Tag: Rochester

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Godzilla Minus Zero

I took a trip to Rochester to watch the Godzilla Minus One sequel. I remember really liking the original so was looking forward to this, even though I knew nothing about it. The tide was super low, I reckon I should learn about moon phases and the tide, because they are connected, but for now I’m happy to be surprised when I see so much of the base of the M2 bridges. We had to park near the river because the car park was mostly closed. I’m hoping they might actually resurface the place!

The M2 Bridges In Fog and Low Tide
The M2 Bridges In Fog and Low Tide

After watching the film I rated it on IMDb and this particular cellular spectacular got an 8/10 from me! There is a guide to judging the films within this communication. This feels like a rare event, a film scoring 8 or more. Looking through past judgements I have Hope coming in at 8/10 and The Odyssey as a 10/10.

I really enjoyed Minus Zero. We could sit and chat about the idea that zero is neither positive nor negative but we could also discuss that it could be both. I liked the title. I hadn’t really remembered much about the first film and it took a while before I understood where the characters were and who they were. The film did explain these things as new people were introduced. I remember liking the flying scenes in the first movie. I was not disappointed with this movie. There was plenty of flying and I really liked it.

I’m not into superhero films because they are always “whoever hits hardest wins” and not really about brain power. But this film requires humans to force a fight between two kaiju and it was great. I liked their powers, I liked the storyline, I liked everything. My only, very mild, gripe was too much of a child shouting at the end of the movie, but then that did fit with characterisation so I can tell myself to get over it.

There was some lovely interactions in the film showing the distrust of Americans and the effects of the war. It’s good for a film to show how war affects normal people. It’s not their fault and they end up being killed in action or just “collateral damage”. This film, and the previous, showed the effects of war really well and those plot points will stick with me. It’s all too easy to see the “enemy” as an evil collective, but in reality most people are normal.

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Primetime

I booked tickets to see Primetime because it was on and I knew absolutely nothing about it. The other offerings at the cinema at the time can be seen another time. I just wanted something to watch, but not a superhero type movie which is why I didn’t go see Clayface. I did observe that the tide was full when I drove alongside and for some reason that made me super happy. It gave me pleasure to see the reflections shimmering on the surface and all the mud covered. After watching this movie I rated it on IMDb and I gave it 6/10. There are reasons, you should probably read my scoring system laid out in this communication.

I enjoyed this film. It was very stylistic and showed the behind the scenes of a sting operation that really happened in the early 2000s. I guess that was roughly twenty years ago so what I am watching is equivalent to me, as a teenager, looking at a film covering the mid sixties! When I think about things like that I realise I’m getting on a bit!

The film was well made. I got slightly irritated with the blusher on the main character but perhaps that was deliberate. Maybe they just have coloured cheeks most of the time. I don’t know. It was an impressive performance. Because I knew very little about the story I was quite surprised at culmination of the film, I guess it was designed that way and why the film was made. It covers a period of time that in the hunt for ratings on a television show and the lengths that people go to grabbing those viewers. There were interactions between the police, tv crew and presenters that caused multiple moral issues and these were nicely explored. I don’t see much difference or growth with the television of today. How depressing we still sanction the same things.

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Klara and the Sun

It was raining. Proper rain. For hours. It was lovely. The temperatures weren’t cold, the was wind and the rain was bloody gorgeous. There’s more rain coming soon and I’m looking forward to it. It could rain every day for the next month and I’d be happy. I guess the only surprise was a flood on a roundabout but I drove through it and considered it to be an under-chassis clean. I went to watch Klara and the Sun and afterwards I rated it on IMDb as 6/10. There’s a system to describe the scoring and it’s communicated in this communication. Oh, I have no idea what the tide was doing, it was dark and raining and the visibility wasn’t great.

I really enjoyed the film. It’s pacing was lovely. The colours were great. The story has me thinking. I’m still not really sure what happened at the end and what that means for the story before that. Maybe this film is the story of how humans ended up worshipping stupid things? I don’t know. It was perfectly enjoyable.

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Had Me Fooled

I’ve spent a few days this week on a first aid course. It was in the Sunderland room at the Holiday Inn at Rochester Airport. I liked the room – there was a massive picture of Shorts Sunderlands on the wall and while I was there I learnt about the radar they carried. Other rooms were named for aircraft from the 1940s and also had massive pictures of that type in each room – I checked.

The Sunderland room had no windows. It was a square meeting room. I don’t think any of the rooms had windows. This is a shame as we were next to the airport and I’d have loved to see the aircraft movements, this would also mean I wouldn’t have spent much time listening so maybe it was good for me to have no views. Some of the lights in the ceiling had sky coloured panels and clouds and every time I caught them out of the corner of my eye I thought they were proper skylights showing the real world.

Fake Skies - Ceiling Lights
Fake Skies – Ceiling Lights

The lights appeared brighter then the photo suggests and you can see two standard lights and then the fake skies. My stupid brain was convinced they were looking outside. Such is the power of a lump of meat in my skull.

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Hope

I forced myself to head to the cinema even though I was post-migraine and not fully recovered. I’d already had a nap during the day and I guess that helped with the symptoms quite a bit. It did mess up my plans for the day which went from getting lots of jobs done to none. I did have a great catch up chat with Jase though.

I had booked the 1920 showing of this film and it’s been quite a while since I went to the cinema in the actual evening! I think the last one I saw this late was probably Akira with Smith. The sun was definitely setting as I drove to the theatre, I couldn’t easily tell what the tide was doing but I think it was low. After watching this film I rated it on IMDb and I scored it 8/10. There’s a whole scoring system so read this communication if you get upset at my ratings. I was torn between a score of 6 and 8. I think I’d watch this again, if anything I’d like to laugh out loud more at certain aspects that I didn’t in the cinema.

I enjoyed this film. It’s a great mix between live action and CGI, it works really well. The suspense built up at the beginning is pretty cool and when we finally see the creatures they fit well with the rest of the story. There is clear distinction between two halves of this movie. There’s the town chase, then it settles down for some exposition and then a reveal along with the final chase scenes. Maybe, just maybe the chase scenes are slightly too long and improbable but given the ending I think you can do anything in this film.

I wonder if they are going to make a sequel? The film kinda sets this up or even a movie from the point of view of the creatures. There’s a whole back story created that would be really interesting to explore even in a game. I enjoyed this film and I’m happy with the lore it created. This is another Korean hit that just works.

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Bad Apples

The second part of this two-film weekend was an early afternoon trip to watch Bad Apples. I’d decided that Sunday would be a gym rest day after some shoulder pain Saturday. That mean there was time to fit in a film and then the NFL matches later on. I guess there’s some other things that need doing as well but I can’t remember what they are, except for messing around in Minecraft rebuilding my world – which I deleted! I genuinely can’t remember what the tide was doing as I drove to the cinema, I wasn’t looking, I think I was more amazed that I had followed the car in front of me since my village and I didn’t want them to noticed / feel strange. I rated this film on IMDb as a 6/10 stars, there’s a communication in the past that covers the rules for the rating system. I liked this film but I wouldn’t watch it again.

This was a good film. It was very dark. It was even relatable to me. It covers my profession. It shows aspects of that which hit a little close to home. It’s the sort of thing we’d all like to do, but realise that it’s immoral and we have to cope like everyone else. The film was fun, funny and probably not one I should rave about in the staff room tomorrow. I did like their leather sofas in the staffroom – I want those, I will say that we do have a pool table so that didn’t seem too unlikely in the film.

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Runner

It’s been a double film weekend! The first film was on Saturday and I don’t think I knew anything about this before I entered the theatre. The poster and booking images made it look like an action film. The tide was pretty high as I entered the cinema, only a few feet of mud viewable. I went to the cinema at Rochester. One day I might go to the one at Ashford, just for the shock value! I rated this film on IMDB, there’s a communication covering the rating system here, make sure you search for Runner and not The Runner both are films out this year – this particular film gained six stars from me.

I quite enjoyed this film. It was a stupid action movie with some characterisation. The pairing of Owen Wilson and Reacher made sense and worked well. You kinda end up thinking they are like that in real life. The story was pretty bullshit, but then it always is isn’t it? It was nice to see the scenery around Brisbane – I enjoyed that. I will warn you that the last fifteen minutes of the film seemed a bit of a gore fest with blood and injury everywhere. I guess that’s what you want from your macho actors. Oh, and for some reason I didn’t care for the little girl because of her angel story – that can get in the sea.

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The Dog Stars

I took a trip to the cinema at Strood. I had booked my tickets earlier in the day not really sure if I was going to make it to the film as I had a shitty migraine. The plan was to pick up a delivery that had gone to a collection point and then head to the cinema IF I felt able to. In the early afternoon I was running at 75% no-go and I used the app to see if I could cancel my ticket but I think it was too late to do that. I didn’t want to get a “black mark” from the cinema so I decided I would go. I went to the parcel collection point, it was closed, and headed to the cinema. The tide was high-ish. It was more high than not. There was a little mudbank still showing, I wasn’t sure if the tide was rising or not.

I rated this film on IMDb after watching it. My migraine had not gone but it dissipated for a while and I was able to watch the film although I did spend time adjusting my sitting position, I couldn’t get comfy. To be honest it was a miserable day which has continued to today. Anyway, I gave this film 6/10. Please read this communication to understand the scoring system.

This film was a pretty standard post-apocalyptic movie. I think I’d rather watch 28 days later, it’s a better movie. The thing that possibly saved this particular film was the scenery – it was pretty amazing. Colorado looks such a pretty state. What I don’t understand is the title of the film. It doesn’t make sense. The dog doesn’t really star. There is a star named after the dog but not plural. There is an actual Dog Star but that wasn’t mentioned. There was one dog in the movie. I’m not sure. I will say the movie looked great. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and when you think about great directors putting out mediocre films you have to realise that they probably do the best they can with the script and money that they’ve got.

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day

I went to see a film at Rochester cinema. The tide was absolute tip top high as I drove along the road by the river Medway. I wasn’t sure how long the film was but I was curious to see the change that would happen when heading home. I rated this film on IMDb after watching it and I gave it a 6/10. There’s a whole list of rules for the scoring system so you should read this communication.

I quite enjoyed this film. I’m not really into superhero movies, I find them remarkably childish and immature – he who has the biggest fists wins. This film had some humanity in it. I liked the fact that Peter Parker had bruises and was hurt. I think we need to talk about physics and all that at some point but overall this was good fun. I definitely wasn’t expecting Jean Grey to turn up!

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The End of Oak Street

Another day another film to be watched now that the kids season has ended at the local cinema. The tide was low, which makes sense – I went to see this film around the same time as yesterday’s and the tide was low then. I will admit that the views over the river were great when I left the cinema as it was golden hour and the sun reflecting off the houses on the east bank looked pretty special. I rated this film on IMDb and it’s score was 6/10, there are RULES about the scoring system so you should read this communication.

I enjoyed this film. It was good fun. The action was sensible, although I’m not sure about the giant snake thing, but then the film never made claims to be an accurate representation of dinosaurs or similar. Honestly the most incredible thing in this film was the size of the house that the Platts lived in. We don’t have any clues as to what types of jobs the adults do but to make ends meet the father is delivering pizzas after losing his main job. The house is, fucking massive. I reckon they had to set this film in the early 1980s just to justify the size of the house and the type of neighbourhood.

I was somewhat surprised about three quarters of the way through the film with an incident involving a main character but this was resolved by the end of the movie – I’m not sure if I’m happy with that – it creates many paradoxes. To be fair, this film copes with the whole time travel thing quite well. I probably need to stop thinking about time as linear and consider other ideas.

I have just been looking up giant snake things as I didn’t particularly like that aspect of the film. I was bothered by the size of the snake. So, I found a page listing all the dinosaurs in the movie and then had a look at the Titanoboa.

Size comparison of largest snakes.jpg
By Ansh Saxena 7163 – Own work, CC0, Link

That’s a pretty big snake!

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