Ever Rest

One of the worst years on the mountain, captured in film.

Adventure Consultants was one of many groups in 1996 who went up Everest, and we follow their journey. We meet the climbers, and some of the other teams, and slowly we make the way up. (With a few hints as to what the Sherpas were up to.) Eventually we get there and it's a great moment. But then comes what we were expecting.

Do we have helicopters yet that can function in that thin an air? They got good shots of the mountain somehow... but I don't fully believe they got all the actors up there. (There are a few scenes when I thought 'that was probably done in a studio'.) But it's a well made production, and 3D might actually be worth it.

Decent performances, although I don't quite buy Jason Clarke's NZ accent. And they actually got Sherpas to play the Sherpas, nice!

Well done film, and glad I caught it at the theatre.

[END]

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The Extraordinary Voyage

Let's go for a Voyage to the Moon on The Extraordinary Voyage!

This is a documentary about the making of the famous George Melies short movie, one of the first of the kind. We start with the slow progression of film in France, and how George made trick movies (with, to our eyes, very obvious tricks), and then made a film about a dream of a trip to the Moon. And then other people in America made bank off pirated versions of his film. But that wasn't the only films he made, and indeed he did make others, and here's the thing... back in the early 1900s... he, and others, made films in colour! (Hand painted afterwards.) An old colour print was found, and the end of documentary is about restoring that film and recreating missing moments, and coming up with a complete film.

Which we then saw. With a live accompaniment of electronica music. I'm not sure it needed to be in colour, but it was nice to see, and the film still works.

It's a fun movie, and the documentary definitely reflects that concept.

[END]

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Doctor Who 9.02

Okay, I will give there were a few moments that got to me... but by and large, it continued to drag on from last time.

Oh look, Davros plays on the Doctor's emotions, and executes his grand plan... but the Doctor was a step ahead of him the entire time! That almost never always happens! And Davros opens his eyes? What? I admit that I thought it was because I thought he didn't have eyes / lost his eyes, not that he replaced them but still had functional orbs. Just makes him seem like any other human monster with lots of make up on.

And the Missy/Clara show goes on. To the surprise of absolutely no-one (certainly not Richard, see the comment on episode one), Missy and Clara are still alive. And Missy continues to be a bitch to Clara. The Master would have been far more charming in how he used the Doctor's companions, so this just felt like it was there for superficial characterisation. And Missy is left with the Daleks, so I'm sure she dead this time!

Oh... and sonic specs? No. Just no.

Next time: Back to generic running from monsters?

[END]

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Pickzels

Oh dear gods. No, no, no, no, no.

Aliens got a hold of old video game footage, and decided that that was a declaration of war, and sent back the various video game creatures to kill us. Fortunately, a collection of video game weenies are ready and happen to be friends of the president, so they get involved and slowly start to turn the tide for the humans. And stamp over every memory you ever had of anything good in the past video games ever.

I just felt sick watching this. What the hell? Nothing here is good. Not the characters, not the references, and certainly not the treatment of women. One is a literal trophy, and the other one is just the love interest to eventually give in and be arm candy.

Just… no.

[END]

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Roocky III

Okay, now I’m starting to wonder who keeps asking for these? Stallone is still writing them, so that’s good, but because he wants to tell a story or because a company wants it?

Rocky is the champ, so let’s reverse the first movie, and have another fighter come up against him. When the fight starts before halfway through the movie, you know how it’s going to go, and boom, down goes Rocky. Then Creed steps in, but it’s not until again Adrian gives some inspiring words that we get the montage and final fight. Although the final freeze frame takes a little longer to get to this time.

Ah, Mr T, full of bas ass ness… and he looks the part! And Hulk Hogan, back when he was allowed to be in wrestling. That was an amusing fight (as it was supposed to be). But again, I’m feeling like this is the first movie again, with slight role reversal.

It’s a good movie, but we need to step it up.

[END]

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Mind Games

Another series based on using psychology on people. It's a lot more light hearted than most series... and it stars Christian Slater, so of course it only lasted one season. Man, that guy is death to series.

Clark is a rather unhinged psychology professor, who studied psychology to learn what was wrong with him. His brother, Ross, is a con artist who wants what's best for his brother... going to rather underhanded techniques to get the job done. Together, with their team, they help people change other people's minds. (Because free will? Who gets to decide that doing this is a good thing? In the format of the show, it turns out all right, but the end few episodes do touch on how it could go wrong.) While there is a 'case of the week', there's an ongoing arc about the lies Ross told to Clark, and Clark's relationship with Beth, and Ross' relationships to everyone else, and it progresses every episode.

The arc feels new, because I've seen so many other 'X of the week' shows... and it isn't done that often. (Dexter comes to mind, but other than that...) The through line helps keep things changing, with never being quite sure who will be in the episodes from week to week. And the acting is decent, and Slater is likeable (okay, I didn't only pick this because he was in it, but that was a large factor), so that helps keep me watching.

But yeah, no second season, so we never got to see if that final relationship ever got resolved... hey ho, fanfic time!

[END]

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Anathem

Was that a novel I read (listened to), or an essay?

This guy lives in a monastery dedicated to science. We learn a lot about the place, and about the sort of philosophy they learn about. Then he leaves the monastery, and we learn more about the world. Then after an event, we learn even more about philosophy.

Really, we learn a lot about philosophy. For a while, I thought this book was a travelogue, but if it is, it's a travel through philosophy and scientific ideas. With HUGE slabs of exposition. Seriously, there is far too much exposition. Oh, and there might be a plot, but I wouldn't count on it taking up page count.

Still, some spoilers about something that annoyed me: The aliens couldn't eat the local food, because their bodies didn't react to it... but they were capable of processing the air. And no mention is made of water, but that's just air in another form. So why would food be that hard to eventually process? Does that mean the dead bodies were inviolate and didn't succumb to decay? (At least, no more than their own inherent bacteria?) It's an interesting idea, but I feel it doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Overall... just too damn long.

[END]

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I, the Data Scientician!

Over this past year, I've been doing a Data Science specialisiation through Coursera. This has been learning done with support from my bosses, so I did the 'pay for this' version, in which you need to constantly prove who you are, and you get to the Capstone project.

This course consists of nine modules to take you through the Data Science pipeline, from getting in data, cleaning it up, basic analysis, document well, detailed analysis, and producing a nice product at the end. It's a good toolkit, and while it is supposed to take nearly a year, I did it in half that time, because I'm that good.

And at the end of it, what did I get? This!

[END]

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I is Big Bird

We've had the story of Elmo (and we know how well that turned out), so here's the story of the big yellow thing.

Caroll Spinney is the man in the bird suit, and this is the story of his life. While he had trouble with his father growing up, he seems to have had a decent childhood. He got into puppets early, and stuck with that. A bad incident on stage (bad spotlight placement) led to Jim Henson meeting him and offering him a job on the Muppets. He was given Big Bird pretty much straight away, but it took a while to settle into the character we have today. And Caroll is also Oscar the Grouch, so plenty of fun to be had all around. And he's still puppeting! (Although there is a stand in ready and waiting... as he has been for the last 15 years.)

Certainly the hardships of Caroll weren't like what Kevin had to go through, and so the documentary feels a lot less dramatic than Elmo's journey. Not saying that Caroll's was stress free, but there's a lot of work to make something out of smaller incidents. Caroll himself is quite nice, and we certainly get the feeling that he's happy with where he is in his life.

Who else shall we meet while we're walking down the street?

[END]

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Doctor Who 9.01

...I'm going with... what? This episode just took a long time to get anyway, and you expect me to believe for a moment that we are now here? No, Moffat, no. [Reminder, I hide away the bulk of the review from the front page, so click through to read it.]

We start with the Doctor saving Davros? What? But he must, because of the Web of Time and all that. Then later we find that no he didn't. But then he's back!

In-between all that is... complete filler, to be honest, of Missy playing with Clara, then a long drawn out sequence in a castle. It's not fun, just takes up time, and gets in the way of getting to the meat with the Doctor meeting Davros. But even then, it just goes on without really establishing a point. And the surprises? Nothing is surprising.

Missy is back, we knew that. The guy became a snake, yep saw that. The planet is Skaro, big whoop. Although I expect Moffat to at least address the issue of the Hand of Omega, especially if he is going to quote from that episode.

And then there's the acting... still not impressed by anyone, and is the actor playing Davros falling asleep? If so, then that at least was convincing.

Overall... ugh.

Next week: It goes on. And on.

[END]

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Visitirs

It's a documentary from the same director as Koyaanisqatsi (and it definitely has the same feel), about humans and technology.

This movie has three components. One is people staring down the lens at us. Two is people in a gathering, interacting and reacting. Three is images of technology, usually in the form of large buildings. The main part, the people staring, is where the main interaction with the movie is. I'm guessing that this is supposed to form a connection with us, and it does seem rather intimate, but the setting of the person watching is important, and I wasn't exactly watching in a dark enclosed space with only this occupying my attention.

Which is somewhat part of the point, of me engaging with technology, and not fully engaging with the movie, but mostly watching it slack brained in a trance... which is how the director thinks of us facing off with technology anyways. Our emotions are on hold while we deal with the technological, and only occasionally do we actually interact with those around us, usually around a common experience (this is shown in the documentary with an audience watching... something, we never see what).

Still, I think Triska is clearly the star of the entire movie.

[END]

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Roocky II

Because we must have a sequel? It feels like this wasn’t planned as the final motivation at the end of the previous fight is suddenly reversed so we can have a plot!

Apollo Creed wants a rematch, and badgers Rocky into fighting him. But Rocky isn’t interested, living the new high life his fame got him. Only when the money runs out he wants to return to the fight… but it’s not until Adrian gives him permission do we get the inspiring montage and final fight. This time, a more definite ending, and another freeze frame finale.

Although there are some changes, thus does feel like a repeat of the previous film, especially when you get to the montage/fight bit. Still, there’s enough different that it still plays out well, and you can see the downfall coming.

Decent movie, although definitely a sequel.

[END]

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Lie to Me Un

I've got the box set of Lie to Me lying around, and only recently gotten into watching it... yeah, I like it.

The set up is that Lightman, and others, can see people's microexpressions, which are common across all peoples. Such as expressions of anger, disgust, lying, etc., and so we get the 'case of the week' in which the heroes try to uncover the truth of some situation. Which usually relies on closing in on some part of an image, and then cutting to some world famous character showing the same expression.

As with any series, we get the set of characters and they have various backstories that come unveiled as the episodes demand, and ongoing arcs that slowly tear apart relationships, because drama, amiright? There are four of them (with another one joining by the end), and they get split up in different combinations as the episodes go on, but it's all about their connection with Lightman, rather than each other.

I'm definitely looking forward to getting into the next season.

[END]

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Batmun Unlimited Munster Mayhum

Was this a long episode of a cartoon, or just a movie thrown together? It has the feel of just throwing ideas into a pot without worry about cohesion.

Nearing Halloween, some inmates escape Arhkam (because there may as well be a revolving door on the place), and Solomon Grundy, Silver Banshe and Scarecrow team up to… join forces with Clayface, and all act under Joker. Because… why not? Joker takes the city hostage, and puts the others in positions of power, until Batman, Nightwing and Red Robin can save the day (and Batman’s motorcycle that turns into a metal wolf).

Really? That collection of criminals? Did someone just throw darts at a board? There’s no reason why those group of villains would come together, or agree to have Joker lead them, so the mayhem in the title is appropriate.

There really feels like little point to any of this, so I can only imagine it was put out because they didn’t have anything better to do.

[END]

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SW8T 8nit 888

I went in knowing this wouldn't be a good movie, and I was not disappointed.

Two police guys, also SWAT officers, act 'outside the law' in taking a violent boyfriend down, and have to spend time guarding a party. At which a Dr Lansing is taken, and her daughter kidnapped. While they get Lansing back, one of them is killed, and the other wants revenge. Then the other SWAT team gets involved, and eventually there's a shoot out, and people are killed, and there's a twist... which was at least a good attempt at one, but one that was given away early.

Is it a good sign when the headline actor is playing the bad guy? 'Cos that's Tom Sizemore. And Mischa Barton is the FBI agent in charge, but she spends the entire time in a single office like set. I say 'office like', because none of the sets feel that real, and more seem like 'here is a place we can use, so I'll set a scene there'. The director, who is also playing the hero (but note that he didn't write this), loves to shoot in the slow/fast editing style, which doesn't work in big budget movies and certainly doesn't work here.

Not even an enjoyable bad movie to watch.

[END]

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Radio Unlive

There's a recent advert for Radio Live that's been playing in front of YouTube videos, so I've seen it more than enough times. Go check it out!

The ad itself isn't that bad. It's pointing out that debate is a good thing, and there should be more of it, and Radio Live is a vehicle through which debate can happen. Fine.

But then someone says:

There'd be no debate on climate change.

And here's the problem. THERE IS NO DEBATE ON CLIMATE CHANGE, unless you are interested in manufacturing one where there is none to get people talking and filling air time until the next advert!

This isn't a sign of a healthy radio station, interested in keeping the vital art of debate alive. This is a sign of people looking for controversy where there is none in order to keep their paychecks.

Screw you, Radio Live.

[END]

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Red Rocks

Living in Wellington, it's still nice to get out and around to the local sites. One of which is the Red Rocks, and the seal colony out there. And now I've been! And here's a picture of red rocks to prove it!

And other pictures are available.

Seals? We got your seals right here:

[END]

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Innir Daemons

Hey, it's a movie where the allegory is taken literally!

Know how people who using heroin sometimes refer to having a demon inside? What if, in this one case, there actually is a demon inside? That's the problem of Carson, an otherwise good (and Christian) student that suddenly turns goth and gets the drugs because of an evil inside her. But fortunately, there's an intervention tv program that's ready to take advantage of her for their next episode, and she agrees to go for withdrawal. Which, of course, unleashes the demon. But that's just a delusion, right? It's not like there really IS a demon and now people are going to get killed.

While the metaphor is obvious, so is the entire plot. Even down to predicting exactly when the jump scares will be. And the love story can be seen a mile off. Okay, I wasn't expecting that resolution to Carson's arc, but what happened afterwards was just another case of 'let's do what everyone expects'. Production side, the main item of note is that Michelle Trachtenberg did the costume design on this.

Just another horror movie that doesn't pack a real punch.

[END]

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Roocky

Another set of Stallone movies I haven’t seen, this lot written by Stallone himself. And they are better than I’d thought.

Rocky is a bum fighter, fighting other bums. But he has slight aspirations of greatness and of hitting on a disinterested young woman until she caves into him. Meanwhile, a big name fighter, Apollo Creed, is too good, but needs someone to fight, so picks Rocky, because the name sounds good. And with those stakes set, the fight is on. After an inspiring montage, there’s the fight, and the freeze frame final shot.

Yeah, local guy does good is a basic story, and this is told well. Rocky is a likeable character, because we see him caring for others and staying upbeat in the face of anything that comes along. We’re definitely on his side when the battle is on, and the resolution isn’t caving in to usual expectations (Rocky comes back after a beating and wins no problem), so that’s a nice wrap up.

All in all, good movie, I liked it.

[END]

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Oringe is the New Block

A lot of people have gone on about this, so I had this hanging around for a while to watch… and finally got around to it!

Piper has an exciting and goes to jail because of stupid things she did while younger (although in her flashbacks she doesn’t look any younger). And so begins an anthology series about women in prison. Every week is a look back at a different inmate to see how they got there…

At least, that’s what season one felt like, and I wasn’t enthralled by that aspect. I’ve had enough of series that feel the need to pad out events by having flashbacks because they either can’t explain the story in the present day, or because there is not enough going on in the present day to sustain the episode. I got to the point of just skimming over the flashbacks because they all felt so generic ‘hard done by’, ‘led through the wrong path’, ‘wrong place wrong time’, could be any pre-prison story.

Although the present day stories were more interesting, so in the end the first season got me enough that yep, I want to watch the second season. Oh, and I agree that Piper is a self-centered bitch. While I do applaud her standing up for herself at times, at others you can see how she is just using people and have no sympathy for her.

Well done that show.

[END]

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Yeah, I went there

Recently, Jim Stirling did an episode of his Jimquisition in which he talks about the pre-order incentives of the latest Deus Ex game. To be honest, this isn't the first time something like this happened, with unlocks occurring as people pre-order (Tomb Raider did that), but this one has 'you can only get some items', which might upset collectors. Me, I just wait for the Game of the Year edition to go on sale, and then never get around to playing it.


But there is something in particular at the end he talks about.

I can't think of another entertainment medium that trades itself so much on trust, on faith, on promises, while being so demonstrably untrustworthy, while being so proven to be capable of lying and manipulating

Jim says he can't think of anything... and yet something occurred to me immediately. And probably to Jim too, but he deferred going there, because it isn't an 'entertainment medium', which is debatable... but there I am.

Religion is the biggest pre-order business of the lot. Only we never get to see the payout, and the company continually collects money based on promises. Consider this an excuse for religion and church bashing as you will, but the analogy works too well.

[END]

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Transpooter Refooled

Yeah, let's reboot a franchise which is known for it's... Jason Statham! Only without Jason Statham!

Frank is a Transporter with a dad. And when a group of women decide to get back at the pimps who ran them, they embroil Frank in their plans, and Frank's dad. And so there's a lot of fight scenes of Frank beating people up... with the movie going out of its way to set up situations for him to beat people up in. And there is some car driving, but that doesn't last long.

This is, in a word, blah. There's just nothing really interesting happening on screen. While the plot was very simple to follow, it was just an excuse to go to fabulous locations and ogle women and have the hero beat people up. Which is basically the reason for the plot in pretty much any action movie, and this one certainly wasn't for trying anything exciting.

Ed Skrein isn't Jason Statham, And Ray Stevenson isn't as funny or charming as the movie would pretend. Loan Chabanol nearly gets some characterisation, but it's largely superficial. At least the car stunts looked real?

I saw this on Cheap Tuesday at Readings, and there was only two other people in the theatre. And this was it's first week of release. Enough said, really. Just go watch some earlier Transporter movie that you liked.

[END]

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Banned for a Boost!

It's often say that there's no such thing as bad publicity, and I can largely see that as true. Take, for example, the recent banning of a book.

The Family First organisation (ugh) didn't like a book, so complained, got others to complain, and now it's considered banned.

No book should be banned. No art of any kind should be banned. Unlike what FF think, "freedom of expression" is about putting whatever you want out there. There is no "Freedom from Being Offended." [This is, at least, a decent policy where freedom is allowed. In a cult or dictatorship (which can be the same) or other controlled society, banning is de jure, so go for it then.]

What a lot of groups fail to get is that "freedom of expression" isn't "freedom from criticism". They are indeed practicing a form of this when they are trying to get the book banned, but banning isn't criticism either. Saying "I don't like this book and don't recommend anyone read it" is criticism, and that they can say as much as they want.

What we have here, and why bad publicity isn't bad, is the so called Streisand effect, in which complaining about something brings attention to it. I have no idea how the author felt, but someone in that publication circle saw this news and knew immediately interest and sales would go up. Banned or not, this will be available and read.

By all means come out and decry the book, but blocking media is not the way to stop people accessing it.

[END]

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Lake Placonda vs Anacid

Everyone loved that snake movie and that crocodile movie, so let’s stick them together in the franchise cross over everyone’s been wanting!

Once again, someone is wanting crocodiles and is going illegal to get one, and then it escapes. Only this time, snakes are also involved! And so we get another entry in this series where we have crocodiles and snakes attacking people, and each other. And the CGI is never been better. Which, as it is absolutely terrible in these series, is saying that once again this whole thing has just been thrown out. And there’s something about immortality serum or youth serum or something to justify all this, but I was barely listening.

I’m sure there are a lot of repeat actors from earlier series, but since only the original Lake Placid movie was any good (this is connected to the Anaconda franchise by ‘that must be an anaconda from the jungle’) and since then I haven’t given any brain power over to remembering anything that happened in the later movies. I’m sure Yancy Butler is returning, not sure if Corin Nemec is or not. And there’s an excuse for young girls in bikinis.

They try to have some fun with this movie, but it’s just another movie that shouldn’t be bothered with… but no doubt there’ll be more.

[END]

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Airlock

It's a sci-fi series from the makers of the Tunnel. And they tried to kickstarter it.

In an out of the way space outpost, a lone ship turns up that doesn't respond to calls. The crew seem to crazed on killing anyone, and once they are out of the way, the authorities find refugees on board. (Topical!) They are instructed to blow the ship up, and the refugees aren't allowed on the station. Things go well from there, and there's no trouble at all.

This is decent enough, although it's clearly taking a point on the social issue of displaced people in Australia. Oh, and it has shape shifters as well, which I gather are a problem on the increase over there. I do think the best teaser for the series is the opening credits, which should be available as a trailer. It sets up the universe, has some great effects, and a neat ending. Oh well.

One problem this has is Don't Watch The Trailer at the end of Episode 1. It gives so much away! For episode 3 and as well as episode 2! Just skip it!

You can pick it up, as I did, from their site.

[END]

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M R Robot

A series about a cyber hacker? Sure, I'll watch. And thing I loved was the episode titles all referred to different formats of video files. Nice, and they managed to pull off ten different ones.

We're with Elliot, a shut in who likes to hack people and then blackmail them to make them behave. He's got a nice job with a cyber protection company, and their main client is Evil Corp (as he refers to it), which killed off his father. So he ends up going fsociety, which is going to ruin Evil Corp and wipe all their data.

This was a good series. It had decent characters, and didn't paint them as heroes. I'm not entirely sure of the point of all of them, but I was still watching. Ravi Malik is a good actor, and Christian Slater is fun to watch as ever.

Then the big reveal happened... and the series went downhill. In the space of an episode. After that, I only watched because it was a short series and it was nearly over.

The last episode (which was delayed because of the reporter shootings... which then gave it time to slip in an audio reference to the Ashley Madison hack) has an odd feeling about it. It's trying to wrap things up, but leave it open enough for audience interpretation... but also feels too clever about trying to do it that it just fails.

I really can't say I'm going to leap on season two at the moment...

[END]

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Starter Fire Twisted

This looks like a generic movie that had wreck written all over it... so of course I had to watch it.

A bomb lights a oil reserve that happens to be special oil that makes it burn longer... and somehow be somewhat sentient. The peaceful protesters who were going to put up a banner get the blame, and the evil corporation hire people to kill them, because of course they do. And so begins the tale of the heroes who are trying to stop the fire twister as well as survive the people coming after them. Fortunately, everyone is extremely incompetent, so it works out well.

I can't stress this enough: the CGI compositing in this is TERRIBLE. It is so obviously overlaid on the picture, it blends as seamlessly as a 70s Doctor Who CSO shot. And no matter what the picture is, a building or a long shot of the city, the twister is always the same size on screen. Scale doesn't work that way, mate. But, if this is any help, it's matched by some bad acting as well. However, we have 'stars', in the form of Casper Van Diem, one of the Bateman children, and Joe Regalbuto. Although I will say that Brandy Redd probably gives the best performance in the whole movie.

At 80 minutes, this still felt painfully long. Just skip it, nothing to see here.

[END]

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Paultryghost Activity

Surprisingly, this isn't a cash in on the 'camera in room' phenomena, just a movie with a rather generic title.

A father and daughter, having recently lost the mother, move into a haunted house. Damn, that's unfortunate. The daughter is teased by a doll and then... I think either nearly or actually is raped by a ghost? And the father seems to be breaking down, but if it's due to the house it's not well acted. There's a heart warming scene where they connect, which should be a completely different movie, then it's back with a stupid paranormal investigator, and sudden death all around, before the two of them run away. Yay, happy ending?

This film is shot totally seriously. (Although there is the odd moment in the end credits which hints at humour, but that's bereft in the actual movie.) It also feels very amateurish, like Birdemic amateur, but actually done by someone with a degree of competence.

While not a great movie, it's better than some because it's at least competent, although the whole ghost angle just gets in the way.

[END]

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Ricky and Mort

There are many cartoon series I've heard about, with Rick and Morty described as a kind of sci-fi show. Eventually I picked up season one and took a look.

Morty is a fourteen year old boy, living with his mom and dad and older sister. Just joined them in the mother's father, Rick, who is an alcoholic genius scientist. Together (usually because Rick drags Morty along) they go on adventures to alternative dimensions and deal with strange science, and rip off more than a few movie references along the way.

This show feels more annoying than enjoyable. Certainly the constantly burping Rick and the ever shouting Morty (both voiced by Justin Roiland) take a long time to get to used to. And, get used to it I did. It did take a few episodes, but yet, I now find this funny.

What I'm not sure about is why this is funny. It's certainly aiming high with some of its ideas, and I do wonder how many children enjoy this (although it's shown on Adult Swim, so they know what they are getting into). And yet... it feels low brow and just playing on grossness, while still getting the geek jokes in.

It's odd... but I guess I'll have to check out season two.

[END]

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I've Been Watching

I like playing Minecraft, but I need something more than just the game to occupy my time... so I slipped in Terror of the Autons. Annoyingly, it's only available with Spearhead from Space so I have like three or four copies of that now.

It's definitely been a while since I've seen it. I know most of the more talked about beats, of course, the arm chair swallowing scene, the doll, the plastic flowers, the face off cop... but now I get to see them again! And, of course, the introduction of Roger Delgado. And another Time Lord (is there some fan theory about who that is supposed to be? Probably, but I can't recall it.). There's a fair bit mixed in here, but it's also quite repetitive of the Master trying to kill the Doctor over and over again, pad out to four episodes. Oh, and there are some Autons in there, but meh, whatever.

There are a few specials on the disc, talking about the Master and the third Doctor and stuff.. and by the time you've watched them all, don't worry about listening to the commentary track, because we've heard the stories by then. And while I admit I wasn't reading all the production subtitle track, the bits I saw didn't stand out as giving away anything amazing. Some missing scenes and such, which did help explain a few bits of the stories, but otherwise once again more actor credits.

The story feels better than the rest of the disc, and I'm glad I rewatched it.

[END]

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