Seriously? 1 hour? That's it? This week, my class time has been reduced to 1 hour. 1 measly hour. With Mike off ill and Sara having cancelled her wednesday class last week, that gave us 1 hour in uni and that was yesterday. And I pay £3,000 a year for this? Wonderful, I tell you, just wonderful. I might as well have not bothered getting out of bed at all.
I heard somewhere that I'd have to pay an additional £500 for every extra class that I wanted to sit in on (and there are two on a thursday that I do). Now, considering just how much actual class time I actually seem to get, if anyone tries to actually charge me for this, then they can quite frankly make out with my overly rounded backside, the pedantic pissants.
Money problems seem to be a recurring theme in my life at the moment. The Student Loans Company insists that I owe them about £2000, the University is cancelling my Bursary and the Council keeps badgering me about Council Tax that I don't actually owe them. It gets a bit much.
Is it just me or am I
getting more annoyed?
The Council stuff is easy to sort, I'm just kinda surprised that it hasn't been done already automatically, it's not like I didn't register or enroll. I just need to get the uni to send off a form on my behalf, but the fact that this keeps cropping up has me concerned for my tennants.
Not that they really deserve that much of my concern. Anthony's good company and we'll always have a chat, but he isn't big on communal tidying. Richard really, really, *really* isn't big on keeping anything clean. I don't think he's ever even washed a dish while he's been living here.
God damn I miss Sabeen.
Right... THE KING'S SPEECH.
When my parents saw this film (about a week before I did), in their cinema in St Andrews, the movie recieved standing applause at the conclusion. It didn't quite get the same treatment from moviegoers in Southampton Cineworld, but as far as I'm concerned, it sodding well deserved it.
I also saw that MovieBob thinks this film is simply Oscar Bait. Now, he makes fair points, it's got all the trappings of an Oscar lure, but I really don't think that makes a difference to just how damned good this film was. I mean seriously heartwarming, seriously well played, seriously good.
There's not too much I can say about it, really. It tells the story of how Prince Albert, who would go on to become King George VI (dad of Queen Elizabeth II), tried with great difficulty to overcome his crippling speech impediment, which would be vital for the coming years, with the build up to the Second World War in progress. It's a much bigger issue than it might appear, at least for Albert, who has spent his life in the shadow of his much grander family and their harsh 'old-school' ways.
The friendship between Bertie and Lionel is touching and rocky and taps into the class struggle that Oscar loves and people just seem to empathise with.
The performances by Rush, Firth, Bonham-Carter, Gambon, Jacobi and Pearce are simply brilliant, they fully capture Britian in the late 1930's and are truly moving.
Basically, this film may have been designed in order to hook the producers some Oscars... but it deserves everything that it catches. Because it simply is that good.
Next up: Black Swan.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Sunday, 9 January 2011
MANuary
You know, having this beard has been kinda cool. I don't have to worry about shaving, people make amused comments which gives me something to talk about with them and it's ginger. I mean, that's just classic.
But I think that it has run its course. I look in the mirror now and it doesn't amuse me anymore, it just looks kinda silly. Of course, you ask, what about my democratic process? What about the people that did the voting?
The reason I held the voting process at the end of November and December was because I couldn't really make a choice myself. I had no strong opinion either way, so therefore I asked my friends what they thought and we all had a laugh about it. Now... now I have an opinion. I think I want my chin back. I may never have been a good looking guy, but I did always find myself armed with a little more confidence when it was just manly sandpaper stubble.
So, no beard. Soon. Ish.
In other news, my attempts at eating better and doing more exercise appear to be lasting about as long as the average New Year's resolution, which is about 2 weeks. Ish. Sort of. Maybe. I'm sure I'll be able to stick to some of it, but it's expensive and annoying and it just isn't me, really.
I've always had this saying: Eat Healthy, Exercise Regularly, Die Anyway. Now, call me a black-hearted cynic, but that's generally how I look at life. If you look around, the world is pretty crap, so there's not much incentive for me to stick around after the years where I can look after myself.
Especially since I don't intend on having kids. But that's a sore point for some, so I'll leave that topic. I also seemed to have attracted several new followers, although why is yet to be seen and whether they'll actually stick around is another matter entirely. So yes, Hi... whoever you are.
Ahm... yeah, that's it.
127 HOURS.
Oh. My.
Shitting.
Christ.
This was one hell of a film to start the year off with. I know I saw Love and Other Drugs just before this, but this movies just blows it out the water. It blows most things out the water, from other movies to aircraft carriers. This film has such passion, such paranoia, pain, power, precision and about eighteen other p-words to go with it, that it's pretty much just perfect.
For those that don't know, 127 Hours is the amount of time that Aron Ralston, a mountaineering enthusiast, spent trapped with his arm pinned to a rock wall deep in the middle of nowhere, Utah. He had very little water, very little food and virtually nothing that he could use to get himself out of that situation. This is how he survived, and it isn't pretty.
Chances are most people have heard the various press about this film, that it's probably gorier than Saw and that two people had to be removed on stretchers with oxygen support at the premier. Well, you know what they say, no such thing as bad publicity.
The acting is unbelievable, James Franco will be up for some serious awards in a few weeks, the location is gorgeous, you really can tell why Ralston spent so much time in that part of the world, it's truly incredible, the soundtrack is perfectly chaotic.
But the real star of the show is Danny Boyle's Editor, Jon Harris. Quite frankly, the way this film is cut together is the most harrowing part of it, the way the messed up reality of what's going through Aron's delusional head is brought to life in a way that's both heartbreaking and seriously unnerving. This is probably Danny Boyle's finest film and that's coming from a long pedigree of seriously good films.
Of course, the most spectacular thing about this movie is that it's a true story. Aron Ralston is a real person, this actually happened to him. I'd just like to end on the note that (other than you must see this movie), Mr. Ralston, I'm sure you've heard this before, but I must say that you don't embody the spirit of human triumph, you *are* the spirit of human triumph and a true inspiration to the world full of people who do sod all with their lives. My hat goes off to you, sir. In my left hand, naturally.
Next up: THE KING'S SPEECH
But I think that it has run its course. I look in the mirror now and it doesn't amuse me anymore, it just looks kinda silly. Of course, you ask, what about my democratic process? What about the people that did the voting?
The reason I held the voting process at the end of November and December was because I couldn't really make a choice myself. I had no strong opinion either way, so therefore I asked my friends what they thought and we all had a laugh about it. Now... now I have an opinion. I think I want my chin back. I may never have been a good looking guy, but I did always find myself armed with a little more confidence when it was just manly sandpaper stubble.
So, no beard. Soon. Ish.
In other news, my attempts at eating better and doing more exercise appear to be lasting about as long as the average New Year's resolution, which is about 2 weeks. Ish. Sort of. Maybe. I'm sure I'll be able to stick to some of it, but it's expensive and annoying and it just isn't me, really.
I've always had this saying: Eat Healthy, Exercise Regularly, Die Anyway. Now, call me a black-hearted cynic, but that's generally how I look at life. If you look around, the world is pretty crap, so there's not much incentive for me to stick around after the years where I can look after myself.
Especially since I don't intend on having kids. But that's a sore point for some, so I'll leave that topic. I also seemed to have attracted several new followers, although why is yet to be seen and whether they'll actually stick around is another matter entirely. So yes, Hi... whoever you are.
Ahm... yeah, that's it.
127 HOURS.
Oh. My.
Shitting.
Christ.
This was one hell of a film to start the year off with. I know I saw Love and Other Drugs just before this, but this movies just blows it out the water. It blows most things out the water, from other movies to aircraft carriers. This film has such passion, such paranoia, pain, power, precision and about eighteen other p-words to go with it, that it's pretty much just perfect.
For those that don't know, 127 Hours is the amount of time that Aron Ralston, a mountaineering enthusiast, spent trapped with his arm pinned to a rock wall deep in the middle of nowhere, Utah. He had very little water, very little food and virtually nothing that he could use to get himself out of that situation. This is how he survived, and it isn't pretty.
Chances are most people have heard the various press about this film, that it's probably gorier than Saw and that two people had to be removed on stretchers with oxygen support at the premier. Well, you know what they say, no such thing as bad publicity.
The acting is unbelievable, James Franco will be up for some serious awards in a few weeks, the location is gorgeous, you really can tell why Ralston spent so much time in that part of the world, it's truly incredible, the soundtrack is perfectly chaotic.
But the real star of the show is Danny Boyle's Editor, Jon Harris. Quite frankly, the way this film is cut together is the most harrowing part of it, the way the messed up reality of what's going through Aron's delusional head is brought to life in a way that's both heartbreaking and seriously unnerving. This is probably Danny Boyle's finest film and that's coming from a long pedigree of seriously good films.
Of course, the most spectacular thing about this movie is that it's a true story. Aron Ralston is a real person, this actually happened to him. I'd just like to end on the note that (other than you must see this movie), Mr. Ralston, I'm sure you've heard this before, but I must say that you don't embody the spirit of human triumph, you *are* the spirit of human triumph and a true inspiration to the world full of people who do sod all with their lives. My hat goes off to you, sir. In my left hand, naturally.
Next up: THE KING'S SPEECH
Friday, 7 January 2011
Films of 2010
So it's 2011 and I managed to uphold true blue democracy by setting my beard to the vote. But I'm not gonna talk about that, or my New Years Celebrations or my latest ideas or whatever. I'm gonna talk about the films of 2010, that I spent half my time reviewing.
(This may be a long one.)
So, the year was off to a good start with some quirky, fast-paced, kick-ass action films, Sherlock Holmes was hilarious and tense, Daybreakers was a few knocks off being truly brilliant, Book of Eli was very entertaining. Then The Road and Up In The Air took 2010 into a more questioning route, a more thoughtful direction of depression and how to cope with it. And all that was just in January, what a month to start off.
What came next was... well... The Wolfman was pretty poor, the Lovely Bones was uninspiring and The Crazies was pretty run-of-the-mill, leaving February a little disappointing. The only film from March was Shutter Island, a film I'm still mixed about given the ending. April started off terrible, with the Clash of the Titans remake (beware the threatened sequel), but was redeemed by How To Train Your Dragon and of course, Iron Man 2.
A mix in May, the Nightmare on Elm Street remake was pure rubbish, Hot Tub Time Machine and Prince of Persia did little to impress, but Robin Hood was a decent addition and of course, Four Lions was dominating the British market, deservedly so. June brought more mix, Brooklyn's Finest was fine, Bad Lieutenant was downright weird, 4.3.2.1 was surprisingly great, Wild Target sucked beyond all my fears and Get Him To The Greek didn't.
Properly into summer now. July was filled with cool, with Predators, Inception and the A-Team all in the same month. Now that was some good times! Then August followed with the surprisingly cool Piranha, the oddly let-down of Scott Pilgrim and the inexcusably terrible Expendables. September looked as if it would suck to start as well with the new Resident Evil, but Ben Affleck (of all the people) pulled it back with The Town. Cyrus was... well... I still don't know.
October, a month of nostalgia. Back To The Future was 25, Metropolis was 83... both of them reminded me why I should still respect them both for their sheer genius. Then there was Let Me In and RED, both of them were solid movies, and then of course, The Social Network, a film that nobody really saw coming, yet took us all by surprise.
End of the year and Fantasy starts to take over. The Owls of Ga'hoole was passable and good (if violent) for kids, Skyline was utter utter rubbish and Machete was hilarious (and definately not for kids!), in November. Then Unstoppable was solid, Monsters was a bit of a let down and my year was finished with good ol' Narnia. And that was forty two films.
So...
Top Five are easily:
- Inception
- The Social Network
- Four Lions
- The Road
- Iron Man 2
with Up In The Air not that far behind and 4.3.2.1 just a few inches behind that. It was a powerful year in some places, with only a few glaring let downs. I didn't get to see all the films I wanted to. Splice passed me by, as did Toy Story 3 and Kick-Ass. But I think I did pretty damn well as it was. I got me some good movies in. In case you were wondering, that adds up to:
Remakes - 8
(The WOlfman, The Crazies, Clash of the Titans, Nightmare on Elm Street, Prince of Persia, Bad Lieutenant, Piranha and Let Me In)
Sequels - 3
(Get Him To The Greek, Predators. Iron Man 2 and Resident Evil 4 are both half sequels, half adaptations)
Adaptations - 16
(Sherlock Holmes, The Road, Up In The Air, The Lovely Bones, Shutter Island, How To Train Your Dragon, The A-Team, Scott Pilgrin vs. The World, The Town, Metropolis, The Social Network, RED, Legend of the Guardians, Machete and Chronicles of Narnia, as well as the Iron Man 2/Resident Evil 4 thing).
Original (Big Question Mark next to some) - 15
(Daybreakers, Book of Eli, Four Lions, Hot Tub Time Machine, Robin Hood, Brooklyn's Finest, 4.3.2.1, Wild Target, Inception, The Expendables, Cyrus, Back To The Future, Skyline, Unstoppable and Monsters)
Worst Films of the Year:
- Clash of the Titans (Easily the worst)
- Skyline (Beyond Hope)
- The Expendables (Jesus help me)
- Wild Target (Why guys, just why?)
Think that's about as much as I can waffle about the same 42 movies... now I guess I should review another one...
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS.
Odd film to start the year off with, but I didn't get to see it before Christmas and I didn't want to miss it, especially since it seemed like a romantic comedy that I might actually be interested in. That sentence in itself should probably tell you something about me.
I mean, take a look at the list of forty-two movies I saw this year just gone and try to pick out the romantic comedies. I guarantee you it'll be a very short list. So when one that actually has some interest attached to it... well, can't really pass it up, can I? No, I can't.
So, Edward Zwick.
Zwick is the second port of call when it comes to historical epics, right behind SIR Ridely, after all. What with The Last Samurai, Glory, Blood Diamond and Defiance under his belt, as well as a host of other films. Doing this rom-com almost seems out of place for him, until you consider it. It's set in 1996, a historical period as far as we're concerned now, and it's pretty long, making it somewhat epic in scope.
And truth be told, it's nowhere near as 'romantic' as a lot of other rom-coms aim for. It's hard to watch in some places, it's based around casual sex and it's got enough cynicsm about love and life to fill a whole clone of me. It's genuinely funny in a good number of places and it's got excellent, well-rounded characters. The best of which aren't Gyllenhall and Hathaway (although they are good), it's the support guys.
Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria are probably two of the most under-rated actors on the American scene, their characters in this movie are charming, bitter, hilarious and understated. Team them up with Josh Gad's younger brother character and this movie has a hat-trick of decent male secondaries. Very few female presences apart from Hathaway, however. And the backdrop of the film is the most interesting character of all.
Late 90's. Drug Reps. Viagra.
Oh yes. This is what it's all about. The depiction of the late 90's Viagra boom is probably the most interesting part of the entire film, the sort of historical (eek, that makes me feel old) event that changed a great deal without all that many people noticing and it's documented very, very well.
So, interesting setting, great supporting characters, leads we can actually identify with and a huge wealth of detail in this movie. This isn't just a rom-com, to partake of Mark's and Spencer's advertising campaign. This is an Edward Zwick rom-com. And that says it all, as far as I'm concerned.
Next: 127 Hours.
(This may be a long one.)
So, the year was off to a good start with some quirky, fast-paced, kick-ass action films, Sherlock Holmes was hilarious and tense, Daybreakers was a few knocks off being truly brilliant, Book of Eli was very entertaining. Then The Road and Up In The Air took 2010 into a more questioning route, a more thoughtful direction of depression and how to cope with it. And all that was just in January, what a month to start off.
What came next was... well... The Wolfman was pretty poor, the Lovely Bones was uninspiring and The Crazies was pretty run-of-the-mill, leaving February a little disappointing. The only film from March was Shutter Island, a film I'm still mixed about given the ending. April started off terrible, with the Clash of the Titans remake (beware the threatened sequel), but was redeemed by How To Train Your Dragon and of course, Iron Man 2.
A mix in May, the Nightmare on Elm Street remake was pure rubbish, Hot Tub Time Machine and Prince of Persia did little to impress, but Robin Hood was a decent addition and of course, Four Lions was dominating the British market, deservedly so. June brought more mix, Brooklyn's Finest was fine, Bad Lieutenant was downright weird, 4.3.2.1 was surprisingly great, Wild Target sucked beyond all my fears and Get Him To The Greek didn't.
Properly into summer now. July was filled with cool, with Predators, Inception and the A-Team all in the same month. Now that was some good times! Then August followed with the surprisingly cool Piranha, the oddly let-down of Scott Pilgrim and the inexcusably terrible Expendables. September looked as if it would suck to start as well with the new Resident Evil, but Ben Affleck (of all the people) pulled it back with The Town. Cyrus was... well... I still don't know.
October, a month of nostalgia. Back To The Future was 25, Metropolis was 83... both of them reminded me why I should still respect them both for their sheer genius. Then there was Let Me In and RED, both of them were solid movies, and then of course, The Social Network, a film that nobody really saw coming, yet took us all by surprise.
End of the year and Fantasy starts to take over. The Owls of Ga'hoole was passable and good (if violent) for kids, Skyline was utter utter rubbish and Machete was hilarious (and definately not for kids!), in November. Then Unstoppable was solid, Monsters was a bit of a let down and my year was finished with good ol' Narnia. And that was forty two films.
So...
Top Five are easily:
- Inception
- The Social Network
- Four Lions
- The Road
- Iron Man 2
with Up In The Air not that far behind and 4.3.2.1 just a few inches behind that. It was a powerful year in some places, with only a few glaring let downs. I didn't get to see all the films I wanted to. Splice passed me by, as did Toy Story 3 and Kick-Ass. But I think I did pretty damn well as it was. I got me some good movies in. In case you were wondering, that adds up to:
Remakes - 8
(The WOlfman, The Crazies, Clash of the Titans, Nightmare on Elm Street, Prince of Persia, Bad Lieutenant, Piranha and Let Me In)
Sequels - 3
(Get Him To The Greek, Predators. Iron Man 2 and Resident Evil 4 are both half sequels, half adaptations)
Adaptations - 16
(Sherlock Holmes, The Road, Up In The Air, The Lovely Bones, Shutter Island, How To Train Your Dragon, The A-Team, Scott Pilgrin vs. The World, The Town, Metropolis, The Social Network, RED, Legend of the Guardians, Machete and Chronicles of Narnia, as well as the Iron Man 2/Resident Evil 4 thing).
Original (Big Question Mark next to some) - 15
(Daybreakers, Book of Eli, Four Lions, Hot Tub Time Machine, Robin Hood, Brooklyn's Finest, 4.3.2.1, Wild Target, Inception, The Expendables, Cyrus, Back To The Future, Skyline, Unstoppable and Monsters)
Worst Films of the Year:
- Clash of the Titans (Easily the worst)
- Skyline (Beyond Hope)
- The Expendables (Jesus help me)
- Wild Target (Why guys, just why?)
Think that's about as much as I can waffle about the same 42 movies... now I guess I should review another one...
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS.
Odd film to start the year off with, but I didn't get to see it before Christmas and I didn't want to miss it, especially since it seemed like a romantic comedy that I might actually be interested in. That sentence in itself should probably tell you something about me.
I mean, take a look at the list of forty-two movies I saw this year just gone and try to pick out the romantic comedies. I guarantee you it'll be a very short list. So when one that actually has some interest attached to it... well, can't really pass it up, can I? No, I can't.
So, Edward Zwick.
Zwick is the second port of call when it comes to historical epics, right behind SIR Ridely, after all. What with The Last Samurai, Glory, Blood Diamond and Defiance under his belt, as well as a host of other films. Doing this rom-com almost seems out of place for him, until you consider it. It's set in 1996, a historical period as far as we're concerned now, and it's pretty long, making it somewhat epic in scope.
And truth be told, it's nowhere near as 'romantic' as a lot of other rom-coms aim for. It's hard to watch in some places, it's based around casual sex and it's got enough cynicsm about love and life to fill a whole clone of me. It's genuinely funny in a good number of places and it's got excellent, well-rounded characters. The best of which aren't Gyllenhall and Hathaway (although they are good), it's the support guys.
Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria are probably two of the most under-rated actors on the American scene, their characters in this movie are charming, bitter, hilarious and understated. Team them up with Josh Gad's younger brother character and this movie has a hat-trick of decent male secondaries. Very few female presences apart from Hathaway, however. And the backdrop of the film is the most interesting character of all.
Late 90's. Drug Reps. Viagra.
Oh yes. This is what it's all about. The depiction of the late 90's Viagra boom is probably the most interesting part of the entire film, the sort of historical (eek, that makes me feel old) event that changed a great deal without all that many people noticing and it's documented very, very well.
So, interesting setting, great supporting characters, leads we can actually identify with and a huge wealth of detail in this movie. This isn't just a rom-com, to partake of Mark's and Spencer's advertising campaign. This is an Edward Zwick rom-com. And that says it all, as far as I'm concerned.
Next: 127 Hours.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
2010
So 2010 draws to a close, I sit, still trying to figure out the randomness that was the Doctor Who Special and I am covered in small white dog hair. I should probably stop picking up the poor wee pup, but he's just so darn pick-up-able. It's been a decent Christmas, I think the moment that will mark it for me is when my mother teared up at the gift I'd arranged for her. Probably the first time I've inspired tears in a good way.
I look back over the year and I wonder if it was one well-spent. I've transitioned from second to third and final year at university, I turned 26, I was in a play again, I've done so much writing, I've considered the plans of the future and I've tried to change the way I live my life. Now, traditionally, as New Year looms, we consider what we want to change. This takes the form of resolutions for the coming year. Shall I make some?
1) Try to go back to the New Order laid down in October.
2) Try to run November's Children in Newbury once a month.
3) Try to stop trying and start doing.
4) Keep Writing, you're doing good, get Imperia published!
5) Blog more.
I figure I should start doing book reviews as well as films, or possibly instead of them, depending on how it all goes. I am trying to read more as well. Seems like I'm all change, but I'm not really, I just think it's time to do some tweaking. Hell, it's always time to do some tweaking.
Enough of this, to Narnia!
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER.
(and Narnia in it's entirity)
It was only a matter of time after the massive awesomeness and success of Lord Of The Rings before other Fantastical Classics would be mined for their movie potential. As with most follow ons after immensely popular franchies, what follows would normally be crap. I don't think this was so with Narnia. For a start, the grounding in the reality of World War 2, with the blitz, relocation, enlisting and rationing all present, makes for an even greater sense of escapism.
The story of four kids being transported to a magical land where animals talk and mythical creatures hold sway, is a true classic, depsite its overly religeous connotations. When I first saw The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, I thought that it was one of the best films I'd ever seen. I think I've toned down that opinion since then, but it still holds a special place. It still does everything right, in my opinion. I didn't see Prince Caspian at the cinema, which annoyed me somewhat.
The problem with Narnia, I think, is that it's too much of a kid's story for all that religious suggestion. At the end of the Dawn Treader I visibly cringed when Aslan went into the part about having another name in our world, which I think is overly doctrinating for a young audiance, but I can kind of understand, if not fully appreciate.
Also, kids irritate me. Just because this is a fantasy story about dwarves, witches, talking lions and kids growing up, doesn't mean that this is a true kids story. Or it shouldn't be, anyway. Things like this are too good for them, if you ask me, they won't quite understand what it's trying to tell them, which is somethnig of a risk, if you ask me.
But my conclusions so far:
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Awesome
Prince Caspian - Okay
Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Very Good
The creatures are great, the narratives are simple but powerful and the acting (for a bunch of kids) is actually okay. The voice acting for all the various animals is what it's all about, of course. With Liam Neeson, Eddie Izzard, Simon Pegg, Ray Winstone, Dawn French and Rupert Everret all lending their voices at some point or another, as well as the storming performances by Tilda Swinton (she was born to be that Witch) and Jim Broadbent, as well as a moderately acceptable show from Ben Barnes.
All in all, Narnia may not be the best of franchies, with its ups and its downs, its various troubles with Disney and Andrew Adamson pulling out, but I think that the series is holding well together and it's still got four more books to go. It'll never be the rival of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but I think that there's a good chance that it'll be a decent series after all. Besides, we all need a little more epic fantasy, don't we?
It was a good way to end the year.
AND SO...
What now? What for 2011? Well, I'll see how I feel. See you all next year and, well, for those that did, thanks for reading.
I look back over the year and I wonder if it was one well-spent. I've transitioned from second to third and final year at university, I turned 26, I was in a play again, I've done so much writing, I've considered the plans of the future and I've tried to change the way I live my life. Now, traditionally, as New Year looms, we consider what we want to change. This takes the form of resolutions for the coming year. Shall I make some?
1) Try to go back to the New Order laid down in October.
2) Try to run November's Children in Newbury once a month.
3) Try to stop trying and start doing.
4) Keep Writing, you're doing good, get Imperia published!
5) Blog more.
I figure I should start doing book reviews as well as films, or possibly instead of them, depending on how it all goes. I am trying to read more as well. Seems like I'm all change, but I'm not really, I just think it's time to do some tweaking. Hell, it's always time to do some tweaking.
Enough of this, to Narnia!
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER.
(and Narnia in it's entirity)
It was only a matter of time after the massive awesomeness and success of Lord Of The Rings before other Fantastical Classics would be mined for their movie potential. As with most follow ons after immensely popular franchies, what follows would normally be crap. I don't think this was so with Narnia. For a start, the grounding in the reality of World War 2, with the blitz, relocation, enlisting and rationing all present, makes for an even greater sense of escapism.
The story of four kids being transported to a magical land where animals talk and mythical creatures hold sway, is a true classic, depsite its overly religeous connotations. When I first saw The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, I thought that it was one of the best films I'd ever seen. I think I've toned down that opinion since then, but it still holds a special place. It still does everything right, in my opinion. I didn't see Prince Caspian at the cinema, which annoyed me somewhat.
The problem with Narnia, I think, is that it's too much of a kid's story for all that religious suggestion. At the end of the Dawn Treader I visibly cringed when Aslan went into the part about having another name in our world, which I think is overly doctrinating for a young audiance, but I can kind of understand, if not fully appreciate.
Also, kids irritate me. Just because this is a fantasy story about dwarves, witches, talking lions and kids growing up, doesn't mean that this is a true kids story. Or it shouldn't be, anyway. Things like this are too good for them, if you ask me, they won't quite understand what it's trying to tell them, which is somethnig of a risk, if you ask me.
But my conclusions so far:
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Awesome
Prince Caspian - Okay
Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Very Good
The creatures are great, the narratives are simple but powerful and the acting (for a bunch of kids) is actually okay. The voice acting for all the various animals is what it's all about, of course. With Liam Neeson, Eddie Izzard, Simon Pegg, Ray Winstone, Dawn French and Rupert Everret all lending their voices at some point or another, as well as the storming performances by Tilda Swinton (she was born to be that Witch) and Jim Broadbent, as well as a moderately acceptable show from Ben Barnes.
All in all, Narnia may not be the best of franchies, with its ups and its downs, its various troubles with Disney and Andrew Adamson pulling out, but I think that the series is holding well together and it's still got four more books to go. It'll never be the rival of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but I think that there's a good chance that it'll be a decent series after all. Besides, we all need a little more epic fantasy, don't we?
It was a good way to end the year.
AND SO...
What now? What for 2011? Well, I'll see how I feel. See you all next year and, well, for those that did, thanks for reading.
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Humbug!!
It should come to no great surprise to those who know me to find that I'm not a great fan of Christmas, I mentioned as much last year in my New Decade post. I don't like the hype, I don't like the music, I don't like the decorations, I don't like the commercialisation of it all. As I once said in a Werewolf Cam game 'As you enter the Spirit World, you can see the Spirit of Money and the Spirit of Greed beating the shit out of the Spirit of Christmas in the background'.
I know that doesn't mean much to you, but if you're a Werewolf: The Forsaken player, then that was pretty hilarious.
Well, I liked it.
Christmas is supposed to be about family, about charity and about the spirity of generosity and companionship. To me, personally, Christmas is the only day of the year where you say 'Merry Christmas' to everyone you pass on the street. It should be the one day where you acknowledge your neighbours and your friends and all that. It should be the time of year where you find a little extra to give to charity somewhere. No, it's about money, greed, fuckin' irritating songs and X-Factor.
So a very merry Bah Humbug, Let It Snow, because that's the best thing about this time of year nowadays.
I'll stop my rant now.
In other news, DecemBEARD is progressing well, the majestic ginger monstrosity is taking over my face.
Also, I'm in Scotland with my family. I'll talk about that some other time, I feel. On with the review:
MONSTERS.
Now this is a film of which I have mixed opinions. I am definately in support of movies such as this one. I like the idea of odd, quirky, off-beat science fiction that's produced on a tight budget and actually tries to talk about things, the various issues faced by our world today. The best way to do this, when working on a tight budget, is of course to focus on character and make the most of your actors.
But perhaps not when your actors are Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able. Oh yes, you read that right. Someone chose their screen name to be 'Scoot'. 'Scoot'.
Really? Scoot?!
So Scoot is a photographer and Able is his publisher's daughter and she's in Mexico (for undisclosed reasons) and he's trying to get some photos...
Oh yeah, there are giant space ocotopi. Well, okay celaphodi. Or whatever the latin term is. They landed in Mexico and it's now going funky...
Basically it boils down to our two plucky leads scampering across what is known as the 'Infected Zone' between the States and Mexico (guess what, the US built a massive wall! Hmmm, subtle!), trying to get home. There's a fair amount of talk about the history of this 'Infected Zone' and there's a fair amount of bonding between said plucky leads as they make their journey amidst various dangers and cool visual sequences.
I'd just like to say that the visuals of this movie are what it's all about. The shots of broken military equipment in the jungle, the overgrown ships, the ruins...
Well, I love a good broken thing, so it appears very beautiful to me, although not as hauntingly powerful as The Road. Even so, it gets the job done in that regard.
The only problem is Scoot. And Able. They suck. They're very, very poor actors and it really shows. The film relies on their (apparantly) improvised performances and I think that the director (who did a massive amount of work visually for this movie) could have done a lot better than these two. They had the worst onscreen chemistry I'd seen in a while, which is odd, since they ended up getting married not long after.
The film relies on them and they are found wanting, I'm afraid. Visually, it's great. In reality, you can't rely on visuals to carry it. It's a swing and a miss.
Which is a shame, really it is. I like this kind of movie, this is the kind of movie I want to be seeing in the future, following in the red-hot footsteps of District 9. But not every unknown can be Sharlto Copely and not every visual guy with a camera can be Neil Blomkamp. Better luck next time, hope you keep on truckin' Gareth Edwards, because they won't all be as bad as this one. Will look forwards to your next film.
Next up: The Chronicles of Naria;
The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader (and Narnia in
general, I guess).
I know that doesn't mean much to you, but if you're a Werewolf: The Forsaken player, then that was pretty hilarious.
Well, I liked it.
Christmas is supposed to be about family, about charity and about the spirity of generosity and companionship. To me, personally, Christmas is the only day of the year where you say 'Merry Christmas' to everyone you pass on the street. It should be the one day where you acknowledge your neighbours and your friends and all that. It should be the time of year where you find a little extra to give to charity somewhere. No, it's about money, greed, fuckin' irritating songs and X-Factor.
So a very merry Bah Humbug, Let It Snow, because that's the best thing about this time of year nowadays.
I'll stop my rant now.
In other news, DecemBEARD is progressing well, the majestic ginger monstrosity is taking over my face.
Also, I'm in Scotland with my family. I'll talk about that some other time, I feel. On with the review:
MONSTERS.
Now this is a film of which I have mixed opinions. I am definately in support of movies such as this one. I like the idea of odd, quirky, off-beat science fiction that's produced on a tight budget and actually tries to talk about things, the various issues faced by our world today. The best way to do this, when working on a tight budget, is of course to focus on character and make the most of your actors.
But perhaps not when your actors are Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able. Oh yes, you read that right. Someone chose their screen name to be 'Scoot'. 'Scoot'.
Really? Scoot?!
So Scoot is a photographer and Able is his publisher's daughter and she's in Mexico (for undisclosed reasons) and he's trying to get some photos...
Oh yeah, there are giant space ocotopi. Well, okay celaphodi. Or whatever the latin term is. They landed in Mexico and it's now going funky...
Basically it boils down to our two plucky leads scampering across what is known as the 'Infected Zone' between the States and Mexico (guess what, the US built a massive wall! Hmmm, subtle!), trying to get home. There's a fair amount of talk about the history of this 'Infected Zone' and there's a fair amount of bonding between said plucky leads as they make their journey amidst various dangers and cool visual sequences.
I'd just like to say that the visuals of this movie are what it's all about. The shots of broken military equipment in the jungle, the overgrown ships, the ruins...
Well, I love a good broken thing, so it appears very beautiful to me, although not as hauntingly powerful as The Road. Even so, it gets the job done in that regard.
The only problem is Scoot. And Able. They suck. They're very, very poor actors and it really shows. The film relies on their (apparantly) improvised performances and I think that the director (who did a massive amount of work visually for this movie) could have done a lot better than these two. They had the worst onscreen chemistry I'd seen in a while, which is odd, since they ended up getting married not long after.
The film relies on them and they are found wanting, I'm afraid. Visually, it's great. In reality, you can't rely on visuals to carry it. It's a swing and a miss.
Which is a shame, really it is. I like this kind of movie, this is the kind of movie I want to be seeing in the future, following in the red-hot footsteps of District 9. But not every unknown can be Sharlto Copely and not every visual guy with a camera can be Neil Blomkamp. Better luck next time, hope you keep on truckin' Gareth Edwards, because they won't all be as bad as this one. Will look forwards to your next film.
Next up: The Chronicles of Naria;
The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader (and Narnia in
general, I guess).
Monday, 6 December 2010
The List
Al, who does occasionally like to refer to himself in the third person, has a list. A list of seven natural enemies. Now, this list has been the source of many anecdotes and musings amongst myself and my friends, and I thought that I'd share it with the internet for now. However, the list is due for a change, I feel that the list is just a tad outdated, so therefore I shall upgrade it here, in the public forum of the world-wide-web.
The former list:
7 - Estate Agents
6 - World of Warcraft
5 - Stairs
4 - Facebook
3 - Vegetarians
2 - Sunlight
1 - Women
Now, Estate Agents are not, as most people assume, human. They are akin to a vermin species that exist on the fringes of actual humanity, feeding off the desperation to get on the housing ladder and taking a perverse pleasure in ruining people's hopes and dreams. World of Warcraft, naturally, sucks the souls from people and has contributed in destroying my second favourite Real Time Strategy series, Warcraft.
In a similiar vein, Facebook is the ENEMY OF MANKIND, absorbing people and controlling their lives. People no longer have any kind of social lives, they exist entirely through Facebook. As for Stairs, well, I'm not a fit man, so they have often stood in my way. I feel that this isn't as justified an entry as some of the others, but I'll get onto making changes in a paragraph or two, when I talk about the others.
Sunlight. I am a creature of the night, I exist in the shadows of my ever-curtained room, I live by the halogen glow of bulbs, I am cloaked in the blackest of clothes and coats. The Day-Star is my nemesis. And as for vegetarians... let me simply say that is the Good Lord didn't want us to eat animals... he wouldn't have made them so very, very tasty... mmmmm... steak... Sorry, getting carried away there, aren't I?
So, the new list.
Estate Agents haven't crossed my path for a good year and a half, so I'm not sure if I'll keep them on the list. Stairs... well, I defeat them on a regular basis, I'm not sure they're worthy anymore, so perhaps they should go?
Pretty sure that vegetarians and sunlight are fixed entries, but they may slide down the list a little. What about the electronic ones, eh? WoW and Facebook? Well, I do frickin' dislike them, but they rarely affect me...
My new list, then:
7 - MMORPG's
6 - Facebook
5 - Sweden
4 - Vegetarians
3 - Sunlight
2 - Orci + Kurtzman
1 - Women
If I amalgamate WoW into MMO's, then I get to neatly cover The Old Republic, Warhammer Online and a host of others that ruin my favourite sci-fi/fantasy worlds in the form of MMO's (the worst way to represent a world). The Swede's have wronged me, that's pretty clear, the rest slip down a bit... Orci + Kurtzman are the villians who ruined Star Trek and the Transformers movies, I can't quite believe they haven't been up there before. And as for Women... well, that's a whole different blog post, eh?!
UNSTOPPABLE.
Well, spurned on by a mild tirade launched by our head of course the other day, I decided that I really wanted to see Unstoppable. It's supposed to be 'Speed 4'. Was there a Speed 3? I can't remember, so never mind. Mike was basically saying that as one of the most influential black actors in Hollywood, Mr. Denzel Washington has a responsibility to work with, say, up and coming black directors to further the cause of black film-making, as oppose to making the same old action film with Tony Scott.
But I love me some Tony Scott and I love me some Denzel Washington, so there's no way I'm avoiding that film (although I saw it a month after I thought I was going to, grumble grumble Coates...) just because 'it's the same old action film'. Yes, Denzel's done a good five movies with Tony now, but since most of them were pretty enjoyable and pretty damn tense, there's no reason to think that this one will be an exception. And you know what, it really, really wasn't. Even with Chris Pine in it.
Unstoppable is the story of a 'coaster' that got away from all the efforts to get it under control, a train that was left to operate under power and then went runaway, threatening to level most of southern Pennsylvania.
Only a mismatched train driver veteran and his newbie partner (Washington and Pine) stand a chance of being able to do something about it and they embark on an utterly daring plan that... well, no spoilers from me, eh?
Basically, this film sets out to be a disaster/action movie with a fast pace, likeable characters, solid plot and a massive sense of tension. There are some fictional discrepancies (why does the media have a handy photo and name tag of everyone who works for the train company?) and you can tell that the actual event, the CSX 8888 Incident in 2001, has been tributed but also exaggerated, but this is the movies, exaggeration comes with the premise. So is this just the same old action film?
Yes. That's why it's good.
Next up: Monsters.
The former list:
7 - Estate Agents
6 - World of Warcraft
5 - Stairs
4 - Facebook
3 - Vegetarians
2 - Sunlight
1 - Women
Now, Estate Agents are not, as most people assume, human. They are akin to a vermin species that exist on the fringes of actual humanity, feeding off the desperation to get on the housing ladder and taking a perverse pleasure in ruining people's hopes and dreams. World of Warcraft, naturally, sucks the souls from people and has contributed in destroying my second favourite Real Time Strategy series, Warcraft.
In a similiar vein, Facebook is the ENEMY OF MANKIND, absorbing people and controlling their lives. People no longer have any kind of social lives, they exist entirely through Facebook. As for Stairs, well, I'm not a fit man, so they have often stood in my way. I feel that this isn't as justified an entry as some of the others, but I'll get onto making changes in a paragraph or two, when I talk about the others.
Sunlight. I am a creature of the night, I exist in the shadows of my ever-curtained room, I live by the halogen glow of bulbs, I am cloaked in the blackest of clothes and coats. The Day-Star is my nemesis. And as for vegetarians... let me simply say that is the Good Lord didn't want us to eat animals... he wouldn't have made them so very, very tasty... mmmmm... steak... Sorry, getting carried away there, aren't I?
So, the new list.
Estate Agents haven't crossed my path for a good year and a half, so I'm not sure if I'll keep them on the list. Stairs... well, I defeat them on a regular basis, I'm not sure they're worthy anymore, so perhaps they should go?
Pretty sure that vegetarians and sunlight are fixed entries, but they may slide down the list a little. What about the electronic ones, eh? WoW and Facebook? Well, I do frickin' dislike them, but they rarely affect me...
My new list, then:
7 - MMORPG's
6 - Facebook
5 - Sweden
4 - Vegetarians
3 - Sunlight
2 - Orci + Kurtzman
1 - Women
If I amalgamate WoW into MMO's, then I get to neatly cover The Old Republic, Warhammer Online and a host of others that ruin my favourite sci-fi/fantasy worlds in the form of MMO's (the worst way to represent a world). The Swede's have wronged me, that's pretty clear, the rest slip down a bit... Orci + Kurtzman are the villians who ruined Star Trek and the Transformers movies, I can't quite believe they haven't been up there before. And as for Women... well, that's a whole different blog post, eh?!
UNSTOPPABLE.
Well, spurned on by a mild tirade launched by our head of course the other day, I decided that I really wanted to see Unstoppable. It's supposed to be 'Speed 4'. Was there a Speed 3? I can't remember, so never mind. Mike was basically saying that as one of the most influential black actors in Hollywood, Mr. Denzel Washington has a responsibility to work with, say, up and coming black directors to further the cause of black film-making, as oppose to making the same old action film with Tony Scott.
But I love me some Tony Scott and I love me some Denzel Washington, so there's no way I'm avoiding that film (although I saw it a month after I thought I was going to, grumble grumble Coates...) just because 'it's the same old action film'. Yes, Denzel's done a good five movies with Tony now, but since most of them were pretty enjoyable and pretty damn tense, there's no reason to think that this one will be an exception. And you know what, it really, really wasn't. Even with Chris Pine in it.
Unstoppable is the story of a 'coaster' that got away from all the efforts to get it under control, a train that was left to operate under power and then went runaway, threatening to level most of southern Pennsylvania.
Only a mismatched train driver veteran and his newbie partner (Washington and Pine) stand a chance of being able to do something about it and they embark on an utterly daring plan that... well, no spoilers from me, eh?
Basically, this film sets out to be a disaster/action movie with a fast pace, likeable characters, solid plot and a massive sense of tension. There are some fictional discrepancies (why does the media have a handy photo and name tag of everyone who works for the train company?) and you can tell that the actual event, the CSX 8888 Incident in 2001, has been tributed but also exaggerated, but this is the movies, exaggeration comes with the premise. So is this just the same old action film?
Yes. That's why it's good.
Next up: Monsters.
Saturday, 4 December 2010
DecemBEARD
Well, with my faith fully restored in the democratic process, I set out into December with a face covered in ginger fuzz. I shall explain what I mean by that. Since last month was the month of NovemBEARD, I decided that perhaps I should make a go of this facial hair malarky and keep on going. So I sent out a text and a couple of MSN windows asking for my friends to vote on whether or not I should keep the monstrosity.
The results were:
In favour - 14
Against - 6
Abstain - 6
So, of the 26 people that were invited to vote, 6 didn't bother answering and the majority of the rest wish to see my face continue its covering. Not that it's a very impressive covering, a lot of guys I know could twice the beard I could in half the time, but this isn't something my face is used too, so maybe it'll pick up as I go along. Grasby also suggested that I carry on into MANuary, but I think I shall have another vote.
Might be sick of it by then.
What else I am sick of is my inability to get some sleep when I think it's a good idea and it's been an appropriate amount of time since I last got up. One day I'm gonna scribble down my sleeping and waking times in order to show people just what I'm like, and I bet they won't believe it.
So here I am at 4am sitting cross-legged in my dressing gown on my bed without any lights on, staring at this bright white screen in order to tap these pointless little words. Figure I'm running out of things to say, although I know there are things I want to talk about in my blog. Maybe.
Maybe, from next year, I'll try and talk about my life a bit more, that sounds like a resolution sort of thing. Not sure if I could pad it out to one-issue-per-blog... I probably have too many issues for that, but I could give it a go. Maybe. Then at least you'll be relieved to get to the film review.
Speaking of:
MACHETE.
Now, I am against downloading. Even through legal channels, even if I were paying for it, I'm against downloading. Mainly because it has such piratical connotations (and not the swashbuckling kind) and also because I have no idea how it works. That level of technology is alien to me. So, it should come as a surprise when I say that I watched a downloaded copy of this movie. But I shall tell you why I did this.
NOWHERE in Southampton was showing it. Not Cineworld, not Harbour Lights, not Odeon... just Tom's front room late on a friday evening. Now, that would normally disqualify this film for review in my own little rules because I wish to only review films I'd seen in the cinema but damnit, I wanted to talk about this movie because I'd been looking forwards to it for quite some time. So, downloaded copy it is.
Pretty much everything about this film is bad.
But then, that was the whole idea, wasn't it?
The characters are pretty shallow and predictable, the action is cheesy and over-the-top and the plot is twisted around and back again to the point of ridiculousness. But that was the point of this movie in the first place! Machete is a tribute to the exploitation movies of the seventies, specifically calling itself Mexploitation due to its Latin flavour and leading cast (the indomitable Danny Trejo, the fiesty Michelle Rodriguez and the undeniable Cheech Marin, hells yeah!) and it does everything in its power not to disappoint those flicks.
This is a fast moving, hugely violent, slick, sexy movie with a hell of a lot of underlaying message concerning immigration and cultural differences between the States and Mexico, with an all star cast (as well as the names above count in Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Tom Savini, Steven Seagal and mo-fo'in' ROBERT DENIRO) and enough outrageous fight scenes to satisfy anyone. This is a movie that takes no prisoners and makes you laugh the whole way through, but it isn't perfect, it's cheap and nasty too.
The only real downside I had with this movie is the same one I had back with Black Dynamite and the actual Grindhouse movies of Planet Terror and Deathproof, the plots are really, really convoluted in places and they can be really difficult to follow. Black Dynamite was probably the worst for it, but this up there as well with being damn difficult to keep up with sometimes. Other than that, this is a highly enjoyable movie. Check it out and don't under any circumstances, take it seriously!!
Next one is: UNSTOPPABLE
The results were:
In favour - 14
Against - 6
Abstain - 6
So, of the 26 people that were invited to vote, 6 didn't bother answering and the majority of the rest wish to see my face continue its covering. Not that it's a very impressive covering, a lot of guys I know could twice the beard I could in half the time, but this isn't something my face is used too, so maybe it'll pick up as I go along. Grasby also suggested that I carry on into MANuary, but I think I shall have another vote.
Might be sick of it by then.
What else I am sick of is my inability to get some sleep when I think it's a good idea and it's been an appropriate amount of time since I last got up. One day I'm gonna scribble down my sleeping and waking times in order to show people just what I'm like, and I bet they won't believe it.
So here I am at 4am sitting cross-legged in my dressing gown on my bed without any lights on, staring at this bright white screen in order to tap these pointless little words. Figure I'm running out of things to say, although I know there are things I want to talk about in my blog. Maybe.
Maybe, from next year, I'll try and talk about my life a bit more, that sounds like a resolution sort of thing. Not sure if I could pad it out to one-issue-per-blog... I probably have too many issues for that, but I could give it a go. Maybe. Then at least you'll be relieved to get to the film review.
Speaking of:
MACHETE.
Now, I am against downloading. Even through legal channels, even if I were paying for it, I'm against downloading. Mainly because it has such piratical connotations (and not the swashbuckling kind) and also because I have no idea how it works. That level of technology is alien to me. So, it should come as a surprise when I say that I watched a downloaded copy of this movie. But I shall tell you why I did this.
NOWHERE in Southampton was showing it. Not Cineworld, not Harbour Lights, not Odeon... just Tom's front room late on a friday evening. Now, that would normally disqualify this film for review in my own little rules because I wish to only review films I'd seen in the cinema but damnit, I wanted to talk about this movie because I'd been looking forwards to it for quite some time. So, downloaded copy it is.
Pretty much everything about this film is bad.
But then, that was the whole idea, wasn't it?
The characters are pretty shallow and predictable, the action is cheesy and over-the-top and the plot is twisted around and back again to the point of ridiculousness. But that was the point of this movie in the first place! Machete is a tribute to the exploitation movies of the seventies, specifically calling itself Mexploitation due to its Latin flavour and leading cast (the indomitable Danny Trejo, the fiesty Michelle Rodriguez and the undeniable Cheech Marin, hells yeah!) and it does everything in its power not to disappoint those flicks.
This is a fast moving, hugely violent, slick, sexy movie with a hell of a lot of underlaying message concerning immigration and cultural differences between the States and Mexico, with an all star cast (as well as the names above count in Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Tom Savini, Steven Seagal and mo-fo'in' ROBERT DENIRO) and enough outrageous fight scenes to satisfy anyone. This is a movie that takes no prisoners and makes you laugh the whole way through, but it isn't perfect, it's cheap and nasty too.
The only real downside I had with this movie is the same one I had back with Black Dynamite and the actual Grindhouse movies of Planet Terror and Deathproof, the plots are really, really convoluted in places and they can be really difficult to follow. Black Dynamite was probably the worst for it, but this up there as well with being damn difficult to keep up with sometimes. Other than that, this is a highly enjoyable movie. Check it out and don't under any circumstances, take it seriously!!
Next one is: UNSTOPPABLE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
