WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Okay, I want to start off by saying, I don't know what all those critics are complaining about. Dark Shadows is by no means a bad film. Admittedly its got its fair share of flaws, but what film doesn't. I can certainly think of more films with problems than films without (the Twilight Saga springs instantly to mind).
But, we're not here to talk about Twilight, we're here to talk about Dark Shadows.
Starting with the cast, Johnny Depp was amazing as he so often is as Barnabas Collins. I can only think of one film that he stars in that I didn't like. Helena Bonham Carter didn't appear or have as significant a role as I thought she would playing the drunk psychologist Julia Hoffman. But I'll get to that in some more detail later. Eva Green as Angelique Bouchard, not a big fan of her, but I guess if you don't like the antagonist, they're doing their job right, so kudos. I guess time heals all wounds doesn't apply in this case.
And the prize for biggest reversal of opinion in this film goes to Chloe Moretz as Carolyn. For most of the movie, I didn't like her, I don't know, her character just didn't seem to fit the time period that well. But then, at the climax, she instantly came very close to being my favourite character in the movie. Attitude problem + werewolf = hell yes in my book. At least in this case.
As for some of the more minor characters, or at least minor actors. Bella Heathcote as Victoria Winters, I was a bit 50-50 with her. If I remember correctly, she was the first character you see after the prologue, which in most films, identifies someone as a main character. But after the introductory arc, she barely ever appears which made it a lot harder to set up the romance between her and Barnabas (but for the most part, they still pulled it off). On the other hand, I loved her back story. Jackie Haley as Willie Loomis, probably the funniest character, besides perhaps the lead. Gulliver McGrath as David, fantastic. Michelle Pfeiffer, another good one. At first I thought she was going to be the good one that turns bad after she saw the fortune in the basement but no, she stayed loyal. Like I said, I liked her. And my absolute least favourite character in the entire movie, Roger Collins played by Jonny Lee Miller. Asshole, plain and simple.
Now for the movie itself. There's only a couple of especially good scenes that I want to point out here and the bad points that I've got probably outnumber the good. That doesn't mean there's more bad stuff than good stuff in the film, it just means that I haven't got the time or space to talk about every good scene. So just assume that everything I don't talk about here, I liked, okay?
The big climactic fight scene at the end, great. Especially the revelation of Carolyn as a werewolf and the paintings leaking blood. I liked everything about the fight scene but those two parts especially. Right after Barnabas gets released from his coffin the first time, particularly when he attacks the last guy but apologises in advance. I guess the 'taking back control' montage was pretty good too. It's been a few days since I saw it so I don't remember everything.
And now for the downsides. Mostly these are just what I consider plot holes. The main one, at the end after Victoria has jumped off the cliff and Barnabas has gone after her. Once he bit her, why didn't he try to turn them around so he landed first? Barnabas obviously wouldn't have died and Victoria might have survived cos she had another body to cushion her fall. And the curse never specified that the victim had to die, just that they had to jump off so she probably wouldn't have tried to do it again. On a related note, why was the curse still active after Angelique was dead? Still linked up, the porcelain body and crystal heart thing seemed a bit daft to me. Wasn't a big fan of the sex / fight scene. I think this is the last one, why didn't Angelique lock the coffin the second time around? Sure Barnabas couldn't move so there was no chance of him getting himself out and it was unlikely that anyone was going to go looking for him but still, if she was trying to trap him a second time, you're going to take extra precautions right?
I think that's about all I've got to say on Dark Shadows. If I forgot anything, too bad. But I have one final point.
This film definitely hinted at a sequel to me. The very end of the film when you see Hoffman's eyes open underwater? A definite cliffhanger. Okay it was always obvious she was still alive, or undead or whatever, as you saw her fangs when Barnabas killed her. But honestly, as much as I enjoyed the film, I hope there isn't a sequel. Dark Shadows is perfectly fine as a stand-alone movie.
Sure it's not quite as good as the only other film I've seen recently, Avengers Assemble but that should be pretty obvious. Avengers was amazing. Dark Shadows is good. I can recommend it but the film probably isn't for everyone. Definitely a niche movie. But it was certainly good enough to cause my friend to be a complete fangirl for it.
And that... is all I have to say.
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Time Flies
Well, just like I said in the title, time sure flies. I didn't even realise but it's been five years and one day since I stood down from secondary school (and five years exactly since the first time I saw Bryan Adams play live). And now I think about it, a lot has changed, not just in the general community but to me personally.
Of course, even though I stood down as a school student on May 11th 2007, I still had plenty of exams to go, prom in July and exam results in August. They weren't bad if I remember correctly. And then... I was straight off to college in York. I seem to remember wanting to burn my school uniform and text books the day that I finished my final exam. Literally set them on fire.
But like I said, I've changed a lot in the last five years, mostly for the better although some changes haven't been easy. I guess one of the best things is that, at college and uni, people are actually mature enough to not resort to bullying.
Man, writing this is harder than I thought. I don't know if some of the stuff I say is gonna sound zetta corny.
Stuff it, I made this blog to say what I really think and feel so here goes.
I will say that, through college and especially university, I've made some of the best friends I've ever had or will ever have. I keep in touch with people from school and I still care about them just as much as the friends I've made since then. But, as my mother always told me, the friends you make at university are the ones you keep for the rest of your life.
At the risk of going a little over-board a good deal of my friends feel as close as family to me. And right now, I'm kinda getting scared that, now I'm coming towards the end of the educational career, I may never hear from some of them again. I really hope that won't turn out to be true but it's still a genuine fear I have.
As for me as an individual, I know I have changed but it's hard to say how. I guess I've become much more of a tomboy in the last half decade (a tomboy, not an actual boy, so many people confuse the two). I have my hair so short these days that it's shorter than most of my male friends, no exaggeration. I guess I'm more confident than I used to be but I still keep quiet unless there's actually something I want to say.
Wrapping up, I guess more has changed in the last five years than I realised until I actually thought about it. But the things that have changed, some of the admitted screw-ups I've made. I would not change those for anything. I find it scary to think about how different my life would be if I hadn't made the choices I did. Say, if I'd left college after 2 years instead of 3. I might not have ended up at the university I did, and made those amazing friends.
Who knows what my life will be like five years from now? Certainly not me.
Assuming the Mayan's prediction doesn't come true in December that is.
But I look forward to finding out.
Of course, even though I stood down as a school student on May 11th 2007, I still had plenty of exams to go, prom in July and exam results in August. They weren't bad if I remember correctly. And then... I was straight off to college in York. I seem to remember wanting to burn my school uniform and text books the day that I finished my final exam. Literally set them on fire.
But like I said, I've changed a lot in the last five years, mostly for the better although some changes haven't been easy. I guess one of the best things is that, at college and uni, people are actually mature enough to not resort to bullying.
Man, writing this is harder than I thought. I don't know if some of the stuff I say is gonna sound zetta corny.
Stuff it, I made this blog to say what I really think and feel so here goes.
I will say that, through college and especially university, I've made some of the best friends I've ever had or will ever have. I keep in touch with people from school and I still care about them just as much as the friends I've made since then. But, as my mother always told me, the friends you make at university are the ones you keep for the rest of your life.
At the risk of going a little over-board a good deal of my friends feel as close as family to me. And right now, I'm kinda getting scared that, now I'm coming towards the end of the educational career, I may never hear from some of them again. I really hope that won't turn out to be true but it's still a genuine fear I have.
As for me as an individual, I know I have changed but it's hard to say how. I guess I've become much more of a tomboy in the last half decade (a tomboy, not an actual boy, so many people confuse the two). I have my hair so short these days that it's shorter than most of my male friends, no exaggeration. I guess I'm more confident than I used to be but I still keep quiet unless there's actually something I want to say.
Wrapping up, I guess more has changed in the last five years than I realised until I actually thought about it. But the things that have changed, some of the admitted screw-ups I've made. I would not change those for anything. I find it scary to think about how different my life would be if I hadn't made the choices I did. Say, if I'd left college after 2 years instead of 3. I might not have ended up at the university I did, and made those amazing friends.
Who knows what my life will be like five years from now? Certainly not me.
Assuming the Mayan's prediction doesn't come true in December that is.
But I look forward to finding out.
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Game Review: Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 (Nintendo DS)
Yeah, I know the game has been out for a while but I just got around to buying it last week when my student loan came through and only got a chance to play it last weekend. And let me just say something before I start the real review. I really liked the prequel. It was a good way to kill time on my longer breaks at work (although buying it did kill about 10 minutes of the break). And I loved doing the transfiguration spells. Really, I liked using the touch screen to cast all the spells.
But sadly, with Years 5-7, that all changed. The first thing I noticed about the game is that Oh My God the cutscene animation is absolutely awful. I know you can't expect much from a literally blocky animation but seriously, those things gave me one hell of a headache. I hate to think what they're like in the 3D version. The colours get so distorted in some of them that it's hard to tell what's going on.
Like I said before, I miss the touch screen spell activation, sure some of them got repetitive towards the end of the last game but still, I enjoyed it. In this one, it took me ages to figure out how to activate Lumos (and I was a little embarassed when I finally figured out you only needed to press A).
But some things I did like that I'm fairly sure weren't in the last game. You can take control of the pets to find hidden areas and items (I know they could find hidden items in the last game but that was just a flashing indicator in the corner of the screen). And personally, I think there's a couple of Layton standard puzzles kicking about in this game. It took me forever to figure out how to progress in the cave chapter of year 6. The new duelling system is pretty good too. It took me a while to get the hang of blocking and it's much easier to use the button commands rather than the touch screen but I think it gives the game somewhat of a difficulty curve.
Although one of the best things and what I often looked forward to was the wall walking segments with those Weasley shoes. I don't know what you'd call them but I got a kind of childish glee from walking up velcro walls. I never did find out if the shoes could vanish while you were still on the wall though.
One last problem I have with the game is how much of each year it cuts out. I know it's trying to fit three years worth of content into one game but there's only four chapters to each year. And because the cutscenes are so bad you can barely figure out which bit of the books it's translating it just makes it look like even more content has been lost in the translation from page to console.
The biggest culprit of that was in the year 7 part 1 section. It never showed Ron leaving! We see them disapparating from the Ministry but when they get to the forest, Ron isn't injured (although it might have been difficult to show that in Lego animation without removing his whole arm) and he just walks inside the tent looking grumpy then when you get back to gameplay he's just not there anymore. Come on developers! I know most people that played this game are going to have read the books or at least watched the films but give us a little more than that. Please?
It might not seem like it but I do have a little praise for the cutscenes. I love the moments of slightly dumb humour that they put into quite a lot of the animations. Probably the best one is near the end of Year 5 when Sirius is dying (spoiler alert!) and falling through the veil but Harry is trying to pull him back out but he only succeeds in tugging his legs off. Then after Harry has run off Sirius re-appears behind the veil and asks Lupin for his legs back.
As for the gameplay, something that bugged me about the levels was the fact that you could switch to playing as a character that had nothing to do with that part of the story in the original text. Think Ginny in the year 6 Room of Requirement level and Ron in the underwater level. Speaking of that, way to take the drama away from that sequence. The characters are clothed and there's nothing about the necklace trying to stop Harry from taking the sword by strangling him. That was a big part of what made that scene so tense in the first place!
Anyway, I'm wrapping up now. I still have a chapter or two to go before I finish the game but I think I've experienced enough to get a pretty good idea. Overall, it's not really a bad game, I was just disappointed by some of the glaring flaws in the game.
Two last points though. One, why does the water in the cave level kill you?! I doubt the water was good for the characters but I don't think it was instant death. I think it would have worked much better if, I don't know, they made the health bar slowly deplete while you were swimming.
And lastly, the section inside the Gringotts vault where you're trying to climb up the treasure chests without landing on the burning gold was surprisingly tense. And it took me way more attempts to complete than it should have. I got to the top a first time to find out that you needed the deluminator so I went back into the dragon chamber to find a light source then when I eventually got to the top again the light had disappeared because I had changed rooms. It wasn't till after that I noticed the lamp at the bottom of the hill. So overall, three successful climbs and more failed attempts than I can count.
But sadly, with Years 5-7, that all changed. The first thing I noticed about the game is that Oh My God the cutscene animation is absolutely awful. I know you can't expect much from a literally blocky animation but seriously, those things gave me one hell of a headache. I hate to think what they're like in the 3D version. The colours get so distorted in some of them that it's hard to tell what's going on.
Like I said before, I miss the touch screen spell activation, sure some of them got repetitive towards the end of the last game but still, I enjoyed it. In this one, it took me ages to figure out how to activate Lumos (and I was a little embarassed when I finally figured out you only needed to press A).
But some things I did like that I'm fairly sure weren't in the last game. You can take control of the pets to find hidden areas and items (I know they could find hidden items in the last game but that was just a flashing indicator in the corner of the screen). And personally, I think there's a couple of Layton standard puzzles kicking about in this game. It took me forever to figure out how to progress in the cave chapter of year 6. The new duelling system is pretty good too. It took me a while to get the hang of blocking and it's much easier to use the button commands rather than the touch screen but I think it gives the game somewhat of a difficulty curve.
Although one of the best things and what I often looked forward to was the wall walking segments with those Weasley shoes. I don't know what you'd call them but I got a kind of childish glee from walking up velcro walls. I never did find out if the shoes could vanish while you were still on the wall though.
One last problem I have with the game is how much of each year it cuts out. I know it's trying to fit three years worth of content into one game but there's only four chapters to each year. And because the cutscenes are so bad you can barely figure out which bit of the books it's translating it just makes it look like even more content has been lost in the translation from page to console.
The biggest culprit of that was in the year 7 part 1 section. It never showed Ron leaving! We see them disapparating from the Ministry but when they get to the forest, Ron isn't injured (although it might have been difficult to show that in Lego animation without removing his whole arm) and he just walks inside the tent looking grumpy then when you get back to gameplay he's just not there anymore. Come on developers! I know most people that played this game are going to have read the books or at least watched the films but give us a little more than that. Please?
It might not seem like it but I do have a little praise for the cutscenes. I love the moments of slightly dumb humour that they put into quite a lot of the animations. Probably the best one is near the end of Year 5 when Sirius is dying (spoiler alert!) and falling through the veil but Harry is trying to pull him back out but he only succeeds in tugging his legs off. Then after Harry has run off Sirius re-appears behind the veil and asks Lupin for his legs back.
As for the gameplay, something that bugged me about the levels was the fact that you could switch to playing as a character that had nothing to do with that part of the story in the original text. Think Ginny in the year 6 Room of Requirement level and Ron in the underwater level. Speaking of that, way to take the drama away from that sequence. The characters are clothed and there's nothing about the necklace trying to stop Harry from taking the sword by strangling him. That was a big part of what made that scene so tense in the first place!
Anyway, I'm wrapping up now. I still have a chapter or two to go before I finish the game but I think I've experienced enough to get a pretty good idea. Overall, it's not really a bad game, I was just disappointed by some of the glaring flaws in the game.
Two last points though. One, why does the water in the cave level kill you?! I doubt the water was good for the characters but I don't think it was instant death. I think it would have worked much better if, I don't know, they made the health bar slowly deplete while you were swimming.
And lastly, the section inside the Gringotts vault where you're trying to climb up the treasure chests without landing on the burning gold was surprisingly tense. And it took me way more attempts to complete than it should have. I got to the top a first time to find out that you needed the deluminator so I went back into the dragon chamber to find a light source then when I eventually got to the top again the light had disappeared because I had changed rooms. It wasn't till after that I noticed the lamp at the bottom of the hill. So overall, three successful climbs and more failed attempts than I can count.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
SOPA Retrospect
Okay, let me just start by saying this: I know the SOPA issue is in the past. I know I'm jumping on the bandwagon too late. But I just submitted an op-ed on SOPA recently so I might as well post a retrospective now. And don't worry, I'm translating it back into casual terminology, not all the official lingo the assignment called for. But the joke I used at the start was so good / awful (depending on your perspective) that I had to leave it as it was. Alright, here goes.
For those of you not in full knowledge of SOPA, allow me to explain. Soap is a cleaning agent found in the average household bathroom. SOPA is a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that, if passed, would disrupt free expression on the internet.
(Aside) Sorry. I know that was terrible. Now onto the casual part.
If you were to look up the objective of SOPA on Wikipedia or something, it sounds like a good development. "No more illegal download websites putting viruses on my computer right?" Well yeah, maybe SOPA could help out with that, but those aren't the only websites that would feel the effects. At the time, the general consensus of internet users and online organisations, among others, was that the act would mainly affect websites with a lot of emphasis on user generated content. Think YouTube and MemeBase.
Now, don't get me wrong. I can see the innovation behind SOPA. The act was intended to protect intellectual property and prevent online piracy. For example, Doctor Who could legally be hosted on BBC iPlayer as both the website and TV show are owned by the BBC and programs are only added to iPlayer after being shown on a BBC television channel. But on the other hand, if the same show were to be hosted by and watched on a different website, such as putlocker or Mega Video, the BBC would receive no benefit from those views. Hopefully SOPA could prevent that.
As I'm sure many people will remember, on January 18, 2012, many websites and internet users staged a mass protest against the looming bill. I'm pretty sure the Wikipedia blackout ticked off a fair few students who needed it for research. There were well over 700 votes of approval for the blackout and a comparatively minor 104 opposed the opposition. Try making sense of that one. And like I said, it's not only the websites moderators who made their opinions clear. Internet figureheads like Mark Zuckerberg and Chad Hurley sent formal letters identifying their opposition. Even the online community joined in on Facebook, Twitter, discussion forums and the one I remember most, YouTube. One of the channels I'm subscribed to posted a protest video that was just a black screen for ten minutes. I'm a little ashamed to say I didn't watch the whole thing. But it's actions like that that make me proud to be a part of the online community.
But on January 20th the House Judiciary Committee made the decision to postpone passing and consideration of the legislation until something closer to a compromise could be found. So for now, no SOPA.
Blood
Foreword: You may be pleased or disappointed to know that this post will be plenty shorter than the others.
So, I went to give blood for the first time last week. Didn't hurt nearly as much as I expected although I still have a small scar in the crook of my elbow. That doesn't bother me in the slightest, I'm a slow healer. But whatever, I'm going off topic again.
Everything went fine until it was time for me to go lie down on the bed-stretcher thing (I probably should know what they're really called) and give blood for real. First off, the nurse had trouble even finding the vein in my arm. When she eventually did find one in my right arm the needle went in with no difficulty. The sample tubes and test bag filled up as quickly as I thought they should but once the main blood bag was attached, my blood flow seemingly slowed down. The nurse ended up giving up when the bag was only half full. Apparently my veins were just too thin that day to let much blood through. I still feel guilty, like I cheaped out, even if it wasn't under my control. And I can't help but wonder why. I still really hope that what blood they got from me will be able to help someone.
P.S. I still find it rather amusingly ironic that 'Another One Bites the Dust' came on the radio right as the needle was being put in my arm.
Sea Monkeys?
So, since first year I've been under the strong, and probably pretty accurate, impression that the general public really don't like journalists. I mean, in some parts of the world, that job gets you killed. But the other day I came to realize that the job has perks too. You know, beyond the standard stuff. Let's face it, anyone who would willingly go into a job they know they'll hate doesn't have their head screwed on the right way. And this is probably going to be the first post to make me sound like a superficial ass, assuming I didn't do that already.
Anyway, getting back to the point. The other day me and some friends / course mates / colleagues went to shoot some background footage for a news story at an aquarium a few towns away. I won't even go into how much of a pain in the neck it was getting there. Let's just say it took my colleagues 20 minutes in the car and me over an hour on the bus and walking the rest of the way (there was no room left in the car for me). So, by the time I caught up, the others had finished shooting the interview and the relevant cutaways we needed. Sigh. But we were still going to walk around the rest of the aquarium and film some shots of the other fish and other critters (check the title).
Now, entry to the aquarium is usually £7.50 for students. We got in for free. And let me tell you, there aren't many things better than going to a coastal town, when the weather is close to what you'd expect in May or June, and watching adorable seals and otters swimming around and spending no more money than what a return bus fare costs. And I will quite happily say that that aspect of being a journalist is awesome.
P.S. There were monkeys in the aquarium. Land-dwelling monkeys. What the heck were they doing there?
P.P.S. If you were wondering what an aquarium has to do with news, the staff there were rescuing and cleaning the shells of a bunch of illegally imported turtles.
Anyway, getting back to the point. The other day me and some friends / course mates / colleagues went to shoot some background footage for a news story at an aquarium a few towns away. I won't even go into how much of a pain in the neck it was getting there. Let's just say it took my colleagues 20 minutes in the car and me over an hour on the bus and walking the rest of the way (there was no room left in the car for me). So, by the time I caught up, the others had finished shooting the interview and the relevant cutaways we needed. Sigh. But we were still going to walk around the rest of the aquarium and film some shots of the other fish and other critters (check the title).
Now, entry to the aquarium is usually £7.50 for students. We got in for free. And let me tell you, there aren't many things better than going to a coastal town, when the weather is close to what you'd expect in May or June, and watching adorable seals and otters swimming around and spending no more money than what a return bus fare costs. And I will quite happily say that that aspect of being a journalist is awesome.
P.S. There were monkeys in the aquarium. Land-dwelling monkeys. What the heck were they doing there?
P.P.S. If you were wondering what an aquarium has to do with news, the staff there were rescuing and cleaning the shells of a bunch of illegally imported turtles.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Do We Shut Ourselves Off From The Rest Of The World?
Okay so, I was playing online scrabble in a lecture the other day (I know, sue me) and I got to thinking, how much do we really cut off our senses without realising it? And in doing so, make the rest of the world not want to approach us (with the exception of those guys that sell the big issue).
If you're like me (for your sake, I hope not) then there's some times that you can't help but listen to your iPod at full blast - to the extent that I don't realise I have it at sound distortion levels until it's too late. I've actually had someone complain to me on the bus before that they could hear the music coming from my iPod. My bad. But it's not just that, the sight of someone with headphones in their ears doesn't exactly encourage someone to approach them. Which leads me on to...
... sunglasses. I don't have as much to say about this one but like with other things (which I'll get to in a minute), sunglasss obscure your face and it means that other people can't make eye contact with you. Now, I know a lot of people find it awkward to make direct eye contact during a conversation, I'm one of them, but they also find it just as awkward to not be able to see the eyes of their conversation partner at all. Basically what I'm trying to say about sunglasses is: you can see them, but they can't really see you.
Now for another stylistic criticism. I don't know how much you guys out there in internet land know about motorbikes but there's a specialist scarf that's sold alongside specially adapted motorbike jackets and jeans called buffs. I'm just guessing here but they're probably used to keep the wind off biker's faces when they have their visor up. Like I said, just a guess. But last year, a variant of them came out called hoodie buffs, basically the same thing but with a hood attached. Now the thing that differentiates buffs from your workaday scarf is that you can pull them up over your nose and mouth. Like I said, keeps the breeze off. Now, picture someone with their hair, nose and mouth covered. Definitely not approachable. I own one of these things and even my friends say it makes me look like some kind of mugger-ninja hybrid.
I was going to say about how gloves cut off your ability to touch stuff to an extent but this entry is getting to be a bit too long so for now, I'm out.
If you're like me (for your sake, I hope not) then there's some times that you can't help but listen to your iPod at full blast - to the extent that I don't realise I have it at sound distortion levels until it's too late. I've actually had someone complain to me on the bus before that they could hear the music coming from my iPod. My bad. But it's not just that, the sight of someone with headphones in their ears doesn't exactly encourage someone to approach them. Which leads me on to...
... sunglasses. I don't have as much to say about this one but like with other things (which I'll get to in a minute), sunglasss obscure your face and it means that other people can't make eye contact with you. Now, I know a lot of people find it awkward to make direct eye contact during a conversation, I'm one of them, but they also find it just as awkward to not be able to see the eyes of their conversation partner at all. Basically what I'm trying to say about sunglasses is: you can see them, but they can't really see you.
Now for another stylistic criticism. I don't know how much you guys out there in internet land know about motorbikes but there's a specialist scarf that's sold alongside specially adapted motorbike jackets and jeans called buffs. I'm just guessing here but they're probably used to keep the wind off biker's faces when they have their visor up. Like I said, just a guess. But last year, a variant of them came out called hoodie buffs, basically the same thing but with a hood attached. Now the thing that differentiates buffs from your workaday scarf is that you can pull them up over your nose and mouth. Like I said, keeps the breeze off. Now, picture someone with their hair, nose and mouth covered. Definitely not approachable. I own one of these things and even my friends say it makes me look like some kind of mugger-ninja hybrid.
I was going to say about how gloves cut off your ability to touch stuff to an extent but this entry is getting to be a bit too long so for now, I'm out.
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