So, here we are. This is my 500th blog post. It's sort of crept up on me, since I stopped numbering them at 280 and started writing about everything I see in the cinema. But, here we are. This isn't a song and dance, and I haven't made you anything, just recognising a landmark, and I didn't want my 500th to be just another film review (particularly as the next film I see could be bloody awful).
I'm still fumbling to find a steady format for the reviews, and I still need your feedback. I know I don't make a point of asking for your opinion, but there's a comment-box down there*1 and this is the internet.
I don't know how much more encouragement you need.
So what's coming up in the next 500? I'd like to say more silly/cool/confusing pictures and more words about Star Wars, but y'know. Those will happen when they happen. Meanwhile, if you enjoy reading the half-formed thoughts of a man who looks too deeply into action films and not deeply enough into serious drama, then you're in the right place.
Stick around. Say hello. If you like.
*1 Comments are filtered, and nameless spamming/trolling is for dicks. FYI. Be nice, be constructive, stay on topic. Y'know, like the rest of the internet doesn't.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Facts you didn't know, from times that never happened...
Before the Battle of Hastings, people would essentially shoot sticks at each other, hoping that the combination of the velocity of the wood and a soft target would dissuade their opponents from persevering with battle.
On the fateful day in question, one plucky French archer was about to eat a triangular baked oat-based snack which he had skewered onto one of his "shooting sticks" (largely because his hands were dirty from the rigours of war), when suddenly the call came from his commander to begin the assault. With a glint of mischief in his eye, he left the snack right where it was and launched the projectile at the enroaching Anglo Saxon forces...
His comrades found this hilarious, and mocked his apparent forgetfulness, but young Jacque Du Flappe gazed across the battlefield as destiny had chosen his target to be none other than King Harold himself. The lethal collision of oats and eyeball ended the battle, and won the war, and the Norman army called for this new weaponised footstuff to be named 'Flappes' in honour of its unwitting creator.
Jacque, being a humble soldier, declined the accolade and insisted that it be named after his hometown in the Pyrenees. A small hamlet named Arreau...
Inspired by this...
...which was inspired by this prime piece of slow-news-day reporting...
Thanks to Helen for starting this ball rolling. Now I'm thinking of writing more...
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
Ruby Sparks 104 mins / Dir. Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
When Calvin, a brilliant young writer, fears he may have peaked too soon and struggles to create anything, he meets Ruby who turns his world upside down. She is everything he's dreamed about...
Ruby Sparks isn't the chucklefest the trailer might suggest, but it's all the stronger for that. The jokes are there, but there's a greater sense of confusion as young Calvin tries to get his head around what he's created. He doesn't really succeed. The film is definitely kooky™, and quite often borderline irritating, but it's also very apparent that it's completely intentional (in fact, there isn't a story without that). It's difficult to define what's subtext when the story is entirely about subtext. The line between fantasy and reality is so blurred that I applaud the screenplay's (and the characters') refusal to rationalise or explain away the surreal events that unfold. If you try and put any of Ruby Sparks into a real-world context, you run the risk of missing the point of the film.
With strong performances from the leads and the supporting characters living up to their job description, it's beautifully believable for a story that isn't meant to be believable. While I didn't find it as emotionally engaging as Wallflower, it's still absolutely fascinating, and a joy to watch unfold.
'Kooky, but without taking it to Deschanel-levels. I approve wholeheartedly.'
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
So yeah. Regular readers will have noticed a distinct lack of normal posting this month. And without off-topic posts, World Of Blackout becomes another film-review blog (which is what I don't want, largely because I don't think I do it well enough for it to be the main thread).
Bottom line is, I'm just not that inspired to write at the moment.
That's just a fact, by the way, I'm not having a teenage sulk. Where my main focus of 2010 was reading more books, and 2011 was all about watching movies, the year's pet-project is Star Wars. All of it.
My thing for 2012 is a little bit of Star Wars every day. For 366 days in a row, I will either watch, read or play something from the GFFA. At the moment, I'm watching an episode of The Clone Wars each day (in chronological story order), and that alone will take me up 'til the end of March. After that, I've got novels, comics and games to go through (some for the first time, many not), and of course The Phantom Menace 3D comes out in a couple of weeks. Add on the figures and the trading cards and stickers, and that's a full time hobby, right there.
Anyway, my point is that it doesn't make for interesting blogging*1, and so I haven't got much to blab about at the moment.
The cinema reviews will continue, mainly as a way of keeping me writing, and I'm aiming to post something more creative every month (although January's project will be posted at the start of February, just to keep it visible on the page for four weeks).
Normal levels of sarcasm and bad taste will resume as the year progresses.
Yen Blackout Towers, 2012.
*1 Although if you want interesting blogging, I'm surprised you're here to be honest.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
Wow, it's the end of June already! I really must have a word with The People In Charge about running the system in accelerated-mode; I'm not sure it's a great idea.
So if you look at the list on the right, you'll see I've blogged a lot this year. In fact, in six months, I've blogged as much as in than the previous three years put together. This was a conscious decision, made back in late December of 2010. Looking back over my posts for the year, I'd reviewed a few films, but only the ones I wanted to vent about one way or the other. Apart from that, it was just random observations and moaning (and who doesn't love blogs like that? I know I do).
So in order to boost my post-count and force myself to write a bit more, I extended the idea from December's movie post, and decided I'd rate and review every film I watch in 2011. Things I watch in the cinema are detailed in this here blog, whereas the ones I watch at home are listed (albeit more briefly), over in my Facebook Album. Well, I say 'review', it's pretty much just saying if I liked it, then comparing it to other films I've seen (I'll usually get a Star Wars comparison in there if I can), but I try to be as constructive as possible, so that's already different from most reviews I read.
By the end of January, it became clear to me that this was going to turn into a movie-review blog. As much as I enjoy spouting my ill-informed opinions on generic formulaic blockbusters, that's not just what I want this site to be. So the other 'it seemed good at the time' idea I had was to write regularly on a subject I know a lot about. That's the writers-rule, right? Write what you know. And what do I know? Star Wars.
So, a weekly post about Star Wars should be a great way to get me writing more, and more regularly. In fact, let's not stop there, let's do an A-Z of the Galaxy Far, Far Away; 26 weekly posts - that sets a start and an end to the project, and an order in which to post them. You know, thinking about it, because I'm a bit OCD, let's make each post exactly 1,000 words, yeah? That'll be good writing practice. I'll be honest, I tried doing 500-word posts, and you can't say anything in 500 words. Okay, I can't say anything in 500 words. Although I'm guessing you already know that.
A trip to Edinburgh and Newcastle also proved to be good inspiration earlier in the year, but it's easier to write when you're outside of your everyday environment.
Anyhow, back to the movies. A few stats for you at this half-way point...
• So far this year, I've been to the cinema 39 times, which accounts for 47% of my movie viewing, with an average score of 5/7* for those films.
• The movies I've watched at home have also averaged out at 5/7.
• The genre with the most overall viewings so far (home + cinema) has been Sci-Fi with 22 movies, and at the other end are Romance, Western and Fantasy with only 1 each. I've seen 8 3D movies this year, the average rating for which has been 5/7, and I've done two high-intensity viewingseasons
• And I'm on first-name conversational terms with two of the local cinema staff.
That's a quick snapshot of where we're at. I'd have watched more movies if the local Cineworld had spent less time showing Pirates of the Caribbean on three of their five screens. I don't expect them to be showing arthouse films, but I do expect them to put on the features they've been trailing for months. Priest and Hanna are just two of the films they've ignored this year. There's a longer rant about this, but here isn't the place.
So, if it's opinionated reviews of mainstream movies that you want, written by a guy who reads far too much into things**, you know where to come. July is upon us with its blistering heat, and I intend to spend it in a darkened room with overpriced coffee, trying to ignore idiots who can't leave their phones alone for two hours. Bring on the summer.
* For the record, the marks-out-of-7 system comes from the twotimes I did a Seven Days, Seven Movies challenge last year, and it just kind of stuck. It's not just me being different for the sake of it. Well...
** Ask me about my Hot Fuzz theory sometime.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
