Super-Double-Big-Score-Agent Grooviness...

Futurama: Bender's Big Score:

Praise be, "Futurama" has returned, albeit in the form of four films over the next 12 months (essentially the animated version of a TV movie, as it didn't have the flashy visuals to match The Simpson's Movie, but instead was more akin to the original show itself - ergo - animated TV movie). But that's not to bitch, far from it, because - just like the show itself - "Benders Big Score" was absolutely hilarious. While at times the gags slow down to make way for the all-important story (not sarcasm, "Family Guy" would do well to take note) but when that can take a back seat, the jokes - which were already flowing steadily - come thick & fast in a veritable deluge.

The plot is similarly entertaining, while the internet spam angle is a bit late-1990s the story is intricately woven and, true to it's sci-fi origins, folds back on itself in a mind-bending manner as the very fabric of the space-time-continuum is fiddled with to head-scratching extents.

I certainly look forward to the following three "Futurama" movies, because if they're anything like "Bender's Big Score" they're going to be leaving us all in stitches.

Superbad:

It's taken me a while to get around to seeing this Apatow-blessed coming-of-dick-joke-laden-age flick, but I was lucky enough to receive the Region 1 DVD damn near two weeks before street date - ahhh bless pre-ordering and early stocking. Anyway, not being the sort to turn a good dick-gag down, I found "Superbad" to be absolutely hilarious...I think Jonah Hill might very well have to be crowned the official dick-joke king after this performance.

I was similarly pleased to see genuine heart amidst the field of dick drawings, the central theme of two male best friends facing the daunting end to High School and the separation that University inevitably brings - something many have, are and will face in their lifetime.

Clearly, anything touched by Apatow (and likewise the superb Seth Rogen) turns to gold, and judging by the preview clip of "Pineapple Express", that too is going to leave many-a-face aching from laugh-jaw. Back to "Superbad", how on earth could you resist a film that includes a "Real Ghostbusters" lunch box filled to the brim with increasingly absurd dick-doodles?

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Otherwise, I was proud to complete "Splinter Cell: Double Agent" the very morning that "Superbad" dropped on my door mat. Having snuck my way through it for two weeks, I was chuffed to finally complete this game. Initially I was wondering whether the purchase had been wise, as I was struggling with the joypad controls (I'd played the previous three games on the PC), but I stuck with it and was soon zipping around cracking safes and dangling from pipes over the seemingly mandatory 'glass-room-in-a-Sam-Fisher-game-bit'...although I was rather gutted there was a distinct lack of cut-scenes. The previous games were loaded with them between each mission, but in "Double Agent" there was the odd bit here and there...I guess they were trying to go for a more 'Half-life' style where it all unfolds in-game, which I guess is admirable.

Regardless, as a fan of the franchise, it was a welcome entry...even if I was rather late to the party, ha!

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Finally, following on from recent exclamations I'd reclaimed my muse, I'm slowly following up on the claim...with thanks going to "Superbad". It re-inspired me to get on with my feature comedy script (even though they both have almost nothing in common - but that's not how inspiration works really is it). I went back and added in a few lines to one scene, and now must re-read the first act to get myself back into the mindset of the script, also re-read all my notes and really wrap my head around it all again before I proceed with the second act...but fingers crossed I've regained my muse for real!

Only time will tell...there's no point rushing and coming out with ropey-old-pish at the end.

Clutching on a re-sprained ankle...

Well it was back to Hereford for a couple more pick up shots for "Contempt of Conscience", which is tantalisingly close to completion. I should be seeing a near-complete cut soon as well.

So yes, it was back to Hereford this morning for said shots, but it seems I was just going to have one of those days.

Having finally bedded down somewhere after midnight, I was planning on getting up at 7am, at which point I'd lie in till half seven, but that went arse over as I slept in till past 8am, even with my hi-fi blaring HIM's latest album, I must have been that tired. Fortunately I felt refreshed after sleeping in longer than anticipated and soon I was heading off to Hereford, with an ankle (which I'd sprained on November 4th in Bristol) which was looking much better thanks to the recent decision to switch from normal bandaging to tubi-grip stuff or whatever it's called.

So we did the bulk of the filming with no issues, then it was time to get a pick up shot outside the city's magistrates court, which completely unbeknownst to us, is apparently now illegal to do - a new anti-terrorism law has literally just come into being, so fresh it's umbilical cord to central government is still uncut. So, after having gotten the shots, we were cornered in a 'from both sides' manner by two chaps, security guards I think.

Fair enough, I can understand where they're coming from, and had we known about this kicking & screamingly-new law that had come into play, we'd have steered clear. Although in fact, we only had to delete (tape over) about 17 seconds of footage, the rest was perfectly fine, so said the security chaps, and we were once again on our way.

On the way back to my car we collectively rolled our eyes at the government's penchant for new criminal laws (for any Americans reading, Labour have created a boatload of new laws, even to an unprecedented level), and all because of - you guessed it - terrorism, which isn't terrorising for the vast majority of the time...it's just a bloody nuisance. Forgive my mini rant, it's no secret I'm not a fan of the current British government, but it feels as if more trouble is caused defending against terrorism (up to the eyeballs perhaps), than by the terrorists themselves...while the situation is certainly not happy-happy-joy-joy, I question the climate of fear the government pedals to us (and likewise in the USA, whose news networks adore the climate of fear). Clearly the security establishments are doing a superb job already and have been for quite some time, but are we really on the brink of epic terrorism?

I don't mean to be flippant about terrorism, far from it in fact, but you just end up questioning the true extent of the problem - bad, but not imminent death, one could say.

Anyway, I digress and fair play to the security guards who were doing their jobs, we co-operated fairly and it was respect all round, especially after we explained the situation and showed them the footage (again, a mere 17 seconds had to be deleted - stuff which wouldn't have been used anyway - and all was smiles).

So now, mere yards from my car, a moment of distraction led to me slipping on the pavement (an unforeseen greasy patch) and I re-sprained my not-far-from-healed left ankle, thus sending my injury back in time about 10 days. Fortunately I was able to double-double-up (4 layers) my tubi-grip support and managed to use the clutch all the way home - even if 3 tractors added a certain level of grievance to the journey...literally an insult-to-injury, you might say.

Thankfully, this time, I won't have to walk 4 miles on it and I'm using this excellent tubi-grip stuff from the off, so fingers crossed...still, talk about shite luck today, eh?

Night/Day Watch...

I'm not entirely sure what all the fuss about "Night/Day Watch" is for. I mean yes, the Russians don't make movies like this normally and yes there are some spectacular ideas in it and the effects sequences are great...and while I dig all those things about the films, I found myself mercelessly bored at times.

I get the impression that the film is punching above it's weight in terms of story importance, trying to be the "Lord of the Rings" of vampire films or something, mythical for myth's sake...if that makes sense. At times, especially with the first film, I felt like the film was shoved right up it's own arse...it felt like it knew it was unlike anything from Russia before, plus I found the story a tad on the needlessly complex side...at times it feels as if weird stuff is just happening for the sake of it, like being weird and oddly mythical is superior to letting your audience get what you're on about.

My main gripe though, are the moments, sequences or flat out stretches of the films where you're left tired out waiting for something exciting to happen, rather than scenes that don't feel at all necessary ("Day Watch" just didn't need to be 2 and a half hours long) or scenes that just drag on too long, or just plain drag.

Particularly with "Day Watch", it feels bloated. It needs to be more direct, not as poncy about it's storyline and just get the job done efficiently...they both had the potential to be great films, but their down sides really bleed over onto the good sides and muddy the over all quality of the films, which is a real shame in the end. At times it feels like the makers were finally given access to the toy box, but just went crazy rather than play constructively and decisively.

Maybe it's just me, but I do honestly feel these gripes are justified as I do feel these films are unfortunately flawed in their execution, robbing them of their deserved greatness.

All guns blazing...

Shoot Em Up:

I'd heard little bits about this film on the internet, things like "delivers a baby during a gunfight, shags during a gunfight", so I figured this was John Woo meets thrash metal meets speed & cocaine in a blender. And indeed it was with brass-shelled-gusto.

Admittedly I didn't really bother following the twisty-weird-story, I guess every film needs a story (of some sort) even a film that takes indiscriminate action up to 11 like this film does, but who cares when Clive Owen is chomping on carrots and blazing pistols? It's genuinely entertaining, the whole film just getting more and more ridiculous with every passing minute and gunfight.

Clive Owen is beginning to carve out a niche as a gun toting badass of late, what with this and 2005's "Sin City" where he played Dwight. Everybody involved is clearly having the best time ever, and in turn the viewer has a bloody good time too. This film is sheer entertaining committed to celuloid, 'nuff said.

Continuing Contempt, and you know, stuff...

Just got back from filming a couple of insert shots for "Contempt of Conscience", we're just filling the odd little gaps, or rough spots. The film should be done sometime soon, when it's done I'll post up more information. Further projects to follow soon.

Obviously, this meant a jaunt off to Hereford, so it was a chance to test out my ankle, which is feeling better but still a bit swollen and a little iffy. 50 miles of clutching and a quick nip into GameStation for "Splinter Cell Double Agent" and "Tony Hawk's Project 8" on 2-for-£20, which is pretty darn good.

And having just watching the season 19 Simpson's Halloween episode, what the hell does Mr & Mrs Smith have to do with Halloween? It's supposed to be horror, sci-fi and maybe fantasy - not action movies. The last few Halloween specials have been a bit lame or really lame because of such things, but then again you can't compete with the one where Bart & Lisa raised the dead...season 4 if memory serves, it was the third Halloween special anyway.

The post-Halloween round up - part 2...

Additionally I checked out "SAW IV", which from the off I felt was unnecessary. To be honest it was tied up nicely at the end of the third film, but they've found a way to keep it all going (albeit a bit of a naff one, just find a new apprentice in pretty much the same way as before).

I am a huge fan of the original "SAW", it was fresh, unique and the ending left my jaw on the floor (although not hacked off in a pool of blood thankfully). The follow-up however, I didn't really like. The premise wasn't as good, the characters were cut and paste bastards - whore, junkie, whiny little bitch teenager, panicky white collar worker, school-of-hard-knocks black guy and so forth. No wonder it wasn't as good, it was based on Bousman's own script for a completely different film, and James Wan did not have a hand in the script (only Leigh Whannel). However, those two chaps did have their hands in the script for "SAW III", which produced a much better film than "SAW II" I feel, the ciclical nature of the film - treading alternate and unseen angles of plot from the first two films - was what I enjoyed most ... and yes, rotted-pig-slush-device-thing was the grossest thing I've seen for a long time.

As for "SAW IV", with damn near everybody from the previous three films slaughtered - including the main man himself - you just think, what's the point? Sooner or later everyone is going to die, even if they do escape a trap, they'll just be brought back and continue to not think outside of their own boxes so they'll just get hacked up again. With the first three, particularly the first and to a lesser extent the third, you actually cared and wanted people to escape their fates (I could have barely given a thrupny toss about those in part two, bar Donnie Wahlberg).

Another gripe is the sheer scale of the tricks, devices and so on. The scale of the devices is getting a bit silly now, particularly the main set piece in this fourth outing. It's just too big, too flashy and too designed. The great thing about the first film was it was just some grotty old bogs in a grotty old tiled room and the premise of their predicament was fairly simple, yet still terrifying and horrific.

Inevitably this was going to happen to the franchise, everytime you show a bit more and get a bit more outlandish, you have to go further the next time...but can't you just make it more mentally torturous than visually icky? 100 ick units and 0 mental units (to use a bizarre equation I've just cobbled together) is nowhere near as good as 50 ick units and 50 mental units.

The sheer thought of the predicament in the first "SAW", plus the adequate (and at the time actually fairly extreme) gore was an ideal combination. No doubt this won't be the case for "SAW V" or "VI" (which are to be shot back-to-back apparently - not a good sign, most back-to-backs usually suck, and this late in the day as well - have they not seen "Return of the Living Dead 4 & 5"?!)

But to end on a higher note, what I did enjoy about "SAW IV" was the continued way the franchise circles around the same area of events and characters, minor parts from earlier films become main parts (with varied success), and events flash back to earlier events as well as parallel events. You could say that the "SAW" franchise is the new "Friday the 13th" franchise for the 2000's, but in terms of horror in general, at least this franchise seeks to link the films together with at least some depth and complexity.

I appreciate what they're doing with the franchise immensely, but they really need to look back at the first film and regain control over themselves before it gets completely ludicrous and out-of-hand. The best way to make a good sequel is to properly understand the films that preceded it, rather than the cliche of "bigger this, this and this".

The post-Halloween round up - part 1...

Well, tis the season no more ... until Guy Fawke's night ... and then the inevitable shit-fit-frenzy of the run up to Xmas. What did I get up to horror wise? Well, I checked out the European Cut of "Dawn of the Dead" (original & best, obviously not the pointless remake), and I have to say that it's nowhere near as good as the Extended Cut aka Cannes Cut (my personal favourite, which is 139 minutes of sheer heaven). The Euro Cut is understandable, Argento recut to suit Euro audiences, who would subsequently be inundated with 'zeds-n-muff' naffness like "Zombie Lake" - although I actually really enjoyed "Zombie Lake" because it was so silly. However, even though it's understandable, it's still not very well done. The unseen-in-English-speaking-gaffs scene extensions are a Dawn geek's treasured treat, but the exclusions - particularly NO HELICOPTER ZOMBIE, pure madness incarnate - and the soundtrack are a real shame. Superb moments are either chopped out (sometimes in favour of more footage of roaring motorbikes), or the scenes are rendered a clunky and uncomfortable because of Argento's insistence on a purely Goblin-lent soundtrack. Romero used Goblin tracks sparingly and sensibly, they fit the scenes and provided background tension. Argento uses them in a scattergun approach, fades them out abruptly, cuts them off a beat-too-late or just plonks them in the completely wrong place where they become overpowering or just unsuitable. It is however interesting to see a movie I'm so familiar with (yes, I quote the film as it plays) in a different light, but from a technical and critical standpoint, it certainly isn't an exceptional cut of the film - now, the Extended Cut, that is the glory. All of GAR's flair and choice editing, but in greater detail. One could say that Dawn was truly Romero's epic - it's got everything plus a pie-fight after all. Also in my Halloween season line-up was the Halloween theme latest episode of the excellent show "Reaper", certainly one of the most interesting shows to come across the pond in recent times. Otherwise, I also dug myself into "SAW IV", but I'll blog about that in a new post (above).