Celebrating Doctor Who

As well as the Symphonic Spectacular, other things I didn't know about but were happening was a Doctor Who Exhibit at the Capital E Central... which isn't at Capital E.

It's a large room, in which there are large posters with large texts on them... and varied and many props. Check it out!

Other photos are available.

There was a Cyberman, and a Dalek, and some outfits... and a TARDIS of course...

And yet... it felt rather sad. It only takes about ten minutes to wander around, and it just didn't grab me. Great, I got to see some items up close... but it was like a sad school exhibit of random items kids had at home.

Perhaps Peter's blog will be more exciting.

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Mea Maxima Culpa

We've been hearing more and more recently about paedophile priests. But it's been something that's been going on since the 1960s and 70s... well, even earlier than that, but this is the story that starts there, and deals with Silence in the House of God.

We start with three deaf men telling of their childhood events when Fr Lawrence Murphy molested them... and how the Church did nothing about it. Then we hear of other stories, and... how the Church did nothing about it. Even when they did something about it, they didn't really do anything about it. And in present day... still the same story, whereby it's 'poor priests' and that's about it.

I can't say this movie made me angry, because it didn't surprise me. If anything, I was just sad at how little has been done and, cynically, how little is going to continue to happen. As long as the Church has the respect of the populace, it's going to get away with this. It claims to be the moral leader... and the attitude to evidence against that is 'shush'. It's not new news to me.

A good telling of many of the details of some of what has been happening, but your ability to put up with the details may vary.

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The Video Craze

This was a movie that I kickstarted. (Twice, as it happens.)

Remember the arcade crazy? How many quarters did you pump into those machines? This is a movie about the people that grew up having done that... and went on to get those arcade machines in their adult hood and set them up in their garage or house... or, for some, a store that actually makes money. Including 'barcades', where you can drink and game! We meet a lot of people and see their passion for these things... which is comparable to other 'passionate about things' movies.

Having gone through two kickstarters, you might guess that this movie has had some problems getting production done... and it could have used another pass. Some of the sound can vary a lot between segments, and could be balanced a bit better.

A nice nostalgia piece, but that's about it.

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Terms and Conditions May Apply

There's a documentary that's hard to search for. Really, how many search pages do you think you'll find if you look for Terms and Conditions May Apply?

Which is somewhat ironic, as you probably would have agreed to terms and conditions (either explicitly or implicitly) to do the searching. Which is what this movie is about. What exactly can the big companies like Google, Facebook, Apple... do with all the data they collect? And what can the government do? Quite a lot, it seems, and people quite willingly give them all this information. Yes, there are some stories of false positives, the kid who joked on a post and got sent to the principal's office and the like, but it's easy to see all this and be, frankly, terrified by what is out there.

And although this is American, I have no ideas what access our own security services have access to. Possibly through US systems... but I am cynical. On one hand, I'm tempted to make a few dodgy jokes... but on the other hand, I might be taken seriously... yeah, that wouldn't be fun.

Or, if you want, you can spend hours pouring over all the terms and conditions to make sure you understand them and really do agree to them... and then click agree like the rest of us lazy people...

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Android Cop

Okay, in an unusual move for me... that is the actual movie title! I think you can tell what we're in for with that, and yep this is The Asylum.

After being there when his partner died, Hammond is back on the team and part of a group going into an irradiated area (which, now I think about it [no, I certainly wasn't thinking during the movie] is slightly Dredd-esque), and then they are backed up by... a cop that is an android! Woo! Edgy! They are partnered up, and go off in search of the daughter of the mayor who is currently wandering around in a Surrogates(tm) body... and then there's a lot of fighting out in the rad area, and other stuff, and people are corrupt and... there is actually a twist I didn't see coming, which is impressive (although, as I said, I was barely conscious). In many ways, while this is below sub basement rubbish wannabe RoboCop, there are a few story points that are better than in that movie! Although considering that movie never had a point, that's not hard...

You've probably seen Michael Jai White in other things, and he's also here in this. As is Charles S. Dutton. One thing Asylum do do well (although probably unintentionally as they search for anyone willing to be in their movies) is casting not white males, which other movies never try to.

But this is the Asylum, so bullets are after effects and the android cop outfit... yeah, I had to pause to laugh. It's not good. (Go watch the trailer... although no, you don't want to.)

This is a step back for the Asylum. They were doing well once... once...

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First Position

It's a cut-throat world of ballet, where if you want to succeed, you gotta off your competition... well, okay, maybe not, but certainly you don't get out unscathed, as told in First Position.

This documentary follows six children, three boys and three girls, as they prepare for, and go through, ballet semi- and finals in hopes of getting awards and, more importantly, scholarships and other forms of money. We see their home life, and not all of them are doing ballet because their parents are frustrated and trying to live through their kids (not all of them...). They don't really have much in the way of lives outside of ballet, although their passion is such that this is really want they want to do, so that's what happens.

And let's not understate: they are damn impressive. This is extensive athletics they are performing, and demonstrate that during their performances in the semi- and finals. (The movie, of course, only presents people that get through to the finals.) However, in those finals... some may do better than others...

This is another in the 'kids performing in a specific genre' genre documentaries. And it's a decent one. But while we see kids who do well, there are a lot that don't...

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Ded Shushi

Ah, time to relax with a simple movie... about sushi that comes to life and kills people. Japan, you go!

Keiko is a would be sushi chef, but her dad doesn't think her skills are any good. She leaves and ends up a waitress at a wanna be pretentious sushi inn. A company group comes along for a relaxing time, and she derides their sushi tasty abilities... but then the mad scientist the company fired turns up and injects the sushi fish with "plotanium" to make them come back to life and start killing people! And flying around! Will the Keiko, would be sushi chef and martial arts master, be able to survive, and what about the gardener that used to be a sushi chef as well? Will he regain his honour?

Yep, it's wacky crazy fun death time, which Japan features often. It's out in force here... and bless 'em, 'cos it's a silly movie that doesn't take itself seriously, and just fun for everyone. The effects are decent, but not groundbreaking (during the end credits you can see scenes with people holding the sushi up on wires). Rina Takeda is having a lot of fun with Keiko, and certainly not her first martial arts role. And others were also getting into the inanity of it all.

A fun movie, and a great example of its genre.

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