Steam Boy

This one passed me by for some reason! its the second feature by the man who brought us Akira. Its also the most expensive Manga movie ever made, so i suppose it is surprising that it did!

Set in an alternative 19th century, where steam power has advanced beyond anything realised in our own world. This allows the makers to show their creativity in relation to the amazing new creations that could have happened. Including a steam powered tank, and a variety of flying machines!

It doesn't bother too much with a plot, which is slightly surprising as Akira is one of the better written sci-fi or manga genre movies of recent years. Suffice to say that one side has the steam ball (a device of great power) and the other side want it!

The animation is amazing in places, and some of the ideas and concepts within are dazzling. Worth checking out, if its your sort of thing. It definitely is mine!

Babel

Babel is the three stories, vaguely linked together on a vaguely similar theme!

I had read a number of reviews of the movie, that were not very excited by it, but still i felt that i would be different, and that i would really like it! i've seen the director's other work, and while not being blown away by them, i've always enjoyed them.

This was by far his worst work to date. two of the three stories were dull in the extreme. Brad Pitt seemed to be cast for his ability to run around and look confused! He cried on the phone to his son, and acted kranky with most everyone else!

The second story to the mexican woman who got lost in the desert... i mean really, scenes of her looking exhausted, wandering, kicking a bottle to see it there was water in it. One cliche after another! Second awful story.

The third story was the saving grace of the three. A well written piece about a mute girl in Japan who is coming to terms with the death of her mother. If they had kept it as just this one segment, i could have been in and out of the cinema in under and hour, and i'd have been much the happier for it!

Not the worst thing you'll see at the cinema this year, but certainly not the best! Probably one of those movies to leave for a went night on dvd!

Transfer Windows

Every year i get excited about a few weeks of madness after Christmas where Premiership teams and in particular Liverpool spend stupid money on Footballers i haven't heard of, but this year there's a difference! No one's moving!

Sure there's the Ashley Young saga, the Gareth Bale saga, etc... but really, who the hell has heard of, or even cares about these yocals! I'm dazzled that Ashley Young has gone for the price he has, he's hardly set the premiership alight with his four goals this season!

Slightly sickened that Martin O'Neill got his 'big man' in the form of John Carew from Lyon. Expect the high balls to start flying once more! Awful to watch, but damn effective.

West Ham are panicking away, trying to buy anyone and everyone with their biscuit money. They're major achievement seems to be Lucas Neill.... I mean really. A little annoyed the stole him from the grip of the 'pool, but only as a reserve for Mr. Finnan. He's not that good. 60 grand a week sounds tough to resist, and i know i would have done the same thing!

Anyway, here's hoping the Italian, Spanish etc internations start moving and no more of this 'Good youngster from Crewe' nonsense.

I'm off to the bookies to put the house on Martin Scorsese winning best director! Amazing he hasn't won it up until now.

There's talk of him doing all three of the infernal affair movies that 'the departed' is based on. I haven't seen the originals, but if they are as tightly written as the first, they should be interesting. It is a bit sad to see one of the more original film makers in America's history doing remakes though.

Happy and sad to see 'Little Miss Sunshine' doing as well as it has. Does it really deserve the hype? I much preferred Junebug, the Squid and the Whale and Little children, which are similar enough movies. Still, good to see something that's a little off centre get a nod.

Oscar Junk

Best Film: Babel; The Departed; Letters From Iwo Jima; Little Miss Sunshine; The Queen.

Best Supporting Actress: Rinko Kikuchi (Babel); Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Sandal); Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine); Jennifer Hudson (Dream Girls); Adriana Barraza (Babel)

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine); Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children); Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond); Eddie Murphy (Dream Girls); Mark Wahlberg (The Departed).

Best Actress: Penelope Cruz (Volver); Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal); Helen Mirren (The Queen); Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada); Kate Winslet (Little Children).

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond); Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson); Peter O'Toole (Venus); Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness); Forest Whitaker (Last King of Scotland).

Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel); Martin Scorsese (The Departed); Clint Eastwood (Letters From Iwo Jima); Steven Frears (The Queen); Paul Greengrass (United 93).

Best Original Screenplay: Babel; Letters From Iwo Jima; Little Miss Sunshine; Pan's Labyrinth; The Queen.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Borat; Children of Men; The Departed; Little Children; Notes on a Scandal

Best Animated Film: Cars; Happy Feet; Monster House

Best Foreign Language Film Of The Year: After The Wedding; Days Of Glory (Indigenes); The Lives of Others; Pan's Labyrinth; Water.

Where does he get such wonderful clothes!

My favourite one liner: 'My husband listens to me like you do to an announcement at a train station, enough to know whether there's an emergency or not!'

Infamous

Stranger than strange how this movie was made. Hard to believe Hollywood is so hard up for ideas that they have to do the same movie twice in as many years! Still, it was a worthwhile effort. Well acted throughout (even Sandra Bullock tried hard, god love her) and still enough in the story to keep you questioning Capote's motives and actions.

The movie takes a very different slant from the other effort, adding an unexpected love story (James Bond kissing Capote will live long in the memory!). It felt a little like two kids in the school yard telling the same story, with their own slant on it, the facts getting more distant with each telling. I guess the truth of what happened in the time Capote was working on the book will never be known for definite, as all those involved are now dead, and even if they were still alive, the movie is strong to suggest that Capote's relationship with the truth was fragile at best, and he was more interested in what sounded best than what really happened!

This movie does focus on Capote's life in New York more than the other, and the 'swans' (the elite females of new york he befriended) are some of the more interesting things about the movie.

I can't help but wonder what my opinion would have been of this movie if I hadn't seen the other one so recently. I think I would have enjoyed it much more, but the simple fact is that the other does exist and is a superior movie on most levels. Having said this, it is worth while for his clothes and one liners alone! Go enjoy...

Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson, Writer and Documentary maker was in the IFI last night. He was promoting his new book (out of the ordinary). Strangely, he didn't read that much from his new one, only one small piece concerning Johnaton King (who is indeed a lovely man).

He seems like the Woody Allen for the X-files generation, and it did feel like every conspiracy theorist in Dublin had arrived, with their bad pony tails and dodgy beards. I have a slight feeling he's wasting his talent talking on some of the topics he does, that it might leave him marginalized, but I guess its got him this far.

He told one story of a young girl mistaking his impression of someone eating soup quickly, for an impression of someone giving a blow job, that was the highlight of the night for me. Also talk of himself and Louis Theroux being conjoined twins, and for one to succeed and grow the other must die, was quite amusing!

He's worth checking out, if you haven't discovered him before.

The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson
The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures by Louis Theroux
Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness by Jon Ronson

Steven Hawking

Heard the bold Steven on the TV last night, he was talking about global warming being a bigger threat to the world than terrorism, and that there should be a war on global warming instead of a war on terror. All good points, i like it as it has a go at Bush, and helps to save the planet in the one statement, but couldn't help wondering why he won't change his voice.

That freaky computer voice is very 80's sci fi. They really have come on leaps and bounds since then. I've a voice simulator at home that will do everything from little girl to truck driver.

I figure with him hanging around with science type people, he's sure to know this. So why the hell doesn't he change it!

Maybe that's what he's comfortable with at this stage, or figures its part of his image. Maybe he has a 'home' voice and an 'interview' voice. Much to mull over...

Gig Guide

Ok, tell me if i've missed something. Think this is everything worth seeing on in dublin for the next couple of months!

I'm all happy i've a second chance with Micah P. I got lazy last time he played and have decided he's great since then! Other complete winners are Kirstin Hersh (she'll be back with more stories of her kids, she'll make you glow inside quicker than any breakfast cereal), Clap your hands, and probably Arcade Fire (who sold out before i realised they were on sale! argh)

17/1/07 Scott Mathews - Whelans - Wednesday
26/1/07 Jesse Malin - Whelans - Sun
28/29/1/07 Lloyd Cole - Whelans - Sunday and Monday
31/1/07 Psapp - Whelans - Wednesday

01/02/07 Clap your hands say yeah Tripod - Thurs
3/2/07 The Decembberists Vicar - Saturday
7/2/06 65 Days of Static Crawdaddy - Wed
10/2/07 The Bluetones TBMC - Saturday
11/2/07 Micah P Hinson Crawdaddy - Sun
13/2/07 And you will know us TBMC - Tuesday
16/2/07 Richmond Fontaine - whelans - Friday
17/2/07 Crash Ensemble - Vicar - Saturday
25/2/07 Field Music - Whelans - Sunday

5/6/3/07 Arcade Fire Olympia - Sunday/ Monday
12//307 Kirsten Hersh TBMC - Monday
25/3/07 Cathal Coughlan Sugar Club - Sun

21/4/07 Cansei De Ser Sexy- Ambass - Sat

9/5/07 Low Village - Wed

Big Brother

Ok, they're all being racialist (as Ali G would say) in the big brother house. I'm sure this is very important. I'm sure at other times in my life it would have concerned me, just at this point it doesn't.

Why is this?

I've watched nearly every Big Brother, in some sense, since the begining, so why not this one? So far i've seen about five minutes, i've no idea who's been kicked out or is living in the house next door or any other junk.

The easy answer is that i don't have a tv! I'm continuing to fight the good fight, waging the unwinnable war... but this has been the case for years, and no matter where I go, i always seem to end up seeing the last five minutes of it, or at least having a vague idea of the story line. Is it that i've reached a level of maturity, and look back on such childish things with disdain? No, i think the truth of it is that Channel 4 reception has been really poor on my parents tv for weeks now!

Sort it out NTL!

Where to start.

Good afternoon Dublin.

I'm not sure this will last. I'm mostly just goofing off... hmm...
anyway, things i'd like to waffle about...
cinema, books, comics, art, theatre....

things that will be different from other sites...

I'll tell it like it is! nah, everyone does that.

I'll tell you what you want to hear.. that's probably not true either.

I'll tell it like i think it is. That's the one.

ok, so this blog will be the same as all the other blogs in town. that's why it'll probably die. who will mourn its passing? No one...