A trip in time to sixty-nine, the deadliest of confessions, and touring the weirder side of life are just some of what's been setting the tone of my December 2019...
Click "READ MORE" below to see this month's looks, sounds, vibes & flavours...
Showing posts with label Xmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xmas. Show all posts
Tuesday, 31 December 2019
Monday, 30 November 2015
Bigger Tease Edition: The Walking Dead 6x08 memes...
Find more Walking Dead memes here.
Well that was a bit of a cliffhanger, wasn't it? Oh, those big teases!
Click each image for FULL SIZE.
Click "READ MORE" below to see the rest of this week's memes...
Well that was a bit of a cliffhanger, wasn't it? Oh, those big teases!
Click each image for FULL SIZE.
Click to Enlarge: Feelin' festive?
Click "READ MORE" below to see the rest of this week's memes...
Friday, 31 December 2010
Flavours of the Month: December 2010...
LOOKS:
Twin Peaks - jumping from The Horror Channel to the lovely 10-disc "Definitive Golden Box Edition" DVD (with a healthy dose of extra features), I finished my first tour through the fascinating and memorable oddball drama that was Twin Peaks. If only there had been a third season, because that cliffhanger just leaves you wanting to know what would have happened next. Additionally I dug into the prequel movie Fire Walk With Me, which I talked about in an earlier post.
The Blue Planet - I got this for my birthday months ago, but I hadn't seen it yet, so I figured it was about time I dug into it. Fascinating stuff, but it was the deep sea episode that was my favourite. It's astonishing what's way down there in the inky darkness of the deep sea, isn't it?
Lost: Season One & Two DVD Extras - the show came to an end earlier this year, so I've gone back to the beginning - well, the extra features anyway.
Italian Horror - it's been a lot of Argento-flavoured movies this month, what with Demons 1 & 2 (which he co-wrote & presented), as well as The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, and The Cat O'Nine Tails.
Avatar (Blu-Ray) - a third viewing of James Cameron's mega budget blockbuster. I still dig it.
The Expendables (Blu-Ray) - a ruddy good flick in its own right, but what impressed me most was the feature length making of documentary "Inferno" featured in the UK 3-disc package, which was just superb.
SOUNDS:
Twin Peaks - Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruse have been providing the background to my web surfing this month with their hypnotic sound.
Goblin "Profondo Rosso" and "Tenebrae" - from the Argento films of the same names.
Shutter Island soundtrack ("Symphony No.3 Passacaglia", and "On The Nature of Daylight") - both are equally as haunting from Scorsese's superior genre flick.
VIBES & FLAVOURS:
STALKER: Call of Pripyat - I was months late getting into this, but nevertheless I enjoyed the hell out of it. It took a bit of getting into initially, but once I was in, I was all about exploring every nook and cranny. The first game had the better story and climax, but this third entry in the series was the best all-round package.
Seasonal Snow - in January we got a shedload of snow, and this month, not even a whole year later, we got another big old dose of the white stuff accompanied by sub-zero temperatures all month. It's been as cold as -13c in my neck of the woods during the night, so it's been pretty damn cold out there. However it did mean we had a lovely covering of snow on Christmas Day itself, and I can't remember experiencing that before - so that was quite special indeed.
Call of Duty: Black Ops - one of my Xmas presents for this year; it's not perfect by any means (too many scripted moments where you have no player control, muddled battles that leave you a bit confused, endlessly respawning enemies at certain points, and generally not feeling all that different from previous entries in the franchise) ... but on the plus side I did still rather enjoy it (the plot was more interesting and better structured than that of Modern Warfare 2, which was sadly lacking on that front, being inserted into certain historical moments and alternate historical moments was cool, and some of the levels were really damn cool). Hopefully the next CoD game will shake things up considerably - and provide a longer single player experience - but despite some problems that Black Ops sports, I still quite enjoyed it.
The Big Book of Top Gear 2011 - one of the many books I got for Xmas. I've certainly got plenty to read over the coming weeks and months ... this, plus Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1&2, The Walking Dead Vol. 5, "It's Only A Movie" by Mark Kermode, "Driving Us Insane" by Jeremy Klaxon (a spoof), "The Man In The White Suit" by Ben Collins, "The World According To Clarkson: How Hard Can It Be?" by Jeremy Clarkson, and "Ice Cream & Sadness: Cyanide & Happiness Vol. 2" by the Cyanide & Happiness web comic guys.
...
And being that this is New Year's Eve - to one and all, have a groovy night and a spiffing New Year 2011!
Twin Peaks - jumping from The Horror Channel to the lovely 10-disc "Definitive Golden Box Edition" DVD (with a healthy dose of extra features), I finished my first tour through the fascinating and memorable oddball drama that was Twin Peaks. If only there had been a third season, because that cliffhanger just leaves you wanting to know what would have happened next. Additionally I dug into the prequel movie Fire Walk With Me, which I talked about in an earlier post.
The Blue Planet - I got this for my birthday months ago, but I hadn't seen it yet, so I figured it was about time I dug into it. Fascinating stuff, but it was the deep sea episode that was my favourite. It's astonishing what's way down there in the inky darkness of the deep sea, isn't it?
Lost: Season One & Two DVD Extras - the show came to an end earlier this year, so I've gone back to the beginning - well, the extra features anyway.
Italian Horror - it's been a lot of Argento-flavoured movies this month, what with Demons 1 & 2 (which he co-wrote & presented), as well as The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, and The Cat O'Nine Tails.
Avatar (Blu-Ray) - a third viewing of James Cameron's mega budget blockbuster. I still dig it.
The Expendables (Blu-Ray) - a ruddy good flick in its own right, but what impressed me most was the feature length making of documentary "Inferno" featured in the UK 3-disc package, which was just superb.
SOUNDS:
Twin Peaks - Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruse have been providing the background to my web surfing this month with their hypnotic sound.
Goblin "Profondo Rosso" and "Tenebrae" - from the Argento films of the same names.
Shutter Island soundtrack ("Symphony No.3 Passacaglia", and "On The Nature of Daylight") - both are equally as haunting from Scorsese's superior genre flick.
VIBES & FLAVOURS:
STALKER: Call of Pripyat - I was months late getting into this, but nevertheless I enjoyed the hell out of it. It took a bit of getting into initially, but once I was in, I was all about exploring every nook and cranny. The first game had the better story and climax, but this third entry in the series was the best all-round package.
Seasonal Snow - in January we got a shedload of snow, and this month, not even a whole year later, we got another big old dose of the white stuff accompanied by sub-zero temperatures all month. It's been as cold as -13c in my neck of the woods during the night, so it's been pretty damn cold out there. However it did mean we had a lovely covering of snow on Christmas Day itself, and I can't remember experiencing that before - so that was quite special indeed.
Call of Duty: Black Ops - one of my Xmas presents for this year; it's not perfect by any means (too many scripted moments where you have no player control, muddled battles that leave you a bit confused, endlessly respawning enemies at certain points, and generally not feeling all that different from previous entries in the franchise) ... but on the plus side I did still rather enjoy it (the plot was more interesting and better structured than that of Modern Warfare 2, which was sadly lacking on that front, being inserted into certain historical moments and alternate historical moments was cool, and some of the levels were really damn cool). Hopefully the next CoD game will shake things up considerably - and provide a longer single player experience - but despite some problems that Black Ops sports, I still quite enjoyed it.
The Big Book of Top Gear 2011 - one of the many books I got for Xmas. I've certainly got plenty to read over the coming weeks and months ... this, plus Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1&2, The Walking Dead Vol. 5, "It's Only A Movie" by Mark Kermode, "Driving Us Insane" by Jeremy Klaxon (a spoof), "The Man In The White Suit" by Ben Collins, "The World According To Clarkson: How Hard Can It Be?" by Jeremy Clarkson, and "Ice Cream & Sadness: Cyanide & Happiness Vol. 2" by the Cyanide & Happiness web comic guys.
...
And being that this is New Year's Eve - to one and all, have a groovy night and a spiffing New Year 2011!
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Flavours of the Month: December 2009...
Not only is it a festive time of year again, but it's naturally time for a new year, and not only a new year but a whole new decade. I'm not thrilled about folk calling them the "teenies" though. "Twenty-Ten" will do just fine.
Anyway, I've been doing these flavours of the month since the middle of the year, and I think I'll try and stick to doing them as it's a nice little way to record what has been, well, flavouring each and every month for me. So without further ado - December 2009.
Call of Duty, the franchise, and the COD:MW2 soundtrack:
I've been on a right old COD fest of late. They're relatively quick to play, so COD4 got a dust-off for a quick bash so I could see the story flow from that to Modern Warfare 2 smoothly, and I also fancied getting another play-through out of World At War, which although far better than Treyarch's COD3, it really does feel like a videogame. Meanwhile, COD4 and MW2 both feel like action movies that you control, and the latter is more like an action movie experience than anything else. Here's hoping that Treyarch take all this on board, as well as get themselves out of WW2.
The soundtrack for MW2 however, is just ruddy excellent, and I've been particularly enjoying "Flyby" and "Ghost's Fate", which are both superb pieces of music - one a blood-rushing dose of driving action, the other a tragic and operatic piece.
Bo Selecta DVD out-takes:
In a bit of a lull, and in need of something to do while scoffing lunch, I fished out my Bo Selecta DVD box set and gave the gag reels another spin - ruddy funny alright.
More James Cameron, and exposure to 3D:
As I've blogged about extensively a couple of weeks ago, I got to check out Avatar in 3D, and it was spiffing. Go and read my long-winded and impassioned thoughts on the flick a few posts back. Not only that, but his excellent documentary Ghosts of the Abyss.
BBC Writersroom Covering letter:
Not only did I make the final touches to "Zero", but I've been microscopically composing the covering letter that'll join the script when I submit it to the BBC Writersroom. Here's hoping the good people there will see what I see in this script that always makes me laugh, and always makes me feel good. A script that speaks about the swathes of average British just-twenty-somethings that are out there.
2002 reminiscing (Mutant, Nightmare At Noon, Mutant website, Igo Kantor Q&A):
Over at Homepage of the Dead, someone brought up the low budget action/horror/thriller flick Nightmare At Noon - which is a semi-sort-of-remake of the 1984 horror movie Mutant. This reminded me of the website I constructed for Mutant, way back in 2002 when I was a youthful 18 year old. Also, as previously blogged about this month, there was a Q&A with Mutant producer Igo Kantor, and a few posts back you'll find it - have a read, it's really quite interesting.
Festive season - lights, decs, shopping, cards, presents, food:
This month has naturally been a time of putting up Xmas decorations, stocking the cupboards to the brim with food, buying up presents, and chewing on Rennie's like they were going out of fashion. Weather wise it's certainly been bloody cold, and we had a considerable stretch of heavily icy weather, and even a dusting of snow. Plus, I only had two Xmas cards to do - being in a generation which is all over Facebook and the internet, there's little point these days. Will the trend die out, or really drop in numbers, in the future? Quite possibly.
Thinking about a new script:
As is often the way, when I'm approaching the end of one project, I often strike upon a great idea for the next one. This time around it's been in the final sessions of wrapping up "Zero". Indeed, this new idea is based on an old one I had years ago, but never got around to. Now I feel I've got a good idea to run with and structure the whole thing upon. I guess it'll tread some similar ground to "Zero", but will be about people a couple of years younger and will be centred around one main theme - in this case, modern manhood.
The ideas were flowing thick and fast, and I've got a good many spiffing ideas jotted down to get started on. So once "Zero" has been submitted, and "IAZM3" has been edited and finally laid to rest, I'll get cracking on this new script.
District 9, Iron Man, Inglourious Basterds, and Monsters VS Aliens on DVD:
It's been a good month for DVDs, combining new releases, cheap purchases, and Xmas presents. Taking full advantage of the festive season, when you can be a total glutton and not feel (too) guilty about it, I've been pouring over the DVDs of the above movies. District 9's featurettes cover a lot of ground, and Iron Man's feature-length making of leaves no stone unturned.
Inglourious Basterds' features are a bit on the light side, but many (albeit generally short in length) provide interesting viewing - a 30 minute Q&A with Tarantino & Pitt, the full length (but obviously short) Nation's Pride in-movie-movie, and various other little things (such as QT's camera angel, and the Hi Sally's) provide plenty of fun. It's just a shame that there wasn't more - especially on a 2-discer.
Similarly with Monsters VS Aliens, the features are a bit on the sparse side, but you do get a few tidbits of interesting info, even if the main featurettes on disc one smell a bit like a promotional video for Intel and 3D tech in general ... it is rather funny to see the Dreamworks folk banging on about 3D, comparing it in stature to the invention of sound in film ... ... get real. It worked great in Avatar as a device of immersion, but is it at all necessary? It's a parlour trick in general, a bit of fun on the side, a little treat for the right film, but it's certainly no leap forward ... at the very least, it won't be for a very long time, and even then, yeah ... it's just not gonna be the big bru-ha-ha that some are hoping for.
It's all about the story and the characters, that's what's important. So do away with all these feckin' remakes, will ya? And how about making more lower budgetted flicks rather than so many giant-budget stinkers like Transformers 2?
Anyway, Bob's Big Break, on disc two, is a fun little short - and the old-school red & blue 3D glasses do actually work fairly okay. Nothing like 'Real-D' of course, but still...
I Am Zombie Man 3:
Prepping, prop gathering, shot planning, shooting and the beginning of the editing process ... December is most certainly a month that tastes like IAZM3 ... and so will January, as the edit will hopefully be completed sometime in the coming few weeks.
I Love You, Man:
Further to the DVD bonanza, I've been watching a borrowed DVD of I Love You, Man - and it's still as funny and enjoyable as it was when I first saw it. The DVD content isn't bad either. Not as extensive as the typical Apatow movie will get on DVD, but it's plenty all the same.
...
And I think that about brings this month's flavour drive to a close.
Happy New Year 2010, folks!
Anyway, I've been doing these flavours of the month since the middle of the year, and I think I'll try and stick to doing them as it's a nice little way to record what has been, well, flavouring each and every month for me. So without further ado - December 2009.
Call of Duty, the franchise, and the COD:MW2 soundtrack:
I've been on a right old COD fest of late. They're relatively quick to play, so COD4 got a dust-off for a quick bash so I could see the story flow from that to Modern Warfare 2 smoothly, and I also fancied getting another play-through out of World At War, which although far better than Treyarch's COD3, it really does feel like a videogame. Meanwhile, COD4 and MW2 both feel like action movies that you control, and the latter is more like an action movie experience than anything else. Here's hoping that Treyarch take all this on board, as well as get themselves out of WW2.
The soundtrack for MW2 however, is just ruddy excellent, and I've been particularly enjoying "Flyby" and "Ghost's Fate", which are both superb pieces of music - one a blood-rushing dose of driving action, the other a tragic and operatic piece.
Bo Selecta DVD out-takes:
In a bit of a lull, and in need of something to do while scoffing lunch, I fished out my Bo Selecta DVD box set and gave the gag reels another spin - ruddy funny alright.
More James Cameron, and exposure to 3D:
As I've blogged about extensively a couple of weeks ago, I got to check out Avatar in 3D, and it was spiffing. Go and read my long-winded and impassioned thoughts on the flick a few posts back. Not only that, but his excellent documentary Ghosts of the Abyss.
BBC Writersroom Covering letter:
Not only did I make the final touches to "Zero", but I've been microscopically composing the covering letter that'll join the script when I submit it to the BBC Writersroom. Here's hoping the good people there will see what I see in this script that always makes me laugh, and always makes me feel good. A script that speaks about the swathes of average British just-twenty-somethings that are out there.
2002 reminiscing (Mutant, Nightmare At Noon, Mutant website, Igo Kantor Q&A):
Over at Homepage of the Dead, someone brought up the low budget action/horror/thriller flick Nightmare At Noon - which is a semi-sort-of-remake of the 1984 horror movie Mutant. This reminded me of the website I constructed for Mutant, way back in 2002 when I was a youthful 18 year old. Also, as previously blogged about this month, there was a Q&A with Mutant producer Igo Kantor, and a few posts back you'll find it - have a read, it's really quite interesting.
Festive season - lights, decs, shopping, cards, presents, food:
This month has naturally been a time of putting up Xmas decorations, stocking the cupboards to the brim with food, buying up presents, and chewing on Rennie's like they were going out of fashion. Weather wise it's certainly been bloody cold, and we had a considerable stretch of heavily icy weather, and even a dusting of snow. Plus, I only had two Xmas cards to do - being in a generation which is all over Facebook and the internet, there's little point these days. Will the trend die out, or really drop in numbers, in the future? Quite possibly.
Thinking about a new script:
As is often the way, when I'm approaching the end of one project, I often strike upon a great idea for the next one. This time around it's been in the final sessions of wrapping up "Zero". Indeed, this new idea is based on an old one I had years ago, but never got around to. Now I feel I've got a good idea to run with and structure the whole thing upon. I guess it'll tread some similar ground to "Zero", but will be about people a couple of years younger and will be centred around one main theme - in this case, modern manhood.
The ideas were flowing thick and fast, and I've got a good many spiffing ideas jotted down to get started on. So once "Zero" has been submitted, and "IAZM3" has been edited and finally laid to rest, I'll get cracking on this new script.
District 9, Iron Man, Inglourious Basterds, and Monsters VS Aliens on DVD:
It's been a good month for DVDs, combining new releases, cheap purchases, and Xmas presents. Taking full advantage of the festive season, when you can be a total glutton and not feel (too) guilty about it, I've been pouring over the DVDs of the above movies. District 9's featurettes cover a lot of ground, and Iron Man's feature-length making of leaves no stone unturned.
Inglourious Basterds' features are a bit on the light side, but many (albeit generally short in length) provide interesting viewing - a 30 minute Q&A with Tarantino & Pitt, the full length (but obviously short) Nation's Pride in-movie-movie, and various other little things (such as QT's camera angel, and the Hi Sally's) provide plenty of fun. It's just a shame that there wasn't more - especially on a 2-discer.
Similarly with Monsters VS Aliens, the features are a bit on the sparse side, but you do get a few tidbits of interesting info, even if the main featurettes on disc one smell a bit like a promotional video for Intel and 3D tech in general ... it is rather funny to see the Dreamworks folk banging on about 3D, comparing it in stature to the invention of sound in film ... ... get real. It worked great in Avatar as a device of immersion, but is it at all necessary? It's a parlour trick in general, a bit of fun on the side, a little treat for the right film, but it's certainly no leap forward ... at the very least, it won't be for a very long time, and even then, yeah ... it's just not gonna be the big bru-ha-ha that some are hoping for.
It's all about the story and the characters, that's what's important. So do away with all these feckin' remakes, will ya? And how about making more lower budgetted flicks rather than so many giant-budget stinkers like Transformers 2?
Anyway, Bob's Big Break, on disc two, is a fun little short - and the old-school red & blue 3D glasses do actually work fairly okay. Nothing like 'Real-D' of course, but still...
I Am Zombie Man 3:
Prepping, prop gathering, shot planning, shooting and the beginning of the editing process ... December is most certainly a month that tastes like IAZM3 ... and so will January, as the edit will hopefully be completed sometime in the coming few weeks.
I Love You, Man:
Further to the DVD bonanza, I've been watching a borrowed DVD of I Love You, Man - and it's still as funny and enjoyable as it was when I first saw it. The DVD content isn't bad either. Not as extensive as the typical Apatow movie will get on DVD, but it's plenty all the same.
...
And I think that about brings this month's flavour drive to a close.
Happy New Year 2010, folks!
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Black Xmas...
Having seen the original many moons ago, and then again fairly recently, I came across the remake on Sky Movies recently and figured I'd tape it and have a look ... what a shock, it's as shite as the vast majority of all of the other rape & pillage remakes out there at the moment.
Shite script, shite acting, shite directing ... it's just a load of shite really. It either rips out entire chunks of the original flick and just pastes in new actresses, or it goes off into weird new territory that both makes little sense, as well as acts as a hardy new yard stick, for new levels of yawn.
Seriously, why bother at all? Even the title was lazy. Shite, shite, shite, shite ... SHITE.
Shite script, shite acting, shite directing ... it's just a load of shite really. It either rips out entire chunks of the original flick and just pastes in new actresses, or it goes off into weird new territory that both makes little sense, as well as acts as a hardy new yard stick, for new levels of yawn.
Seriously, why bother at all? Even the title was lazy. Shite, shite, shite, shite ... SHITE.
Monday, 7 January 2008
The first long-arse blog of 2008...
Well, we're firmly into 2008 now and I figured I'd knock up the first big post of the year with a kind of seasonal round up, although I mostly just indulged and watched DVDs, but still...
One thing is for certain, now armed with a new digital photo camera, I have been taking pictures of all sorts of things around the house. I'm particularly transfixed by close ups...I guess it's my background in art coming back through this device which has enabled it in a more quick & easy way. Plus it makes making graphics for my own short films easier.
But the holidays are for lazing about, and yes I certainly relished the opportunity. It was a DVD marathon alright, so I guess I'll give a quick run down of my viewings (or indeed re-viewings):
Superbad - even better than the first time I saw it now that I'm familiar enough with it to quote-as-it-goes, so-to-speak. Seth Rogen & Co are unquestionably comedic masters. Bring on Pineapple Express!
Alien, Aliens, Alien3 - I got all hot & bothered to get the Ultimate Edition DVDs for them, and I now appreciate them even more than I did, especially the first and third (Aliens is one of my absolute all-time faves). Alien is a masterpiece and Ridley Scott is a genius. Alien3 is a troubled gem with an air of greater things, thanks to David Fincher.
Long Way Down - not as good as Long Way Round, because LWR was just perfect, but still a bloody good adventure to admire and inspire. Bring on Long Way Up!
The A-Team: Season 4 - the majority of the episodes are actually rather good, though the celebrity guest episodes are just pandering, but the show over all has improved at this stage in it's life. Still awesome.
28 Weeks Later - I once scoffed at it, assuming it'd be a cheap and nasty money-spinner trash sequel, but it actually turned out to be equally as good as the original film. It even had a good story to match the visuals!
Spider-Man 3 - wordier than I remember it in the cinema, but still a great romp with a story to boot. Leaving it at three would be no crime, and Sam Raimi could do with returning to his roots for a laugh with his mate Bruce.
Halloween 2007 - having seen the work print, the unrated director's cut is much tighter. Not perfect and not as good as the original (obviously), but is a proper remake - not "name rape" like the new versions of "Dawn of the Dead" (Yawn04) or "Day of the Dead" (Day of the Remake -aka- Day of the Flying Bulgarian Vegetarian Zombies -aka- Careers of the Dead). Michael Myers is at last scary again!
Ricky Gervais: Fame - the least of his stand ups, still mostly funny but nowhere near the quality of the Extras Christmas Special, which was just superb.
I Am Legend - not complete trash, but the infected a bit gash and the final third is a bit cack-handed. At times though it's rather spiffy, and Will Smith actually gets to act instead of wink at the audience. The Omega Man was better though.
SAW IV - least of the series. A convoluted re-hash of the earlier films with a shite continuation of Jigsaw's work. The impact of the first film has long since worn off, and the suitably twisty script of SAW III has been snubbed. Surely it's all downhill for the two coming back-to-back sequels?
American Gangster - not Ridley Scott's best film by far, nor Denzel's. It's not shite, not by a long shot, but I've certainly seen the 'rise & fall of a criminal figure' story several times before, and at times done better I feel. To me it didn't have a strong enough Ridley vibe, to be honest.
This Is Spinal Tap - yes I've only just gotten around to it. Didn't laugh uncontrollably, but appreciated it nonetheless. I guess it just doesn't resonate with me personally as much as it does with others, but regardless I can appreciate it's quality.
Jackass 2.5 - it sucks that the Vito/Lambo tooth yank was excised. The deleted Wildboyz footage is hit & miss, but the rest is decent enough. Hopefully the DVD will plump it up a bit more and provide some more laughs, once it's in stock anyway, I'm still waiting for it.
...
So a well appreciated couple of weeks to lounge around and eat it was, although the wickedly harsh spot of indigestion I got a few nights after Xmas Day sucked big style...now though, the decorations have been cruelly yanked out of my life and stored away for the ass-end of 2008 ... this of course means that I've returned to writing.
For the past few days I've been busy refining the second act of my comedy script, which I'll just refer to as "GenPro" (a short nickname of the full, working title). Next up - planning out and then actually doing the third act...and of course, after that it'll be onto one of two horror scripts I've got percolating in the old noggin.
And there you have it, the first beast-sized blog of 2008!
One thing is for certain, now armed with a new digital photo camera, I have been taking pictures of all sorts of things around the house. I'm particularly transfixed by close ups...I guess it's my background in art coming back through this device which has enabled it in a more quick & easy way. Plus it makes making graphics for my own short films easier.
But the holidays are for lazing about, and yes I certainly relished the opportunity. It was a DVD marathon alright, so I guess I'll give a quick run down of my viewings (or indeed re-viewings):
Superbad - even better than the first time I saw it now that I'm familiar enough with it to quote-as-it-goes, so-to-speak. Seth Rogen & Co are unquestionably comedic masters. Bring on Pineapple Express!
Alien, Aliens, Alien3 - I got all hot & bothered to get the Ultimate Edition DVDs for them, and I now appreciate them even more than I did, especially the first and third (Aliens is one of my absolute all-time faves). Alien is a masterpiece and Ridley Scott is a genius. Alien3 is a troubled gem with an air of greater things, thanks to David Fincher.
Long Way Down - not as good as Long Way Round, because LWR was just perfect, but still a bloody good adventure to admire and inspire. Bring on Long Way Up!
The A-Team: Season 4 - the majority of the episodes are actually rather good, though the celebrity guest episodes are just pandering, but the show over all has improved at this stage in it's life. Still awesome.
28 Weeks Later - I once scoffed at it, assuming it'd be a cheap and nasty money-spinner trash sequel, but it actually turned out to be equally as good as the original film. It even had a good story to match the visuals!
Spider-Man 3 - wordier than I remember it in the cinema, but still a great romp with a story to boot. Leaving it at three would be no crime, and Sam Raimi could do with returning to his roots for a laugh with his mate Bruce.
Halloween 2007 - having seen the work print, the unrated director's cut is much tighter. Not perfect and not as good as the original (obviously), but is a proper remake - not "name rape" like the new versions of "Dawn of the Dead" (Yawn04) or "Day of the Dead" (Day of the Remake -aka- Day of the Flying Bulgarian Vegetarian Zombies -aka- Careers of the Dead). Michael Myers is at last scary again!
Ricky Gervais: Fame - the least of his stand ups, still mostly funny but nowhere near the quality of the Extras Christmas Special, which was just superb.
I Am Legend - not complete trash, but the infected a bit gash and the final third is a bit cack-handed. At times though it's rather spiffy, and Will Smith actually gets to act instead of wink at the audience. The Omega Man was better though.
SAW IV - least of the series. A convoluted re-hash of the earlier films with a shite continuation of Jigsaw's work. The impact of the first film has long since worn off, and the suitably twisty script of SAW III has been snubbed. Surely it's all downhill for the two coming back-to-back sequels?
American Gangster - not Ridley Scott's best film by far, nor Denzel's. It's not shite, not by a long shot, but I've certainly seen the 'rise & fall of a criminal figure' story several times before, and at times done better I feel. To me it didn't have a strong enough Ridley vibe, to be honest.
This Is Spinal Tap - yes I've only just gotten around to it. Didn't laugh uncontrollably, but appreciated it nonetheless. I guess it just doesn't resonate with me personally as much as it does with others, but regardless I can appreciate it's quality.
Jackass 2.5 - it sucks that the Vito/Lambo tooth yank was excised. The deleted Wildboyz footage is hit & miss, but the rest is decent enough. Hopefully the DVD will plump it up a bit more and provide some more laughs, once it's in stock anyway, I'm still waiting for it.
...
So a well appreciated couple of weeks to lounge around and eat it was, although the wickedly harsh spot of indigestion I got a few nights after Xmas Day sucked big style...now though, the decorations have been cruelly yanked out of my life and stored away for the ass-end of 2008 ... this of course means that I've returned to writing.
For the past few days I've been busy refining the second act of my comedy script, which I'll just refer to as "GenPro" (a short nickname of the full, working title). Next up - planning out and then actually doing the third act...and of course, after that it'll be onto one of two horror scripts I've got percolating in the old noggin.
And there you have it, the first beast-sized blog of 2008!
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Merry December the 27th people...
Hope you lot had a groovy Christmas, mine was a good one, got a good haul and have been taking pictures like there's no tomorrow with my new digital photo camera. I've also been getting stuck into some A-Team: Season 4 as well as Richard Hammonds book "On The Edge", which is absolutely bloody brilliant and I'm steaming my way through it. A superb read, especially for "Top Gear" fans such as myself.
Anyway, I'm taking a well deserved rest from the comedy feature script at the moment being that it's Xmas and all, but I'll soon be back to it to fine tune the second act before heading onto the third act - after which, one of two horror scripts I have in mind.
I've also done the dialogue recording/editing for "IAZM3", although I might want to re-record one character's lines again.
Anyway, just stopping by to throw some blog in your faces, boshty.
Anyway, I'm taking a well deserved rest from the comedy feature script at the moment being that it's Xmas and all, but I'll soon be back to it to fine tune the second act before heading onto the third act - after which, one of two horror scripts I have in mind.
I've also done the dialogue recording/editing for "IAZM3", although I might want to re-record one character's lines again.
Anyway, just stopping by to throw some blog in your faces, boshty.
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