Very funny indeed. But don’t watch if you don’t want the ending of Harry Potter 6 ruined for you.

I already gave my initial impression of Spielberg’s War of the Worlds but I haven’t fully explained what I think about the film. I’ll preface this with a couple of notes: the first is that, as previously mentioned, I’ve given a lot of time to thinking about alien invasion films because I’ve been working on scripts for a couple of films on that subject. The second is that, although I may sound like I’m being quite critical of Spielberg’s film, I did enjoy it and am planning on seeing it again in a couple of weeks.

As I’m discussing the film in some detail, be aware of spoilers.

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Guess where I was thinking of going back to in September!

Bastards - absolute bastards. I know there’s always been a risk of terror attacks on tourists in Egypt ever since the Luxor shootings and then more recently in the Sinai attack. Even so, most of the people who were killed were Egyptian workers although it seems quite a few tourists were also killed. I just hope no-one I know who works there was caught up in it.

I may still go back in September (FCO advice pending) even though I had thought originally that I might not go back to Sharm at all after coming back from there in May. After all, at the moment I probably stand as much chance of getting blown up in London as I would in Egypt. Plus it’ll probably be quite cheap.* I almost feel that choosing to go to somewhere else in Egypt like Hurghada or Marsa Alam would actually be the wrong thing to do - Sharm will need our support too.

Theme tune for today: “They’re not gonna get us” by Tatu.

*I’m sorry if this is a bit glib but it’s the way I deal with it. I’m shocked and horrified by the events over there and there’s nothing I can do to help but make sure that I consider going back there soon. If I believed in a god, I’d pray for the souls of the victims, but I don’t so this is my way of saying I’m thinking about them.

I am severly hungover.

I got home last night without incident and after a walk up Tottenhan Court Road but was diverted away from Warren Street and had to walk past Tavistock square to get to the station instead. Thankfully there were no casualties from yesterday’s incident. This morning I came back in and got on the functioning Victoria line and managed to get to Victoria where the train terminated. No more southbound service because of a security alert at Vauxhall.

As it turns out, the security alert was because the police were chasing a suspect at Stockwell and ended up shooting him dead according to currently breaking news.

I hope it was one of the bastards who tried it on yesterday. They don’t really deserve any mercy although it would be more preferable to lock them up and throw away the key.

Anyway, ended up down the pub last night and got severely trashed. It’s becoming a post bombing habit. There was no need for getting the playstation and dance mat out at midnight though. That was just silly.

The only thing everyone is concerned with is how are we going to get home?

I hope that this is something else and not another terrorist strike. I really do. And not just because I want to get home sometime tonight but because of the implications of a second attack occuring this close to the last one and in spite of an increased police presence on the underground system. Updates as I found out more.

Update 15:40 Excitement as BBC news showed someone being arrested at gunpoint outside Downing Street. Doesn’t seem that many people were injured at this time and that the explosions were all minor. Initial reports are that only detonator caps exploded which means either it was designed to scare or the bombs were badly made. One of the tube trains was a northbound Victoria line train which stopped at Warren street. That really kickss my travel plans into touch!

I’m going to talk about the Machinist again and I’m going to discuss the ending. So don’t open below if you don’t want to know.

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(I am attempting to make sure that by the end of the year I have watched every single one of the top 100 rated films according to IMDB as of 18th March 2005. I have 22 to go. The full list is here.)

I’m a big fan of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns, especially the Clint Eastwood “man with no name” trilogy. In fact, I would never have claimed to have really liked westerns on the whole but that’s only when I think about all the macho, strutting “heroes of the wild west” type films which are full of the smug jingoism that resurfaced in many of the eighties hollywood actioners.

Leone treated the films differently. There are no heroes as such, just bad buys who do bad things and bad guys who do good things. The film might always turn out okay at the end but there’s always a bit of a sour taste left in your mouth and no-one ever gets to ride away cleanly into the sunset.

Once Upon A Time In The West is pretty much the same. Featuring the combined acting talents of Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda and Jason Robards (in the usual Leone roles of the good, the bad and the ugly respectively) it’s slightly more epic than the Eastwood trilogy which is unsurprising given that once set (the railway station set in the opening scene) cost more than the entire budget of his first film. Charles Bronson’s Harmonica isn’t quite as charismatic as Eastwood’s man with no name and is only really memorable for his theme tune (the one he plays himself with his harmonica… hence his name). But the film works and while I think it’s less iconic than the original trilogy, it’s still an interesting and watchable film and definitely worth watching. Wouldn’t personally have placed it so high in the top 100 list though.

(I am attempting to make sure that by the end of the year I have watched every single one of the top 100 rated films according to IMDB as of 18th March 2005. I have 23 to go. The full list is here.)

(Time to clean out my drafts and sort out this whole 100 movies thing - seen a few but haven’t written about them!)

Rear Window is allegely Hitchcock’s favourite of his own films. Telling the story of a photojournalist who is stuck in his flat after breaking a leg and watches the world go by from the rear window of his apartment. The story is seen entirely from his perspective and the action never leaves the room our protagonist is in. This is part of why Hitchcock is so great. This is, essentially, a film that is a play, with a minimal cast and one set. We see nothing outside of what Jimmy Stewart’s character sees and yet we get caught up in the ensuing thriller, wondering whether he’s victim of his own overactive (and caged) imagination or if he’s perception of his neighbour’s seemingly nefarious actions is reality.

A classic in every sense of the word. Great perfromances by Jimmy Stewart and the stunningly beautiful Grace Kelly and top notch direction by the master of thrillers himself.

The Review for The Machinist that I wrote below is absolute drivel. I know it and you know it. It’s easy to tell because, well, you just have to read it to see that it is, in fact, shit.

I reckon it’s because I don’t want to give anything away and am avoiding any spoilers. I do have one of those “more” tags here at my disposal which I could use to discuss films and it’s content. I mean, I tried to say why I liked The Machinist but the truth of it is that I can’t really say without talking about the whole film and that would mean giving some of it away.

So what do I do? Do I use the “more” tag? Do I just warn you before hand that there are going to be spoilers? Do I just say “fuck it” and write what the hell I like and if you choose to read it or not?

Talk to me damn it, talk to me!