06/06/2009
06/04/2009
Terminated...
The Terminator franchise comes back with what is supposed to be the first part in a new trilogy.
This movie's basic concept is pretty much what you always wanted as a kid - one totally set in the future. This was of course, what we're not meant to have.
Christian Bale being cast gives them film some 'before you see it' credibility - but director McG's past catalogue of both Charlies Angels movies, and TV series Fastlane - not to mention the fact that I'd first heard of his name as the director to the Offspring's Pretty Fly For A White Guy, spells 'this is going to be shit' all over it before you get through the door.
Throw in king of ham, Michael Ironside (who'd already starred alongside Bale in that crazy dedication to eating indie thinker, The Machinist) - a couple of other no-namers - no Arnie, no Linda Hamilton...surely the razzies need to get ready?
BUT
It's actually damn good! It's no T2 - but then it was never going to be. Bale's role, played like a slightly shoutier one of that in Reign of Fire, is the John Connor we all believed Kyle & Sarah's son would be from the original Terminator.
Sam Worthington actually shares the screen time pretty heavily with Christian - the smaller stars don't get an unnecessary amount of screen time either - e.g. John's wife Kate. If you looked at their characters from T3 - you'd believe they'd had a guts transfusion from each other. Elfman's score, here and there it's classic action movie Elfman - but with some very nicely borrowed cues from Brad Fiedel's original scores.
Quite a surprise, quite fun - maybe T5 can be to Terminator Salvation what T2 was to Terminator. Now I'm allowed to start getting my hopes up!
05/25/2009
Best of British F1
In sports, I always route for the little guy. It's always great to see a driver take his first win - there's something about watching them enjoying their first success that just brings that warm glow to me.
Okay, that's all a lie, it's just that I like seeing the guy who's now becoming so full of himself get beaten by a rookie or a no-hoper that's been in F1 too long.
This season though, I'm being treated to a whole season of it. After five wins I should be getting bored of Jenson's almost continuous string of victories - and indeed it's true, I'm still hoping for that Webber or Glock victory - but I can certainly live without McLaren or Ferrari taking the top step again for a bit.
Let's face it. Jenson was a no-hoper. This is Jenson's 10th season in Formula 1. In relative terms, he'd seem like a full time member of the old guard, if he didn't have Rubens Barrichello as his team mate - who first raced against Sterling Moss in the 60's.
However, both drivers we know have speed and ability - Flavio's bitchy comments about how F1's been spoiled because the new drivers aren't getting a chance because of the Brawn GP, Williams & Toyota diffuser issue (though worthless, as he's being thrashed by Red Bull, who didn't have this type of diffuser but do have the same Renault engines!) - do highlight something. Is F1 ageist these days?
Mansell's first championship season came 12 years into his career (this popped into my head on his grid interview). At the moment, everything needs to happen so quickly for a F1 driver. This isn't necessarily a good thing.
They have to start karting around the womb, when born, climb info a F3 car and get big F1 team backing all the way through the GP2 or World Series by Renault support series before starting test driving for F1 teams when they get to junior school. This rushed approach leads us to such defects as Lewis Hamilton - a racing driver devoid of humility, personality and passion - just a speed machine with limited intellect.
So, with Button now swapping roles as Britain's best driver, I've suddenly become more appreciative of the guy who I once considered cockey - as next to Lewis he's almost self-effacing!
It's quite incredible to just look back to December and the BBC News story running about the Honda team's withdrawal, with Jenson & Rubens becoming the first victims of the credit crunch in motorsport pretty much - now here smashing the competition in a car Honda paid for but is getting none of the credit for - by picking their cash savings too poorly. Instead of revelling at the front of a multi-manufacturer field in the pinnacle of motorsport, they run around on their own at the head of the American Sportscar series, with almost no competition besides a few independant entries - and supply all of the engines in the flagging Indycar series with literally no competition.
The racing's becoming quite normal now after a couple of races of excitement, and Brawn GP do basically hold the dominance that McLaren had before them...but with the incredible backstory, and a hero we can love far more easily than test tube racing driver Lewis Hamilton - it's still quite a joy to watch Button (and even Rubens when it happens) take all these victories. Carry on the new F1 - and don't screw it all up now Max!
05/16/2009
Freaky Kids Movies
Coraline by famed modern stop-motion director Henry Selick (the man you brought you the Tim Burton penned anti-Christmas movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas as well as James and the Giant Peach) brings this odd novella to our cinema screens by British writer Neil Gaiman.
As the movie plods along in this little pre-goth girls life, at some point the plot propelling discovery of another world, in true Narnia or Alice in Wonderland fashion brings us into a strange, twisted world of odd imagery with very little to really explain much of it.
For a while I'm thinking this is too weird for kids - actually, I was thinking this was too weird for anyone...but then started to remember the movies I was subjected to as a kid - and then decided that actually, this is just as weird as kids movies used to be.
Now, that's ignoring the element of fantasy that is present in any kids movie. Very few follow the reality hugging concepts of most movies for grown-ups. Most involve talking cars, monsters or sponges (surely you know which ones I mean), but from a plot perspective they usually just transpose these odd characters into a very ordinary plot-line.
But the real movies that stick with you as kid (in my case, very much the eighties we're talking about here - or earlier ones that just happened to repeat).
The first one that popped into my head was the amazingly insane concept of a movie that was Comet Quest - or The Adventures of Mark Twain.
This stop-motion movie started quite normally and then just got weird - until it became almost scary. The angel named Satan scene near the end was just not normal in any childrens movie.
Now, for weirdness, I can't top that. Though Roald Dahl inspired films (clearly an influence already on Selick, as he helmed the James and the Giant Peach movie) could always feature strongly. The key contenders being the animated version of the BFG, featuring Delboy himself as the Big Friendly Giant (gamers, no this is not the awesome gun from Quake) - or the musical movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which is not as close to the novel as Burton's version, but it's up to you which you find stranger).
There's a double collection of movies I remember watching often too. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, turned into japanese animation - with kids interest maintained by a 'will he, won't he plot' involving two talking squirrels.
There's also the older Jack and The Beanstalk - another japanese movie with a more modern, almost prog-rock musical score. Both are available in their entirety on Youtube at the moment - though I hasten to add the Swan Lake version I'm familiar with had an alternative dubbing which was more suited to it than this one. Believe me, both are bloody weird!
Then there's Sci-fi for kids...I recall mainly Time Masters (made by Moebius, the French director responsible for the recently South Park parodied Heavy Metal) - a slow moving, spaced out epic about a stranded boy on a planet and the spaceship crew who were on their way to rescue him (you may find a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode that may have had a similar plot too).
There were so many strange movies out as a kid, which seem to be very rare to find on modern media, perhaps for the very reason that maybe all kids that watch these turn out a little strange?
Well, I liked them. I've now realised I've really missed proper freaky kids movies, not weird just because it's a talking toy that can fly. Bring them back - carry on Henry Selick.
(On a Dahl note, maybe this theme will be contined with Wes Anderson's upcoming stop-motion movie, The Fantastic Mr. Fox - my first Roald Dahl book!)
As the movie plods along in this little pre-goth girls life, at some point the plot propelling discovery of another world, in true Narnia or Alice in Wonderland fashion brings us into a strange, twisted world of odd imagery with very little to really explain much of it.
For a while I'm thinking this is too weird for kids - actually, I was thinking this was too weird for anyone...but then started to remember the movies I was subjected to as a kid - and then decided that actually, this is just as weird as kids movies used to be.
But the real movies that stick with you as kid (in my case, very much the eighties we're talking about here - or earlier ones that just happened to repeat).
The first one that popped into my head was the amazingly insane concept of a movie that was Comet Quest - or The Adventures of Mark Twain.
This stop-motion movie started quite normally and then just got weird - until it became almost scary. The angel named Satan scene near the end was just not normal in any childrens movie.
Now, for weirdness, I can't top that. Though Roald Dahl inspired films (clearly an influence already on Selick, as he helmed the James and the Giant Peach movie) could always feature strongly. The key contenders being the animated version of the BFG, featuring Delboy himself as the Big Friendly Giant (gamers, no this is not the awesome gun from Quake) - or the musical movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which is not as close to the novel as Burton's version, but it's up to you which you find stranger).
There's a double collection of movies I remember watching often too. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, turned into japanese animation - with kids interest maintained by a 'will he, won't he plot' involving two talking squirrels.
There's also the older Jack and The Beanstalk - another japanese movie with a more modern, almost prog-rock musical score. Both are available in their entirety on Youtube at the moment - though I hasten to add the Swan Lake version I'm familiar with had an alternative dubbing which was more suited to it than this one. Believe me, both are bloody weird!
Then there's Sci-fi for kids...I recall mainly Time Masters (made by Moebius, the French director responsible for the recently South Park parodied Heavy Metal) - a slow moving, spaced out epic about a stranded boy on a planet and the spaceship crew who were on their way to rescue him (you may find a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode that may have had a similar plot too).
There were so many strange movies out as a kid, which seem to be very rare to find on modern media, perhaps for the very reason that maybe all kids that watch these turn out a little strange?
Well, I liked them. I've now realised I've really missed proper freaky kids movies, not weird just because it's a talking toy that can fly. Bring them back - carry on Henry Selick.
(On a Dahl note, maybe this theme will be contined with Wes Anderson's upcoming stop-motion movie, The Fantastic Mr. Fox - my first Roald Dahl book!)
05/15/2009
Ferrari - Where will they go?
Ferrari (along with Renault, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Lada & Team Powerade) have threatened to leave Formula 1 at the end of the season.
The reason for this is they don't want to race in a two tier system again (apparently, 2004's Ferrari and then everyone else format just wasn't interesting). Fair enough.
The proposals are poorly thought out, and so far with the threats that all the teams have made - we'll end up with Brawn, Lola, Gascoyne, Williams and a few stragglers running around with Cosworth engines, with smaller budgets...queue the 70's again (is that a bad thing?).
Anyway - Ferrari's threat leads to an interesting question...where will they go?
Ferrari's current involvement outside of Formula 1 is a bit flimsy. Primarily influenced by being a part of the FIAT machine, there are plenty of other brands to promote. F430's get raced semi-supported in the various sportscar championships, but beyond that (and total supply of cars and engines to A1GP in cars which don't count because they're not painted red!) - there's very little.
The options
Indycar - Okay, get serious. At the moment, no one watches Indycar - it's a merger between two flagging tired out series - which after 10 years of battling each other with engines and drivers and TV ratings, suddenly saw NASCAR blast off into the world stage - leaving a selection of F1 wannabes and GP2 drivers to take on American drivers who can't afford a NASCAR drive.
FIA GT / World GT Championship - The soon to be World GT Championship (available only on the World Wide Web) is a possibility. The GT1 category, where all the good cars are, has been dominated by the controversial Maserati MC12 for several years now in the hands of Michael Bartels Vitaphone Racing team. However, the car is getting a little long in the tooth, and isn't popular with sportscar teams as they can only run the car in the GT championship as the ACO (Le Mans management) won't allow the car. Also, the Maserati is now under threat from a revitalised batch of Saleen's despite successfully seeing off the Aston Martin DBR9.
Slight problem is that the championship is an official FIA championship - though their involvement in this championship is quite minimal. Still, with all the likely candidate, the Ferrari 599 being so ugly - I'd rather they didn't try.
Le Mans / ALMS Prototype Category - Now we're talking. Only one problem...though Aston Martin are stepping up to the challenge this year by sticking some old engines inside a competantly designed Lola chassis - they're not favourites at all - why? - because Le Mans is now ruled by the average joe car industry kings - Audi, and the cheaper alternative, Peugeot - and the power of oil. Last time I checked, there were no diesel engine options available on the Ferrari Enzo (maybe getting us about 12mpg, and enough low end torque to take us back to 1955 in just 2 seconds?) - so they're not likely to go there and be lapped by their former test driver in a oil burner several times over.
So...where can they go? Or is there actually no option - and when Ferrari threaten to pull out, does the gasp of the credit crunch reach around the factory?
I say he's bluffing - show us your hand Luca!
The reason for this is they don't want to race in a two tier system again (apparently, 2004's Ferrari and then everyone else format just wasn't interesting). Fair enough.
The proposals are poorly thought out, and so far with the threats that all the teams have made - we'll end up with Brawn, Lola, Gascoyne, Williams and a few stragglers running around with Cosworth engines, with smaller budgets...queue the 70's again (is that a bad thing?).
Anyway - Ferrari's threat leads to an interesting question...where will they go?
Ferrari's current involvement outside of Formula 1 is a bit flimsy. Primarily influenced by being a part of the FIAT machine, there are plenty of other brands to promote. F430's get raced semi-supported in the various sportscar championships, but beyond that (and total supply of cars and engines to A1GP in cars which don't count because they're not painted red!) - there's very little.
The options
Indycar - Okay, get serious. At the moment, no one watches Indycar - it's a merger between two flagging tired out series - which after 10 years of battling each other with engines and drivers and TV ratings, suddenly saw NASCAR blast off into the world stage - leaving a selection of F1 wannabes and GP2 drivers to take on American drivers who can't afford a NASCAR drive.
FIA GT / World GT Championship - The soon to be World GT Championship (available only on the World Wide Web) is a possibility. The GT1 category, where all the good cars are, has been dominated by the controversial Maserati MC12 for several years now in the hands of Michael Bartels Vitaphone Racing team. However, the car is getting a little long in the tooth, and isn't popular with sportscar teams as they can only run the car in the GT championship as the ACO (Le Mans management) won't allow the car. Also, the Maserati is now under threat from a revitalised batch of Saleen's despite successfully seeing off the Aston Martin DBR9.
Slight problem is that the championship is an official FIA championship - though their involvement in this championship is quite minimal. Still, with all the likely candidate, the Ferrari 599 being so ugly - I'd rather they didn't try.
Le Mans / ALMS Prototype Category - Now we're talking. Only one problem...though Aston Martin are stepping up to the challenge this year by sticking some old engines inside a competantly designed Lola chassis - they're not favourites at all - why? - because Le Mans is now ruled by the average joe car industry kings - Audi, and the cheaper alternative, Peugeot - and the power of oil. Last time I checked, there were no diesel engine options available on the Ferrari Enzo (maybe getting us about 12mpg, and enough low end torque to take us back to 1955 in just 2 seconds?) - so they're not likely to go there and be lapped by their former test driver in a oil burner several times over.
So...where can they go? Or is there actually no option - and when Ferrari threaten to pull out, does the gasp of the credit crunch reach around the factory?
I say he's bluffing - show us your hand Luca!
05/09/2009
04/30/2009
It's too soon!
A computer game based on a battle that took place in Iraq in 2004 has been shelved due to protests.
The main argument behind this is that it's too soon to trivilise such a tramatising event, particularly for the families of those (38 Americans) killed in the conflict (the fact the game involves killing people isn't an issue by the way).
Which raises the question...
How long can you wait then?
Is it expected that we wait until they've forgotten about it, or when they've died? What's the special formula?
The bulk of the Call of Duty franchise is based on WWII warfare - lets face it, WWII games have been being made for absolutely ages - and plenty more people were directly impacted and are fare more likely to come across this game than the 38 families of those killed in Iraq - at least for the next 15 years I guess.
What's the word I'm looking for. It may just be bloody stupid actually.
Link: CNET Article
04/21/2009
Tories say MP's shouldn't be paid to do their jobs!?
Just practicing taking political numpties out of context - but then again, I'm not sure it is!
04/20/2009
No darling, it doesn't matter that you're ugly
...it's the beauty inside that counts.
Well, not according to this competition - in fact the five judging criteria are appearance, charisma, expression, image concept/setting and 'that something special'.
And if you're voted the cute kid 2009, you win $25,000 towards college tuition!
Well yes, obviously it's time the British application of the term 'only in America'.
TheCuteKid.com (no it's not a paedo-flickr...I think) - runs this lovely little contest - it's a web based beauty pagent for children it seems...hmmm, maybe it is a paedo-flickr.
I'm going to proudly risk saying I don't think we'd allow this in Britain, it just seems mean?
Oh oh, what's that siren sound...oh shit...
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