Things I thought I'd never see on the big screen...

I never thought I'd see a Unicorn, stab a man through the gut with it's horn and kill him.

That's right, a Unicorn like this.  Mythical creature, popular in the Middle Ages, symbol of purity and grace, supposed only able to be captured by a virgin.

Not only that, but I never, ever, thought I'd see it during the film Cabin in the Woods.  About 20 minutes in and you're scared that this highly anticipated film is going to be just another teen slasher flick.

Boy, would you be dead wrong.

I was deeply impressed by the creativity, ingenuity and humour of the film.  If you haven't seen it yet, go, now.  I mean, RIGHT NOW.

I recently read an article on the BBC website, saying that the trailers for the film gave too much away; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16972394 and whilst I agree it gives away a little, there is no way it 'spoils' the film.

I really enjoyed the film, and will talk about it more at length later.  But for now I don't want to give away any more details until you've had plenty of time to see it.

Until then, enjoy.

Getting older and Joseph Gordon-Levitt...

As a Father, you see time pass quickly.  You have a child growing and learning rapidly before your eyes.  It gives you a great ability to enjoy the smaller, seemingly less significant things in life.  Ask an 18 year old to sit and watch a child playing at playground for an hour, and you will probably be met with a roll of the eyes and a sharp tongued quip about it being an amazingly boring way to spend an hour.  Yet I in fact spent such an hour (several in fact), just last week when I took my children to an adventure park.
Another ability, imparted by age, is the use of the phrase, "when I was a lad/lass" (delete as appropriate, and spoken with a broad yorkshire accent).  And I'm finding with the rapidly changing world we live in today, courtesy of the technological advances of our time, the use of this phrase comes to us all the sooner.

Now, you're probably thinking what the hell this has to do with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (JGL).  It all started when I was looking for information on upcoming releases for this year, finding that 3 bigs one star none other than JGL (Looper, Lincoln, and of course TDKR).  JGL is, quite rightly, on the up and up with regards to his big screen career.  A rise that started when he played the role of Arthur in Inception (a role that was originally meant for James Franco before he pulled out).  Here's how he looked when he hit out screens in 2010.

Inception was a 12A, meaning that people old enough to see the film, may not have been old enough to know JGL from his earlier career success in television.  Between 1996 and 2001, JGL starred in TV sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.  Here's how he looked back then:

This is how I remembered JGL.  Needless to say, when he hit the big screen in 2010 for Inception I was amazed at the transformation.  Made all the more profound by the fact that we are very similar in age.  Looking at his filmography, it's clear to see that JGL has had a slow burning, and successful career.  One that leads him to his position now, one of the most talented actors of his generation, with a very busy 2012 on the cards.

I'm really looking forward to JGL's contribution to the coming year.  I'm off to watch some 3rd Rock from the Sun.

Why not go watch some yourself?

High School Drama Productions...

...In my opinion, should remain where they are...school.

At the weekend I went to see;

If we're to take the ticket literally, I'm the tit in question.  My wrath due to my waste of time and money seeing the film (which was in fact Wrath of the Titans).

I watched Clash of the Titans, and was unimpressed.  It is very rare that I am not fooled into liking a film that is visually spectacular, but Clash of the Titans marked one of those rare occasions.  So needless to say I was very surprised that it was given a second outing, in the form of Wrath of the Titans.  That surprise turning to slack jawed wonderment, when I read that it had a budget of $150,000,000.  That's $25,000,000 more than Clash, although Clash did somehow manage to take nearly $500,000,000 at the Box Office.

So I decided to suspend my disbelief, and my cynicism and give Wrath of the Titans a go.

The day before I went, I did however read a particularly scathing review on aintitcool.com.  Here's the link if you want to read it yourself:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/54586

Quint has now written a slightly less scathing one since, which may help to balance opinion for anyone still considering going to see it.

The film starts 10 years on from the last.  Perseus has a son, and some other stuff has happened.  Or should I say, some other stuff has been hastily written into the opening bits of dialogue to give some back story, with no Gemma Arterton to narrate it.  This I was able to forgive, as we then plunge straight into the action.  Which for the most part is none stop. The brief pauses in the action, to introduce new characters, and move the story forward, are just that...brief.  So they don't get boring.  There's even comic relief in the form of Bill Nighy's Hephaestus, and whilst I'm not entirely sure about the broad Yorkshire accent he has, I would dearly love to know who's idea it was for him to have it!

So up until the last 20 minutes of the film, I have to say that I was enjoying myself.  It's no masterpiece, but it was fun.  Then, I was brought back, snap, to reality.  With scenes so cringeworthy and amateur, that it spoiled my enjoyment completely.

Let me set the scene...

Perseus has saved the day, and is surveying the aftermath.  A mixture of injuries and celebrations, when his gaze comes to rest on his son, Helius, playing with Queen Andromeda.  A smile crosses his face, and then his cousin (another demigod) Agenor, catches his eye.  Agenor gestures with his head (the equivalent of a nudge and a wink), urging him to go and speak to Andromeda.  Agenor then calls Helius over to him, so that Andromeda is on her own.

** At this point, 2 things have also happened during the course of the film;

- They have shoe horned in back story about Perseus and Io being wed, having a child, with Io then dying.

- Andromeda has given Perseus ONE 'look', which Perseus does not see or acknowledge.  Beyond that there is no chemistry between the two. **

We then cut to Andromeda in her tent, and it is at this point that I began to cringe.  It is like a high school production, where they are doing a first run through. As the scene starts, it's almost as if I can hear the director reading from the script;

"Andromeda move things around on the table at random,"

Perseus then strolls up to her, and kisses her.  At this point, I would like you to read back the two points I mentioned above.  There is zero chemistry between them, and Perseus has managed to stop giving a shit about his dead wife in record time.  The film should have just ended, very abruptly, three minutes earlier.  That would have been a better way to finish.

But then they drive the final nail into the coffin...

Perseus' final promise to his dying wife, Io, was that his son would never pick up arms and fight as a soldier.  So what better way to end than with an emotionally stunted Perseus handing his sword to his son, saying it was time to train him to use it.  The dialogue may as well have been,

"Here, take this, it's about time you bloody learned how to use it you scrawny little git."

After these two terrible scenes, I then can't help but begin to pick apart the rest of the film, until I come away feeling aggrieved at having had my time wasted.  Which you can probably tell from my rant.

They're already talking about making a third....

Summer Blockbusters, worth the wait?...

This summer is going to be a great one for big blockbuster franchises.  We've got the 3rd Bat Man film, The Avengers, and finally Prometheus (among others).
I remember a while ago Ridley Scott saying that Prometheus was not a prequel, and whilst it had 'shared DNA' with the Aliens films, was not part of that franchise.  This definitely piqued my interest, job done Mr. Scott.

Since then, cards have been kept very close to chests, and very little has been given away about the film.  The closest we came to any connection to the Alien films, was a shot of the downed spacecraft that features in the 1st and 2nd, containing the eggs that kick start everyone's problems.  This generated a great buzz of energy and speculation.  So whilst I'm looking forward to all 3 of the films mentioned above, I very much feel I know what I'm to expect from The Avengers, and The Dark Knight Rises.  Where as I was looking forward to the potential curve ball of Prometheus.  Taking an great idea, a brilliant concept, a thread, starting from Alien, reweaving it into something new, something unexpected.

Then I watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0WUpsErUBA
(Whilst watching this will put the post into context, I wouldn't advise it.  Ignorance is bliss in this case I feel)

Now it just feels like a prequel.  That whatever happens, I know that the end will do nothing but leave us lined up for Alien.

So I don't spoil it for anyone who chooses not to view the above link, I'll not go into anymore detail.  I just hope that this in itself, is a clever bit of trickery and diversion from Mr. Scott.

Fingers crossed.

'Mass Effect' on user controlled game plots?....

Earlier this month, EA Games released Mass Effect 3.  A game developed by BioWare, and last in the trilogy of the Mass Effect series, which centres around Commander Shepard.
From humble beginnings in 2007, the Mass Effect series has grown far beyond the realm of consoles to include comics, graphic novels and a newly announced Anime in the works.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the series, at it's core it has a compelling, well written storyline.  The amazing gameplay then carries it to levels of greatness seldom seen in a series of games.
The thing I like most about Mass Effect, and many other things from the science fiction genre, is that it's amazingly imaginative.  I find myself in awe of the story, rather than sitting there thinking that I could do a better job.  This makes it all the more easy to get caught up in.  This is what makes the recent furore surrounding the ending, all the more disappointing.

Before I continue, I would like to note, that as yet, I have not completed Mass Effect 3 and am basing my opinion purely on what I am seeing written in various reviews and blogs out there on the internet.

The ending of Mass Effect 3 has come under a huge amount of criticism.  To the point where the developer has released an official statement, and a charity has raised money to fund an alternate ending.  Again, I do not know how the game ends.  BioWare are rumoured to be working on DLC to provide an alternate ending for outraged fans.  Don't get me wrong, this is a massive gaming series, with some amazingly written characters spanning a great many years.

The way it all ends is a big deal.

But this is the way I see it.

The guys and gals at BioWare have spent more time developing, writing, rewriting, creating and finessing Mass Effect than we've spent playing it.  As much as I love Mass Effect, I'm sure they love it more.  This is their baby, they've birthed it, raised it and set it free into the world, and they've done it for us.  So as much as we want the ending to be spectacular, I imagine they do too.  I would think the last thing they want is for it to end poorly.  On top of that, the best part about being the spectator, and not the story teller, is that I'm on the ride, and all I can do is hang on.

That is why the very thought of BioWare reacting to the outcry by rewriting the ending as part of a future DLC is horrifying to me.  It would be like everybody demanding that J.K. Rowling rewrite the last Harry Potter book because we didn't like the ending.  Or upon the release of the upcoming Bat Man film, lobbying Chris Nolan because we don't like the way it all draws to a close.  It's madness.

Sometimes the hero doesn't ride off into the sunset, or get the girl, or survive for that matter.  That's just the beauty of the story that's being told.  It may well be that when I complete the game, that it's an ending I didn't expect.  But I'm not the one telling the story.  I'm just along for the ride.

A very rare thing...

A science fiction film that my Wife and I both enjoyed.  We went to see John Carter, an IMAX screening at the 2nd largest screen in Europe.  It was my first IMAX experience, but more of that in a bit.

During the film, my Wife turned to me and said she was surprised a film as good as this hadn't had more fuss made about it.  At first I disagreed, but upon second thoughts I could see how she would think that.  I wondered at first if it was due to it being a Disney film, and at face value it isn't your average Disney.  Then when you think about it, all the usual elements are there, the love, the heartbreak, the hope, alongside your one man against many backdrop.  The only main differences being your live action elements and the Mars setting.
It's this strong story element, carried by some good acting performances that had my Wife overlooking the usual elements of a science fiction film that she would pick up on, such as a breathable atmosphere on Mars.
The plot moves away from that of the original book, but as a film I don't think it suffers at all because of this.  In fact I quite like the fact that they manage to write in Edgar Rice Burroughs as a result of the slight change to the plot.

John Carter is also a film I believe that has been made better due to it's showing in IMAX.  As a result it is the best 3D film I have seen to date.  I got a genuine sense of depth throughout, something I'm sure that benefitted from the large screen size (70 feet across!).  The sound was also fantastic.  The only disappointment was that the IMAX glasses were uncomfortable.  The bridge of my nose became sore, distracting me, and seeing me adjusting my glasses to try and ease the discomfort throughout the film.  Other than that, it would have been an immersive and sensational experience.

Not only was John Carter a good film, made great by it's presentation in IMAX, but it has also whetted my appetite for the upcoming summer blockbusters that will be hitting the IMAX screen.  2012 is shaping up to be a good year for cinema goers.

On the road...

I find myself using the Blogger mobile app for the first time.

This is because The Holiday Inn expect me to pay an extortionate amount of money to access their wifi connection. The prices are as follows:
1 hour - £5
24 hours - £16
If I wanted Internet for the duration of my stay (6 days) - £70

Now this may or may not seem reasonable to you. I would have thought they same, only I'm spending time during my stay with a gentleman who used to work for Sky Business. He was someone who would have dealt with businesses such as the Holiday Inn. He informs me that should an establishment take out a commercial Sky package ( I can confirm that they have Sky. I watched Sky News this morning whilst eating my breakfast ), they also get wifi....wait for it...completely free of charge! So on top of the overpriced rooms, that are drab at best, they make pure profit from any poor fool who pays to connect to their wifi hotspot.

To top it off, this is the view from my room....