I know its not always a good idea to watch two movies one after the other, but seeing as I had just got my unlimited cinema card back again I wanted to use and abuse it! And catch up with the films i wanted to see. I always like a Jackie Chan movie and I liked Karate Kid the first time round so I didn’t think it could go so far wrong.

It wasn’t so bad aside for some overly obvious cultural stereotyping and seriouls the whole ‘Can I touch your hair’ was a bit :/ from anyone over the age of 13 , i mean, little kids i can imagine being fascinated with foreign hair, but teenagers when they first meet??? please.

It wasn’t so bad, it had some nice touches and twists on the original version, updating it as you would need to and Jaden Smith is good in the role. I was reading in an interview with Jackie Chan that he is very talented in martial arts and Chan wants him to continue training too, says he has a lot of potential. If Chan says that … well… I would say go for it!

I’ve been meaning to see this for some time now and have driven everyone who has a bit crazy by stopping anyone discussing the ending (or anything else about it) in my presence. I won’t write any spoilers here, but I will say I really enjoyed it and I do recommend it if you haven’t seen it yet.

One of the VFX my friend Donna mentioned that took place in the hotel was one she said she couldn’t figure it out how it was done. I know what she means. Even as I was watching I was pondering how it could be done. I came up with two solutions – wires, but maybe horizontal ones and then the scene tipped on its side, another idea was maybe the walls moving as well as the camera and the actor and the third was one of those planes that simulates anti gravity.

I did some digging when i got home and found that it was done

“Weightlessness was achieved through a clever combination of actors on wire rigs in a vertical hotel corridor set and a hand-operated seesaw rig on a horizontal version of the same rig,” (AWN.com) so i was sort of vaguely right, which makes me a little bit pleased with myself seeing as vfx is my career choice

Either way, its a good film for me as I am fascinated by dreams and the dream state. Its not the first time shared dreams have been explored – ‘Cell’ is all about that, but ‘Cell’ is definitely more about the visuals than the story, whereas ‘Inception’ has a nicely complex angle on the nature of dreams, reality and has echoes of the Matrix in it.

Definitely one for my DVD collection when it comes out! I want to see the ‘making of’ specials for the VFX!

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Official Site: http://www.splicethefilm.com/
Director: Vincenzo Natali
Cast: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley
Writers: Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant, Doug Taylor

I went to see this last night and really enjoyed it. I liked Natali’s previous work ‘Cube’ and ‘Cypher’ so its nice to go into a film without worrying too much that it will be a disaster. A lot of places are calling it a creature feature, but I don’t really agree with that sentiment at all. Its science fiction set in the near future that address a lot of the ethical issues we are trying to deal with today about genetics and cloning.

The opening credits were beautifully done and the leads did really well. I particularly liked the complexity they gave Elsa’s character, that driven people don’t always come from a background that has many chances, and that maybe how we are brought up can affect even a scientist who is supposed to remain distant from what they do in order to have the best results.

Its something that genre films like ‘Mimic’ pass on as they need to go for the shock and surprise and tension rather than making the audience truly think. In ‘Mimic’ we simply accept what the scientists did as it was for the greater good and I don’t recall questioning what they did whereas in ‘Splice’ I constantly did (maybe that’s just a case of growing up tho hehe).

On the whole it was a really good film and one I recommend for anyone who wants a little bit more than just a scare with their popcorn.

Took time to watch these two films again this weekend. Anyone who knows me well, knows I am a sucker for any films that have subtitles. Maybe I am a cinema snob, but really, I do love the sound of other languages and seeing the imagination of other countries at work. I often find Hollywood ideas a little repetitive and predictable, and some films, despite the fact this is the industry i work in, a little too effects driven rather than plot driven and too many of these is like eating too much candy.

These two films are based on the books by Sergei Lukyanenko and some elements have been changed from the book, only to be expected in any film environment i guess, but as I have yet to read them myself I am keen to know what they are (Amazon sellers must love me!) so i ordered the four books from the series.

If you haven’t seen these films, I really do suggest you do, they are atmospheric and smart and the lines between good and bad are nicely blurred. The grand finale in Daywatch is an awesome sight and very nicely executed. I only posted the trailer for the first one as i wouldn’t want to spoil it, besides which you need to see Nightwatch first to make sense of Daywatch anyway.

Fox apparently bought up the rights to the third book, but nothing seems to have been done about it yet, thankfully. Nothing would ruin a Russian Tetralogy more than having half of it in English and that particular half repackaged in bright shiny Americanised newness. I hope the director of the Russian two, Timur Bekmambetov, gets to finish all four books.

Its a really good cast for the writer/director Jieho Lee who is a Korean American who has based this film on the proverb that life can be broken down into 4 emotions:  Happiness, pleasure, sorrow, love

“Sometimes being completely f****d is a liberating experience”

Again there is the wonderful interconnectedness of events and people who would normally not know each other. Its a real gem of a film as the director pulls no punches with characters and plot

http://www.floatingmedia.com/nurserytale/director.html <– jieho lee

I have 3 more Brendan Fraser films to go through today as well, and next up is ‘Twenty Bucks’ which I have also seen before and follows the trail of a $20 note and the people it gets handled by. I like the interconnectivity of films like that (maybe that’s why i like ‘Lost’ so much) and that too has a long list of notable people in it including Steve Buscemi who is always very awesome.

I’m doing a whole host of clearing up while i watch as a continuing of my spring Clean. I had NO idea how obsessed i am with stationary until i started clearing things out. I now have several notepads that I’ll be giving away to friends when i see them tomorrow and halting my stationary fetish (i am in denial i have one)

I am also trying to do 3 loads of laundry while the sun shines which makes me think i am turning into my mother *doh*

Anyway!

Robots in Disguise.

A trio whom Amanda Palmer had discovered a few days before (as she told us)

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/WeRTheRobots
website: http://www.robotsindisguise.co.uk
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/robotsindisguise

A short but super set of electrosyth punk that the crowd were invited to participate in and did so enthusiastically. They were fun, cheerful and you just couldn’t help but like their catchy tunes and smart lyrics.

Mighty Boosh fans would probably recognise them from their tour and the series, but *coughs* i am not a fan, so it was all nice and shiny and new for me

Thanks gals – it was a super evening ^^

Bitter Ruin
The first act of the evening was Bitter Ruin a duo from Brighton

Myspace: www.myspace.com/bitterruin
website: www.bitterruin.com/
twitter: http://twitter.com/bitterruin

Sadly my view was blocked by a pillar and my camera adjustments meant i only got a few good pics, the rest are lovely red swirly abstracts – i like them, so maybe I will post them at a later date.

Bitter Ruin

I do recommend you check them out on myspace as they were very good with ear stopping lyrics and fine vocals. Their set was short (too short) but, as they exlained, the gig was a last minute invite so they did really well with limited time

I’ll write more about the other acts tomorrow cos its late and I am tired, but that will give you enough time to listen to Bitter Ruin right?

Bitter Ruin

]]> http://countingpulses.com/?feed=rss2&p=1119 0 http://countingpulses.com/?p=1084 http://countingpulses.com/?p=1084#comments Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:42:25 +0000 Saharial http://countingpulses.com/?p=1084 John Brunning ‘Pie Jesu’

I first heard this a few weeks ago in the car on the way home after a family Easter gathering.
Its definitely more of an evening song, one that calms the end of your day, and I am sure the version I heard was longer than this one.

Chinese lanterns

Through the delicate webbing of decayed flower and fruit,
the dried veins are echoed by the palm of my hand.

Would our own decay be more beautiful this way?
The outer shell falling away to reveal our still hearts?