Solitude 

And a second list of quotes appeared and it was not quite as good as the first list, but was still reasonably entertaining. It also made for excellent blog filler.

The second quote list.

Yar, it be another Talk Like A Pirate Day (well it will be in 45 minutes). Which, of course, means a very minor redesign.

As the lack of posts around here lately probably show, I’ve been very busy for the last few months. It’s been ages since I’ve had both the time and energy to write something worthwhile. The last series (about my hometown) probably wasn’t worthwhile, and I wrote literally months ago for a posting drought like this. Oh well. After going to Edinburgh for most weekends in August (ah, the fringe), the usual bunch of September flatwarmings (spread over no less than 7 cities this year), and various other things during the week (my job being one of them), things seem to be quieting down.

If I say here that I’m going to release my first Greasemonkey script soon and that I’ll finally write up my fourth year project, then I may actually begin work on either. Or then again, it might be another quiet spell. We shall see.

This month’s film fight is another full four-way.

First, we have Tim Burton’s remake of the classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Where to start? The vision of Willy Wonka is nowhere near as strong as the original. Where Gene Wilder was a magical, musical, but weary showman, Depp is a slightly disturbed and frightened boy who never really grew up. It seems that the modern take on the story had to include parental issues, rather than just being tired of a world that doesn’t care for the joys in life. It’s still enjoyable, and has some absolutely hilarious moments, it seems a little sad that the point has been missed.

Comedy comes in the form of The Wedding Crashers. A double team of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson meet a fairly dysfunctional family at a wedding and hilarity ensues (yes, it can be summed up that glibly). It is, however, excellent. So many spot-on comic moments, and so many perfectly played characters, including Christopher Walken’s family figure/senator.

As mindless trashy entertainment, The Island is a strong film. Take it any more seriously than that and it all falls apart, with plotholes everywhere, terrible acting, bad plot devices, terrible direction, stuff that just doesn’t make sense etc.

Finally, in Crash we have manipulative and stereotyped attempt at producing an indie film feel with a bunch of Hollywood A-list actors. While it does ask some interesting questions, it does come off as a bit convenient, rather than clever, that all the characters intersect one another.

The winner this month, then, is Wedding Crashers.

P.S. If this seems a bit rushed, it’s because it was.

P.P.S. I’m probably not going to do a music post for August. In September, buy the new Reuben album. They’re the best British band in decades.