Film Review: Moon

Having exhausted the entire West Wing, CSI: Vegas and CSI: New York series over the past eighteen months or so (we have not watched CSI: Miami - Horatio is too annoying and outweighs the joy that is Calleigh Duquesne and her sheer geekiness about all things ballistic), The Husband and I have taken out a subscription with Lovefilm for DVD rental - and so, to 'Moon'.

Moon is the story of a man who is coming to the end of a three-year contract mining for energy on the Moon (see what they did there? ;-) ). Sam Rockwell is amazing as the lead ('Sam Bell') and virtually the only character (if we ignore the brilliance of Kevin Spacey as Gerty the computer). Moon quietly takes you into the base where Sam lives and explores his loneliness, and (as events develop) apparent paranoia.

This is a beautifully shot film, thoughtfully put together which was quite gripping. The Husband concurs with a rating of 9/10. See it!

Film Review: Watchmen

The Husband and I had been wanting to see this for a while, but decided against seeing it in the cinema (there are a couple of decidedly graphic and/or violent scenes that we thought we would prefer to fast forward through on DVD).

So - having received it as a birthday present for The Husband we decided to sit down to watch it on Friday evening. He got on with it a bit better than I did - I found the plot a little impenetrable (until Wikipedia enlightened me after my patience wore out). One for the devotees, I think.

5/10

Sherlock Holmes - review (spoiler alert)

London looked great.

The cast were great (Robert Downey Jnr is eminently watchable as is Mark Strong and Jude Law was v.good also). There was a comedy huge foreign henchman (a la Jaws of the Bond films) and I discovered that Downey Jnr speaks half-decent French (at least to my ear).

The costumes were great.

The action sequences were great.

V.much looking forward to seing the sequel (which I am expecting - seems to be heavily trailed at the end) but wasn't entirely happy with the film (the villains are masons/black magic practitioners which I thought was a bit unnecessary and not massively original).

So..... 7.5/10 I think (which would be a 9/10 had the villains just been a bit more sensible).

Films of 2010

A list to be updated through the year...

Cinema
1. Sherlock Holmes - 7/10
2. Avatar - 7/10

DVD
1. Watchmen - 5/10
2. Moon - 9/10
3. 21 - 7/10
4. House of Cards (TV series - 1) - 9.5/10
5. To Play the King (TV series of HoC - 2) - 8/10

Frost/Nixon

The Husband and I have now finished our grand tour of CSI Vegas and New York (we're not too keen on Miami) and so have taken up a DVD rental subscription once more. The first to arrive was Frost/Nixon.
I had wanted to go and see this when it was playing in theatre in town, but didn't get round to it. So - great joy when I heard that a film version was being made.
The Husband and I gave this a 5/5 rating. Michael Sheen is an uncanny mimic, (but you can't quite dismiss Tony Blair/Kenneth Williams from mind when looking at him) and has certainly changed my view of David Frost from the man who does the Sunday chat show.
"Intelligent and gripping. It were good", quoth he. I concur.

Winston and Laurie

Last day of 'honeymoon-at-home' today. The IKEA furniture is almost assembled. The flat is still quite untidy but we're getting there. We decided to venture out to the cinema and chose 'Fool's Gold' which was actually quite good (given the lead was Matthew McConaughey, it could have just been irritating) - well written, nice digs at popular culture - but featuring Ray Winstone with an awful American (we assume) accent.
Given that the subject of the film was treasure hunting in the Bahamas (and around)- it seems reasonable that Ray Winston couldn't just be Ray Winstone (which was basically what he had been hired for, in much the same way as Al Pacino 'does' Al Pacino in every film etc.) - but the accent was quite distracting.
However, from Winston to Laurie - home to watch a few episodes of House (featuring a very good US accent from Hugh Laurie)while continuing to sort out the living room.

Gloucestershire! Not Somerset!

Tonight I went to the cinema to see "Hot Fuzz" that is now I think, quite possibly, one of my favourite films ever. I knew that it was going to go well when I heard the line "We're sending you to Sandford, Gloucestershire", yes GLOUCESTERSHIRE, not Somerset as I'd read in the papers. Proper accents. Proper people mind. Cotswold villages! Everyone has guns! People get upset about having their age incorrectly published in the local Citizen!. Committee meetings!. Cake in the police station!. Bill Bailey - twice! Proper Gloucester accents. I almost understood the man who needed translating twice - he spoke Gloucester mumble proper like! Farmer with an arsenal! Swan! Miniature village! Timothy Dalton NOT BEING ANNOYING LIKE HE WAS IN BOND! I can so watch this film several times. Again, again, again! Simon Pegg originally from Gloucester (good lad!) all posh accent throughout the film until towards the end when it starts to slip. Car chases! Am Dram! Keeping up the village name! Like Miss Marple/Midsomer Murders but with slightly surreal humour. Love it!

I've discovered Greenwich

Met Dr. B in Greenwich for a potter round Greenwich market and lunch in Cafe Rouge. The market is quite interesting, although with a disturbing number of dodgy New Age-y stalls. Bought some nice bread from the organic bakery. Looked at Greenwich Village Market, which is more like a car boot sale. Some very odd, jumble sale-y things on sale......

Then to the Picturehouse to watch the Last King of Scotland. It has reclining seats - v.nice indeed. Last King of Scotland was superb, if quite disturbing. All the actors are superb (although I didn't recognise David Oleweyo until I saw his name in the credits and realised that that was why he looked familiar). I know that the book is inspired by, rather than being a factual account of events in Uganda, and that the film takes dramatic licence with the book, but in any case, this is violent, shocking and a reminder that we live in a very brutal world. I'm sure that it will do very well at the Oscars etc. A must-see film, but not one for the weak of stomach or faint of heart...

How much longer

Lovely being back at church today. David Jackman preaching on Luke 11:1-13. Sermon outline as below:

Understanding Jesus/More Generous Than we Imagine: Luke 11 1-13

1. Two Priorities in Prayer (v1-4)
a) Our concern for God (v2)
b) God's concern for us (v3-4)

2. Two Encouragments to pray (v5-13)
a) A friend who responds to our need (v5-8)
b) A father who gives to his children (v9-13)

Conclusion "how much more....!" v13.

Lovely to see lots of friends as well. However, still full of the lurgy. Very, very annoying. Was shattered by 1/2pm, and had to come back and sit on the sofa. I need to go back to work tomorrow, must just pray that I will get much better.

Watched Cinderella Man on DVD -the story of James J Braddock, Depression Era boxer who came back from nowhere to become world heavyweight champion. Russell Crowe in the lead role. I really really enjoyed this - a well crafted film (Ron Howard), well acted.

The year so far

Here is a list of everything I have read and watched (from Christmas Eve, 2006 onwards)
Books
1. Encouragement and the Words of God
2. Prayer and the Voice of God
3. Hearing God's Words - Peter Adam
4. Never Say Die - Tess Gerritsen (quite good - not like her usual gory thrillers)
5. Crusader Gold - David Gibbins (7 Jan) - got a bit lost in this one. A Da Vinci-esque race round the world to find the menorah from the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem, together with some former Nazis, the Mayans etc. - all got a bit confusing. Skim read to the end just to get through it.
6. Blaikie's Book of Modern Manners (2 Feb) - amusing. Has it really taken me 3 weeks to finish reading another book?
7. The Fifth Horseman - James Patterson - predictably OK.
Seem to have fallen off the tracks with my reading. Started too many things at once. Time to go again.... I have read "The Afghan" by the ridiculously right-wing (even by my standards) Frederick Forsyth... when I was at home visiting Dad.
8. The Book of Common Prayer - (20 March) - how wonderful a book!
9. Bad Luck and Trouble - Lee Child (29 March) - I love the Reacher series.
10. The Oath of Canonical Obedience - Gerald Bray (5 April). Slightly complicated section, relatively clear arguments - Good!


CDs
1. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (catchy, but needs a bit of soap and water. She's an angry young lady)
2. Lily Allen - Alright, Still - another slightly rude young lady, but with a real talent for catchy, witty lyrics.
3. Gnarls Barkley - St.Elsewhere - this one is going to grow on me....
4. Take That - A Beautiful World - can't believe I actually like Take That, but I did like Patience.


Films
1. Lord of War (DVD) - better than I thought that it would be - very interesting journey 4/5
2. The Producers (DVD - original version with Gene Wilder) - a bit weird, and Hitler is not funny = 2/5
3. Cinderella Man (DVD) - excellent film - 5/5.
4. Munich (DVD) - another excellent film - 5/5.
5. Last King of Scotland - excellent, disturbing, bravura performances - 5/5
6. Transporter 2 (DVD) - actually quite entertaining. Some good martial arts sequences 3.5/5
7. S.O.A.P (DVD) - there are snakes! on a plane! - v.cool! 4/5
8. Nacho Libre (DVD) - disappointingly poor - I didn't watch to the end. 1/5
9. Confetti (DVD) - OK, quite funny in parts - 3/5
10. Thank You for Smoking - (DVD) - OK 3/5.
11. Hot Fuzz (Cinema) - one of my favourite films of all time - 11/5!
I've probably missed a few out now, but...
12. Stormbreaker (DVD) - not bad, 3/5.
13. Superman Returns (DVD) - half-watched this, looked quite good, but a bit predictable if you've seen any other comic book film.... 3/5