Rolling Back The 90s At Summer Sonic 2012

Posted on August 19, 2012 by tokyofox

This festival took place a week later than usual this year which meant that for the first time since 2005 and 2006 I was able to attend the second day of the event. Despite suffering with quite heavy jet-lag I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of a free ticket to this event which my friend Yuka gave to me.

For those not in the know, this is quite literally an urban festival as it takes place at the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball stadium with all the other secondary stages indoors at the huge indoor exhibition centre known as Makuhari Messe (which is the same place where I attended ‘Star Wars Celebration Japan‘ four years ago) which is a 20 minute walk away across a very busy highway or you can even take a free shuttle bus. A world apart from Glastonbury and Reading!!

 

The atmosphere of Summer Sonic is also very different in that there really isn’t any! This festival is purely about the music only which in a way isn’t so bad but it’s just different. There is no crowd surfing, no sitting on shoulders, very little alcohol consumed, no photography, cleanliness (the rubbish collection is a highly organised operation which is probably a bit OTT but at least it means you’re not constantly standing on old bottles and cans), and silence and patience between songs. Oh and most Japanese wear towels around their necks to absorb the sweat. Nothing really wrong with all of these things but it’s just a bit too over-organised for me!

On arrival just after midday we headed straight for the main Marine Stage as Yuka wanted to see ‘Gym Class Heroes‘ whose name rang a bell but little did I know that I would recognise three of their tunes and very good they were too. As soon as that finished we were off to the indoor arena but Yuka didn’t hang around too long before heading back to the Marine Stage. We never saw each other again after that!

 

First up for me were ‘Cast‘ who I really liked back in the 1990’s. Back in 1994, possibly 1995, my best friend Ian Roper (god rest his soul) and I saw them play live at the Princess Charlotte in Leicester and after that I saw them many more times but I hadn’t listened to them at all since about 1999 before their set here which reminded me how many hit singles they had whilst riding along on the Britpop bandwagon. Great stuff.

Swedish band ‘The Cardigans‘ were on next and I was all ready to knock their set on here as it was billed as ‘The Cardigans plays Gran Turismo‘ which I thought ridiculous. Some bands like Blur have done such things in the past and just about got away with it but who wants to hear a whole album played?! As it was, they played a fair few other tracks too and I ended up really enjoying their set. When singer Nina Persson left the stage for a costume change mid-song it gave the two guitarists the chance to take centre stage and do a bit of strumming which they seemed to love a bit too much.

I needed a rest after that and so chose to sit out the set of ‘Hoobastank‘ but I could of course hear it whilst I laid down (along with many other Japanese fans who sleep in between sets on the exhibition centres floor which is not quite the same as passing out on a festival field) and it sounded better than I thought and if push came to shove then I’d have to say that ‘The Reason’ was my favourite ‘Hoobastank’ song!! Actually, the lead singer really got the crowd going. Proof that language really isn’t too much of a barrier in some ways although I’m not too sure if English or the native language of Taiwanese rock band ‘Mayday‘ (who were playing when I arrived at Makuhari Messe) is understood more.

 

The last time I saw ‘Garbage‘ front woman Shirley Manson was during season two of ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles‘ where she played a bad terminator. Didn’t even realise her band had got back together until I saw they were on the schedule a few months back but she looked the ever-cool rock-chick (compared to Nina Cardigans more cutie look) and like the other 90’s bands before them I enjoyed stepping back in time and hearing them though I was starting to feel a bit jaded.

 

‘New Order‘ were the headliners albeit without Peter Hook and his low-slung bass guitar. Lead singer Bernard kept the crowd entertained as they punched their way through their back catalogue of new wave and electronic music. Their sets can come across as a jamming session at times given the dominance of the guitar/electronic solos and lack of vocals but I don’t really mind and haven’t danced or moved so much since, well probably the last time I saw them play which was 10 years ago at the ‘Big Day Out’ in Sydney. They finished their set at around 9.30pm with an encore of two Joy Division songs.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

TF Film Review: The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Posted on August 14, 2012 by tokyofox

So the Bourne franchise continues without the main man himself and the big question is whether or not Jeremy Renner can fill Matt Damon’s shoes! The tagline for this film is ‘there was never just one’ which does sound good and all that whilst at the same time making me smirk in a ‘you really must be kidding’ type way.

 

This film is a completely new story and nothing to do with the Eric Van Lustbader book of the same name which I read a few years ago. Compared to the original trilogy I think this one starts quite slowly but once it got into its stride it was typical Bourne action with the Manila scenes being the most action-packed albeit similar to what we have seen by way of the rooftop and motorcycle chases which were a part of ‘The Bourne Ultimatum‘ Tangiers package.

Many of the cast from that last film are back if you believe the exciting trailers for the film but in reality its just a very clever edit and marketing ploy to get fans to return to the cinema as Pamela Landy (Joan Cusack), Noah Vossen (David Strathaim) and Dr Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney) roles are more of the cameo variety. The story is centred around Jeremy Renner’s character Aaron Cross and Dr Marta Shearing (played by Rachel Weisz) amid a plot which isn’t exactly easy to follow. The story pretty much begins as ‘Ultimatum’ ended which may sound difficult given how well that went full circle with Bourne starting and ending in the water as the story pretty much closed.

‘The Bourne Legacy‘ deals with the fall out after Bourne’s exposure of ‘Operation Blackbriar’ and the Department of Defence is trying to cover up their black-ops ‘Outcome’ program which is an offshoot of both ‘Treadstone’ and ‘Blackbriar’. However, it is a bit different as they are using science to provide their agents with green pills to enhance physical abilities and blue pills to enhance mental abilities and for some reason which I forget this is how the two main stars meet up in this film.

It’s pretty sad to go to the cinema pretty much on arrival in a different country but that is what I did today when I saw this somewhere on 42nd Street here in New York which by chance is also where some of the film was set. I will have to see if I can track some of them down! Other locations used include Calgary in Canada, Seoul in South Korea and Manila and El Nido in the Philippines with the latter being music to my ears as I’ve already been there and got the necessary shots!

As a stand-alone trilogy I don’t think the one’s actually featuring Jason Bourne can be beaten and whilst Renner and Weisz do put in very good performances their characters are lacking the interest and complexity of the main man. They’re also fighting against a pretty desperate script and this sequel (extension?) of the Bourne series is quite ok as a stand-alone thriller if you’ve not seen the previous three but as no-one at all is likely to be in that category of viewers it doesn’t add anything much and really has no reason to exist.

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10

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‘Star Wars: In Concert’ Live In Tokyo

Posted on August 10, 2012 by tokyofox

After successfully touring North America and Europe over the last couple of years the ‘Star Wars: In Concert‘ team finally rolled into Tokyo town last night to play a set of dates to the Japanese fans at Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho.

My friend David (a.k.a. ‘the べすとーkid’) and I arrived well ahead of its 7 o’clock start and the place was already busy with a massive queue for the merchandise store and a few photo opportunities with a load of stormtroopers and clone troopers. There were also a big group of cosplayers (Vader, Stormtroopers, Emperor Paplatine, Royal Guard etc) but the crowds and lines for photos among them was way too much effort, especially for someone like me who has seen and done it all before at ‘Star Wars Celebration Japan‘ back in 2008.

     

The show really draws on John Williams’ scores from the series and this is what really gives the saga its lungs. I can’t say I noticed the soundtrack on my first viewing of the original trilogy in the early-mid 80’s but that sure changed when I re-watched them on rental video back in the mid 90’s. This show wasn’t in chronological order but was laid out by way of different themes exploring the relationship of characters such as Luke and Leia and the power of the force.

Following the THX sound theme and the 20th Century Fox fanfare the main Star Wars theme kicked in with dazzling montages of re-edited scenes from all six films on the enormous screens with laser lighting and even fireballs at one point. Having been watching the video clips it actually took me a few moments to realise that the music was of course all being played live and therein lies the problem for me as it was so perfectly close to what you hear in the films that I did feel I was just watching an assembly of different themed video edits.

The man introducing each musical passage on-stage was non other than C3P0 actor Anthony Daniels and boy did he milk the applause particularly at the end where the scheduled encore of the ‘Imperial March’ led to such rapturous applause from the crowd that they (supposedly) did something they’ve never done and played one more tune which had the conductor Mark Watters flicking through his music trying to decide what the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra would finally finish the nights proceedings with. I particularly enjoyed the encores as they were free of film scenes and we actually got to see the musicians at work on the big screen which was much needed as we were sat on the second last row high up in the stands. Being able to concentrate on different instruments such as the harp and the grand piano and how they weaved in to the score was interesting to see.

Ultimately though I don’t really feel it was worth the 8800 yen for the ticket which was the most expensive one. ‘The べすとーkid’ said our seats at the back were probably more expensive due to the sound being better and that was probably true but it probably didn’t justify our outlay in costs. Oh well, its only money and I am glad that I did go of course and it was a delight to see the two kids in front of us really enjoy the occasion.

Setlist:

Part I: THX Crescendo/20th Century Fox Fanfare/Main Title/Blockade Runner; Duel of the Fates; Anakin’s Theme; The Dune Sea of Tatooine/Jawa Sandcrawler; The Flag Parade; Across the Stars; Battle of the Heroes; The Imperial March.

Part II: Asteroid Field; Leia’s Theme; Tales of a Jedi Knight/Cantina Band; Yoda’s Theme; Tie Fighter Attack; Luke & Leia; Forest Battle; Light of the Force; Throne Room/End Credits

Encore: The Imperial March

Bonus Encore: Throne Room/End Credits

Posted in Music, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Cycling Down Memory Lane

Posted on August 7, 2012 by tokyofox

As a man who likes to combine bicycle rides with photographic journeys I borrowed my dad’s bike way back on Boxing Day morning last year and went on a trip around my hometown of Market Harborough to re-visit all the important sites of my childhood. Now I know this has limited appeal but what the hell! There can only be one place to start and thats the Close on the Southern Estate where I grew up and lived until I was 18 and for limited periods after that.

 

Farndon Fields on Argyll Park was my Primary School from age 4-10 and only a ten minute walk away (maybe 15 at that age!) from home. Needless to say that this and indeed all my schools are no longer as accessible as they once were.

 

The Green on the corner of Cromwell Crescent and Balfour Gardens was like a proper park to me and many neighbouring friends who regularly used to hang out here usually playing football among the trees.

 

Next up is the area on Western Avenue including the garage which I think used to be called G. Ingram Motors or something like that. A serious garage which also sold penny sweets to kids like me as did one of the shops beneath the block of flats pictured below. Between the two places was the Baptist Church where I am sure I actually did attend Sunday School for a few weeks before I came to my senses! On the other side of the shops was The Royalist Pub which I don’t think I actually went properly inside until I was about 20. Opposite all of the above places is Burfood Green more commonly known in my circles as the Rec which was good but always lacking the cosiness and closeness of the green. Only a few minutes away from my house but in those days it seemed miles away!

         

Farndon Road played host to two regular places I attended in my earlier years; the place where I went to play-school and cracked my head open giving me a scar on the back of my head which is still visible to this day. A bit further along the road was the Cub Scouts hut which was, and seemingly still is, the home of the 3rd Market Harborough troop.

 

Montgomery’s News (a.k.a. Monty’s) on the corner of Bath Street and Claxton Street was the newsagents where I worked for a few years albeit in support roles to my mates Longley, Steed as well as my sister Lorna. Harborough Town Football Club on St Mary’s Road has long since moved headquarters but back in the mid-80’s this was where I failed to set the world alight in my regular positions of left midfield, left back or the substitutes bench.

 

My secondary school between the age of 11-14 was Welland Park School on Welland Park Road and quite possibly my favourite school though its very hard to compare them. I just remember that our class was quite a tight-knit one.

 

Next to the school is Welland Park itself which seemed like Disneyland back then! Most of my school summer holidays were spent here playing tennis, crazy golf or just hanging about in the playground area on the swings. It also included the fictional ‘Devils Island’ of which the name was, with hindsight, far more interesting than the actual place itself which is basically a tiny waterfall amid the river Welland.

     

I was a bit of a skateboarder in my earlier years (before the pain from the falls became a bit too much to take!) and the Skateboard Park in Little Bowden was a place I loved to go to. Sadly, as you can see, it is no longer but it did used to be a kind of horse-shoe bowl where I could do a few basic tricks and stunts.

 

Robert Smyth Upper School at the top of a steep hill on Burnmill Road was where I did my GCSE’s and A-Levels between 1991 and 1995.

     

You take these kind of things for granted these days but before this one opened in 1988 there was no Leisure Centre in Market Harborough. Whilst I never really went into the gym I did use the pool and tennis courts from time to time as well as the table tennis tables not to mention just hanging out in the lobby on the games machines.

 

Whilst at University I spent the three Summer’s working at Green Admiral which was basically a factory responsible for making up all those nice baskets you see on sale in The Body Shop stores. The Sugar Loaf was the towns first Wetherspoon’s pub and has been a tremendous success and since its opening in 1998 has been the regular drinking place for me whenever I’ve been back in town.

 

Glenold Papers was a local factory where I worked after my graduation with three of my best friends; Ian, Martin & Sam. This was certainly no post-graduate job but it was one hell of a laugh as its not often you ever get to work with your mates like this.

 

Posted in Cycling, Family | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Review: Films Set In Japan – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Posted on August 4, 2012 by tokyofox

On the morning of Sunday 7th December 1941 Japan attacked and partially destroyed the American Pacific Fleet which resulted in the United States entering WWII. Of course no review of this film can ever be complete without mentioning the commercial flop that was ‘Pearl Harbor‘ some 31 years after this one was released. Unlike that Hollywood version there are no side stories here and it just concentrates on the hard facts without need for sensationalistic actions and words or a fictionalised romance taking place at the same time.

 

The first strikingly novel thing about this film is that on-screen captions are used to introduce important new characters each time with their position shown underneath their name. There are no made up characters, plot lines or melodrama. Its the real deal depicting the story of the men whose decisions and actions led to a date which will live in infamy. Of course that means there’s very little in the way of surprise and there’s an inevitability as almost everyone knows how it ends.

However, ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!‘ shows that the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor are just as important as the attack itself. You can’t have the latter without the former but the buildup to the real action on the day of the attack is over one hundred minutes into the film which is some wait and I did feel it dragging a bit too much. Of course its a history film and documents the Pearl Harbor story well as it has an awful lot of information to get across which it supposedly does very accurately showing both sides of the story but that also means the same information is often repeated.

You could say that this film is two films in one with different writers, directors, cinematographers and so on but thankfully they blend together far smoother than I imagined they would. They proceed in parallel fashion before reaching their destiny in the skies above Hawaii on December 7th which, due to the time difference, was actually the 8th in Japan. Japanese characters even refer to this date though its translated as the 7th on the DVD to not confuse Americans.

There are no good or bad guys and we rarely see any intense passion from the cast which was an ok, but rather unremarkable, assembly of American and Japanese actors with no real stars or heroes. I just can’t help thinking that the title needed three exclamation marks to bring some attention to it! Sarcasm aside I guess it’s the story which is the star and it’s the plot which drives the movie forward (eventually!) and there’s nothing wrong with that but this type of film is really not for me which I’m kind of embarrassed about given the importance and significance of the story.

Tokyo Fox Rating 5/10

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Music Videos Filmed In Japan #1 The Killers – ‘Read My Mind’ (2007)

Posted on August 1, 2012 by tokyofox

Las Vegas band ‘The Killers‘ are one of my favourite American indie-rock bands with an impressive range of hit singles over the years and an easy-on-the-ear sound which is appealing to many different listener types particularly us British people it would seem as they are very popular in the UK.

‘Read My Mind’ was one of four singles released from their second album; 2006’s ‘Sam’s Town‘ and was released in the UK early the following year with the accompanying video being filmed around Tokyo.

 

Lets start in Shinjuku then where the majority of the filming took place. Frontman Brandon Flowers is seen on Yasukuni dori across the road from the Don Quijote (ドン・キホーテ) store on the corner at 1-16-5 Kabuki-cho. The various other scenes are intercut with this footage of him singing roadside.

         

A short distance up the road brings you to ‘Hakata Tenjin at 1-6-6 Kabukicho and though  guitarist Dave Keuning can be seen playing outside one of these ramen restaurants its NOT this one. The one seen in the video is 1-11-1 Kabukicho but has since closed with something else in its place. It should be noted that this is the entertainment and red light district of Shinjuku with lots of host & hostess bars, love hotels, shops, restaurants and nightclubs which may explain why there are many men just ‘hanging around’ this area trying to entice customers to come into their place and part with some hard cash.

 

There is a scene of them in a park with some school children and one would hazard a guess that its Yoyogi Park but it really could be anywhere and I’m buggered if I’m gonna take this geeky hobby of mine to the levels of finding out which one they filmed in! Having said that….if anyone reading this knows on good authority where it was then let me know!

The crazy bicycles scene was shot in Asakusabashi with the band riding a penny-farthing, recumbent bicycle, a lowrider bicycle and a normal bicycle decorated with ram’s horns.

  

The shrine which they pass, featuring two Japanese ladies in traditional wear, is just behind Asakusa-bashi station on the JR and Toei Asakusa lines and its address is 1-29-11 Asakusabashi in Taito-ku.

 

In the video it seems like they are riding in one direction but once they pass the shrine entrance we see them basically just cycling back in the same direction they just came from which can be noticed by the office building with red panelling in the distance of each screenshot before and after the shrine ones.

      

The black balloon release location (below) is also in Asakusabashi with the Nihonbashi Girls High School visible behind the wall where the band are stood. Thanks to Mike in the comments for details of this. A picture of this location will appear here soon….

The band are also seen in a Japanese game centre (arcade) playing on the guitars and drums (below).

 

Japanese TV character ‘Gachapin‘ (above), a green, bucktoothed dinosaur, also features in the video interacting with the band including its concluding moments where he is sleeping in a capsule hotel with a band member.

Posted in Japan Filming Locations, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

TF Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Posted on July 29, 2012 by tokyofox

Whilst I have been excited about this release for a long time now I never quite realised how hotly anticipated this third and final part in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy was. Sadly the opening weekend release in the United States was one of terrible tragedy with regards to the Colorado cinema shooting where 12 people were killed and 58 were injured.

   

Here in Japan we only had to wait another week for it to come out and though I couldn’t see it on the opening day I was there the following day to see if it could possibly live up to its hype. Having sat through all the Batman films in the last month (not just the last two!) I was never really expecting it to be better than ‘The Dark Knight‘ (2008) or my personal favourite ‘Batman Begins‘ (2005). I managed to avoid all trailers, previews, reviews and news stories relating to it as I wanted the end of the trilogy to be a complete surprise.

‘The Dark Knight Rises‘ is set eight years after the events of its predecessor with Batman no more, Wayne Enterprises crumbling and Bruce Wayne having not moved on to anything else in life. Whilst he is moping around Commissioner Gordon is also feeling guilty about ‘hero’ Harvey Dent’s crimes being kept under wraps and wants to set the record straight but decided his speech is not quite ready to be relayed to the Gotham public. Naturally it falls into the hands of the main villain Bane who I can’t say I took to in any way and it really is difficult to hear his dialogue through the mask. Obviously Bain is a far more physical antagonist compared to The Joker but is rather single dimensional and lacking the charisma him and Ra’s al Ghul (who does appear in this film too) had in the last two films.

   

You really do need to have seen the previous two films I think but then again why would you be watching this one if you hadn’t! There are lots of little flashbacks and dream sequences with a slight nod to ‘Inception‘ I guess and ultimately one particular dream has a massive bearing on what we see at the end…..or does it?! If I can be so vague without giving away any spoilers that is open to ones own interpretation.

It takes a while to see Bruce Wayne actually back in the Bat suit having been persuaded to come out of retirement by Gordon and Officer Blake. That does open up the chance for Christian Bale to put in more of an acting performance than is needed when he’s just wearing the suit. Michael Caine puts in a fine supporting role as you’d expect from an actor of his fine reputation and the emotional content of the film is driven by the stories involving his character Alfred. All the other characters – Tate, Blake, Selina and so on – are efficient enough but nothing exceptional as, for me, they are there just to help move the story on and so there is not so much in the way of background or expansion of their characters.

If I’m to be perhaps overcritical there are a few things which suspend belief such as 3000 cops being buried underground for three months and then getting out clean, healthy and basically ready to fight a mass of fully armed baddies by just charging them down.

At a very lengthy 165 minutes I felt it did lag a bit in the middle third due in part to my tiredness and the fact that about three stories were going on at once and I wasn’t quite sure what exactly was happening but unlike some viewers I’ve never been too worried about such a thing. The final part of the film is great albeit a bit over the top but more than satisfactory with all the ends more-or-less tied up but leaving it slightly open for another director to take over the reins sometime in the future. In fact, by that stage I could have actually watched a bit more of this movie.

   

Tokyo Fox Rating 8/10

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Tokyo Modern Architecture #1

Posted on July 25, 2012 by tokyofox

For all its good points Tokyo ain’t half one ugly looking city with buildings pretty much erected (and pulled down) willy nilly without any thought to the environment around it. However, amid all the chaos of such a concrete jungle there are a fair few examples of modern architecture which I have been photographing over the last few months. Now, I am certainly no expert on such a topic but have enjoyed going around capturing the interesting and weird designs of some of these buildings.

This hobby started off just as a few random shots on Facebook before I decided to collate them all in one album which I have since been adding to and will hopefully continue to do so. Here, in no particular order, are ten examples I have come across including the addresses:

1. Nakagin Capsule Tower, 8-16-10 Ginza, Chuo-ku.

2. Audi Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Life, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Review: Films Set In Japan – Austin Powers In Goldmember (2002)

Posted on July 22, 2012 by tokyofox

This third Austin Powers film is 10 years old this month and it doesn’t take a genius to work out that absolutely none of it was actually filmed in Japan. They didn’t reference this fact quite as blatantly as they did in the second film where Austin Powers (Mike Myers) comments on how England looks remarkably like Californian countryside!

After a celebrity-packed opening-credits ‘film within a film’ spoof followed by a load of other funny background story scenes Austin Powers and Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles) come to Tokyo. We’re 40 minutes into the movie when they are in the Japan capital to find Dr Evil’s (also played by Mike Myers) new lair which is a submarine in Tokyo Bay in the shape of him including the classic little finger to the mouth. It’s long, hard and full of sea-men!

  

The laughs are never too far away with Michael Caine turning in a fine comedic performance as Austin’s estranged father Nigel which went somewhat against type at the time.

The Asahi sumo arena doesn’t exist which is where Austin and Foxxy head (albeit with obvious rear projection of Shinjuku in the background) to find Fat Bastard (again played by Mike Myers) who tells them of Roboto Industries whose boss is named purely to give Powers the chance to say “Domo arigatou Mr Roboto” as was sung in Styx’s 1983.

The meeting with Mr Roboto is hilarious with some very juvenile humour based solely on Austin misreading the subtitles making it seem like his comments are dirty. How the hell this kind of humour transfers to Japanese people watching in Japanese I don’t know!! Answer: it no doubt doesn’t but no change there I guess!

I’ve never seen him in ‘Heroes‘ but the actor who played Hiro in that TV series has a short, funny role in this as the salaryman who speaks down the camera lens reminding the watching audience that the creature may look like Godzilla but due to international copyright laws it isn’t. Very silly humour but really funny.

 

In many ways its probably the lamest of the three Austin Powers movies as it does repeat many of the gags from the other two films but its actually my favourite. ‘Goldmember’ is full of laughs and has a strong list of characters in it although I’ve never really taken too much to Fat Bastard. Canadian born Myers, whose parents were both English, really has got some of the British cultural references down to a fine tee and this is one film I really never tire of watching.

Tokyo Fox Rating 9/10 (yes, really!)

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London Filming Locations: Snatch (2000)

Posted on July 19, 2012 by tokyofox

After the success of ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels‘ director Guy Ritchie cashed in and made a wholly enjoyable but very similar film before everyone started to get a bit fed up of his London gangster movies.

I’ve only got a few locations to show from this year 2000 movie and the first two are just metres away from each other. First up is ‘Premier House’ (below) at 12-13 Hatton Gardens which played the part of ‘Denovitz Diamonds’; the diamond shop of Doug ‘The Head’ played superbly by the late Mike Read.

Down the alley next to that store is ‘Ye Old Mitre Tavern’ (below) where we first see Doug getting a phone call whilst Guy Ritchie can be seen reading a newspaper in the background.

The Jolly Gardeners (below) at 49 Black Prince Road doubles up as The Drowning Trout where Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) is drinking a pint of Guiness after his car crash. Suddenly Sol and his bunch of masked amateurs catch up with him looking to relieve him of the diamond stone. Bullet Tooth Tony is far from intimidated though as he notices that it says replica down the side of Sol’s gun. Typical Ritchie dialogue is used during this exchange of words. Vauxhall on the Victoria Line is the closest underground station and the place has had a bit of a facelift since it was seen in the film 12 years ago.

     

For other London filming locations click on the links below:

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace    Trainspotting    Mission: Impossible    Lara Croft Tomb Raider    The Bourne Ultimatum   Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone   James Bond    About A Boy    Quadrophenia    Bridget Jones’s Diary    Goodnight Sweetheart    Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels    Basic Instinct 2    Batman Begins/The Dark Knight    The Italian Job    Rom-Com Special    Skyfall    Notting Hill    The World Is Not Enough

Posted in London Film Locations, Movie Locations | Tagged , , , | 36 Comments