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I’ve only slept for 5 hours and it’s 7:30am and I’m feeling funny and it’s laundry day, so I guess it’s time for an update. But first, an announcement!

Edit (April 16): No time for Pixel Part, zombie movie review blog possibly coming before summer.

Looking at the right column of this blog you should be able to locate a sizeable red banner for a mysterious site called Pixel Part. That’s a new site where I post pieces that take me longer than 15 minutes to write. I’ve transferred some things from this blog over to PP and I’ll hopefully be updating it on a weekly basis, starting next week. This means that this blog is now my “personal” blog. Expect at least 2 posts about interesting music by the end of this week. I haven’t been good at keeping similar promises I’ve made over the months (zombie week, anyone?) but the stuff’s almost written so I’m pretty sure I’ll deliver this time. My blog at tumblr will continue to function as a YouTube video & random image dump, but you might want to keep an eye on the feed when reading stuff on this blog, in case I’ve posted a related video/image/etc to complement the text.

With that out of the way, I think it’s time to list a few things I did during my week-long, post-exam break:

• Played Street Fighter IV. It was pretty spectacular. I would like to play it using an arcade stick or something.
• Went to see Valkyrie, liked it.
• Watched The Wicker Man (1973, not the one with Nicolas Cage), found it ridiculous, will probably enjoy the remake more.
• Read V for Vendetta in Greek, was kewl.
• Watched every single episode of Flight of the Conchords. Loved it!
• Played some Metroid Fusion.
• Played Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Listened to TONS of podcasts. It’s become a habit.

And, um, that’s pretty much it for now. This post was basically an excuse to introduce Pixel Part. Kthxbye!

The Game (1997)

Note: This was initially supposed to be a review of the film in less than 100 words, but didn’t work out. It was also supposed to be edgy and funny, but that’s expecting too much of my writing. What it ended up being instead is a warning.

David Fincher. I should’ve known. This movie can be considered interesting and, oh gee, I guess captivating until about half-way through, when you begin to realise you’re just being fucked with and shouldn’t really have bothered. But first, the story: Michael Douglas is the super-wealthy, kind-of-an-asshole businessman Nicholas Van Orton, who, in his 48th birthday, receives a gift from his younger brother, who’s played by Sean Penn. The gift is a live-action “game” that affects the player’s real life, manifesting itself as “real” events. Soon the game turns out to be some sort of con organised by a mysterious company that’s after the guy’s money. Things get out of control, as both character and viewer can’t tell if the game is real, how far it goes and who’s behind it. Eventually there comes a plot twist of Shyamalan-ian proportions that’s supposed to make you gasp, just like that time you found out that the Narrator is the Protagonist.

Only problem is, that revelation isn’t very conclusive, because the writers deliberately chose ambiguity over respect for the viewer. You might think I’m about to spoil it for you, but I’m actually making you a favour here: In the final scenes, Nicholas learns that the game isn’t real, but an elaborate prank devised by his brother as some sort of twisted birthday present. In the very last seconds of the film the protagonist appears pretty sure the whole thing is over, but THEN he looks around suspiciously, as if the game is still on.

Setting aside the fact that at its core this narrative doesn’t make sense anyway [what kind of sick bastard would torture his brother by ruining his life and consider it a birthday present?], this choose-your-own, inconclusive ending means that the writers decided to basically flip you off and deprive you of the reason you decided to watch the film in the first place, which is to find out what’s really happening. Ambiguity is fine when it’s the driving force behind the story, or when a conclusion needn’t be reached for the story to make sense structurally. But mysteries should be solved and this one wasn’t and it kind of pisses me off that they presented this example of awkward narrative asymmetry as a smart use of narrative technique. Answering yes and no at the same time doesn’t apply to the particular question this film was asking, so screw this.

Another major problem I’ve had with this film is that Michael Douglas doesn’t get his token kinky sex scene. An opportunity tragically missed if there ever was one. I mean, come on.

I’m kind of afraid to admit it, but this film is ultimately even more limp than Fight Club was and I still can’t believe I’ve just compared Fight Club favourably to another film.

A message from our sponsors (kinda sorta important)

I’ve decided to create a blog over at Tumblr.com. The posts there will be short and maybe sweet, but basically links to internet awesomeness, or random personal stuff that don’t really deserve to occupy a proper post of their own on this blog, or something along those lines. In other words, quick and dirty blogging.

WATCH THE SPACE to the right! I’ve already integrated the RSS feed from my sideblog (as in side dish, geddit?) into the sidebar, so you should be able to click through and, um, read stuff. Not much there at the moment, but expect more soon.

Please note that this post will self-destruct shortly after you read it. From its ashes will rise an edited version of it that explains the tumblelog business in more detail. This has been a short heads-up.

UPDATE: Erm, nothing much to report. The Tumblelog is up and running, with comments enabled. I might tweak the design a little as I become more comfortable with the HTML editor. That’s all. See you there!

Visiting Uwe: The Uwe Boll Homestory

I just finished watching this 45-minute-long interview with infamous movie director Uwe Boll. Yes, it’s the video game dude. But it’s quite interesting, since it’s not about video games. It’s about movies and Uwe is his usual outspoken, controversial self. And no, he doesn’t challenge anyone to a boxing match this time around (I… think?).

Through a tour of Boll’s house the viewer gains some insight into his personality and by the end of the interview you can’t help but wonder why, oh why, this guy can’t make a better movie just once to shut critics up, at least temporarily. I mean, he’s obviously got the theoretical part of filmmaking down. In any case, Boll seems to be in top form for this interview. He casually drops acidic remarks about Hollywood celebrities, he disses respected directors and offers his view as to why an Oscar is more important than Palme d’Or. He even answers an awkward final question about pornography.

I should also note that at the time this documentary was shot, he seemed to be pretty busy with three or four different projects. The trailer to his latest film, (1968) Tunnel Rats looks very promising, compared to his recent films.

Watch the full interview here.

The Sun Comes Up

So I’m flicking through the cyber-pages of IMDB and I come across a 1949 Lassie film called The Sun Comes Up. Having no idea how got there and feeling slightly confused (did cinema really exist in 1949?), I decide to read what few info there is about the film and- OHSHIT!?

It took me a good minute or two to decipher that weird syntax because I was giggling uncontrollably like a ten-year-old. But I mean… “a grand threesome”? Seriously? I couldn’t even make it past the word  threesome the first time I read the tagline. My giggle reflex kicked in.

It gets even better. Here’s the movie poster:

There’s something fishy about that family(?) of three. Oh wait. Let’s check the synopsis over at IMDB:

Set in the rural south of the United States, a bereaved war widow learns to to put aside her bitterness and grief as she grows to love a young orphan boy and his dog. Punctuated with song-filled interludes.

I don’t really know who that smiling old bastard is in the film, but his creepo smile and his position behind the little boy make me extremely uncomfortable. In fact, he’s probably doing something depraved with his right hand while acting cool and inconspicuous.

Other than that, things are quite clear to me. A grand threesome. A widow who loves a young orphan boy and his dog. *guffaw* This could totally be some bizarre, cult porn movie from the 70s. And the fact that the dog is Lassie only adds to the outrageousness of it all.

PS: The boy looks like he’s trying hard not to wince. Oh god.