WEEK 4 REVIEW - HER (2013)

In the build up to Easter, I was visited by three wise men (pronounced 'waaahs men' if you are from Hull) in the night. They were all called Scott. I thought they were going to give me gifts, but instead they confirmed what I already feared. Their boss, Jesus H. Christ, forbade me from hosting a #SiFiPieFri night on Good Friday, as pies are banned on his sacred day.

It was a tough blow, which I could only get over because an EFB (Everitt Family Bonfire) was scheduled instead, and this could now legally include 'outliers' of the Everitt family like Sister PieFi and outdoors legend AndyDunn. Here we are having much fun .....

But then I remembered I'd still not reviewed the previous weeks action, so here I am casting my mind back to what went on during Friday 26th March, in those innocent pre-Easter days, when the air was mild, snow seemed a thing of the past, and my mind was stressed to the eyeballs with the LIBOR Migration project which I don't like to talk about.

Remember our tribute to Lizzy Ladybird a few weeks back, who sadly carked it by my dumb bells? Well, another giant elderly ladybird (Lucas) had now appeared on my thermostat.

He too carked it, just a day later which proves #SiFiPieFri is not good for a ladybird's health.

The BREAKING news (and I use the capitals to shock and stun my readers) was that Pom Bears have been deemed inappropriate snackage for this challenge. Space Raiders would make most sense in many ways, but don't rhyme, so I've gone for Scampi Fries & Bacon Fries, you know the ones you see hanging on cardboard displays behind bars of all good pubs.

Sadly, I only rolled a '1', and then a '2' which meant it would be a bag of Scampi rather than Bacon.

The pie was a disappointment, which perhaps won't surprise you when I say that (a) it was a ready meal type thing and (b) I've had so much of my Mum's wonderful homemade cottage pie since lockdown, a shop bought one was always gonna be a damp gravy based squib. Or is it squid? How damp is your squid?

I did however choose to put in the oven (40 minutes) instead of the microwave (7) in the hope that helped re authenticity!

This gave me extra kitchen time, and after THAT working week, it was time to dig out the 1998 fake Oakley wraparounds and go the full sci-fi/Madchester/drug dealer shebang with my look, and properly unwind.

Sorted for E.T.'s and Whizz

I put on the music of PUP (which I hope doesn't stand for Play Up Pompey) and listened to some 'Morbid Stuff', which was actually upbeat and heartlifting.

Hardly any punk bands are churning out quality new releases at the moment, so we need the likes of PUP and Red City Radio to keep us sane. Menzingers gone way too indie. Flatliners have flatlined. Even The Bronx are sounding tired (never believed I'd say that), and the Hold Steady's new release just lacks the vim and verve of their previous couple. But that's a different blog for a different time.

Remember the previous week, the evil people of Twitter had voted I drink all the 6% plus beers on my list. Well, they were a lot kinder to me today, picking me two sessionable North Riding's from Scabby-Bro and a Mango thing from Rudgate, which didn't quite live up to the name, unless by 'in the night', it meant vaguely out of reach?

TWO kitchen beers, and being a learning curve for us all (well, me) I thought the cottage pie might not be enough so did a little side plate:

And a couple of interesting re-invigorating drinks for the bedside table for when I wake up with a headache at 5am cos water is boring unless after red wine .....

But I did brush my teeth before bed thanks, a mad man from Canada reminded me to do that.

Finally, it was time to go through for the main event, thinking I should've done some peas with the pie after all, it all looked a bit sorry for itself ..... oh well no time now.

This week's film was the highest on the list to date, at number 62 in the league table:

And it was really quite good, and one of those that 'stays with you' after, or at least it did with me.

Not a unique concept, but it tells of this guy played by Joaquin Phoenix (real name Joaquin Bottom) at probably a similar point in history as the present day, but when dating a super intelligent A.I. device is becoming socially acceptable.

So he downloads this software or whatever, and ends up with this super intelligent, incredibly human 'Samantha' voiced by Scarlet Johansson who we never see, but crikey, you can see why he falls in love. His ex-wife thinks he's a right loser, but his mates think its pretty sound. She gets more human as she experiences more human stuff from him and gets frustrated having no body. Proper fascinating film, really plays at the heart strings.

But towards the end, he learns she's dating like 280 other men simultaneously, which probably shouldn't be surprising, but is very sad for him obviously! Quite funny, but harsh too. As our follower and pub ticker Eddie Fogden said, you could really see this becoming real life in the not too distant future and I wonder how the world changed between 2013 when it was made, and now. i.e. is it more believable now in 2021, then when it was made?

So there we have it. As usual, I was still drinking my Mosaic when it finished so off I popped to virtual Hungerford Town for a opening day win against Brackley. Will I ever get out of Vanarama South? Will the chairman ever invest? The pork crackling was better than the hollow victory.

And to those of you who expressed severe disappointment that the Tiny Rebel Slush Dawg didn't get selected, I drank it the next day whilst watching Hull City and it was as crazy as expected .....

I rolled the dice for the next film, and we continue to go in the upwardly mobile direction for with #42, the End of Evangelion, which is a Japanese Anime film, never seen one of them before! Supposed to be one of the best, but was a bugger to get hold of. EBay second hand copy for £25 was best I could do, ouch! Join me for that on Fri with more Fries, a hopefully better Pie, some crafty beers, and I must also remember myself, Si.

Take care, enjoy your week.