They've broken total wipeout.
Not irreparably so; not so much that it's unwatchable, but they've definitely managed to break it.
Or, more specifically, they've managed to break the ending.
For those that don't know, the basic idea with wipeout is they have a series of rounds and in each round they eliminate some of the competitors. For the most recent series, the sequence of rounds is 1) the qualifier 2) Crash mountain 3) Dizzy Dummies and then the final 4) the wipeout zone.
Now while there's never been a clear progression of toughness - rounds 1, 2 and 3 are difficult, but in different ways - the point is that each round is tough. And that's what they've broken - the wipeout zone, which is meant to be the culmination of the show, where only the toughest competitors get too, is now a piece of piss.
What makes this annoying is that it used to be difficult and they've steadily replaced all of the obstacles such that now they're basically all easy.
It used to start with the barrel run. This was difficult, because the barrels were huge. It's been replaced with killer surf, which can be tough, unless you're quick, in which case it's a piece of cake, and of course those that get to the final tend to be the quickest.
Next is a sort of seesaw balance beam thing, which is a piece of piss - no-one has vaguely even struggled. In the beginning this was a climbing wall with water gushing down that was genuinely tough.
Then is this obstacle course sweeper thing, which is about the toughest element, though even here it used to be a lot harder with people falling off all the time.
The last two bits are a rope swing and a spinning platform thing. To be fair, some people do struggle with this, but the old obstacle, which was a series of trampolines, was universally hard.
And that's how they've broken it - they filter down to the fittest, toughest competitors and then give them a (relatively) easy set of obstacles. The qualifier is now tougher than the wipeout zone!
You can even tell that by the times - people regularly finish the wipeout zone in less than two minutes (I wouldn't be surprised if we see some sub-one minute times this season), whereas two minutes is still a really good and rare time on the qualifier - it takes most people 4 minutes+.
I mean, I still enjoy the show, it's just they need to toughen the wipeout zone up again.
Friday, 11 February 2011
Thursday, 10 February 2011
the parole officer
Well, this was a bit of a surprise, but not in the way I was hoping for.
I was hoping that it would be a hidden gem. I know it's received some mixed reviews, but I was kinda hoping, because I generally quite like Coogan's stuff, that I'd really enjoy it.
And I did basically enjoy it, but "really" enjoy it is a bit far past the mark. The reason I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped is rather unusual, though.
You might think, with it being a comedy, that I didn't find it funny, but, on the whole, I did find it funny. I have to confess the comedy was a bit of a mixed bag - there's a real mix of low brow stuff and clever and subtle gags. And while I'd say it was a weird mix, it does basically work and basically succeeds in giving you something for everyone.
It's also a heist movie in the tradition of something like the old Ealing comedies like The Ladykillers. So you might think that I didn't like this aspect of it, but actually I did. The heist is daft and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's also quite clever and witty, so I enjoyed this aspect of it.
No, what took the edge of for me was big chunks of it didn't quite make logical sense. Now as I've said, the heist plot was silly and not realistic, but I'm talking about the internal logic of the film.
I'll give you a good example that also doesn't really spoil anything. Having got into a bit of a fix, Coogan ends up quitting his job in Manchester - he's running away, basically. He says that he's going to go back to his old job in Brighton. In the next scene we see him waking up having slept in his car in what appears to be the Lake District.
Now what this suggested to me was that, for whatever reason he's parked up in the Lake District to have a kip while on the journey back to Brighton. It's at this point he has a revelation and decides to return to Manchester. Fair enough.
But it's later shown that he has a house, which must be in Manchester. I'd thought, from how it was shown, that he'd only just moved to Manchester, so perhaps his house was in Brighton and he was in the process of buying one in Manchester.
But no, he has a house in Manchester and decided, completely at random, to go and sleep in his car in the Lake District.
I know that sounds like me over thinking things and it's meant to be a light hearted comedy, but that sort of stuff happens so often it kept jarring me out of the film as I kept going "eh?"
I'll give you another example - towards the end, Coogan's character runs into some of the bad guys. Now this is a coincidence in itself, but also, these criminals are apparently attending a Police ceremony where they're giving awards to their officers. Why the hell are they even there?
I was hoping that it would be a hidden gem. I know it's received some mixed reviews, but I was kinda hoping, because I generally quite like Coogan's stuff, that I'd really enjoy it.
And I did basically enjoy it, but "really" enjoy it is a bit far past the mark. The reason I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped is rather unusual, though.
You might think, with it being a comedy, that I didn't find it funny, but, on the whole, I did find it funny. I have to confess the comedy was a bit of a mixed bag - there's a real mix of low brow stuff and clever and subtle gags. And while I'd say it was a weird mix, it does basically work and basically succeeds in giving you something for everyone.
It's also a heist movie in the tradition of something like the old Ealing comedies like The Ladykillers. So you might think that I didn't like this aspect of it, but actually I did. The heist is daft and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's also quite clever and witty, so I enjoyed this aspect of it.
No, what took the edge of for me was big chunks of it didn't quite make logical sense. Now as I've said, the heist plot was silly and not realistic, but I'm talking about the internal logic of the film.
I'll give you a good example that also doesn't really spoil anything. Having got into a bit of a fix, Coogan ends up quitting his job in Manchester - he's running away, basically. He says that he's going to go back to his old job in Brighton. In the next scene we see him waking up having slept in his car in what appears to be the Lake District.
Now what this suggested to me was that, for whatever reason he's parked up in the Lake District to have a kip while on the journey back to Brighton. It's at this point he has a revelation and decides to return to Manchester. Fair enough.
But it's later shown that he has a house, which must be in Manchester. I'd thought, from how it was shown, that he'd only just moved to Manchester, so perhaps his house was in Brighton and he was in the process of buying one in Manchester.
But no, he has a house in Manchester and decided, completely at random, to go and sleep in his car in the Lake District.
I know that sounds like me over thinking things and it's meant to be a light hearted comedy, but that sort of stuff happens so often it kept jarring me out of the film as I kept going "eh?"
I'll give you another example - towards the end, Coogan's character runs into some of the bad guys. Now this is a coincidence in itself, but also, these criminals are apparently attending a Police ceremony where they're giving awards to their officers. Why the hell are they even there?
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
any loss is good
The weekend weigh in revealed a one pound loss.
This is not a huge amount and usually I'd probably express surprise at it, especially given that I did plenty of walking and didn't really go off the rails diet wise.
Except that I realised that actually I did. See, because I weigh myself on Sunday morning, the previous week's weigh in would not have fully represented my food splooge. The splooge continued all weekend - in fact, Sunday was probably the worst day.
That therefore meant that I'd started the week very badly and the rest of the week was partly about making up for that bad start. I'm therefore relatively pleased with the one pound loss, although it does mean I'm starting to feel like things are stagnating.
I dunno, I'm rather worried that some switch has been flipped in my brain that says "actually, we've lost loads of weight now, so let's stop". The reality is that I still have a very long way to go. Hopefully, this week, which has been going quite well so far, will set things back on track. I may even finally reach my pre-chrimbo target!
The other thing I wanted to mention is that I think I've discovered a new route to walk. It basically takes me down to the Sainsbury's at the big roundabout down the road and gives me some more options. I think I was beginning to get a bit bored of my old route, especially as it was a bit random in where it took me.
I've actually been thinking about walking to either Aldershot or Farnham and back. I'm actually pretty sure my big walks I do at the weekend are actually of a similar length to walking to Aldershot/Farnham (I live equidistant from both), but I've got a bit of a mental block when it comes to certain walks.
I think it's because I've done them so often by car, I think they're further than they are. One thing I do know is that Aldershot would be a lot more difficult to Farnham. While both would require going up hill, Farnham involves more in the way of gentle slopes that Aldershot, where you've got to go up some quite steep hills.
Which is all fine and good - going up hills is good exercise and just what I need, but I think I've got a nagging worry about going too far in one direction. My fear is that I'll give myself a blister or find I've walked too far and then have the daunting prospect of having to walk back.
My normal routes generally involve going in circles around where I live and all of them have options whereby I can cut my walk short and go fairly quickly home if such a problem arises (and it has). By going in a straight line to Farnham or Aldershot those options disappear. I can obviously turn around early, but it's not quite the same thing.
This is made especially worrying when you consider I don't carry my phone or wallet when I walk - I just take my MP3 player with audio books on, my keys and my pedometer (well, and my clothes, obviously).
But as I say, I think this is far more a mental barrier than real issue.
This is not a huge amount and usually I'd probably express surprise at it, especially given that I did plenty of walking and didn't really go off the rails diet wise.
Except that I realised that actually I did. See, because I weigh myself on Sunday morning, the previous week's weigh in would not have fully represented my food splooge. The splooge continued all weekend - in fact, Sunday was probably the worst day.
That therefore meant that I'd started the week very badly and the rest of the week was partly about making up for that bad start. I'm therefore relatively pleased with the one pound loss, although it does mean I'm starting to feel like things are stagnating.
I dunno, I'm rather worried that some switch has been flipped in my brain that says "actually, we've lost loads of weight now, so let's stop". The reality is that I still have a very long way to go. Hopefully, this week, which has been going quite well so far, will set things back on track. I may even finally reach my pre-chrimbo target!
The other thing I wanted to mention is that I think I've discovered a new route to walk. It basically takes me down to the Sainsbury's at the big roundabout down the road and gives me some more options. I think I was beginning to get a bit bored of my old route, especially as it was a bit random in where it took me.
I've actually been thinking about walking to either Aldershot or Farnham and back. I'm actually pretty sure my big walks I do at the weekend are actually of a similar length to walking to Aldershot/Farnham (I live equidistant from both), but I've got a bit of a mental block when it comes to certain walks.
I think it's because I've done them so often by car, I think they're further than they are. One thing I do know is that Aldershot would be a lot more difficult to Farnham. While both would require going up hill, Farnham involves more in the way of gentle slopes that Aldershot, where you've got to go up some quite steep hills.
Which is all fine and good - going up hills is good exercise and just what I need, but I think I've got a nagging worry about going too far in one direction. My fear is that I'll give myself a blister or find I've walked too far and then have the daunting prospect of having to walk back.
My normal routes generally involve going in circles around where I live and all of them have options whereby I can cut my walk short and go fairly quickly home if such a problem arises (and it has). By going in a straight line to Farnham or Aldershot those options disappear. I can obviously turn around early, but it's not quite the same thing.
This is made especially worrying when you consider I don't carry my phone or wallet when I walk - I just take my MP3 player with audio books on, my keys and my pedometer (well, and my clothes, obviously).
But as I say, I think this is far more a mental barrier than real issue.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
fantastic mr fox
Hmm.
I'm not quite sure what my final opinion is of Fantastic Mr Fox.
I should perhaps give a little background in that I was a big fan of Roald Dahl's children's book when I was young. I've never read any of his non-kids books and if I'm honest I only have fairly vague memories of the books I did read, but I do recall enjoying them a great deal.
My memory of the story of Fantastic Mr Fox was that the basic plot was of the fox in question as a master-thief who concentrated his efforts on three rather unpleasant farmers. These farmers then decide to kill him and end up trying to dig him out of his hole.
But Fox and his family dig themselves away from the farmers, who then set about besieging the hole. Meanwhile Fox discovers all the other animals are suffering to and eventually comes up with a plan that saves them all.
Now this story is basically there in film, but is embellished somewhat. This is not surprising, as the above story would make a better short feature than a full-length film. And I think, on balance, I liked and approved of the additions and tweaks.
The emphasis is changed a little, but not in a bad way, and the characters feel a lot more fleshed out and... well, grown up, and it's here I start to get a little uneasy.
See, the original book is for children. And this is an animated film (the stop-motion style really suits it and it works well) and, while being an animation fan I'm the first to argue that 'animation is not just for kids', I'm pretty sure this is aimed at a family audience.
At least I think it should have been - if you're adapting a children's book and using stop-motion, surely you're making a family film, right?
Except this doesn't feel like a kid's film. Now I don't mean that from the point of view of the story being too adult - while I do think it was grown up, I don't think any but the youngest of children would fail to follow the plot, although perhaps some of the themes are more suited to older kids. No, the problem is with the style.
And it's also here I run up against a bit of a problem, because it's a little difficult for me to explain.
You know how comedy often has labels you can apply? Slapstick is a good example. If a film is a slapstick then you know it's going to be full of physical comedy. Well, this film falls into a particular comedy style, but I haven't a clue what the label is.
Basically, it's a kind of knowing, ironic style, where jokes are delivered as asides, rather than proper gags. I'm tempted to say it's reminiscent of Woody Allen's stuff, but that's not quite it. As I say, difficult to describe, but my point is that it's not something I would associate with a children's film. It feels more like a film aimed at an older audience.
And that was why I was left unsure - was it a kid's film or not? I liked it, but it seemed like an odd adaptation.
I'm not quite sure what my final opinion is of Fantastic Mr Fox.
I should perhaps give a little background in that I was a big fan of Roald Dahl's children's book when I was young. I've never read any of his non-kids books and if I'm honest I only have fairly vague memories of the books I did read, but I do recall enjoying them a great deal.
My memory of the story of Fantastic Mr Fox was that the basic plot was of the fox in question as a master-thief who concentrated his efforts on three rather unpleasant farmers. These farmers then decide to kill him and end up trying to dig him out of his hole.
But Fox and his family dig themselves away from the farmers, who then set about besieging the hole. Meanwhile Fox discovers all the other animals are suffering to and eventually comes up with a plan that saves them all.
Now this story is basically there in film, but is embellished somewhat. This is not surprising, as the above story would make a better short feature than a full-length film. And I think, on balance, I liked and approved of the additions and tweaks.
The emphasis is changed a little, but not in a bad way, and the characters feel a lot more fleshed out and... well, grown up, and it's here I start to get a little uneasy.
See, the original book is for children. And this is an animated film (the stop-motion style really suits it and it works well) and, while being an animation fan I'm the first to argue that 'animation is not just for kids', I'm pretty sure this is aimed at a family audience.
At least I think it should have been - if you're adapting a children's book and using stop-motion, surely you're making a family film, right?
Except this doesn't feel like a kid's film. Now I don't mean that from the point of view of the story being too adult - while I do think it was grown up, I don't think any but the youngest of children would fail to follow the plot, although perhaps some of the themes are more suited to older kids. No, the problem is with the style.
And it's also here I run up against a bit of a problem, because it's a little difficult for me to explain.
You know how comedy often has labels you can apply? Slapstick is a good example. If a film is a slapstick then you know it's going to be full of physical comedy. Well, this film falls into a particular comedy style, but I haven't a clue what the label is.
Basically, it's a kind of knowing, ironic style, where jokes are delivered as asides, rather than proper gags. I'm tempted to say it's reminiscent of Woody Allen's stuff, but that's not quite it. As I say, difficult to describe, but my point is that it's not something I would associate with a children's film. It feels more like a film aimed at an older audience.
And that was why I was left unsure - was it a kid's film or not? I liked it, but it seemed like an odd adaptation.
Monday, 7 February 2011
you mean I don't have to work?
So this weekend I actually got a weekend and didn't have to work.
It was a pretty busy weekend as I had to catch up on stuff that I obviously hadn't been able to do having lost my previous weekend to work.
I had intended to 'relax' this weekend, which I'd mainly meant to be sitting and catching up with some of the TV I'd not found the time to watch. However, actually I went for some fairly long walks and also spent most of my time scanning.
I've really been making an effort to catch up with the scanning and have also been consciously making an effort to watch stuff on crunchyroll. On one level this is daft as I should really be watching DVDs so I can put them on e-bay.
On another it's daft that I've been paying for crunchyroll and not watching it. Especially now that CR has been showing just about every new anime each season, but some of them only for limited times. This means I've discovered quite a few series that I probably would have liked and had a legal avenue to watch, but that opportunity has now past.
It has, however, presented me with an odd problem. Because I'm so far behind there's a glut of stuff available for me to watch and I've found myself struggling to pick something to watch. Should I watch all the new stuff and 'keep up' or should I go for the oldest shows and work my way forward? Or maybe I should watch shows from recent seasons and that could be removed (I'm working on assumption that if a show's been up ages, the license means it will be there for a while yet)?
In the end I've ended up going for a bit of a mix - there's some new shows I'm 'following' (I think that's the phrase - my watching habits tend to mean I prefer to watch complete series all in one go), some old shows I've decided to watch ASAP and some more recent shows I marathoned.
I have to confess I'm still not a big fan of the CR site itself and the community aspect of it seems to be pretty much passing me by, but I have been finding the actual show streaming and watching to be a success. I guess having access to fast cable has its uses.
In terms of the scanning I ploughed through 3 Nyan types over the weekend, which is really good. I've actually only been focusing on doing the scanning itself. The whole thing of stitching the scans together will have to come later, my aim is solely on eating up the pile of unscanned magazines for now.
Plus the stitching process seems to fit poorly with watching fansubs - it wither takes too much active attention or is too short a process to fit chunks of anime around. Leaving it does mean I'm taking up huge chunks of disk space, though, so I may have to have a big session of just scan-stitching at some point, in order to clear some room.
It was a pretty busy weekend as I had to catch up on stuff that I obviously hadn't been able to do having lost my previous weekend to work.
I had intended to 'relax' this weekend, which I'd mainly meant to be sitting and catching up with some of the TV I'd not found the time to watch. However, actually I went for some fairly long walks and also spent most of my time scanning.
I've really been making an effort to catch up with the scanning and have also been consciously making an effort to watch stuff on crunchyroll. On one level this is daft as I should really be watching DVDs so I can put them on e-bay.
On another it's daft that I've been paying for crunchyroll and not watching it. Especially now that CR has been showing just about every new anime each season, but some of them only for limited times. This means I've discovered quite a few series that I probably would have liked and had a legal avenue to watch, but that opportunity has now past.
It has, however, presented me with an odd problem. Because I'm so far behind there's a glut of stuff available for me to watch and I've found myself struggling to pick something to watch. Should I watch all the new stuff and 'keep up' or should I go for the oldest shows and work my way forward? Or maybe I should watch shows from recent seasons and that could be removed (I'm working on assumption that if a show's been up ages, the license means it will be there for a while yet)?
In the end I've ended up going for a bit of a mix - there's some new shows I'm 'following' (I think that's the phrase - my watching habits tend to mean I prefer to watch complete series all in one go), some old shows I've decided to watch ASAP and some more recent shows I marathoned.
I have to confess I'm still not a big fan of the CR site itself and the community aspect of it seems to be pretty much passing me by, but I have been finding the actual show streaming and watching to be a success. I guess having access to fast cable has its uses.
In terms of the scanning I ploughed through 3 Nyan types over the weekend, which is really good. I've actually only been focusing on doing the scanning itself. The whole thing of stitching the scans together will have to come later, my aim is solely on eating up the pile of unscanned magazines for now.
Plus the stitching process seems to fit poorly with watching fansubs - it wither takes too much active attention or is too short a process to fit chunks of anime around. Leaving it does mean I'm taking up huge chunks of disk space, though, so I may have to have a big session of just scan-stitching at some point, in order to clear some room.
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