King Kong

Went with a couple of friends last week. The Dominion Post reviewer said Peter Jackson has made a better film than the Lord of the Rings. I disagree. Kong is entertaining, but although I wasn't bored, the film doesn't sustain its over 3 hour length. They could have tightened it up by losing about 30 minutes of the prologue, and saved the rest for DVD. Amazing they filmed it all in New Zealand, the New Yawk is very New Yawk, surely they must have at least filmed the background skyline shots in NY?

As to be expected, amazing special effects. These days I'm taking it for granted, which means story has to come to the fore. I did wonder whether having Kong fight T-Rex was intended to be symbolic of this film outdoing Jurassic Park at it's own game. However, Andy Serkis'/Weta Worshops' Kong is sympathetic, truly acted rather than an FX 'monster'.

Jackson shows his horror movie background with some very gruesome moments, especially the scene with the giant insects (wetas) and leaches.

Overall it's a good film but not a great one.

listening to Altered Images: Don't Talk to me About Love

Altered Images

OK, so tonight I was watching Red Dwarf episodes, got to series 7 and wondered if Kristine Kochanski was the girl from Altered Images as I'd heard.

Cutting a long story short, yes, she was, but only the Kochanski from series 1-6: Clare Grogan, from Altered Images.

Anyway, obscure band, but brought back happy memories of when i was younger. I had a crush on her, and I really did like "I could be happy" and "Don't talk to me about love".

Further info at www.bubbyworld.com/alteredimages/index.html if you really want to know.

listening to Leave Me Alone | Argyle Park

Agnostic Pi

It's not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics. Doubt is useful for a while. We must all pass through the garden of Gethsemane. If Christ played with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst out from the Cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.

from Life of Pi by Yann Martell.

listening to Queensryche : Silent Lucidity

Pi in the Sky?

Just finished reading Life of Pi by Yann Martell. An amazing story, of an Indian teenager who survives over 200 days at sea in a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger.

Is it all true, or just some of it? I'm not going to spoil it, so if you haven't read the book, I suggest stopping here. Then, if you really must, you can go to this blog entry http://www.simplebits.com/notebook/2003/02/17/life_of_pi.html

and this article by Yann Martell
http://www.powells.com/fromtheauthor/martel.html

Highly recommended. What starts as a good book becomes a great book by the end.

Mutterhed

Very pleasant night out. Sounds like a genteel opera, but it was Motorhead live in my hometown. Lemmy is amusing, doesn't take himself too seriously. Lots of sound probs with the mic (feedback), and could have been louder - the band asked them to turn it up which they did. I was really ready for something LOUD. Sound quality wasn't that good for those up in the galleries - not enough speaker coverage or direction. They played lots of oldies I like, finished with a very epic "Overkill". Soooo nice not to come away all smokey, all I had was drops of beer thrown on me. Wonder where all the metalheadz come from, they seem to only crawl out of the woodwork for things like this.

listening to Motorhead : Killed By Death