The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest

One thing was clear when watching The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest and that was the fact that if there was an editor of this film he was clearly not doing his job. What should have been a fast-paced, dramatic conclusion to the Millennium Trilogy was a slow, though at times compelling, limp to an ending that you could see coming a mile off. (I haven't read the books.) Not that every movie needs to have a shocking end, or anything like that, but it was so obvious where things were going. It's a shame really because The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was simply outstanding, and the sequel The Girl Who Played With Fire was solid without being particularly awesome. I was expecting a lift from the second film, but what you get is a movie that is far, far too long, especially when you have to contend with subtitles. That wasn't as much of an issue in the first two movies but it was noticeable here. The second half of the movie was excellent but you have to wait about an hour to 90 minutes before things get going. This is not acceptable, and I don't care how acclaimed the first movie was. That gripe aside, I think the series was a good one. However, I see it as a waste of time for Hollywood to me remaking this series. It's far too controversial in parts for mainstream Hollywood and having it in English won't really change an awful lot. Noomi Rapace was excellent as Lisbeth Salander and Michael Nyqvist equally good as journalist Mikael Blomkvist. A 6.5 out of 10 for the final film in the series, though, and that's disappointing given the first one was easily an 8.

Red Riding Hood

Hats off to the people who made the trailer for Red Riding Hood because they made something that was pretty average look really good.

It's a shame, actually, because this could have been a decent film but it suffered from trying far too hard to be Twilight.

Probably shouldn't be surprised at that given it has the same director.
The casting people must also have been Twilight fans because they found two so impossibly good looking guys they are kind of distracting who also look just enough like Robert Pattinson to be Edward Cullen-like.

Then there is Valerie (Amanda Seyfried). She lives in a small village that has been terrorised by a wolf for many years. When her sister is killed by the wolf the townspeople decide to hunt it down once and for all, without success and with a further casualty.
Enter Father Soloman (Gary Oldman) who arrives promising to rid the village of the wolf.

To further complicate things, Valerie is in love with Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) but is promised by her parents to marry Henry (Max Irons).

When the wolf attacks and confronts Valerie, urging her to run away with him, the number of possible suspects narrows pretty quickly. Who is the wolf?
It couldn't be Red Riding Hood without a trip to grandmother's house, and it is her grandma (Julie Christie) who gives Valerie the red outfit.

I have to say this fell into the 'so bad it is almost kinda good' category of films. As I said, it suffers from wanting to be Twilight, right down to the way Peter strokes Valerie's face, just as Edward does to Bella.

A 5 out of 10, not a complete stinker but not overly brilliant either. But it might keep those tween girls who can't wait for Breaking Dawn busy for a while.

Limitless

Limitless is one of those 'what if' movies and it certainly does a very good job of getting you thinking.
Bradley Cooper plays Eddie, a writer who hasn't been able to write a line despite somehow being given a book contract. He looks pretty much homeless, has just lost his girlfriend and is going nowhere.
By chance, as you do, he runs into his ex-brother in law who gives him a taste of a new drug that promises to blow his mind.
Basically, it opens up the parts of the brain you aren't using and you become a highly intelligent, focused and driven person able to achieve anything.
When Vern is killed, obviously by someone looking for the drug, Eddie finds his stash and goes about changing his life.
He wins back his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) and goes about earning money in record time - he finishes his book in a matter of days and becomes a stock market player.
He attracts the attention of Carl van Loon (Robert de Niro), a business mogul, who employs Eddie and watches him climb the ladder in amazement.
Pretty soon other people who have tried the drug, which is horribly addictive and potentially fatal, circle Eddie in order to get their hands on it.
Limitless is a very good idea - what if you could reach your full potential by popping a pill?
Even better is when Lindy tries it she decides she doesn't want the tunnel vision it can give you - namely a distance from your own feelings.

It's very well made, and there are a few scenes that are quite a spin out to watch as Eddie gets hooked on both the feeling of clarity and the life it is giving him.

There are better movies out there but Limitless is interesting, has a largely likeable cast and isn't too long either. A 7.5 out of 10.

Positives

I had a pretty big week, work wise, this week - so much so that I was really feeling it come Thursday afternoon. I think I did a good job of recovering that evening, with a lot of relaxation happening.
It is a real positive that I can come through something like that in good shape, similar to the week where I travelled interstate three times in six days.
The next big positive I am after is the results of my latest tests later next week. They've never been overly alarming but I have noticed a few different things this time around. Perhaps they are insignificant and can be explained simply.
There is always the lingering fear that there is something really serious (that I don't already know about) lying undiscovered and that fear is screwing my head up something royal.
My exercise plans have so far been unrealised, I do sporadic bouts but nothing as consistent as I had hoped - and that is to my own detriment. I really must do more things that are good for me in general, like going for walks, instead of things that feel good in theory but in practice just make you feel worse.
Committing to being good to yourself shouldn't be so hard, should it?

Adelaide for a day

A couple of weeks back I took a day trip to Adelaide.
Yes, Adelaide is a bit far to go just for one day but there was a purpose and after that purpose was taken care of I had a few hours to wander around and check out the city.
They say Adelaide is a bit like a big country town. That may be underestimating it a bit but from what I saw it is a very pretty city, especially when the weather is perfect.
Among my meanderings I took in some of the cultural activities going on, checked out (and thought about crashing) the uni o-week stuff which included a large sized chess game (which I kinda always wanted to play), walked along the Torrens River and saw some cricket at the Adelaide Oval.
It'd be interesting to see what the city has to offer when you have more than three hours.

How to take control

Something has to change and it has to start changing now.
I have a lack of control, a lack of focus and a lack of stability and that has to stop and stop now.
It all sounds so easy to turn things around in theory - I know that it is far from easy in practice.
I believe I have to take a few small steps in order to regain some stability and some control over life (well the things I can control anyway).

This is what I have in mind.
1. practice some form of relaxation or meditation daily. Doesn't have to be hours but at least 10 minutes of reflection and calming.
2. exercise daily, a 30 minute walk at the least.
3. make sure I get enough sleep, 7 hours would be ideal as a base.
4. rein in the unhelpful thoughts. Replace with more logical or positive thought patterns.
5. stop having unrealistic expectations about myself.
6. have some fun and try to enjoy things more.
7. stretch daily.

Habits are hard to break but they are harder to form. Hopefully I can get into some if not all of these good habits fairly quickly. Wish me luck.

Conviction

The fact that Conviction is based on a true story helps it get across the line as far as watchability goes.
Hilary Swank plays Betty Ann Waters, a divorced mother of two who devotes 20 years of her life to proving her brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) was wrongfully convicted of murder.
In what can be described as one of the dodgiest trials I've ever seen, Kenny is found guilty of murder through largely circumstantial evidence that would be laughable at the very least today.
It is made pretty obvious that he has been framed and Betty Ann vows to get justice served. So she goes back to school to become a lawyer in order to take the case that no-one else will.
The key point in her investigation comes when she discovers the use of DNA technology that wasn't available when Kenny was tried to clear people wrongfully convicted.
So Betty Ann sets out to find the old evidence so she can have him cleared. Naturally she comes across more than a few roadblocks.
It's a well named movie about loyalty and can be filed in the Erin Brockovich section of movies. Swank puts in her usual strong performance, Rockwell is odd as ever (his character was really stretching it on the likability scale though) and there is good support from Minnie Driver and Melissa Leo among others.
My problem with Conviction is that it is a very good story but not an overly brilliant movie. It felt disjointed and there was very little opportunity to empathise with Kenny. Maybe that was true to life, I don't know.
Anyway, a 7 out of 10 and I'd have to say I'm a bit disappointed because there could have been a cracking movie in this story.

Black Swan

It was definitely disturbing, Natalie Portman was excellent but was Black Swan a good movie?
Portman, who won an Oscar for Best Actress for this role, plays Nina Sayers, a ballet dancer who is cast as the lead in a production of Swan Lake.
She's described by her director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) as the perfect White Swan but wants her to embrace the Black Swan to really shine in the role.
Enter the competition - the perfect Black Swan Lily (Mila Kunis), the anti-Nina as such, threatens to win the role through Nina's difficulty in letting go of the White Swan inside her.
Adding to Nina's complicated situation is her mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who still treats her like a 12-year-old wannabe ballerina with chilling effect.
As the pressure builds with the announcement that Nina will replace the company's prima ballerina Beth (Winona Ryder) she, to use a Star Wars phrase, begins turning to the dark side.

She tries so hard to embody the black swan she begins to lose grip on what is real and what isn't.
As I said, I'm not sure how to react to this film.
Portman certainly excelled herself in getting into what was effectively a dual role and probably did deserve the Oscar.
Overall, though, it is a very disturbing movie with a few scenes that are sure to shock some viewers. What I will say is that the music was outstanding, it made me a bit uncomfortable, it dazzled me and it fit so well with the story (and so it should given the Swan Lake focus).
I expected to be blown away, but I wasn't so I'm going 7.5 out of 10.
Make up your own mind!

Charm School

Reviewing a new Roxette CD isn't something I expected to be doing again but here we go.
Charm School is Roxette's first new album since Room Service in 2001 (an album that had some awesome songs but was overall disappointing) and as a long time fan approached it more hopeful than anything else.
It does take a few listens, and is very much stuck in the early 90s, but I have to say I like it - so much so that I can happily listen to the entire CD straight through (though there is one track I don't particularly care for and occasionally skip it).
The catch with Charm School is I think you need to be a fan. I don't see any 18 year olds picking this up and loving it.
Unlike most Roxette albums this one seems to be fairly evenly split between Per and Marie for lead vocals.
The opening song Way Out got stuck in my head there for a while and that's a great sign. The album is also a fairly even mix of up tempo and slow songs with Per specialising on the up tempo and Marie the ballads. And that's the way it has always been, pretty much.
Top five songs on the album are as follows: Only When I Dream (a sort of Coldplay-esqe feel), Speak To Me (a rare slowish song led by Per), Way Out, Dream On (whimsical sound) and Sitting On Top Of The World (a bittersweet closer sung by Marie).
It's great to have a new bunch of Roxette songs, particularly since it looked like there would only ever be repackaged hits albums for a while. They aren't as great as the classics but, in a way, Charm School is a throw back to the late 80s-early 90s when you could have a bit of fun.

If you liked them don't be afraid to try this one out.