For Pete's Sake

Well, I got a good piece of news today, which has lifted some of the worry and that off my shoulders. As you may have deduced from my last post Uni isn’t going so well. To see where I stood, as this year will be my last year at Uni, if things went Pete Tong. The good news is that I’m eligible for a pass degree. Ok, it’s not the honours degree I’ve been heading for but it’s a degree and that’s important to me. Not only because it means I’ve got something out of the effort I’ve been putting in, but it also helps with regards to Catrin and I’s plans to move to Oz. So that’s cheered me up.

I’ve also been enjoying some fun adverts recently, the pick being the Guinness “hands” adverts. You can see the first [here] and the second isn’t online, but it’s one for St. Patrick’s Day. Though I’m no surprised in some ways as, usually, the best ads on TV are for alcohol. Maybe at some point I’ll list or link to my favourites, who knows.

Well as you can probably tell I’ve started writing reviews, mostly, ok all so far, of movies. Those that know me or have ever been to our house know I have and watch a lot. So far my collection is tipping 300 and figured I should do what I started to do on an older site I once had, review them. Now I won’t review all of them as some are TV box sets, but hopefully at some point, I’ll get them all reviewed.

So aside from that is there anything else going on in my life? Well yes, one thing in particular I’ll keep to myself, but other than that a not a lot has happened. My project is a little further on than it was an I’m a little happier with that know that I’ve at least started something and that’s really it. Boring I know, but right now there isn’t much going on. Maybe when I’m working and I get out of education more will happen. I would bore (and possible give you TMI) about my toe, but less to say it’s been looked into. It also means I’m taking some antibiotics so no alcohol for me, shame really but that’s life.

Other news though, United are still top of the league, so I’ve always got something to smile about.

Director: Todd Phillips
Year of Release: 2003
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 92mins

When Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson) comes home early from a boring conference he finds that his girlfriend, Heidi (Juliette Lewis) is cheating on him. As he looks to rebuild his life his friends Frank & Beanie (Will Ferrell & Vince Vaughn) are there to help him out who are themselves are disenchanted with life. He finds a new house not far from the University where Mitch hopes to rebuild his life. What the didn’t expect was that the Dean of the University (Jeremy Piven) turns out to be a kid they picked on at school. He gleefully announces that the house Mitch just bought is now University property and they are to be evicted. So in a battle to keep the house Beanie turns Mitch’s new place into a fraternity and all hell breaks loose.

The movie is a particular favourite of mine. Although not on a par with some of my all time favourite comedies it is definitely a movie I can watch more than once. There are some wonderful one liners and gags that still make me laugh. I must also point out that while I’m not a fan of every movie Will Ferrell is in, he is very funny in this one. Luke Wilson is also very good in this movie but personally I feel Vince Vaughn steels the show on this one. The acting all round is pleasing for a modern comedy where it’s more visual than quick whit.

There isn’t really much of a story, it’s more of a journey through a month of Mitch’s life. In this month he manages to find himself and reboot his life but not in the way he was thinking and I like that. Rather than try and be complex and funny it just goes for the simple stuff which works well. It doesn’t try to be something it isn’t and is very funny in doing so.

Rating:

Director: James Cameron
Year of Release: 1986
Genre: Action / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Run Time: 137min (Theatrical) / 154min (Director’s Cut)

Seven years after the release of the original Alien film director James Cameron, who had just started making a name for himself, directed a sequal to what some consider to be one of the best Sci-Fi movies ever. Hoping to break to mold of sequals being inferior to the original, this 2hr plus movie hoped to take you on one helluva ride.

I re-watched this movie today to see if it still kicked ass and the jury is in and they say it’s still one of the best. When I sat down and watched it I was still at awe with the movie. Yes the special effects are ropey by todays standards but when a movie is over twenty years old you expect that. Even so, there are only a few bits and pieces of the SFX which are dodgy, the rest are still jaw-dropping, the Alien Queen being a case in point. The fist fight between the loader and the Queen at the end, it all still looks fresh to me. The bad points though are the shots of the dropship flying and perhaps the final explosion but they are only on screen briefly and can hardly tarnish the movie.

So what of the story? Well, we pick up 57 years after the events of the original movie. Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) escape pod she used to escape from the aliens in the original Alien movie is found by a deep salvage team and is rescued. Here she learns how long she’s been out there and that her daughter who was 10 when she left, died two years previously. With this news Ripley is put infront of a disciplinary board who refuse to believe the story of how and why she destroyed the Nostromo. Not only that but colonists are currently terraforming LV-426 (the planet the Nostromo set down on). It’s only a matter of time and not long after these events contact is lost with the colony on LV-426. Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) asks Ripley to join him and a team of Colonial Marines on a mission to find out what has happened to the colonists. After much thought Ripley decides to tag along.

The movie is a tense one. Even though I knew exactly what happens and when, it still made me jump at the right points. This is a testament to the films score and Cameron’s directing. The tension is built up beautifully and when the moment comes a quick crash from the music just makes your heart race. Visually, as mentioned earlier, it still makes you sit up and take notice. In a nutshell the movie is simply timeless. Even by todays standard of special effects it can hold its own against many modern offerings. What it can also do is show how movies of this genre should be made and oh how I wished Aliens versus Predator would have followed this mould.

Overall this movie is still a fantastic watch but if you are going to rent/buy make sure it’s the director’s cut. This version adds some key scenes to the movie which really help tell the story properly. Definately a top 100 movie of all time.

Rating:

So, Man Utd played Chelsea today, in what most over-the-top pundits were touting as the match that could decide the league. It was an entertaining match and, for a little while at least, I thought we (United) may come away with the 3 points. However Chelsea did what they do best and that’s score from a set-piece. In the end I think the result was fair enough, I’d have taken a draw at the start of the day so I’m not too disappointed. I think we had a really good first-half playing with pace and confidence and it was nice to see Saha score; not just because it’s good for my fantasy team but also it’ll help him get over his penalty miss against Celtic. If you want to read a match report, check out the BBC’s.

In other news Cat and I have had a guest staying with us since Thursday. Cat met her when she went to Taize earlier this year. So it was nice to have someone staying over and I also enjoyed showing our guest the sights of Bristol and what have you. Coinciding with this was last nights entertainment which was the stage show Cats. It was fun but not as good as the same production I saw a year or so ago. Some of the leads weren’t as good but there you go. The night was fun and we all enjoyed ourselves, we also stopped by a friend of ours birthday. I’m also looking forward to next weekend when I’m going to visit my brother in Edinburgh. Haven’t seen him since the wedding and since he’s just got engaged to Ruth it’d be nice to catch up on things.

Swinging back to gaming finished another season on FM. Really enjoying the Lower League Management side of the game. Certainly a lot more rewarding if a heck of a lot more challenging. Certainly helps pass the hours and what have you.