Film | Chicago Addick

Oct 31

Top Five – Halloween Horror Films

I do love a Top Five and what better day to share with you my Top Five Halloween Horror Films:

1. The Shining
Released in 1980. A family with Jack Nicholson as Dad become the winter housesitters of a hotel in the mountains of Colorado. Nicholson’s character Jack Torrance is writing a book but the isolated hotel’s ghosts take hold of him and insanity takes over Torrance played magnificently by Nicholson whose face bursting through that door still sends shivers down my spine today.

Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd also starred.
Directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Adapted from a Stephen King novel.
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Feb 24

The 2012 Shower Gellies™

There is some awards show going on in Hollywood tonight for the 85th time apparently but more importantly going on in my whimsical mind are the 7th Annual Chicago Addick Shower Gellies™. If you have just clicked on this post, then unfortunately you have missed the red carpet, but if you read on then you will find out which auspicious establishment will be presented with one of my much sought after, or not, Gellies™.

Since last February I have kipped in 31 hotels, and I believe mostly showered in all of them as well. I can’t tell you how pissed off I get when hotels charge the weekly wage of a journeyman League One footballer have beds that are like sleeping on big white fluffy clouds with 46 pillows and showers that are glass encased tardises yet expect you to bathe with a thimble of watery liquid, that’s if you are lucky.
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Dec 23

My 12 days of Christmas

A proper lie in was followed today by a visit to Millets Farm to grab lunch and go ice skating. Fortunately for me the skating rink was fully booked up!

Then this afternoon I managed to convince my other half’s family to help me satisfy one of my life-long ambitions, well for as long as I have been coming up to this part of the Chiltern Hills’ countryside anyway.
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Jun 4

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Wet weekend

Bit of a rubbish weekend really. Our little girl was struck down with gastroenteritis at the end of last week and didn’t eat for 4 days and could hardly keep anything down. A dinner we had planned with some friends Saturday we blew out and basically we just camped out in our bedroom watching a couple of films (Albert Nobbs and My Week With Marilyn) and of course the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant.

I had to laugh because I would get embroiled in so many arguments with Americans who used to say to me “I love London, but it always rains.”
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Feb 12

The Proof

The Bermuda Festival is in full swing at the moment and last night we went with some friends to see the play The Proof at the City Hall in Hamilton.

The play tells of a brilliant but mentally disturbed genius mathmatican’s daughter (Catherine) who has sacrificed her own potential to take care of her father. One of her father’s (Robert) former students (Hal) comes to visit in an effort to further prove his mentor’s wisdom and then falls in love with with the very introspective Catherine, who has her own discovery.
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Feb 27

Oscar night

The Oscars are tonight which is my annual reminder that we watch a smidgen of the films that we used too. A couple of recent long plane journeys have seen me catch up on a few of the contenders and once our Apple TV plays catch up, then we will no doubt catch up with the others to see what was hot and and what was not.

To the Oscars then, and in the Best Picture category The Kings Speech and The Social Network are clear favourites, both of which I haven’t seen. I have seen Black Swan, but from previous history I can’t see the Academy having the imagination for it. I’m pretty sure Inception wouldn’t have been nominated previously when only five movies were chosen, but I’m glad it was. Although how director Christopher Nolan’s was not nominated is beyond me.

True Grit and The Fighter haven’t reached me yet but I have heard very good things about the 1969 western re-make. I loved the indie gem Winter’s Bone and even though I really liked The Kids Are All Right, the hype left me a little disappointed.

I saw Toy Story 3 with my son but never considered it a Best Picture winner, but it must walk away with the Best Animated Feature Film. I watched 127 Hours on a plane and sure James Franco has to be Best Actor material for a daring role but the movie didn’t do an awful lot for me.

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Dec 19

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Sam Bartram and The Blitz

If you haven’t seen this beautiful short animated film about The Blitz with Charlton and our very own Sam Bartram starring as central figures then please watch it now. It is a wonderful and moving piece of work.

Click here to watch: Bartram, The Blitz and Beyond.