That was a bank holiday?

The long bank holiday weekend was not quite a bust, but it could have been a lot better. With the exception of Sunday, when we went to the in-laws for a very pleasant Sunday dinner and a little pubbage, much of the remainder of the weekend was taken up with poor old Furtle having to work.

The fallout from events last Wednesday meant that on that day she didn’t arrive home from work until just before 11pm and was back in the office by 5am the next day. Friday was supposed to be a day off for her, but she put in a full working day from home, did a fair amount on Saturday, though we were rousted from the pub in the afternoon so she could do more work.

Sunday, as I say, went to plan, but yesterday, bank holiday itself, saw her doing yet more work from home, though we did manage to get a couple of hours’ gardening done.

So as long weekends go, I don’t have much to write about. On Sunday, after three lunchtime pints, a roast duck dinner with wine, followed by apple crumble and custard and cheese in the garden, with port, I managed to doze off in the armchair for an hour, so not much to relate there, either!

Oh well. At least the grotty weather waited until we’re back in the office, so there is that bright spot, I suppose. And I managed to play some Warcrack, though like many things, when that is pretty much all you have to do, it pales a bit.

Oh yes. I nearly forgot. On Friday I went with fencingsculptor to watch Star Trek in to Darkness (why is there NO colon in that title?) at the BFI on the south bank.

I shan’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it and who are intending to go along. The movie itself was a straightforward action adventure romp, that delivered pretty much what you would expect and hope for from the best of the Trek franchise. On the downside, the 3D was appallingly rendered and even with the ‘Brains’ glasses we were given, there were points where the double line was visible and it was just as watchable without them. I have NOTHING good to say about the current craze of 3D and heartily recommend that you dispense with it and see the 2D version instead.

3D actively subtracts from the movie experience.

The director of photography needs a punch on the nose, too (or maybe JJ Abrams for allowing it). If I never see an extreme close up of either Chris Pine’s or Zachary Quinto’s faces ever again, it will be too soon. They were so big and so close up as to be distorted and I kept thinking that had I brought rope and crampons, I could have gone rock climbing in their pores. 3D High Definition, even when badly rendered, is unforgiving.

As I say, I shan’t spoil it for you, but anyone remotely familiar with the franchise will be nonplussed with one sequence, which started off as an amusing homage, but was then held long enough to become entirely cheesy. I’ll say no more, but you will know it when you see it.

Bandersnatch Cummerbund is nails as the baddie, though at times he dresses a bit like a 24th century Sherlock…

My main gripe, however, is not with the movie, it is with the BFI IMAX. It is fine being able to boast the largest screen in the UK, but to put it in what must be a contender for the smallest auditorium… I wonder how many of my annoyances with the closeups and the 3D rendering would be less if we hadn’t been so close to the screen that you physically had to turn your head to read the subtitles when the inevitable Klingon sequence cropped up. The seats too, were exquisitely uncomfortable, but again, I wonder if that is a function of being too close to the screen for comfort. The trouble is, I don’t think it would have been much different from the back of the auditorium; it just wasn’t that big.

To summarise, good movie, but not great. See it in a decent sized cinema in 2D. And take a statin to keep the cholesterol levels in check when the cheese levels rise above tolerance.