Beyond McDonalds: Where To Eat near King's Cross

As I was saying last week, King's Cross isn't the greatest place in London for fine dining. However, in recent years, the area has slowly started to gentrify and interesting new places to eat seem to be springing up all the time. Here are eight of my favourites--I didn't cheat and include venues in Islington, Bloomsbury or Clerkenwell, either:


View Beyond McDonalds in a larger map

Clockwise from bottom left:

• Peyton & Byrne at the British Library, 96 Euston Road
• eat.st, King's Boulevard, now rebranded as KERB
• Canal 125, 125 Caledonian Road
• Niven's, 157 King's Cross Road
• Paolina Thai, 181 King's Cross Road
• Smithy's, 15-17 Leeke Street
• 06 St Chads Place, 6 St Chad's Place
• Karpo, 23 Euston Road

Now we just need a few good independent espresso bars, although one of my favourite espresso bars in London, The Espresso Room, is only a 20-minute walk.

Mimes, Maui, Maids and Moscow Rules

When this year's Academy Award nominations were announced, my first thought was that I had enjoyed quite a few of the films on the list. After closer scrutiny, however, I realised that the nominated films didn't really correlate very well with my favourite movies of 2011. We Need To Talk About Kevin was completely ignored, although Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy did a little better, and The Artist and The Descendants got plenty of nominations. I saw The Artist on the last day of 2011 and so with a little more distance, I would probably bump it from my top five.

Anyway, here is my annual list of Oscar favourites--these aren't predictions, just my choices for each category.

Best Picture: The Descendants [seen 8/9]
Best Actor: Gary Oldman, TTSS [4/5]
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners [4/5]
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady [4/5]
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help [4/5]
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist [5/5]
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Ides of March [5/5]
Best Original Screenplay: A Separation [5/5]

To be honest, though, The Descendants didn't feel like a Best Picture when I watched it and I'm also not entirely happy with favouring Hazanavicius for Best Director, but as I was ambivalent about Hugo and Midnight in Paris, quite enjoyed The Help, disliked The Tree of Life and refuse to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, I didn't have much choice. But Tilda Swinton and We Need To Talk About Kevin would feature more prominently if I could choose from all the eligible films. Maybe Senna and Shame too...

Dea Ex Machina: Karpo Review

Although Karpo sounds like a long-lost Marx brother, it's actually the name of the Greek goddess of "fruits of the earth," harvest and so on. It's also the name of a new restaurant in--shock, horror--King's Cross. When I saw the address (23 Euston Road) in a Daily Candy post, I thought it was odd that I hadn't noticed Karpo, given its proximity to King's Cross station. I catch my bus there and so I must have walked past the subtle, slim, glass-fronted restaurant, that hides behind scaffolding, between a bureau de change and a Burger King.

Karpo and its living wall

Karpo opened a little while ago but when we went to check it out last week, they still didn't have a menu on their website (they do now) and based on the provenance of the chef, Daniel Taylor, we were worried we might be priced out. Luckily, that wasn't a case and there were plenty of interesting choices on both the lunch menu and the brunch menu. I was tempted to try the burger but it comes with Gruyère cheese and a fried egg, and I prefer my burger with cheddar and/or bacon--or nothing. I also considered trying the hanger steak with bone marrow and shallots but in the end, went with a bacon omelette from the brunch menu. The omelette was very good, as were the frites with aïoli and Boston baked beans we had on the side. My only complaint was that the bacon wasn't well done enough for my liking (I like my bacon to be crisp and preferably streaky and smoked). Next time I will ask for extra-crispy bacon and we will see how they do.

Most of the rest of the menu had lots of interesting ingredients and from what I could see of other people's food, everything looked tasty and nicely presented. We didn't have time for a proper pudding (pink peppercorn meringue &passion fruit frozen yoghurt? Yes, please!) but instead raided the bakery. My chocolate and hazelnut brownie was rich, moist and delicious. Indeed, when we returned for sweet meats on another occasion, the barman (actually, I think it might have been Taylor himself!) tried to talk me out of the muffin I had ordered and told me to try the brownie. I explained I'd already had the brownie and loved it and the Jedi mind trick resulted in me failing to order what I wanted. Regardless, the cakes and pastries all look delicious and I will definitely be back to try the macaroons. And also the pancakes with bacon and maple syrup that are served at breakfast time.

Yummy baked goods--and a lovely view of the Euston Road

The restaurant itself is light and airy with a living wall where some of the ingredients are grown; others are grown on the roof. There isn't a great choice when it comes to eating near King's Cross; you used to have to choose between cheapo greasy spoons and over-priced gastro pubs. But Karpo brings a via media: casual, thoughtful, tasty, all-day dining.

Karpo. 23 Euston Road, London, NW1 2SB (Tube: King's Cross). Website. Twitter.

Meet on the Ledge

I've been striking out with women at the cinema lately (in Black and in the Fifth, more specifically) so I decided to give a man a try tonight; Man on a Ledge, more specifically. And fortunately, it was just what I needed: no great masterpiece but a solid thriller that kept me entertained for its 100-minute duration. Some spoilers follow, although to be honest, this film is rather predictable.

Previously on Prison Break... Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is told by his lawyer that his last appeal has failed and that he is doomed to 25 more years in prison. Oh, and his father is about to die, but Nick's buddy and former cop partner Mike (Anthony Mackie) promises he will swing it so that Nick can attend the funeral. But scarcely has the coffin been lowered into the ground before Nick is fighting with his brother Joey (Jamie Bell) and escaping from the prison guards.

One month later... A cleaner, better-dressed version of Nick checks into the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, orders Champagne and a lavish meal in his room, before cleaning off his fingerprints and climbing out the window onto the ledge. Why? It sounds more like a logic problem than the plot of a movie but there we go. Most of the action takes place while this eponymous man stands on the eponymous ledge, threatening to jump, drawing a crowd and flirting with Lydia, the negotiator whose presence he demanded on account of her looking a lot like Elizabeth Banks and on account of her being in the headlines for having failed to stop her previous charge from jumping off Brooklyn Bridge.

Ledge without a man

But that's OK; it's a nice block. I know the Roosevelt well because it sits between J. Crew and the offices of Sterling Cooper on Madison Avenue. In fact, when I walked past one day towards the end of 2010, I noticed a lot of police cars and a giant inflatable cushion. When I posted the photo on Flickr, I wondered whether it was a movie set or an emergency and it appears to have been this movie, although I don't think they were filming at the time. There were crowds of people gathering (perhaps hoping for an autograph?), although unlike the hilariously cliched crowds in the movie, they were not encouraging anyone to jump or heralding anyone as a hero.

Anyway, it transpires that Nick was imprisoned for stealing a giant diamond from some Trump-esque, property tycoon baddie (Ed Harris), who sits in his gold-plated office counting his money and his office and preemptively celebrating his next property coup. Not at all coincidentally, The Baddie owns the Roosevelt and has his diamond vault in the building next door, so Nick is planning to create a mammoth distraction on his perch, allowing Joey and his girlfriend to do the necessary to really steal the mega diamond and thereby prove he didn't steal it first time round. The main role of Joey's girlfriend in all this is to wear a skimpy top and to have big boobs, although she other performs other useful tasks such as bouncing around in her underwear while trying to wriggle into a leather catsuit, and swearing in Spanish.

While this is going on, Nick attempts to win Lydia's trust, and the audience learns that there are many potentially corrupt cops. Is Nick's buddy Michael really on his side? And was the NYPD really the only place that would offer Glenn Childs a job after he dropped out of the race to be Cook County's state's attorney? And where did he get all that hair from? Some of these questions may be answered, although no one explains for what exactly Sam Worthington's dialogue coach was paid, given his accent drifts from Aussie to general American and back again throughout (I'm sure Russell Crowe could help with that).

The acting was fairly mediocre and the script suggested the writers may have been taking the film a little too seriously--I did laugh a few times but at the ridiculousness of it all or at the cheesiness of yet another gratuitous close-up of the girlfriend's chest. I have liked Banks in other films but she didn't have a lot to work with here, nor did Bell, and nor was Worthington especially charismatic or sympathetic. Still, Man on a Ledge was exactly what I felt like tonight, and I am glad I finally broke the chain of disappointing movies.

Glossybox February 2012 - Tingle and Shimmer

It feels like last month's Glossybox only arrived three weeks ago (mainly because it was only three weeks ago). Before I run down the contents of the February box, a quick review of the January box. My favourite product is definitely the Murad skin perfecting primer, which seems to suit my combination skin, and I've also used the black Eyeko eyeliner and the FAB body moisturiser a few times, but I probably wouldn't repurchase. As I said before, I will be saving the Clarins day and night creams for travelling.

The theme for the February Glossybox is, apparently, London Fashion Week, although that is pretty vague. The best thing about this box is the variety of the contents; makeup, hair, body and nail products are all represented. Overall, I'm pleased with the products I received, and I will definitely use four out of five.

1. DuWop Venom Gloss in buttercup (5 ml). This is a gorgeous, fruit-scented lip gloss in a subtle shimmery beige colour. I generally prefer pinks to peaches but the colour is very sheer and it seems to suit my skin tone. I put it on before reading the warning on the Glossybox info card ("please note the Lip Venom may cause a light tingling sensation upon application") and I would say it's more of a moderate tingling than a light tingling, but I quite liked it, and this is supposedly responsible for the "plumping" properties of the product. £16 for the 10 ml full size.

L-R: imPress nails, Como Shambhala shower gel, DuWop Venom Gloss, BM Beauty eye shadow, Paul Mitchell styling cream

2. imPress Press-on Manicure in totally busted (full size). I have never worn fake nails and although I like the bright orange colour my set from Impress come in, it isn't a colour I ever wear. Maybe in the summer I will give these a try--it seems like a relatively hassle-free and mess-free system--but I'll have to make sure I'm not wearing pink that week. £17.40. For some reason the full size is listed as "150 ml" on the info card; 150 ml of fake nails? Anyway, you get 24 nail covers in 12 sizes. Additionally, on the imPress website, they say that the product should cost around $5.99, so maybe Glossybox got this wrong...unless the US-UK exchange has changed drastically since I last checked!

3. Paul Mitchell Quick Slip (25 ml). I'm very fickle when it comes to styling products and tend to buy whatever is on special offer in Superdrug. This styling cream conditions and protects, although I have yet to test it out on my hair, which is very fine. I will probably use this when travelling. £14.25 for the 150 ml full size.

4. BM Beauty Pure Mineral Eyeshadow in wolf howl (1 g). I was excited when I saw this eye shadow, as I thought it was from Bare Minerals, my favourite skincare brand, but actually, it's from BM Beauty. I really like the colour, a rich, shimmery midnight purple, which blends out really nicely. I tend to wear a lot of greys and subtle purples on my eyes, so I'm really pleased with this product. £7 for the 2 g full size.

Close-up of the eye shadow and lip gloss.

5. Como Shambhala Invigorate Shower Gel (50 ml). I love the scent of this shower gel, which contains eucalyptus, geranium, lavender and peppermint. A posher version of Original Source products, perhaps! This will be great to use in the mornings, although I am still working through my Rituals foaming shower gel from the December Glossybox, so perhaps I will save my new sample for travelling. If I can wait until then. £20 for the 300 ml full size.

Total value of the products in this month's Glossybox: about £32. Over half of that value comes from the nails, however, which I am not hugely keen to try. As I like the other four products so much this month, I don't mind the lower value, although I think it's a shame they didn't plump for the full size eye shadow, which is only £7, or maybe a bigger sample of the shower gel.

Overall rating: 4/5. Three great products (#1, #4 and #5), one I will use and one dud isn't too bad. If Glossybox can keep this up for another three months, they might persuade me to keep subscribing after my self-imposed six-month trial period.

14.1

Some of my best--and longest--runs have been the unplanned ones. The ones where I head out, thinking I'll knock out a decent seven- or eight-mile route, and then the serendipitous co-occurrence of good weather, good podcasts and good sleep the night before make me choose to keep on running. And yes, the previous sentence does sound like it comes straight from Private Eye's Pseuds' Corner column.

Industrial wasteland, somewhere near Stonebridge Park

Today, I decided to run along the Grand Union Canal for a change. My flat is only half a mile from the canal and then it's towpath all the way, which makes for a more peaceful, solitary outing than my usual turns around the Royal Parks. I figured I would probably go as far as the Car Giant near Willesdon Junction (no, it isn't the prettiest route), which is an eight-mile round trip. But the weather was perfect--cool but sunny and not windy--I had several podcasts lined up on my iPhone and, despite a tiring week and strangely achy legs yesterday, I was feeling pretty good, so I kept on going. In fact, the main problem was that some of the factories that form the industrial wasteland that surrounds the canal seemed to be making donuts and other sweet treats. Usually, this would have made me hungry but on long runs, the smell of food, especially sweet food, makes me feel sick.

I ended up timing myself using podcasts because I wasn't using RunKeeper and estimating my distance by the occasional signs near the towpath. The aforementioned industrial wasteland alongside the canal means there isn't really any decent destination to aim for so my targets were distance-based instead. Based on the signs, 7.5 miles got me to a place I'd never heard of, called Alperton, which seemed as good a turning point as any. Calculating my route on Google Maps when I got home suggests that I "only" ran 14.1 miles, which is the furthest I've ever run, but in a pretty decent time of about 1h50. Not bad considering I wasn't really pushing myself. My legs were aching a lot towards the end but I think I could probably have done another three or four miles without too much fuss. And yet, if I'd try to "make myself" run 14 miles today, I would have ended up talking myself out of it. Isn't motivation funny?

Taking the Fifth

Over the past few years, there have been a number of solid French thrillers that, it has been argued, would have received far less acclaim had they been English or American films. Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One), is one example, and L'homme qui voulait vivre sa vie (The Big Picture) is another. Both are based on English-language thrillers of the same names, by Harlan Coben and Douglas Kennedy, respectively, and both are gripping and compelling and boast great performances from some of the key actors.

So, when I saw the trailer for a new French (well, technically Franglais/Polish) adaptation of one of Kennedy's other works, The Woman in the Fifth, I was optimistic. The trailer definitely gave the impression that the film was of the ilk of Tell No One and The Big Picture, with Ethan Hawke running around Paris, worrying about his young daughter and getting it on with a very Alex Forrest-esque Kristin Scott Thomas. Although KST does sometimes put me off a film, I like Ethan Hawke and I remembered enjoying the novel when I read it a few years ago.

As such, I persuaded two friends to see The Woman in the Fifth with me last night. Unfortunately, although it wasn't terrible, I was rather disappointed and my friends probably felt like I had completely mis-sold it to them. Hawke plays Tom Ricks, an American writer and former professor, who runs away to Paris following a scandal back home (this is never explained in the film, although much more information is given in the book), and tries to reconnect with his estranged wife and daughter. But wifey isn't having any of it and he is forced to seek lodging in the badlands, where he is promptly robbed. He shacks up in a dodgy bar with rooms and is hired by the manager to monitor some security cameras in a nearby warehouse to try to pay his way. Again, we don't really see the point of all this in the film. He meets Margit (Scott Thomas) at a snooty literary gathering and they begin an affair, meeting in her apartment in the fifth--but only after four pm each day. It all gets pretty passionate but we don't see much of Margit; Tom's time is also being occupied by the pretty Polish woman who works at the bar where he lives. But when Tom is accused of murder and cites Margit as his alibi, suddenly, nothing is as it seems. Who is Margit really? And has the recent stress in Tom's life affected him more than he is willing to admit? More to the point, does anyone care?

I don't object to a movie leaving questions unanswered but when even the questions are barely asked and there isn't enough evidence given to the audience for them to form strong opinions as to what is happening, something isn't right. I don't fully remember the ins and outs of the novel--Kennedy's novels tend to resemble one another greatly, often featuring 40-something American writers with dark secrets hidden in their past, attempting to overcome their demons in a European city--but it definitely felt more satisfying than the film. Hawke was good as the sad, accepting Tom, haunted by recent events and desperate to be able to spend more time with his daughter. Superficially, the character is not dissimilar to the one Hawke played in Before Sunrise and Before Sunset; I hope for Jesse's sake that he doesn't turn out like Tom. KST did her usual cold, controlling turn but, as I said before, she doesn't get the screen time her character demands.

The trailer is, it seems, misleading because the film is not a thriller in any meaningful sense of the word: it is beautiful, meditative and melancholy, but it is also confusing and strangely shallow. The books is complex and has many different components and it seems that director Pawel Pawlikowski has tried to introduce too many of them into his 1h25 film, meaning that nothing is treated with the depth it deserves. It would have been far better to cut some of the sub-plots entirely, allowing more time to focus on the most important aspects, especially as a not insubstantial portion of the film is taken up with repeated ethereal, day-dream-like sequences of lush woodland, an amber-eyed owl and close-ups of insects. I don't object to arty films or slow burners but I was expecting The Woman in the Fifth to be a thriller and so the result ended up feeling unsatisfying.

What To Eat at Eat.St

It's been several months since eat.st graced the culinary wasteland of King's Cross with its presence so I thought it was about time I did a round-up of some of my favourite food stalls. Every week, on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the little patch of land between the back of King's Cross and St Pancras stations (well, technically between a giant building site and St Pancras) the pedestrianized walkway that has sprung up becomes populated with about four different food stalls, offering anything from kimchi to ice cream sundaes. The combination of stalls changes each day and for a while, I felt like I was a losing streak because I tended to go on Thursdays, where the stalls didn't suit my tastes so well. Now, though, they seem to mix it up a bit more and today, all three of my favourite stalls were there (but I only got food from one of them). So, in reverse order:

3. The Ribman. In those weeks where my diet has been rather protein deficient, The Ribman is my first port of call. They serve babyback ribs and rolls and wraps generously stuffed with juicy, tender rib meat.  I would personally avoid the hot sauce, because I'm a wuss, but the BBQ sauce is great. A much more filling alternative to a bacon sarnie but not ideal for vegetarians.

2. Homeslice. Making mediocre pizza is really easy but perfect, thin, crispy, flavoursome pizza is much more tricky. Nonetheless, Homeslice manage it using their amazingly portable wood fire. Each pizza cooks in about a minute and £3 will buy you a generous slice, although it's so tasty you'll probably want to opt for the two for £5 deal. Because I'm boring, I always have the margherita (which is great: both the tomato sauce and the mozzarella are really good) but they also do chorizo and rocket, and artichoke and zucchini.

1. The Bowler. My favourite stall is also a relatively recent discovery. My trip to Sweden last year turned me on to meatballs and in London, they still seem to be in vogue.

The Bowler

For £4.50, The Bowler will give you a box containing two big meatballs, some chunky pennoni pasta, salad, coriander, sour cream and spicy tomato sauce (or, if you're me, a light dab of spicy sauce), which is my kind of lunch. And the meatballs aren't the bite-size things you might find in your school canteen lunch; they require several bites (and ideally a knife) to consume. They do other meal deals or you can just have a single meatball "shot" if you're that way inclined.

I meant to take a photo before I started eating but the food was too tempting.

Bonus (best name): Hardcore Prawn.

I haven't eaten at every single eat.st stall yet so I may discover new favourites. I've never seen Lucky Chip--a purveyor of burgers--there, for example, and I haven't got round to trying the mac 'n' cheese either. Healthier options are available, by the way but I don't tend to find them as filling or good value.

Edit (Oct/12): eat.st has now been rebranded as Kerb Food

Hell on Wheels in a Black Dress

I like a good scary movie but James Watkins's film The Woman in Black doesn't quite qualify. I'm not sure whether it's good but not scary enough or scary but not good enough. Either way, I thought it was fine but ultimately unsatisfying.

I saw The Woman in Black on stage in Dublin, more than half a lifetime ago. All I remember was being quite scared or, at least, being made jump a lot. For fun, I decided to keep a "scare" tally in Watkins's new film. There were nine big scare moments, which caused much jumping and shrieking among audience members (followed by much giggling and chatting, this being the No Etiquette Odeon cinema). Three of those nine got me too, although I was concentrating hard, as I find it mildly embarrassed to be caught shrieking in public. And nine big scares, plus a few mini-scares, is pretty respectable for a 95-minute movie.

As for the plot, well, we all know the basics: a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) is dispatched to a remote house in the north to go and sort out the affairs of a reclusive old widow, who has recently died. Kipps's own wife died in childbirth and his young son and the nanny will come to join him in the middle of nowhere for the weekend, once Kipps's business is done. But on the train to Hogwarts Crythin Gifford, he meets Sam Daily (Ciarán Hinds), who tells him he won't find a local buyer for the widow's house. Because it's haunted by the eponymous woman in black, who has a terrible habit of leading many of the local children to tragic deaths from beyond the grave. Kipps doesn't have much choice, however, given that his boss has told him this is his final chance to keep his job, and before long, he's sticking his nose where it isn't wanted and being terrorized by 'er upstairs and by the locals, who blame him for certain turns of event.

And then... Actually, that's about all of the plot. I wasn't overly impressed by Jane Goldman's script and Radcliffe's Kipps remained largely a cipher and I didn't especially care whether he succumbed to the black-shrouded lady's advances. Hands's character was more interesting--more human and more sympathetic, for sure. The cinematography was great, with long, bleak pans of the village, the marshes and Eel Marsh House, and then slow zooms in on Radcliffe while he explores the house. This, along with Marco Beltrami's score, contributed a great deal to the tension and to most of the scares.

I don't think The Woman in Black is a bad film but I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed by the end result: either too much plot was sacrificed in favour of good, old-fashioned, scary fun, the old-fashioned scary fun wasn't quite scary enough or fun enough.

This Means Snore

A scan of my movie reviews might suggest that I love every film I see; regular readers will know this is because as I tend to go to the cinema twice per week, often alone, I usually pick the films I think I will enjoy most. Sometimes I'll see something that appeals less because I feel I ought to see it, sometimes friends and family persuade me to watch a film that falls outside of my comfort zone and sometimes, I just think one of the stars is hot. This Means War definitely fits into the latter category. Actually, there were three reasons I went to see it last week:

1. Tom Hardy is hot.
2. It was a free preview screening.
3. Tom Hardy is hot.

I saw the trailer a few weeks ago and thought, "wow! This looks ridiculous!" and even Tom Hardy and Reese Witherspoon were going to have to work hard to pull this one off. But then along came the free ticket opportunity and I haven't been able to go to many free previews this year, so I decided to go. The 20th Century Fox folks were in serious lockdown mode: phones had to be handed in, security checks were being made and a scary array of bouncers with night-vision goggles lined the cinema. Still, the big screen at the Empire Leicester Square (which offers a far superior viewing experience to its smaller sibling) was nearly full, so they must have been doing something right. Right?

As for the film, it was pretty poor. Tom Hardy and some supposedly hot American dude (Chris Pine) play FDR (yes, really!) and Tuck, CIA agents and BFFs until they both happen to meet and fall in love with Lauren (Witherspoon). Lauren, who has been somewhat unlucky in love, decides to date them both. She struggles to find much wrong with either of them: FDR has "small hands--and we all know what that means..." whereas Tuck is British, which is, of course, "even worse." The guys agree that they won't let their romantic rivalry ruin their friendship and that they will fight a fair fight, but it would be an even more boring movie if they did that, so instead, they take advantage of the huge array of gadgets, tricks, tools and reconnaissance available to them as CIA agents to try to win Lauren over. But who will she pick? Who could it possibly be? And more to the point, does anyone care?

Witherspoon spent most of the film getting her Elle Woods and managed to be sweet, cute and perky--about all the script demanded of her. Pine and Hardy were hardly any more challenged. This Means War is being billed as the perfect date night movie (hence the 14 February previews), an action/rom-com, but it manages to fail on all fronts: there isn't really enough action for the guys, not enough rom for the girls and not enough com for anyone. I laughed a couple of times but the rest of the corny, cliched script tended to make me snort with derision and roll my eyes. If I had realised before getting there that this was a McG film, I probably wouldn't have given it a shot...

I would not recommend This Means War for Valentine's Day viewing, nor The Vow, which I haven't seen but which sounds dreadful. What would I recommend instead? Well, Martha Marcy May Marlene might be my favourite of the films showing in the UK at the moment, but it isn't really date night fodder. I will probably be watching The Woman in Black; the reissue of Casablanca and the screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's at the Everyman Baker Street would be more traditional choices.

Modern Love

From this week's Private Eye:

Cartoon from Private Eye 1307

If the Eye were a less old-fangled publication, the cartoonist would have referenced Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube or possibly even Pinterest, but blogs are probably quite modern enough.

"What Does 'Hubris' Mean, Man?"

I should really be vlogging this review to capture the feel of Chronicle, Josh Trank's Carrie-esque movie for the YouTube generation but, of course, I don't vlog.

At a high-school rave, loner Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is persuaded by his more-intellectual-than-thou cousin Matt (Alex Russell), and handsome, charming class-president-to-be Steve (Michael B. Jordan) to go and film some freaky goings on in the woods. Andrew takes his video camera everywhere and films everything, from the mundane to the inappropriate. The three go down into a cavernous hole in the ground, where they are endowed with telekinetic powers by bright, flashy and creepy but otherwise unspecified forces. As they are 18, initially, they use their powers to lift up girls' skirts and dominate at beer pong, but it turns out that telekinesis is "like a muscle," which becomes stronger if exercised, so before long, they are moving people's cars around in car parks and flying. At first they get nosebleeds (the blood looks about as realistic as the corn syrup in Carrie), but these too diminish with practice. Matt and Steve want to keep their mad skillz to themselves but Andrew, who seems to be overwhelmed by having two whole friends, keeps taking things further, "pushing" a car off the road because the driver (who ends up in hospital) was annoying him and because, it seems, he liked the idea of capturing the crash on his camera.

The whole movie consists of video footage from Andrew's camera, from the camera of a girl vlogger they know and from CCTV cameras. Some have said that the "found footage" concept isn't really necessary here and to some extent I agree, but I think Trank is also trying to make a point about Gen YouTube and the growing tendency for people to chronicle vast chunks of their life via YouTube videos. Often, the daily vlogs are pretty boring--do we really need to see people shopping for groceries or trying to decide which movie to stream on Netflix?--but some go to the other extreme, capturing on camera events that people used to want to keep private.

And indeed in Chronicle, we see Andrew filming: at a funeral; while he is being verbally abused by his father (apparently an alcoholic; I say "apparently," because most of the film is shown through Andrew's camera and it is his edit--his take on things); and while his mother, who is seriously ill, coughs alone downstairs. Andrew is not a nice guy. He isn't nice when he's a loner and he doesn't become any less of an asshole once he has made some friends and developed super powers. Matt, who likes to use fancy words, especially those of Greek etymology, warns his cousin of the dangers of hubris, but Andrew remains oblivious and as he becomes more powerful, will Matt and Steve be able to control him?

Chronicle is pretty silly, which is fine, although the last 20 minutes disappointed me. I mean, there's silly and there's batshit crazy (and then there's Carrie 2: The Rage). For a fun, concise examination of one of those "what would you do if...?" thought experiments, though, Chronicle does the trick.

Winter, Er, Wonderland III

After being lulled into a false sense of security, weather-wise, winter finally hit London last night. I went out into the provinces (well, Hertfordshire) for my friend's birthday but thanks to a derailment the day before, half of the services from Euston were cancelled before I left. On leaving the curry place at around 9.30, the town had been swathed in a deep blanket of snow. After the issues I had with trains and snow two years ago (where I arrived at Cambridge station at around 8.30 pm and got home at 2.30 am), I had really wanted to get the 9.15 train, which was showing up as being on time, but I was pressured into getting the next train (which was already running 10 minutes late, getting into the provincial town at 10).

The snowy walk home

After wading my way through the slush to the station, I noticed that my train was still expected to get in at 10. But then 10 o'clock came and went, with the due arrival time changing along with the clock. A few people tried calling National Rail and got various answers--that the train would be there any minute, that it was still in Northampton, that it was delayed due to snow, that it was delayed due to a signal failure, and so on. Of course, all I could think about was that horrible experience in 2009--at least this time I didn't have a job interview at 9 o'clock the following morning. Eventually, the train showed up at 10.40, and we got into Euston at 11.15, where I discovered the snow was even settling in London. As I was freezing by this point, the last thing I wanted to do was wait in the cold for a bus and so decided to walk, even though I was wearing boots with kitten heels. It was pretty slippy (maybe this is why my thighs were aching this morning) but I didn't fall.

Boris Bikes in the snow

I thought about going to Regent's Park or Hyde Park this morning to take some photos of the snow but I took quite a few snow photos last winter and also, I didn't really want to leave the warmth of my flat until it was nearly time for Young Adult. The snow is already melting here, so hopefully, there won't be too many further disruptions. I can haz spring pls?

Forever Young

I think I've found a new entry in my unintentional quest to find the worst cinema screen in London and--shocker--it isn't an Odeon. I have tended to avoid the Empire in Leicester Square but mainly because of the ticket prices, but as it was the only cinema showing Young Adult in the West End this weekend, I decided to make an exception. The ticket turned out to be only £9.95 (a bargain in central London) but the screen was terrible: it was barely bigger than a decent-sized living room and because the website wouldn't let me book just one ticket in the row I chose (even though the rows have odd numbers), I had to queue at the cinema, by which time only the front row was left. And the front row was no more than 1.5 m away from the screen; if my legs were slightly longer, I could have kicked the screen, so avoid screen 9 at the Empire unless you're in the back row. It made for uncomfortable viewing, that's for sure.

As did Young Adult itself. Penned by Diablo Cody of Juno fame, Young Adult tells the story of Mavis (Charlize Theron), the beautiful, thirty-something ghost writer of a popular series of young adult fiction called Waverly Place, which sounds not unlike the Sweet Valley High books I used to read and which Cody is currently adapting for the big screen. Mavis is also a lot like what SVH's Jessica Wakefield would be like in her thirties: beautiful and with a fun job and nice apartment but ultimately, bitter, immature and unfulfilled.

Indeed, the plot of Young Adult also resembles the plot of most SVH books: selfish, immature protagonist has a bad idea; acts on it, disregarding common sense and the feelings of others; and eventually realises how horrible she is and thinks she ought to change (until the next episode). When Mavis finds out her high-school boyfriend Buddy (Patrick Wilson) has just had a baby with his wife Beth (Elizabeth Reaser), she decides that the best way to achieve satisfaction in her life of one-night stands, Hello Kitty t-shirts and KFC dinners is for her to go back from the big city (Minneapolis) to the small town where she grew up and where Buddy and Beth still live, and to try to win him back.

Mavis meets up with Buddy several times and tries to seduce her way back into his life, convinced he is "trapped" and "miserable," even though he and Beth seem happy and even though the latter does her best to make Mavis feel welcome, admiring her success in the big city. She wears small-town-inappropriate clothes to low-key events and generally makes a fool of herself. It is pretty awkward. Meanwhile, she is trying to finish her latest YA novel but is often distracted and has to go to KFC or the mall to eavesdrop on real teenagers and "borrow" their dialogue.

Soon after she arrives, she bumps into Matt (Patton Oswalt), another guy who attended her high school who she barely remembers until she sees his cane--he was attacked and beaten by a group of popular guys and has been crippled. Matt thinks Mavis's plan is a bad idea and tries to discourage her but strangely, they start to become friends. Matt too seems like he's not quite ready to grow up, still living in his sister's basement, brewing booze and painting model figurines, and still defining himself by the event in high school that damaged him so badly.

Young Adult is less funny and a lot less sweet than Juno (not that Juno is that sweet). Theron's Mavis is highly unlikable and even though we don't see very much of Buddy or Beth, they are much more sympathetic characters. Matt is more ambiguous--although he tries to make Mavis do the right thing, he clearly has issues of his own. Oswalt and Theron make a very odd pair visually but the friendship of their characters works well and brings a more human side to Mavis. Whether Mavis has really learnt anything by the end of the film remains unclear, although we are probably meant to infer from the voice-over of the last chapter of her YA book what she will decide to do. At times, rather like Mavis's life, Young Adult felt a little shallow but Theron is really good and very funny and the script is sharp, dark and fast-paced. It will probably be a good warm-up for the upcoming Sweet Valley High movie (which will, apparently, be a musical...).

Meat and Two Veg: Meat People Review

It is surprisingly difficult to find good steak in London. Even pricier restaurants don't always get it right and Le Relais de Venise is usually my first choice. For £21 you get a really juicy, perfectly cooked steak (served in two stages so the second half doesn't get cold), more-ish frites, a tasty salad and baguette. There are always queues outside the Marylebone branch, which means it isn't always the best place to go for a slow, relaxing dinner.

Enter Meat People (not to be confused with Meat Liquor), a new restaurant in Islington--so new, in fact, that there is still no menu, address or information about opening times on its website. In fact, if it wasn't for a recommendation from The Nudge, it would have been months before I ventured far enough up the Essex Road to come across it. It was perhaps unsurprising, then, that at six o'clock on a freezing cold week night, we were the only customers; by the time we left, there was one other couple there. This is a shame because Meat People is a great little place. The menu is fairly simple: there are a couple of steak options (rib eye and onglet, reasonably priced at £18 and £13, respectively), ribs and a few more adventurous choices. Luckily, I discovered before ordering that the starter special was also a lot more adventurous than I realised--sweet bread (not being 'sweet' or 'bread') marinated in lemon, lime and rosemary, on a bed of rocket.

In any case, I couldn't not have steak and the onglet came impressively medium rare. We had some warm bread to nibble on while waiting for our main course, although the steak appeared stark on the otherwise empty white plate. We shared some chunky chips but weren't tempted by any of the other side dishes. I was also put off by the idea of paying extra for Bearnaise sauce but luckily, the steak was good enough that it didn't need any garnishes or sauces. Puddings were also tasty. I opted for the lime cheesecake with white chocolate sauce and unlike the main course, it arrived looking a little like a Jackson Pollock painting (in a good way), with assorted mini pieces of fruit and sauces liberally scattered over the top. The tang of the lime contrasted well with the richness of the cake.

The service was very friendly, although I always feel a bit awkward when the ratio of staff to customers is 1:1. The attentiveness made it hard to take photos too, especially as I only had my iPhone with me, and so the quality isn't great. I did like the retro feel of the simple but elegant decor. Meat People's website reads, "Meat People. Neighbourhood. Steak & Cocktails" (the font fickleness is echoed in the menu too). Hopefully, it will become a buzzing neighbourhood restaurant once it gets going. As for the cocktails, there was no cocktail menu, although they "can do mixers". There are a good range of wines by the glass but as an aficionada of artisanal cocktails, I thought it was a shame my expectations for a creative, well-mixed drink were not met. Otherwise, though, Meat People is a friendly, characterful restaurant, serving very good steak--give it a try before all of N1 is calling it their own neighbourhood restaurant.

Meat People. 4-6 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN (Tube: Angel or Essex Road rail). Website. Twitter.