The Thursday Murder Club

 

Cross The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with a bog standard Midsummer Murders and bingo you will have The Thursday Murder Club 

The film is bland, but fun, predictable and amusing and it’s a lovely afternoon film to enjoy with a friend . 

The plot is no more convoluted than a teatime Agatha Christie ,but we are introduced to four unlikely residents of an upmarket stately home sized retirement complex who have banded together to form a club which solves old cold cases “stolen” from the Met. 

Leader Elizabeth ( Helen Mirren) is a former director of MI5, Ron ( Pierce Brosnan) an unlikely cockney trade unionist.Joyce ( Celia Imrie) a retired nurse and Ibramin ( Ben Kingsley) a psychiatrist , all look like they have great fun solving the crimes with all of the gusto of the kids from Scooby do

Mirren, especially looks like she’s have a ball as she parodies not only her Prime Suspect tv days but her role in The Queen. She’s very good in this, as is Kingsley, and Imrie, and her scenes with her husband ( jonathon Pryce) who is suffering from dementia, has a sweetness to them which is incredibly moving .

Thin, escapist movie making certainly 

But it’s a fun and somewhat charming tv movie.

Well worth a visit

Eye

 My eye injection was unpleasant but not painful 

I asked the nurse if a colleague could hold my head still and she complied with suitable force

( she could have wrestled a pig)

The only thing that went wrong

Is…..

They used permanent marker to dot above the eye to be injected 

I did see the funny side

Matriarchs

My family at my nephew Jon’s wedding

 Tomorrow morning, 

my sister Ann is picking me up  in order to take me to the eye hospital .

My sisters ( and sister in law ) have always been in my corner 

Always my support.

I come from a family of wonderful matriarchs

This is common with gay men 

Women have always featured strongly in my life

My sisters, my grandmothers, my family friends

My personal female friends and aunts and nieces ( in law) 

They dominate my psychi 

And my life

And I’m all the better for their control and influence 

Ann always walks me to my car when I leave her house,

She says goodbye with a certain care

And I value it, 

So much 

Chuck

 

The Life Of Chuck didn’t move me at all.

I thought it would.

The hallucinations of a dying man, trying to make sense of his past and present , you would think , would be an emotional romp.

It wasn’t 

I met a friend not known for their heat tolerance 

So sitting in cool air con was worth the ten quid ticket price

And we stayed till the end just to confirm what the hell had just happened

Another eye injection tomorrow 

Gawd! Fuck! Bollocks!

Sorry BABY

When I got home a plate of tomatoes sat on the kitchen wall. They are sweet and fresh and must come from animal helper Pat’s vine. 

Eva Victor as Agnes

I’ve been to the cinema today and saw Sorry Baby

It’s a wonderful watch.

Written and acted by Eva Victor, it tells the survival story of Agnes, a possibly neuro-divergent University Professor and her four year recovery from being sexually abused by her tutor whilst a graduating student. 

Told in five episodes ( 2 in flashback) we follow Agnes and her friendship with fellow student Lydia's ( Naomi Ackie) The friendship is intense and unconditional, and is pivotal to Agnes’ recovery and in some bitingly funny scenes we see her negotiate with intelligence and dignity the pain such an event has on a life, lived quietly. 

The audience roots for the lost Agnes. Her small triumphs are our triumphs, and we smile when she provides a home for a lost kitten or when she is comforted by a benign middle aged cafe owner when out of control ( a nice turn by John Carol Lynch) below

The story is a hopeful one and its refreshing that Agnes is never portrayed as a victim , but more a person who holds her cards to her chest and who is what she is.

It’s a lovely film

And its message lingers long in the mind , well after the credits have rolled.

Agnes and Lydia a touching friendship 

 

Other News answering a question…..

 Counselling 

I am on hold with this at the moment only because I’m awaiting to be processed for membership for the

NCPS ( The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society)I could practice without membership but Professionally it is not advisable to do so. I have sessional clients already booked with a mental health charity and will start supporting them as soon as I am able. 

I have booked my capn’gown , and intend to have my official photograph taken with my family!

Shoulder injury

My physio with his tiny blue shorts has done wonders with my arm weakness. He diagnosed a “ wear and tear” injury where my humerus had “ migrated” up into my shoulder joint, and with the smallest of manipulations in sessions funded by the Welsh Government ( !) my weakness has improved considerably

Eyes

My eye pressures have reduced significantly and the injections will continue for a while 👀👀👀👀

My consultant apologised for my unfortunate last session and assured me that a senior doctor will perform the next injection instead of one of the nurses.

Positives

I have planned to meet up with my old friend Tracey from my psychiatric days in York soon, and I am popping over to Sheffield to catch up with Mike, and Bev and Jane and Belami. My next London trip is in October when I will touch base with Nu and see the rave interactive play Every Brilliant Thing with Minnie Driver. This coming week my sister and I will see the Grosvenor Park Outdoor Theatre’s production of Sherlock Holmes ( a hoot) all activities that will lighten the heart but boil the blood of my troll who hates me socialising with the passion Hitler had for English Bulldogs. 

Emotionally and physically I have turned another corner. There is more news afoot, so watch this space for further bulletins, but I feel I’ve come through another storm, pretty unscathed , thanks, in part, to you my followers and commentators who have been kind, and supportive and warm.

That goes a long way, when you are most forlorn,

Just before dawn

Sunny Day

 Bun is in the garden and Weaver is proudly sitting in the living room. It’s warm and sunny and I’m returning to work on nights tonight. 

I met chic Eleanor this morning for breakfast. We had a full English which she described as gloriously decadent. She is a stunningly attractive woman who reminds me of Lee Remick and I love that she has the habit of holding my arm when she is moved or emotional . 

It was nice to catch up

Streaming

 The uncertainty of the past month has drawn me to the diversion of online streaming 

I found a stream that centred its attentions to mature professional gay men and found myself chatting to men from all over the world, most over a McDonald’s Coffee and porridge breakfast.

Of course like any, internet phenomenon, there are idiots and predators there, but robust policing of the site and strict boundaries set by me, tend to eject the unwelcome before they can cause trouble or offence.

This morning I had a hilarious conversation with a Spanish Physiotherapist, a Fijian Emergency Room Doctor, a gentle IT specialist from Denmark and a wisecracking father of two from New Zealand.

With the 5 of us sharing a similar sense of humour, I laughed until I cried

The world isn’t that big after all

Ps this video and story moved me greatly