2018's Film List [October]

INDEX!

01. James Bond Thunderball (12.10.18)
Where to start? It feels like they shot both too much footage and not enough. Very disjointed with a solid start that fall apart when they have far too much going on. Or the try to have lots going on. Still fun bit it is a bad film.

02. Escape [short] (22.10.18)
Stephen Fry voices a AI in a warning about the possible future.

03. The Floorwalker (27.10.18)
An early Charlie Chaplin film. No captions with explanations in this one but the acting is good enough to show the story.

04. The Life of Brian (28.10.18)
This film trucks along. Such a good and clever film. I think only those who don't know enough history could be offended by it (or people who haven't seen it).

05. Pipe Dream [short] (29.10.18)
A blast from the past, this was the internet for me back in the early 2000's. Love the lighting and camera moves. Oh and it goes without saying the music is great.

06. Bohemian Rhapsody [cinema] (30.10.18)
"You will remember When this is blown over And everything's all by the way
When I grow older I will be there at your side to remind you how I still love you, I still love you."

Best: Bohemian Rhapsody.

2018's Film List [September]

INDEX

01. Hardcore Henry (01.09.18)
Like Crank this is a film with a cool concept where the execution is turned up to crazy. Some parts that were shot with a older GoPro had noticeable fisheye that looked bad but otherwise very well shot. Dumb fun with a hint of cool story but faultless effort.

02. Neutral [short] (03.09.18)
Bizarrely compelling. Not sure about the opening shot or the aspect ratio but they are stylistic decisions. The plot is simple with a bit of strange thrown in for good measure. Not even sure if I liked it.

03. Isle of Dogs (05.09.18)
Funny, heart-warming, charming and impactful. Wes Anderson is a master at off beat comedies. This is one of the best films I have seen in ages, the is so much detail and creativity put into it.

04. Deadpool 2 (07.09.18)
Sags a bit in places but it works well. Some of the best parts had nothing to do with Deadpool, Domino is great and the music choices are great. A fun film with its heart in the right place.

05. James Bond From Russia With Love (09.09.18)
Always strange to have continuity in Bond though it happens more often than I think. I love the plot it doesn't come together until the end but it is very tightly plotted. This is the model bond will follow and expand upon, perhaps the new films should take notes. Also Matt Munro is fantastic.

06. Annihilation (15.09.18)
I paid particular notice to both the music and the tattoo this time around. Such a fantastic film and the kind of sifi that should me made more often.

07. Laputa Castle in the Sky (22.09.18)
Such a wonder filled film. Tooth ache and a bad beer didn't ruin this great fantastical romp. The soundtrack and direction are both top tier. The animation quality and detail is absurdly good. Only my second time watching this and I noticed things that tie it to Nausicaä.

08. Avengers - Infinity War (28.09.18)
Yes again! I could; so I did.

09. James Bond Goldfinger (29.09.18)
A strange beast this, the Bond film that dose most for defining the series but it is also odd. Bond has very little effect on the plot directly, is responsible for getting two women killed and spends most of his time aggravating the villain. The are some strange holes in the actions of Goldfinder as well, why kill the mob bosses and why the act with the one who gets crushed? It is a good film but very lacking in places.

Best? Hard choice this one, I think I'll say Isle of Dogs.

...Fun Few Days

So I'm spending my 29th birthday sat at home struggling to hobble my way around. 

It has not been a fun few days!

Ouch!

I got back from my holiday on Saturday and was looking forward to starting work again on Monday. I still cycle to work, so I got up early dug my bike out of the shed and set off in the light rain. I was going nicely along the canal just about to go past the Lockkeeper, when the next thing I knew I was on the floor my bike twisted under my legs.

I must have landed on my left knee and left handlebar. My knee was leaking a lot of blood and the break handle on the left of my bike had snapped off with a big dint in the end of the handle bar. I hurt a lot. I don’t know how it happened, could be a lot of things I suppose.

New Entrance

I hobbled around in pain getting my thoughts together. I used my water bottle to wash the blood away (it was starting to pool in my sock and boot) it looked like a nice scrape. A quick check found no other obvious injury's. The was nothing else to be done so I gingerly continued on my way to work.

It was not a fun ride. The was a fallen tree over the path at one point, I had to lift my bike over then shimmy under. I took the journey slow checking down at my knee often. The blood had stooped and it was a bit numb. This has been a hall mark of this injury not much in the way of pain.

Coming Through

I managed to get to work in time and cleaned myself up. I had a drink stretched off and felt ok. Until about half an hour into working. They have a good team at work and sorted my injury out and decided I should go to hospital.

Hospital is always fun, it was my first visit in over ten years and it was smooth process (apart from the 6 attempts to took to take a blood sample). Two clean ups with a bit of poking one x-ray and a CT scan. It took a while for them to be happy nothing in my knee joint was damaged so all I needed was a deep clean and stitches. Which would have to wait until the next day.

Recovering

That night was fun. Sleeping on the sofa in a daze created by Co-Codamol. They had put a huge bandage on and movement was difficult but I managed. I was awoken the next morning by a call asking me to git in for day surgery. Most of which was spent sat about waiting.

I have no memory of the surgery and I haven't even seen my wound yet. The bandages need to be changed on Friday so I should get a good look then. It hurts a bit but nothing ordinary painkillers couldn't handle. It is just going to be an awkward few weeks until I'm back up to shape.

Relaxing?

So yeah I'm just catching up on some videos and books for the next few days. I'm hoping to have a bit more movement after the bandage gets changed. Oh and here is a very dumb thing to round things off. I haven been given crutched because the was nobody qualified to tech me how to use them.

It has been a fun birthday on the phone to work to keep them up to date but I now need to make my way over to give in my sick note. Two more weeks of fun.

2018's Film List [August]

INDEX

01. Avengers Infinity War (03.08.18)
The bad guy has to make sacrifices to get what he wants. It is a simple thing that many story mess up, make your antagonist someone who under slightly different circumstances you would root for. Marvel knocked this out of the park and into orbit.

02. The Bourne Supremacy (04.08.18)
This film has a bit of a odd framework. The film is effectively over then we get a very cool car chase. The last two scenes are what makes the bourne trilogy so great, it goes to difficult places and its style is so distinctive.

03. Ant-Man and the Wasp [cinema] (05.08.18)
A good bit of fun, simple and very charter driven. Again a antagonist who is complex and only just falls into being a villain. Some very cool action, jokes are hit and miss but that happens.I did pick up one one or two strange edits, like parts were missing or shortened.

04. The Bourne Ultimatum (10.08.18)
The style is still there but it lacks some of the simplicity of the first. Some very cool moments but lacks a through-line. A very very good trilogy. I suppose I will have to watch the next two sometime.

05. Crank (11.08.18)
It's dose the dumb unintentional funny stuff from bad 80s action movies but on purpose. Very cool concept and the style is odd. Proper dumb fun.

06. Thor Ragnarok (29.08.18)
The directors commentary. A fun film to relax to on a lazy birthday.

07. James Bond Dr No (31.08.18)
I didn't remember the plot going in, now I'm not sure I could summerize it. It falls apart in the final third with Dr No being wasted. Some very cool moments and shots but the dragon set piece is horrendous. So much could be said about early 60s Bond but it is of its time, at least this one is fun.

Best of the bunch? Avengers IW no contest.

2018's Film List [July]

INDEX

01. Blade Runner 2049 (08.07.18)
Such a epic film. Many moving parts come together to make for a film that is just outstanding.

02. Spider-Man: Homecoming (20.07.18)
I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get around to seeing this again. The best Spider-Man film hands down. The ties with the greater universe are well done and the moments from here they referenced in 'Infinity War' hit harder.

03. UNCHARTED [short] (21.07.18)
The adaptation of the games have been in development hell for years but this fan film shows the is a lot of potential. The games are very influenced by Indian Jones so it make sense that it would work.

04. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (22.07.18)
One of the best films of all time?

05. GOG: Preserving Gaming's Past & Future (23.07.18)
The good guys of computer gaming. Such hard work that goes into bringing 20 year old games no new computers. Another great documentary by NoClip.

06. A Farewell to Arms [short] (25.07.18)
A cool little feature that demonstrates all of the aspects of WETA in New Zealand.

07. Inception. (28.07.18)
One of the best directed films. One of the best scripts. One of the best scores.
One of the best films!

08. The adventures of Mr. Incredible [short] (29.07.18)
Pixar's send up of old superhero 'animations'. The live action mouth style gives it a very strange look. Even though this is a parody it is strange to think stuff like this was common.

09. The Bourne Identity (30.07.18)
The soundtrack stood out to me this time. Which makes sense, I know this film backwards plot and action wise. The are times where some piano plonks came in subtle and reminded me of Max Payne. Such a good film, simple and thrilling.


I Can't choose out of this lot, 5 damn good films.

I Haven't been for a run in over a week

But I have cycled over 65 miles this week.

 Untitled

Sooooooooooooooo, I have a new job. It may only be temporary but if I can make a good impression it could lead somewhere nice. The work it's self is easy enough just very monotonous. Getting up a 6 for the 8am start has been ok though. I can see myself doing this for a long time working my way up or just as a stop gap between something in more my wheelhouse.

It is the end of my first week and so far so good. The conditions are friendly and helpful. It only take about 45 minuets to get there gong gently and 45 back going a bit more energetically. Lets hope the is no shoe to drop.

RABBIT

I'm also shopping around for a new bike. Mine died many years ago and when necessary I have borrowed my brothers. It is good just not the kind I like. My route to work is almost entirely along the canal and a mountain bike with chunky tires would be a great help.

I don't want to go over board with anything; just something to get me there and back again five days a week. Plus it is about time to start up driving lessons again. The steady pay-check will be focused in that direction for now. Time to save up.

Ducks Eye View

Just a small update for today, I'm posting this then I will relax and watch a film. 

Not sure what yet though.

2018's Film List [June]

Into month six. INDEX

01. Le Voyage Dans la Lun (A Trip to the Moon) (01.06.18)
My first time watching this historic film. The choreography and blocking were superb as was the set design. It is strange to think that this was filmed in a time closer to Napoleon than today. I had the OST from 'To the Moon' in the background.

02. for the birds [short] (03.06.18)
Still Pixar's best short film.

03. The History of Bethesda Game Studios (06.06.18)
A fantastic look bu Noclip into the one of the giants of game creators. 20 years of history compressed in 90 minutes but it show a interesting history and the story of the studio. Fascinating to look at.

04. Oceans Eleven (08.06.18)
As good as I remembered if a bit simpler to follow. I love what this film dose with it's editing and structure. Very classy and elegant, even if the are one or tow spots in which it shows it's age.

05. Oceans Twelve (09.06.18)
I had never seen this one, I had heard bad things about it. It is a good and fun watch but it doesn't come close to the first one. Theses films aren't as clever as they think they are (like slight of hand that may be the point). It fell down on the turn it need to win.

06. Black Panther (11.06.18)
Up there as one of the best Marvel films. Such a strong story and theme, which plays off of the audio visual delight that is this film. Simple but very effective.

07. The Making of Fallout 76 (13.06.18)
Noclip back with a very cool look into a game that is still being worked on. The is so much that goes into modern games and for one of this scale its hard to comprehend. Very interesting.

08. Rebooted [short] (17.06.18)
A fun tongue in cheek look at the transformation of Batman. Some very interesting insights and the way it all pieced together worked brilliantly.

09. Jason and the Argonauts (22.06.18)
This seemed to be on TV all the time when I was growing up. What I now know about mythology dose weaken the film a bit. It is a lot of fun even if the first act is very rushed. The moment when the giant statue of Talos turns it head is one of the best film moments and has struck with me for years. side not looking into the cast list I didn't recognise Patrick Troughton.

10. Animated Putty [short] (26.06.18)
Regarded as on of the first stop animation films. Some very cool techniques are used including double exposure and reversing the film. Seems to be a test of concept but very very cool.


So the were two things that hit the number of film I could watch this month. A new job and the World Cup. Best: Black Panther.