For a change, I went up into London to have a drink with some erstwhile collegues. We started off at The Olde Mitre, one of the oldest pubs in London:
It's built round the back of a church and is a typical London drinking establishment, with a good selection of beers. I had a half of something called "Dark Star Original", a sort of Porter\Mild.
Very nice. After we'd all met up (the pub is down an alley, so very easy to miss), we moved on down to The Old Bank of England (both of them are Fuller's pubs), a complete contrast, and probably the largest pub I've ever been in:
Very grand. I finished the night there and, after fond farewells, wended my way back to BasVegas.
... about programming, growing up in the 1970's and 80's, games, science fiction, working in a charity book shop, films, spending too much time watching television, living in Basildon and Essex, and whatever else emerges from my fevered imagination. If you're reading this, it's your fault you clicked on the link: I am not responsible for your actions.
Saturday, 22 February 2014
Thursday, 20 February 2014
The Lincoln Lawyer
Back to the movies, this is an adaption of the bestseller by Michael Connelly starring current hot property Matthew McConaughey. Defence Lawyer Mickey Haller (McConaughey), used to dealing with orinary criminals, is suddenly hired to defend Beverly Hills playboy and heir Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe).
A very good plot and good script, combined with McConaughey's southern style makes this a superior film and an excellent Friday night pizza movie. McConaughey is excellent, as is the supporting cast, although they are somewhat underused, especially William H. Macy and Bryan Cranston, although it's good to see John Leguizamo and Michael Peña in something, as well as Marisa Tomei as Haller's ex-wife. Recommended.
A very good plot and good script, combined with McConaughey's southern style makes this a superior film and an excellent Friday night pizza movie. McConaughey is excellent, as is the supporting cast, although they are somewhat underused, especially William H. Macy and Bryan Cranston, although it's good to see John Leguizamo and Michael Peña in something, as well as Marisa Tomei as Haller's ex-wife. Recommended.
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
Creating a Custom Java AWT Component – Part 2: Resizing and Segment Control
The whole point of the control is to display a number, so inputting a number is just a case of setting a display value:
A simple enough bean compatible getter and setter, but notice that in the setter, I've modulo 10, to restrict the input to single digits. I've also called the
Now looking at the paint method, I only display a segment if it's used for a particular number. To determine this, I use the Arrays.binarySearch method on an array of the relevant numbers. For example, on the bottom left segment, which is only used by 2, 6, 8 and zero:
Perhaps this is a bit over the top and there's a better way of doing it, but it saves all those OR clauses. This shows the segments and numbers when they are active:
All well and good so far. The only bit left to do is calculating the size of the segments in relation to the size of the panel. If you look at the previous diagram of the component:
you can see that the height is three segment widths and two segment lengths. The width is two segment widths and one length. Using this as a basis, you can than say:
Ws = 2.Wp - Hp
Where Ws is the width of the segment, Wp is the width of the panel and Hp is the height of the panel. Correspondingly:
Ls = 2.Hp - 3.Wp
Where Ls is the length of the segment. You can see that for certain height and width ratios, the width and length of the segments are negative. Therefore:
2.Wp > Hp
and:
3.Wp < 2.Hp
Also:
Ws < Ls
Doing all the maths, we get that 50% < Wp < 60% of Hp. 55% sounds about right. Plugging this into the paint function:
Testing all this is simple enough. Put it all in a Frame, with a little timer to tick through the numbers:
Now it's all working tickety-boo, I thought I'd go over the refectoring of the code in the next part.
private int displayNumber = 8; public int getDisplayNumber() { return displayNumber; } public void setDisplayNumber(int displayNumber) { this.displayNumber = displayNumber % 10; repaint(); }
A simple enough bean compatible getter and setter, but notice that in the setter, I've modulo 10, to restrict the input to single digits. I've also called the
repaint method to re-display the component.Now looking at the paint method, I only display a segment if it's used for a particular number. To determine this, I use the Arrays.binarySearch method on an array of the relevant numbers. For example, on the bottom left segment, which is only used by 2, 6, 8 and zero:
//bottom left if(Arrays.binarySearch(new int[] {0,2,6,8}, displayNumber) > -1) { polygon = createSegment(createSegmentPoints(0, segmentHeight * 2 + segmentWidth, segmentHeight, segmentWidth)); g2.fill(polygon); }
Perhaps this is a bit over the top and there's a better way of doing it, but it saves all those OR clauses. This shows the segments and numbers when they are active:
| Segment | Number |
|---|---|
| Top | 0,2,3,5,6,7,8,9 |
| Top Left | 0,4,5,6,8,9 |
| Top Right | 0,1,2,3,4,7,8,9 |
| Middle | 2,3,4,5,6,8,9 |
| Bottom Left | 0,2,6,8 |
| Bottom Right | 0,1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 |
| Bottom | 0,2,3,5,6,8 |
All well and good so far. The only bit left to do is calculating the size of the segments in relation to the size of the panel. If you look at the previous diagram of the component:
you can see that the height is three segment widths and two segment lengths. The width is two segment widths and one length. Using this as a basis, you can than say:
Ws = 2.Wp - Hp
Where Ws is the width of the segment, Wp is the width of the panel and Hp is the height of the panel. Correspondingly:
Ls = 2.Hp - 3.Wp
Where Ls is the length of the segment. You can see that for certain height and width ratios, the width and length of the segments are negative. Therefore:
2.Wp > Hp
and:
3.Wp < 2.Hp
Also:
Ws < Ls
Doing all the maths, we get that 50% < Wp < 60% of Hp. 55% sounds about right. Plugging this into the paint function:
int width = this.getHeight(); width *= 0.55; int height = this.getHeight(); //set the width as a proportion of the height this.setSize(width, height); int segmentWidth = 2 * width - height; int segmentLength = 2 * height - 3 * width;
Testing all this is simple enough. Put it all in a Frame, with a little timer to tick through the numbers:
private LEDPanel led; public TestFrame(String title){ //call the superclass constructor with the specified title super(title); //add the LED panel for testing led = new LEDPanel(); add(led); led.setBackground(Color.black); led.setForeground(Color.red); led.setDisplayNumber(5); Timer timer = new Timer(); timer.schedule(new TimerTask() { public void run() { led.setDisplayNumber(led.getDisplayNumber() + 1); } }, 2000, 1000); //add the exit listener and set the size addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() { public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) { System.exit(0); } }); setSize(200, 300); //show the frame setVisible(true); }
Now it's all working tickety-boo, I thought I'd go over the refectoring of the code in the next part.
Creating a Custom Java AWT Component - Part 1: Getting Started
As part of the course I'm on, I'm creating a custom AWT component. It's a derivative of the Panel component and has a number of shapes drawn on its surface using the Graphics2D package.
To draw the graphic, I created two methods, createSegment and createSegmentPoints. First createSegment:
This method creates and returns a GeneralPath object, a polygon drawn (using the method
It uses the ration of height and width to determine if the segment is horizontal or vertical and then figures out the points from there.
Each segment is then rendered to the surface of the Panel in the
There is a problem with flickering on resize as it repaints and this could be solved using double-buffering, which I'll write about later.
To draw the graphic, I created two methods, createSegment and createSegmentPoints. First createSegment:
private GeneralPath createSegment(int[][] points){ GeneralPath polygon = new GeneralPath(GeneralPath.WIND_EVEN_ODD, points.length); polygon.moveTo(points[0][0], points[0][1]); for(int index = 1; index < points.length; index++) { polygon.lineTo(points[index][0], points[index][1]); } polygon.closePath(); return polygon; }
This method creates and returns a GeneralPath object, a polygon drawn (using the method
lineTo) by a set of points, starting then finally completed with a call to the method closePath.
The createSegmentPoints method creates an array of six points:private int[][] createSegmentPoints(int originX, int originY, int width, int height) { int[][] points = new int[6][2]; if(width >= height) { points[0] = new int[]{originX + height/2, originY}; points[1] = new int[]{originX + width - height/2, originY}; points[2] = new int[]{originX + width, originY + height/2}; points[3] = new int[]{originX + width - height/2, originY + height}; points[4] = new int[]{originX + height/2, originY + height}; points[5] = new int[]{originX, originY + height/2}; } else { points[0] = new int[]{originX + width/2, originY}; points[1] = new int[]{originX + width, originY + width/2}; points[2] = new int[]{originX + width, originY + height - width/2}; points[3] = new int[]{originX + width/2, originY + height}; points[4] = new int[]{originX, originY + height - width/2}; points[5] = new int[]{originX, originY + width/2}; } return points; }
It uses the ration of height and width to determine if the segment is horizontal or vertical and then figures out the points from there.
Each segment is then rendered to the surface of the Panel in the
paint method:public void paint(Graphics g) { Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g; int height = 20; int width = 100; GeneralPath polygon; //top polygon = createSegment(createSegmentPoints(height, 0, width, height)); g2.setPaint(Color.red); g2.fill(polygon); ... }
There is a problem with flickering on resize as it repaints and this could be solved using double-buffering, which I'll write about later.
Thursday, 13 February 2014
2 Guns and The Yards
I seem to have been watching a lot of films with Mark Wahlberg in them recently. Previously there was the cops-n-crims drama We Own The Night, and now there's these two films. Firstly, The Yards, through the LoveFilm Instants streaming service.
Fresh out of jail, having taken the rap for his friends, Leo (Wahlberg) tries to get a job at the local train repair yard and gets taken under the wing of corrupt fixer Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix) and his boss, and Leo's uncle, Frank Olchin (James Caan).
Made by the same director as We Own The Night, and with the same lead actors, the results are pretty much the same. Phoenix dominates as the corrupt and amoral Gutierrez, increasingly desperate as his plans go awry. Caan gives as good as he gets and brings a certain gravitas that only a man who's played opposite Pacino in the Godfather can. Charlize Theron is a surprise though, almost unrecognisable in what must have been, like Wahlberg, one of her first films. Wahlberg also looks young and is outclassed by the rest of the cast, but this was early in his career and you can see, looking at his later films, that he's improved, probably by knowing what roles he can't do as much as what he can.
Speaking of which, I watched one of his latest films, 2 Guns with Denzel Washington. Two agents, Bobby Trench (Washington) and Mike "Stig" Stigman (Wahlberg), unaware of each others true role, rob a bank to implicate a Mexican drugs baron Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos) and end up stealing $43 million belonging to the CIA.
A more-than-decent action film, with a fair amount of genial banter between the two leads. The plot is above average as well, with enough double crosses to make sure you don't take it for granted. The only thing which lets the whole thing down is the support, with Olmos looking like he can't wait for the cheque to arrive and Bill Paxton trying to be a mean CIA agent. Paula Patton is also underused as the love interest, but this is basically a buddy movie with a few twists and lots of bangs and crashes. Wahlberg takes to his role rather well, but is somewhat outclassed by Washington, as you'd expect (he's better than Sly, though). Overall, pretty good and a superior pizza movie.
Fresh out of jail, having taken the rap for his friends, Leo (Wahlberg) tries to get a job at the local train repair yard and gets taken under the wing of corrupt fixer Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix) and his boss, and Leo's uncle, Frank Olchin (James Caan).
Made by the same director as We Own The Night, and with the same lead actors, the results are pretty much the same. Phoenix dominates as the corrupt and amoral Gutierrez, increasingly desperate as his plans go awry. Caan gives as good as he gets and brings a certain gravitas that only a man who's played opposite Pacino in the Godfather can. Charlize Theron is a surprise though, almost unrecognisable in what must have been, like Wahlberg, one of her first films. Wahlberg also looks young and is outclassed by the rest of the cast, but this was early in his career and you can see, looking at his later films, that he's improved, probably by knowing what roles he can't do as much as what he can.
Speaking of which, I watched one of his latest films, 2 Guns with Denzel Washington. Two agents, Bobby Trench (Washington) and Mike "Stig" Stigman (Wahlberg), unaware of each others true role, rob a bank to implicate a Mexican drugs baron Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos) and end up stealing $43 million belonging to the CIA.
A more-than-decent action film, with a fair amount of genial banter between the two leads. The plot is above average as well, with enough double crosses to make sure you don't take it for granted. The only thing which lets the whole thing down is the support, with Olmos looking like he can't wait for the cheque to arrive and Bill Paxton trying to be a mean CIA agent. Paula Patton is also underused as the love interest, but this is basically a buddy movie with a few twists and lots of bangs and crashes. Wahlberg takes to his role rather well, but is somewhat outclassed by Washington, as you'd expect (he's better than Sly, though). Overall, pretty good and a superior pizza movie.
Friday, 7 February 2014
We Own The Night
A crime thriller from a few years ago. In the late 1980's, night club owner Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) gets embroiled in a struggle between Russian drug dealers and the cops, represented by his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and his father (Robert Duvall).
A good story, if a bit by the numbers, and somewhat unevenly paced. Phoenix is good, but the supporting cast is underused, especially Duvall and Eva Mendes as Green's girlfriend. However, it makes for a better than average pizza movie.
A good story, if a bit by the numbers, and somewhat unevenly paced. Phoenix is good, but the supporting cast is underused, especially Duvall and Eva Mendes as Green's girlfriend. However, it makes for a better than average pizza movie.
Wreck-it Ralph
An homage to the arcade games of our youth. Wreck-it Ralph, a villain in an old arcade game, realises how unappreciated he is by the other characters in the game and decides to earn their respect by winning a medal.
An entertaining little film, with one or two twists to make the trip worthwhile. It does seem a bit confused at who it's aimed at, though. The plot and characters are really for children (12-year olds at most), but who of that age plays arcade games?
Still, the real joy is seeing arcade characters such as Q-Bert and Pacman "off-duty" in 3D. Recommended, but better for children, of whatever age.
An entertaining little film, with one or two twists to make the trip worthwhile. It does seem a bit confused at who it's aimed at, though. The plot and characters are really for children (12-year olds at most), but who of that age plays arcade games?
Still, the real joy is seeing arcade characters such as Q-Bert and Pacman "off-duty" in 3D. Recommended, but better for children, of whatever age.
Monday, 3 February 2014
Bllt T Th Hd
(Sorry, that should be "Bullet to the Head": watching Sly for any length of time does that to you). From my LoveFilm subscription, this is a Crime\Buddy movie\whatever. Double-crossed by his employers, hitman "Bobo" Bonomo (seriously) seeks revenge with the help of a cop (Sung Kang).
Actually, if you can switch off the part of your brain that thinks Sly ought to be able to act a little by now, it's not a half-bad pizza movie. Sly is more than ably supported by the rest of the cast, especially Jason Momoa as the villain showing Sly how it's done, and Sarah Shahi as his daughter, but Christian Slater is wasted as a corrupt lawyer. Switch that part of your brain back on, though, and you can see it should have been someone else's movie.
Actually, if you can switch off the part of your brain that thinks Sly ought to be able to act a little by now, it's not a half-bad pizza movie. Sly is more than ably supported by the rest of the cast, especially Jason Momoa as the villain showing Sly how it's done, and Sarah Shahi as his daughter, but Christian Slater is wasted as a corrupt lawyer. Switch that part of your brain back on, though, and you can see it should have been someone else's movie.
Saturday, 1 February 2014
The Lone Ranger
Through my LoveFilm subscription, after his brother is killed in an ambush, and left for dead, John Reid (Armie Hammer) seeks revenge with the help of Tonto (Johnny Depp), a Commanche outcast.
A superior pizza movie, Depp is a likeable and sympathetic Tonto, unrecognisable in old age, and is well supported, especially by William Fitchner giving it both barrels as the despicable Butch Cavendish, but also by Hammer, as the rube transformed into a western hero, Tom Wilkinson and Helena Bonham Carter. The film isn't too overwheled by the special effects and the plot zips along, so why it wasn't a box-office success I don't know. Maybe it was a Depp too far for some people. As the reporter at the end of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" says, "This is the West, sir: when the legend becomes fact, print the legend!".
A superior pizza movie, Depp is a likeable and sympathetic Tonto, unrecognisable in old age, and is well supported, especially by William Fitchner giving it both barrels as the despicable Butch Cavendish, but also by Hammer, as the rube transformed into a western hero, Tom Wilkinson and Helena Bonham Carter. The film isn't too overwheled by the special effects and the plot zips along, so why it wasn't a box-office success I don't know. Maybe it was a Depp too far for some people. As the reporter at the end of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" says, "This is the West, sir: when the legend becomes fact, print the legend!".
The Lego Movie
Seems like Lego have made their own movie and tied in the latest min-figs series:
A barista and an executive-type with amazing hair.
The movie seems a little weird:
A barista and an executive-type with amazing hair.
The movie seems a little weird:
Friday, 31 January 2014
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
An avante garde thriller, directed by John Cassavetes, from the 1970's. A night club owner Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara), in debt to gangsters, is asked to murder someone else who owes them money.
I can't really recommend the film to anyone much: Vittelli owns possibly the most awful night club I've ever seen, everyone channelling Bertolt Brecht (I actually fast-forwarded through the worst bits, pretty much all of them), although the thriller parts are handled well enough. Apparently, it was significantly cut on release and still bombed.
As an aside, when John Cassavetes died in the 1980's, 2000AD commemorated the event by issuing a Judge Dredd story (Issue No. 627) in the style of the director called "John Cassavetes is Dead", about an old man who's arrested for collecting newspapers.
I can't really recommend the film to anyone much: Vittelli owns possibly the most awful night club I've ever seen, everyone channelling Bertolt Brecht (I actually fast-forwarded through the worst bits, pretty much all of them), although the thriller parts are handled well enough. Apparently, it was significantly cut on release and still bombed.
As an aside, when John Cassavetes died in the 1980's, 2000AD commemorated the event by issuing a Judge Dredd story (Issue No. 627) in the style of the director called "John Cassavetes is Dead", about an old man who's arrested for collecting newspapers.
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
A Canterbury Tale
This is an obscure Powell and Pressburger film from the 1940's, via my LoveFilm subscription. A G.I. Sergent, his British counterpart and a Land Army girl try to solve the mysterious attacks of the "Glueman" in a Kent village.
The film is less about the mystery of who is attacking young women by pouring glue on their hair and more about the effect the war is having on the individuals and the country at the time (Canterbury was bombed in 1943 as part of the so-called Baedeker raids). It's also a big slice of nostalgia, showing a world that was fast disappearing even before the war.
The film is less about the mystery of who is attacking young women by pouring glue on their hair and more about the effect the war is having on the individuals and the country at the time (Canterbury was bombed in 1943 as part of the so-called Baedeker raids). It's also a big slice of nostalgia, showing a world that was fast disappearing even before the war.
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Dead Man Down and The Numbers Station
Two films from my LoveFilm subscription. The first is a spy thriller with John Cusack and Liam Cunningham. After failing during an assassination, burnt-out CIA agent Emerson (Cusack) is sent to guard a cipher clerk at a remote radio transmission station.
Although the film has a good premise, it lacks substance. Cusack is good enough, and he has good support from Malin Åkerman and Cunnigham, but there's the feeling that there should have been a proper adversary for him, although the limited budget doesn't really help. An opportunity missed.
The second film is a rather good revenge thriller starring Colin Farrell. The vengeance of a criminal, "Victor" (Farrell), against his fellow gang members is jeopardised by his involvement with a neighbour.
Although the film promises to be quite bleak, and even run-of-the-mill, it's raised by the unlikely and awkward romance between Victor and Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), and good support from Isabelle Huppert and Dominic Cooper. Recommended.
Although the film has a good premise, it lacks substance. Cusack is good enough, and he has good support from Malin Åkerman and Cunnigham, but there's the feeling that there should have been a proper adversary for him, although the limited budget doesn't really help. An opportunity missed.
The second film is a rather good revenge thriller starring Colin Farrell. The vengeance of a criminal, "Victor" (Farrell), against his fellow gang members is jeopardised by his involvement with a neighbour.
Although the film promises to be quite bleak, and even run-of-the-mill, it's raised by the unlikely and awkward romance between Victor and Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), and good support from Isabelle Huppert and Dominic Cooper. Recommended.
Sunday, 12 January 2014
Codes and Ciphers - Cicada 3301
Most of my interest in cryptography is fairly light, more along the lines of general theory and a few easy algorithms, but there is something more serious afoot in th' Internet. It's known as the Cicada 3301 problem, an annual competition, or rather challenge, to the best of the best to crack a series of interlinked cryptography and stenography puzzles. This years puzzle (blogged about by one of the solvers) reads like some kind of techno-thriller without any characters.
The idea seems to be that when someone finds a solution, they are then given instructions on how to post it and an address for a formal interview. There's speculation that it's a convoluted recruitment process for a government agency (NSA? GCHQ?) or the commercial equivalent.
The idea seems to be that when someone finds a solution, they are then given instructions on how to post it and an address for a formal interview. There's speculation that it's a convoluted recruitment process for a government agency (NSA? GCHQ?) or the commercial equivalent.
Monday, 6 January 2014
Goon
This is an ice hockey film through the LoveFilm Instant service. Doug Glatt, a bouncer at a local bar, attends an ice hockey game with his friend and accidently gets involved in a fight with one of the players, resulting in him being recruited as an "enforcer" (someone who's job is to wade in when a fight starts and lay out the opposition, protecting the better players from getting hurt).
Based on a true story, it's Forrest Gump meets Slapshot. Seann William Scott is suitably monosylabic as Glatt and Liev Schreiber enjoys himself as Glatt's nemesis, Ross "The Boss" Rhea, but the plot is pretty much the trailer, so it compares badly to either of the other two films. An average pizza move, but perhaps more meaningful if you like ice hockey.
Based on a true story, it's Forrest Gump meets Slapshot. Seann William Scott is suitably monosylabic as Glatt and Liev Schreiber enjoys himself as Glatt's nemesis, Ross "The Boss" Rhea, but the plot is pretty much the trailer, so it compares badly to either of the other two films. An average pizza move, but perhaps more meaningful if you like ice hockey.
Saturday, 4 January 2014
The Place Beyond The Pines
Through the LoveFilm Instant service, this is a story of two men, the crime that joins them, and the consequences for both them and their sons.
An unusual crime drama, this is three stories told one after the other. The first is about circus motorbike rider Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling) who, on finding he has a son, takes up robbing banks in a misguided attempt to support the boy and his mother Romina (Eva Mendes). He is finally cornered by policeman Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) and the second story is what happens to Cross afterwards when he discovers police corruption in the wake of the confrontation. The third story is about their sons who encounter each other fifteen years later and discover what happened.
It's quite a long film, which is hardly surprising given the content, and it does drag a little in places. Gosling does his best as the troubled Glanton, but he can only play one note and that's getting a bit tiresome now. Bradley Cooper does better as the principled, but ambitious, Cross, and the support is good, if somewhat muted. All-in-all a good movie, but requiring some patience, especially at the end.
An unusual crime drama, this is three stories told one after the other. The first is about circus motorbike rider Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling) who, on finding he has a son, takes up robbing banks in a misguided attempt to support the boy and his mother Romina (Eva Mendes). He is finally cornered by policeman Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) and the second story is what happens to Cross afterwards when he discovers police corruption in the wake of the confrontation. The third story is about their sons who encounter each other fifteen years later and discover what happened.
It's quite a long film, which is hardly surprising given the content, and it does drag a little in places. Gosling does his best as the troubled Glanton, but he can only play one note and that's getting a bit tiresome now. Bradley Cooper does better as the principled, but ambitious, Cross, and the support is good, if somewhat muted. All-in-all a good movie, but requiring some patience, especially at the end.
Deadfall
Another through my LoveFilm subscription, this is a suitably chilly crime story. After their escape from a casino heist has gone wrong, siblings Addison (Eric Bana) and Lisa (Olivia Wilde) split up to make their way to the Canadian border, only to meet up accidentally at someones Thanksgiving dinner.
Not a bad little thriller, with a good cast (notably Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson), but the plot is a bit thin and the dialogue could do with a bit of sharpening up. Good pizza movie, though, and much better than Killing Them Softly.
Not a bad little thriller, with a good cast (notably Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson), but the plot is a bit thin and the dialogue could do with a bit of sharpening up. Good pizza movie, though, and much better than Killing Them Softly.
Cloud Atlas
Through my LoveFilm subscription, this is the adaption of the book by David Mitchell. Six interlinking stories are told interleaved: the journal of an 19th Century man on an Pacific ocean journey; a young composer in the 1930's trying to work for an aged genius; a 1970's journalist investigating the death of a nuclear scientist; a present-day publisher trying to escape from a care home; a recently freed clone in the 22nd century; a primitive goat-herder in a post-apocalyptic future.
I read the book a while ago and it's probably best that you do in order to enjoy the film, or at least make sense of it. To be able to translate such a conceptually complex book into a film is quite an achievement, and it almost works. The visual effects are quite stunning and there must be an Oscar somewhere for the best make-up: Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving and Hugh Grant are unrecognisable in some of their roles. Both the main and supporting cast are top drawer, especially Jim Broadbent, but what brings the film down, as in the book, is trying to link disparate stories together: it's too flimsy. Still, the film is worth watching.
I read the book a while ago and it's probably best that you do in order to enjoy the film, or at least make sense of it. To be able to translate such a conceptually complex book into a film is quite an achievement, and it almost works. The visual effects are quite stunning and there must be an Oscar somewhere for the best make-up: Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving and Hugh Grant are unrecognisable in some of their roles. Both the main and supporting cast are top drawer, especially Jim Broadbent, but what brings the film down, as in the book, is trying to link disparate stories together: it's too flimsy. Still, the film is worth watching.
Friday, 3 January 2014
RED 2 - Getting the Band Back Together
The first film of the new year is the sequel to the comedy\thriller adaption of local hero Warren Ellis' comic book. Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is trying to settle down with his new girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), but his former life intrudes in the form of a mad scientist (Anthony Hopkins) and a foxy counter-intelligence agent (Catherine Zeta-Jones).
While not quite as good as the original film, this is an entertaining two hours with lots of bangs and crashes. Willis plays to his strengths; Parker is her usual sparky self, especially when confronted with Zeta-Jones as Frank's former flame; the supporting cast is good, with Mirren and Cox enjoying themselves again, John Malkovich typecasting and Hopkins trying not to be Hanibal Lecter. Byung-hun Lee is also good as Frank's supposed nemesis, and Neal McDonough takes a break from Mob City to be a ruthless government agent. The plot lacks a little substance and the dialog could have done with sharpening, but, as sequels go, it isn't nearly as bad as the Expandables 2.
McDonough is also in The Prototype, a thriller based on the notion of the singularity, a concept talked about by the London Futurists quite a bit.
Looks like fun!
While not quite as good as the original film, this is an entertaining two hours with lots of bangs and crashes. Willis plays to his strengths; Parker is her usual sparky self, especially when confronted with Zeta-Jones as Frank's former flame; the supporting cast is good, with Mirren and Cox enjoying themselves again, John Malkovich typecasting and Hopkins trying not to be Hanibal Lecter. Byung-hun Lee is also good as Frank's supposed nemesis, and Neal McDonough takes a break from Mob City to be a ruthless government agent. The plot lacks a little substance and the dialog could have done with sharpening, but, as sequels go, it isn't nearly as bad as the Expandables 2.
McDonough is also in The Prototype, a thriller based on the notion of the singularity, a concept talked about by the London Futurists quite a bit.
Looks like fun!
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
True Grit
Happy New Year, everybody.
While seeing in the New Year with my Aunt and Uncle in the wild and wooly North West, I brought over the remake of True Grit to watch. Fourteen year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires aged Federal Marshal Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to bring her father's killer to justice:
Although the original is considered a classic, I was never that enamoured of it. This improves on it slightly, and definitely has the weirdness of a Coen brother's movie, which can be a little arresting in places, although I imagine it stays very true to the book. The support is good, too, if a little underused (with the exception of Matt Damon reprising Glen Campbell's role as the Texas Ranger LeBoeuf). Not a bad little pizza movie, but requiring a little patience.
While seeing in the New Year with my Aunt and Uncle in the wild and wooly North West, I brought over the remake of True Grit to watch. Fourteen year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires aged Federal Marshal Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to bring her father's killer to justice:
Although the original is considered a classic, I was never that enamoured of it. This improves on it slightly, and definitely has the weirdness of a Coen brother's movie, which can be a little arresting in places, although I imagine it stays very true to the book. The support is good, too, if a little underused (with the exception of Matt Damon reprising Glen Campbell's role as the Texas Ranger LeBoeuf). Not a bad little pizza movie, but requiring a little patience.
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