IMS_Blog

Well, that was quite a busy weekend, comparatively. Started out on Friday when Rachel and I went to see The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse. That was quite fun, although one undoubtedly needs to be a fan of the TV series to at all appreciate it. That also raises the question of whether it can justify a trip to the cinema to see it but given my track record of actually getting around to seeing all the movies I want to, and the fact Rachel made me ;-), I suppose it’s not bad.

Saturday saw more movie going, this time to take in Batman Begins. That was fun, and a good rebuilding of the batman franchise in movie form. It’s a film which delivers as much Bruce Wayne as Batman, though at times I personally thought it was getting slightly bogged down in its own knowledge of the importance of this. Once past the silly science (it’s comic book so, hey, who cares? It’s not the worst there’s been) then the action is fun and energetic to a climax that is handled competently enough, even if it isn’t particularly original or inspired. There are problems though. Gotham for one, whilst there, feels more like a bright sheen against which to play the movie’s tricks than an actual place. Also, the movies whole concept of “begins” has perhaps seeped too deeply to its core so at the end the whole thing can be seen as the overly long opening shots of the movie its makers intend making next. At least its good fun along the way though, and that next movie will probably be worth seeing.

Sunday we were going to see the British Cycling National Road Race near Helmsley but due to laziness and not-being-botheredness didn’t. Instead Rach and I wandered down to the National Railway Museum (because we like it there) for coffee and scones (and, it turned out, cake). Having enjoyed the refreshments we had a little wander around (the Flying Scotsman poking out of the works into the great hall) before heading into the centre of York. There we spent some time trying to find a pub with an actual beer garden. York Brewery’s The Last Drop Inn should advertise their space as a beer courtyard rather than garden. The Golden Fleece has a more spacious area, although again the word “garden” may have been a little overused. More like yard. On from there to another York Brewery pub, the Three Legged Mare (or Wonkey Donkey as it’s fondly known). Again a small area, but at least it does have a garden feel. Finally the Royal Oak, sans garden, provided food (prawn salad complete with excellent bread rolls).