Red

I had the day off work today. I went on and booked some tickets for the Book Festival in August. I've booked to see Chuck Palahniuk, Irvine Welsh, Alan Sillitoe, Will Self, actor Bill Paterson and musician Rick Wakeman. I tried to get a ticket to see Sean Connery but that had completely sold out, which I kind of thought it would have.

I went out to meet mum in the town. We went to the little French Market they had there for some food. I had a tub of paella and a waffle with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. After that we went to a bar and had a beer. Mum had to go back after that and so I wandered around the shops for awhile but didn't buy anything, except some milk and the latest copy of Radio Times on my way home.

This evening I went out to the Filmhouse cinema to see a film at the Film Festival. Tonight's film was Red, directed by Lucky McKee and Trygve Allister Diesen, and based on a novel by Jack Ketchum. The film is set in a small American town and tells the tale of an elderly man (played by Brian Cox) who lives quietly by himself, except for his beloved dog Red. While fishing one day he encounters three teenage thugs who try to rob him and, when they realise he doesn't have any on him, they shoot his dog dead. However, the old man is determined to get recompense by any means necessary. It was a good film and quite suspenseful. It also featured Tom Sizemore, Robert Englund and Amanda Plummer as some of the parents of the thugs. The film was introduced by director Diesen and the screenwriter Stephen Susco who, afterwards, were answering questions from the audience about the film. So it was quite a good day.