Miss Congeniality is a real “Ronseal” film – it does exactly what it says on the box. No plot surprises (not even a hint of a twist) no gratuituous ‘dressing-room’ scenes (which would have been oh-so-easy), no mental energy required. Sandra Bullock really shines though as FBI Special Agent Hart, who has to enter a beauty pageant as Miss New Jersey. She doesn’t really convince as the hard-as-nails one-of-the-lads tomboy, but has the fish-out-of-water slighty accident prone woman discovering herself down pat. I actually really enjoyed it though – very very funny in places, extremely camp throughout, and no-one in takes themselves seriously at all (which is always fun to see). Have to say a quick word about Michael Caine (who trains her up) – absolutely fantastic, and in some danger of stealing the film. Finally the DVD – only watched it in stereo, and the sound was fine, picture quality and so on excellent. The extras rock too. Lots of lots of them, and well worth a scan. I unfortunatly didn’t have time to watch them, but there seemed to be a lot to choose from.
Other excitements – started to knock down a wall in our new house – converting the bathroom and toilet into one. That’s a new experience for me (and a vvery messy one).
Seen a couple of films recently – Tomb Raider and Miss Congeniality.
Tomb Raider was actually better then I was expecting, because everyone had slated it so much. First of all the DVD is packed full of extras, which we like, and the sound (dolby digital) is reasonable too. It seemed to be heavily biased towards the bass, and the dialogue didn’t really seem to be loud enough to hear (unless you wanted to be knocked off your seat by the explosions). That might just be my set-up. As far as the film goes, it’s pleasingly enough on the eye. Angelina Jolie does a fair job of Lara Croft, but the ’emotional’ scenes (of which there are many) fail to engage, and the sub-‘plots’ (I use the term loosely) are just plain obtuse. One’s left not caring enough to try to work out who’s thinking what, or who has just changed sides (or not). Worse perhaps, it’s often only clear that a figure on screen is not a major character when they get killed by some ancient creature or mechanism. Awesome CGI though – especially love the stone creatures in the Cambodian temple, and it must be said the sets and scenery are breath-taking.
Miss Congeniality is a real “Ronseal” film – it does exactly what it says on the box. No plot surprises (not even a hint of a twist) no gratuituous ‘dressing-room’ scenes (which would have been oh-so-easy), no mental energy required. Sandra Bullock really shines though as FBI Special Agent Hart, who has to enter a beauty pageant as Miss New Jersey. She doesn’t really convince as the hard-as-nails one-of-the-lads tomboy, but has the fish-out-of-water slighty accident prone woman discovering herself down pat. I actually really enjoyed it though – very very funny in places, extremely camp throughout, and no-one in takes themselves seriously at all (which is always fun to see). Have to say a quick word about Michael Caine (who trains her up) – absolutely fantastic, and in some danger of stealing the film. Finally the DVD – only watched it in stereo, and the sound was fine, picture quality and so on excellent. The extras rock too. Lots of lots of them, and well worth a scan. I unfortunatly didn’t have time to watch them, but there seemed to be a lot to choose from.
Went to the gym again yesterday – did 15 minutes of running on the treadmill, followed by 5 minutes of rowing, with a couple of weights mixed in. Felt good actually – going to try and go climbing tommorow, and then the gym again on Friday, combined with some crunches at home on the alernate nights.
Few bits and pieces. Firstly, two series well worth watching – Smallville (Channel 4, Sundays, about 18.30) about Superman as a teenager.. and secondly Enterprise (Sky 1, Mondays @ 20.00 and repeated Sundays @ 16.00) the prequal to Str Trek TOS.
Other news – well started going to the gym again.. getting off to a slow start – went last Monday and this Monday. 15 mins of ergo (travelling around 3k3 both times). Hoping to go more often, but once a week is better that not at all!!
Just time for a quick plug – just moved my eutony domains to 123reg.co.uk, a very cheap and excellent company, it would seem! (see ad at far bottom left)
Top film; brainless (but loveable) fun, classic rogue-turned-good tale. Acting was superb, as you’d expect from Mel and Helen Hunt, and as long as you didn’t think too closely about that plot you’re fine. It’s also the first film I’ve seen in Dolby Digital 5.1. The set-up isn’t tuned properly (moving house in about 10 days – not worth setting up properly), but it was still great. This film was very understated in it’s use of the effect, which made it so much the better when they did go full-on (gotta love those rain storms – plus the big voices-in-the-head scenes are just great). Oh yes, and the extras are reasonable. Nothing too special (some interviews, the original trailers, plus a making off documentary which I half watched.) There’s also a director’s commentary, which I didn’t have time to listen to, but in other films I’ve seen this is a great addition.
Pleasingly faithful to the book, and seemingly heavily inspired by the film (the sets look like the film, as do the avatars, and the voices & music also sound like the film). Anyway, it’s a thid-person perspective 3D game (like Tomb Raider, although a less impressive graphics engine) where you explore Hogwarts, learning spells solving puzzles, attending classes and so on. They also have some great sub-games – like Quidditch and a mine-cart type game from Gringotts. It’s extremely easy (I’d finished over 80% of the game in about 6 hours), and with infinite continues when you die (itself no mean feat – the game goes out of it’s way to give you more energy!). The controls are dead-simple, although some co-ordination is required with some of the spells – I guess it’s really aimed at Potterphiles, ie pre-teens. All this said, I really enjoyed it, and I’m sure any 10 year old would love it, even if it hasn’t got the long-lasting appeal of, say, Sypro. Worth hiring.. might be worth buying if it comes out in a budget range.
I was a bit disappointed with Unbreakable – after all the hype about ‘this year’s Six Sense’ I was expecting a similarly engaging and suprising film. The film itself is fine, I guess. Bruce Willis continues to impress me as a versitle and talented actor, and as usual Samuel L. Jackson is the man. Also a familar face by way of Robin Wright (Princess Buttercup – of the Princess bridge – and also in Forrest Gump) who I didn’t place until I looked on imdb just now. Just as Laurence Fishbourne will always be Morpheus, so Robin Wright will always be Princess Buttercup). ANYWAY, the point is the alleged twist is pants – not because you can see it coming, but you don’t actually care! Nothing wrong with the acting, but the script drastically fails to engage and build up the tension. The DVD itself is also naff – the only extras are the subtitles and other languages.
First of all the DVD is fantastic – hours and hours of material. Everything you could possibly want to know about Apollo 11 and the moon landing – flight plans NASA’s archive footage.. the whole bamboozle. Plus the now standard commentaries (I didn’t have the DVD long enough to check these out), cast and crew biogs, and a few interviews for good measure. The film itself is great. It’s a sweet and gentle movie, about a bunch of radio astronomers who become part of the NASA team maintaining contact with Apollo 11. Sam Neill gives a superb performance, although my favorite sub-plot was between Janine (Eliza Szonert – from Neighbours apparantly) and Glenn (Tom Long). I really enjoyed it, and would consider buying the DVD for the historical/educational value alone.
