times. Timing meant that we had but one choice - Robin Hood.
CGI seems to get better with every film and Robin Hood's makers have created a very convincing medieval England and France as a backdrop to this old fashioned swashbuckling blockbuster. The film is worth seeing for a good performance from Cate Blanchett as a ballsy Marian and some very solid acting in Russell Crowe's Robin. But I can't say that I enjoyed it. The plot seemed to drag and the climactic final battle scene was so much like one of the beach landings in Sky's Pacific that it strained one's credulity to imagine that these were French 13th century landing craft. If a Japanese plane had flown over and strafed the invaders, few in the audience would have raised an eyebrow.
The filming is fabulous and the action is packed but in between the action the plot is tedious and predictable and not even as good as the recent TV version. If Ridley Scott had been as bold as Robin and Marian and had chopped about twenty minutes off some of the scheming and the Machiavellian plotting of King John, the film would have been more enjoyable for me. As it was, even Vue's super new VIP seats couldn't prevent my restlessness. Let's hope that next week's visit is more satisfying.
Whilst on the topic of Robin Hood, did you read the news about Twitterer Paul Chambers. Paul was a trainee accountant who, during a period of heavy ice and snow tweeted the following."Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your s**t together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high.". Someone from the airport picked up the message whilst on Twitter and reported it to the police. It resulted in Paul being arrested and ending up in court where he was fined a total of £1,000 including costs. In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service told Channel 4 News: "While Mr Chambers may have meant this as a joke, the airport could not risk treating it as such. The threat had to be taken seriously by the airport authorities, who contacted the police. It caused unnecessary disruption because of a menacing communication. There is nothing funny about remarks of this nature as they can cause serious disruption to transport services and divert police attention away from genuine crimes. Where a complaint is made to the police and they pass a file of evidence to the CPS we will examine it. If the evidence is there, then the public interest will usually require a prosecution."
Now I don't know about you but do you think that anybody at all could have seen the message as anything other than a frustrated rant from an inconvenienced traveller? I don't want to sound like Richard Littlejohn (another Robin Hood connection) but you really could not make this up. As for poor Paul Chambers, he now has a criminal conviction that will look great on his CV and could well wreck his future. Let's use a bit of common sense please.
And talking of common sense I hope that the producers and wannabee contestants for the next edition of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here read the news of the young man in Australia who is in a critical condition after eating a slug. It seems that the creature probably carried a rat lung worm parasite which can cause meningitis type symptoms. Fortunately the young Aussie survived but it may stop the bush tucker trials in their track (and I certainly won't be complaining if they do).
During my sojourn at Towneley Hall in Burnley awaiting a call to appear on Antiques Master that never arrived I spent some time in the cafe. I noticed that they were using one of our Supreme water boilers for all of their drinks. Occasionally customers phone me and say that they can't get the Supreme boiler to make froth. They should visit Towneley Hall for lessons. The lady behind the counter there was frothing the milk up to such an extent that you could stand a spoon in it.
I'll leave you with this week's Internet sensation. If this kid was on Britain's Got Talent, he'd walk it. Which reminds me I must watch it this week. I haven't seen one episode yet this time.
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