DRAG ME TO HELL, JUST DON'T FORGET THE POPCORN!

That's exactly what this is, a "Popcorn" flick, not to be taken too seriously, (obviously) I did find it good in parts, but it didn't scare me in the way Japanese horrors do, there was no tension or build up of any kind, but then again that was not the point, the film was marketed as a return to "old skool scares" and on that, It delivered, in a way.

The editing was good, the effects were OK in parts but very cheap CGI looking in other parts, (for example in the shed when the old women comes at her, yet again, we see some horrendous CGI- but I won't say what for so as not to spoil) I really wanted to enjoy this film, and I was until I couldn't bare the noise from a group of teens sat to my left anymore, from the moment I walked in and noticed them I knew they were not going to shut up, (they were running around, shouting at each other at the top of their voices, throwing things etc etc) 20 mins into the film they had still not settled down and were driving me f****** mad! (every little thing that happened they had to make a big noise over it, for example, a fly goes into the girls mouth, and the group of teens must have shouted and made stupid jokes about it for at least 5 minutes) this became unbearable and completely ruined the enjoyment of the film for the whole cinema, as unfortunately no one had the guts to tell them to shut up, and the teens knew this and reveled from the fact! even bragging about it and making fun of the situation. Anyway back to the film! It had some really good scare scenes, I don't think I jumped, no I didn't, there was not enough suspense for that, except one scene in which the "devil thing" is coming up the stairs for her but all you see is it's shadow, that scene was quite good, and if the film had concentrated more on the "lamia-the demon/devil thing" rather than the old gypsy women the film would have been alot better, I feel the old women was rather over-used and I was getting a bit tired of her running at the girl like a zombie, (as in running with her arms aimed at her throat) only to vomit in her mouth or suck her chin, really very nasty rather than scary, but of course when the yukky event had finished the girl would be all clean and vomit free!

There is a fly in it a few times but it's significance is never explained, nor does it really do anything? Justin Long as the boyfriend and professor/tutor is wasted, I feel anyone could have played this part and Justin is still very young looking and didn't really fit the role that well, although he didn't do anything wrong mind, I just feel an older not as well known for being "funny" actor would have been better.

The twist at the end is predictable, it would have been good to have shocked me but I knew what was going to happen half-way through the film.

I will still buy this for my DVD collection when it comes out as I found it very entertaining and would be great to watch with a group of friends! It's just not what I expected, so maybe that's what set e up for disappointment? watch it as an entertainment popcorn flick and you'll enjoy it a whole lot more, just don't go in expecting greatness or you will  feel like you've been dragged to hell and back! (haha)

p.s. watch out for the stupid "goat" scene, which is the point which ruined it for me completely, and there is also a "Freddy krueger" rip-off.

RUBBERDUCKZILLA!

I F****** love this tv ad! it's hilarious! 

Breathing Pets!

when I first saw these I thought they were hideous, they freaked me out as they looked like dead stuffed animals, I thought they were a little morbid, then when I saw the breathing ones I thought they were just bloody ridiculous, but then something strange happened, I saw one in the corner of the room in it's bed in someone's house and thought it looked fantastic! (they look better in the corner of a room than on a stall with hundreds of them!) I couldn't take my eyes of it and decided there and then I was going to get one because I'd like a dog but can't get one because i'd never be able to look after it! and not too long ago I was looking at robotic pets but they are WAY too expensive, so here is a nice cheap alternative! Oh I forgot to say that that they "breathe" up and down to look like real sleeping pets! weird huh? but they are so cute!

Words...

I found some "words" from the constantine graphic novel that I liked, I can't for the life of me remember what they're called, damm my bad memory. I spent 12 weeks on a creative writing course and passed with a distinction but I can't remember the "official" names for things!

like verbs, subverted verbs, etc. so I don't know what this style of writing is called but we did alot of it in class, maybe if anyone is reading this and you know what they're called you can leave a comment and let me know? (I never get comments so it would be double awesome! lol)

Aha! just this second it has come to me! METAPHORS! I found some interesting metaphors in a comic and wanted to put them on my blog! here they are:

"The streets are hardened arteries leading to the city's dead heart"

"Ignoring the queasiness which quakes my stomach like an uneasy swamp"

"I turn my collar up against the toothless gnawing of the early november wind"

"A steetlamp winks it's sickly, yellow eye as I pass"

Writing this reminds me of sin city, I didn't really realize it was full of metaphors at the time, I probably wouldn't have taken much notice of them, I just thought it was an odd way of speaking! lol even though I use them myself without noticing, but now I notice them all the time, but I think they work the best in comic books, especially detective type stories.

Y the last man

I have just finished reading all ten trade paperbacks of "Y the last man" which I paid about £100 for without even reading a sample of it, I just read the "premise" and wanted to read it! turns out I made a good choice this time I couldn't put the books down! (unlike the "swam thing saga" I forked out for a few months ago) I read the whole lot in a few days, the story was amazing! It wasn't what I expected, and the character development was what kept it going, I wanted to know what was going to happen with certain characters and what they were going to do next etc which is what kept me reading. It's basically about a guy named "Yorrick" and his pet monkey who are left the only males on earth after a plague suddenly breaks out and wipes out all males on the earth at the same time causing  instant death.

The females are left to deal with everything, politics, food, energy supplies, entertainment, wars etc. Some go crazy and become "amazons" cutting off one of their breasts and burning down sperm banks thinking that "god" wiped out mean because they were the inferior race...

except yorricks sister becomes one of these amazons and when they hear of the last mans existence vows to hunt him down and kill him.

there are also an abundance of women dressing up as men to please the women that miss them and can't live without them, and countries are at war- even worse than before!

Everyone seems to be after the last man, however yorrick has help in the form of agent 355, a secret agent sent to protect him from the "Culper ring" she is also my favorite character in the whole thing, then there is Dr.Mann- a cloning specialist who teams up with them to try and save the world- a character I didn't so much like, and all the while yorrick is obsessed with finding his girlfriend beth who is at the other side of the world! I think i've said enough, but the good news is they are making this into a movie! it will make a brilliant film i just hope they do it right! there are rumours of "Aleesha Keys" set to play agent 355, but I think "Jada Pinkett" should do it, then for Yorrick they are saying "shea lebouf" which i can see as him but i can't see him working with Jada or Aleesha keys? either way I can't wait for the film!

speaking of films I went to see Coroline in 3D tonight! it was everything I hoped it would be and more! I was suprised to find out it had nothing to do with Tim Burton however! it had his name written all over it in terms of visual style and story-telling, but it was actually based on a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman, (sandman) I'm now in the process of buying this and the sandman books, however there are so many of them! I think it's over 100 books! so i am going to go for the pricey option and get the special edition volumes that contain 20 novels in each one, I wish I'd thought of this when I still had my student loan! don't know how I will get them now, there are 4 so far at £48 each on amazon! but I always find a way to get the things I want...

REPULSION!

I have been searching through some "vintage" horror films to watch in preparation for the 1 minute video module and came across a few, "I spit on your grave", "rear window", "repulsion", and "The man who haunted himself" I am going to watch a couple of them and review them later, hopefully this will give me some ideas for my 1 minute horror! I am thinking of filming it in Black and white with a grain effect, and want to incorporate some of the special effects and techniques used in horror films from the 40's and 60's and later... 

I don't know what the plot is going to be yet, but I plan on making more than one of these 1 minute features, I'd love to have one as a live-action film and at least another done using some sort of stop motion technique, and then if I have time I plan on doing something a bit more uplifting and quirky!

Tara Mcpherson

I have been looking at the art of Tara Mcpherson over the holidays, initially drawn to it by a book cover I saw on Amazon, (which I bought based on the cover and the inside previews) I loved the artwork inside, it reminded me of Mark Ryden works, I love how the images are sweet, colorful and have that sort of icing texture that reminds you of cakes and sweets! but at the same time they depict somewhat gory ideals, for example Mark Ryden draws giant cuddly teddy bears that upon first glance seem cute and friendly but upon further inspection have a cold evil kind of look, it's hard to explain. He also paints little girls being eaten by trees, which I think is just F*****g awesome! and Tara's work is similar in that way, for example one of her pictures is off a happy smiling girl in a swimsuit but then you notice the rubber toy float she has is actually going through a whole in her body, she also has a fascination with hearts and most of her female portrayals have heart shaped holes in their chests which is clearly rather symbolic and alot of people will be able to relate to it, (I'm actually getting one of her artworks as a tattoo in a few weeks!) there is something odd about looking at such gory content, but minus the dark colors, slime and guts to go with it, instead you are greeted with sugary colors and almost edible textures that draw you in almost like the window display of the most scrumptious fairytale cake shop you could imagine, only when you get inside you realize your actually in Sweeney Todds barber shop! and yet you still stay because you are getting to view these things that we are all morbidly curious about in one way or the other, yet in an addictive childlike way.

This sort of stuff also makes me think of Tim Burton, I love his work too and I can't wait to go and see his new film: "Coroline" I have both "The nightmare before christmas" and "the corpse bride" and most of his films, I love his dark sense of comic horror and will be drawing inspiration from it and Tara Mcpherson's work for my next video project!

1 minute film

I thought it was quite good as it touches on something we all experience everyday, or at some 

point, and it was nice and simple and to the point!

the sound worked really well also, if it had been covered by music it would have 

glamorized it a bit, the sound of all the plastic been torn adds to 

the frustration you feel from watching it. 

this video won an award in the 1 minute film thingy, we are going to be making one 

minute videos for our 

next brief so i thought i would check some out!

character design

I've been looking at character designs and wanting to get back into it as I used to carry a little book around with me and just come up with designs all the time, I can't find the book anymore so am a little upset as it had a years worth of my ideas/drawings in it.

I wanted to buy the pictoplasma books but thought they were a little expensive so I got one called: Great new characters, and I'm glad I did! it's an awesome little book, packed full of characters across a broad range of mediums! 

and here is a picture I took of some sweets given to the kids at easter, I couldn't eat them if they were mine, they're just too cool! 

fancy a belly dance anyone?

I've been watching a few bellydance videos on youtube after 

attending some belly dance sessions at my gym and really liked 

this one, alot of it is boring, but this one really works to the beat, 

in fact if i watch it with no sound i can almost hear the beats as 

she moves to them so well, i love how she can move her hips in 

different ways to reflect the different sounds, i wish I could do that!

If you liked it.....

My mum got me to look this one up, for weeks she was talking about it,

"I don't wanna watch some skimpy gay guy doing a girlie dance", was

all I kept thinking to myself, but one day for some reason I looked it up,

(maybe I secretly did want to see it? lol) and after the initial gag at the

sight of him in those skimpy strange clothes, I began to think, "he's quite

good actually!" I mean I couldn't do it! in fact I was thinking of having a go

and sticking it on youtube, that's why I watched this, then after that I decided

not to bother! cause if one skinny man with no curves can do it better

than me then i'm not going to bother! lol

it's funny actually, there are so many video's like this of people trying to

do the dance, (and even more funny is that NONE of the girls on there

are doing it as good as this gay guy here!) there are other men doing it,

and some trying to copy this guy which is even sadder, you can hardly

mock a guy who millions, (well maybe hundreds) are trying to copy?

He even got to meet Beyonce as a result of the youtube video and he

was on "this morning" for it too!

H&M website

http://www.hm.com/gb/#/spring_fashion09/

check out this website, thought it was pretty cool! has shown me that website design doesn't have to be boring! wonder how this was done?

Salmon fingers!

I Love this advert! saw it the other day and couldn't stop laughing! stuff like this makes me wanna go into advertising cause i always have lots of ideas. Oh, I just watched it the whole way through and realized it's not the ad from the TV! obviously! lol but this is still funny, in the TV ad the 2 male fishfingers faint when she takes off her crumby outer skin! then after the "birdseye bit" one of them leans up to the other and says he wasn't expecting that! I think the TV add is funnier, I don't see how adding some swear words makes it any funnier, but I did laugh cause I wasn't expecting it, but that's it, it's not funny anymore but the original still holds it's "laugh appeal" for me anyway...

Whole Body Vibration Technology

WBV? I was looking at this a few weeks ago, hearing that it tones you up, improves cellulite, aids weight loss, makes you feel good by releasing certain chemicals in your body and brain, increases muscle, circulation, strength, and one study even claimed that it reduces the signs of aging! 

We have them in my gym, the power plate pro which are the leading UK brand in this technology at the moment, the commercial plates they manufacture cost around £6,000! they also do home versions for a little less, promising to bring the same benefits for you in the home.

how does it work? well apparently the Vibrations cause all of the muscles in your body to contract using 6 times your body weight as resistance, (something to do with the intensity setting you put it on) and apparently giving you an hours workout at the gym in 10 minutes!

It was first developed and used by the Russians who used it as an exercise tool for astronauts to use in deep space to help protect them from muscle and bone mass loss, (gravitational force in space is minimal therefore muscles and bones are not loaded as they are on earth) 

There are different types of plate, tri-plainer which basically stays in a static position moving up and down thus vibrating all of your body at the same time, and there is oscillating which moves in a see-saw like motion lifting one side of your body at a time, which is alleged to be safer as there is less impact on your spine, I don't think this is true however, I think it is just a gimmick to get you to buy the oscillating type as these are usually the cheaper imported "mass-produced" versions that are sold to individual companies who then slap their logo onto it and sell off as their own for their own set price, (I have seen hundreds like this on e bay and amazon!)

I would say it is a matter of personal comfort, I tried the tri-plainer version in the gym and didn't like the head vibrations I was getting, and have been having headaches ever since so I would go for the oscillating platform, however if i buy one it will have to be heavy duty and expensive!

But after much research I have decided that maybe they don't really work? I think they are a bit of a gimmick, especially with sales pitches like: "If madonna has one you can have on!" blah blah blah! 

I guess they work in conjunction with exercise and diet but not as they are being marketed as some miracle machine.

My Day in Second life

"Hmmm? I wonder what he uses to get his legs so smooth?"

Me sat chilling on a bench whilst everyone else seems to be flying away!

All By Myself... doing some yoga... (check out my huge Ass! haha)

Me above the world!!!

Me and Angrybeth!! she's so cute!

Me and hoi kam and our new friend!

This is so F*****g hillarious! I split my side laughing just looking at it! I think it's Rob Lang but not sure, he was just this tiny evil jelly-baby like creature chasing around with a gun shooting at people! hahaha! it looked so funny! especially when he was running!!

"gotcha! you little sucker!"

Been taking for a ride! weeeeeeee!

this is how you get in a tiny car!

30 days of night Ben Templesmith

Just one more thing before I go, was looking through my blog and noticed some of the graphic novels I've been reading and noticed that I'd forgotten to mention the 30 days of night series by Ben Templesmith, (Illustrator) which In parts in excellent and suits the horror style perfectly, but at other times it grates on me as he will cut details in favor of half drawn sketchy child like sprawls during faster paced scenes, but his still shots, (pictured) are fantastico!

When I read graphic novels I can't imagine reading a standard book again, (although I read plenty of text only books) I just love the way they flow through your brain like little pulses of electricity, each snapshot being burned into your mind. (sorry the creative writing elective hasn't worn off yet!)

I also want to be a graphic novelist every time I read one, but I can't draw, well, no I can't actually, not in perspective at least.

however when I'm not reading a graphic novel I want to be a web designer, not that I find web pages particularly  interesting, I think it's my logical side telling me that's where the jobs are.

I'm starting to really like flash and can see myself creating interactive content using it for web pages, mobile phones etc. But my dream job would be making Title sequences for movies, I don't even know what it is about it that has always drawn me in, (that's what made me want to do Digital Media in the first place) I just think I have a natural talent for putting things together, sound with images, making image and text dance to the music as such etc etc. but of course I've never done anything advanced in this area, it's just a feeling I have based on my experimental stuff and what I've been told by my peers.

I will be looking into Title sequencing a bit more after speaking to Mike today about it, I never even realized there was much of a job-base for it in the UK, I will be looking into that a bit more at some point soon.

right it's almost midnight and I still have to watch the X files so night night!

Feedback for assignments!

Just thought I'd have a big moan about not getting feedback for our projects yet, I'm amazed that people don't seem that bothered about it? maybe that's why they are relaxed about it in the first place? most people still haven't collected their video project feedback, maybe it's because I come from access and am just used to getting my feedback and marks within weeks of completing a module, maybe I am just a little too anal about certain things, but it just keeps me going knowing that I did well on a project and that all my hard work has been acknowledged! 

on the other hand it's good that we all look at each others work at the end of a module, although embarrassing, it gives you a chance to gain feedback from other students and gage their reaction to it as to it being good or shite! It's a shame however, that mine and Ashley's video projects were never shown (they were in late as we started the course late), which ok saves that embarrassing thing that happens but then you think well who have I done all that work for if no-ones going to see it? and I can't even get feedback on it?

I have to say I'm not getting at the tutors on this one, I think Annabeth does a brilliant job helping us when she has the time to! I hate bugging her about my feedback forms actually, but someone has to I guess? (and that someone always has to be me...) it doesn't help that I am extremely obsessive, all of my coursework for the last 3 years is organized in cabinets in folders in order of date in my house! and it gets at me that there are gaps waiting to be filled for my feedback and grades! (yes i am so sad i even have little homes waiting for them) when I got the feedback for the video module I was in such a good mood for weeks! feeling such a sense of self-accomplishment and self-worth! It soon wore off though as I handed in more and more briefs, constantly giving all my worth but getting nothing back in return....sob...sob....

I hope we get them before the end of the year! what if we don't? how will I sleep over the holidays? I WANT TO KNOW IF I HAVE GOT MERITS OR DISTINCTIONS! I neglect almost every other area of my life to get this work done to the best of my ability so the least I want is to know if it was worth it! 

sigh.

It's no ones fault, I'm not blaming anyone personally, i just wanted to have a huge moan about it! and if anyone wants to support the feedback moan feel free! on the other hand if you think i'm nuts please don't say anything! hahahaha

I think i'm too tired now best be off to bed! (am I hell, I can't go to bed without watching an episode of the x files! it's my routine now, if i brake it I can't sleep right! told you i'm strange, hence the reason I live in my own bubble) 

night night all.

Sword of the stranger

Excellent film I've just watched having missed it at the leeds film festival 2008, fab animation, the fight scenes are also spot on and it actually has a very good solid plotline! at times i forgot i was watching a cartoon as it plays out like an epical samurai flick. I highly recommend this to any anime or samurai movie fan, it's very good and yes i'm very tired so my vocab is also asleep, i can't think of the right words to describe the film, but I thought I'd stick it up on the good old blog as everything watch is usually where i get my inspiration from, i rarely look at the real world!

Oh I forgot to say what it's about! well i don't want to give too much away but basically it's about a little boy and his dog who have been sent away by a monk to seek refuge in a temple in another city as his home village was burnt to the ground by imperialist soldiers. It turns out the entire army is after the boy believing he is the key to immortality. the boy meets a lone samurai warrior and they team up, (well the boy hires him to get him to the temple in one piece after his dog has taken a liking to the stranger) the characters are all very solid and well-rounded out and the plot elements fall in line with the ming dynasty and the intrusion of the white man and their weapons vs the honour of the samurai. I'm too tired to say anymore i can't think straight! 

Ponyo on the cliff: Myasaki

I recently watched hayo Myasaki's latest film : "Ponyo on the cliff" which I really enjoyed and was thankful for the return to Myasaki's vivid childlike methods of story-telling, following the last effort from studio ghibli "Tales from earthsea" which wasn't necessarily a bad movie, but it lacked the magic and imagination behind the rest of the ghibli films. (Earthsea was made with Hayo's son at the helm, Goro, as his farther was working on the fantastic "Howl's moving castle" and therefore left earthsea to his son, it was also his first attempt at directing one of the studio's feature length animated movies).

Back to Ponyo on the cliff! I wasn't sure if I would like it or not as from the screen shots I had seen of the film I thought it looked too basic, and would like detail, but thankfully I was wrong and it has all of the spirit of any other ghibli movie, it especially reminds me of "My neighbour tottoro" as the focus is on a 5yr old boy who meets a magical friend, (as in tottoro except gender reversals etc) however whilst Tottoro was laid back in it's execution, Ponyo has a bit more action, to begin with the pacing is slow but not too slow and not to the point in which you would lose interest as there are far too many rich visuals to take in and of course the attention to detail also grabs your attention and refuses to let you go.

The basic plotline revolves around a 5yr old boy, (who is adorable and despite being a cartoon has all the qualities and convictions of a real 5yr old) who lives with his mother and father, (although he address's them by their first names so I presume that he is perhaps adopted?) they live on a rocky slope at the side of the sea and each day his mother- who he refers to as Rita drives down the hill, (like a maniac) to work which is a local nursing home and which handily has the nursery next door for the boy to go to.

One morning before they leave, the boy is playing around at the sea, (which is a few feet from the house) and he finds Ponyo, a goldfish girl that longs to be human!

he rescues Ponyo from a jar that she is stook in and takes her home where he proceeds to put her in his green bucket with some water.

He discovers that she likes ham amongst other things, and that she is a magic fish as when he found her he cut his finger which the fish licked and healed. Because of this (Ponyo tasting the boys blood) she starts to become human, (at which point I found her a bit annoying) The tsunami comes because of this disruption to the sea and her mother and father, (her mother is known as the sea goddess) have to decide what to do.

There is alot of destruction caused by the tsunami, which has hauntingly been captured to great effect, but there is also the raw basic innocence of a loving friendship between 2 children caught up in the midst of all that, and how people pull together, and can survive during these disasters with nothing more than kindness and consideration.

I stopped watching the film after about 45 mins so I can't really say anything else in terms of plot, the reason for this is that I got a copy of it from Malaysia and although decent, it dampened my viewing pleasures a little, as I like to watch my films in high quality-color, framing, sound etc and all of this started to grate at me after a while so I switched it off! but I will be looking out for the U.K release sometime this year! I recommend this film highly to any Ghibli fan or even if your not- it's a great magical film that you can sit back and enjoy as your 5yr old self again!

Dead Space: Best Alien invasion game EVER!

One more game I just HAVE to blog about is "Dead Space" what a F*****G scarey game! I love horror survival games, I have all the resident evil games that were ported over to the gamecube, all the silent hill games, plus the odd other here and there, such as the forbidden siren series, project zero, haunting ground, etc. but none of them truly scared me like this, and I don't scare easily! Condemned was pretty jump in parts but this thing scares the hell out of me! I've had it since it's release date, I got it with fable 2- (which I think is a bit lame but still play it now and then just cause I bought it!) and only played it for about 10 mins cause I kept freaking out and hitting pause! lol (instead I just watch other people playing it- I know I'm such a wuss i need to just get it over with and play it!) anyway the game basically is about you and your crew arriving at the Ishimuru (I think it's called that) space ship following a distress call from one of the crew, (you should watch the anime movie dead space that was made in connection with the game it tells you the back story and is pretty awesome! one of the best animes I've watched in the past few months) and basically all the crew are dead and you have to investigate, their bodies have been used as shells for the "deadly horrible aliens" to take over, they look gross, with all their contorted limbs sticking out of the humans flesh, whilst the once human limbs hang limp at their sides, also their jaws are usually missing or hanging off whilst the rest of the face is stretched out and twisted- they look freakin sick! yeah so that's creepy, no not creepy I mean shit scarey when they're coming at you in packs! the est bit about the game and what makes it is the sound, the sound is awesome. you should play it in the dark, on a big tv with surround sound. who's the wuss now? (chuckle) this is what happens to me over and over, I'm in a room, (on the game) walking cautiously around, making sure not to step on the gross slimy chunks of flesh that are all over the place, I can hear the air outside in the back of my living room and all my footsteps echoing all around the room, then suddenly you hear scarpering nasty alien monster feet in the background, that's when I start to really freak out, then BOOM! the F***ers are behind you and that's probably where I scream and start shooting like a maniac... ahem anyway enough said, go out now and buy this game! I DARE YOU! mhah ha ha har...