Thank you to all my Square Fwends for 2011!

So this will be my final blog before 2012 begins and although it is going to be a short one I thought I just thank every one of the new friends I've made this year for taking me to your bosom (metaphorically obviously).

A lot of the lovely people I've been lucky enough to meet this year comes from me spending a lot of 2011 at The Square. I'm not always the most confident person and I can't help but feel I've really come out of myself this year, mainly down to all the new people I've been lucky enough to meet.

So you lucky people! thank you once again for taking the time to talk to the poor mans Jesus look-a-like and discovering I'm not actually as annoying as I might come across the first time you meet me (probably). I've enjoyed drinking with you, talking about why E.T isn't an intergalitic "Gypo" and rocking out to Pearl Jam with you.

Here's to The Square in 2012 and meeting lot's more people.

The Notebook - Gosling's Redemption.

"I am no one special. Just a common man with common thoughts. And I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect, I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and for me, that has always been enough."

*spoilers ahead*

So a friend of mine lent me a film starring Ryan Gosling called "The Notebook". As you may remember I had a bit of a rant about Ryan Gosling a few months back after seeing the film "Drive" and since then all I've been getting told is I should watch this film as he is amazing in it.
To be honest I couldn't of thought of anything more unappealing than watching another film with Mr Gosling in but seeing as someone was making the effort to lend me it I thought I'd give it a go.

For the people that don't know "The Notebook" is a 2004 romance film directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. It's about a young couple who fall in love during the early 1940s. Their story is narrated from the present day by an elderly man telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident who suffers from dementia.
To be completely honest I thought this was a pretty good film. A simple enough story which really seemed to capture the look of early 1940s America perfectly. This is only the second film I've seen Ryan Gosling in and I think he is far more suited to these soppy roles than the one he was given in Drive. He seems to be the perfect romantic lead as Noah and the chemistry between Rachel McAdams as Allie Hamilton and himself is electric. I believed that these two were really in love. Can't really fault Gosling in this film.

The real stars of this film for me though were James Garner as the older Noah and Gena Rowlands as the older Allie. I think these two made me far more likely to lose control of my tear ducts than the others.
A sad scene for me was when the older couple are having dinner and Allie remembers Noah only to forget who he is suddenly. Very sad that.
The only thing that maybe pulled me out of the movie was at the end when Aliie asks Noah whether they might die together and then the next morning they are discovered lying motionless next to one another in bed. I think it would of been better to end the film with them still having brief moments like we saw during the film.

Overall It didn't make me blub but I enjoyed this. And as I have such a wide variety of tastes when it comes to films (My DVD collection is a giant mix of genres) I'll probably buy this if see it going cheap.

No more Gosling for me though for a while.

It's not celeb stalking on Twitter if it's your birthday.Hopefully.

As some of you that follow me on Twitter and Facebook will know it was my birthday yesterday and having become a bit of a Twitter addict over this last year I wondered if I could get a Happy Birthday tweet from a celeb. Unsurprisingly I just found it an opportunity to take the piss a bit. Much to the annoyance of some of my followers (who's twitter feeds were probably clogged up for ages with my ramblings). Anyway here they are.

Hi @thedappy it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? I love your music. - from NDubz.

Hi @piersmorgan it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? @Lord_Sugar bet me £1000 you wouldn't.

Hi @Lord_Sugar it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? I own all your books and still used my Amstrad.

Hi @THERussellGrant how about sending some of that love I keep showing you my way. it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet?Cheers :D

Hi @patsharp it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? I still watch my old VHS tapes of Fun House on a daily basis.

Hi @domjoly you blocked me recently for fuck all but it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet?I still find your giant phone gag funny

Hi @caroldecker it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? I've got a load of china in my hands and I'm not afraid to smash it if not. - Lead singer of 80's band Tpau.

Hi @TheoPaphitis it's my birthday 2day.Any chance of a retweet?Iu r my favourite Dragon after the man with long black hair and shoulder pads.

Hi @thekeithchegwin you blocked me last year after a comment regarding your jokes but it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet?

Hi @Only1AlexReid it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet?I I voted for you over 100 times when you were in Big Brother. - Ex-husband of Jordan.

Hi @WayneRooney it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? I'm a real #ManUtd fan. I live in London and everything.

Hi @therealgokwan it's my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? I wear all your fashions.

Hi @johnprescott its my 33rd birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? U r the reason I became a boxer.

Hi @BearGrylls its my birthday today. Any chance of a retweet? I'm tweeting this to u from a self made shelter of snow in Antarctica.

Hi @RobbieSavage8 its my birthday today any chance of a RT. I've got amazing hair like u but I'm really shit at dancing ... and football.

Hi @JKCorden its my birthday today. Anychance of a RT? I've taken multiple punches 2 the face defending your role in #Doctorwho - Gavin & Stacy star James Corden.

Hi @ajhmurray it's my birthday today. Any chance of a RT? I'm a massive fan. GARLIC BREAD!!! - Comedian Al Murray.

As you can see there was probably a good reason why no one bothered (That is of course if they saw them at all) but I did get a response from Russell Grant, Carol Decker and Nicola Bryant who played companion Peri Brown in Doctor Who back in the 80's.

@THERussellGrant Happy solar return Scorpio LA! x

@thenicolabryant happy birthday. Your mate @ccbaxter suggested you might like a tweet. Have a great day. :)

Oh well. Maybe I'll try again next year.*


*By the way I've no idea why I'm using a picture of Charlie Sheen here. I just thought it would give this blog post some credibility *Cough*.

High Flying Birds - The long awaited album from the man who made Oasis is fantastic.

I've been a fan of Noel Gallagher for more years then I care to remember. Back in the last century when Oasis first hit the scene I was hooked and even then found myself relating more to the songs Noel used to sing. Where Liam pretty much used to growl his way through a song I always felt Noel actually meant and felt what he was singing (does that make sense?).

After much delaying and messing about I finally got round to listening to his solo album High Flying Birds yesterday when I was trying to recover from a hangover. While I wouldn't insult myself by buying his brothers effort I've been really looking forward to listening to this and I'm pleased to report I really enjoyed it.
As there normally is with me I have a BUT to throw into the mix. While there is no doubt Noel is a genius when it comes to song writing I can't shake the feeling that this album comes across a bit like an Oasis B-Sides album. Don't get me wrong as I absolutely love it but at the same time I can't get rid of the feeling that these songs were in the bottom of his pants drawer and he thought he would give them an airing.

Still, I have read his second album (due in late 2012) is going to be a collaboration with Amorphous Androgynous. He has been quoted as saying "It sounds a bit like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The sound is similar to High Flying Birds, but more psychedelic and tripped out. It's not an electronic project. People are jumping to that conclusion because Amorphous Androgynous used to be an electronic outfit."

I'm actually pretty interested by this news as Dark Side of the Moon is in my top ten albums of all time. I have high hopes for this.

For now the Noel's High Flying Birds can carry on soaring.

Sending a sarcastic letter to the local paper? I'd never do such a thing...

I just couldn't help myself.

Through your paper I'd just like to thank the Network Harlow bus service that operates in the town. It's become so terrible and unreliable I rarely get the bus and walk near enough everywhere I need to go these days. As a result of this I've lost well over 3 stone in weight and feel so much better for it.

Thank you Network Harlow. Keep up the good work.

A year later, 3 stone lighter and feeling a lot better.

It's coming up to a year now since the doctor at the hospital told me I was a bit porky and losing a bit of weight would help me with the stomach condition I was suffering from. I'd already been on tablets for about a year before and the doctor at my local surgery decided I should go to the hospital. To this day I still don't know why is took the hospital to tell me I needed to lose weight and not my GP.

When I was told this my first thought was how on earth am I going to lose weight!?! I'd never done anything like that before and to be honest my second thought was am I going to have to give up curry, beer and whiskey?

Anyway after much stressing about it, a bit of planning and a starting weigh in (16 stone 5lbs)I started to reduce my food intake dramatically. I stopped drinking alcohol for a month as a little kick start and suddenly my weight dropped within weeks.
As the weeks went on I got into a routine where I'd just have fruit and cereal for breakfast. My lunch at work which consisted of a sandwich, low fat yogurt, cereal bar and more fruit and then in the evening I'd have a proper dinner.

A long with the healthier eating I started doing a lot more exercise. Cutting out the bus and walking everywhere as well as riding my bike (although to be honest the bike riding didn't last very long). Not that it mattered though as week on week the weight continued to disappear. As the months went on I became more comfortable with my eating and was able to have a few treats without over doing it. When it came to food I was becoming a lot more aware of a balanced diet than I ever had been before.
Another good thing was having to buy smaller waist jeans and no longer having to buy XL t-shirts.

I'm really glad how much I've lost and how well I've done an of course I feel so much better now for it as well.
I'll continue to eat sensible for the foreseable future and only have a bit of a food and drink binge at the weekends. I don't want to going back to how I was and I feel like a new man. I'd like to lose another stone maybe but then there is a line to draw on if you will start to look too thin so to speak.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me this last year. You are all great although not as wonderful as me... clearly.

Cheers.

Drive: Probably not going to get any Oscars

**This review contains spoilers**

"If I drive for you, you give me a time and a place. I give you a five-minute window, anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours no matter what. I don't sit in while you're running it down; I don't carry a gun... I drive."

You know how sometimes you see something and you are that miffed with it you need to get your thoughts down quickly despite it being pretty late in the evening? Well I'm having an episode like that now.
Orange Wednesday is a pretty good day to go and see a movie with a friend. Not only is it cheap it's also pretty cool to have the chance to see a film Empire magazine rated 4 out of 5 stars. Empire, I used to base my how film viewing around your reviews. I used to trust them with my movie going life. Seems that was a bad idea as tonight I went to see Drive. Empire magazine owes me nearly two hours of my life back.
Cineworlds write up of the film Drive on it's website is as follows (with me adding my two cents) -

A getaway man drives for his life in this relentless, rubber-burning action flick.

About 4 times. Only once do I remember rubber burning.

By day, the silent, nameless Driver (Ryan Gosling) is a stuntman who spins wheels and flips cars for Hollywood films. By night, he's a much in-demand getaway man who navigates the labyrinthine streets of LA with speed and ice-cool precision.

He also has the worst acting skills I've ever seen. It was probably for the best he stayed silent.

The Driver's reserve melts a little for his neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan), but he exposes a well-hidden vulnerability when he agrees to help her jailbird ex-husband out of a tight spot with the mob.

I spent the whole of this film trying to remember where I knew Carey Mulligan from and the I realized she played Sally Sparrow in the Doctor Who fan favourite episode "Blink". She just looks sad a lot in this. Probably annoyed she is acting and Ryan Gosling is just pretending to be a plank of wood.

A double-cross then leaves him with only one option - put the pedal to the metal and drive for his life!

See above for how many times we actually see him drive. And not very fast either I might add.

Cult Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn ('Bronson', 'Valhalla Rising') announces his Hollywood arrival in style with this tough thriller inspired by the 1968 Steve McQueen classic 'Bullitt'.

You what? Tough thriller inspired by the 1968 Steve McQueen classic 'Bullitt'!?! Is Nicolas Winding Refn taking the piss or something? Fair play to him for 'Bronson' as that is a fantastic film but to compare Drive with a classic Steve McQueen film is a bit mental. Both Hossein Amini and James Sallis (the films writers) seem to of got inspiration from the PS2 game Grand theft Auto: Vice City for this film.

It's also Brit-actress Carey Mulligan's first full-on action film

And probably her last.

while Albert Brooks and 'Hellboy' star Ron Perlman get the bad-guy roles.

And both fail to pull this film out of the dismal hole that is sinks in to. In fact this is the worse film I've ever seen Ron Pearlman in and I've seen him in Police Academy: Mission to Moscow. As for Albert Brooks I enjoyed him much more in Finding Nemo.While I thought the trailer for this film actually looked pretty cool as it suggested it to be a film comprised of many action scenes it goes to show how smart cutting and incorrect marketing can work in trailers. Having raised this subject with a friend of mine he pointed out to me that an American woman has sued FilmDistrict (the films distributor) due to suffering "damages", feeling that the previews were misleading. She stated its distributor marketed Drive as similar to the Fast and the Furious film series, and, in a bait and switch act, gave her a motion picture with little racing.
One thing that was unexpected and really enjoyed was the sudden amount of gore as Ryan Gosling goes on a revenge fuelled rampage. Broken skulls, throats cut, blood everywhere and a cracking head shot that would make Quentin Tarantino wince. Don't let on to anyone but I enjoyed the 80's style soundtrack.

Anyway as you can see I wasn't really taken with this as I just couldn't get my head round a film that was called Drive that had hardly any driving in it. The friend I was with though really enjoyed it so maybe it's just me being a boring git. The general consensus having looked online is that this is a great film.
On the plus side though it's now my turn to pick a film next Orange Wednesday I go to (in fact it's two if I remember correctly) and after seeing the reaction of my friend during some of the gory bits of this film I reckon it might have to be "The Thing".

until next time.

A whining kid a hospital and a fantastic mum...

After my blog about having a cleft lip and insensitive old women yesterday it got me thinking about when I used to spend a lot of time in Great Ormond Street hospital when I was a kid. Despite the cleft lip a palate issues I also had issues with my feet and hands as well. This in itself wasn't what I was remembering to be honest. What I was remembering was what an absolute legend my mum was.

While my dad used to look after my little brother (I only had one bro back in the mid 80's) she always used to take me into london to hospital be it for a day appointment or for an actual operation.
Nothing like having your mum around but looking back now as a 5yr old kid getting poked and prodded with needles and having endless operations I was seriously scared with what was going on and I don't think I've ever told her what a true legend she was when it comes to being there.
She was always the first last person I saw before I was put under anesthetic and the first person I saw when I woke up all groggy and miserable as hell. I also remember her going home on the tube and trains back to Harlow (ON HER OWN) at times I would try and avoid doing these days at the age of 32.

My mum is a legend. Cheers mum x

Discrimination at it's strangest....

Unfortunately it is still a common misconception that if you don't look a certain way some people expect you to be somehow mentally lacking in the brain department.

As you will no doubt be aware (and to be honest if you are not then where have you been?) I was born with a cleft lip a palate.

Approximately 1 in 700 children are born with a cleft lip and/or a cleft palate.

Clefts can also affect other parts of the face, such as the eyes, ears, nose, cheeks, and forehead. Lucky for me I've not had other problems apart from scaring, my nose and some speech and hearing problems when I was a kid. The only problem I have with my forehead is the lack of hair which now seems to be falling out (thank you Dad).

Anyway, it's a shame that in this day and age some people still seem to associate such problems with mental capability as well. I don't get this from people very often but when it does it still catches me off guard. Although I'm capable of ignoring such ignorance I find myself still rather pissed that some people can be so narrow minded.

I recall once I was minding my own business when an elderly lady came up to me one day and told me it was nice that people like me were able to get jobs. When I asked her what she meant she said "You know" to which I replied "No, I don't".

She then went on to tell me how she thought it was good that despite me being "slow" (her words not mine) it didn't stop me from getting a job. After I got over the sheer disbelief of what this women said I couldn't help but wonder how many other people put up with such ignorance on a daily basis and how they handle it?

These days I find it rather amusing in a sad way when I come across these people. Don't get me wrong it's young and old that can be like this (don't want some pensioners group having a go at me) but if at some point in the future you look at someone that maybe doesn't conform with your narrow view of society for goodness sake think before you open your mouth.

Mini-Anti River Song blog with added Eric Roberts.

Earlier today I watched The Doctor Who series 6 episode "The God Complex". Three weeks of quality Doctor Who. It just goes to show it's back on form when ever River Song isn't wedged into the plot. Fantastic episode!
What was in The Doctor's room though? I'm guessing Eric Roberts as The Master. That is enough to make anyone pray to their God isn't it?

End of the Road Festival 2011

So the weekend of the 2-4th of September saw me and two friends attended the End of the Road Festival 2011. The End of the Road Festival is an annual music festival which focuses on alternative music. It is hosted at the Larmer Tree Gardens (Link), on the border of north Dorset and Wiltshire.
The festival is run over four stages: the Woods Stage, the Garden Stage, the Big Top Stage and the Tipi Tent, as well as a clearing in the woods around the Garden Stage containing a piano at which semi-secret sets take place. There are also children's areas and workshops, a healing field, a film tent, comedy, a library in the forest and a games area (ping pong, table football etc). Due to the nature of the gardens the festival is set in it is not unlikely to see peacocks wandering around the area and parrots in the trees.



The first thing that I noticed about EoTR I thought was absolutely fantastic was it's virtually in the middle of nowhere. It was great how you really needed a car to get there as it made it feel more private and special.
Camping wasn't overcrowded either. There was plenty of room to just chill out where we were and by the looks of it the campers around us had lots of room as well.
In the main event areas it was so relaxed and not overcrowded. There was a wonderful atmosphere and a real feeling of community. Compared to the other festivals I've been to this really was a family affair. All sorts of people were at EoTR. Parents with children, couples, people going solo and mates (the category I fell into) just chilling out listening to music. It was wonderful just to lay down on the grass and listen to bands.


Now the bands. I must admit beforehand I'd not really been paying attention to the line-up but looking back now I think this worked in my favor as I went in only knowing of a few of the acts.
I was really please to have come away from the weekend having discovered the likes of Josh T.Pearson, Micah P. Hinson, Tinariwen and The Secret Sisters. Without a doubt though one of the higlights musically of the festival was Bob Log III.
Bob Log III is an American slide guitar one-man band. During performances, he plays old Silvertone archtop guitars, wears a full body human cannonball suit, and a pilot's helmet wired to a telephone receiver, which allows him to devote his hands and feet to guitar and drums. The spectacle has been described as a guitar dance party.

I was lucky enough to see Bob for the first time at one of the late night secret gigs that take place in the Tipi Tent. I recommend you do a search for him on You Tube he won't dissapoint.

Of course the best thing of all about this weekend after the music was that kids and drunken adults shared the same spaces without bloodshed and no one set fire to anything like at certain other festivals I don't care to mention. for anyone who’s never been grab a ticket for next year asap and enjoy a different festival experience. I'll be going back in 2012 for sure.

River Song - The Doctor Who version of Marmite

Something isn't right. I was catching up with 2 weeks of Doctor Who over the weekend. And a long with the only other episode of series six I've really enjoyed (The Doctors Wife) I found myself loving "Night Terrors" and "The Girl Who Waited". Why you might ask? Well two words for you. River Song. She wasn't in them.

When River Song (played primarily by Alex Kingston) was first introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of the Doctor in the series 4 episodes "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead" I thought she was a fantastic character. One of Steven Moffat's coolest creations for the new show since it relaunched in 2005.
When the character was first introduced, much about her origins remained a mystery with only little bits of what could happen in the future being shared. Personally I never thought we would see her again after these two episodes with the 10th Doctor and that she was a character to forever go down in Who history as one of these great unanswered mystery's.

But alas I was wrong.

When Steven Moffat took over as the main producer of the show the first thing he did was reintroduce her. In itself not a problem BUT if I'd known he was going to spend his first two years of the show dedicating most of it to her I would of given it serious thought about not bothering to watch again.
No. I'm kidding, I was never going to stop watching the show but I just found myself turning into one of the very people that normally get on my nerves.


Now before you point out to me that River really hasn't been in that many episodes I'd ask you to look below.

The following is a list of appearances by River Song. All appearances feature her final incarnation, with other incarnations specified.

Series 4

Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead
Journey's End - Flashback only (archive footage).

Series 5

The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone
The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang

Series 6

The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon (appeared as River Song and as a little girl)
A Good Man Goes to War / Let's Kill Hitler (appeared as a baby, Mels and River Song)

As you can see above she has had nearly a whole season of shows dedicated to her and if you go back and watch them it becomes more and more obvious (like I've been convinced for a while now) that Moffat is just making it up as he goes a long.
I was pleased to see that I wasn't the only one who thought this as well having read that The Daily Telegraph Journalist Neil McCormick also thought that her sudden introduction as Rory and Amy's childhood friend in "Lets Kill Hitler" proved that Moffat was making it up as he went along.

River Song has outstayed her welcome in the show now.
I had so much faith when Moffat took over the show I now long for the return of Russell T Davies because at least he didn't try to come across as smug and smart in his story arcs leaving a lot of people confused and frustrated in the process.

The sooner River Song goes the better. I would say hurry up and kill her off but we already know when that happens don't we.

One last thing. I think 2000AD Artist Christ Weston sums up the show at the moment very nicely.

"Doctor Who seems to be doing its best to alienate the casual viewer and frustrate the faithful... it's convoluted and complicated, but in much the same way a toddler's scribbles can be.
It's as if the creators can't trust the viewers to stay hooked just through quality... It's like having a kid screaming, 'I know something you don't know … but I'm not telling' in your face non-stop for 45 minutes."

Andrew Robinson - He was the best thing in Deep Space Nine innit!

Recently while watching the classic Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry I couldn't help but wonder where the hell I knew the Scorpio Killer from?
Once I remembered I had the internet at my fingertips I did what anyone would do and looked him up on imdb.
Much to my amazement I discovered it was Garak from Deep Space Nine himself Mr Andrew Robinson.

Robinson was offered the role of Garak after he originally auditioned for the role of Odo, which eventually went to Rene Auberjonois. He almost did not accept the role, but was pressured into accepting for financial reasons. Like the character, he is claustrophobic and at first had trouble performing in heavy makeup. His character was originally intended to appear in only one episode, but eventually became one of the most frequent recurring characters of the series, appearing in 37 of the 176 episodes as the writers of the show enjoyed working with the character. Originally meant to be an antagonist, the character became more sympathetic as the show progressed, and became one of the main protagonists by the end of the series. Robinson has described the role as being complex, he has said in a StarTrek.com interview that, "the subtext is far more powerful than the actual text. Garak for me was like an iceberg. The tip is easy to define, but it's the rest of the character that's the challenge."

I personally can't fault any episode of DS9 which had Garak in. They were all so very good and he was one of the best characters in all of the Trek shows.
I absolutely love Andrew Robinson and looking through the films and tv shows he's been in it turns out I've been completely oblivious to his being in other shows I'm also a fan of.

Andrew Robinson I salute you.

Roger Delgado: The Master

Has anyone else seen the Roger Delgado: The Master documentary on the Frontier In Space dvd? I would recommend it to anyone who loves Roger Delgado as The Master.
He was such an amazing actor and this documentary really upsets me when I watch it because he died in such a tragic way.

He died on location in Turkey whilst shooting the (never-completed) feature film Bell of Tibet. He was killed, along with two Turkish film technicians, when the chauffeur-driven car in which he was travelling went off the road into a ravine.
He never even got to make that final Master story that would of seen him go out in a blaze of glory.

He was good friends with Jon Pertwee and the 3rd Doctor often remarked that Mr Delgado's death at the age of 55 was one of the catalysts that led to his own departure from Doctor Who.
Everyone in the documentary say so many wonderful things about him including Chris Barry, Terrance Dicks, Katy Manning & Barry Letts.

For me Anthony Ainley, Eric Roberts, Derek Jacobi and John Simm will never be as good as Roger Delgado in the role.

"I am usually refered to as the Master...universally."

RIP Mr Delgado. You were The Master.


Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto (1 March 1918 – 18 June 1973).

Giant plant pots in Harlow don't float my boat.

I wrote a letter today to my local paper regarding THIS article.

Sir

I was most shocked to read that a total of £65,000 has been spent on the disgusting giant plant pots now in residence in market square.
Not only is this a shocking waste of money spent by the council I also can't help but wonder which genius came up with the idea to build a play area opposite Yates? Plenty of places in the town need money to make them great again but Harlow council have once again messed their priority's up completely. I look forward to reading in a future edition of the Star how the council have spent £70,000 on four giant gnomes to go next to the plant pots in market square.

What do you think? Too much?

INDIANA JONES and the PENSION OF DOOM

Recently Oscar worthy actor Shia LaBeouf confirmed that Indiana Jones 5 in the works. On discovering this I couldn't help but think this news sounds a bit shite to me. (Read more HERE)

While I really did enjoy The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull it did end there for me and I've no interest at the moment in new film. I'd also have trouble seeing what direction a 5Th movie could go in? of course they could always use this idea -

Indy buys his son Mutt a new car which happens to transform into a guardian robot protector. Both Jones' need to track down and find this cube to destroy before the evil Inca robot (Incatron) wants it to grow stronger. They meet other robots along the way. A giant battle with edits every second possible which are physically impossible to make out and unneeded explosions every ten seconds is the films finale.

I reckon if George Lucas and Michael Bay made a movie together the Doomsday Clock would reach 12:00am and the world would end.

One thing is for sure though. If we do get a 5Th Indy film I bet it will be in stupid bloody 3D. Tut!

The Mask 2 with Jim Carrey in the works?

I read recently that Jim Carrey is starting to talk about the possible return to some of his first major roles in sequels. The first one that sprang to mind for me was the 1994 hit The Mask.
For the people that have been a sleep for the last seventeen years The Mask is an American superhero film based on a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. The film was directed by Chuck Russell, and produced by Dark Horse Entertainment and New Line Cinema with Jim Carrey playing Stanley Ipkiss (also known as The Mask).
I watched this again recently and I must admit I enjoyed it all over again. I did notice a few things that never really jumped out at me before now. If you don't know (although I said it above) The Mask is based on a rather violent comic book which you can read up on HERE. I read the original graphic novel again last night and I'd not noticed before that some of the Mask's poses in this are taken straight from the first story. A little nod to the comic which I never really picked on before.

I know that some of the scenes and panels from the comic were adapted for the film but we're given a friendly spin to them and I still love the 'Tommy Gun' and the 'Ripley's Auto' scenes. They work well here even if you do know what happens in the original comic (If you don't it involves blood, massacre and slaughter).
The budget clearly went into the special effects but I couldn't help but notice it suffered visually in other non-mask scenes. Cameron Diaz while being a stunner to look at isn't really that good in this. I know it was her first film and since then (apart from the Angels film) she has gone on to be a great actress but some of her lines are delivered very badly. I also think it's a shame the Viking scene that should of been at the start of the film showing the Mask being buried was deletehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif/bmi_orig_img/blank.gifd. Somethings always bugged me about the start of the film where is just pops out of the chest.

Anyway if Carrey did indeed decided to return to the role of The Mask I'd be first in the queue to see it at the cinema. One thing for sure is it isn't going to be any worse than that Son of the Mask movie from a few years ago.

Russell T Davies messed up the regeneration thing on Doctor Who didn't he?

In David Tennent's final story The End Of Time he implied death for one incarnation of the Doctor meant a completely new and different man was born with the same memories.
The Tenth Doctor's final words confirmed this when he said 'I don't want to go'.
It doesn't help earlier on in the episode as well when he says "Even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away...and I'm dead."
What on earth was RTD thinking when he did that!?! HE'S THE SAME PERSON FOR GOODNESS SAKE! He just changes his form to survive.

Overall I think RTD made far too much fuss of the 10th Doctors regeneration and did his best to squeeze three hours worth of television out of it.

And don't get me started on what is wrong with Planet of The Dead.

Rant over ;)

What do you think?

First OFFICIAL look at Henry Cavill’s Superman in “Man of Steel”, AND Morpheus is going to be Perry White

Some of you may remember a post I made a few weeks back that featured Henry Cavill as Clark Kent ( HERE ).
To put it blunt it was bollocks and in my excitement I'd failed to noticed it was a fake and I'd got mugged off.

Anyway today has seen the first OFFICIAL look at Henry Cavill’s Superman in “Man of Steel”.
As with any new pic from a Superman film I got really excited on first glance and I love the pic but personally the costume looks a bit plastic. Even the cape.
Saying that though it might just be the light. I'm not disappointed and it's given me a thrill to see it. I'm sure my friend James would of loved this. Well I say sure when in fact he would of loved it regardless the loyal Supe's fan that he was ha, ha!

Today also saw the news that Laurence Fishburne has joined the cast and is set to play Daily Planet editor Perry White opposite Henry Cavill and Amy Adams (Lois Lane).
I'm actually really excited about this news as he is a great actor (He was having an off day in Predators). It will be interesting to see how he plays the part.

What do you think of events from today?

Man of Steel comes to theaters June 14th, 2013 and stars Henry Cavill, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Julia Ormond. The film is directed by Zack Snyder.

Kick-Ass - With no power, comes no responsibility. Except, *that* wasn't true

When I first saw Kick-Ass I was dissapointed to be honest. Having read the graphic novel I was annoyed that some of the lead characters were completely rewritten by screen writer and wife of Wossy Jane Goldman. They just came across as more sympathetic. I would of liked it to be a lot more faithful to the book than what it actually was.
Mark Miller (creator of the comic) and Matthew Vaughn (Film director) worked together on the project. Miller concentratd on the material for the comic Vaughn concentrated on the material for the movie. Even thouhg I'm aware of this I still think it's pretty rubbish that the film didn't stick to the comic more. It also shows (in my opinion) that this sort of 'production' doesn't work because it will end in dissapointment for some fans.Someone raised the point ealrier that the comic was still being made when the film was in production hence why some things may be different.
The first hour was awesome and had me going "Oh yeah, great scene from the book". But after that it went a bit wrong.
The whole point of Kick-Ass was it was more based in reality although some of that in the comic is also questionable Ok, Hit Girl doing all her ninja assasination stuff is totally unbelievable as well but atleast it was part of the original story.

While being based on the comic book, Kick-ass had several notable differences than its comic inspiration.

Kick-Ass has been shown to be the only character in the film with a similar costume to his comic book counterpart. All of the other main characters have different costumes in the film.

Frank D'Amico is called John Genovese in the comic book. The name is taken from the Genovese crime family.

In the film, when Big Daddy quizzes Hit Girl, they are in the armory while Mindy plays with her new knife. In the book, he quizzes her on a communication device whilst she is killing gangsters in a bar, with him providing over-watch with a sniper rifle.

In the film, Hit Girl and Big Daddy track Kick-Ass home by re-routing his IP address and tracing a discharge from his taser. In the comic, they simply follow him home.

Big Daddy is not actually an ex-cop in the comics, as he admits to Genovese and Dave shortly before his death. He was in fact an accountant who, much like Dave, fantasized about being a superhero. He made up a fake history of himself and lied that he was an ex-cop with a personal vendetta against John Genovese (Frank D'Amico). He also gets money for himself and Mindy by selling his rare comic books.[108] His comic backstory is touched in the film by his use of comic terminology in the attempted execution scene.

In the film, Big Daddy is killed by being burned and succumbing to his injuries. In the comic, he is shot through the back of the head (in a graphic depiction as the bullet exits through his left eye socket), shortly after he reveals that he was never a cop.

When Kick-Ass is being tortured, he is not just beaten up like in the film, he has a car battery hooked up to his testes and is shocked extensively. The mobsters do not broadcast this torture session on the internet, as they do in the film.

In the comic, Dave never becomes Katie's boyfriend; after he reveals that he was not gay, she calls him a pervert for pretending to be gay and orders her boyfriend to beat Dave. Afterwards they send him a picture of Katie performing fellatio on the boyfriend. In the film, Katie forgives Dave for pretending that he was gay, realizing that Dave loves her, and she became Dave's girlfriend.

At the end of the comic when Red Mist is vowing his revenge against Kick-Ass, he is in fact writing an e-mail which he sends to him, as opposed to the film when he is just talking to himself.

In the comic, Kick-Ass does not use a jetpack outfitted with machine guns during the climactic battle. In fact, he does not kill anyone at all. Instead, he finds and pummels Red Mist with two large pieces of wood, while Hit Girl kills everyone else.

In the film, it is implied that cocaine dealing is the only criminal activity Frank D'Amico's organization is involved with. In the comic, it is clearly stated that John Genovese's organization is involved in gambling and pornography, as well as drugs.

Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) was funny but surely it would of been better to stick to the book with his story arc? He actually says sorry to Kick-Ass (Aaron Johnson)!?! The relationship Dave has with Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca) in this was terrible and missed the point.
When we started discovered Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) & Hit Girl's (Chloe Moretz) origin I think that ruined the whole film. I spent a good amount of time wondering when we were going to see his t(r)unk with the back issues in but I realised it was pointless when his former partner tracked him down. He was a cop!?! What sort of rubbish is that. Big Daddy was the ultimate fan boy who took his love for costumed heroes to the extreme and actually went way to far.
Surely no one was expecting it to be that much different though?

I must admit Nic Cage was good in this though and his Adam West voice was particuly funny.
The ending was also a bit of a let down. I should of been more alert when we didn't see Kick-Ass getting his balls fried at the start of the film. And a jet pack!?! What was that all about?
I think the whole point of Kick-Ass was missed in this film.
Ha, I know I am ranting a bit so I will shut up. I really liked this film but just felt a bit let down that certain stuff was changed for the worse.