wanted

This weeks rental DVD was... nothing. I didn't have one for some reason. I've generally found lovefilm to be pretty good - certainly they've maintained quicker turn-around times than I used to get with the old Amazon system.

However, this week, even though I sent the disc back on Monday there was no sign of my next rental. I checked it at the end of the week and was going to report it as a problem, but it said to give it 4 days. I then got my "it's been sent" e-mail on Saturday.

Dunno why there was the delay, but either way it meant I didn't have a rental disk to watch. This was advantageous in a way as it meant I watched more telly shows, but it also gave me the chance to watch a purchased DVD - in this case wanted.

Overall, it's a pretty fun movie.

The basic idea is that the hero is a super-assassin with special powers but at the start of the movie he doesn't know that. During the course of the movie he learns all about his powers as well as the Fraternity, a secret cabal of assassins who shape fate.

I won't do a full review here as I'll leave that for trismugistus.com at a later date, but overall I'd recommend watching it.

I wouldn't say the plot was all that great, but it's a real roller coaster action film that provides a lot of really enjoyable fights and chases. After it finished I had quite a lots of bits where I thought "that didn't make any sense" or "why did that happen?" but it's that sort of movie.

Visually it's stunning, especially since it doesn't do anything too over-the-top with the camera. Often you can watch these films and feel ill because the camera's swirling about all over the place. Here, although there are plenty of stylistic flourishes, the action is filmed in a much more straight way and so it's much easier to watch and enjoy.

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I finished Derren Brown's book "Tricks of the Mind" over the weekend. I think I mentioned this when I started reading it and it's not that it's taken me months to read, more that I read the first half really quickly, then left it on the shelf for months and then picked it up again a little while ago.

Not sure why I did that - I've enjoyed the book - I just, I don't know, kinda got distracted, maybe?

Anyway, it's a real mish-mash of stuff, which is cool. I mean as an example there's a section on techniques for improving your memory but there's also a bit on debunking pseudo-science/mysticism and why Derren is no longer a Christian. It's quite a range of subjects, but then also it's a range of styles - memory stuff is verging on self-help (that's the wrong word, but you get the idea) whereas the debunking is more polemic.

But then you've also got humorous stories and anecdotes that border on making the book auto-biographical and stuff on how to do hypnosis as well as a fascinating discussion on why hypnosis doesn't actually exist mixed in there as well. As I say, weird mix, but it certainly works.