I had another midweek journey to the cinema. It’s a nice thing to do. I enjoy the journey there, I enjoy the views near the cinema and I, hopefully, enjoy the film. While I’m waiting for the trailers to be over I read a book on my phone and at the moment I am reading about NASA’s contributions to flight since the inception of the NACA. I have completed the chapter about aerodynamics and this covered the contribution of Whitcomb including: the area rule for transonic drag reduction, the supercritical wing for transonic efficient flight, and the winglet to reduce induce drag. I’m now on a chapter about helicopters and NASA’s contributions to human knowledge about those machines.
For historical reasons I have to mention the state of the tidal part of the Medway here and I could see that the river was low so the tide was out. This seems to be the tidal-state for the last few times I’ve been to the cinema so I’m starting to think there might be a conspiracy. After watching this film I rated it on IMDb, there’s a communication here covering how the scoring works. While I was watching this film I really wanted to give it 8/10 because I really enjoyed it. But, according to my own rules I have to award it 6/10 because I’m probably not going to sit through it again.
I really enjoyed this film. It was touching, emotionally satisfying and overall just well made. There were a few times where I laughed out loud, the first time seemed inappropriate given that no-one else made a sound but I don’t care, it was funny. Japan looked amazing and even the rougher areas of Tokyo seemed exotic. It’s stunning to see Mount Fuji in the background of a few shots, I knew it was there but it’s shocking to see just how looming and pretty it is. The story of this film is happy and I enjoyed the characters journeys. It is a touching film that doesn’t moralise too much, although it does highlight the problems with strict social status and entrenched “traditional” views on society – I shan’t rant today.
I went to the Cineworld cinema to see the latest instalment of the 28 Days Later franchise. A wasn’t really that interested in seeing this a few months ago. There’s only so much horror films bother me and I find them mostly stupid. But, over the xmas break I watched all the previous 28 Days films. I think they were on offer on iTunes or whatever Apple call their video store and I bought them remembering that 28 Days Later was a great film from the distant past. There were a few things I could remember about 28 Days Later that stuck with me – wandering around an empty London, dodgy army people and the final cottage and aircraft flying by. So, over xmas I watched the first three films. 28 Days Later is still amazing and for me was more a story about human survival and the human condition than being a pure zombie flick. The second film wasn’t great, standard zombie stuff. But 28 Years Later was amazing. An excellent film about humans and how they might react and cope post apocalypse.
So to the most recent film. The tide was very low as I drove the river road to the cinema. But I will say it seemed even lower a few hours later so I’m not really sure what’s going on with that. It was dark both times so maybe the reflections – how I judge the river level – were playing tricks on me. I really enjoyed this film and rated it 8/10 on IMBd afterwards. You should read this communication from the before-times to see how the rating system works.
The zombies were playing a secondary role in this film, much like the previous one. This was really a story about human survival and how things could go after a catastrophic event. What happens to an eight year old when everything they know is torn apart? What happens to a doctor when they lose the world? I really enjoyed this film. It’s really well made. It looks great. I will say there are some scenes of torture that seemed a little much but then nothing was explicit and the actual violence was mostly implied. Two people walked out of the cinema shortly after the barn scene. I think the inclusion of the scene is justified as it shows what the Jimmys are capable of.
The absolute best scene was with Dr Kelson pretending to be the devil and putting on a show for some visitors. The music first of all was perfect. I’ve been a huge Iron Maiden fan and to play Number Of The Beast loud and unapologetically while Dr Kelson sings and throws fire around was absolute film making at its best. I loved that scene. Stunning.
Spoiler Warning.
The final scene opening with a cottage and subtle views of a Landrover excited me. Probably because the first film was in my recent memory. It was great. I sat up straight and enjoyed it immensely.
This film is highly recommended for the humanity displayed, the cinematography and the overall story. Just excuse the torture porn.
I decided to have a cheeky midweek visit to the movie house. Of course I went to the Cineworld cinema at Rochester. It’s probably not the closest cinema to me but it’s the one I’ve been going to since the late 90s and the parking is free, the river is pretty and it’s not in Maidstone. While driving next to the river I noticed there were many birds sitting on the mudflats. So, I think this happens when the tide is about halfway. I’m not sure why this would be their behaviour, I’ll have to look into it. I would also like to point out that I haven’t seen this is daylight, I’ve only noticed it recently and in the dark so it could be something else entirely. I will post photos next time there’s so sunlight showing the scene rather than reflected street lighting from the East Kent side of the county
I like writing these communications after seeing a film as it gives me an extra way to interact with the film. I can react to something and wonder how I will explain that in my way in my words. I sometimes think that there’s a particular scene or phrase I need to remember as it was really something I wanted to write about. I expect I forget most of these as I don’t make notes in the theatre. I rated this film on IMDb and before you complain about the score you need to know there is a system and it is explained in this communication from 2014. I rated this film 4/10.
This was not a good film. I rewatched the first film before christmas and thought it was kinda ok. The story seems quite routine but it was visually stunning. I’m not sure what I would have rated it after seeing it at the cinema. Then I also watched the second film while wrapping presents and generally chilling out on christmas eve. I really didn’t like it. I stayed watching it because I had paid for it and I sort of wanted to see what happens at the end. That is the reason I went to see this current film. I could spend some time in a warm building where someone else is paying for the heat – the UK is currently in a cold snap – and it would finish the story off. I was NOT wanting to sit through over three hours of film.
The visuals had been done before and so I don’t think anything need be said about those. I’m going to concentrate on the storyline. It was shit. Derivative. Boring. Entirely ordinary. Borderline terrible. I hated it. The whole world knew how the story was going to finish by then end of the second movie. There might be a few minor details you wouldn’t have predicted but overall it ends how you expect it to end. The natives win the big battle. Everyone cheers. There isn’t a sense of loss over those who died in the battle. No discussion about the future. No plans to stop the sky-people. Utter shit.
This film also explains so much about the current state of capitalism on planet Earth. When leaving the cinema people should be thinking about how companies are tearing up the planet for the sake of money for the few. Because more money means more power and more power means more money. These ideas are a cancer to the long term efforts of humans and Earth as a whole. Just because this Avatar story is set on a planet a few trillion miles away [which was mentioned in the script but it’s probably not a correct number but there’s a definite CBA about fact-checking it] it clearly is meant to show the exploitation of other countries for the enrichment of our own. If you leave this film feeling slightly sorry for the natives and the creatures of that world then perhaps you should think about who the fuck you vote for at the next general election.
A few aspects of this film that made me super annoyed should be noted. The first thing, and that isn’t just this film but part 2 also was Jake Sully making his kids call him “Sir”. I am going to maintain that if you make your kids call you “Sir” then you are an arsehole. I understand that he is training them for war and he wants them to understand how to fight but be a human-fucking-being about it. They are your children. You are their dad. Let them call you dad. Oh, by the way, that’s not the only absolutely toxic masculine trait that Sully manifests. So much of this movie glorifies fighting and battle it’s an absolute testosterone fest. Absolute bullshit. Proper American grade wank fest of jingoism.
I was annoyed at the potential sacrifice scene that occurs about two thirds of the way through the movie. It was a logical move but man, they didn’t need to play it so Abrahamic. Let’s head out into the woods to slaughter a child for the sake of the future of the blues. If this film had any guts it would have killed that kid and dealt with the consequences of that. But it chickened out. The film didn’t want to face tough decisions. It wanted to glorify fighting for what you believe in against a much larger force, against the USA. Maybe this film was an analogy of the white invaders to the Americas causing death and destruction. I mean, it’s not that subtle really if it is that. I wonder if general white USA will notice?
While the blues fought off the sky-people do they really think that they are safe given the value of the natural resources on their moon-world? Of course you aren’t. Humans have such need for greed in the current system. We are burning our own planet because we can. We will burn it all down just so a couple of people can be extremely wealthy. Until the mega rich are prosecuted and sent to prison there will be no peace and no fixing of the problems of this world.
This film was not really disappointing. I wasn’t expecting much. It lived up to my expectations. I didn’t leave the film feeling despondent. There have been plenty of other films I’ve really wanted to be good but were utter shit. They left me feeling rubbish for ages. The Phantom Menace broke me. Alien – Prometheus did the same. Such excellent promise ruined by bad film making. I’ll leave you with one good thing about this film – The first time I looked at my watch was two hours into the over three hour movie. I didn’t get uncomfortable in my seat which happens when I am really bored. So maybe this film held my attention for most of its runtime.
This midwinter break I’ve spent my time playing a PlayStation game, I guess it could be available on other platforms, I don’t keep a track of these things. I’ve been playing Horizon Zero Dawn [remastered]. I’ve been playing this because the Lego version of the game was free with PlayStation Plus and I completed that particular game. I decided to get the actual game because I really enjoyed the Lego version and it gave me something to do over the break. I’ve really enjoyed playing this game. I’d like to say I think I’m getting better at these types of fighting games.
What I’ve Spent This Mid-Winter Doing
I’ve completed a playthrough of the basic game but I haven’t yet ventured into the Frozen Wilds. I think I will leave that for another break in my work time. I have found this game very addictive to the point that I deleted it about a week ago as I thought I was spending too much time playing it. Within a few hours I had downloaded it again and continued playing. There’s so much to the game and plenty of little challenges that make it really good fun. The rewards are plenty too. It’s very well designed. Not only is the game play well constructed but the game is pretty too.
Horizon Zero Dawn 1
Horizon Zero Dawn 2
These two images were captured as I collected some PSN trophies. They don’t really capture what the game looks like. I’ve been so impressed with the falling snow in the mountains, I genuinely think that’s the bit I will remember most, such clever artwork. There is a photo mode in the game and it’s not something I’ve really played with, I like working through the quests. Maybe when I’ve finished it all I’ll have a look at getting some amazing shots from that mode. I did take one picture and that was when Aloy walked past a downed aircraft.
Horizon Zero Dawn 3
This game has been amazing fun. Really well designed and also, a little challenging at times. However, as my skill levels have increased I no longer dread taking on the machines, it’s more of a fun challenge now.
I browse Reddit and I think it’s the only main type of social media that I do look at. Today I saw an image which had a breakdown of my favourite types of music. I thought I’d share it here and you can see the type of stuff I like.
I took a trip to the cinema to watch this film. It was the only film showing that I thought I could sit through. I had seen the trailer and even then I thought – huh a sports film but about table tennis, no thanks. But I went anyway. The tide was low along the esplanade as I drove in, I could see all the mud bank. As is customary I rated this film on IMDb after I watched and there’s a whole communication dealing with the scoring system.
I started out quite liking this film. There were some very strange opening credits but then it settled down into some serious table tennis. Eventually I got fed up though. WHY IS THIS FILM 2.5 HOURS LONG? I realised that Marty is a supreme cunt who is a selfish narcissist. What an absolutely entitled prick that man is. At around the two hour mark I was willing to give him my own money so he could get to Japan and end this fucking movie. I got to a point where I could see no redeeming features in Marty and that was it, the moment of realisation that I was watching this just to see how it ended.
