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
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Update
It's been a while since I last updated this thing, so I guess all three of my readers are getting a little impatient. Or not, who knows. Anyway, here's what's been going on lately . . .
Movies
I caught two movies over the last weekend - saw Michael Clayton on DVD, and Before The Devil Knows You're Dead on DVD. I didn't love either one. I thought I'd like Michael Clayton, seeing as it had good reviews, was nominated for awards, and starred Seth Gecko. Not sure if I just wasn't in the mood but I found it a little boring, and unnecessarily confusing.
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead was a little better, but I still didn't love that. It did star the talent and always-watchable Philip Seymour Hoffmann, although it did also feature him prominently in a graphic sex scene. I think there should be some kind of warning for those types of situations. Anyway this was OK, but I didn't really see what all of the fuss was about.
I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately, the decline in movies from the mid-nineties to now. In the last year or so I've seen two movies that I thought were really good - Knocked Up and Superbad. And then a couple more I enjoyed to varying degrees - 30 Days of Night, Smokin Aces, I suppose the Grindhouse movies. A quick search of movies from 1995 though on Wikipedia revealed the following films were released at the midway point of the last decade - The Usual Suspects, Heat, Mallrats, Higher Learning, Casino, Dead Man Walking, Dead Presidents, Desperado, Seven, Get Shorty, Leaving Las Vegas, Strange Days, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, and Twelve Monkeys. What happened?
Fine dining
Sunday lunchtime I took the girl to Cafe Primo (yeah I'm a classy guy). I discovered though that they have abandoned their "9.90 menus" for regular prices. Meaning a simple pasta dish now costs $15, and they have a steak menu which ranges from about $20-28. This is, I think, ridiculous, and reminds me of the time a few months ago when the Vietnamese bakery round the corner from my work started charging white people prices. The best thing about these places were they were cheap, now that they cost the same as everywhere else, you may as well go somewhere nice right?
Grand Theft Auto IV
So the biggest game of the year was released yesterday and I am currently sans Playstation (thanks AAMI!). I toyed with the idea of buying it anyway, figuring my PS3 will be replaced in a few weeks time, and JB had a good opening week price on it. But when I went back today they were all sold out. This thing looks amazing though, I can't wait to get into it.
Running
The last month or two I've been training for a half marathon. Now all of a sudden it's upon me. Well, this Sunday to be exact. I'm not really sure how I'll go - I did my last long run a few days ago on the treadmill and got to 21km (the length of Sunday's run) but that was in optimal conditions. The funny thing is that the run starts at 8am, with the winners presentations starting at 10am. By my calculations, I'll be crossing the finish line around 10.15am, most likely while everyone's attention will be diverted to a podium somewhere.
Movies
I caught two movies over the last weekend - saw Michael Clayton on DVD, and Before The Devil Knows You're Dead on DVD. I didn't love either one. I thought I'd like Michael Clayton, seeing as it had good reviews, was nominated for awards, and starred Seth Gecko. Not sure if I just wasn't in the mood but I found it a little boring, and unnecessarily confusing.
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead was a little better, but I still didn't love that. It did star the talent and always-watchable Philip Seymour Hoffmann, although it did also feature him prominently in a graphic sex scene. I think there should be some kind of warning for those types of situations. Anyway this was OK, but I didn't really see what all of the fuss was about.
I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately, the decline in movies from the mid-nineties to now. In the last year or so I've seen two movies that I thought were really good - Knocked Up and Superbad. And then a couple more I enjoyed to varying degrees - 30 Days of Night, Smokin Aces, I suppose the Grindhouse movies. A quick search of movies from 1995 though on Wikipedia revealed the following films were released at the midway point of the last decade - The Usual Suspects, Heat, Mallrats, Higher Learning, Casino, Dead Man Walking, Dead Presidents, Desperado, Seven, Get Shorty, Leaving Las Vegas, Strange Days, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, and Twelve Monkeys. What happened?
Fine dining
Sunday lunchtime I took the girl to Cafe Primo (yeah I'm a classy guy). I discovered though that they have abandoned their "9.90 menus" for regular prices. Meaning a simple pasta dish now costs $15, and they have a steak menu which ranges from about $20-28. This is, I think, ridiculous, and reminds me of the time a few months ago when the Vietnamese bakery round the corner from my work started charging white people prices. The best thing about these places were they were cheap, now that they cost the same as everywhere else, you may as well go somewhere nice right?
Grand Theft Auto IV
So the biggest game of the year was released yesterday and I am currently sans Playstation (thanks AAMI!). I toyed with the idea of buying it anyway, figuring my PS3 will be replaced in a few weeks time, and JB had a good opening week price on it. But when I went back today they were all sold out. This thing looks amazing though, I can't wait to get into it.
Running
The last month or two I've been training for a half marathon. Now all of a sudden it's upon me. Well, this Sunday to be exact. I'm not really sure how I'll go - I did my last long run a few days ago on the treadmill and got to 21km (the length of Sunday's run) but that was in optimal conditions. The funny thing is that the run starts at 8am, with the winners presentations starting at 10am. By my calculations, I'll be crossing the finish line around 10.15am, most likely while everyone's attention will be diverted to a podium somewhere.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Two more things that suck
Australia Post
I got a note in my letterbox earlier in the week saying they had tried to deliver a parcel to me but couldn't. I rang the local post office and got them to transfer it into the city, where I could pick it up during business hours. I go in today to pick it up, wondering what exciting package I have waiting for me, and find that it is . . . the new copy of "Rolling Stone" magazine. Since when is that a parcel? And why can't they just leave it in my letterbox, like they do the other 11 months of the year?
Jack Johnson
For some reason he's on the cover of the aforementioned magazine. What year is it again? It was bad enough when people inexplicably liked him and his monotone tunes a few years back, but I thought we'd moved on from that. Obviously not.
I got a note in my letterbox earlier in the week saying they had tried to deliver a parcel to me but couldn't. I rang the local post office and got them to transfer it into the city, where I could pick it up during business hours. I go in today to pick it up, wondering what exciting package I have waiting for me, and find that it is . . . the new copy of "Rolling Stone" magazine. Since when is that a parcel? And why can't they just leave it in my letterbox, like they do the other 11 months of the year?
Jack Johnson
For some reason he's on the cover of the aforementioned magazine. What year is it again? It was bad enough when people inexplicably liked him and his monotone tunes a few years back, but I thought we'd moved on from that. Obviously not.
Things that suck
The Aviator
A friend whom I respect very much recommended this film. He said it was better than "The Departed" and Scorcese should have won an Oscar for "The Aviator" instead of this. He was way off.
I watched this over the course of two sittings, and found it increasingly boring. Maybe I'm biased against longer movies, although generally Scorcese's movies are long, and I like most of those. Let's just say this was no "Goodfellas". I had no interest in the main character, and all the women in it annoyed me. On the other hand, it wasn't as bad as "There Will Be Blood" so it's got that going for it.
Getting robbed
Last Friday my house got broken into again. For those of you keeping score at home, that's twice in three months. They took my new PS3 and all the games, which was especially annoying as I had mentally prepared myself to unwind on Saturday with a marathon gaming session. Now I get to wait two months for the insurance company to replace my stuff (missing the launch of Grand Theft Auto 4), which should give me time to figure out where I'm going to hide it when I get it.
The Biggest Loser
So Cosi got voted off on Monday, and I realised I couldn't care less about any of the people left (Sam, Gary, Alison and Kirsten). Especially Sam. For some reason that kid annoys me. I tried watching it Tuesday night but turned off after a couple of minutes, if you don't care about the people in that show, it's kind of a waste of time. I don't think I'll be back until the finale, I was to find out what that punk lesbian chick looks like by now.
A friend whom I respect very much recommended this film. He said it was better than "The Departed" and Scorcese should have won an Oscar for "The Aviator" instead of this. He was way off.
I watched this over the course of two sittings, and found it increasingly boring. Maybe I'm biased against longer movies, although generally Scorcese's movies are long, and I like most of those. Let's just say this was no "Goodfellas". I had no interest in the main character, and all the women in it annoyed me. On the other hand, it wasn't as bad as "There Will Be Blood" so it's got that going for it.
Getting robbed
Last Friday my house got broken into again. For those of you keeping score at home, that's twice in three months. They took my new PS3 and all the games, which was especially annoying as I had mentally prepared myself to unwind on Saturday with a marathon gaming session. Now I get to wait two months for the insurance company to replace my stuff (missing the launch of Grand Theft Auto 4), which should give me time to figure out where I'm going to hide it when I get it.
The Biggest Loser
So Cosi got voted off on Monday, and I realised I couldn't care less about any of the people left (Sam, Gary, Alison and Kirsten). Especially Sam. For some reason that kid annoys me. I tried watching it Tuesday night but turned off after a couple of minutes, if you don't care about the people in that show, it's kind of a waste of time. I don't think I'll be back until the finale, I was to find out what that punk lesbian chick looks like by now.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Pictionary
Last night Mike and Jess and Ash and Ange came round for pizza and a few drinks, and we ended up breaking out the Pictionary.
For a while there Michella didn't want to play this with me because of my desire to cheat, but now that she's my team mate, she doesn't seem to care so much. Anyway we started strong, and I had a feeling we were going to take out the game, but Mike and Jess staged an improbably comeback, and even Ash and Ange made things interesting.
Ultimately Mike and Jess ended up with the win, proving to be the most in-sync couple in the room.
Afterwards, we took group pictures, in recognition of the fact that it will possibly be another two years before we're all in a room together again, with Mike and Jess living in London and all.
For a while there Michella didn't want to play this with me because of my desire to cheat, but now that she's my team mate, she doesn't seem to care so much. Anyway we started strong, and I had a feeling we were going to take out the game, but Mike and Jess staged an improbably comeback, and even Ash and Ange made things interesting.
Ultimately Mike and Jess ended up with the win, proving to be the most in-sync couple in the room.
Afterwards, we took group pictures, in recognition of the fact that it will possibly be another two years before we're all in a room together again, with Mike and Jess living in London and all.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Weekend update
Being young, free, and (relatively) healthy, I spent most of my weekend watching movies and playing video games. Here are some of the highlights . . .
Saturday night I rewatched "Blood Diamond", but on Blu-ray. Since getting the PS3 a couple of weeks ago I'd been wanting to check out the Blu-ray thing, but I found most video stores in my area don't have these. Michella would say it's because I live in the ghetto, and her local video store has a ton because she lives in the eastern suburbs (defined as being east of South Road). Whatever.
Anyway, the quality of picture on the Blu-ray discs is just amazing. So clear and crisp and bright. The scene towards the end of the film where the helicopters bomb the mining field is particularly spectacular. From now on I'm going to try and search out movies on Blu-ray whenever I can, even if it means driving to the other side of town.
Sunday afternoon we saw "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", which Michella suggested I watch because of Leo's performance. Even though I don't normally like these types of films (eg Shine), I have to admit he was pretty convincing in his portrayal of a mentally handicapped kid, especially since he was practically a kid himself at the time. I didn't love the storyline, but I was intrigued by the obese woman who played the mother. After the movie was over I got on the internet and found out she was cast after the producer of the film saw her on Sally Jessy Raphael talking about her weight, and she went on to appear in other movies after this one. Then I found that there were a number of websites dedicated to her, with pics, and one that had the story of her life. You can find it here . . .
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Heights/1787/direction.html
It blew me away that there are pages like this scattered across the internet, often years after they've last been updated. When I told Mirjana about it this morning she suggested they need to have a clean up day for the internet like we have at our office. It sounded like a good idea to me.
Finally, last night I watched about half of "The Aviator", just to continue with the Leo theme for the weekend. It was rather good, but in the end I got tired and had to go to bed. I thought Katherine Hepburn (played by Cate Blanchett) was way too bossy and generally annoying, but Michella said she was awesome and a trailblazer because she wore pants. Or something like that.
When I wasn't watching movies this weekend I spent quality time with "Gran Turismo 5 Prologue" and "NBA 2K8". Both of them look much better since I found out how to adjust the system settings on my PS3 to make it run in HD (shouldn't this be automatic?)
I finished the first group of ten races on GT5P, and started on the first of the next, on a (fictional) race track through the Swiss Alps. It looks stunning, I ended up re-doing the race about ten times even after I'd won it, just to watch the scenery fly past.
In NBA 2k8 I started a playoff series, playing as the Warriors, taking on the Mavericks. I took out game one, so was pretty happy with that, although I was hoping virtual-Dirk would choke, just like in real life. Again this looks amazing running in HD, you really can't put a price on being able to see the minute details in Matt Barnes' neck tattoo.
Saturday night I rewatched "Blood Diamond", but on Blu-ray. Since getting the PS3 a couple of weeks ago I'd been wanting to check out the Blu-ray thing, but I found most video stores in my area don't have these. Michella would say it's because I live in the ghetto, and her local video store has a ton because she lives in the eastern suburbs (defined as being east of South Road). Whatever.
Anyway, the quality of picture on the Blu-ray discs is just amazing. So clear and crisp and bright. The scene towards the end of the film where the helicopters bomb the mining field is particularly spectacular. From now on I'm going to try and search out movies on Blu-ray whenever I can, even if it means driving to the other side of town.
Sunday afternoon we saw "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", which Michella suggested I watch because of Leo's performance. Even though I don't normally like these types of films (eg Shine), I have to admit he was pretty convincing in his portrayal of a mentally handicapped kid, especially since he was practically a kid himself at the time. I didn't love the storyline, but I was intrigued by the obese woman who played the mother. After the movie was over I got on the internet and found out she was cast after the producer of the film saw her on Sally Jessy Raphael talking about her weight, and she went on to appear in other movies after this one. Then I found that there were a number of websites dedicated to her, with pics, and one that had the story of her life. You can find it here . . .
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Heights/1787/direction.html
It blew me away that there are pages like this scattered across the internet, often years after they've last been updated. When I told Mirjana about it this morning she suggested they need to have a clean up day for the internet like we have at our office. It sounded like a good idea to me.
Finally, last night I watched about half of "The Aviator", just to continue with the Leo theme for the weekend. It was rather good, but in the end I got tired and had to go to bed. I thought Katherine Hepburn (played by Cate Blanchett) was way too bossy and generally annoying, but Michella said she was awesome and a trailblazer because she wore pants. Or something like that.
When I wasn't watching movies this weekend I spent quality time with "Gran Turismo 5 Prologue" and "NBA 2K8". Both of them look much better since I found out how to adjust the system settings on my PS3 to make it run in HD (shouldn't this be automatic?)
I finished the first group of ten races on GT5P, and started on the first of the next, on a (fictional) race track through the Swiss Alps. It looks stunning, I ended up re-doing the race about ten times even after I'd won it, just to watch the scenery fly past.
In NBA 2k8 I started a playoff series, playing as the Warriors, taking on the Mavericks. I took out game one, so was pretty happy with that, although I was hoping virtual-Dirk would choke, just like in real life. Again this looks amazing running in HD, you really can't put a price on being able to see the minute details in Matt Barnes' neck tattoo.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
New purchases
Saturday afternoon I drove down to Harvey Norman at Marion to pick up a few items from my recent insurance claim. I picked up a new home theatre amplifier, and new hard drive/dvd recorder. The third item I had to grab though was a DVD player, and seeing as I already have three of these (and only two TVs in my house), it seemed a little superfluous.
Luckily they let me pick something else from their wide array of electronic goods, and so I chose a copy of the newly released Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and a new ipod shuffle.
I'm generally not a huge racing games fan, but I've really enjoyed GT5P. I've spent a bit of time on the single player option, and it's pretty cool, competing in a series of increasingly difficult races and time challenges to win money to buy more cars (there are more than 70 different models available, so I could be busy for a while).
Last night for the first time I had the option of playing with a friend so tried out the two player, and found it wasn't quite as good, as there just aren't enough cars on the track - in single player there is between 8 and 16, whereas with two player there are only two cars.
It's only a preview of the upcoming Gran Turismo 5, but with all the cars to choose from, and thirty plus races plus online stuff I think this will keep me busy for a while. And the graphics on it are pretty amazing too.
So onto my second purchase - a new ipod shuffle. This is the second one I've bought, although I'm pretty sure I've lost my original one for good. With the price down to $65 now I couldn't resist picking up another. Already I've found I use it almost exclusively, my old video ipod just sits on my desk at home. It still blows my mind that something so small can contain so many songs, and create such a big noise. Anyway if you don't have one of these already I highly recommend.
Luckily they let me pick something else from their wide array of electronic goods, and so I chose a copy of the newly released Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and a new ipod shuffle.
I'm generally not a huge racing games fan, but I've really enjoyed GT5P. I've spent a bit of time on the single player option, and it's pretty cool, competing in a series of increasingly difficult races and time challenges to win money to buy more cars (there are more than 70 different models available, so I could be busy for a while).
Last night for the first time I had the option of playing with a friend so tried out the two player, and found it wasn't quite as good, as there just aren't enough cars on the track - in single player there is between 8 and 16, whereas with two player there are only two cars.
It's only a preview of the upcoming Gran Turismo 5, but with all the cars to choose from, and thirty plus races plus online stuff I think this will keep me busy for a while. And the graphics on it are pretty amazing too.
So onto my second purchase - a new ipod shuffle. This is the second one I've bought, although I'm pretty sure I've lost my original one for good. With the price down to $65 now I couldn't resist picking up another. Already I've found I use it almost exclusively, my old video ipod just sits on my desk at home. It still blows my mind that something so small can contain so many songs, and create such a big noise. Anyway if you don't have one of these already I highly recommend.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
There will be boredom
With Paul back in town, last night we decided to take in a screening of the Academy Award winning "There Will Be Blood" down at Marion.
Paul pre-booked our tickets online, so we could "Jump the Queue". Although, as he pointed out, the fine print on the website suggests that you turn up at least 30 minutes prior to your movie's scheduled time (ie 45 minutes before it actually starts), which makes one consider the benefits of "jumping" the "queue".
None of this really mattered because there were only a few people gathered around the ticket booth, and only two other people in our movie session. Not surprising I suppose for 8.30pm on a Wednesday night.
So . . . on to the movie itself. To begin with, it's probably the worst case of fraudulent advertising in a movie title since "The Neverending Story". True, there was a little blood, but this was brief and sporadic, and mainly at the end of the film. A more accurate title would have been "There will be no dialogue for the first twenty minutes", or "There will be no chance you'll be catching this again on TV or DVD".
The film is about an oil tycoon, Daniel Plainview, who like many tycoons, is a ruthless businessman who screws over a great many people - especially poor people - to build his empire. Him and his son are really the only key characters in the film - with the exception of a crazy preacher guy - and the story follows around 30 years of his life, from his early beginnings (the first twenty minutes are almost silent footage of him working in mines) till the bitter end (when he is a crazed - and yes, bitter - old man living alone in a giant house). If you're thinking "Gee, a three hour long film about a guy mining for oil, with only a few speaking roles, set in the early 1900s - that doesn't sound awesome", well then you would be right. It's not awesome. Not in the slightest. While there were a few parts that held my attention, most of the time I had to work incredibly hard to stay awake.
Daniel Day Lewis won an Academy Award for this performance, and I guess it was good, but I just don't really have that much interest in seeing someone act like a crazed oil tycoon these days, no matter how well they do it. Besides, when it comes down to it, what do these guys know anyway? "Titanic" won 11 Academy Awards, and "Donnie Darko" won none. So yeah, great credibility guys.
In conclusion, if you've got a spare three hours to spare, and are considering watching this movie, I would suggest some of the following experiences might be a better and more enjoyable use of your time.
1) Drive to Murray Bridge, get an ice cream, turn around and come home.
2) Watch an entire week's worth of Home and Away episodes.
3) Pluck all of the hairs from your right arm, one by one. If time allows, do the left as well.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Easter recap
Thursday night
I went to my first AFL game in many years (the last time I went was with Corey and Bec so . . . ), and saw the Power take on Geelong with my Dad and cousin. I have to admit, it wasn't as feral as I thought it would be. Sure, it was probably more feral than any other event outside of a smash up derby, B & S Ball or house party in Salisbury, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. I found it pretty hard to follow the action, since 80% of it seemed to take place on the other side of the field. Still it ended up being reasonably close and was exciting enough.
Friday
Went to church in the morning, then enjoyed a great lunch at Fasta Pasta (open all day in celebration of our Lord's crucifixion) with Paul and Tara. I had the chicken pizza, and finished it all off with Mars Bar cheesecake. Just superb. Afterwards Michella and I spent some quality time together on the PS3 playing The Simpsons. At night we had some dinner with Peter and Karen, then hired "Sicko". I figure you can only believe about 50% of anything you see in a Michael Moore movie, but even if that's true, the stuff in this movie is pretty amazing. Some of the footage of broke hospital patients being dumped outside of homeless shelters was particularly disturbing.
Saturday
Planned a little trip down to McLaren Vale to do a "Cheese and Wine Trail". We picked up our picnic basket (really more of a cooler) from a place called "Blessed Cheese" around lunch time, and visited a number of wineries in the region, who provided tastings of wines matched to the cheeses we had. Apart from the fact that the first cheese we had (a goatsmilk from Udder Delights) tasted like feet, it was quite an enjoyable experience. Because I was the sober one I drove home. Dinner was again with Michella's parents, and we finished the night with a DVD screening of "The Simpsons Movie".
Sunday
Was on Sunday School this morning, and ended up playing guitar for the kiddies. Since I hadn't really played in a few years I was a little concerned, but it all turned out OK. Had a family lunch at Mum and Dad's, followed by a game of Pictionary, where Michella and I were totally robbed. And the one time I decided to play without cheating. There's a life lesson for you. At night we played roughly 100 games of Mario Kart, with me coming last in about 99 of them. Awesome.
Monday
Spent some time in the morning getting my house ready for the auction next weekend, and then went to the gym. I ran for half an hour on the treadmill then exited quickly, as I had the overwhelming urge to throw up (I didn't). We went down to Semaphore in the afternoon to see "Vantage Point". I didn't know a whole lot about it heading in but I was pleasantly surprised - it's about the assasination of an American President, but told from six different perspectives. You don't really figure out everything that's going on until the final chapter of the movie. Afterwards we spent some more time battling The Simpsons Game, until I gave myself a headache and had to get an early night. I'm getting old.
I went to my first AFL game in many years (the last time I went was with Corey and Bec so . . . ), and saw the Power take on Geelong with my Dad and cousin. I have to admit, it wasn't as feral as I thought it would be. Sure, it was probably more feral than any other event outside of a smash up derby, B & S Ball or house party in Salisbury, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. I found it pretty hard to follow the action, since 80% of it seemed to take place on the other side of the field. Still it ended up being reasonably close and was exciting enough.
Friday
Went to church in the morning, then enjoyed a great lunch at Fasta Pasta (open all day in celebration of our Lord's crucifixion) with Paul and Tara. I had the chicken pizza, and finished it all off with Mars Bar cheesecake. Just superb. Afterwards Michella and I spent some quality time together on the PS3 playing The Simpsons. At night we had some dinner with Peter and Karen, then hired "Sicko". I figure you can only believe about 50% of anything you see in a Michael Moore movie, but even if that's true, the stuff in this movie is pretty amazing. Some of the footage of broke hospital patients being dumped outside of homeless shelters was particularly disturbing.
Saturday
Planned a little trip down to McLaren Vale to do a "Cheese and Wine Trail". We picked up our picnic basket (really more of a cooler) from a place called "Blessed Cheese" around lunch time, and visited a number of wineries in the region, who provided tastings of wines matched to the cheeses we had. Apart from the fact that the first cheese we had (a goatsmilk from Udder Delights) tasted like feet, it was quite an enjoyable experience. Because I was the sober one I drove home. Dinner was again with Michella's parents, and we finished the night with a DVD screening of "The Simpsons Movie".
Sunday
Was on Sunday School this morning, and ended up playing guitar for the kiddies. Since I hadn't really played in a few years I was a little concerned, but it all turned out OK. Had a family lunch at Mum and Dad's, followed by a game of Pictionary, where Michella and I were totally robbed. And the one time I decided to play without cheating. There's a life lesson for you. At night we played roughly 100 games of Mario Kart, with me coming last in about 99 of them. Awesome.
Monday
Spent some time in the morning getting my house ready for the auction next weekend, and then went to the gym. I ran for half an hour on the treadmill then exited quickly, as I had the overwhelming urge to throw up (I didn't). We went down to Semaphore in the afternoon to see "Vantage Point". I didn't know a whole lot about it heading in but I was pleasantly surprised - it's about the assasination of an American President, but told from six different perspectives. You don't really figure out everything that's going on until the final chapter of the movie. Afterwards we spent some more time battling The Simpsons Game, until I gave myself a headache and had to get an early night. I'm getting old.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
And how does this make my life easier?
So I got a letter from my credit card company yesterday.
It read . . .
It read . . .
Thanks guys, that's great. One more thing I need to clear up now.Dear DARREN
Your new limit: $0.00
Here it is! Your new credit limit. We hope this makes your life a little easier.
If you've got any questions, please give our Customer Care Team a call on 1800 080 000. We're here for you 24 hours a day and would love to help.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Era Vulgaris
I used to hate it when, as an avid fan of a band, I would buy their album the day it was released. Only to find out in a couple of months time it was being re-released with a special bonus disc of extra songs, live material, or sometimes a DVD. So unless I wanted to buy the same album twice, I missed out on all the extra stuff.
No longer though. These days I can download the album from the internet, as soon as it is released, or perhaps even a few months before. Then wait until the inevitable re-release and spend my money on that.
Today I picked up the special "tour edition" of the latest Queens of the Stone Age record, "Era Vulgaris", with a bonus live CD from Amsterdam (I'm guessing these guys spend a bit of time in that city). It's great - nice deluxe double CD packaging, cool artwork - so glad I didn't just buy the regular CD when it first came out like some loser. Anyway I'm rediscovering my love for QOTSA - lately I've been listening to a lot of quieter, more downbeat music, so it's great to hear something a bit noisier and uglier for a change.
The album itself isn't their best, but who knows, it might grow on me. If you're interested check out "Into the Hollow", featuring the always stunning vocals of Mr Mark Lanegan.
No longer though. These days I can download the album from the internet, as soon as it is released, or perhaps even a few months before. Then wait until the inevitable re-release and spend my money on that.
Today I picked up the special "tour edition" of the latest Queens of the Stone Age record, "Era Vulgaris", with a bonus live CD from Amsterdam (I'm guessing these guys spend a bit of time in that city). It's great - nice deluxe double CD packaging, cool artwork - so glad I didn't just buy the regular CD when it first came out like some loser. Anyway I'm rediscovering my love for QOTSA - lately I've been listening to a lot of quieter, more downbeat music, so it's great to hear something a bit noisier and uglier for a change.
The album itself isn't their best, but who knows, it might grow on me. If you're interested check out "Into the Hollow", featuring the always stunning vocals of Mr Mark Lanegan.
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