SO as mentioned in Gibberings I got drugged up and spent money on two Blu-Rays and a DVD rather than just downloading the buggers. Well, they were in ASDA's reduced section so it wasn't to pricey.
44 Inch Chest - didn't get round to watching it yet but will make my feelings known when I have feelings.
It's about London gangsters and one of the characters is called "Old Man Peanut" so it sounds right up my street. Metacritic only gives 47/100 but critic ratings are quite often a lot of toss - look how many gushed about Avatar, for example, which was shit in every conceivable way, and worse than shit some ways.
Dylan Moran: yeah, yeah
I'm a big fan of Dylan Moran, I love the Black Books sitcom and his character in it. Sitting about in a book shop drinking wine and being rude to everyone sounds like a fucking great lifestyle. His standup routines are also quality.
This Moran piece falls into the later category, but it seems silly to start a Recommend YET MORE Standup DVDs thread. Now, I was waning a bit after pulling an all nighter when I watched this so I found it difficult to keep up - this is testament to Moran's energy on stage and his sense of fun which is nice to see in someone who's been doing it for 19 years. His delivery is effortless, his insolent observational comedy usually spot on. Any flaws in the performance are made up for by his dishevelled, understated Irish charm. I will be watching this again in a better state of mind as there were many things that just went past too quickly for me. But what I did follow was witty and he at least gives the impression that much of his material is off the cuff, with a very natural delivery. I did feel that some of the observational material was a bit mainstream, he's at his best doing absurdist stuff, a bit reminiscent of top tranny comedian Eddie Izzard (I don't mean to say he's only best of the tranny's, he's a top comedian in my book end of story). With the latter reservation in mind I give this a worthwhile 8/10.
Valhalla Rising - the joker in the pack
I'm not sure why I picked this up and when I got home to review what I'd purchased I thought I must have made a big mistake. How wrong I was!
This film could divide audiences. It's difficulty to classify. It's a
serious film telling a
serious story, so don't watch this for laughs (well, it might be possible to find unintended humour in some of the stylistic conventions but it's not obligitary, nothing stands out as being "ridiculous"). The plot, however, is in the realms of fantasy, the supernatural, mythology and a kind of classy medieval horror. It follows the journey of a group Viking Christian crusaders. The Viking characters are all Scottish actors who make no attempt to disguise it. Indeed the film is entirely shot in Scotland. They meet up with the central character (a mute! Not often the central character has no lines) and his sidekick in the form of a young boy (it's not clear to me what their relationship is, it's certainly a close one though, perhaps his son or an adopted stray?) and supposedly go on a Christian Crusade to the Holy Land, to convert natives. Wikipedia says:
Wikipedia said:
In 1107 Sigurd I of Norway sailed for the eastern Mediterranean with a host of Norwegian crusaders to fight for the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem,
So there is some historical accuracy here.
As a warning to non-fans of gore, the film starts of a bit gorey then segues into a gently tense mid-section, with some male-on-male rape and a touch of gore at the end, as a bonus.
*** minor spoiler alert ***
The best thing about this film is the atmosphere, created by beautiful cinematography, artistic direction, apparent style references to other films - although always done tastefully and innocuously and perhaps not even consciously (I couldn't help thinking of Apocolypse now) and fairly decent performances by the cast.
Anyway I've never seen anything quite like this and it had me glued to the screen. I was a bit drugged so had to rewind it on occasion as I was seeing messages written in foliage and on the costumes, but on closer inspection my mind was playing tricks on me.
If you like something a bit different and have the patience and attention span to stick with the unhurried dialogue and plot progression you really must watch this film. 9/10.
perfect for MXE
