Archive | September, 2011

Free Films = Good

21 Sep

This week I’ve been to see another free film with www.showfilmfirst.com – must be at least the fourth this year. This time it was Drive, which was not bad, although hardly the pumping action film it appeared to be. Some films I’ve had were good (Troll Hunter), some were a bit pants (Columbiana), but you don’t mind so much when they’re free. Besides, you never know when the offer is going to come into your inbox or what film it will be, which adds a nice surprise to your day.

The reason I get all these free tickets is that I took up the offer to join the VIP club – which costs money, so kind of undermines the “free films” idea, but they guaranteed your money back if you didn’t get at least one pair of tickets. I have had so much more than my money’s worth; sometimes impulse buys are a very good thing.

The VIP club seems to be full at the moment, but should it open up again, I would definitely recommend it, based on my experience.

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Back in my Suite

10 Sep

After a long absence I’m back writing for Suite101. In the time I’ve been away they seem to have relaxed the over-strict regulations regarding structure and keywords, which is great. I also got a lovely comment from the section editor within hours of posting a new article. A very nice welcome back.

My latest post is on the pitfalls of shared ownership, which may be a bit dry for most, but you can keep up to date with all my articles here.

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National Niceness

8 Sep

Racism is bad. We know this. Few attitudes are less socially acceptable. However, there is a form of racism which does seem to be acceptable, to society at large and to the ‘victims’: positive national stereotypes. The idea that Scots are good with money, Germans are punctual, the English have a great sense of humour. An Irish person might well object to being labelled stupid or hot-headed because of their nationality, but would they really mind if people think they know how to party?

The reason my mind is on this train of thought is that I had to make a phone call to Canada to check a reference for my new lodger. Calling complete strangers, it might have been awkward, but instead we had a cosy chat, and if it hadn’t been a phonecall we would probably have ended the conversation with a hug. The point is this: Canadians are nice. Has anyone ever met a nasty Canadian? (I may have done, but I can’t remember if she was Canadian or American, so she’s not a very good counter-argument.) Perhaps I should keep an eye out in future to see if I meet any Canadians, or members of other nations, who counfound or confirm their national stereotype.

As for me, a canny Scot, am I good with money? Well, after negotiating my latest contract with Orange (£39 reduced to £10.60), I’m feeling pretty canny at the moment.

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Frightfully Good

3 Sep

Well I did go and see the first showing on the Friday that Fright Night (2011) came out, and it was great!  I was grinning widely from the opening credits (good choice of music, nice reference to another good vampire film), and enjoyed pretty much all of the film.

Colin Farrell is excellent as Jerry, the worst-named vampire in history.  He brings to the role that effortless menace that you can find in his gangster-type roles, along with lots of manly confidence and wry amusement.

David Tennant is a legend, as ever.  It looked like he was going to be a bit of an OTT psycho until he started slurping the absynthe and pulling off his silly costume, dropping used sideburns casually over the side of his chair.

The teenagers in it were good, too.  Imogen Poots was fine.  Her main role was to look pretty and she did it very well.  I had never heard of Anton Yelchin before but he was fairly impressive as the hero, Charley.

There were bad bits, though.  One scene where Jerry can’t get into a house and so gives a strange, rambling sort of threatening homily went on for far too long.  So did the scene where Charley’s best friend, Ed, comes back as a vampire; Christopher Mintz-Plasse hammed it up unbearably.  Background details on the characters and the situation seemed to be sketched in rather quickly, and although the film is not short it could have done with more time for that kind of scene-setting.  Perhaps they should have taken the time from the annoying, over-long scenes.

On the whole, though, Fright Night 2011 is a funny, slick, fast, knowing comedy-horror, and not just one for Colin Farrell fans. If you are a Colin Farrell or David Tennant fan though: unmissable.

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