There have been many vibes this month, which kicked off with a nostalgia fest - digging into the slave drive (before it conked out and subsequently replaced with data intact) and going way back to 2003 and 2004 to watch experimental shorts "Back in the Day" and "Experiment in Exposure" as well as my fake-blood-soaked "my NIGHTMARE".
I laughed my arse off at the "Wasssabi" episode of The Annoying Orange, and thoroughly raised a bemused and amused eyebrow at 'the worst wedding DJ ever', both on YouTube.
Following on from Iron Man 2, there's been a lot of AC/DC filling the audioscape of my bedroom this month, and the bathroom when I was decorating it, and speaking of odd jobs around the house I ended up shovelling two tonnes of gravel.
The General Election happened, and it lead to a crescendo in my political interest - which was thoroughly obsessive in the months and even years leading up to the election, but which has somewhat vanished now - not from disappointment or a jaded sensibility, but rather the result of an intense period of obsession leading to the need for a decided break from the world of politics.
I've also been digging out DVDs from my collection that I haven't watched in a good while (in most cases several years). The titles have ranged from Japanese zombie flicks to Italian slashers and 1940s noir films among others. Plus, with two of my favourite shows coming to their respective conclusions (24 and Lost), I've gone and gotten myself into season one of Prison Break.
It's been a good month for gaming too, what with Alan Wake finally getting released (a thoroughly high quality game - despite a few minor flaws), and the coming of Red Dead Redemption - an expansive and involving wild west sandboxer.
There was even a heat wave for a week this month, which was frustrating (I don't do heat, and I'm not a fan of summer), but nevertheless we did get a couple of rather tasty BBQs out of it.
Finally, this month saw me turn 26 years young ... for the optimists ... and for the pessimists, I've only got 4 years remaining of my 'teenage twenties' until I hit *gulp* 30.
...
Oh yeah - this is my 500th blog post - hazah!
Monday, 31 May 2010
Monday, 24 May 2010
Cop Out...
Limping into UK cinemas long after its February premiere across the pond, us Brits finally got our mits on Kevin Smith's latest offering (albeit he wasn't the writer, just the director). I have to say I was a bit disappointed by it ... there was an air of 'most of the best bits are in the red band trailer' about it, which is a shame, but then again there are a range of other jokes that serve you well throughout (the monocle gag really tickled out funny bone).
Plot-wise though, the film feels a bit threadbare. Side characters are more often than not relegated to two or (if they're lucky) three minor scenes, and the central conceit (a baseball card) feels a bit flimsy.
I enjoyed myself, don't get me wrong, but Cop Out felt like it was cut-short. The script felt it had been forcedly diluted, and the running time felt like it had been forcedly trimmed and trimmed and trimmed. A couple less side characters, a stronger central conceit, and a few more full-on guffaws would have been really nice and taken everything up a couple of notches.
Seeing Cop Out was a fun time, especially on a sweltering Sunday (providing us with much needed darkness and air conditioning), and I'll naturally check it out again ... it's just that it felt like a light snack rather than a full meal. In terms of Kevin Smith's career it's a good step up on the ladder, he's been able to try out new things and new territory and direct a feature script that wasn't his own ... but I do wonder about what the movie would have been like if Smith himself had penned it.
A good time, but sadly not great.
Plot-wise though, the film feels a bit threadbare. Side characters are more often than not relegated to two or (if they're lucky) three minor scenes, and the central conceit (a baseball card) feels a bit flimsy.
I enjoyed myself, don't get me wrong, but Cop Out felt like it was cut-short. The script felt it had been forcedly diluted, and the running time felt like it had been forcedly trimmed and trimmed and trimmed. A couple less side characters, a stronger central conceit, and a few more full-on guffaws would have been really nice and taken everything up a couple of notches.
Seeing Cop Out was a fun time, especially on a sweltering Sunday (providing us with much needed darkness and air conditioning), and I'll naturally check it out again ... it's just that it felt like a light snack rather than a full meal. In terms of Kevin Smith's career it's a good step up on the ladder, he's been able to try out new things and new territory and direct a feature script that wasn't his own ... but I do wonder about what the movie would have been like if Smith himself had penned it.
A good time, but sadly not great.
Hot Tub Time Machine...
It's been a couple of weeks since I saw the flick, and that's not a reflection on the quality, I just didn't really know what to write about it - it's a tough flick to wax lyrical about, you know? American Pie meets Back To The Future is a good, off-the-cuff summary of it's basic vibe, and while it's not as 'this could be insanely great' as the trailer suggested when you first saw it, HTTM is a good, fun time.
Plus, as is my rule, it's automatically worth seeing because John Cusack is involved - a dude who's always a joy to watch who can always bring a sort of hang-dog pathos to his roles, even the more daft ones like the opportunity-making, bill-paying 2012 (I'm not judging, I say fair play, it's how the Hollywood system works) or indeed Hot Tub Time Machine with it's free-and-easy 'for shits and giggles' vibe.
A fun flick to see with your mates, and ideal 'cheer-me-up' material ... plus you can roll around in some 80s nostalgia, and quite frankly, who doesn't love a bit of 80s nostalgia?
Plus, as is my rule, it's automatically worth seeing because John Cusack is involved - a dude who's always a joy to watch who can always bring a sort of hang-dog pathos to his roles, even the more daft ones like the opportunity-making, bill-paying 2012 (I'm not judging, I say fair play, it's how the Hollywood system works) or indeed Hot Tub Time Machine with it's free-and-easy 'for shits and giggles' vibe.
A fun flick to see with your mates, and ideal 'cheer-me-up' material ... plus you can roll around in some 80s nostalgia, and quite frankly, who doesn't love a bit of 80s nostalgia?
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Iron Man 2...
Iron Man was a bit of a surprise, a romping stomping superhero flick with a comic smirk and Robert Downey Jr on top form as the boozing, gambling, seducing playboy Tony Stark. So when the trailers for the sequel surfaced (particularly the second), everybody went bat-shit crazy with anticipation - the kick ass AC/DC soundtrack in the latter certainly helped give you a boost of excitement.
The movie itself however - while maintaining the quality of the first movie, as well as the style and humorous streak - doesn't live up to the giddy hype of the hard-rocking trailer. The first flick's plot had a direction to be heading in at all times, and the structure of the plot was more even ... the sequel doesn't have either. Iron Man 2, at times, drifts off into certain directions that don't quite convince, or are left somewhat undercooked, and you can occasionally feel adrift in the plot.
The balance of action is mostly shifted into the second half, so the first half can become a bit quiet. Indeed when all the action kicks off, you've gotten used to the slower pace, and then find yourself blind-sided by all the arse-kicking robot action, which is tip-top by the way ... that said the final ruck does feel oddly short-lived.
It could also do with a bit more AC/DC throughout, I've gotta say ... but before I make this sound like I disliked the movie, I must say that I still rather enjoyed it. Sure, it didn't convince like the first movie, but I was invested throughout, enjoyed the characterisation and the rough-n-tumble was a ruddy good time.
If only the plot was a bit more balanced and focused. Iron Man 2 is an enjoyably solid effort that never quite lands the killer blow, but I look forward to seeing it again when perhaps I'll be able to view it more on its own terms, rather than in comparison to the first flick which was the surprise hit of 2008.
The movie itself however - while maintaining the quality of the first movie, as well as the style and humorous streak - doesn't live up to the giddy hype of the hard-rocking trailer. The first flick's plot had a direction to be heading in at all times, and the structure of the plot was more even ... the sequel doesn't have either. Iron Man 2, at times, drifts off into certain directions that don't quite convince, or are left somewhat undercooked, and you can occasionally feel adrift in the plot.
The balance of action is mostly shifted into the second half, so the first half can become a bit quiet. Indeed when all the action kicks off, you've gotten used to the slower pace, and then find yourself blind-sided by all the arse-kicking robot action, which is tip-top by the way ... that said the final ruck does feel oddly short-lived.
It could also do with a bit more AC/DC throughout, I've gotta say ... but before I make this sound like I disliked the movie, I must say that I still rather enjoyed it. Sure, it didn't convince like the first movie, but I was invested throughout, enjoyed the characterisation and the rough-n-tumble was a ruddy good time.
If only the plot was a bit more balanced and focused. Iron Man 2 is an enjoyably solid effort that never quite lands the killer blow, but I look forward to seeing it again when perhaps I'll be able to view it more on its own terms, rather than in comparison to the first flick which was the surprise hit of 2008.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Flavours of the Month: April 2010...
Continuing on from the end of March, I finished off the DVD for Tremors: The Series - it was an enjoyable show, if a bit under-funded, and you do miss Burt Gummer in the last couple of episodes (presumably off filming Tremors 4 at the time), but yeah - it's a fun show for the Tremors franchise fans.
In full-on Tremors mode I toured through the four movies again - the original is a classic with perfect pacing and brilliant lines of dialogue, the second is a riotous action-packed romp, the third is weak on the production front but affords us plenty of quality Burt Gummer fun and returns us to Perfection all these years later. Tremors 4, meanwhile, was a flick I didn't like at all the first time around, but six years later giving it a second chance I do like it. It is a bit of a let down in some respects, but the production value is great (and kicks the ass of Tremors 3 in that respect) and on its own terms it's actually pretty good. I do hope that Tremors 5 does happen ... I'm eagerly awaiting a new slice of Burt Gummer action!
Other viewing experiences this month have included The Mist (ruddy good monster movie Stephen King adaptation, which has gotten me in the mood for Alan Wake, oddly enough, and The Walking Dead, which is being brought to us by Darabont) ... then Funny People (enjoyed it more on its own terms this time around, and the DVD is plenty enjoyable), then Poultrygeist (gory Troma fun - although from the making-of I'm still astonished they're this disorganised and prone to production-haulting bickering after 35 years of filmmaking) ... *gasps for air* ... and then, plucked from my DVD shelf and blown-free of dust, the Soderbergh movie Full Frontal, and all-over-the-place Japanese zombie movie Wild Zero.
I watched Full Frontal as part of my film degree when we were discussing the Dogme 95 Manifesto (we also watched Festen), and Soderbergh's flick while initially slow to get going, and only vaguely living up to the Dogme 95 mindset, is actually quite an intriguing movie. The first twenty minutes bored the pants off me, but then I found myself getting quite into it ... so it was fun to have a bit of a nostalgia trip back to 2002/2003.
I finished off Assassin's Creed 2, which was ruddy good fun ... aside from a few niggles - including all those annoying NPCs carrying boxes, or playing guitars and getting in your way, or that your Villa chest can only carry about 55,000 florins but I can lug about 650,000+ just fine on my person ... silly, silly, silly. However, as I said, aside from a few dodgy little things here and there (including some small, but undercooked gameplay mechanics or the odd mission - such as "CTF"), it was a ruddy fun game - and a breath of fresh air into my sandbox gaming, being that you're yomping around 15th Century Italy.
Naturally, being a Brit, there's also been a lot of General Election based chit-chat, and I've found myself exhausted by it all quite quickly (as have friends of mine who are interested in politics - cue endless and fruitless political arguments between us all, which we all decided were more annoying than anything productive - best to remain friends, you know?) ... anyway, I've found myself utterly turned off by BBC News and Sky News - their obsession with the three leaders and nothing else (*ahem* what about the hundreds of constituencies and local issues up and down the nation?!) ... indeed, Sky News' coverage of their hosted debate was ludicrous and nothing short of masturbatory ... ... the "meeja narrative" has also been extremely evident in the last couple of weeks. How about reporting FACTS, rather than the opinions of the 24 hour news channels? The constant re-framing (or "spinning") of what's actually going on - into some warped, non-sensical hodge-podge of time wasting - has been a total turn off. As such I'm sticking with newspapers and blogs, because 24 hours news is (mostly) just pathetic and self-involved (and it has been for a very long time).
Finally, I got to check out In The Shadow of the Moon on telly the other day, and it was a really compelling examination of how mankind got to the moon, and the men who took us all there. Fascinating stuff. If only mankind still did things as boundary-pushing as that these days...
In full-on Tremors mode I toured through the four movies again - the original is a classic with perfect pacing and brilliant lines of dialogue, the second is a riotous action-packed romp, the third is weak on the production front but affords us plenty of quality Burt Gummer fun and returns us to Perfection all these years later. Tremors 4, meanwhile, was a flick I didn't like at all the first time around, but six years later giving it a second chance I do like it. It is a bit of a let down in some respects, but the production value is great (and kicks the ass of Tremors 3 in that respect) and on its own terms it's actually pretty good. I do hope that Tremors 5 does happen ... I'm eagerly awaiting a new slice of Burt Gummer action!
Other viewing experiences this month have included The Mist (ruddy good monster movie Stephen King adaptation, which has gotten me in the mood for Alan Wake, oddly enough, and The Walking Dead, which is being brought to us by Darabont) ... then Funny People (enjoyed it more on its own terms this time around, and the DVD is plenty enjoyable), then Poultrygeist (gory Troma fun - although from the making-of I'm still astonished they're this disorganised and prone to production-haulting bickering after 35 years of filmmaking) ... *gasps for air* ... and then, plucked from my DVD shelf and blown-free of dust, the Soderbergh movie Full Frontal, and all-over-the-place Japanese zombie movie Wild Zero.
I watched Full Frontal as part of my film degree when we were discussing the Dogme 95 Manifesto (we also watched Festen), and Soderbergh's flick while initially slow to get going, and only vaguely living up to the Dogme 95 mindset, is actually quite an intriguing movie. The first twenty minutes bored the pants off me, but then I found myself getting quite into it ... so it was fun to have a bit of a nostalgia trip back to 2002/2003.
I finished off Assassin's Creed 2, which was ruddy good fun ... aside from a few niggles - including all those annoying NPCs carrying boxes, or playing guitars and getting in your way, or that your Villa chest can only carry about 55,000 florins but I can lug about 650,000+ just fine on my person ... silly, silly, silly. However, as I said, aside from a few dodgy little things here and there (including some small, but undercooked gameplay mechanics or the odd mission - such as "CTF"), it was a ruddy fun game - and a breath of fresh air into my sandbox gaming, being that you're yomping around 15th Century Italy.
Naturally, being a Brit, there's also been a lot of General Election based chit-chat, and I've found myself exhausted by it all quite quickly (as have friends of mine who are interested in politics - cue endless and fruitless political arguments between us all, which we all decided were more annoying than anything productive - best to remain friends, you know?) ... anyway, I've found myself utterly turned off by BBC News and Sky News - their obsession with the three leaders and nothing else (*ahem* what about the hundreds of constituencies and local issues up and down the nation?!) ... indeed, Sky News' coverage of their hosted debate was ludicrous and nothing short of masturbatory ... ... the "meeja narrative" has also been extremely evident in the last couple of weeks. How about reporting FACTS, rather than the opinions of the 24 hour news channels? The constant re-framing (or "spinning") of what's actually going on - into some warped, non-sensical hodge-podge of time wasting - has been a total turn off. As such I'm sticking with newspapers and blogs, because 24 hours news is (mostly) just pathetic and self-involved (and it has been for a very long time).
Finally, I got to check out In The Shadow of the Moon on telly the other day, and it was a really compelling examination of how mankind got to the moon, and the men who took us all there. Fascinating stuff. If only mankind still did things as boundary-pushing as that these days...
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