Tag: CGI

bookmark_borderHow many books is too many?

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I have a lot of books. I have a lot of unread books. I keep saying I’ll go through the ones I’ve read and ditch some but I never do. Instead I buy more. I don’t know why I do that. Why do I do that? Why do I buy more? I have enough as it is, many unread. So why, as I have many books, do I buy?

It’s a compulsion, etched into my mind, an inherited trait that I can’t fight, an itch that remains out of reach no matter which way I toss and turn.

I have books on all sorts of topics, fictional stories that others have recommended, factual books on many topics, from mental wellbeing, web design, philosophy, gardening, exercise, movies and more. Just about all of them are kept for some tenuous reason or another but I really need to let go…

But that doesn’t help solve the puzzle of why I keep buying new books, especially as I have so many that remain unread, some of which I purchased several years ago.

I’ll quite happily admit that I bought a few books with ‘betterment’ in mind (and ‘of mind’). Be they a classic novel or a book on the great philosophical thinkers (bought from Meg I think) I deliberately chose them with a view to becoming better read, whatever that means, although I quickly ditched those in favour of the really highbrow stuff (The Da Vinci Code for example) so that reasoning has back-fired.

I wonder if I buy books because I don’t trust my memory and I’m scared I’ll forget the name or author of that one killer book? Perhaps I need to do is hack my brain to chuck the name and author of a book into a list, rather than just order it “because it’s only £4.99”. I mean we all know what lies at the end of that road, “it’s only £4.99” soon becomes, “yeah but I’m gettin’ 4 books for under £20!”, swiftly followed by “Ohhh one more for free shipping…”.

I buy books based on author, David Mitchell, Ian Rankin, Alice Sebold, and ignore them for the latest James Patterson. Hell I’ve probably read more pages from Esquire magazine in the past 6 months than I have pages of a book. I know I go through spells of reading but this is becoming an increasingly dry time. A fallow spell of unbroken spines, if you will.

Why do I read? For enjoyment largely. I enjoy the escape, the way time slips past in the shadows as you immerse yourself deeper and deeper into the words on the page.

If this were a movie, this is where you’d get a CGI scene with the words floating up off the page and spinning up and round me as I sit, transfixed.

Ohh and whilst I remember, you bloggers who have had books published (I count 5 on my shelf) aren’t helping!

You know what, perhaps a clear out would help. Allow me to refocus on the books I’ve not read. Yes yes, a clear out is in order.

Let’s not be too hasty though… let me just check what Amazon have on sale…

bookmark_borderKing Kong

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Movie info from IMDB
Movie reviews from Metacritic

“A beast of a movie” screams the poster although not as well as Naomi Watts screams later on… best movie scream ever? Maybe but it still doesn’t quite match the one in Home Alone (the bit with the spider).

Back from a noisy cinema and initial reaction to this movie is good, a few niggles as ever, and still the CGI falls short occasionally but on the whole it’s a cracking movie. You know the plot so I can skip that bit and head straight for the script which does it’s job but felt a little on heavy on the ham. It’s also guilty of pandering to the viewer a little too often for my liking, with plenty of “just to make sure you understood” moments which left a bitter taste in the mouth.

As for the cast, Naomi Watts is brilliant as the screaming heroine (love interest?) of the movie. Considering it’s not exactly the deepest of parts and that for the large majority of the movie she would have been acting into thin air I thought she portrayed the confused and enamoured young woman very well. Adrian Brody was more than capable of running around the jungle but Jack Black was a little disappointing. He did manage to tone things down though so thank heavens for small mercies.

The movie zips along and it certainly didn’t feel like it was three hours long, credit to Peter Jackson for ensuring we weren’t too bothered with superfluous scenes, after all we all know the story.

Animation wise some of the scenes are jaw-dropping, but only when you think back because, largely, it seems CGI has progressed far enough to be believable. The fight scenes on the island between Kong and the dinosaurs are wonderfully staged, completely engrossing and damn exciting to boot!

I’m at a loss as to what to say next, there is obviously the underlying story, the moral of the tale but when it’s scripted into the movie it’s kinda hard to miss. The action scenes crackle along, the plot doesn’t feel too contrived, and overall it was a great way to spend a few hours. Definitely one to catch at the cinema though, as you need the sense of scale, particularly for the vertigo-inducing last scenes atop the Empire State Building.

As far as remakes of classic movies go this one hits the mark nicely. It tips a knowing hat to the original, but delivers a modern interpretation that is well worth your money. Here’s hoping that Peter Jackson gets to make The Hobbit next!

bookmark_borderThe Goblet of Fire

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Movie info from IMDB
Movie reviews from Metacritic

Finally got some free time today and nipped to the cinema to catch the latest Harry Potter movie. Bloody glad we did too!

From the opening credits to the closing scenes this is a dark movie, much darker than the previous movie and all the better for it. The movie centres around a wizard tournament into which Harry finds himself mysteriously involved. Dangerous challenges abound and for the first time in this series of movies I found myself not noticing the CGI scenes as much as I did in the past.

The tone of the movie allowed the pace to high, moving from action sequence to action sequence with a little character development along the way. More back story, more side stories and the series becomes deeper and richer and now feels a lot more mature and well crafted than the first two movies did (the third was a marked improvement).

The teenage actors are still a bit wooden, but the supporting cast grows stronger and stronger and keeps things at a consistent level. And of course the appearance of the villain of the piece, finally, puts the marker down for the next three movies in the series. I sincerely hope they can keep the cast together for, if they were to change them now, it would lose a lot of the consistency they’ve managed to achieve already. You truly feel that you are a Muggle in the world of magic.

No comparisons with the book are required, I don’t think. The movies stand on their own as unique versions of a story, in the same way the Disney’s Cinderella is more fondly remembered than the story from which it came.

The Goblet of Fire is an altogether different movie from previous as it marks the turning point in the series, the overall feeling of foreboding and evil (well, nastiness at least) was well handled and didn’t venture into pantomime territory. Thoroughly enjoyable, and I’m pretty sure this one will stand up to some repeat viewings, there are better movies out at the moment but this one is worth a look.

bookmark_borderAspire

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We’ve all worked on little home projects, even if it’s ‘just’ your website. You take pride and care in getting things how you envision them.
Rustboy is a CGI film that takes that a step further as it is produced using ‘home software’. Looks.. awesome already! (via I love everything)

bookmark_borderHabitual

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I have developed the strange habit of getting up early over the last few days. I was in work at 7:30 this morning (and was actually working as well). I know it’s partly because Louise was off this week, so I could get up and leave when I wanted to, but I’ve been going to be at about the same time, yet don’t feel as tired as I usually do. Last night I must’ve fallen asleep between 11:30 p.m. and midnight, yet when my alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. I was up like a shot. Strange…

Does anyone else hear things in the middle of the night? Then spend about 15 minutes convincing yourself that, no, no-one is sneaking your widescreen TV out the door, or rifling through your CD collection?(Wham? Bananarama? Next to Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan? Weird).

And finally, anyone got any good recommendations for new CDs? I seem to be stuck in a rut of back filling my collection and playing safe. Was in FOPP for about 20 minutes last week, they had a CD playing, never heard of the band/guy/gal/whatever but I decided against buying it. Since when did I play so safe? Instead I left with a replacement for the Kravitz album Let Love Rule (once borrowed, never returned) and.. crap I can’t remember what else I bought! See, that’s how staid my CD collection is. Actually I think I’ll go back to FOPP today and splash out, be extravagant, and buy some NEW music.

Oh and we’re off to see Lord of the Rings tonight, again. Only second time, but hopefully should catch more of the background stuff and will continue to try NOT to notice the CGI bits that still don’t quite work – usually prompting my beloved to punch me in the leg when I point them out. The cinema, such an interactive, and painful, experience.