Flavours of the Month: September 2011...

LOOKS:

The A-Team (Blu-Ray) - still rather good fun. After a year or more of thinking the movie would suck, when I actually got to see it in the cinema last year I had a really good time, and it still is a good time. I'm not sure whether they will or not, but I would welcome a sequel.

Fast Five (Blu-Ray) - I never bothered with the second or third movie in the franchise (I saw clips and didn't like what I saw), and I found the fourth movie to be a bit underwhelming, but this fourth sequel was a bloody great time at the movies, and it continues to be so on home video (although goodness knows what the additional one minute of content is). Blisteringly enjoyable big-scale mainstream action.

Dangerous Roads (BBC2) - three episodes, three pairings of household British names (comedians and adventurers), and three distinctly treacherous journeys. In the absence of a new Boorman/McGregor adventure, this satiates the appetite a bit.

Carnivale - I missed this curious-and-rather-good show the first time around, but thanks to Sky Atlantic I've been catching up, and this month saw the first season draw to a close ... and what a closer it was! Cliffhanger central, so it was, with shocking twists galore edited together incredibly effectively to Hans Zimmer's "Journey to the Line".

Fresh Meat - a new comedy created by the blokes who gave us Peep Show, detailing the off-campus lifestyle of a bunch of first year uni students. I'm quite enjoying it, and not just because it's giving me flashbacks of my own time living off campus - mind you, our gaff was far smaller and decidedly more of a health hazard (bed bugs, persistent mold, and a bathroom that was cleaned so few times in two years that you could count them on one hand ... at the time we didn't seem to mind, yet the further from it I get, the more disgusting it appears). Although, the second episode was a step-down - some plots have been dived into all-too-quickly, and some characters are feeling a tad one-note - but hopefully it's just an early wobble from which the show will recover.

SOUNDS:

AL-P "The A-Team Theme (AL-P MSTRKRFT Remix)" - as heard on the Blu-Ray menu for 2010 The A-Team movie.

M83 "Midnight City (Big Black Delta Remix)" - October will see the long-awaited release of M83's new double-album, and in advance there's a few remixes of the first single doing the rounds.

Stelvio Cipriani "La Politzia Sta A Guardare" - as featured (briefly) in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, I re-discovered it playing during the trailer for the Italian giallo flick What Have They Done To Your Daughters?

HIM "Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights" - this is the band's third album, and it takes me right back to the wintry beginnings of 2003, listening to this and their second album (Razorblade Romance) after getting back from late afternoon screenings when it was pitch black and raining outside. Some albums transport you back to very specific times in your life, and this is one such album.

Hans Zimmer "Journey To The Line" - as mentioned above regarding the season one finale of Carnivale, this haunting piece of music was created for Terrence Malick's poetic The Thin Red Line.

VIBES & FLAVOURS:

The 10th Anniversary of 9/11 - what is there to say? The event that defined the decade (and no doubt will define the century) was a shocking assault on all of mankind whether witnessing it first hand, or through the chilling footage streaming live around the world. When the event itself was unfolding I was in the final year of the Sixth Form and one of the girls from our year said, somewhat curiously, that "a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center" - naturally we all thought of the time a small plane crashed into the Empire State Building, but by the time we all got home and saw the endlessly repeating footage we realised this was something totally and horrifically different. With each passing year - and with more and more fascinating (yet terrifying) documentaries about that day - it becomes a little easier to process, while at the same time continuing to be an inconceivable horror.

GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony - returning to the second DLC for Rockstar's smash hit sandboxer, and having got used to the tweaked controls featured in Red Dead Redemption, I found the controls and cover system to be at best fiddly and at worst utterly incapable (driving is something to merely get the hang of, but the cover system is awfully clunky here - however, thankfully, it was mostly improved in Red Dead Redemption). That said, I've had a ridiculous number of hours out of GTA IV (despite its faults) and I am very much looking forward to the next entry.

"Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th" by Peter M. Bracke - I was given this last year but only got around to reading about the first two movies in the franchise before I found myself with a stack of books (as Christmas gifts) to wade through - however I returned to Bracke's vastly informative tome and it has been a stonking good read. At the time of writing I'm up to Jason X.

Allen Bridge - after a bit of a hiatus, in which I sought feedback from a select few readers, I have returned to my drama/mystery script. I've plotted a list of additions and tweaks that I want to make, but I can see that where I am currently at - heading into Draft 2.1 - is the point at which I would have arrived at last year by Draft 3.2, so I feel quite confident in that I'm learning an awful lot. Indeed I've been putting as much care and attention into this script as I possibly can. Like I've said before, I am determined to make this one count!

Homefront - there's a shed load of games coming out over the next few months that will go onto my 'to do' list, not that I'll get to many of them anytime soon if at all, but this B-Grade shooter (from the writer of Red Dawn and Apocalypse Now) isn't too bad. It's definitely not in the same league as a Call of Duty, for instance, but it presents an intriguing and scarily almost-possible bleak future where America becomes a nation occupied by a united Korea. At times it is hauntingly dark (mass graves at baseball fields, a child's parents gunned down in front of them, white phosphorous melting enemies alive, etc) and despite a number of flaws (such as a stupidly short campaign, weak protagonists, and an occasionally rough finish) it's worth a play.

Dick Figures, and ASDFmovie - these two online animated series are well worth checking out. The former has so far racked up 19 mini episodes (from the same company that gave us Happy Tree Friends), and the latter is a wonderfully silly and inventive series of mini-sketches that have - for one thing - birthed a ridiculously catchy song called "I LIKE TRAINS".

Gears of War 2 - in preparation for the third entry in the monstrously successful Xbox360 exclusive franchise, I've returned for another bash through this first sequel which was without a doubt decidedly superior to the solid first game.

My Chronological Top Ten Films of 2010:

The Book of Eli (17/1/2010):
More of a movie apocalypse than the realism of The Road, with arse kicking action, superb visuals, and a great soundtrack. It's not perfect, and the central theme might turn some away, but I really quite enjoyed it from start-to-finish.

Shutter Island (27/3/2010):
A B-Movie genre flick with the talent and budget of an A-Movie. Scorsese excelled at forboding atmosphere and paranoid asylum-bound mystery, while DiCaprio delivered yet another quality performance.

Kick Ass (4/4/2010):
Superheroes that aren't so super, but who cause a lot of violent havoc and have filthy mouths. Pure, unrestrained entertainment. Sequel please.

Inception (19/7/2010):
A mind-bending blockbuster with a thunderous score, the best trailer of the year, and the ability to mix wow-factor visuals with huh?-factor smarts.

The A-Team (1/8/2010):
One of the pleasant surprises of the year. I thought it was going to be a disaster upon first hearing about it, but it grew on me gradually, and then proved to be an thoroughly enjoyable action romp.

The Expendables (22/8/2010):
I prefered Rambo, but the sheer bad-assery of this 1980s throwback actioner employing modern techniques provided an addictive dose of adrenaline. Plus Terry Crews' shotgun was amazing.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (28/9/2010):
It's a shame it didn't do a bit better at the box office, but it was clear from the first frames that this was going to be a cult hit all the way. This unappologetically niche flick has kept coming back into my mind over the months since its summer release, and I look forward to delving deeper into the Pilgrim universe with the graphic novels.

Jackass 3D (7/11/2010):
The whole 3D thing hasn't evolved beyond a flashy visual gimmick, and I doubt it ever truly will, so a bunch of idiots hurting themselves and flinging various bodily fluids at the camera was an ideal use for this technology. An ideal audience participation experience, filled with absurdly gross-out moments.

Toy Story 3 (Blu-Ray) (23/11/2010):
Perhaps the best one of the three, but certainly tied with the original, this series closer provided guffaws and lumps-in-throats in equal measure. A visual treat with a heart-felt script to match. It tugged on your heart strings with Pixar's perfected storytelling skills and was a definite 2010 Top Five moment. That sequence in the final act alone was enough to earn it endless kudos.

Tron Legacy (2/1/2011):
The script could have used a touch more shading for certain aspects, but as a visual and aural experience it was second-to-none for 2010. The 3D wasn't employed to particularly involving effect as the neon glitz of The Grid overtook any depth-of-field snazziness with ease, and the soundtrack by Daft Punk was pulse-poundingly perfect. I really enjoyed this flick, and while the original was a very important moment in cinematic history, this sequel really delivered the goods for me.

Honourable Mentions:

The Road (31/1/2010):
This is exactly how the apocalypse would be in real life - unlike The Book of Eli's darkly entertaining movie-apocalypse - a harrowing and tough experience. It didn't quite have the hauntingly memorable quality of Cormac McCarthy's superb book, but the heartfelt father/son tale translated perfectly to devestatingly moving effect. It's a film for fathers to deal with the fact that one day they'll be gone and their offspring will have to fend for themselves, and it's a film for sons to deal with the realisation that one day their guiding light will be extinguished. Like I said - devestatingly moving.

Machete (28/11/2010):
Perhaps I had amped it up in my head too much since the release of the thoroughly enjoyable Grindhouse, but Machete didn't quite fire on all cylinders after an uproariously entertaining opening. However, despite the slight disappointment, it was filled with that gleeful grindhouse vibe and I'm sure I'll enjoy it time-and-again on home video.

The Town (26/9/2010):
Ben Affleck's heist thriller might have treaded similar boards to many other heist thrillers, but it's honest and detailed approach to Boston's criminal class, and the three superbly crafted heists made it stand above its peers who have come out in the wake of influential flicks like Michael Mann's Heat.

Back to the Future (re-release, 3/10/2010):
I didn't include this in the 2010 Top Ten as it's a re-release, but it was easily one of - if not the - best cinema-going experience of 2010. The movie is perfect already, so it was glorious to see this life-long favourite on the big screen, but more than that it was heart warming to see young parents bring their young children to see this film that had been so important to them and successfully pass their enjoyment onto their offspring.

Knight and Day...

I wasn't in the slightest bit fussed about this movie. I knew nothing of it until long after it had wrapped, and then I only knew very little - especially as the 'pre-buzz' focussed entirely on Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz being in it. "Not interested", said I.

Then they appeared on Top Gear (which made for an entertaining edition of Star In A Reasonably Priced Car) and they showed a clip of one of the action sequences and that got me a little bit interested. Then the following day (I think when we'd gone to see The A-Team) they showed the trailer and it looked good from an action stand point.

Such was Knight and Day - a dose of action comedy that was affable enough throughout to not put you off (unlike all that "omfg it's Cruise and Diaz!" pre-buzz nonsense). The action was our real reason in going to see it and it delivered in that respect with some spiffing set pieces (the highway battle being a high point). The rest is all fair enough but not particularly dazzling or memorable. If you're into Cruise and/or Diaz then that'd be a plus for you to check it out (I'm neither here nor there about them), but all-in-all it was a decent distraction for a Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't all that and a bag of crisps either.

The A-Team...

As a big fan of the original television show, when I first heard that an up-to-date movie adaptation was in the works, I wasn't exactly stoked. "How will they screw this up?" I wondered, what with there being so many slapdash remakes, re-imaginings and whatever you fancy, that haven't been up to snuff - or that have simply relieved themselves all over the source material.

Then the first snippets of information - notably, the cast list. Hannibal - check - Liam Neeson is generally awesome, but he was doubly-so in the kick arse action flick Taken, so I knew that was a good choice. Face - check - Bradley Cooper wasn't a particular name of note until The Hangover came along and he was good in that, and I could see him portraying the womanising charm of Templeton quite well, so that was another good choice.

Next up Murdock - check - I'd only seen Sharlto Copley in District 9, which was a great film, and I knew Copley would be able to bring out Murdock's lunacy. Afterall, he'd managed to turn a farty, pencil-neck bureaucrat into an arse kicking, metamorphosing hero in District 9. The only sticking point was Rampage Jackson, the UFC Fighter, as B.A. Baracus - hmmm - it was going to be a hard role to fill anyway, what with Mr. T being so iconic in the role.

Then the first footage came out, and then trailers, and still Rampage Jackson as Baracus was a sticking point for me - and others - his preview clips just weren't convincing, and it was starting to shape up as a properly fun time except for his involvement.

Then came the incessant advertising that was drawn out over months and months and months. It was cheeky enough that we in the UK were almost the last country in the world to get our mits on it, a full month after its native America got their teeth into it, but the endless trailers and Orange tie-in adverts in the cinema were just mind-numbing. A couple of viewings of the trailer is all I'd need as an average cinema-goer, so why on earth with the saturation?! It was an absolute relief to finally watch the actual movie, I can tell you!

Ah yes, the movie itself, thankfully it turned out as a good, solid fun time - Rampage Jackson included. Turns out in the context of the entire movie, and the other cast members, he was a good choice to bring Baracus into the 21st century. What relief indeed. The filmmakers might say "we told you so", but to be honest this sort of turn around is rare ... annoyingly your initial reactions are confirmed once you've stumped up your cash and endured the onslaught of car and vodka adverts (an odd sandwich of advertising, wouldn't you think?)

Adaptation wise, it's good. The transfer from Vietnam to Iraq is seemless, and the pre-amble showing how the team came together works well to introduce us all (franchise fans and newcomers alike) to the new breed of A-Team. Although more of the famous van would have been nice, but considering the plot it's understandable that it's not on screen for all that long. The filmmakers have done a good job of weaving in various nods and winks to the original show, while not being precious or cheesy or disrespectful about it - a nice balance is struck pretty much throughout, and like The Losers from a couple of months ago, this is a good slab of action movie fun and I look forward to seeing it again on DVD ... most of all so I can see the post-credits sequence featuring the original Face and Murdock.

When we went to see it in the cinema they put the big lights on part-way through the credits, which suggests that there's nothing more to see, so finding out there was another scene for the hardcore fans out there was most annoying. I'll just have to catch it on DVD - speaking of which, I hope we get a proper DVD release, not some half-arsed near-vanilla bit of old cobblers with sod all extras ... that's what happened to Kick Ass, a movie I really enjoyed, but which got a rubbish DVD and a solid Blu-Ray - and not being on the Blu-Ray bandwagon (can't afford it, plus the TV and surround to make it a worthwhile experience ... plus I don't like being bullied into a new format, nor do I like a DVD being half-arsed when I was ready and waiting to put down good money on it - well done movie studios, you lost yourself some money by screwing the DVD majority over on your releases!)

Anyway, rant over ... The A-Team was a welcome jolt of action movie fun and here's hoping the DVD is a quality release.

More summertime movie musings...

Batman:

Aye, the original 1989 box-office-bothering Tim Burton flick. I'd only seen it once before and what with The Dark Knight approaching, I figured I'd go back to the first Burton movie (the fact it was on sale for a fiver had a hand in this too).

Great stuff indeed, Nicholson is fucking great in no uncertain terms. With that fresh in my mind, it's going to be even more interesting to see the late Ledger's performance in the same role. While Nicholson was demented and fairly dark, he was also wickedly over the top and ... well, a real joker.

Ledger's version feels far, far darker. While Nicholson's might have been the Elvis style incarnation of the cackling one, Ledger's - from the trailers that have been shown at least - feels like the Sid Vicious incarnation. There's still a sense of humour, but it's all pitch black and nigh-on terrifying ... demented to say the least. No doubt it will be a fitting end to Ledger's sadly too short career.

Anyway, Batman 1989 ... indeed ... a spiffing film, but bloody hell have blockbuster action super hero type movies changed a lot in the past 19 years. At times, during action sequences, the pace of Batman felt positively sedate ... then again, there wasn't much internet or Sky TV or YouTube around in 1989 with "the yoof" consuming multiple media sources simultaneously and at a far greater speed than ever before. As a result, blockbuster fare has followed this trend.

So while it's not exceptionally gripping anymore, it's still a bloody good watch. But then again I guess it's all subjective and changes from film to film. After all, I've said in the past that I was - and indeed still am - positively gripped by The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford...and that's the best part of three hours and generally sedate and poetic.

Anyway, Batman still garners two fresh thumbs from me.

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Rambo:

I've already spoken about it, but I recently got the DVD from America.

First though, I was rather pissed off by the mixed and confusing information from the distributors regarding the content of the discs. I got the 1-disc thinking it had the extras on it - it doesn't, it has FUCK ALL on it. I avoided the 2-disc edition because I figured 'if the 1-disc has extras, why spend two more quid for a digital copy that I won't use and apparently doesn't work anyway' ... DVDTimes, a site that until now was entirely trust worthy in providing pre-release info, failed to notice than the 1-disc is devoid of any extras. So it's a bit of a kick in the nuts. It would have been nice to listen to Sly's commentary and see the featurettes about everything and everybody getting thoroughly shot to shit.

Oh well, can't win them all.

Back to Rambo itself though, it's still bloody awesome fun. The manliest slice of blokery since the Berlin Wall was sledge-hammered to smithereens.

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Futurama: Bender's Big Score:

Again, I've already spoken about it, but I got the DVD in preparation of the second feature coming out later this month (on the same day as Diary of the Dead as well, I might add).

Still superb and still tons funnier than The Simpson's has been for the past 9 or 10 seasons. More please!

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The A-Team: Season 5:

Yes, not a movie, but who cares it's still awesome and therefore shut up...

I'm still mid-way through this final season of the excellent boy's own adventure show, and it's still good. I even like the remix of the theme tune ... the original version still pwns everything aural, but the remix still gets me in the mood to take down mob bosses with a cigar hanging out of the corner of my mouth.

Quality fun for any child of the 1980s. Nuff said.

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!

The soundtrack to script writing...

This was originally a reply to one of Danny's comments on a previous blog post of mine, but I wrote so much I decided to make it into its own thing.

There's not really much music that gets me going on this script, but there are certain tracks that fit certain scenes.

Such as "You Look So Fine" by Garbage, or on a script I wrote in 2006 I listened to certain tracks by M83 that would fit certain scenes to inspire me in writing them. There was also "Adagio for Strings" (from "Platoon"), that inspired me in that script from last year (a practice script really) in which there was a paint balling sequence.

Also on that script from 2006 I found that "Can't Even Tell" by Soul Asylum (end credits of "Clerks") inspired me, which also does a little on this script...but not much.

I just generally listen to my music in general to get a vibe going. What helps me most of all is getting into a routine, because it keeps me plugging away at it, but it also gets me into the necessary mindset.

Recently when fiddling around with "IAZM3" prep, I was listening to the "Day of the Dead" soundtrack to get me going...and with that there were certain tracks that fitted certain scenes. The "Rocky" best-of soundtrack was also a big inspiration for writing "IAZM3"...so I guess that script had more in the way of a soundtrack-to-the-writing, certainly more-so than this current feature script I'm doing.

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As an aside, I've just had the shittiest wake-up call ever - massive indigestion/heart burn. Seriously, I felt like John Hurt in "Alien" just before he explodes all over the dinner table...absolute agony would be a good description. But after a good half hour of sitting/standing up (whilst wincing an awful lot), sipping milk and then taking a chewable Gaviscon I'm sitting pretty again.

...

I should have the Richard Hammond book finished today, it's been a bloody good read, just a mere 60 pages left. Also, "The A-Team" is still awesome as I progress into Season 4 with gusto, and "PGR4" is proper good fun.

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.