The Artist (2011)

Posted on February 25, 2012 by mjlcatlin

As it’s the Oscars tomorrow, we decided to watch The Artist. I think it’s still the frontrunner for the major awards, so it seems appropriate. And this year I’m really excited, as it’s the first time I’ll be able to watch the Academy Awards LIVE! (I’m a dork, I know.)

The Artist (2011)

It was pretty awesome, I must say. At first the lack of dialogue was (weirdly enough) distracting, but I soon got into it. The two leads are adorable, as is the dog. I want to own that dog. The music was great (I guess you have to have pretty awesome music if you’re going to make a silent film…).

There was one thing I found annoying, and it’s a bit of a spoiler, so… spoiler warning! It was the very end. Firstly, I thought leaving it at “Cut!” would have been a cleaner finish. Secondly, hearing Dujardin say “with pleasure!” in his super-French accent was weird. I was watching the film not imagining him to be French and… I dunno, for me it broke the illusion. Of course, it doesn’t matter that he’s French. It was just jarring. OK, spoilers over.

It’s a great choice for Best Picture tomorrow. It’s got the nostalgia, the appreciation for film as an art-form, and a crowd-pleasing storyline.

In fact, it makes me happy I enjoyed it so much. When the nominees for this year’s Oscars were announced, I was seriously disappointed. One measly mention each for Drive (Best Sound Editing) and The Ides of March (Best Adapted Screenplay). No major awards for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (bar the Best Actress nod). Admittedly, I’ve only seen three of the Best Picture nominees (Hugo, Moneyball and now The Artist) – but two of them I didn’t like. So liking The Artist at least gives me a film to root for. (I’d still like Gary Oldman to win for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, though.)

That’s all for now. I’ll probably post something after the awards tomorrow, with my disdain for the winners…

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Double Feature: Chronicle & The Woman In Black

Posted on February 4, 2012 by mjlcatlin

Hampton and I did one of our “double feature” Saturdays – two films in a row at the cinema. First was Chronicle – a superhero-style action movie. It’s about three high school guys who get telekinetic powers. I saw the trailer about four months ago, and it piqued my interest. Seeing the film was pretty much a no-brainer.

It turned out a lot better than I expected – the characters were really likable. I cared for them throughout the movie. It was well-acted and had an interesting story. You remember Jumper? It was horrible. Chronicle is what Jumper should have been. The climax is epic and nail-biting, too.

The Woman In Black was our second feature, and equally nail-biting. The story was good (a little straight-forward), the scares were competent. I was quite impressed with how Daniel Radcliffe didn’t seem like Harry Potter in it. He’s done well to shed that role so quickly. I’m intrigued as to how a lot of it was done on the stage.

I’d recommend Chronicle over The Woman In Black, probably.

 

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

2011 in Film: The Meh and the Bad

Posted on December 31, 2011 by mjlcatlin

OK, so there were a fair few “meh” films this year. I feel like some of these require little/no explanation: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (so-so prequel), The Lincoln Lawyer (half-arsed Grisham), Fright Night (so-so remake), Limitless (nice concept, I guess, but the plot-holes and poor art direction lost it for me) and Our Idiot Brother (an OK comedy).

I really didn’t “get” Hugo. It was pretty good; visually spectacular (although the misplacement of Paris landmarks got on my nerves… I know, I know. I’m an ass). But I just didn’t care that much about Hugo himself. The best parts of the film were when Hugo wasn’t in the scene – when they were talking about the history of cinema.

Insidious had such promise. The trailer was pretty great and the first half of the movie was atmospheric and actually had one or two genuinely creepy moments. However… it soon descended into a silly mess.

Finally, there were some films I thought were just truly awful. Not worth watching at all. There are some standards: Battle: Los Angeles, Priest, both Green Hornet and Green Lantern.

Moneyball was the main critically-acclaimed film I really didn’t like. It mixed all the tediousness of economics with all the I-don’t-give-a-damn of a sports movie. I don’t even think Brad Pitt’s performance deserves all this Oscar buzz. Hampton said my verdict wasn’t fair; I need to separate the artistic quality of a film from my own opinion…  but as hard as I try, I don’t think the artistic merits of the film were that good either.

Anyway. Rather than ending on a bum note, I’m going to list 2011 films that I still want to see: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Artist, The Descendants, My Week with Marilyn, Shame, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Iron Lady and The Skin I Live In.

And finally, here’s two films I’m really excited about: Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises. Their trailers are intense. Check them both out on the Apple trailers site (Prometheus and TDKR).

 

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

2011 in Film: The Good

Posted on December 31, 2011 by mjlcatlin

2011 was fairly good in terms of films. It was no 2010 or 2007, sure, but we had some pretty decent films come out. In total, I’ve seen 32 films from 2011 (roughly a quarter of my year’s intake).

This first post will cover the good. Two of the best films of the year, in my opinion, both starred Ryan Gosling: Drive and The Ides of March. I know, I know – you shouldn’t watch movies with your dick. But I honestly thought they were both great. Drive was hyperviolent and more was said with looks than words. Albert Brooks seems to be getting a lot of buzz for a supporting actor nod… on a recent second watching, he did do well. But everything else seems to have been overlooked – Gosling himself, the direction, the soundtrack, the writing.

In the Ides of March, Gosling plays pretty much the complete opposite character. Fast-talking and a power-player, he’s equally awesome. The supporting cast (Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marissa Tomei) are great. It’s the script that shines, though. It’s so taut; every word has been chosen carefully.

OK, other great films from the year: Super 8 (pretty scary at first… but then becomes a really nice kids’ film),  50/50 (I was in tears), Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (a really great addition to the series).

Attack the Block, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Paul were three really good British films that came out this year. I think for people in the US, TTSS is only just coming out now. Go see it!

I’d heard great things about Bridesmaids. I was very, very skeptical about it. But it turned out to be really touching. In comparable messed-up-women films, I also saw the recently-released Young Adult. It’s certainly less slapstick than Bridesmaids; more depressing. But Charlize Theron does a really good job of making a terrible, horrible person somehow likable. (I’d like her to get an actress nom, but I’m not holding my breath.)

Puss In Boots was, despite my utter loathing of the Shrek franchise, really funny. I’d definitely recommend it as a lazy Saturday afternoon film.

Paranormal Activity 3 is my final film on this list. I know this series is not for everyone (which is why it’s last), but… I honestly think it’s the best horror film/franchise we’ve had in a long time.

Anyway, that’s my list of films I’d recommend this year. Coming up, we’ve got the “meh” films and the downright bad.

 

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , | Leave a comment

San Francisco: Part 2

Posted on December 30, 2011 by mjlcatlin

My first post on SF was a bit tourist-y. This one will be more focused on food and drink. And other funstuff.

We ate at a great burger place on Union Sq – the aptly-named Burger Bar.

View from Burger Bar.

The burger I had. I think it was buffalo?

The milkshakes (picture missing) were amazing. The nutella one was just ice-cream and nutella, pretty much. The burger was good… but I’ve had better (I’m looking at you, The Bird in Berlin.)

We went to an awesome beach – China Beach. It was really quiet and had insane views of the Golden Gate and its bridge.

Oh, and something else I’d highly recommend is Nightlife at the California Academy of Sciences. It’s on every Thursday and has a general theme every week (we went for 80s nostalgia/comedy). They have booze, you can wander around the exhibits, and they play pretty awesome music.

That’s about all I have to say. If you keep track of my whereabouts, you’ll notice we’ve now moved to San Francisco to live. It’s awesome here!

Posted in Restaurant Reviews, Travel Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

San Francisco: Part 1

Posted on November 27, 2011 by mjlcatlin

After Jacksonville (see previous post), we headed on to San Francisco. Hampton’s company (Moovweb) is based there.

We flew United 2623 from CLT to SFO. They had WIFI!!!!! Zomg. It’s still a novelty for me. I don’t have many photos of the CLT-SFO flight, just the food pretty much.

Dinner - some OK pasta thing.

This dessert was amazing: tortoise cheesecake, or something.

Wi-fi! In the air!

I’d never been to San Francisco before, so it was a bit of an adventure. We only spent a couple of days doing touristy things, and the rest of the time was mostly Hampton working at Moovweb and me working on the book. Here’s some tourist photos.

I am such a tourist: at Pier 39

Sea lions!

Gazing over at Alcatraz

(We didn’t actually go to Alcatraz, even though I reaaaaally wanted to.)

China Beach - awesome views.

TransAmerica tower.

The view from the Grand Hyatt in San Fran.

One of the best views for the whole two weeks was from the GrandViews lounge in the Grand Hyatt. The cocktails were OK, the food in the neighbouring restaurant the same, but the views… wow. This was at sunset. You can see the TransAm building and Coit Tower from this angle.

 

Posted in Travel Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tampa & Jacksonville

Posted on October 1, 2011 by mjlcatlin

As I said in my previous post, we’d flown to Tampa to help Adam celebrate taking the bar.

Adam, with a statue.

The first day we were there, though, we went to Busch Gardens (so as to not distract Adam from studying). We stayed in a super-sketchy area. Who knew that Busch Gardens was in such a creepy neighbourhood? (Apparently, a few people did, as we were asked afterwards, “Why on EARTH did you stay near there??”)

Anyway, we had a rip-roaring time. Except for the humidity. It was horrible. Seriously, no one should ever live in such climes.

Hopefully you can see how steamed up my iPhone was.

We stayed at the nauseatingly-tall Embassy Suites in Tampa. It was hideously expensive. The wi-fi was, like, $15 a day or something. Urgh.

We were on the 18th floor.

We went to meet Mike and Melissa at the airport.

TPA

We went to Bern’s Steak House, and it was SUPER-WEIRD. Very few windows, decorated like a Haunted House. Melissa describes it better at her blog.

To be honest, we didn’t do a whole lot else. We drove to Jacksonville in a convertible. Mostly through back-roads.

We ended up at the One Ocean resort. (It’s not actually *in* Jacksonville – it’s in the nearby Atlantic Beach.) We’d stayed there before, and loved it, so we went again. We had a great view of the ocean:

View of the Atlantic from One Ocean.

Once Mike and Melissa had left, we stayed at Hampton’s Aunt’s house – also at the beach, but a bit further south. We ate lots of fatty food. Oh, and did a whole bunch of work on our book. (You should buy a copy. NOW.)

OK that’s all the interesting stuff about Tampa and Jacksonville, pretty much. Next up: SFO.

 

 

Posted in Travel Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

British Airways Business Class (LGW – TPA)

Posted on September 25, 2011 by mjlcatlin

The first flight we went on was from London Gatwick to Tampa. One of our best friends, Adam, was taking the Florida Bar there, so we decided to help him celebrate. Mike and Melissa (two of our other best friends) flew in from Toronto, and Sara (another best friend!) drove down from Jacksonville.

But before I get on to Tampa, I need to describe the flight there. I’d always heard British Airways was super-fancy, so I was pretty excited to fly business class with them. The lounge at LGW was OK… but I guess they’ve moved all their efforts to Terminal 5 at LHR.

The lounge at LGW.

So we boarded the flight – BA 2167. It was a 777-200. Not super-new, but not too shabby either. Business class was set out really strangely –this herring-bone pattern. We were facing backwards, which was really strange for take-off and landing.

There was a tonne of legroom.

The media centre and all my legroom.

KIR ROYALE TIME!

Hampton stretching his legs out.

It was nice to have our own little area where (almost) no one could see us. But…

You can kinda see in the first picture the person sitting “next” to Hampton, facing forward. This was a bit awkward… cause you were pretty much facing them. However, there was a screen you could put up. But my screen didn’t work too well. AND when they serve food, they put down the screen, lean over the person next to you, and hand you your meal.

Speaking of food, let’s go on. It was generally OK. The starter (a potted crab thing) was really nice. The main, a chicken-in-sauce thing, was kinda dry. They did have Gü cakes, though, which made up for it.

Starter: salad and potted crab.

Hampton's Main: Some kinda steak thing.

My Main: Chicken with sauce.

Dessert: a super-chocolatey thing.

Snack: Gü carrot cake. SO NOM.

A funny bit of TV they had on the plane: Heston Blumenthal’s efforts to improve BA’s aeroplane cuisine. It’s part of a series called Heston’s Mission Impossible. It’s a good show, and although it paints BA in a kinda good light (as good a light as one could imagine, given the show is about places with notoriously bad food), it was still a strange choice.

The mini-meal before we landed was OK. There was a pre-packaged sandwich, which was gross. But this was saved (ish) by the SCONES WITH JAM AND CLOTTED CREAM. So. effin’. good.

The gross sandwich.

The DELICIOUS scones.

Anyway, then we landed. I’m always really afraid of immigration (in the US they’re really, REALLY mean for some reason). But the guy I got at Tampa was amazingly nice. So friendly! I want to fly into Tampa all the time now.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

My Amazing Trip

Posted on September 25, 2011 by mjlcatlin

So… I really need to start blogging about an amazing trip I’ve been on. It’s been going for about two months now. It started in July, when we moved out of our apartment in Cambridge, England.

All our stuff in boxes hours before we left.

Since then I’ve visited seven cities, from Honolulu to Berlin. It’ll probably take me a while to blog about them all. Here’s a brief itinerary:

LGW – TPA (25th July 2011)

JAX – CLT – SFO (8th August 2011)

SFO – HNL – KOA (23rd August 2011)

KOA – HNL (30th August 2011)

HNL – LAX – LHR (1st September 2011)

LTN – SXF (8th September 2011)

SXF – FCO (23rd September 2011)

VCE – LGW (2nd October 2011)

Posted in Travel Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

OS X Lion – Fixing Back Swipe in Chrome

Posted on July 20, 2011 by mjlcatlin

I installed Lion today – love a lot of things about it, but the back swipe I use in Chrome (three fingers) wasn’t working any more.

There aren’t any ways to change this in Chrome preferences.

What I noticed was that you need to have the top “swipe between pages” as a three-finger swipe. Then you need to change the “swipe between full-screen apps” as a four-finger swipe. See below:

Settings for the "back" swipe to work in Chrome.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment