Girls Night Out

You may have noticed the GNO acronym explained on my left hand sidebar. It's mainly cinema evenings I arrange with some ex-colleagues of mine and we've been going to these for 10 years now. Over the years other things have crept in like celebrating really big birthdays, plus trips to Bath Christmas Market and an annual spa weekend. After loads of wine at Jamie Oliver's new restaurant in Bath last month (a great GNO), we're now contemplating a walking holiday (! and yes, these are the people I would have been Moonwalking with too). However, I thought you might like to see the kind of thing I put together each month.

It's cinema choice time! We've seen Slumdog (brilliant), I've seen Gran Torino (thoroughly recommend), so we need to select from what's left at The Showcase for next Tuesday [tomorrow]. Here's my shortlist for your perusal:
  • 17 Again - Big meets Groundhog Day as aging exec. goes back to boyhood again. 12A, 102 mins @ 7.35pm
  • The Boat That Rocked - a trip back to when we hid under the bedclothes at night listening to Radio Caroline, courtesy of Richard Curtis. 15, 134 mins @ 8pm
  • I Love You Man - The search for a best man by Billy no mates forces him to choose been friendship and his girlfriend. 15, 105 mins @ 7.30pm
  • Knowing - aged schoolgirl jottings reveal stunningly accurate predictions of past disasters with only Nicholas Cage able to save us from the next one. 15, 121 mins @ 7.05pm

So we have 2 light hearted films, Brit nostalgia or strong threat and disaster scenes to choose from. I'm dismissing the 2 light hearted ones as I suspect 17 Again will be full of giggling schoolgirls anxious to see their High School Musical heart throb and I suspect the other one will be cringe worthy rather than romcom. The Boat That Rocked has had mixed reviews - I suspect because of lack of plot, though the soundtrack is meant to be very good. So, I'm plumping unpatriotically for Knowing based purely on the trailer, which could be a dangerous move. Of course, you may wish to choose differently.

Well, which one would you go for - especially if you just had my one-liner summaries to go on?

Comments

  1. Dave20 April 2009 at 11:50

    The boat that rocked :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hermes20 April 2009 at 11:55

    Knowing - I loke Nicholas Cage.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joanna20 April 2009 at 12:12

    I saw the Boat that Rocked last week with my daughter, and would have walked out except that she was enjoying it. Truly awful. Truly truly awful. Beyond awful. And anyone who says it's got a great soundtrack is trying to make the best of a lost couple of hours - I mean, non-stop 60s stuff, including a few that you'd utterly forgotten about and that it was nice to hear again ... but nothing you can't find on a compilation album or hear on Gold

    I didn't much like the look of the 17 Again film, either - US teen flick stuff. What about the Ianucci film? That looks/sounds a little better

    Sorry to be so negative
    Joanna

    ReplyDelete
  4. CanadianGardenJoy20 April 2009 at 12:40

    Ok .. I can't find one I would really like to see in your list but if pressed for one .. "Knowing" because even when he is serious, Nicky always makes me giggle .. now how is that for a recommendation ?? LOL

    ReplyDelete
  5. petoskystone20 April 2009 at 13:24

    i head for 'knowing'. even if the plot line has amazing logic holes & the script veers towards the predictable, at least there will be explosions & special effects to enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Zoë20 April 2009 at 15:54

    The boat that rocked, old enough to be nostalgic for teen days, and take a jaunt down memory lane.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Helen/patientgardener20 April 2009 at 16:52

    My 18 year old son went to see that Boat that rocked and was surprised that he quite liked it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Victoria Summerley20 April 2009 at 21:30

    Dunno if it's on at your local (it's on at ours) but I'm looking forward to seeing In The Loop, the film version of Armando Ianucci's The Thick of It. But then my colleagues and I were addicted to The Thick of It...

    There's also State of Play, the US film version of the British TV series that starred Bill Nighy and Jon Simms.

    I've seen The Boat that Rocked with my kids, and while I think Joanna is basically right, I DID enjoy the soundtrack. And Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans and Philip Seymour Hoffman made it worth it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Juliet20 April 2009 at 23:16

    I'd stay in and watch a DVD ...

    WV is pressed ... I suppose if pressed, I'd go for Knowing, from your summary. So long as it doesn't have any medical bits - if the next disaster is a virus I'd stay in the foyer and eat the popcorn.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gail21 April 2009 at 02:47

    Do you go to movies again? I'ld repeat Slumdog! Or for go a movie and head for a sweet place to hang out and talk...with at least a great dessert. g

    ReplyDelete
  11. VP21 April 2009 at 08:18

    Dave - NAH and I went as far as going out the door to go and see it on Saturday, but then decided we couldn't be bothered!

    Hermes - And Nicolas Cage has just bought a house near here, so we'd be supporting the local lad ;)

    Joanna - In the Loop isn't one of the options, otherwise that would be my recommendation

    Joy - trust you to come up with a different angle on the choice ;)

    Petoskystone - strangely I'm getting less enthusiastic about those as I get older - it must be the influence of the film club where NAH takes care of all the technical stuff

    Zoe - tempting, but in view of some of the other comments, not tempting enough

    PG - from the comments here it looks like 'the younger generation' are the ones that like this film

    Victoria - I was offered free tickets to a State of Play preview last weekc but noone was available to go! It doesn't open around here until Friday and it's on the list for NAH and I to go and see

    Juliet - DVD's on offer for next month as one of our GNO regulars can't make it as regularly as she used to, so I've built in a GNO from time to time where we invade her place for the evening :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. VP21 April 2009 at 08:20

    Sorry Gail - didn't mean to leave you out. I've seen Slumdog Millionaire twice already - once with the girls and then with NAH. I enjoyed it just as much the second time round. We go for a meal before the film, so there's plenty of time for a good gossip first. As it's a weekday people tend not to want to go somewhere afterwards as they're going to work the next day :(

    ReplyDelete

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