Cinema like it’s 1988

One of this morning's stand-ups was in a meeting room with several engineers, which was nice. The rest of my meetings were conducted from one of the booths. I got one of the slightly bigger spaces, so it didn't feel too cramped. The office seemed very quiet. I am not sure which teams were absent, but it did not feel busy at all.

I had a baked potato with cheese and beans for lunch. I thought it would be a reasonably healthy option, but my app quickly told me that I had made a mistake. As we were out in the evening, my dinner was also something that, on first inspection, looked healthy but turned out not to be: a sandwich from Pret.

I got on the Central Line at White City, travelling to Liverpool Street and a walk to Shoreditch. PY was approaching from the opposite direction, and we met just after I'd bought the sandwich and as the heavens opened. We found a sheltered bench for me to eat before making our way to TT Liquor.

TT Liquor is an interesting venue: part off-licence, part bar and restaurant with what looks like an impressive roof terrace. There's also a basement cocktail where we were directed to select a cocktail before making our way to the small cinema. Both our cocktails were lovely - and very cold. At the bar, several people asked what we were seeing tonight and expressed surprise when I said 'Die Hard'. There were several comments about it not being Christmas. And, there was even more surprise when I said I'd never seen it.

After our drinks had been poured, we made our way to the cinema. My fear that the lack of air-conditioning would spoil the evening was unfounded. And, although it looked like such a small venue that the picture and sound quality might be poor, they were both really good. Before the film started, a sequence of trailers for other movies and for the venue in general were shown. It was very professionally produced. A series of classic movies are shown weekly in the cinema, and the cocktail-cinema combination is the deal.

I loved 'Die Hard'. I appreciate why people talk about it being a Christmas movie, but the festive season isn't the key plot. Given that it's also a sunny LA Christmas, I think it's almost unnoticeable. Later, I was surprised to learn how many people were offered the lead—and turned it down—before they got to Bruce Willis. Today, it seems a part made for him.

I think Die Hard holds up well, given that it was released in the UK in 1988, apparently at the BFI London Film Festival. Yes, some fashions seem straight out of Miami Vice and computer technology has progressed significantly. They are all, however, side shows, and I like the balance of action scenes and jeopardy. Sometimes, modern films go overboard on the action to cover a weakness in the underlying plot, and Die Hard doesn't suffer that problem.

I am already looking forward to the end one.