Monday, November 28, 2005
DVD As We Know It
It's funny how much DVD has changed things, and how much we take it for granted now. We expect crystal clear picture, 9.1 sound and fifteen discs of bonus material. Take my layout for instance. I'd have never been able to do that without DVD, at least in the quality it's in. As far as I know, there's never been a VHS player in a PC, and christ, who'd want one? What once probably took a huge amount of time and wiring just to connect the VCR up to the computer now takes roughly one minute. Crazy.
Odd Stuff
I was in WH Smith's the other day with Lisa, and this lady walked to the counter and asked if they had Connect Four. The clerk's priceless reply:
'Is that some kind of board game?'
We watched DUNE and JAWS, THE REVENGE last night. Too many of those try-to-hard-to-be-funny MST3k style sites like Jabootu have talked endlessly about JTR, so I'm not going to go into detail, only that Lance Guest is a charisma vaccum.
I used to love DUNE. I saw it in the cinema with my mum, and I always dug it, especially the look. But watching it yesterday, my love wasn't there at all. What I saw was this stilted visually interesting but emotionally vapid attempt at a sci-fi flick. Kind of like the prequels, really. I still like the music though.
I watched REVENGE OF THE SITH again today. Critically, I don't think it's the greatest flick in the world, but I've warmed up to it so much. I still think George Lucas needs to remember that directing includes motivating actors though.
'Is that some kind of board game?'
We watched DUNE and JAWS, THE REVENGE last night. Too many of those try-to-hard-to-be-funny MST3k style sites like Jabootu have talked endlessly about JTR, so I'm not going to go into detail, only that Lance Guest is a charisma vaccum.
I used to love DUNE. I saw it in the cinema with my mum, and I always dug it, especially the look. But watching it yesterday, my love wasn't there at all. What I saw was this stilted visually interesting but emotionally vapid attempt at a sci-fi flick. Kind of like the prequels, really. I still like the music though.
I watched REVENGE OF THE SITH again today. Critically, I don't think it's the greatest flick in the world, but I've warmed up to it so much. I still think George Lucas needs to remember that directing includes motivating actors though.
House Cleaning
Well, the Bennett incident aside, I'd stuck with Kong for a while, so I felt like I wanted a change. I was going to do something using a piece of Tim Sale's art from BATMAN: DARK VICTORY, but I had a brainstorm. I've always found movie titles fascinating, and I thought I'd make a college of some of my favourites. I tried to go A-Z, but didn't make it all the way based on space and titles available (X-MEN 2 and WOLFEN are two that didn't make the cut), although I think there's a decent selection, my favourite probably being ALIEN. Such an incredible title sequence.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Recent Playings
KING KONG
I finished this today. It's a lovely game, and I love what it does both in terms of gameplay, and also its attempt to marry itself to the cinematic experience. I'm not usually a fan of the normal games and their attempts to do that, as it usually inevitably ends up as two minutes of gameplay and four hours of cutscenes, and boring ones at that, not to mention that the scriptwork in games isn't usually half as good as some gamers think it is. Kong does several things to enhance the experience, foremostly being the lack of a HUD (heads-up-display). That means there's no health bar, no ammo counter, or anything like that. All you have is an optional gun sight, although you can press B if you want to know how much ammo you have left, but it isn't always going to tell you shot by shot. Healthwise, you probably have two or three hits before you're dead, depending on what's attacking you. If it's a flying dino, you'll probably have two or most, but if a T-Rex is bearing down on you, don't expect an easy time.
Ammo supplies as such aren't spread around like candy, so you have to have a tactical approach to things and not rely on your gun. Luckily, the natives have left spears around, and there are also dinosaur bones you can use. But it's a lot trickier to take down a big lizard using a rib-bone rather than a tommygun. The game is tricky, and it took me about a week or so playing every day to finish it. The parts where you play as Kong are excellent, especially when you have to work in tandem with Ann to solve some problems. It's fun as hell, and yes, you do actually get to climb the Empire State Building. It's fun stuff, and highly recommended.
STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT II
I also finished the main storyline for this today. It's called RISE OF THE EMPIRE and focuses on the 501st legion of clones, following them through the separatist war to the emergence of the Empire, all told by a world-weary Tem Morrison in a sort of war diary format. It's really fun, and begins on Geonosis from ATTACK OF THE CLONES, moving through Kamino, Coruscant (the Jedi Temple attack led by Anakin), Yavin and finishing on Hoth in a mission aptly titled 'Our Finest Hour.' You get to play as certain "heroes" during some of the missions, such as Boba Fett on Kamino, Anakin on Coruscant, and Darth Vader on Hoth.
But probably my favourite thing about the game is the space battles. I absolutely loved X-WING VS TIE FIGHTER, and this is the closest thing to it. The space battle engine is amazingly easy to use, and everything is dead on. One thing that has always been special about Star Wars to me is the sound, and BF2 nails it. There's something about a lightsaber hum or the scream of a TIE's engine or that blaster sound that just makes you believe in the experience, and BF2 does that tenfold. It doesn't help that John Williams' music is blasting out around you either.
You get to fly all kinds of ships. Gunships, X/Y/V/A-Wings, TIE Fighters/Interceptors/Bombers, Jedi Starfighters, Droid ships, Imperial Shuttles. You even get to drive AT-ATs. It's an amazing game, and with the game mechanics + the Star Wars experience more authentic than ever before, it has a lot of replay value.
I finished this today. It's a lovely game, and I love what it does both in terms of gameplay, and also its attempt to marry itself to the cinematic experience. I'm not usually a fan of the normal games and their attempts to do that, as it usually inevitably ends up as two minutes of gameplay and four hours of cutscenes, and boring ones at that, not to mention that the scriptwork in games isn't usually half as good as some gamers think it is. Kong does several things to enhance the experience, foremostly being the lack of a HUD (heads-up-display). That means there's no health bar, no ammo counter, or anything like that. All you have is an optional gun sight, although you can press B if you want to know how much ammo you have left, but it isn't always going to tell you shot by shot. Healthwise, you probably have two or three hits before you're dead, depending on what's attacking you. If it's a flying dino, you'll probably have two or most, but if a T-Rex is bearing down on you, don't expect an easy time.
Ammo supplies as such aren't spread around like candy, so you have to have a tactical approach to things and not rely on your gun. Luckily, the natives have left spears around, and there are also dinosaur bones you can use. But it's a lot trickier to take down a big lizard using a rib-bone rather than a tommygun. The game is tricky, and it took me about a week or so playing every day to finish it. The parts where you play as Kong are excellent, especially when you have to work in tandem with Ann to solve some problems. It's fun as hell, and yes, you do actually get to climb the Empire State Building. It's fun stuff, and highly recommended.
STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT II
I also finished the main storyline for this today. It's called RISE OF THE EMPIRE and focuses on the 501st legion of clones, following them through the separatist war to the emergence of the Empire, all told by a world-weary Tem Morrison in a sort of war diary format. It's really fun, and begins on Geonosis from ATTACK OF THE CLONES, moving through Kamino, Coruscant (the Jedi Temple attack led by Anakin), Yavin and finishing on Hoth in a mission aptly titled 'Our Finest Hour.' You get to play as certain "heroes" during some of the missions, such as Boba Fett on Kamino, Anakin on Coruscant, and Darth Vader on Hoth.
But probably my favourite thing about the game is the space battles. I absolutely loved X-WING VS TIE FIGHTER, and this is the closest thing to it. The space battle engine is amazingly easy to use, and everything is dead on. One thing that has always been special about Star Wars to me is the sound, and BF2 nails it. There's something about a lightsaber hum or the scream of a TIE's engine or that blaster sound that just makes you believe in the experience, and BF2 does that tenfold. It doesn't help that John Williams' music is blasting out around you either.
You get to fly all kinds of ships. Gunships, X/Y/V/A-Wings, TIE Fighters/Interceptors/Bombers, Jedi Starfighters, Droid ships, Imperial Shuttles. You even get to drive AT-ATs. It's an amazing game, and with the game mechanics + the Star Wars experience more authentic than ever before, it has a lot of replay value.
Recent Viewings
These aren't in order. I'm just writing what comes into my head first.
BATMAN
In recent years, I've been rather critical of Tim Burton's 1989 weirdo epic, but I've come to realize I like it quite a bit. It was a different story in '89; I saw it opening day and loved it to bits (BATMAN BEGINS was the first Batflick I didn't see in the opening weekend) and after purchasing the new special edition DVD, I've changed my opinion somewhat. Don't get me wrong, there are still things I don't like. I hate Robert Wuhl's character, Kim Basinger is the wrong kind of dame, I don't buy the idea that because a guy wears a batsuit he has to be this absolute freak, the action isn't great, I hate the Prince soundtrack, and most controversially I guess, I don't rate Nicholson's Joker. I think there are times when he comes close to being my clown prince of crime, but overall, he's not funny or psychotic enough. That's the thing though, Batman and the rogue's gallery have been through so many interpretations over the years, I'm not sure you can truly 100% say 'that's the one.' But he isn't my Joker. I also hate that he killed Bruce's parents. Not a fan of that at all.
On the other hand, Michael Keaton is close to my Batman. He works brilliantly in the suit, he has the sinister edge and I love that he isn't your standard muscle-bound superstar. He also doesn't have an over-the-top silly voice when he's in the cowl. I love the design of Gotham and the industrial noir edge that I guess somewhat influenced the animated series, although it's not sprawling enough. I love Elfman's music, and the Batmobile is the coolest car in the history of cinema, period. I guess it's a product of its time, notably the post-DKR era, and I think it pays its respects well to the book's roots. I guess Burton certainly has his personal claws into the thing, but then, I think he does it well enough without being disrespectful, and I know I'd probably want to put a personal edge on a Batman flick if I did it. Although it does follow the others where Batman deliberately or inadvertantly kills the bad guy at the end. I like it though.
KING KONG '76
I love the original 1933 KONG. I'm looking forward to Peter Jackson's version. Because of this, and because I seem to be hearing more people saying it's good, I decided to pick up the 70s remake. I didn't pay full price, but I wanted to give it another chance as I hadn't seen it for a while, although I wasn't a fan as a child, and as someone said to me today, 'if a kid doesn't like a giant monkey film, something's wrong.' Like BATMAN, KK76 is a product of its time. The time of the oil crisis, and the emergence of multi-nationals, both of which give influence to the new storyline, where an oil chief goes to an island looking for a new source of fuel, only to find a huge gorilla. Along the way, Jeff Bridges stows away and they rescue Jessica Lange, who mentions she was saved by watching DEEP THROAT, meaning she was on the deck of a yacht while all the men below watching a porno exploded to their deaths. That dates the film even more. Then there's Kong.
I'll be honest, the 1933 Kong wasn't that realistic a portrayal of a gorilla. But his character came through Willis O'Brien's stop-motion animation and his design. Whereas his 1976 equivalent is a man in an ape suit. It may have been oscar-winning Rick Baker, but it was still a guy in an ape suit. And no amount of bad matte shots can ever convince me otherwise. He looks ridiculous. He has this goofy grin that makes him look both retarded and creepy (one in the same to some people, I guess) and his clumsy walking seems less gorilla and more Godzilla. Add to that, the producers (step forward, legendary B-movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis) took out all the dinosaurs. Where are the freakin' Brontosauruses and Stegosauruses and T-Rex's? All we get is a crappy plastic snake.
Not to mention the relationship between Kong and "Dwan." Fay Wray, well at first she did a lot of screaming because, naturally, that's what you'd do if a fifty-foot gorilla wanted to fuck you. Jessica Lange, however, she looks up at those big googly ape eyes and says 'You male chauvinist pig ape.' Thank you very much, 1970s. Then again, that's what you get when you hire the screenwriter of the 1966 BATMAN movie, who had the nerve to attack the original Kong when justifying his stupendously stupid script. There is some ridiculously high-handed dialogue as well, especially from conservationist Jeff Bridges, and the whole flick treats itself as this amazing epic, but forgets that the whole flick is banking on the believability of Jessica Lange and a guy in an ape suit. As Sam Beckett said many times, Oh boy.
There are a couple of things I like. The cinematography is sometimes beautiful, and John Barry's score is good, although I'd be lying if I thought it was anywhere near the level that some people have said it to be. I suppose it's better if you treat it as a parody of the original, like maybe what JAWS 3, PEOPLE 0 would have been like. But then, it's better if you don't watch it at all.
LITTLE BRITAIN
I love this show. The characters are astoundingly clever and funny, and there are no places Matt Lucas and David Walliams won't go. The old characters are always great, but there are some fantastic new ones, including Harvey "Bitty" Pincher, a man in his late 20s who is still breast-feeding, an elderly woman who copiously vomits whenever she eats food made by anyone not white or straight, and Carol, the bank clerk who's "Computer says no" act is no doubt based on the bank I work for, NatWest. Not forgetting the heinously obese Bubbles De Vere and her huge grey minge. Great stuff.
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR
Hadn't seen this in a long time, what a poor pseudo-horror where very little actually happens. Decent James Brolin performance, but the shameless EXORCIST rip-offs and the demonic pig is just too much to take.
BATMAN
In recent years, I've been rather critical of Tim Burton's 1989 weirdo epic, but I've come to realize I like it quite a bit. It was a different story in '89; I saw it opening day and loved it to bits (BATMAN BEGINS was the first Batflick I didn't see in the opening weekend) and after purchasing the new special edition DVD, I've changed my opinion somewhat. Don't get me wrong, there are still things I don't like. I hate Robert Wuhl's character, Kim Basinger is the wrong kind of dame, I don't buy the idea that because a guy wears a batsuit he has to be this absolute freak, the action isn't great, I hate the Prince soundtrack, and most controversially I guess, I don't rate Nicholson's Joker. I think there are times when he comes close to being my clown prince of crime, but overall, he's not funny or psychotic enough. That's the thing though, Batman and the rogue's gallery have been through so many interpretations over the years, I'm not sure you can truly 100% say 'that's the one.' But he isn't my Joker. I also hate that he killed Bruce's parents. Not a fan of that at all.
On the other hand, Michael Keaton is close to my Batman. He works brilliantly in the suit, he has the sinister edge and I love that he isn't your standard muscle-bound superstar. He also doesn't have an over-the-top silly voice when he's in the cowl. I love the design of Gotham and the industrial noir edge that I guess somewhat influenced the animated series, although it's not sprawling enough. I love Elfman's music, and the Batmobile is the coolest car in the history of cinema, period. I guess it's a product of its time, notably the post-DKR era, and I think it pays its respects well to the book's roots. I guess Burton certainly has his personal claws into the thing, but then, I think he does it well enough without being disrespectful, and I know I'd probably want to put a personal edge on a Batman flick if I did it. Although it does follow the others where Batman deliberately or inadvertantly kills the bad guy at the end. I like it though.
KING KONG '76
I love the original 1933 KONG. I'm looking forward to Peter Jackson's version. Because of this, and because I seem to be hearing more people saying it's good, I decided to pick up the 70s remake. I didn't pay full price, but I wanted to give it another chance as I hadn't seen it for a while, although I wasn't a fan as a child, and as someone said to me today, 'if a kid doesn't like a giant monkey film, something's wrong.' Like BATMAN, KK76 is a product of its time. The time of the oil crisis, and the emergence of multi-nationals, both of which give influence to the new storyline, where an oil chief goes to an island looking for a new source of fuel, only to find a huge gorilla. Along the way, Jeff Bridges stows away and they rescue Jessica Lange, who mentions she was saved by watching DEEP THROAT, meaning she was on the deck of a yacht while all the men below watching a porno exploded to their deaths. That dates the film even more. Then there's Kong.
I'll be honest, the 1933 Kong wasn't that realistic a portrayal of a gorilla. But his character came through Willis O'Brien's stop-motion animation and his design. Whereas his 1976 equivalent is a man in an ape suit. It may have been oscar-winning Rick Baker, but it was still a guy in an ape suit. And no amount of bad matte shots can ever convince me otherwise. He looks ridiculous. He has this goofy grin that makes him look both retarded and creepy (one in the same to some people, I guess) and his clumsy walking seems less gorilla and more Godzilla. Add to that, the producers (step forward, legendary B-movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis) took out all the dinosaurs. Where are the freakin' Brontosauruses and Stegosauruses and T-Rex's? All we get is a crappy plastic snake.
Not to mention the relationship between Kong and "Dwan." Fay Wray, well at first she did a lot of screaming because, naturally, that's what you'd do if a fifty-foot gorilla wanted to fuck you. Jessica Lange, however, she looks up at those big googly ape eyes and says 'You male chauvinist pig ape.' Thank you very much, 1970s. Then again, that's what you get when you hire the screenwriter of the 1966 BATMAN movie, who had the nerve to attack the original Kong when justifying his stupendously stupid script. There is some ridiculously high-handed dialogue as well, especially from conservationist Jeff Bridges, and the whole flick treats itself as this amazing epic, but forgets that the whole flick is banking on the believability of Jessica Lange and a guy in an ape suit. As Sam Beckett said many times, Oh boy.
There are a couple of things I like. The cinematography is sometimes beautiful, and John Barry's score is good, although I'd be lying if I thought it was anywhere near the level that some people have said it to be. I suppose it's better if you treat it as a parody of the original, like maybe what JAWS 3, PEOPLE 0 would have been like. But then, it's better if you don't watch it at all.
LITTLE BRITAIN
I love this show. The characters are astoundingly clever and funny, and there are no places Matt Lucas and David Walliams won't go. The old characters are always great, but there are some fantastic new ones, including Harvey "Bitty" Pincher, a man in his late 20s who is still breast-feeding, an elderly woman who copiously vomits whenever she eats food made by anyone not white or straight, and Carol, the bank clerk who's "Computer says no" act is no doubt based on the bank I work for, NatWest. Not forgetting the heinously obese Bubbles De Vere and her huge grey minge. Great stuff.
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR
Hadn't seen this in a long time, what a poor pseudo-horror where very little actually happens. Decent James Brolin performance, but the shameless EXORCIST rip-offs and the demonic pig is just too much to take.
To Blog Or Not To Blog
I had this weird inner monologue with myself about five minutes ago, deciding on whether or not I could really be bothered to write an entry today. I've wanted to for about two days, but since the end of the weekend is nearing, this is as good a time as any.
I'm splitting the posts into three sections, namely this one and two others on the entertainment experience from the last few days, of which there has been quite a bit. I've had a cheap weekend with my girlfriend, i.e. watching flicks and little else, and work stuff aside, life feels good right about now.
But enough talk. There are movies and video games and the likes to wax lyrical about.
I'm splitting the posts into three sections, namely this one and two others on the entertainment experience from the last few days, of which there has been quite a bit. I've had a cheap weekend with my girlfriend, i.e. watching flicks and little else, and work stuff aside, life feels good right about now.
But enough talk. There are movies and video games and the likes to wax lyrical about.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Sunday, November 20, 2005
A Busy Weekend
Ah. The weekend is over, but it's been a fun one. I had to work Friday night, but I'm starting on a rehabilitation program there to ease me back in and make sure I don't have an immediate relapse as soon as the first customer shouts at me, so I watched videos and listened to phone calls. We got home and were really tired, so Lisa slept while I watched a bit of REVENGE OF THE SITH and played some computer games.
Lisa went to work early Saturday, so I slept in for a bit, before playing some Battlefront II. It's pretty darn tough, but damn enjoyable. I finally managed to get past the mission where you have to assassinate the Queen of Naboo, and I'm currently stuck on the Death Star mission. It's hard, yo.
Saturday night saw us going to a wedding reception of two of my friends. The night started badly, with our taxi not turning up and us having to call for another, but when we got there, it was excellent. There was a cheesy wedding band playing, but they played some decent - and surprising - material, including "Paint It Black," which we danced to, and an amazing version of the Ramones' "Needles & Pins." Great stuff. We came home relatively early (midnight or so) and watched SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE.
Sunday saw us shopping. You'll see the purchases below, although I forgot to add one major one: KING KONG: THE VIDEO GAME. It's fine stuff so far, and I'm stuck right now because I keep getting eaten by dinosaurs. We came home and watched SHAUN OF THE DEAD, BATMAN (great DTS soundtrack) and laughed our asses off at COMMANDO, which inspired the latest layout. I forgot how completely gay that movie is. Amazing stuff.
All in all, a great weekend.
Lisa went to work early Saturday, so I slept in for a bit, before playing some Battlefront II. It's pretty darn tough, but damn enjoyable. I finally managed to get past the mission where you have to assassinate the Queen of Naboo, and I'm currently stuck on the Death Star mission. It's hard, yo.
Saturday night saw us going to a wedding reception of two of my friends. The night started badly, with our taxi not turning up and us having to call for another, but when we got there, it was excellent. There was a cheesy wedding band playing, but they played some decent - and surprising - material, including "Paint It Black," which we danced to, and an amazing version of the Ramones' "Needles & Pins." Great stuff. We came home relatively early (midnight or so) and watched SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE.
Sunday saw us shopping. You'll see the purchases below, although I forgot to add one major one: KING KONG: THE VIDEO GAME. It's fine stuff so far, and I'm stuck right now because I keep getting eaten by dinosaurs. We came home and watched SHAUN OF THE DEAD, BATMAN (great DTS soundtrack) and laughed our asses off at COMMANDO, which inspired the latest layout. I forgot how completely gay that movie is. Amazing stuff.
All in all, a great weekend.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Comic Sans Must Die
What is it with Comic Sans? Why on earth do people continue to use the most heinous of fonts, cursing us to suffer through their badly made websites populated entirely by the devil's typeface. The thing is ugly, it's cheesy, and it doesn't even look like comic lettering! The worst thing is, it's no longer limited to AvrilFan666's Geocities page or the ad for "Christian services" in the window of the local store. Nope, I actually saw it on a genuine movie the other day.
Granted, it wasn't exactly a flick of the highest quality. ROLE OF A LIFETIME starring Scott Bakula in a pseudo-SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS yarn (tangent: how come his career went down the toilet after QUANTUM LEAP? He was great on that show). My pops was watching it on satellite and I looked up to glimpse that almost pornographic font spreading its evil disease through the idiot box as the credits ran. I can understand it in student films - let's face it, for the handful of great talents that come through from academia, there's still a fuckload of morons doing it just because it's not hard to qualify for media courses - but in proper budgeted movies, there's no excuse.
Not even if Joel Schumacher directed it.
Granted, it wasn't exactly a flick of the highest quality. ROLE OF A LIFETIME starring Scott Bakula in a pseudo-SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS yarn (tangent: how come his career went down the toilet after QUANTUM LEAP? He was great on that show). My pops was watching it on satellite and I looked up to glimpse that almost pornographic font spreading its evil disease through the idiot box as the credits ran. I can understand it in student films - let's face it, for the handful of great talents that come through from academia, there's still a fuckload of morons doing it just because it's not hard to qualify for media courses - but in proper budgeted movies, there's no excuse.
Not even if Joel Schumacher directed it.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Friday, November 11, 2005
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Yoda N' The Hood
You may or may not be aware that there is a new thing that is raising the ire of Star Wars fans and disillusioned nerds everywhere. Said thing is an easter egg on the DVD for REVENGE OF THE SITH that just happens to have everyone's favourite green Jedi master getting down and rapping to a song by The Roots.
While I applaud Lucasfilm's music taste, as The Roots are a fantastic act, it's not the easiest thing to sit through, although I don't see it as the cock in the ass that other people have. Moreover, it opens my eyes to the concept that a lot of people have forgotten. Star Wars is a mainstream flick, and it's aimed at a mainstream audience. It isn't made to cater for the hardcore fans, but rather a huge demographic, which really is the same as the original trilogy. It's just that we've taken this thing such to our hearts that it's something we seem to have forgotten. And this is the kind of thing the mainstream loves.
We're kidding ourselves if we think Star Wars is this holy franchise that is above things the other franchises do. I mean, come on, this is a film which spawned Tauntaun cookie jars and Ewok toothbrushes. Threepio and Chewbacca were starring in Burger King commercials decades before THE PHANTOM MENACE and its onslaught hit. For fuck's sake, Threepio had his own cereal! As disliked as the prequels are and everything surrounded them, nothing is worse than the Holiday Special. Nothing. As bad as things get, we should take a step back and realize there's nothing being done now that hasn't been done worse before.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Be Very, Very Afraid
Yesterday, after yet another viewing of THE INCREDIBLES (which is still amazing), Lisa and I sat down and watched David Cronenberg's THE FLY. I hadn't seen it in ages, and while I'd love to say I watched the brand spanking new special edition, I had to make do with the double feature disc I bought in Dallas when I was up that way. In any case, it's still an amazing movie.
I'm always amazed by the unnerving atmosphere Cronenberg seems to be able to pull off effortlessly. Of course, the heightening of said atmosphere is parallel to Brundle's deterioration, and his transformation from nervous nerd-type to confident and arrogant sex-mad lunatic, culminating in the scene in the bar. That scene always scared me to death as a kid, and it even haunts me to this day, and is no less visceral. But what's more disturbing than a bone popping out of someone's arm is Brundle himself, his tone, his attitude, his character I guess. How he turns from a man trying to better the world to a man so intoxicated by power to the point where he destroys himself is a tragic arc, played perfectly by Goldblum, although it would have been interesting to see the original choice of Michael Keaton play it.
Chris Walas' effects are still amazing. I love the design of the final creature, with its hyper-sensitive eyes jutting about like hummingbird wings. I'm just glad Cronenberg didn't give us a "Fly POV" with the shot cut into hundreds of sections of itself, which I'm sure some modern directors wouldn't have the restraint not to do. Howard Shore's music is excellent, although there were a couple of moments when it was perhaps too bombastic, and some awful music edits.
But in any case, it holds up brilliantly, and works not only as a monster movie so tragic it could have been one of Universal's heyday flicks, but also as a deeper plasma pool, trading on thematic elements taken from the excess of the 80s. It's a good companion piece to the original Vincent Price flick, but like THE THING, is so much more complex.
I'm always amazed by the unnerving atmosphere Cronenberg seems to be able to pull off effortlessly. Of course, the heightening of said atmosphere is parallel to Brundle's deterioration, and his transformation from nervous nerd-type to confident and arrogant sex-mad lunatic, culminating in the scene in the bar. That scene always scared me to death as a kid, and it even haunts me to this day, and is no less visceral. But what's more disturbing than a bone popping out of someone's arm is Brundle himself, his tone, his attitude, his character I guess. How he turns from a man trying to better the world to a man so intoxicated by power to the point where he destroys himself is a tragic arc, played perfectly by Goldblum, although it would have been interesting to see the original choice of Michael Keaton play it.
Chris Walas' effects are still amazing. I love the design of the final creature, with its hyper-sensitive eyes jutting about like hummingbird wings. I'm just glad Cronenberg didn't give us a "Fly POV" with the shot cut into hundreds of sections of itself, which I'm sure some modern directors wouldn't have the restraint not to do. Howard Shore's music is excellent, although there were a couple of moments when it was perhaps too bombastic, and some awful music edits.
But in any case, it holds up brilliantly, and works not only as a monster movie so tragic it could have been one of Universal's heyday flicks, but also as a deeper plasma pool, trading on thematic elements taken from the excess of the 80s. It's a good companion piece to the original Vincent Price flick, but like THE THING, is so much more complex.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
I ♥ Motorcycles
This weekend has been a strange one. We were supposed to get up early on Saturday - reasons will become clear later - and so we tried to get an early night on Friday. Unfortunately, for reasons best left alone (and KING KONG) we got to sleep at around 3.20am, which understandably left us exhausted.
The reason for such drastic getting up times (7.30am) was the International Motorcycle & Scooter Show 2005, which was being held in Birmingham, about two hours from Bristol. Lisa is mad on bikes, so she wanted to take me, and I wanted to go. So two McMuffins later, we set off. The show was excellent. We sat on tons of bikes, including a very sexy Ducati ST3s (see below), and I am firmly set on getting one now. I hooked up with my sister's boyfriend as well, and overall it was a fantastic time, although hugely tiring. So when we got home, we started to watch THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 at about 7pm, and promptly fell asleep. We didn't properly wake until 8.30am this morning, which is an impressive sleep session.
But we took lots of pictures, and I've put them into our photo album (including pics of the actual bike Charley Boorman rode in the excellent LONG WAY ROUND), which also features some of our other random pictures.
The reason for such drastic getting up times (7.30am) was the International Motorcycle & Scooter Show 2005, which was being held in Birmingham, about two hours from Bristol. Lisa is mad on bikes, so she wanted to take me, and I wanted to go. So two McMuffins later, we set off. The show was excellent. We sat on tons of bikes, including a very sexy Ducati ST3s (see below), and I am firmly set on getting one now. I hooked up with my sister's boyfriend as well, and overall it was a fantastic time, although hugely tiring. So when we got home, we started to watch THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 at about 7pm, and promptly fell asleep. We didn't properly wake until 8.30am this morning, which is an impressive sleep session.
But we took lots of pictures, and I've put them into our photo album (including pics of the actual bike Charley Boorman rode in the excellent LONG WAY ROUND), which also features some of our other random pictures.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Mute Lesbians!
That got your attention. Pretty slow day today. Went to see a doctor about some stuff, but after that met with a lady to talk about a possible promotional video gig I'm looking at. Could be good stuff.
Since then, I've been trying to work on my script, or more accurately, one scene that is giving me all kinds of trouble. It's pretty much the centerpiece of the movie, and currently starts on page 82. Basically, it concerns a girl who had a very traumatic experience as a teenager, and since then hasn't been able to talk about it at all. Originally, she was mute, but I did some research on post-traumatic stress disorders and the like, and discovered it's more common that they avoid talking about incidents altogether. So I've started to go down that route, but it's just driving me crazy, finding the right rhythm and dialogue that sounds realistic, but also comes in the right place. I'm sure I'll crack it eventually, but at the moment, it's sending me insane.
I'm trying to find a frame of reference in a movie to compare the scene to, but I can't really think of any. It's basically either the climax of act 2 or the beginning of act 3, I haven't really decided yet. It's essentially the scene that makes a lot of the pieces fall into place, and drives the story towards its conclusion, so I'd say it's the end of act 2. I'm just having trouble finding that killer element to make it really compelling.
Since then, I've been trying to work on my script, or more accurately, one scene that is giving me all kinds of trouble. It's pretty much the centerpiece of the movie, and currently starts on page 82. Basically, it concerns a girl who had a very traumatic experience as a teenager, and since then hasn't been able to talk about it at all. Originally, she was mute, but I did some research on post-traumatic stress disorders and the like, and discovered it's more common that they avoid talking about incidents altogether. So I've started to go down that route, but it's just driving me crazy, finding the right rhythm and dialogue that sounds realistic, but also comes in the right place. I'm sure I'll crack it eventually, but at the moment, it's sending me insane.
I'm trying to find a frame of reference in a movie to compare the scene to, but I can't really think of any. It's basically either the climax of act 2 or the beginning of act 3, I haven't really decided yet. It's essentially the scene that makes a lot of the pieces fall into place, and drives the story towards its conclusion, so I'd say it's the end of act 2. I'm just having trouble finding that killer element to make it really compelling.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
KONG!
Oh. My. God.
I've been anticipating this movie like crazy, but this just kicked it into overdrive. Three hours long? BRING IT FUCKING ON!
I suppose the sensible thing would be to expect a KK layout soon... good god, this flick looks fucking amazing.
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