Sunday 27 July 2008

Off on Holdiay

I leave for Tunisia tonight. I will have to bear the horrors of modern airports, a trial to make the final holiday seem all the more glorious. Packing is not much fun, for I always forget a ton of stuff.

I recently have seen both the new Batman and Wall.E. They are both incredible films, which I plan to review when I return. They really are very, very good.

Pigeons

The is something about Pigeons that I find funny. They are a hated race. I love the wood-pigeon couple who live in the tree at the bottom of my garden. They are hildarious. I love the way Pigeons walk, with bobbing heads, and the way that they jump up ledges and curbs, a kind of gracious, yet clumsy, pigeon-hop.

Pigeons are not perfect. They do leave a bit of a mess behind sometimes, and I have been told that they cary disease. These facts stop me from truly liking pigeons.

But I do feel a large amount of sympathy, for in London, around one in three pigeons is suffering from some kind of injury. Deformed, or mutildated feet most often. Poor pigeons. But after limping along, with pain in every step, they spread wings and fly. I wish I could fly, but that is a whole other post...

Monday 21 July 2008

Blog Format

It is quite annoying that the format of my own blog bunches my own posts into a small horizontal space, making them appear off-puttingly long.

Thursday 17 July 2008

Cristiano Ronaldo

Nothing makes me want to watch football as much as the close-season. In a few weeks I will be desperate, watching the intertoto cup and unimportant friendlies between clubs that I would never bother with under normal circumstances.

Usually the summer is filled with transfer talk, and this is an interesting excitement to fill the void with. This summer however, has had very few transfers take place. Hleb only just moved to Barcelona, and that has been on the verge of completion for months. The same can be said all over the world, Ronaldinho finally moving, Nasri finally going to Arsenal. These are all quite boring, and not very suspenseful.

But Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player in the world and I am a Manchester United fan. Many fans are annoyed at Ronaldo, but I accept his position, or wanting to be in the strongest position to make his own decision, and still want him to return to play for us. Some people have been belittling his success, saying that he only does well at United 'cos he is given free roam, and supported by Rooney, Teves and Scholes.

The fact of the matter is that Ronaldo scored over 40 goals for United last season. He was the star in a team that won the Champions League, and I love him for that. But Cristiano is a Real Madrid fan, he has been since he was a child, and he wants to play for them some day. It is not his intention to play his whole career in England.

But why would he go this summer? Madrid are not ready for him, signing him now would destabilise the team they are building. They are not in the Champions League next year, and do not look strong enough to push for the Spanish League against Barcelona. At the same time this is Sir Alex Ferguson's dénouement, his last great team before retirement. Now is not the time for a transfer.

But Ronaldo thinks of the future, and wants to be in the strongest bargaining position between the clubs, and that is why he has acted as he has. I still don’t believe he will make the move this summer, even though he will doubtlessly so this eventually.

And Why Would United sell? Manchester United are not a club to sell players on anyone else's terms. They do not need the money. Infact, losing Ronaldo may be a big blow to the club, in merchandise and marketing, but possibly also in prize money, and so selling Ronaldo would cost money. It would certainly cost prestige. So Sir Alex has no reason to sell.

And so I think Ronaldo will stay put. He will return from injury, and return to United. In a few summers, he will go to Madrid, and Sir Alex will retire, but until that day, years from now, I cannot see another outcome.

UPDATE - well, it looks like I was right. According to football365.com, Sir Alex Ferguson has met with Cristiano Ronaldo and insists the winger will not be sold to Real Madrid. Ferguson said, "I can say he'll be a Manchester United player next season. That's our stance - he won't be sold."

Summer Rain

Does the weather actually pay the slightest attention to what time of year it is?

Yes, it does. That is a stupid question. But nonetheless, it is incredibly annoying to be on my summer holidays and for it to rain 'most everyday.

Friday 4 July 2008

Hancock - Review

I attempted to see this film with no idea of the reviews, so that I could form my own opinion. Sadly this was not too be, and I am aware of the kicking this film has received from critics. They hated it. At first I argued with them. But they were right.

This movie is made up of two short films. Not literally, but that is the way it plays out. The first arc, the one shown in the trailers, lasts about 40 minutes, and I should say now that it is amazing. The opening half of this film is exactly what I wanted to see. Will Smith played the character perfectly, his abilities were powerful but not overly so, and his personal problems made him an endearing character. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Then that plot ends. Will Smith has superpowers, but he is a drunk. He is not a traditional superhero. Everyone hates him, and he goes to prison to reform himself. He goes through personal changes, and comes out a hero. This takes half an hour. This is great. This, if fleshed out a bit and with a strong ending, is the film I wanted to see.

But this is not Hancock. Everything after this point goes downhill. And amazingly so. There is a twist that creates a bull-shit mythology, and destroys almost all of the character relations. I felt my enjoyment slip, as Hancock, as a movie, fell apart. And then it end, for this is a very short film. A very short film, that booth looses it message and any resemblance of entertainment.

The humour was quite funny, but not enough to make this a comedy. The action was brilliant, but based upon the same premise. Super-Will Smith beats up idiotic criminals. The plot holes are immense, and just get bigger. There are no real bad guys, and way they act defies all logic.

I cannot stress how much fun I had at the beginning of this film. I had avoided reviews, and I loved it. Then it skipped everything I wanted to see in one montage, and destroyed all enjoyment I had. The dénouement came after a half-hour, and the film that emerged after that was cringingly bad.

But I will watch this again. No matter what comes after, the opening of this film is wroth going to see. When it is cheap on DVD, or shown on T, I will tune in. But I will only watch the first half. This could have been amazing, but the film they chose to make was not the one I wanted to see. What I wanted, they skipped. So much promise. Shame.