The Eagle and Child of Ramsbottom: Revisited

At the beginning of the year, in early January, I wrote a blog post here about my experience of the latest incarnation of The Eagle and Child in Ramsbottom, and in more cases than not, I enjoyed it greatly. A few months later and I made a return trip, again for lunch, so although I have never blogged about the same venue before, I thought it might be interesting to just offer another quick post, looking into the place again a second time around.

As I say, I had a great many good thing to say about the Eagle and Child, one of Ramsbottom's oldest and most established  pubs. What's more, I am happy to say that in numerous cases, what I reported positively on initially remains consistently at a pleasingly high standard. Same obvious high demand for the place and what it offers, same great and refreshing atmosphere, same solid pub experience In fact, a key but perhaps not so positive area I looked at last time, i.e. the fact that in a sad minority of cases the odd member of staff involved in their innovative youth training scheme didn't seem to be quite as lucid and adept as you would hope, has apparently been resolved. Certainly from my most recent experience, all the staff seemed well trained, and not only that, they were also exceedingly welcoming, courteous and polite, which I find is sadly not as common as you would hope.

But, and it is a sad but resounding but, there were some differences that were not for the better, and equally as sad, they were to be found in the food. Last time I wrote about how my share of the food, and the rest of the menu as a whole seemed rather excellent. Indeed this time, my starter of smoked haddock rarebit was utterly divine, and my dining partner's starter of fresh garden vegetable soup equally so. The main problem I'm afraid, was with my Lancashire cheese and onion pie. Apparently it was "award winning" but based on mine I really struggle to see how. Unlike any cheese and onion pie, or indeed any other pie I have ever come across - it consisted of rather lovely pastry, but inside a huge amount of molten, incredibly rich, liquid melted cheese, with an infinitesimal amount of onion that could not be tasted at all, and that's it.  Oh no, wait...MUSTARD...A LOT of mustard. Not a delicate hint of wholegrain mustard as a nice touch but what tasted like masses of English mustard that totally dominated and thus ruined the entire dish, and hence did cast a negative black spot on the whole Eagle and Child experience second time around.

It is a real shame, as I was so ready to praise the place again. Maybe I am being a tad unfair, and maybe it is just my individual taste that rebels against that particular dish (though with such a lot of mustard and not much else, I tend to doubt it). Yet as I'm sure many will agree, it only takes one bad thing to sully a good dining experience, and it is for this reason chiefly that at least numerically, this second review of the Eagle and Child has to go down a notch. I certainly would not say that it is conclusively damning and everyone should give up on the place here and now, but I do feel it is quite a sad state of affairs, that my second experience does kind of negatively affect my view of  the establishment a wee bit, especially when it seemingly had and still apparently has a great deal of potential.

The Trip to Italy

When Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan embarked on their culinary tour of the north of England in 2010's The Trip, I confess I did not know what to expect, but I very quickly came to love it. Under the helm of director Michael Winterbottom, the duo played fictionalized versions of themselves, and offered over six episodes a wonderful concoction of sheer laugh-out-loud comedic moments, wonderful blurs of reality and fantasy, incredibly poignant moments of pathos and self-reflection, and it has to be said - fantastic food and scenery.

Four years on, and the location is a bit more exotic, the glamour is hyped up a bit, and the food is distinctly more Italian (though apparently no less sumptuous) but still the glorious journey with these two middle-aged men continues to provide great results for one to sit back and enjoy.

A key part of both series, was the cultural and culinary journey that the boys found themselves in. In The Trip to Italy, the journey seems a bit more ad-hock than the previous outing, but all the more adventurous for it; we really do get a sense of discovery when watching Brydon and Coogan travel through the Italian Riviera. One stunning location after another, for me at least generated a bit of envy, but mostly it just felt like I was soaking up and enjoying Italy with the pair of them. The whole feel of each episode really is unique and wonderful to behold.

Though the core formula between the two men is still the same (same barrage of impressions and quips, same tongue-in-cheek camaraderie, same ever-moving mix of comedy and poignancy) there are some alterations and evolutions for both the "characters" of Rob and Steve. Whereas series 1 sort of saw Steve Coogan as the highly ambitious actor, aspiring Lothario, and great imposer of his own slight superiority this series, whilst still portraying him as trying to better himself over Brydon and to preserve his worth in his own eyes as much as anyone else's, we do see a softer, slightly more mellow and slightly more human side of him. Similarly, whereas the original Trip saw Rob Brydon as a very relaxed, affable, humerous and charming man, in the Italian version we still do get all these qualities, but with a distinct edge, and a lot more flair and aspiration; a bit more spring in the great Welsh man's step. I won't go so far as to say that the two roles have reversed, but there is definite cause to draw distinction, similarity and difference between the two figures we are presented with in series 1 and subsequently in series 2. What's more to have such an intruiging, ongoing and thoroughly well performed insight into these two characters only adds to the wealth of charm this series has for me. It was also a very pleasant welcome back for characters such as Emma and Steve's fictional son; they too had development to show off.

Faults? Really not many. OK, there are a couple of times when even this fictional 'mock-umentary' strays a tad too far into the definitely fictional, predictable and hyped up. Also, in series one the literature and massive cultural English figures that Steve and Rob kept citing and aspiring to were elements that very succinctly and very smoothly flowed from episode to episode, whereas this time it seems like a slight after-thought that is a bit forced in places.

Really though, these are definitely not major, and every single element of The Trip to Italy comes together in a marvelous and greatly intrinsic tapestry of sublime viewing. Fans of series 1 will only go on to love series 2 and its developments I feel. But if you have been following this programme or not, I really do insist that it is a true marvel, presented and performed in a truly unique fashion.

The Lone Ranger

I freely confess, though familiar with the iconic imagery, I have never once ever laid eyes or ears upon a single minute of that now iconic original series so ingrained into popular culture. However, thanks to a recent release from Sky Movies, I was greatly enthused to see what the blockbusting, action-packed corker of a modern movie had to offer. From the team that brought us the massive Pirates of the Caribbean series, this is Disney's The Lone Ranger. Apparently, this film was slated for budget issues and a stunted release, and some have even questioned bits and pieces of content of the film. But I just don't care. I loved almost every moment of this film from start to finish. It was a film that featured brilliant actors presenting incredibly mythical and respected characters, but with a hugely impacting and modern twist. 

Some of the key, and some of the most celebrated action sequences of this film were the "train scenes" which were done by building a custom railway track to film on in the desert, which I think is an achievement in itself. They were stunning to watch unfold, highly imaginative with tons of charm and pace and, like almost all of the film, hugely evocative of a true sense of wonder and adventure; the likes of which I have not seen in a film for a very long time indeed. Normally for me, it is the cast and characters and their performances which stand out to me in a film alone, but the whole look of The Lone Ranger, from the beautiful cinematography, to the iconic imagery, to the fantastic costumes and make-up all make for a truly great Western. Which, considering its origins is perhaps not surprising, but very pleasing none the less.

In terms of the cast, well I do feel there are some true supporting gems to look at first, before we get to the main stars. Tom Wilkinson, who is now an incredibly renowned and respected actor globally, gave a sufficiently confident, individual and resounding performance as villain Latham Cole; the likes of which we now come to expect and enjoy from him. The other main villain of the piece Butch Cavendish, played by William Fichtner was dark, brooding and at times gruesome enough for a film like this, but in terms of added depth, there wasn't much for me to see, but a solid Western bad man he did make. Sexy and sassy Red, AKA Helena Bonham Carter was a welcome surprise for me. At first, I thought she would be little more than a bright cameo, but her selected scenes did always seem to sparkle and sizzle whenever she appeared on screen.

Naturally we must discuss John Reid; The Lone Ranger himself. Even though Armie Hammer is still a relatively young and upcoming actor, he once again proved his great talent by taking on the role and donning the famous mask and hat of this iconic character. Playing the part initially with enough maturity and believability, then with a  great baptism of fire into the masked rider with great amounts of humour, grit and edge. If there is to be more to come from this incarnation of The Lone Ranger, then I am sure Armie Hammer will be welcomed back into the role.

If there is a stand out performance for me in The Lone Ranger however, it is certainly the great Johnny Depp as Tonto. The character is simply brilliant, and Depp is simply brilliant. From his very first scene to the last moments before the credits, Depp's Tonto exudes a never-ending barrage of fantastic lines, expressions and mannerisms that, not only make the character thoroughly believable and entertaining, but wonderfully unique. When he delivers humour he is hilarious, when he shifts to drama he is superb, and everything in between just generates so much love and respect for Depp as Tonto. The way Tonto was conceived to look in this film on its own was fantastic, but when inhabited by Johnny Depp's huge personality and sheer genius at creating and sticking with a character; it is pure cinematic magic. I said earlier this film was done by many of the same people who gave us Pirates of the Caribbean, including Depp himself of course, and I shall now go further to say that I think the legendary actor has now given us another legendary character to stand proudly alongside the now immortal Captain Jack Sparrow.

Together, the chemistry which seems so easily created and goes on to link and bind these two stars is for me what drives The Lone Ranger. As dynamic a duo as the original, and one which delivers a fantastic all-out frenzy of Western fantasy, fantastic action, and oodles of utter fun.