Air travel seems to be slipping badly since my last trans-Atlantic voyage nearly eight months ago. I could barely believe that in my 10-hour flight on TWA they gave us one drink, a small hot heal in tiny plastic containers, a cup of coffee and a bland pre-packaged muffin. That's it. And they only showed one movie on the big screen, surprisingly something I hadn't seen, but I didn't want to either.
London is refreshingly chaotic after the expansive car-land of Los Angeles. I've had to dive back into a punishing screening schedule with five films in barely 48 hours. A bit much, really, especially since the first one was the Crocodile Hunter movie (not too bad really, probably the best of the lot in sheer entertainment value). The dragons-blasting-London movie was a huge disappointment (terrible script), the Danish "Mike Leigh method" drama was very wobbly, the Indian-in-New York comedy was sweet and forgettable, and the intense murder drama wasn't as clever as it thought it was. This week's multiple appearance award goes to Matthew McConaughey, who showed up in two of the above, and continues to default on his early promise as an actor.
But never mind. I'm enjoying getting up to date on all the latest British political crises, which seem to be emerging at an alarming rate at the moment as the government melts down in a pool of failed spin doctoring and broken promises. It's getting more than a little frightening to look at the public sector right now ... and to try not to worry. Is anything here actually working? This week alone there were stories and government announcements (confessions?) about severe problems with transport, crime, education and health care. So why do I feel at home here? Why don't I want to run back into the comforting arms of my family and friends in America? I'm not a masochist; it's just that as long as I feel like I belong here I can put up with almost anything, I guess.
This week's screenings...
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