Perception

So in my latest dive bomb failiure attempt at having a love life, I managed to get dumped and called an insensitive prick before I even met the girl in person, oh the joys of internet dating. But it actually came about because of a discussion about, of all things, X-Men. Now, I'm not a massive X-Men fan and that's what kind of started it. It got long and convoluted and I figured that I should probably talk about it here because it was something that I feel strongly about, no matter if I'm right or wrong.

Perception.

Basically, after this got started, she stated that X-Men is a great representative story for minorities and being recognised and not ashamed of being who you are and that there's someone in there for everyone. I wanted to say that I never got on with the series because I found there to be far too many characters with less developed super powers than some of the more stand along heroes (Iron Man, Captain America and Doctor Strange being some of my favourites, along of course with Green Lantern over on DC). But I didn't say that, instead I said that any hope provided by the story is a kind of false hope, since any actual minority can't protect itself in the same way that Mutants can in X-Men.

Basically, this devolved into a philosophical difference of opinion, in which I stated that stories are for entertainment first and everything else second. When you strip away every factor from a story, all that's left at the core to justify its existence is an attempt to entertain.

Now this didn't go down well with her, who stated that she knows for a fact that she wrote stories to help herself heal from the various bad things that had happened in her life. I get that, that's fair enough, but I still stand by my statement and I feel that I didn't get to explain why.

Basically, to entertain means to lift your spirits. It doesn't matter what form that takes, whether it is to make you less depressed, if it is to make you laugh, if it is to help work through your issues, it all comes under the term of entertainment. When I explained it to Marsh he said that I had a purer view of the word than most people take it to mean and I can see why there was a great deal of confusion, although I'm not sure about the offence. My second offending statement was that, in reference to X-Men representing minorities, is that depth is in the eye of the beholder, like beauty. Now, this is as true a statement as any in this field, because stories are Art, not Science, and Art is about opinions, Science is about facts.

Basically, how we percieve stories is all that matters about them. It doesn't matter what the author intended, because he's not here right now explaining his thoughts. It doesn't matter what some crusty old critics say it means, because all their learning can't relate to everyone who might read that story.

So the only understanding of a story that you can ever rely upon is your own, unless you feel that you are virtually empathic with someone on a very deep level, in which case you'll probably get how they get it. That's all I was trying to say, that any depth you see is there because you want it to be there. Hell, I can sit and listen to a Kelly Clarkson song right now (and trust me, I've done enough of that lately) and empathise with the lyrics because of all the woman drama that's been happening to me. Someone who hasn't had my rubbish love life will listen to it and think 'that chick has issues' or someone else can think 'catchy tune' or 'this is whiny crap'. They all percieve it differently.

Perception.

Now, when it comes down to it, I've already said that Art is all about opinion, not fact. There are no facts when it comes to stories, there is only one way to see it or any one of a hundred thousand others. The truly good stories give everyone a slightly different memory of them. Imagine that three people are reading a book and all of them are picturing it in their head, because that's what people tend to do. One of them pictures Brad Pitt in the lead role, the next one pictures Colin Farrell and the third thinks it'd be better if they went with Will Smith instead, to flip it about a bit. They're all reading the same story, they're all being entertained by it, but their perception of it is different.

So somehow this got to me being accused of not caring about anyone else's opinion and how I don't let anyone else speak, since I choose to speak for them... and I don't really know how that happened. It got petty and spiteful after that and I'm just not sure how this keeps happening to me. And there was me trying not to talk about all the crap in my life anymore. But I felt that was worth saying, no matter what I just wanted to get it off my chest, and what else is a blog for, eh?

Women: 3
Al: 0

And now in change to your scheduled programming:

THE WOMAN IN BLACK

Yeah, didn't get a chance to see either of the two films I had wanted to or hoped to, but I had initially thought I wasn't going to get to see this film and then it turned out at the last moment I could. So yeah, the Woman in Black. When I looked it up before I went to see it I was surprised to see that the book had only been written in 1985, I had thought that the stage play was older than that but I was clearly wrong.

It's considered an utter classic of a ghost story, where Arthur Kipps, a struggling junior soliciter, is sent to the back o' beyond to an abandoned house that everyone in the nearby villige regards with suspicion and children seem to keep dying in mysterious and tragic circumstances. In this incarnation (since it's been adapted before), Kipps is played by Harry Potter. I mean Daniel Radcliffe. No, I mean Harry Potter.

Radcliffe gives a pretty good account for his non-wizarding performance and Cirian Hands is an excellent supporting character in Daily. Liz White is chilling as Jennet, the titular character and I think the casting agent just went through all the local schools looking for the creepiest looking children they could find. Several of them have iMDb pages as well, which was just a bit weird. Anyway, what did I think?

Bloody spooky.

I mean, this is how to do a proper horror film, or ghost story at least. There's absolutely no gore, no violence, no real horrifying images. This is just pure, pure atmosphere. There's long and protracted sequences in that eerie house where it's all just chasing shadows and the mirrors and... man, it's chilling. I mean, you should see it. Really, just see it, it's got my vote. This is a very effective movie. Very effective.

Next time: I really don't know, still hoping for John Carter.

DVD Roundup (1)

So yeah, in order to be positive and cheerful, I've decided to talk about the one thing I know I'm always good for: films. Now, see, I don't really buy many DVD's, but when I figured out how to get the best out of my weekly shopping budget, I now pick up a DVD or two every three weeks or so, just as long as I don't spend more than £3 on it. So here are the ones I've been buying...

NINJA ASSASSIN
J. Michael Straczynski rewrote the script for this random action film in 57 hours. It shows. Good fun, though, not to be taken seriously in any regard.

BLACK DEATH
You know those films that are just action and could almost have had a decent story if they'd cut down on some of the fight scenes? This movie is the exact opposite.

THE BUCKET LIST
Four of us watched this while we were having dinner and it was a truly excellent way to spend an evening. I'd forgotten how heartwarming a film about cancer could be.

THE INVASION
Yea-No. Nice try. Actually not even that.

STARDUST
If the final sequence in the witches lair hadn't taken 40 odd minutes then this would have actually been stupendously good, as it is, it'll have to settle for pretty good.

TAKEN
I love a movie where the bad guys are characterised only to the point where you want Liam Neeson to brutally murder them in inventive ways. Over and over and over again.

RUN, FAT BOY, RUN
A lot of people dismissed it as second rate and pointless and... well, I still find it amusing. It's not brilliant, but it's relatively harmless on a sunday morning.

So that's some of my recent film acquisitions, I was tempted to put down who I watched each one with, but I'll refrain from being that anal retentive. And now... talking about another film. Big surprise there, then.

THE BEST EXOTIC
MARIGOLD HOTEL
FOR THE ELDERLY
AND BEAUTIFUL

The only problem I've found with multi-protagonist narratives is that you're often following just one too many people, or perhaps two. With seven lead characters in this film, as well as Dev Patel's manager character, this film felt just a little too thinly stretched over all that it tried to achieve.

That being said, this is a wonderfully funny and warm, sunny film that I think just about anyone would like. The script is sharp and fresh, the characters are genuinely loveable and whole thing shows a side to India that most people probably hadn't considered unless they'd actually bee there.

I'm sure at least one lecturer of mine will point out how it affects Post-Colonialism as a statement, what with this former 'owned' country now welcoming people who are of a generation who can remember a time when it was beneath our boot... but I think the film was trying to talk about now, a time past that.

Either way, very funny, very enjoyable.

Next up: I'm actually not sure
Either JOHN CARTER or EXTREMELY
CLOSE AND INCREDIBLY LOUD

Worthless

I'll admit, I've been feeling pretty worthless lately. What with everything that's been going on (and it's pretty much all in these blog posts), I haven't been having a good year so far. I look back to even a few weeks ago and it all seemed to be looking up. And I have to wonder why everything went wrong?

I can't really come to much more of a conclusion than 'Fate hates me this year', which I'm inclined to believe. (I should point out that, despite my overly rational and logical viewpoint, I am a believer in Fate) But I can't let that get me down, so I will have to try something different, something I'm not so good at.

I'm gonna try and be more positive.

And it's gonna start right in here.

I'm not gonna whine or bitch anymore in my blog, because quite frankly I've done enough of that in the last few months to last a lifetime and I'm not that badly off. I may be miserable and worthless in my own mind, but not everyone agrees with that and I should work on it. So I shall try to find some positive things to talk about from now on. So if I'm quiet for a while, you know why.

TYRANNOSAUR.

Jesus, I mean... Jesus. Any film that has brutal dog murder within the first minute, and then makes you sympathise with the guy that did it, that film is immense. And this was an immense film. Not in scope, I think, since it was about a bitter, grumpy, jobless widower who kills dogs and has nothing to live for. But it was immense in just how powerful it was.

As I said, the first minute of the movie is very difficult to take and if you don't want to sit through that, I wouldn't blame you, this film really does come with a warning, but if you can stomach that, then it's well worth sitting through. It's gritty, powerful stuff, the kind of thing that we haven't seen since Made In Britain and Poor Cow. God Bless Paddy Considine.

The performances by Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman (who has been waiting a long time for the recognition she got for this film) are unbelievable in their depth, as well as Eddie Marsan grimacing those rat-like teeth to full effect. The name of the film can be slightly misleading, since he explains part way through about his wife and how that name came about. But it's not about her.

It's about him. He's the Tyrannosaur.

Next up: THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL.

One Month To Go

I made a choice. What with everything that's going on, having lost the cafe franchise to the other group, having Moina break up with me and then be somewhat inconsiderate with my feelings, and then some pretty bad interaction with a co-worker... I'm going to leave the Corn Exchange. I'm done for now.

I've put six years into the place and I don't really think that I've been treated the way I deserve, especially after the last six months of cafe supervision that I tried to perform, no matter how much my arms were tied behind my back and I didn't have any real power to do anything apart from serve drinks.

Over panto I spent about twelve hours a day in that place, when the cafe opened I did much the same for the first two weeks, as well as having to learn all the skills to run the espresso machine and then teach everyone else the very next day. I've done a lot for this place recently and my reward is to lose my promotion.

So yeah... I'm leaving. For now.

I'm sure I'll be back, there are two kinds of people that work in that place. Shifters and Stayers. I'm a Stayer, even if I want to take some time away. Shifters don't stay for very long. Stayers put in fifteen years minimum, it would seem. However, since there's no real chance for promotion within the Corn Exchange at the moment... I'll be moving on for a while. Not sure I know how to feel about it all, but that's what I'm going to do. So yeah, I've got one month left to go, as I leave on April 5th.

So, time to look for a new job.

J. EDGAR

The main problem with this film was there was too much film in it. They desperately tried to pack in too much story and it left the bulk of the movie a little jumbled and difficult to follow. Which is a real shame, because this was actually a pretty good film when you got down to it. There was an absolutely storming performance from DiCaprio (and to think, 15 years ago I'd have cut out my own tongue for uttering those words), as well as an authentic sense of historical accuracy that I've come to expect from Clint Eastwood's direction. Armie Hammer is also worthy of note as being overly handsome and talented.

I was truly impressed with how bold the film went when talking about his closeted (and rumoured, nothing is confirmed) homosexuality, especially since it was written by a Gay Activist and could well have gone too far in either direction, outing him or denying it. The film picked a very difficult line to follow for it and managed to stick to it brilliantly. Which is again a sad point in concern of just how jam-packed this film was to its detriment. If perhaps they'd just focussed on the Lindbergh case, or the creation of the FBI itself (since that didn't recieve as much augustation as it should have).

Is it good? Yes. Is it too long? Certainly. Could it have been better served by not having the narration and possibly being a two-part biopic instead? Definately. Still worth a watch, though.

Next time: TYRANNOSAUR