Strange Week

It's been a strange week.

The bank holiday makes it a short working week and the office is quiet, but there is still loads to do.

News that I've got a ticket see the NFL game at Wembley in the autumn is well received - the amount it will cost perhaps less so!

A potentially quiet weekend - especially in comparison to recent ones - is slightly tempered when I look at my diary and see how busy the coming week is.

A couple of other situations put things in perspective and reinforce the fact that as much as I love words, sometimes saying or writing the right things is incredibly difficult.

Indeed, sometimes I wonder if words are ever enough?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The hat is back. After a long 19 year wait we get the next installment of the adventures of the mid-western university professor. Was it worth the wait?

Well, er, no. Let there be no doubt, this film is an absolute stinker - it is awful.

Cate Blanchett seems to have wandered in from the adjoining film lot as she appears to be a SMERSH baddie from a 1970s Bond movie. Her accent is three parts generic East European villain combined with one part Chelsea; whenever she says "Doctor Jones" she sounds like she live just off the Kings Road. Ray Winstone plays a character called Mac whose reason for being in the film seems to pop up every once in a while and shout "Jonesy!" at the top of his voice. Shia LaBeouf (the bloke from the Transformers film) is Mutt Williams, a quiff adorned, leather jacket wearing teenager who is supposed to be some type of "Marlon Brando from The Wild One" character but actually ends up looking like a reject from a Village People tribute band. I could go on...

Are there any good bits. Well, yes. The start shows promise with a nice 'Area 51' allusion and some references to McCarthyism in the USA - although this is partly undone when one the interrogators is played by the 'Janitor from Scrubs' and 'Jim Robinson/Marissa in The OC's stepdad/the bloke from Ugly Betty' is the senior army general. Harrison Ford is excellent, he still has great comedy timing and screen presence. Karen Allen, from the first film, returns as Indy's love interest but doesn't get enough screen time. Jim Broadbent is wonderful as Indy's university boss, but even that sub plot is inconsistent - Indy is threatened with the sack yet he is a tenured professor...

It's a mish-mash. Spielberg said he wanted to reduce the use of CGI in this film - yet two big scenes, a nuclear explosion and the grand finale, are simply rammed full of CGI 'magic'. Lucas said he didn't want to make another Indiana Jones film until he had a story and script of sufficient quality. If this is the best he could find after 19 years - a story that seems to have given up half way through and simply added some leftover pages from an X-Files episode to pad it out - you wonder what on earth he rejected.

The hat still looks great, and the soundtrack is excellent with those wonderfully familiar sounds, but overall you sort of wish that everyone, including you in the audience, simply hadn't bothered.

Website of the week

More proof that some people have way too much time on their hands.

Voices and Vision

Spending a couple days back in the Midlands so after heading back up the M40 I toddle off to send the afternoon in Worcester with my Mum.

Although I've been to Worcester on numerous occasions I've never actually been around the cathedral - and what a lovely place it is. It's been around for centuries and is packed with surprising history - for example I never knew it was the final resting place of King John. A tea stop in the lovely refectory - I can recommend the flapjack - and then a potter around the cloister which contained an art exhibition - Voices and Visions - from Worcestershire schools, much of which is excellent (for more see here).

A stroll along the picturesque river and a potter around the city centre - a pleasant start, in pleasant weather, to a bank holiday weekend.

Champion the Wonder Horse...

I didn't watch the Champions League final - it was exactly the sort of game I want both sides to lose. Mind you, with Drogba being sent off for a girly slap and Anelka, Ronaldo and Terry all missing penalties, it was very nearly the ideal outcome for me.

It also highlighted the power of the internet as within hours I'd been sent the picture below.

Iron Man

Tony Stark is a Bill Gates type figure in arms manufacturing. A young genius, he became the head of the family multinational business, developing and selling high tech weaponry, as well as being a sort of rock star/playboy figure in the world of commerce.

He gets captured in Afghanistan and realises that - shock, horror - some of his weapons have got into the hands of the baddies, i.e. non-US forces. He escapes, has his epiphany and decides he wants to 'make a difference.' As part of this he develops an Iron Man suit to fight for good and justice etc. etc.

As popcorn films go this is pretty good - the special effects are excellent, there is the semblance of a plot, and there is good use of humour. Robert Downey Jr is excellent as the lead - funny, vulnerable, strong when needed. To be honest, he pretty much carries the film and is worth the price of a ticket alone. It would have been a lot worse with someone else in the role. He's ably supported by Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges. The film does lose its way after about 90mins - it's well set up plot wise but then seems unsure where to take it, perhaps they had an eye on the sequel?

It's not a brilliant movie, but it's far better than any of last year's rather poor threequels and is a good 'popcorn' watch. I came out from it with two thoughts - how cool is Robert Downey Jr? And how hot is Gwyneth Paltrow?

For the excellent Mark Kermode's take on it see this review - this one has even intercut some of the good Doctor's vocal impressions.

Website of the week

And you thought your sofa was ugly?? Just look at the winner of last year's Ugly Couch Contest.

For some more details see here, and for some previous winners look here.

Catching up

It's been a busy week- ridiculously so. Various stuff - work stuff, other stuff - culminating in doing, somewhat bizarrely, a sort of talk to a local youth group.

Overall a busy and bitty week - hopefully tomorrow will be a chance to veg out.

Hello Z gap!

Look, I'm on the web!

Busyness

Apologies but been a hectic week so a lack of posts.

Hope to catch up fully this weekend.

Happy Go Lucky

In Mike Leigh's new film we meet Poppy, a young, single primary school teacher. We meet her friends, see her take driving and flamenco lessons, and generally see a slice of her North London life.

And that's pretty much it.... virtually nothing happens in this film.

Whether you like or hate this film will depend on how much you like Poppy's 'quirkiness' and 'always look on the bright side' take on life. Me? I just about stood it, but only just.

My main problem was about 90mins into the film I realised there wasn't actually much of story. We meet Poppy, spend some time with her, but nothing is resolved in the plot as there is no plot to resolve. The story doesn't seem to go anywhere - and then the end credits role.

Now, this is not a film to completely dismiss as a complete waste of my time - tempted though I am. The acting is excellent with numerous lovely character pieces who all interact well. London is far more recognisable than the version we tend to see on screen through the eyes of Hollywood and/or Richard Curtis but still looks beautiful. There is even a trip to Southend. But...

There are several scenes which easily could have been cut without ruining the film - the flamenco lessons, the visit to the physio etc. - whose overall running time is too long. In another scene Poppy is coming home past a deserted warehouse late at night. She hears a noise which she investigates by going in to the said derelict warehouse and ends up chatting to a tramp. Eh?? No - people just wouldn't do that.

That scene, like much of the film, just doesn't ring true. Disappointing.

Website of the week

I know it's an advert - but I do like this.

Pottering around Puttenham

The weather is glorious so strap the bike on the roof of the car and head into Surrey. Do a lovely 25+ mile circuit around some rural parts of the North Downs, starting and finishing in Guildford.

I still find it amazing that you can find an oasis of rural Britain so close to London, and take in countryside that wouldn't look out of place in an English-set, Hollywood-financed romcom movie, such as Seale Church in the picture.

You can almost make out Hugh Grant and/or Bonneville and Kate Winslet in the background.

Follow the umbrella

Occasionally in London I'll do something 'touristy' - it's a global city which get loads of visitors and sometimes those of us who live here forget why people visit. Today was one of those days.

I've driven round Hyde Park corner numerous times but I've never actually visited Wellington Arch or No 1 London. Both are fascinating in their own way but the real gems are the monuments around the arch, especially the New Zealand and Australian ones.

To make me feel like a tourist I happened to be there as the guards made their way through the arch.

To make me feel like I live here I bumped into some people I knew on the escalator at Hyde Park tube station!

Blimey, it's Boris

Comedians and satirists relax. Your prayers have been answered. For the next four years you should never be short of material - Boris has been elected Mayor.

Some observations;
* Both Boris and Ken have big 'personal' votes - given how badly the other results have been for Labour, would the London defeat have been greater if it had not been for Ken's personal support?
* If Ken had run as an 'Independent', as he had to in 2000, would he still be Mayor?
* Ken's speech following the defeat was very gracious - more so when you consider how ill-tempered some of the campaigning had been. If he had shown such graciousness and humility earlier, or during his time in office, would he still be Mayor?

All rather academic now - but let's strap ourselves in as the next four years could be entertaining.

Well, I'm working on a couple of ideas...

Last night I toddled along to the latest meeting of the writer's group I'm sort of part of. Have to admit I'm starting to feel a bit of a fraud. Others are moving ahead with their draft scripts and ideas, and one even has a Stargate tie-in audio book coming out soon. I've got a rather lame 3/4 finished script that seemed 'a good idea at the time', and some lame idea about a leaving party.

I could come over all arty and say I'm "struggling with my craft" - but the reality is I'm either too busy, or lack the discipline of setting sufficient time aside to put fingers to keyboard. Heck, I'm even rubbish at updating this blog...

Ho-hum...