On the Road: Staring at the sea

I flew from London to Los Angeles this past week, amid growing global unease about covid-19, so I'm trying to be careful. I've seen one new film since landing here, ironically a British drama set on the English coast: Hope Gap. It's a sensitive marital drama starring Annette Bening, Bill Nighy and Josh O'Conner as a couple and their son going through a shift in the family dynamic. It's refreshing to see a movie tackle these things without resorting to overwrought melodrama, and all three actors are excellent.

I only watched two films on the flight (plus some episodic television). First was the gorgeous Oscar-winning animated short film Hair Love, and then the feature doc Andy Murray: Resurfacing, an intriguing look into the life of a top sporting competitor facing the possible early end of his career. And arriving in Los Angeles, I attended the opening night of the Noir Film Festival, a screening of the rarely seen 1952 Argentine thriller The Beast Must Die, a fabulously melodramatic noir whodunit.

In addition to visiting a few museums, I also spent a rainy day at Disneyland with longtime friends, and of course many of the attractions are based on movies - from the two frankly awesome Star Wars rides Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance to the outrageous gravity-defying hilarity of Guardians of the Galaxy: Breakout and The Incredicoaster. It was also fun to revisit rides based on Indiana Jones, Mr Toad and Pinocchio, as well as two that later became movies: Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise.

There's not much out here this week in cinemas (I'm not particularly tempted by Bloodshot or My Spy, more interested in Sally Potter's The Roads Not Taken if I can find it in a local cinema), but I have a few films I need to watch online for work, including the Lithuanian drama The Lawyer, the German thriller Darkroom and the animated rom-com Top 3.

Olympics Day 9: Lightning strikes

Another very busy day at the London Olympics, with the big event in athletics tonight: the men's 100-meter final seems to be the most-watched 10 seconds of the Games! And of course Usain Bolt defended his title in blistering style. Although this time the competition was pretty fierce, as he was up against the other three fastest men ever in the final.

After the glory in the stadium yesterday, Britain's performance was much more muted today, with several silvers and bronzes. But there was at least one big gold medal, as Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in the men's tennis singles final. The match was played exactly four weeks after the two faced off in the Wimbledon final - on the very same patch of grass. But this time Olympic fever took hold of the crowd, and all the love was for Murray, who won in straight sets. Olympic gold might be the only prize Federer has never won, but he had to settle for silver today.

And so we're halfway through the Games now. This coming week I've got tickets to three events, so I'm really looking forward to getting out there and soaking up the atmosphere. Tomorrow night it's the beach volleyball quarterfinals in Horse Guards Parade. I suppose I should look up who'll be playing, but frankly it doesn't matter.