What I've Been Watching 28/6

A quick round up of recently watched films and TV shows:

Man of Steel (2013)

An interesting spin on the origin story as it makes use of flashbacks and flipping the expected order of events. It's very action heavy and did feel a little flat in places but overall it was a good watch.

Ruby Sparks (2012)

A quirky fantasy drama/comedy about a writer who creates his dream girl only for him to struggle with her coming to life for real. Its surprisingly deep and beautifully shot.

Kamikaze Girls (2004)

A Japanese movie about the unlikely friendship between a yanki and a gothic lolita that manages to be heartwarming without being overly sentimental and is funny to boot.

The Man who Laughs (1926)

A gorgeously shot silent film starring Conrad Veigt as a man who was disfigured as a child and now has a permanent, deranged grin. It starts tragically and goes downhill from there but it is well worth a watch.

Mangirl (2013-)

A cute series available to watch on Crunchyroll about a group of hapless would be editors trying to publish a manga magazine

Revolution (2012-)

I wrote an introduction piece for this over at Culturefly and I have to say the series is progressing really well. It's finished its run over in the US and there are still plenty of mysteries to be solved but a second series has been commissioned and I'm excited to see what comes next

Star Trek: Into Darkness (J.J. Abrams, 2013)

My initial impression was that this was much better than the first film, it did get bogged down in explanations and introdctions. It's very action heavy despite the fact that it is mostly confined to the ship. Looking forward to see what Abrams does with Star Wars.

Star Trek 2: Damon Lindelof responds to controversy

I am seeing the new Star Trek film tonight so I get to see the scene for myself. For those of you who haven't caught it there has been controversy over the allegedly sexist representation of Alice Eve's character been stared at as she gets changed into bomb disposal gear.

More here

To be fair to Lindelof he hasn't brush off the criticism and has made the effort to address concerns via twitter however like I said I haven't seen the scene so I can't comment yet but at any rate it is good to see misogyny in movies being discussed.

100 posts and a Culturefly article

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! So this is the 100th blog post, cupcakes and balloons all round. What better way to mark this than a article published by Culturefly!

Reading this online you’re probably already aware of how much you rely on electricity and power. No power means no cars or planes, no TV or radio, no phone system, no medical equipment, no freezers and no food storage systems. Things would get pretty difficult pretty quickly.



Sky One’s Revolution is a new US drama that shows pretty much exactly that. Set fifteen years after the entire world’s power supply just cut out with no warning or explanation. Things devolve quickly and the US is now run by ruthless militia groups that monopolise food and weapons while most people live in small villages scraping by on what they can grow or hunt. Needless to say, it isn’t the cheeriest of places.



I have done a series review that you can read here and Culturefly are looking for writers if you are interested. Head over to the site and it has all the details. 

Review: Cloud Atlas

I was super excited to see this film but felt the need to wait a while before I wrote about it as it struck me as a piece of work that benefits from a good deal of reflection.

Plan 9 From Outer Space

Over at Yellow Bunting, Daisy has penned an article in defence of one of the most infamous movies of all time and provided a link where you guys can see it too!

Poster from here

What I watched while I was away

Due to inconsistant posting and lack of internet for a while this is the first Monthly Round Up in a long, long time so instead I'm going to summarise all the stuff you missed me ranting and raving about while offline :)

Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, 2011)

Image from here

A powerful film, fully deserving of every accolade it got but one I will never watch again if I can help it. Deeply disturbing, the shocking imagery and moving lead performances will stay with you long after you've finished watching.

The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom, 2010)

Image from here

Another film with shocking and gruesome imagery, Casey Affleck plays the main character and manages to be both enigmatic and utterly repulsive. Its a slow burner with an inevitable conclusion but what makes the film so gripping is the fab way that Winterbottom plays with tension.

Dune (David Lynch, 1984)

Image from here

I literally have no idea what is happening in this movie...

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

Image from here

Ditto

Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)

Image from here

Might just be one of the best cinema releases of this year. A new, stylish look at time travel in a gritty setting. Loved everything about it once Joseph Gordon-Levitt's make up stopped being a distraction...

What I'm waiting for...

THE HOBBIT. DUH! ISN'T EVERYONE?

Things to read and look at

• Now that the original script for Prometheus has been leaked, Film School rejects compiles a list of the worst parts of the film that actually make sense in original script here.

Picture from here

• Amethyst Marie of Thalia's Musings on my web series of the moment The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, specifically issues of representation in the series.

• Daisy has penned an article rating the Bond themes over at Yellow Bunting!