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9月19日 Hey all, it has been awhile. For those who have thought I've disappeared off the edge of the world, I kindof did. For the past 3 years (feels longer) I've been struggling with vibromialgia, which in itself, was an odyssey to even get a diagnosis. For those who don't know it, it's a form of post viral syndrome, with remants of a virus (something like glandular fever) staying in the system, causing health issues. In my case it seems that the initial virus never became symptomatic and the remnants had a free for all on my body after my immune system being highly damaged. This translates to blackouts, muscle pains, severe chronic migraine, sensitivity to light, nauseau, insomnia, and more. All great fun, garanteed! I'm pleased to say however that the worst is most defiantely over. From various diets, the most drastic being an elimination diet, vitamin supplements and most recently migraine prevention, I'm FINELY showing sure sounds of recovery. It's been extremely hard, with my state of mind taking a beating at times just as much as my body, to which I thank the people close to me so much, for keeping me alive pretty much, and being there for me. To the rest who never really thought I was sick, or not very sick at all, go fuck yourselves :P. It's a great feeling to have my energy returning, less and less chronic migraines (kill me now types) and not be getting the flu 1 once a month for 3 weeks. Even just being able to concentrate and collect my thoughts a bit more again, is a godsend. Not all birds swaying, trees singing though, as now i need to get a job, so i actually have money again haha, no easy feat after being out of the workforce for awhile. It will also be hard to return to uni, after being away for quite awhile, but the drive of just being able to do EVERYTHING again, keeps me excited about it all. Baby steps is key I think. If you haven't had much contact from me in recent years and feeling hard done by, I'm sorry about that. Hope to be a much more sociable person again and change all that. Aside from all this, for those who know me well will know how close I was with my grandmother (who i called nanna). She unfortunately has passed away, I will miss her greatly. I will finish of this entry with my thoughts on her which I shared at her funeral. Love you nanna Nanna one time gave me dating advice. She told me that sometimes people can change and become not so close. That it's no one's fault just time can change us. To reiterate her point she quoted Michael Corleone from "The Godfather" [It's nothing personal, it's strictly business.] This made me think 2 things - 1. Not sure how much the parallel between organised crime and relationships actually helped reassure me. 2. I had a very special grandmother I knew absolutely cared about me and would offer any support she could on anything I had to say. Nanna made me feel that there wasn't really and barrier between us with communicating such as age and that made me feel very priveliged to talk to her on the same level. It was always a discussion between us. It was never Nanna telling me what to think but more, to just simply think. That's just one example of how her thoughts and stories being shared with me were often humorous, caring and important. Most of the time it was all three together. I will never forget Nanna's love, caring and support for me and will cherish the memories she gave me forever. 1月19日 Max PayneSo I finally watched this film, maybe it's the defeatist in me but i'm not even upset about it, it was so bad, it was hilarious to watch.
When I heard they were making a movie of Max Payne, one of my favorite video games of all time, I couldn't help but get excited. Despite the fact that with the possible exception of the Tom Raider films and Silent Hill and a few others all video game adaptations for the big screen have been miserable failures, I thought (or maybe just hoped) that they would get it right this time and make a movie that captured the quality of the Max Payne game series. The video game Max Payne is so well done: spot on voice acting, great Film Noir atmosphere, good writing, an intriguing protagonist, the list goes on and on. What could they possibly do to ruin the movie? All they needed to do was navigate the game's storyline, use the same characters, maybe even employ the same writers, and the result would be a pretty darn good movie. I mean, Max Payne 2 even has the tagline, A Noir Love Story.
To sum up the rest of this review: they failed horribly and created a movie that is a sad, sad parody of the infinitely superior games. Mark Wahlberg is a pretty good actor, and I was happy when I heard he had been cast as Max. He seemed a good fit for the part, and while I expected he might not plumb the depths of Max's character, I did think that he would be believable when delivering a good beat-down or using his signature dual pistols. Unfortunately, he looks bored in the film, and it leaves me wondering if his agent signed him up before explaining just what kind of movie this was going to be. Once he read the script, he just gave up. However, it's not really his fault this movie is a flop. The responsibility for that rests on the shoulders of the writers and the director. The dialogue is atrocious. From over bearing to just plain silly, the whole thing sounds like two thirteen-year-olds play acting. Lines like "You have to finish this," are strewn throughout. Every time Max doesn't know what to do, some ominously worded phrase will send him off in another violent fit of "finding the answers." The plot (if you can call it that) is a strange amalgamation of the original (they kept the drug Valkyrie, the brutal murder of Max' family, some of the characters and jacked up the importance of the hallucinations of the drug) and new elements that feel pieced together. There are so many plot holes and loose ends that even the sometimes imaginative action sequences lose their appeal. The movie just doesn't make sense. What makes even less sense: there may be a sequel. The character's which are used, are turned upside down alittle too, even Max Payne. After the tragic murder of his family, in the game, he goes undercover and transfers to the DEA, and infiltrates the worst mafia crime family in the city. In the film, he becomes a cold cases office clerk, and just so happens to spend his free time chasing after leads on the murder of his family. The most loyalty this gives to the game is shallow nods of locations, words or symbols, like the opening station.
Another example is Jack Lupino, in the game he is a high up in the mafia family that max was undercover in, which due to becoming addicted to the drug, loses it, and i mean loses it. He starts up his own little cult in a den of a heavy metal nightclub fittingly called Ragnarok and performs all manner of good fun. In the film, he is almost made into a main protagonist and is made "superhuman" through being experimented on with the drug by the government, housted out of the army.
The game is a wonderful mix of vengeance, noir, crime epic, intense emotion, dark humour and john woo action flick. The film hardly scratched the surface of ANY of these.
To put it another way, the plot of the game has Max being chased by EVERYONE, the police, the mafia, and others from the shadows, at the sametime, investigating and blowing the hell out of the criminal underworld to find the answers he wants. He is framed for murder, has nothing to lose, and through ODing on Valkyrie, tortured with a baseball bat, countless bullet wounds, he prevails through his sheer anger and will to withstand the pain. It is a sprawling crime epic filled with intrigue and dark humour, with highly memorable monologues from max himself filled with metaphor.
The film, is just an echo, of max payne looking for the killer of his wife (they were just random junkies in the game) and teaming up with mona to find said killer, then he finds out "the truth".
The cinamatography I'll admit was actually quite nicely done for itself, tremendously dark, it's just a shame that the direction, and even editing spoil it. I also thought the set work was pretty impressive, and the cityscape in general was impressive for being film in Canada.
I suspect this was also done to keep the rating down (though it got MA here, and pg13 in the states) but I was quite annoyed out how the actual drug, valkyrie was handled. In game, it's no secret that it's out there, it's almost an epedemic of addiction which has hit the streets, with the police not able to cope, and max payne was fully aware that they were junkies which came to his house and killed his wife and baby. It gave him the inspiration to go undercover and chase down the source of the drug. On a more basic level than that, the drug is actually INJECTED, not a family friendly blue liquid which looks like an energy drink which u just scoff down that we get in the film.
Do yourself a favor. Instead of watching this movie, get yourself a copy of Max Payne the video game and play that instead. I promise you it will be more fun. 10月22日 3D Realms CEO speaks out on finished product of Max Payne film So Max Payne has been released, the deals done, the carpet stained. My feelings are summed up pretty well in this entry here http://paulcorleone.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!C1110B18A801A863!553.entry What hope do I have of appreciating this film, if the CEO of 3d Realms (the developer behind the original Max Payne Games) isn't buying what they've done. It's clear that if I'm going to see it 1 - I must not pay money for the film 2 - I must not be Sober 3 - Lie to myself that it's just a random action film Found Miller Scott's thoughts in this article here http://www.edge-online.com/news/3d-realms-bewildered-max-payne-flick Something which perplexes me around Max Payne as well is the Director's public spitting out the dummy on wanting a PG-13 rating in the states. He was successful in receiving it but yet here in Aus, we receive MA+, one shot off of our top rating. Ratings aren't apart by THIS much most of the time. Smokey Signing Off 10月8日 Before And After Darwin http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2007/01/before-and-afte.php An interesting article featuring Brian Eno who is a prominent composer and musician, some of his accolades over the years are collaborations with David Bowie and writing a few songs for U2 for a few. he's also a bit of a pioneer of sorts of Ambient music. He gave a talk at the UOA in Berlin on generative art, and the implications of Darwin's theory on the flow of information and how it's changed. For those not sure what the hell I'm talking about the idea of generative art is making art create itself, through algorithms. John Cage was the first to go down this path (Eno even talks about it). He created generative music for SPORE and over the years has made visual generative art. Smokey signing off 9月9日 Upcoming Max Payne Film's Director Acts Like a 4 year old with No Toy So I was excited about the upcoming max payne adaption when I first heard Mark Wahlberg was involved, I thought, he is a bit young but he could have the look from the first game of Max. Then I heard about the director. John Moore is his name, known for his craptastic pictures as; Behind Enemy Lines The Omen (remake) Flight of the Pheonix.... And not much more really. None have recieved much critical praise (as in, critics think he's a hack) and they haven't even made that much money. A director is pretty useless if he can't please critics, or the moviegoing populous... But what has pissed me off the most about all this, is in this article http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2008/09/06/max_payne_director_pissed_about_rrating_blames_batman_blowjob-2.html He not only concedes that he was aiming max payne to have a pg-13 (for the artistic integrity of the material, to be sure) but then goes on to bitch and moan about himself being treated poorly by the MPAA at giving him an R. Aside from the fact this shows he is an idiot, for rambling on so immaturely at the press, pointing to The Dark Knight and complaining special treatment (insighting the board gave Warner fellatio no less), it points to a deeper problem with the entire philosophy behind max payne. The fact of the matter is it was a SHIT decision to go for a pg-13 in the first place, as demographically speaking, the game itself is like 8 years old. Aiming for a market that DOESNT EVEN no about it in the first place is not very smart. those that would even KNOW about what the game is about or even care are in the 21+ bracket, not the pg-13 range. Add to the fact that Max Payne is a very brutal vision, of modern film noir, in any media, much less a videogame the whole idea that he tried to shoehorn and cut the film in a way to get pg13 angers me greatly. It also has alienated fans like me, with an atrocious teaser trailer basically making it clear that for now, the studio system has no wish to treat videogame adaptions seriously for quite awhile to come, this really is shaping up exactly like how Hitman did. Argh, I say this to John Moore, Uhm... isn't an R better to recut the film? Unless the whole point of this movie is to make tons of cash at the expense of the fans and the original source.... Oh wait... Sorry, my mistake John, continue fucking with Max Payne, yet another missed opporunity in cinematic potential. Smokey Signing Off 7月21日 The Dark Knight reviewedSo I spent the night before I left for the theater with bel my gf (dressed to impress, joker style ofcourse) reading bad reviews of this film (and they were in the minority most defiantely). The same bad reviews that I thought of when the end credits rolled. I understood them then and why they are wrong. This is not a superhero movie and anyone who went to see it just for that will be let down, as these reviewers were. It's not a comic book movie filled with amazing powers, big setpieces, chase scenes, ending in a duel of absolute, simple good against evil. The Dark Knight is a brilliant crime drama about people viewed perhaps as bad by some, good by others, and the thin fragile line that separates them. It's like saying Heat is just a movie about cops chasing robbers.
This is a landmark film, period. Let me clarify what I actually mean by that, it means I will tell my grandkids about the time I saw The Dark Knight when it came out. It isn't just about having seen a great film, it's something that is both rare, special and important somehow. The reasons for why a film is a landmark could be anything, just like how "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest" is one. The technical aspect of a landmark is usually always flawless, but there is just an extra special magic ontop of it. what landmarks all have in common though, is they are unique, and one of a kind.
Does that mean Heath Ledger gave his best performance to us right before he left us? Most defiantely, but The Dark Knight is more than just Heath's swansong. EVERYONE is on their top game here. With that I'm talking on and off camera too. Heath Ledger is one pearl, on an extremely wonderful necklace. I'm sad that he is no longer with us, but it would've been even more a tragedy if he wasn't able to leave us with this. The acting follows right down to someone who you might see on the screen for 20 seconds.
Those who know me personally, know I have strong opinions of Hans Zimmer, brilliant composer but he created the mechanics in the industry to have clone, derivative scores for A LOT of films. Called Remote Control Productions (formally Media Ventures). Most have no formal training in music, and can be seen in how they're scores come out. I have been WAITING, WAITING for him, to get off his ass, and again, show how you can make a stylish score, which both works in the narrative drive of the film and has substance of an individual work for an individual piece. In The Dark Knight, we got it, Hans collaborated with James Newton Howard, and it is exactly what I knew Hans was capable of. Another pearl. I could go on, but it is just one big stream of pearls, Aaron Ekhart, cinematography, script, the ballistics of weaponry, pryotechnics, the guy who had the ambition Chistopher Nolan, and the string of pearls keeps going. Which is the idea of a landmark film and truely deserving the phrase, masterful epic. Wall-E has been talked about as the best film since Citizen Kane. Haven't seen it but from what I have seen, that thought seems unjustified in my head, and offends me, and all the landmark films that have graced us throughout history. Would I agree if someone said the same for The Dark Knight? Probably not but it wouldn't offend. I haven't decided but right now?
Maybe.
I final note on Heath Ledger is that it is tragic he is not here, but I am here to witness his talents and celebrate it and I hope many others will. Smokey signing off 5月13日 "Violence" In VideogamesI have seriously had enough of the media, polliticians, family groups and so called experts on the subject of videogames. I've just realised this simple fact, all these ppl, don't want a fair system for videogame classification.
It's just unfortunate in our society that the parental and christian groups love nothing more than having a good whinge. The frustrating part is that they have a legitimate argument. Family groups can't exactly come out and say "My 10 year old son was playing GTA IV and he had nightmares" because the fact that there's an MA15+ sticker on it only shows bad parenting and the protesting party has to walk away with its tail between its legs. However, they do have a point that teenagers are gaining access to material that's inappropriate for them, because the game is rated 15+. And this is why parenting groups do not want to see an R-rating in this country, because this is the only legimate grounds they have videogames over a barrell on and if an R-rating is introduced then they cannot argue that violent videogames do harm to their children because they're confined to the same securities as R-rated movies and pornogrophy.
I tell you, there is nothing more frustrating and fucked than manipulated politics. Whether you consider the Attorney-General a politician or not, you elect politicians in the belief that they will do what is in the best interest of the nation. 88% support for an R-rating is about as much best interest as you can get. And yet an R-rating in this country is being denied by a petty minority who know absolutely sod-all about what they're arguing against. If anything an R-rating should be a good compromise between the two sides. Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with the philosophy behind these people's arguments. I agree that there is a lot of stuff on the market that should be reserved for adults only. But they frustrate the hell out of me because they're agenda is not to keep violent material away from their children, it's to just ban it from sale because it's one less thing they have to worry about, taking responsibility over what their children play at the expense of every adult gamer in the country. But what is probably most frustrating of all on this issue is that this is an argument brought out ONLY when a GTA game comes out or some other ADULT oriented videogame. The skeleton of the argument can work for all sorts of arguments. Movies like Saw and Hostel can make people less shocked if they saw a REAL snuff film, how come we never hear that argument? pornography leads to increase in sexual abuse, where's that line? Alcohol actually does lead to deaths and is the main contributor to them, does this mean we should rally for the complete ban of alcohol? There are so many holes and double-standards in the hate campaign against videogames that the arguments should not be taken seriously. Unfortunately, the people who run the country DO take them seriously.
Smokey, Signin Off 4月28日 A List of 10 Very Underrated FilmsFor whatever reason over the years there have been some truely great films, but due to subject matter, or through whatever reason, they are greatly under appreciated.
So I've taken it upon myself to write up a bit of a list, if u haven't seen some or all of these, i defiantely recommend checking them out.
10. Stigmata - This was a well executed Thriller with elements of an investigation story revolving around a atheist hairdresser who exhibits the markings of the stigmata (the wounds of jesus). A scientist of the Vatican is assigned to investigate her case.
It was beautifully shot and was still done on photochemical film, as such they skipped a stage in the film process called bleaching. Silver nitrate is used to activate and enhance colour, but then bleached away normally, however they left the silver layer on, which give it a dynamic, much more contrast heavy look.
It had an interesting basis, and a unique soundscape done by The Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan and is one of Gabriel Byrne's most unique films.
9. Carlito's Way - Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) was once the key player in the drug underworld, the films starts off with him being released from jail, and desiring to lead a legitimate life on the outside. The problem is he was in an industry which doesn't make it easy to leave.
This is one of Brian De Palma's best films, it's so well filmed and executed u can just tell in the chase sequences that one of the best technically proficient director's is at work. All of what makes De Palma a good director is at play here and Al Pacino is powerful with his presence. Sean Penn is also great playing a coked up lawyer. Patrick Doyle also writes one of his most compelling and subtle "action" scores aswell.
The story feels very simple and understated but yet it's powerful, which is perhaps what the problem was. This was Al Pacino's followup after his oscar win in Scent of a Woman, and as such it was not given much focus, and on the surface felt like it was treading old ground for both Pacino and De Palma. See it for yourself devoid of the politcs of it' original release to see a truely touching unique gangster film, with a man just wanting to find some redemption.
8. Silent Hill - To call this a horror film, does it an injustice, as it is much more. A daughter of a couple is tortured by dreams of a place called Silent Hill, the mother takes it upon herself to seek this place down to try and find a way to help her get away from her dreams.
There is a clear reason why this one wasn't well recieved, it's a videogame adaption, the only reason. On it's own merits of aesthetic design, film techniques, and actors involved it is better executed than the majority of films being churned out by what studio's consider "real" films.
Christoph Gans the director walks the razor thin line with seemingly too easy means of originality, and loyally adapting. Yes things were changed, but only for the better of a film experience and echoes what the experience is of the games. What makes Silent Hill not only a great film, but a unique film, is from the source material, that is the element of fear, but not the shock, horror fear that is usually in films, it's the fear of emotional vulnerability, of not being a hero. In Gans's words, Silent Hill yes it's scary i guess due to the atmosphere, and concepts, but primarily it's because the characters are so emotional.
It stands as the best videogame adaption, period right now, if only for the reason it's just a wonderful film in it's own right, you don't need to play the games and is I would say one of the only good "horror" films to come out in the better part of 2 decades.
7. Grindhouse - 2 back to back exploitation films made to look like they came out in the 70's, ofcourse I think the writing was on the wall that this one was going to be underappreciated. However, even more so than it would've been, as you would be hard pressed to find it the way it was originally intended, with digitally degraded print, and fake trailers in between the features.
Planet Terror is the first film, consisting of a wafer thin story of a zombiesque outbreak.
Deathproof is a interesting twist on the slasher genre, with a psychotic stunt driver who gets turned on by running women over.
Pretty much that's all the synopsis u need, and it's just plain pure awesomeness nothing much more to say. Only see them if you can see the entire original package together.
6. American Gangster - A reserved driver of a Harlem Crime figure takes it upon himself to take over his bosses reach and control after his boss dies. In turn a womanizing honest cop training to be a lawyer gets put on a collision cause with him.
Very much a period piece, to get the idea of the time extensive on location shooting was used, in area's which sometimes didn't even need to be dressed, they hadnt aged for the better part of 40 years.
This was a Ridley Scott film, but u couldnt tell by watching it, it feels like a Brian De Palma film, which shows Ridley Scott's technical prowess, most of the time his unique visions are more noticeable than the actual technical work involved. This is also a standout film for Denzel Washington, with Russell Crowe just being great as Always.
5. Barry Lyndon - A period piece about the rise and fall of an English man in society, and his adventures along the way.
A Kubrick film, which due to titan he was, this one is alittle neglected, Kubrick especially scoured the world for a lens that would allow him to shoot in low light situations. The result is really beautiful images of shots only lit by source lights from candles. A lot of shots were done in a conventional way, but as to mimic natural light aswell, such as light coming through windows instead of backlighting inside the buildings.
Great time and effort was used to make the film as authentic as possible, there is no music that was specifically written for the film, only source music. Costumes were painstakingly aged and made with the materials of the time so the film didn't film like a costume piece.
It stands as one of the most well put together period films, as it feels like it is from another time.
4. Starship Troopers - The world is at war with giant bugs!!!
A hilarious political satire, which strangely enough has grown more timely in the current worldwide climate of fear of terrorists.
For it's time it had tremendous visual effects in the film, which stand up still today unlike a lot of other computer generated effect films.
unfortunately Starship Troopers was done so well, that it damaged its reception cause of it, the underlying satire was consequently too subtle for most, and the visually stunning and full on images took the focus away of what was, a really compelling critique of various things, of unwarranted fear in society, unquestioning devotion to a cause, etc.
3. Alexander - Pretty much the encapsulated life of Alexander the Great.
This film was a huge undertaking by Oliver Stone, perhaps in the end no one film can actually tackle the huge complex life that Alexander led, but Oliver Stone's so called "failure" towers over the majority of someone else's films.
1 part historical retelling, 1 party myth story, 1 part period piece, 1 part bio pic a lot is juggled to try and weave a story of Alexander, it's because the film takes on so much i find it so compelling to watch again and again.
In the end, we can never truely no something for sure about a man like Alexander, and I think that's a big thing that someone can take away from the film.
2. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - This is in no way shape or form, a videogame adaption, and stands alone a truely unique film. A scientist is trying to piece together a way to save the earth from a seeming alien invasion by ethereal spirit like entities, which just through touching, can kill a man.
Through thinking of this film, Square would have done well to just leave the whole Final Fantasy tag off it, perhaps it would've been viewed in a more understanding, sympathetic way.
Which is a shame, because it's not only the first feature film to seriously attempt photorealistic digital character performances through a mix of motion capture, voice acting, and hand drawn digital animation, it stands as one of the most finely crafted. there's no point in just doing a digital film "for the hell of it" as some have done. If your trying to just make humans as real as possible then you might aswell do a live action film, the people involved in The Spirits Within got that down, and it hasn't really been perfected again since. The Polar Express a few years later, suffered from complete dead eyes, when in Final Fantasy they painstakingly tried to get the majority of the performance from them.
The cinematography is on par with live action calibre, and then some, with the medium being used to create a tremendous sense of hyperrealism, the score also helps to cement the film in the usual language of cinema with the music done by Elliot Goldenthal, which both brings out the hyperreality and the humanistic side of the characters portrayed to help us identify with them.
Due to the fact that The Spirits Within was not embraced by the industy much, this kindof technique has rarely been undertaken much, which unfortunately shows, with the more recent Beowulf being not much a step ahead of Spirits Within, and it remains still the most compelling digital film.
1. Zodiac - This was a huge film, and as you can see at number 1, I'm a strong supporter of this getting more recognition. The film is tremendous as a "based on true events" film, with David Fincher being as respectful as he could be to the men, and women which were involved when real events were happening. It revolves around the story of the Zodiac Killer, which to this day has not been solved, and when the term serial killer was not in the public vernacular.
Due to the areas the film takes place being too far removed from the times the real events took place, the period was achieved through CG, as such the film is one of the first to be almost entirely filmed digitally.
Visually, it's an achievement of one of it's kind, but u would be hard pressed to tell by just looking at it.
It was sold as a slasher film, which is why it's probably so underrated, as really, it's more of a police procedural.
Fincher is sometimes said to be a fanatic as a director, this film was no exception, with him taking upwards of 70 takes a scene, the difference with some so called perfectionist directors, is the proof is on the screen. Jake Gylaanhal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo all give fantastic performances, I'd imagine with a lot of "I want to punch David" going through in the back of their minds.
Like Barry Lyndon, the attention to detail is painstakingly apparent, and the sensitive hand with which it's all told shows Fincher does not have to use his visual flair in all his endeavours. It's no bad boys, but if u have any appreciation for film as art or a meaningful arena, then you should watch Zodiac.
Smokey, Signing Off 4月14日 GRINDHOUSESaw Grindhouse last night, on 35mm print, in all
it's originally intended glory at Dendy, and it was just sheer
brilliance. In some ways it fulfilled expectations, in others, it blew
them away, easily Tarentino's best for quite awhile, and Rodrigeuz
excels too. What struck me is how different the 2 of the films
are (for those who live in a box, grindhouse encompasses 2 films,
Planet Terror and Deathproof with fake trailers inbetween). One is
just off the wall hilarious and never lets up, where the other actually
succeeds in being quite scary, and I mean scary.
This brings me to the point of my post, the studio
were idiots on so many levels for splitting the films, not least the
argument that the integrity of the original idea was broken. Devoid of
the fact that it destroys the entire point of what they did,
thematically and structurally, the 2 films dont perform aswell on their
own. the more "light hearted" one (cause zombies love hearts), sets
you up to be in a certain mind frame for the other, take one away, and
u lose this, and both films suffer on viewing them.
I can totally understand why on it's own deathproof
performed critically poorly, and the studio have nothing to blame but
themselves.
I had made the decision upon hearing of the split i
would boycott it, until they were released properly as intended, I am
so glad I waited, I would've benefitted from not seeing it at all if it
never came out.
for those who have seen neither, don't bother
seeing it, unless it is in it's true Grindhouse glory, fake trailers,
film imperfections and all. Smokey Signin Off 1月16日 We Have a HOUSE!!!After much crying, and violence, Chris, Bel and me finally found a house. As they say it all works out in the end though, as our place ended up being very close to both and Ben and Stephen anyway (who were originally going to be in the house aswell).
The place is like a 2 minute walk to a shopping centre which has some very nice cafe's and restaurants, with a bus stop the very same walk so the location is awesome.
The house itself is pretty spacious, 3 bedrooms with a garage, front and back yard. The only thing is some of the walls are in need of painting but the landlord said if we agreed to pay the current price (which was quite cheap) they would hold off on the paintwork and reavuluate it at a later date.
We're pretty much all moved in now and it's already starting to feel like a house.
And finally!! Blade Runner! I have waited for a proper release of this film for almost 10 years but it was so worth the wait. 5 discs, 5 versions of the film, 1 mammoth documentary it's fantastic.
I'll have pictures of both the house and blade runner uploaded pretty soon :)
Smokey Signing Off 10月31日 I have the Greatest Girlfriend in the World!!!!I'm not one to like surprises and so it kindof ate away at me, but it was sooo worth the wait.
She gave me the entire original score for the film Ben-Hur (all that was recorded with a lot of outakes and extended takes not used in the actual film) which as you can see from the pics came in a beautiful package, with a very extensive added booklet on the history of the film, the composer, and various articles on the music. The music accounts for almost 2 3rds of the entire film, with a 7 minute overture among that.
One of, if not the best birthday pressies i have ever received :):):):). Thanks so much babe, I love you heeeaps.
Smokey Signin Out 10月20日 THE FUCKERS ARE SHUTTING DOWN THE UNION COURT SUPERMARKETSo if the union didn't have enough lack of confidence, they are denying the lease of the supermarket, as they just cannot compete with it anymore.
I fail to see how this is so because A - The union are run at no profit B - They do not have to pay rent
And they cant even bloody match a kebab price at Ali Baba, a food franchise.
2.40 for a 1.2 litre coke at the supermarket.
2.80 for a 600 ml coke at a union run outlet, im seeing a problem here?!?!?!?!?
So I encourage everyone to join the facebook group, and message
Chris Steel (Board President)
http://anuedu.facebook.com/inbox/?compose&id=204400842 Directly as I have, this is atrocious, and to add insult to injury, THEY'RE GOING TO PUT IN A SANITY!!! If this succeeds only one thing will happen, prices in the union outlets will rise even higher.
Smokey Signing Out
Pasted below is my message to Chris Steel, i encourage everyone to do the same.
"I am absolutely outraged at this news, and this is why I have no faith in the ANU Union, if they cannot even MATCH a kebab price at say Ali Baba at a Union run outlet, when they are not working to a profit there is some serious problems there. I'm disgusted at the obvious disregard for the student body, as a clear majority of ppl would highly disagree with the lease to be denied, and what's worse, it's clear the board new this, and tried to keep it hush hush. I ask you, when is the Union going to stop representing itself, and represent the student body? The union outlets should either be ran more efficiently, to bring costs down, or the union rent it out to. non union run stores. The Supermarket has to pay rent, and the union outlets don't, the supermarket should be competing with THEM. At a personal level, if this goes ahead, all it will achieve is me boycotting union court, I can just take a bit of a walk into civic, and find better prices for everything in union court, right now, i just have to goto the bakery and the supermarket. It is also obvious that this will do nothing, but drive up prices in the union outlets. I hope that the situation, is responded to quickly and rationally, unlike it has been handled so far." 4月19日 Breaking the Blog DroughtSo there's been a bit of a Blog down session of late, not just with me I noticed, so I thought I'd do an entry. A fair bit ago a friend of mine Stephen asked me to make up a list of music that he could listen to. So I thought you guys might be interested in it too. It's a pretty big variety and no real theory behind just that I like the music, not caring about genre or anything.
Soundtracks Danny Elfman – Sommersby, Sleepy Hollow, Edward Scissorhands,
Harry Gregson-Williams – Kingdom of Heaven, Metal Gear Solid 3, Armageddon
Ennio Moricone – Lolita
Hans Zimmer – Crimson Tide, Gladiator, Hannibal, King Arthur
John Barry – Dances With Wolves, The Living Daylights, The Lion In Winter, Raise The Titanic
John Debney – Cutthroat Island, Passion of the Christ, The Scorpion King
Alan Silvestri – Predator, Back to the Future II, The Mummy Returns, Contact, Van Helsing
Dario Marinelli – Pride And Prejudice, Brother’s Grimm
David Arnold – Stargate, Independence Day, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Casino Royale
James Horner – Aliens, A Beautiful Mind
John Frizzel – Gods And Generals, Alien Resurrection
John Ottman – Superman Returns, The Usual Suspects
John Williams - Saving Private Ryan, Artificial Intelligence, Memoirs of a Geisha, Munich, Hook, Indiana Jones trilogy, Jurassic Park, Empire Strikes Back, Prisoner of Azkaban
James Newton Howard And Hans Zimmer - Batman Begins
Jerry Goldsmith – Star Trek First Contact, Alien
Philip Glass – Dracula, Kundun
Thomas Newman – Angels in America, American Beauty, Road to Perdition
Trevor Jones – Brassed Off
Vangelis – Blade Runner, Alexander
Zbigniew Preisner – The Secret Garden, Bleu
Patrick Doyle – Goblet of Fire, Donnie Brasco
Elliot Goldenthal – Heat, Final Fantasy, Frida, Alien 3
Media Ventures – Backdraft, The Rock
Gabriel Yared – Troy(rejcted score), The English Patient
Random Recent Stuff Covenant - Dreams Of A Cryotank
Moby – Hotel
Any Apocalyptica
Metallica - …And Justice for All, Ride The Lightning, S&M
Prodigy - Fat of the Land
Radiohead – OK Computer, Amnesiac
Reel Big Fish – Turn The Radio Off, Cheers, Why Do They Rock So Hard
Robbie Williams – Swing When Your Winning
Stabbing Westward – Darkest Days
Lacuna Coil – Comalie
Starsailor – Love Is Here, On The Outside
The Ten Tenors – Tenology
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Tool – (Heavy) Aenima, Undertow (Lighter, relatively) 10,000 Days, Lateralus
Tower Of Power – Live
U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind, War
Gorillaz – Demon Days
Pete Murray – Feeler, See The Sun
Gackt – Diablos
True Live – The Shape of it
The Tool Tribue Album
Lady Sovereign - Public Warning
Björk's Greatest Hits
Red Hot Chillipepper’s – Californication, By The Way
Massive Attack – Mezzanine
KMFDM – Symbols
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Lilly Allen – Alright Still
Gwen Stefani – The Sweet Escape
Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
Ferry Corsten - Trance Nation 4
Bond – Shine, Classified
Classical Mozart – Requiem Mass
Romantic Rossini – The Thievish Magpie Overture, Barber of Seville
Mahler – Symphonies 2,3,5,6,8,9
Wagner – The Ring Cycle Excerpts (Chicago Symphony)
20th Century Shostakovich – Symphonies 4,5,7,11,12
Prokofiev – Peter And The Wolf, Romeo and Juliet Suite
Johan De Meij – Lord Of The Rings Symphonie, T-Bone Concerto
Sibelius – Finlandia, Symphonies 2, 5, 7
Respighi – Pines Of Rome 3月5日 Cheers to Global Warming for Missed ClasssesSo the ANU got hit by a mega storm, it was exciting stuff, Ursies got evacuated and everything, luckily most cars (around the colleges at least) were fine and MOST rooms didnt get flooded in, at least at Ursies, aside from the dumbasses who had their windows left open, my didn't see that coming.
And in other new terrible news, Babel won best score at the Oscars, now some of you might remember my rant about the score for Brokeback Mountain, well I think pretty much the same about this, the only different fact is that there isnt any controversial gayness in it.
So all I can say is I think that Gustavo Santaolalla must have huge sex appeal in person or lobbies himself using sexual favours or something with the entire Oscars Community. I could go into a bit more indepth arguement about it all, but to be honest, that's energy better spent doing something like, going for a walk, writing on why paraplegics are underepresented in ballroom dancing, and drinking all at once. If you want more info on why Gustavo is a shameless hack, just the type the Academy loves to stroke then I refer you to this Blog entry here >>>> http://paulcorleone.spaces.live.com/?_c11_blogpart_blogpart=blogview&_c=blogpart&partqs=amonth%3d3%26ayear%3d2006
In more positive news Dylan Moran is coming to Canberra among elsewhere round aus, should be golden, hopefully it wont sell out before i have the cash, Lady Sov also in Sydney at the Forum on the 24 of March of which I'm going to try to get along to.
Paulos Signing Off
1月14日 $*%# you Cronulla!!!I thought I'd start off with a nice, soft header. Cronulla, I don't know why people got so violent there, or maybe i do, maybe because it's so fucking boring!!
I was out at Cronulla, at Northies, they then shut at 12. Then various other places, but they shut at 3, and from then on there was NOTHING open at Cronulla, nothing, 3 on a fucking saturday. SOFT COCKS, sooooo many soft cocks, unbelievable. The music was shit to begin with, a few places had a dj (who were tubby and shit), but fusion had just some 50 year old dude putting music on from a laptop. on top of that, hardly anyone was actually really dancing, most just standing there, moving their legs a bit, surveying any targets to try to hit on, and fail.
Soooo sad, those who think Canberra's boring, I'm just going to say, pfft, shut the fuck up, u dont even know what ur talking about. There ppl actually u know, dance, and there's proper dj's, cheap drinks, and it's not filled by fuckwits who think they're going to score but have no chance. There was a woman sitting around, with her head on her legs, she didnt look in a good state, so u know, I just go up and check if she's ok, she says im fine, I turn around, and what do I find, some go guys to choke me saying hands off my girl, I mean FUCK.
So Cronulla, I say this to you, your shit music, can suck my left ball, ur SOFT cock closing times, can suck my other, and the idiot who tried to choke me, can suck the thing in the middle. His girl should go and find a real man. And yes, I am sober.
Smokey, Signin off
12月26日 Merry Christmas AllJust saying I hope everyone is having a good break, had a good christmas day with huge meals and all. Have a good new year coming up aswell all.
Smokey Signing Off 12月14日 Nothing BigJust a note for everyone, I've got a my space now, I'll prolly still post on both this and that though, but it'll be doubling up, but if u want to add me you can, check it out at | http://www.myspace.com/smokinmuso and the blog page at http://blog.myspace.com/smokinmuso.
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My break has consisted of lots of chilling, lots of boozing, lots of practice, games, music, beach (when the weather is actually fuckin any good) and i might sleep for a bit and get up and do it all again :P. Catch
Smokey
12月7日 Casino Royale is da bombWell finally got to see Casino Royale today and from what i was expecting, it was just such a let down, my faith in the film industry is just completely destroyed......
AHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
What i really mean is, it was so fucking good, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a recent film so much at the cinema's, The Anniversary of Alien doesnt count and that's the only thing that comes to mind right now.
It's pretty simple actually why it was so good, they just got everything right, great films everything just seems to fall into place like script, sets, locations, music, the planets just align in a seemingly perfect way, this was a case in point. There are good bond films in the series and there are a few which standout as films in their own right, I'm very pleased to say Casino Royale joins that category. It's not just a bond film, it's a great film. U can really tell they went in with the right game plan.
Daniel Craig really showed the fuckwits who were looking for any excuse to say he didn't have what it takes with his premiere performance. A lot of people have their views of what makes up an effective Bond, but for me the first and formost is, is it actually believeable he can kill, without mercy, Craig passes this with flying colours, there's fire in his eyes, u really feel the intention behind him though he still can be just as suave as the great Sean Connery. In many ways I personally think he has bettered him.
The developing of Bond's character is a masterwork, not only on the level of the script, but Craig himself, a great deal of effort was done to try to make Bond evolve in the duration of the picture, and it's done wonderfully. The script, music, and Bond himself, work together to build up the mythos of him as a person and it's fantastic to watch on screen, right down to Craig's changes in how he fights.
Make no mistake, this is no family movie Bond, it['s aimed at older, more intelligent audiences and if the only thing u loved about bond before was the superficial things occupying thongs, gadgetry, or one liners u will be sorely disappointed. Though if a truer vision of Ian Flemmings original novels about a man, a damaged, dangerous man who has a huge ego and likes to defiantely take advantage of his licence to kill a bit too much, who happens to be one of the good guys in world filled with intrigue, mystery and mistrust then this is it. Not many of the now 21 bond films come into this category.
So I'm very pleased in the end, Casino filled all my high expectations from the direction they were taking with Bond and even then some. After seeing Die Another Day, I honestly thought Bond was dead, the series had devolved into a circus but my excitement in the films has been rekindled once again, Bond 22 now can't come soon enough for me.
Smokey Signing Off 11月6日 Bond is back, proper!For those who aren't normally interested in the Bond franchise, I say to you now, see Casino Royale when it comes out. It's shaping up to be a damn good film, Daniel Craig has been tipped to be on par with even Sean Connery. The characterization will be more humanised this time around, presenting a more flawed Bond. There's a reason why he is a rampant womanizer, drinker and gambler. Casino Royale was the first book to be written by Ian Fleming in the bond world, and just as the sentiment of Batman Begins was a reboot, to bring it more in line with the original concept of Bond, so too will Casino Royale be the same.
Martin Campbell who directed Goldeneye (a favourite of many people I know) has returned for Casino Royale along with Judi Dench as M to support Daniel Craig. To those negative fanboy's of Brosnan about Craig (of which numbers are dwindling more and more because, well, they're dipshits) going on about him being blonde, it doesn't matter, Roger Moore was blonde for his debut, and Daniel Craig's serious, edgy, very vulnerable and even inexperienced approach is much more in line with the novel Bond. Thoughts on Dalton as bond come to mind, getting back to the literal roots of bond. A big difference to Craig and many past Bonds, is that he is not a pretty boy, he will not say a witty remark, while jumping into a cheesy spaceship, and I must say, can act. I have no idea why fans react so negatively to actors playing bond, who can well, act.
Having just got my hands on the score for the film, I can say that it has only cemented my opinion that this is going to be a damn good movie, the music is very individual to the film, much like the score to On Her Majesties Secret Service. In line with Bond earning his status as a 00 Agent the music reflects this by holding off the james bond theme as he develops Bond's idioms, right up to the end, when the main theme starts to slip into the score, culminating into a very dramatic appearance of the James Bond theme fleshed out.
Smokey, Signing out. 10月24日 Last Teaching WeekAnd so anyway, screw you all that have not only VIEWED the space (I can see the stats ppl), but haven't commented on my last post
 hehe, nah it's all good. Yeah last teaching week and I'm happy about that, to get away even further from well, everything I might frequent a visit upto the blue mountains to see my relatives, and stay there for like a week or more, practicing, movies, and chillout. I'll still be sticking around for a bit after I'm done with uni here, only because it's the only time u can go out and not feel guilty. The brass department did an excellent concert at a local Art Gallery just in the middle of today, with a pretty good crowd which ended up coming by, with a pretty varied program, they lapped up even the contemporary works. Dominic Harvey (French Horn Lecturer) was saying after his wish is to have that happen every week, and I agree, that'd be fantastic, hopefully the logistics will pan out.
Smokey, Signin Off |
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