Today is daughter's main birthday celebration. We have seven girls for tea, followed by a trip to the cinema to see "The Bicenntennial Man", a Robin Williams film, based on the "I, Robot" stories by Isaac Asimov. Sounds quite promising; I like Williams usually, at least in his comedy roles, and I used to love science fiction in my youth.
Unfortunately, it is probably the dullest film I have ever seen in my life. The 2 hours 20 minutes feels like the 200 years the robot (played by Williams) lives through. There is nothing you could call action; I really don't like war, cop, or adventure films generally, but after an hour I am longing for a fight, a car chase or an explosion. For God's sake, someone attack the robot with a chainsaw! Let's have some gratuitous robot nudity! Arnie punching a warthog! Anything to relieve the tedium.
But, I have to say, the girls love it. They sit silently all the way through, while I have to get up and have a wander halfway through to relieve the boredom. I am very tempted to return to the screen next door for the new Bond film. Afterwards, some of the girls go home, and a couple come back to our place for a sleep over, which is the highlight of ten-year-old parties these days. We were lucky to have a bag of crisps and pass the parcel in my day....