Monthly Archives: July 2008

The Hobbit – First Entry

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So this is it. The Hobbit. The movie everyone denied they were even thinking of making. And we’re not getting one, we’re getting two. The news was announced at the end of 2007, but I’ve not been thinking about it much since we’re not going to see anything until 2011 and I don’t want to end up in a fever 2 years too early. But, I thought I’d blog incase you hadn’t noticed any news.

Here’s the official blog entry covering the announcement. This is from the official blog website, www.TheHobbitBlog.com.

In April we found out that Guillermo del Toro would be directing. This is quite exciting but also scary at the same time, maybe we all want the Jackson vision, but we’re going to get del Toro’s and it might not be what we’re expecting. On the other hand, del Toro’s certainly got visual flair and it’ll be interesting to see what he can do with the Tolkein material.

Other than that, so far everything else is pretty much a rumour. Ian McKellen is rumoured to be reprising his Gandalf role, I hope that is true. There has been some confusion about what the ‘sequel’ will be, and Newline have stated it will be book material only, although no one is sure which book. The only rumoured release date at the present is December 2011. This would match the December releases of the Lord of the Rings movies. If we assume 19th December 2011 it will be exactly 10 years after the release of the Lord of the Rings (19th December 2001). If it is December 19th 2011, then it’s only 3 Years and 158 Days to go …

Constantly Amazing Ignorance

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I’m constantly amazed at how little I know. I was reading the BBC News site about what’s going on in Darfur at the moment, and followed a few links and ended up reading about the ICC (International Criminal Court). Last week I was reading about the Paris Club. I find it amusing that people worry about ‘secret societies’ running the planet when there’s so many obvious ones who aren’t secret and who are running the planet.

Anyway, the most interesting thing about the ICC to me is that America didn’t sign up (or they did, but then unsigned). I’m sure there are arguments as long as the earth is round as to why, and I’m not political analyst, but I wonder if you look at the countries which objected and didn’t sign and see what kind of company you’re in, and look at the ones who did sign and see what kind of company they are, and look at yourself and decide where you want to sit.

Let’s not be fooled, the majority is not always right, sometimes the lone voice has to make a stand and be heard, but when offered the question ‘do you believe we should form a court which has the right to prosecute war crimes when the nation in which they take place or causes them can not prosecute them for some reason’ and you say no, and one of the few other countries who said no are China you may want to check who’s on your team. As it stands, 106 states are members, another 40 have signed it but not ratified it and only a handful said no. In truth, America signed it, but then said they wouldn’t ratify it (in a process they call unsigning). But that’s still a ‘no, not yet’.

There is light!

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Novatech sent the replacement card today, and so the second machine is back up and running with the new card in my main machine. Seems ok, they had to send a 1GB version since they were out of 512MB versions. It’s not quite the same model, the 512 had an HDMI out, this one has two DVI outputs (I think they’re DVI), but I guess I’ll live. Doesn’t seem as bulky as the original one either, not sure if that’s good or bad.

Wanted

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I’ll be honest, I was nervous. I feared that Wanted would be just another Smokin’ Aces or Shoot ’em Up. Not that I didn’t enjoy those two movies, I did, but I hoped Wanted would be something more. I wasn’t disappointed. What I was disappointed about (as I’ve already blogged) is the limited release it has in the UK, hardly any performances and no premier seating. Anyway, we decided to catch it today and I’m glad we did.

Wanted is the story of a collection of assassins (The Fraternity) who are under siege from a rogue member, and they need Wesley (James McAvoy) to come and save them. It’s based very loosely on a comic book of the same name (there are some major differences, it’s not a comic book adaptation, it’s a screenplay based on some concepts in the comic book). It’s rated 18 in the UK, and it deserves that rating with some reasonably graphic scenes. As you can imagine, being about a group of assassins, there’s a lot of killing and I’m sure the movie will be lambasted as glorifying gun use.

But the reason I wasn’t disappointed is that Wanted is deeper than just a movie about killing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a deep movie, but it’s not simply another Shoot ’em Up either. The screenplay is interesting, McAvoy’s character (the only one who really has any depth) is well played, the pace is superb and the adrenaline pumping action is very, very good. But what brings this movie just a notch above the standard is the tale of morality and what happens when you achieve absolute power.

The twists aren’t unexpected, and they aren’t ground breaking, but they turn an otherwise flat action movie into something just a little more thoughtful and I’m looking forward to seeing it again as soon as it comes out on DVD.

Once the credits were rolling and what it was about began to sink in, I found myself playing earlier scenes in the film back in my head straight away; realising how some of the elements and threads had been laid down from a very early stage. That was enjoyable and gave the movie more credibility in my view, that it wasn’t merely an excuse to see Angelina Jolie shooting guns and looking hot – although that’s a credible aim as well, obviously.

Don’t take the kids, don’t take your pre-conceptions, but do go along expecting something fun, entertaining and not entirely without morality.

Bread Chaos and the Bacon Cob

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Talking about crumpets got me thinking about another bread product. If you take bread dough, and form it into small spheres, slightly smaller than your fist, and press then down a little and then bake them, what are they called? It’s a ‘soft bread roll’. Of course, you can make them crispy or slightly chewy, but it’s a bread roll (in the UK).

Soft bread rolls are usually used to make a sandwich of some kind, with either hot or cold food. There’s a picture of one to the top-left.

The fun thing about bread rolls in the UK (of this nature) is that they have a hundred different names depending on where you live. Bread roll is the more common name in the south of the country, or it’s a cob if you’re from the Midlands, or a bap maybe a little further north in and around Yorkshire, a barm cake, a tea cake (not to be confused with a tea cake which has fruit in it), or a breadcake. Some things it is not, it’s definately not a stotty (that’s a specific type of bread cooked in the bottom of the oven), it’s not a muffin despite the fact that some people may call it one in some parts of the UK.

And because the name of this item varies from place to place, and overlaps with other bread products, even in somewhere as small as the UK it can be hazardous asking for something in a shop because you might end up with completely the wrong thing.

So, where I live now, this is a bacon cob, and it’s delicious.


And I’m having some for breakfast tomorrow.

Wanted dissapointment …

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I’d been quite excited about Wanted, although I had a nagging suspicion it was going to be slightly cheesy. So it was disappointing to find out that it appeared to be on limited release in the UK, or at least, on our local Showcase. It was only on three times a day and no premier seats. Maybe we’ll try and go tomorrow to see it.

Cars

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We were sitting in the sitting room and found Cars on the TV, missed the first 5 minutes or so but doesn’t appear to have been anything serious. It’s not the kind of movie I’d rent or pick to watch, but it’s also the kind of movie I know I’ll probably enjoy if I do watch it.

Cars is the story of a cocky little race car who discovers maybe his life is shallow, and ends up turning it around and coming good.

There’s nothing surprising in the story, but the characters are great, even if they’re cliched, and the voice acting really brings them all to life. After only a very short time I had totally forgotten I was watching computer animation, it’s very accomplished and provides a very accessible platform for the show. There are a few laugh out loud moments (tractor tipping) and some tender moments and it has a nice glowing happy ending feel. A fun movie, worth watching once.

Crumpets!

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They are delicious! Hot, buttered (well, not butter, we’re not allowed that any more) crumpets in the morning with a cup of tea, what more could anyone want.

Other than maybe a bacon cob.

I am constantly amazed by the variety of food that flour makes, all based on how it’s mixed, how it’s handled after it’s mixed and how it’s cooked.

I don’t know which is better (or least bad) for me, bacon cob or crumpets, but crumpets are my concession to myself for breakfast when I’m working from home and don’t want to risk buying bacon and eating too much of it.