I do have some photos from my cruise. Here is the closest I get to the "Bay of Isles" as they call it.
And the middle of the interior part of the ship had some nice decorations.
Full photos at Cruise Oct 2022.
Friday, 28 October 2022
Tuesday, 25 October 2022
Stress Cruise
I had credits to use that were going to expire, so I got myself a wee cruise that went from Auckland (Sunday) to Sydney (Thursday). It did not go well.
Sunday: Flew up to Auckland, had a seat near the front of the plane, but there are delays. Shouldn't be terrible, I have a little time lag allowed for. As we finally land and I dash through the terminal... I see my booked bus leave. Yay! Taxi time, so that's a fun extra charge.
That night on the cruise ship, they already ask "how do you plan to leave (on Thursday?)" The transfer option, which I want, and a booked the flight through the cruise service so I was kinda expecting to give that to me, is only available for flights after mine leaves... So after asking about this at the desk the next morning, I end up with independent leave. I only have a carry on bag, so I should be able to be away by 7am (local time, 9am my time), plenty of time for a taxi. I book with one of the two Sydney cab companies (???) named Silver Cabs.
Tuesday: I find out my departure group. Which is as they call my luggage group, and is at 7.20am. The first transfer group is 7.25. The hell? I could have gone for transfer anyway! After a not great night thinking about this, I talk to the desk. Can't change to a transfer group, and that is indeed the earliest I can get off. As was told to me on a form they had printed out... which means they must have known on Sunday when they asked me if I wanted to leave early!!! I contact the taxi company and change it to 7.30.
Thursday: Finally ready to leave... and time ticks on past 7.20. At 7.45 I get called from Qantas and told that flight is overbooked and I am on Air New Zealand instead, but I am still on the ship. Er, do I know check in closes at 8.20? And the airport is around 30-45 minutes away from the harbour...
7.55am I am finally out and at the taxi stand... and there is no sign of a taxi for me. I grab a Silver Cab taxi (I think it was the other one) and head to the airport... and get there at 8.20am! Fortunately, after dashing to the correct desk, I am able to indeed check in. Barely in time.
Which leaves the security screening. At the scanning station, there are about a dozen queues... the one I am assigned to, I think they bring all the weird trays to from other queues! It takes so long to get through, so much time with bins jumping our ones.
Fortunately, the actual plane is a little late leaving, but get there by the skin of my teeth.
Short version... I should have stayed home.
Sunday, 23 October 2022
Dark Adam!
I didn't really have the energy to see this as soon as it came out. I didn't want to see it... but I did want to want to see it. And then as as last second decision, I decided to go.
In the past a tyrant wanted powers and the peoples rose up against him, but then in current day Apocalypse was risen again... I mean that in the past Teth Adam fought and now he's back. But is he a hero? The Justice Society step in to see what is going on with him, while he in helping the people of Khandak against the forces of Intergang... the most boringly name gang ever. And there is a mcguffin. And very nearly a sky beam!
This isn't a bad movie, but it takes a long time to get going. I saw Age of Apocalypse recently (hence the reference above) and that gets going quicker than this does, and that movie doesn't speed into action. At parts, it's not clear if this is a Black Adam movie or a Justice Society movie, or maybe just a Dr Fate movie... but it is certainly at least one of those at various points.
Dwayne Johnson is... on screen. He should remain in the jungle, he is more fun there. Hey, Aldis Hodge is in this! And I wouldn't say that Pierce Brosnan phoned this in, that would suggest he put more effort into his acting that would be justified. "Hey, we need him to do fighting, but all he wants to do is sit around." "That's okay, his fighting will be all unconvincing CGI."
Overall...it's fine. Nothing that exciting. My highest emotional moment was the relief I felt after going to the bathroom.
Friday, 21 October 2022
The WORST sitcom?
I had some time yesterday for reasons I will relate later and decided to pick on a podcast to listen to, that relating the tale of The Worst Sitcom Ever Made.
This is the tale of Geoff Houtman, one of the creators of the NZ Sitcom Melody Rule, a kid sitcom from the 1990s... which wasn't meant to be a kid sitcom, nor star the people who were given those roles, and not at all a New Zealand sitcom. The best that's been said about it is "it feels like an American blueprint sitcom set in New Zealand"... which is exactly what it was.
It's a fascinating look behind the curtain of how this was developed, and seen as complete rubbish by most of those involved. But was it really that bad? And can there be any lessons, even from failure?
If you are in NZ, not sure about elsewhere, you can watch the first episode online.
Saturday, 15 October 2022
Clerkies not in 3D
I've seen his other movies, did you think I wouldn't catch this one?
Dante and Randal are still running the convenience store and after Randal has a heart attack decides to make a movie. Which is the first movie, Clerks, complete in black and white, but with all the actors the age they are now. And Dante gets fed up over it.
And that's the movie. Which isn't to say that it isn't funny at times, and a large part of that does come from hearing Kevin Smith talk about various behind the scenes bits which are repeated here, but... yeah, did this movie need to be? This is just a love letter to Kevin's previous movies, and that's great but... unless you know the movies, there isn't much here for the new watchers.
...which doesn't make this a long review, but sometimes that's all it's worth.
Thursday, 13 October 2022
Boodies Boodies Boodies
This is a horror comedy. This is a horror comedy? This? is a horror? comedy? Either I'm really out of touch with what counts as comedy (more than entirely possible) but this isn't comedy. Not much on the horror front either.
So Soph and her new girlfriend arrive for a house party as a hurricane hits and so we get an excuse for people to be trapped inside. After some shenanigans, we get the first death, and then things unravel in spectacular ways.
On the comedy side, this is more drama style, although filtered through heightened emotions brought on by drugs and alcohol. So no-one is really clearly thinking, is the point, and do stupid things. Are they funny things? They say things that you might smirk at, but nothing really tickling the ol' funny bone there.
As for the horror, it's more a low build thriller that remains low and just runs along. Nothing particularly tense or built up, just menace and paranoia, but hardly an explosive setting.
And if we could have less Pete Davidson that would be great. Maria Bakalova and Amandla Stenberg are fine, more of them is fine.
Horror comedy? Drama thriller is where I'm ending up. And even then not that great.
Monday, 10 October 2022
Raising New Hell
I've watched a lot of Hellraiser, and I like the movies. Well, the first four at least. Later on they just because other movies that the label of Hellraiser got slapped on. This is a... not quite a reboot, this could easily fit into the canon of the movies, largely because there isn't really a canon aside from "there are Cenobites and there is a cube". Still, it does have a few new rules that reboot fits well enough.
Druggie young woman gets a hold of the cube thanks to her boyfriend, and starts solving it (I feel like it's more that the cube guides people in how to solve it more than the people themselves solve it). However, it starts taking victims but she's too caught up in it now. Eventually, she's led to a rich white dude that is behind it all (because aren't they all?), and even winning is losing.
The main attraction here is the Cenobites, but we don't get great looks at their costumes until near the end. I can't swear to it, but they look like practical outfits to me, and in that they look great! The cube has also undergone a few changes, and there are more "configurations" now, and it sure would be fun to get my hands on some of those practical props too (I can only assume pretty much every variation had to be a different practical prop in order to get all that movement out of every step). I do have a prop of the original cube... and yes, it is largely just a block of wood with some gold designs on each side.
Acting-wise, everyone is fine. No-one really stands out, but then no-one sucks either, so it all washes out.
I won't be surprised to see more, and if they stand up to this, we are in good stead for the next phase of the franchise.
Sunday, 9 October 2022
Every HD Body
I'm not sure why now in particular, and if this going to kick off a new trend of doing this, but Madonna (by which I mean more likely whatever company is behind this) released Everybody, now in HD! Both the video and the audio.
Now the audio sounds fine, I haven't seen that particular version back when it wasn't HD so don't know how bad the audio sounded, but the video...
It just doesn't look that crisp, aside from very close up on her face. I don't know what they did, but the general video of her and her background duo wavering around to the music doesn't look very good. This is partly due to the backlights, but everyone looks like they have double image lines around their bodies or something.
HD = "Hey, Dancing!"?
Friday, 7 October 2022
Alive Dead Brain
Okay, finally got around to seeing this absolute classic of Peter Jackson... Sam Raimi, eat ya heart out!
A man goes to the zoo with his would-be girlfriend and his mother gets bitten by the Sumatra Rat-Monkey. How often has this happened to you? The mother becomes a zombie, lots of other people get infected, how often we have encountered this...
Already, this is better than Bad Taste, both in story and effects. Okay, this time Peter wasn't making up the story as he went along, so that isn't entirely fair to compare them, but we have a far more coherent structure, although it is basically "zombies, and then people, and zombies attack them!". Not exactly a detailed structure of the likes of Christopher Nolan, but it works for me!
And the effects work so much better. I had a longer version (104 mintues) with extra gore, and there are a lot of great practical effects spurting things all over the place and gooey entrails and all sorts of the like. Great stuff!
I can see why so many people recommend this, and I add my voice to that. I now understand "I kick ass for the Lord!"
Monday, 3 October 2022
A Whole Lot Of Wanting
Hey, that George Miller does more than just Mad Max movies!
A woman finds a djinn, as one does, and so we have a meeting of tales. She is experienced with stories, and when the Djinn tells his she knows there is more to wishes that what people really want. But, and this is the real question, what does she want? And what will she do with it?
Unsurprisingly Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba (especially Idris) really pull this movie together. This is fantastically shot, and they show up fantastically in this! The story is... decent, but nothing really that important. It's stories about stories, and how those stories interact more than the story itself. Which means that this movie really leans more on its cinematography but fortunately that's very well executed. Some shots you would think were by Wes Anderson, yes they were that good!
However, one big complaint... I usually watch with subtitles on. One track was for when they were speaking English, another for when they weren't... hey, how about a track with both??
Still, that George Miller... does good work!
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