Movie Review - Death at a Funeral

I really need to get in the babit of doing these reviews faster. I saw this fine days ago! Ok here we go...

BTW: I just found out the this isn't the 1st version of the comedy film Death at a Funeral as well as this 2010 edition with a predominately black cast it was also made in 2007 with an predominately white cast. I'm willing to bet this version is funnier...

Death at a Funeral has a surprisingly long list of famous faces appearing in the film some more suprinsing than other for such a flick, Danny Glover for one. This movie is clearly gonna live or die by how funny it is and the movie is, let me just say funny! The cast boasts three big names in comedy who all have roots in stand up. 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan, seasoned actor Martin Lawrence, and the fantastic Chris Rock all play important parts. I'm disappointed to say the comedy performance from these guy is a little disappointing. I was all set to have my side split by these heavy hitters. I'm a big fan of all three dudes, especially Chris rock and they do have their funny moment but I came out feeling let down. However, fear not, there is an awesome source of hilarious and daft comedy and it comes from a very unlikely supply. James Marden is an actor who 1st got my attention as Cyclops in Xmen and since then I've like him more and more with every new film he does, each one showing a different side to his acting ability. In Marsden we find the true fountain of giggles from his portail of his characters reaction to acidently taking some very powerful hallucinogenic drugs mistaking them for valium. I don't want to ruin it for you so I wount go into details but what follows is extremely entertaining to say the least.

There's enough going on in the plot to keep you entertained, from all the way through thanks to new twists in the main story and funny little sub stories there's plenty to keep your attention.

All in all Death at a Funeral isn't the definitive comedy I can think of funnier, The Hangover for example, but it defiantly worth a trip to the cinema to see it. So go, get out to your local cinema tell 'em Graham sent you and they'll say 'Who the f*ck is Graham?' and you'll feel very stilly indeed ;-)

Enjoy

Graham

Why I'm not buy an ipad (yet)

Well, the ipad has landed in the UK and is getting into the hands of the Brits. After all the speculating I’ve been doing I’ve finally had a chance to get my hands on one thanks to a friend who pulled the trigger on one during the pre-order phase which ment the luck b*tch got one the day before release.

People who know me might be a little surprised by what i’m about to say…. Since the ipad was 1st announced i’ve been a strong advocate for the device arguing with the naysayers. My feeling was to look at from a distance the ipad was not all that enticing. However I was sure that once people got a chance to touch it and play with it they would change their minds and instantly fall head over heals in love with it and soft music would play in the background and flowers would fall from the skys etc. Mostly I was right and, at the lastest count, the 2 million ipads sold proved me right…

What I was wrong about was my feeling about it. I wanted it soooo badly after I watched the announcement speech from Mr Jobs. Lotti agreed with me after she saw footage of the thing in action. We both decided we wanted it that much that we made a plan to sell her macbook to pay for it, rationalizing the decision because I had bought myself a 27” imac in January and so couldn't possibly need a laptop.

Now i’ve had time to come down from a new (Apple) gadget high and even had the opportunity to play with the ipad and  i’ve come to a realisation. I would be insane to sell a Macbook inorder to buy an ipad! YES, ipads are very very cool. YES they are the next new computing device. YES, they are extremely functional, sleek in design and very intuitive. But the simple fact is despite all this a Macbook can still do more because it has a full operating system were as the ipad is running of the same OS and the iphone.

For me the biggest issue a difference in operation systems causes comes down to TV. I’m all for apple's stand on not supporting flash but I watch a lot of TV content online because the nature on my job mean that i’m never home when the programs are scheduled to air. I mostly use Lotti’s Macbook to watched these shows because it’s portable and so I can be near Lotti and spend time with her while catching up on my tv fix. Most of the on demand TV sites use flash to play their programs meaning the what I would want to use the ipad most for would not be achievable.

Having said all this i’m in no way saying don’t buy and ipad buy a Macbook instead. remember an ipad is considerably cheaper than a macbook. I’m just not willing to sacrifice a macbook to do it. Incase you are wondering I still fully intend on picking one up when I can get the cash together, i mean come on! have you seen the ipad? it's amazing! When I do get my grubby paws on one I put up a review but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Don’t go changin’

G

Movie Review - She's out of my League

OK it's been 2 days now since I watched it, need to get this review in the can.

There's not a massive amount I need to day about this one. That's not to say is a rubbish movie or lacking in story. In fact I loved this movie on a number of fronts. It's just that I don't want to give too much away and ruin the film. Let me set up the story a little before I go into what I thought.

She's out of my League is about a Kirk (Jay Baruchel), a boy who see's himself as a 4/5, finding himself in a relationship with Molly (Alice Eve), who is a solid 10. The movie depicts how Kirk deals with his, to him, unbelievable situation.

The reason why I loved this movie so much is because the story isn't simply about the relationship between the central couple but it also covers the very colourful relationships between family and friends on both sides. Most entertaining of all is Kirks friendship with his 3 mates who he has grown up with and now works with. They have a friendship, I have never had and am a little jealous of. They constantly abuse each other 99% of the time but when the chips are down they are there for their mates. Each of these characters are very different in there unique ways but are all very entertaining to watch. 

So to summaries' great movie. If your looking for a 1st date movie then this is the one for you. Very much delivers on the funny. Story was good, much more substantial than expected. Great sound track, all popular songs, I found myself singing along and taping my foot at just about every song in the flick. When you leave the cinema you'll be feeling all warm and cuddly inside. Personally I will be returning to watch it a 2nd time with Lotti and cannot wait. 8/10

As usual I'd love to here your thoughts so leave a comment

Peace out

G 

Scumbag Wednesday

Wednesday. Wednesday is a day I have mixed feelings about. Like my infamous friend Andy pointed out in a reacent blog post Wednesday is the middle of the week thus giving you hope. However, Wednesday to me, means Orange Wednesday, which in turn, to me means scumbag Wednesday.

This is the day that every cheap skate in the area descend on their local cinema with their £30 disposable Orange mobile clutched in one had and a carrier bag from B&M Bargins ready to burst under the weight of crap sweets for 99p in another. Every week they repeat their pilgrimage to the cinema. And every week, for some unknown reason, they arrive bang on the start time of the screening they have come to see. So they stand in line with the other hundreds of tight asses and complain when they can't get into the screen straight away, surprised that there are other people in the queue never learning despite the fact it's the same every week. I hear all the time that the British love to queue. Thats utter bull shit, stand in a cinema foyer during the evening of an Orange Wednesday and you will very quickly see that the British HATE to queue. What they do love to do is complain. The absolutely love it when they have something to bitch about and they always know better on how to deal with the thing they are complaining about. Above all else there's nothing they adore more than to find someone wearing a name badge.  To them a name badge as a licencence to talk down to a person like somehow the badge means that they are better than said badge wearer. This situation frustrates me more than most but the simple fact is its a service industry so it's what we have to learn to deal with and become better. All this does have a good side. If your a your a fantastic manager (*cough) and you can pull of an Orange Wednesday, thanks to some great management, creative planning (*cough) and a little bit of luck, without a hitch and no complaints it's a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. Something of which i'm very familier thanks pulling most OW close shifts ;-)

For a long time I despised OW. Now I kind like them, each one is a battle between decency and manners vs pigheadedness and rudeness. Ha, I just realised i'm f*cking Obi Wan of the cinema.  

Speaking of Orange Wednesday i'm faced with the 1st OW of Sex and the City 2 tonight... 

LETS GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEEEE ;-)

Peace

G

Movie Review - The Losers

As I seem to be billy no mates today I decided to go see The Losers by myself tonight and as a FB friend point out it's all in the movie title. After the idiot lads on the back row calmed down because mummy let them out past 9pm I settled down to see one of the summer releases I'd been looking forward to.

Arriving to see the movie, like all movies I want to be good, I went in with as little expectation as possible. I find the key to this to avoid as much marketing and hype about a movie as possible. I even go as far as only watching a trailer for a movie once or twice as not to get too excited. The reason being for this strange behaviour is that a film can never live up to the high expectations you build in your head.

Right back to the task at hand... the review. The Losers is very much the type of movie I enjoy. Right from the very 1st scene I knew I was going to enjoy the show. From here I knew right from the off that I like the good guys and want to see some revenge on the bad guy. The Losers is fun to watch thanks to a number of reasons. It has some decent kick ass action scenes and it keeps a surprisingly low body count while achieving this. I particualty enjoyed watching the dynamic between the Losers team, the playful banter between them was very entertaining and kept me locked in the film between the action scenes thanks to some very funny and dialog. I love watching the playful arrogant bravado of these types of character not least the way it's portrayed by Chris Evans, his best scene is him posing as a delivery boy to enter a business high-rise while signing to Don't stop believing on his ipod (You have to see it to get it) very funny scene. I also enjoyed watching the character Max (main enemy who sets the Losers team up). He has some very amusing scenes as he play the role of a super spook who can do what ever he wants. 

All in all there was some cheesy and far fetched action scenes but it's all in good fun. I thoroughly enjoyed every every second of this one. It's not the most perfectly written film in terms of story but this is made for in dialog and the playful use of reoccurring jokes. But, having said that it did have more story than I expected, certainly enough to keep me interested. Put simply it's great entertainment for all the family not too full on in terms of violence while still being cool and it will have you chuckling in your seat all the way through so what more do you want? 

Peace out 

G

(Forgot to mention if you get to see the Losers i'd love to hear what you thought of it so please leave a comment bellow and let me know)

Camping, food, beer and Ballin'

This weekend my paintball team were down in Stafford for a paintball for the CPPS Rd 3 tourney. As is tradition we headed down the day before with friends and family and made camp at the field so we could be ready to rock and roll in the morning. 

Of course, as is typical in our life, things didn't run too smoothly in getting down there. Me n Lotti decided we would pick up a new tent to take down for 2 reasons, 1) Because we needed a tent for the Scotland Trip and 2) There were tones of us going down and as big as my bro's tent is, it wasn't big enough! We struck out in Freeport so I had the genius idea to check out a shop I know I Blackburn. This shop turned out to be not just the shop I remember but an expanding, crazy other dimension type shop! I mean, every time we entered a room it lead to more rooms then just as you think you explored everywhere you find a little wooden door which leads to another massive room which has another door which leads up some rickety old step to take you up into a room that looks like the set of Edward scissor hands. I'm not joking the whole thing was surreal. Any who i'm talking crap now, we picked up a cool little tent had a look at 'good old Blackburn town centre' then pick up me mother finishing work in Darwen grabbed a bag of chips and hit the M6 down to Stafford.

I should point out the normal turnout for our paintball trip is Me my Brother and Dad then we make up the rest of the 5 man team with borrowed players so comping I usual just us three, which is fine. This time round however there were some what more of us, this turned into more of a Royston weekend break. There was a total of about 12 of us camping this time round which, of course, help have a great time. My Uncle Ronnie was the star of the weekend. He came with all his camping gear including his mansion sized tent, with a 'living room' big enough to fit us all inside and glow in the dark tent pegs (they were a big hit with the girls during a Westlife medley). I spent the night watching my little sister and her bessy mate chat up other paintball players/campers, listening to music, catching up with family and friends and had a top night watching Lotti simply be Lotti and entertained everyone.

As for the actual tournament we started of strong playing really well and organised with a solid plan but it was not to be. We only won two games out of nine but we put up a good fight, we held our own and made life very difficult against some of the best teams in the event and we lost a couple due to dirty tactics. Lotti was a god send, she organized the team made sure we were where at the right place at the right time ready to shoot some face's keeping the event as stress free as possible. All in all we had a great event despite the poor win rate we all had fun felt like we played well and more importantly had improved on the last Tourney. 

I'm absolutly knacker but its been a great weekend. Getting sorted to get down to Stafford was stress full but once we had arrive we had a good laugh camping. Team are all fired up and cannot wait for the next Tourney to come around. Not sure of the next date but i'll keep you posted for anyone who is interested. Any one who feels like coming down and camping or just on the day to support the Westcost Spartans the more the merrier.

I've wittered on for long enough now but I'll post some choice pictures from the weekend below and you can see the all the camping photo's on my Facebook page and the paintball photo's on the Westcost Spartans page on FB. I don't intend to be doing posts this long on a regular basis so don't worry. 

Peace out

G 

Massive Tent in the Edward Sissor Hands, expanding space time shop

Some of Camp Sparta

Massive tent! 

Time to show how we do

Boys at work

Ready for Action

Kit n Kaboodal 

National Movie Awards - The Results are in

A little while ago I posted how I voted for the national movie awards on my other blog. Now the results are in! So here’s how I voted In the National Movie Awards for 2010 - winners in bold 

• Action/Thriller - Kick Ass winner is Sherlock Holmes (i'm happy with that)
• Family - Up winner is Harry Potter
• Fantasy - Avatar winner is New Moon (shocker)
• Most Anticipated summer Movie - The A-Team (Iron Man wasn’t on there) winner is Eclipse (another shocker)
• Breakthrough Movie - Nativity winner is The Time Travellers Wife
• Performance of the year - Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes) winner is Robert Pattison (For the love of god get of it!)

Looking at the winners I think it's safe to say the majority of the voters were 16yr old school girls with no clue but I guess thats more to do with how the awards were run/advertised.

Next time one of these comes up think I will also do my predictions for who I think will win as well as who I want to win. Think I would have guessed most of these.

G

Another big release in the bag

Tonight we saw the release of the second instalment of Sex in the City 2 and don't ask me for a review because I ain't happening! I'm pleased to report thanks to the excellent planning, organisation and execution of 2 superstar managers who will remain nameless (*cough *cough) the night went like clock work. No one was turned away and everyone was happy, except the one obligatory silly b*tch who thinks they are better than everyone and so feel the need to treat everyone like they are bellow them. Isn't it funny that 9 time out 10 that person is a teacher?

Lotti is in bed catching some shut eye not like thats a surprises as its after 10pm. Think she is feeling creative because she has finally started her own blog. I've been trying to get her to do one for ages now. She is a much better writer than me so i'm looking forward to seeing what she writes. Her blog is Always Talking talk about an apt name!

This weekends paintball trip is turning into a family camping trip. Half the family are going down so should have some funny stories to report back on after the weekend.

OK my brew has gone cold so i'm off to make a fresh one so i'm putting this post in the can.

Peace out

G

YouTube Video - Iron Baby

Weekend Round Up

It's been a busy four days off.

Thursday I managed to re-build the home office and clear out the clutter. Still need to Instal the new light fitting, there's a little work to do on the door edging then some the personal touches to add, posters, gadgets etc. When it's done it should be a good little work space.

Friday day was spent having a big clean up of the house ready for drinks with friends on in the evening while Lotti was working. We also made some food, beef stir fry with black bean sauce followed by fruit salad with greek yoghurt & honey. I highly recommend the desert, it was awesome. We also decided to do a little experiment in our drinking session and pick some unusual beers to test out. 1st we had flavoured lager (cheery then erm can't recall the other flavour now) followed by a white lager then finished off with some crazy 8.5% strength rocket fuel lager. Of course we also had the usual Budweiser and Corona .

Saturday was a painful day on the old wallet. Lotti very kindly let me sleep in till 11am then we were up and out the door. We hit Blackpool first, intending to just pick up a shirt for work I left there with not only said shirt but a second shirt for going out, a new wallet (it is amazing!) and some man bracelets so already £80 down with an Ikea trip still to come. Now let me ask, how cool is Ikea? As far as me and Lotti are concerned it's the place dreams are made. If we had our way most of the house would be furnished in Ikea products and it probably will be by the time we have finally finished this bitch. We picked up a new TV stand for the front room that we've had our eye on for a while and a light fitting for the fresh new office and once again got a little carried away and bought a new desk lamp just because we can.

Sunday (today) rounded things off nicely with a BBQ at Lotti's mum's for her brothers birthday. we simply sat in the garden, dranks some Bud, I avaioded sun burn, and we ate great food. Steve, Lotti's kinda step dad, is a great cook especially when I comes to BBQ and currys.

So now i'm in bed watching some internet tv on TWiT.TV writing this blog post that no one will read. Back to work first thing in the morning so lets see what next week brings?

G signing off for tonight.