Why?

What is the point of this Blog?

Anyone have any ideas? No? Me neither…

As the title suggests, this Blog is Null and Void. It is every other self-indulgent blog you have ever read and it certainly won’t change your life (there’s no way I can be done for false advertising, that’s for sure). You shouldn’t come here for sensible, deep, philosophical debate or enlightening words of wisdom. That just ain’t my bag, baby.

What this Blog is, or hopefully will become, is a sort of peek into my world, which largely revolves around movies, television, music, daydreaming, mumbles, rants and doodles. But mostly it will be filled with rants. Lots of rants.

This is really just an odd assortment of nonsensibabble, gibbertyflops and wordsplurts, and it’s all a little haphazard because my brain is usually hopping, skipping and jumping from one emotion/subject/obsession to the next.

True Grit

True Grit
2010
Dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

I have a weird relationship with the Coens. Not on a personal level. We don’t go around to each others houses for tea and neither have we had a history where one stole the others girlfriend (you can keep Francis McDormand, Joel). It’s their films. Sometimes I click with them first time, and sometimes I struggle. I have tried to like O Brother Where Art Thou? And have failed every time. Yet, at other times I have fallen head-over-heels in love with their work. Their last offering, Burn After Reading, fell into the first camp, while True Grit, I am extremely pleased to say, falls into the second.

As Coen Brothers films go, it could not be a more straight-forward example of story-telling. The narrative is, on first glance, nothing more than a straight forward revenge tale, albeit told from the perspective of a 14 year old girl. Look deeper though, and you soon find that it isn’t just that.

Diary of the Dead

Diary of the Dead
2007
Dir. George Romero

It’s been a while since I watched Diary of the Dead. A small part of me was so burnt by Survival of the Dead that I wasn’t sure I could handle going back and watching Romero’s previous entry to the Dead Saga because I remember my awkward feelings of disappointment with it all too well.

Land of the Dead was a let down, but at least mildly amusing and slick. There was a lot of great ideas in it and I was always fascinated by Whistler’s Green. Dennis Hopper out-weighed the awfulness of John Leguizamo and the growing sense of unease as zombies seemed to “learn” off-set the rather naff fireworks as distractions premise.

Diary, however, was and still is, the first serious mis-step. With a concept as old and hackneyed as the hills (film all shot in faux-documentary style) it suffers from the get-go of never being able to nail the feel appropriately. It tries to present the events realistically, but right from the beginning feels too staged. The dialogue is too obviously crafted and too unbelievably delivered. What should have been a deeply disturbing opening sequence involving a news-crew documenting a resurrection on camera, instead becomes something cheesy and over-acted.

New Year: New Post

Well, knock me down with a feather.

I was going to write a piece apologising for being a slack-bum blogger over the last few months and write about how I wanted to sort this Blog out, when WordPress go and launch their PostADay/PostAWeek task. Don’t worry, I won’t be blogging everyday. My life really isn’t that interesting and I have a lot of other bits and pieces I want to accomplish this year which means I won’t be able to sit on my lazy-ass, bashing away at a keyboard constantly. Once a week should be enough, and if I find time to write more, all the better.

NaNoWriMo

Once again I’m late to the party.

For the past week I have been seeing the #NaNoWriMo tag appearing across the Twitterverse and not once did I bother asking what it was. It was just another of those trends which have a habit of flying around, I thought. I wouldn’t have time for it. Eventually curiosity got the better of me though and I decided to ask what it was. When I found out, I could have kicked myself.

An amateur writers challenge set up across the internet for people to write a novel in a month? It sounded like a great idea. The kind of fun challenge that, once upon a time, I would have launched into. I used to love writing, but time has become more precious and I’ve not been able to focus on anything even mildly creative for years.

Paranormal Activity 2

2002
D. Todd Williams
W. Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon, Tom Pabst
S. Brian Boland, Molly Ephraim, Sprague Grayden

As sequels go, Paranormal Activity 2 is a lot better than it has any right to be. I say this because it really is as unnecessary and unwanted as is possible, yet somehow it managed to turn my expectations around and provided a fairly enjoyable 2 hour film. While Hollywood might not be paying attention to my protests, it does at least seem able to hear my complaints. This is not Blair Witch Project 2. The film-makers seem to have learnt from the failings of past cash-in sequels and also picked up on the strengths of the first film, and provide a sequel which, while not better, is still a fairly good attempt at equalling it’s predecessor’s success.

What’s right with Paranormal Activity 2? Well, the fact that they maintain the locked off shots, the hand-held cameras, the authentic portrayals of “real” people and the menacing storyline all help. The plot itself is almost as invisible as the demon which seems to be haunting the family, but the idea of how it ties in with Paranormal Activity 2 contains a lot more intelligence than I am used to seeing when it comes to horror sequels.

Secret Window

2004
D. David Koepp
W. David Koepp
S. Johnny Depp, John Tutturo, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles S, Dutton

Johnny Depp plays writer, Mort Rainey, who is going through a particularly painful divorce (aren’t they always?) and has taken retreat in the wood cabin he once shared with his wife. Depressed and in a creative slump he spends much of his time asleep with only his half-blind dog for company. One night a mysterious stranger called John Shooter arrives, telling Rainey that he stole a story from him and that he wants the credit back and the correct ending installed. Rainey dismisses Shooter as a delusional maniac, but things soon get out of hand and events grow darker as Shooter carries out brutal acts and closes in on Rainey, leading to an emotional resolution which shakes his world.

Zombie Cripples

20 Pence

Singing Teeth