Venkman

Nice one, Spain! You be chuffed, sir!

My cause for celebration today is Lady Venkman had several people round for a meeting in our flat today so I catered for them. I made a massive vat of my vegetable chilli and no one threw up. This makes me pleased!

Push starring Chris Evans (that'll never stop making me double-take) and Dakota Fanning.

I couldn't help but enjoy this a bit even though its plot was all over the shop and it forgot to put characterisation in between its cast but it was still a bit fun. Lady Venkman got up to answer the phone at one point and told me not to press pause. When she came back I had nothing to fill her in on apart from 'that one's powers have improved slightly'.

It sparked a bit of a debate between those of us who watched it about trying to set up superhero/sci-fi franchises without really having an source material and having to cram too much into a first film. Essentially we got lots of thinly sketched characters - that one wears a suit, that one chews a toothpick etc - each with different abilities - that one is Parkman from Heroes, that one is Isaac from Heroes etc - but not much in the way of plot. You could tell they wanted to set up a whole world with lots of stories but then realised in the last half that they were going to have to resort to people with powers slugging it out (the same way Heroes does rather cheaply and to the dismay of the audience who just wants solid fighting on a tv budget) just as it looked like who got the secret formula would be interesting and set up for a sequel (which it didn't) or that Chris Evan's reluctant telekenetic might have come up with a really cool Ocean's 11 scale con for avoiding the psychics trying to find them by only giving each of his team part of the plan and then wiping his own mind (we think he might have been quite cool theoretically but it was very difficult to tell who was doing what so we just waited for the fighting)

It really only gets 2/5 but as it only cost $38 million to make, I give it extra points for still being more fun than films that cost an extra £100million+ on top of that.

So... 3/5. Not great but it did the trick on dvd and Chris Evans really is so much better than the Fantastic Four films would lead you to believe.

My best bud Tom (manly hetero love obviously). I think I may have gushed about him before - but we were recently discussing having a go at trying out for a Zuda comic entry. Vague discussions about us both wanting to do something on a space station and then he buggers off and squeezes this in between having his dinner and going to bed!

 

Click to be annoyed at his talent. :mong:

*looks*

 

Hahahaha, so your friend also knows our Mr McMahon?

Hahahaha. Not that I know of - but perhaps he haunts ALL our collective unconscious... eeep!

Or bought your neighbourhood and sold it for spare sparts!

My best bud Tom (manly hetero love obviously). I think I may have gushed about him before - but we were recently discussing having a go at trying out for a Zuda comic entry. Vague discussions about us both wanting to do something on a space station and then he buggers off and squeezes this in between having his dinner and going to bed!

Click to be annoyed at his talent. :mong:

I've given up trying to decide which is prefer out of Alien and Aliens. I just love them both. They're both great. Highly original (which gives Aliens some points what with it being a sequel) and just both do exactly what they set out to do.

I'm also actually quite interested to see Ridley Scott's prequel to Alien in 2011 - although as I was saying to a friend yesterday, this is probably because we know that franchise has gone as low as it can go with AVP 2: Requiem*

*Famous last words?

There's a really easy pun there - but for once in my life I'm going to keep my mouth shut!!

Heh heh heh. Is this why we all have gripes about Hellblazer? We actually wish it were more like Love, Actually?!?

Exhume my rant about it some pages back and shout back at me.

That aimed at me and Valkyrie? I went back a dozenish pages but couldn't see your thoughts - should I dig further?

Nice one, Tom! Hope the planning all goes smoothly and you both make married life your plaything!

Valkyrie.

Actually enjoyed this a lot more than I thought it was going to. Cruise did his 'solid' thing that he does but the main charm, as you might imagine, was the cast of all of the British thesps who usually pepper American films (I can just imagine casting directors from other movies trying to fill out their casts screaming 'what do you mean they're ALL taken??' into their cel phones!)

There were a great number of little set pieces that really kept you hooked in this film such as 'aargh, everyone's got the same briefcase' or 'oh no, what if that guy picks up the phone' that added some real tension. It was strange how the intense little moments were all so simple and cheap and yet the scenes in between were the expensive ones as things exploded and full reserve army battallions advanced on buildings.

Just conversing with Lady V, we can't really fault the film beyond it being a massive downer (that's history - not a spoiler!) Even the end is powerful if perhaps playing the sadness and harshness of it all a bit too much. But it was also a film with Tom Cruise in it. Could it have been a better film with someone else? He certainly propped up the film and it's difficult to imagine anyone else now - but a different movie star could easily have done the same.

Anyway, well worth a watch but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as I don't want you to have a depressing evening.

B

That looks like an amazing tour, Jessie. Love the captions too! I think my favourite had to be 'The Amphi-theatre that Hitler built'.

"Good evening, ladies AND gentlemen. Tonight's tale is of a man who was such a bon viveur that the wine he loved preserved his body perfectly ... even years after he had DIED !"

 

And now gather, children, and I shall share with you the tale of Eeyore and the donkeypunch.

Lordy, what was wrong with me!

Finally just watched The Escapist

 

And did you let out a curse when you realised you could have watched it on Film4 on Monday night rather than spend your hard earned cash renting it?

Ha ha. Yes... but I have since explained the situation to Mr Cox and he has promised to come and perform his next film live in our living room the night before it premieres. What a gent.

Finally just watched The Escapist. I agree with Atticus on all accounts. I tutted slightly at the same things Hugh did but I doubt that either of us could fault that - when even going down a certain path - the film still did it very well.

And it's fair to say that any film with Brian Cox's name above the title is worth a watch. (Damian Lewis also continues to impress me in everything I see him in... even Dreamcatcher!)

Solid B for Britain.

Apart from the fact you probably weren't feeling too good when you had to fly the next day. That can't have been fun!

Now that MOON has landed, I realise the only film I'm still really looking forward to this year is UP - which we are annoyingly getting several months after everyone else.

Are there any big movies that I've forgotten about still to come this summer or into the other seasons?

I enjoy Love, Actually a lot too - especially in comparison to the other Richard Curtis efforts or rom-com canon in general.

I think the appeal for me is that usually, each one of those stories would be dragged out for a whole film whereas here they each (mostly) get a beginning, middle and end that accounts for about 15-20 minutes rather than pushing two hours, padded out with 'hilarious' slapstick or characters making awful decisions just so that they can redeem themselves etc.

I am also a sucker for things serendipitously coming together - added to by the fact that I always interperet Rowan Atkinson's character's brief appearances as being some kind of meddling angel that brings the whole thing together (that's probably just me though - although Lady Venkman loves that theory).

Plus it's a Christmas movie too. Certainly not a perfect film but I love the idea of the 'Short Cuts of rom-coms' and I think it earns its schmalz from the get-go rather than having Sandra Bullock being a funny bitch at the beginning and then ending up realising all she needs is a good man bull-shit.

Right, watching The Escapist today though :wink:

I loved Let The Right One In, both the book and the film.

Likewise. This one seems to be a bit 'difficult second album so far though. Ah well, will keep reading!

150 pages into 'Handling the Un-Dead' by John Ajvide Lindqvist (name copied and pasted). It is interesting but I am still waiting for it to get going and I'm getting increasingly tempted by the copies of Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor books which have now turned up.

Unfortunately, Lindqvist's 'new Stephen King' label seems to have now extended to meandering too. Will keep going though - but if anyone else has read it, would be keen to hear it's worth keeping going!

I like the half and half tweed and...er, 'twubble' look. But it's really hard to say as these pics are clearly Matt Smith sitting around in costume as opposed to 'being' his Doctor kinda publicity shots.

Am definitely intruiged to see what Moffat's up to but I am feeling that the 10th Doctor's 'death by inches' is dragging somewhat. Even RTD has admitted that, had he known Tennant was quitting, they woud have done a full finale series rather than the specials to give DT a break.

Also, some of the team for a play I'm writing part of recorded some voiceover of Chris Eccleston the other day and apparently he was lovely - enjoyed the script (not a part I'd written, unfortunately) and said if there were any problems with the sound, they should go straight to him and bypass his agent.

But anyway... nice bow-tie (and even Troughton didn't wear the bow tie all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if Moffatt plays around with his Doctor 'finding' his look.

Excellent. Randomly enough, The Escapist has just dropped through the door this morning via lovefilm. I didn't read the spoilers but am glad it got the same review from Atticus it seems to have got across the board. Not perfect - but pretty good.

Atticus - would you recommend it to watch with Lady Venkman? She's not squeamish or owt but is just 'one for the boys'?

Deadwood and Peter Capaldi are joint first in the poetic-swearing stakes, in my book!

The nice waitress who did me a free soya latte because they needed to use up the soya milk!

MOON. Brilliant film. As with some of my favourite sci-fi, the bits that are still with me are the very human moments. But Sam Rockwell was really impressive. I've always admired him for not necessarily making sure all his characters have to be likeable like other stars do - but that's what makes him so good IMO.

GERTY was amazing too. He has a cup holder FFS

I didn't notice this but Lady Venkman's only complaint was that the temp track was clearly Solaris which Clint Mansell then stuck to quite tightly (albeit very well). But, with it costing so little, I imagine it was a case of getting a good composer for a short time rather than vice versa.

Anyway, strongly recommended and I hope this makes a lovely profit so there's more films like this that don't cost too (a FORTIETH of Transformers 2! :mong: ) much but do a lot with it!

A-

Anyway, 'The Fountain' - that's a film where I really wish the DVD had a no-dialogue option. Looks great, the music's great, but the script's utter wank.

Seeing as everyone else is arguing, I'll pick you up on this. Firstly, you're wrong :wink: but seriously, did you mean that you didn't like the dialogue specifically or the whole actual plot/concept?