So yes, this blog post is pretty much just to make up them numbers, the ones I spoke about at the beginning of the month. At the moment I'm sitting around at home, with my brother sort-of living with me and sort-of not. All I'm really doing is tapping away at various writing projects and watching copius amounts of Stargate (I'm on about 8 episodes per day, which is just over 7 solid hours). Let the fun times roll.
The main thing that should actually be concerning me is hunting for a second housemate. My flat has 3 bedrooms and I only live in 1 of them, so I rent out the other 2 to make enough cash to cover the bills and all that. At the moment, the legend himself, Mr. Anthony Burtenshaw, will be living in one of them, while I'm looking for someone to fill the third. I was hoping to have someone by Sept. 1st, but that might not be an option at the moment. Might have to be closer to term time.
I only rent to students while I am one myself, since it keeps all the issues of Council Tax being not my problem. As of the year after... well, not sure where I'm even living, so I'll figure it out when I get there.
Other than that, nothing much to say, so I shall get on with talking about a movie I never thought I'd see. Actually I didn't think I'd see any films in August, but in the last five days I've seen the required three.
So...
PIRANHA (3D).
Yep. I know what you're thinking. Al, you're a pretend professional reviewer with decent artistic tastes, what are you doing talking about a gimmicky B-movie? Well, I'll tell you, person who doesn't exist, I liked it.
Now, I DESPISE 3D as the massive attempt at getting people back into cinema gimmick that it truly is, I dislike how I now have to strain my eyes to watch films that would have been just as good otherwise and I don't like the glasses.
And as for B-movies? Well, what's wrong with B-movies? There are good ones and bad ones, the bad ones are those that try to take themselves too seriously, the good ones are the ones that are here to kick back, crack open a cold one and point at the tits and gore. Oh yes, this has tits and gore. By the bucketload (don't try and picture a bucketload of tits, I know I just did and it wasn't a very good image).
In this film, an underwater lake full of cannibalistic, prehistoric Piranha are released due to a freak earthquake quickly set about eating nearby people. Oh, and just down the river is Spring Break with horny, idiotic teenagers. Now tell me that isn't a match made in some kind of sick, twisted heaven. Man, did I love me some of that! So yeah, tits, gore, Kelly Brook, carniverous mutant fish and Christopher frickin' Lloyd.
Does it get much more fun?
(Although the shot with Jerry O'Connel's schlong may have been a bit much...)
Naturally, the 3D doesn't add anything to this movie, but it doesn't detract from it in the same way that it did for Clash of the Titans, so I guess I don't mind it so much. The other main problem is that the film feels like it's only 2 Acts long, sort of bypassing the natural 3 Act structure (not the first time recenetly, either). It's not short, by any means, nor is it too long, but I felt there was more that they could have done in the time alloted to give it a more rounded feel, but they had enough tits and gore by that point, so it was all good. And since they're blatantly planning on making another one, I'm cool with it.
Watch it. It's fun.
Next up: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
Saturday 28 August 2010
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Back Down South
So my brief holiday up to the frozen wastes of Scotland (more specifically the rather hospitable town of St. Andrews, where my parents reside) is now over and yesterday my brother and I embarked upon the eleven-and-a-half hour drive back down south. According to my Dad's instructions, it should have lasted about nine hours, but we got lost twice and ended up stopping for an hour and a half or so in Newbury, since it was on the way.
During my time at my parents house I managed to fall behind both on my writing and my Stargate (I'm not sure which one is more serious), so I'm frantically trying to get back on top of everything. I'm pretty sure I can catch up in order to get onto other pressing things. I can't quite think of any right now, but I'm sure I'll find something. Have met up with most of my friends, seen a few movies and lounged quite comfortably on my sofa.
Yep, it's good to be home.
On the money front I think I'm stuggling to stay within my set budget, but I don't think I'm in any serious danger yet. I'm getting a whole bunch of grant/loan/bursary cash pretty soon, but until September the 27th I'm pretty limited on what I can do (should probably stop going to the cinema so often, but if I didn't I wouldn't have any films to review for you, would I?). Ah well, it's all good, far as I'm concerned.
So I can't really think of anything to talk about other than the shows I went to go see at Edinburgh with my brother, so I'll do that. First up was a group called the News Revue, who perform a sketch show based on recent political events. These guys also are the longest running group to come to the Edinburgh Fringe, at 31 years. They were frickin' HIlarious and well worth the price of admission, brilliant stuff.
Next up Mr. Reginal D. Hunter, for whom we were front row. Do I really need to say that he was brilliant?
Finally was a production called 'Stitched Up', which was an interesting take of the story of Victor Frankenstein, presented as something of a Mad Science Anonymous meeting, with the rest of his cast taking the book and movies apart in an excellent breaking the fourth wall method. The only problem I had with it was that the cast spent too much time with thier backs to most of the audiance, most notably me.
Anyway, it was a most enjoyable day/evening, even if was under 'odd' circumstances of which I will talk about some other time!
THE A-TEAM.
You know, I didn't really have any ambition to see this movie. The A-Team was never a big part of my childhood and I never really thought much of that kind of 80's action series. However, just as I got back from my last jaunt up in newbury a few weeks ago, I was invited to go see it with my friends, so go see it we did. And you know what? We liked it. We liked it a great deal.
I won't say that it's a great movie or that it's a work of art or anything, but it was pretty damn fun. There were good jokes, cool sequences, great characters and a half decent plot. And by plot I mean a thin set of excuses to link several crazy action scenes. Basically, it worked really quite well together, but it was by no means a perfect movie.
The actual movie felt like it was only about two acts long, as oppose to the standard three act structure, either that or the second and third acts were only about half the plot points they should have been, which is more likely. Basically, I think there was a chance for another sequence in there somewhere, a smaller gap-filler one.
As it stands, the cast were actually pretty awesome (there were a lot of concerns about them), most especially Sharlto Copely, who has a serious future ahead of him.
All in all, this was a pretty decent movie, with some decent lines (quite quotable) and not at all as bad as expected. Don't go in expecting much, and you'll probably enjoy it.
Next up: Piranha 3D (No, I can't believe I'm going to review it either).
During my time at my parents house I managed to fall behind both on my writing and my Stargate (I'm not sure which one is more serious), so I'm frantically trying to get back on top of everything. I'm pretty sure I can catch up in order to get onto other pressing things. I can't quite think of any right now, but I'm sure I'll find something. Have met up with most of my friends, seen a few movies and lounged quite comfortably on my sofa.
Yep, it's good to be home.
On the money front I think I'm stuggling to stay within my set budget, but I don't think I'm in any serious danger yet. I'm getting a whole bunch of grant/loan/bursary cash pretty soon, but until September the 27th I'm pretty limited on what I can do (should probably stop going to the cinema so often, but if I didn't I wouldn't have any films to review for you, would I?). Ah well, it's all good, far as I'm concerned.
So I can't really think of anything to talk about other than the shows I went to go see at Edinburgh with my brother, so I'll do that. First up was a group called the News Revue, who perform a sketch show based on recent political events. These guys also are the longest running group to come to the Edinburgh Fringe, at 31 years. They were frickin' HIlarious and well worth the price of admission, brilliant stuff.
Next up Mr. Reginal D. Hunter, for whom we were front row. Do I really need to say that he was brilliant?
Finally was a production called 'Stitched Up', which was an interesting take of the story of Victor Frankenstein, presented as something of a Mad Science Anonymous meeting, with the rest of his cast taking the book and movies apart in an excellent breaking the fourth wall method. The only problem I had with it was that the cast spent too much time with thier backs to most of the audiance, most notably me.
Anyway, it was a most enjoyable day/evening, even if was under 'odd' circumstances of which I will talk about some other time!
THE A-TEAM.
You know, I didn't really have any ambition to see this movie. The A-Team was never a big part of my childhood and I never really thought much of that kind of 80's action series. However, just as I got back from my last jaunt up in newbury a few weeks ago, I was invited to go see it with my friends, so go see it we did. And you know what? We liked it. We liked it a great deal.
I won't say that it's a great movie or that it's a work of art or anything, but it was pretty damn fun. There were good jokes, cool sequences, great characters and a half decent plot. And by plot I mean a thin set of excuses to link several crazy action scenes. Basically, it worked really quite well together, but it was by no means a perfect movie.
The actual movie felt like it was only about two acts long, as oppose to the standard three act structure, either that or the second and third acts were only about half the plot points they should have been, which is more likely. Basically, I think there was a chance for another sequence in there somewhere, a smaller gap-filler one.
As it stands, the cast were actually pretty awesome (there were a lot of concerns about them), most especially Sharlto Copely, who has a serious future ahead of him.
All in all, this was a pretty decent movie, with some decent lines (quite quotable) and not at all as bad as expected. Don't go in expecting much, and you'll probably enjoy it.
Next up: Piranha 3D (No, I can't believe I'm going to review it either).
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Recognition
So it was to my complete surprise and astounded bewliderment that I recieved an email yesterday from a chap called Nathan Grimm, who stated that he loved my blog. Now, while I do believe that such bizarre happenings as a man I've never met reading my rantings, the even more amazing thing is that Mr. Grimm isn't just a passer by, he actually represents a website that has now linked my blog as being 'of note to potential art students'.
I'm of note? Are you serious?
Apparently so, here's the link:
http://www.guidetoartschools.com/tips-and-tools/student-artist-blogs
I'm number 7 on that list of blogs that should be of interest to student artists or writers. Now, the first thing that actually crossed my mind when reading this piece of corrospondence wasn't 'I should check this out' or 'I should email him back to make sure he hasn't recently escaped from a looney farm' it was in fact 'Damn, I should blog about this'. So here I am, tapping away now that I've thought of something to say.
So, for those few of you that will actually be tempted by that link and actually read my blog (welcome all four of you), I guess I should tell you a bit about myself.
I go by Xan on this site and quite a few others but my friends day to day call me Al (my name is Alastair, which is the Gaelic translation of the name Greek name Alexander, which can be shortened to Xander and then again to Xan), I live in Southampton, a port city on the southern coast of Great Britain, I'm a student at Southampton Solent University in my third and final year of studying Screenwriting, which is the art of writing for film and television. My that was a long sentence. Now that I've remembered what a full stop is, I can carry on.
It's my goal someday to write for the BBC or to be able to sell a science fiction script to some appropriate channel in the States. I'm aware of just how ridiculously difficult it is to fulfill these goals, however, and I don't delude myself into thinking it'll be easy, so it'll probably be off to some advertising or marketing department for me after I'm done at university. I have a passion for films and television shows, but I won't pretend to be any kind of real expert on them, I have a fan's perspective tied with a sense of pretentious elitism and that works for me.
Every month I try to make between 2 and 6 blog entries, but I'm thinking about making it weekly, especially if I've been in some way 'noticed'. Attached to each of these blog entries is a film review of a movie I went to go see in the cinema a couple of weeks before, so my reviews are never really current, which is just as well, because I wouldn't want my opinion to sway anyone else's. I am in Scotland at the moment, staying with my parents, but that's just for a week or so during my vast summer holiday time. Also, I have a near crippling addiction to Stargate SG1.
So that's me, I hope that doesn't read like it's a profile on a dating site (because I'm tired of filling those in), but if it urges you to read on then... what's wrong with you?
So on with the film review, which is the end of the blog really, so see you later, if you decide to stick around (there's no reward). But we're all in for a treat this week:
INCEPTION.
So. Inception. The big one. The film of the year, as people will say. This is it, this is something that none of us can avoid or deny. Inception.
Where the hell do I start?!
I saw this movie three times in the cinema, putting it ahead of Four Lions (my top British film of the year) and Iron Man 2. That should mean something alone.
Mind you, this is a pretty British movie, Chris Nolan is the writer and director and it's got Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Pete Postlethwaite in it.
But... it's full of flaws.
Basically, the first third of the movie is purely exposition, there's so much backstory, setting up, technical explanation that the whole first third of the movie seemed pretty contrived to start off with, with so much detail being thrown around. It's pretty hard to keep track of sometimes, and it takes a fair bit of getting used to, but by the time you've picked it all up it works together pretty smoothly.
Second flaw is Ellen Page. Now, I've been perfectly fine with this young actress's performance in the past, she was fine in X-Men 3 and she was great in Juno. This... this wasn't the film for her. She was wooden, stiff, not at all convincing and I seriously felt that her role could have been better performed by someone wearing a t-shirt that said 'Audiance Surrogate' on the front. Leo Dicaprio wasn't massively hot either.
As for third flaw... okay, sod it, I can't talk flaws anymore. So many other things to rant about. This film, despite those things I've mentioned, is truly:
AMAZING.
It's gorgeous, it's virtually seamless and so complicated that idiots will stay away. Thank fuck for that, because they don't deserve this movie.
The sheer idea of delving into people's dreams as a method of personal infiltration, exploring their fears and imaginations, seeing their memories play out in front of them with the surreal knowledge that we all contain things in our mind that can kill and hate... it's sublime. The premise alone is Oscar-worthy and I suspect a nomination for next season. Also the seamless CGI stays in the background, where CGI belongs.
The acting varies in this movie. I've already stated my feelings on Ms. Page, while Dicaprio gives an adequate performance that isn't massively stirring, but provides the level of skill that I've come to expect from him. However, the real gems of this movie are it's supporting cast. Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt all give stirling performances.
That's Gordon-Levitt of Third Rock.
Third Mo-Foing Rock from the Sun!
The real star is of course Marion Cotillard, whose sheer presence could dominate any cast she was put in. Her flawless performance is haunting, terrifying, sinister and electrifying all within one breath. The use of her character as a relic of Cobb's dark side, as the Lady of the Underworld (or Limbo) as anything she wanted to be, was inspired.
So overall, this film is the film that film fans have suffered to get. We've had Clash of the Titans, Transformers 2, X-Men Origins Wolverine, the entire Star Wars Prequal Trilogy, The fourth Indiana Jones film that DOESN'T EXIST... all these things we have sat and we have endured. All of these terrible films... and we have been finally rewarded.
It has descended from the heavens, borne upon the wings of our angel, Nolan. Friends, artists, geeks, film fans... we've EARNED this movie.
Next time: The A-Team.
I'm of note? Are you serious?
Apparently so, here's the link:
http://www.guidetoartschools.com/tips-and-tools/student-artist-blogs
I'm number 7 on that list of blogs that should be of interest to student artists or writers. Now, the first thing that actually crossed my mind when reading this piece of corrospondence wasn't 'I should check this out' or 'I should email him back to make sure he hasn't recently escaped from a looney farm' it was in fact 'Damn, I should blog about this'. So here I am, tapping away now that I've thought of something to say.
So, for those few of you that will actually be tempted by that link and actually read my blog (welcome all four of you), I guess I should tell you a bit about myself.
I go by Xan on this site and quite a few others but my friends day to day call me Al (my name is Alastair, which is the Gaelic translation of the name Greek name Alexander, which can be shortened to Xander and then again to Xan), I live in Southampton, a port city on the southern coast of Great Britain, I'm a student at Southampton Solent University in my third and final year of studying Screenwriting, which is the art of writing for film and television. My that was a long sentence. Now that I've remembered what a full stop is, I can carry on.
It's my goal someday to write for the BBC or to be able to sell a science fiction script to some appropriate channel in the States. I'm aware of just how ridiculously difficult it is to fulfill these goals, however, and I don't delude myself into thinking it'll be easy, so it'll probably be off to some advertising or marketing department for me after I'm done at university. I have a passion for films and television shows, but I won't pretend to be any kind of real expert on them, I have a fan's perspective tied with a sense of pretentious elitism and that works for me.
Every month I try to make between 2 and 6 blog entries, but I'm thinking about making it weekly, especially if I've been in some way 'noticed'. Attached to each of these blog entries is a film review of a movie I went to go see in the cinema a couple of weeks before, so my reviews are never really current, which is just as well, because I wouldn't want my opinion to sway anyone else's. I am in Scotland at the moment, staying with my parents, but that's just for a week or so during my vast summer holiday time. Also, I have a near crippling addiction to Stargate SG1.
So that's me, I hope that doesn't read like it's a profile on a dating site (because I'm tired of filling those in), but if it urges you to read on then... what's wrong with you?
So on with the film review, which is the end of the blog really, so see you later, if you decide to stick around (there's no reward). But we're all in for a treat this week:
INCEPTION.
So. Inception. The big one. The film of the year, as people will say. This is it, this is something that none of us can avoid or deny. Inception.
Where the hell do I start?!
I saw this movie three times in the cinema, putting it ahead of Four Lions (my top British film of the year) and Iron Man 2. That should mean something alone.
Mind you, this is a pretty British movie, Chris Nolan is the writer and director and it's got Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Pete Postlethwaite in it.
But... it's full of flaws.
Basically, the first third of the movie is purely exposition, there's so much backstory, setting up, technical explanation that the whole first third of the movie seemed pretty contrived to start off with, with so much detail being thrown around. It's pretty hard to keep track of sometimes, and it takes a fair bit of getting used to, but by the time you've picked it all up it works together pretty smoothly.
Second flaw is Ellen Page. Now, I've been perfectly fine with this young actress's performance in the past, she was fine in X-Men 3 and she was great in Juno. This... this wasn't the film for her. She was wooden, stiff, not at all convincing and I seriously felt that her role could have been better performed by someone wearing a t-shirt that said 'Audiance Surrogate' on the front. Leo Dicaprio wasn't massively hot either.
As for third flaw... okay, sod it, I can't talk flaws anymore. So many other things to rant about. This film, despite those things I've mentioned, is truly:
AMAZING.
It's gorgeous, it's virtually seamless and so complicated that idiots will stay away. Thank fuck for that, because they don't deserve this movie.
The sheer idea of delving into people's dreams as a method of personal infiltration, exploring their fears and imaginations, seeing their memories play out in front of them with the surreal knowledge that we all contain things in our mind that can kill and hate... it's sublime. The premise alone is Oscar-worthy and I suspect a nomination for next season. Also the seamless CGI stays in the background, where CGI belongs.
The acting varies in this movie. I've already stated my feelings on Ms. Page, while Dicaprio gives an adequate performance that isn't massively stirring, but provides the level of skill that I've come to expect from him. However, the real gems of this movie are it's supporting cast. Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt all give stirling performances.
That's Gordon-Levitt of Third Rock.
Third Mo-Foing Rock from the Sun!
The real star is of course Marion Cotillard, whose sheer presence could dominate any cast she was put in. Her flawless performance is haunting, terrifying, sinister and electrifying all within one breath. The use of her character as a relic of Cobb's dark side, as the Lady of the Underworld (or Limbo) as anything she wanted to be, was inspired.
So overall, this film is the film that film fans have suffered to get. We've had Clash of the Titans, Transformers 2, X-Men Origins Wolverine, the entire Star Wars Prequal Trilogy, The fourth Indiana Jones film that DOESN'T EXIST... all these things we have sat and we have endured. All of these terrible films... and we have been finally rewarded.
It has descended from the heavens, borne upon the wings of our angel, Nolan. Friends, artists, geeks, film fans... we've EARNED this movie.
Next time: The A-Team.
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Does it say Colonel anywhere on my uniform?!
So I've given in, once again I am watching through Stargate SG1, although this time I've also got Stargate Atlantis as well, since I ordered it last Christmas but have so far yet to watch it. For those of you who have read the earliest of my blog entries, you will know that SG1 is something like crack to me, I simply watch and watch and watch and adore an equal amount.
I mean, I'm not entirely sure why I'm so in love with this series in particular, if you look at it it's pretty cheesy, it's not possessed of great continuity to start off with, there's a few too many Deus Ex Machinas to make it for good writing... but it's simply awesome. Some series start off amazing and get worse (Battlestar Galactica, Lost, The X-Files and so on).
SG1, on the other hand, started off pretty poor and then got awesome as it went. Yes, it's cheesy, yes it's contrived, but at the same time... it's just so *nice*.
It's very easy to watch, it's got very loveable characters, it's very basic in storytelling (and remember, simpler is most often better unless you're a Nolan).
Basically, I love this series and I won't apologise for it. There's so many more worthy series, (Battlestar Galactica, Lost, The X-Files and so on), so many more detailed and artistic series (my number one of all time is still The Shield, nothing quite compares, not even the way-over-hyped The Wire)... but I've never met a series that's just so rewatchable. It even beats Firefly on that front, which is saying something.
Anyway, the kitchen is now finished, the parents are en-route and the day after tomorrow we're going up to Scotland. That means PUPPY!!! And Edinburgh Fringe Festival, should be a good time, I'm looking forwards to it.
So... on with it.
PREDATORS.
Now if there was any movie I was really, really, really looking forward to this year, it was Iron Man 2 and Predators. Oh, I suspected Inception would be better, that the A-Team would be more fun and the Expendables would be more hardcore, but somehow I knew that this one would be a safer bet for sheer coolness.
Any film that is connected to the genius that is Rodriguez deserves a watch, since the guy is so utterly reliable for entertainment that you could set your watch by him. He hangs out with Tarantino, he gets Danny Trejo to be in all his movies and he made Planet Terror. This guy is officially AWEsome, but you knew that.
And yes, it delivers.
It's a great film, it really is. It's in no way artistic, it's in no way dynamic or innovative... but it's what I call a 'perfect movie'. Basically, it sets out to show us an hour and a half of badasses being out-badassed by Predators, some funky fight scenes and Larry Fishburne back in action, if only as a cameo. And you know what? It does all that, to the letter. It's not a contribution to art, it's not fantastically noteworthy, but it's perfect in it's own way, it's true to itself.
The cast of characters was pretty basic, but they were all enjoyable and as Dan pointed out, within the first few minutes you've met all of them and you can't decide which one you want to die first. The plot is deliciously simple and Adrien Brody mans up superbly. I mean, we've only ever seen the large-nosed man as a geeky scientist or writer before, in this he's a hardened mercenary with a severely bad attitude, which makes him rather enjoyable to watch. Basically, I really liked this film.
It's great to finally see a Predator movie that isn't linked with the Aliens as well. I mean, the two made a good pairing in concept, it's just that the films sucked. The novels didn't, however, so I can live with it. I was just wondering if the two franchises were ever going to make it independantly ever again and thank Christ that they did. This was well worth it.
Next up: INCEPTION (oh yeah, baby!)
I mean, I'm not entirely sure why I'm so in love with this series in particular, if you look at it it's pretty cheesy, it's not possessed of great continuity to start off with, there's a few too many Deus Ex Machinas to make it for good writing... but it's simply awesome. Some series start off amazing and get worse (Battlestar Galactica, Lost, The X-Files and so on).
SG1, on the other hand, started off pretty poor and then got awesome as it went. Yes, it's cheesy, yes it's contrived, but at the same time... it's just so *nice*.
It's very easy to watch, it's got very loveable characters, it's very basic in storytelling (and remember, simpler is most often better unless you're a Nolan).
Basically, I love this series and I won't apologise for it. There's so many more worthy series, (Battlestar Galactica, Lost, The X-Files and so on), so many more detailed and artistic series (my number one of all time is still The Shield, nothing quite compares, not even the way-over-hyped The Wire)... but I've never met a series that's just so rewatchable. It even beats Firefly on that front, which is saying something.
Anyway, the kitchen is now finished, the parents are en-route and the day after tomorrow we're going up to Scotland. That means PUPPY!!! And Edinburgh Fringe Festival, should be a good time, I'm looking forwards to it.
So... on with it.
PREDATORS.
Now if there was any movie I was really, really, really looking forward to this year, it was Iron Man 2 and Predators. Oh, I suspected Inception would be better, that the A-Team would be more fun and the Expendables would be more hardcore, but somehow I knew that this one would be a safer bet for sheer coolness.
Any film that is connected to the genius that is Rodriguez deserves a watch, since the guy is so utterly reliable for entertainment that you could set your watch by him. He hangs out with Tarantino, he gets Danny Trejo to be in all his movies and he made Planet Terror. This guy is officially AWEsome, but you knew that.
And yes, it delivers.
It's a great film, it really is. It's in no way artistic, it's in no way dynamic or innovative... but it's what I call a 'perfect movie'. Basically, it sets out to show us an hour and a half of badasses being out-badassed by Predators, some funky fight scenes and Larry Fishburne back in action, if only as a cameo. And you know what? It does all that, to the letter. It's not a contribution to art, it's not fantastically noteworthy, but it's perfect in it's own way, it's true to itself.
The cast of characters was pretty basic, but they were all enjoyable and as Dan pointed out, within the first few minutes you've met all of them and you can't decide which one you want to die first. The plot is deliciously simple and Adrien Brody mans up superbly. I mean, we've only ever seen the large-nosed man as a geeky scientist or writer before, in this he's a hardened mercenary with a severely bad attitude, which makes him rather enjoyable to watch. Basically, I really liked this film.
It's great to finally see a Predator movie that isn't linked with the Aliens as well. I mean, the two made a good pairing in concept, it's just that the films sucked. The novels didn't, however, so I can live with it. I was just wondering if the two franchises were ever going to make it independantly ever again and thank Christ that they did. This was well worth it.
Next up: INCEPTION (oh yeah, baby!)
Friday 6 August 2010
Sleep Times
So without any further direction in my life other than occasionally grouting parts of the kitchen, I continue to have utterly erratic sleep patterns, tonight I got up around 8pm, which was very exciting for me. At the moment my brother and his girlfriend are staying with me and I'm trying not to get underfoot or say anything innapropriate, which'll be interesting.
I'm really only making this post to make up the numbers, but I feel that I should just jot my thoughts down every now and again. And at the moment, my thoughts turn to roleplay, specifically the game I'm running on wednesdays.
I call it 'Reactivated' and the storyline is one that I've been cooking up for a while now. Honestly, I think I could be doing it better than I am right now. I'm not the best of ST's, but I know that I could be doing more.
Basically, being a good ST (Story Teller) means that I have to engage the players with a situation that's to their liking and get them to sort it out. Right now, since I'm playing with a group that have very little experiance of roleplay gaming, I feel like I'm leading them by the nose a bit much, or rail-roading. Hopefully that'll change over time, but I worry that people will simply start to lose interest and wander off.
The main problem is the fluctuating nature of the group. Now, I appreciate that people have places to be and things to do, but if you're in you're in and if you're not then you're not. That's kind of how I'd like to play it. I have a feeling that some of my current players aren't all that into it, but they're giving it an honest go and that's all I can ask. Jon recommends that I get them into some combat pretty soon. I think he's right.
Ah well.
Basically, the story so far is that a group of people have woken up in a bunch of cells without any memories and told that they work for an organisation called 'Corridor 13', who make it their jobs to hunt down monsters and be paranoid. Very, very paranoid. It's an odd one, but I like it as a story.
The group have been introduced to their charasmatic and secretly murderous senior officer, they've been given their day jobs and cover and now they're about to go after their first big target. They get to go and pick a fight with a bunch of girls that live in a fetish club. A vampire fetish club.
Fun times.
GET HIM TO THE GREEK.
First off, I dislike big, trashy American comedies. They seem to be... hollow in some way. Like there's a few laughs here and there and they last just long enough to get you through the film, then you can forget about it twenty minutes later. Also, I should mention just how much I detest Russel Brand as the talentless waste of space that he clearly is.
However, I really liked this movie.
I mean, I laughed a lot during it and it's stuck in my mind since then as being quite fun, quite manic and oddly down to earth in a completely 'out-there' way. It's not a great film, it's not an amazing movie, but it does it's job quite well. Man of the movie has to go to Sean Daddy, who was surprisingly amusing. For a man that made his career as a rap 'artist', Puff Diddy gives a surprisingly funny performance, he's pretty much the highlight. Brand and Hill are... well, they're okay and I didn't dislike them, which is about as much as I can hope for.
So, watch it for P. Combs, don't expect a great deal from it, but it is funnier than it looks like it will be. Also, I didn't realise this but apparently it's a loose sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, so I guess I'll have to go watch that now, won't I.
Next time: PREDATORS
I'm really only making this post to make up the numbers, but I feel that I should just jot my thoughts down every now and again. And at the moment, my thoughts turn to roleplay, specifically the game I'm running on wednesdays.
I call it 'Reactivated' and the storyline is one that I've been cooking up for a while now. Honestly, I think I could be doing it better than I am right now. I'm not the best of ST's, but I know that I could be doing more.
Basically, being a good ST (Story Teller) means that I have to engage the players with a situation that's to their liking and get them to sort it out. Right now, since I'm playing with a group that have very little experiance of roleplay gaming, I feel like I'm leading them by the nose a bit much, or rail-roading. Hopefully that'll change over time, but I worry that people will simply start to lose interest and wander off.
The main problem is the fluctuating nature of the group. Now, I appreciate that people have places to be and things to do, but if you're in you're in and if you're not then you're not. That's kind of how I'd like to play it. I have a feeling that some of my current players aren't all that into it, but they're giving it an honest go and that's all I can ask. Jon recommends that I get them into some combat pretty soon. I think he's right.
Ah well.
Basically, the story so far is that a group of people have woken up in a bunch of cells without any memories and told that they work for an organisation called 'Corridor 13', who make it their jobs to hunt down monsters and be paranoid. Very, very paranoid. It's an odd one, but I like it as a story.
The group have been introduced to their charasmatic and secretly murderous senior officer, they've been given their day jobs and cover and now they're about to go after their first big target. They get to go and pick a fight with a bunch of girls that live in a fetish club. A vampire fetish club.
Fun times.
GET HIM TO THE GREEK.
First off, I dislike big, trashy American comedies. They seem to be... hollow in some way. Like there's a few laughs here and there and they last just long enough to get you through the film, then you can forget about it twenty minutes later. Also, I should mention just how much I detest Russel Brand as the talentless waste of space that he clearly is.
However, I really liked this movie.
I mean, I laughed a lot during it and it's stuck in my mind since then as being quite fun, quite manic and oddly down to earth in a completely 'out-there' way. It's not a great film, it's not an amazing movie, but it does it's job quite well. Man of the movie has to go to Sean Daddy, who was surprisingly amusing. For a man that made his career as a rap 'artist', Puff Diddy gives a surprisingly funny performance, he's pretty much the highlight. Brand and Hill are... well, they're okay and I didn't dislike them, which is about as much as I can hope for.
So, watch it for P. Combs, don't expect a great deal from it, but it is funnier than it looks like it will be. Also, I didn't realise this but apparently it's a loose sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, so I guess I'll have to go watch that now, won't I.
Next time: PREDATORS
Monday 2 August 2010
About 4 Behind
So I was going to attempt to do six blog entries throughout the month of July, to match the six I did in June, but it appears that I came down with a case of the terminally rubbish and didn't manage it. Can't imagine why, me being such a paragon of dedication and organisation, after all. Never mind, then. I'll just have to do six this month to make up for it.
Of course, when I had left off last month I was almost catching up to my own film reviews, so now that I am once again drastically behind, I feel a bit more comfortable to know that my opinion can once again mean little to everyone reading. As if it didn't before. As if anyone reads this sodding thing. Anyway, a fair few film reviews to go, since I still loves me some movies.
In other news, I'm still grouting away at the kitchen, since there seems to be no end in sight to the amount of work I actually have to do for it. Mum and Dad and Basil will be here on the 11th of August so it had better all be done by then.
On the plus side I do have my brother around to help me out, that is if I can tear him away from Dragon Age. As far as Bioware RPG's go, it's a pretty decent outing, but it's nothing that Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect didn't do better.
Just, you know, with Dragons.
I spent the last week of July in Newbury, as well, getting reacquainted with the Corn Exchange, Rios, my vast amount of friends, Jim Jeffries and late night Halo.
As for the places I stayed, I was at Emma's for 4 nights, which was nice, since I got an airbed and a cool cat to hang out with. At the other end of the spectrum I was on a sofa with no shower for the other 4, but the company was more numerous, more masculine and there was more in the way of video gaming. Mr. Giff also graced us with his presence and I can't quite believe just how much I missed him. I'm a massive sop.
Okay, think that's me caught up.
Wild Target.
This film kind of took me by surprise, I hadn't really heard anything about it before it came out and I thought the one trailer I'd seen for it was actually an off-beat advert for some kind of product, since I wasn't paying attention. I get the feeling that's what I would have preffered this to turn out to be after I'd watched it, which is a shame. Me and the gang went to go see it and we weren't all that impressed.
I mean, look at the elements that went into this film. Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Rupert Everret. These names are AWEsome, they all command comedica and serious respect, they're what it's all about, these guys. Directed by Jonathon Lynn. This guy was responsible for Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, the two series that had their fingers of the pulse of British comedy. And CLUE! He directed CLUE! One of the funniest films I've ever seen.
How then, was it shit?
And not even just a bit dull. This movie was POOR beyond belief. I mean, the script was unimaginative and predictable, the acting was stodgy and it flowed about well as a stream of concrete blocks, the overall feel of this movie was 'when will it end?'. Which considering how short it was, is a huge anti-achievement. I simply couldn't beleive what I was seeing.
It was tragic to think that the best thing about this movie was Rupert sodding Grint, who has finally moved on from being a ginger wizard to being a ginger stoner.
So yes, this movie had a few moments of laughter, but was otherwise almost completely unbearable. C'mon British cinema, we can do far better than this, can't we?!
Next time: Get Him To The Greek
Of course, when I had left off last month I was almost catching up to my own film reviews, so now that I am once again drastically behind, I feel a bit more comfortable to know that my opinion can once again mean little to everyone reading. As if it didn't before. As if anyone reads this sodding thing. Anyway, a fair few film reviews to go, since I still loves me some movies.
In other news, I'm still grouting away at the kitchen, since there seems to be no end in sight to the amount of work I actually have to do for it. Mum and Dad and Basil will be here on the 11th of August so it had better all be done by then.
On the plus side I do have my brother around to help me out, that is if I can tear him away from Dragon Age. As far as Bioware RPG's go, it's a pretty decent outing, but it's nothing that Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect didn't do better.
Just, you know, with Dragons.
I spent the last week of July in Newbury, as well, getting reacquainted with the Corn Exchange, Rios, my vast amount of friends, Jim Jeffries and late night Halo.
As for the places I stayed, I was at Emma's for 4 nights, which was nice, since I got an airbed and a cool cat to hang out with. At the other end of the spectrum I was on a sofa with no shower for the other 4, but the company was more numerous, more masculine and there was more in the way of video gaming. Mr. Giff also graced us with his presence and I can't quite believe just how much I missed him. I'm a massive sop.
Okay, think that's me caught up.
Wild Target.
This film kind of took me by surprise, I hadn't really heard anything about it before it came out and I thought the one trailer I'd seen for it was actually an off-beat advert for some kind of product, since I wasn't paying attention. I get the feeling that's what I would have preffered this to turn out to be after I'd watched it, which is a shame. Me and the gang went to go see it and we weren't all that impressed.
I mean, look at the elements that went into this film. Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Rupert Everret. These names are AWEsome, they all command comedica and serious respect, they're what it's all about, these guys. Directed by Jonathon Lynn. This guy was responsible for Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, the two series that had their fingers of the pulse of British comedy. And CLUE! He directed CLUE! One of the funniest films I've ever seen.
How then, was it shit?
And not even just a bit dull. This movie was POOR beyond belief. I mean, the script was unimaginative and predictable, the acting was stodgy and it flowed about well as a stream of concrete blocks, the overall feel of this movie was 'when will it end?'. Which considering how short it was, is a huge anti-achievement. I simply couldn't beleive what I was seeing.
It was tragic to think that the best thing about this movie was Rupert sodding Grint, who has finally moved on from being a ginger wizard to being a ginger stoner.
So yes, this movie had a few moments of laughter, but was otherwise almost completely unbearable. C'mon British cinema, we can do far better than this, can't we?!
Next time: Get Him To The Greek
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