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Stuck in the House

Terrible, rainy weather today. I’m not really stuck in the house, but I had a couple of non-urgent errands that this wretched downpour has dissuaded me from doing today. (Okay, I’m a wuss. Sue me.)

I had plans for last Wednesday. Saruman himself, Christopher Lee, was signing his autobiography, Lord of Misrule, in London at Forbidden Planet on Saturday and Borders on Wednesday. I thought I’d go for Wednesday. Alas, irrevocable transport problems put the kibosh on my plans… I did finally make it into Brum, but too late to get an affordable train that would’ve been on time. My only choice was a Virgin train for £30. I was forced to admit defeat.

Stuck in the House
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Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

So, Lord of the Rings. The first episode, that is. It’s funny to think back, because two years ago I was really hot to see this at the cinema. I even re-read the books in anticipation of it. But it never happened, and my interest sort of waned.

Since getting a DVD player—we were probably at least two years behind most people there—my interest revived. (My interest in buying films on the whole has revived; I’d become entirely disillusioned with the horrors of VHS.) Last Thursday, I spotted a copy at Asda for a little under eight pounds. That clinched it.

Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
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Othello (1952)

I had planned to talk about some DVD purchases, so why not. It’s been a couple of weeks since I bought this one, and I’m sure mentioning it will have most people stifling yawns, but that’s just tough! It has to rate a mention: Orson Welles’ 1952 adaptation of Othello.

Othello Poster 1952

Out of the ‘official’ Welles directorial canon (all twelve of ’em), the ones I’d never seen were Chimes at Midnight, scattered clips aside, Immortal Story, and Othello. The latter’s the most ironic, as it’s my second-favourite Shakespeare play. (My favourite is Hamlet, unoriginally enough.)
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London Stuff

My London trip last Friday went well. It was nice to have a break from all this house move stuff. The new place is still a mess and I’m starting to find it rather depressing. I know it’ll be sorted out eventually, but meanwhile, life is damned uncomfortable.

Anyway, London: I only got one half-decent snap. This is the Golden Jubilee Bridge, which Paul and I crossed to reach the South Bank and the National Film Theatre.

London Stuff
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Recent Film Roundup

I just got a lot of packing done. I’d be in fairly good shape to move tomorrow, at a push, so I feel I’ve done something useful! I haven’t felt like writing much, tho’.

Brief comments on some recent films we’ve seen:

Panic Room… excellent stuff! Original story idea, stylish direction and Jodie Foster. Need I mention that Jodie is supremely cool? If I have little to say about this one, I guess it’s because it all works so well and beggars only mindless praise. See it if you haven’t already done so.

Recent Film Roundup
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Road to Perdition (2002)

It’s been out a while, but we finally saw Road to Perdition the other night. In spite of my almost irrational loathing of Tom Hanks, I really wanted to see this one.

Road to Perdition (2002)

So, is it ‘The greatest gangster film since The Godfather‘? Nah. Not even close. It is very good, though. The direction, courtesy of Mr. Kate Winslett, is constantly aspiring to interesting things, and sometimes even succeeds. The style outweighs the content on a few occasions (a sure sign that nothing very interesting is happening), but thankfully, the effect is not overwhelming.
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Cycle of the Limeys

Recent viewing: Sunday night we watched Dog Soldiers, a British horror film from last year.

A band of soldiers doing manoeuvres up in Scotland get besieged by a pack of werewolves. How’s that for a simple idea? I expected it to suck, to be honest, but it was okay. What, a decent British fright flick? Yep. There have been several recently, so I hear.

Some of the direction/action is a little confusing, but the acting is solid and the creatures are entirely convincing. Actually, they’re amongst the creepiest werewolves I’ve ever seen—huge, lithe monstrosities, rather similar to Bernie Wrightson’s rendition from Cycle of the Werewolf, only without the muscles. Good use of a small budget, FX-wise.
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