My Thumped review of Maps to the Stars
David Cronenberg tries – and fails – to reclaim his cinematic identity with this tired Hollywood satire (and a film that can't be saved by Julianne Moore this time out). #link
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Date: September 2014
David Cronenberg tries – and fails – to reclaim his cinematic identity with this tired Hollywood satire (and a film that can't be saved by Julianne Moore this time out). #link
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Denzel Washington reunites with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua for the follow-up to the latter's bombastic Olympus Has Fallen that falls short of those ridiculous heights. #link
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A rough edit of footage from part one of Jef Merten's documentary on the legendary noise-jazz trio. The kind of band best seen live and unleashed rather than tamed on record, I reckon. Still, hopefully the finished film will have less talking, more playing. #link
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Bet you didn't know Zambia had its own version of proto-metal called Zamrock. I know I didn't. #link
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Reblogged from my Letterboxd list:
Can’t remember when I watched this one before, but I remembered much of the film. American Movie kind of marks the beginning of the obsessive geek documentary, affectionate rather than exploitative (though that charge is still made), which would reach different but similarly remarkable peaks with The Devil and Daniel Johnston, The King of Kong and Anvil! The Story of Anvil, each expressing in their own way that geekery is passion.
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Reblogged from my Letterboxed list:
Definitely one of the better Cannon martial arts flicks, and it’s easy to see why it was such a springboard for Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career (and maybe even Forest Whitaker, who features as a bumbling military cop). The fight scenes are snappy and exciting, which is surprisingly a rarity in these kinds of movies, and the whole thing wisely keeps plot to a minimum; it knows it’s about kicking ass and nothing more. Plus, those faces!
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Worst. Week. Ever.
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Or, Woody Allen is a horrible person and this movie only bears that out. #link
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"I suppose the real point is: designing for depth is not about neglecting the surface." In other words, remember to make things inviting for newbies, not just for the geeks who get what's going on inside. Tom uses the example of game design because that's his milieu but it's equally applicable to software or website UX design, and probably lots of other things that escape me right now. #link
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Featuring my old Watt List friend Rob Poynter, whose birthday happens to be today. Good job, Rob. #link
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Phil Dyess-Nugent on 50 years since America's Civil Rights Act. Worth reading again in light of Ferguson and the light that's shined on the distance that still needs to be travelled. #link
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So I got my bicycle back from the shop on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I crashed on the way home from a morning ride. Slipped on something, didn’t see what, coming up to the roundabout that marks the last turn before home. But the bike went sideways and flattened under me (buckling the rear wheel slightly; I can feel it drag when I wheel it) and I fell hard chest-first on the end of my handlebars. Yes, it left a mark. No, you don’t want to see it. At least it hit my sternum and not my ribs. I don’t think anything’s broken, though it hurt like a mofo and I was winded for a few minutes after. Oh yeah, and I scraped up my left knee pretty bad; it’s bruised black and there’s numbness above my kneecap. But I can walk if I keep my leg straight, though stairs are a bit tricky.
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Covering two new releases from the insanely good Dutch jazz-grind-turned-jazz-noise attack unit. #link
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My first music review for Thumped in a while. #link
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The web is a visual medium first and foremost. Audio on its own is great for long form -- podcasts and the like -- but when we listen we always listen with intent. It's not like glancing and smiling at a cat macro. #link
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I'm so happy to see this is being recognised by others besides me and Bee. #link
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A useful reference for when you don't know where to start. #link
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Reblogged from my Letterboxd list:
Slow moving, they said it was. And they were right about that. Indeed, it’s a good half hour too long; so many extraneous establishing scenes meant to make us care more about the main characters, but it’s just banter. They also said it was properly old-school scary, but it’s nothing of the sort. Poltergeist? Rosemary’s Baby? The Shining? Now those are haunting movies. The Innkeepers is so tame by comparison, it’s almost a category error to call it a horror.
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Reblogged from my Letterboxd list:
This John Le Carré adaptation courtesy of noted photographer-turned-filmmaker Anton Corbijn (Control) gets off on the wrong foot, with the frame lingering in fixed position on waves lapping lazily against a dock wall at first light. It’s a strong, stark, photographic image reflecting, perhaps, the maker’s bias for aesthetics over substance? Or maybe it’s the photographer exorcising that side of himself before driving into new territory, for the film thereafter is indeed a film, not an art installation.
Not that it doesn’t have a look; Corbijn (and cinematographer Benoît Delhomme) capture a cold, hardened Hamburg filtered through hues of blue and tints of grey. That reflects the steely natures of its characters, not least the gruff-but-good super-spy played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in his final lead performance (and what a performance!).
As an espionage thriller, this is indeed a work of character and plot, of shady deals, troubled alliances and double crossings, haunting and moving without submitting to the image of it all. Could it have made better use of actors like Daniel Brühl who are relegated here to bit parts? Probably; there’s no real need for Rachel McAdams or Willem Dafoe other than market appeal. But it still works exceedingly well, and it’s a more than fitting tribute to Hoffman, the actor’s actor.
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I’m currently without my bicycle as I’ve left it into the local shop for a service, and won’t get it back till Monday afternoon. I’ve got so used to pottering around the neighbourhood on Ol’ Greenie (as I’ve just named it; it probably won’t stick) that I’m at somewhat of a loss. What am I supposed to do now? Walk?
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Mohammad Rasolouf's powerful excoriation of Iranian state oppression is worth your attention. #link
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I've tried with Harry Pussy (on paper I should love them, but I can't get with it) but Bill Orcutt's solo music is astounding. I shook his hand and thanked him for coming when he played here in Dublin last year; maybe that was weird for him, I don't know, but I meant it. #link
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I can understand the enthusiasm, but I fear this way of thinking gives license to the likes of Apple et al to drip-feed innovations, build in obsolescence, etc. More importantly, we're really not all early adopters: we're not bloody beta testers for your products if we've paid full whack for 'em. #link
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Reblogged from my Letterboxd list:
Despite the near-universal judgement that this sequel is superior to its predecessor, I found its see-saw mix of humour and horror a little too imbalanced for my liking, at least in the first half. But when it settles down to business it’s easy to see why people prefer it. The performances are even more strange and heightened. And James Whale was way ahead of his time with the weird angles, close-ups and flash cuts that make the ‘creation’ sequence such a delight. I wish the whole film was as good as its final scenes, but those scenes are very good indeed.
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Lots of bicycle commuting this week: to the office, to the cinema, to the shops. My thighs are feeling it, but in a good way. Here’s hoping that (and not stuffing my face with Nando’s on Wednesday night) reflects in my WeightWatchers weigh-in next week.
One new review online from me this week — my thumbs-down of amnesia-themed psychological thriller Before I Go To Sleep — and two press screenings, one of which (way out in Dundrum, at a multiplex furnished like the Overlook Hotel) I attended with Bee so it was more of a date night than work. Still took some notes, mind.
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Another thumbs-down from me, I'm afraid. #link
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I was immediately suspicious when I heard this story back in January, because it sounded just like the kind of smear that isn't necessary to illustrate the 'badness' of such a despot. #link
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Matthew Baldwin's good for lists like these. I do have to add that some of them (I know for sure in Coup's case) may not work well as two-player games, so caveat ludius. But the likes of Pathfinder (which also works as a solo game) are perfect. #link
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"A sixteen-page manual detailing the intricacies of drawing Finn & Jake from Pendleton Ward's Adventure Time series." Need I say more? #link
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Yes, there are many inroads to geekery, and the border crossings shouldn't require passports, but let's recognise that it goes both ways: as much as elitism among geeks is a serious problem (just like with any clique), 'geekdom' is taken by some as no more than today's badge of cool (what else is new?). Between those two poles lie the honestly curious, and they should always feel welcome. John Siracusa sums that up succinctly: "Geekdom is not a club; it’s a destination, open to anyone who wants to put in the time and effort to travel there." #link
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You might not think you've heard these guys, whether as a band or individually, but you have. #link
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He's no shrinking violet, that King Buzzo. #link
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