King Kong

Watching this last night brought back memories of when I had watched King Kong before.  I like this film but never got round to watching it on the big screen, probably because my daughter was only a few months old.  I do remember talking to a friend of my wife who was upset when "the monkey died" (which was my words) but I had not watched the film and did not realise just how good it was.

Yes, the film has some stereotypes which would probably not be in film now, especially as I suspect that the inhabitants of the pacific ocean do not look like the natives on Skull Island. And the CGI is dated.  But it is by far the best of the more recent King Kong films.  

Yes, even with it being so long, I would watch it again, but if I had to make a choice, I would watch it until the capture of King Kong.

Anyway, while I do not want to focus on the insanity of Trump for the next four years, this is a clip I had to share, because it made me laugh so much!  It is the best line on this tariffs that I have heard.  

Picture This

As a family (without my daughter) we watched this. I did not think that I was going to like it as I did not think that it flowed well at the beginning, but it improved.  The ending of the film was predictable, but the journey to that point was not the usual one that a RomCom takes. Needless to say, not everyone likes it, but the three of us did. I would say that the weakness was the predictable love interest, but the strength of the film is some of the other characters.

Next to Arsenal. What a game. We should have scored more than the amazing goal that Rice did score, but we were also lucky not to concede loads as well. We are not going to win the title, and I doubt that we will win in Europe, but I think that we can beat Real Madrid, if we face them in the next round.  

A Quiet Place: Day One

First of all, family. My son went to London yesterday with friends and had a great time. My wife was a bit nervous as it was his first time doing so, but as I pointed out he was with friends and would be doing his soon anyway. With my daughter in Bali, this helped her anxiety, and s being busy cleaning the house distracted her as well.

Now onto the title of this post.  This is an enjoyable film. I have yet to watch the second film in the series, and the first was much scarier, but I would recommend this to science fiction fans who liked the first film.  I love the different lead character (compared to other science fiction films), though the pet on a lead does annoy me as I am sure it would make a noise.

If you want a film to scare you, this is not it. But despite that, it is enjoyable with a decent script, characters and direction.  I would not compare it to the first film in the series, but would compare it to another science fiction “end of the world film” that film being Cloverfield. 

An Alliance With China?

Novara Media have done a piece on how Europe should consider getting closer to China now that America and its America First policy is leaving Europe to fed for itself.

It forgets several things.  One is the way that China has been accused of engaging in genocide.  

The other relates to the concerns that China has been linked to the damaging of undersea cables in the Baltic. 

Europe needs to look to itself, not China when it comes to ensuring that Russia does not invade yet more nations. 

Star Trek: Section 31

It is not often that I come across a film that is so bad, but it is.  It has some plus points, it has good special effects and it means that Star Trek V; The Final Frontier is no longer the worst Star Trek film.  

The plot was predictable, the characters were unimaginative, but the worst bit, was how they ruined the character of the evil Terran Empress Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius.  The series Star Trek Discovery has lost its appeal to me, but while that lacks inspiration, it is not awful like this film.   

Section 31 in Star Trek is known for amazing operatives, which means that they would not have a moron on the team, like the film had.  Also when it come to how Philippa Georgiou came to rule the Terran Empire at the beginning of the film, that made no sense when you see how career advancement takes place in Mirror Mirror and the other Star Trek episodes which feature the Mirror universe. 

I made a mistake in watching this film.  Take my advice and do not watch it.  

The Gorge

A very disappointing film.  I liked the horror themes in it, how The Hollow Men would come and how the land in The Gorge looked, but that was about it.

The film starts well, but rapidly starts to fail.  Normally, I do not include spoilers in my review, but I am going to have them now so I can get my rant over. The character is dropped away from The Gorge, making their way to the place that they are meant to guard.  But, when there, they have food, and have to work to restock ammunition.  Which leads to the question of how the ammunition gets there.  Somewhere that well stocked will need people to stock it up, which means that they fly the supplies in, and if so, why not fly the replacement guards in.

Also at the end, when the characters escape by getting up the cavern wall, why do the defences not kill them the way they kill The Hollow Men?

There are very few reasons to watch this, and considering that there are much better films out there, watch them instead. 

Who needs a striker?

I should have posted yesterday about how Arsenal may not need Saka as much. Nwaneri is amazing. While I do not think that he is as good as Saka, he is almost as good.  But Saka is 23, while Nwaneri is only 17.  Both should improve as they get older, but Saka has been doing this and while Nwaneri should do the same, Arsenal has seen talent not reach its potential before and I hope that Nwaneri learns from the mistakes of those before him without repeating them.

Anyway, what an awesome result.  For those, like me who missed it, the highlights are on the links below.  I would favour playing Real Madrid in the next round as they are more likely to play football against us, which means we have more of a chance to beat them.

And just for the record, I do think that we need to play with a striker.