On The Red Carpet

We were back at The Riverside last night for our first cinema outing of the week. After weeks of Oscar nominated films starring Oscar nominated actors with Oscar nominated cinematography it was time for something completely different as we attended the premiere of With Love From Suffolk a collaborative venture made by local talent. The film was partly crowd funded and we made a very small contribution. I wish that we had donated more as it was an outstanding attempt at creating a feature length film on a shoestring budget.

Before watching the film we had a lovely meal in The Riverside restaurant. I know we go to Cineworld a lot but nothing beats The Riverside for a meal and film package. There was a special Suffolk menu for the evening and Marion enjoyed a delicious turkey escalope followed by lemon sorbet whilst I had hake and a fabulous bread and butter pudding. As always the service was first class and unflappable as Marion's serviette caught fire on a tea light and almost caused a major incident. We might have been red faced instead of on the red carpet.

The Riverside rolled out the red carpet for the premiere's stars and the film's audience was welcomed by a glass of fizz and a strawberry treat. The 7 o'clock showing was packed and we settled down to some fine singing from a local group before the film. 

The film is a series of mini stories or vignettes tied together by the general theme of love and all were beautifully filmed with some stunning shots of local beauty spots and our famous Suffolk skies including some highly effective shots that appeared to have used a drone. As in any montage, some elements worked better than others but I particularly liked a scene based around an open mic session at a riverside pub which was quirky, eccentric, highly original, with real character and had a great song about chicken soup (what else?).

A slick story with a nice twist about a young man trying out his chat up lines on a young woman as they walk through an Ipswich park was another highlight with the two actors in this scene Josh Dickinson and Kate Parnell outstanding. I don't know anything about the cast but I can certainly see them going on to successful acting careers. 

A charming and very funny tale of pensioner love and sex (or at least attempted sex) went down a storm with the audience as too did a lovely tale about a young man and his love for his dog.

The highly talented Matthew Sheeran was in charge of much of the musical arrangement - another big positive in the film. We had a brief introduction at the start from his brother who was unable to make the premiere being busy collecting his latest Grammy award in LA.

Everyone involved in this film should be warmly congratulated. It was a great evening that spotlighted the depth of our local talent. I've completed their request for feedback on their website and I hope that the comments left by all those who attended the premiere help to make it even better.