Heh. How sad am I? 11 o’clock showing on the day it’s released… at least I didn’t go at midnight – and it was a welcome break from revision. That said, there can’t have been 20 people in the cinema – the Gala Theatre/Cinema in Durham is the most bizarre cinema I’ve seen – they don’t advertise (much), the cinema is (I’m sure) not disabled-accessible. I’m not complaining, though…

Episode III is certainly a fitting end to the new trilogy and beginning to the old one. The effects are like nothing you’ve seen before – both in their complexity and the scope of the imagination behind them. That said, like the previous two “new” films, the dialogue is atrocious, and the acting, at times, wooden (I doubt that delivering 70% of their lines to green screens and imaginary creatures helped the actors). It says something, I think, when the most engaging characters of the film are a droid that speaks only in squeaks and a green, 3-foot high CG puppet: R2 and Yoda seriously rock in this film! Fans will love it – and the uninitiated (are there really any of them left?) will lap up the action and visuals.

Darth Vader’s first breath is as creepy and spine-tinglingly thrilling as you’d expect, and the scene at the very end, which segues nicely into Episode IV, brings a shiver to all who know what’s coming.

This truly is Star Wars for the Matrix generation, far more so than Episodes I and II. Forget the politicking of Episode II and the “look what we can do” of Episode I (although Jar Jar does appear – twice – in Episode III). Don’t try to think too much about what’s happening. Let the visuals and the action wash over you, and nod appreciatively at the little homages Lucas gives to Episode IV and beyond.

This, he said, is true in every language across the world. However, there is no example in any culture where a double positive gives a negative!

Looking proud, the teacher sits down, and there followed a short silence, followed by a sarcastic voice: “Yeah, right.”

The Longest Day came in at number 20.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (easily the best of the three), followed by another two-and-a-quarter hours of the Greatest War Films in the World of All Time Ever.

And to think that I could (should?) be revising. *sigh*

Anyway – another Arabic exam tomorrow. Translating passages between Arabic and English (one each way). Should be fun…

Oooh – have you seen the adverts for Guinness Extra Cold? The surfers, the snail… If you’ve not, click the links and watch them! Genius. (Here goes my bandwidth allowance…)

This one is something like the “Hundred Greatest War Films“.

We’re only at number 98 at the moment – 100 was Rambo, and 98 one I’ve never heard of.

But at 99, we find The Eagle Has Landed. The first book I ever borrowed from the Nottingham High School library. And a great film.

How can it be at only number 99? Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter. For its time, a star-studded cast.

Oh well.

96 is Cold Mountain – a very different kind of war film…

And Regeneration is at 90. Another great book and film – but one that I’d kind of forgotten about.

Stephen Spielberg is, apparently, a big fan of the Great Escape and, umm, Von Ryan’s Express.

Anyway. My bet for number 1? Saving Private Ryan. Or maybe Apocalypse Now (the Redux version). And Schindler’s List should definitely be up there (if it counts). The Longest Day has always been a personal favourite of mine – although it’s not actually that good! Huge names, though… Let’s wait and see, though.

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is an absolutely brilliant fantstic super-duper film. Full stop. See it!

From the Busby-esque beginning sequence with the dolphins (“so long and thanks for all the fish”) to the finale with the mice (if you don’t know the story … don’t ask!), it’s a non-stop romp through one of the English language’s greatest novels. The scene with Eddie Izzard Bill Bailey’s sperm whale hurtling through the atmosphere is seriously inspired!

Despite being made by Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer’s production studio, H2G2 is also an affectionate tribute to Douglas Adams (who died in 2001) and the complicated history of the saga. Adams himself appears in no less than two scenes of the film (indeed, he’s the very last image), the Marvin from the TV series puts in an appearance, as does Simon Jones (the original Arthur Dent).

This is, of course, the ninth incarnation of H2G2 – it previously appeared as a radio series, a record album, a novel, a television series, a computer game, a stage show, a comic book and a towel. The film certainly does the others proud!

It’s also a quintessentially British film – despite having several American cast members. In fact, these Americans don’t stand out – rather, they emphasise the diversity of the universe Adams created. Before his death, he said that “when it comes down to it, my principle is this – Arthur should be British. The rest of the cast should be decided purely on merit and not on nationality.” That is exactly what the film does – and it does it very, very well.

I know other people have really enjoyed the film, and I have no doubt that you will too…

Go And See It!

(Steve Bell, from the Channel 4 Election microsite)

Blogging [...] is the twenty-first century equivalent of hanging around railway stations, writing pithy but erudite descriptions of the passing trains.

So?

I can think of only one person who does both…

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Blogging (at the iTunes Music Store)

A small Egyptian crocodile seems to be very popular in Germany at the moment…

Ich bin Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil.
Komm aus Ägypten, das liegt direkt am Nil.
Zuerst lag ich in einem Ei,
dann schni-, schna-, schnappte ich mich frei

Schni Schna Schnappi
Schnappi Schnappi Schnapp
Schni Schna Schnappi
Schnappi Schnappi Schnapp

Schnappi is a young crocodile from the Nile whose single has reached number one in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway.

Remember the Smurfs or Mr Blobby? Well, Schnappi beats the lot of them. Just listen to his song and tell me that it isn’t a ridiculously catchy song…!

The really weird thing – and I think this is typically German – is that there are loads of remixes of the song. Just two that I found (and there are plenty more): the “Gigi D Agostino Party Edit” and the “Rammstein Remix“…

Last week, Newsnight decided to replace its nightly market reports with a weather bulletin. Not a hugely important change, you might think. Well, it appears that the viewers of Newsnight think otherwise.

In a text message poll, viewers voted resoundingly for “the ten seconds of ineffable tedium that is The Markets.”

If you watch Jeremy Paxman’s weather reports, I think you’ll agree that he isn’t particularly fond of this new part of his job. After all, a weather summary consisting of

Eastern parts will mainly avoid the rain except for those that don’t, and there’ll be bright or sunny intervals. Western areas will be cloudy with rain, except in those areas that don’t have rain. Temperatures will be near normal.

isn’t necessarily that helpful…

To be fair, he did warn that his forecast would be “shorn of the usual folksy nonsense about clouds bubbling up and advice about wearing wooly socks”. That it certainly is.

The second forecast easily topped the first:

Take an umbrella with you tomorrow.

Anyway, watch his weather forecasts (he only does three – Gavin Esler is rubbish on the last two) – and then ask yourself whether you would rather watch The Markets or The Weather.

As Mr P himself says,

… a weather summary seemed such an obvious thing with which to replace [The Markets]. Of course, anyone who has a pension or a mortgage is affected by the way the markets work. But on a day-to-day basis there’s damn all we can do about them. But we all need to know whether to take an umbrella or whether there’s a danger of being exposed to Boris Johnson’s legs.