Oh Paul it just keeps getting worse doesn't it? First Legion and now this. Well, Legion may have just been a pot-boiler but it was, at least, entertaining. This, however, is the pits. Based on Japanese graphic novel, this does have an interesting concept. After centuries of war against vampires (think crawling monsters more than Twilight) people have retreated into huge walled cities after placing the vampires into reservations. Man is now ruled by the Church who have total power and defeated the vampires with their priests who are now super fighting machines. These priests are now without purpose and forgotten by the Church. It basically feels like a Church run 1984 with digital confessions and constant propaganda announcements over the loudspeakers. Meanwhile, the vampires are re-emerging under the leadership of a now half-vampire and super-powerful former priest and former friend of the priest played by Paul Bettany. Bettany goes against the Church and decided to hunt these vampires down in order to save his daughter from his pre-priest life. However, it's just not very good. Bad acting, rushed story. The priest sets out on thus mission before we even know about the character and you just end up not really caring. Karl Urban's over the top acting is really the only entertaining thing in this movie. It felt like a pilot for a tv series more than anything. This is one to stay away from.
I don't know what is so endearing about this little cartoon but I always look forward to the next Simon's Cat cartoon and book. I think it's probably one of those things that only cat people appreciate. There hasn't been a period in my life when I haven't been living with a cat...just when you think you're nearly done with them, another shows up. When I was a child we had seven around the place. About 10 years ago our family helped a feral cat and her two kittens and now we have two more in the homeplace and myself and Giolacha have two ourselves. I think what Simon's Cat does is to take all those bits about cats that we love (or hate) and put them into one little cartoon. I find myself laughing at the cartoons mainly because there is a lot of truth in them. Cats can be a pain but it's worth any annoyance because of all the fun. Recently, Giolacha bought a laser for the cats and I have hours of fun shining it on the floor and getting them to chase it. This amuses me greatly as we have wooden, polished floors and the slide all over the place and never seem to tire of that...
Recently I have started listening to a Spanish rock band called Extremoduro. Giolacha was kind enough to get me a couple of CD's of theirs for Christmas and I've been hooked since. They've been around since the late 80's and remind me, in their organisation, of Guns 'n Roses in that there is one main guy, Roberto Iniesta who controls everything and fires and hires as he sees fit. Therefore, there is a lack of consistency in their sound...this is coupled with heroin addiction in the band. They can't seem to decide what kind of band they are and they waver from thrash metal, to plain rock to power ballads. However, I like a bit of variety and these are a great addition to my music library. As my Spanish improves I can understand more and more of their lyrics (mainly what Giolacha tells me) and the lyrics have that gritty and real nature that defines bands such as The Jam and the Sex Pistols. Here's a flavour...
Oh Paul Bettany what is happening to you? You had such promise, you were such a great actor and anybody could have seen Oscars in your future...but now? I don't think so. It's all gone horribly horribly wrong for poor Paul. The last good film he had was Darwin in 2009 and from there it all fell apart and he is now staring in low budget horror films...basically these are pot boilers. Saying this, I enjoyed the film...I was just surprised to find Paul Bettany in it. As horrors go this is quite entertaining and I like the idea. God has grown bored of man (again...he's so fickle!) and decided to exterminate us again. First it was a flood and now angels are being sent to slaughter us by possessing the weak and killing the strong. The Archangel Michael, however, has other plans. Michael turns renegade and goes against God's orders and decides to defend mankind believing that we can be saved. He focusses his attention on a small diner in the middle the desert and young 8 months pregnant woman. This child, if born and allowed to grow up, will be the saviour of mankind. The plot is basically the Herod story crossed with the Terminator. Add to this the standard horror motif of a bunch of different people thrown together and barricaded in a small place and you basically have it. There's plenty of horrible possesses people and angels with big metal wings. Predicable but entertaining. There's a good supporting cast as well with Dennis Quaid and Charles S. Dutton. Worth a watch...
Hey folks...well...2011 hasn't been a productive year for me online but a very productive year offline. I've got engaged, going to be a dad to a little boy and have become Dr. Shape. If 2012 is half as good then it will be a good year overall.
So, Happy New Year to you all (if anyone still looks in from time to time). I'm not going to make empty promises this time about blogging more. My heart hasn't been in it and I've had a lot going on. So I will post when I have something worth saying and I hope you will still check in and have a look. Hopefully my online life will pick up. See you in 2012...
If you go to George Lucas' house and listen carefully you will hear the scraping of barrels. Yet again, another edition of Star Wars hits the market and George Lucas tries to maintain the façade that he is still creative. But Lucas' creativity ended in 2005 with the release of 'Revenge of the Sith.' Now, there are some directors with very little credits to their name and that doesn't mean they are not creative. James Cameron for example has only directed 4 feature movies in 20 years, but he just takes his time and gets the job done. Considering three of these are some of the most successful films of all time (Terminator 2, Titanic and Avatar) he can hardly be accused of not being creative. George Lucas is a different kettle of fish however. Yes, he has created the Star Wars universe and I love it, he created Indiana Jones and he even wrote Willow but I think, like many others, that he has become stagnant. The Star Wars prequels did not live up to their predecessors and neither did the Indiana Jones sequel. However, these were never going to meet expectations and now that the hype has died down and I watch them again I can see that they are not bad movies, but they do lack in the heart of the originals. Yet, where Lucas' stagnation becomes apparent is in his never ending tweaking of the Star Wars saga. When will it ever end. Some changes are ok and I welcome them. In general the 1997 Special Edition was a good thing. The original films were cleaned up, Darth Vader looked black again and the Death Star exploded in a way a space station (that's no moon!) should explode. However, the signs were there that Lucas had little regard for the tone of the original films and was lightening some of darkness that was originally there. The mos craven of these, according to Star Wars fans, was making Greedo shoot first. Now, I probably would never have spotted this unless I read about it but Star Wars fans hate this one. In the original film, when the bounty hunter corners Han Solo in the Mos Eisley Cantia, where Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes play their never ending instrumental, Han Solo kills Greedo in cold blood. However, in the Special Edition, Greedo shoots first and Han fires in self defence making him less of a bad ass and more of a morally acceptable character...so much for Han being part of that "wretched hive of scum and villainy." Witness...
The one that really bothers me though is the new song in Return of the Jedi. The original was a largely unobtrusive song called 'Lapti Nek.'
However, in the Special Ed. we get 'Jedi Rocks,' a full on blues band with CGI monstrosities who teach us that Jabba is cool too...
Max Rebo would be turning in his grave...
However, I could live with these changes. Most were little CGI enhancements and they were quite good. Then came the DVD Special Ed. Ok, watching it, nothing major, better lightsabers, more x-wings...I can live with that. Wait...is that Hayden Christensen at the end of Return of the Jedi! Surely not. Yes...it is...
The best thing about watching the originals is that the horribleness of Hayden Christensen's acting isn't there...but now we get a shy and embarrassed looking Anakin Skywalker.
Now we move the to 2011 Blu Ray editions and George Lucas has done it again. While there are many changes, there are only two that bother me. I don't care if Ewoks now blink or if Jabba's palace door is more intimidating. However, Obi-Wan's Krayt Dragon scream has been changed...for the worse...
Now it sound like a man who has his testicles trapped in a door and he can't decide whether he likes it or not. But the worst is yet to come. In the final scene of the Emperor when Darth Vader struggles silently about whether to save his son or not he now utter a 'no' and then does another screaming 'noooooo' which was bad enough to watch in Revenge of the Sith...
I can only pray that these are fake and not the real deal. However, I do like the new CGI Yoda in The Phantom Menace.
Yet, returning to my original point, George Lucas is scraping the barrel. Every seven years we get a new edition with little cosmetic changes and a few howlers and George sits back and waits for the cash to roll in. With every new format comes a new Star Wars. VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and next year we get 3D star wars...I can only imagine what changes he will make then...and I guess there will be the inevitable digital version as well. Meanwhile, Lucas rolls around on a bed of cash on the Skywalker Ranch falling back on his old and clichéd mantra of 'work is never finished, it is only abandoned,' and rest of us he would finally abandon it while some remnants of the original films we all knew and loved remain.
