"The Day The Earth Stood Still" and Happy Xmas!

Firstly, a happy Christmas to all!





***

Last Sunday, we went to see the remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" at our local Odeon cinema. As we caught the 1:30pm screening, it was nigh on empty in the cinema, which I prefer as you don't get crowds of people making noise, and of course you have the pick of the seats! Cold in there though! I guess they don't turn the heating on until the evening. I was interested in seeing this remake as I have been a fan of the original 1951 version for many years: it's certainly one of the better sci-fi films of that period, alongside "Forbidden Planet" and "Earth vs the Flying Saucers". When we got home, we watched the original over dinner to do some comparisons.

I had read a few average/poor reviews of the film on-line, so I wasn't expecting much. Thankfully, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, even though it may have shortcomings in terms of its script and characterisations. The film roughly follows the plot of the original: an alien ambassador comes to earth to warn the human race about impending doom, due to man's destructive nature. In the original version, which was filmed at the height of the cold war, it was all about a potential third world war, but the new version takes on an environmental stance.

The film takes place in the New York/New Jersey area (it was Washington DC in the 1951 version) and after the alien spacecraft arrives in Central Park, various scientist types including Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) investigate in cool space suits. The spherical craft soon reveals a messenger, initially a very alien looking character, but who turns out to be human-like Klaatu (Keanu Reeves). The military attempts to deal with this in their usual gung-ho manner, even though Klaatu makes no aggressive move - he is shot by some trigger happy grunt. Soon GORT, his giant protective robot, appears and all hell breaks loose. Klaatu is taken into custody, he is operated on to remove the bullet, and the interrogation begins...

The film deals with what would happen if a superior intelligence decided that 'enough is enough', and took action against us and our self destructive ways. Its main focus is on Klaatu and the replationship between him and Benson, and her stepson. We get the US military trying to blow things up, which heralds some impressive CGI visuals, huge robot GORT destroying a wide swathe of the NE of the USA in a bizarre way, images of world-wide panic, and Keanu speaking a few sentences of Chinese! Oh, and John Cleese appears as a scientist in one scene. However, this version ends a little bleaker compared to the original. I won't give it away, but it I felt the ending was a really interesting and satisfying twist on the original. Special effects are very good throughout the film.

I suppose the main criticism of the new version would be its 'dumbed down' approach to how Klaatu deals with his important mission. As the American military won't let him see the UN, the aliens decide to rid the world of humans (oh, and rescue some plants and animals along the way). Well, fair enough I suppose. But when our alien visitor sees 'the other side' - the caring side - of humanity, specifically in the relationship between Benson and her stepson, he sort of changes his mind and things develop slightly differently. Maybe that element was a bit wishy-washy, as surely the aliens would know about all facets of humanity if we had been studied for years? You could argue that Michael Rennie, who played Klaatu in the 1951 version, had more emotion and depth in his performance, and the atmosphere in the film was handled better by a better director (Robert Wise). Anyway, Keanu Reeves gives his usual 'limited' performance, but here he is fine as the cold alien messenger I felt, and he looked good in a suit. Jennifer Connelly is always good to watch, even though she seems to get thinner with each film, and thankfully her stepson in the film, played by Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son), isn't annoying. Overall, an entertaining film. I'll definitely buy it for my DVD collection next year so I have both versions on the shelf next to each other.

You can read Carla's thoughts on the film here.

"Beware of the blob...."

We watched a couple of old sci-fi movies today after lunch: "The Blob" (1958) and "Demon Seed" (1977).

"The Blob" is very entertaining spoof of alien invasion paranoia and teenage delinquency - imagine a mix of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "The Crawling Eye" with elements of "Rebel without a Cause". Add a 28 year old Steve McQueen ('and exciting young actors', as the trailer says) playing a teenager and you've got this film that I love! I've always found it great to watch, particularly as part of a late night 50's sci-fi film session. The opening theme song by Burt Bacharach retains a quirky charm all of it's own. So, what happens? A meteorite crashes outside a small American town: the meteorite reveals an alien creature that goes around absorbing human victims. Teenagers investigate and warn the town. Steve McQueen saves the day with a fire extinguisher. Have a look here for some more details.




In one of the most memorable scenes from the film, the 'blob' attacks a cinema. Cue shrieking 'thirty'-boppers!




"Demon Seed "is a much darker film, about a super computer named 'Proteous IV'
that becomes so powerful, that it develops it's own emotions and thought processes. It wishes to fully understand humans and does so by creating one. It achieves this by impregnating the estranged wife of the scientist who invented it. Julie Christie (pictured) plays Susan, who becomes the mother of the hybrid baby. Susan is entrapped in her home by the computer, and forced to do its bidding. Proteous IV even murders a scientist who tries to aid her escape. Eventually, the authorities decide to shut the crazed machine down, but Proteous IV finds a way to survive.....

The film takes a very bleak look at the then 'new' science of computers, typical of the era it was released in. Computers in 1970's cinema still belonged alongside evil robots and mad scientists! Overall, I quite like the film, although it does fall into over-long psychedelic weirdness in a couple of places. I guess the director was trying to achieve some sort of visual 'high art' with lasers and early examples of computer graphics.....or copy the end sequence of "2001: A Space Odyssey". Demon Seed features a cold but engaging performance from Julie Christie, who is fine as the grieving mother (the character had lost a daughter to leukaemia, and was going through marital problems) entrapped by the computer.

Right, I'm off to watch another old sci-fi film now, called "Silent Running".

The NEC Memorabilia show and our latest DVDs

I went to the Memorabilia show at Birmingham's NEC yesterday: the large TV and film collectors event. It was quite fun, especially as I was lucky enough to meet up with a few friends there (one who was in a full "Star Wars" costume - see picture on the right.) The place seemed to be busy so I guess that was good for the organisers. I went for one autograph, that of actor Julian Glover who appeared in "The Empire Strikes Back", "For Your Eyes Only", and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" etc. He was quite fun to chat to. I got Julian to sign my old "Empire Strikes Back" storybook, where all of my "Empire" related signatures are.

Today has been really lazy for us, but that's due to the bad weather outside -- no need to go anywhere when it's windy, raining and snowing!

Last week we watched "The Mist" on DVD, a cheap but effective horror flick based on Steven King's book. It wasn't that scary, and there were some poor CGI shots, but the film had an interesting concept and the ending was a grotesque twist. We both enjoyed it! We also sat through the remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" which was ok at best, but was an incipid version of the 1974 original. Jessica Biel made a good 'final girl' though. I also bought "Silent Running", an early 70's sci-fi feature starring Bruce Dern and three cute robots. We'll watch that at some point. Hopefully the other DVD I ordered - "The Blob" - will be here soon.

A visit home, and some board games from the past.

On Monday of this week, I drove home to see my mum and dad for a couple of days. It was nice to see them again, help out a bit with various chores, and take my dad shopping to some of the shops he can't usually get to. I also drove him down to the sea-front, which was nice as he has difficulty getting out and about these days due to ill-health, and he has always loved the sea and beach. I was also able to sort out the problems with the 'projection ratio' on their new rented TV. Nobody looks stretched anymore!

The drive there and back was ok -- about four hours each way. When I left on Tuesday afternoon, I was driving pretty much straight west, so I had the full blast of low angle winter sun in my eyes! At one point, the sun was right at the end of the road, glowing large and red! It looked like poster for "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", especially as this was at a straight section of the A143, and the setting was rural. If I had my camera with me, I may well have tried to stop somewhere and photograph it.

When I was at my parents' house, I discovered two of my old boardgames in the attic, and I decided to bring them back with me to play. They could be handy if we get visitors at weekends, or maybe to play over Xmas. These were "Creature Castle" and "Tank Commander", both dating from the 1970's. Thankfully both are complete and in very good condition.

Carla and I just had a quick game of "Creature Castle", which is a fun (if simplistic) little game. We weren't really prepared for the 'been in the attic for twenty-five years musty smell' coming from the packaging, board and cards though! *cough* oh well. You play classic 'Hammer horror style' characters who have to escape from the evil castle, by playing various cards which allows progress along the castle's corridors, and thus to freedom. I played as 'Igor' and only just won the game ahead of Carla, playing as 'Zelda'.

'Tank Commander' is a simple strategy war game, where you have to defeat your enemy by destroying their tanks before they destroy yours. We'll play that at some point. As a kid, I loved the little plastic tanks and trucks you move across the big fold out board.

Oh, Carla showed me the very basics of a 'kettlebell' workout this morning, and I practised some of the techniques. I'm going to try fifteen minute workout with the 8 kilo bell tomorrow! I'm sure it will do me the world of good.

Right, off now to watch (from the window) yet more fireworks going off in our area!

Halloween pumpkins, a collectors show at Coventry Football club, and Daniel Craig!

Last Friday, Halloween, I was able to get out of work a bit early, and after a doctors visit and a little shopping, head off home to get the house ready. I put up my usual array of halloween decorations, mostly comprimising of pumpkins in various guises that I've collected over the years, including two new real ones that I carved. Of course, we had to name them after Russell Brand and Jonathon Ross this year! The display was ok, but I think previous years have been better. Never mind, it looked ok.

Carla and her work pal Teresa were at a work event until 8pm (see her blog), so I went and picked them after that and then we all came back to the flat to have a bit of a horror film session! Whilst eating a schlubby dinner of saugages and chips, and then cake to follow, the three of us watched the DVD of the John Carpenter 1978 film, "Halloween" (this DVD version contains four new scenes, which were actually shot for the 1980 TV screening) as it was the film's 30th anniversary, and it being the proper night and all, it seemed appropriate! Also, Teresa had never seen it, so it was interesting to show this classic to a new viewer! As Carla says, it's good to analyse a 'classic' and explain to somebody new why it was a success - the most successfuly independent released film of all time - an honour it held for about twelve years. I love the film, even though I have some issues with the plot, because Carpenter has a wonderful skill of achieving a creepy atmosphere through moody photography, and simple yet effective theme music. The way the film is edited builds the tension slowly. Anyway, after the film finished, I was all up for watching "Halloween II", but Teresa had to go, so I lent it to her the DVD instead (she hadn't seen that either!) Maybe I can get her to watch "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" (a guilty pleasure of mine - I love that film even though everyone else thinks its rubbish!)

On Saturday, our pal Mandy came down to stay, and we went off to the 'Collectormania Midlands' event, held at the Coventry Ricoh Arena. At the show we met up with our friends Kevin and Gerald. Like the last one held there I went to, it was a bit quiet, but fun to attend. It was the usual mix of dealers selling old and new tv/film related merchandise, and had the added attraction of some celebrities signing autographs. As the leading guest was Dirk Benedict from the "A-Team" and "Battlestar Galactica", the organisers had two "A-Team" original vehicles on show, the van and the corvette. My pal Kevin was in his element getting Dirk's autograph and having a picture with the van! We also went to a free talk by Dirk, where he rambled on a bit about various things including his son playing for Southend United Football club, and how Mr T and George Peppard didn't talk to each other on the set of the "A-Team" - quite a mix! After the show, we all went back to the flat for a bit of a chat and drink (and to finish the cake!)

After Kevin and Gerald left, and after a quick dinner, the three of us headed off to the cinema to see the latest James Bond flick, "Quantum of Solace", which was released the day before. It had been raining heavily since the early evening, which put a damper on the local authority-organised firework display which we passed. At the cinema, we ran from the car trying not to get too wet. Unfortunately, as we just turned up at the cinema without booking, we had to sit only five rows from the front, which made the screen very big and too close for our liking. Oh well.

The film picks up 'about an hour' after the the last scene in "Casino Royale". We see James Bond in a high octane car chase on the Italian coast. Well, I say 'see', because to be honest, I couldn't make out what on earth was going on for that whole opening sequence. It was edited very choppy and fast - too fast! Anyway, I was irritated by that, and the film seemed to be playing ok in the non-action sequences, but every time there was a chase, fight, explosion etc, the director and editor seemed to go a bit over the top with the fast editing. Arrgrghh!! Films that give me a headache in the opening five minutes don't really appeal.

The most effective part of this rather disjointed (and ultimately disappointing) film was the opera scene, which was very thrilling and well thought out. Funnily enough, his choppy editing style worked at this point. So, to sum up....the plot? Fine - an interesting continuation of the first film. Acting, locations, photography, sound, visual effects, all good. Editing on the action scenes? DREADFUL. That's a word you don't want to appear in an action film. It would have been nice just to have some of the action scenes edited like previous Bond pictures. If somebody could re-edit the action scenes to tone down the over the top cross-cutting, it would be a 10/10 movie. I'll give it 6/10 until that happens. Shame.

Hmm, I'm thinking the film might work better on the small screen. We'll see when the DVD comes out.

Sunday was a lazy day. I wandered into town after Mandy left, and picked up the DVD of "Star Wars: Robot Chicken": the silly frame by frame animation show, which in this episode lampoons all things "Star Wars". I adore the Jar Jar Binks/Darth Vader skit when Binks dies and comes back as a Jedi ghost. "Mee-sa all spark-lee glow-ee!" After that, we watched another DVD, the 1960 drama "Peeping Tom" - a superb (if unsettling) tale of a deranged film-maker, Mark Lewis (played with surprising sympathy by the excellent Carl Boehm - pictured on the right with glamour model Pamela Green) who murders women and films their deaths in order to catch their fear on film, all to become "a martyr to psychology". A stunning film. The old Channel 4 documentary included on the DVD was very interesting as well - particularly the piece about the negative reaction to the film on its original release.

"Allo Allo" on the stage

On Wednesday afternoon of last week, we went to the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry to see the matinee performance of "Allo Allo". This is the stage version of the successful BBC TV comedy series of the 1980's, set in World War II France. The stage show stars Vicki Michelle (Yvette, the maid) and Jeffrey Holland (café owner René Artois) who was a star of BBC's "Hi-De-Hi!". Original writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft have returned to put the script together, although they have resumed the "painting in the sausage" plot that seemed to dominate the series!

The usual innuendos and silliness were to be found in abundance in the two hour show. At one point, Monsieur Leclerc disguised himself as a "simple parrot salesman" and what followed were gags about "a cock or two". There were funny, if rather rude sequences with Rene, Yvette and Officer Crabtree doing something suggestive with a blow-up Hitler. At one point, René had a giant knockwurst under his apron and it kept rising up, much to the amazement of Lt. Gruber! Helga (played very well by Nell Jerram) performed a burlesque style strip as Herr Flick played on his violin - of course, we then had a gag about his g-string snapping! Rene's wife Edith performed a cabaret style singing act which was dreadful, but that's what it was supposed to be like!

It was nice to see Vicki Michelle involved as I loved her in the original show. She still looks really good after all of these years! The performances were OK, although certainly not as strong as the original TV cast. I felt that Nell Jerram gave the best performance of any of the new actors. Jeffrey Holland was fine, although maybe not as humorous to look at as Gordon Kaye. Maybe a two hour show is too long to sustain the humour, as I felt it was running out of steam a while before the end. Also, I felt the British airman characters were underused. Shame also that one of the prop based gags didn't work (an small explosion failed to go off). Anyway, here is a review, which I partially agree with, although whatever faults the production has, I certainly enjoyed going to see it!

We got tickets on the afternoon, although I was surprised at how busy the matinee show was, and that the majority of the audience were over 50! Also, I was pleased to see how easy it was to get there and park up in the new multi-storey car park at the back of the theatre. It looks as if that area of the city centre is going through a major re-development. Quite a fun afternoon out!

So....when is "Son of Rambo" set?

Last week we completed watching the "Rambo" DVD box set, and thoroughly enjoyable that was too! The new film was pretty good (if short) but very brutal in it's depiction of death (arms and legs fly everywhere, people get blown to bits in glorious hollywood gore etc.) Great to see Stallone do a new one, as I'm a big fan of the character. The DVD of number 4 also included some interesting 'making off's' as well.

Anway, to round off the week, Carla rented "Son of Rambo", a comedy set in the early 80's which tells the tale of two school boys who become friends as they make a film based on their experience of watching "First Blood". We both enjoyed it. Certainly had great moments of both comedy and drama. I liked the characters - they seemed to be well written.

However, I was a little annoyed with the mish-mash of 1980's details. The film-makers could have cleared that up by putting a date at the start of the film, and trying to be as accurate with those details as possible. When exactly was this film set? "First Blood" started playing in UK cinemas from the tail end of 1982 or early 1983 (I'm not sure, but the BBFC website states that it was classified as a "15" certificate in November of 1982 so the release would be shortly after.) Anyway, the next film we see at that cinema in the film a couple of weeks later is "Yentl", which wasn't released until the end of 1983/early 1984. So...as the film is set in early summer, is it set in the summer of 1984? Ok, if that is the case, why then in one scene do we hear "I Can't Wait" by the group Nu Shooz playing on the radio, when that song was actually released in May/June 1986? A date of summer 1986 would better suit the car/mobile phone the older brother has. But that seems a little late for either film to be showing at the cinema, even a provincial one, unless they were both on re-issue? "First Blood" was released sometime in 1983 on video rental (in pre BBFC certificate form) and then again around Xmas 1986 with proper BBFC approved certification, so if the film is set in the summer of 1984 or after, there would be no point in pirating the film from a cinema screening. Also, I seem to recall that school kids didn't really get into the whole 'Rambo' thing until 1985, the time when “Rambo: First Blood Part 2” was released to huge success - certainly that's when the media started to show kids putting their school ties around their heads. Of course, many of those kids would have seen "First Blood" on video by then anyway.

I wish film makers would get things right!

Rambo DVD

Carla kindly bought me the "Ultimate Rambo Collection" DVD box set, as it was cheap in HMV. I've been meaning to pick this set up for some time, as I've been a fan of the films for many years and look forward to seeing Stallone in action again in the new one. We just watched "First Blood", the first film originally relased in October 1982. This feature is still a powerful and exciting action film that doesn't let up for it's 90 minute run time. Good performances from Stallone as John Rambo, the crazed Vietnam war veteran, Richard Crenna (a late replacment for Kirk Douglas) in the role of Col. Trautman, and Brian Dennehey as the small town sherrif. There is a little documentary on the DVD covering the making and release of the film, and quite a few of the people involved with the production are interviewed, such as director Ted Kotcheff and the producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna. The documentary also includes photos of the cut John Rambo 'death' scene.

We'll watch the rest of the box set this week. Nice set....wierd packaging though!

An interesting article about the films is located here.

Shogun DVD

The Mrs. bought "Shogun" on DVD (from play) and it arrived today. We started watching the series this evening, and have just finished the first two-hour episode. Wow, its good!
"Shogun" is an all-star cast mini series, based on the novel by James Cavell, and first shown on US TV in September 1980. The 80's was the time for the high budget mini series: "The Winds of War" is another great example. Anyhoo, "Shogun" follows the story of a English sailor, Pilot-Major John Blackthorne (played by Richard Chamberlain) who is shipwrecked on the Japanese coast in 1600. The series follows his adventures in this new land, as he tries to survive death by the hands of the samurai, meglomaniac warlords, and scheming jesuit priests. We also see him becoming to understand the japanese culture and way of life. Cracking stuff! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series over the next few days.

This disc set is really good. Looks as if they have included a 'making of' disc as well, which we'll get to eventually!
Oh, we had a japanese style dinner as well, to eat as we watched the DVD. :)

The Clone Wars, and some other stuff

On Thursday we went into Birmingham for a mooch about and shop, and over Friday and Saturday we made two trips into London. Friday's trip was to investigate 'The Japan Centre', a shop and restaurant that specialises in all things Japanese, as well as looking around Chinatown for various bits and pieces. Carla will cover all of this on her blog soon, and I'll link to it then. Saves typing!

Having stayed with a friend (who lives closer to London than we do) on Friday night, the three of us went back down to London on the Saturday morning to meet up with a large group of our friends, to see the newly released "Star Wars: The Clone Wars". After meeting up at Waterloo station, we had a little picnic lunch (Carla and I got ours at 'Planet Organic') in the beautiful Victoria Embankment Gardens near Embankment Underground station. Thankfully the weather had improved from earlier that day, and it was warm and sunny. We all had a nice chat there before the film - a good way to catch up.

We caught the 2:15pm showing at Vue West End in Leicester Square. The trailers were pretty lame, so I was eager for the film to start! The story picks up after the end of "Star Wars: Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones" with the Clone Wars in their first phase....

Ok, so the 20th Century Fox logo has been replaced with the Warner Bros. one, and there was no opening crawl, but after that you are into the usual mix of Jedi knights fighting with lightsabres, huge space battles, and Yoda talking backwards.

Anyway, here is a review from SFX magazine which I'm pretty happy with.

Hutts (including the infamous Jabba) feature heavily in this film. Jabba's son Rotta (aka 'Stinky' or 'Punky-muffin'!) the Huttlet, made me smile, as did Ziro - a sleaze who does a remarkable Truman Capote impression. I thought the animation was pretty good, if not ground-breaking ("Wall-E" did that this year), but it is part of a weekly cartoon series so on TV, it's going to look wonderful! I really liked Ahsoka Tano, a sprightly Jedi apprentice to an initially doubtful Anakin Skywalker. The many battle scenes were pretty exciting, and there were some cleverly designed shots in all of that CGI. Most of all, I found the film great fun, because it was action packed and not bogged down with boring political sequences which slowed down the prequels. I'm definitely looking forward to the weekly episodes!

The cinema had the volume up too loud though, which made it a little uncomfortable to bear in the middle of the noisy battle scenes. Oh well, I can still hear 24 hours later, so that's OK.

After the film, we went to The Angel pub in in Holborn for a quick post film chit-chat. After about an hour, several of us left to make the long trip home. All in all, a fun couple of days. I enjoyed the film and it was nice to see our pals again.

The front of the Vue cinema. Kung Fu Panda takes on Hellboy, with Yoda's help! ---->

The Dark Knight

We went to see "The Dark Knight" yesterday afternoon at our local Odeon cinema, using the 'Orange Wednesdays' offer -- half price tickets -- woohoo! I've been following the amazing box office that the film has generated with interest, so I was really looking forward to it, especially as I enjoyed "Batman Begins" three years ago.

The film follows Batman's (and the Gotham police) continuing fight with organised crime. This time though, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has to deal with 'The Joker', a mastermind criminal who has a fetish for chaos, played with a aplomb by the late Heath Ledger. The Joker shows insanity on the surface, but is always in complete control over the Mob.

The film features many exciting action scenes, such as the bank raid opener and the truck chase, and has some interesting plot twists. Gary Oldman was his usual dependable self playing Lt. Jim Gordon, and Christian Bale is always good, altough he did chew the furniture a bit with the 'deeeeeep voice' when dressed up as Batman. The dark sombre tone was ok, as it suits the characters.

I had some problems with the film though. I wasn't to happy with the editing in places, and I hated the makeup/CGI effects on Harvey Dent/Two-Face character: it looked too over-the-top, and for me it didn't fit in with the rest of the film's aesthetic as being 'as real as possible'.

Also, the film is too long. I think it could have been tightend and cut by about ten minutes. Some of the end sequence felt drawn out. Maggie Gyllenhall's character was pretty much wasted, and she certainly wasn't as appealing as Gwyneth Paltrow in "Iron Man" (which was a far better film and wow, she looked *great* in those lovely little pencil skirts!!)

Anyway, I enjoyed what was here, particularly Heath Ledger's performance, but it just wasn't the amazing epic I'd hoped for. I think I preferred "Batman Begins" actually. However, I do hope to see a third film, which I'm sure is on the cards from Warner Bros after this film has taken $800,000,000 so far!

Carla's comments can be found here. I love the point about Maggie Gyllenhall's hair!! haha!

Battle of Bosworth

On Sunday we made the short drive up to the 'Battle of Bosworth' country park, near to Market Bosworth in Leicestershire. This is the location of the battle that saw the death of King Richard III (at the hands of Henry Tudor) and therefore ended Plantagenet rule in England, in August 1485.

Every year, the park plays host to a weekend of special events to celebrate the anniversary of the battle. These include re-enactments, living history, jousting, falconry, a medieval market, special talks and so on. The attractions for visitors are being improved. They have built (with plans to expand) a replica of a medieval village called Ambion Parva, which looks really good. The visitor centre, located within the park, has a nice little gift shop, a large restaurant, and a hall for lectures. An exhibition has been opened there recently that covers the details of the Wars of the Roses and their impact on the country.

For the most part we enjoyed our day there. Most of the displays and activites we saw were fun and interesting to watch, such as the use of medieval weapons and battle tactics, and the falconry and the living history were top notch. I bought a Smaug the dragon candle holder from the large market (I'm a huge Tolkien fan!) The facilities there are generally very good.

Carla thought that the costume show would have been ok if the presenter had spoken through a microphone, and we could actually see the people in period costume - next time, use a stage! Oh, and the jousting was a little amateur, they do it better at Warwick Castle.

Richard III's banner, showing the boar and white rose of York.





Thankfully, the weather wasn't that bad, although it could have been a bit warmer. Glad the worst of the rain didn't find its way there that day!

We will definitely visit there again, as the countryside around there is very pretty and has many pleasant paths to explore, and it's right on our doorstep. There is a now private railway that runs in that area called The Battlefield Line, which is something I want to go on with Mark soon!

A shiny new computer

We finally got a new PC built by a local computer shop, and I got it up and running yesterday. All is well so far. I just need to move loads of files from the old noisey slow one to this fast machine, load up some more software, and learn the ins-and-outs of Windows Vista! I've also got a new Hannspree flat/widescreen monitor. Next job is get a new keyboard, mouse, and printer.

A long weekend in Amsterdam

At the end of July we made a little trip to Amsterdam in Holland. We went for a four day 'city' break with a couple of Carla's work pals, Hannah and Libby. You can read all the details about our trip at Carla's blog here and here.

I love Amsterdam. It's a really interesting city with a fantastic vibe. Feels surprisingly safe and relaxed there. The canals and architecture are stunning.

The highlight for me was the tour of the "Tuschniski" cinema on the last day. What a wonderful experience that was! I thought it was only going to be a little twenty minute taster, but it turned into a two-hour history lesson of the building and the man behind this wonderful place! We got to see many parts of this 1920's art deco building. Being shown Screen 1 from the top circle seating was tremendous (see below) as was seeing the stylised artwork on the ceiling and walls up there. Also, seeing the film "Mamma Mia" there a couple of days before was really fun as well. Thankfully, its not a bad film, quite fun actually, even though poor old Pierce Brosnan couldn't sing! We went for a private box with 'love seats' and were served wine and nachos. :)

The Tuschinski cinema front by night, and the grand interior of Screen (Zaal) 1.









Hopefully we can go back soon and see more films at this lovely cinema!

Festival of History

Last Sunday we went to the English Heritage "Festival of History" event held in the grounds of Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire. We went with my sister and her husband. This is an annual event, which through re-enactments and living history (and a bit of showbiz!) celebrates both military and civilian life of the past. There were groups re-creating periods such as ancient and Roman Britain, the Wars of the Roses, the English Civil War, Napoleonic and World War II. Re-enactment groups were re-creating various battles and military manoeuvres, whilst others stayed in character at their tents and talked about typical life of the period they represented. For instance, we talked to a lady in the 'Roman Britain' area and she told us about the typical food eaten by the Roman legions during occupation.

There were also many traders (dressed in period costume of course) selling various books, clothing, trinkets and food in the extensive market area. My sister bought an orange and purple cloak. Looked really good, and she told me it was so nice to wear!

Notable events of the day included the large World War II re-enactment, with fighter planes, parachutists and explosions, and the mediaeval knights jousting in the tournament area - that's always fun to see. I just caught the end of the 'George vs the Dragon' show, which looked great for the kids to watch!

We also went to a talk by Alison Weir, author of "Innocent Traitor" about Lady Jane Grey, and "The Lady Elizabeth" to name but two of her historical novels. My sister got her to sign a book after the talk.

It was a great day out, the only downside being the cold weather. Didn't feel like a July day at all! At least we had a nice picnic lunch inside out of the worst of the cold. We'll be attending the 'Battle of Bosworth' event next.

A quick comment about "Wall-E"

We went to see "Wall-E" yesterday at our local Odeon (taking advantage of the 'Orange Wednesdays' offer) and it was fantastic! I thought it was a lovely film and wonderful to see on the big screen. What a brilliant character Wall-E is!

Pop over to Carla's blog for a link to a review, or see Joe Sales' comments here.

Thanks Pixar!

London Film and Comic Con

Last weekend was a busy one! On the Saturday, I popped down to Earl's Court exhibition centre for the latest "London Film and Comic Convention" - one of the many sci-fi collector's events run by my old pal Jason. I've been going to these since the tail end of 1990, and having spent most of the following decade working at them (and spending lots of cash as well!) I'm now an old hand at this stuff. They are still one of my favourite things to do. Even though I don't collect that much merchandise any more, the buzz at the shows is really good as the people who go there *love it*!
The fair was made up of the usual stalls selling film and TV related merchandise, original props on show, people in costume, and special guests selling their autographs and conducting talks to their fans. Luckily, I was able to bump into two pals, Ben and Jamie, and before that have a long catch-up chat with Jason.

I met Jay Benedict (an American actor based in the UK since the mid 1970's, who was at the show mainly to sign pictures from "Aliens") who provided the voice for Shiro Hagen in the early 1980's sci-fi puppet series "Star Fleet". The DVDs come out in September, which is fab as I love that show! As you can see, I got him to autograph my old "Star Fleet" video cover: his signature is now next to Garrick 'Biggs in Star Wars' Hagon, who played Captain Carter. Maybe I can get Liza Ross' signature in the future (she played Lamia.)

I also got to meet director Stanley Long who made the "Adventures" series of sex comedies in the 1970's. The films are now out on DVD (distributed by Mel Gibson's Icon no less!) I bought his book which covers his life in the film industry, and the DVD set. Good silly stuff! It was nice to meet his wife Julie and his brother as well, who were all working on the stand.

There were some other guests stars there including Margot Kidder, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Hurt, and director John Landis - all attracting big crowds. I spotted Tim Brooke Taylor and Bill Oddie doing a talk about "The Goodies" as well!

I was going to get David Warner's signature, but he wasn't there on Saturday! Oh well, next time.

When I sort the pictures out, I will blog about the English Heritage 'Festival of History' event that we went to.

A visit to Cannock Chase

On the spur of the moment, we drove to Cannock Chase on Sunday. The weather was fairly good and we wanted to go somewhere! The drive up the A5 was pretty easy. After a bit of stress trying to find the visitor centre (the stupid free map was wrong and there are lack of signposts in the area) we did eventually park up, have a look at the information at the centre, and then start walking around.

Cannock Chase is a large area of woodland and moorland to the North of Birmingham. There are many way-marked paths to follow either by foot, or on horse-back or by mountain bike. On this, our first visit, we found some interesting little lakes and a stream in a heavily wooded valley of mixed trees (see photo to the left). Most of the new planting on the moorland is made up of tall coniferous trees (see right!) The area has been planted since the 1920's, and the area has a rich military history from both the First and Second World Wars (two bases, a hospital and training area etc.)

All in all, it was a fun little trip. Certainly nice to be out and about walking again after such a long time! You can see some other photos at Carla's blog here (scroll down a bit....)

Kung Fu Panda

I've been waiting for this film to come out for what seems years! At last, it opened this weekend, so we toddled off to our local Odeon cinema this afternoon to check it out. I'm happy to report that it was marvellous flick! This latest CGI feature from Dreamworks features some clever action sequences, stunning animation and is very very funny. I would agree with many critics who suggest it's the studio's best animated feature since the original "Shrek".

The plot follows a rather rotund and frustrated Panda named 'Po' (voiced by Jack Black) who by day works in his father's noodle bar, but at night dreams of the glory of being a Kung Fu master, fighting evil warlords and demons alongside 'The Furious Five' - a group of animal kung fu warriors (Tigeress! Monkey! Mantis! Viper! Crane!) who reside in a nearby mountain top citadel. They are trained by Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman), their small Yoda like master. After a hilarious sequence where our likeable panda hero tries to gain access to the citadel, the temple master Oogway predicts that Po is the fabled Dragon Warrior, a kung fu master who will defend the Valley of Peace against the threat of Shifu's evil ex pupil, Tai Ling. Po begins to train in the ways kung fu, and not a moment to soon as Tai Ling escapes from prison and returns to reap revenge on his former master....

All in all, "Kung Fu Panda" a very funny film with an appealing central character. I loved the theme of 'belief in yourself'. Thankfully, the film doesn't skimp on the action sequences and they are quite exciting, in fact they are as good as the CGI action in last year's excellent "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". Features tip-top animation that looks beautiful on the big screen. Worth a viewing and a DVD purchase in a few months (and maybe an action figure and poster!)

The trailer is here at the official site. :)

The Incredible Hulk, Omen, and some travelling around.

Three Sundays ago we went with our pal Hannah to see "The Incredible Hulk", which I'm happy to report was very good actually! Like "Iron Man", Marvel have made an entertaining summer blockbuster that features a great leading actor, this time Edward Norton as the scientist/rampaging green monster thing Bruce Banner. It was interesting to see the "Iron Man" link, with the cameo from Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr.) at the end. Some great visuals and a very watchable cast.

DVD wise, we are nearly through the "Omen" box set, which has been *fab*, with the exception of "Omen IV" which we turned off in about ten minutes -- it's a really dull TV movie with no budget and no class. Oh well. We'll watch the 2006 remake sometime this week. We also saw "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" which is a brainless comedy about Nascar racing, but we love Will Ferrell so it was pretty fun to watch! Sacha Baron Cohen is very bizarre as the French Grand Prix driver; his performance heavily influenced by Adam Sandler I feel.

A couple of weekends ago I drove down to my pal Gary's place in Essex. Quite an achievement as this was my first "big" drive! 2 1/2 hours each way on the motorways, thankfully they were pretty clear traffic wise. We saw "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" at the lovely old South Woodford Odeon and did a few other schlubby things at the house: eat, watch tv etc. It was nice to see him and Martin again. Martin is doing a great job with the garden.

Last weekend, Carla and I did another big drive, this time over to the Norfolk coast to see my parents. After all of these years on the train, I drove it and it was fine. Apart from doing some fun things near to my parent's place, such as a walk on Gorleston sea front and taking my father down to Yarmouth sea front (to see the construction of the new outer harbour) we visited Southwold (pic is of me on the pier) a pretty little town on the Suffolk coast, and then on the way back to here on Monday we stopped off in a couple of towns on the route: Beccles and Bury St. Edmunds. The Abbey gardens/ruins and the cathedral in Bury St. Edmunds were awe inspiring. Lovely part of the town that was! Thankfully, we had clear sunny weather all weekend. We will definitely go back there!