I didn't get a job with Madame Tussaud's, but I did get to go through their exhibit for free, which was a whopping savings (admission is normally 25 pounds --$50-- and hardly worth that to see a bunch of surreal wax figures.)
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Madame Tussaud's
I didn't get a job with Madame Tussaud's, but I did get to go through their exhibit for free, which was a whopping savings (admission is normally 25 pounds --$50-- and hardly worth that to see a bunch of surreal wax figures.)
London on Film
I’ve developed an appealing habit of only seeing films that have some part of them (or in a few cases, the whole movie) shot here in London. It began with Blood Diamond with its coda to the film set here. Even though it was supposed to be 1999, there were several modern giveaways that the filmmakers didn’t bother to cut out. I followed that up with Notes On A Scandal on Friday night, which was filmed about three miles away from me in Islington. Then going to a special IMAX presentation of Casino Royale Sunday night brought a few more views of the city, though mostly the familiar landmarks of the Houses of Parliament area – and it’s funny how many films, now that I think about it, use either that or Trafalgar Square as their sole view of London.
On Monday I got a big surprise seeing Breaking and Entering, a new drama by Anthony Minghella (which I think has only just opened in the USA? It opened here way back in September and was at a second-run cinema.) Minghella filmed a good portion of the film immediately adjacent to my flat! He chose a weird, modern block of flats which I can see from my window to be the residence of Juliette Binoche and her “son”, portraying Serbian immigrants who are getting by in London. In a couple of scenes you can even see my house as they look out the window! I’ll certainly never look at that flat complex in quite the same anonymous way.
On Wednesday, also at the second-run cinema, I finally saw Children of Men, an unsettling observation of futuristic Britain. It was very obvious in a couple of scenes that Cuaron (the director) had filmed in the actual location and then green-screened in the digital effects to make it more futuristic. This was particularly clear in the scene when Clive Owen is being driven through Trafalgar Square (again!). He passes a Tesco Express in pristine condition, which is there right now in present day. Somehow I doubt it would be in the same shape at the time of the film. It also appeared that they might have shot in the Tate Modern museum lobby at the conclusion of that sequence. Once the characters got out of London, there was more freedom of expression on the filmmaker’s part. Normally it is only a two hour drive from here to Dover/the English Channel, but I can understand that futuristic rebellion would have complicated the journey.
On Monday I got a big surprise seeing Breaking and Entering, a new drama by Anthony Minghella (which I think has only just opened in the USA? It opened here way back in September and was at a second-run cinema.) Minghella filmed a good portion of the film immediately adjacent to my flat! He chose a weird, modern block of flats which I can see from my window to be the residence of Juliette Binoche and her “son”, portraying Serbian immigrants who are getting by in London. In a couple of scenes you can even see my house as they look out the window! I’ll certainly never look at that flat complex in quite the same anonymous way.
On Wednesday, also at the second-run cinema, I finally saw Children of Men, an unsettling observation of futuristic Britain. It was very obvious in a couple of scenes that Cuaron (the director) had filmed in the actual location and then green-screened in the digital effects to make it more futuristic. This was particularly clear in the scene when Clive Owen is being driven through Trafalgar Square (again!). He passes a Tesco Express in pristine condition, which is there right now in present day. Somehow I doubt it would be in the same shape at the time of the film. It also appeared that they might have shot in the Tate Modern museum lobby at the conclusion of that sequence. Once the characters got out of London, there was more freedom of expression on the filmmaker’s part. Normally it is only a two hour drive from here to Dover/the English Channel, but I can understand that futuristic rebellion would have complicated the journey.
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