I got round to watching Salt last night, the spy-action film with Angelina Jolie in the title role. It filled a gap, and there’ll definitely be a sequel, but it ain’t anything too special.
I don’t know whether this is damning it with false praise, as I thought the Bourne films were over-rated, but when it finished I was left with the impression that it was essentially “The Bourne She-premacy”. It’s almost identical in tone, style, attempts to make the plot needlessly complicated, and a slight feeling of unease that surrounds the main character’s identity.
I thought that the car-based action sequences were among its strong points, and that Angelina Jolie is better than she was allowed to be in terms of developing her character. Hell, Mrs Smith had more depth!
Definitely a popcorn film, and not even a particularly brilliant one at that. Maybe the sequel (guaranteed!) will be better.
Two words: Holy. Moly.
Christina Hendricks at the Emmys, via Go Fug Yourself.
Suffice it to say that the ‘Whitney Houston’ at Cino’s on Leather Lane is an absolutely fantastic sandwich. Serious munch.
And I’ve no idea why the menu is stuck in the early 90s, with the other specials being:
Robert De Niro
Al Pacino
Prince Naseem
Madonna
And a couple of others which I can’t remember.
Even though it’s only been a 4-day week, I am bushed. Evidently 3-day boozefests are beyond me nowadays, and I seem to have picked up a cold to boot. Excellent!
Thankfully, I’m off to my parents’ place for some R&R on this 3-day weekend, with the girlfriend heading off on a hen do and me left on my lonesome for a day of sport on the Saturday. There’s nothing like being on the sofa for eight hours, with a laptop on one side and the TV on the other (or, ideally, with both in front of you so you can watch both without having to turn your head. I have previous on this matter).
Then it’s round to a mate’s house for a barbecue on Sunday, come rain or shine, and back to London on Monday. With any luck the girlfriend’s sister will have cleaned our flat whilst she’s staying there in our absence!
I watched Splice last night, and this morning all I can really think about it is a resounding “meh”.
It had its moments, some particularly shocking and nasty, others pretty touching, but it was awkward in that it didn’t really know what it wanted to be. It was torn between an outright sci-fi horror film, and something entirely different exploring what it means to be a parent and a family.
In particular, the ending seems out of kilter with the rest of the film, as if the director thought it needed some added action and gore, but didn’t know where it could fit in elsewhere. It very much felt tacked on, although earlier in the film I found myself willing something similar to happen.
This is because it plods along a little in the middle section, especially if you’d been expecting something more exciting and scary, as the trailer had led me to believe. In fact, the film is more about moral and ethical dilemmas, which I’ll grant is harder to get across in 60 seconds…
Even those moral issues are relatively quickly glossed over, with a “fuck it, let’s do it anyway” attitude present for most of the time. Adrien Brody is pretty good as the more sceptical of the two scientists, with more questions as to the correctness of what it is they’re trying to achieve.
Not a bad film, all told, but one that is undersold by its trailer. Don’t expect violence and scares aplenty, but do expect to see some good ones when they do turn up.
GPOYW - The dressed like an idiot on a stag weekend edition.
Middle-row, second-right is me.
Blackfriars Station is going to be absolutely immense once it’s finished (in 2012). Am I alone in thinking that a station stretched across the river looks bloody brilliant?
(Image via Londonist)
With some inopportune planning, I’m missing the first home game of Arsenal’s season tomorrow, by virtue of being up in Newcastle for a mate’s stag do, which will no doubt involve adding to the general level of punishment under which my liver exists.
The plan for the weekend seems pretty open: a whole lot of drinking on Saturday, with some mystery “fun activities” thrown in. I know we’re going to a cricket match on Sunday, but don’t have a clue what the obligatory fancy dress will be, and then Monday is theoretically for recovering. Although our flights aren’t until the evening, so there’s opportunity for a beer or seven in there as well…
Wish me luck!
