Friday night I went to the see the Australian Ballet Company's performance "French Connections". It was the first time I'd been to something like that, and not that bad really. Unfortunately, at two and a half hours it was probably a little bit long. There were two drink breaks though. The middle section featured some topless dancing, but it was all male topless-ness, not the good kind.
Saturday night I watched most of "Two Days in Paris". I say most of it, because we didn't get right to the end. I saw the preview in the cinemas and it looked quite good, but it wasn't. It was kind of like every other movie Julie Delpy makes, where she walks around and talks a lot about relationship stuff. Except she doesn't really look all that cute anymore.
In other news, I also sold my house, and bought a new one. More details to come . . .
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Eastern Promises
I love gangster movies. So when I found myself with a night on my own earlier this week, I was pretty pumped to get "Eastern Promises" from my favourite DVD hire shop.
Set in London, the movie is about a more-attractive-than-normal baby nurse (Naomi Watts) who comes across the diary of a young mother who died in front of her during childbirth. Trying to find some family for the baby, she gets the diary translated, and is drawn into the world of the Russian Mafia, and in particular, Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen aka the guy from "Lord of the Rings" who's not a hobbit or wizard) and Kiril (Vincent Cassell, aka the bad guy from the Jennifer Aniston classic "Derailed").
Along the way, there's plenty of intrigue, plot twists, and stabbings. Like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" there's some gratuitious male nudity, but it comes in the midst of such a fantastic knife fight i can hardly complain.
It's from the same director as "A History of Violence" and stars the same lead actor so there are obvious similarities there. Thematically too I suppose, they both deal with the effects of violence and whether it's ever really justified.
I watched this almost all the way through, only stopping once to go to the bathroom. As Michella will testify, it's rare that I watch a DVD without stopping it five or six times, so I must have really been interested.
Set in London, the movie is about a more-attractive-than-normal baby nurse (Naomi Watts) who comes across the diary of a young mother who died in front of her during childbirth. Trying to find some family for the baby, she gets the diary translated, and is drawn into the world of the Russian Mafia, and in particular, Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen aka the guy from "Lord of the Rings" who's not a hobbit or wizard) and Kiril (Vincent Cassell, aka the bad guy from the Jennifer Aniston classic "Derailed").
Along the way, there's plenty of intrigue, plot twists, and stabbings. Like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" there's some gratuitious male nudity, but it comes in the midst of such a fantastic knife fight i can hardly complain.
It's from the same director as "A History of Violence" and stars the same lead actor so there are obvious similarities there. Thematically too I suppose, they both deal with the effects of violence and whether it's ever really justified.
I watched this almost all the way through, only stopping once to go to the bathroom. As Michella will testify, it's rare that I watch a DVD without stopping it five or six times, so I must have really been interested.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
I'm starting to suspect that I've become a fan of romantic comedies.
I say that after seeing "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" last night, and thoroughly enjoying the experience. For those of you who haven't heard much about it, here's a quick summary of the plot:
Peter breaks up with his girlfriend Sarah, and decides to go to Hawaii to get over his heartbreak. Unfortunately he finds Sarah and her new English boyfriend are also holidaying on the Island, which just adds to his torment. However, he falls for the cute girl who works the reception desk there, and so things are looking up for him. When Sarah realises her new boyfriend is a twit, she breaks up with him and tries to get back together with Peter. But he realises that Hawaii girl is much nicer, and that Sarah was kind of a horrible person, and so he chooses to stay with the new girl, and they presumably live happily ever after.
Anyway, this doesn't sound like the plot of a movie that I'd normally enjoy, but because it's a Judd Apatow film (like Knocked Up, Superbad, or The 40 Year Old Virgin) it's so funny that you don't really realise that you're watching a romantic comedy. Of course, it's a lot dirtier than your average chick flick, and probably a tad more misogynistic as well, but that's the basis of the movie really.
I didn't think this was necessarily as good as the last few movies Judd Apatow has produced, but it was still funnier than just about anything else. A particular highlight was Peter's rock-opera about Dracula, which he sang like "The Count" from Sesame Street. The cameos from Apatow regulars like Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd were great too.
A few small drawbacks . . . the movie is almost two hours, which feels a bit long for this type of thing. Also, if you're like me, you have a quota of how much male nudity you need to see in a film (none thanks), and this movie unfortunately exceeds this limit. Still this is just nitpicking, I thought overall this was really good and would definitely recommend.
I say that after seeing "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" last night, and thoroughly enjoying the experience. For those of you who haven't heard much about it, here's a quick summary of the plot:
Peter breaks up with his girlfriend Sarah, and decides to go to Hawaii to get over his heartbreak. Unfortunately he finds Sarah and her new English boyfriend are also holidaying on the Island, which just adds to his torment. However, he falls for the cute girl who works the reception desk there, and so things are looking up for him. When Sarah realises her new boyfriend is a twit, she breaks up with him and tries to get back together with Peter. But he realises that Hawaii girl is much nicer, and that Sarah was kind of a horrible person, and so he chooses to stay with the new girl, and they presumably live happily ever after.
Anyway, this doesn't sound like the plot of a movie that I'd normally enjoy, but because it's a Judd Apatow film (like Knocked Up, Superbad, or The 40 Year Old Virgin) it's so funny that you don't really realise that you're watching a romantic comedy. Of course, it's a lot dirtier than your average chick flick, and probably a tad more misogynistic as well, but that's the basis of the movie really.
I didn't think this was necessarily as good as the last few movies Judd Apatow has produced, but it was still funnier than just about anything else. A particular highlight was Peter's rock-opera about Dracula, which he sang like "The Count" from Sesame Street. The cameos from Apatow regulars like Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd were great too.
A few small drawbacks . . . the movie is almost two hours, which feels a bit long for this type of thing. Also, if you're like me, you have a quota of how much male nudity you need to see in a film (none thanks), and this movie unfortunately exceeds this limit. Still this is just nitpicking, I thought overall this was really good and would definitely recommend.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV
So I spent a fair chunk of time this weekend playing Grand Theft Auto IV. And I have no regrets.
There was a whole lot of hype leading up to the release of this game so it was quite likely I was going to come away disappointed, but it more than lives up to all the advance press.
One of the things you notice straight away is you can't just shoot random people in the street any more. Well, you can if you want, but even the sound of a gun going off attracts cops, and causes all sorts of problems. You can stab people, it's a lot quieter and more inconspicuous, but it's really kind of vicious. Even for a video game that's mainly about killing and other such tomfoolery.
The other thing that's different about this latest installment is that, in addition to the general missions, you're encouraged to spend time just hanging out with the other characters in the game, building relationships with them. Apparently if you spend enough time with them, they come to your assistance with things that help you in the main game (eg your cousin owns a cab company, so spend enough time with him and he offers you an unlimited and free cab service all across the city).
You once again have the option to date various women, so of course, this is something that I immediately pursued. On my first date with Michelle, I got a call from my cousin on the mobile, telling me he was in trouble, and asking me to come quickly. I ignored him. Afterwards I got a second call from him, telling me he was now in hospital, and asking me to come pick him up. I actually felt kind of guilty, although he was rather cool about the whole thing, telling me he would have done the same if he was in my spot. Anyway, so far I've been on a few "dates" with Michelle - ten pin bowling, to play pool, and to a bar (which I had to drive home from drunk, with the screen all blurry and shaking from side to side!). Things are going OK between the two of us, although at one point she told me that while she liked me, I was calling her too often. But then the next time we went out, she invited me upstairs, so . . . women, who knows what they want eh?
Anyway, back to the game - the visuals look awesome, much better than San Andreas on the PS2. The city is apparently a little bit smaller than that game, but it's way more detailed, and there's no wide open areas like the mountains or countryside of San Andreas. The artificial intelligence is improved - in gunfights enemies hide behind cover rather than just standing in the open. I'm pretty sure it's going to take me months to finish this thing, although with the online stuff I could still be playing it well into next year.
There was a whole lot of hype leading up to the release of this game so it was quite likely I was going to come away disappointed, but it more than lives up to all the advance press.
One of the things you notice straight away is you can't just shoot random people in the street any more. Well, you can if you want, but even the sound of a gun going off attracts cops, and causes all sorts of problems. You can stab people, it's a lot quieter and more inconspicuous, but it's really kind of vicious. Even for a video game that's mainly about killing and other such tomfoolery.
The other thing that's different about this latest installment is that, in addition to the general missions, you're encouraged to spend time just hanging out with the other characters in the game, building relationships with them. Apparently if you spend enough time with them, they come to your assistance with things that help you in the main game (eg your cousin owns a cab company, so spend enough time with him and he offers you an unlimited and free cab service all across the city).
You once again have the option to date various women, so of course, this is something that I immediately pursued. On my first date with Michelle, I got a call from my cousin on the mobile, telling me he was in trouble, and asking me to come quickly. I ignored him. Afterwards I got a second call from him, telling me he was now in hospital, and asking me to come pick him up. I actually felt kind of guilty, although he was rather cool about the whole thing, telling me he would have done the same if he was in my spot. Anyway, so far I've been on a few "dates" with Michelle - ten pin bowling, to play pool, and to a bar (which I had to drive home from drunk, with the screen all blurry and shaking from side to side!). Things are going OK between the two of us, although at one point she told me that while she liked me, I was calling her too often. But then the next time we went out, she invited me upstairs, so . . . women, who knows what they want eh?
Anyway, back to the game - the visuals look awesome, much better than San Andreas on the PS2. The city is apparently a little bit smaller than that game, but it's way more detailed, and there's no wide open areas like the mountains or countryside of San Andreas. The artificial intelligence is improved - in gunfights enemies hide behind cover rather than just standing in the open. I'm pretty sure it's going to take me months to finish this thing, although with the online stuff I could still be playing it well into next year.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Hmm . . .
Just checked out the results from last year's half marathon - the winner finished in one hour 17 minutes, and others who beat me included a 75 year old man (one hour 50 minutes), and someone who walked the whole way (one hour 48 minutes).
Still, I'm just glad I finished the thing.
Still, I'm just glad I finished the thing.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
2.11.40
So this morning I ran a half marathon that I impulsively told everyone I was going to do after doing the City to Bay last year.
It went OK, but it's safe to say I wasn't making any more bold predictions after this one.
I did pretty much all of my training on a treadmill, which is obviously a little easier than running on the road. What I didn't really factor in though was that the race wasn't on flat ground - it was along Linear Park, which is pretty much all up and down. The down wasn't so bad (although it was messing with my knees by the end) but the up wasn't fun at all.
I ran with my Dad, who as you can see, came in just behind me. This isn't really accurate though, since he slowed his pace to allow me to keep up, and at one point, stopped off to use some public toilets and just told me "I'll catch up". It took him about five minutes. So I'm guessing without me he probaby would have finished the course half an hour or so quicker.
Anyway, I didn't really have any goals in terms of time, just finishing it was enough for me. I did pretty much match my treadmill speed though, even with the tougher conditions, so I was happy with that.
I can't see myself doing a run like this again. I'm glad I did it, but once was enough . . . it just gets so boring running for that long. I'm thinking my next challenge will be something a little easier on the joints - perhaps completing a video game, something like that. Or perhaps cook a three course meal, I don't think I've ever done that. Sounds more up my alley.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
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