October 2010: Hell Month Part 1

What a bum-fluff of a month.

And I’ll tell you why. And keep count of the Man Points on this one.

A long time ago in a galaxy not too far away (October 1^st) I was looking forward to busy, exciting month. Not only was I starting a new Open University Course, but I was taking a week off to spend time with my lovely lady, applying for a new job and had an autumnal spring in my step – It was gonna be a good month. [Man points a balanced 0].

Kinda didn’t work out the way I had planned.

The Gran

My 94 year old Gran can not only cause trouble in an empty room, but when I hit an ambulance with my old fiesta a decade ago she walked out of the carnage while I was stretchered off to hospital [-1 man point]. She’s made of iron that one. Unfortunately she was seriously ill at the start of the month and almost passed on – kudos to The Dad, who was in the right place at the right time to save her – and so I cancelled the holiday with the Lovely Lady in my life to go see her. Gran recovered overnight and was chirping away to me after my 7 hour drive to see her (no ambulances were hurt on the journey). MADE OF IRON I tell you.

So far October hadn’t started too well, but the worst was over, wasn’t it?

The Holiday

Actually, with some last minute internet searching, me and the Not So Tear Drenched Girlfriend managed a few days away in the lovely Lake Distinct after visiting Iron Gran. Here are some proper good visuals of the holiday...

I taught my lady chess, and beat her at every game [Man Points +1], saw a cool lake and had five course dinners every night. October was looking up.

Job application

I decided to go for a writing job for a change of career and to tick it off the Bucket List. Out of many, many applicants I made to the last 14 and had to do a writing assignment. It was tough but fun. Lots of fun. I learned many things about how to write promotionally and my tiny skill base was tested. I really thought I was going to get an interview at least. I didn’t of course, and the October curse struck again. I cursed right back, but to no avail, and October continued onwards...

Reading Affliction Continues

If you’ve checked out my last blog post ‘Reading Afflictions’ you’ll understand that I suffer from a terrible affliction of reading a few chapters of a novel before buying a new one, then read a few chapters of that book, and buy a new one, etc etc. Meaning I never really finish all the books I buy, creating a large Reading List. It stares at me now, daring me to read. [Man points -1 (come on, BOOKS are staring me down!)]

Reading Affliction continued and I totally blame October.

That's it for part 1, thank the lord, but mosey on back tomorrow for:

Work

University (of the Creative, Open variety)

Concussion

Halloween (with added concussion)

And of course to find out how many Man Points I finished on after October: Hell Month.

Clash of the Titans Review

I’m one of those people who ‘remember the original’ when it comes to the Clash of the Titans. I think this was one of those films that drove me to SF and Fantasy. But I remember being slightly disappointed by it when I was young – something was missing. I was mesmerised too, don’t get me wrong, but I think I wanted more from the film, even when I was five.

My girlfriend liked it. She hasn’t seen the first one, nor had any preconceptions. This may be key to liking this film: not having any preconceptions. Everyone who enjoyed it that I’ve talked too seemed to go with a blank slate, not having built up the expectations. Like me.

Man Vs the Gods. That’s a proper tagline. Bring it God, do your worst and I’ll still beat you. Very modern in its premise I feel. Religion is in descent while humans’ living their ‘one-life’ to the extreme is on the rise. Popular western society is shunning religion, and this modern film mimics how we feel in the 21st Century.

But there’s something missing. Sam Worthington is great in this, so it’s not him. Liam Neeson is good too. There’s just a thin story that doesn’t use the other characters to full affect. You don’t ‘feel’ for them when they die because of this, resulting in a lack of impact. I didn’t see the reason for most of them being there.

Also, while I’m ranting, I thought the set up of the plot was poor – merely a vehicle for the CGI later on. The first 15/20 mins felt rushed. No character development (apart from Sam Worthington's Perseus however). More depth here would have created an outstanding film.

Now, the effects are good and it was a fun popcorn film. The kraken was brilliant, as was the Pegasus. I just think someone along the way missed a trick with the plot and story.

Enjoyable, but as my GF said: not going to buy it on DVD even if it was fun. I think I built it up too much as I saw the original when I was young. I’ve heard that watching it a second or third time makes it better. I’ll leave that to you.

2 out of 5 Gods of War.

Film Review: Paranormal Activity

When I was young I had a fascination about ghosts. This hasn’t really gone away (but the hunting of them has, which friends and family are pretty glad of…), and I do love a good horror. This isn’t a horror as such. This was way too close to the bone.

The normality of the characters and their fears and reactions were real and almost as unsettling as the ‘scary bits’. It’s like watching your two friends on film – I was bought into it after the first ten minutes as if my mates had said ‘here, watch this homemade film – its good! Honest.’

Then, something horrible happens. And it happens again. And it happens again. Then it happens again. The similar scene we are shown – the video recording of our protagonists bedroom at night – again and again, with chilling consequences and images is powerful, evil and set up with a clever eye. I felt I was in that room, or worse, that what happened in that room could happen to me while I slept.

This is a horror film. It starts slowly, with the mundane, and then it builds and builds. Every time I saw that bedroom I became edgy, scared and worried. It was an addiction by the end of the film – what will happen next? How will it end?

I wholeheartedly apologise to my lovely girlfriend who was reduced to fearful sobbing due to this masterful film, for making her watch it. Yes, we did leave the light on that night, and I’m glad she was there. I’ve never been so scared since I was part of an Ouija board when I was a kid. I’ll tell you about it one day.

A must see for all horror fans.

5 out of 5 tear-drenched, fear-gripped girlfriends.

Think I’ll leave the light on again tonight…