alexist

I met up with Neil tonight to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Neil had to be dragged from the pub (by text :P - he failed to comprehend that it might be busy on opening night....) It was really good. I'm still not entirely convinced by Johnny Depp (still think I prefer Gene Wilder), the family subplot (but the Slugworth one in the first film was just as bad), or the slightly treacly ending, but the rest of it was an improvement on the 1971 version. I do like the original songs, but that's possibly because I saw the film when I was little. The new one didn't have anything as memorable as the Oompa-Loompa song. Still, the visuals were great and it was very funny, often in little in-joke ways.

Afterwards, we went to Masala Zone, which was also good fun. It solves the Indian restaurant side dish problem by doing thalis, so you get the curry, rice, dal, aloo tikki, bread, poppadum, 2 veg, salad, chutney and raita--all for about £9 which is very good value for London. Portions aren't huge (I could've eaten more chicken) but there was certainly enough to fill me up.