Part 3: Revenge of the Investment

This is blog three and frankly really overdue as I’d intended to write this after having seen Potter 7 part 1 and just put it off and off why? Who knows maybe laziness or possibly only about 4 people read the article (get the violins out) or because I think of things to write about that sound good then I utterly forget to jot them down to refer to so I end up writing rubbish but I shall preserver.

So why is my blog title sound like I’m talking finances ? Well whilst watching the new Potter flick with a varied bunch of work friends I got to thinking about just how long ago it was when we first saw Harry, Ron and Hermione getting into trouble and learning just the right spell at the right time as the one who must not be named slowly gathers power to ruin all their fun. Now let me say I’ve not read the books (but Santa is ment to be fixing this) but am a fan of the movies so I can’t compare the two but what I can say is I’ve invested the best part of a decade watching all these characters grow up have their first kiss have to deal with death all things we as humans go through so we can relate now I’d call that an investment wouldn’t you? Once the film had finished (and for me who hasn’t read the films on a bit of a cliff hanger) came away thoroughly happy with what I’d seen. It wasn’t until a couple of people I’d seen it with commented that a lot of the movie was just three kids wondering the countryside, which in effect is true about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows pt1 but whilst they saw this as a negative I didn’t possibly I’m just trying to justify the franchise as a whole or maybe because I have invested so must time over the years I just enjoyed seeing the characters again. The film seemed very focused on the relationship triangle of Harry, Ron and Hermione and just how far they’ve come to the point of breaking, this in itself was a great watch for me but again maybe I’m just making excuses for myself.

When I got home I started thinking about other films or shows I watch and just how important the characters are to not just the success of the show but enjoyment of it. A good example of this is an anime I watch called Bleach which has just hit 301 episodes of which I have seen every one even the filler (crappy non-canon story arcs designed to fill when main canon is still being animated) which calculates to about 7224 minutes of a show, god only knows what I might of achieved in that time that would of been of actual use to me it doesn’t bare thinking about.

However I’ve got to 301 and without trying to ruin anything for anyone who might go away and look this show up the big bad villain has just transformed into this uber powerful version of himself and three of my favourite characters are having to combine efforts to even try and slow him down whilst the protagonist Ichigo is having the worst case of self doubt ever. Now what I’ve just typed is going to mean nothing to pretty much any one who reads this however I invested over 7000 minutes of my free time to see Kisue Urahara (my personal favourite character) finally get to the nitty gritty and fight the big bad boss so when he did I was so into it I was cheering and screaming “oh no he didn’t” because that is what I’ve been wanting to see. Bleach isn’t just about one character in fact it very cleverly juggles a vast cast of characters almost all of which (filler aside) I like for one reason or another even the bad guys I like because they are just so evil their not annoying or just someone to push the narrative along they are all in it for their own greedy selfish sometimes tragic reasons, it’s a great show.

I guess what I’m getting at is if you invest in a character or characters you like or admire or just think are a bad ass mutha’ ( I <3 Kiskue) then what does it matter if they are wondering around the countryside or they take 7000 minutes of T.V time to cut lose you’ve put the time in so just enjoy it; then again if Harry doesn’t start pwning things in Deathly Hollows pt2 I’ll have to open a can of Kiskue on someone’s ass.

See you SpaceCowboys

Episode Two: Attack of the Reboots

Now before I start yes I know in my Introduction I didn’t mention writing about reboots as such, and I know by the time this makes it to the world wide web it’ll seem like i missed my ideal slot as Predators is now a week or two old, and yes I also realise I’ve failed to give my thoughts of the new call of duty and I’ve decided not to get Kinect due to space issues as my room is the size of a large shopping trolley (which makes me a sad panda) I’ve been too busy playing Black ops to write about any of this gaming related dilemma regarding Kinect and I probably won’t write about Black Ops till it gets patched so it can be played bug free.

And now for something completely different :

Right so what the hell is it with the trend Hollywood (and more recently the games industry too) with the word reboot (what a T.V show that was go Google it) and the obsession with scrapping a franchise only to start it up again 18 months down the line? I can understand it to some degree, you make a bad film (Fantastic 4) or bad films (both fantastic 4’s) then later realise no one liked either of them and then intend to re-launch from the beginning and try and do a better job which is the sticking point for me; why not just strive for a better film to begin with? Are we all so short sighted that we can’t see what will and won’t work for a film. Why spend all that money on a project only to realise they should of done it all differently to begin with; maybe its just out of pure stubbornness of a filmmaker or pressure from a studio to make sure key elements such as a an actor or popular character are included only to realise after the fact that the current “it” actor isn’t suitable just because they are what’s in right now, take Spider-Man 3 for example now being rebooted for a 2012 release.

Spider-Man after Batman is one of my favourite super hero’s because the guy takes so much punishment from such an awesome array of villains and keeps getting up but why the hell did Spider-Man 3 suck so hard which as mentioned already has now led to a 2012 reboot? The premise of the film was pretty good but why was so many things and characters just crowbared into a single film; well the way I heard it was studio interference I don’t know that for a fact before anyone says other wise but it wouldn’t surprise me. Sam Raimi has always liked the Sandman character hence why he was in the film but many fans expected Venom even demanded it and so the studio “encouraged” Raimi to include him so they broke out the emergency crowbar and got to work. See I’m ranting now but Spider-Man is a great example of how a franchise could well of carried on but now we have to go through all the how Spidey got his groove (back) and whilst I’m sure the film will be good are we all going to have to re-watch Spidey’s origin story every 8 or 10 years?

Thinking about it comic book characters are particularly susceptible to the reboot formula but lately Horror films seem to get constantly rebooted all the time too first Halloween which I’ve not seen but I ask others and hear very varied opinions of Rob Zombie’s attempt to breath fresh life into a stagnant beast which is at least commendable I guess but then what on paper at least is a good idea soon generates copycats, Friday the 13th and most recently Nightmare on Elm street. I can’t speak for good ol’ Vorhees but at least they tried something with Krueger making the film dark minus the cheesy humour (which many argue was the point of Freddy) but it wasn’t a bad idea trying to give that franchise some much needed credibility although the dull tone to all the big kill scenes really left me wanting and I don’t really like horror films.

But I’m digressing again what I’m trying to say in a “lets go all the way round the fudgin’ mountain” is that rebooting is a good thing when used responsibly there just seems to be far too much of it going round or maybe it's just me making things up to type about for you all to not read. On the flip side Predators (which I’m not even sure counts as a reboot) is freakin’ sweet and if anyone is reading this and loved Predator or Predator 2 must watch it even if its just for Laurence Fishburne’s crazy survivor character even if it was short lived. As I type this I’m also watching Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and am really impressed but again puzzled by the need for an American remake (but as its Fincher I’ll end up giving it a go) but I guess remakes and reboots aren’t quiet the same so I won’t start a second rant but I guess if an English speaking version of the film with a more recognisable cast helps make a good story more accessible I guess it’s ok or maybe more people should allow themselves to be more open to the unfamiliar (ooooh burn on subtitlephobes)  and with that I shall step down from my soapbox for tonight I doubt I’ve actually raised any real interesting points but I feel a bit better about typing it so it’s not a total loss and with that moment of self pity I bid you farewell.

See you SpaceCowboys (has anyone Googled this yet?)

Entry numero uno ! The blog has landed (sort of)

Ok so this is essentially the start of my personal endeavour to push my thoughts and opinions onto my friends and complete strangers alike, more than likely I’ll lose interest in a few weeks and this blog will die a lonely horrible death but until then I guess I should explain a few things so allow me to take a deep breath…………and lets get started.

Right I’ll start by trying to explain about what exactly I’m likely to post and talk about and a little about myself to try and add some context. Ok so I’m an avid player of video games and love watching movies so I’m mostly going to be complaining about a film I saw or raving about the new call of duty. As for me I work for a film and game retailer in England (not sure of the legal ramifications of dropping a name right now) so I’ve got all my bases covered as far as games and films go (especially the discount part) my problem as my colleagues often point out is I talk too much about these things so hopefully starting a blog will allow me to channel my madness a little bit. Be warned now though I am not a professional of any description and anything I write here is strictly my opinion or is going to be based on my experiences, so if I talk about anything that is incorrect or lacks any essence of fact please don’t destroy me for it in the comments but I do invite any corrections or opposing opinions.

Ok that’s the basics covered I think, or at least as much as I can be bothered to type about right now soooooooo for now I think this is enough or at least I hope it is, I’ll be very surprised if anyone is even reading this but just in case here’s a couple of topics I plan to blog about over the next few weeks:

• Predators is out this week so I will attempt a review/comparison for people to mull over
• I want to talk about the 3d phenomena at some point but that will more than likely degrade into a rant
• Two big things happening over the next week are the releases of both Kincet for the Xbox 360 and COD:Black Ops so I will try and give my impressions on the madness as it happens at work

Well it’s a plan of sorts at least, it all sounds a bit nerdy and technical having read this all back to myself but I promise there will be the odd daft anecdote to balance out the nerdgasms I hope anyway

… See you SpaceCowboys  (oh I almost forgot I’m a massive anime fan too if you don’t get the reference just smile and nod)