Tuesday, January 15, 2008

2007 Round Up

Another topical post.

BEST FILM I SAW IN 2007

Tricky. My gut reaction is either Sunshine or 30 Days of Night.

BEST TV SHOW I WATCHED IN 2007

The future episode of Heroes. Awesome.

BEST COMIC I READ IN 2007

Again, tricky. The last issue of Ultimates 2 with the 8 page spread. The beginning and last issues of The Sinestro Corps War was as good as Star Wars.

BEST BOOK I READ IN 2007

To be honest, there haven't been many new books I've read this year, mainly been re-reading those already in my collection. So, by that definition the best book I own is Run so that by default is the best book I read in 2007.

BEST SONG I LISTENED TO IN 2007

Drama Queen by The Switches or the theme from Hot Fuzz

BEST VIDEO GAME I PLAYED IN 2007

Gitarro Man Lives for the PSP.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Fashion Tip #1

So, there's going to be a new Hulk film next year starring Ed Norton* and on the website website they've released the first images, one of which is Mr Norton in a vest starring and what we can only assume is somekind of Hulk potion.

I only mention this because one of the first images released for the upcoming Iron Man film was of Robert Downey Jr in a vest building an Iron Man suit.

What is it with the vest thing? Why are both main characters in vests? Are vests next years hot clothing item?




* Is it Ed or Edward? He was definetly Ed Norton when he was in Fight Club but I'm sure I've seen him credited as "Edward" as well in posh films.

The Duchess is back!

The Phil Doyle Laptop Machine: Zero Defects.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Film review: I Am Legend

I Am Legend @ IMDB

To go off on a tangent almost immediately, the closest film to compare this to is Cast Away: big giant movie star appears in a film where it's just them on screen the majority of the time. Will Smith is the new Tom Hanks? Possibly.

Back to the film, what we have here is basically Fresh Prince of The Living Dead or, as some have somewhat unfairly put it, 28 Days Lamer.

That is the obvious comparison: Wiky-wiky-wild-wild-Will is Robert Neville, the last man alive in New York and possibly the world. He is searching for the cure for a plague that has wiped out 90% of mankind, a few were immune but the rest? I'm definitely sensing zombies.

But here lies the problem: they're full CG. They jump around all over the place and basically are so over the top they aren't scary. Remember The Mummy Returns? With the mummies that chased the double decker bus? That's what they're like.

The scariest bit of business with them is when Big Willy goes into a building full of them and you see a group huddling together. THAT was freaky. A big group of computer effects jumping over cars? Nope.

The problem is that I've read the book and in the book they're vampires but still essentially human. And that makes them scary because we can see ourselves in them. Not so with the Infected in this film, they may well have been aliens or something.

It goes without saying that the original book was better but it's not all bad. Will Smith holds his own as the only screen presence for most of the film. The world he lives in is intriguing but the pseudo science around it could be left behind and the story just left to focus on the characters will to survive.

And, to it's credit, it does pull an ending that you wouldn't expect for a Will Smith film. It's not quite as depressing as the end of the Dawn of The Dead remake but it's not far off. I enjoyed it.

Now, to finish the review. As it's a new year, and I'm running out of weapons, I'm changing the wrap up. Reviews will now finish as follows:

In a word? Ordinary.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Best three string guitar since The Presidents of The United States of America did Mach 5

Finally!

Warner Brother is now soley supporting Blu-Ray which should be the final nail in the HD-DVD coffin. From a UK perspective all the HD sections have a much greater proportion of blue boxes rather than that slightly depressing burgundy that HD-DVDs come in.

This is also fairly significant since every domestic format Sony has launched died on it's arse. Examples being Betamax, MiniDisc and UMD.

Now there is no reason for me not own a PS3...when they get a bit cheaper.

I still likey Iron Man



Okay, that isn't the movie Iron Man, it's an "advervideo" from a new Marvel website called Marvel Kids promoting the Marvel Adventures line which is basically the core Marvel concepts only without the decades of continuity.

Advervideos. Hmm.

PS3 ID