A bunch of guys on TV recently that I have been seriously impressed with.
1 - Jon Richardson (Trevor Travel Planner)
2 - Kieth Allen (what a top arsehole cop)
3 - Miles Jupp (still seriously funny)
4 - Joe Dempsie (come along since Skins)
5 - Arthur Darvil (seriously, the best reason to have been watching Who)
So yeah, in the interests of bisexual equality, I'd shag those guys as well.
TINKER,
TAILOR,
SOLDIER,
SPY.
What can I say, really? We wanted a slow-burning, intense, beautifully presented spy thriller and we got a slow-burning, intense, beautifully presented spy thriller. This film 'apparently' doesn't match up to Alec Guiness' 'original', according to a great many old people who came to see it, but you know what? Screw them, this film wasn't for them, it was for us.
It was for people who adore films, for people who want to see a truly great story of such intricacy that you need to keep a notebook next to your seat. For people who want to see truly talented actors doing exactly what they do best. The cast list alone is mouth wateringly good, Oldman, Strong, Cumberbatch, Firth, Hurt, Jones, Hinds, Hardy, Graham... it don't get much better.
As often noted, I don't like going into too much detail about films that I really liked, so I'll keep this one short. This film is pure genius. Once again, this film is one of those that people who've had to suffer through such shit as Green Lantern and Transformers get as a reward. It's a real film made by real filmmakers who really, really knew what they were doing.
Enough said.
Next: The Deep Blue Sea
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Thursday 20 October 2011
Lists (1)
Women I've seen on TV recently that I kinda fancy and possibly shouldn't.
1 - Sarah Millican (Oh I love that accent)
2 - Katy Brand (No idea why, but I would)
3 - Clare Rushbrook (watch The Fades, guys)
4 - Lorraine Kelly (Nope, no excuses here)
5 - Wummi Mosaku (needs to do something with her hair, though)
Noticed that many of my friends have just done blog entries that are lists. Good idea, that.
JANE EYRE.
Many people that I discussed this film with were surprised that I would be interested in seeing it in the first place. Just as an aside, I'm not really sure how to take that. It's a classic piece of literature that has survived with interest intact into making many, many adaptations of it and it's a compelling story to start off with. Why would I not be interested in seeing it with Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell and Dame Judy Dench in some of the lead roles?
Basically, this is a classic tragedy with a lavish cast, location and attention to detail. It's a gorgeous representation of the story and I felt it was very well put across. Any gripes I may have had with the ending simply come from the way stories were told at the time, with a neat bow to make sure that everyone ends up mostly happy, if a bit angsty. Jamie Bell's character, although well played by one of my favourite actors, probably wasn't much use to the plot all in all.
I recommend this film quite heavily, it's intelligent enough to engage but not to offput, it's love-driven enough to make even a jaded cynic like myself appreciate it. Check it out.
Next up: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
(why hells yes, my brother-fuckers).
1 - Sarah Millican (Oh I love that accent)
2 - Katy Brand (No idea why, but I would)
3 - Clare Rushbrook (watch The Fades, guys)
4 - Lorraine Kelly (Nope, no excuses here)
5 - Wummi Mosaku (needs to do something with her hair, though)
Noticed that many of my friends have just done blog entries that are lists. Good idea, that.
JANE EYRE.
Many people that I discussed this film with were surprised that I would be interested in seeing it in the first place. Just as an aside, I'm not really sure how to take that. It's a classic piece of literature that has survived with interest intact into making many, many adaptations of it and it's a compelling story to start off with. Why would I not be interested in seeing it with Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell and Dame Judy Dench in some of the lead roles?
Basically, this is a classic tragedy with a lavish cast, location and attention to detail. It's a gorgeous representation of the story and I felt it was very well put across. Any gripes I may have had with the ending simply come from the way stories were told at the time, with a neat bow to make sure that everyone ends up mostly happy, if a bit angsty. Jamie Bell's character, although well played by one of my favourite actors, probably wasn't much use to the plot all in all.
I recommend this film quite heavily, it's intelligent enough to engage but not to offput, it's love-driven enough to make even a jaded cynic like myself appreciate it. Check it out.
Next up: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
(why hells yes, my brother-fuckers).
Tuesday 11 October 2011
What's A Day Off?
Unless things start to look less pear-shaped, today (tuesday the 11th) will be my only day off in the entirety of October. This is good in one regard, I definately know that I've got a few pennies in my account in the future. On the other hand, it does make me a little bit more irrational and crabby with my fellow staff, who are just as hard-working as I am, if not more so. But the sheer amount of hours I put in last week was certainly wearing on me by monday and I'm happy to say that I had a decent and productive day off. Sort of.
Kerry and Tim both had days off as well, so we tried to hammer out a proto-game of Territory, something that I still need to sit down and properly work out rules for, but then that's what playtesting is for. The scenario we came up with was interesting and certainly has some potential. I seem to fill my spare time with gaming these days, what with my renewed interest in 'The Thirteen Games of Corridor Thirteen' and how to make them work. I still have my core gamers and it's a good way to focus my excess creativity and plot this epic, spanning world.
I think after November's Chalice is completed (what with November's Children finished and November's Chosen begun, Chalice would be the third in the trilogy of November games), we may well do The Isis, a game hell-bent on ripping off Pirates of the Carribean. I've put a few mentions of the Isis into some of November at the moment, almost like I'm J.J. Abrahms. Speaking of which, Kieran was saying how he was disappointed that he hadn't heard anything regarding the next Star Trek film, whether it was in development or it had begun filming or anything.
I frickin' hope not. The last one sucked.
JURASSIC PARK.
Oh yes, you read that right. A few weeks ago (in fact, on my last day off), myself, Kieran, Marsh, Alex and Carl all went to go see Jurassic Park on the big screen in Newbury Vue. Because the trilogy of Jurassic Park films are being released on Blu-Ray there was a brief cinema re-release and I felt obliged to go and see it, since it was one of the first films I avidly remember going to see at the cinema when I was a kid (that wasn't a Disney animated film, at the least). That was 18 years ago.
My only real comment is thus:
It is still as good as I remember.
There are one or two instances where maybe the special effects don't quite hold up (especially when you first see the Brachiosaur, and yes I had to look up how to mispell that), but the story is still excellently paced, still visually stunning and still very characterful. Jeff Goldblum, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, Laura Dren, Richard Attenbrough, they are all still brilliant, but the stars of the show really are Sam Neill and Bob Peck. I mean, hats off to the pair of them (pun intended).
I'd just like to comment on just how often I quote that Jurassic Park contains one of my favourite moments of movie history and if you don't know what it is, then I clearly haven't ranted enough about it. But you know which scene it is. So do yourself a favour, dig out your dvd or video of this movie, whack it on and remember just how freakin' good it was. And it's only a little because it got to use it's own merchandise in the film itself. If that isn't meta forethought, then nothing is, to be honest.
Clever girl.
Next up: Jane Eyre.
Kerry and Tim both had days off as well, so we tried to hammer out a proto-game of Territory, something that I still need to sit down and properly work out rules for, but then that's what playtesting is for. The scenario we came up with was interesting and certainly has some potential. I seem to fill my spare time with gaming these days, what with my renewed interest in 'The Thirteen Games of Corridor Thirteen' and how to make them work. I still have my core gamers and it's a good way to focus my excess creativity and plot this epic, spanning world.
I think after November's Chalice is completed (what with November's Children finished and November's Chosen begun, Chalice would be the third in the trilogy of November games), we may well do The Isis, a game hell-bent on ripping off Pirates of the Carribean. I've put a few mentions of the Isis into some of November at the moment, almost like I'm J.J. Abrahms. Speaking of which, Kieran was saying how he was disappointed that he hadn't heard anything regarding the next Star Trek film, whether it was in development or it had begun filming or anything.
I frickin' hope not. The last one sucked.
JURASSIC PARK.
Oh yes, you read that right. A few weeks ago (in fact, on my last day off), myself, Kieran, Marsh, Alex and Carl all went to go see Jurassic Park on the big screen in Newbury Vue. Because the trilogy of Jurassic Park films are being released on Blu-Ray there was a brief cinema re-release and I felt obliged to go and see it, since it was one of the first films I avidly remember going to see at the cinema when I was a kid (that wasn't a Disney animated film, at the least). That was 18 years ago.
My only real comment is thus:
It is still as good as I remember.
There are one or two instances where maybe the special effects don't quite hold up (especially when you first see the Brachiosaur, and yes I had to look up how to mispell that), but the story is still excellently paced, still visually stunning and still very characterful. Jeff Goldblum, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, Laura Dren, Richard Attenbrough, they are all still brilliant, but the stars of the show really are Sam Neill and Bob Peck. I mean, hats off to the pair of them (pun intended).
I'd just like to comment on just how often I quote that Jurassic Park contains one of my favourite moments of movie history and if you don't know what it is, then I clearly haven't ranted enough about it. But you know which scene it is. So do yourself a favour, dig out your dvd or video of this movie, whack it on and remember just how freakin' good it was. And it's only a little because it got to use it's own merchandise in the film itself. If that isn't meta forethought, then nothing is, to be honest.
Clever girl.
Next up: Jane Eyre.
Friday 7 October 2011
For I Am The Work-Bunny
Yeah, there's been far too much of that old 'work' thing taking up my life at the moment. See, the Corn Exchange has just undergone a mild upheaval, the ladies that ran the day cafe have left us and now the Corn Exchange has extended the bar into the daytime to make a cafe-bar. Meaning that I had to learn how to use an Espresso machine on monday morning and then teach everyone else how to do it on tuesday evening.
So this week alone I'm down to do about sixty hours between my two jobs and I'm beginning to wear a bit thin, especially since I haven't had a day off since September 25th. I appreciate that there are people out there who do a hell of a lot more than me in terms of hours and difficulty of their job, but this is what I've got and it's slowly go a little stir crazy. If my hours keep up, the next time I get a day off is November 13th.
Me and Kerry of Rios were talking about it. We're both unmarried and childless men in our mid-to-late twenties, we can both work almost every hour going and will do so for just a fraction above minimum wage. This pretty much secures our livelihoods throughout this recession, but it probably won't be much fun, to be honest with you. Still, I don't have time to be thinking about such things, I've got work in an hour and a bit.
BOBBY FISCHER
AGAINST
THE WORLD.
Now this man had problems. Bobby Fischer is a name that is vaguley recalled by my parents as the Chess Champion that went nuts. And this documentary neatly sums up exactly how Bobby Fischer became a Chess Champion and then really, really did go nuts. There are barely words to describe just how frickin' nuts, really.
But yes, I shall say that this was a very well layed out and very well put together documentary concerning the rise to fame and context of Robert Fischer. As a ten-year-old with an obsessive mother in the 50's (who was obsessed with a great many things that were not her son) he began playing chess.
Quickly proving himself to be a national champion, Fischer became the hope and focus of the United States and used principally in the next stage of the Cold War, what with a Russian holding the title of World Chess Champion, Boris Spassky. Needless to say that the intellectual battle between them was intense and hard-fought, but respectful and honourable, which made Fischers deterioration into character death later in life even more remarkable. He was always a strange one, but he really did lose it later on.
I highly recommend this documentary simply because there's nothing more to highlight the incredible than itself and if there is one word to truly describe Fischer's life, it is incredible. Look it up if you so wish, it's a good use of your time.
Next up: Clever Girl...
So this week alone I'm down to do about sixty hours between my two jobs and I'm beginning to wear a bit thin, especially since I haven't had a day off since September 25th. I appreciate that there are people out there who do a hell of a lot more than me in terms of hours and difficulty of their job, but this is what I've got and it's slowly go a little stir crazy. If my hours keep up, the next time I get a day off is November 13th.
Me and Kerry of Rios were talking about it. We're both unmarried and childless men in our mid-to-late twenties, we can both work almost every hour going and will do so for just a fraction above minimum wage. This pretty much secures our livelihoods throughout this recession, but it probably won't be much fun, to be honest with you. Still, I don't have time to be thinking about such things, I've got work in an hour and a bit.
BOBBY FISCHER
AGAINST
THE WORLD.
Now this man had problems. Bobby Fischer is a name that is vaguley recalled by my parents as the Chess Champion that went nuts. And this documentary neatly sums up exactly how Bobby Fischer became a Chess Champion and then really, really did go nuts. There are barely words to describe just how frickin' nuts, really.
But yes, I shall say that this was a very well layed out and very well put together documentary concerning the rise to fame and context of Robert Fischer. As a ten-year-old with an obsessive mother in the 50's (who was obsessed with a great many things that were not her son) he began playing chess.
Quickly proving himself to be a national champion, Fischer became the hope and focus of the United States and used principally in the next stage of the Cold War, what with a Russian holding the title of World Chess Champion, Boris Spassky. Needless to say that the intellectual battle between them was intense and hard-fought, but respectful and honourable, which made Fischers deterioration into character death later in life even more remarkable. He was always a strange one, but he really did lose it later on.
I highly recommend this documentary simply because there's nothing more to highlight the incredible than itself and if there is one word to truly describe Fischer's life, it is incredible. Look it up if you so wish, it's a good use of your time.
Next up: Clever Girl...
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