tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51819494611959511782024-03-21T16:37:00.685-07:00Chocolate Teddy Films Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-89012178668490344002013-11-26T04:13:00.003-08:002013-11-26T04:13:59.426-08:00The bear has moved ....Chocolatefilms.blogspot.comMr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-11779926420458821982013-11-20T04:56:00.001-08:002013-11-20T04:56:31.018-08:00Dads and Robots: Reel Steel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3e0PJne1WV5n6Cwvh3EwUcR_pHOwvWCLm3H0nPWrGQL5dXFCwSBQaCpNWTJLfdysbdDrCyKPGDSQBIpT6dihSkjjRbNBs5f3lXaOj6djMNHYhhfXA2jVujI1H9H5YuH4Bb8czyzi0OGw/s1600/atom_in_real_steel-wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3e0PJne1WV5n6Cwvh3EwUcR_pHOwvWCLm3H0nPWrGQL5dXFCwSBQaCpNWTJLfdysbdDrCyKPGDSQBIpT6dihSkjjRbNBs5f3lXaOj6djMNHYhhfXA2jVujI1H9H5YuH4Bb8czyzi0OGw/s400/atom_in_real_steel-wide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Never judge a film by it's trailer - that is exactly what I did with Real Steel and I nearly missed out on what is a moving, funny and heart-warming film. Damn it, this film made me cry and that is probably the biggest compliment I can give it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At it's heart Real Steel is a father and son flick and in that lies a hint to why it affected me so much. What makes this film so interesting is the story of Charlie Kenton (Wolverine) and his estranged 11 year old son Max Kenton (Dakota Goyo, a better Jake Lloyd... you know, the kid from the Star Wars: Episode 1) which is at times very difficult to watch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Max is a washed up ex-boxer who controls fighting robots - and he is very bad at it. For the first hour or so, we watch his robots get destroyed and Max take advantage of the little good will that he has left from people who care about him. Even when his ex-baby mama dies, Max is only interested in his son because of the potential financial gain. I'll tell you what, Hugh Jackman is a very good actor because in lesser hands his character would stray too far into dick territory and lose the audience. With that said Jackman is charismatic and the transformation he experiences throughout this film is believable and surprisingly subtle.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIfrGhM974SqcEOEofLxGPVJD_DySyzkQj5sig0VSMh-F4rFYE4oohmQMvRV2L9qQWDyrzfH-kPjSKuJcvYCj7sX_sKzOo4cmDLA0HtOR_FVwrK6294SYS5WG_G8DFQKiv18ZB4MMrbbx/s1600/real-steel1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIfrGhM974SqcEOEofLxGPVJD_DySyzkQj5sig0VSMh-F4rFYE4oohmQMvRV2L9qQWDyrzfH-kPjSKuJcvYCj7sX_sKzOo4cmDLA0HtOR_FVwrK6294SYS5WG_G8DFQKiv18ZB4MMrbbx/s320/real-steel1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The trailer sells this film as a happier family version of Transformers and like Mr Bay's creation, I didn't expect it to have much of a story - so to watch this almost unvarnished story of a father that initially doesn't care for his son and only sees him as a means to an end was oddly refreshing. The film is a little over 2 hours and throughout that time the two are piecing together their relationship until you get to the inevitable happy ending. And that happy ending has been earned, I felt like I have been put in the ring with one of these robots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the little boy in me, it was pretty cool watching robots beat each other up in a context that doesn't involve the end of the world. The robot fighting was an after thought for me when the film finished, not because the visuals were bad or I found the fight scenes boring - it was simply because the film really wasn't about the bots for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This film was a huge surprise, It made me all warm and fuzzy and, the kicker, it made me miss my dad. It made me think of all the arguments we had and all the shit I used to bitch about - it also made me realise how lucky I was that he was there to listen to me bitch. It made me think about how I never told my dad that I loved him and by the end of this film I realised what a huge mistake that was and how I may regret it for the rest of my life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />But yeh, very good film.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank"> Real Bear</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGCPoUUX37xWuNbctEsWjKGDAY2Ut6PMlX2C72Suxj8Vhmf928Rqvx9_Z-RZHKvAHmPLfLwzFscKIshOxEnK2uFLb9XvgAah6lCCdIqoU4aqxmfaHlZcCoASVNc85Zajxh73tZMmtuRe20/s1600/real-steel-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGCPoUUX37xWuNbctEsWjKGDAY2Ut6PMlX2C72Suxj8Vhmf928Rqvx9_Z-RZHKvAHmPLfLwzFscKIshOxEnK2uFLb9XvgAah6lCCdIqoU4aqxmfaHlZcCoASVNc85Zajxh73tZMmtuRe20/s400/real-steel-02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-40018148212865148552013-11-15T04:27:00.002-08:002013-11-15T04:29:05.973-08:00Alternative: Marshall Mathers LP 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbPPJ2DZBRLPvJB_l4h7YNhZmbPQ8EmhvuMIlV0Vje-mZhvng8MpDA5x6D6BpfbjzJzUbUrY7kuypbYBd-RafAcjDhehX99Oo5ctG-A6GBMRr64wpYg0Y2I_gGgSejBVqqii6L_QaBCX5/s1600/eminem-the-marshall-mathers-lp-2-artwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbPPJ2DZBRLPvJB_l4h7YNhZmbPQ8EmhvuMIlV0Vje-mZhvng8MpDA5x6D6BpfbjzJzUbUrY7kuypbYBd-RafAcjDhehX99Oo5ctG-A6GBMRr64wpYg0Y2I_gGgSejBVqqii6L_QaBCX5/s400/eminem-the-marshall-mathers-lp-2-artwork.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I believe that Eminem is the best rapper alive and the
second greatest rapper of all time (rest in peace Notorious BIG). That is just my opinion and people have the
right to differ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I was nervous about Marshall Mather LP 2. I thought it was a mistake to name the album after one of
his three classic records (the other two being Slim Shady LP and Relapse. Again,
my opinion). MMLP was generational defining
– it was the soundtrack of my teenage years. I was angry, sensitive, stupid and
irrational as a kid and it was amazing to hear all of these traits reflected back at me
– from a white boy no less.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For me, the only sour point to Em’s catalogue is Recovery. It was
that record, not Relapse, where he sounded unsure of himself. He sounded too
forced, uncomfortable and importantly devoid of humour. Humour is the one
ingredient that people overlook when it comes to hip-hop, it is a vital piece
of the cog. Notorious BIG had it in spades, so does Redman and so did Eminem
but he lost it in Recovery. I hated the pop-hooks and the constant screaming
verses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, yes, I was scared that I would be disappointed when it
came to finally listening to MMLP2. <i>Berserk</i> dampened a lot of my fears but as
soon as I heard the Ri-Ri assisted <i>The Monster</i>, I started to worry again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although I pre-ordered the album, I also illegally
downloaded it when it leaked a couple days before it’s 5<sup>th</sup> November
release date. What I heard surprised me and says a lot about Eminem’s place
among today’s rap elite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First things first, this album is not as good or close to
being as good as the first Marshall Mathers LP. Surprised, right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A big reason
for this is the lack of Dr Dre anywhere on this album. I don’t know if Eminem
thinks that Dre beats no longer cut it in hip-hop but the musical
foundation the good Doctor provided him in Relapse says very different. In
fact, it was the illusion of Dre that provided one of the highlights on this
new album – Brainless sounds like a Dr Dre beat, with its running piano lines
and smacking drum beat. It was great to hear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another mark against the album is the number of choruses that are
sung by pop artists. Don’t get me wrong, the choruses are not as
bad as the ones on Recovery, but they did leave me a little disappointed. It
kept the album from feeling more ‘hard-core’ than it could have. For instance,
<i>Legacy</i> could have been a great song but the chorus makes it almost unlistenable.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The biggest mistake on this album is the song <i>Stronger than I was</i>. It is a
terrible, terrible, terrible song. Just terrible. I have played this album for
a little over a week and not once have I managed to listen to this song all the
way through. Eminem cannot sing, his whole career tells you as much and yes he
has gotten away with it in the past but this was a step too far. I<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Un5cs0TVLM" target="_blank"> discovered that there was a rap verse on this song through agreat video review by the fellas over at Dead End Hip Hop</a> and it is sensational
but it still doesn’t save that song. It is just bad. So bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Given the little time I have had with MMLP 2, I am reluctant
to make any absolute judgements about it. I thought Recovery was the best thing
since The Eminem Show and I ended up growing out of love with it to the point
where I regarded to be a lesser album that Encore. But what I will say is this
I felt more at ease with this Eminem album than I did with his last three
offerings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you're not a fan of Eminem, you will not like this
album. If you are a fan of one element of the Eminem ethos, you still may not
like this album. But if you’ve been a fan since ‘My name is’ and you
appreciate the different elements to his character and how he has evolved as an
MC, the likelihood is that you will love this album. There is some wacky Slim
Shady LP shit on here (So much better, <i>Brainless</i>), some Marshall Mathers joints
(<i>Bad Guy</i>) and some songs which will have your jaw on the floor (<i>Rap God</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Importantly, this album sounds fresh and makes you feel like
Eminem is breaking new ground as an MC and a lot of credit has to go to Rick
Rubin and his (ironically) nostalgia inducing beats. I loved <i>Rhyme or Reason</i> from the moment I
heard it – the beat is unlike anything I've heard Eminem rap on which made it
so refreshing. The same can be said for <i>Love Game</i>, which I believe should have
been the first single for this album. Kendrick Lemar holds his own on the
song until Eminem shows why he is truly one of the greatest with his second
verse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But the highlight from the Rick Rubin joints for me is <i>So
Far</i>, a truly unique Eminem song. This is a song that grew on me with every
listen – again, it is unlike any other Eminem track that I have heard and the whitest
hip-hop track to come out of Dr Dre’s camp since… well, <i>White Trash Party</i>, I
suppose. What makes the song interesting is not the way the beat switches up
but the way Eminem tells a story about an aging successful hip-hop star who,
like all parents, struggle with new technology and pop-culture. Jay-Z tried to
do the same thing with a track off of his much maligned comeback album, Kingdom
Come – it didn’t work. <i>So Far</i> is a very mature and self-aware hip-hop track
which many are overlooking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This new mature outlook is more prevalent on the track
<i>Headlights</i>. Again, if you have been an Eminem fan from the start you will
understand why this track is important, emotional and shocking. Shit, I mean
just listen to the first song from the previous Marshall Mathers LP. It also illustrates
why Eminem is one of the best rappers working today – I don’t think as audience
members we deserved or needed to hear this very personal song, but he put it
out anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Marshall Mathers LP 2 surprised me by being better than I
expected it to be. It isn’t a very consistent album, the feel of the album is
very erratic and the lows of the album sometime reach ground floor. I am also
very uncomfortable with how comfortable I was with the homophobic and sexist
lyrics on this album – I just carried on nodding away to the beat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But at its best, some
songs on this album rival anything Eminem has ever released. His word play is
still second to none ("maybe that’s why I’m so bananas, I appeal to all walks of
life") and he still makes you laugh when you don’t want to ("I’ve got 99 problems
but a bitch ain’t one, she’s all 99 of em, I need a machine gun").</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The album finds Eminem at a very interesting point in his life and he is very aware of this.It is clear that Eminem is not like many rappers doing their thing today - Em is embracing his evolution and his transformation into being an elder states-person of hip-hop <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I want to finish by talking about <i>Evil Twin</i>. It is the greatest
Eminem song of all damn time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just my opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="mailto:MrCTBear@gmail.com" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:MrCTBear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Slim</a></span></o:p></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-65542988053044053452013-11-10T00:26:00.000-08:002013-11-10T00:26:14.521-08:00Calendar Girls is golden<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BvcJvKXkLPMgY9BexxHsXsHjK1gWjJOddaaLeSbefvNcR48Oyq-ki3Bd69mi2s8O5s1xXorR_l35HMmiIkpqpovFI9hiCL4dlBPI4VElWLzaVHtJY8LXK90H8Y8wjdNjpQmq-5q_qqUM/s1600/Scene-from-Calendar-Girls-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BvcJvKXkLPMgY9BexxHsXsHjK1gWjJOddaaLeSbefvNcR48Oyq-ki3Bd69mi2s8O5s1xXorR_l35HMmiIkpqpovFI9hiCL4dlBPI4VElWLzaVHtJY8LXK90H8Y8wjdNjpQmq-5q_qqUM/s640/Scene-from-Calendar-Girls-001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can’t even tell you how I got round to watching Calendar
Girls, but I regret not watching it sooner. Pride and an inflated ego stopped
me from watching one of the most charming, well-acted and heart-warming British
films I have ever seen. I own Notting Hill for crying out loud but I never gave
this much superior film the time of day. Shame on me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maybe one of the reasons why it took me so long to watch
Calendar Girls is because I considered the film to be ‘too white’ and It is
exactly that – I only saw one black face which funnily enough was the daughter
of one of the Calendar women. There are themes and ideas in this film that transcend
race and class and all that – family, love friendship, death and of course,
sex, being key among them. What surprised me most, though, is the sophisticated
way this film chooses to depict the said themes and how three dimensional all
the characters are, even the smaller roles – this is not a simple film by any
means.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Take Penelope Wilton’s character for example (known as Lady
Crawley to most of us) – Ruth at first is a shy, very self-conscious about her
body and mentally downtrodden thanks to her struggling marriage. She uses the
calendar as a way to rekindle her husband’s interest in her but it doesn’t have
the desired effect. Instead of the experience being the end of her, it
transforms her into a white English Aretha Franklin-esc character full of self worth.
I am doing her metamorphosis in the film a disservice but let me say
that it takes a hell of an actress to pull the range of emotions Wilton
displays in this film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wilton isn’t even the half of it – the whole damn cast is
fantastic. This whole film could have been cringe worthy throughout, and I
expected it be, but it wasn’t. It was funny – consistently funny and a lot of
credit has to go to Mirren and Walters but, as I said, everyone plays their part.
One thing though, where the hell was Dame Judi Dench?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, if you haven't already, give Calendar Girls a try, even if you consider yourself
to be a gangster of Dr Dre proportions. I have a feeling that this film may
surprise you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Dame Chocolate</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuznWWkK0OjVTm4VXC_ndx-5x9udIX5OMjQ-dZ2GwLlqI_DNifSza0HZFKuYriJa1TvmwNSV3XbZNJgsB0x73OrcoLTzNhKM_YqJQX2E0xJg_ujgX288RP4BXhiccKdawiwF81kLM4cdUJ/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuznWWkK0OjVTm4VXC_ndx-5x9udIX5OMjQ-dZ2GwLlqI_DNifSza0HZFKuYriJa1TvmwNSV3XbZNJgsB0x73OrcoLTzNhKM_YqJQX2E0xJg_ujgX288RP4BXhiccKdawiwF81kLM4cdUJ/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-64120094936060905482013-11-01T03:14:00.000-07:002013-11-01T03:18:42.606-07:00In defense of Katie's Rachel <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qyFgci5DOsZvvN1psOxXDLtwKJIJC7XjN3aCXQn1sRRFGGrhv-SWp9V63WgdnL77LPljsrXszjmO79euy08ogKgEkZ8T2ZKQLCzOjS9Rp5fuYfLttMDc5A8Ib_4SHQpGd8PxQBKI9jdG/s1600/RachelDawesKatieHolmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qyFgci5DOsZvvN1psOxXDLtwKJIJC7XjN3aCXQn1sRRFGGrhv-SWp9V63WgdnL77LPljsrXszjmO79euy08ogKgEkZ8T2ZKQLCzOjS9Rp5fuYfLttMDc5A8Ib_4SHQpGd8PxQBKI9jdG/s400/RachelDawesKatieHolmes.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I carry a small candle for Katie
Holmes, a light that has been present since my teenage years. I was
head-over-heels in love with Joey Porter and I remained that way until the end
of Dawson’s Creek - no matter how many times she played best friend against
best friend.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So with that in mind, I accept that I may hold a bias view when I discuss Holmes’ turn in Batman Begins. She has been described as the
<a href="http://www.empireonline.com/features/recast-movie-characters/5.asp" target="_blank">weak link in the movie</a>, <a href="http://whatculture.com/film/batman-10-worst-casting-decisions.php" target="_blank">one of the worst casting decisions made by Nolan</a> and <a href="http://comicsalliance.com/batman-begins-review-part-3/" target="_blank">describedcruelly as ‘terrible’ as Rachel Dawes</a>. Hand on heart, I don’t see what others see
in this movie, especially if I compare Holmes’ performance with that of Maggie <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Gyllenhaal’s</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The test for both actresses is whether you believe they
are the long-time friend of Bruce Wayne and whether you buy their ‘destined to
be together’ plot arch – Holmes does nothing that makes me question these points. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At a push, Holmes’ Dawes is more crudely written than
Gyllenhaal’s – the speech she makes to Bruce after he admits to nearly killing
Joe Chill is, well, unfortunate. You could also point to the hotel scene when she meets Bruce again after his time in self-imposed exile. These moments feel
forced and I blame the words given to Holmes rather than her performance of
those words. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also can’t help feeling that a lot of the hate towards
Holmes’ stems from who she was romantically linked with at the time. <a href="http://chocolateteddyfilms.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/tom-cruise-great.html" target="_blank">As I have said previously, </a>audiences find it difficult to separate an actor’s personal
life from their professional. Holmes did not give a barnstorming performance but
neither did Jake’s sister and I have yet to read a review where Gyllenhaal has
been lampooned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Sigh) I can feel my inner Holme’s flame burning as I
write this. As I said at the beginning, I may be biased when it comes to this
subject. I don’t know. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Dawes</a></span></span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-72446889540993948602013-10-20T06:33:00.000-07:002013-10-20T06:38:37.882-07:00Top 10 Nolan Batman moments.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I love the Christopher Nolan Batman films with all my
soul – I truly believe each film is a classic. What Nolan did for the character
is not easy – he made Batman, in the eyes of the mainstream audience, into a
serious character. Previously, under different directorial regimes, I just
couldn’t take character seriously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But as well as all three films being wonderful, there are
moments in the Nolan series that just make you remember why you love movies.
Moments that force you to say “wow” and moments that conjure a chill at the
back of your neck. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These are my favourite 10 moments in the Nolan Batman
series. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ten:
Ras al Ghul reveal <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I feel that Batman Begins gets a bad rap among fans and
critics – I think it is a very good film that expertly lays the ground work for
The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. There are moments in the film that are as good as any in the series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember the first time I watched Begins and seeing
Bruce Wayne’s birthday scene and being blown away. The tension from the whole
film pretty much builds to this moment. You realise that the real big bad
of the film was a bloke you thought was a good guy and probably dead – Liam
Neeson’s Ras al Ghul. From this moment on, I knew this was a very different
Batman story than those that came before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nine:
The Lau Extraction</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This scene is the best bad ass “Batman” moment in series.
I love it because it brings home a point that Heath Ledger’s Joker mentions
earlier in The Dark Knight, “Batman has no jurisdiction.” It is the clearest
demonstration of why Batman is more important than the Gotham City Police. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Do you feel in charge?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Bane and you only have to watch the below scene to understand why. In a moment,
with a light touch of the shoulder, the whole dynamic of the conversation
between Bane and John Daggett (played by the bloody brilliant Ben Mandelsohn)
changes – and it is shocking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seven:
Ninja Batman<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Something that people overlook about Batman is that he is
supposed to be a fiercely intelligent individual that thinks on his feet – a
detective if you will. That is best illustrated in the Ninja initiation scene in Batman Begins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First off, Ninja’s are just bloody cool anyway, so this
scene was always going to stick with me. But I love the way that in this one scene
you see Bruce using all of the knowledge Ras has passed on to him (or the
knowledge we have seen him pass). This is where you pretty much see the
transformation – this is the birth of Batman. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Six:
The Bane walk<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You take the boss hostage and threaten his life in
front of his people who are ebbing closer and closer towards you. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">So you fight them with the help of a bloke that dresses as a bat, but more men keep coming.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Chief among
those approaching you is a big bastard with his hands on the collar of his
jacket. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Question: What do you do? My answer: Shit myself.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Five:
Joker’s coward<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The thing with me is that I keep forgetting how great
Ledger’s performance was as the Joker. I try to downplay it because of the
incredible hype it gets but when you watch The Dark Knight you realise what a
remarkable performance it is. Truly jaw dropping. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of my favourite moment is when he taunts a police officer
into an altercation. It is the way that Ledger
achieves being extremely threatening and funny at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I chuckle every time Ledger mouths “six” in this scene - I don't know why. And when he drops his “do you know why I use a knife speech” you realise
what Ledger was doing in this film was not normal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Four:
Joker reveal<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is probably nothing I can say about this moment
that hasn’t already been written. It is my third favourite introduction to a
film behind The Godfather ("I believe in America") and The Lion King ("Circle of life"). It is already iconic and rightly
so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Every time someone argues with me that Nolan isn’t a
technically gifted director, I mention this scene because it is nigh near
perfect beginning to a wonderful film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Three:
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<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And yes for a third time in a row I choose a Joker moment
– I left out so many. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m really not that bothered about the rest of this
scene (which is awesome in its own right), it is just the “hi” moment that
delights me. Again, it shows you the level of detail Ledger put into his performance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Firstly, it’s funny and secondly, for that to be the
first word you say to a man who you ruined is just sadistic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Two:
Darkness is Bane’s ally <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tom Hardy’s Bane is one of my favourite villains of all
time and just surpasses the Joker. <a href="http://chocolateteddyfilms.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/where-is-bane-love.html" target="_blank">As I have said before, I find him trulyterrifying and is an evil that speaks to my generation.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The fight scene in the sewers between Bane and Batman
encapsulates everything terrifying about the character – but it is his
“darkness” speech that tips me over the edge every time. Terrifying. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One: Fire Engine</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b> </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is just funny.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember laughing out loud in the cinema when I saw
this visual gag. The thing is, I wasn’t the only one laughing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Again, it sharply shows two important elements to the
Joker, his humour and sadistic nature. But somehow, his humour is the thing
that shines through the most – at least for me it is. I really don’t know what
that says about me as a human being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But this is the one moment I love the most in the whole series. It is small but it says a lot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">And that is my lot. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Bats</a></span></span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-42566732437963914282013-10-19T05:19:00.000-07:002013-10-19T05:19:37.658-07:00Alternative: Tales from a lonely planet <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnjtuM7HuPq3j-CnjT6SYaBaVqe-EKqeumA42qrVGVDlIbNtc_xsLt_0v6_h-F_QFhzlVU8aZR89w2zrQN494bPPp3dwqpagUcCAawsvIXExfVcufQDHRqmYm53j_U19dcF7AN6t8vqI1_/s1600/tales-from-a-lonely-planet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnjtuM7HuPq3j-CnjT6SYaBaVqe-EKqeumA42qrVGVDlIbNtc_xsLt_0v6_h-F_QFhzlVU8aZR89w2zrQN494bPPp3dwqpagUcCAawsvIXExfVcufQDHRqmYm53j_U19dcF7AN6t8vqI1_/s640/tales-from-a-lonely-planet.jpg" width="417" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve never pretended to be a comic book expert – I’m not –
but thanks to the explosion of films which were inspired by the medium I have
started to appreciate them a lot more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is all about storytelling and like TV and film, some
of the best stories can be found at the grassroots level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Tales from a lonely planet” is a collection of stories
by grassroots comic book writers and artists put together by Stu Perrins. Importantly,
all proceeds from the anthology will go to Cancer Research UK. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is the editor of the anthology that kicks off matters
with his satirical strip “No such thing as bad press”. I must admit, the
artwork of Nick Gonzo put me off at first but once I started to read the story his
contribution became evident. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gonzo adds a lot of charm to Perrins’ funny and
sharp writing and by end of the story you want to read more about the
adventures of Harvey Spig.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But it is the next strip, “Dogs” by Niall Doonan which is
the stand out piece of the anthology. Inspired by the characters of Tarantino’s
iconic debut film, it follows a hilarious conversation about one of the Dogs becoming
a vegetarian. It is a little gem of a strip – it’s surreal, laugh out loud
funny and also strangely familiar. The art work by Trystan Mitchell is just fantastic
and adds even more quality to the strip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Every story in ‘lonely planet’ is peppered generously
with humour, but I also enjoyed how different the art in each story was. No
story looks the same and this makes starting a new strip feel like a breath of
fresh air. There will probably be some strips in this book that may not be to everyone’s
taste, but that’s fine – that’s the point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What this book demonstrates is just how unique comics
are. There are ideas and little fables in this anthology that will stay with
for a while (Blas Bigatti’s piece is just beautiful) and they show you that
comics can be so much more than your Batmans or Supermans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I loved “Tales from a lonely planet” and I applaud Mr
Perrins for putting this together. Importantly, I can’t wait to see what these
artists come up with next. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-89387943066616183022013-10-09T04:43:00.000-07:002013-10-09T04:43:07.324-07:00Where is the Bane love?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLTq4u5tyyW2HwUv15c_snlky-mXzY_YO7EJVt7BA0lDVUzi2c9enmOR91VjLNKpM4xwtH412sEmm52j6a_cDlR804WSLXEhDLLjdjoEyEqT3sqS3DoTOfZR3zFDl18hru33yoj5q5Rixj/s1600/bane_2283954b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLTq4u5tyyW2HwUv15c_snlky-mXzY_YO7EJVt7BA0lDVUzi2c9enmOR91VjLNKpM4xwtH412sEmm52j6a_cDlR804WSLXEhDLLjdjoEyEqT3sqS3DoTOfZR3zFDl18hru33yoj5q5Rixj/s640/bane_2283954b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tom Hardy is 5 feet 9 inches tall. I am an inch shorter than
this man. I say this because time and again I have been described as a man of
below average height – which is true – yet, Tom Hardy is only an inch taller. I
take this as an empowering piece of information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Despite Hardy’s height impediment, he is one of the most
physically imposing actors I have seen on the screen – I put him up there with
Arnold Schwarzenegger. His performance in Bronson echoed that of a young Robert
De Nero, as did his impressive turn in Warrior – but for me, it’s his turn as
Bane that shows how special he is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGCoTeBRGO-sKGRkJ3XHrOQH7CtD-28W1j0wH-5nkMbrM9RYdzVIIuzcNoGADpbE3OQyDzejnmzPflaSTQGMPKi5nLW3uCGMeygrbLp6KQB7YLc_Byw0KXWeCG1iSmO7LIZXSe_Ioq0ST/s1600/Bane_TDKR3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGCoTeBRGO-sKGRkJ3XHrOQH7CtD-28W1j0wH-5nkMbrM9RYdzVIIuzcNoGADpbE3OQyDzejnmzPflaSTQGMPKi5nLW3uCGMeygrbLp6KQB7YLc_Byw0KXWeCG1iSmO7LIZXSe_Ioq0ST/s320/Bane_TDKR3.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I love The Dark Knight Rises – I think it is brilliant,
ambitious and most of all brave. I also admit that the film is very much
flawed, but not to the extent some believe it is. For instance, I do not think
that there is much technical difference between The Dark Knight Rises and its
much celebrated predecessor, The Dark Knight. The only difference to my mind is
Heath Ledger. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now when I think of The Joker, I don’t think of the comic
book incarnations or Jack Nicholson for that matter, I think of Ledger – that
tells you what a hell of a job he did in TDK. But Tom Hardy has done the same
thing for the character Bane. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can safely say, hand on heart, that if I was walking down
the street late at night, I’d be more scared of the brute slowly walking towards
me with his hands on the collars of his jacket than the bloke skipping and
laughing next to him. Don’t get me wrong, I’d brown my pants if I encountered
both of them – but Hardy’s Bane strikes me with more fear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I fear Bane more because it doesn’t take much to imagine a
real life version of this character – and many of them at that. I don’t believe
there many Joker’s in this world, this is despite the horrible events of the
Aurora shooting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bane is a terrorist. He is smart, he is manipulative and his
logic makes a warped kind of sense. While The Joker had no motive or ideology
other than to create chaos – the presence of such things in Bane utterly
terrifies me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is the rooting of this character in a post 9/11 reality and
the addition of a physical menace that makes him special. Honest to god, he scares
me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp027nccOVUYUqWh15yX4V76DQqfU3rV46vs-NMGFl9h_UgPA2a3riZ2gRZSU4MOmtnKViCN5RRKmZGsDtwjjbGjLd_sYnuHvw0YJ_54nxM1m0BxFdc8-sd_2lfTiSaj8RwKehGtueaw6j/s1600/The-Dark-Knight-Rises-close-up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp027nccOVUYUqWh15yX4V76DQqfU3rV46vs-NMGFl9h_UgPA2a3riZ2gRZSU4MOmtnKViCN5RRKmZGsDtwjjbGjLd_sYnuHvw0YJ_54nxM1m0BxFdc8-sd_2lfTiSaj8RwKehGtueaw6j/s320/The-Dark-Knight-Rises-close-up.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let’s also not forget that all of Hardy’s performance was
with a mask on. He had to portray a range of feelings with a mask on. I mean,
stand in front of a mirror with a balaclava over your mouth – now act angry,
tough, surprised, calm, worried, sad and happy. It isn’t as easy as it looks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I accept that the voice is an acquired taste – I liked it,
but I understand why it has been ridiculed. I don’t think the character would
have been as menacing if he had an American or British accent. Maybe they were
going for a non-Arabic foreign accent. Since 9/11, the foreign is a lot more
threatening than the domestic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I truly believe that in time people will start to see The
Dark Knight Rises the same way they see The Dark Knight – as a generational
defining movie with outstanding performances. I accept that Hardy’s Bane will
never be as beloved as Ledger’s Joker, and that is ok, but I feel his character
and his work on that film deserves a lot more respect that it has gotten. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">The Dark Bear. </a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank"> </a> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQ7ULHhsVUX75G1NeuqEFHCOjhe7qV4L8_vorECaBngHEp6vIlk5WqY-XqdIf1Q0GZDRxPtdCy0gKP2Q58ljpNXRxLM9nVMJxR4CZCYZ3JXtyfCYVcgGGbGFQcNofsOgRIBUEi91U-CDK/s1600/2852596-url.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQ7ULHhsVUX75G1NeuqEFHCOjhe7qV4L8_vorECaBngHEp6vIlk5WqY-XqdIf1Q0GZDRxPtdCy0gKP2Q58ljpNXRxLM9nVMJxR4CZCYZ3JXtyfCYVcgGGbGFQcNofsOgRIBUEi91U-CDK/s640/2852596-url.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-64929447552828568582013-09-27T01:25:00.000-07:002013-09-27T01:25:47.575-07:00The Unfinished Western: Cowboys and Aliens<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJjzik_2sxLLUUiPu7NXwdCsbpZrTEnRtgaUt2FfHleRPHhGcocLx88tJSCX8CkymsTk-zlgcd4gUnELD6y4sxY9ZtOFfQALdFdKf3bmLF44V283XSdXgZLd-3niT_K5XAUrYbhSqw-s2/s1600/2401_tw_d008_0129rv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJjzik_2sxLLUUiPu7NXwdCsbpZrTEnRtgaUt2FfHleRPHhGcocLx88tJSCX8CkymsTk-zlgcd4gUnELD6y4sxY9ZtOFfQALdFdKf3bmLF44V283XSdXgZLd-3niT_K5XAUrYbhSqw-s2/s400/2401_tw_d008_0129rv3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm writing about a film that I
didn’t finish watching. I think of the utter and complete tosh that I've
managed to sit through in my life and realise just how special this film, Cowboys
and Aliens, is. I mean, I've finished Spiderman 3, Catwoman and Batman and
Robin. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6epsGrcuTs" target="_blank">The latter was so bad that the director, Joel Schumacher apologised for the film</a> – yet I've watched that film many times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The only other film that I abandoned midway was You’ve Got
Mail in 1998. My uncle took me, my sisters and our cousins to see that film. I
was so mystified by how bad that film was that I walked out and spent half an
hour in the arcade. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But Cowboys and Aliens is different, this Jon Favreau
joint should have been a good, if nothing else, fun film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilshyphenhyphenkNo9b6mkcoi04IPmAJ2NHF1eJvu9D-vCvnPeVruE6LY4pwKXWeLGN-rUjqdv7ME2__nHAPQgL7Q_hpseskQPBAI_mAhJfrCw03M_ls7cmsZvbeDpLTLYpD4PsZDhNSDXjUCSkvxbl/s1600/Cowboys-and-Aliens-photo-courtesy-Universal-Pictures.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilshyphenhyphenkNo9b6mkcoi04IPmAJ2NHF1eJvu9D-vCvnPeVruE6LY4pwKXWeLGN-rUjqdv7ME2__nHAPQgL7Q_hpseskQPBAI_mAhJfrCw03M_ls7cmsZvbeDpLTLYpD4PsZDhNSDXjUCSkvxbl/s320/Cowboys-and-Aliens-photo-courtesy-Universal-Pictures.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I sat and watched the
first hour of this film and not once did I smile. For a film called Cowboys and
Aliens not to rise one smirk from my face suggests that there is a fundamental
flaw in its DNA.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The warning signs were there from the very beginning –
Daniel Craig scowled far too much and Mr Ford played the grumpy old man too
well for my liking. I found myself getting angry at Daniel Craig for playing
his character just as he would Bond and that isn’t what I signed up to watch. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But
for me it was Sam Rockwell’s character which indexed the very reason why this
film didn’t work. I assume that Rockwell’s Doc was supposed to be the comedy
relief of this piece and that relief never materialised. I felt for Rockwell in
this film because given the right material he is a fantastic actor, but you get
the impression that he and the film itself was just weighed down by a need to
be taken seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jFnc3_sptfuuWoueszSyTciPwFV8RqYncaJtLf3kqbnw1RYxvhNNVcKXOMUXv7BEejDKzktPQ6MfqOb7LskHqEoVDjcOS9rTD-sbN2ydnAFlfd_GllVXw8LpCzPoMV7ncFCMG3aAiFiE/s1600/CowboysAliens.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jFnc3_sptfuuWoueszSyTciPwFV8RqYncaJtLf3kqbnw1RYxvhNNVcKXOMUXv7BEejDKzktPQ6MfqOb7LskHqEoVDjcOS9rTD-sbN2ydnAFlfd_GllVXw8LpCzPoMV7ncFCMG3aAiFiE/s400/CowboysAliens.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The blame for the faults of this film has to be put on the
door of the director. Jon Favreau should have known better – why on earth he
thought this film should be a straight and serious movie is beyond me. The
title and premise is Cowboys and Aliens for crying out loud. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You honestly wouldn’t be able to tell that this film is
related to Iron Man, Elf, Zathura and (little gem of a film) Made. You couldn’t even tell that it was
a second cousin of Swingers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This film should have been light, fast moving and silly –
but it plods along at an excruciatingly slow pace. This film should have been bogged down with stupid jokes, not tired western-film cliches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the end of the day it comes down to me losing my
patience, something that I rarely do when it comes to films. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The hour that I
watched of this film didn’t intrigue me or give me sufficient reason to hang on
beside my better judgement – many films have made me make that poor decision. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not only is Cowboys and Aliens a bad film (I can handle and
enjoy bad films), it is a disappointing film that feels very lazy and that is
something I cannot stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As an aside, this film made me appreciate the much panned Wild
Wild West. WWW and its stars knew that the films was ridiculous.
Ridiculous is fun to watch. Ridiculousness is an ingredient that this film sorely needed. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Master Bear</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0f1hTv5sPJhWYTbRAeVeElcDh4axpB5YaQR8GeFL58sb4UYqnIUbE69i7MV4Lw0hlRKswZeXODm4Qz3-na1Qq4BOuDLci75ia-ZpX1TG0Oc5cHh_Pq4pYDtdu2lIjOdH0b7h1z1M15per/s1600/Cowboys-Aliens-cowboys-and-aliens-27143424-1920-800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0f1hTv5sPJhWYTbRAeVeElcDh4axpB5YaQR8GeFL58sb4UYqnIUbE69i7MV4Lw0hlRKswZeXODm4Qz3-na1Qq4BOuDLci75ia-ZpX1TG0Oc5cHh_Pq4pYDtdu2lIjOdH0b7h1z1M15per/s640/Cowboys-Aliens-cowboys-and-aliens-27143424-1920-800.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-56212233930630643392013-09-19T00:00:00.000-07:002013-09-19T01:01:57.008-07:00Guest Post: The show must go on<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>This lovely little piece was written by my friend Jess Everett. One of the few sad things about being a new father is the fact that I haven't had many opportunities to go to the cinema - first world problems and all that, right? But there is something special about being in an enclosed space with smelly strangers, as Jess explains below.<br /><br />As an aside, Jess has one of the best speaking voices known to man.</b> <b>Just saying.</b></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Attending the movies is a communal
experience and some movies were just meant to be seen in the theatre. Much like
music aficionados who claim the only way to really know a band is to see them
live, or sports fans who travel continents not only for the joy of cheering on
their team but also to experience being part of the crowd, when you go to a
theatre and watch a movie you become part of something.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Inspiring films move us more when watched
with others. The dread in a horror movie becomes more real as the person behind
you gasps and screams. Jokes are more enjoyable when others are laughing with
you. And epic moments are more memorable when you high-five the stranger next
you (this actually happened to me during the first screening of Attack of The
Clones. Apparently the gentleman really enjoyed a good Yoda fight). </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Movies are a defining moment for
generations. Anyone who experienced the first Star Wars trilogy in the theatre
has an immediate connection. Growing up and watching every Harry Potter movie,
waiting in anticipation for the next Lord of the Rings, and knowing every song
lyric to The Lion King are moments that connect us all.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We all remember our first movie. The thrill
of watching the screen light up and seeing larger than imaginable characters
flood your view. The goosebumps that leave you feeling nervous and excited, and
the joy of having your very own popcorn and sneaking ninja cuddles*with your
movie date.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although cinemas have been pricing
themselves out of relevancy for years, I will continue to make the sacrifice as
long as I can afford it. Why? Because for me there is nothing like a night out
at the movies.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">*The phrase “ninja cuddle” and it<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5181949461195951178" name="_GoBack"></a>s adorable relevance to movie theatre watching is borrowed
from the film loving @8bitbatman</span></span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-31422323719684289262013-09-15T03:59:00.000-07:002013-09-15T03:59:58.009-07:00Alternative: Janelle Monae's Electric Lady<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/NrTjDztDhQo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<a href="" name="_GoBack"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Outkast’s 2006 album, Idlewild, was very
important to me for two reasons. The first reason was that it proved Outkast,
Andre 3000 and Big Boi, are no more. I knew it instantly after listening to
that album that they no longer saw themselves as a unit. I haven’t been
persuaded by the line both members have used over the years - “we are taking a
break” “we are still family” – listening to Idlewild will tell you that they
are done. </span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Secondly and more
positively, Idlewild was important because it was the first time I heard
Janelle Monae. She was the silver lining on that album. We both heard the death
of one of black music’s greatest and most innovative bands and the birth of
fearless young artist. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fast forward to 2010 and
Janelle Monae showed that I was right to take notice. She released an album
which left my jaw on the floor. Although I am 26 years old, I feel like an old
bastard and regularly complain about the quality of music today – especially
black music. The ArchAndroid was all my complaints answered. It was ambitious,
expansive and it took risks jovially – sometimes it missed the mark
spectacularly (Make the bus, for example) but most of the time it hit highs
that left me in goosebumps (Oh, maker). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The ArchAndroid is a
modern day classic. I genuinely thought Monae did a Nas, she made her Illmatic
and would be hard pressed to repeat the trick.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With Electric Lady,
Janelle has proved how special she is. Monae has grown remarkably as an artist
and it shines blindly through on this album. Electric lady doesn’t manically
bounce from genre to genre like its predecessor, this is more of a traditional
R’n’B album.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I say R’n’B, I am not talking about her contemporaries such
as Beyonce or Rihanna, I am talking the R’n’B of Prince, Stevie, Michael and
Aretha and Marvin – that is who you must compare Janelle to after hearing this
album. I can give no greater compliment than that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Suite four is where all
the fireworks are stored. It tells you a lot about Janelle’s confidence when
she starts the album off with His Royal Purpleness. What makes ‘Give em what
they love’ spectacular is not only the appearance of Prince (by the way, this
is the Controversy, Dirty Mind, Sexy MF Prince and not the jut found religion
Prince), but the fact that Monae isn’t an afterthought once the song has
finished. She stands toe to toe with the great Purple one and this prologues the
greatness in the album. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In fact, every guest
appearance on this album manage to sprinkle a little bit of magic to the
proceedings and threaten to overshadow the headliner – but every single time
Monae manages to rise above them. When Badu strolls silkily onto the funky-ass
Q.U.E.E.N like a panther, Monae has a fierce rhyme reminiscent of Chuck D and
KRS-1 to bat her off with. Janelle response to Solange’s irresistible 90’s TLC
vide with a grin-inducing serenading rap-verse that makes you ache for Left
Eye. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When Primetime, featuring
Mugel, rolls around you start to appreciate the change in Janelle Monae’s
attitude and you suddenly realise a great flaw in her previous album. This
Monae is much more open than the one listeners met on The ArchAndoid. “Tonight, I don’t want to be mysterious with
you”, she says on what can only be described as a bedroom jam, a song which
would have never appeared on ArchAndoid. She no longer strictly sticks to her
alter-ego Cindi when she is performing, in Primetime you feel like you are
getting your first glimpse of Janelle. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdU7s1sAE5rx2_5C64YF3NjMSD7f3pbKzKg-9kOmviaeH3wFggTlq5jU1TxaZUKoNojBcEErGwO1xwMVmk53SqRLRj3-3xx48u69TTmx879UnbnXU9a4wmhyqm9HywCKqG55CqYlO1ZOQm/s1600/JanelleMonaePR201010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdU7s1sAE5rx2_5C64YF3NjMSD7f3pbKzKg-9kOmviaeH3wFggTlq5jU1TxaZUKoNojBcEErGwO1xwMVmk53SqRLRj3-3xx48u69TTmx879UnbnXU9a4wmhyqm9HywCKqG55CqYlO1ZOQm/s320/JanelleMonaePR201010.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although Suite four may
have all the headliners, the best of the album is found on Suite five. This is
the Suite which propels this from just being a great album to being a jaw
dropping one. Suite five shows you that Janelle wanted achieve more on this
album other than catch people’s ear and show them how many different genre’s
she can pull off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you close your eyes,
you can see a young Michael Jackson shuffling around and singing It’s Code with
his brothers backing him up. Ghetto
Woman could happily sit in the middle of Stevie Wonder’s classic Innervisions
and not be out of place at all. This isn’t to say that Janelle Monae is trying
to imitate these artist, you don’t get that impression at all – you feel like
she understands what made the greats great and she taps into that and makes
their style her own. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In this regard, Ghetto
Woman is an extraordinary extraordinary song. She updates a sound which is
timeless and familiar and entirely owned by a legendary artist and claims it as
her own (I would kill for Stevie to cover this song). This is a worthy
successor to Living in the City and after Kelindo does his usual fantastic
guitar solo, Monae’s Andre 3000 like rap lifts this song into a stratosphere
that I thought modern day R’n’B would never reach. I would love to know what
Wonder thinks of this song. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Victory is my personal favourite.
Again, this song shows how much more willing Monae is to open up to her
audience. She feels vulnerable on this song, something that I never felt on her
previous album. It is a song for when everything in your life has gone wrong
and you need to find something, anything, to make you get up off the floor
before the count. Again, there are shades of the greats on this song – Aretha
and Ms Hill come to mind – but this song is totally Janelle’s own. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijB0M2HKpgL8vlJ2kf5MccZgTOJE-FS0pLbV631XetivBEPT3OU8yqoj4snGn8XXS2bEJoWpp99mx3m6WJAj6Z2QOpTF8izQJuoAsJwANsD1zBL5HkLRfkqI-p6TU-O8gmsnHieqn_VkBj/s1600/Janelle-Monae-Q.U.E.E.Npg_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijB0M2HKpgL8vlJ2kf5MccZgTOJE-FS0pLbV631XetivBEPT3OU8yqoj4snGn8XXS2bEJoWpp99mx3m6WJAj6Z2QOpTF8izQJuoAsJwANsD1zBL5HkLRfkqI-p6TU-O8gmsnHieqn_VkBj/s400/Janelle-Monae-Q.U.E.E.Npg_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By the time the closer
comes to your ears with its 80s synth chords, you feel exhausted. It is a
different exhaustion to the one you feel at the end of ArchAndoid – here you
succinct impression is that Janelle has given you all that she can emotionally
as well as talent wise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some listeners will be
disappointed with this album for not being The ArchAndoid and not being as
experimental – I can understand that but I don’t feel that way at all. I have
someone I can champion after the untimely death of Amy Winehouse. Janelle could
be the woman to take black music out of its oversexaulised, boring and risk
adverse state that it has been in for years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am not naïve enough to
believe that this album will be a commercial success. I do think that people
will come to this album and this artist slowly throughout the coming years and
will see her for the innovator and trail blazer she is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Janelle Monae is the real
queen of the new school and at 27 I don’t think she will let go of that crown
anytime soon.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/tEddixS-UoU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Queen Bear</a></span></div>
Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-7402181833295668522013-09-09T11:35:00.000-07:002013-09-09T11:38:54.073-07:00Amour: What is love?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xfWI1b1rM-zPY7oyS-dyNncyhtP4iUpCoeRp10s17NudZYAYp_H3_3TFPChnx_6Ga6V2X9FJy6_sPiZldbWdoD22rE4sGvEVBJY471q7YHqrw88wWmaJwN7yvx1LUQmWRg9B20L1gMWb/s1600/263196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xfWI1b1rM-zPY7oyS-dyNncyhtP4iUpCoeRp10s17NudZYAYp_H3_3TFPChnx_6Ga6V2X9FJy6_sPiZldbWdoD22rE4sGvEVBJY471q7YHqrw88wWmaJwN7yvx1LUQmWRg9B20L1gMWb/s400/263196.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">One of the memories that still haunts me is when my family
were moving my father into a hospice. My dad was barely recognisable at the
time of the move. Gone was the strong and proud African I once knew and in his
place a silent, frail and delicate man holding on to the last flickers of life.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Just when we were about to leave him in what I can still
remember to be a pleasant but eerily place, my dad began to cry. I swear,
nothing has made me sadder or more helpless in my life – not even the day when
my mum rang to tell me and my sisters he had gone. I transferred all of my
frustrations and anger to my mother – how could she leave him in such a place?
Why couldn’t he be at home? Why couldn’t he die with his family around him? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I had this anger weighing me down </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">after my dad passed until my mum started
telling me stories about the life she and my father had - the life I knew nothing
about. How they met, how they courted in the strange way Africans do, the
trials they faced once they were in the UK. I saw my mum trying to keep our
grieving family together with every fibre of her being and began to realise
what a remarkable woman she actually is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I write all this because the film Amour reminded me of my
parents and Jean-Louis Trintignant’s Georges made me realise what a child I was
for blaming my mum during the latter stages of my dad’s life. Being a carer is
a ridiculously difficult job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Amour is a film about an elderly couple, Georges and Emmanuelle
Riva’s Anne. The latter has a stroke and it is up to Georges to look after his
wife – especially after she makes him promise never to hospitalise her. The
film chronicles the couple’s lives as Anne health worsens. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Amour is a truly extraordinary film – for the first time
in a long time I can say that I haven’t seen or experienced a film like this. It’s
a harrowing film but extremely and utterly beautiful at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">All my life I have been obsessed with Disney and the
interpretation of love that they have helped to instil in the films of today. Watching
Amour I realised the film was answering a question that I never realised needed
answering – what happens after the happily-ever-after?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Watching Georges look after his wife is the purest and
most striking representation of love that I have ever seen in a film. Usually
cinema will give outlandish scenario’s where characters prove their love by
committing criminal acts but, fuck, would the Prince push Cinderella to the
toilet, lifted her on it, wiped her when she was done and pull her pants up? And Aladdin do the same everyday while watching Jasmin's soul slowly ebb away?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Amour is a very difficult film to watch – so difficult
that Mrs Bear couldn’t bear to finish it. “Why is this enjoyable? Why would you
want to carry on watching?” All fair questions to ask. Why would
you want to watch an elderly woman struggling to read a book? Why would you
want to watch an elderly man struggling to feed his wife? You wouldn’t, but I couldn’t stop watching. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Every credit in the world has to go to the two main
actors in this film. I never once felt like I was watching a film, rather that
I was watching the intimate and very private moments of two people that loved
each other deeply. Not much is said about the two main character’s history but
somehow you seem to understand what they mean to each other and what they have
gone through. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I only saw a fraction of the stuff my mother did while dad was ill and never had the chance to glance at the really grim activities.
This film made me understand a little better what my mother had to endure and,
frankly, it made me proud that my mother held out sending him to a hospice for
as long as she did. I now understand how it can be </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">overwhelming</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> to care for someone who has been your
life for most of your life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Happily-ever-after doesn’t end happily – Amour made me
realise this. It always ends in sadness, one way or another. The only solace
that I take from this new piece of information is that I want someone who will
nurse me and love me, like Georges loved Anne, if times get pitch dark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Lovely Bear</a></span><br />
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-78653665765195756202013-09-06T02:54:00.001-07:002013-09-06T02:54:27.307-07:00The Tragedy of Eddie Murphy <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/_1Skgh5WQEo/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/_1Skgh5WQEo&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/_1Skgh5WQEo&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eddie Murphy is a legend. That seems like a controversial
statement to make nowadays, but it is true. He is probably one of the most talented men in
Hollywood and has films on his CV which are among some of my most beloved of
all time. But something tragic happened to his career. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Speak to any soul that knows an ounce about black
(African-American) comedy and they will let you know that Murphy sits upon a
tall pedestal. Comedians speak of Eddie Murphy with the same reverence they
give to Bill Cosby or, better yet, Richard Pryor – Murphy is truly of that
stature. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But think of Murphy now and I’d bet a lot of money that the
embarrassment that is Norbit or Scary Spice comes to your mind – not Raw or Delirious
or Boomerang. That is a tragedy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5tpEskkxp7Kwnna0BaUEV68075kO8LxN2Sy_vLrWYlEsOWJxjB3nzoQkQp-_o3rSzin_3DuboeZorRo2QT4eZdiwXLPUX-eU-T4PxKVdNFQp4h7YIrlv55W-a-H7L9kMRjX8QL19KfzZ/s1600/Eddie-Murphy-in-Beverly-Hills-Cop-1984-Movie-Image-e1346207670507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5tpEskkxp7Kwnna0BaUEV68075kO8LxN2Sy_vLrWYlEsOWJxjB3nzoQkQp-_o3rSzin_3DuboeZorRo2QT4eZdiwXLPUX-eU-T4PxKVdNFQp4h7YIrlv55W-a-H7L9kMRjX8QL19KfzZ/s320/Eddie-Murphy-in-Beverly-Hills-Cop-1984-Movie-Image-e1346207670507.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The reason why Eddie still deserves to be held in such high
regard is simply because of what he achieved. He blazed the trail that allowed
other great comedians to walk the path to to superstardom. I still haven’t
forgotten the skinny (er) and goofy (er) Chappelle with his terrible hair cut
telling terrible “you’re so fat” jokes in the Nutty Professor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I personally haven’t seen any of his earlier Saturday Night
Live Stuff, I only know Eddie Murphy through his film work and it wasn’t until
Beverly Hills Cop that I really started to take notice. It may sound like an
over-exaggeration but Axel Foley felt like the first black superhero to
me. I saw him do things and talk to
(white) people in a way that I had never seen a ‘brother’ do before. And
importantly he was funny, extremely funny but as well as that, he was strong –
this felt important. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then there was Coming to America – a film which is so
important to me that it would take more than just a blog to clarify. As an
African kid in a stranger’s land, I could absolutely identify with Prince
Akeem. The film left me in awe of the world it created to a point where I
stupidly asked my father whether such a kingdom where beautiful servants woke
you up in such a wonderful way existed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Coming to America is to me a classic and displays Murphy’s
talent in the brightest of light. His many disguises add to the comedy and wonder
of the film rather than distract from it like in his later exploits. The Randy
Watson scene (damn it, the whole church scene) is a slice of joy. Clarence the
Barber still raises a smile out of me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Murphy also puts in a much understated performance as Prince
Akeem. He plays the royal as a charismatic and dignified young man who is
childlike in his excitement at being in an environment different to his
extravagant home life. Like all great
leading men you believe in the premise of the story because of Eddie Murphy’s
performance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I believe it all went wrong when Eddie made a conscious
effort to stop making ‘edgy’ films and cater to the family audience instead. As
much as I love(d) the Nutty Professor, I believe that film was the start of the
ebbing out of Murphy’s creative talent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unlike Coming to America, Eddie Murphy’s<a href="" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><a href="" name="OLE_LINK1"> prosthetics </a>didn’t
add much to The Nutty Professor – in
fact they enabled him to tell lazy fat jokes and lean on ill thought out toilet
humour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have absolutely no issue with the film Shrek, I actually
think Eddie Murphy is great in it but the following inferior sequels are lazy
(there’s that word again). I am not naive enough to say that Eddie was wrong to
make those films – they generated a donkey dung (sorry) full of money but I can’t
help feeling that Murphy could have done more with his time. He could have
pushed himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The majority of films that he has had top billing in after
the Nutty Professor have been tragic (there’s that word again) save from a few
surprises. Eddie was actually ok in Tower Heist but this could be me giving him
a petty pass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I still believe that there is genius still left within Eddie
Murphy. That genius has shown flashes of returning (Dreamgirls) but I am hoping
that it makes a permanent reappearance in his future projects. Is the Beverly
Hills Cop television show the right platform for his fight back? I don’t know,
I have my doubts. I also shuddered when I read that Murphy was writing the
Nutty Professor 3.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All I can hope for is for Eddie Murphy to be bold again – to
be brave.</span><a href="http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/18248/is-eddie-murphy-stopping-making-family-films" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank"> Forget the family films,</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> forget the fat suits – find that Eddie who
wanted to push black comedy further than it has ever been before. There is a
reason why Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Jamie Fox and Kevin Hart consider Eddie
Murphy to be god like and hopefully the miraculous performances are not in his
past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:dalitso86@gmail.com" target="_blank">Party Bear</a></span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-77662012902087386052013-08-30T05:40:00.000-07:002013-08-30T05:40:14.342-07:00Tom Cruise: The Great<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UUFCuOu1nbaXdgrUq_CeMpRfmBCa9sOlJqyCE8eJvPLNm93qWkRqyjUsGfXfbanL2toKvyaRjkwmYQUImkm_VXiB92ydc7tpQXvmPDcTlAdkjmRjMNZL4qlkE_DNqEeHt-gK3gTJcvff/s1600/tom-cruise_2265642b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UUFCuOu1nbaXdgrUq_CeMpRfmBCa9sOlJqyCE8eJvPLNm93qWkRqyjUsGfXfbanL2toKvyaRjkwmYQUImkm_VXiB92ydc7tpQXvmPDcTlAdkjmRjMNZL4qlkE_DNqEeHt-gK3gTJcvff/s400/tom-cruise_2265642b.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While watching Oblivion, I found out some very interesting information from my other half. “Do you know that Tom Cruise made Katie Holmes have a baby in silence?” Truth is, I didn’t know that. I accepted my lady’s premise that, if true, this was cruel. Even if that was the case I failed, and still fail, to see why I should care and why that should influence my feelings on Oblivion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the record, Oblivion is a good film – not spectacular, just good. It’s a comfort blanket of a film. Nothing about the film is remotely surprising, whether it be negative or positive. Most importantly, Tom Cruise is his usual competent and reliable Hollywood superstar self. But the way my missus made it sound, that just isn’t enough anymore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In fact, it isn’t just the missus who has beef with Tom, have a look the public discussions about Mr Cruise for the past decade, I wager the majority of it has little to do with his on screen exploits and more to do with what religion he follows.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I get that people want to read about <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2404753/Is-Katie-Holmes-watched-Scientologists-Photographers-set-asked-work-church.html" target="_blank">Tom’s big bad thugs spying on Katie</a> or <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/i-was-one-of-women-auditioned-to-be-tom-cruises-wife-says-former-scientologist-8786726.html" target="_blank">a woman who says she was auditioned to be his wife </a>– all of this is sexy tabloid stuff and is to be expected when you have reached the status Cruise has. It no longer holds people’s attention to just be good at your job, they want something more interesting and Tom Cruise’s personal life is just that… apparently.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The press are doing to Tom Cruise exactly the same as what they did to Michael Jackson. They are trying to find the Wacko in Cruise and as soon as he got on top of that famous black lady’s sofa, they had their fodder.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It also doesn’t help that Cruise hasn’t had the greatest of film runs after that PDA moment – Lions for Lamb, Valkyrie, Knight and Day and Rock of Ages are beneath his talents. But putting these films to one side, Tom Cruise still has a stellar filmography post his jumping the Oprah shaped shark. World at War, Mission Impossible 3 and 4, Tropic Thunder, Jack Reacher and the aforementioned Oblivion are not slouch movies, but they don’t stretch Cruise’s acting muscles either. But, again, what is wrong with that? Hasn’t Tom Cruise earned his right to just be good instead of being great?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is actually shocking when you list the great films and performances Tom Cruise has under his belt. You almost have to double check to see whether you have it right or whether you are thinking about another actor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This guy has Risky Business, Top Gun, Rain Man and Born on the Fourth of July on his CV. After this he goes on to make his equivalent to Michael’s Thriller, Beat it and Billie Jean moment with the films A Few Good Men, The Firm and Interview with a Vampire. He doesn’t stop there, after that hot streak he goes on to make Mission Impossible, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia. Admittedly after Magnolia his luck ends – if there is anyone on this earth that likes Vanilla Sky, please contact me and let me know why. He does get back on track with the fantastic Minority Report ( a truly wonderful film), the underrated The Last Samurai and a film which keeps getting better with every watch, Collateral.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Collateral is one of the most interesting films in Cruise’s catalogue. It once again shatters the perception that Cruise has one gear as an actor and never takes risks. Like Interview with a Vampire and Magnolia and to a certain extent Rock of Ages, Collateral sees Tom Cruise play against type and to frightening effect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am genuinely scared of Cruise’s Vincent and that is a great compliment to an actor who I know is shorter than me and isn’t that physically imposing. You watch that film expecting Mr Cruise to be as charming and charismatic as always, which he is but it is soured by a neck chilling menace which never escapes you from the moment he’s on screen to the moment he takes his last train ride.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think there is a deep intelligence to his role in Collateral. It is one thing to play a villainous vampire with a cake load of make up on your face and fake teeth, but to convince a world that knows you as the all-conquering hero and Mr Action Man that you are a bad motherf**ker takes a very talented actor indeed. Not many high status leading men in Hollywood can do it – Will Smith, for example, hasn’t showed nearly as much versatility as Cruise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do I think Tom Cruise is nuts? Maybe, </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3n3YGFSlxnqnaAay5OGOXPRVbkKIR-eosA645xT4tZjUfjgLS63bLWY-ABow33SahsCPQkL76eDcgZny3qlnm7YUwd7XwGjHsCPEzbWQ9cWd-_yk8ONPBF5lacp3xBiJWwARdTok-nB7/s1600/425.cruise.maguire.110707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3n3YGFSlxnqnaAay5OGOXPRVbkKIR-eosA645xT4tZjUfjgLS63bLWY-ABow33SahsCPQkL76eDcgZny3qlnm7YUwd7XwGjHsCPEzbWQ9cWd-_yk8ONPBF5lacp3xBiJWwARdTok-nB7/s200/425.cruise.maguire.110707.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">but he’s religious, being nuts comes with the territory? I can’t prove any of the crazy ass stories about his personal life and truth be told, I don’t care. All I know is that Tom Cruise is one of the greatest actors of my life time. I know that to be fact.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tom Cruise has shown breath taking consistency as an actor, consistency that only few working actors share. A Few Good Men, Collateral and especially Minority Report are some of my favourite films of all time and Cruise was a big reason why I enjoyed those films.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It took the death of Michael Jackson for people to look at his work and ignore his personal life. What people found was, despite his quirkiness (mildly putting it), Jackson was a genius. I hope it doesn't take such an extreme event for people to see the same in Tom Cruise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Mission Bear</a></span><br />
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-23967818545616033062013-08-23T03:10:00.001-07:002013-08-23T03:11:01.334-07:00Headhunters is the Sh*t<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I remember when the Norwegian film Headhunters (<span style="background-color: white;">Hodejegerne</span>)</span><span style="background: white;"> was playing at the cinema and everyone was raving about it. Everything
Scandinavian was the rage at that time and for one specific reason I ignored
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have never seen a more boring trailer than the one for Headhunters. It looked generic and in my opinion, lifeless. Even when I read reviews about Headhunters it sounded boring (which bodes well for this one) and I damn near struggled to stay awake when people talked about the film. Well I made a pretty big mistake.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Simply put, Headhunters is a chase-thriller film in the same vein as your Terminator films. Instead of Arnie, you get the ex-military business man Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of Game of Thrones fame) going after a weasel of a man and the star of the show Aksel Hennie’s Roger Brown.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />The real genius of this film is Hennie – how on earth I end up feeling sorry and rooting for Brown at the end of this film I will never know. Witch-craft is the only explanation.<br /><br />Roger Brown is… where do I start. Roger Brown is a corporate headhunter by trade who appears to be very well off thanks to a supposed inheritance from his grandmother (or some relative). Roger Brown is married to the ridiculously beautiful Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund), a woman who is desperate to have his babies – something Roger is against from some stupid reason. Roger Brown also moonlights as an art thief, a pretty good and sophisticated one at that – so good he has the nation’s best detective after him. Finally, and most importantly, Roger Brown is a liar and Headhunters is about all of his lies coming back to haunt him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What I find most fascinating about this film is not the action scenes or the shit (you know what I’m talking about when you’ve seen it) but the psychological make up of Roger Brown. As a vertically challenged man myself (although, a bloody handsome one at that) with a stunning woman by my side, you can’t help but feel insecure when a chiseled SOB like Clas comes along. Headhunters, at its heart, is about Brown’s insecurities as a man – he doesn’t feel like he is man enough to have a wife like Diana so he creates a false reality for himself. When Clas comes along, it isn’t the opportunity he represents financially that most affects Roger, it’s what he represents as a man. Clas is genuinely successful , taller than Roger and good looking – It’s fascinating to watch Roger dealing with his inner demons. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Headhunters is a brilliant film – a truly great thriller. I spent a lot of my time “oohh”-ing and “ahh” –ing and “no ways”-ing throughout the film. That is a big deal for me, for too long I have felt numb to the thriller-genre in films and it takes quite a bit to impress me - Headhunters did that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Headhunters is also the first foreign film which I would love to be adapted. For some reason I think Headhunters could translate very well to an English/American audience. I think it’s message of masculinity is an important one that should be heard. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /> <br /><br />Oh. And I dare you to watch THAT scene without gagging.<br /><br /> <br /><a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank"><br /></a></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Teddy Bear</a></span></span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-89231386230881156782013-08-16T06:10:00.000-07:002013-08-16T06:10:19.473-07:00500 Days (of brutal Summer)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-g3oTJ6bFovOkVUXogO_AENqo-wnThX71ORwoCB29-rol0csAlkKoD0J9yyo7fPliRxHq5XV3NJoz4CcoErCVFBiwSLsN2zug1rTA74zPdcnqDK2Z-O3Sb5Xa6Jn2lzS3vZI68PyMlli/s1600/500-days-of-summer-003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-g3oTJ6bFovOkVUXogO_AENqo-wnThX71ORwoCB29-rol0csAlkKoD0J9yyo7fPliRxHq5XV3NJoz4CcoErCVFBiwSLsN2zug1rTA74zPdcnqDK2Z-O3Sb5Xa6Jn2lzS3vZI68PyMlli/s400/500-days-of-summer-003.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the film finished, my missus couldn’t wait to tell me
how much she hated it. “It was sad. Why did you make me watch that for?”</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That was the second time I watched Marc Webb’s film in a 24
hour period. I was so excited about what I had just experienced that I forced
the film on my uber-romantic woman. I felt, and I still feel, that 500 Days of
Summer is special. Not since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind have I seen
a film that portrays heartbreak in a way that I can relate to. 500 Days doesn’t
tell the story of the sanitised, Hollywood heartbreak where there is a silver
lining – it tells the tale of a woman who rips a man’s heart out and gangster
leans her way out of his life. This is that real life, kick you in the nuts
heartbreak – the sort of heartbreak that stays with you and will probably
linger in your soul until your last breathe escapes you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">500 Days tells two stories – one about the relationship of
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom and Zooey Deschanel’s Summer – and the second one
about how Tom handles their break up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ll be honest, this dynamic, the man in pieces over a
relationship falling apart interested me the most because you rarely see it in
mainstream cinema. There is nothing stereotypically masculine about Tom, he’s a
mess from the start and my every being wanted to mock him, I wanted to tell him
to man up. I wanted to recite a number of offensive Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre lyrics (“You can’t
make a hoe a housewife” seemed appropriate) but the problem is I saw a lot of real world examples in his character. I’ve had to nurse my best friend out of a
heartbreak and that wasn’t pretty – we laugh about it now but at that time it was
bleak. Shit, I’ve had to recover from such a situation myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You come out of those situations hardened and unwilling to
open up and admit that you're weak and fallible You see that in Tom near the end of the film.
This fucked me up because it not only reminded me of how dangerous women are
(you’re all lethal ladies) but it also reminded me of how vulnerable men can be
– it reminded me of a time when I was at my weakest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Importantly, there is a strong </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5qcLmL0cD2AI79g9XlZm35UOzZt7PizvpjYSJTW4ePGA2kWHQUyWXLo5Kzfj8jfQFjqql1RYN8JLGc-Cj3Gb6Vu3psOfxAxFBMRHR1A3GeeV5jhKddd2emARgyjpxgXWBNMxvqMoFKXyS/s1600/500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5qcLmL0cD2AI79g9XlZm35UOzZt7PizvpjYSJTW4ePGA2kWHQUyWXLo5Kzfj8jfQFjqql1RYN8JLGc-Cj3Gb6Vu3psOfxAxFBMRHR1A3GeeV5jhKddd2emARgyjpxgXWBNMxvqMoFKXyS/s320/500.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">willed, beautiful and intelligent
woman at the heart of this film. Annoyingly, Deschanel’s Summer does nothing
wrong in this movie. I spent the majority of my first viewing trying to find the hoe in Summer but there was none to be found. Summer tells Tom exactly
what she wants from a relationship and Tom ignores her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The park bench scene near the end of the film is one of the
most brutal things I have ever seen on screen in my life - as violent and as
merciless as a gory thriller. After getting his life back
in order, Tom sees the person that bombed it pieces in the first place and when
he tells her that she was right not to believe in true love, what does
Summer say? To paraphrase: “When I first saw my husband I knew (he was the one) what I wasn’t sure
of with you”. Brutal. It hurt me deep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So the question I kept asking after watching 500 Days was: do I consider Tom to be a man? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not biologically speaking, of course, but do I consider him
to be representative of how a man should behave in such a situation? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This may sound like a stupid, offensive and un-PC question,
but you have to remember I am a product of a Christian African background with
a dollop of Dr Dre’s Hip-Hop splashing somewhere in the melting pot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think Tom is a man. We expect women to carry the majority
of the emotional baggage in depictions of relationship turmoil but what this film has reminded me is that times have
changed. I could say that this film is important for how it presents women,
but I think it is equally as important for how it portrays men. It is stunning
in the way it shows our kind as completely weak and emotionally crippled beings - it's actually refreshing to see. Tom is what he is – a shattered man – and that’s ok. </span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="mailto:MrCTBear@gmail.com" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:MrCTBear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Down and Out Chocolate</a></span></o:p></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-35955727700406104902013-07-31T19:34:00.000-07:002013-07-31T19:34:17.238-07:00My Uncharted film cast<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The very best pieces of pop-culture transcend their respective fields.
Michael Jackson’s Thriller isn’t just a pop album, The Godfather isn’t just a
gangster film and The Wire isn’t just a cop television programme – they are so
much more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is, to my mind, the
greatest video game of all time and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath
as the above. It is more than just a game and like all great pieces of
pop-culture it attracts an audience base that isn’t usually susceptible to
the medium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was not allowed, I repeat, I was not ALLOWED to play
through Uncharted 2 without my other half in the room. She wanted to watch the
game. Now this is the first time I have ever encountered anything like this.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My girl, who previously showed no interest in gaming, became emotionally invested in the characters Naughty Dog created. She gasped when I gasped at the surprise quick-time moments and was on the edge of her seat (and wouldn't shut up) during the games jaw dropping set-pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have played 'cinematic' video-games before but this was the first time I didn't have to point out to non-gamers why the said game was fantastic. They could see it with their own eyes - they wanted to watch a 10 hours plus game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This got me thinking, could Uncharted do for video-games what Batman and Superman did for comics? Could Uncharted be the source material that finally translates to a gre... no lets just stick with good... to a good film.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The main characters are more than strong enough to work on the big screen and their relationships are captivating enough to warrant a full blown movie. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don't accept the point that Uncharted movies would be Indiana Jones rip-offs, I think Drake and co would be able to forge their own unique silver-screen legend if given the chance.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But who would play the main four characters of Nathan, Elena, Sully and Chloe? Well here are my suggestions:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Chloe Frazer</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chloe is a character who is more than capable of looking after herself in the merky world of treasure hunting. There are three actresses who I'd love to see take on this role: Rose Byrne who was very good in X-Men: First Class, I think she could make a lot of hay with the character; Jessica Alba who I think can bring the relative attitude needed for this character to work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But the person who I'd love most to play Chloe is Rosario Dawson. Ms Dawson has the acting chops and the much needed badassness to make this character her own. I've seen her recently in Trance and I loved her in Sin City - Rosario is no joke people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Victor "Sully" Sullivan </b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaG4iYDDODxGFRUglgUbjfq9Gh7yZioRJIdzUmE6Ea_kooyzg0BzbvOeCmQv2Tdjh1j76IrHiX9aTN23Z-2yURBKzkyf3fFnDHXwhLBoitJ7W9muz0gS1tBYC3X-BMN7OD5qGsbfkp0Zd/s1600/Victor_Sullivan_Render2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaG4iYDDODxGFRUglgUbjfq9Gh7yZioRJIdzUmE6Ea_kooyzg0BzbvOeCmQv2Tdjh1j76IrHiX9aTN23Z-2yURBKzkyf3fFnDHXwhLBoitJ7W9muz0gS1tBYC3X-BMN7OD5qGsbfkp0Zd/s200/Victor_Sullivan_Render2.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This one is hard for me. Sully is one hell of a character, get him wrong and you could ruin the whole dynamic of the Uncharted world. He is a father figure to Drake and he does have something that resembles a moral code but he is also a very shady character who was difficult to trust in the first two games of the Uncharted world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are the three actors who I think would do a good job. Robert De Niro - now this maybe pure fantasy but I think he'd make an amazing Sully. You don't have to even question whether he has it in him to straddle between the lines of good and bad - we've seen him do it throughout his career.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another actor who could make a good Sully is Jeff Bridges. The character he created in the first Iron Man movie, Obadia Stane, is pretty much Sully - only this time he wouldn't be stabbing his protege in the back. I also think Bridges would be able to pull off the comedy relief role very well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My number one choice to </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwELzx_8GMkDjd73KhPZYXGrlEbXhgadaH_mPWskp7YAu5FXua_DLlaABO6K6xpMdH-dwDKRmwQG85B5xnfE0VGjZxOzHZdjYQJz8AE2-ph-IpaIYdA9JmqieFio8GDTELiuM0F9w34ihU/s1600/George-Clooney-460_1005664a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwELzx_8GMkDjd73KhPZYXGrlEbXhgadaH_mPWskp7YAu5FXua_DLlaABO6K6xpMdH-dwDKRmwQG85B5xnfE0VGjZxOzHZdjYQJz8AE2-ph-IpaIYdA9JmqieFio8GDTELiuM0F9w34ihU/s320/George-Clooney-460_1005664a.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">play Sully is George Clooney. I think the man has the effortless charm to more than pull off th</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">is character. And that is the most important thing about Sully, he is charming and suave.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This is why he keeps getting out of what seems to be lose-lose situations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Elena Fisher</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7SqnTzl-RuNkwhHb0pLvvKq8LlBIufQUQdcbO0hb3JVsVOCG5Nz27Mt9w3pr446h4ofo-TUjw2d4FKlQ-AQtLjk50wy6K7Qq1nrUyqIeGb9yhiI27UiNI9yskp0H09-XcCsV8_u7Y3s5/s1600/Elena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7SqnTzl-RuNkwhHb0pLvvKq8LlBIufQUQdcbO0hb3JVsVOCG5Nz27Mt9w3pr446h4ofo-TUjw2d4FKlQ-AQtLjk50wy6K7Qq1nrUyqIeGb9yhiI27UiNI9yskp0H09-XcCsV8_u7Y3s5/s200/Elena.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, who can play the naive field reporter who grows to be wary and tough. Amy Adams could do it simply because I'm head-over-heels in love with her and she's already played a similar character in Man of Steel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another good choice would be Emily Rose who voices Elena in the game. She more than looks the part.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixm-wu5XUu3OGSU9GvBscPVWBzyAIuCNM8l6V3c5RCHuAsLs24R3qPn3GPbdV0jEjVbteHrgKwc5yHHo21C-THQvrzodX32p6FDnEb_0oo-MyYHZImNBNB4-4dMtuZRbFxUSsRR9PRkG2i/s1600/KALEY-CUOCO-at-2013-Genesis-Awards-Benefit-Gala-in-Los-Angeles-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixm-wu5XUu3OGSU9GvBscPVWBzyAIuCNM8l6V3c5RCHuAsLs24R3qPn3GPbdV0jEjVbteHrgKwc5yHHo21C-THQvrzodX32p6FDnEb_0oo-MyYHZImNBNB4-4dMtuZRbFxUSsRR9PRkG2i/s200/KALEY-CUOCO-at-2013-Genesis-Awards-Benefit-Gala-in-Los-Angeles-3.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My number one choice to play Elena is Kaley Cuoco. Yeh, don't dismiss her I think she has done more than just be the eye candy on The Big Bang Theory. She has shown tremendous range, comedic timing and importantly toughness. She'd make a great Elena.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Nathan Drake</b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So this one is really hard and has been much discussed in the geekverse. Nathan Fillion and David Boreanaz are the two actors that keep cropping up and I always shrug. I personally think that people are not thinking big enough, with all due respect to Nathan and David.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCBLA1fGwDnMOVk3_TD79IbHdVzrZXRCBxD7D470embI9FUfr_67C2TBAJjFqEjb-lDjwHJseEoAd4_cFT2qN14mDPUeMn5gElRoXq13DS2sUDvd51tlO9f7IauWX5keu-gxuawCvDCHn/s1600/michael-fassbender-hd-photo-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCBLA1fGwDnMOVk3_TD79IbHdVzrZXRCBxD7D470embI9FUfr_67C2TBAJjFqEjb-lDjwHJseEoAd4_cFT2qN14mDPUeMn5gElRoXq13DS2sUDvd51tlO9f7IauWX5keu-gxuawCvDCHn/s200/michael-fassbender-hd-photo-.jpg" width="149" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I only have two choices for Drake and I genuinely don't know which I prefer - Michael Fassbender and Ryan Gosling. Two very different (looking) actors but actors that can bring something compelling and real to the character of Nathan Drake.</span><b style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is the thing, I have always thought of Drake as a morally ambiguous protagonist. In fact, at times, I don't look at him as an antagonist at all. I have heard very strong arguments made that Drake is a villain and a mass murderer. But he is a charming son-of-a gun. That is why he is different to Indiana Jones.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V8ppFEuj6m6jtOzhoILhm-9u5FAzMRpAu6DDOotrq1BfLMmNiaIbHd2ioM23OdBzmSPSEVZhtKptyXJi29Rx_gc8MQzKz-jfT7qMIvgG5hXO2l08Gp6-oM6_MUWFGvBV81TivttxyJB7/s1600/MV5BMjAyMzI0NTU0NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODc0MjAwNQ@@._V1._SY314_CR11,0,214,314_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V8ppFEuj6m6jtOzhoILhm-9u5FAzMRpAu6DDOotrq1BfLMmNiaIbHd2ioM23OdBzmSPSEVZhtKptyXJi29Rx_gc8MQzKz-jfT7qMIvgG5hXO2l08Gp6-oM6_MUWFGvBV81TivttxyJB7/s200/MV5BMjAyMzI0NTU0NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODc0MjAwNQ@@._V1._SY314_CR11,0,214,314_.jpg" width="136" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I think there is a lot of complexity to Drake which only an actor at the top of their game could explore. I cannot think of two better than Michael and Ryan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have tried to not speak much about anything important within Uncharted 2, or the Uncharted world in general. I would hate to spoil this fantastic and unique video-game series for anybody.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Dive</a></span><br />
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-4593745155779556992013-07-26T04:32:00.000-07:002013-07-26T04:47:48.453-07:00Ode to Dolores Umbridge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilAiq3aEwqektiYVxtohq8KDoP9GRwFZvbQQK68RmQUib-RtzxU8k56fIiXg8bqJuANG9Sob07213_oYcb0qd40qbNfYTxHi_SP2BYiQQbEKnUEehLXW-u3RmKwwQcFmX0BRnR3hMKydX/s1600/Odfestudiohq_25252824252529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilAiq3aEwqektiYVxtohq8KDoP9GRwFZvbQQK68RmQUib-RtzxU8k56fIiXg8bqJuANG9Sob07213_oYcb0qd40qbNfYTxHi_SP2BYiQQbEKnUEehLXW-u3RmKwwQcFmX0BRnR3hMKydX/s400/Odfestudiohq_25252824252529.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I love villains in movies and literature. I have always
thought a bad guy says a lot about a film’s protagonist and to a certain
extent that film’s writers and directors. A poor villain can render a story
meaningless in my eye. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don’t think the Harry Potter series, book or film, gets a
proper bonafide superstar villain until Dolores Umbridge strolls into town with
her cats and her pink outfit. Now don’t get me wrong, I think Snape, the
Dursley and Wormtail are note-worthy, but it was only until this pint-size puff of pink
evil comes along when I realised how lacking those other villains were. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Order of the Phoenix is my least favourite Harry Potter
book. It’s the book that I found hardest to get through and I just didn’t think
it was as enjoyable as the rest. One of the biggest reasons for this was
Dolores Umbridge – she just rubbed me the wrong way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I found Dolores Umbridge a lot more unsettling that the
chief big-bad, Voldemort. Her main goal wasn't the stereotypical 'rule the world' arch; her main ambition was to suppress the soul in order to achieve conformity from young
people. To Umbridge creativity, curiosity
and resourcefulness in a student are a sin and this makes me shudder. The
extent to which she goes about draining those sins away from students was just
horrific to read.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Conversely, watching Dolores Umbridge in the film version of
Order of the Pheonix is a joy and all of the credit for that goes to Imelda
Staunton who is beyond brilliant in this movie. I have to say it again, she is
bloody brilliant in Order of the Phoenix. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now the fact that I couldn’t stand to read Phoenix because
of Umbridge isn’t a slight on Rowling, in my opinion it is a compliment but
what Imelda does to that character is root her in the real world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back when I was in secondary school there was a group of
friends who were so nasty and were such bullies but they walked around like
their shit didn’t stink. They were so far up the teachers’ ass and got away
with causing so much chaos that it is incredible to think about it now so many years on. What made them insufferable for me was how they interacted
with people, especially the folks they bullied – they used charm and sweetness.
They were super nice on the surface – all Ps and Qs and smiles and kisses and
high pitched greetings (think Alicia Silverstone’s Clueless). Pure fakeness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now I have seen this type of fakeness in a more subtly form within
the work place but Imelda’s take on Umbridge brings back the anger that I had
for those unique bullies back in school. Staunton got under my skin (see what I did there) so
much that I forgot that it was an actor playing a character and believed
Dolores to be an actual person. When an actor can make you feel-it-in-your-gut
then they have done a remarkable thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By the end of the film I wanted Umbridge to suffer. I felt
the same loathing that Harry and co felt and I realised that I haven’t come
close to feeling the same way about Voldemort – not in the films anyway. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Umbridge, in one film, shows more menace,
ability to cause horror and gave me more of a sense of dread than Voldemort does
in the whole series. I mean no disrespect to Ralph Fiennes who I feel does a
good job but I think what Umbridge shows is how woefully underdeveloped the big
V is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the horsey human creatures get a hold of Umbridge in the
end of Phoenix I wanted them to rip her to pieces – I wanted to see blood everywhere.
Tarantino style. The fact that I feel that way about a children’s film is the
biggest compliment I can pay Imelda Staunton and The Order of the Phoenix. She is nothing short of a wonder
in this film.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">The High Chocolate Professor, TeddyBear </a></span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-84960737301416862222013-07-24T15:06:00.000-07:002013-07-25T00:49:16.740-07:00Are the Harry Potter films important?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4q_GdbglB5x6TWOvok35_mZ0Iohu-sj45sM4_czh5y6VJhZGb10LEj7f8uxl_XoVBQtzNWfoYUzoMg6DBo44PNtzKiExzLzaF0zoJYWRkWh3tB6CE1ilRikI9M9xAPFvp1zgZofotLzUu/s1600/harry.potter.span_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4q_GdbglB5x6TWOvok35_mZ0Iohu-sj45sM4_czh5y6VJhZGb10LEj7f8uxl_XoVBQtzNWfoYUzoMg6DBo44PNtzKiExzLzaF0zoJYWRkWh3tB6CE1ilRikI9M9xAPFvp1zgZofotLzUu/s640/harry.potter.span_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a conversation that I have had for years within my hip-hop circle. How important are record sales. Now the purist will tell
you initial sales figures are not important at all. If an album is good enough it will eventually find an audience and live on for years to come. The classic
example of this is Nas' ‘Illnatic’, an album which would have been
considered a commercial flop on its release but is a piece of work that is
still influential to this day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But what of the blockbuster albums? Do we just disregard
them? I still contend to this day that you cannot ignore albums like ‘Please
Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘em’ or ‘To the Extreme’. I am not trying to say that the
Harry Potter film series are like the much ridiculed MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice
albums, but I do believe that us uppity film critics view them with the same embarrassment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think the Harry Potter films are some of the most
important, if not the most important British film series of our time and yes
the money they made are a big reason for why I say this. These films made a
stupid amount of money – a mind boggling amount. According to Box Office Mojo,
the average Harry Potter film made over 345 million dollars when adjusted for
inflation. Again, adjusted for inflation, these films made just under 3 billion
dollars. I am pretty sure that there are some countries out there that have
less money. These figures don't take into account how much money the
films made when they came out on DVD/Blu Ray/Digital.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why does the amount of money a film makes mean that it is
important? It is simply really, it is important because a lot of people must
have watched it – some even twice. A lot of the audience could have been kids
but a hell of a lot of them must have been grown ass adults. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And what I have found out about the Harry Potter films this
past year is that they are small part of bigger machine which seems to be
growing every year. There are the books, spin-off books, the toys, the video
games and now there is a studio tour of the sets. There film are not only feeding the fat cats but they probably have created jobs for hundreds, maybe thousands of normal people in the England in these tough economic times. Importantly these films kicked
off the career of many young British actors – damn, it made some of them millionaires.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And this empire is almost entirely British based. Why does
this matter? Every debate I have ever had about British cinema centres around
its impotency – the Harry Potter franchise (sorry) dispels this myth. You can
have a British idea and create a colossal money making machine out of it right
from these small islands and in my opinion that is a powerful message for any
young person wanting to go into the industry.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHdOHEqnrQBu7rRp7iXXYqp0a0HodIs78PKQqKkkO5AIqUiYTp0TzEvXojSVq1sxogrgelOSkRWAmbA7EQdP6yXZL6cY-gzz8v52ps0-Za7LKoNWDjMa6hxR6A7nKGXAhj4RmVOrSrsng/s1600/harry-potter-cast-and-jk-rowling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHdOHEqnrQBu7rRp7iXXYqp0a0HodIs78PKQqKkkO5AIqUiYTp0TzEvXojSVq1sxogrgelOSkRWAmbA7EQdP6yXZL6cY-gzz8v52ps0-Za7LKoNWDjMa6hxR6A7nKGXAhj4RmVOrSrsng/s320/harry-potter-cast-and-jk-rowling.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And speaking of young people, it can’t be underestimated how
many of them grew up with Harry Potter, either by book form or via film. I
remember my sisters and her friends being fanatical about this fictional wizard
and I also remember taking the mick out of them. Here I am almost a decade
later only discovering what they knew so many years ago. There is a generation
of ride-or-die Potterheads that consider these films to be a huge part of their
up-brining. Believe me, I know too many of them. They make Bieblers look like fans
of Simon and Garfield (that was that other bloke’s name, right? Or was that a cat?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The point is I feel pretty silly disregarding the whole
Potter-verse in my younger days. Nobody knows whether we will still be talking
about these 8 films in twenty years time. My humble guess is yes, these films
will still resonate in the future. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is probably not wise to compare these
films to the albums of corny hip-hop artist – maybe a better fit would be the
Swedish outfit Abba. They are camp and corny as all hell (I don’t think hell is
camp, hell is serious but I couldn’t be bothered to think of a better simile) but
deep down inside you know they are very good at what they do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">'Arry Bear</a></span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-3399868305202706822013-07-23T14:47:00.000-07:002013-07-23T14:47:42.156-07:00Harry Potter and the Chocolate Beef<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3pfqLCU0cDP5LJLeArsLmCmLNZNzHtkrf5KhMsP2cglimAJ-U4oIr1mUWT9rmUV6jZOI8F9V2ORPCwDL_ZmwBLnYZuwHqaWzua-NECLlDYtNj9fYxjTtcTkp_3_GfZcyzUXrwIsbZv02/s1600/harry-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3pfqLCU0cDP5LJLeArsLmCmLNZNzHtkrf5KhMsP2cglimAJ-U4oIr1mUWT9rmUV6jZOI8F9V2ORPCwDL_ZmwBLnYZuwHqaWzua-NECLlDYtNj9fYxjTtcTkp_3_GfZcyzUXrwIsbZv02/s320/harry-1.jpg" width="202" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is my second draft of this article. I felt like the
first one wasn’t really honest. The dishonesty in my initial take on Harry
Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone actually says a lot about the film and the mentality of 'Potter-heads'. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Philosopher’s Stone is not a good film and believe me it
pains me to say it. It isn’t a bad film, I've seen worse, but in my humble
opinion it isn’t even close to being a worthy adaptation of what I consider to
be a very good book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the problems I have with Philospher’s Stone is that it isn’t nearly dark
enough. Now I know it is aimed at children but frankly so are the books. The
imagery presented in the book just don’t translate to the screen. For example,
the forest scene where Harry sees Voldermolt drinking the blood of a unicorn is
devoid of any horror or tension. In the book, this section is fucking
frightening, so much so that it haunted me for weeks (don’t judge me). The same
can be said of the finale between Quirrell and Harry – the gasping horror
described in the book doesn’t marry with what is shown in the film, which is a
real shame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsivqBMZXlVDEIWdTiWm5FP5XD1iGLJ1T_dLxcGzTaXpvc85cWESHQr123kkRXWYYwAh6Fdf5_uU98CeMukLeMslUH5qbLfSf-NU1D-ulG-SxhlKEbasaEufW-pUrr83fiXr8zz1fkfcdg/s1600/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-ultimate-edition-20091209050519241-000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsivqBMZXlVDEIWdTiWm5FP5XD1iGLJ1T_dLxcGzTaXpvc85cWESHQr123kkRXWYYwAh6Fdf5_uU98CeMukLeMslUH5qbLfSf-NU1D-ulG-SxhlKEbasaEufW-pUrr83fiXr8zz1fkfcdg/s320/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-ultimate-edition-20091209050519241-000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another beef I have with the film is the special
effects. Now I admit this might be an unfair criticism because I am looking at
this film with 2013 eyes. The special effects in this film look terrible, so
bad at times that you just end up laughing. So bad that I started to play, spot
the video-game graphics (with that said, I thought the three headed dog looked
alright).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A film such as this was always going to hinge upon how well
they handled the extraordinary imagery and predictably they threw money and
pinned their hopes on the CGI. I mean, the effects are so bad they make Quidditch
appear as preposterous as it actually is (I grew to love Quidditch in the
books).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My biggest problem with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
is the acting. Now the film has a legitimate excuse to excuse the bad acting –
it’s full of kids. Daniel Radcliff was 11 at the time of shooting for crying
out loud, you can’t expect a kid to put in masterful performances. I sometimes
got the impression that I was watching a school play which isn’t a bad thing…
if it was actually a school play and not a multi-million pound endeavour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I thought the kid who played Malfoy was actually very good,
I hated the SOB (Tom Felton I think he’s called). I also think the film makes
an admirable attempt to disguise the bad acting by injecting the film with a
stellar adult British cast – best of all Alan Rickman who is bloody good in
this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you have read the book, chances are you will ignore the
bad in this film and just love the things it gets right. The set design in this
film is incredible and pretty much mirrors what I had in my mind while reading
the book. You get a warm feeling in your heart when you see Diagon Alley and
Hogwarts come to life in this film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That is why I wrote the first deferential article, making
all sorts of excuses for this film.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you haven’t read the books, then I wouldn’t recommend this
film at all. The first time I watched this film I absolutely hated it. It put
me off reading the books for years. You don’t understand the nuances, the
relationships and the complications in the film unless you read the books. In my
opinion, the fact that this film can't stand on its own two makes it even poorer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But who I’m I to talk? This film made zillions and spawned
seven sequels. Thankfully the series had some real hand on heart great films.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Master</a><a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank"> Bear of Slytherin </a></span><br />
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-91497543450784074532013-07-20T11:56:00.002-07:002013-07-21T05:10:02.329-07:00The other Python movies.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwFXE5Cd5hazqO521UGJDFkkgk0WtzDWanVn14kV336Qw85vdqtc3UD5jHn4x8NR1iIAAc0H8M87fyQZi3N_UlqTyBPBreMexC1VxIno_MPMdpMp63PuOjSdv1gOEiKv-OtFcNmcrxVWj/s1600/600full-and-now-for-something-completely-different-screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwFXE5Cd5hazqO521UGJDFkkgk0WtzDWanVn14kV336Qw85vdqtc3UD5jHn4x8NR1iIAAc0H8M87fyQZi3N_UlqTyBPBreMexC1VxIno_MPMdpMp63PuOjSdv1gOEiKv-OtFcNmcrxVWj/s640/600full-and-now-for-something-completely-different-screenshot.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After positively gushing over The Life of Brian, I wanted to
give my quick thoughts on the other three films they produced.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And now for something completely different.</span></b></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was the first Monty Python movie I’ve ever seen and it
must have done its job because after the first sketch (How not to be seen) I
was hooked. Consistently funny and on occasion belly achingly hilarious. As I’ve
said previously the <a href="http://chocolateteddyfilms.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/top-five-monty-python-moments.html" target="_blank">Dead Parrot sketch</a> is classic but there are some gems like, 'Marriage Councillor', 'Nudge Nudge', 'The Flasher', 'Girls in Bikinis' and 'The
Restaurant sketch'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Made entirely out of re-shot sketches from their television
series, it is because of this film that I have that said series in my Amazon
basket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Meaning of Life.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A brilliant film in the same vein as ‘something completely different’. A group of sketches held together by a simple
concept. I would say that this is Python’s Bad rather than their Thriller. They
have their ‘The way you make me feel’, ‘Dirty Diana’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’ in ‘Every
sperm is sacred’, ‘Zulu’ and ‘Sex Education’ scenes. There is also some duff
(aka ‘Just good friends’ to take the Michael Jackson analogy further), the fat man scene is disgusting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Holy Grail.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then there is The Holy Grail. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t get it at all. I didn’t think
it was funny. Ironically, I thought it was just... silly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yet, I’ve spoken to a lot of people who swear by this film,
who think it is a masterpiece worth mentioning in the same sentence as The Life
of Brian. I personally give these people the side eye.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Python</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0tQkszOV-lbeTfEIuBLWpuuqbLSN6vLaNDu3VLkJpMl91mvZxB13_yrBdv7AwRIC7gHEbXYAjelJD2ohg3dJrGy5u62ZdpNy8EfARy8mDougVgl6DS8zj7D4RddGHdEHzyx-gR1g2E2w5/s1600/The-Meaning-of-Life-monty-python-17864160-852-480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0tQkszOV-lbeTfEIuBLWpuuqbLSN6vLaNDu3VLkJpMl91mvZxB13_yrBdv7AwRIC7gHEbXYAjelJD2ohg3dJrGy5u62ZdpNy8EfARy8mDougVgl6DS8zj7D4RddGHdEHzyx-gR1g2E2w5/s640/The-Meaning-of-Life-monty-python-17864160-852-480.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-71237414837583414322013-07-17T13:20:00.000-07:002013-07-17T13:27:26.500-07:00The Godfather's Peer: The Life of Brian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWcau6dOfnsu3bWiIUN2r6Uhjozk_eTNoe0h1YsFt7CM2J7U8_vNS1pRiLcVoMM_t8IAXDPAVJ1KOGbknRybPXljohSsc_16J70-4pnRsXM4q35m0XuDstMg8iKRWiXjpwXKEhDQnr9b_/s1600/life_of_brian_1358087c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWcau6dOfnsu3bWiIUN2r6Uhjozk_eTNoe0h1YsFt7CM2J7U8_vNS1pRiLcVoMM_t8IAXDPAVJ1KOGbknRybPXljohSsc_16J70-4pnRsXM4q35m0XuDstMg8iKRWiXjpwXKEhDQnr9b_/s640/life_of_brian_1358087c.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I believe that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is the
most perfect film. Everything about The Godfather is to my mind exquisite. It is
both personal and epic in scope. It has nothing but brilliant acting
performances throughout, especially that of Al Pacino. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had a suspicion that The Godfather was special after the
first scene in the Don’s home office. That suspicion was confirmed during
Michael Corleone’s sit down with Sollozzo and McCluskey. This film left me with
a thrill going up my leg (word to Chris Matthews). I get that feeling every
single time I watch this film - it never ever goes away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I first saw The Godfather when I was 15 years old and for
over a decade I haven’t seen anything like it or anything that has come close
to giving me that thrill, that awe-inspiring feeling that I will unlikely
forget. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That was until I watched The Life of Brian.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfpcttf_YxC7faaFjhmM1F-2hobM3Xgpq61mA2YRzONlLvntE0XvE0mEr9AmQ3eH4rk1K2l2Rn9BvC52sIXl9miGNtNbWhrL61cSTvDgPiKoLzPqfUKsF8457YmcIufYyj-Ge55d0oXBkx/s1600/Chapman_as_Brian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfpcttf_YxC7faaFjhmM1F-2hobM3Xgpq61mA2YRzONlLvntE0XvE0mEr9AmQ3eH4rk1K2l2Rn9BvC52sIXl9miGNtNbWhrL61cSTvDgPiKoLzPqfUKsF8457YmcIufYyj-Ge55d0oXBkx/s320/Chapman_as_Brian.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Life of Brian is a truly outstanding film and it is a
film that I have been unable to stop thinking about for two months. I compare
it to The Godfather for one simple reason, it is a pure joy to watch and that
feeling that you are watching something pure hasn’t dissolved
in my six views of the movie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Brian ultimately has a harder job than Coppola’s classic to
succeed simply because it is a comedy. <a href="http://chocolateteddyfilms.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/in-defence-of-hangover-2.html" target="_blank">As I have said before on this blog,comedy is a hard genre to get right because everyone’s taste in comedy is a uniquely personal thing. </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But Brian is a brilliantly funny, thoughtful and surprisingly
epic film. There is also stuff in this film that is just jaw droppingly
genius but difficult to fathom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a section in this movie where Graham Chapman’s Brian is being chased
by Centurions after he has escaped from Palin’s Pilot. Brian is chased to the
top of the exceedingly tall building where he has no choice but to jump to his
death. Out of nowhere an alien spaceship cushions his fall, while it is itself being
chased. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is something mad about this bit and although I didn’t laugh
during the first few showing I noticed that I had a silly grin on my face (I was told in fact). I consider
myself to be a creative person but not in a million years would I think of that
scene and even if I did I wouldn’t have the balls to include it in the film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I feel that this scene perfectly encapsulates the wonder of
The Life of Brian. Barmy but brilliant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That’s not to say that the alien scene is the crème-de-la-crème
of this film, it is not. It’s not even close in fact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Life of Brian is jam packed with belly achingly funny moments
and is as quotable as anything movie I have ever seen – including The Godfather.
From the ‘big nose’ scene, to the public stoning – from the confusion about the
name of the rebel movement (People’s front of Judea?), Bigus Dickus and the
crucifixion walk - this film brings the funny. It is actually scary to
think about how many near classic comedy moments there are in this one film. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is interesting because all of the scenes feel like
improvised sketches yet the film works very well as a coherent story. Each
scene shows the Python at their best, taking a situation to its extreme
silliness without compromising the film (yes, I'm talking about the same film with aliens).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was also surprised about how quickly I got used to the
Pythons playing multiple characters. Unlike other films I have seen this done,
it doesn’t pull you out of the movie – you rarely notice it. It’s actually
important to state how very well acted this film is. Every single character
from almost every Python is well played (I just didn’t love Jone’s Mother
character). Graham does a fantastic job anchoring the whole film as Brian, the voice of reason.
Idle is underused in my opinion but is wonderful whenever he appears. Cleese would have stolen the show with his numerous character, best of all the Centurion,
if it wasn’t for Palin’s masterful display. And I mean every single one of
Palin’s characters in this film are masterful - including the ex-Leper. Palin
is a genius. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I really don’t want to talk about religion because I think
that subject matter is a distraction that takes away a lot of the good about
this film – so let me get back to the comparisons with The Godfather.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like 1972 classic, I fell head over heels in love with The Life
of Brian from just one sitting. Unlike Inception, The Life of Brian seems to
get better after each watch. I am extremely proud that this is a British film.
It has shown me that you really don’t need an extraordinary amount of money to
make something epic and grand and thoughtful and everlasting – you just need
ambition and imagination. And let’s not kid ourselves, you need a god given
talent because these six men were/are special.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Life of Brian is now my second favourite film of all time. I
still don’t think it is as good as The Godfather but it certainly deserves to
be mentioned in the same breathe and in my life that is a mind blowing achievement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Mania</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oh, and then there is the ending </span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-57281802356202456102013-07-16T11:46:00.000-07:002013-07-16T11:47:31.382-07:00The Beatles of British Comedy: My Top five Monty Python Moments<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzs5ZS230xyJwVV9sbc_iGuOVLkzoBt13fxtnXaEXgDa28_NiT6kjEUH7w6NoXAtqm6BuWBNQCwGPKBHdMmuSoVt-_1kOYZhfBluOgTid7CZ6mSKflXZoj_1sbZZGca2UXZM8Kq60pwVm/s1600/montypython.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzs5ZS230xyJwVV9sbc_iGuOVLkzoBt13fxtnXaEXgDa28_NiT6kjEUH7w6NoXAtqm6BuWBNQCwGPKBHdMmuSoVt-_1kOYZhfBluOgTid7CZ6mSKflXZoj_1sbZZGca2UXZM8Kq60pwVm/s640/montypython.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I fall in love, I’m all in. That is exactly what I've done with this group of six legends. The term legends and the meaning of the
word seems inadequate when I’m describing Monty Python. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have only been a fan for two months. I'm 26 years old for crying out loud. Yet for the past two months I have been constantly thinking about their films, judging those films, comparing them to other comedy films and other genres films. Most of them (I'm looking at you Holy Grail) are exceptional. I have become obsessed. I've tried to watch as much Monty Python videos as I can on Youtube, but it is not enough to quench my thirst.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm trying to work out why I've been so floored. I think it has something to do with me not expecting to be so won over. So completely and utterly won over. Prior to two months ago, I had heard of the Python - Terry Gilliam is one of my favourite directors (Brazil and 12 Monkeys), I grew up on Fawlty Towers, I thought Palin was a fucking travel show presenter and had heard 'Look on the Bright Side of Life' at a number of variety shows. Monty Python were present in my life but never as a unit. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As a unit, as a collective, Monty Python are nothing short of Beatle-esc. Genre defining artists. Originators. Masters of the complicated silly sketch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I haven't even seen their TV show.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have felt compelled to do a Python week. They deserve it.
So to kick things off here are my 5 favourite Monty Python moments. Just to be
clear, this was extremely hard to do. This was not easy. I have left out the
Black Knight bit from Holy Grail, 'How not to be seen' sketch and the Child Birth scene. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was not
easy.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">5 - Blasphemy</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Growing up in a religious household, this moment from 'Life of Brian' spoke to me. It perfectly encapsulates how ultimately silly religion is. A man has been sentenced to death by stoning for saying 'Jehovah' and the stoning is mostly witnessed by a group of women posing as men in beards. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is so simple but I can't think of how I would ever think of something similar. I think this ability to think of simple silly situations is why Python rise above the rest. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">4 - Growth and Learning</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An otherwise strict disciplinarian school master (Cleese) teachers sex education to a class in an all boys school. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This sketch, again, shows the genius of Monty Python - they took this sketch a step further than I thought they would. If I am honest, this part of 'The Meaning of Life' started off feeling boring (the school is in an assembly with the school master and Palin's priest) but what I didn't understand until the end of this section was that they were setting you up.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3 - Dead Parrot and Lumberjack</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was really hard not to put this sketch at number one. It's bloody genius in every single way. Again, it is... yes, simple. But there is an eloquent beauty to this sketch and all credit has to go to Cleese. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Funnily enough, soon after seeing this sketch I saw a dead bird in my in-laws garden and I couldn't help but quote this sketch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Youtube tells me that there is more than one version of this sketch and even after reviewing the alternatives I still prefer the one on 'completely different'. This is down to Palin's Lumberjack bit which had/has me in tears.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2 - Every Sperm</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This sketch blew me away. It is deceptively smart in the subject matters that it is trying to address but scathingly funny in its content. Religion, class, unemployment, north vs south...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stupidly funny but surprisingly thoughtful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is also ridiculously ambitious. They go all out for the gag on this one and it pays off. The scale of this sketch makes it even more hilarious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After watching this sketch I thought to myself about how I thought Palin was a travel presenter. He is a genius with comic timing like I have never seen before.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1 - Bigus Dickus</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's Palin again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can't even comprehend how simple (yes I know) this damn joke is. In fact, I am convinced that there is nothing at all simple about it. Only geniuses make it look simple.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bigus Dickus is funny in whatever context, at whatever age. People might consider it toilet humour but Python make it appear luxury.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I mean, they are making a Latin joke about the term big dick. I really don't know why it is this funny - but it is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the scene which made me fall in love with Python. After this scene, I was there's forever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/2K8_jgiNqUc/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/2K8_jgiNqUc&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/2K8_jgiNqUc&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ultimately, for me it must have been a race thing. I must have disregarded Python because I thought it was white homour. Too white for me to even consider - but I have seen Head of State and all the Friday sequels (*Kanye Shrug).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I beg anyone who hasn't seen a Monty Python product to go to Amazon and order the box-set of their films. It doesn't even cost that much. Less than £12 for crying out loud.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />It changed my life. I know I say that a lot, but I will never be the same man again now I have the Python in my life (no homo?).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Cleese</a> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHMo7nha11myx65EOxA1PPtYGpeyUDCWdQ3nxuo-qbOpzHTX1W6Lyfpe8zG6M_iv3uQmZmE-i08aZXZl9LCt5TrOglTPnkfzwsYsLHg5ebcX7oCTuguVObCK3c-BOh9MloY-HyIgKAF-S/s1600/monty-python-5023bd28a513c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHMo7nha11myx65EOxA1PPtYGpeyUDCWdQ3nxuo-qbOpzHTX1W6Lyfpe8zG6M_iv3uQmZmE-i08aZXZl9LCt5TrOglTPnkfzwsYsLHg5ebcX7oCTuguVObCK3c-BOh9MloY-HyIgKAF-S/s640/monty-python-5023bd28a513c.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-83954199930127802452013-07-15T01:06:00.000-07:002013-07-15T01:06:13.599-07:00Alternative: iHero review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphX6Vvq7SzBt8ZG4XjLspu1m-AiY7DZnDQCvKtcHPcL_3VRKToMg5lE7AWz_f0rIaF2flum5YgtSQoB6R1A4mgDNniqaizALFqUaB-1jfb5wZLvBfvdbRMDvYM_XZLs2wm7fySLlexvrf/s1600/ihero.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphX6Vvq7SzBt8ZG4XjLspu1m-AiY7DZnDQCvKtcHPcL_3VRKToMg5lE7AWz_f0rIaF2flum5YgtSQoB6R1A4mgDNniqaizALFqUaB-1jfb5wZLvBfvdbRMDvYM_XZLs2wm7fySLlexvrf/s400/ihero.png" width="315" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After last week’s
British film week I am convinced that there is a misconception about the lack of
talent on this little Island. Although I chose three films to cover, I had an (damn near) endless list of movies I could have picked to feature during the
week. The truth is Britain is brimming with talent and ideas that could easily
make its way onto the small screen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One such example of talent is our very own <a href="http://lukejameshalsall.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Doctor Batman,aka Luke Halsall</a>. Along with studying the classics of comics, he also happens
to be a comic writer himself. He and artist Graeme Kennedy have just released
their new project, iHero.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What grabbed me straight away about iHero is the concept. At
first thought it is utterly ridiculous. An electronic gadget that gives its
wearer the super-powers of their choice? Word? But those reservations are quickly diminished
when you see how well this idea is realised and then you start to kick yourself
for not thinking of it first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What I loved most about this comic, apart from the idea and
the writing, is that there are quirky references everywhere - deep-down geeky
references (I got a slight whiff of Watchmen reading this). You can tell that
this thing was put together not only by people that understood comics but
people that love the medium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The only blemish that I would put against iHero is its art.
This is nothing against Mr Kennedy, I am just one of those readers that prefer
a certain type of art to my comics. I am sure others will dig it just fine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This first issue sends out one clear message to my mind.
There is a wealth of world class story telling talent in this country. The well
is deep and I hope someone with a lot of money and influence taps into it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can get your copy of iHero from: <a href="http://www.orcomics.com/component/option,com_rokquickcart/Itemid,31/view,rokquickcart/">http://www.orcomics.com/component/option,com_rokquickcart/Itemid,31/view,rokquickcart/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Follow Doctor Batman on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/ljhalsall" target="_blank">@LJHalsall</a></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p>Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5181949461195951178.post-58522967339658959532013-07-11T11:38:00.000-07:002013-07-11T11:39:18.968-07:00This is a Great British Film, Fam. Believe!<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzYJZ-LUVwOzs2RWUUlk6kXiQvxz14B7-QvrwDRVnPMTS86yxnKY2QjNK3LD4Picj9dB5Bu8t6pdNJGhu2NEdSALktxJaEsS9FHHv2FDN0LXIEOyHhd1aEqnVghLGH1zWf_cReMfg_fn4/s1600/Simon+Howard+UK+Premiere+Attack+Block+adTUD_TjZ3bl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzYJZ-LUVwOzs2RWUUlk6kXiQvxz14B7-QvrwDRVnPMTS86yxnKY2QjNK3LD4Picj9dB5Bu8t6pdNJGhu2NEdSALktxJaEsS9FHHv2FDN0LXIEOyHhd1aEqnVghLGH1zWf_cReMfg_fn4/s640/Simon+Howard+UK+Premiere+Attack+Block+adTUD_TjZ3bl.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Attack the Block is a modern British classic. I knew
it from the moment the credits started to roll. What Joe Cornish managed to
produce was, in my opinion, something very special indeed. Yet my anecdotal
experience tells me Attack the Block is barely liked by the non-critic
community. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have always wondered why this was? Why don’t we ever
speak about Attack the Block like we do Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz? I think
the simple answer to this question is that Block is too real. I don’t believe
Attack the Block is a parody like the Edgar Wright films – Attack the Block is
a straight batting film about friends from a council block that happens to be
in the middle of an alien attack.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ju_nWublWP4YnCxcz-F4z18q84ikDh00IXF3yUs1F3pAVGt77mwHmtWk8jZAM7wrqXZo-Oiq029xhXqVfwjeP8A4L8JJKqV3Hw5jEmls5f4IDceQWRJ7-QyGXKCPlEB5Wt5rrBR8Uzsz/s1600/Attack-the-Block-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ju_nWublWP4YnCxcz-F4z18q84ikDh00IXF3yUs1F3pAVGt77mwHmtWk8jZAM7wrqXZo-Oiq029xhXqVfwjeP8A4L8JJKqV3Hw5jEmls5f4IDceQWRJ7-QyGXKCPlEB5Wt5rrBR8Uzsz/s320/Attack-the-Block-007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you have ever lived on a council estate, you’ll know
that too much of Attack the Block rings true. It is difficult for me to think of
any recent British film that understood what life is like on an estate like
this one. The first thing that they got right is the utter and complete boredom
the characters feel. A lot of the things that kids do on an estate stems from boredom,
first and foremost - even criminal activity. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A white female friend told me (who may or may not
now be my fiancée) that it is because Moses and his gang attacked Jodi Whittaker’s
Sam that she couldn’t relate to the film at all. I understand where she is
coming from, what Sam experiences at the start of this film must be traumatic
but I believe it is crucial to this film. It is crucial because it shows that
this film isn’t afraid of being honest or politically incorrect. It knows the
stats about black crime in deprived neighbourhoods and it is not afraid to
speak about those issues openly. I respect that.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It also goes on to show the behind Pest and crew’s braggadocios
exterior there is (not in all cases) some scandalous parenting situation. These
kids, in my opinion, are neglected by adults that don’t care where they are or don’t
know and make no effort to find out (which is the same as the former in my
opinion).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A lot of criticism is also given out to the language or,
more accurately, broken English used in this film. To that I say, that’s the
way they speak in the endz, innit? (I’ll get my coat...fam.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNvY3UwvB8R4ECoQLj5XNUSZHKhVAWqheuQeo41TgIMPZsyX3Axja5U0vDJVXqXK_cembxCgr7yi0y9D73kLHQCQPdInc0PRG5wWWqv7rxlZbZueZYHbJVFRtlX4Na5Xr0pcMXwqr1eL6/s1600/attack_the_block_6d51f1d82aadc88187abfb002b24076b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNvY3UwvB8R4ECoQLj5XNUSZHKhVAWqheuQeo41TgIMPZsyX3Axja5U0vDJVXqXK_cembxCgr7yi0y9D73kLHQCQPdInc0PRG5wWWqv7rxlZbZueZYHbJVFRtlX4Na5Xr0pcMXwqr1eL6/s320/attack_the_block_6d51f1d82aadc88187abfb002b24076b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the middle of this deep social commentary, there is a
hell of a film that breaks out. What always gets me about this film is how
hilariously funny and how dark it is – <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/sep/17/attack-block-arthur-cedar-review" target="_blank">forget what Kermode says</a>. This is where
the comparisons to Shaun of the Dead are apt. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve known a Pest in my life time
and every time Alex Esmail is on screen, for me he steals the show.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A lot of credit also has to go to the lead John Bayega
who holds this film together like an actor twice his age.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After robbing Sam and being attacked by aliens Pest has
this conversation with the nurse in her recently battered home:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span class="character">“Pest</span>:
You're quite fit you know? Have you got a boyfriend?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span class="character">Sam</span>: Yeah.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span class="character">Pest</span>: You sure about him? Where is he? Cos
he ain't exactly lookin' out for you tonight.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don’t know why, but that always has me in fits. This is
an exceptionally funny and intelligent film about a group of British people
that get a bad rep. I love this film because it leaves me with the impression that
if given a chance, the scary kids on the block could be heroes... blud.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> <a href="mailto:mrctbear@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chocolate Man</a></span></span></div>
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Mr Chocolate Teddybearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730135075117989289noreply@blogger.com