A Mini-West Country Jaunt

This Bank Holiday, I was very lucky to spend some time with one of my favourite people, enjoying an area of Britain I have never been to before. So, here's my brief take on a few of my stops.

~~~

LEDBURY

The Herefordshire town of Ledbury, close to the English/Welsh border, was my base over the Bank Holiday.

Whilst there I wandered its streets by day and night, sampled its culinary and tourist sides, and basically came to the conclusion that it seems to be a most charming place. Rural, eclectic 'olde-worlde', and community-based enough to relax you and welcome you into the docile, measured yet stimulating way of life it has to offer, yet Ledbury also has a few streaks and tinges of bohemian, artistic and avant garde about it too. 

In terms of amenities and added extras Ledbury seems to have every facility you could ever need or want, without going too overboard in its capitalism and consumerism. From its impressive main street, to its simple yet charming train station, to all the wonderful secluded and delightful sections, quarters and backstreets - Ledbury is well worth a visit.

THE OLIVE TREE, LEDBURY

Talking of Ledbury, here is a quick word on a local Italian restaurant I got to experience whilst there. Clearly very popular and well frequented by the locals; I can see why the Olive Tree has such an effect. Nicely decorated, attentive staff, and good Italian fayre (in my case GARLIC BREAD, Penne Assisi and a delectable Sticky Toffee Pudding).

Even in my brief travels in and around Ledbury the Olive Tree stood out as one of the more established eating haunts, and it is relatively easy to see why.

PUZZLEWOOD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Hopping over county borders ever so slightly, I was also taken into the Forest of Dean area; more specifically PuzzleWood - an ancient piece of forest given new life thanks to great conservation work, and the fact it has been featured in the likes of the BBC's Merlin, Doctor Who and the latest incarnation of Star Wars.
Now, my numerous geekgasms aside, you may ask - so what? It's surely just a wood? Well yes, it is just a wood, and actually in season on a Bank Holiday one is made acutely aware of just how  fragile and simple a wood it is; especially when faced with legions of families with screaming children milling about, trying to lift prams over forest terrain. And if I was being really picky I would ask the conservationists in charge to actually try and monitor the potentially disruptive volumes of people they let into the wood at one time, instead of focusing on taking their money, stamping their hands with illegible stamps like a 2 am discotheque and putting up too many laminated signs on trees reminding these legions of people to stick to the paths. 

But in reality, this all pails into insignificance when you step forth into PuzzleWood. Because you are hit by two simple things. Just how much presence and atmosphere the place has; it is just like you have walked onto a film set. If you didn't know about its past connections you would be emailing people like the BBC and telling them to get down there.

And also - it is simply beautiful. A charming place of natural beauty, ages old and broadly speaking unsullied by man, and a place that (legions of people visiting aside) you cannot really help being moved by.

SHERBORNE CINEMA

Also whilst in Gloucestershire, we stumbled upon yet another hidden gem of a different kind. If you want to hark back to days of yore, to the golden age of cinema, to feel at one with the community when going to the flicks, to escape that awful trashy capitalist multi-screen obscenity, and to just again be moved by a charming endeavour then I urge you to Google, or better yet visit Sherborne cinema.

Tucked away in a little Gloucester suburb, this quiet unassuming building presents people with extremely reasonable prices (I can't remember when I last paid £4 to get into a film!) up to date releases, hospitable staff and above all a charming cinematic experience. OK the seating could be slanted to give people a better view and again some of the clientele got in the way of the experience a tad but I urge anyone who is looking for a truly wonderful, local independent cinema to certainly give this one a go.

JASON BOURNE

Now you may ask - why did I go to Sherborne cinema in the first place? Well whilst not exclusively unique to the West Country (though I'd certainly pay to see that) Jason Bourne's latest cinematic outing is what drew me there. So, a quick word on the film.
Years on, brave new world, same director, same Matt Damon, same kick-ass entertainment. Yep, Bourne is back.
Without giving too much away, I can see why this one has split critics after so many years of staunch support for the original trilogy that made Matt Damon a household name. That said, I liked it. The one major gripe I would have if at all, is that this film, for all its new nuance and still strong original flavour, did not progress nearly enough in terms of the direction and evolution of the Bourne story. There seemed to be far too much resting on laurels going on, and for the first time that I can remember, Damon's Jason Bourne stayed relatively still in his journey.
Yes new touches were nice - cast additions like Tommy Lee-Jones and Alicia Vikander chief among them, as well as the return of Julia Stiles. And as I say there was plenty of classic Bourne action, gritty drama and spectacular sequences. But the sense of scope, mystery and intrigue seemed a tad lacking. This Bourne film definitely seemed less of a thriller and more simple action (though still Bourne's particular brand of action).
In summary, it was great to see Matt Damon as Jason Bourne again, and broadly speaking I think this will still be popular with the film series' faithful. I just think next time (as we do seem to be set up a tad for a next time) they might be wise to swing the pendulum back a bit more toward Bourne-Classic as opposed to Bourne-Lite.

RIP Gene Wilder

1933-2016

RIP Sir Anthony Jay

1930-2016

Burnt

Just a quick word on another film I watched recently. Set up as a cross between a culinary movie (a' la Chef or No Reservations) and the story of a gritty impassioned tale of one man's fall from grace and back again, Burnt stars bankable Hollywood star Bradley Cooper in that very role, backed up by an impressive cast list and made for a novel, if slightly flat concept at least.

We know Bradley Cooper can do a tortured, full on, unpredictable, yet likeable soul. And if you don't know - watch Silver Linings Playbook. His high-flying, perfectionist yet damaged chef Adam Jones certainly wasn't a horrible character, but the combination of ideas didn't hit home for me. The smug, arrogant and aloof nature Cooper got across well, and I even believed him as a culinary genius for the most part. But when he attempted to bring in the more human, and the more fragile elements into play...for me this time it just did not work. The result seemed to not only alienate Cooper's character from his co-stars but also from the audience and the film itself.
Alongside Bradley Cooper, the female lead was in the form of Sienna Miller. Again I have seen Sienna Miller deliver well in films, but in Burnt bad writing and clichés galore resulted in her screen time seemingly reduced to nothing but Brit-edge eye candy and a female version of Cooper's shouty chef.
Daniel Bruhl was actually a plus point for me. Very well pitched and easily watchable as hotel manager Tony. But again poor writing in trying to thrust an unrequited love of Cooper's character, plus not nearly enough screen time did not give rise to a potentially good character.
Even the injections of such renowned talents as Emma Thompson and a cameo from Uma Thurman failed to really lift Burnt. Don't get me wrong it was a huge surprise and joy to see them pop up, but once again very limited screen time, story impact and (especially in the case of Thompson) plot resonance seemed like a total waste of great acting talent, and also hints at a possible over-reliance on Hollywood names and a poorly conceived script.

In summary, to me Burnt was a watchable, quite enjoyable OK piece of culinary drama. Cooking films, especially grand-scale Hollywood cooking films are very hard to do I feel, and so too did it show here. I think the writers and producers of Burnt seemed to think a lot more grit, drama and humanity had been packed into the film than was actually the case - but poor script and execution rendered the result instead to be a rather sad, and indeed slightly disappointing shell of what could have been.  

RIP Kenny Baker

1934-2016