Live (ok nearly 24hrs late) from the BAFTA Red Carpet

sunday

I’ve never been to a red carpet event before so wasn’t sure what to expect when  Mrs Cheesecake and I headed to the Theatre Royal for 8 am. Mrs Cheesecake had very diligently checked out the BAFTA website and was aware that we had to go an collect wristbands before we would be allowed entry to the event.

When we arrived there was already as sizable queue but everyone was in high spirits even though it was raining. We queued for around 45 minutes and eventually found ourselves at the front where we were given our wristbands by some nice security guards. They explained that we were not going to get access to the red carpet site until at least 1.30pm.


Suddenly we had hours to kill and the weather by this point was fucking terrible. After some looking around we found ourselves having breakfast in Tuttons. I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. I’m not sure if it was because they took pity on two drowned rats but their breakfast is sublime. The service was splendid and it turns out there is nothing better than a full English to the strains of Vivaldi for restoring one’s equilibrium.

The rest of the waiting time passed quickly as we wandered around Covent Garden and enjoyed a bit of cafe society. Mrs Cheesecake even spotted Richard E. Grant.

Back to the queue and eventually we managed to make it to the red carpet area. Again more waiting but it was good to watch all the comings and goings.

Enough of preliminaries lets get to the event itself. Between us Mrs Cheesecake and I got some ace shots and we saw a veritable cornucopia of stars.

Deep Breath…..here we go…we saw…..

Sharto Copley, Christoph Waltz, Matt Dillon, Noel Clarke, Oliva Williams, Jeremy Renner, Peter Capaldi, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Jason Issacs, Sam Taylor Wood, Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Hoult, Armando Iannucci, Tahir Rahim, Jane Goldman, Terry Gilliam, David Baddiel, Anil Kapoor, Claudia Winkleman, Colin Firth, Ann Marie Duff, Andy Serkis, David Morrisey, Nick Frost, Jonathan Ross, McKenzie Crook, Mark Kermode, James Corden, Kate Winslet, James Cameron, Prince William (yup royalty), Mickey Rourke, Robert Pattison, Quentin Tarintino, Clare Danes.

There were others as well but I honestly can’t remember them all. We got some top photos as well.

Here is one of Sharto Copley

and what does he write on an autograph?

If you can’t make it out it says YOU FOOKIN PRAWN! Class.

One conclusion I did come to is that Joely Richardson and Kate Winslet may not be human. I don’t mean that in a nasty way. Quite the reverse in fact. They are both absolutely flawless. Pictures do not do them just SERIOUSLY. Mrs Cheesecake felt the same way about Jonathan Rhys Myers. In other interesting news Clive Owen is really surprisingly short. Again don’t mean that in a nasty way just expected him to be taller.



Disappointment of the night. No Jeff Bridges or Michael Sheen. Well I don’t suppose we can have everything can we.

Ass Monkeys of the evening – All of the professional autograph hunters. They were all rude as fuck and kept making me angry. These are the cock javelins that get autographs just so they can sell then on for profit. Fucking ring pieces the lot of them. I think some of the stars were avoiding our area because of these assholes.

Oddly we ended up with one of the official umbrella like the one you can see in the Joely Richardson pic. Weird but true.

It was most definitely an experience.

No longer on the Red Carpet.
Pablo Cheesecake

Pablo Cheesecake vs That There London

Saturday

This weekend Mrs Cheesecake and I broke with our cinema-going tradition and took a trip to London. We went for a couple of reasons. Firstly we fancied a break from the grind of work. Secondly the BAFTAs were on and we wanted to go in partake in the red carpet experience.

Though BAFTAs were on the Sunday we decided that we should go down to London the day before. We managed to cram quite a lot in so I will split our weekend over two blogs one for the Saturday and  one for the Sunday.

By happy coincidence on the Saturday afternoon there was a signing at Forbidden Planet with this chap.


After arriving in London and checking in to our hotel off we went. He was in the store to do a signing to promote his new film Solomon Kane. While we waited for the signing to begin I was interviewed for LSQ TV. I shit you not. Little old me was plucked from the crowd and asked some questions. Check it out…. I’m the twat with the red hair and the very high opinion of himself. It’s even in freakin HD….
 

So after making it onto You Tube in a vox pop (always an ambition of mine) we actually did get to meet the director Michael J Bassett and James Purefoy. Mrs Cheesecake was also extremely pleased that she got a piccie.


After the brief meeting I got to indulge my wanton lust for all the good stuff Forbidden Planet has to offer. Though I could have quite easily spent a large fortune in the store I ended up limiting myself to two new paperbacks. I could have quite easily been more but I was trying to be good.

Saturday turned out to be quite a good day. Sunday however promised more of the same. Next blog Covent Garden and the BAFTAs!

Back from that there London

An exhausted Cheesecake

Pablo Cheesecake and the Lightning Thief

Chris Columbus directed the first two Harry Potter movies. The story of a normal, average, everyday boy who discovers that he is a wizard and has to learn how to live with his new life. He has also directed Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. The story of a normal, average, everyday boy who discovers he is part Greek god and has to learn how to live with his new life.

I've read a number of reviews that start like that. 'Oooh it's the same director and has a similar premise. Isn't Hollywood scrapping the bottom of the barrel' To these naysayers I blow a huge raspberry.   The myths of ancient Greece are good stories. They still resonate today. What kid isn't going to enjoy things like Medusa, satyrs and centaurs? Guess what people....Greek mythology is so 2010! Just wait till the re-imagining/reboot/remake of Clash of the Titans hits our screens later this year. That will wipe those smug grins of those faces!

Personally I enjoyed the film. Kevin McKidd, Sean Bean and Steve Coogan are good as THE BIG THREE - Poseiden, Zeus and Hades. It would have been nice to see a bit more of Steve Coogan though. Hades as a kinda of slightly faded rock-star type was fun.

The younger members of the cast all did pretty good job as well. Logan Lerman plays Harry, sorry Percy (and if the Hollywood rumor mill is to be believed he is a strong contender for the Spiderman re-hash/re-jig/re-finagle). His partner is crime is Ron, sorry Grover played by Brandon T Jackson.

The effects were good particularly Medusa's snakes and I liked the water effects towards the end. I guess some of the monsters may upset younger viewers so the PG rating is just about right.

I believe there are currently another four books in the series. I wouldn't mind seeing more. I haven't read the books but hope if more films are made we get to see a bit more of the Olympians. Hermes pops up in the current film and just looks just a bit sheepish. That was a bit of a shame. I would like to have seen a bit more of the other Gods.

From high atop Mt Olympus

Pablo Zeuscake

The Wolfman

Yesterday was a busy old day. Two movies at the cinema and then a comedy gig at a local theatre.

The first film we saw was The Wolfman. Directed by Joe Johnston this is an update of the 1941 film which starred Lon Chaney Jr. In this version Benicio Del Toro takes the lead role supported by Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving and Emily Blunt.

The film really looks splendid, loads of attention to the small details. The costumes are all great and the scenery is suitably gothic and creepy. Filmed on location in Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Derbyshire

One of the things I particularly liked was the effects work for the Wolfman himself. Rick Baker is responsible and does a great job. The Wolfman makeup is very similar to the 40s version and it works really well. Rick Baker was responsible for the excellent werewolf effects in An American Werewolf in London and he still hasn't lost his touch.

One of the personal highlights of the film for me was Hugo Weaving's moustache. It was spectacular and not a hair out of place. I think I was just jealous.

The film movies at a reasonable pace and the ninety minute run time fairly zips by. Good news as well for all you gorehounds out there as the Wolfman rips many a cast member into small pieces. There are torsos, limbs and heads getting flung about all over the place.

Mr Cheesecake (of The Yard)