Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Inglourious Basterds Spoilerific Review-ish Part Eins (1)

inglourious-basterds-movie-poster1This is a review-ish because if you haven’t already seen Inglourious Basterds, reading this review probably isn’t going to make you. So these are my opinions on it and the criticism against it. It’s gonna be long, so I’m going to break it up. I know you all love it when I do that :P

First up, I love Inglourious Basterds. It was funny, the-bear-jew-inglourious-basterds-donnie-donowitz-bear-jew-n-demotivational-poster-1251053330exciting, clever, original, and Hitler died at the end. It was a period piece, a spaghetti western, a fairytale, a black comedy, and a violent gangster film. And Hitler didn’t just die, he was pulped by a thousand bullets smashing into his face, fired from a gun held by Eli Roth. Fucking golden.

So now you know my opinion, but what does that mean? Nothing really, so I’ve decided to go through the most used criticism against it and explain why I feel the the people making these criticisms have completely missed the point of an utterly genius film. Kthx.

I’m going to start with the minor complaint of “wah wah, not historically correct, wah”. Mostly because a friend of mine used it quite recently. This to me is a ridiculous complaint. I’m going to use an obscure film reference to illustrate my point:

There’s a rilly-rilly-great film called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It’s an absurdist piece written by Tom Stoppard, all about the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Hamlet rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are-dead-800-75(if you need more incentive to watch it, it stars Gary Oldman and Tim Roth). At the beginning of the film, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are betting on coin flips. Rosencrantz bets heads each time and wins ninety-two flips in a row. They run into a troupe of tragedians and are offered the opportunity to take part in a show (for a price). Standing on the stage, Guildenstern makes a bet with the The Player that if the coin comes up heads, they get the show for free. It comes up tails.

What’s my point again? Oh yeah, its the same as the point Stoppard was trying to make. On the stage (or in film) anything is possible. So if anything is possible, why the hell would someone like Quentin Tarantino write a WW2 story that didn’t involve killing Hitler? In order for it to be historically correct, QTs characters would need to have had absolutely no effect on the outcome of the war. But that goes directly against the characters he created! Personally, one of the biggest reasons I loved the movie so much is BECAUSE it was taken into the realm of fantasy. If we can’t watch Hitler getting his comeuppance in a movie, the what the hell are movies for?hitler-target-copy At this point, the naysayers usually change their tune to “wah, wah, but kids will start to think it’s fact, wah”. That’s not a criticism of this movie, that’s a criticism of the education system. Please direct your complaints there. If Tarantino was actively trying to pass the film as fact, then I could understand this complaint, but he isn’t. The title of the first chapter is “Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France…”. How stupid are your children?

So, that’s the end to Part Eins. Tune in later for my discussion on the criticism that the film is anti-German.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

My First Premiere

Hi all.

Gah! I have so much to blog about so little bloody time! I'm on leave at the moment but do you think that means anything? Hells no, I'm on my 4th day of actual leave (not including weekends) and in that time I've only watch 2 movies! And one of them was a premiere in the evening! I need to go back to work so can find a bit more movie time...

But speaking of the premiere I went to, it was Sherlock Holmes and it was great :)
You can read about the actual movie here (www.coolshite.net). It was Cool (Shite) who gave me tickets, so I won't be reposting the review here. I'm a trained web developer so redundant information makes my eye twitch.

But I will go through my premiere experience here. See, it was my first time *blush*. I live in Perth, Western Australia (which I've menioned once or twice) so there weren't any stars at our premiere, but that didn't stop the cinema from getting all official. No mobile phones at all, and no recording devices at all, and they used the wand thing to make sure you weren't lying. I felt like mentioning that other parts of the world were already screening the movie and that it would only be of value for about a day, but there was a chance that would have resulted in "access denied" and I wasn't missing Sherlock Holmes for the sake of giggle.

Oh, and seeing as the coolshite review isn't really the place for it, I'd just like to mention that Robert Downey Jr is crazy hot in that film. Ca-raaazy hot. Just sayin.


Monday, December 14, 2009

I really should post something…


So here it goes.

Sorry for the few updates in the couple of weeks. ‘Tis the season, dontcha know, and that means there is not enough time for ass-scratching let alone blog-posting. I’ve got a few projects on the go that I’ve either been thinking about doing or already started but haven’t had a chance to post anything about them. So this is my update post.

First off, my last post mentions my review of 9 at www.coolshite.net. I was put onto the site by KingMob (dearbastards.blogspot.com and Kingmob6). He also  reviews for them and he remembered that I’m from Western Australia (big, big thanks again). I’m hoping to be doing more reviews for them. In most cases I’ll post a slightly shorter version of the review here and link to the full version at CoolShite.

Next up is my New Years resolution to empty my “to watch” pile. Again I was put onto it by a tweeting-blogging-blipping-movienut, this time Heavenztrash (In Nervous Convulsion and Heavenztrash). He’s set up a support group for those wanting to clear their unwatched movies in 2010. If you’d like to be a part of it, go here and post how many. You have until New Years Eve. I’ve already gotten started, but keep finding that for each movie I take off I end up adding 3 more. I’m at 70 unwatched, but I’m determined.

So determined in fact that I’ve decided to commit to watching the “1001 Movies to Watch Before You Die” list. See, I realised that a lot of the films on my “to watch” list are already on the 1001 list. Now, I’m not committing to get it done any time soon, I’ve just decided that if I’m renting movies for myself (don’t want to inflict my decision on others) they will be from the list. First I have to figured out what I’ve already watched though. Stay tuned.


Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Go and see 9

That is all. 9-movie-poster

What? You want a reason? Pffft, no faith.

Well I really can’t be bothered reposting my review from CoolShite.net so you can find it there. Instead I’m going to go through the numbers and decide what aspect of humanity they represent. (Why, you say? Go see the movie, says I).

  1. Caution. He would rather hole up indefinitely than be free.
  2. Invention. Or perhaps Insight. He’s interested in 6’s drawings instead of disregarding them as scribbles.
  3. &   4.  Memory and curiosity. They catalogue what they find and are always on the lookout for new things.
  4. see 3.
  5. The Observer. He watches.
  6. Madness? Or maybe Empathy. He seems to know some truths within his ramblings.
  7. Courage. She’s the only one to keep fighting when 1 creates his sanctuary.
  8. Protector.
  9. You could argue that 9 is all of these, but I think he’s Honour. He believes in doing what is right.

My favourites are 3 and 4. They’re awesome.

Let me know what you think of my assessment. Agree, disagree, think I’m reading too much into it, let me know!

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Monday, November 23, 2009

Kill Us With Your Deadly One-liners!

pussycat I first heard about Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! because Tarantino wanted to remake it with Brittney Spears as the blonde. I hope that never happens. She would suck so hard  it would alter the Earth's orbit, not to mention the damage it would do to a bah-rilliant film.

I can't even tell you how much that film rawks. Alls I can do is tell you about it and hope I can convince you. So here it goes.

The film centres around three wild go-go gals. They decide to toy with a couple by challenging the guy to a race. fasterpussycat1He gets angry, a fight ensues and it ends badly for the fella. They then drug the girl (nope, don’t know why) and take her with them. Whilst stopped at a gas station they find out about an old man with a large sum of money who lives with his two sons. The girls decide to try to con them, but wind up biting off more than they can chew.

What makes the film outstanding? The lines. Plain and simple. They are amazing.

Tommy: Look, I don't know what the hell your point is, but...
Varla: The point is of no return and you've reached it!

Using that line is on my bucket list.

faster_pussycat_kill_kill_04I suppose I should mention that the film was made in 1965, so it’s in black and white. The plus side to that though is that the girls are all human size and hourglass. Not a waif to be seen, but plenty of cleavage. No wonder QT likes it so much.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Fly – an Aussie Review

I watched The Fly for the first time on Friday. For those unaware, The Fly is the story of scientist Seth Brundle, who successfully (-ish) invents a teleportation device. Seth gets drunk and decides to teleport himself. A fly enters the telepod without Seth’s knowledge and the computer decides to combine their DNA. Clever computer.

There are so many awesome things in this movie. The first thing is the language Seth is able to use to communicate with his computer. I love the way the computer is used for exposition.

Seth Brundle: [typing] If primary element is Brundle, what is secondary element?
Computer: Secondary element is not-Brundle.
Seth Brundle: Run sequence.
Computer: [identifies secondary element as a fly]
Seth Brundle: [typing] If secondary element is fly, what happened to fly?
Computer: Fusion.
Seth Brundle: [typing] Assimilation? Did Brundle absorb fly?
Computer: Negative. Fusion of Brundle and fly at molecular-genetic level.

So, the computer wasn’t programmed to understand the difference between a Brundle and a fly, but it had been programmed to fuse 2 elements at a genetic level? I’d be finding out what bastard set that up instead of throwing an exception.

fly_2 But the most awesome thing is Jeff Goldblum’s performance as he starts to turn into the Brundlefly (hee). He starts to get really agitated and annoying, complete with facial tick. I live in Western Australia and right now it’s heading towards summer. The flies are already at intense population levels. I completely understand what Jeff was going for, and he got it spot on. The only issue I had was that once he completes his transformation, the jerky movements are gone. However I understand that the effects gurus did what they could with the technology at the time.

The final verdict? I really enjoyed it, as I knew I would. I found that it was well deserving of its cult status. The helplessness of Geena Davis’ character pissed me off a little, but that’s the Death Proof fan in me coming out. Seriously, if my boyfriend turned into a human fly he wouldn’t need to ask for the bullet. S’all I’m sayin.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Andy Lee and David Hess – related?

I watched the original The Last House on the Left recently. I was a little confused. Why would Andy Lee (half of Hamish and Andy, half of Andy and Megan Gale, Australian Comedian) invent a time machine just to go back to 1972 just to appear in Wes Cravens directorial debut?

Don’t understand? Check this out.

Very flat and floppy.This is Andy Lee

 lh002This is Krug (played by David Hess)

Understand now? Good.

All I’m sayin is that Megan Gale probably wants to be careful.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tim Palen: Bringing Beauty to Gore

For those who don’t know the name, Tim Palen is the master of the horror poster. Actually he creates some pretty outstanding work in general, but he’s particularly good at horror movie posters. He’s also the Co-President of Marketing over at Lionsgate.

hostel2 Want some examples of his work? How this controversial yet stunning piece?

This poster was only used for foreign cinemas. I think it’s one of the best posters I’ve ever seen. It sums up the film perfectly. You see this poster and you know there’s gonna be nudity and there’s gonna be gore, but the poster itself is elegant and simple.

saw3bloodb Combine that with his marketing genius and you get this (left). Again, simple but effective, and with the added bonus of containing a little piece of Jigsaw within. That’s right, the deep red of the image was made by mixing the ink with some of Tobin Bell’s blood (the first 1000). The posters were then sold and the proceeds donated to Red Cross. So many kinds of awesome.

Palen has released a book called Guts: Behind the Screams Photography. The images are outstanding. Especially the one titled Eli Roth has the Biggest Dick in Hollywood (work unfriendly).

His website (www.timpalen.com) showcases some of his other work (portraits, etc) as well as his movie posters.

I like this one :)

eli_roth

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Keeping it on the QT

My blog hasn’t been going for all that long so there’s some things that aren’t really well known about me yet. I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m a big horror fan and that I enjoy the low-budget, splat-pack movies. Well here’s another Rach’s Media fact. I worship at the church of Tarantino.

I’m not ashamed of this. In fact, since I finally realised that I’m always going to enjoy a movie by QT it’s enriched my life considerably. Stop smirking, I’m not taking the piss.

So I’ve decided to use this post to give thanks for all that he has provided.

  1. Reservoir Dogs
    I saw this at an age where I wasn’t supposed to be able to. I may have inhaled a substance that I shouldn’t have and found myself absolutely devastated with the scene where Orange is in the car screaming about being killed (and bleeding to death). I mean I was seriously disturbed.

  2. Natural Born Killers
    I consider this one of my favourite films (before anyone’s knickers get twisted, QT wrote this film). We tried to see it in the cinema but we were all too young (in Australia R ratings have an age restriction. They ask for ID. Bastards). I ended up getting my mum to hire it for me when it was released :)

  3. All his collaborations.
    I’m talking about Four Rooms, From Dusk til Dawn, Grindhouse, his scene in Sin City, etc. QT is obviously a people person. And a lot of his peoples are just as talented as he is.








  4. Eli RothEli_Roth_portrait__0048
    That kinda cute, kinda hot, kinda sexy, hilariously funny, but not funny looking writer/director. I know that Cabin Fever was already doing well, but it’s thanks to QT that we have Hostel and its sequel. More importantly, QT has put Eli in front of the camera. Twice. I am grateful.


  5. Omar Doom
    doom He’s just so giving that Quentin. He meets a hot guy, he puts him in a movie for us all to share (twice). With a spider web tattoo on his elbow. Mmmmmm.


  6. Music
    I absolutely love QT’s soundtracks, they are all gold. Inglourious Basterds has some amazing instrumental tracks. I just wish he would get into using his twitter account to blip some tunes in between releases.
  7. The end to Inglourious Basterds
    I’m not going to give the end away but if there’s anyone who wants to argue it out with me, DM me on twitter. Any time.

There’s more, but this post is getting a little long. I’m gonna end by just saying:

Thanks.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Movies to Watch Update

Hi all, thought I’d give an update on the movies from my list that I’ve managed to watch.

The first film I watched was I Spit on Your Grave AKA Day of the Woman. What. A. Movie. 

I’m eternally grateful to Day of the Woman blogger, BJC, for the post that inspired me to watch it. It’s definitely on my list of favorite films. It kicked my arse.

The next film I watched from my list was Paranormal Activity. I’m so impressed with this film for the same reason everyone else is. It is creepy as hell and really realistic and cost NOTHING to make. So awesome.

Lastly, I watched The Exorcist 2: The Heretic. Three for three? Not so much.

I knew this was going to be dodgy (I watched the preview on Igloo of the Uncanny. Hilarious), but nothing prepared me for the incredible sets, impeccable acting skills and what sounded like the theme from Farscape.

And James Earl Jones wearing a locust mask. Nope. Not kidding.

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Monday, November 2, 2009

Movies I Still Have to Watch

I've decided that I'd like people to continue to add to this post so I've added a link to it at the top of my blog. I there's a movie you think I need to see, please add it to the list at the bottom. Cheers :)

Hi all. I just read a post at The Day of the Woman that’s added yet another movie to my “have to watch” list. Since I started this blog and started exploring other media blogs my list has been growing steadily. I’ve decided to post them here so I can add to it. When I watch a film I will cross it off this list, but also make a new post about it.

If there’s any movie at all you think I should watch, please post a comment. If I have seen it, I’ll add it to the list already crossed out (so that it isn’t repeatedly recommended). I will also post the person who recommended it though, so no recommending crap films for shits and giggles.

*Edit*

In order to keep the post a little shorter, I've created a list using Listal.com.

These are the films I need to watch:




Watched:



View my Listal profile


So that’s a start. Let me know what I should add!

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Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Day of the Triffids



I’ve just started reading The Day of the Triffids again. For those who haven’t heard of this John Wyndham masterpiece, here’s a quick synopsis:

The world is treated to a magnificent display of green meteors that light up the night sky. The next day everyone who watched is blind. That’s bad.

Previously to this event was the discovery of a new plant called a “triffid”. It’s discovered that they are carnivores, killing with a whip-like sting and eating the decomposing corpse. That’s worse.

The triffids can walk and communicate. They have been shown to posses some form of intelligence. So the basic idea is that the biggest threat to the triffid (humans) has lost the only thing that made them superior (sight). Oh dear.

I read it for the first time when I was a tween. I’ve always thought of it as a science fiction novel, which it undoubtedly is, but reading it again now with my horror-impacted imagination…

There’s some disturbing shit in this book.

Seriously. I’m up to chapter 3 and there’s already been 2 suicides. We haven’t even gotten to the triffids yet! There is a movie that was made, but it’s a little dated and doesn’t really focus on scarier aspects of the book (though the poster above is frikken classic!). But it is being remade. Hmmm. Maybe it’s because I’ve been on a “all horror, all the time” bender, but this could really benefit from the subtle, slow-burn of Grace, or the eerie, silent isolation of 28 Days Later.

Basically, I think The Day of the Triffids needs to be remade by one filmmakers referred to in my post about Budget Horror Films. Or Danny Boyle. Whoever’s free first will be fine.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Movie Review – Capitalism: A Love Story

I went and saw Capitalism: A Love Story on Monday night at a free screening. I like Michael Moore’s movies. He’s heavy-handed and has a tendency to exaggerate, but he does it for the right reasons. The worlds apparent apathy means he needs to exaggerated in order to get anyone to  move.

This film tries to cancel out the propaganda surrounding capitalism. I really hadn’t thought about it before but over time people have been led to think that capitalism = democracy. This movie tries to negate that. I think it succeeds, but now it’s just a matter of getting everyone to go and see it.

The point that I found resonated the most with me is that the working class allows the rich to treat them like this because they’re optimists. Everybody is waiting for their ship to come in, so they work like dogs thinking one day they’ll get their share. Insert film reference:

 “There is only one Lord of the Ring, only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power.”

It’s a well made film, creating a bit of a rollercoaster running your emotions through shock, anger, shock, pity, shock, amusement, and back to shock again. I will say that there is about half and hour in the middle that didn’t need to be there.

As an Australian, it’s tempting to say “Pffft. Good thing I don’t live in America” but I think that about as short-sighted as you can get.  Australians are just as vulnerable to propaganda, and we’re just as guilty of voting in the corporate lapdog as the US.

Just something to think about.

Horror and Budgets: part the third

Hihi once more. I’m back for what will hopefully be the last post about why low budget = good, high budget = bad in regards to horror films.

In my last post I talked about Stephen Kings opinion on why Hollywood can’t make a good horror. This post is my  theory explaining why (damn it, WHY???) great independent filmmakers keep backing up their genuinely frightening low-budget movies with shitty blockbusters.  I will finish with a plea to the existing low-budget horror film makers. I’m gonna name names. Just watch me.

But first, my theory.

Well, I think it’s a combination of a few thing (I know, I know, thanks a lot Captain Obvious. I’ll get there). Firstly, these great filmmakers get given a stupid amount of money. They accept it because they’re told that they’re the boss and it’s their movie. By the time they’ve figured out that a multi-million dollar production means multiple millionaires looking over your shoulder, it’s too late. Suddenly, all the things that King lists as the problems with big budget horrors are forced in.

Secondly, the filmmakers find themselves in a situation where they are scared to rock the boat in case they wind up back where they were. Flat broke, making movies with a handy cam.

And thirdly, and this is the part that’s difficult to counteract, they lose touch. They forget that less is more and start to agree with the producers that they need to add more effects, more explosions, more stars. This step is complete when the once desperate filmmaker loses their anger. Their frustration at not being able to get funding is gone along with their hunger pains, disappointment, and their fury that the world just won’t cut them a break. Because they got their break. It’s hard to think up new and imaginative ways to kill people when you’re actually enjoying life.

So does that mean there’s no hope? Can we only hope to get a couple of good, terrifying horror films per director? Nope. Call me optimistic but the new batch seem to be less focused on “making it” and more on scaring the bejesus out of as many people as possible. I don’t doubt that they will each do their share of blockbusters, but they seem to know not to call them “horror”.  Even better, they also seem to be capable of sticking to their guns.

But I could be wrong. Just  in case, I’d like to issue this plea to the new (relatively) film makers that have been rocking my socks recently. I’m talking to Eli Roth, Paul Solet, James Wan, Oren Peli, David Slade, Jonathan Auf Der Heide, Alexandre Aja, and any up and coming fright fiends.

Please. Don’t. Forget.

I’m begging you. I’m on my knees (read into that what you will).

Less is more. Life’s hard. People are crazy.

Remember.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Horror Movies and Budgets part 2

Howdy imaginary readers. As promised, here is the second part to my theory on why low-budget independent horror films are so much better than their big budget Hollywood counterparts.

I stated in my previous post that my theory was backed up by Stephen King. That's not technically correct. He wrote his article before me, and I'm kinda building on it, so the foundation of my theory comes from the lord of all things scary.

King writes articles for EW magazine called The Pop of King. I highly recommend it. The article in question is called Horror Movies: Why Big Studio Releases Are Rare to Scare. His basic theory is that blockbusters are ruined by the need to fit too much in (to justify the budget). Too many effects, to much action, too much story.

Those movies blast our emotions and imaginations, instead of caressing them with a knife edge.

I couldn't agree more. Especially about too much story killing the fear. All the scariest characters in film (and books) are the ones where you just don't know why. Or that the answer is frighteningly simple.

But I'm not going to repeat his article, he writes infinitely better than I do. I'd just like to take it a step further. You see, I keep seeing horror film makers make fantastic, independent first films, and then follow them up with shitty, big budget numbers. You know they have talent, so why do they even accept the bigger budget when they know what is required to make a good horror movie? It's tempting to put it down to greed, but I think that's a little simplistic.

I'll let you know my own personal opinion tomorrow :D

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Horror movies and budgets

Hello invaders. This is the third day in a row I've posted. Personal Best!! I’m gonna go for 4 by making this a 2 part post :D

I'm writing (ranting) about horror movies and budgets. I'll  let you know up front, my basic hypothesis for this little rant is that horror films with big budgets don't work. There are a few exceptions, but not many. I know it's not a new idea. In fact it's something I've believed for a while now, but over the last couple of days I started thinking about what it is that makes that so.

Before I go into my theory (which will happen tomorrow) lets take a look at some figures. We’ll start with the man  considered one of the most profitable directors in Hollywood, Eli Roth. Roth's first venture cost he and his private investors $1.5 million and Hostel cost $4.5 million.  One of the most profitable horror films, Saw, was made for $1.2 million. In fact, the franchise (or 1-5 anyway) was made for $36 million. But by far the most impressive film is Paranormal Activity. It was made for $15000. So far it has made $19 million.

Now, I know $19 million isn’t much compared to the ridiculous amounts brought in by the blockbusters, but think about it. This film has earned $19 million through  word of mouth alone.  The only reason for that happening is that the film scared a lot of people shitless.  So what is it about the lower budget movies that makes them so much scarier?

Well, I have a theory. It’s backed up by Stephen King. Come back tomorrow to check it out.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Friday Top 5: Songs you like to sing along to.

  1. Coconut - Harry Nilsson - Reservoir Dogs Soundtrack
    Can never get it out of my head once it's in.

  2. Coin Laundry - Lisa Mitchell
    Just too singable!

  3. Needles & Pins - The Ramones
    Good pitch to belt it out, simple melody so you can keep up :P

  4. Back and Forth - Dr. Steel - Read Along Album
    Hilarious.

  5. All These Things I've Done - The Killers
    Good for singing loudly. Very loudly :)

Movie Review - Grace

The ending of this film left me with my mouth wide open. A nice ending, I've gotta say. But I'm getting way ahead of myself.

First, the short synopsis.
Madeline (Jordan Ladd) is 8 months pregnant and (after having 2 miscarriages previously) is determined to give birth to her daughter. Tragedy strikes in the form of a car accident and Madeline is informed that her husband was killed and that her baby will be stillborn. She decides to carry the child to term anyway, and somehow Grace is born alive and seemingly healthy. Emotional, desperate and disturbing hi-jinks ensue.

I loved this film. It's a "get under your skin" number instead of a "shock you silly" one, and it definitely succeeds. There's a little factoid that springs to mind in trying to describe "Grace". You the one about how if you throw a frog in boiling water it will jump straight out but if you put it in cold water and heat it up it will boil to death? Yeah. That's what this film does. About 3/4 of the way through I realised I was incredibly tense and unsettled. Then, before you know it, it smacks you with the ending.

I loved the way the real horror is found in the most subtle moments, like the apparent ability of a 60 year old woman to breast feed. *shudder*. Creepy.
And I love the characters. Given the subject matter, it's good to see a female dominated cast. Furthermore, it's fantastic to see a riveting film where none of the female characters can be mistaken as weak, sex isn't used as a weapon, the guys aren't out to dominate the gals and neither is the opposite. If any film deserves the genre of "feminist horror" it's this one.
Watch it, yo'.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Oh Heroes, why are you so hated???

I'm a big heroes fan. Have been since the first season. I'm a realist about it though. I can acknowledge that season 2 had some pretty crappy moments, and that one or two characters were just annoying (ok, more than that). But lately I'm finding that people are being pretty damn harsh. Specifically the recapper at TWoP (www.televisionwithoutpity.com).

They've given 2 of the episodes a D- and a D. Seriously, why is Heroes being recapped by someone who doesn't like the show?
The episode "Acceptance" is the D. What the hell was so wrong with that episode? I thought it was great. A great number of our heroes were left lost at the end of the last season. Is it so much to ask for a little time for them to figure themselves out? I like the Nathan/Sylar storyline. Yes, it's complicated, that's WHY I like it. No, if you haven't watched previous episodes you probably won't know what's going on. That's why we have dvd releases and

Sheesh! If you don't like it, let someone else do the job!

Monday, October 5, 2009

The Lost Symbol - the end review

Ok, so I finished this a little while ago but needed some space before I wrote about it.

My review in basic terms is that it did what was always going to do, tell an entertaining tale with no groundbreaking surprises. I liken reading a Dan Brown book to going to see the next installment of an Indiana Jones movie. It's not (or shouldn't) going to win awards and it's not going to stretch your mind, but it is going to entertain you if you let it.

Ok, so the "Big Twist" was so fricken obvious that he might as well have printed it on the page halfway through the book instead of the end. And yes, the one time it surprises you and you think "Wow! What a great twist!" it turns out to not be a twist and lets you down. But the fact is, you read it. You enjoyed it. Now put it on the "glad I read it, now I can forget about it" pile and and move on.

DO NOT start posting on anti-Freemason sites.
DO NOT start trying to join the Freemasons.
DO NOT start searching for the Masonic Pyramid.

It wasn't that good a book.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

Heath Ledger's (RIP) last movie.
Looks pretty spectacular!



I gotta say though, Terry Gilliam has the worst luck.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Music Exploration - Soundtrack

This is a bit of a series I plan to do. At the beginning of last year I found myself in possession of an iPod Touch. 8 gb, very nice. At the time I only had a 128mb player of no known brand, so it was a little bit daunting. This series will go through the different ways I used to fill it, starting with Soundtracks.

I originally filled it with the itty bit of music I already had combined with music from my best mate. Now, if I had to choose a genre to call myself, it would have to be punk (but I really do listen to all types). My best mate is into R&B and hip-hop. We do have crossover moments, but not really enough for me to leave my ipod the way it was. It was time to find more of "my" music.

So I started searching for new music. At first I thought "Easy peasy. I'll just pick my favorite artists and look up similar bands". Uh-uh. Does anyone know what you end up with if you do that? That's right. The most boring iPod in the history of iPods. Worse still, you end up with an iPod that lack inspiration. That means when you eventually realize you don't want to hear a single song on there, you can't figure out what you do want to listen to!

Then one day I was watching "The Departed" (great film) and for the first time, I clearly heard the song that was playing in the background. It was "Shipping Off to Boston" by The Dropkick Murphys. The next day I had it on my playlist.

The next film I watched was "P.S. I Love You" (good film). Towards the end of the film I found once again that I was paying more attention to the soundtrack than the film. The song playing was "If I Ever Leave this World Alive" by Flogging Molly. The next day I had that and a couple of other songs from the soundtrack on my iPod. A couple of weeks after that I had entire Flogging Molly albums.

From that point onwards I started listening carefully to the soundtracks of any film I found myself enjoying. Especially the ones that appeared to be trying to do something a little different. Nowadays I have music from every Tarantino film released (including "Inglourious Basterds"), "Juno", "O Brother, Where art Thou", "The Crow", "Tank Girl", and others that I can't remember.

So my point is that if you find yourself stuck for something new to listen to, try going through some of the more recent movies you enjoyed and checkout what's on the soundtrack. It can be pretty darn rewarding!

The Lost Symbol

I've just started reading "The Lost Symbol". For those who live under rocks, it's the new Dan Brown book. For those from other galaxies, that's the guy who wrote "The Da Vinci Code". If you still don't know what I'm talking about then I can't help you. Ask your mother.

Anyhoo, I'm enjoying it. I expected that I would but I have made a number of observations.

NOTE 1: If you are reading or want to read the book and don't want a single thing given away, stop reading now. I haven't finished, so I can't give away the ending, but I will be writing about the content.
NOTE 2: If you are a die-hard Dan Brown fan who can't handle him being criticized or ridiculed in any way, stop reading now. Well, you don't have to but don't bother complaining in the comments.

The first thing I've noticed is the formula. Certain things have a familiar feeling to them.
For instance, someone Robert Langdon knows has a secret (Da Vinci Code, Langdon had arranged a meeting with Saunière). Something happens to them. A clue is left (DVC: Saunière's message, Angel & Demons: the brand) that only Langdon can decipher. A person in authority thinks Langdon knows too much and isn't trustworthy, there is some involvement with a scientific discovery that will have philosophical implications (A&D) and there's a woman at a similar age to Langdon.

Oh, and there's a secret society of course. In Angels and Demons we had the Illuminati (and the Vatican), in Da Vinci Code we had the Priory of Sion and the Opus Dei, and now we have the Stone Masons (and something else I haven't been told yet).

And lastly, there's the use of the word "symbology". Why is it OK for him to make up words? Every time I read it I'm reminded of the scene in Boondock Saints ("What's the symbology there?").

So, how can I say that I'm enjoying it? Because I am :)
I enjoying it the way I enjoyed Transformers. Or all of the Indiana Jones movies. Because I'm not trying to make it into something it's not.
It's not award winning writing (or it shouldn't but probably will), it's not a new theory, and it's not original (as I demonstrated above). But it is fun, readable, and entertaining.

It's the same way that Day of the Woman blogger, Brittney-Jade Colangelo, liked Jennifer's Body. Because she knew what to expect, and expected it.

I want to know what conspiracy theory he's going to take on next. Flat-earth? Fake moon landing? Who knows :)