quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: SPOILERS ALSO.... Like Nathan, I haven't quite worked out how he did it, but I can't see how you can satisfactorily conclude that Angiers "transported" himself by magyke.
I watched a program called 100 greatest Magic Tricks and there was a guy on there who did a vanishing trick on stage and about 10 seconds later he was in the chandelier of the theatre. It was very similar. So it could be physically possible, especially as Angier performs his show in the same theatre?
I too watched this - the great ott stuff was best - the woman being drilled and the catching bullets or having tigers burst through your stomache - but after a while I wasn't impressed by anything - the floating light bulb was crap, and I can't even remember what came first...
stupid magic.
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One ingenious theory I read was based on the idea that Angiers's revenge was in motion before Borden sent him on the wild goose chase; that Drunk Root was actually a competent double (or an actual twin) playing a role to misdirect Borden into thinking that Angiers's act was a laughable failure, and that Borden doing a number on him, by sending him to Tesla was actually just a smal cog in Angiers's bigger plan, that Angiers was always going to come back and use his perfect double to completely stymy Borden, with all the paraphenalia back stage being there to bewilder his rival. They take turns going into the tank, knowing that when one of them sees Borden there, he will have to die. The idea of Drunk Root actually being a set up to make Borden think Angiers's double was shite is an ingenious one.
However the two problems are 1. Two sets of secret twins that happen to know each other is a bit of a stretch and 2. TwinRoot wouldn't have a motivation for risking his life in the tank. TwinAlgiers might do it to avenge his wife, but the other guy willing to die for his brother's personal motives is a bit of a stretch.
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I watched Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive last night and enjoyed it quite a lot. Think I watched one episode last series. It's not dissimilar to Extras. In fact, it's a blatant rip-off of Extras, but it's still good. And I don't even like Rob Brydon usually.
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quote:Originally posted by dang65: I watched Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive last night and enjoyed it quite a lot. Think I watched one episode last series. It's not dissimilar to Extras. In fact, it's a blatant rip-off of Extras, but it's still good. And I don't even like Rob Brydon usually.
There's a bit of Larry Sanders and Alan Partridge in there too. I can't decide if I find Robrydon funny or not. Current thinking: Sometimes, but begrudgingly.Posts: 14015
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quote:Originally posted by MiscellaneousFiles: I can't decide if I find Robrydon funny or not. Current thinking: Sometimes, but begrudgingly.
Yeah, same with me. Been like that for years. I've got a similar thing with Steve Coogan (and in fact they might be the same person). This one's generally very watchable though anyway.
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quote:Originally posted by Nathan Bleak: TwinRoot wouldn't have a motivation for risking his life in the tank. TwinAlgiers might do it to avenge his wife, but the other guy willing to die for his brother's personal motives is a bit of a stretch.
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Finished reading Mother's Milk on the train this morning. I can't remember the last time I was so desperately longing for a book to end, and if it hadn't been so short and easy to read, I think I would have abandoned it quite early on. Some of the prose is strong, and the imagery is vivid, but the way St Aubyn exposits the mental landscape of his characters - just describing it outright in the most banal terms - is tedious to the point where it almost becomes unbearable. Plus, the dialogue is kind of a disaster - see-sawing between Patrick Marber-esque self congratulating cleverness ("Aww he thinks he's stuck in the glass" "I don't think he's read Lacan's essay on the mirror stage just yet mother! That's where the real confusion sets in!") and really uninspired 'skewerings' of all the usual characters you'd expect to find in such a novel: aggressive American, spoilt only child, money-grubbing divorcee, etc and yawn. And the thing is, the book is almost exclusively made up of these two things: the pages and pages of tiresome analysis, interspersed with pages and pages of this awful dialogue.
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lol - sorry Thorn. Guess that's one for the Magus pile.
I thought you'd enjoy the despicable Irish character and the Patrick's mother's appalling determination to do the worst thing to the very end - I also recall a really first-class drunk scene.
Maybe I was a bit more forgiving of it because there are so many recognisably gruesome parent anxieties in there.
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Watched Pan's Labyrinth last night, as it was released on dvd here yesterday. We really liked it, although we wished they had done more with the fantasy part of the film.
Also watched a Korean fillum called Arang. About a ghost and revenge. Which seems to be a lot of Asian movies recently. It was pretty good, and it held our interest.
Haven't been reading anything recently, unless you count school books. Oh! That's not true, when I had time I read Love is a Mix Tape...finally finished it. I enjoyed it. It wasn't just about some music journalist trying to meet girls, as someone on here might've said. But it dealt with the death of his wife and the grief he went through. Was sad.
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quote:Originally posted by ben: lol - sorry Thorn. Guess that's one for the Magus pile.
I thought you'd enjoy the despicable Irish character and the Patrick's mother's appalling determination to do the worst thing to the very end - I also recall a really first-class drunk scene.
Maybe I was a bit more forgiving of it because there are so many recognisably gruesome parent anxieties in there.
I dunno - I looked up a few reviews while I was reading it and they seemed to be universally gushing, to the point where I thought maybe I had a faulty copy or something. So it's not like you had a peculiar take on it, but I couldn't really get my head round the praise I was reading for it.
Personally, I thought the Irish guy typified the novel at its worst - setting up an easy target and limply demolishing it. The whole New Age/ money-leeching thing just seems so... easy. It was like something out of a Ben Elton sit-com. Like the bit where they go to America and Patrick observes that everyone is really fat, alot of it came across as blandly obvious. Even the mother reminded me alot of another take on Livia Soprano, although i do agree that her ability to keep being appalling even after her faculties have all but evaporated was really inspired.
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yo I totally watched Sleepaway Camp and Class of 1999 last night. That's like a dream evening for me.
I've been wanting to see Class since the video cover first disturbed me as a kid, and it didn't disappoint - three miltary grade cyborgs enter a school that's been torn apart by gang warfare between two tribes of violent new romantic kids - the Black Hearts and the Razorheads. The robots, entering under the guise as new teachers, must restore order at any cost. Awesomeness ensues. Kids with machine guns, cars with loads of pointless cladding, future drugs, and homicidal discipline machines. As the cover says, it's very much robocop + terminator; the whole evil corporation behind the program ('Megacorp', lol) is another OCP, and the trio of killer teachers are campy terminators. Amazing.
Sleepaway Camp was a recent recommendation. A twist on the standard camp slasher in that the camp is full of kids as the murders take place, and they are the main focus of the drama rather than just the counsellors. The strange sexual undertones throughout the film explode into an incredible ending that burns some fucked up images onto the brain. It's American, but the warped sexuality gives it a Euro feel. In every scene the kids are all wearing very short shorts and either cut off t-shirts or bare chests (men only), the head chef is a paeodophile, and the counsellors are making out with the kids. When the end comes it draws all this together into something way more screwed up than you'd anticipate. So again, a cracking film.
1 of: My Cousin Vinny [1992] 1 of: Addams Family Values [1993] 1 of: The Cars That Ate Paris [1974] 1 of: What About Bob? [1991] 1 of: Midnight Run 1 of: Where The Buffalo Roam [1980]
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The Stuff is great - satire of the highest order - I remember bothering Mr the Ball sr for months whenever I saw the trailer at the begining of a rented film - when he finally hired it, I wasn't disappointed on jot.
Where the Buffalo Roam is okay, bit dated - my stepfatherinlaw did the sound, fact fans...
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quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: I'm about to settle in and start watching 'HEROES'.
I'm slowly downloading series one on the advice of my younger brother, and I'm wondering if that's a good idea or if in fact it'll be shite.
Anyone here seen Heroes ?
Amy ? I'm guessing you have..
PHENOMENAL! I highly recommend Heroes. It's one of my all time fave tv shows - ever. We decided that we're going to buy it on dvd, whenever it comes out. They did a great job in making it feel like a comic book, without being cheesy.
edit- fyi: this coming Monday is the season one finale.
Amy - we've just found out that *coff* is *coff*'s father. How many more lovely lovely episodes do we have in hand?
Hi HC
Honestly, I'm not sure. Probably only a little more than a handful. If you go to the Heroes website, you should be able to trace how many episodes are left. I would do it for you, but my interweb just went into slow motion and I'm having a helluva time bringing up web pages. But yeah, I think no more than seven episodes. Are you the one who bought Entourage on TMO's recommendation? If so, are you enjoying it? How do you like Heroes?
Mart, you should watch it with the wifey and kid, because they are spot on about how good it is.
We watched The Queen last night. I'm not sure if A liked it, but I did...mostly because I like Helen Mirren quite a bit.
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Can't recall if I mentioned that I was reading Annie Proulx's Close Range- a selection of some of the best short stories I've ever read; brutal, brittle and vivid. Includes the gay cowboys one.
I also finished The Human Stain, which I think I enjoyed most out of the Roths I've read. Recommended.
I have had a thoroughly delightful time revisiting Northanger Abbey. Such a shame she only wrote 6 books in total.
I seriously enjoyed The Woodlanders, by terminally untrendy rustic miserablist T Hardy. I know it's massively uncool to like his stuff, but I find him to be one of the most evocative writers in English.
Currently getting stuck in to The Idiot, and spending some lazy afternoons guiltily lapping up some rare Agatha Christies that I hadn't already devoured.
Oh, on Friday I got out Little Miss Sunshine, which was exactly as American independent cinema should be. Excellent and highly recommended.
Edit: Coronation St has been amusing me greatly. Blanche on hairdressers: "man-stealing trollops, the lot of them".
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H1ppychick
We all prisoners, chickee-baby. We all locked in.
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quote:Originally posted by Amy:
quote:Originally posted by H1ppychick: Spoilerish
Amy - we've just found out that *coff* is *coff*'s father. How many more lovely lovely episodes do we have in hand?
Hi HC
Honestly, I'm not sure. Probably only a little more than a handful. If you go to the Heroes website, you should be able to trace how many episodes are left.
I've just checked on www.tv.com and last week's episode was 14, no. 15 being broadcast tonight. So, a double-handfull, then! *glee*
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quote:Originally posted by Tilde: ...However, it is Borden holding his head underwater - in the scene I am thinking of- (in the sink) directly after Angiers wife drowns. Presumably in some sort of fit of self hate.
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Reading the excellent Jungle Capitalists - really good book about the formation of Global Food and the establishment of Banana republics in central America from the 19th C to modern day.
Watching - not much at the moment, there are some interesting looking programmes on this week - Marr's Modern History of Britain for one, and the Birth of the Tabloid looks quite good. Might record Breakfast of Champions tonight, just out of curiosity. Soprano's episode seven/nineteen should be ready by the time I get home.
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I'm reading Saul Bellow's Ravelstein which is pretty dreadful and henceforward absolves me of ever having to read any more from this supposed 'literary giant'.
Did anyone see Gavin & Stacy? Great stuff. "Fags and weed, glue and speed. But I draws the line at crack."Posts: 8657
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I've been enjoying Jeeves and Wooster on Saturday afternoons. It's about the lightest of all possible entertainment. Also - Adult Swim. Anybody watch adult swim? They're re-running Modern Toss, which I'm finding better second time around.
[ 21.05.2007, 09:55: Message edited by: Jimmy Big Nuts ]
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I'm currently reading the Wonderstarr recommended Clockers, about a third of the way through and I'm really loving it. Other people who might enjoy this book are Black Mask and Vogon Poetess. I also think that Wonderstarr, if he is reading this at the moment, would do well to check out James Ellroy's The Big Nowhere, if he likes this kind of vivid crime fiction brought to life through poetic street slang stuff.
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hey physic - I haven't seen it yet - I was waiting for it to come onto BBC. So it's worth investing into? I've kind of hit a wall with tele at the moment - I've got about four decent sounding documentaries saved to watch, but have only been watching Sopranos and that's it - Heroes is on the list, as is the 2nd series of Rome.
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