Tron: Legacy
Right so this entry is INSANELY late, but hey... it's here now! :) My friend Richard and I seem to be back into a pattern of going to the cinema one evening every week and so here's my thoughts on the last 3 films we saw, starting with Tron: Legacy!
The original Tron came out in 1982 and although I hadn't seen it in years I recently re-watched it after seeing the new film. Unfortunately though, Tron: Legacy makes the original look incredibly dated - Boo! :( We saw the 3D showing of Legacy, although strangely only parts of the movie were actually in 3D. Before it started there was a message to tell us this and that it was "by design", but we should still keep our glasses on for the entire film... okay we paid extra to see it in 3D... did we just get ripped off? Actually... no!
I'm probably not going to describe this very well, but to me the the 3D was incredibly subtle, so much so that you didn't really notice when it wasn't there (I know how bad that sounds!), but then the scenes where it was there... I thought it worked really well. Of course if you hate 3D films then you'll hate this just as much, but to me it was a different twist. There were some scenes in particular though that were like OMG THAT'S 3D and they were really good... one scene with Clu giving a speech to his minions springs to mind!
I think the story on Legacy made sense (as much as going into a computer world can make sense!) and it built on the original story really well and I found myself hooked on the film from start to finish! I should also add that the music is by Daft Punk. They literally did the entire soundtrack and it fitted the scenes perfectly!
So yeh... awesome (if a bit bizarre) film and I can't wait for it to come out on home release!
127 Hours
We don't just watch futuristic 3D movies and we also went to see 127 Hours. If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a true story with a guy who goes out to a rocky mountain area and gets his arm trapped and no one knows he's there and he has to try and get out. Whilst I did enjoy the film (and I don't want to be too critical because it's a true story!), unfortunately I don't think I'd ever really watch it again. It was interesting to watch, but largely I don't think you'll miss anything if you just watch it on DVD.
Actually my saying that about the DVD turned into a bit of a debate on my Facebook wall. To clarify: I don't remember the last time I saw a film at the cinema when I thought "I wish I hadn't watched that" and I've never walked out of a film either, HOWEVER after thinking about it, I realised that the films I enjoyed the MOST and that I came out of the screen buzzing with thoughts of the movie were all ones that were massive visual and audio delights, not ones that won't really be any different if you watch them at home on DVD.
Back on topic though, 127 Hours was a good film and although nothing really "happens" (he spends pretty much the entire film stuck in the same place), they managed to keep the story going and it was good to watch. I totally recommend it, but be warned there are some very graphic parts in there!
Black Swan
WOW!
Oh... you want more of a review than that? Haha! :) So we saw this last week and I'm really glad we saw it. Our cinema screen was actually completely packed, but thankfully we arrived to get a decent seat in time, but loads of people were unable to sit with their friends and had to split up round the cinema! I didn't really know what to expect, a film about a ballerina doesn't really sound like something I'd enjoy, but everyone was raving about it... so there's got to be something good about it right? Yes! I'd like to say it's the best film I've seen this year and whilst that would be true... considering it's only January it's incredibly unfair to the film. How about if I say it's the best film I've seen in the last 12-months? :) And yes I know that includes "Iron Man 2", a film I really love... :$
Right so, basic plot... there's a ballet dancer (played by Natalie Portman) who pretty much lives her life trying to be a perfect ballerina and whilst she is technically perfect... she has to perform a dual role of both the White Swan (which she can do flawlessly) and the much darker Black Swan. The problem is she's too focused on making it perfect and as such cannot lose herself in the roll of the Black Swan. As the film progresses she begins to question everything and paranoia sets in.
I can't really say anymore without giving any spoilers, but yes I was hooked and I would gladly watch it again in the cinema. The film is nearly 2 hours long and at no time was I bored and it also didn't require any knowledge about ballet (good thing too since anything I know about ballet comes from "Save the Last Dance 2"!). Oh, did anyone else realise that Beth was played by Winona Ryder?! When we first saw her I thought "OMG she looks like..." and then imagine my surprise when I see on the cast list that it WAS her haha.
So yeh.. fantastic film, loved it!
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Friday, 28 January 2011
Anyone need a Chevalier?
So I haven't written in ages and that's really bad because I do actually have LOADS of things to write about bore everyone with, but for now I thought I'd share what's possibly the weirdest thing I've seen in a while. At work today Rob showed us this "business card" that had come through his door (we assume it went to the whole neighbourhood and not just him!) and well... see for yourself!
If ever there was someone worthy of the phrase OMGWTFBBQ, then THIS IS IT! LOL. Bizarre isn't it?! Although it was "publicly" posted through doors, I've blurred out the phone number and his face because we're not entirely sure if it's a cruel joke his friends have played on him (in which case I don't want to add to his likely agony by putting it all over the net!!) :) Bizarre!
LOL :)
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If ever there was someone worthy of the phrase OMGWTFBBQ, then THIS IS IT! LOL. Bizarre isn't it?! Although it was "publicly" posted through doors, I've blurred out the phone number and his face because we're not entirely sure if it's a cruel joke his friends have played on him (in which case I don't want to add to his likely agony by putting it all over the net!!) :) Bizarre!
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LOL :)
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
How to alienate your workmates
It's always a nice surprise when something unexpected arrives through your door, especially when this is written on the back of it:
You're probably now thinking "What the heck?" which was exactly what I was thinking, but as per the intructions I started to squish the package... and all manner of weird noises came out of it. Tearing it open I wasn't quite sure what to expect and I found:
It was a late Xmas present from the ever wonderful Vee and as you probably worked out pressing the buttons produces a RATHER LOUD sound! :) There's all manner of funky sound effects and I took it to work and tried to use it whenever there was an opportunity like Raj in the Big Bang Theory with his "Personal soundtrack" t-shirt! :)
Thanks Vee! :)
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You're probably now thinking "What the heck?" which was exactly what I was thinking, but as per the intructions I started to squish the package... and all manner of weird noises came out of it. Tearing it open I wasn't quite sure what to expect and I found:
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It was a late Xmas present from the ever wonderful Vee and as you probably worked out pressing the buttons produces a RATHER LOUD sound! :) There's all manner of funky sound effects and I took it to work and tried to use it whenever there was an opportunity like Raj in the Big Bang Theory with his "Personal soundtrack" t-shirt! :)
Thanks Vee! :)
Sunday, 16 January 2011
#vtasticdayofsaw!
Before anyone wonders, the title comes from a Twitter hashtag that I made up and used today (which sums up the day perfectly!). But expanding slightly, today I went to see Vanessa so that we could hang out and start our Saw marathon, and by Saw, yes I do mean the horror movie series!
I got there about 11.30am and straight away she made me a lovely breakfast:
So unhealthy, but all the best things are! :) We then settled down to watch the first movie (Saw 1 strangely...) whilst chatting all the way through it as we've both seen it before. I haven't seen the first film in ages, but looking back now, it's actually pretty tame compared to the later films as whilst it's still gory, a lot of it is actually more implied than actually shown, or they start something and cut away then cut back, but in later films you see the entire sequence of what's happening. I can't believe it was only 2004 that the first film came out and they've literally released a film each year since then!
After Saw 1 finished she made me some lunch which consisted or a rather large homemade pizza:
The picture doesn't really convey it, but it was MASSIVE and ate it whilst watching Saw 2. I never thought I'd get through it all, but I did and it was epic! :D I suppose about now I should point out how impressed I was with this (since my cooking skills are limited to fajitas, tacos and spaghetti bolognese!) and I think Vanessa probably thought I was just being nice LOL - No, I was really impressed, I wouldn't know where to start with making a pizza - Mine come out the 2nd drawer in the freezer! :P
But anyway back to the films! I've seen Saw 2 before, but Vanessa hadn't and I think she liked it. I've only seen 1-3 and Saw 3D (7) and although I loved the 3D in Saw 3D, the 2nd is my favourite on the story side of things. Of course I still haven't seen 4-6 so who knows what I'll think of those... :)
After the 2nd movie finished we went straight onto the 3rd one. I don't really like this one so much as the story felt predictable (the first time I watched it I worked out the twist a long time before it ended), although it does have a pretty horrific trap in it (the Rack!) so that redeems it a lot! :)
By this time it was getting onto early evening and although we could have squeezed the 4th one in, it seemed like a good stopping point. This leaves us 4-6 to watch, none of which either of us have seen so that'll be pretty awesome... unless all three are totally rubbish anyway... :) Oh and here's a photo:
Sadly red eye reduction wasn't turned on in the camera hence Vanessa looks a bit possessed, but I assure you she wasn't! Or at least I don't think she was... :P
So yeh I headed back home (two hours sadly!) although despite the torrential rain it passed rather quickly as I'm currently reading/listening to "The Passage" by "Justin Cronin". I don't really know what is going on yet, but it's very addictive! :)
So summing up: #vtasticdayofsaw! Thanks for having me V!
I got there about 11.30am and straight away she made me a lovely breakfast:
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| Totally worthly of a ZOMG! |
So unhealthy, but all the best things are! :) We then settled down to watch the first movie (Saw 1 strangely...) whilst chatting all the way through it as we've both seen it before. I haven't seen the first film in ages, but looking back now, it's actually pretty tame compared to the later films as whilst it's still gory, a lot of it is actually more implied than actually shown, or they start something and cut away then cut back, but in later films you see the entire sequence of what's happening. I can't believe it was only 2004 that the first film came out and they've literally released a film each year since then!
After Saw 1 finished she made me some lunch which consisted or a rather large homemade pizza:
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| ALL MINE! |
The picture doesn't really convey it, but it was MASSIVE and ate it whilst watching Saw 2. I never thought I'd get through it all, but I did and it was epic! :D I suppose about now I should point out how impressed I was with this (since my cooking skills are limited to fajitas, tacos and spaghetti bolognese!) and I think Vanessa probably thought I was just being nice LOL - No, I was really impressed, I wouldn't know where to start with making a pizza - Mine come out the 2nd drawer in the freezer! :P
But anyway back to the films! I've seen Saw 2 before, but Vanessa hadn't and I think she liked it. I've only seen 1-3 and Saw 3D (7) and although I loved the 3D in Saw 3D, the 2nd is my favourite on the story side of things. Of course I still haven't seen 4-6 so who knows what I'll think of those... :)
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| Poor monkey that was traumatised by the Saw movies |
After the 2nd movie finished we went straight onto the 3rd one. I don't really like this one so much as the story felt predictable (the first time I watched it I worked out the twist a long time before it ended), although it does have a pretty horrific trap in it (the Rack!) so that redeems it a lot! :)
By this time it was getting onto early evening and although we could have squeezed the 4th one in, it seemed like a good stopping point. This leaves us 4-6 to watch, none of which either of us have seen so that'll be pretty awesome... unless all three are totally rubbish anyway... :) Oh and here's a photo:
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Sadly red eye reduction wasn't turned on in the camera hence Vanessa looks a bit possessed, but I assure you she wasn't! Or at least I don't think she was... :P
So yeh I headed back home (two hours sadly!) although despite the torrential rain it passed rather quickly as I'm currently reading/listening to "The Passage" by "Justin Cronin". I don't really know what is going on yet, but it's very addictive! :)
So summing up: #vtasticdayofsaw! Thanks for having me V!
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Kinect, Timecrimes and general weekend of awesome
So I'm a whole week late with this, but Carrie came over last Friday (7th January) for another weekend of epic awesomeness! Soon after arriving she game me my Xmas present which was the snazziest frying pan that I've ever seen:
How frickin' gadgety is that? I normally manage to kill the non-stick on these things in about a week (and she knows it hence the replacement!), but that's probably because they're only cheap (and this one obviously isn't!) It's had 5 uses now and it's still incredibly slippery, so much so it's actually taking some getting used to because I've nearly lost my food multiples times when tipping it up - There's like zero friction!!!! :) Tesco arrived soon after this and as per usual my monthly shop was quite excessive!
However by the time we'd put it all away (yes poor Carrie got roped into this!) it was getting on to 10pm so we didn't really feel like cooking anything big so good ol' nachos ftw!
We watched Scott Pilgrim whilst eating the nachos (can you believe she'd never seen it?!) and after this headed off to bed. I woke up the next morning about 6am and watched gameshows on TV (Crystal Maze/Wipeout/Takeshi's castle) whilst eating a sort of healthy breakfast until Carrie got up.
Okay so as Rob @ work pointed out considering it's layered with cheese and has salad dressing and a million other things in it, technically it's not really that healthy, but it sure tasted good! Carrie got up soon after and we realised that we hadn't got the beer out of the freezer and it was frozen solid... OOPS!
She'd bought her XBOX and Kinect with her so we decided to set this up and have a go... no easy task considering the amount of room required! So one quick reorganisation later (shove EVERYTHING to the sides and move the sofas) and voila we had enough room for us both to play!!!! Having played things like the PS2's "EyeToy" I wasn't really expecting much, I couldn't have been more wrong! Straight away I was impressed that it had found my hands (it recognises waving to get it started), but more impressively once you've trained it on who you are, when you jump in/out of the games, it recognises you and signs your personalised avatar in/out accordingly! Although I've never struggled to pick up a game, this was incredibly easy to get into. You just DO what you need to and your character on screen copies you exactly. It's almost scary just how accurate it is. To make it even more fun, whilst you're playing it snaps random pictures of you which it shows you afterwards complete with captions that it has added...
Oh dear eh? :) We played this for quite a while and although I liked all of the games on it, I think my favourite one was probably where you're both in a glass cage underwater and fish keep breaking holes in it and you have to plug up the leaks (and it goes really nuts and cracks everywhere when you get hit by the massive sharks!). Of course why on earth would we be in a glass cage underwater anyway... it just sounds rediculous... but hey :)
There's also a demo of "Dance Central" which gives you the chance to play on a Lady Gaga track (Poker Face) which was awesome and some R&B song I've never heard of/didn't like at all. So as you might expect you have to do the dance moves that are on the screen which was really cool! It's like "Just Dance" on the Wii, but 100 MILLION times better, because it actually works rather than you doing the moves and the controller not registering it... :)
After we were all completely worn out, we decided to put it away and eat some food:
We then spent the rest of the afternoon playing Wii Party, which is one of my favourite game on the Wii. All the games are a decent length, they're very entertaining and most importantly... it's just fun! Well except for Globetrotter... we played that once and found it really dull so never again, but otherwise... epic game! Although when playing the wheel-of-fortune type game it's very much luck based:
Okay so the computer characters do actually suck, but Carrie played really well, I was just lucky enough to get the multipliers and more important win the game at the point it was time to collect the big jackpots! :D We played on the "Board Game Island" for a while (it's like a scaled down Mario Party 8, but it's actually fun because of less talking!) and we settled down with pizza and a movie:
Timecrimes was one of the presents that my parents got me for Xmas and after watching it I'd certainly recommend it. Although it looks like a horror movie because of the cover (and in fact that's what we thought it was!) it's really not and it's a sort of time-travel sci-fi film, but it's really cleverly done! It's also in Spanish, but if that's not your thing, don't let it put you off as there's really very little actual dialogue and I'm really glad I didn't look it up further before watching it as there are some good surprises/twists which I know would have been ruined! It's also reminded us both of another film, but I can't say the name because if I do and you've seen that, it'll totally give this one away. Talk about vague eh? :) This one was better/less confusing though! :)
Because neither of us had seen "The Final Destination" (4th movie) we decided to watch it... and since 3D is all the rage right now, we watched it in 3D:
Anaglyphic 3D haha! :) Although we only watched about half an hour of it and our eyes were BLEEDING so we decided to call it a night (it was midnight) and watch the rest in the morning!
I woke up about 6am again and ate a Kinder Surprise and once again I was disappointed with the toy:
I keep buying them in the hope that I'll get some truely epic toys like there were in the 80's (you know the ones with 20 pieces, crude cogs and the like!) but that happens once in a blue moon now :(
Carrie woke up and we watched the rest of "The Final Destination" in 2D (it was totally rubbish, but that wasn't a surprise!) whilst eating:
Mmmm breakfast tacos! :) I would say I know it's a bit weird, but it's really not and it's a tradition that we have that at some point during her stay, we'll have breakfast tacos! Although this was actually the first time we had them before midday due to having gone to bed at decent hour! :) We washed them down with some nice deserts:
And then finally we spent the rest of the afternoon playing Mario Kart on the Wii and marvelling at theamazing people total losers who have 3 gold stars... we reckon they're all 10 year old kids who have no lives what-so-ever! :) Oh I'm only jealous I don't have some stars... hmmm maybe I should go and play now...? :)
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| The red bit in the middle goes solid when it's ready to cook on! |
How frickin' gadgety is that? I normally manage to kill the non-stick on these things in about a week (and she knows it hence the replacement!), but that's probably because they're only cheap (and this one obviously isn't!) It's had 5 uses now and it's still incredibly slippery, so much so it's actually taking some getting used to because I've nearly lost my food multiples times when tipping it up - There's like zero friction!!!! :) Tesco arrived soon after this and as per usual my monthly shop was quite excessive!
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| It's Tesco time! |
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| I may have purchased some cheese... |
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| Fridgetris FTW! :D |
However by the time we'd put it all away (yes poor Carrie got roped into this!) it was getting on to 10pm so we didn't really feel like cooking anything big so good ol' nachos ftw!
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| Mmm nachos!!! |
We watched Scott Pilgrim whilst eating the nachos (can you believe she'd never seen it?!) and after this headed off to bed. I woke up the next morning about 6am and watched gameshows on TV (Crystal Maze/Wipeout/Takeshi's castle) whilst eating a sort of healthy breakfast until Carrie got up.
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| Semi-healthy breakfast |
Okay so as Rob @ work pointed out considering it's layered with cheese and has salad dressing and a million other things in it, technically it's not really that healthy, but it sure tasted good! Carrie got up soon after and we realised that we hadn't got the beer out of the freezer and it was frozen solid... OOPS!
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| Frozen; we forgot to take it out the freezer! |
She'd bought her XBOX and Kinect with her so we decided to set this up and have a go... no easy task considering the amount of room required! So one quick reorganisation later (shove EVERYTHING to the sides and move the sofas) and voila we had enough room for us both to play!!!! Having played things like the PS2's "EyeToy" I wasn't really expecting much, I couldn't have been more wrong! Straight away I was impressed that it had found my hands (it recognises waving to get it started), but more impressively once you've trained it on who you are, when you jump in/out of the games, it recognises you and signs your personalised avatar in/out accordingly! Although I've never struggled to pick up a game, this was incredibly easy to get into. You just DO what you need to and your character on screen copies you exactly. It's almost scary just how accurate it is. To make it even more fun, whilst you're playing it snaps random pictures of you which it shows you afterwards complete with captions that it has added...
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| How cool are we?! :) |
Oh dear eh? :) We played this for quite a while and although I liked all of the games on it, I think my favourite one was probably where you're both in a glass cage underwater and fish keep breaking holes in it and you have to plug up the leaks (and it goes really nuts and cracks everywhere when you get hit by the massive sharks!). Of course why on earth would we be in a glass cage underwater anyway... it just sounds rediculous... but hey :)
There's also a demo of "Dance Central" which gives you the chance to play on a Lady Gaga track (Poker Face) which was awesome and some R&B song I've never heard of/didn't like at all. So as you might expect you have to do the dance moves that are on the screen which was really cool! It's like "Just Dance" on the Wii, but 100 MILLION times better, because it actually works rather than you doing the moves and the controller not registering it... :)
After we were all completely worn out, we decided to put it away and eat some food:
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| Fajita time! |
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| Would anyone like a cake? |
We then spent the rest of the afternoon playing Wii Party, which is one of my favourite game on the Wii. All the games are a decent length, they're very entertaining and most importantly... it's just fun! Well except for Globetrotter... we played that once and found it really dull so never again, but otherwise... epic game! Although when playing the wheel-of-fortune type game it's very much luck based:
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| I'd like to say it was skill... but it was all luck! |
Okay so the computer characters do actually suck, but Carrie played really well, I was just lucky enough to get the multipliers and more important win the game at the point it was time to collect the big jackpots! :D We played on the "Board Game Island" for a while (it's like a scaled down Mario Party 8, but it's actually fun because of less talking!) and we settled down with pizza and a movie:
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| Pizza and an epic movie! |
Timecrimes was one of the presents that my parents got me for Xmas and after watching it I'd certainly recommend it. Although it looks like a horror movie because of the cover (and in fact that's what we thought it was!) it's really not and it's a sort of time-travel sci-fi film, but it's really cleverly done! It's also in Spanish, but if that's not your thing, don't let it put you off as there's really very little actual dialogue and I'm really glad I didn't look it up further before watching it as there are some good surprises/twists which I know would have been ruined! It's also reminded us both of another film, but I can't say the name because if I do and you've seen that, it'll totally give this one away. Talk about vague eh? :) This one was better/less confusing though! :)
Because neither of us had seen "The Final Destination" (4th movie) we decided to watch it... and since 3D is all the rage right now, we watched it in 3D:
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| Groovy! |
Anaglyphic 3D haha! :) Although we only watched about half an hour of it and our eyes were BLEEDING so we decided to call it a night (it was midnight) and watch the rest in the morning!
I woke up about 6am again and ate a Kinder Surprise and once again I was disappointed with the toy:
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| Rubbish 1 piece Kinder Surprise toy |
I keep buying them in the hope that I'll get some truely epic toys like there were in the 80's (you know the ones with 20 pieces, crude cogs and the like!) but that happens once in a blue moon now :(
Carrie woke up and we watched the rest of "The Final Destination" in 2D (it was totally rubbish, but that wasn't a surprise!) whilst eating:
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| Breakfast tacos |
Mmmm breakfast tacos! :) I would say I know it's a bit weird, but it's really not and it's a tradition that we have that at some point during her stay, we'll have breakfast tacos! Although this was actually the first time we had them before midday due to having gone to bed at decent hour! :) We washed them down with some nice deserts:
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| Yum! |
And then finally we spent the rest of the afternoon playing Mario Kart on the Wii and marvelling at the
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Scott Pilgrim FTW!
All my Scott Pilgrim merchandise finally turned up... AT THE SAME TIME! *insert video game sound effects here*
So I now have Scott Pilgrim on my Kindle, Android phone (which is awesome as it pans/scrolls to each frame and has sound/vibration effects at key points!), physical books AND the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack! (in the metal steelbook case!) :)
SWEET!
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So I now have Scott Pilgrim on my Kindle, Android phone (which is awesome as it pans/scrolls to each frame and has sound/vibration effects at key points!), physical books AND the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack! (in the metal steelbook case!) :)
SWEET!
Monday, 3 January 2011
New Year
For "New Year" myself, Richard, Vicky and Andy all headed to our friend Andy's house (that wasn't a typo, there's two people named Andy) and partied the night away! Well... actually that is only true if by partying you can accept a definition of great friends, Nerf guns, Wii Party, Uno Stacko (Uno combined with Jenga) and not a lot of alcohol! Haha we're obviously getting old! :) Okay I'll explain more!
Richard bought Andy and myself some pretty beefy Nerf guns (they fire sponge bullets although they still sting) along with lots of additional ammo, some of which even make cool whistling noises as they flew through the air!!!
Then we played on the Wii for a bit, specifically Wii Party and that took us up to midnight and the New Year countdown!!!
Vicky and Andy got me a "Uno Stacko" which is Jenga combined with Uno and it was brilliant! It's essentially Jenga in that you have to remove a block and put it on the top, but because because it has Uno type rules, it controls the criteria about WHICH block you're allowed to remove (has to match a specific colour or a certain number) which greatly reduces the blocks you can choose from! As such it caused much amusement and we were playing it until AFTER 4.30am in the morning!!!
Totally brilliant evening!! :)
Richard bought Andy and myself some pretty beefy Nerf guns (they fire sponge bullets although they still sting) along with lots of additional ammo, some of which even make cool whistling noises as they flew through the air!!!
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| Don't mess with Richard! |
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| Are you sure that's such a good idea Andy? |
Then we played on the Wii for a bit, specifically Wii Party and that took us up to midnight and the New Year countdown!!!
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| Wii Party! |
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| Happy New Year! |
Vicky and Andy got me a "Uno Stacko" which is Jenga combined with Uno and it was brilliant! It's essentially Jenga in that you have to remove a block and put it on the top, but because because it has Uno type rules, it controls the criteria about WHICH block you're allowed to remove (has to match a specific colour or a certain number) which greatly reduces the blocks you can choose from! As such it caused much amusement and we were playing it until AFTER 4.30am in the morning!!!
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| Uno Stacko |
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| Whoops! |
Totally brilliant evening!! :)
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