Etc — August 2016

1. You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
Megan Abbott's latest novel, You Will Know Me, which is set in the world of competitive gymnastics, is an ideal read for anyone mourning the end of this year's Olympic Games. 15-year-old Devon Knox is about to qualify as a Senior Elite gymnast, which would put her one hop from the US national team and just two skips from the Olympic team. Since she was three years old, her whole life has been focused around achieving this goal since with an uncommon drive and single-mindedness, and her parents Katie and Eric have done everything they can to support, encourage and finance their 'extraordinary' daughter's ambition and talent. But in run-up to the qualification, a violent accident throws shockwaves through the community, threatening to destroy Devon's hard work and the sacrifices her family have made to propel her into the top spot.

You Will Know Me is told through the perspective of Katie as she becomes drawn into the investigation of the accident, and the novel is a compelling and suspenseful story of ambition and love, posing the question of what a parent wouldn't do to help their child achieve her dreams. There isn't as much gymnastics in the novel as I would have liked — the novel focuses more on what it takes to be a top-level gymnast (or her parent) and the relationships among the gymnasts' families — but the story is nonetheless taut and addicting.

2. Stranger Things
I'm a little late to the party on this but if you haven't already checked out the Netflix series Stranger Things, I would highly recommend that you do. The series opens in the month of my birth, November 1983, in a small Indiana town. A 12-year-old boy vanishes and the police, his mother and his friends begin to investigate. Winona Ryder, who plays the boy's mother, gets top billing but it's the young cast (especially Mille Bobby Brown as Eleven) who really impress. Moreover, the show seamlessly melds genres, from horror and sci-fi, to political thriller and mystery, with a hefty dose of inspiration from classic 1980s films. If you like Stephen King or John Carpenter, you'll probably love Stranger Things.

3. FM-84
This music recommendation follows on quite neatly from Stranger Things because California-based FM-84's blend of 1980s-inspired synth pop would slot in nicely to the show's soundtrack — or Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, another Netflix series, for that matter. I particularly like the song Running in the Night, which features vocals from Ollie Wride, but I've been listening to the whole album (Atlas) repeatedly over the past month. It's a great soundtrack for summer. You can download the music from Bandcamp.



4. Undertow by Elizabeth Heathcote
In Elizabeth Heathcote's gripping psychological thriller, freelance journalist Carmen struggles with demons from the past — her husband Tom's demons, to be more precise. Tom has three children from his first marriage to Laura, a practical and self-assured fellow lawyer, but it's his relationship with Zena, the beautiful but troubled woman for whom he left Laura, that is still creating ripples even three years after Zena drowned in the sea. Carmen's freelance career is floundering and she must also deal with the challenge of being a step-mother to Tom's children, when she begins to discover that her husband seems to have been keeping secrets from her. Secrets that could shatter her marriage — and her whole world.

Although Undertow loses pace during the middle section, the opening is smart and intriguing and the dramatic conclusion is suspenseful and surprising. Carmen is a sympathetic character but sometimes felt like a bit of a cipher — a means to tell an interesting story about other characters.  I also wondered whether it was a coincidence that Zena nearly shares a name with the eponymous robber bride Zenia in Margaret Atwood's novel. Heathcote really captures the essence of the places in her novel — both the beautiful Norfolk coast (the sea itself being a catalyst and having a constant, looming presence) and Carmen and Tom's southeast London neighbourhood, and Undertow is a well-plotted and clever mystery.

Disclaimer: Undertow will be published by Quercus on 1 September 2016. I received a pre-release copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

5.  A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto
Seicho Matsumoto, who died in 1992, is widely acclaimed as one of Japan's best crime novelists. His work came to my attention when a new English translation by Louise Heal Kawai of his 1976 novel Kikanakatta Basho (A Quiet Place) was published earlier this year. The novel centres on Tsuneo Asai, a modest and precise government bureaucrat who learns that his wife has died suddenly while he is on a business trip. Although his wife had a heart condition and, as such, for her to die of a heart attack wasn't entirely unexpected, the circumstances surrounding her death do not seem to quite ring true to Tsuneo and he begins to investigate. Matsumoto's novel is meticulous in its execution and a wonderfully controlled piece of writing — even as events begin to spiral out of control, he maintains the suspense without deviating into the realms of hyperbole or hysteria.

A Quiet Place is as much of a character study of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances as it is a crime thriller and it is the perfect antidote to the numerous books whose jackets proclaim them to be 'the new Gone Girl' or 'the new Girl on the Train'. Although it was written and set in the 1970s, it hasn't become dated and you can really see how the writer (and translator) have taken great care in choosing each word so that it is exactly right.

Etc — June 2016

Jika Jika
Although I spend more time than I would like walking between King's Cross and Euston Square, I was surprised not to have found out about Jika Jika until relatively recently. I was helping to run a conference across the road from the coffee shop's North Gower Street location and just had time for a quick coffee before we kicked off. Small and cheerful with mint green walls and a La Marzocco to match, Jika Jika was a welcome respite from the chaos of the Euston Road. I had a piccolo, which was very good, although the breakfast menu was also rather impressive; it was just a shame I had already eaten.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
One of my all-time favourite Shakespeare adaptations is Gil Junger's 10 Things I Hate About You. I saw it as a teenager with my family and we all loved its smart but sweet take on The Taming of the Shrew. In Anne Tyler's new retelling of the play, Kate Battista is a 29-year-old preschool teacher who still lives at home to look after her teenage sister Bunny and grumpy scientist father. Kate does everything for her father and sister but her father still wants one last favour: for Kate to marry his brilliant Russian research assistant, Pyotr, so that he can get a green card and continue to work for Dr Battista. The eponymous vinegar girl isn't going to be won over without a fight, though, or without plenty of bile being spilled along the way.

Tyler's reimagining is charming and enjoyable, with its tongue firmly in its cheek (watch out for the 'shrew' joke and Cole Porter reference). Kate herself was perhaps too sympathetic and neither feisty nor truculent enough for the role. Will the shrew be tamed? Will Pyotr run out of proverbs from his country? And will any of the other characters learn to say his name correctly? All of these will be revealed in due course but, like, the ending of the novel, you probably have a good idea.

Disclaimer: Vinegar Girl is out now, published by Vintage Books. I received a pre-release copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.


White Mulberries
Every time I go to White Mulberries, it reinforces my view that the diminutive café is one of London's finest. It's actually pretty close to home for me — just the other side of Tower Bridge in St Katharine's Docks — but because it's slightly tucked away, out of sight occasionally becomes out of mind. White Mulberries really shines on sunny days like last Sunday, where you can enjoy your coffee with a view of the boats bobbing in marina. This time I had a piccolo, which was pretty close to perfect with the latte art running all the way down, but I've always had great coffee here, whatever I order. My only problem is that I get distracted by the toasties on the counter and forget to order the avocado toast. A rookie error.

Eleanor by Jason Gurley
I was drawn to Jason Gurley's novel Eleanor by the stunning, ethereal cover, which jumped out at me from the shelves of Portland's wonderful Powell's Books. I didn't have room for the weighty hardback in my suitcase but I borrowed it as soon as it became available in my local library. It's a hard novel to describe — it is better experienced — but essentially it tells the story of three generations of women from a single family (two of whom are called Eleanor) and set on the Oregon coast during three different decades. Each one is haunted by loss and seeking redemption, meaning and perhaps happiness. Ripples of tragedy seep across the generations, wreaking consequences for decades to come.

There is also a strong fantasy component interspersed within, and in fact integral to, the story — strange, other-worldly beings may offer some form of redemption. I was less interested in these elements and think Eleanor would have made a stronger story if they had remained more ambiguous, more implicit. Gurley's prose is beautiful, poignant and haunting, however, and although I wasn't always sure where Eleanor was going, it was an imaginative ride.


Game of Thrones season six
After The Good Wife ended, I was feeling hugely uninspired by TV. I wasn't even going to watch the latest season of Game of Thrones at all as I hadn't been impressed with season five, but I persevered and boy am I glad I did. The whole of season six was great entertainment, especially the last two episodes and, in particular, the spectacular opening sequence of the finale, which was fantastic television. The music is spot on as usual, but most importantly the audience finally gets some pay-offs for years of loyal viewing. If you aren't yet caught up to the latest season, it's worth doing. Besides, you have about ten months now until season seven starts.

"Melodrama, Your Honor"

The end's not here, it's here. That was the title of the final episode of The O.C., which aired back in 2007 and which may not seem to have that much in common with last night's series finale of The Good Wife. Nonetheless, I've been humming the Band of Horses song for which The O.C. finale was named for the past few months: they were both shows that were important to me at different times of my life and which I watched every week from the start (or almost the start, in the case of The O.C.).

I'm about to discuss the series finale of The Good Wife and some of my thoughts on the whole series so if you are not caught up with The Good Wife, please do look away now.


* * * S P O I L E R  A L E R T * * *


I started watching The Good Wife soon after its first episode aired in 2009. It was discussed on a podcast I used to listen to, Slate's Double X Gabfest, and although the Slate crew didn't exactly give it a glowing review, I was intrigued: I came for the legal procedural and stayed for the politics and the romance.

There are so few shows that I watched week by week for the entire length of their run, especially in this age of Netflix, but for almost seven years, The Good Wife has been my favourite show. The acting has always been top notch. Julianna Marguiles has been terrific as Alicia Florrick, the eponymous good wife turned lawyer, law-firm owner and politician, who, red wine in hand, has to deal with raising her kids and her husband Peter's (Chris Noth) endless cycle of hubristic rises and humbling falls.

Matt Czuchry charmed as Alicia's rival and then friend and eventually business partner Cary Agos, while Christine Baranski's Diane Lockhart veered between mentor and antagonist, and Archie Panjabi gave us the enigmatic investigator Kalinda Sharma, whose friendship with Alicia sparkled in the first two seasons, although the character was poorly used in the later seasons. There have been so many amazing series regulars and guest stars — Alan Cumming's political strategist Eli Gold remains a favourite, as do many of the quirky judges. Then, of course, there was Will Gardner, played by the talented Josh Charles — Alicia's on-again, off-again lover and possible true love, who was brutally gunned down by a client mid-way through season five, with no warning and no closure, for the characters or the viewers. I was only able to rewatch that episode and the following one a few weeks ago and I still bawled my eyes out.

The writing has also been a strong point for the show: they created characters who were complex, flawed and believable, and put them into interesting situations. Some of my friends who started binge-watching the show found it both too quirky and too formulaic, but watched weekly, the episodes have the perfect balance of the sublime and the ridiculous, the dark and the droll. Ripped-from-the-headlines cases taught me as much about technology issues as about legal and political matters, and the writers were never afraid to innovate. Sometimes, the cases and the storylines misfired, but the show adapted and moved on (usually).

Of course, as I predicted two years ago, my heart hasn't really been in The Good Wife since Alicia and Will's romance was declared permanently unresolved. Don't get me wrong, I've still enjoyed it, even through the show's muddled sixth season and uneven seventh season, but I was always listening out for the small bones the writers would occasionally throw my way: those rare, elusive mentions of Will Gardner.

And so we come to the series finale. Much of this final season has been dedicated to history repeating itself: the law firm reforms and reinvents itself again; Alicia gets a new lover but makes the same old mistakes; Peter is being investigated for yet another misdeed while in office and, in the final two episodes, must stand trial. Alicia and Diane with the help of associate Lucca (Cush Jumbo) and investigator Jason (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) — also Alicia's lover — are working hard try to keep him out of prison and perhaps even save his career (again). But Alicia is doing it all out of duty: she couldn't care less what happens to Peter on a personal level and has already told him she will divorce him, but she is in good-wife, tiger-mom mode. Will Peter be convicted and go to prison again? Will Alicia stand by him one last time or will she run off with Jason?

I was so worried about being spoiled again by The Good Wife Facebook page that I unliked it last night. I really wanted to go into the finale fresh, although I had read a few hints from the showrunners and stars. I knew, for example, that total — or even partial — closure was unlikely and indeed, wouldn't have been a fitting ending. Margulies noted that she thought fans would either love it or hate it.

I had also seen the rumours that Josh Charles might be donning his best Will Gardner suits one last time for a few flashback or dream sequences. And indeed he did: there were several sequences that took place in Alicia's imagination where she and Will talked about everything from legal cases to love and life. It isn't the first time Alicia and Will have talked in her mind since his untimely demise but it was the most substantial; and how could you really have a Good Wife finale without Will Gardner? He also gets the best lines, as usual. "It was romantic because it didn't happen," he reminds Alicia, echoing her own season-one comment on their could-have-been law school romance. Then: "Very few people are me." Finally, and heartbreakingly, after Alicia bids him farewell and tells him she'll love him forever, he replies, with that wonderful Charles charisma: "I'm OK with that." Those two always had the best chemistry.

After all that, I wasn't too concerned with all of the show's other ends being tied up neatly. A lot of time is taken over the trial as Diane and Alicia struggle with the assistant US attorney (Matthew Morrison) to achieve the outcome they want. Alicia betrays Diane one time too many and is rewarded with a (well-deserved)  sharp slap in the face in a scene that mirrored the slap Alicia gave Peter in the very first episode. This simple action conveys so much: not least how unlikable Alicia often is, making Marguiles' portrayal even more impressive. Will, perhaps, put this best when he and Alicia were fighting in season five: "God, you're awful and you don't even know how awful you are."

There were other callbacks too: when the AUSA described Diane's tactics as, "melodrama, your honor," all I could think of was the title of the fateful episode where Will was shot, in which the prosecutor (Matthew Goode) criticised Will's moves as, "dramatics, your honor." But what of Diane? What of Kalinda? We don't even know what Alicia will do next (Eli, of course, wants her in the White House now that Peter's career is sunk, and her new partnership with Diane may now be floundering before it has really begun) or whether Jason is gone for good. Alicia's endings actually sit fine for me and at least there was some closure for Cary, but I feel that Diane deserved better.

Overall, though, I think it was a dark and sad but fitting end to what has been my favourite show as an adult. In many ways, the antepenultimate episode (Party) served as a more traditional goodbye episode to many of the show's most loved characters. And although I think there was too much time dedicated to a case that many viewers — and Alicia — had long since lost interest in, the finale, like the whole series, achieved that great balance between a court case, Alicia's personal struggle ('the education of Alicia Florrick') and political/law-firm intrigue.

The Good Wife was still one of the best shows on TV, but had been gradually declining in quality over the past couple of years (the fifth season was by far the best; a stunning series of plot arcs with outstanding acting and writing) and I'm glad that it is going out on a high note. That said, I'm also very sad that it has to end at all. It is only a TV show, but when you've watched something every week for seven years, it becomes a part of your life, albeit only a small one. You've been great, Alicia Florrick and co, and I will miss you. I don't like red wine so I'm raising a shot of tequila to you all!

November Favourites

It's been a busy couple of weeks and so I'm a little late posting my November favourites, but here are a few of the things I enjoyed last month.

1. The Lobster
I wanted to catch The Lobster, the absurd, dystopian film from Yorgos Lanthimos, at the London Film Festival but couldn't get tickets. The reviews were mixed when the film was released and so I wasn't going to bother going to see it, but then I got tickets to a free screening and figured it was worth a punt. I'm really glad I did. The story centres around a near-future world where it is illegal for adults to be single. If your relationship ends, you go to The Hotel (run by a character played by the ever-excellent Olivia Colman) and have 45 days to find a suitable partner or you will be turned into the animal of your choice. Love, however, is less important than 'suitability', which seems to be defined by a shared interest or 'flaw', such as propensity for nose bleeds.

The lobster is the animal chosen by Colin Farrell's David, who enters the hotel at the start of the film after his wife leave him. The result is a combination of Sartre's Les Jeux Sont Faits and Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror, with a hefty dose of absurdism. It is thought-provoking and funny in both sense of the word, and Farrell and Rachel Weisz are both great.

2. Curators Coffee Gallery
Since I visited Curators Coffee's Oxford Circus location last year, I've been a convert. The café is a beautifully designed haven, just a few minutes' walk from the Oxford Street crowds. The coffee is excellent and there are often innovative coffee-based drinks on the menu. I stopped by last month for a Chemex, a cookie and a chillax. The staff are very friendly and it's a great place to hang out.

3. The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood
I enjoyed, but didn't love, Alex Marwood's first novel, The Wicked Girls, but was intrigued by the blurb for her forthcoming novel, The Darkest Secret and it is a real page-turner; I stayed up way too late one night last week, powering through the twists to get to the end. In the summer of 2004, a three-year-old girl goes missing while her identical twin sister sleeps and her father, Sean, celebrates his fiftieth birthday with his wife and closest friends. Twelve years later, one of Sean's daughters from his first marriage — 27-year-old Mila — deals with another family tragedy and tries to understand what really happened back in 2004.

The novel alternates between Mila's first-person, present-day narrative and third-person perspectives from the guests at Sean's birthday party: his probably soon-to-be-ex second wife, Claire; his lawyer best friend Robert, Robert's wife Maria, a PR guru, and his teenage daughter who has a serious case of the Lolitas; an alcoholic MP and his bland wife; and Sean's possible new love interest — the interior designer for his property company — and her partner, a fun-loving doctor who has brought his own box of medical tricks.

None of the characters are especially likeable but Sean and his family make for compelling reading as we gradually begin to understand what really happened that weekend — and what has happened to Mila and her family since then. Marwood's writing is bold and edgy, and she conveys the voices of the different characters very effectively. I saw the final twist coming fairly early on, but that didn't make getting there any less enjoyable. The Darkest Secret is sometimes shocking and often dark, but always entertaining.

Disclaimer: The Darkest Secret will be published in the UK on 7 January 2016. I received a pre-release copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

4. kikki.K
I usually try to pass through Covent Garden as swiftly as possible but there is now a new reason to linger in the form of Swedish import kikki.K, a shop that has an Instagram-ready collection of stationery, organisation goods and homewares in pretty pastel shades. If HAY, Kate Spade and Muji had a baby, kikki.K wouldn't be far off. My inner cynic wants to hate it (some of the 'inspiration journals' are too twee by far) but I'm a sucker for this kind of thing and it's the perfect place to find stocking fillers and gifts for those hard-to-buy-for people. I particularly like this travel wallet, this diary and this desk clock. The London store is at 5-6 James Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 8BH.

5. The Bridge
I've sung the praises of this Swedish–Danish collaboration before, but the third series has just started to air in the UK. BBC Four is airing two episodes every Saturday night — the first four are still available on iPlayer. Nordic noirs are ten-a-penny these days, but The Bridge is really excellent, elevated by Sofia Helin's strong performance as Saga Norén, the brilliant but complex Swedish detective at its centre. There is a significant character change for the third series, which I won't mention in case you haven't yet seen the first two series. I was worried that this would make for a weaker show, but so far, series three has been just as good, as Saga struggles to deal with present relationships and her past while a new string of murders breaks out. Great Saturday-night viewing.

September Favourites

It's now officially autumn, but London is finally getting a bit of Indian summer — or sunshine, at any rate, which is almost as good. My long weekend in Copenhagen and another imminent European getaway have meant that I have tried to cut down on my eating-out and entertainment expenses this month. As such, culcha picks outnumber food and drink in my list of favourites for this month.

1. A Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell.
When I travel, I like to read books about or set in the country I am visiting. Russell, a journalist, and her husband moved to Denmark for a year and this book reveals what it's like to live in Europe's happiest country. There are long winters, huge taxes and plenty of rules, but the welfare system, the snegl (pastries) and the hygge more than make up for it. Russell's writing is sharp, funny and engaging — her book reminded me a lot of Bill Bryson's travel writing.

2. Brunch at No 67
There are plenty of great places for brunch in Peckham, but No 67 remains at or close to the top of the list. You shouldn't have to wait for a table if you arrive soon after 10 am, and as well as the cosy front room and the larger, minimalist back room, there are a fair few tables outdoors. It was beautiful and sunny during my last visit, so we took advantage of the clemency and dined al fresco. There are a lot of great choices on the brunch menu, but I usually find myself choosing between the waffles with bacon and bourbon syrup (£7.75) and the scrambled eggs and bacon on sourdough (£7.75). This time I went for the latter (partly so that I could also have a muffin for 'pudding') and it was the right call. The food is always good and the bacon comes crispy as standard (they have a special grill, apparently). If you want a bit of post-brunch culture, you can drop by the adjacent South London Gallery.

3. Miss You Already
Catherine Hardwicke's film sees Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore star as two lifelong best friends who find their lives diverging rapidly, as Collette's Milly, a successful PR, receives a breast cancer diagnosis, while Barrymore's Jess tries to get pregnant. The story isn't especially novel, but the performances of the two actresses and the chemistry between them elevates the film, and Milly's spiky retorts and (perhaps justifiably) selfish or thoughtless actions keep it from descending in to mawkishness. There are also good supporting performances from Dominic Cooper and Paddy Considine, as Milly's and Jess's husbands, respectively. A lot of the film was shot in Southwark (particularly around Borough and on the river in Rotherhithe) and it was fun to see parts of my borough on the big screen.

4. The Coffee Collective coffee.
I waxed lyrical about this trilogy of cafés and roasteries in my Copenhagen Coffee guide, but since my return from the Danish capital, I have been sampling the beans I brought home with me. I bought the Finca Vista Hermosa beans from Guatemala and, brewed in an Aeropress, the variety works well for this time of year: the coffee has the chocolatey smoothness you would expect from Central America, but with some fruity, citrusy notes to keep it interesting. You can order online, but I'd recommend a trip to Copenhagen instead!

5. How To Get Away with Murder
I have to wait another week before the new season of The Good Wife starts and to whet my appetite, I decided to give this show a go — my curiosity was also piqued by its star, Viola Davis, just winning an Emmy. HTGAWM is a sort of mash-up of The Good Wife, Legally Blonde and either Desperate Housewives or Pretty Little Liars. Davis plays Annalise Keating, a formidable criminal law professor, who selects five students from her class each year to join her firm and help out on her cases. Each week, there is a case-of-the-week — often similar cases or loopholes to The Good Wife but not executed as well. There is also an ongoing investigation into the murder of a female student at the university and, possibly connected with this, regular flash-forwards reveal that the five law students and their professor become involved, to some degree, in another murder.

HTGAWM does feel a little flimsy at times, with rushed sub-plots, forgettable performances from most of the actors playing the students and under-used actors playing Keating's other employees. Davis is wonderful, though, as she plays a complex and often unlikeable, though impressive, character. For all its frothiness, the show is quite addicting: I rattled through the breakneck first half of season one pretty quickly, and although it seemed to lose its way mid-season, things start to pick up again as it rattles on towards the finale.

Summit Special: Everest Review

I first came across the 1996 Mount Everest disaster a few years ago when some of the details were used in the case-of-the-week in an episode of The Good Wife. Although the case itself fell into the background as the show focused on the difference between the UK and US legal systems — in particular, the UK libel laws that put the burden of proof on the defendant and not the plaintiff — I was intrigued.

Not intrigued enough to pick up a copy of Into Thin Air, journalist Jon Krakauer's controversial first-hand account of the catastrophic expedition until earlier this year, when I had heard that Baltasar Kormákur's movie, Everest, would soon be released. I didn't really get into Krakauer's book — maybe I didn't gel with his writing or maybe I was reading too quickly and, not being well-versed in climbing expeditions, found it hard to build a vivid picture of the mountain and the events that took place on it. Kormákur's film, which is visually striking and compelling, if emotionally manipulative, doesn't have these flaws, although it isn't perfect itself.

Everest tells the story of a severe snow storm on Mount Everest in May 1996, which devastated several climbing expeditions that were attempting to reach the summit. Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) is leading the Adventure Consultants expedition, leaving his heavily pregnant wife Jan (Keira Knightley) back in New Zealand. He and his team are guiding eight clients, each of whom has paid up to $65,000 for the chance to reach the summit of Everest. The group includes Jon Krakauer (Michael Kelly), who will be writing a profile for Outside magazine, American doctor Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) and postman Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), who took part in a previous Adventure Consultans Everest expedition but didn't reach the summit. While Rob worries about his wife, his base-camp manager Helen (Emily Watson) worries about the company's finances.

By 1996, commercial hiking expeditions to Everest have really taken off and when Rob's group arrive at base camp, it is hectic and crowded. Rob's old friend Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), who runs a rival company, Mountain Madness, is leading another expedition. Scott seems to think that Rob has 'stolen' Jon away, and he also implies that although his own clients are all serious climbers, Rob's group need a lot more of a helping hand to get to the top. Meanwhile, the volume of hiking traffic means that there are big queues for all the ropes and bridges on the training hikes.

The conditions are looking good, though, and just after midnight on 10 May, several groups, including Rob's and Scott's, begin their attempts for the summit. When the sun comes up, it's a beautiful day and spirits run high. Although bottlenecks arise at some of the more challenging parts of the journey, many of the climbers reached the summit, celebrating with that kind of exhausted, oxygen-deprived jubilation you can only get when you're literally on top of the world. Others struggle, however; Rob tries to encourage them to descend, but some people are so desperate to achieve their dream that they persuade their leader to allow them to continue. And then disaster strikes when a huge storm hits.

I won't go into any more detail about what happens, but suffice to say that not everyone makes it back down from the mountain. Kormákur's film has a good ensemble cast, with many of the actors putting on their best Kiwi accents (I wondered if the film should be called Uhvuhrust). None of the performances were truly outstanding, although Emily Watson and Robin Wright, in a small role as Beck Weathers' wife, were great as always.

Everest is a tale of survival, friendship and heroism, but it is also one of great hubris — it is hard for a non-climber to understand why so many people are willing to give up everything for the chance to spend a few moments on the summit of Everest. Maybe it's different when you don't know the ending, but I found myself being swept up in the emotional ebbs and flows of the story. And yes, I cried. Of course, the film is beautifully shot and the first half, at least, is a great advert for Himalayan climbing expeditions. I saw the film in 3D and although I would have liked to turn off the 3D effect in the 'hangin' round in New Zealand/Kathmandu scenes, it was particularly effective for the mountain scenes.

We can never fully know exactly what happened up there and who deserves praise and who — if anyone — deserves blame. There are eye-witness accounts and satellite phone call logs, of course, but they only tell part of the story. Human memory is always imperfect, particularly among those who are sleep-deprived and suffering from oxygen deprival and frostbite. The conditions at the time made identifying fellow climbers very challenging, and there were several cases of mistaken identity, which complicated matters further.

If you have seen Everest and are keen to know more, check out Storm Over Everest, a documentary by cinematographer David Breashears (who was on Everest at the time with the IMAX team), which
makes a nice companion piece to Into Thin Air and Everest.

August Favourites

So long, summer, and aloha, autumn; that's what the cool and rainy London weather this week seems to be suggesting, at any rate. Here are a few of my favourite things from August, all of which can be enjoyed indoors!

1. Mulholland Dr.
I first saw this David Lynch masterpiece in a student dorm room well over a decade ago. We spent hours trying to 'solve' the mysteries the film poses using the handy list of ten clues that the studio insisted Lynch included with the DVD. Since then, I've probably seen the film about ten times, but never on the big screen, so I was really excited by the chance to watch it at a late-night screening on Saturday night in the lounge screen at the Hackney Picturehouse. The low-level, almost fully reclined seating was very comfortable, although perhaps not entirely suitable for a late-night 2h30 film that blurs boundaries between dreams, reality and nightmares.

If you haven't seen Mulholland Dr. yet, you should definitely seek it out and I would suggest trying not to read anything about the film in advance (don't worry; you can read up in advance of your second, third and fourth viewing). My brother recommended this review/interpretation of the film and it is a good read, although it is pretty epic and written in shouty caps.

2. Hawksmoor cocktails.
I've enjoyed a number of wonderful, meat-centric meals at the various Hawksmoor restaurants over the years. The food is great, but the cocktails are also superb and we went for a few after-dinner drinks at the Air Street location after dinner in Soho recently. The menu is organised by suggested position in the meal, from anti-fogmatics and pre-prandials to disco drinks. The drinks all sound so interesting and exquisitely well thought out that it can take a good ten minutes to read the menu and make your choice. Subversively, I went for a pair of anti-fogmatics: the Farewell to Arms (I can't resist a good literary cocktail), pictured below, with rum, maraschino, sugar and citric acid, and the Marmalade cocktail (gin, campari, lemon and marmalade). Both were expertly mixed, but I think my brother won the cocktail lottery, with his Full-Fat Old Fashioned (butter-infused bourbon with sugar). Decadent and delicious.

3. Hannibal
I started watching Bryan Fuller's now probably doomed TV interpretation of Thomas Harris's books about the pre-Silence of the Lambs Hannibal Lecter after watching the first couple of episodes at a friend's house last summer. Will (Hugh Dancy), a young criminal profiler, must work with psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) to try to solve a series of violent murders. Although the audience knows Hannibal's secret, Will and his FBI colleagues (including Caroline Dhavernas and Laurence Fishburne) have no idea who Hannibal is.

The show combines dramatic cases-of-the-week with the much more subtle development of the relationship between Will and Hannibal. At its heart, Hannibal is a bromance and a sensual one at that. The culinary artistry and the music are wonderful, but it's Mikkelsen's performance that really stands out. I thought that the second season dragged a little, but the third (and probably final) season is very well done. NB, probably not one to watch over dinner.

4. Heartbeat installation in Covent Garden Market
If you're in the West End of London between now and 27 September, it's worth making a detour to the Covent Garden Market building, where 100,000 white balloons currently fill the space, pulsating with light. The balloons are part of an installation called Heartbeat by Charles Pétillon, and they glow and fade before your eyes in a mesmerising rhythm. This time-lapse video probably gives you a better idea of what it looks like.

5. Trainwreck
As summer faded and some of the more interesting films began to replace silly blockbusters at the cinema, I got back into the habit of going to the movies more often. I didn't think Trainwreck sounded like my kind of film at first; I'm not a big Judd Apatow fan and it sounded a little like Jason Reitman's Young Adult, which underwhelmed me. Swayed by the profusion of positive reviews — and a £4.99 screening at the Peckhamplex — I caved, and ended up enjoying it a lot.

Trainwreck is wickedly funny, sharp and self-knowing. One of the reviews I read described it as the Manhattan for Gen-Y, which isn't a bad comparison. Amy Schumer as the brash, often thoughtless, commitment-phobic men's magazine writer, and Bill Hader, as the sweet, but somewhat reserved and geeky sports surgeon she has to interview, make a great on-screen pair. Great cinema, it ain't, but it is very entertaining.

July Favourites

1. Honest Burgers Karma Cola special. It's no secret that I think Honest Burgers' signature burger — the eponymous Honest Burger — is one of my top three burgers in London. They also do monthly specials, but the Honest Burger is so near-perfect that it takes a good 'un to tempt me away. This month's special is a cola-boration with Karma Cola and sounded so epic that I couldn't say no. For £11.50 (£12.50 if you order a Karma Cola too) you get an amazing burger with smoked cheddar, Karma-Cola-braised beef, pickles and chilli coleslaw. Oh, and the standard Honest rosemary chips (NB, standard isn't the right word, because they are awesome).

Unsurprisingly, the result is delicious. But if that isn't motivation enough, £1 from every burger sold is being donated to the Karma Cola Foundation, the proceeds of which go to support cola nut growers in West Africa. Everybody wins.

2. Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. Regular readers will know that I'm a regular reader—I'm currently reading my 93rd book of the year—and I'm always looking for inspiration for the next book on my e-reader. This means that when I discover a writer I like, I tend to make my way through their back catalogue. There are five books so far in French's series about the (fictional) Dublin Murder Squad. Each book is narrated by a different detective and involves a contemporary crime that also links back to the detective's past. The narrator will often have been a minor character in the previous book.

I actually read the latest book in the series, The Secret Place, last year, but have since been working my way through in chronological order. My favourite so far is The Likeness, in which Detective Cassie Maddox goes undercover to try to work out who killed a woman who looked just like her. She goes to live in the house of the murdered woman—a graduate student with friends that evoke Donna Tartt's The Secret History—but finds her objectivity wavering as she becomes more involved with her doppelgänger's life. French combines compelling plots, engaging and flawed narrators, and beautiful, suspenseful prose. Be warned, though, because she isn't fond of endings where everything is tied up neatly.

3. Southerden SE1. I've walked past the tempting windows of Southerden's Bermondsey Street café and patisserie many times, but by the time I make it to Bermondsey Street on a Saturday, I've already had at least one doughnut as part of the SoLoDo running club. Luckily for me, though, Southerden also occupies one of the arches on Dockley Road, as part of the Spa Terminus Market on Saturday mornings.

It took me a while to choose among the delicious-looking sweet treats, but in the end, it had to be a doughnut and I loved the sound of the pineapple doughnut, topped with a dried pineapple ring. It didn't quite have the sinful ooziness of Bread Ahead and St John doughnuts, but it was bloomin' tasty nonetheless. Get them straight from the oven at Unit 11, Dockley Road.

4. Chinatown. I've now watched enough films on Netflix for its movie recommendations to be halfway decent. I was pleased when Chinatown popped up as a suggestion because I haven't seen it in years and I'd forgotten how much I liked it. Great performances from Faye Dunaway and especially Jack Nicholson, great plot, great twists: this is gritty noir at its best.

5. Futurama. Most of the TV shows I watch are pretty dark, or at least dramatic, so I like to keep a lighter show on the go too. After I rewatched all of Friends, I moved on to Futurama, of which I've probably seen a handful of episodes over the years but I never really got into it. Several of my friends are big fans, though, and I keep missing out on their jokes, so I'm binge-watching my way through the archives. A couple of seasons in, I think it's great! I'm very late to this party, I know, but if you like witty, sharp animated sci-fi shows, you won't be disappointed. It's set in the 31st century, so it doesn't matter that it first aired in 1999—it's aged very well!

May Favourites

I was out of the country for the first half of May, but managed to pack a fair amount in to the latter half, catching up with friends back in London. Here are some things that tickled my fancy this month.

1. The Riding House Café. When I lived in Marylebone, I used to go to this chic and colourful Fitzrovia bistro fairly regularly, but the past few times I've tried to go, it was booked up way in advance. We did, however, get lucky and score a table for a girls' brunch on Saturday. I've had the burger there many times and it's great, but I was in more of a brunch mood and went for the avocado benedict: poached eggs with hollandaise sauce over smashed avocado on a toasted muffin. It was, of course, delicious. Most of the cocktails are riding-themed, in line with the restaurant's name, and I ordered the Horse Whisperer: gin, apple liqueur, rhubarb bitters, ginger and egg white. What a nice way to spend a sunny Saturday!

2. Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami. Thirty-something Tsukiko bumps into her former high-school Japanese teacher in a small Tokyo bar one night. Both are lonely and a tentative friendship develops between the two of them. Not much more happens in Kawakami's novel, but it is so atmospheric, tender, beautifully written and funny. For anyone who has ever visited Tokyo, this story will evoke the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of Japan's enchanting capital city.

3. Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Partly because Strange Weather in Tokyo put me back in a Japan frame of mind and partly because it's mentioned most weeks in the advertorial segments of several podcasts at the moment, I decided to check out David Gelb's excellent documentary on Netflix. The eponymous Jiro is the head chef at a three-Michelin-starred sushi restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza district and the film explores what it takes to rise to the top of a hugely competitive industry. In particular, Jiro's lifelong devotion to becoming really, really good at one single thing is fascinating and inspiring. We meet Jiro's two sons — one of whom still works under him and one of whom now has his own restaurant — as well as critics, suppliers and customers. I wish I'd known about Jiro's restaurant when I visited Tokyo, although getting a reservation is very hard, as it sounds like it would be an unforgettable meal.

4. K Place. My brother and sister-in-law lived in Korea for a couple of years, where they met while teaching English. As such, they are the experts in our group of friends on the most authentic Korean BBQ in London. We've always enjoyed going to The Old Justice, a pub serving Korean food near Bermondsey Station, but they have now relocated to Monument and rebranded as K Place (I thought The New Old Justice would be better). They officially open today but we went a couple of weeks ago during their soft launch. The prices are, unfortunately, more in keeping with its new City location and the only soft-launch discount was off the all-you-can-eat buffet, but the food was even better and still pretty good value. We ate our fill of beef bulgogi, pork and sides, with a few beers and some soju for about £25 per head. They don't seem to have a website or anything yet but you can find them at: 1 St Mary at Hill, London, EC3R 8EE (tel: 020 7621 0002).

5. Mad Men series finale. There are only a few TV shows that I have watched at the time of first broadcast and from the beginning throughout their run: Friends, Dawson's Creek, Gossip Girl and now Mad Men. When Matthew Weiner's show made its début in 2007, it quickly became my favourite show, and while it didn't pioneer the antihero, Jon Hamm's Don Draper managed to be charismatic, compelling, mysterious and intensely frustrating in equal measures. When The Good Wife arrived on the scene in 2009, that soon took over as my favourite show, but I still loved watching Mad Men each week. It's the very definition of 'slow burner' but the attention to detail, the fine acting performances and the flawed but complex characters kept drawing me back, even during the weaker fifth and sixth seasons when there seemed to be too many characters for the small seasons.

I was also annoyed by the decision to split the last season into two halves, but the second-half of season seven was really good and although the ending wasn't perfect, it was very fitting and gave viewers perhaps more resolution than they might ever have hoped for. If you haven't watched the show, I would recommend giving it a try, but I do suggest that you don't binge-watch. A few of my friends quickly burned out by trying to watch too many episodes in one go; slow burners are definitely more enjoyable if you don't rush them. Mad Men, I'm going to miss you!

April Favourites

As this post goes live, I will be on the way to Mexico for some culture, history, sun, fun and especially food. In the meantime, though, here are some of the things I enjoyed in April.

1. Bron (The Bridge). I had overdosed a bit on Scandinavian and/or crime dramas, but as soon as I watched the first episode of Bron, a Swedish–Danish collaboration, I was hooked. As the show opens, a body is found on the bridge between Malmö, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark, and because the jurisdiction is initially uncertain, two detectives — Saga (Sofia Helin), a brilliant Swedish detective with a number of Asperger's-like characteristics, and her jovial but troubled Danish colleague Martin (Kim Bodnia) — take on the case. The crimes are interesting, but it's the beautifully complex and subtle relationship between Saga and Martin that really makes Bron stand out. Oh, and season two is even better than the first season!

2. Quarter Horse Coffee. I stopped by Oxford-based Quarter Horse Coffee while visiting my parents last month. It's an awesome cafe with friendly staff and excellent coffee. I have been enjoying some of their beans, which they roast at their Birmingham location, at home for the past couple of weeks and it will definitely be my go-to place for stocking up on coffee when I'm in town.

3. So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. This was easily my favourite book of the month. Ronson explores what public shaming means in the #hashtag age. He talks to a number of people who have experienced high-profile public shamings, explores the psychology of the shamers and the shamees and asks whether there is anything that you can do if a single ill-advised Facebook photo upload has done serious damage to your online — and real-world — reputation. The narrative is compelling and the stories are fascinating, although you do wonder if by devouring the book you are somehow participating in the continued attention to the featured individuals.

4. Smorgasburg. I spend a lot of time at street-food markets, but Smorgasburg — the weekly weekend outdoor feast held in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — is one of the biggest and best. A huge number of stalls sell a wide variety of food from breakfast sandwiches to barbecue and lobster rolls to lollipops. I gorged on an epic egg-and-bacon roll from Rise & Swine, a lobster roll and a couple of delicious oysters. But there were so many other things I would have liked to try, including Asian hot dogs, tacos and ramen burgers. I also bought a jar of salted caramel peanut butter from The 3 Nuts, which tastes great on a bagel or, you know, your finger.

5. Michel Thomas Method language courses. I'm a self-proclaimed language geek. I speak French and Italian with reasonable fluency, but I've also picked up some basic proficiency in Spanish, German and Japanese over the years. While I was revising for my A-level French and Italian, some 13 years ago, I decided it was an excellent time to start learning Spanish and I used Michel Thomas's eight-CD course. I've managed to maintain an elementary level of Spanish with very little practice, which will come in useful on this holiday. I also used the eight-CD Japanese course before my trip to Japan last year and I was impressed how much Japanese I learned — and still know. If you want a language course that teaches you the grammar and the structures, rather than giving you phrases to memorise by rote, check out the Michel Thomas courses.

January Favourites

January has been a busy month for me and although I've been blogging a fair bit — mainly my attempts to watch and review most of the big Oscar-nominated films before the Academy Awards — there were a few other things that I enjoyed this month and that didn't quite make it onto the blog.

The Affair

I was fairly skeptical about the show that denied The Good Wife and Julianna Margulies their Golden Globes awards, especially when The Affair sounded a lot like a Jodi Picoult novel. In fact, it is a lot like a Jodi Picoult novel. It tells the story of Noah, a supposedly happily married Brooklyn schoolteacher with four kids, who meets and falls in love with Alison, a Montauk waitress, while holidaying in the Hamptons. What elevates The Affair, though, is the performances: particularly Dominic West and Ruth Wilson as Noah and Alison, but also Maura Tierney who plays Noah's wife. Oh, and did I mention that Pacey is in The Affair? Well, technically Joshua Jackson who played Pacey in Dawson's Creek, but his character — the fourth member of the love quadrangle — is a lot like an older version of Pacey. And he's still really hot.

Also, if you are a fan of unreliable narrators, you will love The Affair. The show has a really interesting narrative device where we see the events each week from the point of view of one of the two lead characters and then the same, or overlapping, events from the perspective of the other lead. Compelling viewing. I can't wait for season two.


Hemiplegia by HAERTS

Last summer, I was in COS and heard a song that I really liked. I didn't yet have Shazam but I tried to write down as many lyrics as I could remember once I'd found a pen and paper, but despite endless Google searches, I couldn't find the song. Imagine my delight, then, when I found out that it was featured in the trailer for the new Jennifer Aniston film, Cake. HAERTS are a Brooklyn-based indie pop band with some serious '80s vibes. Hemiplegia is the title track from their 2013 EP and it's a sweet, ethereal song that reminded me, at times, of This Mortal Coil.



Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

Jenny Offill's beautiful novel tells the sad but enjoyable tale of a writer who lives in New York with her husband and daughter. It's a story of love and marriage, motherhood and self-knowledge, trust and intimacy. The novel takes place over the course of several years and offers brief, snapshot-like glimpses into the life of the characters. It is both moving and compelling and well worth a read.


Neom Reed Diffuser in Tranquility

I burn a lot of scented candles at home, but last month, I also got into reed diffusers. I picked up one of Neom's diffusers (£38) in the Tranquility fragrance — a wonderfully calming blend of lavender, sweet basil and jasmine — in Selfridges' post-Christmas 20%-off sale. I have the diffuser in my bedroom and now I always feel more relaxed on entering the room. Neom's diffusers are a little pricey but their scents are wonderful and it's a great luxury to have in the bedroom.

Ultra Light Down Jacket from Uniqlo

At Christmas, I was the only member of my family without a down jacket and the others did such a good job of selling the concept to me that on returning to the UK, I headed straight to Uniqlo and bought their Ultra Light Down Jacket in black (they are usually £59.90 but are currently on sale for £49.90, so if you've been wavering, now is the time to purchase). I had avoided down jackets in the past because I thought they were too bulky and unflattering, but I've been really happy with the Uniqlo jacket: it is surprisingly sleek and extremely warm, although it hasn't been too cold a winter in London this year. The jacket also packs down into a tiny bag for storage and travel, which means you can slip it into your suitcase if the weather is looking a bit iffy and you want an extra layer.

Yes, that is my selfie stick. I was slightly embarrassed to receive it for Christmas, but it is actually very useful and is another January favourite of mine!

Last Will and Testament

I don’t often write about TV — I tend to watch only two or three shows at any one time — but the latest episode of The Good Wife is a biggie. If you haven’t watched the episode, look away now and go and watch it, because huge spoilers will follow.


I started watching The Good Wife soon after its début in 2009 and it soon replaced Mad Men as my favourite TV show. I love the combination of the case-of-the week (which satisfied my legal leanings), the drama and slow-burning relationships among the characters, and the political sub-plots. It’s the only show I go out of my way to watch while I’m on holiday — most memorably, I watched the emotional rollercoaster of season four’s penultimate episode on my iPad in an infinity pool in Costa Rica last year. But I digress.

For me, the relationship between Will and Alicia has always been central to the show. Not just the romantic and passionate aspects, but their friendship and their history too. It has always felt like this relationship was end-game, so I didn’t mind too much that we didn’t get to see many scenes of them happy together in season three (although this season, while the two have been at odds, we’ve been able to enjoy a few more in the form of wistful flashbacks to happier times). There would be further exploration in the future, I assumed, even if things didn’t end the way I hoped for.

At the start of this season, Alicia and Cary left Lockhart Gardner to start their own firm, taking some of their clients with them and leaving Will with a huge sense of personal and professional betrayal that has been at the core of all of this season’s key plots. At the time, the writers explained that it was a way of keeping Alicia and Will’s relationship interesting, but now we all know that the real impetus was that a year ago, Josh Charles, who plays Will, decided to leave the show. Julianna Margulies, who plays Alicia and who is also a producer on the show, did manage to talk him into staying on for 15 more episodes to give Will a good send-off. But now this season doesn’t just look like the exploration of new depths of the relationship between Alicia and Will, so much as Will Gardner’s swan song.

I was suspicious when there was no resolution to episode seven's case-of-the-week. It was a typical ‘Will’ case, where he truly believed in the innocence of his timid, young client, Jeffrey Grant, and, firing moral outrage from all cannons, was willing to do anything to get the murder case against Grant dismissed. Eight episodes and several months later, the case has come to trial and Will is doing his damnedest to refute the damning DNA evidence against Grant. But in his desperation to win and to clear his client, he misses the warning signs that Grant really, really doesn’t want to go into solitary confinement, even though he is being assaulted in general population. Just like the court guard misses the fact that his gun is within easy reach of an increasingly panicked Grant.

Cut to Diane in the next courtroom and what sounds like gunshots. Or was it a false alarm — the judge's gavel? No, it was gunfire. A distraught Kalinda (someone give Archie Panjabi another Emmy) and Diane make their way to the hospital and discover that Will was DOA. Kalinda tries to call Alicia, but she’s stuck at a particularly cringe-worthy correspondents’ lunch and isn’t answering her phone. Kalinda eventually gets through to Eli and when she explains why she’s calling, Eli knows Alicia has to take the call. We have to wait until next week for her reaction to the news. The scene mirrors the season one finale, where Will tries to call Alicia just as she is about to join Peter on stage at the launch of his re-election campaign. Eli sends the calls to voicemail, deleting one of Will’s two messages — the one where he says he loves her and wants to give their relationship a shot — a sub-plot that occupies much of season two.

I knew the death was probably coming when I read the first line of the note to the fans posted on the Facebook page by writers, but "the loss of Will Gardner" was somewhat ambiguous to my optimistic mind and throughout the episode, I kept hoping that he wasn't going to die. I certainly didn't think the death would happen that way. When explaining their motivation for the death, the Kings noted that deaths are often sudden and unexpected, and you don't always get the chance to put your affairs in order or say your goodbyes. That's fair enough and Will's death will impact all of the main characters in plenty of interesting ways. It doesn't mean I have to like it. 

Will's character is central to the show and his relationships with Kalinda and Diane are just as important as his connection with Alicia, and although I will continue to watch the show, I feel like its best years — or, at least, my favourite years — will be behind me. (Incidentally, season five has been one of the best.) Even if it turned out that Will and Alicia weren't each other’s true loves, it would have been nice to get some resolution either way, after investing nearly five seasons in their relationship. Given the show's history with missed calls and voicemails, I am hopeful that Alicia might discover a message from beyond the grave, but otherwise, we might never know. But I do at least know to take off my eye make-up before the inevitable grief-fest of next week's episode.

Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly

I was always going to go and see Man of Steel, Zack Snyder's "don't call it Superman" Superman reboot, regardless of the reviews. After all, I watched four seasons of The Tudors for the same reason: Henry Cavill, AKA the Duke of Phwoar Suffolk. I've never seen any of the previous Superman films and my knowledge of the Superman universe is limited to one or two episodes of The New Adventures of Superman, some two decades ago. Perhaps I should have done some more research, because Man of Steel is really long and manages to be silly, while also taking itself far too seriously.

We start out with some back story. A lot of back story. Some of this was helpful for a n00b like me, but it took until about halfway through the film before we actually get to the plot. The planet Krypton has essentially fracked itself to a rapidly approaching fiery death and, to make matters worse, the ruling council is faced with with an uprising led by General Zod (Michael Shannon). Babies on Krypton are produced in little pods and, on hatching, will fulfil a predetermined status: worker, warrior or leader. R'as al Ghul Jor-El (Russell Crowe), the chief scientist, and his wife Lara (Ayelet Zurer) decide to have a child the old-fashioned way, so that he or she will be able to choose his or her own destiny. They just about have time to send baby Kal-El off in a little spaceship with some magic codecs codex (they must have really wanted to watch those DivX films) before *spoiler alert* [Zod kills Jor-El]. Zod tells Lara that wherever they have sent the baby, he will track him down and he will have his vengeance. Zod and his co-conspirators are sentenced to 300 cycles of mental reconditioning in a nearby spaceship prison, but when Krypton meets its unhappy ending, the prisoners become free.

Meanwhile, Clark Kent is having a difficult childhood in Kansas, raised by Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) Kent. His sensory awareness is so acute that it is sometimes hard to focus, and his superhuman strength is starting to attract attention. He wants to use his powers for good, but Jonathan tells him that the world isn't ready for an all-powerful space alien, and that his time will come. As an adult, Clark (enter Henry Cavill, at last) drifts from job to job and town to town, constantly having to move on and change his name after doing superhuman things like saving 20 workers who are trapped inside an exploding oil rig.

He ends up somewhere in the Arctic, and buried underneath the ice, he discovers a Krypton spaceship and a technology that allows him to communicate with Jor-El, who designed all of the Krypton ships and managed to weave himself into the code. Also hanging around on the site is Lois Lane (Amy Adams), a reporter from the Daily Planet, who wants to write a story about this mysterious, superhuman stranger after he rescues her from some bad-ass Kryptonite defence mechanism built-into the ship. Her boss (Laurence Fishburne) refuses to print the story, so she leaks it to a blogger and then, with perfect timing, Zod and his baddies come calling. They hack into every electronic device on Earth and demand the return of Kal-El — or there will be trouble. Clark agrees to surrender himself, although his chats with Dad #1 have taught him not to trust Zod. Sure enough, Zod wants to use the codex (a sort of genetic blueprint for the people of Krypton) to bring back his people on Earth. Unfortunately for the Earth dwellers, this will mean tweaking the atmosphere to make it impossible for them to breathe and stuff. The rest of the film is essentially Independence Day, with Clark desperately trying to save the world — and to stop the distrustful Earth army from killing him along with Zod et al.

I wasn't expecting Man of Steel to be this epic space battle. As I said, I should perhaps have done some more research, but I thought it would be more like Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy or Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man. In fact, Man of Steel felt like a combination of all three of the films shown in the trailers I saw: World War Z, Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, and This Is the End. Poor Amy Adams seemed to spend as much time falling through space and/or the sky as the astronauts in Gravity. She didn't get too much else to do, although she did get to kiss Henry Cavill, so she can't complain too much.

Cavill was good, but not outstanding, as Clark Kent. I would have appreciated a few more shirtless scenes. Towards the end of the film, a female army captain is smiling to herself as Clark flies away. Her boss asks what's wrong. "Nothing," she says, "but he's kinda hot." Indeed. Costner put in a good performance as Dad #2, while Shannon mainly got to stand around perfecting his evil laugh and saying things like, "release the world engine." He did make a very menacing Zod, and a worthy adversary for Clark. Interestingly, in one of the final battle scenes, set in Gotham Metropolis, I spotted a truck with "Lex Corp" on the side, so I think we can guess who the villain might be in the next film (even I've heard of Lex Luthor).

Man of Steel takes itself too seriously and could have benefitted from a few more laughs. More movies are obviously being planned — or so you would hope given the amount of time in this 2h40 film dedicated to setting up the story. Next time, perhaps, they'll just be able to get on with it. I'm just not convinced that there will be a next time for me.

Making a Weekend of It

It's been a bit non-stop since I got back from holiday—already over two weeks ago—and last weekend was no exception. After failing to find the Arrested Development frozen banana stand, which was supposed to be in London until 21 May, but which disappeared on Thursday, we stayed in on Friday night and made macaroons. Well, most of us watched macaroons being made and ate macaroons, which was just as much fun.

Yes, we have no banana stand in London today.

On Saturday morning, I went running and then it was time to finish off painting my living room and bedroom. Each room had a statement wall when I moved in last October, and I finally got around to dealing with them. A few weeks ago, I removed the wallpaper and then I spent most of the bank holiday weekend painting over the dark red paint of the bedroom and replacing it with a pale plum colour. The statement wall in my living room is now a light sky blue. On Saturday, I just needed to do a few touch-ups; it isn't perfect, but painters are expensive, so I'm happy, and now I can finally put up some more pictures and mirrors.

My newly painted bedroom

Blue-sky living room thinking

After heading into W1 to do some errands, I hurried down to Herne Hill for another bridge night, which chalked up another victory to my six-month winning streak. I had initially thought that Sunday might be more relaxed, but my parents decided to come into town at short notice, so we went for coffee at Notes, followed by brunch at the Dean Street Townhouse. I've been to the Townhouse before for dinner, which was lovely, but it has a great, New Yorky, casual chic vibe at brunchtime. Although I wasn't drinking, I enjoyed a virgin cocktail (the Orchid with apple, ginger, pineapple and almond was delicious). I skipped a starter and went straight on to the Townhouse burger, with cheese and bacon. It wasn't medium rare, but that hardly mattered because the meat was so juicy and tender.

Brunch o'clock: Dean Street Townhouse burger and the chocolate peanut fondant

Then came my dilemma: I had 45 minutes to get to south-west London for a softball practice and the pudding I wanted (chocolate peanut fondant, natch) would take seven minutes to prepare. Regular readers will know of my inability to say no to a chocolate-peanut butter combo, so I ordered the pudding and ran to the bathroom to change, Clark Kent-style, into my sports kit. The fondant ended up taking 15 minutes, but was well worth the wait: rich, gooey chocolate, with a molten peanut butter centre, accompanied by peanut ice cream. Very naughty indeed.

I just about made it to practice in time, by which time the sunshine had disappeared. I've never played softball before, although I used to play a lot of rounders at school. As expected, I proved a much better batsman than fielder, and every muscle in my body is aching today, while my wrist display the bruises that demonstrate how hard I was hitting the ball. Of course I'll be going back for more!

No Contest

After the hectic nature of the rest of my weekend, I wasn't sure whether I could face going to the cinema yesterday afternoon, but I really wanted to see Pablo Larraín's new film No, and I wasn't sure when I would next get the chance to make a trip to the Soho Curzon. The big screen was almost full for the 1 pm performance, thanks to the string of glowing reviews and Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film, perhaps.

When I was describing the film to my friend on Friday, I asked if she had heard about Gael García Bernal's new film about the 'Mad Men of Chile,' which was all I had remembered from the poster I had seen, and she said that she hadn't, but that she did think he was in a film about a dictator. It turned out that we were both right. The movie tells the story of the advertising executives and PR spin doctors whose campaigns helped to oust General Pinochet by persuading the people of Chile to vote against him in the 1988 referendum, which was forced on him by international political pressures.

García Bernal plays René, a charismatic and talented young ad man, who is seduced away from the glamorous world of fizzy drinks commercials to work on the anti-Pinochet "no" campaign, much to the annoyance of the boss of his advertising agency, who is running the "yes" campaign. Each side is allowed 15 minutes of TV air time to run their campaigns each night for 27 days, and although René and the "no" team are convinced the results of the plebiscite will be fixed and that their work is pointless, they set about their efforts to inspire hope and dreams of a better future in the hearts of every Chilean. Their campaign literally involves sunshine and rainbows, at times, and is boosted by the incredibly catchy jingle, Chile, la alegría ya viene. I was half expecting them to use A-ha's The Sun Always Shines on TV. But to what extent will the "yes" campaign and Pinochet's cronies go to ensure that the Chileans say "no" to the "no" campaign? René is brave and idealistic, but he also has a young son and an estranged wife (Antonia Zegers), who is often seen getting into all sorts of political trouble.

The story of Pinochet's removal isn't one I was familiar with, and although I knew what the outcome would be, like Argo, Larraín's movie played out as a very tense and engaging political thriller, with a few more light-hearted, Hollywood/ad industry moments. (García Bernal's character's hair and facial hair also bear a striking resemblance to Ben Affleck's in Argo, but that is somewhat beside the point.) García Bernal is so beautiful I could quite happily sit and watch him for two hours in pretty much anything, but he was really good in this film. I have to admit that I got a bit confused by the other characters' names, but René's boss and a couple of his "no" co-workers also put in good performances. Shot on film that would have been used on Chilean TV in the 1980s, No is grainy and gritty, punctuated with archival footage, including clips of Jane Fonda, Christopher Reeve ("Superman!!!" the caption reads) and others telling the Chileans why it was so important to vote no. It's a really enjoyable film, striking the balance well between hard, political subject matter and the slightly frothier business of trying to sell the people the life they don't yet know they want.