Dungeons and Dragons

Two words that are so emotive, and generally (in my experience) give such a negative connotation to something brilliant.

Well DND is continuing to evolve.  We have had some terrible films; a pretty average MMORPG version; some excellent PC Games (Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate being the pinnacles for me) and finally DND Insider.

Here is a good intro-video on the BBC web-site.

And here is the real web-site.

I like the look of the dungeon builder tool (coming soon) and at $5 a month it looks a steal to me compared to something like World of Warcraft or Everquest!

Quantum of Bond

Well I have taken a good few days before sitting down to write this review of Quantum of Solace. This has been a very deliberate choice as I wanted to ruminate on the experience a bit before I rushed to any conclusions.

Now that I have you all worried, let me state that this is a good film, I am just not convinced that it ticks all the boxes as a "Bond Film".

Lets see...

Action - most definitely Yes, with the biggest BUT attached... the director and cinematographer have produced action sequences so frenetic it is all but impossible to absorb them, which results in the impressive stunts being difficult to appreciate. The pre-title sequence is heart-breaking (in it's treatment of a gorgeous DB-S), and I am certain the driving skills are magnificent, but it is over in the blink of an eye and you are left feeling "WTF just happened there?". Next we have some more free running that pales in comparison to Casino Royale's stomach churning first big chase. Skipping forward to the end we have the "usual" destruction of the Bad Guy's lair, and again the only real enemy on show is "fire".

Bad Guy - I miss Elliot Carver! Our modern Bad Guy could almost be my Boss on a bad day! Sure he is "nasty" but you never really get a sense of the motivations or madness that is driving him. In the end is just comes down to scary eyes!

Girls - We have two token Bond Girls here, of which only Gemma Arterton is true "Bond Girl" with the ridiculous name of Strawberry Fields! Not that this is a bad thing as Olga Kurylenko's character is more about plot and character than sex.

M - Dame Judi is excellent as always, although I would like to have seen her snatch up a gun at one point and shoot one of the baddies who double-crossed her!

Gadgets - None, beyond Sony product placements.

Pithy One Liners - Hmmm, if they were there (and I am sure they were), then I can't remember a single one.

In fact I think that last one summarises the film for me as a whole. There is so little memorable about it. If you had cast Matt Damon and called it "The Bourne Explosion", then I think it would have worked just as well.

Perhaps I am being harsh? Don't get me wrong in general the cast are all outstanding, with special nods going to Giancarlo Giannini reprising the role of Mathis from Casino Royale and Olga Kurylenko as the seriously damaged Camille. It is just that it didn't work for me as a Bond Film. I didn't care about the plot and I didn't really hate the Bad Guys. What I did care about was Bond, Mathis, Agent Fields, M and Camille.

Overall this is a Bond Film, but only just. It is a good follow on from Casino Royale, in as much as it ties up the loose ends and gives Bond some measure of solace (if not revenge) and will hopefully allow him to move forward, now that we have seen his character grow.

So my score.... I think 6/10 is fair. More "Licence to Kill" than "Goldfinger"!

Bugger

:(

It's Time...

I'm getting excited!

Who are you again?

Alex and I finally managed to sort out our "diary issues" and met up in Kingston for dinner last night.

I can't believe how long it had been since we last met up...  Anyway it was really good to catch-up and to here all the gossip about his trip to Cornwall with Julian!

Chicago Movie Quiz

Question 1

For 1 Point - What film uses this as it's central image?

 

Question 2

For 6 Points - What is significant about this intersection?

 

Question 3

For 3 Points - Who recently had a car crash here?

 

Question 4

For 10 Points - Who claimed to have spent time here?

(Had to borrow the photo - mine didn't come out)

Lag!

Well we are back from Chicago and this is just a quick update before I try and relaunch my blog.
Lauren has had bad jet lag which has meant that Serena and I have really suffered for the last few nights. Finally she seems to be back in her routine as she slept through last night. Hopefully we will be able to catch up on some sleep now!
Chicago was great fun and I have to say that it is now my favourite place in the USA!
I took a few photos that evoked film memories! A quiz will follow once I tidy them up!
Beyond that I am back at work and the push to Christmas has begun and I am trying to reverse my holiday weight gain.
Next thing to look forward to is 31 Oct, but that will be a separate post!
TTFN!

Mr Grumpy

I have a T-Shirt similar to this and after Yesterday's debacle it suited my mood, so I stuck it on this morning as I headed out the door taking the girls to nursery.

Once that job was done I popped to Richmond Sainsburys to pick up some groceries and found that they were filming a commercial.  Anyway I whizzed round grabbing my bits and bobs and was suddenly greeted with a "CUT!  I don't think Mr Grumpy is quite what Sainsburys are looking to advertise as a typical customer!".  I had accidentally walked through shot as one of the "assistants" hadn't been paying attention.

I had to smile as I scurried off again!

PS  Fake babies look really creepy!

How?

We've been burgled!  (Last night!)

2 wallets and my BlackBerry nicked and then they probably legged it as both Jocey and Serena's Mum were up and about a lot in the night, so they decided it was too risky.

The big question is how the #### did they get in?

I reckoned our front door was pretty secure but somehow they have removed the chain, undone a dead-lock and then slipped the Yale.

The door was securely locked at midnight (I checked) and then wasn't at 6.30 am when I came downstairs.

They clearly left that way, but if they got in another way I am stumped to know how!!!

New BlackBerry coming tomorrow, and replacement credit/debit cards coming in 5-7 days.  Hopefully my replacement driving licence will come before the trip to the USA as well, or else I won't be driving!

Bored to tears...

Well, OK, I am not quite crying, but it is really frustrating when I am waiting for loads of other people to complete pieces of work so I can push on and finish what I need to do.

I have surfed all my regular sites.

The other stuff I would like to surf is blocked by "Websense".

We get a rubbish signal here, so I can't even surreptitiously surf on my BlackBerry!

So what is left. I could blog about all those things I wanted to blog about and forgot to do at the time... But I have forgotten why most of them were funny / annoying etc.

Generally I just want a moan!

Anyone else bored? Email me if you are! Please! Pretty Please!!!!!

Hmmm, maybe I will go get a coffee and a muffin and read my book? Nah, someone will wonder what I am being paid for and complain!

AARRGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And one from my BlackBerry

Well it looks like the font settings need tweaking on default emails... I wonder how this one looks?

Blog via Email

So does this work, and how does it look?

Darkest Night

Wow, how dark is the new Batman film!

Serena and I got time out to go to the cinema at the weekend and nipped off to a matinee performance of The Dark Knight.

What a different film.  I almost feel like I didn't enjoy it as it is so bleak!

Visually the film is stunning and the audio also rocked our socks off (if anything the cinema had turned it up to 11)!

I can't really fault a single actor either, but for me Aaron Eckhart stood out as Harvey Dent.

A lot of media had been produced around Heather Ledger's performance as The Joker, and I admit it was scarily out of character for him, and an extremely believable performance of a psychopath, however I don't know if it warrants an Oscar.  But then did Anthony Hopkins deserve a Best Actor nod for Silence of the Lambs?  (Best Supporting Actor maybe?)

Anyway, the film scores 8/10 from me, but if you do go along don't expect to leave the cinema in an upbeat mood!

PS

After Sunday those Doctor Horrible videos will be gone, so watch them this weekend!  They are just brilliant.  I'll have to go back and watch "Once more with Feeling" again!

Joss Whedon Rules OK!

Check out his new pilot here.

45

Is my Wii Fit Age.

Considering my BMI is about 33 that is a hell of a lot better than I expected.

I'll be working to lower it as I get better / lighter / fitter.

Do Bad Things Happen in Threes?

Incident #1:

On Thursday night I was nearly home with the girls in the back of my car when a Van failed to stop at a Give Way sign and did this:

My Car is a write-off!

 

Incident #2:

Resigning myself to car sharing with Serena until we get a new car, we headed out to work on Friday morning only to find that Serena had a flat tyre!  It took me 10 minutes to change it (according to Serena - I wasn't timing it) and I then got everyone else at School / Work before heading to Kwik Fit.

 

Incident #3:

Hopefully nothing...

Yay!

It will soon be time to put that little bit of background music on the blog!

Quantum Of Solace - Exclusive Trailer

Wiiiiiiii....... (But no Fit)!

Well Serena finally caved in and allowed me to buy a Nintendo Wii.

But how do you get the scarcest commodity on the planet without selling a kidney?  I am talking about Wii Fit.!

Nowhere in the UK has them at RRP (and I am not paying £150).

I have ordered one from Amazon.de (95 Euros) with an estimated shipping time of 1 month, but if I find one more locally then I can always cancel.

I resisted the urge to go mad on games for now...  I will content myself with Lego Indy and Wii Play (Wii Sports came free).

Some Tuesday Fun

Not work safe!