So the other day at work the chief executive Justin King descended from the ivory tower in London to come run around our car park for Sport Relief , I'm all for charity which I'll get to later but from the way things were at work you'd think that (insert deity here) had decided to take on corporeal form just to endorse the company and say how it really made the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World pale in comparison. Half the staff on the shop floor had to go watch his holiness and feign interest, well some were feigning interest the rest were fawning sycophants lining up to offer his holiness the blood of their first born or anything else just for the opportunity to bask in his radiant presence for a few minutes. Then after something like 10 or 15 minutes he was gone with his entourage following in his wake, although that didn't bother the sycophants that much since they'd already got a story to tell their grandchildren with pride.
One of the irritating things about where I work is their 'approved' charity mentality. Every year the store will pick a charity to sponsor alongside the big things like Comic Relief etc. If you don't want to give anything to their chosen charity then it's seen as a base insult with all the implied guilt which goes with it. This isn't because I'm selfish and don't want to donate to charity (I make monthly donations to Shelter and now NSPCC & Friends of the Earth too) I just find the idea of management at your workplace dictating which charity you should donate to arrogant in the extreme.
The reason I said now NSPCC & Friends of the Earth too is I was out in town the other day, going to pick up my comics and got talking to some fund raisers aka charity muggers and despite how this usually annoys the hell out of me I ended up having some interesting conversations which to be honest made a change. Since normally when I go into town it's like a covert military operation, head in, achieve the objective and then exit the theatre with haste. The fact I'm a sucker for a cute girl with a nice smile might have something to do with it like, especially when one of them had a rather foxy mohawk. She told that she stopped wearing it up when she's fund raising as it scares people. One thing I did notice was right in the middle of their sales pitch they just broke down into girly giggling , you just have that effect on me, I'm normally good at this one of them said.
I've got the week off work this week and rather shockingly I'm actually doing something! I'm going to Nottingham and meeting up with emma_treasure,Killa_ and a bunch of others which should be groovy.
Here's the skinny on a few films I watched recently:
Former Police officer Michael Ruppert has spent the last 30 years researching and investigating corruption whether it's governments or intelligence agencies. In The Collapse he paints a dark and disturbing picture, after collating the evidence. Having predicted the financial meltdown several years before it happened, here Ruppert points out in detail one of the main problems facing the world now, the over reliance on oil and the apparent unwillingness to even acknowledge the problem on the part of governments the world over.
Collapse is probably one of the scariest films I've seen and I'm not easily scared. The reason for this? In this feature length interview Ruppert points out how utterly reliant the industrialised world is on oil, from cars, to ipods, to toothbrushes, to the bags you carry your shopping in it all comes from oil, which no matter how you spin it is a finite resource. Even scarier is the rate at which we use it or misuse it, as Ruppert points out half or more of the products in your local supermarket will be from another country. Peak oil and fiat currency are key topics here. Peak oil being when production is at maximum and can only go down but demand will only increase, which will drive up oil prices. Fiat currency being the term used to describe currency that has no value or use other than as a means of payment. Collapse is by no means a feel good or happy viewing experience but it's undeniably one of the most potent documentary's in years.
Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is a rock loving misfit living a dull life in the very dull town of Bodeen , Texas,going to beauty pageants at the behest of her mother (Marcia Gay Harden). After going to Austin shopping with her mother, Ellen discovers Roller Derby. After some subterfuge Ellen and her best friend Pash (Alia Shawcat) go to watch a Roller Derby event. In awe of the confident,sexy, tattoed girls Bliss goes to try out for the Hurl Scouts.
Whip It is an excellent coming of age tale, packed with memorable characters and impressive performances. Marcia Gay Harden's portrayal of a mother coming to terms with her daughter's love of something which is utterly alien to her is utterly convincing. Page's transformation from shy outcast to being confident and determined never seems forced or contrived and when her love of her new family makes her disregard her old one it's painfully and realistically handled. Juliette Lewis seems to really enjoy herself as the bitchy Iron Maven Page's nemesis and Kristen Wiig is good as surrogate big sister Maggie Mayhem.
Jiro (Keisuke Koide) is a lonely student who meets his dream girl in the form of Haruka Ayase's beautiful cyborg, as he gets to know her Jiro discovers that she is from the future and was sent back in time by his future self but she can't tell him why as she isn't allowed to talk about the future as this will affect the timeline.
Cyborg She is a brilliant example of why foreign cinema is so much better than the glossy garbage Hollywood churns out. A hybrid mix of romantic comedy and science fiction the likes of which would be an utter mess in the hands of a western film studio. The development of Jiro's relationship with his new girlfriend stroke bodyguard is at turns funny and moving. The FX are excellently done with numerous examples of Ayase's super strength and speed and other abilities, most of which are done with impressive comedic style and her appearance in a busy street is a distinct homage to Terminator with it's blue sphere of crackling lightning and Ayase's appearance seems to be a nod to Ghost in the Shell's Motoko Kusanagi by Manga supremo Masamune Shirow.
In ancient China the merciless leader of the Wei kingdom Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang) is determined to rule the land after intimidating the Prime Minister into submission, opposing Cao Cao's plan are Liu Bei (Yong You) the leader of the Shu kingdom and Sun Quan (Chen Chang) the leader of the Wu kingdom. Together the former enemies must stop Cao Cao's army despite being vastly outnumbered.
John Woo's first Chinese film in years and a sprawling epic it is too, in fact so epic that it's been cut for the Western audience from the original 2 parts into1 film. The result of this is a rather grating and superfluous American narration to fill the gaps. Red Cliff boasts a rather large amount of characters, Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang), Liu Bei (Yong You), Sun Quan (Chen Chang), Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), Zhao Yun (Jun Hu), Sun Shang Xiang (Wei Zhao), Gan Xing (Shido Nakamura) Xiao Qiao (Chiling Lin), Guan Yu (Ba Sen Zha Bu) and Zhang Fei (Jinsheng Zhang) amongst others. While Red Cliff boasts some excellent action scenes, an ambush on Cao Cao's arrogant overconfident men being a particular stand out, it's by no means a brainless action film, with Zhou Yo and Liu Bei being engrossed in tactical debates as they have to face down Cao Cao's vast army which outnumbers their combined forces. Definitely Woo's best film in years with excellent performances from the cast.
(Michael Vartan) is a travel writer taking a river safari cruise in the Northern Territory of Australia (Radha Mitchell) is the guide leading the group of assorted tourists. After seeing a signal flare whilst out with the group she decides to investigate and the group find themselves stranded in the territory of a rogue crocodile with night fast approaching.
Greg Mcleans follow up to his nerve shredding opus Wolf Creek is a different type of horror. Vartan makes for a good leading man who finds himself in an alien environment, with Mitchell playing the stereotypical bronzed Aussie tour guide well thanks to being a native Aussie herself. The tourist themselves are a surprisingly realised bunch with a middle aged couple with daughter, grieving widower and arrogant loner amongst others.
Mclean gives plenty of time for the characters to develop before cranking up the tension. One of the most striking things about Rogue is it's stunning scenery, combined with wildlife footage you expect to be narrated by Sir David Attenbrough.
Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) reluctantly joins a covert group of monsters after rather inconveniently being hit by a meteor on her wedding day which causes her to grow to giant proportions. Together they have to battle an alien menace.
In the style of Pixar's films on the surface this is bright colourful fun aimed at kids but there's a wealth of references and jokes for older viewers. The group overseen by handler W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland in full on scenery chewing mode) features The Missing Link or 'Link to his friends a reptile man (voiced by Will Arnett) Dr Cockroach (voiced by Hugh Laurie who seems to be enjoying himself, mad scientist laughs abounds), B.O.B a sentient gelatinous mass with a bad memory (voiced by Seth Rogen) and the gargantuan Insectosaurus. A fun homage to vintage creature features.
A group of old friends are meeting up for the weekend to catch up and relax. After a few drinks someone suggests playing a game of Dead Mary. Shortly afterwards screams wake the group in the early hours.
Dead Mary commits some of the worst crimes a horror film can commit, it's dull, and it takes far too long for anything of interest to happen. Almost half the running time is spent with the group talking about various things and catching up, which is supposed to flesh the characters out but it grates and after 30 minutes or so of their drunken reminiscing you'll probably be wanting a drink yourself. Dominique Swain does make a valiant effort with what he's given though and proves she's more than eye candy. When things do actually pick up there's shades of The Evil Dead and something resembling an atmosphere builds up but director Robert Wilson's idea for a paranoia piece in the vain of The Thing isn't anywhere near such a classic.
I got myself a shiny new PS3 the other day, since I've been thinking of getting one for a while now they're not ridiculously expensive, one good point of waiting to get one is you pick up games cheap. I got these for less than a tenner each
One of the irritating things about where I work is their 'approved' charity mentality. Every year the store will pick a charity to sponsor alongside the big things like Comic Relief etc. If you don't want to give anything to their chosen charity then it's seen as a base insult with all the implied guilt which goes with it. This isn't because I'm selfish and don't want to donate to charity (I make monthly donations to Shelter and now NSPCC & Friends of the Earth too) I just find the idea of management at your workplace dictating which charity you should donate to arrogant in the extreme.
The reason I said now NSPCC & Friends of the Earth too is I was out in town the other day, going to pick up my comics and got talking to some fund raisers aka charity muggers and despite how this usually annoys the hell out of me I ended up having some interesting conversations which to be honest made a change. Since normally when I go into town it's like a covert military operation, head in, achieve the objective and then exit the theatre with haste. The fact I'm a sucker for a cute girl with a nice smile might have something to do with it like, especially when one of them had a rather foxy mohawk. She told that she stopped wearing it up when she's fund raising as it scares people. One thing I did notice was right in the middle of their sales pitch they just broke down into girly giggling , you just have that effect on me, I'm normally good at this one of them said.
I've got the week off work this week and rather shockingly I'm actually doing something! I'm going to Nottingham and meeting up with emma_treasure,Killa_ and a bunch of others which should be groovy.
Here's the skinny on a few films I watched recently:
Former Police officer Michael Ruppert has spent the last 30 years researching and investigating corruption whether it's governments or intelligence agencies. In The Collapse he paints a dark and disturbing picture, after collating the evidence. Having predicted the financial meltdown several years before it happened, here Ruppert points out in detail one of the main problems facing the world now, the over reliance on oil and the apparent unwillingness to even acknowledge the problem on the part of governments the world over.
Collapse is probably one of the scariest films I've seen and I'm not easily scared. The reason for this? In this feature length interview Ruppert points out how utterly reliant the industrialised world is on oil, from cars, to ipods, to toothbrushes, to the bags you carry your shopping in it all comes from oil, which no matter how you spin it is a finite resource. Even scarier is the rate at which we use it or misuse it, as Ruppert points out half or more of the products in your local supermarket will be from another country. Peak oil and fiat currency are key topics here. Peak oil being when production is at maximum and can only go down but demand will only increase, which will drive up oil prices. Fiat currency being the term used to describe currency that has no value or use other than as a means of payment. Collapse is by no means a feel good or happy viewing experience but it's undeniably one of the most potent documentary's in years.
Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is a rock loving misfit living a dull life in the very dull town of Bodeen , Texas,going to beauty pageants at the behest of her mother (Marcia Gay Harden). After going to Austin shopping with her mother, Ellen discovers Roller Derby. After some subterfuge Ellen and her best friend Pash (Alia Shawcat) go to watch a Roller Derby event. In awe of the confident,sexy, tattoed girls Bliss goes to try out for the Hurl Scouts.
Whip It is an excellent coming of age tale, packed with memorable characters and impressive performances. Marcia Gay Harden's portrayal of a mother coming to terms with her daughter's love of something which is utterly alien to her is utterly convincing. Page's transformation from shy outcast to being confident and determined never seems forced or contrived and when her love of her new family makes her disregard her old one it's painfully and realistically handled. Juliette Lewis seems to really enjoy herself as the bitchy Iron Maven Page's nemesis and Kristen Wiig is good as surrogate big sister Maggie Mayhem.
Jiro (Keisuke Koide) is a lonely student who meets his dream girl in the form of Haruka Ayase's beautiful cyborg, as he gets to know her Jiro discovers that she is from the future and was sent back in time by his future self but she can't tell him why as she isn't allowed to talk about the future as this will affect the timeline.
Cyborg She is a brilliant example of why foreign cinema is so much better than the glossy garbage Hollywood churns out. A hybrid mix of romantic comedy and science fiction the likes of which would be an utter mess in the hands of a western film studio. The development of Jiro's relationship with his new girlfriend stroke bodyguard is at turns funny and moving. The FX are excellently done with numerous examples of Ayase's super strength and speed and other abilities, most of which are done with impressive comedic style and her appearance in a busy street is a distinct homage to Terminator with it's blue sphere of crackling lightning and Ayase's appearance seems to be a nod to Ghost in the Shell's Motoko Kusanagi by Manga supremo Masamune Shirow.
In ancient China the merciless leader of the Wei kingdom Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang) is determined to rule the land after intimidating the Prime Minister into submission, opposing Cao Cao's plan are Liu Bei (Yong You) the leader of the Shu kingdom and Sun Quan (Chen Chang) the leader of the Wu kingdom. Together the former enemies must stop Cao Cao's army despite being vastly outnumbered.
John Woo's first Chinese film in years and a sprawling epic it is too, in fact so epic that it's been cut for the Western audience from the original 2 parts into1 film. The result of this is a rather grating and superfluous American narration to fill the gaps. Red Cliff boasts a rather large amount of characters, Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang), Liu Bei (Yong You), Sun Quan (Chen Chang), Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), Zhao Yun (Jun Hu), Sun Shang Xiang (Wei Zhao), Gan Xing (Shido Nakamura) Xiao Qiao (Chiling Lin), Guan Yu (Ba Sen Zha Bu) and Zhang Fei (Jinsheng Zhang) amongst others. While Red Cliff boasts some excellent action scenes, an ambush on Cao Cao's arrogant overconfident men being a particular stand out, it's by no means a brainless action film, with Zhou Yo and Liu Bei being engrossed in tactical debates as they have to face down Cao Cao's vast army which outnumbers their combined forces. Definitely Woo's best film in years with excellent performances from the cast.
(Michael Vartan) is a travel writer taking a river safari cruise in the Northern Territory of Australia (Radha Mitchell) is the guide leading the group of assorted tourists. After seeing a signal flare whilst out with the group she decides to investigate and the group find themselves stranded in the territory of a rogue crocodile with night fast approaching.
Greg Mcleans follow up to his nerve shredding opus Wolf Creek is a different type of horror. Vartan makes for a good leading man who finds himself in an alien environment, with Mitchell playing the stereotypical bronzed Aussie tour guide well thanks to being a native Aussie herself. The tourist themselves are a surprisingly realised bunch with a middle aged couple with daughter, grieving widower and arrogant loner amongst others.
Mclean gives plenty of time for the characters to develop before cranking up the tension. One of the most striking things about Rogue is it's stunning scenery, combined with wildlife footage you expect to be narrated by Sir David Attenbrough.
Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) reluctantly joins a covert group of monsters after rather inconveniently being hit by a meteor on her wedding day which causes her to grow to giant proportions. Together they have to battle an alien menace.
In the style of Pixar's films on the surface this is bright colourful fun aimed at kids but there's a wealth of references and jokes for older viewers. The group overseen by handler W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland in full on scenery chewing mode) features The Missing Link or 'Link to his friends a reptile man (voiced by Will Arnett) Dr Cockroach (voiced by Hugh Laurie who seems to be enjoying himself, mad scientist laughs abounds), B.O.B a sentient gelatinous mass with a bad memory (voiced by Seth Rogen) and the gargantuan Insectosaurus. A fun homage to vintage creature features.
A group of old friends are meeting up for the weekend to catch up and relax. After a few drinks someone suggests playing a game of Dead Mary. Shortly afterwards screams wake the group in the early hours.
Dead Mary commits some of the worst crimes a horror film can commit, it's dull, and it takes far too long for anything of interest to happen. Almost half the running time is spent with the group talking about various things and catching up, which is supposed to flesh the characters out but it grates and after 30 minutes or so of their drunken reminiscing you'll probably be wanting a drink yourself. Dominique Swain does make a valiant effort with what he's given though and proves she's more than eye candy. When things do actually pick up there's shades of The Evil Dead and something resembling an atmosphere builds up but director Robert Wilson's idea for a paranoia piece in the vain of The Thing isn't anywhere near such a classic.
I got myself a shiny new PS3 the other day, since I've been thinking of getting one for a while now they're not ridiculously expensive, one good point of waiting to get one is you pick up games cheap. I got these for less than a tenner each
VIEW 19 of 19 COMMENTS
damianomatic:
Was good to meet you Saturday mate. You seen anymore fights in pub corners or maybe joined in on some football chants or even order another mobile picnic?
damianomatic:
And fairness it was a tame evening for Nottingham didn't see one mini riot or severed limb anywhere!!