OK, it is getting to the end of another month and I haven't gone a lot forward. Going to Brisbane for the first time was a step, I will admit, but it seems a lot more manageable than perhaps I thought it might.
Gonna test that one out again.
The gym clothes are in the bag for tomorrow so I'm going to commit to going after work and hopefully get the ball rolling. If I pull up well I'll go again Thursday or Friday.
Here goes....
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Air of change
Snap decisions aren't really my forte so this is something I'll mull over for a while...
I've been getting the sense for a while now that things need to change in some areas, not necessarily internally because we all know that's gotta happen as well.
There isn't any particular reason for these thoughts and it's not the first time I've considered them either, but maybe this year is the year to act.
Again, I'm not really sure.
I could easily change my thinking on it, that can happen as well. Which is why snap decisions aren't a good idea.
Definitely need more of a positive aura around me.
Maybe it could be counter-productive, maybe it could be exactly what I need.
Perhaps the first thing to do would be to work harder on changing my way of thinking because that's screwing me around more than anything else at the moment.
I seem to be all over the place and at the whim of my (usually unhelpful) thoughts.
Around in circles is the usual pattern, if only I reach the day when I can break out of the circle.
I've been getting the sense for a while now that things need to change in some areas, not necessarily internally because we all know that's gotta happen as well.
There isn't any particular reason for these thoughts and it's not the first time I've considered them either, but maybe this year is the year to act.
Again, I'm not really sure.
I could easily change my thinking on it, that can happen as well. Which is why snap decisions aren't a good idea.
Definitely need more of a positive aura around me.
Maybe it could be counter-productive, maybe it could be exactly what I need.
Perhaps the first thing to do would be to work harder on changing my way of thinking because that's screwing me around more than anything else at the moment.
I seem to be all over the place and at the whim of my (usually unhelpful) thoughts.
Around in circles is the usual pattern, if only I reach the day when I can break out of the circle.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Snowtown
A fairly good knowledge of the true story behind Snowtown is a must if you are going to even come close to repeating some of the phrases on the poster.
While I was aware of the story, I guess I wasn't quite as well versed as the movie requires you to be.
It's the story of South Australian serial killer John Bunting (Daniel Henshall) though it is told through the eyes of 16-year-old Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway) who became involved through John's relationship with his mother.
I'm not going to delve into too much detail here. The cast is made up of largely unknown actors and it does show a bit.
More of a concern, though, is the disjointed nature of the film. It attempts to build the tension but doesn't have the substance on the screen to match the music that pumps through your mind.
There are also a number of very graphic scenes from disturbing nudity to rape, child exploitation and the gruesome murders that I'm told were watered down quite a bit for the screen compared to the detail in real life.
It's all fine to tell the story from Jamie's perspective, or focusing on him, but he is hardly an accessible character and you get no sense of what he is feeling or going through, for the most part, as he is subject to and witnesses some of the confronting scenes.
I feel there is a really tense and gripping movie in this story but for me it just didn't work. It was not accessible at all and in the first half, when it wasn't bordering on boring, things seemed to happen randomly and for no apparent reason.
Can't go any higher than a 6 out of 10 and I'm disappointed because it was a film that received rave reviews.
While I was aware of the story, I guess I wasn't quite as well versed as the movie requires you to be.
It's the story of South Australian serial killer John Bunting (Daniel Henshall) though it is told through the eyes of 16-year-old Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway) who became involved through John's relationship with his mother.
I'm not going to delve into too much detail here. The cast is made up of largely unknown actors and it does show a bit.
More of a concern, though, is the disjointed nature of the film. It attempts to build the tension but doesn't have the substance on the screen to match the music that pumps through your mind.
There are also a number of very graphic scenes from disturbing nudity to rape, child exploitation and the gruesome murders that I'm told were watered down quite a bit for the screen compared to the detail in real life.
It's all fine to tell the story from Jamie's perspective, or focusing on him, but he is hardly an accessible character and you get no sense of what he is feeling or going through, for the most part, as he is subject to and witnesses some of the confronting scenes.
I feel there is a really tense and gripping movie in this story but for me it just didn't work. It was not accessible at all and in the first half, when it wasn't bordering on boring, things seemed to happen randomly and for no apparent reason.
Can't go any higher than a 6 out of 10 and I'm disappointed because it was a film that received rave reviews.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The big H
We all have things that irk us from time to time, call them pet peeves or those little things people do that rub you up the wrong way.....
Well, one of mine is hypocrisy.
Particularly when it comes to a person's core beliefs or public persona. In politics they often call it a 'conflict of interest' to make it sound a bit less severe.
Most of the time it is related to actions that are highly acceptable in general but when compared with the public profile seem against one's perceived agenda.
Like white lies, I guess, some hypocrisy can be meaningless. I have to stick my hand up and say I have erred on the side of the big H. For example, I was actively against Facebook but eventually fell under its spell and quite enjoy using it.
Sure, it was a shade hypocritical but nobody was hurt.
But this isn't the pot calling the kettle black. More like apples and oranges.
Well, one of mine is hypocrisy.
Particularly when it comes to a person's core beliefs or public persona. In politics they often call it a 'conflict of interest' to make it sound a bit less severe.
Most of the time it is related to actions that are highly acceptable in general but when compared with the public profile seem against one's perceived agenda.
Like white lies, I guess, some hypocrisy can be meaningless. I have to stick my hand up and say I have erred on the side of the big H. For example, I was actively against Facebook but eventually fell under its spell and quite enjoy using it.
Sure, it was a shade hypocritical but nobody was hurt.
But this isn't the pot calling the kettle black. More like apples and oranges.
Your Highness
Sometimes there is a place for the silly comedy.
Films like Dude, Where's My Car, Road Trip and even The Hangover fall into that category and, done right, can be very entertaining.
Your Highness is in this vein and I have to admit to having a pretty good laugh despite there being some very crude and inappropriate scenes, even for the type of film it is.
The always likeable James Franco plays Fabious, the celebrated Prince, who must lead a quest to rescue his bride to be Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) from the evil Leezar (Justin Theroux) who is bent on creating a dragon through a union with the maiden (yep!) and taking over the kingdom.
There's also the younger brother, Prince Thadeous (Danny McBride) who is very much in the shadow of his brother and has never been on a quest to earn the respect of the people.
Thadeous is required to accompany his brother on the quest to rescue Belladonna and he does so reluctantly.
Along the way they encounter the beautiful Isabel (Natalie Portman) and they set out to defeat Leezar.
It's all very silly, there's ridiculous dialogue at times but it seems to fit well, Franco has a silly lisp, there's robotic bird sidekicks, three evil witches, an arena fight with a five fingered snake monster and an even sillier encounter with a minotaur (I'll leave that one alone).
I didn't expect an awful lot from Your Highness but I must admit to enjoying myself. Possibly not quite as much as, say, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, but it was fun.
I wouldn't necessarily say rush out and see this on the big screen but if you get a few of the guys around it's good for a laugh.
A 6 out of 10.
Films like Dude, Where's My Car, Road Trip and even The Hangover fall into that category and, done right, can be very entertaining.
Your Highness is in this vein and I have to admit to having a pretty good laugh despite there being some very crude and inappropriate scenes, even for the type of film it is.
The always likeable James Franco plays Fabious, the celebrated Prince, who must lead a quest to rescue his bride to be Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) from the evil Leezar (Justin Theroux) who is bent on creating a dragon through a union with the maiden (yep!) and taking over the kingdom.
There's also the younger brother, Prince Thadeous (Danny McBride) who is very much in the shadow of his brother and has never been on a quest to earn the respect of the people.
Thadeous is required to accompany his brother on the quest to rescue Belladonna and he does so reluctantly.
Along the way they encounter the beautiful Isabel (Natalie Portman) and they set out to defeat Leezar.
It's all very silly, there's ridiculous dialogue at times but it seems to fit well, Franco has a silly lisp, there's robotic bird sidekicks, three evil witches, an arena fight with a five fingered snake monster and an even sillier encounter with a minotaur (I'll leave that one alone).
I didn't expect an awful lot from Your Highness but I must admit to enjoying myself. Possibly not quite as much as, say, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, but it was fun.
I wouldn't necessarily say rush out and see this on the big screen but if you get a few of the guys around it's good for a laugh.
A 6 out of 10.
Friday, May 20, 2011
From one side
From one side you are perfect
Wide eyed, strong and pure
I'm blinded by the light
Stopped by your gaze
When you look and smile and wink
When you give me secrets
Trust is absolute
From one side it's an image
An ideal
Too good to be true but it's very real
It's right there in front of me
Granted definitely not taken
But there's never enough time
Never enough space
From this side I need to get into the race
Wide eyed, strong and pure
I'm blinded by the light
Stopped by your gaze
When you look and smile and wink
When you give me secrets
Trust is absolute
From one side it's an image
An ideal
Too good to be true but it's very real
It's right there in front of me
Granted definitely not taken
But there's never enough time
Never enough space
From this side I need to get into the race
Power of fear
It's become a pattern over the years and it has really just only occurred to me.
Fear has been the ruling power in my life for the most part and stopped me from doing all sorts of things. Some of those things I may have regretted, sure, but I've reached the point where I almost regret not taking the leap.
Even back in high school I was afraid of one thing or another - whether it was the kid trying to get me into fights I didn't want to be in or things as semi-serious as relationships. I remember backing out of the date I'd asked to the high school formal because I just wanted to go 'as friends'.
The solution isn't completely clear but going out and doing things I will certainly regret definitely isn't the answer.
I know that I can't continue to be ruled by this general fear - is it a fear of living or a fear of failure or rejection? I don't know exactly.
Fear has been the ruling power in my life for the most part and stopped me from doing all sorts of things. Some of those things I may have regretted, sure, but I've reached the point where I almost regret not taking the leap.
Even back in high school I was afraid of one thing or another - whether it was the kid trying to get me into fights I didn't want to be in or things as semi-serious as relationships. I remember backing out of the date I'd asked to the high school formal because I just wanted to go 'as friends'.
The solution isn't completely clear but going out and doing things I will certainly regret definitely isn't the answer.
I know that I can't continue to be ruled by this general fear - is it a fear of living or a fear of failure or rejection? I don't know exactly.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Insidious
Points for trying, but in the end Insidious fails to get off the ground as an old school scary movie. In the tradition, I guess, of the likes of Poltergeist, Insidious is focused on the Lambert family, particularly their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins).
After exploring the attic and having a fall, Dalton fails to wake up in the morning. It's assumed he's in a coma but months pass and he's unresponsive.
Parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) struggle to come to terms with it, particularly Renai who begins hearing and seeing strange things around the house. Eventually she refuses to live in their new house any more and the family moves. Trouble is, the same things continue to happen.
Eventually we find out that Dalton isn't in fact in a coma, his spirit has left his body and is trapped in a realm called The Further with all sorts of nasty parasites trying to inhabit his vacant body and cause trouble in the world.
Yep, we're talking about the same movie.
Look, basically this is a real good college try at a scary movie and I will admit it made me jump once or twice and left me with that uncomfortable rippling feeling in the body now and then.
There was no gore but old school shocks and surprises and lots of suspense.
I think the trouble was the second half of the film was far too different from the first half and it just doesn't always work well that way (From Dusk Til Dawn did but that's an exception to the rule).
On the positive side, the cast is likeable and that will take you a fair way into giving it a go. Can't go any higher than 5 out of 10. Nice try, but meh.
After exploring the attic and having a fall, Dalton fails to wake up in the morning. It's assumed he's in a coma but months pass and he's unresponsive.
Parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) struggle to come to terms with it, particularly Renai who begins hearing and seeing strange things around the house. Eventually she refuses to live in their new house any more and the family moves. Trouble is, the same things continue to happen.
Eventually we find out that Dalton isn't in fact in a coma, his spirit has left his body and is trapped in a realm called The Further with all sorts of nasty parasites trying to inhabit his vacant body and cause trouble in the world.
Yep, we're talking about the same movie.
Look, basically this is a real good college try at a scary movie and I will admit it made me jump once or twice and left me with that uncomfortable rippling feeling in the body now and then.
There was no gore but old school shocks and surprises and lots of suspense.
I think the trouble was the second half of the film was far too different from the first half and it just doesn't always work well that way (From Dusk Til Dawn did but that's an exception to the rule).
On the positive side, the cast is likeable and that will take you a fair way into giving it a go. Can't go any higher than 5 out of 10. Nice try, but meh.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Source Code
Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a commuter train heading for Chicago but the woman sitting across from him calls him Sean.
In an interesting twist on the time travel theme, Source Code is a kind of PG thriller where Stevens must relive eight minutes as Sean in order to find the bomber of the train.
At the end of his eight minutes the train will explode and Stevens returns to his own body inside the Source Code, a piece of technology being trialled for use in preventing major disasters.
It also messes with his head quite a lot - being blown up repeatedly - and trying to make sense of who he is and how he came to be inside the Code.
Everything isn't as it seems.
As he repeats his eight minutes trying to find the bomber he becomes attached to Christina (Michelle Monaghan), so much that he eventually wants to try and save her, even though he is told that he can't change the past.
We'd all love to change the past and Stevens, torn between his military training and his growing affection for Christina, is no different. He has a past that is slowly revealed and a big reason for wanting to influence it.
I loved director Duncan Jones' first film - Moon - and Source Code is a worthy follow up. A bit Groundhog Day (though not as funny!) and with clear influence from recent films like Inception, this is an entertaining film, just on 90 minutes so not overly long, and definitely worth a watch.
A 7.5 out of 10.
In an interesting twist on the time travel theme, Source Code is a kind of PG thriller where Stevens must relive eight minutes as Sean in order to find the bomber of the train.
At the end of his eight minutes the train will explode and Stevens returns to his own body inside the Source Code, a piece of technology being trialled for use in preventing major disasters.
It also messes with his head quite a lot - being blown up repeatedly - and trying to make sense of who he is and how he came to be inside the Code.
Everything isn't as it seems.
As he repeats his eight minutes trying to find the bomber he becomes attached to Christina (Michelle Monaghan), so much that he eventually wants to try and save her, even though he is told that he can't change the past.
We'd all love to change the past and Stevens, torn between his military training and his growing affection for Christina, is no different. He has a past that is slowly revealed and a big reason for wanting to influence it.
I loved director Duncan Jones' first film - Moon - and Source Code is a worthy follow up. A bit Groundhog Day (though not as funny!) and with clear influence from recent films like Inception, this is an entertaining film, just on 90 minutes so not overly long, and definitely worth a watch.
A 7.5 out of 10.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Stocktake
At least I have made an effort in some respects to change things.
I actually went to the gym last week. It's a completely foreign environment to me but fortunately the other people that were there at the time (in the work gym) were people I know to a reasonable extent so it wasn't so bad.
It was a good start. The bad thing about the gym is that you feel great for the rest of the day then sore for a day or two afterwards! No pain no gain, hey.
I am also trying to rein in a couple of other habits that are becoming troublesome. One more than the other.
The big issue remains the same - fear. Though, I am still not sure what the fear is of exactly.
I once described it as a fear of living.
I don't know whether it is this general feeling of unease that is actually causing more issues than anything else. It's clear that my tolerance for some things is very low.
Whenever I feel something strange it's usually in the stomach area and then I'll jump to a conclusion that it has to be something serious and, potentially, life threatening.
As you can see this is not a very helpful way to think.
Like most people in our world today, I want things to be fixed straight away. We're an instant gratification society and patience is hard to grasp.
It's not only that I need to change. I want to change, I want things to be different.
I actually went to the gym last week. It's a completely foreign environment to me but fortunately the other people that were there at the time (in the work gym) were people I know to a reasonable extent so it wasn't so bad.
It was a good start. The bad thing about the gym is that you feel great for the rest of the day then sore for a day or two afterwards! No pain no gain, hey.
I am also trying to rein in a couple of other habits that are becoming troublesome. One more than the other.
The big issue remains the same - fear. Though, I am still not sure what the fear is of exactly.
I once described it as a fear of living.
I don't know whether it is this general feeling of unease that is actually causing more issues than anything else. It's clear that my tolerance for some things is very low.
Whenever I feel something strange it's usually in the stomach area and then I'll jump to a conclusion that it has to be something serious and, potentially, life threatening.
As you can see this is not a very helpful way to think.
Like most people in our world today, I want things to be fixed straight away. We're an instant gratification society and patience is hard to grasp.
It's not only that I need to change. I want to change, I want things to be different.
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