



[I see what you did there—Ed.]






It’s one-of-my-oldest-friend’s birthday and she asks me to go to the cinema with her Monday morning. I literally dream of having excuses to be at the movies on Monday, and this way I also get loyal friend points win win! We meet for breakfast so are not exactly starving hungry as we arrive but of course we still need popcorn—it’s the movies. We get one large box (sweet and salty mix—always the best) and share it out into two containers once we sit down. We are both old enough to know we don’t share nicely! Being Monday morning the movie house only has about 4 other people in it but still my friend tells me to put my camera away—old friends you have to obey them on their birthdays.
The movie was called The Shape of Water. I had actually avoided hearing much about this, I knew it had won an Oscar but not really what it was about, my friend had said “it has sex scenes with a fish”. This is always my favourite way to see movies, few expectations = more magic. This was certainly a visually beautiful start to our week. As we came out into south London the day had become sunny and all felt right with the world. Guillermo del Toro had shared his strange vision with us, had he been born English he would have been called William Bull, we wondered if his films would be the same.
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