Solitude 

I recently decided it was time to upgrade my phone, since my previous phone was starting to fail me in several ways (i.e. the battery was fecked). So I opted for the Nokia N95. (Note: if you’ve ever had my mobile number, it’s still the same. I haven’t changed it since my first phone.)

I had a couple of good reasons for making this choice. First, after my last phone, I’m a big fan of Nokia phones and the Symbian OS. Everything nice I said about my previous phone still applies, but I can now appreciate features like the active desktop style interface a bit more. It had always annoyed me that the screen you get upon unlocking a mobile is near enough useless; basically, a glorified splash screen. Nokia S60 phones are different: switch on active standby and you get 5 icons on your desktop which are shortcuts into your favourite programs (customisable). As well as that, you get the next few events from your calendar displayed clearly and prominently, plus the next items on your to-do list. That’s exactly how it should be, the most important info clearly displayed.

Another major selling point of the N95 is the camera. The previous camera I had was only 1.2 megapixels and performed poorly in all but the best light conditions. My new phone has a 5 megapixel chip, a much better lens, and a two stage auto-focus, which helps the camera pick out the best lighting conditions.

There are plenty of other nice little features (wifi, visual radio, enough oomph for 3D games) but what does it get wrong?

1. It breaks the Nokia charger standard. Every Nokia phone I’ve ever seen used a standard charger, making it easy to find a spare if you’re away from home. The N95 uses a much slimmer charger. Not good.
2. The battery life. With great new features, comes great power consumption. If you don’t use the bigger features you get a fairly standard charge for a modern phone (2 days+). If you hammer the features, you could easily wipe it in half a day.
3. It came with Moby as the standard track. It’s not 1999, and I’m not doing a car advert, thanks.

Other than that, I’m very happy with it. Highly recommended.

With this August entry, I’m back up to speed, after the delays for the previous few months.

First up, The Hoax is a strange tale about an author that decided to fake Howard Hughes’ auto-biography while the reclusive billionaire was at his peak. Richard Gere has never been better than here, as the self-interested writer who will do whatever it takes to become huge. As his plan unravels, he keeps digging, coming up with more bizarre solutions. An excellent take on a bizarre idea which is, apparently, true.

No-one was expecting much from a sequel to the family comedy Bruce Almighty, especially with Jim Carrey replaced by the usually more adult Steve Carrell, and Evan Almighty does nothing to beat those expectations. If anything this film is more preachy and less funny than its predecessor. I’m sure kids would lap it up, but there’s little here for the grown-ups.

Finally, to finish Robert Ludlum’s trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum casts Matt Damon as the man who can weaponise just about anything in his pursuit for the truth, Jason Bourne. The set-up is relatively simple (a journalist is fed information about Bourne, and Bourne works with him to find out how he became what he is), but brings together a number of great action sequences. This, as with the rest of the series, is a masterclass in how to do action sequences; keeping it near the boundaries of plausible while still spectacular enough to warrant viewing. The plot wraps up more neatly than might be expected too.

I’m a little torn this month, but I think The Bourne Ultimatum edges it over The Hoax because there are so few action films that can get away with not having “action” as an excuse for lazy cinema.

July’s cinema selection was a fairly mixed bag.

After 12 years of waiting, Die Hard 4.0 finally makes an appearance. You mostly get what you expect with this one: a bunch of action sequences held together by a somewhat ridiculous plot, some over the top villians with questionable motives, and John Mclane killing everyone. You get that all here, but it’s all a bit too ridiculous, too over the top. If you can switch your brain to off, then you can enjoy it. Otherwise, this may be a bit wide of the mark.

Having only seen Glengarry Glen Ross recently, it was a pleasure to see another film by the same playwright, David Mamet. Edmond is about a man who loses his place in the world and goes about trying to find it amongst the seediest parts of New York. Surprisingly dark in tone, this film doesn’t hold back in its vision of the terrible things people can justify to themselves. Superbly shot, with exceptional dialogue, the one caveat being that it’s origins as a play are fairly apparent, Edmond is an excellent film. Highly recommended.

The Simpsons Movie is what most people expected, a long episode of the series. Thankfully, though, it would be an episode from one of the later single-digit seasons. While not as good as the earlier episodes, it doesn’t degenerate as far as the later series which were almost entirely variations on “The Simpsons go to [insert place and vaguely racist jokes here]” or “Homer works as [something stupidly unlikely and unfunny here]“. Although the best joke was spoiled by the trailer, there are still enough set-ups here to make it worth seeing.

Finally, Transformers is Hollywood at its very worst: crass, loud, brainless, and without style. If it had been two hours of robots fighting, I could have gotten behind that. If it had been built-up with any tact, that’d been fine. Instead we’re treated to an episode of Dawson’s Creek, numerous advertisements, some terrible comic relief, and more plot holes than I’ve seen in any other film in recent times. Even the few action sequences on offer are merely perfunctory. I mean, no-one should’ve been expecting a masterpiece here, but if the action scenes aren’t up to much (they’re either mostly off-screen or a blurry mess), then what is the point? The film is almost entirely without merit.

The obvious winner this month is Edmond.