The Sun this morning has stirred itself up into a self-righteous froth about the ANARCHISTS who are planning to try to disrupt the royal marriage later this year.
Not at one point in their article did they try to sensibly and calmly explain that these ANARCHISTS are a fringe group with not a hope in hell of causing major disruption, especially now the police are aware of them. No, why would they do that when it's much more fun to shout ANARCHISTS!!!!! very loudly at their readers and hope that they scare or anger them.
The best bit is when they get a ex police officer to have his say and he calmly explains.
"But due to the huge numbers of officers who will be on the streets, it is probably the worst event you could try to disrupt.
If they interfere with the royal cortege, the police and Army will swamp them.
A list of well-known anarchists has been drawn up.
The movements of men like Chris Knight will be closely followed and they may be arrested in advance."
Ok, fair enough, that's a fairly balanced view, apart from the insinuation, that the Sun has ran with all the way through their article, that anarchism is specifically about violence, but then, let's not quibble.
"The biggest threat comes from a suicide bomber or lone gunman in the crowd"
PANIC!!!
Monday, 31 January 2011
Album 7 - Bright Eyes - The Peoples Key
It starts strangely, just a guy talking about aliens and reptiles, a bit like the beginning of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, but a lot weirder.
Then it develops into the first proper song, which develops slowly, but has a hypnotic hook that just draws you in, slowly, a little bit at a time. According to a Rolling Stone interview his guiding philosophy for this album was 'less is more,' and on the first track it really shows.
As I'm listening to this as a whole on NPR music, I don't really know when tracks begin and end, but what seems like the second track has Conor's trademark. The album settles down into some more electronically influenced tracks.
Approximated Sunlight, the fourth track on the album is a stripped down affair, just Conor's voice, some drums and sparse instrumentation, that builds up through the track. Haile Selassie is another track that you just think is made for multiple listens, a hook that jumps out at you, but the idea of more underneath.
I kinda lost focus after that, but it all continued to sound good, and it could well be the career defining work it's been made out to be.
Then it develops into the first proper song, which develops slowly, but has a hypnotic hook that just draws you in, slowly, a little bit at a time. According to a Rolling Stone interview his guiding philosophy for this album was 'less is more,' and on the first track it really shows.
As I'm listening to this as a whole on NPR music, I don't really know when tracks begin and end, but what seems like the second track has Conor's trademark. The album settles down into some more electronically influenced tracks.
Approximated Sunlight, the fourth track on the album is a stripped down affair, just Conor's voice, some drums and sparse instrumentation, that builds up through the track. Haile Selassie is another track that you just think is made for multiple listens, a hook that jumps out at you, but the idea of more underneath.
I kinda lost focus after that, but it all continued to sound good, and it could well be the career defining work it's been made out to be.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Album 6 - Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Just a few comments on this album.
1) The title track is just amazingly catchy
2) The album manages to slip seamlessly from a light folk type warble to a huge overblown track, complete with horn section and so a voice that sings like it's running out of time.
3) It's just plain weird
4) I really quite like it.
I'm sorry that I couldn't arrange these thoughts into an actual paragraph, but I really couldn't be bothered.
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Rewinding about twelve months...
... I am reminded of my hopelessness in any kind of predictions.
1) The Conservative party will win a small majority at the general election and tear themselves apart over Europe. WRONG.
I was maybe a little over pessimistic but, it actually was quite an achievement for Labour to get through the election without a Conservative majority. The Tories haven't torn themselves apart over Europe, that was a little over optimistic,
1) The Conservative party will win a small majority at the general election and tear themselves apart over Europe. WRONG.
I was maybe a little over pessimistic but, it actually was quite an achievement for Labour to get through the election without a Conservative majority. The Tories haven't torn themselves apart over Europe, that was a little over optimistic,
2) After losing the general election, Labour will elect David Milliband as their new leader. WRONG.
Although I was close on this one, just got the wrong Milliband
3) My football team Leyton Orient will get relegated from League 1. WRONG.
We managed to stay up thanks to the great run we had under Geraint 'Big Fat George' Williams at the beginning of the year and the salvage job by Russell Slade at the end of it. Since then, Orient have only progressed, scoring goals and playing entertaining football and looking very unlikely to be relegated this time round.
4) England will get to the semi-finals of the World Cup and lose to Germany. WRONG
A little over optimistic again... but only a couple of rounds wrong.
5) Peter Mandleson will be parachuted into a safe Labour seat at the General Election. WRONG.
I'm not even sure what I was thinking with this one.
6) Jan Moir will leave the Mail after another huge twitterstorrm against another poisonous article. WRONG.
But it will happen eventually.
7) The Lib Dems will get a new leader at some point during the year. WRONG
Despite being now almost universally hated, Nick Clegg remains captain of the sinking ship.
8) I will get 50 comments on my two blogs combined. WRONG.
My readership remains pathetically small, I managed 13 overall with only 1 on this blog and 12 on Allsorts/Leftish Tendency.
9) England will draw the Ashes series in Australia 1-1. WRONG.
It wasn't anywhere near that close, Cook conquered Australia, Anderson threw off the disappointment of his previous Ashes tour, and the whole team comprehensibly outplayed the awful Australian team. 3-1.
10) Lewis Hamilton will win the Formula 1 world championship by less than 5 points from Jenson Button. WRONG.
While both were in contention most of way through, Red Bull were just too good.
0/10... FAIL.
Trying to bury a story? Ask the Sun
It was plainly obvious that Andy Coulson's resignation was the Tories trying the oldest of political tricks, trying to bury bad news. I also thought it would be obvious that this was never going to work, but as things stand The Guardian and Independent are the only papers leading with it and it isn't even in the top 10 most read news stories at the BBC website.
I of course expected it to be buried by the Murdoch empire, but since most of it is now behind a pay-wall, all I can really ascertain is how it's been covered by the Sun. I'm going to compare this to the main article on the matter in a paper that I don't have an awful amount of respect for: the Daily Mail.
First, the length of the stories, the Mail has a very creditable 2,202 word story including the full statement, boxes with the context of the story, an opinion piece, and for once I am very impressed, the story is well written and pretty fair to all parties concerned.
The only problem I really have with it is this paragraph which may well be a simple mistake:
"In fact, Mr Coulson is a much less abrasive and generally more straightforward character, and has shown little appetite for bullying journalists and threatening media organisations in the manner of the divisive Mr Campbell. Nevertheless, his appointment owed much to the New Labour spin doctor having gone before."
Little appetite for bullying journalists? Maybe not since he's been with the Tories, but as NOTW editor he was proved to have bullied sports journalist Matt Driscoll out of a job. This is however a minor quibble compared to the rest of the story, which is surprisingly top notch.
The Sun however predictably has tried to bury the story, realising that the paper would lose any credibility it ever had if it refused to cover the story at all. Its coverage however hasn't covered itself in any glory at all, a paltry 273 word whitewash.
There is not a single note of the fact that it seems highly likely Coulson knew about the hacking - indeed if he didn't he deserves to be remembered as perhaps the worst newspaper editor off all time, one who didn't even know what was happening in his own newsroom. The fact that in the second paragraph it is described as an 'eavesdropping scandal' seems to sum up the Sun's attempt to make it seem a minor story and simply the matter of a whispering campaign designed to oust someone who in Cameron's words "been punished twice for the same offence."
It's simply a complete lack of context, shown by the lack of length in the story, that is the problem. There is no mention of the fact that another reporter has since been implicated, the fact that many reporters have implicated Coulson himself and all the police are lacking are a silver bullet, one that they could probably find had they had looked a bit more thoroughly first time round, rather than trying to preserve their 'special relationship' with News International.
Sky News are almost as bad, the only news story on their first page about the scandal is one saying that other newspapers may be involved, a classic case of diverting attention, i.e 'We may have done it but everyone else has done it as well.'
Without giving any money to News International, it's impossible to show The Time's angle on the story but this blog-post just shows that the same thing has happened at the more elite end of the News Corp news spectrum.
I of course expected it to be buried by the Murdoch empire, but since most of it is now behind a pay-wall, all I can really ascertain is how it's been covered by the Sun. I'm going to compare this to the main article on the matter in a paper that I don't have an awful amount of respect for: the Daily Mail.
First, the length of the stories, the Mail has a very creditable 2,202 word story including the full statement, boxes with the context of the story, an opinion piece, and for once I am very impressed, the story is well written and pretty fair to all parties concerned.
The only problem I really have with it is this paragraph which may well be a simple mistake:
"In fact, Mr Coulson is a much less abrasive and generally more straightforward character, and has shown little appetite for bullying journalists and threatening media organisations in the manner of the divisive Mr Campbell. Nevertheless, his appointment owed much to the New Labour spin doctor having gone before."
Little appetite for bullying journalists? Maybe not since he's been with the Tories, but as NOTW editor he was proved to have bullied sports journalist Matt Driscoll out of a job. This is however a minor quibble compared to the rest of the story, which is surprisingly top notch.
The Sun however predictably has tried to bury the story, realising that the paper would lose any credibility it ever had if it refused to cover the story at all. Its coverage however hasn't covered itself in any glory at all, a paltry 273 word whitewash.
There is not a single note of the fact that it seems highly likely Coulson knew about the hacking - indeed if he didn't he deserves to be remembered as perhaps the worst newspaper editor off all time, one who didn't even know what was happening in his own newsroom. The fact that in the second paragraph it is described as an 'eavesdropping scandal' seems to sum up the Sun's attempt to make it seem a minor story and simply the matter of a whispering campaign designed to oust someone who in Cameron's words "been punished twice for the same offence."
It's simply a complete lack of context, shown by the lack of length in the story, that is the problem. There is no mention of the fact that another reporter has since been implicated, the fact that many reporters have implicated Coulson himself and all the police are lacking are a silver bullet, one that they could probably find had they had looked a bit more thoroughly first time round, rather than trying to preserve their 'special relationship' with News International.
Sky News are almost as bad, the only news story on their first page about the scandal is one saying that other newspapers may be involved, a classic case of diverting attention, i.e 'We may have done it but everyone else has done it as well.'
Without giving any money to News International, it's impossible to show The Time's angle on the story but this blog-post just shows that the same thing has happened at the more elite end of the News Corp news spectrum.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Album 5 - The Duckworth-Lewis Method - The Duckworth-Lewis Method
A themed album about cricket you say? One that includes a song about Shane Warne's 'Ball of the Century' to Mike Gatting? And a song with the line 'The Test Match Special will set you free?
I'm in. The music wasn't anything particularly spectacular, but it was the lyrics, especially those to the stand out song 'Jiggery Pokery' about the Warne/Gatting ball that made this a worthwhile listen.
Behind that 'The Age Of Revolution',' Meeting Mr Miandad' and 'The End Of The Over' were the other stand out songs.
I'm in. The music wasn't anything particularly spectacular, but it was the lyrics, especially those to the stand out song 'Jiggery Pokery' about the Warne/Gatting ball that made this a worthwhile listen.
Behind that 'The Age Of Revolution',' Meeting Mr Miandad' and 'The End Of The Over' were the other stand out songs.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Richard Littlejohn: even worse than I remember
I generally avoid the Daily Mail as much as possible, especially Richard Littlejohn's column. Today was the first time for a very long time I actually read one, and I really wish that I hadn't. I was drawn in by the headline: "Titter ye not, it's an Inconvenient Sooth." When I say I was drawn in, what I actually mean was that I noticed a piss-poor climate change pun and forced myself to read the idiocy that follows.
After a long time not reading one of Littlejohn's column I had began to find that I was feeling a lot happier, my laptop screen was strangely intact and I even began to start to tolerate the Daily Mail. Well, I reasoned to myself, I haven't read anything particularly objectionable there recently. I even began to wonder whether Littlejohn was that bad, my hazy recollection was that he was generally wrong, but I began to forget the rage that the merest sight of his fat sneering face above one of his outpourings of sub-par comedy 'polemicism' brought me to.
Then I read this latest offering... no sooner had I got through the first paragraph...
"According to the historian Edward Gibbon, the decline and fall of the Roman Empire was brought about largely by the decadence and arrogance of the ruling elite. Now a new theory has been put forward by modern scientists. They blame, wait for it, climate change."
... and the rage had returned. The first few lines are fine, but you soon see the set up for his brilliant last line... wait for it, the crazy boffins think that climate change could have done it. Oh, the wit is legendary, the comic timing, the set up then the 'you couldn't make it up' moment. Dick Littlejohn sits at his desk, happily cracking one off because he thinks he's come up with another comic gem.
I read the rest of the shit, but I'm sorry, I'm not re-reading all and making witty remarks about it, I'll just pick out a few select quotes such as...
"I have been sent here from Pompeii with my master, Silvius Berlusconus, who is attending a Symposium on climatus changus — what we used to call in Rome ‘the weather’."
Conclusion: All Latin words are English words with the suffix 'us' added. Letus meus addus, Littljohnus cockus. Comprendere?
Anyway, we had to get out of Pompeii sharpish, owing to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which covered the city in volcanic ash and grounded every ox-cart from here to Icelandus. Typical, isn’t it? One volcano and the whole of the Roman Empire comes to a standstill.
Littlejohn gets topical, comparing one volcano to... another volcano. Genius.
The Senate had just been to see a new play at the Colosseum, An Inconvenient Sooth, by Senator Al Gorus, which ended with a polar bear being sacrificed on a block of ice.
Normally they sacrifice a few vestal virgins, but my master Silvius Berlusconus said he had a better use for them. No, listen. Titter ye not!
Oh, just fuck it, I just punched the screen.
After a long time not reading one of Littlejohn's column I had began to find that I was feeling a lot happier, my laptop screen was strangely intact and I even began to start to tolerate the Daily Mail. Well, I reasoned to myself, I haven't read anything particularly objectionable there recently. I even began to wonder whether Littlejohn was that bad, my hazy recollection was that he was generally wrong, but I began to forget the rage that the merest sight of his fat sneering face above one of his outpourings of sub-par comedy 'polemicism' brought me to.
Then I read this latest offering... no sooner had I got through the first paragraph...
"According to the historian Edward Gibbon, the decline and fall of the Roman Empire was brought about largely by the decadence and arrogance of the ruling elite. Now a new theory has been put forward by modern scientists. They blame, wait for it, climate change."
... and the rage had returned. The first few lines are fine, but you soon see the set up for his brilliant last line... wait for it, the crazy boffins think that climate change could have done it. Oh, the wit is legendary, the comic timing, the set up then the 'you couldn't make it up' moment. Dick Littlejohn sits at his desk, happily cracking one off because he thinks he's come up with another comic gem.
I read the rest of the shit, but I'm sorry, I'm not re-reading all and making witty remarks about it, I'll just pick out a few select quotes such as...
"I have been sent here from Pompeii with my master, Silvius Berlusconus, who is attending a Symposium on climatus changus — what we used to call in Rome ‘the weather’."
Conclusion: All Latin words are English words with the suffix 'us' added. Letus meus addus, Littljohnus cockus. Comprendere?
Anyway, we had to get out of Pompeii sharpish, owing to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which covered the city in volcanic ash and grounded every ox-cart from here to Icelandus. Typical, isn’t it? One volcano and the whole of the Roman Empire comes to a standstill.
Littlejohn gets topical, comparing one volcano to... another volcano. Genius.
The Senate had just been to see a new play at the Colosseum, An Inconvenient Sooth, by Senator Al Gorus, which ended with a polar bear being sacrificed on a block of ice.
Normally they sacrifice a few vestal virgins, but my master Silvius Berlusconus said he had a better use for them. No, listen. Titter ye not!
Oh, just fuck it, I just punched the screen.
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Film Review: Starship Troopers
I think the thing that sums up this film is the fact that when one of the soldiers removed his helmet and got blasted in the head by mistake in a training exercise... I laughed.
This was a stupid film, you could mistake it for a satire on stupid war films, but perhaps that was accidental. What seemed definitely accidental was the fact that it was so funny, people getting blown up in cartoonish ways, the unquestioning approach to authority in the society, the characters, it was just all so funny.
I lost attention during the endless action sequences, but I got the general gist, bugs versus humans and in the end they capture the bug's brain.
This film really could have been a scathing satire of war and a proper spoof of over the top, militaristic war films, but unfortunately it was just an over the top, militaristic war film that gave a few accidental laughs.
This was a stupid film, you could mistake it for a satire on stupid war films, but perhaps that was accidental. What seemed definitely accidental was the fact that it was so funny, people getting blown up in cartoonish ways, the unquestioning approach to authority in the society, the characters, it was just all so funny.
I lost attention during the endless action sequences, but I got the general gist, bugs versus humans and in the end they capture the bug's brain.
This film really could have been a scathing satire of war and a proper spoof of over the top, militaristic war films, but unfortunately it was just an over the top, militaristic war film that gave a few accidental laughs.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Album 4 - Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
There are just so many great tunes on this album. I'd struggle to pick a favourite from the album but "Someone Great" just beats out "Sound of Silver" "New York I Love You..." and "All My Friends"
The critics always seem to be talking about bands melding together indie and dance/electronica, but nobody really does it better than James Murphy and his myriad of influences and sounds that somehow form into a coherent, toe-tappingly good album.
The critics always seem to be talking about bands melding together indie and dance/electronica, but nobody really does it better than James Murphy and his myriad of influences and sounds that somehow form into a coherent, toe-tappingly good album.
Album 3 - David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
The album after the excellent Ziggy Stardust, and Bowie is too much of a shape-shifter to stick to quite the same formula. So Aladdin Sane has some of the same superbly written tracks, but adds some bizarre jazzy piano flourishes, particularly on the title track, which could otherwise have been a classic.
Bowie is never anything but theatrical, particularly on the album's masterpiece "Time," which forgoes most of the bizarreness of some of the previous tracks but keeps the strangely off kilter atmosphere of most of the album.
Bowie is never anything but theatrical, particularly on the album's masterpiece "Time," which forgoes most of the bizarreness of some of the previous tracks but keeps the strangely off kilter atmosphere of most of the album.
Album 2 - Radiohead - In Rainbows
A very different album to the two other Radiohead albums (OK Computer and Kid A) that I've listened to. It's just as good as both of them but not as bleak as the former and not as electronic music influenced as the latter.
The first track "15 Step" is one of the most interesting Radiohead tracks I've heard, with its glitchy beats but also clear and distinct sound.
There are points where the album becomes a very clean affair, less dissonant than either of their previous masterpieces, and it shows an interesting new direction whilst still building on the brilliance of their previous work.
The first track "15 Step" is one of the most interesting Radiohead tracks I've heard, with its glitchy beats but also clear and distinct sound.
There are points where the album becomes a very clean affair, less dissonant than either of their previous masterpieces, and it shows an interesting new direction whilst still building on the brilliance of their previous work.
Album 1 - Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
So this year it's albums, and coming home from Norwich in the car yesterday I got to listen to the first three new albums of the year.
I started with Houses of the Holy, an album which had a few decent songs on it, but was mostly ruined by the annoying singing voice of Robert Plant. Some people really love Led Zeppelin, and I can see why, because the record could be seen as pretty good, but it really wasn't for me.
I started with Houses of the Holy, an album which had a few decent songs on it, but was mostly ruined by the annoying singing voice of Robert Plant. Some people really love Led Zeppelin, and I can see why, because the record could be seen as pretty good, but it really wasn't for me.
Thursday, 6 January 2011
2011 TV - the good, the bad and what could go either way
The Good:
The 10 o'clock Show
Something with the quality of presenters/comedic talent that this has really can't fail, David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker are two of my favourite funny columnists/tv personalities; Jimmy Carr is actually quite funny despite occasionally being very annoying; and Lauren Laverne is my favourite radio presenter.
Put all of this into the irreverent current affairs show format and you have ample chance for rants, sarcasm and generally funniness.
Masterchef
"COOKING DOESN'T GET TOUGHER THAN THIS"
I love food, I love the whole feel of the show with the people desperately cooking at lightning pace, the look on Greg's face when he loves a dessert, some of the culinary catastrophes, the cooking in tents for the army, followed by cooking in Michelin starred restaurants and for Michelin starred chefs.
Episodes
I'm going to start with a disclaimer: I love Friends, and Black Books, and I think I liked something that Stephen Mangan was in once.
There isn't that much good comedy on TV at the moment, the good tends to be really good i.e. Peep Show and The IT Crowd, but the bad is terrible... I'm looking at you Miranda.
So when you put three people who have a pretty good track record along with the creator of Friends writing it, everything looks pretty promising
Doctor Who
As usual, the spring will bring with it a new series of Doctor Who. When David Tennant left the show I was deeply sceptical that anyone else could reach the brilliant standard of his doctor, but Matt Smith may actually have topped his efforts.
The great thing about Smith's doctor, is that it has the same crazy energy of Tennant's, but also a youthful innocence and glee, yet conversely a darker side is evident when it has to be.
The Christmas special (some dodgy time travel problems aside) was very promising, and the series - if Steven Moffat resists the temptation to turn to the Daleks and Cybermen too often and instead comes up with some new monsters/villains with some kind of moral ambiguity about them - looks set to be even better.
The Bad:
The Fattest Man in Britain
More C4 look at the fat person and laugh claptrap which was on last night - I didn't watch.
What could either way
Skins
Some shows start well and tail downwards, Skins started well, got even better in the second series, tailed downhill quite a bit in the third series, and fell off a cliff at the beginning of the fourth series.
The show went from being consistently interesting, dramatic, funny and containing some real emotion to a dried up husk of a thing with one or two good characters and episodes a series.
I still harbour some hopes for the new series, and I'll watch the first episode, but whether I go any further than that is quite doubtful.
The 10 o'clock Show
Something with the quality of presenters/comedic talent that this has really can't fail, David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker are two of my favourite funny columnists/tv personalities; Jimmy Carr is actually quite funny despite occasionally being very annoying; and Lauren Laverne is my favourite radio presenter.
Put all of this into the irreverent current affairs show format and you have ample chance for rants, sarcasm and generally funniness.
Masterchef
"COOKING DOESN'T GET TOUGHER THAN THIS"
I love food, I love the whole feel of the show with the people desperately cooking at lightning pace, the look on Greg's face when he loves a dessert, some of the culinary catastrophes, the cooking in tents for the army, followed by cooking in Michelin starred restaurants and for Michelin starred chefs.
Episodes
I'm going to start with a disclaimer: I love Friends, and Black Books, and I think I liked something that Stephen Mangan was in once.
There isn't that much good comedy on TV at the moment, the good tends to be really good i.e. Peep Show and The IT Crowd, but the bad is terrible... I'm looking at you Miranda.
So when you put three people who have a pretty good track record along with the creator of Friends writing it, everything looks pretty promising
Doctor Who
As usual, the spring will bring with it a new series of Doctor Who. When David Tennant left the show I was deeply sceptical that anyone else could reach the brilliant standard of his doctor, but Matt Smith may actually have topped his efforts.
The great thing about Smith's doctor, is that it has the same crazy energy of Tennant's, but also a youthful innocence and glee, yet conversely a darker side is evident when it has to be.
The Christmas special (some dodgy time travel problems aside) was very promising, and the series - if Steven Moffat resists the temptation to turn to the Daleks and Cybermen too often and instead comes up with some new monsters/villains with some kind of moral ambiguity about them - looks set to be even better.
The Bad:
The Fattest Man in Britain
More C4 look at the fat person and laugh claptrap which was on last night - I didn't watch.
What could either way
Skins
Some shows start well and tail downwards, Skins started well, got even better in the second series, tailed downhill quite a bit in the third series, and fell off a cliff at the beginning of the fourth series.
The show went from being consistently interesting, dramatic, funny and containing some real emotion to a dried up husk of a thing with one or two good characters and episodes a series.
I still harbour some hopes for the new series, and I'll watch the first episode, but whether I go any further than that is quite doubtful.
Sunday, 2 January 2011
The bottom ten - some of the few bad ones
100 - Johnny Mnemonic
The absolute worst film I've watched, in 1 hour and 38 minutes nothing good happened, the plot was garbage and the effects were just attempting to salvage that. The critics agree, with a 14% rating on RT (Rotten Tomatoes) that this film is just bad bad bad.
If I'm to borrow Roger Ebert's famous rant about the film North..
"I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it."
99 - Napoleon Dynamite
I didn't hate this one as much, I was just bewildered by it. I'm still waiting for something to happen, the film chugged by with lame dialogue, annoying characters and no semblance of any kind of direction.
Amazingly this has a 71% 'fresh' rating on RT, maybe I just don't get it.
98 - Paranoid Park
The main thing I take from this film is annoyance, from the fact that but for Guus Van Sant this film could have been pretty good. The direction of it ruined the film, from the shaky cameras, and lack of any kind of pace at all just giving it an annoying murky feel, not atmospheric like Blade Runner, just murky and pointless.
This one is 76% fresh on RT and for the life of me I do not know why.
97 - The Royal Tenenbaums
At the time I said there was nothing I really disliked about this film, I just didn't get into it. I would like to now change that verdict to that I hated the characters so much it spoiled the film.
Several really good actors including Bill Murray, Ben Stiller and Gene Hackman were given such awful characters that the film was doomed from the start.
But yet again the critics disagree with me, giving it an 80% fresh rating.
96 - A Scanner Darkly
The sort of half real and half animation of this film gave it a spacey feel, that combined with my tiredness whilst watching it made it almost completely impossible to follow, and it's annoying stoner feel just made it what seemed a really bad film at the time.
To be completely honest it was painful to sit through but its RT rating of 68% means that it may be my tiredness that puts it down the bottom rather than the film itself.
95 - Little Miss Sunshine
I just disliked the idea of the film and it struck me as one of those films that is too quirky for its own good, and most of the characters very much annoyed me.
The worst thing about it was the central premise, a beauty pageant for very young girls, just creeped me out and really saddened me.
Another film liked by the critics with an astonishing RT rating of 91%
94 - Sherlock Holmes
It's always difficult doing a new film or TV series about one of the most recognisable characters in the world, but this one was just pointless, with way too much action, too little plot and no sense of balance of the two.
Again the critics liked it (70%) but I really didn't.
93 - Heaven Can Wait
At the time I said this wan't a bad film, but since then I've watched a lot better. I'm not automatically biased against old films - I loved Casablanca - but old films with a pretty glib storyline and none of the action of modern films to make up for it don't really interest me.
The critics disagree again, giving it 89%... maybe I am biased against old films after all
92 - Smart People
Just not enough happened, the film floated through with some pointless storylines and poor acting (including a rare poor performance by Ellen Page)
One of those films that called itself a comedy drama but had little comedy or actual drama, and for once the critics agree, giving it a 50% 'rotten' rating.
91 - Saw VI
So, I technically watched it, but I don't remember it very much at all.
The critics disliked it, giving it a 40% rotten rating and I assume I would have hated it if I watched it properly, rather than drunk with people interrupting.
The absolute worst film I've watched, in 1 hour and 38 minutes nothing good happened, the plot was garbage and the effects were just attempting to salvage that. The critics agree, with a 14% rating on RT (Rotten Tomatoes) that this film is just bad bad bad.
If I'm to borrow Roger Ebert's famous rant about the film North..
"I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it."
99 - Napoleon Dynamite
I didn't hate this one as much, I was just bewildered by it. I'm still waiting for something to happen, the film chugged by with lame dialogue, annoying characters and no semblance of any kind of direction.
Amazingly this has a 71% 'fresh' rating on RT, maybe I just don't get it.
98 - Paranoid Park
The main thing I take from this film is annoyance, from the fact that but for Guus Van Sant this film could have been pretty good. The direction of it ruined the film, from the shaky cameras, and lack of any kind of pace at all just giving it an annoying murky feel, not atmospheric like Blade Runner, just murky and pointless.
This one is 76% fresh on RT and for the life of me I do not know why.
97 - The Royal Tenenbaums
At the time I said there was nothing I really disliked about this film, I just didn't get into it. I would like to now change that verdict to that I hated the characters so much it spoiled the film.
Several really good actors including Bill Murray, Ben Stiller and Gene Hackman were given such awful characters that the film was doomed from the start.
But yet again the critics disagree with me, giving it an 80% fresh rating.
96 - A Scanner Darkly
The sort of half real and half animation of this film gave it a spacey feel, that combined with my tiredness whilst watching it made it almost completely impossible to follow, and it's annoying stoner feel just made it what seemed a really bad film at the time.
To be completely honest it was painful to sit through but its RT rating of 68% means that it may be my tiredness that puts it down the bottom rather than the film itself.
95 - Little Miss Sunshine
I just disliked the idea of the film and it struck me as one of those films that is too quirky for its own good, and most of the characters very much annoyed me.
The worst thing about it was the central premise, a beauty pageant for very young girls, just creeped me out and really saddened me.
Another film liked by the critics with an astonishing RT rating of 91%
94 - Sherlock Holmes
It's always difficult doing a new film or TV series about one of the most recognisable characters in the world, but this one was just pointless, with way too much action, too little plot and no sense of balance of the two.
Again the critics liked it (70%) but I really didn't.
93 - Heaven Can Wait
At the time I said this wan't a bad film, but since then I've watched a lot better. I'm not automatically biased against old films - I loved Casablanca - but old films with a pretty glib storyline and none of the action of modern films to make up for it don't really interest me.
The critics disagree again, giving it 89%... maybe I am biased against old films after all
92 - Smart People
Just not enough happened, the film floated through with some pointless storylines and poor acting (including a rare poor performance by Ellen Page)
One of those films that called itself a comedy drama but had little comedy or actual drama, and for once the critics agree, giving it a 50% 'rotten' rating.
91 - Saw VI
So, I technically watched it, but I don't remember it very much at all.
The critics disliked it, giving it a 40% rotten rating and I assume I would have hated it if I watched it properly, rather than drunk with people interrupting.
Saturday, 1 January 2011
100 Films
I said I'd watch 100 films, but at many points in the year it looked doubtful.
Now there are two things on the schedule for this blog:
1) More categorising and reviewing of my 100 films, including a top 10 and overall rankings from 1-100
2) Listening to 100 new albums in 2011.
Now there are two things on the schedule for this blog:
1) More categorising and reviewing of my 100 films, including a top 10 and overall rankings from 1-100
2) Listening to 100 new albums in 2011.
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