Nuremburg

I took a trip to the cinema to watch Nuremburg. I knew it was about the trials after the second world war but that is all I knew. I didn’t know who was in it or any other details. I watched this at the Cineworld at Rochester. I think the tide was really low as I drove along the riverside. I can’t remember now, I need to make a better point of looking and remembering on future trips to the cinema. As is usual I rated this film on IMDb after watching it, but to understand the ratings guide you need to see this communication.

Nuremburg rating 6/10

I thought this was a very well made film. The acting was great and the story was what the story was. These fictionalised accounts of historical events need to be carefully made and I think this film did it well. Because I didn’t know who was in the film I felt some surprise at recognising Russell Crowe although that took quite a while for my brain to filter, I’m not great at faces. There’s also something about Rami Malek’s lower lip that bothers me and I feel bad for having those thoughts.

This film is very much a story warning us that it doesn’t take much for a society to fall into fascism. If we look at the USA now and also the rhetoric of some UK politicians it’s not beyond the realms of imagination to see that both these countries could be bad places. I would argue the USA is already a bad place – the leaders are carrying out a very clear agenda against many peoples. If Reform win more in the UK then the country is fucked. At the moment they are an amusing fringe of despots that have no ideas about organising or running large organisations. The sort of chaos that follows Reform could easily wreck the country if they gain more power.

It is an amusing fact that Germany in the 1930s looked to the USA to learn how to legally create a society where racism and prejudice were accepted. Germany in the 1930s was in legal terms the USA on steroids. The UK, while not objectively racist, has many issues because of it’s descent from a feudal society and there’s an acceptance in the UK that people are where they belong -those in charge should remain in charge. Imagine what the country could do if it was really a meritocracy.

Everyone should watch this film, or better still, learn how the Nazi’s managed to corrupt an entire people and get them to look the other way while they carried out a holocaust. We are so close to this happening again.

A Nice Experience

I’ve been grinding in Gran Turismo. Personally I wouldn’t call it grinding but I’m trying to play every day and get the daily bonus for travelling just over 26 miles. I guess I’m trying to complete the game by getting all the cars and golding every licence. I’ve already got the platinum PlayStation trophy so that was nice.

I recently tried an online race. In the past I have NOT enjoyed these. Qualifying somewhere in the top ten or so but then getting knocked off at a corner and ending up last is not satisfying. It’s incredibly frustrating. So with some trepidation I had a go. I was racing a Gr4 car around Spa. I chose my Honda NSX to race because Honda. I had a few laps of qualifying and was reasonably happy with my time but you never know how good you are until you enter a lobby. It turns out I qualified second. This seemed pretty good. But five laps of the race awaited.

The pole position person went too deep into a corner early on and I gained first place. Pole person ended up in third. Then for five laps second place person and I had a really hard and fair race. It was very good racing, even if I am judging that. When either of us moved for an overtake the other would indicate to show they understood what was going to happen. We didn’t touch each other and it was clean. I actually won because they went too deep into the first corner on the last lap. It was a great race and really enjopyable.

The next day I decided to have another go at an online race. I did more qualifying laps and ended up in pole position for my race. I led from the front and stayed there. I think the race finished with me around three seconds ahead. It was fun.

Now that I’m 2-0 it’s probably a good time to quit racing in that mode. Or at least no longer mentioning it here unless I do well!

The Running Man (2025)

I went to see this film recently. I went to the cinema at Rochester (really Strood) and I noted that the tide was indeed quite high as I drove along the esplanade. I did rate this movie on IMDb but there is a trick rating system which is covered in this communication. In days gone by I would tweet the result of my rating, but all I can do now is say that it is a 6/10.

This film was perfectly enjoyable. There’s some grossness in the killings, a few bits of humour here and there and it looks pretty amazing. I wouldn’t go any further than that really. For me, the political message is more important and I know this is based on a book but the messaging hasn’t really changed in the forty years since the original film. Large media organisations do not have our interests at heart and they are corrupt.

I had some issues with the main character. He’s very quick to violence and it’s played as though he’s just angry. I’m not sure he’s a good character to have as the lead. But, when the revolution comes we will need a figurehead and I guess someone like that would work well. Also, I guess the chap is angry at the injustice and inequality in the world so maybe that makes it better. Remember people, government should be for the people.

Amazing Detail

I’ve recently been trying to upskill in Gran Turismo. Or rather, I’ve been trying to remember how to drive cars the way I used to drive cars before flappy paddles came around. When I’m in a car that has a gear stick with H box I’m trying to use the actual gear stick on my rig. I’m also going to try to improve and use the clutch more, along with careful heel-and-toeing while downshifting into corners. Anyway, I was watching a replay within the game of me driving some Honda around Spa and I was really impressed with the level of detail of the car model.

Not only is the level of graphical detail impressive but also the dynamic animation struck me as particularly well done.

A particular animation I like is brake glow when hard braking into corners, it looks really good. All in all I’m still impressed by this game. Even if I am trying to get gold on the licences and slightly frustrated at the number of times I need to keep trying each test. The current test I am working on requires me to spaff the RC92P at speed around part of the Nordschleife and I am currently about 0.4 seconds off gold pace. I will get it eventually.