Journal
I went to see The Golden Compass last week - the film of the book with the same name (although sometimes called Northern Lights). I mentioned the trailer before, and though tit looked great, but wasn’t sure what to expect of the movie itself.
I read the book some time ago so remember the story in broad sweeps but don’t remember the specifics - thankfully the film was laid out in a similar fashion. A quick discussion with my friends afterwards (who have re-read the books recently) tells me that basically they took the story and abbreviated things considerably. From my own memory I am sure the time in Bolvangar took place over several days (weeks? months?) where in the film it’s squashed into about ten minutes.
Of course edits and abbreviations are necessary for pretty much all book to film translations. Thankfully The Golden Compass is more Lord of …
This news is actually a little old but since we’ve just had the Christmas holiday I figure I can give myself a bit of slack. That and it’s my blog so I’ll post whatever I like whenever I like 
The tales of Beedle the Bard is a book given to Hermione in the 7th and final Harry Potter book. They are a group of short stories, including the one that explains the Deathly Hallows. In the wizarding world they are very well known, generally passed off as childrens stories - however they hold an element of truth, having messages and meanings that can be used to improve yourself and possibly even defeat evil (indirectly).
In the real world… The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a series of 7 books, hand written and illustrated by JK Rowling. Each book is leather bound and embellished with different precious stones. 6 of the …
Recently a UK politician claimed teens playing games is making them less intelligent, in fact the following quote comes from a very popular tabloid - the Sun.
KIDS hooked on computer games have sent England plummeting down world league tables for reading, it was claimed yesterday.
A study of literacy at primary schools in 41 countries saw our youngsters slip from third to 15th in just five years.
Ministers claimed pupils spend so much time on consoles that they are not burying their noses in books.
I’m not going to say that games are not to blame, they work very nicely as a distraction from school work (and reading), but before games we had television and movies - they worked just as well.
In recent years the brain training genre, popularised by Nintendo (with games like More Brain Training) and continued by a number of other companies (Ubisoft, and Sega) are recent examples …
When it comes to movies I’m a huge fan of fantasy and mythology.
When it comes to myths you can’t get any more classic than the epic poem, Beowulf.
When I found out that Beowulf was going to come to the Imax, in ‘proper’ 3d (glasses and all), I knew I had to go and see it.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Polar Express, and Back to the Future) and starring a proper Londoner - Ray Winstone - along with a bunch of other well known actors, Beowulf is a big budget movie using some pretty unique technology.
Like it’s technological predecessor, Polar Express, Beowulf is a 3d animated movie (think Toy Story… then turn up the realism) and uses full body motion capture for 90% of the animation. They used the actors who voiced the characters to perform the physical roles, giving an extra edge to the realism and coherence …
Stardust is a fantastic film about doing what is right and the quest for love (and the fact that you won’t always find love where you expect too).
The story is based upon a Neil Gaiman comic book and was turned into a movie by Jane Goldman (Jonathon Rosses better half). I went to see it with Jo recently and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
The film has a wonderful feeling to it, it’s almost eccentric an has a very English feel to it. It reminds me somewhat of the old fantasy films that I loved from my childhood (Hensons Labyrinth and Dark Crystal for example) however it has technology on it’s side and is much better for it.
The cast list is astonishing - as well as the English actors and comedians (anyone else spot Adam Buxton and David Walliams in there?) there is a whole host of Hollywood actors and actresses, …
Went to see Run, Fat boy, Run at the cinema the other day. It was really good.
I’ve become a bit of a fan of Simon Pegg, Hot Fuzz being one of the big reasons why. Somehow he has made being a geek quite cool, and that can only be a good thing. However if you go into Run Fatboy Run expecting something like Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead then you are likely to be rather disappointed.
Run, Fat boy, Run is a much straighter comedy than either of those, the jokes are more traditional and the story is almost normal, realistic even. That said there are still some classic Simon Pegg moments (the blister) and a handful of cameos from English comedians (”Can you give me something in the shape of a fish?”).
The story is reasonably generic, a man loves a lady but can’t commit - ditching …
Binary Moon
Bubble Blitz
Gun Wing
Bubble Bomb
Rocket Boards