Of all the bars in all the world…
Late on Friday night, my girlfriend and I took a walk through St James Park, past Buckingham Palace and into town to meet up with one of my friends.
This is the Queen Victoria memorial fountain outside Buckingham Palace – it’s 8pm but still sunny.
Buckingham Palace from the bridge across the lake in St James Park.
We met up in Soho Square and chatted with some random people for a while.
We went to the cinema to see the French thriller ‘Tell No One” – you have to see this film if you get the chance – the atmosphere, story, plot and characters are all stunning! Before we went into the film though we spent some time in the bar – it’s probably one of the only cinemas in London where you can take alcoholic drinks into the film and also one of the only bars in central London that wasn’t packed on a Friday night. It’s a great place, too – filled with sofas, low coffee tables, some nice lighting and it was cheap! Well cheap for London anyway.
After the film, at roughly eleven thirty, my friend who works at one of the biggest film visual effects companies in the industry and I had a stealth mission into his office so that he could show me some shots from a few of the films he’s been working on recently. We had to sneak past the guard, up over the walkway through the atrium (they have a garden inside their building!) into his floor, using his electronic keycard – but as soon as we walked in there, we heard people talking – it was nearly twelve at night, and they were working late – or chatting in the kitchen at this point, so we had to sneak past them too. My back story was all worked out – I was Reginald Postlethwaight – a student from the Bournemouth Computer/Broadcast Animation Masters course, looking to possibly join.
I truly wish I could tell everyone about the incredible clips I saw from some amazing AAA movies that won’t be coming out for a while, including one particular film that has a fantastic amount of secrecy surrounding it, but I can’t. I love movies and it was an absolutely amazing experience though.
August 7th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Aidan Williams, you are not allowed to tell me a single thing that you saw in the magical world of SFX - not even by accident. It’s so great that you got to check out material behind the scenes! I’m really rather envious but at the same time glad for you, as I know just how much you really love movies.
The sunny weather recently has made a difference to the way the city looks and feels. I’m glad you got to go around and take it all in, finally enjoying the city that you love after having worked so hard to get to where you are right now. :: pats you on the back ::
You should do this more, taking your laptop with you and working around the city. 
What say you?
As for “Tell No One”, this movie has got to be one of my favourite movies of the year so far. I love the plot, the actors (yes, especially Françios Cluzet!!!) and it’s such a nice change from all the Hollywood glitz. Was most certainly a good choice to take your girlfriend to!
By the way, what are you doing this Friday night?
August 7th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Chorna,
I’d love to sit in St James Park with my laptop and work for a few hours - they still haven’t installed those laptop sockets I recommended though, or wifi’d up the entire park to the max - just kidding - it’s nice to have some places to walk where you can no longer feel the supersonic buzz of technology surrounding you. And that’s why St James Park is so stunning - because it’s so close to the West End.
No plans for Friday night - gimme a call.
August 7th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Somerset House is supposed to be wifi’d up now…? And then there are the bookstores dotted throughout London.
Actually, there are a lot of wi-fi spots inthe West End, and I’m sure one of the parks will fit into their zones.
I hope you can find the time to give it a go!
Pssst… wanna go see something at the cinema on Friday night? I have a long list of movies I wanted to see. This summer has been good for that!