… The Dark Knight IS that good.
It’s nearly 24 hours later and I can’t help but think about the film and wonder if I can squeeze in another screening tonight. Already arranged to go and see it on IMAX with a friend but in the meantime, now I’ve had a day to digest, I think I need to see it again.
I haven’t felt like that about a film for a long time.
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As I slipped into my black armoured jacket, pulled on my mask and fired up the ignition, I had to remind myself that I am not, in fact, Batman and that my bike is not, in fact, the Batpod and does not come equipped with missile launchers with which I can blast cars out of the way as I speed back home to the Batcave - err, my flat.
The Dark Knight is fucking awesome. There, I’ve said it. I don’t really need to say anymore because that’s all you need to know and all I can get my head around to tell you. Ah, what the hell - here’s some more (surprisingly spoiler free) thoughts.
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The last time I arranged to see a gig in Nottingham Rock City, it got cancelled because the venue deemed that not enough tickets had been sold and would therefore move the gig to the neighbouring Rescue Rooms. That gig was Einstuerzende Neubauten and I can understand exactly why they cancelled because after visiting the Rescue Rooms last night, while a decent venue it does not have a stage big enough for Neubauten’s equipment needs. The Butthole Surfers gig last night was also scheduled to be in Rock City but similarly ended up in the Rescue Rooms too. What effect this might have had on the band’s performance I’m not certain but I do wonder if being told that you’re going to a smaller venue because the ticket sales weren’t enough would elicit a “fuck you” response from the group.
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November 4th is the publicized release date for Left 4 Dead, a new shooter from Valve and Turtle Rock Studios (who were responsible for new maps and ports of Counter-Strike). The basic premise of the game is familiar to anyone who’s watched Night/Dawn/Day of the Dead, 28 Days Later or, well, any zombie films. You play one of four survivors fighting your way through hordes of Infected/Undead and your goal is simply to, well, survive.
I am pants-wettingly excited about this game.
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We celebrated my father’s 70th birthday yesterday and after stuffing our faces with a gorgeous rack of lamb, some extremely tasty and very ripe brie (and assorted other delicious cheeses), summer pudding, champagne, wine, beer and chocolate cake, it seemed like a good idea to get into a wager with the members of my immediate family. My wife and sister-in-law had more sense than the rest of us pissheads - although thinking about it, my brother was driving and therefore sober so he’s obviously just a bit odd. He’s very much not like me at all.
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I finally got to see “The Mist” last night. First things first - I feel compelled and duty bound to warn anyone who’s an arachnophobe that The Mist doesn’t carry a warning but very obviously fucking should do that the film contains spiders. Fuck that “Warning: may contain mild peril” shit – if a film has those eight-legged freaks in it then I for one would like to fucking know about it before I sit down in a large, dark auditorium. That being said, even as someone afflicted with that particular phobia, I didn’t find it too bad as the beasties in question neither look like or, more to the point, move like real spiders. Alright, so I did keep my feet off the floor but generally, it wasn’t as bad as, well, Arachnophobia or, um, other films with monster spiders in (like Eight Legged Freaks which I still haven’t seen and can’t imagine ever doing so even though I really want to – how perverse is that?)
Anyway, aside from that heads up, overall I really enjoyed The Mist and would recommend it to anybody who likes horror films. More after the jump including potential spoiler-ish details.
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I break blog silence to tell you that Dr Horrible’s Sing-along blog is now live. Maybe you haven’t been keeping up with current events but we just got our arses kicked pal! Wait, no, that’s not right. Um… if you haven’t been keeping up with current events then you won’t know that Dr Horrible’s Sing-along blog is a brief episodic online show masterminded by the superfluous, no, superlative Joss Whedon, staring Doogie Howser, Mal Reynolds and Codex from The Guild. Part one is now up and parts two and three are on their way.
Yay.
But also not yay.
Because if you are in the world outside the USA then you won’t be able to see it unless you can fool the HULU mainframe with one of those new-fangled proxy IP server doohickey with a Visual Basic GUI to make it appear that you’re living down the road in Nowheresville, Alabama and are a red-blooded, god-fearing, Bush-voting American citizen then you won’t be able to watch it.
Which just goes to show how much Joss “Bow down before me and pray I don’t lose my temper because you are not worthy to lick the toe-jam from my trainers, you insignificant speck!” Whedon cares about the rest of the world, the doesn’t-care-about-the-rest-of-the-world bastard.
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In the absence of any real content and while I ponder and debate the future existence of this blog, here is a full on aural assault for your, well, I’d say pleasure but you know, it probably won’t be. Enjoy (although you’ll have to click through for the videos and music as “embedding has been disabled by request”)
The next two don’t have a video so close your eyes and try to relax - this won’t hurt very much.
I tried to go and see The Mist tonight but it was sold out. Instead I am sitting at home¹ with a copy of Shoot ‘Em Up² and a couple of tinnies. Apparently it’s like Wanted only with gorgeousness supplied in the form of the sizzingly hot Monica Belluci rather than that overrated, big lipped weirdo who was possibly attractive in Hackers but not so much after that.
Hopefully this will not only make up for the disappointment of not getting to see The Mist tonight but might also make up for suffering through Christopher “Clock my Best Original Screenplay Oscar for The Usual Suspects and did I mention that I’d never written anything before?” McQuarrie’s distressingly dull directorial debut “The Way Of the Gun” which was no small amount of pretentious and featured disturbingly little action for a film with that sort of title. Can hardly remember anything about the film apart from the last act which was okay.
¹ My flat more than my home. I still like to make that distinction even though I’m here more than I’m there.
² Which I got on the cheap from the local Co-op along with Snakes On A Plane, Deathproof and Harry Potter V. And enough Stella to sink a ship. Well, perhaps a trawler. Maybe a rowing boat. Okay, a coracle! If it was really small.
I’ve vaguely committed to trying to get these three articles out (part 1 and part 2 being here) about my first experience as a producer so rather than leaving it standing, here’s the last part which is really the bit where I actually talk about how it all went. I don’t know if there’s any benefit to anyone in what I’m writing here as there are probably far better insights from people with considerably more experience than I’ve got. Maybe there’s someone who’s thinking about being a producer or about to go into it for the first time and perhaps something here might be of use or maybe not. (If you’ve come across this article hoping to find some information and it’s not here, please feel free to leave a comment or get in touch and I’ll help if I can.)
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