Wednesday 28 January 2009

Awesome Stuff

So, in the last month I have been checking up on some very awesome stuff, briefly reviewed in order of their awesomeness here.

Scott Pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life is the first volume of a comic about a young slacker, unemployed and in a band, who starts noticing a rollerblading delivery girl, and must defeat her evil ex-boyfriends before they can date. Naturally, it is much better than a one sentence synopsis would indicate. Simple, black and white panelling gives room for some really strong characters with some really excellent lines. It is short, you can breeze through it in 'bout an hour, but is really is incredible. So much so, I am already re-reading it.

In Bruges

Two Irish hitmen are sent to hide out In Bruges ("It's in Belgium") after a hit. This becomes a set up for an incredible movie, a wonderful black comedy with some exceptional performances, some real great characters. Lot of swearing, but not unnecessarily so. Definitely worth watching, as it really is a brilliant film.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

So, the fifty-billionth Apatow comedy of the last twelve months is about a guy who has just been dumped by his long term girlfriend, and ends up going on the same holiday as his Ex. And so we have Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Thing is, that while this is quite funny, and has some sweet moments, it is just not as good as you would hope. The plot is too formulaic and not as effecting as you would hope, and the jokes are not as hilarious as you would wish. So the film is stuck in limbo, not connecting emotionally or being outrageously funny. It is good, actually it is funny and sweet and enjoyable, but it is not a great memorable comedy to search for. Then again, Russell Brand is hilarious.

30 Rock

Ever since Friends ended I have been looking for a new sitcom. Probably even before that, since Friends had been crap for it's last few seasons. There have been hilariously funny shows, (I love watching Arrested Development or Scrubs,) but not many brilliant sitcoms. After liking, but not loving, Big Bang Theory, I decided to check out 30 Rock, the critically loved, multi-award winning sitcom from Tina Fey. And my response? Meh.

The premise is that Liz Lemon is the head writer on a SNL style sketch show, under new management. With an insane new lead, and her interfering boss Alec Baldwin, she must cope with managing the show and keeping her boss happy, while trying find love, an' all dat.

I have to say, this reminded me of some Ugly Betty meets Studio 60 crossover. Firstly, the lead character is a 30-something woman, and many of the things she worries about are really quite girly. Add to this that the show about writing and creating a TV sketch show, a premise that is not as funny as they seem to think, and the show becomes slightly harder to like, as a premise, than say... a show about two young physicists.

Nonetheless, it is funny. There are reliably a couple of good solid laughs per episode, and if this picks up it may become hilarious. I will surely check out the second series, but it is just not as funny as I had been hoping, and my search for a new sitcom continues. Next up on my serach for a new sitcom, How I Met Your Mother. Now that excites me. A lot.

Millipede Sympathy.

So anyways, I decided to buy some football boots. This is a big deal, something I have been considering for a while. Something I have failed to do on many occasions. The trainers I currently own are not that suited for football, they are the wrong shape and have little grip. But they are super comfortable. So I decided to head off to the local Sports Direct January sale, and see what I could find.

First of all I had to decide what type of boot I wanted. Since I would be using them mainly for 6-a-Side on a Rubber Crumb pitch or for playing on hard grass next summer, I didn't really need to get studs. In fact, studs would be bad choice. I also discounted blades as being unnecessary, for similar reasons to studs. And I cannot buy blades anyway, since they are banned for Manchester United players, and I would not want that to be what stops Sir Alex from giving me a call the next time he is looking for some amazing young payer.

So no studs, no blades, but something that gives me a bit more grip. Astroturfs it is. So I kept searching, and finally I found the right type of boot. After finding the right size of Black Diadoras, I bought them and took them home. They are snazzy, black with white trim.

I tried them out in the match this afternoon, which went quite well thank you very much, and they seemed quite comfortable. Infact, I started to like them. So I walked home. That was when they started to hurt. One part of the ankle support really digs in when walking down steep hills, and Exeter Uni is built on one steep hill. This really, really hurt.

I now have a terrific blister, about the size of a penny, on my right ankle. Ouchies!

Tuesday 27 January 2009

United FTW!

Winning 5-0 tonight means that United have set a new Premier League record, of 11 games without conceding a goal. World Club Champions. Into the League Cup final. Top of the League, and looking competitive in both the FA Cup and the Champions League.

This looks set to be a fun few months. Yay!

Tuesday 20 January 2009

One Year Today!

Well, it is officially the One Year Anniversary of mah Blog.

This is a proud day, a happy achievement.

Hooray!

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Yes Man

So, I went to see the new Jim Carrey comedy, Yes Man, at the cinema. The plot is that, basically, Jim Carrey play a middle aged guy, who is conviced to say "Yes" to everything. This leads to wacky comedy, and romance, and an enjoyable, encouraging film. But, instead of reviewing the thing, I am gonna give ya a few short points for what the film did good and what the film did not do as good as the things it did good.

Good:

1. The surounding cast are all made up of people you have seen somewhere else, and liked. The romance is more enjoyable when the girl is likable. You care more about Jim Carrey's friends when you like them. This was a good thing, and made the film far more enjoyable.

2. Uh... it had... um... I guess I sorta liked it despite it's flaws. 'Cos to be honest, I liked it. Some of the scenes made you feel good, I s'pose.

Bad.

1. Jim Carrey was poor casting. Instead of the guy who can play serious roles, we have the guy who runs about a bit and pulls some faces. It doesn't kill the movie, but it stops it being as enjoyable as it should be, 'cos I cannot connect with my protagonist. Even worse, it seems to lessen the people around him. His friends become two-dimensional, and his girl becomes even more so. Infact, this point streches on as they got the relationship wrong. The film was just put together slightly wrong, and that is a big shame.

2. They sold the plot wrong. Instead it just become an excuse for Jim Carrey to have no control over what happens. Instead of being convinced to try new things and push myself as a person, I get some crap about how I can never say no, and have to watch Carrey do stupid things 'cos someone asked if he would. They just had a good idea, and seemed to be half-way to making it, before tey went in a totally different direction.

3. They insulted Marx for a cheap gag and inferred he was a terrorist. Fine, you wanna make a terroism joke, go for a terrorist. Dont target one of the most important political thinkers. It just pisses me off.

4. Making him the guy who approves or rejects loans, but recklessly cannot say no to anyone, and thus approves all loans, during a time when we are in a major economic crisis on the back of reckless lending, kinda puts a dent in this whole theory that saying "yes" to everything is a wonderful principle.

Thursday 1 January 2009

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I am very excited about what the next twelve months may bring.