The weekends DVD rental was Aliens v Predator: Requiem (or AVPRR as they rather sensibly re-named it).
I'm not sure I'd quite go so far as to say it was poor, but it wasn't great either.
Let's start with the positive - there were some fairly good fight scenes between the aliens and predator. There was also an appropriate aliens/predator total disregard for the humans approach.
One of the points of aliens and predator is that they're actually more horror than they are sci-fi and that means characters die randomly and in bucket loads, whether we as viewers like them or not.
It also tried a fairly neat trick - plopping the aliens and predators down in the middle of domestic life. The rest of plot was meant to resemble a soap-opera or similar and then bam! aliens and predators hacking and slashing their way through the town.
And there's a fairly cool coda/prologue type moment at the end.
However, the problems were myriad.
Firstly and most importantly it was way too dark. My guess is that this was almost necessary due to budgetary constraints. The film only cost $40M, so I guess making it pitch black means you can get away with more on the SFX front. Problem is that meant it was frustratingly difficult to see, well, anything. I had to slam the brightness way up on my TV :/.
Secondly, the whole normal suburban life thing kinda failed to be interesting. The characters were a little dull and predictable and it was difficult to really care about them. This whole aspect also seemed to be dumped wholesale about half the way through. When the aliens and predator really start doing there thing this aspect becomes almost totally irrelevant.
There were also a lot of weird things that didn't make any sense, mainly involving the predator.
At the beginning there's a whole thing with a distress signal. This is only answered by 1 predator, which seemed odd.
Then that predator behaves oddly when he finds the crashed ship, like he knew one of the other predators personally, but it's not really properly explained.
He then also behaves strangely when killing the aliens, using some weird blue fluid to dissolve them and any trace of them. Why, exactly he does this is not readily apparent. No predator has ever done anything like that before :/.
And if it's so that the humans don't catch on, firstly that makes no sense - predators don't give a shit about us - but also later on he kills a human and does the whole skinning them thing. So it's okay for humans to find that, but not traces of the aliens? Odd.
There's other stuff too (especially the Peed-Alien), but you get the point.
Overall I wouldn't really recommend it.
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
the wee free men
I finished the wee free men over the weekend. It's pretty damn good I have to say. I've started on Wintersmith, which is the third of this set of books and it seems pretty good too.
I've always liked the Discworld's take on Witches. I think it's one of the things I miss the most from the earlier books. A lot of the earlier books involved both the witches and the wizards and while I wouldn't want to put down the later books simply because the witches aren't in them, I wish they'd pop up more often.
The wizards make a few appearances, but then Unseen University is on the outskirts of Ankh Morpork, so it's not much of a stretch. The witches seem mainly to live in the rural areas and most of the recent books have been set in Ankh Morpork so it's less easy to have them pop up, I guess.
Hopefully I can also keep up a decent head of steam with book reading and plough into my unread book pile some. If I'm honest it's the pile that I'm most regretful about not tackling. Reading is kinda my lifeblood - sort of like entertainment in its purest form for me.
The next most regretful pile is the games I think. This is mainly because I know the amount of time it would take to play them all through properly makes it the most difficult pile to tackle properly. Plus of course I've got a really powerful machine "for gaming" that just sort of sits there doing nothing most of the time :(.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I've been trying to write scripts recently, rather than a novel. It's been going pretty well and I'm kinda enjoying the process more than I do writing prose.
I started off with doing Man-in-the-Loop, which has generally been my most consistent project, though it's a bit complex and twisty at times for me to get my head around. Plus I realised I wanted the murders in it to be more realistic and I think I need to let it gestate a bit more before I continue properly.
I have started adapting another plot idea I had into a film script, though. It's going pretty well, but then it was always one of those ideas that I had quite well mapped out in my mind but never got properly started on actually writing.
Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday, but that order cock-up I mentioned last week got all sorted so that was good, and I want' out of pocket. Plus now I finally get to watch Code Geass ! Yay!
I've always liked the Discworld's take on Witches. I think it's one of the things I miss the most from the earlier books. A lot of the earlier books involved both the witches and the wizards and while I wouldn't want to put down the later books simply because the witches aren't in them, I wish they'd pop up more often.
The wizards make a few appearances, but then Unseen University is on the outskirts of Ankh Morpork, so it's not much of a stretch. The witches seem mainly to live in the rural areas and most of the recent books have been set in Ankh Morpork so it's less easy to have them pop up, I guess.
Hopefully I can also keep up a decent head of steam with book reading and plough into my unread book pile some. If I'm honest it's the pile that I'm most regretful about not tackling. Reading is kinda my lifeblood - sort of like entertainment in its purest form for me.
The next most regretful pile is the games I think. This is mainly because I know the amount of time it would take to play them all through properly makes it the most difficult pile to tackle properly. Plus of course I've got a really powerful machine "for gaming" that just sort of sits there doing nothing most of the time :(.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I've been trying to write scripts recently, rather than a novel. It's been going pretty well and I'm kinda enjoying the process more than I do writing prose.
I started off with doing Man-in-the-Loop, which has generally been my most consistent project, though it's a bit complex and twisty at times for me to get my head around. Plus I realised I wanted the murders in it to be more realistic and I think I need to let it gestate a bit more before I continue properly.
I have started adapting another plot idea I had into a film script, though. It's going pretty well, but then it was always one of those ideas that I had quite well mapped out in my mind but never got properly started on actually writing.
Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday, but that order cock-up I mentioned last week got all sorted so that was good, and I want' out of pocket. Plus now I finally get to watch Code Geass ! Yay!
Monday, 23 February 2009
website-a-rific
This weekend was mainly spent creating updates for my main websites, trismugistus.com and digital-bondage.net.
It can be something of a painful experience updating the websites. This is mainly because I don't really know much of anything about html or all the other web languages. My guess is that a lot of stuff on the sites could be done in much better, more automatic ways, but I don't know how, so they aren't.
The other problem is I like to mix things up. By that I mean that if this week I upload an anime review then next week I want to have anew wallpaper and then after that a manga review, then a psd file.
Admittedly that's not a huge range of stuff, but then over the years I've kinda learnt to focus the site on a few small areas. However, it still makes things chaotic, because that means I'm all over the place. In order to update something different I have to fiddle about with a different bit of the site (and also get the raw materials from a different part of my computer) and so I get very confused very quickly.
I swear sometimes that updating the site is 90% me looking in the wrong folders and 10% me actually doing stuff.
You see what I generally do is create the material I use on my site weeks, even months in advance. This allows me the chance to do it properly as well as allow things to gestate and change over time.
I then have a weekend like this one every so often where I blast through and do maybe anything up to 10 updates. The new and modified files for each update are then archived (and backed up - I learnt that lesson the hard way!) and I upload them at the appropriate time anything up to a few months later.
But as I say - it's easy to get very confused.
What else?
Oh yeah, I finally finished Trigun. It gets massively better in the last third or so, but for me it was just not enough to elevate the series.
Fundamentally, I guess the question comes down to whether the early stuff is necessary or not. Some of it is, in that it gives a contrast to the later parts. You couldn't jump into the last third and really get the full impact. But then I think you could easily loose about half of it and still get the impact.
I mean, it's not exactly filler, as such, but it's also not totally necessary.
Also, there was the issue I mentioned before about Vash suddenly pulling a stupid face and bursting out laughing at random or inopportune moments. That grated a bit.
I'll do a full review at some point.
It was quite the week for big announcements last week, as I mentioned before, and Funimation finished it off with Mnemosyne, another show I want.. Plus tokyopop appear to have a few new licenses that look interesting. I'm gonna be really skint in the coming months :(.
It can be something of a painful experience updating the websites. This is mainly because I don't really know much of anything about html or all the other web languages. My guess is that a lot of stuff on the sites could be done in much better, more automatic ways, but I don't know how, so they aren't.
The other problem is I like to mix things up. By that I mean that if this week I upload an anime review then next week I want to have anew wallpaper and then after that a manga review, then a psd file.
Admittedly that's not a huge range of stuff, but then over the years I've kinda learnt to focus the site on a few small areas. However, it still makes things chaotic, because that means I'm all over the place. In order to update something different I have to fiddle about with a different bit of the site (and also get the raw materials from a different part of my computer) and so I get very confused very quickly.
I swear sometimes that updating the site is 90% me looking in the wrong folders and 10% me actually doing stuff.
You see what I generally do is create the material I use on my site weeks, even months in advance. This allows me the chance to do it properly as well as allow things to gestate and change over time.
I then have a weekend like this one every so often where I blast through and do maybe anything up to 10 updates. The new and modified files for each update are then archived (and backed up - I learnt that lesson the hard way!) and I upload them at the appropriate time anything up to a few months later.
But as I say - it's easy to get very confused.
What else?
Oh yeah, I finally finished Trigun. It gets massively better in the last third or so, but for me it was just not enough to elevate the series.
Fundamentally, I guess the question comes down to whether the early stuff is necessary or not. Some of it is, in that it gives a contrast to the later parts. You couldn't jump into the last third and really get the full impact. But then I think you could easily loose about half of it and still get the impact.
I mean, it's not exactly filler, as such, but it's also not totally necessary.
Also, there was the issue I mentioned before about Vash suddenly pulling a stupid face and bursting out laughing at random or inopportune moments. That grated a bit.
I'll do a full review at some point.
It was quite the week for big announcements last week, as I mentioned before, and Funimation finished it off with Mnemosyne, another show I want.. Plus tokyopop appear to have a few new licenses that look interesting. I'm gonna be really skint in the coming months :(.
Friday, 20 February 2009
free and easy
It looks like this weekend I'm going to have a lot of spare time in the sense that there's nothing I've got to do.
Hopefully that means I'll have some time to sort out various odds and sods I've got kicking about. Examples are things like getting a couple of walls and vectors finished that are 'nearly there' and making some more updates for my websites.
Speaking of websites I had a request the other day to pull my finger out and get scan-city moving. Only problem there is I need to pay for some extra webspace for what I've got planned and, more importantly, I need to get a much newer version of photoshop. Both of these mean I need to get a replacement credit card - I chopped them all up when I was having my severe financial troubles last year.
I should also really get watching some anime DVDs (not least of all so I can sell them e-bay, speaking of money troubles :/). stuff has started to fall out of my shelves again where they're so overloaded.
It's been quite a good week on the anime front from one point of view. Funimation has been announcing new licenses like crazy (presumably at comicon, or a similar event in American). Early in the week these include Dragonaut the Resonance, Bamboo Blade, the Aegis of Uruk (but both series) and blassreiter.
These put me in something of a quandary. Dragonaut and Bamboo Blade I'll definitely pick up (eek - more money) and Blassreiter I'm pretty okay just to leave as having watched it online. However, Aegis of Uruk was really quite good and I'd quite like to be ablse to sit down and watch it properly on the telly.
See this is the problem with downloads for me. They'll never be quite as good as DVDs. I just prefer to watch DVDs... but I've already seen (and, more importantly, paid for) the first part of Aegis of Uruk. I dunno. I'll have to think about it.
What I wil definitely be getting is Seto No Hanayome. This was one of the funniest shows I've seen in ages and I've been eagerly waiting to see if someone would pick i tup. Of less interest is El Cazador de la Bruja. Basically it was by the same people that did Noir and Madlax. Not seen Madlax, but Noir was poor in my opionion, and Bruja didn't seem to stray much from the same basic formula.
That's on top of a few other really good shows I want coming on sale like Baccano and Clannad... I thought the anime industry in the west was meant to be in terminal freefall :/.
And talking about anime, I've spent the evenings this week scanning animedia and animage (both of which had a surprisingly good scan count - I thought this month was goign to be a total duffer), and I watched some new anime shows:
And on top of that I need a new PC monitor!
Hopefully that means I'll have some time to sort out various odds and sods I've got kicking about. Examples are things like getting a couple of walls and vectors finished that are 'nearly there' and making some more updates for my websites.
Speaking of websites I had a request the other day to pull my finger out and get scan-city moving. Only problem there is I need to pay for some extra webspace for what I've got planned and, more importantly, I need to get a much newer version of photoshop. Both of these mean I need to get a replacement credit card - I chopped them all up when I was having my severe financial troubles last year.
I should also really get watching some anime DVDs (not least of all so I can sell them e-bay, speaking of money troubles :/). stuff has started to fall out of my shelves again where they're so overloaded.
It's been quite a good week on the anime front from one point of view. Funimation has been announcing new licenses like crazy (presumably at comicon, or a similar event in American). Early in the week these include Dragonaut the Resonance, Bamboo Blade, the Aegis of Uruk (but both series) and blassreiter.
These put me in something of a quandary. Dragonaut and Bamboo Blade I'll definitely pick up (eek - more money) and Blassreiter I'm pretty okay just to leave as having watched it online. However, Aegis of Uruk was really quite good and I'd quite like to be ablse to sit down and watch it properly on the telly.
See this is the problem with downloads for me. They'll never be quite as good as DVDs. I just prefer to watch DVDs... but I've already seen (and, more importantly, paid for) the first part of Aegis of Uruk. I dunno. I'll have to think about it.
What I wil definitely be getting is Seto No Hanayome. This was one of the funniest shows I've seen in ages and I've been eagerly waiting to see if someone would pick i tup. Of less interest is El Cazador de la Bruja. Basically it was by the same people that did Noir and Madlax. Not seen Madlax, but Noir was poor in my opionion, and Bruja didn't seem to stray much from the same basic formula.
That's on top of a few other really good shows I want coming on sale like Baccano and Clannad... I thought the anime industry in the west was meant to be in terminal freefall :/.
And talking about anime, I've spent the evenings this week scanning animedia and animage (both of which had a surprisingly good scan count - I thought this month was goign to be a total duffer), and I watched some new anime shows:
- Sora Kake Girl was kinda good actually. It's definitely not a show I would describe as new or innovative, but I dunno, it seemed to have a certain charm to it. Plus it had jiggle and jiggle can count for a lot, although the character designs are a little unusual, but not in an un-appealing way. Dunno, maybe I'm going a bit soft.
- Asu no Yoichi might also be more confirmation that I'm goign soft. As far as I can make out the title actually translates as "Samurai Harem" or similar. To say it's therefore wearing its heart on its sleave is therefore something of an understatement - it's all there in the title. But do you know what, it's actually pretty good. And I think I know why - the main chracter isn't a douche bag. He's nice and kind but also tough and a good fighter. You can kinda see why the girls might like him. Plus it's agot a lot of good gags in it and - you guessed it - more jiggle. Did I mention jiggle can count for a lot?
And on top of that I need a new PC monitor!
Thursday, 19 February 2009
abandoned ideas 3
Third one of these as I'm just not in the mood to type out a proper blog entry, I'm afraid.
It's weird - yesterday I was totally "up" and full of energy. Today I feel like I've come "down" off of the high and feel a bit listless :/.
box
This was one where I got so lost in my own ideas I confused the crap out of myself.
Basically, the idea was sort of a riff on Hellraiser. If you're not familiar with Hellraiser, basically there's a puzzle box in it that, if you solve it it opens a doorway to hell. However, being Clive Barker, it's a bit more twisted, but I won't spoiler it.
Anyway, my box wasn't a puzzle box or anything, it was essentially just a symbolic thing. This was partly where I managed to confuse myself. It was partly that people just had a desire to possess the box (a la the ring in the Lord of the Rings, I guess) but also it kinda granted wishes.
But I wasn't sure if you had to gain the box in order to have your wish granted or if you got the box having had your wish granted. But either way possession of the box then brought disaster via the granted wish. So a bit like the classic Monkey's Paw story - granted wishes are bad, in essence.
Anyway, the structure was also a horrible minefield. The idea was it was effectively going to be a series of short stories. One was set back in medieval sword and sorcery type times. It was about a knight who was delivering a warning message or something - basically he had to get to a castle.
His wish revolved around being in love with the Queen and killing the King. It never really got much further than that.
The second story was about a detective with a death-wish. It was something to do with a bunch of drug dealers who had the box. Quite what his wish was and that side of it never really coalesced as I didn't get that far.
Lastly was something to do with an "average Jo" type. See there was basically going to be some witch or demon or something that, I dunno, tempted people or she was the one granting their wishes or something.
The end was that she got her comeuppance - Jo resisted the temptation of having his wish fulfilled and instead killed or something.
I dunno. As you can see it got a bit complicated and I realised I just didn't really know what I was doing. Even the basic idea of what the box did never really solidified into anything.
It's weird - yesterday I was totally "up" and full of energy. Today I feel like I've come "down" off of the high and feel a bit listless :/.
box
This was one where I got so lost in my own ideas I confused the crap out of myself.
Basically, the idea was sort of a riff on Hellraiser. If you're not familiar with Hellraiser, basically there's a puzzle box in it that, if you solve it it opens a doorway to hell. However, being Clive Barker, it's a bit more twisted, but I won't spoiler it.
Anyway, my box wasn't a puzzle box or anything, it was essentially just a symbolic thing. This was partly where I managed to confuse myself. It was partly that people just had a desire to possess the box (a la the ring in the Lord of the Rings, I guess) but also it kinda granted wishes.
But I wasn't sure if you had to gain the box in order to have your wish granted or if you got the box having had your wish granted. But either way possession of the box then brought disaster via the granted wish. So a bit like the classic Monkey's Paw story - granted wishes are bad, in essence.
Anyway, the structure was also a horrible minefield. The idea was it was effectively going to be a series of short stories. One was set back in medieval sword and sorcery type times. It was about a knight who was delivering a warning message or something - basically he had to get to a castle.
His wish revolved around being in love with the Queen and killing the King. It never really got much further than that.
The second story was about a detective with a death-wish. It was something to do with a bunch of drug dealers who had the box. Quite what his wish was and that side of it never really coalesced as I didn't get that far.
Lastly was something to do with an "average Jo" type. See there was basically going to be some witch or demon or something that, I dunno, tempted people or she was the one granting their wishes or something.
The end was that she got her comeuppance - Jo resisted the temptation of having his wish fulfilled and instead killed or something.
I dunno. As you can see it got a bit complicated and I realised I just didn't really know what I was doing. Even the basic idea of what the box did never really solidified into anything.
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
the number 23
This weekend's DVD rental was The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey.
To be brutally frank from the get-go, it was a total waste of the hour-and-a-half it took to watch.
And to be fair it started quite well. Well, I say that - the very opening titles were too reminiscent of Seven, which is a truly brilliant suspense thriller, whereas this is just not.
Anyway, after the credits the beginning of the story works quite well. Carrey's growing obsession with the book he acquires and the number 23 works. You can sort of see where he's coming from and it works on a basic level. Although even here there are some problems - the whole dog issue especially is never really explained or followed up on properly.
Also, the entire plot seems to revolve around a massive co-incidence. I think this was sort of intentional, but it's not really very well solved. There would have been so many better ways of achieving the same effect.
The real problems kicked in about half-way through. These mainly revolved around what I can only describe as plot-holes.
Just as a simple example, Carrey's gets told to take the day off (for medical type reasons) fairly early on and this is where his obsession really starts to grow. Fine, that's okay. But then by two-thirds of the way through he doesn't appear to be going to his job at all. And yet he never calls in sick. And no-one calls him up or pops around to see if he's ill (we're talking friendly small town setting here, I believe). And his wife and son never mention it to him - they mention the obsession but there's no "why the hell aren't you at work?".
As I say, that's just a simple example - some of the plot-holes you could fit an entire motel through (that makes sense as a pun if you've seen the film).
Let's see, what else was wrong?
Well, Carrey's performance wasn't great. I like Jim Carrey as a comic actor - I think he's very funny. He also did a great performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so he can do dramatic. It's just here, I dunno, the pitch was wrong - the character started out quite jolly and as the madness ensued it seemed like he couldn't quite throw that off. I kept expecting him to turn to camera and make a silly face.
But really the biggest problem was the ending of the film.
I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that I was expecting one of two things, given it's about "23". Either it would turn out that yes, in fact 23 is an important number or there really was a conspiracy or some explanation that validated it. Or it would turn out that Carrey was totally bonkers.
The actual end was somewhere in between - both were sort of true, and yet at the same time neither was.
This was wholly unsatisfactory on just about every level. It didn't even have the good graces to set us up with some sort of doubt/question or undermine itself. It was just sort of a bit lame.
To be brutally frank from the get-go, it was a total waste of the hour-and-a-half it took to watch.
And to be fair it started quite well. Well, I say that - the very opening titles were too reminiscent of Seven, which is a truly brilliant suspense thriller, whereas this is just not.
Anyway, after the credits the beginning of the story works quite well. Carrey's growing obsession with the book he acquires and the number 23 works. You can sort of see where he's coming from and it works on a basic level. Although even here there are some problems - the whole dog issue especially is never really explained or followed up on properly.
Also, the entire plot seems to revolve around a massive co-incidence. I think this was sort of intentional, but it's not really very well solved. There would have been so many better ways of achieving the same effect.
The real problems kicked in about half-way through. These mainly revolved around what I can only describe as plot-holes.
Just as a simple example, Carrey's gets told to take the day off (for medical type reasons) fairly early on and this is where his obsession really starts to grow. Fine, that's okay. But then by two-thirds of the way through he doesn't appear to be going to his job at all. And yet he never calls in sick. And no-one calls him up or pops around to see if he's ill (we're talking friendly small town setting here, I believe). And his wife and son never mention it to him - they mention the obsession but there's no "why the hell aren't you at work?".
As I say, that's just a simple example - some of the plot-holes you could fit an entire motel through (that makes sense as a pun if you've seen the film).
Let's see, what else was wrong?
Well, Carrey's performance wasn't great. I like Jim Carrey as a comic actor - I think he's very funny. He also did a great performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so he can do dramatic. It's just here, I dunno, the pitch was wrong - the character started out quite jolly and as the madness ensued it seemed like he couldn't quite throw that off. I kept expecting him to turn to camera and make a silly face.
But really the biggest problem was the ending of the film.
I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that I was expecting one of two things, given it's about "23". Either it would turn out that yes, in fact 23 is an important number or there really was a conspiracy or some explanation that validated it. Or it would turn out that Carrey was totally bonkers.
The actual end was somewhere in between - both were sort of true, and yet at the same time neither was.
This was wholly unsatisfactory on just about every level. It didn't even have the good graces to set us up with some sort of doubt/question or undermine itself. It was just sort of a bit lame.
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
making money
I finished reading Making Money this weekend.
It's an excellent read - I wouldn't want what I'm about to say undermine that. It's genuinely very funny in places, and it has a good portion of Pratchett's usual wry observations on life, the universe and everything.
The only real problem I had with it was that the actual plot seemed a little thin, somehow.
The book is the second featuring Moist Von Lipwig. As well as having a great name, Moist is a great character - very entertaining and intriguing - and unfortunately I've a bit of a feeling that Pratchett got too wrapped up in this great character to the detriment of the actual plot.
Let's put it this was - Going Postal, the first with Moist, was probably one of the best Discworld books for a while. It kinda restored my faith in Pratchett as I'd be growing a little disillusioned by him focusing too much on the city watch and Sam Vimes in particular. Not that I don't love Vimes and the watch, it was just getting to the stage where the discworld books were almost becoming like a "whodunit" series.
There's nothing wrong with those, I must add, it's just that they were a bit samey, where really the Discworld thrives when it's exploring the new.
Anyway, Going Postal was all about Moist reinvigorating the Ankh-Morpork Postal service. But one of the key things about it was that the Post Office had a whole raft of different problems. Most had to solve all these, as well as him introducing all sorts of clever new ideas (this is what I mean about where the discworld thrives - the ideas are new to the discworld, but are already familiar to us and so give Terry a chance to be anything from ironic, through clever all the way up to outright critical).
The fundamental principle in all stories is that they are about change. Now as well as the changes in the post office itself, Moist went through a change. I won't spoiler it if you don't know, but lets just say he grew into his new life.
The problem with Making Money then is that these two things are a little lacking. Moist doesn't really change. I mean, he acquires a new job and goes through a load of scrapes but as a person he pretty much comes out at the end fundamentally the same as when he went in.
Also, he doesn't really change the whole banking world very much. His only real thing is the introduction of paper money. I mean, there's other stuff which I don't want to spoiler, but really the paper money was about it. Whereas in Going Postal there were loads.
Plus the bank in question isn't really in trouble as such where the post office really was. I mean it's hinted that the Ankh-Morpork banks aren't doing well, but not in any real tangible way like the Post Office.
But as I say, don't take it that I didn't enjoy the book - I really did, it's just some bits felt a little flimsy was all.
I've also started on Pratchett's The Wee Free Men. This is actually a children's book set on the Discworld. I'd not read any of Pratchett's children's books, but a while back I read A Hatful of Sky (which is the sequel) and really enjoyed it, so I though I'd pick this up. Plus there's a further sequel, Wintersmith.
I'm fair racing through the wee free men. Partly I guess that's because it's a children's book and is therefore both shorter and a little easier to read, but also it's an interesting reflection on how if a book is enjoyable you read it quicker.
I mention this because a while back I encountered another one of those books that really turned me off reading. The book in question was The Dark Apostle (or something like that). It's set in the Warhammer 40K world and it's really a chore to read.
The plot' okay, but the execution of it is really poor - it does everything you're not supposed to do in writing (like telling not showing - all that stuff). Now that's okay you may think - rules are there to be broken, but let's just put it this way: you need to know what the rules are before you break them.
I've still not finished actually - I'm kinda wondering if I shouldn't just e-bay it and save myself the grief.
It's an excellent read - I wouldn't want what I'm about to say undermine that. It's genuinely very funny in places, and it has a good portion of Pratchett's usual wry observations on life, the universe and everything.
The only real problem I had with it was that the actual plot seemed a little thin, somehow.
The book is the second featuring Moist Von Lipwig. As well as having a great name, Moist is a great character - very entertaining and intriguing - and unfortunately I've a bit of a feeling that Pratchett got too wrapped up in this great character to the detriment of the actual plot.
Let's put it this was - Going Postal, the first with Moist, was probably one of the best Discworld books for a while. It kinda restored my faith in Pratchett as I'd be growing a little disillusioned by him focusing too much on the city watch and Sam Vimes in particular. Not that I don't love Vimes and the watch, it was just getting to the stage where the discworld books were almost becoming like a "whodunit" series.
There's nothing wrong with those, I must add, it's just that they were a bit samey, where really the Discworld thrives when it's exploring the new.
Anyway, Going Postal was all about Moist reinvigorating the Ankh-Morpork Postal service. But one of the key things about it was that the Post Office had a whole raft of different problems. Most had to solve all these, as well as him introducing all sorts of clever new ideas (this is what I mean about where the discworld thrives - the ideas are new to the discworld, but are already familiar to us and so give Terry a chance to be anything from ironic, through clever all the way up to outright critical).
The fundamental principle in all stories is that they are about change. Now as well as the changes in the post office itself, Moist went through a change. I won't spoiler it if you don't know, but lets just say he grew into his new life.
The problem with Making Money then is that these two things are a little lacking. Moist doesn't really change. I mean, he acquires a new job and goes through a load of scrapes but as a person he pretty much comes out at the end fundamentally the same as when he went in.
Also, he doesn't really change the whole banking world very much. His only real thing is the introduction of paper money. I mean, there's other stuff which I don't want to spoiler, but really the paper money was about it. Whereas in Going Postal there were loads.
Plus the bank in question isn't really in trouble as such where the post office really was. I mean it's hinted that the Ankh-Morpork banks aren't doing well, but not in any real tangible way like the Post Office.
But as I say, don't take it that I didn't enjoy the book - I really did, it's just some bits felt a little flimsy was all.
I've also started on Pratchett's The Wee Free Men. This is actually a children's book set on the Discworld. I'd not read any of Pratchett's children's books, but a while back I read A Hatful of Sky (which is the sequel) and really enjoyed it, so I though I'd pick this up. Plus there's a further sequel, Wintersmith.
I'm fair racing through the wee free men. Partly I guess that's because it's a children's book and is therefore both shorter and a little easier to read, but also it's an interesting reflection on how if a book is enjoyable you read it quicker.
I mention this because a while back I encountered another one of those books that really turned me off reading. The book in question was The Dark Apostle (or something like that). It's set in the Warhammer 40K world and it's really a chore to read.
The plot' okay, but the execution of it is really poor - it does everything you're not supposed to do in writing (like telling not showing - all that stuff). Now that's okay you may think - rules are there to be broken, but let's just put it this way: you need to know what the rules are before you break them.
I've still not finished actually - I'm kinda wondering if I shouldn't just e-bay it and save myself the grief.
Monday, 16 February 2009
we are the losers, my friend
Well, it turns out we didn't get that piece of work I was edging around talking about on Friday.
This was actually the same piece of work I mentioned a little while ago. I've never seen such a palaver in all my life, I have to be honest. Really it's made so little sense I'd better just draw a line under it all, otherwise I'll start ranting and then I could wind up in trouble if this blog ever came to light :/.
The weekend was fairly useful. I didn't completely do everything I was aiming for, but then my plans are often quite over ambitious. I'm a bit rubbish at knowing how long some of the things are going to take and also allowing enough leeway.
One thing I did do was some scanning - I got through megami and newtype. Newtype is always the biggest mag each month and so often has the most scans, although this month it's a bit rubbish so that's not as impressive as it sounds.
While I was scanning I watched the end of Blassreiter. It's a pretty good ending. Well, no, that's not quite right - the ending proper was quite good, but then the prologue/coda was trite rubbish. It also didn't make a whole lot of sense, but ignoring that it wasn't a bad end to the show. If only those first few episodes had been better and the budget hadn't just gone on all the CG instead of the normal enaimation I think I'd like the show more.
The other thing I watched was Akikan. It was... odd. At heart it's basically a harem-type romantic comedy, but it was odd because it's also slightly surreal, though not in a good way. First off the idea was that the girl that turns up wasn't the usual alien or robot, but instead it was a drinks can. Yes, as in the can that holds coke or dr. pepper, only in this case it was melon soda. So the guy's meant to be falling in love with a drink's can that somehow turns into a girl... mmkay.
Also, it didn't help that every other element of the show is stepping right into cliche. In fact, no, that's not quite the impression I had. The impression that I got was more like the writer had simply taking all of his favourite things (harem, the "sudden girlfriend" type of show, lesbians, the OTT gay letch that hits on the main character, fighting contests/tournaments, main characters that are toal bell-ends (okay I'm prejudicing that a bit)) stuck them altogther with gaffer tape, seen a niche in the market (drinks cans ... :/) and toe-punted something into that niche.
As you can see I wasn't very keen at all. And I got through all that without even mentioning the piss poor animation!
This was actually the same piece of work I mentioned a little while ago. I've never seen such a palaver in all my life, I have to be honest. Really it's made so little sense I'd better just draw a line under it all, otherwise I'll start ranting and then I could wind up in trouble if this blog ever came to light :/.
The weekend was fairly useful. I didn't completely do everything I was aiming for, but then my plans are often quite over ambitious. I'm a bit rubbish at knowing how long some of the things are going to take and also allowing enough leeway.
One thing I did do was some scanning - I got through megami and newtype. Newtype is always the biggest mag each month and so often has the most scans, although this month it's a bit rubbish so that's not as impressive as it sounds.
While I was scanning I watched the end of Blassreiter. It's a pretty good ending. Well, no, that's not quite right - the ending proper was quite good, but then the prologue/coda was trite rubbish. It also didn't make a whole lot of sense, but ignoring that it wasn't a bad end to the show. If only those first few episodes had been better and the budget hadn't just gone on all the CG instead of the normal enaimation I think I'd like the show more.
The other thing I watched was Akikan. It was... odd. At heart it's basically a harem-type romantic comedy, but it was odd because it's also slightly surreal, though not in a good way. First off the idea was that the girl that turns up wasn't the usual alien or robot, but instead it was a drinks can. Yes, as in the can that holds coke or dr. pepper, only in this case it was melon soda. So the guy's meant to be falling in love with a drink's can that somehow turns into a girl... mmkay.
Also, it didn't help that every other element of the show is stepping right into cliche. In fact, no, that's not quite the impression I had. The impression that I got was more like the writer had simply taking all of his favourite things (harem, the "sudden girlfriend" type of show, lesbians, the OTT gay letch that hits on the main character, fighting contests/tournaments, main characters that are toal bell-ends (okay I'm prejudicing that a bit)) stuck them altogther with gaffer tape, seen a niche in the market (drinks cans ... :/) and toe-punted something into that niche.
As you can see I wasn't very keen at all. And I got through all that without even mentioning the piss poor animation!
Friday, 13 February 2009
day of truth
Potentially there's some big news at work today, assuming things go as planned.
It involves either a 'yes' or a 'no' and part of me is quite keen on it being a yes, whereas another part of me quite wants it to be a no.
I know that's all a bit cryptic, but it's a business thing so I dunno if putting it into the public domain is a good idea.
This weekend will be an expensive and long-winded one I fear. The snow's really played havoc with... well everything, but one of the things has been the postal system. As such I've been getting loads of parcels and stuff quite late. Two of them appear to be more stuff from Japan and I've been hit with customs charges on them.
Interestingly, I'm collecting these from Farnham post office. Normally I pick them up from the depot in Aldershot. Not sure what that means (other than that the charges seem to be cheaper this time).
But also the couriers tried to deliver the latest newtype, animedia and animage to me but left one of those 'missed you' notes. Luckily they always try redelivery the next day, so hopefully my landlord will be in to collect, but if not, it probably means a drive over to Reading (which is bloody miles away).
I'll need to go shopping on Saturday morning too, which will be a big one as the whole snow cut-off thing means I've not been able to shop properly for several weeks. On the plus side this meant I've cleared out some older stuff from the cupboards/freezer that needed eating, but then it also means I've used up all sorts of bits and bobs that now need replacing in one hit.
I think I'll therefore probably try to do as little else that involves spending money over the weekend as possible. I certainly need to give the place a good clean, so I'll probably do that.
I did actually find a work-around for the whole Civ3 space-race victory bug by searching online, btw. It was to do with the movie it tries to play - I guess there's some incompatibility or other with XP or something. But that means I won that game, although I do seem to still be playing (if you win early it lets you play on) but my interest has waned.
I'm hoping therefore this weekend will basically be Civ-less and I can crack into loads of stuff (especially finishing bloomin trigun and blassreiter!). But then best laid plans and all that :/.
Oh, I forgot - another thing the snow seems to have knackered is the roads. The roads around Alton are in a shocking state. I'm assuming it's the snow and not the heavy rain we had, though it could be a combination of both.
But anyway, great big holes seem to have been gouged in the roads, with loads of loose gravel from them. It's odd, but it kinda reminds me of geography lessons and the whole "glaciation" type of weathering, where glaciers grind rocks along. But I'm sure this is more about the snow affecting where cars could drive and how they drove.
It involves either a 'yes' or a 'no' and part of me is quite keen on it being a yes, whereas another part of me quite wants it to be a no.
I know that's all a bit cryptic, but it's a business thing so I dunno if putting it into the public domain is a good idea.
This weekend will be an expensive and long-winded one I fear. The snow's really played havoc with... well everything, but one of the things has been the postal system. As such I've been getting loads of parcels and stuff quite late. Two of them appear to be more stuff from Japan and I've been hit with customs charges on them.
Interestingly, I'm collecting these from Farnham post office. Normally I pick them up from the depot in Aldershot. Not sure what that means (other than that the charges seem to be cheaper this time).
But also the couriers tried to deliver the latest newtype, animedia and animage to me but left one of those 'missed you' notes. Luckily they always try redelivery the next day, so hopefully my landlord will be in to collect, but if not, it probably means a drive over to Reading (which is bloody miles away).
I'll need to go shopping on Saturday morning too, which will be a big one as the whole snow cut-off thing means I've not been able to shop properly for several weeks. On the plus side this meant I've cleared out some older stuff from the cupboards/freezer that needed eating, but then it also means I've used up all sorts of bits and bobs that now need replacing in one hit.
I think I'll therefore probably try to do as little else that involves spending money over the weekend as possible. I certainly need to give the place a good clean, so I'll probably do that.
I did actually find a work-around for the whole Civ3 space-race victory bug by searching online, btw. It was to do with the movie it tries to play - I guess there's some incompatibility or other with XP or something. But that means I won that game, although I do seem to still be playing (if you win early it lets you play on) but my interest has waned.
I'm hoping therefore this weekend will basically be Civ-less and I can crack into loads of stuff (especially finishing bloomin trigun and blassreiter!). But then best laid plans and all that :/.
Oh, I forgot - another thing the snow seems to have knackered is the roads. The roads around Alton are in a shocking state. I'm assuming it's the snow and not the heavy rain we had, though it could be a combination of both.
But anyway, great big holes seem to have been gouged in the roads, with loads of loose gravel from them. It's odd, but it kinda reminds me of geography lessons and the whole "glaciation" type of weathering, where glaciers grind rocks along. But I'm sure this is more about the snow affecting where cars could drive and how they drove.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
growing intolerance
Recently I've found myself becoming more and more annoyed at religion.
I've never understood religion. I've never believed in a God or the supernatural on any level. To me they make wonderful stories, but nothing more. I lend no more credence to the idea of werewolves, ghosts or vampires actually existing than I do to the idea of God existing.
To me all these things reflect is the wonderful power of the human imagination. To me that's the miraculous and amazing thing, not the idea that there's some supreme being.
There are quite a few varieties of religion of course and on some levels I can understand why some people have a belief in "something". For some people I can understand that desire/need/hope. I don't personally think it's valid. I can believe that next week I'm going to win the lottery, that belief doesn't therefore mean it's going to happen, which to me seems the logical flaw in most religion.
Somehow words like "faith" and "belief" have a sort of get-out clause when it comes to the rational world. It sometimes seems that the rational and the scientific, the empirical and the proof are supposed to take a back seat when it comes to matters of religion. To me, this is patently ridiculous and also on some levels dangerous.
All things must be subject to rationality and the burden of proof. That's what it means to be alive. I don't run across motorways because I've been exposed to sufficient proof that by doing so I'm exposing myself to an unnecessary (and high) risk of death. Things in life need proof and rationality.
This is something of a sea-change for me. I used to say that I had no objections to other people believing in whatever they wanted. Nowadays I find myself less tolerant.
I think I'm still okay with people who believe in "something" or that leave the door open, as it were - as I say, I can understand this, even if it is silly - what I don't like is organised religions. Especially the main single-God faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
I'd never go so far as to trot out the old "religions cause wars". I think that lacks a certain understanding of the nature people. People struggle for power. Religion is and was always just a convenient way of manipulating people to do what you want in order to get/secure power for those at the top.
There's a good parallel with patriotism. Patriotism is essentially illogical, but it can be used to get people to join up to the military to fight wars - look especially at World War 1. Now is that the fault of patriotism itself, or the fault of those people in power who abused patriotism to get people to sign up?
However, what I do lay firmly at Religion's door is it's unequivocal nature. There's no compromise in these religions. Whilst those of us who are atheist are expected to allow others to believe what they want and give them the room and facilities to pray to whatever fictional friend they like, the very heart of those same religions is that if you do not believe then you are going to hell.
It is also the job of believers to convert people to their religion. That's what it's all about. Salvation through belief and faith.
So now I think the same way - salvation through atheism, rationality and science.
Note I'm not advocating "belief" in science or "belief" in atheism. It's a common mistake people make, but these things do not require your belief, since they are fact; whereas religion does.
I've never understood religion. I've never believed in a God or the supernatural on any level. To me they make wonderful stories, but nothing more. I lend no more credence to the idea of werewolves, ghosts or vampires actually existing than I do to the idea of God existing.
To me all these things reflect is the wonderful power of the human imagination. To me that's the miraculous and amazing thing, not the idea that there's some supreme being.
There are quite a few varieties of religion of course and on some levels I can understand why some people have a belief in "something". For some people I can understand that desire/need/hope. I don't personally think it's valid. I can believe that next week I'm going to win the lottery, that belief doesn't therefore mean it's going to happen, which to me seems the logical flaw in most religion.
Somehow words like "faith" and "belief" have a sort of get-out clause when it comes to the rational world. It sometimes seems that the rational and the scientific, the empirical and the proof are supposed to take a back seat when it comes to matters of religion. To me, this is patently ridiculous and also on some levels dangerous.
All things must be subject to rationality and the burden of proof. That's what it means to be alive. I don't run across motorways because I've been exposed to sufficient proof that by doing so I'm exposing myself to an unnecessary (and high) risk of death. Things in life need proof and rationality.
This is something of a sea-change for me. I used to say that I had no objections to other people believing in whatever they wanted. Nowadays I find myself less tolerant.
I think I'm still okay with people who believe in "something" or that leave the door open, as it were - as I say, I can understand this, even if it is silly - what I don't like is organised religions. Especially the main single-God faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
I'd never go so far as to trot out the old "religions cause wars". I think that lacks a certain understanding of the nature people. People struggle for power. Religion is and was always just a convenient way of manipulating people to do what you want in order to get/secure power for those at the top.
There's a good parallel with patriotism. Patriotism is essentially illogical, but it can be used to get people to join up to the military to fight wars - look especially at World War 1. Now is that the fault of patriotism itself, or the fault of those people in power who abused patriotism to get people to sign up?
However, what I do lay firmly at Religion's door is it's unequivocal nature. There's no compromise in these religions. Whilst those of us who are atheist are expected to allow others to believe what they want and give them the room and facilities to pray to whatever fictional friend they like, the very heart of those same religions is that if you do not believe then you are going to hell.
It is also the job of believers to convert people to their religion. That's what it's all about. Salvation through belief and faith.
So now I think the same way - salvation through atheism, rationality and science.
Note I'm not advocating "belief" in science or "belief" in atheism. It's a common mistake people make, but these things do not require your belief, since they are fact; whereas religion does.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Black Christmas
I didn't have a rental DVD to watch this week, due mainly to the weather, so I watched this film I'd recorded over Christmas.
It's actually really old - 1974 if memory serves - but it's quite good. I think they remade it recently, which seems to be quite a trend. I think they're remaking both Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street too.
I guess it's because the remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween must have done okay box-office wise. Dunno, it seems a bit ill-conceived to me.
Anyway, Black Christmas is a bit of an odd beast. The killer in it appears to be a truly deranged psychotic and he's pretty scary. There's lots of point-of-view camera work where he stalks around, for example. Also the scariest bits are these mad phone calls he makes where he rants and raves in weird voices and makes animal sounds.
I think also these are meant to provide you with some of the back story to his character. Some of the stuff he says hints that he was an abused child and stuff.
The problem is this doesn't really make sense. I mean, it's not like he behaves normally at all, and yet the flashes we get of him he seems to have a decent (70's) haircut and wears fairly new clothes. He also seems clean and presentable (very neat nails, for example) - how would he be like that if he's a total nut job?
I think what they were trying to do was sell a red herring to the audience about who the killer is supposed to be. The problem is that although this red herring is believable for the characters it isn't for us. Given some of the stuff we've seen it makes no sense as a red herring and so doesn't really provide any kind of scares.
There's also a lot of stuff that doesn't quite make sense. It's like one of the dead bodies is basically next to a window and although that window is for an attic it's weird that nobody sees it at all.
There are also quite a few moments where the noise of a murder is meant to be disguised by another sound, like carollers singing (it's set at Christmas if you hadn't guessed) but these don't really add up. Carollers aren't that loud.
Plus some of the ways people behave don't quite make sense.
I'm probably being too harsh here - it was a low budget psycho-killer film before such things were commonplace and as far as the actual killings go they're pretty good. It's just it seemed a bit long and with some long gaps between the murders that were filled with some stuff that didn't quite make sense.
It's actually really old - 1974 if memory serves - but it's quite good. I think they remade it recently, which seems to be quite a trend. I think they're remaking both Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street too.
I guess it's because the remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween must have done okay box-office wise. Dunno, it seems a bit ill-conceived to me.
Anyway, Black Christmas is a bit of an odd beast. The killer in it appears to be a truly deranged psychotic and he's pretty scary. There's lots of point-of-view camera work where he stalks around, for example. Also the scariest bits are these mad phone calls he makes where he rants and raves in weird voices and makes animal sounds.
I think also these are meant to provide you with some of the back story to his character. Some of the stuff he says hints that he was an abused child and stuff.
The problem is this doesn't really make sense. I mean, it's not like he behaves normally at all, and yet the flashes we get of him he seems to have a decent (70's) haircut and wears fairly new clothes. He also seems clean and presentable (very neat nails, for example) - how would he be like that if he's a total nut job?
I think what they were trying to do was sell a red herring to the audience about who the killer is supposed to be. The problem is that although this red herring is believable for the characters it isn't for us. Given some of the stuff we've seen it makes no sense as a red herring and so doesn't really provide any kind of scares.
There's also a lot of stuff that doesn't quite make sense. It's like one of the dead bodies is basically next to a window and although that window is for an attic it's weird that nobody sees it at all.
There are also quite a few moments where the noise of a murder is meant to be disguised by another sound, like carollers singing (it's set at Christmas if you hadn't guessed) but these don't really add up. Carollers aren't that loud.
Plus some of the ways people behave don't quite make sense.
I'm probably being too harsh here - it was a low budget psycho-killer film before such things were commonplace and as far as the actual killings go they're pretty good. It's just it seemed a bit long and with some long gaps between the murders that were filled with some stuff that didn't quite make sense.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
wrong order
Don't you hate when someone gets your order wrong?
I guess it happens most often in restaurants and places like that, but what I'm referring to specifically is on-line ordering. This is one of the big advantages of shopping in the real world - you know exactly what it is you're buying and you hand over your cash in exchange for that.
Also, if something goes wrong when you get home or whatever you've talked a real human who probably remembers you and, if you're sensible you've kept the receipt and you can just take it back.
One of the problems with being an anime fan is that you can't buy that much of it in the shops. Especially if you're an English fan like me. I like anime and I tend to buy a lot of it (too much, really) but that means I have to buy a lot of American (DVD region 1) stuff.
I have imported directly, but the problem there is you tend to get hit for customs occasionally and that's not cheap (see my posts about figurines I've bought that customs nabbed and made me pay VAT on - the VAT's not to bad, the fact that the Post Office charge 3 times as much again to "process" it for you is the real killer). So what I do instead is use certain sites that import the DVDs themselves and then sell them on.
I won't actually name names as obviously this post is about them making a mistake because really I still like them. See, the main problem is that I kinda understand the error they've made it's quite an easy one to have made.
Basically, I'm a huge fan of Code Geass and I've been desperately looking forward to the release of Geass on DVD by Bandai who hold the licence in American. The problem is that Bandai have make a huge mess of releasing it on DVD.
It was delayed for some reason and has taken a good while to come out (Gurren Lagann was out in Japan at a similar time and that's already been released). When it did come out there was some huge technical cock up that meant the first lot of disks were buggered.
They also released it in a confusing array of sets - there was supposed to be a single DVD box-set, but that was apparently cancelled (although it seemed to turn up later, but I'd already got the individual one by then). They were also releasing them as individual DVDs - so we're talking 6 individual DVD boxes. But then on top of that they're releasing them as three 2-DVD sets. So DVDs 1 & 2 in one box, 3 & 4 in one box and 5 & 6 in one box.
Okay, fine I thought - I bought the individual DVDs as that just seemed simpler to me. However, now the time has rolled around for disks 5 & 6 to be released, but there's no sign of them. However, the 3rd of the 2-DVD boxes has come out.
(Confused yet? You'll understand why the company made the error then!)
So I ordered that (as I say, I'm too desperate to watch the show to wait).
And recently this company sent it to me... only they didn't. What they've actually done is send me the third individual DVD, not the 3rd box set!
I wouldn't mind too much if they were the same price - I'd just forget about it and do another order. However, they aren't - the box set is more expensive than the individual one.
Trouble is I'd already ripped the cellophane off before I'd realised :(.
See this is why I hate it when people get your order wrong - because things get horribly complicated.
I guess it happens most often in restaurants and places like that, but what I'm referring to specifically is on-line ordering. This is one of the big advantages of shopping in the real world - you know exactly what it is you're buying and you hand over your cash in exchange for that.
Also, if something goes wrong when you get home or whatever you've talked a real human who probably remembers you and, if you're sensible you've kept the receipt and you can just take it back.
One of the problems with being an anime fan is that you can't buy that much of it in the shops. Especially if you're an English fan like me. I like anime and I tend to buy a lot of it (too much, really) but that means I have to buy a lot of American (DVD region 1) stuff.
I have imported directly, but the problem there is you tend to get hit for customs occasionally and that's not cheap (see my posts about figurines I've bought that customs nabbed and made me pay VAT on - the VAT's not to bad, the fact that the Post Office charge 3 times as much again to "process" it for you is the real killer). So what I do instead is use certain sites that import the DVDs themselves and then sell them on.
I won't actually name names as obviously this post is about them making a mistake because really I still like them. See, the main problem is that I kinda understand the error they've made it's quite an easy one to have made.
Basically, I'm a huge fan of Code Geass and I've been desperately looking forward to the release of Geass on DVD by Bandai who hold the licence in American. The problem is that Bandai have make a huge mess of releasing it on DVD.
It was delayed for some reason and has taken a good while to come out (Gurren Lagann was out in Japan at a similar time and that's already been released). When it did come out there was some huge technical cock up that meant the first lot of disks were buggered.
They also released it in a confusing array of sets - there was supposed to be a single DVD box-set, but that was apparently cancelled (although it seemed to turn up later, but I'd already got the individual one by then). They were also releasing them as individual DVDs - so we're talking 6 individual DVD boxes. But then on top of that they're releasing them as three 2-DVD sets. So DVDs 1 & 2 in one box, 3 & 4 in one box and 5 & 6 in one box.
Okay, fine I thought - I bought the individual DVDs as that just seemed simpler to me. However, now the time has rolled around for disks 5 & 6 to be released, but there's no sign of them. However, the 3rd of the 2-DVD boxes has come out.
(Confused yet? You'll understand why the company made the error then!)
So I ordered that (as I say, I'm too desperate to watch the show to wait).
And recently this company sent it to me... only they didn't. What they've actually done is send me the third individual DVD, not the 3rd box set!
I wouldn't mind too much if they were the same price - I'd just forget about it and do another order. However, they aren't - the box set is more expensive than the individual one.
Trouble is I'd already ripped the cellophane off before I'd realised :(.
See this is why I hate it when people get your order wrong - because things get horribly complicated.
Monday, 9 February 2009
civ3 adventures
Well, as I predicted/feared I spent almost all of the weekend playing Civ3.
To be entirely fair this wasn't all my fault. Saturday morning I went out to check on how the weather situation was and the basic headline was "extremely cold". This meant that the slush and snow that was left on the road that connects us to the estate had frozen solid and was therefore as slippery as fuck.
That meant I was pretty much trapped indoors. The sun did come out on both Saturday and Sunday and even though it never really warmed up, the sun tends to melt the snow despite that.
Now the honest thing of me to do would have been to do something practical or useful. There were lots of options
I could have watched some anime. I'm on the verge of finishing both Trigun and Blassreiter, for example. This would also have been a good thing because I need to realise some capital - heating my place doesn't come cheap and sellig a few anime bits on e-bay would go a lone way to help.
I could also have watched some fansubs while scanning the new megami. This would have put me ahead of the game, as it were - never a bad thing.
Another option would have been to watch some normal box sets or DVDs - I've loads of them kicking about too. Or I could have done some walling - I'm literally on the very cusp of finishing several walls. And for that matter I could have worked on some future website updates - hardly exciting but it needs to be done as I'm catching up with my backlog a bit. I could even have done some writing - the chaos of the last week hasn't helped me concentrate much on that.
But no, instead I just played Civ3. Again. Like I didn't spend several weeks moaning about how it was killing all my spare time a few months ago. Idiot.
The only thing I did manage to stay on top of was TV. Although I start with good intentions every week I find that I get quite a large stack of TV I've recorded when I get to the weekend. I managed to keep on top of that at least.
I also watched a movie I recorded over Christmas. Mainly this was thanks to the fact that my next rental DVD is delayed. The snow has really poxed up the mail - I've loads of stuff that I know has been sent to me but that I've not got yet.
But I'm an idiot wasting all my time like that. The only good thing is that I've got much more of an impetus to the game I'm currently playing, as I've run up against a bug. Basically, if I launch my spaceship then it tries to play a cut-scene and this causes the game to crash. I therefore can't win in that way, but it also means I need to get on and hammer the other races so that they can't launch their spaceships and beat me either.
Usually I play until the time limit games, but the problem with them is I've clearly won by two-thirds of the way through, so I get bored. This time at least I've got a definite goal - not that it's an easy one to achieve in a short time period, so I could still be playing for some time!
To be entirely fair this wasn't all my fault. Saturday morning I went out to check on how the weather situation was and the basic headline was "extremely cold". This meant that the slush and snow that was left on the road that connects us to the estate had frozen solid and was therefore as slippery as fuck.
That meant I was pretty much trapped indoors. The sun did come out on both Saturday and Sunday and even though it never really warmed up, the sun tends to melt the snow despite that.
Now the honest thing of me to do would have been to do something practical or useful. There were lots of options
I could have watched some anime. I'm on the verge of finishing both Trigun and Blassreiter, for example. This would also have been a good thing because I need to realise some capital - heating my place doesn't come cheap and sellig a few anime bits on e-bay would go a lone way to help.
I could also have watched some fansubs while scanning the new megami. This would have put me ahead of the game, as it were - never a bad thing.
Another option would have been to watch some normal box sets or DVDs - I've loads of them kicking about too. Or I could have done some walling - I'm literally on the very cusp of finishing several walls. And for that matter I could have worked on some future website updates - hardly exciting but it needs to be done as I'm catching up with my backlog a bit. I could even have done some writing - the chaos of the last week hasn't helped me concentrate much on that.
But no, instead I just played Civ3. Again. Like I didn't spend several weeks moaning about how it was killing all my spare time a few months ago. Idiot.
The only thing I did manage to stay on top of was TV. Although I start with good intentions every week I find that I get quite a large stack of TV I've recorded when I get to the weekend. I managed to keep on top of that at least.
I also watched a movie I recorded over Christmas. Mainly this was thanks to the fact that my next rental DVD is delayed. The snow has really poxed up the mail - I've loads of stuff that I know has been sent to me but that I've not got yet.
But I'm an idiot wasting all my time like that. The only good thing is that I've got much more of an impetus to the game I'm currently playing, as I've run up against a bug. Basically, if I launch my spaceship then it tries to play a cut-scene and this causes the game to crash. I therefore can't win in that way, but it also means I need to get on and hammer the other races so that they can't launch their spaceships and beat me either.
Usually I play until the time limit games, but the problem with them is I've clearly won by two-thirds of the way through, so I get bored. This time at least I've got a definite goal - not that it's an easy one to achieve in a short time period, so I could still be playing for some time!
Friday, 6 February 2009
not who I thought you were
You ever think you know someone and then they say something that just totally knocks you for six? Something that just seems so out of character that it makes you realise that no, you didn't know them after all.
I had a moment like that the other day. I guess the real lesson is that you can never really know other people.
I've unfortunately been continuing to play quite a bit of Civ3, rather than do anything particularly useful. I think I need to finish this game I'm currently on and then I'll be able to get back up to speed with stuff.
The latest megami turned up the other day, so I'll try to scan it this weekend, though as I say more Civ3 beckons. I've also not got a backlog of scanning so it's not disastrous if I leave it. It was a little later than usual because, bizarrely, it had been addressed to Surbiton! I checked the original label (there was one stuck on top with my proper address) and it really had - it wasn't the couriers making excuses. How very odd.
One thing I have been doing (kick started by the train journey up to London on Saturday - I could never do it, but if I was ever to commute I'd get through loads of books) is reading one of Pratchett's most recent discworld books "Making Money". It's quite good - certainly a very easy reader with a very entertaining main character.
It's actually one of his semi-sequels, in that it continues the story of a character from another book, Moist Von Lipwig, which is why it's a little bizarre - it seemed to take a long time to get going. As I say, since it's re-using a character this just seemed a little odd. Not that it wasn't enjoyable, just unusual - it didn't leap into the deep end where that would have been a perfectly valid thing to do.
I'm also nearly done with Blassrieter. I think if it wasn't for the first 3 or 4 episodes, which are fairly mundane monster-of-the-week ones, I'd rate the series more highly. What I mean is it's worth sticking it out past those to get to the good stuff.
As I was expected, the snow's pretty much clearing away around here. It was quite unusual for it to be so think here.
No real plans for the weekend other than sleeping and resting - last weekend and struggling with all this snow has kinda taken it out of me a bit. I must be getting proper old!
I had a moment like that the other day. I guess the real lesson is that you can never really know other people.
I've unfortunately been continuing to play quite a bit of Civ3, rather than do anything particularly useful. I think I need to finish this game I'm currently on and then I'll be able to get back up to speed with stuff.
The latest megami turned up the other day, so I'll try to scan it this weekend, though as I say more Civ3 beckons. I've also not got a backlog of scanning so it's not disastrous if I leave it. It was a little later than usual because, bizarrely, it had been addressed to Surbiton! I checked the original label (there was one stuck on top with my proper address) and it really had - it wasn't the couriers making excuses. How very odd.
One thing I have been doing (kick started by the train journey up to London on Saturday - I could never do it, but if I was ever to commute I'd get through loads of books) is reading one of Pratchett's most recent discworld books "Making Money". It's quite good - certainly a very easy reader with a very entertaining main character.
It's actually one of his semi-sequels, in that it continues the story of a character from another book, Moist Von Lipwig, which is why it's a little bizarre - it seemed to take a long time to get going. As I say, since it's re-using a character this just seemed a little odd. Not that it wasn't enjoyable, just unusual - it didn't leap into the deep end where that would have been a perfectly valid thing to do.
I'm also nearly done with Blassrieter. I think if it wasn't for the first 3 or 4 episodes, which are fairly mundane monster-of-the-week ones, I'd rate the series more highly. What I mean is it's worth sticking it out past those to get to the good stuff.
As I was expected, the snow's pretty much clearing away around here. It was quite unusual for it to be so think here.
No real plans for the weekend other than sleeping and resting - last weekend and struggling with all this snow has kinda taken it out of me a bit. I must be getting proper old!
Thursday, 5 February 2009
those old friends
So Saturday was good.
The chums I met up with were going to a gig on Saturday evening, so we basically met up for a few pre-gig drinkees. I wasn't quite expecting to pack in as much booze as we did - we did rounds and I ended up sinking a total of six beers.
I was therefore pretty drunk when we left - a few more and I'd have been thoroughly soused. As it was I was stumbling around quite a bit. I put my headphones in when I got on the tube and it was a bit of a surreal experience, wandering around the tube, drunk with Greenday blasting in my ears. I'm also fairly sure I was singing too - dunno what the other passengers thought.
I actually fell asleep on the train home, which is always a risk when boozing, but luckily Alton is the last stop so luckily it doesn't matter very much. Then it was a quick walk up the hill, met up with a more local chum (it was later than I thought) and he ended up giving me a lift home.
Of course Sunday was therefore pretty much wrecked because I'd had more to drink than I thought I would. I just sort of laid in bed for most of the day and ate chocolate. I didn't really even watching anything constructive like anime or DVDs - just random telly.
Well, this morning's journey in was horrendous. The snow didn't really melt fully here yesterday, but it did freeze up. Then last night it snowed about another inch and then when I was driving in it was raining. You can guess what a mess it was - compacted, frozen snow with slushy snow on top and rain.
My traction control was working over-time with all the skidding about and the journey took ages. This sort of thing is one of the reasons I come to work very early - far earlier than I need to - as the traffic is less but it also allows a big leeway in terms of journey time.
The chums I met up with were going to a gig on Saturday evening, so we basically met up for a few pre-gig drinkees. I wasn't quite expecting to pack in as much booze as we did - we did rounds and I ended up sinking a total of six beers.
I was therefore pretty drunk when we left - a few more and I'd have been thoroughly soused. As it was I was stumbling around quite a bit. I put my headphones in when I got on the tube and it was a bit of a surreal experience, wandering around the tube, drunk with Greenday blasting in my ears. I'm also fairly sure I was singing too - dunno what the other passengers thought.
I actually fell asleep on the train home, which is always a risk when boozing, but luckily Alton is the last stop so luckily it doesn't matter very much. Then it was a quick walk up the hill, met up with a more local chum (it was later than I thought) and he ended up giving me a lift home.
Of course Sunday was therefore pretty much wrecked because I'd had more to drink than I thought I would. I just sort of laid in bed for most of the day and ate chocolate. I didn't really even watching anything constructive like anime or DVDs - just random telly.
Well, this morning's journey in was horrendous. The snow didn't really melt fully here yesterday, but it did freeze up. Then last night it snowed about another inch and then when I was driving in it was raining. You can guess what a mess it was - compacted, frozen snow with slushy snow on top and rain.
My traction control was working over-time with all the skidding about and the journey took ages. This sort of thing is one of the reasons I come to work very early - far earlier than I need to - as the traffic is less but it also allows a big leeway in terms of journey time.
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
back to work - but for how long?
Well, I'm back to work today.
The snow on Monday morning was biblical. When I went to sleep Sunday not a single flake had fallen, when I tried to get out to my Car on Monday I was greeted by this:
The snow was at least 6 inches thick and on the road that connects us to the estate it was apparently 8 inches thick!
There was no way I could get out - the front of my car isn't even 8 inches high!
On Tuesday the snow had subsided a bit, but only because it had frozen solid. It was literally a nightmare of unmovable snow.
I would still be trapped today, except for the fact that my landlord had to get out yesterday and spent all Tuesday digging an escape route.
The roads of the estate were still icy, but I figured enough was enough - time to get out. Plus it was all reaching crisis point as my supplies are getting a bit low. I'm guessing more people will be back today and the shops will be absolute carnage, but I've not got much of a choice.
I'd love to say I spent the days off wisely, but truth be told Monday I basically worked from home. Tuesday I totally wasted - I just spent all day playing Civ3 (oh no - not again!). I should have done some hardcore anime watching or scanning or something, but I couldn't be arsed if I'm honest.
The weekend went well. It was good - I'll blog on it later, though.
The snow on Monday morning was biblical. When I went to sleep Sunday not a single flake had fallen, when I tried to get out to my Car on Monday I was greeted by this:
The snow was at least 6 inches thick and on the road that connects us to the estate it was apparently 8 inches thick!
There was no way I could get out - the front of my car isn't even 8 inches high!
On Tuesday the snow had subsided a bit, but only because it had frozen solid. It was literally a nightmare of unmovable snow.
I would still be trapped today, except for the fact that my landlord had to get out yesterday and spent all Tuesday digging an escape route.
The roads of the estate were still icy, but I figured enough was enough - time to get out. Plus it was all reaching crisis point as my supplies are getting a bit low. I'm guessing more people will be back today and the shops will be absolute carnage, but I've not got much of a choice.
I'd love to say I spent the days off wisely, but truth be told Monday I basically worked from home. Tuesday I totally wasted - I just spent all day playing Civ3 (oh no - not again!). I should have done some hardcore anime watching or scanning or something, but I couldn't be arsed if I'm honest.
The weekend went well. It was good - I'll blog on it later, though.
Friday, 30 January 2009
old friends
I'm probably heading up to London to have a few beers with some old friends this Saturday.
We're talking really old here - these are people I went to secondary school with, so they've known me for about two-thirds of my life! I've kinda dropped out of contact with everyone from that sort of era - life gets in the way of course, but what's made it the more difficult is that my Dad moved down to Devon.
So, even though everybody else moved too, their parents were still in the same place so they had somewhere to come back to, but I don't. If I wanted to go back to that area I'd need to kip on someone's floor, and I always feel really bad about asking to do that.
However, there was that sniff of some London based work I mentioned before, so I re-connected with some of the guys who I know work in London. That job fell through, but I figured hey, why not pop up for a few beers?
It's not anything spectacular - a few drinks and a natter. Apparently there's some football on or something, but the world of men chasing inflated pig stomachs is somewhat beyond my sphere of interest, so I don't really know what that's all about.
As to what I've been up to it's all bit a bit uninteresting really. I did some walling and I watched a bit of anime and some telly. The anime wasn't anything new, though - just me continuing to watch Blassreiter and Trigun.
I continue to be unimpressed with Trigun. They've really played up the Vash-the-fool aspect in the anime and it's bloody annoying. Just as the show gets to the cusp of being interesting Vash puts on his "stoopid" face and laughs maniacally. Unfortunately, what they haven't removed is all the cod-drama that spoiled my enjoyment of the manga.
Blassreiter on the other hand has gotten a lot more interesting. It's a bit melodromatic in places and the plot has a weird sense of being made up as it goes along, but it's certainly much more interesting than the first couple of eps suggested it was goign to be. The non-cg animation also seems to have moved up from "appalling" to "fairly bad" too, although that may just be me getting used to it.
We're talking really old here - these are people I went to secondary school with, so they've known me for about two-thirds of my life! I've kinda dropped out of contact with everyone from that sort of era - life gets in the way of course, but what's made it the more difficult is that my Dad moved down to Devon.
So, even though everybody else moved too, their parents were still in the same place so they had somewhere to come back to, but I don't. If I wanted to go back to that area I'd need to kip on someone's floor, and I always feel really bad about asking to do that.
However, there was that sniff of some London based work I mentioned before, so I re-connected with some of the guys who I know work in London. That job fell through, but I figured hey, why not pop up for a few beers?
It's not anything spectacular - a few drinks and a natter. Apparently there's some football on or something, but the world of men chasing inflated pig stomachs is somewhat beyond my sphere of interest, so I don't really know what that's all about.
As to what I've been up to it's all bit a bit uninteresting really. I did some walling and I watched a bit of anime and some telly. The anime wasn't anything new, though - just me continuing to watch Blassreiter and Trigun.
I continue to be unimpressed with Trigun. They've really played up the Vash-the-fool aspect in the anime and it's bloody annoying. Just as the show gets to the cusp of being interesting Vash puts on his "stoopid" face and laughs maniacally. Unfortunately, what they haven't removed is all the cod-drama that spoiled my enjoyment of the manga.
Blassreiter on the other hand has gotten a lot more interesting. It's a bit melodromatic in places and the plot has a weird sense of being made up as it goes along, but it's certainly much more interesting than the first couple of eps suggested it was goign to be. The non-cg animation also seems to have moved up from "appalling" to "fairly bad" too, although that may just be me getting used to it.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
abandoned ideas 2
This ended up being more "occasional" than I initially thought it was, but I've had a slow week and so here's the second lot of abandoned story ideas. 2 today:
Devotion of Purpose
This got very close to being completed. It was quite a long short story.
The basic plot was that it's about a terrorist who is being tortured to reveal the identity of his fellow terrorists. There were three strands to it.
The present day was the main plot and involved the terrorist being tortured in a variety of ways - some psychological, some physical. It was quite brutal and this was the part I pretty much wrote all of.
The second strand was the terrorist act that had got him caught. Essentially it was an assassination attempt on the leader of the country. It never quite got finished as I couldn't really decide what was what.
Questions I ended up with included how did they get "on the inside" (it kinda involved an inside job)? Did all of his fellow terrorists die so the torture was pointless)? Did civilians die and did the terrorist regret that? Or had he gone over the edge or something?
The third strand was why it never got finished. The basic idea was that the terrorist was recruited by a woman he fell in love with. I had this strong idea about a small china cat decoration - how they met and what he thought of before he died, maybe.
Problem was I couldn't get the link of how he actually became a terrorist. I'd kinda made it so that his woman was killed with the other terrorists in their attack, and that's why he wasn't talking - he wanted to die. But how did he actually switch to being an actual terrorist who kills innocent civilians? Especially given he's meant to start normal.
I couldn't really think of anything, especially since the way I'd intended the structure to go I didn't have a lot of space. It had to be something fairly quick, but I just couldn't think of anything significant enough.
Hanger 12
This idea was on a course to non-completion from the very beginning.
Basically, I had this idea of a big passenger jet exploding on the tarmac. It was a future plane with multiple decks so the deaths were huge.
And that was it - I tried to build a story around it and just kinda failed. I seem to recall I managed to get myself tied up in knots with all sorts of conspiracy ideas, though.
I can't remember all of them, but it was like there was somebody trying to stop the explosion and it wasn't clearly going to be terrorists blowing it up or the terrorists were really government people, or... I dunno, I remember it got really messy :/.
Devotion of Purpose
This got very close to being completed. It was quite a long short story.
The basic plot was that it's about a terrorist who is being tortured to reveal the identity of his fellow terrorists. There were three strands to it.
The present day was the main plot and involved the terrorist being tortured in a variety of ways - some psychological, some physical. It was quite brutal and this was the part I pretty much wrote all of.
The second strand was the terrorist act that had got him caught. Essentially it was an assassination attempt on the leader of the country. It never quite got finished as I couldn't really decide what was what.
Questions I ended up with included how did they get "on the inside" (it kinda involved an inside job)? Did all of his fellow terrorists die so the torture was pointless)? Did civilians die and did the terrorist regret that? Or had he gone over the edge or something?
The third strand was why it never got finished. The basic idea was that the terrorist was recruited by a woman he fell in love with. I had this strong idea about a small china cat decoration - how they met and what he thought of before he died, maybe.
Problem was I couldn't get the link of how he actually became a terrorist. I'd kinda made it so that his woman was killed with the other terrorists in their attack, and that's why he wasn't talking - he wanted to die. But how did he actually switch to being an actual terrorist who kills innocent civilians? Especially given he's meant to start normal.
I couldn't really think of anything, especially since the way I'd intended the structure to go I didn't have a lot of space. It had to be something fairly quick, but I just couldn't think of anything significant enough.
Hanger 12
This idea was on a course to non-completion from the very beginning.
Basically, I had this idea of a big passenger jet exploding on the tarmac. It was a future plane with multiple decks so the deaths were huge.
And that was it - I tried to build a story around it and just kinda failed. I seem to recall I managed to get myself tied up in knots with all sorts of conspiracy ideas, though.
I can't remember all of them, but it was like there was somebody trying to stop the explosion and it wasn't clearly going to be terrorists blowing it up or the terrorists were really government people, or... I dunno, I remember it got really messy :/.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
it's that fine rain...
...that soaks you through.
Weather's miserable here again today - drizzling away. Plus it's not getting any warmer. I'm getting a bit fed up of all the cold weather, tbh. Not least of all because it's costing me an absolute fortune in electricity - just at a time when I'm being serious about trying to clear down some debt.
Really I should move. It's a bit of a false economy where I am at the moment as, although the rental is cheap, my heating is electric (which is always more expensive) and I'm also on a key-meter, which is much more expensive than regular electricity. Also, I've not got a washing machine, so I have to get my stuff laundered. Plus I live some distance from work, so I get through a tank of gas every two weeks (even though my new car is super efficient).
I'm pretty sure it would be much cheaper for me to rent somewhere decent in Alton. It'd cost more for the rent and council tax, but my outgoings would be much reduced. Trouble is, since I'm trying to clear this debt I've not got a lot of spare cash to pay a deposit with.
All this in a year when I'm going to the Monaco GP for an (expensive) holiday, my sister turns 30 (so I have to get her an expensive gift) and my Dad turns 65 (so again, expensive git time)!
Plus I'm pretty sure my tyres will need doing when I have my car serviced. Sigh...
Weather's miserable here again today - drizzling away. Plus it's not getting any warmer. I'm getting a bit fed up of all the cold weather, tbh. Not least of all because it's costing me an absolute fortune in electricity - just at a time when I'm being serious about trying to clear down some debt.
Really I should move. It's a bit of a false economy where I am at the moment as, although the rental is cheap, my heating is electric (which is always more expensive) and I'm also on a key-meter, which is much more expensive than regular electricity. Also, I've not got a washing machine, so I have to get my stuff laundered. Plus I live some distance from work, so I get through a tank of gas every two weeks (even though my new car is super efficient).
I'm pretty sure it would be much cheaper for me to rent somewhere decent in Alton. It'd cost more for the rent and council tax, but my outgoings would be much reduced. Trouble is, since I'm trying to clear this debt I've not got a lot of spare cash to pay a deposit with.
All this in a year when I'm going to the Monaco GP for an (expensive) holiday, my sister turns 30 (so I have to get her an expensive gift) and my Dad turns 65 (so again, expensive git time)!
Plus I'm pretty sure my tyres will need doing when I have my car serviced. Sigh...
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
pirates of the caribbean dead man's chest
I watched this on DVD over the weekend.
I can't honestly say I was impressed. Where the second one failed because of the overly-complicated jiggery-pockery plot shenanigans but at least had plenty of action and comedy, this one seemed to pretty much do away with the action and comedy, leaving... well, leaving a turd.
I mean classic example of what was wrong: Captain Jack doesn't even appear in the film for the first 20 minutes. The hero is absent for a good chunk of the film.
Now that chunk of 20 minutes should have made it easy for me to say a "quarter" or a "fifth" of the film but there you have another problem - it was way, way too long. It was about 2hrs45mins long - nearly 3 hours! That's just silly length for a film like this.
And what's worse is they seemed to stick in a whole load of Chinese characters that added absolutely nothing to the film, but did still pad it out.
I mean I can sort of see some of the problems they had. On the commentary for the second film the writers complained about how they struggled to make these two seem like part of a proper, planned trilogy. That means they had to introduce all sorts of stuff and spend ages doing exposition to explain it all.
Trouble is that decision was utterly flawed - they should just have made 3 separate films which just happened to have the same character in. At the very end of this one there's a sort of thing about the search for the fountain of youth.
I don't think it was a direct set-up for a sequel - more sort of a "here we go again" moment. And that's what all 3 of these films should have been like - just some random adventure. There was no need to tie everything together with an overarching plot, just have it be "well here we go again".
The DVD was rubbish too - literally the only extras were some bloopers, no commentaries or anything.
I can't honestly say I was impressed. Where the second one failed because of the overly-complicated jiggery-pockery plot shenanigans but at least had plenty of action and comedy, this one seemed to pretty much do away with the action and comedy, leaving... well, leaving a turd.
I mean classic example of what was wrong: Captain Jack doesn't even appear in the film for the first 20 minutes. The hero is absent for a good chunk of the film.
Now that chunk of 20 minutes should have made it easy for me to say a "quarter" or a "fifth" of the film but there you have another problem - it was way, way too long. It was about 2hrs45mins long - nearly 3 hours! That's just silly length for a film like this.
And what's worse is they seemed to stick in a whole load of Chinese characters that added absolutely nothing to the film, but did still pad it out.
I mean I can sort of see some of the problems they had. On the commentary for the second film the writers complained about how they struggled to make these two seem like part of a proper, planned trilogy. That means they had to introduce all sorts of stuff and spend ages doing exposition to explain it all.
Trouble is that decision was utterly flawed - they should just have made 3 separate films which just happened to have the same character in. At the very end of this one there's a sort of thing about the search for the fountain of youth.
I don't think it was a direct set-up for a sequel - more sort of a "here we go again" moment. And that's what all 3 of these films should have been like - just some random adventure. There was no need to tie everything together with an overarching plot, just have it be "well here we go again".
The DVD was rubbish too - literally the only extras were some bloopers, no commentaries or anything.
Monday, 26 January 2009
micks of the trind
This last weekend I started reading Tricks of the Mind, which is by Derren Brown.
How I came to buy this book is a little convoluted. Over Chrimbalo there was a Derren Brown special which was a recording of his recent live show. I think I mentioned it on the blog before - I was puzzled a big nervous tick he seemed to have where he rapidly nods his head.
Anyway, I was intrigued by this tick and tried to look it up online. I found some bits and stuff about him, though not much about the tick. It was mentioned on a forum that he explained it in his book.
The mention of a book intrigued me and I searched for it on Amazon and made the purchase. Perhaps the old mind-mongler was influencing me into making the purchase, who knows?
Anyway, the book is quite interesting, but it's weirdly undirected. It's part auto-biography, part introduction to becoming a conjuror, part explanation of what he gets up to on stage, part explanation of why there's no God and, most unusually, part self-help book (ish - the memory stuff especially is intriguing).
One thing it does have is some very humorous anecdotes. I suspect that were he ever to turn his hand to writing proper he'd be rather good at it. The style is very interesting. As a fan of Robert Rankin it chimes quite well with me. There's a lot of overly-ostentation wordage, which kinda plays into the cocky persona he's created for the magic but also hints at Derrens' devilish wit.
There's also an undercurrent as with all his stuff of self-deprecation. For example, it's clear the cocky persona is entirely a construct for the act and he plays with it a fair bit. He also lets it ease down when he gets more serious with relaying the teaching stuff and then brings it right back up when he's doing more entertaining stuff.
Anyway, I've certainly enjoyed reading it and am more than a third of the way through. I'm saying that because I'm not a quick reader by the way - it means I "couldn't put it down" as they say.
How I came to buy this book is a little convoluted. Over Chrimbalo there was a Derren Brown special which was a recording of his recent live show. I think I mentioned it on the blog before - I was puzzled a big nervous tick he seemed to have where he rapidly nods his head.
Anyway, I was intrigued by this tick and tried to look it up online. I found some bits and stuff about him, though not much about the tick. It was mentioned on a forum that he explained it in his book.
The mention of a book intrigued me and I searched for it on Amazon and made the purchase. Perhaps the old mind-mongler was influencing me into making the purchase, who knows?
Anyway, the book is quite interesting, but it's weirdly undirected. It's part auto-biography, part introduction to becoming a conjuror, part explanation of what he gets up to on stage, part explanation of why there's no God and, most unusually, part self-help book (ish - the memory stuff especially is intriguing).
One thing it does have is some very humorous anecdotes. I suspect that were he ever to turn his hand to writing proper he'd be rather good at it. The style is very interesting. As a fan of Robert Rankin it chimes quite well with me. There's a lot of overly-ostentation wordage, which kinda plays into the cocky persona he's created for the magic but also hints at Derrens' devilish wit.
There's also an undercurrent as with all his stuff of self-deprecation. For example, it's clear the cocky persona is entirely a construct for the act and he plays with it a fair bit. He also lets it ease down when he gets more serious with relaying the teaching stuff and then brings it right back up when he's doing more entertaining stuff.
Anyway, I've certainly enjoyed reading it and am more than a third of the way through. I'm saying that because I'm not a quick reader by the way - it means I "couldn't put it down" as they say.
Friday, 23 January 2009
bimble
Well the whole writing thing has held up a bit. Admittedly at the moment I'm kind converting stuff I've already written into scenes. This seems a little too easy in some regards, but in others it almost confirms my suspicion that this is what I should have been doing from the beginning.
I've always tend to think quite visually and it's easy for me to plot stuff out in my head as if I was watching it on-screen. The struggling has always come in converting that into interesting prose.
But the thing about scripts I've read is you don't really seem to need interesting prose - in fact just the opposite, it needs to be basic and clear what the action should be. You need interesting dialogue and I think I'm okay at that. Certainly whenever people have commented on my stuff over at urbis if they've mentioned my dialogue it's generally been complimentary.
Not sure if that's anything to go by, though.
Also, for the first time in a while I had something of an idea. Well it's more of a concept than a fully-fledged idea, but I think it's good that the juices seem to be flowing a bit again.
I finished off some scanning this week and I've also been watching some animu in general.
Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo - Youkoso Tsugumi Ryouhe was okay. This is actually an older show - well it's not that old, but it was before I started religiously dl'ing and sampling everything. I'd have probably liked it more if the animation wasn't so bad - it was really poor. The show itself seemed quite harem-like, but it seemed to be more about characters than tits-and-arse.
I've also been continuing with Blassreiter. I have to admit it's getting better, but mainly because of a particular storyline concerning a kid who's being bullied. The main plot seems very generic, but that part of it has been quite well done, I think. Not sure it's enough to boost my overall rating - especially the animation is shocking - but it suggests there's some hope.
And I started watching real-world animu DVD-age too (blimey!). I think partly it's because I've cleared so much stuff on my big to-do lists. Anyway, the show I've been watching is Trigun. Gotta say I'm relatively unimpressed so far. I've read some of the manga, and I dropped that as it was very badly written. There were a lot of great ideas, it's just the writing was quite poor - lots that didn't make sense or that contradicted itself.
The anime is better on that front, but the main character, Vash, seems to have become an annoyingly loud, idiot. I know there's deeper stuff to come, but lets' just say if I was watching this on fansub I'd have dropped it by now.
I've always tend to think quite visually and it's easy for me to plot stuff out in my head as if I was watching it on-screen. The struggling has always come in converting that into interesting prose.
But the thing about scripts I've read is you don't really seem to need interesting prose - in fact just the opposite, it needs to be basic and clear what the action should be. You need interesting dialogue and I think I'm okay at that. Certainly whenever people have commented on my stuff over at urbis if they've mentioned my dialogue it's generally been complimentary.
Not sure if that's anything to go by, though.
Also, for the first time in a while I had something of an idea. Well it's more of a concept than a fully-fledged idea, but I think it's good that the juices seem to be flowing a bit again.
I finished off some scanning this week and I've also been watching some animu in general.
Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo - Youkoso Tsugumi Ryouhe was okay. This is actually an older show - well it's not that old, but it was before I started religiously dl'ing and sampling everything. I'd have probably liked it more if the animation wasn't so bad - it was really poor. The show itself seemed quite harem-like, but it seemed to be more about characters than tits-and-arse.
I've also been continuing with Blassreiter. I have to admit it's getting better, but mainly because of a particular storyline concerning a kid who's being bullied. The main plot seems very generic, but that part of it has been quite well done, I think. Not sure it's enough to boost my overall rating - especially the animation is shocking - but it suggests there's some hope.
And I started watching real-world animu DVD-age too (blimey!). I think partly it's because I've cleared so much stuff on my big to-do lists. Anyway, the show I've been watching is Trigun. Gotta say I'm relatively unimpressed so far. I've read some of the manga, and I dropped that as it was very badly written. There were a lot of great ideas, it's just the writing was quite poor - lots that didn't make sense or that contradicted itself.
The anime is better on that front, but the main character, Vash, seems to have become an annoyingly loud, idiot. I know there's deeper stuff to come, but lets' just say if I was watching this on fansub I'd have dropped it by now.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
shooter
This last weekend's DVD was Shooter, starring Mark Wahlberg.
It was okay. I'm not sure I'd go much further than that.
One thing that was really cool about it was that Wahlberg was playing a sniper and they'd clearly done a lot of research about sniping and that whole thing. I mean there was obviously a lot of pure movie stuff in it, but they'd also definitely had a good crack at making it pretty accurate.
But there seemed to be a lot of things that didn't quite work too.
One thing that was odd was everybody seemed to be growling or mumbling, which made it really difficult to hear what they were saying. I think the effect was supposed to be one of making them seem menacing and moody, but instead it just came off as a kind of disinterest.
In the commentary the director kept talking about making a movie like they had in the 70s. I've heard a few people say that of recent films and I'm kinda on the fence as to whether it's a good thing.
Certainly here it didn't really seem to work - it was like everyone was too conscious of that fact. Like they were all thinking "yeah, I'm in the 70s - gotta act like the 70s". So it seemed more like a pastiche of the 70s, rather than a subtle thing.
Another problem was that Wahlberg's character seemed very dull. I don't think this was as a result of bad acting, as such, it was just that that's how Wahlberg had chosen to play him. But because he was the central character that meant I got a little bored of him.
Another major problem was the "bad guys." The bad guys kinda devolved into a bit of a "lol capitalism is evilzors and we likes it!" thing that just didn't seem to sit well. Not that having capitalism (and capitalist pig-dogs) as the bad guys is necessarily a bad thing, it just came across as slightly too obvious, but also as a little simplistic and childish.
They didn't earn it, in other words. If there had been more of Wahlberg's character actively discovering that it was evil capitalist pigs doing it and it had come as a revelation of some sort that may have worked better. But as it was we were just told - especially at one point where you had an almost bond-like bad guy speech.
Which was contradictory - if this is meant to be a gritty 70s chase film, what's with the OTT baddy speech?
Still, as I say, the snipery/actiony bits were entertaining enough.
It was okay. I'm not sure I'd go much further than that.
One thing that was really cool about it was that Wahlberg was playing a sniper and they'd clearly done a lot of research about sniping and that whole thing. I mean there was obviously a lot of pure movie stuff in it, but they'd also definitely had a good crack at making it pretty accurate.
But there seemed to be a lot of things that didn't quite work too.
One thing that was odd was everybody seemed to be growling or mumbling, which made it really difficult to hear what they were saying. I think the effect was supposed to be one of making them seem menacing and moody, but instead it just came off as a kind of disinterest.
In the commentary the director kept talking about making a movie like they had in the 70s. I've heard a few people say that of recent films and I'm kinda on the fence as to whether it's a good thing.
Certainly here it didn't really seem to work - it was like everyone was too conscious of that fact. Like they were all thinking "yeah, I'm in the 70s - gotta act like the 70s". So it seemed more like a pastiche of the 70s, rather than a subtle thing.
Another problem was that Wahlberg's character seemed very dull. I don't think this was as a result of bad acting, as such, it was just that that's how Wahlberg had chosen to play him. But because he was the central character that meant I got a little bored of him.
Another major problem was the "bad guys." The bad guys kinda devolved into a bit of a "lol capitalism is evilzors and we likes it!" thing that just didn't seem to sit well. Not that having capitalism (and capitalist pig-dogs) as the bad guys is necessarily a bad thing, it just came across as slightly too obvious, but also as a little simplistic and childish.
They didn't earn it, in other words. If there had been more of Wahlberg's character actively discovering that it was evil capitalist pigs doing it and it had come as a revelation of some sort that may have worked better. But as it was we were just told - especially at one point where you had an almost bond-like bad guy speech.
Which was contradictory - if this is meant to be a gritty 70s chase film, what's with the OTT baddy speech?
Still, as I say, the snipery/actiony bits were entertaining enough.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
a writer's tale
Last night I finished reading "Doctor Who: A Writer's Tale."
It's a big book - it's about 500 pages long and the text is tiny. To put that in context, during the course of the book we get to read several (3-ish) Doctor Who scripts. Now a Doctor Who script is going to be the best part of 50 pages long if you were to read it as a script.
Admittedly scripts have a lot of white space, but still, when you consider the text of scripts includes all sorts of rewrites and when you look at it only accounts for 20% of the words in the book, you'll get a feel for how big the book is.
Anyway, what the book is is a collection of e-mails (and a few text messages for good message) sent between the head writer and executive producer of new Doctor Who, Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook, a young journalist and friend of Russell's.
It's a little difficult to explain the format of the book, but it's obvious when you actually read it. The e-mails last the course of year and during them Davies writes a handful of his own scripts for Dr Who, which is mainly the point of the book, so we get to see those scripts develop.
But also, because he's head writer, we see him rewriting other people's scripts. And because he's one of the Executive Producers he has to do all sorts of show-running stuff. On top of that it's like Cook is conducting an extended interview as well as being a friend.
What we mainly get, therefore, is something of an insight into the mind of a writer. Now Davies is always quick to stress that it's only his mind and how he works and this is what works for him and his own personal take on things, so the fundamental point is it's an exploration of his writing process.
And it's really warts and all.
There are literally pages dedicated to self-doubt and anguish. Davies sometimes spends ages procrastinating and avoiding writing, making himself miserable. We get to know about ideas that failed and bits that didn't work as well as stuff that did.
It's very interesting stuff and I'd highly recommend it... although with a little bit of coveting. If you don't know about new Doctor Who (or, indeed, old Doctor Who) it does try to explain stuff to you, but really you'll be struggling. If you don't like Doctor Who or Davies this won't do anything to convince you otherwise.
The other biggy is I dunno how a non-writer would take to it. I'm guessing quite well as there's plenty in it that's just generally entertaining, but it did feel more directed at those who've considered or actually tried to write, rather than just the general public.
It's a big book - it's about 500 pages long and the text is tiny. To put that in context, during the course of the book we get to read several (3-ish) Doctor Who scripts. Now a Doctor Who script is going to be the best part of 50 pages long if you were to read it as a script.
Admittedly scripts have a lot of white space, but still, when you consider the text of scripts includes all sorts of rewrites and when you look at it only accounts for 20% of the words in the book, you'll get a feel for how big the book is.
Anyway, what the book is is a collection of e-mails (and a few text messages for good message) sent between the head writer and executive producer of new Doctor Who, Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook, a young journalist and friend of Russell's.
It's a little difficult to explain the format of the book, but it's obvious when you actually read it. The e-mails last the course of year and during them Davies writes a handful of his own scripts for Dr Who, which is mainly the point of the book, so we get to see those scripts develop.
But also, because he's head writer, we see him rewriting other people's scripts. And because he's one of the Executive Producers he has to do all sorts of show-running stuff. On top of that it's like Cook is conducting an extended interview as well as being a friend.
What we mainly get, therefore, is something of an insight into the mind of a writer. Now Davies is always quick to stress that it's only his mind and how he works and this is what works for him and his own personal take on things, so the fundamental point is it's an exploration of his writing process.
And it's really warts and all.
There are literally pages dedicated to self-doubt and anguish. Davies sometimes spends ages procrastinating and avoiding writing, making himself miserable. We get to know about ideas that failed and bits that didn't work as well as stuff that did.
It's very interesting stuff and I'd highly recommend it... although with a little bit of coveting. If you don't know about new Doctor Who (or, indeed, old Doctor Who) it does try to explain stuff to you, but really you'll be struggling. If you don't like Doctor Who or Davies this won't do anything to convince you otherwise.
The other biggy is I dunno how a non-writer would take to it. I'm guessing quite well as there's plenty in it that's just generally entertaining, but it did feel more directed at those who've considered or actually tried to write, rather than just the general public.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
mehness
I'm a bit meh today - I kinda can't really get going on anything. I even kept coming here, starting a new entry and then quitting out :/.
I think this is because I pushed myself a bit hard to get a report done and I've sort of burnt my brain out a bit.
The reason I wanted to get it done is there's the potential I may be working on a contract over the next month or so up in London. Problem is it's all a bit p in the air. I've never seen such twoddling about in all my life :/.
Not much else to say, really. Well, there is, but I can't be arsed to type any of it out - that's kinda my point.
I think this is because I pushed myself a bit hard to get a report done and I've sort of burnt my brain out a bit.
The reason I wanted to get it done is there's the potential I may be working on a contract over the next month or so up in London. Problem is it's all a bit p in the air. I've never seen such twoddling about in all my life :/.
Not much else to say, really. Well, there is, but I can't be arsed to type any of it out - that's kinda my point.
Monday, 19 January 2009
clean-cleany
Well I did all of that cleaning I mentioned on Friday, including the car.
I was kinda lucky to some degree, as there was rain on Saturday morning which looked like it was going to confirm the less good forecasts. But it brightened up for the afternoon and the rain held off until the evening, when it was properly stormy.
Sunday actually turned out to be a pleasant day, so I could have done cleaned the car then, but all the forecasts were terrible for Sunday so I got it done Saturday. Sunday I was knackered, obviously, but all I needed to do was a bit of tidying up.
I also watched quite a few telly shows I'd recorded. One was Derren Brown's latest. I like Derren - he does tend to do "psychic" stuff, which is a bit low rent, but he does it freely admitting (even outright telling you) it's all bunk and it's just a magic trick.
One thing I did notice though is he seems to have a bit of a nervous tick, where he nods his head. I'd seen it before, but in this last show he was doing it a heck of a lot.
On Sunday I did more scanning and obviously watched some anime as I was doing it. It was a bit of a random selection though as I've now pretty much finished all the fansubs for previous season. Since I normally like to wait until I have 3 or 4 shows I can watch it'll be a while before the new January shows are options, so it was all odds and sods.
Here are my thoughts:
I was kinda lucky to some degree, as there was rain on Saturday morning which looked like it was going to confirm the less good forecasts. But it brightened up for the afternoon and the rain held off until the evening, when it was properly stormy.
Sunday actually turned out to be a pleasant day, so I could have done cleaned the car then, but all the forecasts were terrible for Sunday so I got it done Saturday. Sunday I was knackered, obviously, but all I needed to do was a bit of tidying up.
I also watched quite a few telly shows I'd recorded. One was Derren Brown's latest. I like Derren - he does tend to do "psychic" stuff, which is a bit low rent, but he does it freely admitting (even outright telling you) it's all bunk and it's just a magic trick.
One thing I did notice though is he seems to have a bit of a nervous tick, where he nods his head. I'd seen it before, but in this last show he was doing it a heck of a lot.
On Sunday I did more scanning and obviously watched some anime as I was doing it. It was a bit of a random selection though as I've now pretty much finished all the fansubs for previous season. Since I normally like to wait until I have 3 or 4 shows I can watch it'll be a while before the new January shows are options, so it was all odds and sods.
Here are my thoughts:
- Blassreiter was okay. This is one of the shows I've bought on Bost TV, so I'll end up watching all of it eventually. It was okay, but I dunno that anything about it really grabbed me. The main problem was the animation was really poor - there's a lot of CG stuff that looks like it's absorbed the budget, so the rest of it is really clunky.
- Zettai Shougeki ~Platonic Heart~ was okay. IT comes from the Ikki Tousen school, where girls fight and when they punch each other their clothes explode. So it's fan-service heavy in other words. Problem is that appears to be all it is - there's nothing else to really recommend it.
- Strike Witches (OVA) was all right. I downloaded this as a sampler, but didn't watch it before buying on Bost, but I thought I'd clear it out before starting on Strike Witches proper. I'm kinda hoping this OAV is like a sampler/trailer to the series as it didn't make a whole lot of sense and seemed to jump big stretches of the plot. Hopefully the series is a lot better. Animation was good, though.
clean cleanliness
Well I did all of that cleaning I mentioned on Friday, including the car.
I was kinda lucky to some degree, as there was rain on Saturday morning which looked like it was going to confirm the less good forecasts. But it brightened up for the afternoon and the rain held off until the evening, when it was properly stormy.
Sunday actually turned out to be a pleasant day, so I could have done cleaned the car then, but all the forecasts were terrible for Sunday so I got it done Saturday. Sunday I was knackered, obviously
Blassreiter http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=9069 ???
I was kinda lucky to some degree, as there was rain on Saturday morning which looked like it was going to confirm the less good forecasts. But it brightened up for the afternoon and the rain held off until the evening, when it was properly stormy.
Sunday actually turned out to be a pleasant day, so I could have done cleaned the car then, but all the forecasts were terrible for Sunday so I got it done Saturday. Sunday I was knackered, obviously
Blassreiter http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=9069 ???
Friday, 16 January 2009
weekend of super-cleaning
I'm going to do loads of cleaning this weekend.
The main one to do is the car - it's been months seen I cleaned my car. It needs a total going over - inside and out. The problem has been the weather - you can't really clean your car when the temperature is constantly sub-zero.
When it's not been sub-zero it's been raining, which is actually the big risk this weekend - the forecasts don't seem to be able to decide on if it's going to rain or not. The only thing they seem to have been agreeing on is that it won't be sub-zero temperatures (those return later next week :(), so that's all I'm banking on.
I've sort-of started writing again. I don't want to curse it, but I've started on a script. Well, also generally I’ve got my juices flowing a bit, but mainly I’ve started a script for my most-developed idea, Man in the Loop.
It actually occurred to me that what I've always wanted to try to write is TV stuff. Now the slight thing that makes me worry a bit here is that I've been reading "Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale" (which is awesome - I'll go into more detail when I finish it) and I'm worried I'm doing this simply because I like the book.
However, the other side to it is that when I started writing I did actually want to write telly, but sort of got distracted, I guess, into trying to do novels.
Dunno, we'll have to see if I don't just flake out again.
I've been doing a bit of scanning over the week, trying to get back up to date. The shows I've watched are:
That basically means I'm now almost up-to-date with the new January shows. There are some odds and sods left, about the only major ones being the Gonzo shows that were made available legally via Crunchyroll and Bost and I've started one of those – Blassreiter.
Speaking of Bost, it looks like it's died a death, without any new shows added in, well, years. Which is a real shame as I liked the Bost service. It's certainly way, way better than Crunchyroll, which I've decided is an abomination of a site.
The main one to do is the car - it's been months seen I cleaned my car. It needs a total going over - inside and out. The problem has been the weather - you can't really clean your car when the temperature is constantly sub-zero.
When it's not been sub-zero it's been raining, which is actually the big risk this weekend - the forecasts don't seem to be able to decide on if it's going to rain or not. The only thing they seem to have been agreeing on is that it won't be sub-zero temperatures (those return later next week :(), so that's all I'm banking on.
I've sort-of started writing again. I don't want to curse it, but I've started on a script. Well, also generally I’ve got my juices flowing a bit, but mainly I’ve started a script for my most-developed idea, Man in the Loop.
It actually occurred to me that what I've always wanted to try to write is TV stuff. Now the slight thing that makes me worry a bit here is that I've been reading "Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale" (which is awesome - I'll go into more detail when I finish it) and I'm worried I'm doing this simply because I like the book.
However, the other side to it is that when I started writing I did actually want to write telly, but sort of got distracted, I guess, into trying to do novels.
Dunno, we'll have to see if I don't just flake out again.
I've been doing a bit of scanning over the week, trying to get back up to date. The shows I've watched are:
- Tentai Senshi Sunred (Astro Fighter Sunred) was quite good. I didn't have a clue what to expect going into it, but it turned out to be a parody comedy type show. The parody is quite wide-ranging, but the most humorous aspect is that the hero is actually a bit of a jerk, whereas the evil villains are actually quite nice. The animation is a little crude, but deliberately so - think inspired by South Park.
- Tales of the Abyss was just about bearable. It's a fantasy job and it's adapted from an RPG. It was quite pretty and nicely animated, but the problem was in the story-telling - it was crammed full of info dumps and expositional speeches which were totally dull. I'm guessing it livens up later, but the poor story telling (and the general generic nature of the show) annoyed me so much I can't be arsed to even think about finding out.
That basically means I'm now almost up-to-date with the new January shows. There are some odds and sods left, about the only major ones being the Gonzo shows that were made available legally via Crunchyroll and Bost and I've started one of those – Blassreiter.
Speaking of Bost, it looks like it's died a death, without any new shows added in, well, years. Which is a real shame as I liked the Bost service. It's certainly way, way better than Crunchyroll, which I've decided is an abomination of a site.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
final destination 3
This was on over the weekend and since I was a bit knackered on Sunday, as I've mentioned, I gave it a watch.
I was quite surprised actually. I mean, it's not really brilliant, as such, but it was certainly more entertaining than I thought it was going to be.
Unlike the second one which is more of a direct sequel, in a way this was almost a complete re-hash of the first Final Destination. But generally all three have essentially followed the same format.
One of the characters gets a premonition of his and a group of his friend's deaths (usually it's a bizarre set of events that leads up to the disaster). He then panics and as a result they get out of the way when the disaster does indeed happen and loads of people die.
After that, the people who survived start to die, but crucially they do so in the order they did in the original disaster. As such, the one who foresaw the deaths works out that "Death" is out to get them. This is how it explains the bizarre accidents that caused both the original disaster, as well as the subsequent deaths.
Essentially that doesn't really matter - what the Final Destination films are really about are the bizarre deaths, which are often quite brutal and fairly violent and gory. Often they're quite darkly humorous as well and on that front 3 delivers in spades and that's why I enjoyed it.
As a film it's quite poor, but as a "watch the good-looking kids get butchered" way to spend 90-minutes it's quite entertaining.
On thing that did annoy me was that there was a whole thing about a bunch of photos that were predicting the kid's deaths. To me, this seemed un-necessarily complicated and a bit abstract for the film, tbh.
I was quite surprised actually. I mean, it's not really brilliant, as such, but it was certainly more entertaining than I thought it was going to be.
Unlike the second one which is more of a direct sequel, in a way this was almost a complete re-hash of the first Final Destination. But generally all three have essentially followed the same format.
One of the characters gets a premonition of his and a group of his friend's deaths (usually it's a bizarre set of events that leads up to the disaster). He then panics and as a result they get out of the way when the disaster does indeed happen and loads of people die.
After that, the people who survived start to die, but crucially they do so in the order they did in the original disaster. As such, the one who foresaw the deaths works out that "Death" is out to get them. This is how it explains the bizarre accidents that caused both the original disaster, as well as the subsequent deaths.
Essentially that doesn't really matter - what the Final Destination films are really about are the bizarre deaths, which are often quite brutal and fairly violent and gory. Often they're quite darkly humorous as well and on that front 3 delivers in spades and that's why I enjoyed it.
As a film it's quite poor, but as a "watch the good-looking kids get butchered" way to spend 90-minutes it's quite entertaining.
On thing that did annoy me was that there was a whole thing about a bunch of photos that were predicting the kid's deaths. To me, this seemed un-necessarily complicated and a bit abstract for the film, tbh.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
magicians
This week's rental DVD was magicians.
It stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb, who are a double act. They've had their own show on BBC, which I have to admit was a little disappointing, but they're also the stars of Peep Show on Channel 4, which is one of the best sitcoms ever.
Mitchell and Webb don't write Peep Show, but Magicians was written by the people who do. It was also directed by a guy who used to be a Magician (in fact, I think the premise for the film was his idea). It also had Jessica Stevenson in it (off of Spaced), who actually probably gave the best performance.
If I'm honest, however, the film was a little disappointing. Trouble is I've kinda been thinking through as to why and I can't work it out. I think it was more about a combination of little things, rather than anything major.
For one thing it didn't really seem to actually have a stance on magicians themselves. Whilst that sort of thing is clearly just a backdrop to the story (stories are always about characters) it still came across as being partly appreciating magicians and partly thinking they're sados.
Another problem was that the jokes seemed a bit thin. Whilst you expect movies to be more focused on a core plot than perhaps a TV sitcom can get away with, doing so to the detriment of the gags seems like a bad idea.
I also found it difficult to like or, indeed, sympathise with any of the characters. In the peep show, I can understand Mitchell and Webb's characters as people, even when they behave despicably. Here they both just seemed like people I didn't really care about.
There wasn't enough establishing them as people for me to care about - just a montage of photos over the credits and a single scene where they chop a woman's head off. Why does this make me care about them? I didn't really care about her.
That last one is actually a pretty big one and may be the core story.
It certainly carries over into my frustration over David Mitchell's character and Jessica Stevenson - their relationship is all over the place and it actually got a little annoying (and confusing, to be honest).
Lastly is a bit of an odd one - it sort of seems like it's trying to be a parody of The Prestige. Unfortunately it only does the in a half-arsed way, plus The Prestige is a brilliant film and doesn't really deserve any sort of parodying.
It stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb, who are a double act. They've had their own show on BBC, which I have to admit was a little disappointing, but they're also the stars of Peep Show on Channel 4, which is one of the best sitcoms ever.
Mitchell and Webb don't write Peep Show, but Magicians was written by the people who do. It was also directed by a guy who used to be a Magician (in fact, I think the premise for the film was his idea). It also had Jessica Stevenson in it (off of Spaced), who actually probably gave the best performance.
If I'm honest, however, the film was a little disappointing. Trouble is I've kinda been thinking through as to why and I can't work it out. I think it was more about a combination of little things, rather than anything major.
For one thing it didn't really seem to actually have a stance on magicians themselves. Whilst that sort of thing is clearly just a backdrop to the story (stories are always about characters) it still came across as being partly appreciating magicians and partly thinking they're sados.
Another problem was that the jokes seemed a bit thin. Whilst you expect movies to be more focused on a core plot than perhaps a TV sitcom can get away with, doing so to the detriment of the gags seems like a bad idea.
I also found it difficult to like or, indeed, sympathise with any of the characters. In the peep show, I can understand Mitchell and Webb's characters as people, even when they behave despicably. Here they both just seemed like people I didn't really care about.
There wasn't enough establishing them as people for me to care about - just a montage of photos over the credits and a single scene where they chop a woman's head off. Why does this make me care about them? I didn't really care about her.
That last one is actually a pretty big one and may be the core story.
It certainly carries over into my frustration over David Mitchell's character and Jessica Stevenson - their relationship is all over the place and it actually got a little annoying (and confusing, to be honest).
Lastly is a bit of an odd one - it sort of seems like it's trying to be a parody of The Prestige. Unfortunately it only does the in a half-arsed way, plus The Prestige is a brilliant film and doesn't really deserve any sort of parodying.
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
yesterday's meeting
I was away all day yesterday for a work meeting. It wasn't the most productive. I thought I'd laid quite a good groundwork for a suggestion I made, but when it came down to it the customer didn't really seem at all keen.
I was told to give it a go, but as a 'redo' so that she could compare it to the existing one. So I've now got to do that, but I think I need to make it somewhat funky so that it's more impressive than I would otherwise have done and so wins the point.
Anyway I was a bit disheartened by that result to the meeting, so I was edging towards a bad mood. Then, when I was driving home the traffic was horrendous.
A while back some signs went up saying that they were going to be some roadwork's at the traffic lights that are just down the road from me. When the date came the workmen appeared, but the roadwork's actually seemed fairly minor.
However, I now suspect that was due to the extremely cold weather and they've only now started properly.
It's an absolute nightmare - they've turned the normal lights off and put temporary ones it. But of course the temporary ones have a completely different timing to the normal ones so that traffic quickly backs up and I got trapped in it yesterday.
I've had a look on multimap as I've always know there are some rat-run type minor roads that connect the main roads. I think I've identified an alternative route.
It kinda depends on the queue not reaching biblical proportions - if it spills all the way back on the A31 there's little I can do - but otherwise I should be able to muddle my way through.
This last weekend was a bit of an odd one. I sort of dashed around on Friday and Saturday like a blue-arsed fly. I was trying to get stuff done so I clear the decks and spend all Sunday scanning staff but I think I actually burnt myself out a bit so I only did a bit of scanning (well, it was a fair bit, but not quite what I'd planned).
Anyway, I watched some of the last stuff from the October '08 season:
There are only one or two more shows to go, which is quite good timing as the half-season January '09 shows are just starting to get fansubbed.
Interestingly, though, quite a few appear to be now featuring on Crunchyroll. I have mixed feelings about that, as I'm not a fan of the crunchyroll site, but it's good to see that it's starting to happen.
I was told to give it a go, but as a 'redo' so that she could compare it to the existing one. So I've now got to do that, but I think I need to make it somewhat funky so that it's more impressive than I would otherwise have done and so wins the point.
Anyway I was a bit disheartened by that result to the meeting, so I was edging towards a bad mood. Then, when I was driving home the traffic was horrendous.
A while back some signs went up saying that they were going to be some roadwork's at the traffic lights that are just down the road from me. When the date came the workmen appeared, but the roadwork's actually seemed fairly minor.
However, I now suspect that was due to the extremely cold weather and they've only now started properly.
It's an absolute nightmare - they've turned the normal lights off and put temporary ones it. But of course the temporary ones have a completely different timing to the normal ones so that traffic quickly backs up and I got trapped in it yesterday.
I've had a look on multimap as I've always know there are some rat-run type minor roads that connect the main roads. I think I've identified an alternative route.
It kinda depends on the queue not reaching biblical proportions - if it spills all the way back on the A31 there's little I can do - but otherwise I should be able to muddle my way through.
This last weekend was a bit of an odd one. I sort of dashed around on Friday and Saturday like a blue-arsed fly. I was trying to get stuff done so I clear the decks and spend all Sunday scanning staff but I think I actually burnt myself out a bit so I only did a bit of scanning (well, it was a fair bit, but not quite what I'd planned).
Anyway, I watched some of the last stuff from the October '08 season:
- Hakushaku to Yosei (Earl and Fairy) was, if I'm honest, dull. It's sort of set in England from around the Edwardian or Victorian era somewhere, though only nominally - loads of it is inaccurate/fictionalised. It's also clearly aimed at girls with a pretty boy male lead who the girl is falling in love with but he's a bit of a bad boy rogue type... blah, blah, dull.
- Inazuma Eleven was okay, I guess. It's a kid's show and as those sorts of things go it was reasonable enough. It was sort of about a football (soccer) team, but it was quickly apparent this was more fantasy than actual football.
- Mouryou no Hako was really good. It was a bit on the weird side - there seems to be a lot of hidden mystery and quite a complex plot, but then those are never bad things :).
There are only one or two more shows to go, which is quite good timing as the half-season January '09 shows are just starting to get fansubbed.
Interestingly, though, quite a few appear to be now featuring on Crunchyroll. I have mixed feelings about that, as I'm not a fan of the crunchyroll site, but it's good to see that it's starting to happen.
Friday, 9 January 2009
animu holiday (well, not really)
As I noted I didn't get anywhere near doing all the stuff I wanted to over the holidays.
I did manage to get a bit of scanning done - I did the two megamis that I had, but I still have a newtype, animage and animedia left and the new ones will be arriving pretty soon.
The anime bits I watched while I scanned were:
I also watched Maburaho over my holidays. It was, quite frankly, poor, but I'll do a proper review at some point, so I won't go on about it too much here.
I've also had two good pieces of news on the anime front. Firstly, a series I loved when it came out called Oh! Edo Rocket is going to be released by Funimation and secondly Baccano! is coming out on DVD this month, also from Funimation.
Both shows are really great and I'd recommend checking both out if you get the chance.
I did manage to get a bit of scanning done - I did the two megamis that I had, but I still have a newtype, animage and animedia left and the new ones will be arriving pretty soon.
The anime bits I watched while I scanned were:
- Nodame Cantabile: Paris was really rather good. This is actually a sequel, and I'd not seen the other series, so I only watched the first episode to get a flavour. I liked what I saw and may well look to see if it's purchasable (though obviously once I clear some other stuff).
- Jigoku Shoujo Mitsugane was also surprisingly good. Like Nodame this was also a sequel (in fact I actually thing it's a part 3 :/) to a show I'd not watched so I only took in the first episode. It seems quite dark and rather harsh in that eastern ghost story style, but then I've no problems with that. I know the first season of this is available, so I'll definitely be picking it up.
- One Outs was another one that was surprisingly good. Weirdly it reminded me of a show called Kaiji but it's not really got any real relationship to that manga/anime. It was more just the story style: heavy on the exposition, but in a thoughtful way. I was also surprised because it was about baseball (well, it's set in the world of baseball - it's not really about baseball, as such) and I don't really like baseball, but I still enjoyed this.
I also watched Maburaho over my holidays. It was, quite frankly, poor, but I'll do a proper review at some point, so I won't go on about it too much here.
I've also had two good pieces of news on the anime front. Firstly, a series I loved when it came out called Oh! Edo Rocket is going to be released by Funimation and secondly Baccano! is coming out on DVD this month, also from Funimation.
Both shows are really great and I'd recommend checking both out if you get the chance.
Thursday, 8 January 2009
sunshine
The last rental I had from last month's lot was Sunshine, which is directed by Danny Boyle.
Boyle has done lots of great films - Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later - and this is no exception. It really is a good film.
Interestingly, it's a proper sci-fi film as well. The plot is a little hokey - it's about them restarting the sun with a bomb, which is wrong on so many scientific levels, but apart from that is was pretty accurate, scientifically.
One of the unfortunate things with doing proper science fiction nowadays is that you have some true giants in the field - Solaris and 2001AD come to mind as particular example here, but also things like the first Alien and Bladerunner ride a cusp of respectability too. How Boyle deals with this is quite interesting - he essentially ploughs on regardless.
In other words, rather than fret over how something might be "a bit like 2001AD", or make it a homage or try to do something completely (self-consciously) different, he just does it - if it's the same/similar or reminiscent then fair enough, if it isn't then that's good as well.
It makes for a much straighter film. It makes it more believable - that stuff was like that in those other films and this one too, because we've both got it right, if that makes any sense.
There are also some interesting sub-texts to the film, dealing especially with God and the meta-physical, and it kinda makes you think quite a bit, but not in a particularly brow-beating manner, the questions are just there if you want to explore them.
It's also stunningly pretty. The CGI of the spaceship is some of the best I've seen - and what's more, it was apparently a fairly low-budget film. CGI is at such a state of maturity nowadays it's almost scary.
I kinda abandoned the whole "I always prefer 'real' effects to CGI" attitude when I learnt that the end shot of Spiderman 2 was entirely artificial. Sunshine just confirms that digital is now so good you generally can't tell the difference.
Boyle has done lots of great films - Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later - and this is no exception. It really is a good film.
Interestingly, it's a proper sci-fi film as well. The plot is a little hokey - it's about them restarting the sun with a bomb, which is wrong on so many scientific levels, but apart from that is was pretty accurate, scientifically.
One of the unfortunate things with doing proper science fiction nowadays is that you have some true giants in the field - Solaris and 2001AD come to mind as particular example here, but also things like the first Alien and Bladerunner ride a cusp of respectability too. How Boyle deals with this is quite interesting - he essentially ploughs on regardless.
In other words, rather than fret over how something might be "a bit like 2001AD", or make it a homage or try to do something completely (self-consciously) different, he just does it - if it's the same/similar or reminiscent then fair enough, if it isn't then that's good as well.
It makes for a much straighter film. It makes it more believable - that stuff was like that in those other films and this one too, because we've both got it right, if that makes any sense.
There are also some interesting sub-texts to the film, dealing especially with God and the meta-physical, and it kinda makes you think quite a bit, but not in a particularly brow-beating manner, the questions are just there if you want to explore them.
It's also stunningly pretty. The CGI of the spaceship is some of the best I've seen - and what's more, it was apparently a fairly low-budget film. CGI is at such a state of maturity nowadays it's almost scary.
I kinda abandoned the whole "I always prefer 'real' effects to CGI" attitude when I learnt that the end shot of Spiderman 2 was entirely artificial. Sunshine just confirms that digital is now so good you generally can't tell the difference.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
the golden compass
While I was down at my Dad's over the Christmas holiday we watched this.
I've got to say it was pretty poor in my opinion. The problem - and I find this very odd given it's based on some very popular books - was that it was very poorly written.
It kept making the classic error of telling us stuff and not showing us, which is a horrible mistake for a film to make, especially. The whole ethos of show don't tell is because of movies and they effect they've had on us all.
There were some striking examples of this. In one scene the main girl, Lyra, goes and find these two young boys in a hut in the middle of a snowy-waste. Now how the hell these boys got there we don't know and the cardinal sin comes later. A nurse explains that the boys escaped, but we never see.
Okay, so maybe we didn't need to see it before Lyra finds them, but a quick flash to the boys escaping when the nurse said it would have sufficed, but we didn't get that either.
And that was just one small example - there were loads of things we should have seen (probably in cutaways) rather than characters telling us.
But there was another problem: dust. In this world, "dust" is a bit like a catch-all pseudo-religious thing. The problem is I dunno if you've ever seen Little Britain, but dust is kinda a comical word for me from that series.
It's also a bit confusing - dust is dust as well as being mythical dust :/. Couldn't they have had a better name?
The only really good part was to do with the polar bears, which was quite a well realised sub-plot. It also had some really great CGI effects. So great that, slightly ironically, the fake polar bears actually seemed a bit more real than the human characters.
Sorry, that's a bit harsh, but I have to say the cap to the poorness of the film was that the performances weren't all that great. They sort of seemed a bit pedestrian - a bit plodding where they should have been more up-beat and had more oomph.
I've got to say it was pretty poor in my opinion. The problem - and I find this very odd given it's based on some very popular books - was that it was very poorly written.
It kept making the classic error of telling us stuff and not showing us, which is a horrible mistake for a film to make, especially. The whole ethos of show don't tell is because of movies and they effect they've had on us all.
There were some striking examples of this. In one scene the main girl, Lyra, goes and find these two young boys in a hut in the middle of a snowy-waste. Now how the hell these boys got there we don't know and the cardinal sin comes later. A nurse explains that the boys escaped, but we never see.
Okay, so maybe we didn't need to see it before Lyra finds them, but a quick flash to the boys escaping when the nurse said it would have sufficed, but we didn't get that either.
And that was just one small example - there were loads of things we should have seen (probably in cutaways) rather than characters telling us.
But there was another problem: dust. In this world, "dust" is a bit like a catch-all pseudo-religious thing. The problem is I dunno if you've ever seen Little Britain, but dust is kinda a comical word for me from that series.
It's also a bit confusing - dust is dust as well as being mythical dust :/. Couldn't they have had a better name?
The only really good part was to do with the polar bears, which was quite a well realised sub-plot. It also had some really great CGI effects. So great that, slightly ironically, the fake polar bears actually seemed a bit more real than the human characters.
Sorry, that's a bit harsh, but I have to say the cap to the poorness of the film was that the performances weren't all that great. They sort of seemed a bit pedestrian - a bit plodding where they should have been more up-beat and had more oomph.
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
retourney avec les work
So today is my first day back at work. *sigh*
I've been spending most of the day generally sorting out as well as trying to remember everything from where I put my coffee mug to what the heck I've been doing on the project I'm currently working on.
I did get one shock when I came in this morning - the new girl, Jane, has taken Ralph's desk. And I don't just mean she's perched there while he's away, but all of Ralph's stuff is piled up on a chair by the side of the desk.
One thing I would say is that at least she doesn't appear to tap her feet like Ralph did! But it could be a bit weird when he eventually comes back :/.
I'll put some updates later about all the stuff I got up. But in summery: 1) It's been FUCKING COLD and 2) I didn't do anywhere near as much as I'd hoped.
The second one was pretty obvious and happens every time I go on holiday. For some reason I always get it into my head that holiday days are somehow equivalent to about 3 work days, so I always plan to do way more than is actually possible. The reality is of course that holidays are only about 1/3rd that of work days, what with all the lie-ins and long lunches :).
I've been spending most of the day generally sorting out as well as trying to remember everything from where I put my coffee mug to what the heck I've been doing on the project I'm currently working on.
I did get one shock when I came in this morning - the new girl, Jane, has taken Ralph's desk. And I don't just mean she's perched there while he's away, but all of Ralph's stuff is piled up on a chair by the side of the desk.
One thing I would say is that at least she doesn't appear to tap her feet like Ralph did! But it could be a bit weird when he eventually comes back :/.
I'll put some updates later about all the stuff I got up. But in summery: 1) It's been FUCKING COLD and 2) I didn't do anywhere near as much as I'd hoped.
The second one was pretty obvious and happens every time I go on holiday. For some reason I always get it into my head that holiday days are somehow equivalent to about 3 work days, so I always plan to do way more than is actually possible. The reality is of course that holidays are only about 1/3rd that of work days, what with all the lie-ins and long lunches :).
Friday, 19 December 2008
chrimbalo holidays
Today is my last day of work before the holidays. Indeed, it's my last day of work for the entirety of 2008.
As such, since I actually post these blogs while I'm at work, updates are going to become a bit erratic.
I'm sure I'll post occasionally - probably as I watch films and TV and anime and stuff, but it won't be regular updates. Although if things go to plan and I watch all the stuff I'm intending too, it may actually mean more bloggage.
Anyway, the point is yay - no more work for two whole weeks!
As such, since I actually post these blogs while I'm at work, updates are going to become a bit erratic.
I'm sure I'll post occasionally - probably as I watch films and TV and anime and stuff, but it won't be regular updates. Although if things go to plan and I watch all the stuff I'm intending too, it may actually mean more bloggage.
Anyway, the point is yay - no more work for two whole weeks!
Thursday, 18 December 2008
ultraviolet
So the third film I watched this last weekend was called Ultraviolet.
It had Milla Jovovich in it and she looked pretty hot, but the movie itself was pretty awful.
It was written and directed by the same guy who did Equilibrium, which was a film I enjoyed, although it was somewhat flawed and it's these same flaws that have unfortunately been magnified here - the main one being that the plot was quite poor.
Now in Equilibrium it sort of worked. There were enough good bits to counteract the bits that didn't quite make sense and so overall it held together. However, in Ultraviolet the balance was the other way - there were just too many bits that didn't make sense to hold the whole film together.
What's worse is that at the very beginning it started off with this naff voiceover that almost underlined how clichéd everything was. Not that I have fundamental problems with cliché or genre-pieces, but it was contradictory: if you're going to leave stuff out or not explain it properly to make it seem more mysterious/complex, then don't have a narration that says "here's the plot, it's really simple."
The two just don't mesh together and all it does is highlight the fact your plot is a big mess.
It was also very confusing, partly as a result of the plot, but there were other problems too. One of the strangest was that at the very beginning the opening titles played over a series of shots of comics and manga. The music that played was also very reminiscent of the music that's used over the marvel credits for their films.
But here's the thing - it's not based on a marvel comic book. It's not actually based on any comic - it's an original work.
My guess was that the aim was to make it seem like that was the theme of the film and how to take it, but for me it was just confusing. If it's not based on a comic, don't have a load of pictures of comic books at the beginning.
Plus, for me the film owed way more to video games than it did comic-books. The action scenes were all way more like something you'd see if you were looking over the shoulder of someone playing a game than reading a comic.
Which is a fascination I myself don't quite understand - playing video games is fun and entertaining. Sitting and watching somebody else play a game (which is what films like this end up being) is not fun. So why do they keep making movies like that?
And yet, despite the drubbing I've given there's part of me that felt there were some interesting ideas kicking about here. It's like the world that was created and the character of Ultraviolet are kinda intriguing, it's just this film wasn't very good.
And I'm guessing that's why the film has spawned an anime (Ultraviolet: Code 044), although it does also help to explain why that anime is a bit rubbish :/.
It had Milla Jovovich in it and she looked pretty hot, but the movie itself was pretty awful.
It was written and directed by the same guy who did Equilibrium, which was a film I enjoyed, although it was somewhat flawed and it's these same flaws that have unfortunately been magnified here - the main one being that the plot was quite poor.
Now in Equilibrium it sort of worked. There were enough good bits to counteract the bits that didn't quite make sense and so overall it held together. However, in Ultraviolet the balance was the other way - there were just too many bits that didn't make sense to hold the whole film together.
What's worse is that at the very beginning it started off with this naff voiceover that almost underlined how clichéd everything was. Not that I have fundamental problems with cliché or genre-pieces, but it was contradictory: if you're going to leave stuff out or not explain it properly to make it seem more mysterious/complex, then don't have a narration that says "here's the plot, it's really simple."
The two just don't mesh together and all it does is highlight the fact your plot is a big mess.
It was also very confusing, partly as a result of the plot, but there were other problems too. One of the strangest was that at the very beginning the opening titles played over a series of shots of comics and manga. The music that played was also very reminiscent of the music that's used over the marvel credits for their films.
But here's the thing - it's not based on a marvel comic book. It's not actually based on any comic - it's an original work.
My guess was that the aim was to make it seem like that was the theme of the film and how to take it, but for me it was just confusing. If it's not based on a comic, don't have a load of pictures of comic books at the beginning.
Plus, for me the film owed way more to video games than it did comic-books. The action scenes were all way more like something you'd see if you were looking over the shoulder of someone playing a game than reading a comic.
Which is a fascination I myself don't quite understand - playing video games is fun and entertaining. Sitting and watching somebody else play a game (which is what films like this end up being) is not fun. So why do they keep making movies like that?
And yet, despite the drubbing I've given there's part of me that felt there were some interesting ideas kicking about here. It's like the world that was created and the character of Ultraviolet are kinda intriguing, it's just this film wasn't very good.
And I'm guessing that's why the film has spawned an anime (Ultraviolet: Code 044), although it does also help to explain why that anime is a bit rubbish :/.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
lucky number slevin
It was quite the film watching weekend this last weekend.
I kinda got to Sunday afternoon and sort of knew I should do some things (like scan megami, etc) but that thing I was talking about last week about how I'm sort of treading water until the holidays really kicked into overdrive. So instead I basically just watched a bunch of films and TV I've recorded. Which isn't a bad thing - it cleared up some stuff I've had on my to do list.
Anyway, one of the films was Lucky Number Slevin.
I had almost no idea what this was going to be about, and was kinda surprised at how good it actually was.
However, I did kinda guess the end. I mean, there were a couple of little twists I didn't see, but I'd figured out the big reveals some way before they actually happened. Although to some extent I wasn't sure if they were really meant to be hidden that deeply anyway. It was a bit like a twist movie that didn't try too hard to hide its twists so that it was a bit fairer on the audience, if that makes sense.
Also, I have to say that Bruce Willis's performance was very poor. I think to some extent it was supposed to be aloof and distant, but the trouble was it was too far that way. It kinda came off as him just going through the motions, rather than making the character interesting on any level.
However, I think partly that was because the other characters were all really top-notch and interesting. In fact they really pulled the movie through, which was why the whole twist thing seemed less important. It was more about the characters than the plot, if you see what I mean.
Which is a good thing, don't get me wrong, it just meant Willis's detached and cold character stuck out like a soar thumb, because everybody else had a wit as sharp as a razor.
Although saying that it did seem a bit odd on that front, especially when you see Morgan Freeman and Ben Kinglsey's characters. Freeman especially seems rather too jovial for a man who's just been through what he's been through (I'm trying to avoid any spoilers), but I guess it sort of makes sense when you see the twist.
Anyway, the point is it's a film well worth checking out.
I kinda got to Sunday afternoon and sort of knew I should do some things (like scan megami, etc) but that thing I was talking about last week about how I'm sort of treading water until the holidays really kicked into overdrive. So instead I basically just watched a bunch of films and TV I've recorded. Which isn't a bad thing - it cleared up some stuff I've had on my to do list.
Anyway, one of the films was Lucky Number Slevin.
I had almost no idea what this was going to be about, and was kinda surprised at how good it actually was.
However, I did kinda guess the end. I mean, there were a couple of little twists I didn't see, but I'd figured out the big reveals some way before they actually happened. Although to some extent I wasn't sure if they were really meant to be hidden that deeply anyway. It was a bit like a twist movie that didn't try too hard to hide its twists so that it was a bit fairer on the audience, if that makes sense.
Also, I have to say that Bruce Willis's performance was very poor. I think to some extent it was supposed to be aloof and distant, but the trouble was it was too far that way. It kinda came off as him just going through the motions, rather than making the character interesting on any level.
However, I think partly that was because the other characters were all really top-notch and interesting. In fact they really pulled the movie through, which was why the whole twist thing seemed less important. It was more about the characters than the plot, if you see what I mean.
Which is a good thing, don't get me wrong, it just meant Willis's detached and cold character stuck out like a soar thumb, because everybody else had a wit as sharp as a razor.
Although saying that it did seem a bit odd on that front, especially when you see Morgan Freeman and Ben Kinglsey's characters. Freeman especially seems rather too jovial for a man who's just been through what he's been through (I'm trying to avoid any spoilers), but I guess it sort of makes sense when you see the twist.
Anyway, the point is it's a film well worth checking out.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
the last king of scotland
This last weekend's rental DVD was the excellent The Last King of Scotland, starring Forest Whittaker.
I've almost not got much to say about this that isn't summed up by the praise that's already been heaped upon it. It's a very good film, based on what I'm guessing is probably a very good book.
There was one slight thing that niggled at me, though, and this is more of a general point than specifically about this film - it isn't real... but it is.
Basically, the main character in it (apart from Idi Amin) is entirely fictional - he's basically been inserted into the story to give it a narrative structure and to allow us viewers a way in. But because it's a film about this fictional character there's a distinct blurring between fact and reality.
This invented character is not some dispassionate observer, he's intimately locked up in a story with Amin and it's that story that we really follow - the fictional one. But we're also tracking along with real events. Things that actually happened are in the story too, but again, lines become blurred.
The problem with this is there's a part in it towards the end that's very shocking but that didn't actually happen. It was a malicious rumour that was there at the time, but the problem is that when you see it in the film it seems like it was real. But because the film is fictional it can put that stuff in.
I dunno if that makes much sense - what I'm getting at is that I'm a little uncomfortable with the whole blurring the lines of reality and fiction like that. And as I say, that's a general thing, rather than just specifically a problem with Last King.
Anyway, you can certainly see why Whittaker won an Oscar for his portrayal of Amin. It's a truly fascinating portrayal of a fascinating man.
Which is where the film really excels. Amin was clearly a monster, being responsible for the deaths of around 300,000 Ugandans (and it's not exactly a densely populated country) and yet that's not all we're shown.
He's not shown simply as some slavering psychotic, but instead as just a man (albeit a very charismatic one). And it's that which made him truly scary.
I've almost not got much to say about this that isn't summed up by the praise that's already been heaped upon it. It's a very good film, based on what I'm guessing is probably a very good book.
There was one slight thing that niggled at me, though, and this is more of a general point than specifically about this film - it isn't real... but it is.
Basically, the main character in it (apart from Idi Amin) is entirely fictional - he's basically been inserted into the story to give it a narrative structure and to allow us viewers a way in. But because it's a film about this fictional character there's a distinct blurring between fact and reality.
This invented character is not some dispassionate observer, he's intimately locked up in a story with Amin and it's that story that we really follow - the fictional one. But we're also tracking along with real events. Things that actually happened are in the story too, but again, lines become blurred.
The problem with this is there's a part in it towards the end that's very shocking but that didn't actually happen. It was a malicious rumour that was there at the time, but the problem is that when you see it in the film it seems like it was real. But because the film is fictional it can put that stuff in.
I dunno if that makes much sense - what I'm getting at is that I'm a little uncomfortable with the whole blurring the lines of reality and fiction like that. And as I say, that's a general thing, rather than just specifically a problem with Last King.
Anyway, you can certainly see why Whittaker won an Oscar for his portrayal of Amin. It's a truly fascinating portrayal of a fascinating man.
Which is where the film really excels. Amin was clearly a monster, being responsible for the deaths of around 300,000 Ugandans (and it's not exactly a densely populated country) and yet that's not all we're shown.
He's not shown simply as some slavering psychotic, but instead as just a man (albeit a very charismatic one). And it's that which made him truly scary.
Monday, 15 December 2008
break out the winter warming
I bought some additional heating this weekend.
It's an oil filled radiator - basically it's a bit like a normal radiator, but it plugs into the mains and is filled with oil. I've heard these are quite an efficient type of heaters but I really bought it because where I set when I'm on my PC is the coldest part of where I live.
I won't go into the details why, but it basically I can be sat at my PC with loads of jumpers on still shivering and then I'll get up to make a cup of tea and the rest of the room is sweltering hot. I bought the radiator so that I can plug it in and get some direct heat.
I went for the oil filled partly because of the efficiency, but also because fan heaters and convectors tend to blow hot air about and it can dry my eyes and throat out.
Anyway, we'll have to see if the £60 it cost is worth it. I'm hoping it works out cheaper than just spending £60 on more electricity and using my other convector heater. Signs seemed to be good following my testing over the weekend.
The other good news from the weekend is that I have finally finished scanning all of my artbooks. I'm a fair way off of finishing all scanning, but it's something of a landmark, I think.
While I was scanning the last book I also watched the following shows:
It's an oil filled radiator - basically it's a bit like a normal radiator, but it plugs into the mains and is filled with oil. I've heard these are quite an efficient type of heaters but I really bought it because where I set when I'm on my PC is the coldest part of where I live.
I won't go into the details why, but it basically I can be sat at my PC with loads of jumpers on still shivering and then I'll get up to make a cup of tea and the rest of the room is sweltering hot. I bought the radiator so that I can plug it in and get some direct heat.
I went for the oil filled partly because of the efficiency, but also because fan heaters and convectors tend to blow hot air about and it can dry my eyes and throat out.
Anyway, we'll have to see if the £60 it cost is worth it. I'm hoping it works out cheaper than just spending £60 on more electricity and using my other convector heater. Signs seemed to be good following my testing over the weekend.
The other good news from the weekend is that I have finally finished scanning all of my artbooks. I'm a fair way off of finishing all scanning, but it's something of a landmark, I think.
While I was scanning the last book I also watched the following shows:
- Kemeko DX was distinctly "meh". To be honest I can't really be bothered to explain any more about it - let's just say it was nothing special and leave it at that.
- Ga-Rei -Zero- was okay. It unfortunately started really flatly - the first two episodes seemed to be too much action and not enough plot and the characters seemed very lightly defined. But then, in episode three there was a sudden change when it wall all bout two of the characters and suddenly it was interesting. I've no idea how the show would develop, but I'm urging on the side of it not being all that good given the first 2 eps.
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