Messages

Trailer is awesome.

Poster is beyond awful. What the hell were they thinking?

Aside from it (imo) not looking like a very good movie (I thought the trailer looked pretty cheesy rather than cool), I also think its because it looks like nothing the audience hasn't seen a hundred times before. Ghost in the Shell was influential in its day, but has been borrowed from so heavily that the source material itself now looks derivative and generic.

I'd also argue that the Cyberpunky/Blade Runnery/neon skyscrapers aesthetic is simply a very old-fashioned and passe conception of a sci fi setting that stems from a very different time (the 80s and 90s). It feels very dated and doesn't ring as relevant to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's very much been supplanted in recent times by a much grungier, grounded sci fi aesthetic as seen in the likes of Minority Report, District 9 and (yes) Dredd.

[Game of Thrones Live Experience]

Going to see the Game of Thrones Live Experience on Sunday night - can't wait!

I remember The Fifth Element getting an absolute kicking when it came out (20! years ago). It's only recently that it seems to have gained a bit of nostalgic reappraisal.

I remember enjoying it at the time, and still think some of the design touches are inspired, though it always felt like a much more interesting science fiction movie that was awkwardly shoe-horned into a Bruce Willis/Die Hard vehicle in the third act.

The Dredd game was probably his best outing ever with the producers obviously caring for the subject with Chopper graffiti and sky surfers appearing.

ISTR that one of the developers of the 16-bit Dredd game once had a letter published in 2000ad or the Meg, saying he became a massive fan of the character while doing research for the game, and though the game was originally just supposed to cover the storyline of the Stallone movie, he personally pushed to include a load of extra levels featuring loads of things from the comics - skysurfers, the Dark Judges etc etc.

It looks surprisingly decent to me, and has some positive buzz around it. You can't really blame them for playing up the horror/jump scare elements in the trailer. I believe it will be subtitled 'Part One: The Loser's Club' when released.

Really not convinced about Valerian - the visuals look nice, but it's as if they went out of their way to cast the two least suited, least appealing lead actors going. Dehaan is fine as a creepy stalker type, but as a blockbuster action lead? Really?

Next purchase will probably be Shovel Knight.

Shovel Knight is fantastic.

Logan.

I don't dislike the other Wolverine films, but, yes, this was very special.

Don't look at this if you haven't seen it yet (obviously):
[spoiler]Considering the ending, (and setting for that matter) i wonder how this will affect future X-Men films. I guess it's set far enough in the future for now to give a lot of leeway, but sooner or later, unless the series is discontinued ( a real possibility) they'll catch up.

Not that it really matters with the propensity for altered timelines and revamps, etc. It's still a nice finale for the character.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I saw it very much as a Dark Knight Returns/Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? type story. Just one possible future/ending for these characters. Also, we're talking about a series where multiple versions of the same characters exist and one of the main characters in the franchise has now died on-screen twice - I don't think they're particularly concerned about continuity.[/spoiler]

Having had more time to think on it, I do feel more and more strongly that they went a bit overboard with the violence and other R rated content in Logan. In particular, I really didn't like that they [spoiler]killed the farmer family. It seemed excessive and mean-spirited on the part of the film that literally every single character in the entire movie dies except Laura and a handful of mutant kids we barely know, and also basically makes Logan and Charles indirectly responsible for their deaths.[/spoiler] To me, the often absurd level of violence undercut the mature tone they managed to achieve in the rest of the movie - it reminded me a little of a late nineties Vertigo comics in that regard - a little gratuitous and ott.

I also didn't really care for the [spoiler]Logan clone. Wish they hadn't gone down that route, was hoping for something more inventive. Richard E Grant was also wasted.[/spoiler] On the flipside, the main trio were absolutely phenomenal. I honestly don't think its unrealistic or hyperbole to suggest that Patrick Stewart deserves serious awards recognition for his performance.

Logan.

I really enjoyed it - the restrained, slower paced first half moreso - the second half kinda descended into overblown schlock a bit too much for my liking. Perversely, I actually think it would have been a better film for being even leaner and more stripped-down, with less characters and a lower budget and body count (and if they had dialled down the grittiness and violence just a smidge). All the head-stabbing just gets a bit deadening after a while, and most of the real standout moments for me were the quieter character beats, some of which were really moving, but hey i guess its a Fox X Men film, so there has to be a giant mutant battle blowout at the end...

But yeah, i liked it. It was really nicely shot and the director and actors made some really nice choices. A fitting send-off for Jackman, and its such a relief that R rated genre movies can apparently make money again.

4/5

The Belko Experiment

Have been really looking forward to this, but in the end it was surprisingly average. Without spoiling anything, if you've seen the trailer you can pretty much predict how the entire movie will play out. I was confidently predicting some clever twists on the Battle Royale formula, but nope - its pretty rote.

Nor as inventive, given the scenario, or as funny, given the writer, as you'd expect - which is surprising given this was apparently James Gunn's long-gestating passion project - the script isn't as tight as you'd expect. It's more reminiscent of the Dawn of the Dead remake (which he scripted) than anything. The end result is a rather predictable, anticlimactic movie that lacks even Battle Royale's demented humor to offset the blunt, nihilistic tone.

A bit of a miss.

2/5.

Had a quick look at a colleague's Switch. It's a nice piece of kit, but I had a few concerns. The one thing that really jumped out to me (which I hadn't previously considered) is the glaring lack of a d pad, which seems to immediately hobble the system's potential as a retro gaming/Virtual Console machine. I also found the placement of the left analogue stick very uncomfortable - it's far too low so you have to awkwardly bend your thumb in order to push it. Even my friend admitted that he only got used to it 'after 50 hours of playing'. Also, the individual Joy Cons (in addition to the lack of d pads) do not seem comfortable or ergonomic to play with. It seems like they'll be suited to only play the most basic of games on, which is a shame.

Overall, I think I'll wait for the next iteration of the Switch that will no doubt fix all these issues (not to mention the widely reported issues of the dock scratching the screen, the joycon connectivity issues and other minor hardware issues). This initial design reminds me of the clunky original DS - a concept that only really delivered on its promise with the vastly improved DS Lite.

Zelda looks great, but I'm simply not in the market for that kind of sprawling 100 hour adventure right now, nor will I be for the foreseeable future.

[Moonlight]

Moonlight
Predictably great. Soulful, raw, mature, affecting and with some of the best performances I've seen in a long time. Had no idea Naomie Harris and Janelle Monae (whose music I love) were in this! I appreciated how certain things were left ambiguous and how the film trusted the viewer to be able to join the dots themselves. I was genuinely gutted when each 'act' ended as I thought it was just getting going.
5/5

Captain Fantastic
Blew me away, loved everything about it. Funny, beautifully shot, heartfelt with an amazing cast. Already looking forward to watching it again. Had no idea that it was filmed around where I live until we were watching it, so that was a nice surprise. Your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for quirky indie road movies like Little Miss Sunshine (which I personally like), though I think this film has a fresh energy about it and mostly avoids the usual cliches of the genre.
5/5

The Edge of Seventeen
Massively overrated. I've heard many critics compare this movie to the work of John Hughes, which is just laughable to me. It's bland, predictable, tiresomely cliched ('being a teenager is so hard!' - give me a break) and what comedy there is is desperately contrived. I think they're trying to angle the lead character as a sort of snarky, witty precocious antihero type, but the limp, unsophisticated and unfunny script just isn't up to the task. Astonished that this has an RT rating in the high 90s - it's disposable pap at best. Avoid like the plague.
1/5

[Cardboard!]

For board game podcasts, I like Cardboard! which is hosted by Rich Sommer (who played the Harry Crane in Mad Men). His twin obsessions are board games and cocktails, and one of the signature features of his podcast is that he will talk about a particular game and then recommend a cocktail pairing to drink while you play it (say, Colt Express paired with a vintage cocktail recipe from the Wild West).

The format has changed quite a bit now though - it's a bit less produced and off the cuff than it was when it started.

[No Such Thing as a Fish]

No Such Thing as a Fish - aka the QI podcast. Love this one, though I don't tend to listen weekly and prefer instead to stockpile them for road trips.

I've never heard of it - is it actually an official QI podcast or something very QI-like?  Shall have to go explore!

It's quasi-official. I guess they can't use the QI name for copyright reasons, but it's hosted by the QI 'elves' ie researchers, and the content is based on research they are doing for the show. If I'm being honest, I actually prefer the podcast to the actual TV show these days (which has gone downhill a bit imo). The podcast has been so successful that the crew have actually got their own BBC TV show out of it.

[I Was There Too]

I Was There Too - interviews with smaller players (generally extras or supporting cast members) involved in iconic movies. Interesting, personal perspectives and a charming, funny host. Among many others, highlights have been Stephen Tobolowsky talking about his role in Groundhog Day (Bing!), Jenette Goldstein talking about playing Vasquez in Aliens and comedian Greg Proops being delightfully frank about his experience on The Phantom Menace.

The Flop House - there are dozens of 'bad movie' podcasts, but this is the best one I've found. Hosted by one current and one former The Daily Show writers (and their bartender pal who is arguably the funniest of the bunch), its perhaps an acquired taste, but it routinely makes me laugh more than any other podcast.

Retronauts - Retro videogame podcast. Sometimes the subjects can be a little niche for me (they just did a very thorough examination of the Apple II, for example), but when its a topic I'm interested in it's a great listen.

Cane and Rinse - it's awful name aside, this is the best videogames podcast out there. Thoughtful, intelligent dissections of some of the biggest and best games of the medium's history. Zero snobbery - a simple mobile game like Threes! gets the same level of attention and discussion as GTAV. The back catalogue is a treasure trove.

Thirty Twenty Ten - a great concept (a pop culture deep-dive into the biggest songs, movies, comics,  videogames and sometimes news stories from 30, 20 and 10 years ago the week of recording) executed brilliantly. Some proper nerding out that occasionally unearths some really interesting trivia nuggets, long-forgotten pop culture artifacts and unlikely coincidences across the decades. I also like all the other output from the guys who do this show (Laser Time), though it's a mixed bag - sometimes a little US centric and with a slightly tedious preoccupation with professional wrestling.

Distraction Pieces - which is hosted by Scroobius Pip, who I like a lot. Topics and guest vary wildly with some (again to my tastes tedious) digressions on wrestling and UFC). But when it's good, its great. Pip is such an engaging and sensitive interviewer that he can really draw a lot out of his subjects, and even episodes that you might think would be not particularly interesting can be really raw and illuminating - see his two part interview with TV presenter Gail Porter.

No Such Thing as a Fish - aka the QI podcast. Love this one, though I don't tend to listen weekly and prefer instead to stockpile them for road trips.

I also dip in and out of The Joe Rogan Experience. As with others, your mileage may vary depending on guest and subject - and Rogan himself is a pretty opinionated, divisive figure - but I'd highly recommend the recent episode with Scientology whistleblower Leah Remini - it's pretty explosive stuff.