THIS THINGS I BELIEVE
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Midsummer Movie Mania - Men In Black
This is a film I probably should have seen before now, but I haven’t. This was my first viewing, and I rather enjoyed it. I didn’t really know what it was about, or what to expect going in, so I found the first few scenes a bit silly, but I soon got into it.
The whole idea of finding out some enormous revelation, like the fact that there is other life out there, or that time travel is possible, or that there’s an enormous intergovernmental conspiracy, or whatever, is one that is dealt with quite often in films, but often not very well. Will Smith, however, portrays it very well in Men In Black. Twice, in fact, since his memory is wiped. There is usually a tendency to overplay such moments; contrast Smith’s reaction to that of Michael J. Fox upon learning that he’s in 1955 in Back To The Future, or that of Jim Carrey when he’s given all God’s powers in Bruce Almighty. Two films and two actors I love, but those moments were less than convincing. Smith does it very well, and manages to strike up a realistic partnership with Tommy Lee Jones, without turning it into the cliched opposite-personality-types you see in a lot of films. The premise is reasonable enough, while some of the alien stuff is pretty silly, but it all made for an enjoyable 90 minutes of entertainment. Rip Torn was also excellent in his role as the boss man of some kind. As I understand it, Men In Black has a couple of sequels, which I may or may not check out in due course.
Viewing - First
Rating - 7/10 -
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Midsummer Movie Mania - Adaptation
It’s summer, and I’m home from university. I may find some kind of job, I may not, but in the meantime, I plan to amuse myself by watching lots of films. This is really just to chronicle my thoughts for my own purposes, but if you’re the kind of person who likes to read this kind of thing, then this may be the kind of thing a person like you may like. Tonight I started with Adaptation.
I borrowed this film from my friend Simon, who seems to have an unhealthy obsession with Nicolas Cage. Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze, Adaptation stars Cage as Kaufman and his fictitious twin brother Donald, as well as Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper in supporting roles. I was looking forward to watching it, as I recently had the pleasure of viewing Kaufman and Jonze’s previous collaboration, Being John Malkovich, which I enjoyed very much, having borrowed that from Simon as well. Everyone I’ve spoken to about Adaptation has said they prefer it to Being John Malkovich, and I expected to be no different.
It’s not that I didn’t enjoy this film, I just didn’t think it lived up to the hype I’ve experienced. Some might try to tell me I didn’t understand it; this is not true, I understood it fine, despite all the unnecessary jumping around out of chronological order. The plot focuses on Kaufman attempting to adapt a non-fiction book about orchids and orchid thievery into a screenplay, and having a difficult time doing so. The book appears to have been written in something of a Gonzo style, which requires Kaufman having to get close to its author, Susan Orlean (Streep) and its main focus, John Laroche (Cooper, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance). The plot was both original and engaging, but was less humorous than I had expected, and felt somewhat forced and self-congratulatory in places. Ultimately,Adaptation did not justify its own press, in my humble opinion.Viewing - First
Rating - 7/10 -
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What could happen to Rangers’ trophy cabinet.
I realise this is probably an unpopular view, but I don’t want Celtic to be given all the trophies we were cheated out of. I wanted to win them at the time, of course, but now I’d rather they were just withheld, as it wouldn’t feel like winning them properly. I understand why the players would want the recognition and medals of which they were robbed, and why the other teams who were cheated out of trophies would want them, and they deserve that. But Celtic have enough trophies without being given these; it would just be another excuse for them to call them “tainted.” I’d rather the SPL titles, Scottish Cups and League Cups that should be Celtic’s were awarded to no-one, and serve as a reminder that nobody is entitled to bend the rules and steal trophies, even if they are ra peepil.
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“Asked where this change in her sense of herself as actor came from, she cites Glasgow, Scotland....”
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not studying ever
costanza show ‘em how it is.
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Only time I'm going to rise to irritating anti-Celtic posts on here.
You know Celtic have won the...
