I watched the end of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" the other night (I caught the funeral and the final wedding on Film Four). I came across it purely by chance while 'hopping and, in the absence of anything I actually wanted to watch, stayed with it. I always tend to think of it as a bit of a 'coffee table' film, in that although it does nominally have a sort of plot thingy, it's essentially just a lot of scenes all strung together - and consequently you can dip into it quite at random and still enjoy it. The last time it was on TV (or at least the last time I noticed it) I caught five or ten minutes, mainly the cafe scene where Andie MacDowall enumerates her lovers, and this time it was the last half hour, from the unexpected death of Simon Callow's character on.

I can actually remember the first time I ever saw this film, and it was in fact the only time I've seen it all through in one go. It was not long after it came out on video and my brother and I were still flat-sharing (late 94 or early 95, at a guess). For some reason now long-forgotten (although possibly related to us living across the road from three pubs) a friend stayed that night, rather than driving the two miles home, and he had about his person the video of the film in question. And so we watched it that night. No, actually now I come to really concentrate on the facts, I don't think that's quite true - we watched a wedding and a half (that is to say all the funny bits with Rowan Atkinson in) that night, but then gave up and went to bed, before watching the rest in the morning. So there you go - I have never actually seen "Four Weddings and a Funeral" in one go!

There aren't many films I can remember where and when and who I was with when I first saw them. My wife is really into films, but I far prefer TV shows - whereas her DVD wish list (or DVD 'don't forget when my birthday is' list) would contain martial arts and action flicks, mine is more likely to contain Doctor Who (of course), Upstairs Downstairs and Reggie Perrin. Maybe there's some hidden subtext in the fact that my wife likes her pleasure in big chunks that go on for hours at a time, whereas I prefer little short bursts with a healthy interval between each one; but if there is then for the life of me I can't see it...

I do, however, remember the first time I went to see "Star Wars". Actually there is some contention on this issue. My Mum recently insisted (when, for some reason, this rather trivial issue came up in conversation) that the first time I went to see it was with one of my Primary School friends and his Dad. I did go to see the film with them, true, but that was either the second or third time, since by then we were sufficiently blasé to spend half the time counting up how many Artoo units appear on screen. Mum and I eventually left the matter that we would just have to agree to disagree; which in practical terms means that she developed that womanly air of "well alright I'll let you off even though I'M RIGHT" and I just sulked a bit.

Anyway, the actual, genuine, honest guv, first time I went to see "Star Wars" was with Dad and my brother. It was definitely an all-male outing, although with hindsight that's rather ironic. My Mum (again!) ended up quite attached to the whole "Star Wars" saga, perhaps in part because of its associations with us going to watch the films altogether as a family. As at time of writing, she sadly hasn't seen "Attack of the Clones" yet because (a) although bruv has it on DVD, she hasn't got a DVD player; and (b) I wussed out of buying it her for Christmas. Again with ironic hindsight (and thinking now with longing about the legendary Palitoy Cardboard Death Star) I wasn't actually that bothered about going to see the film, hype or no hype, but bruv very much wanted to see it, and I suppose it was inevitable that I would tag along.

I later became a huge fan of Mr Lucas and his Merry Men but, unlike the planet Alderaan, I wasn't totally blown away on first viewing. At least, I certainly don't recall being totally enraptured - in fact I seem to remember scrummaging around on the floor for a fruit gum I'd dropped, rather than being transfixed and glued to the screen. I also recall the adverts. When we went to see "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" recently the adverts were sponsored by Carlton (you know, ITV) which leads me to wonder whether Pearl and da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dadada, da-da-da-da-da-da-da- Dean -dah! have gone out of business. I vividly remember that legendary double act from my first trip to see "Star Wars" because when their names came zooming towards the front of the screen from a space-like background I mistook it for the start of the film!

Thinking about it, we did watch quite a few films at the cinema when I was young. "Star Wars", the same film but lamely relabelled as "A New Hope", then "The Empire Strikes Back", "The Return of the Jedi", "Superman" 1 & 2 (ie, the good ones), "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Last Crusade" (ie, the good ones), "Watership Down", "The Rescuers"...

In fact, coming almost full circle, when the "Star Wars" Special Editions (ah, this is clearly some strange usage of the word special that I hadn't previously been aware of, if I may be allowed just one single lapse back into Douglas Adams territory) came out we went to see the first film in the cinema again. Being one of five kids my wife had never seen it on the big screen, so I thought I would fill in that gap in her cultural heritage. Sadly, as they say, you can never go home again. Attending the cinema with an eight-month pregnant wife who has a dicky bladder, and sat on the same row as a woman who was extremely vocal about people going to the toilet in the middle of the film, and with my brother being slightly claustrophobic but not sat on the end of the row... well, the Special Edition of "Star Wars" was a bit of a disaster I'm afraid (and that's without even mentioning those awful CGI dewbacks, or the fact that Ben Kenobi now lives on the top of an inaccessible pillar of rock).

But getting back to Hugh "I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes" Grant (and by the way, looking at that film now it's hard to remember that he wasn't A Name when it was made, but in fact a more or less unknown actor - oh, and he looks so young!) the film "Four Weddings and a Funeral" is just such a real 'feel good' movie. Obviously the funeral isn't quite as feel good as the rest, but you know what I mean. It's a warm film, about friendly people, and with enough witty dialogue and funny moments to keep one entertained. And watching bits here and there over and again is comfortable, in the same way as putting on a favourite pair of slippers or slipping into a nice warm bath. Going back to that funeral scene for just a second, although it doesn't exactly put a smile on your face it is still heart-warming. John Hannah's speech, on paper, may be a bit much, but the acting is so gentle and unshowy that it never fails to move me, and his Scots accent seems to fit the Auden poem so well, adding a harshness of sound to the bleakness of its content. And the bearded extra with the hearing-aid who grins so broadly at the memory of Simon Callow is such a perfect touch. Then there's the following scene with Hugh "I'm going to be PM one day" Grant and Another "I'm in the Vicar of Dibley" Actor, where they talk about love and finding somebody and thunderbolts. And then... But see how easy it is to get sucked into the whole warmth and camaraderie of it? I'll stop there rather than delineate the entire remainder of the film. (Although I will just say that the rich pronunciation of "Bugger" in the church is something Hugh "can we get Julia Roberts for the sequel" Grant can be justly proud of.)

There is, of course, one other thought that struck me watching the film this week, namely that Charlotte Coleman, who looks so young and alive and unstoppable in all her scenes, has since died. Seeing her was the one thing to cast a slight cloud over the general good-natured friendliness of the film, and it perhaps hit me all the more because I had actually forgotten that she was no longer with us until I saw her. Based on the fact that she was played a child in "Worzel Gummidge" when I was a child, I would guess she was around my age, which is no age at all to die. Very sad.

My wife, to put the opposite case, doesn't particularly like this film, but that is mainly centred around the fact that it stars Hugh "my wife just cannot stand him" Grant. In fact, with the single exception of "Men in Black" in 1998, my wife and I haven't been to the cinema since the SWSE fiasco. Or rather, we hadn't until very recently. For one thing the local cinema is twelve miles away, and we were carless (is that a word I ask myself? should I hyphenate it in my defence? shall I just get on with the rest of the sentence?) and for another we have somewhat different tastes in movies - she likes films with lots of gore and fighting and violence and I... well, I don't. (Uncharacteristically I did once go to see "Interview with the Vampire" on the big screen, but I genuinely did spend half the time looking away.)

This year, however, we've been twice (so far!) because we now have a third potential Barry Norman to consider. So as well as the above-mentioned Harry Potter 3 we also went to see, as has been previously noted, "Scooby Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed". I think the tagline for that film was something like "Look Doo's Back In Theatres" (do you see what they did there?) whereas for my money "Linda Cardellini is wearing a tight red leather catsuit" would have been a more commercially-successful line. Ah well, each to their own I suppose.

Going to the cinema is like a vicious circle - before you see the film that you actually came to watch they show you trailers for other films that you can come back and watch another time. This is why we went to see "The Prisoner of Azkaban" after seeing a trailer for it before "Scooy Doo" and chances are that we will shortly be going back again to see "Shrek 2", and then some film called "The Invincibles" (which looks like it's from the same reliable stable as "Toy Story", "A Bugs Life" and "Monsters Unleashed".)

And then of course "Star Wars" chapter 3 is due out in 2005. My daughter isn't a particular fan, but I could try persuading her over the next year or so.

Or maybe I should just take my Mum instead?

And that's a wrap!!