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High anxiety: Collapse - Riverside Studios

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It’s a brave or maybe slightly provocative production to use Hammersmith Bridge on their artwork for a show called Collapse, which is about how everything collapses—poorly maintained bridges, relationships, and jobs. Nothing works. That’s probably too close to home for Hammersmith residents stuck with a magnificently listed and useless bridge on their front door. It gets even weirder when you realise the piece is staged in what looks like a meeting room with a bar. However, keeping things together in the most unlikely of circumstances is at the heart of Allison Moore's witty and engaging four-hander, which is currently having a limited engagement at Riverside Studios . The piece opens with Hannah (Emma Haines) about to get an injection from her husband (Keenan Heinzelmann). They’re struggling for a baby, and he’s struggling to get out of bed. But he managed to give her a shot of hormones before she started worrying about the rest of the day. She’s unsure she will keep her job with ...

Movies: No Country For Old Men


no_country_for_old_men, originally uploaded by Sky-Hunter.

My friend Adam decided to see No Country For Old Men without me saying that watching it me would be an awful experience as I would be gasping for air and yelling out "fuck" all the time in the theatre. Well I really do get carried away with what gets put up on the big screen so I couldn't blame him. So instead I caught the film with Mandy, who doesn't mind my quirks in the theatre as much as she likes to munch on the noisiest snacks you can buy at the candy bar. Tonight it was chilli flavoured rice snacks.

Anyway, both of us had long stressful days so nothing like an intensive taught thriller about a sociopath with a cattlegun to ease your nerves... Half way through the film Mandy hissed at me to be quiet because my deep breathing was disturbing her. Mind you, she had pulled her sweater almost over her head to avoid some scenes. It wasn't that it was particularly gruesome... But it was a particularly intense night out at the movies.

By the end of it we couldn't work out what the hell had happened. But I was somewhat relieved to find that I am not alone. Actually I was confused at many parts of the film. Following the plot of a movie isn't one of my strong points and I kept getting distracted by all sorts of things including wondering what was the motivation was behind Josh Brolin's moustache. Still this is a brilliant film that had Mandy and I re-enacting the "heads or tails" scenes on our way to the bar which went something like this:
Paul: Call it! Heads or tails bitch!
Mandy: No you're gonna make the decision anyway!
Paul: Oh whatever now do you Merlot or Pinot Grigio?
Bar lady: Well actually we're out of Merlot...
Well that's fate and chance for you...

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