Author: Ian

The weather is, currently, terrible. It’s about the third week of heat. Two weeks ago it was mid-30C. This week it’s low 30s. Fortunately at work I am in air conditioned rooms, but I do feel guilt about that, the electricity use and carbon output is high. So, as the world warms we use air con which creates more energy use and more carbon. When I leave the buildings at work I enter an oven. I’m fed up with sweating in my own house for no reason other than weather. I’m fed up with my head feeling hot, it’s very annoying. I’d like to be able to sleep in a nice cool room. Given the terrible weather it’s worth seeing a film just to spend a couple of hours in a cool room. Towards the end of this film I almost felt chilly!

This trip to the cinema was slightly later than yesterday’s. That means that the tide was almost highest as I drove in. There was a tiny little bit of mudbank that looked like a little beach, inviting to all. I will admit that the river and the view of Rochester the other side was very pretty. On leaving the cinema the tide was at its highest and no mud could be seen. I was stuck behind someone driving around 30% the speed of normals so I used the time to observe the water.

After watching this film I rated it on IMDb and, of course, there’s a system. You can read about that system here or if you want to can refuse to learn anything and be annoyed with how things turn out. I rated this film 6/10.

I actually enjoyed this film. I am not a fan of superhero movies, I think they suck artistically and morally. But I did enjoy this one. The story is pretty standard. But the filming was ok and I thought the script was decent. I was happily surprised that it didn’t take place on Earth although the girl in the film looked remarkably human with oddly human morals and attitudes. I guess I shouldn’t worry about realism in a superhero film.

Why do baddies in films always have face-art? The main baddie in this one had tattoos and metal pins in his face. When this person arrived I kinda hoped they were going to make him a nice person, you know, shock the audience with a “don’t stereotype people” vibe. But, no, he was the baddie and not particularly interesting at that. Leather, tattoos and piercings don’t make you a baddie. If anything they tell of emotional worries. Please, please, please can we have some heroes that have face art or look ugly or are just slime. I guess this film is trying to please the masses in a time when all the baddies in the world are white old men.

Why doesn’t Supergirl just laser-eye all the baddies? If she has that power, and she does, then would it be more efficient just to sinter them all from a distance and with accuracy rather than fist punching them all into buildings that then crash down endangering all the innocents? I didn’t care for the Supergirl costume, but I guess that’s gospel according to some pictures that a bloke drew fifty years ago.

Overall I enjoyed the film. Probably won’t watch it again but there are definitely worse ways to spend two hours when it’s 32C outside.

So, the weather is pretty hot here at the moment. I’ve been lucky that I’m mostly in rooms with air conditioning this week. We have activities running and I’m teaching kids how to race in Gran Turismo. But, when I leave school it’s still a touch hot. The car said 33C just now as I drove home. So, for a couple of extra hours in the cool I went to see Obsession at the cinema. There had been screenings before today but they started late and I didn’t think I wanted to be out that late as I might fall asleep! Today’s showing started at a sensible time. The tide in the river was rising but not highest, it was saving that for my exit from the screening as it was high tide when I headed home.

After watching the film I rated it on IMDb and there is a whole level of thought that goes into that. You should read this communication to understand how the system works. I rated this film 6/10.

I enjoyed this film. Although there were supernatural elements they were very superficial and didn’t really have any effect on the whole story. A wish coming true can be considered a small thing. I liked how the film coped with the obsession of a person by someone else. The pain for the obsessor when they felt spurned was really highlighted. Not that I’m defending obsession itself, that’s a terrible thing and not healthy. Another thing I enjoyed was the lack of jump-scares, these I find childish and atmosphere ruining. This film had a couple but they weren’t played to be massive jump-scares.

I would say the film was a touch dark. I guess it’s meant to be. It’s detailing the worst of human behaviour and the shadows and silhouettes dehumanise the characters. Maybe that makes it more comforting for the audience. If the lighting was bright and pretty there would be large incongruence with the mood of the film. Overall this was finally a good horror movie done well.

This trip to Strood was more to get out of the heat and to be somewhere environmentally comfortable than to actually watch a movie. Also, I have just finished some extra-curricula work marking mathematics exams for an exam board and this was my first evening of freedom for a while so it needed to be noted in some way. I noticed that the tide was middling on my way to the cinema. I parked in the shade but neglected to take account of the lack of hills in the distance so, although I was aware the sun would move, the car was in the direct sunlight when I left to drive home! It was around 34C in the outside air but because the cinema can be a bit chilly sometimes I did carry a fleece with me to the showing, just in case my legs got cold.

The custom since around 2013 is that I rate each film I’ve watched on IMDb and there’s a system to it to try and make my ratings consistent with something. You should read about that system within this communication. I ended up giving this film 6/10. In the past I would have tweeted my result, but I left twitter when it started to become a cesspool and I’m glad I did. So, no embedded tweets within these pages anymore.

The film itself was childish, stupid and very much in a category of “american stupid humour”, a categorisation that I use for this genre. The forth wall was broken within a minute and without it’s self-referential themes this film would be nothing. I kinda enjoyed it and it made me chuckle a few times. There was a lot going on visually as well as within the script and it kept me busy looking around for the jokes.

The n-word is used a lot in this film but in appropriately suitable contexts and never in hate, even so it still made me feel slightly uncomfortable – I think that’s probably some type of white-guilt that I feel. There were many jokes about a gay character and they were funny but I wasn’t sure if they amount to homophobia. The character isn’t aware that he is gay, but it’s obvious. There wasn’t any hate towards that character I think the jokes were more playing on his saying inappropriate things at the wrong time. Part way through the film I found myself checking the jokes and then decided whether I should find them funny. It removed me from the film a little bit.

One of the characters is a less-mentally-developed person and, again, there were jokes around that. But, I don’t think any of them were aimed at the disability. The stereotype was harsh, as all stereotypes are, but again, this removed me from the movie and made me consider the ethics of what was happening on the screen. As it happens this character had some of the best and most pertinent lines in the movie, pointing out the stupidity of the current government of the USA.

The film was full of references to popular culture and I’m sure I didn’t spot all of those. There were jokes about the state of social discourse in the USA along with sketches that highlight the inerrant racism in the american culture and government agencies. Overall I enjoyed the movie and the way it took the piss out of the USA. It certainly has made me think about what is appropriate to be shown on the big screen.

There was a trailer for the last Jackass movie and I think I will go and see that. I tried showing my kids some scenes from the film and they just didn’t find people deliberately getting hurt that funny. I was crying! maybe it’s because of the era in which I grew up.

I nearly wanted to cancel this trip to the cinema. I was happy enough at home, wanting to play a PS5 game, and thought “I’m not interested enough in this film”. I’d booked the tickets ass something to do but I had already had adventures outside earlier in the day. At the moment I decided to cancel it was ninety minutes before the showing and it turns out cancelling is ok more than two hours before the showing so the only way to not go was to not go. I would have felt bad doing that so I went. The tide was very low as I drove along the esplanade. On the way home after the movie the tide was still low so I wonder if it was a special low tide? Ah, now it’s nearly full moon and so I think that means the tides are greater than normal, something I’ll look into.

After watching this film I rated it on IMDb. There is a system to the rating system and I explained that many years ago within this communication. I gave this film 4/10. But, the film was getting quite rave reviews, so I read a bit about it afterwards. I don’t think this changed my enjoyment of the film. To be honest I just don’t really care for horror films. Also, it turns out this film was made by some YouTuber person and that makes this the second film by an YouTuber I’ve seen recently, the other one was also a stupid horror type movie. The thing about horror movies is they portray events that can’t happen. There’s always some jump in the narrative that means supernatural stuff exists and that’s pure bullshit. Thinking about it now it’s curious that I love science fiction even though a lot of that can’t happen. I will spend some time thinking about this to create a position.

The theatre was quite full and that was nice although it was also irritating as there was more noise and movement than normal. I think I prefer the quieter screenings. Also, the audience skewed young but maybe that’s the YouTube thing happening. Maybe I’m the strange one for being this old and watching these films. Backrooms was the only film of vague interest I could even be bothered to watch – although I couldn’t really. Let’s cover the film:

Two losers get lost in a surreal world. This would have been interesting if it turned out to be quite mundane but I think the ending implication was that this world was some supernatural existence that was being investigated by a “dodgy” local company. There was quite a lot that wasn’t explained which I guess is to be expected with horror films and if there was an explanation then it wouldn’t be as scary. I don’t know why the extra-dimensional building needed to be “scary”. I think you could create an unsettling world without the chase and violence aspects of this film. Maybe I’m just old and grumpy, I don’t know. Right, the film wasn’t interesting, I didn’t care for either of the characters and some aspects seemed quite laboured. Film review done.

I was quite interested in the behaviour of some people in front of me. They were young. I’m not sure they were watching the film they seemed more interested in doing whatever else. One of this group of four was recording quite a lot of the film. This person was using their phone and sending lots of messages while also using an old style digital camera to film some parts of the film. I don’t think they were going to pirate the video because they couldn’t hold their camera still and it was only facing the screen most of the time, not all of it. I couldn’t figure out what this person was doing. While curious I was also aware that I’m an old fart and any intervention or questioning by me would be seen as a grumpy man interfering rather than the genuine curiosity I had. I found it strange behaviour worth of a film itself.