A litte more about me

This Blog is just a personal film goer (Geeks) take on things, Its gonna touch on film , tv and maybe my other passion movie soundtracks from John Barry - John Williams, Star Wars to Mad Max. If In my geekness I have one passion its Bond, all things Bond. If asked the usual question my pecking order of Bonds would be

1. Sean Connery
2. Daniel Craig
3. Pierce Brosnan
4. George Lazenby
5. Roger Moore. 

So heres a few of the sites i use to keep up with regular film news.
Aint it Cool ( It goes without saying)
One Ring Net ( For all things Lord of the Rings) And Nolder Blog because I'm relatively new to NZ and this site contains local news and gossip with a strong emphasis on Lord of the Rings and soon to start The Hobbit.
MI6 for all things Bond
Dr Who ( Im a welshman from Cardiff, I left the UK during the second season of David Tennants tenurre and I have physically been to the Doctor Who exhibition in Cardiff Bay. I also have had the great pleasure of meeting then show runner Russel T Davies)

Tron Legacy

Well finally caught up with Tron Legacy after post Christmas celebrations. Its official i survived Christmas for another year. So biting the bullet visited my local picture house, donned a pair of 3D spectacles and took the ride.
     Tron is one of those little guilty pleasures from the eighties, I used to have the Wendy Carlos soundtrack, I had the movie poster on my study wall and an old well worn videotape of the movie. Its up there with The Black Hole as a valiant effort that just fell short of the mark.
      So did i enjoy this new chapter , well yes and no. If i was George Lucas I would take issue with one or two the character arcs in this new tale. Maybe even take issue with one or two scenes which reminded this viewer of Star Wars, Jeff Bridges Flynn is now the Obi Wan of this movie with a liberal dose of the Dude. Visually this movie is a massive step up from the first installment but then this is to be expected when considering the time elapsed between the two films. But some scenes seem virtual repeats of the first film. For example the  Solar sailor scenes. In all if I was to use a metaphor then this is a satisfactory burger , the meat patty tastes sublime but the support ingredients don't quite gel, the lettuce is a little limp and the cheese a bit overpowering and with an excess of ketchup.  So it fills a gap, keeps the hunger pangs at bay but never hits any real lofty heights of originality.
      So  in closing I did enjoy Tron but my expectations were not set that high prior to viewing went in wanting to be entertained and came away satisfied but not enthusiastic. This is the remodeled spaced out re-imagining of a flawed classic, View it in that context and you will at least come away reasonably happy whatever problems this film has it was at the scripting stage. The film lacks a clear plot, over enthusiastic use of exposition that at three specific points in this film bring events to a standstill.
     What action there is is handled well and background design and effects are suitably up there with the best.
There are a lot of loose ends left to be tidied up in a sequel but based on this viewing i do not expect a sequal to be high on Disney's cards. It might perform well initially on release but based on current figures on box office performance  I think it will die down about the third week. It will clear 100,000,000 but how far it will go over at the figure I hazard to guess. Depsite good use of 3D this is no Avatar.

Tron Revisited

Well our local press has described Tron Legacy as a weak performer. I cannot really agree with that sensationalist assessment of the sequel. 43 million dollars is not to be sniffed at in anyones book. The reall story is in a week or two when we will find out if the film has any legs.
  Ive yet to see the film, Christmas shopping taking precedence in our household but I will. You see having read most of the criticisms and reviews I will go into this 3D presentation with lowered expectations. It will not be the first time I had attended a screening expecting the worst, and if I am fortunate I will come away with a buzz.
  You see I remember Tron the first time around. It was different, it was sold as a new age of cinema. It wasn't the greatest story ever told, and in my youngish mind it didn't replace my love for all things Star Wars. But it was different and it had some bold idea's. Most of the reviews seem to me repeats of arguments made at the time of the original films release. Therefore I will not be put off. I might even post a favorable review. But I will be going in with reasonable expectation not believing the hype.
So watch this space.

Harry Potter

Well the lead up to Christmas and things get more exciting at the cinema. So far I have seen the latest installment in the Harry Potter franchise and found it to be a satisfying prelude to the big finale. It did require that I view the last installment again on blu ray prior to my visit to our local boutique cinema.
      The problem for me as a viewer is I am now in virgin territory having not read the books. Which means a multitude of plot points that will be omitted for the sake of filmic storytelling which might be vital to my understanding of the series. The last volume of his adventures i had read cover to cover was the Goblet of Fire. Order of the phoenix sits on my bookshelf part read. Im afraid that as the books have gone on I have found then more difficult to read. This is put down to excess padding. More brutal editing might make for a more satisfying read.
After revisiting the half blood prince I found myself primed for the latest installment, not only that but I found myself more fully understanding what initially was a confusing narrative and thank god. But because in this latest installment points raised in the Half blood prince become a primer for the events in this latest episode.
    I came away satisfied and eagerly awaiting the final installment. Thank god they didn't go 3D, having now seen the film I fail to see how with all the rapid inter cutting of fast paced action it could work. It would have been a migraine inducing experience. Also with a lot of scenes being intimate exposition between characters there would be a lack of spectacle and therefore nothing worthy of enhancement.

Tron the christmas blockbuster season has begun

Now we are past the events of the Hobbit debacle, my mind turns towards the Christmas season at my local cinemas. It began for me yesterday with the latest chapter in the Harry Potter Franchise, a much more satisfying chapter in the series , darker, with less plot setting to get through. The stakes are now known to our heroes and it now their turn to bring the battle to Voldermart.
     On the whole a very satisfying start to the impeding holiday season. But my heart is set for Tron, the sequel to the 80's Disney classic. At the time of its release it was heralded as a new dawn in filmic storytelling. Unfortunately though groundbreaking it wasn't box office record breaking material and so it has taken nearly 25 years for its sequal to make and appearence.
     From the initial designs that have leaked, the comicon test footage, I have keenly been awaiting its release and also the fact that it will be in 3D which seems strangely fitting for this title. That and the fact that Jeff Bridges will be portraying his older self, and through the use of digital technology a much younger computer alter ego.

Hobbits Hobbits

For everyone outside of New Zealand events down here have been dominated by political machinations and maneuverings over the Hobbit. Its quite incredible the reactions and opinions that have been offered. Events have now reached possibly the point of no return. Actors have been vilified and technicians have come out to support the makers and to stand up for their jobs and principles while certain individuals have been criticised and demonised. Maybe justified and in some cases unjustified.
As an ex union rep from the Uk now living here I have found some of the Actors Unions actions inept and poorly informed. When watching various responses from spokesman I am surprised at the lack of substance to their gripes. Now don't get me wrong, there are legitimate concerns that have been highlighted in this whole debacle  but the communication of these concerns in a form that could engender some support and sympathy has been wasted by the ineptness of their communications through various media outlets.
     Peter Jackson has been dignified in his silence, but this week things came to an obvious head and if you watch the interviews released on Thursday of this week the strain is beginning to tell.
The fact is this began with one simple action four weeks ago, well documented and the content of which was freely available on the web. Simon Whipp instituted an embargo against the production. We could argue the validity of his actions but I would argue that The Hobbit was not greenli\t by the Studios. That his argument was industry wide, and not production specific and therefore in my eyes unjustified.
If you want to target an industry to to just that, not an individual production whose history was already trouble through the fact that two studios are involved in this production Warner's and MGM and MGM was in a very perilous state due to ongoing bankruptcy issues and restructuring. This led to the departure of Gullermo DeL Toro due to the constant delays disrupting his other productions.

Warners concerns are understandable considering Justice League of America another Warner's brothers movie which would have been directed by Mad Max's George Miller, in 2008 this was cancelled and Simon Whipp was part it had been reported in that process.
The sad thing in all this, is the absence of facts, proper discourse through media and the lines that have been drawn and the drift of public opinion. Lets hope for a positive outcome next week, some common sense and the beginning of repairs between all parties.

Weekend blues

Weekends dependant on weather can either be productive or boring. This weekend falls in the later catergory, jobs I had assigned myself have been left well alone. However we did get to entertain , so nice meals were prepared, wine was consumed and all felt good for a short period of time.
      But my evenings were spent on a cinematic film 101. I chose a nostalgic rag bag of guilty pleasures on DVD and decided to view their extras . Thursday was taken up with the original King Kong and the extras included on the disk were out of this world covering not only the films creation, but also a little background history of its producer. My cinematic youth was not dominated by 3D , CGI , or visually torrettes school of film making.
I had always been a fan of fantasy and high adventure. My cinematic education beginning with the Golden Voyage of Sinbad and progressing to the wonders of At the Earths Core and Land that Time forgot. This was a world pre Star Wars. Where the most exciting movie posters inevitably belonged to films that a six to seven year old could not see. The likes of Hammer Horror films.
      Kong was the grandfather to these cinematic adventures, more to the point Willis O"Brian whose special effects work, whose creations paved the way for later advances of modern cinema. Where would the many voyages of Sinbad be without the exploits of Kong.  Or my particular stop motion animated favourite Jason and the Argonauts.

The big leap into the Blog o sphere

Well being a virgin at all this so begins my leap of faith into the blog wilderness. For me a grand adventure as I have a rough idea of the what I would like to blog about. But do my ambitions exceed my skill.

 I guess a given is that my blogs will cover my wide interests from art to film and the collecting of making of and art of books. No doubt I will also populate this blog with capsule film reviews and rambling thoughts which I hope in some small way might l entertain or arouse interest.  I'm a Welshman who has been living in Wellington New Zealand for four years after meeting my wife on the Internet. I'm a happy father who is trying to balance responsibility with being a big kid.
     Wellington, home of Weta, the Wot Wots, a  thriving art scene, a coffee addicts dream or nightmare. A foodies hell with every creed supports being it serious food, light food, or hell junk food.

  So bare with me, hopefully you will find my posts entertaining and not too boring.