Supermassive Fangirl: Pirates of the Caribbean
Lol, I am obsessed with PotC. I went to see it this morning and just could not resist the urge to write a poorly worded spaffy blog. There’s no spoilers but if you’re like me, you might find the bits in italics a bit revealy.
It seems as though they’ve taken out the sprawling epic plot lines and insanely huge action set pieces in order to return to the ‘simplicity’ and character driven charm of the original. But, it’s as though they’ve taken the nonsense stuff from the third, and the less ambitious feel of the first and combined them in On Stranger Tides which means, it’s not as good as any of them. They’ve also retained the needless side story’s which just end up hogging screen time from the main plot and not even coming to anything. Hahaha, oh well. It could have gone one of two ways and I’m not surprised it ended up this way.
The music is the same, and wonderful as always, but it doesn’t seem to fit quite so well as in the others, where each strike of a sword is matched to a flourish. There’s some nice little hints of previous themes in there though, a few times you can hear Up is Down flickering away in the background.
It just feels as though it’s lacking something. It’s hard to split the film into acts in your mind as there are few really huge battles to divide it up. The pacing is wrong I think.
Really, it just seems a little tame compared to the epic absurdity of the previous two which would have been ok, had they compensated for that with a tightly woven plot, clear purposeful direction and more well developed characters, as per the original.
However! I am not disappointed, I think I was expecting it to be this way. It’s a brilliant film and still has the heart of the others. I love it no matter what, Jack, Gibbs and Barbossa are there and the world they inhabit is the same. It’s still escapism of the highest calibre.
I think the only way I can explain how I feel about these films is to compare them to Harry Potter. It doesn’t matter if they are good or bad, as long that world is there and you can be a part of it. You’re invested in the characters and they’re almost a part of you, so you’re with them no matter what. I just love them. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a worthy addition to the franchise and I’ll no doubt be buying every version of the dvd and display them happily along with all the others.
I’ve surprised myself by how negative that sounds, but really, fans only write nit picky, harsh blogs about films because they care so much. It’s one of the highest forms of flattery, ololol.
(Disclaimer: I was actually ridiculously tired watching it though because I stayed up all night watching all the others before hand, so I may completely change my mind on another viewing, of which there will be MANY!)
Anti Spam: Last Week
Went home last week for a few days, hence my twittar absence. Instead of spamming your feed with everything I would’ve tweeted, I thought I’d just put it all in a blog.
I went back to see the wonderful Mark Morris (of Spaced, lolz) play an acoustic gig at a pub. It was amazing as always and being as he pretty much knows us now, we hung around afterwards to say hi. No matter how many times it happens, I will never get used to the fact that someone who had a cameo and music used in Spaced greets my sister by saying, “Hi Sarah!” And then tells us he’s glad we came, he’d hoped we’d come, then engages in small talk with us about OUR lives and stuff we’ve talked about before. He also gave me a free cd and offered us free tickets to any gig on the next Bluetones tour.
I wonder if he realises how unbelievably kind he’s been to us and if he does it on purpose or if he’s just lovely. For my sister, The Bluetones are pretty much her Muse. So replace Mark Morris with Bellamy in this post and you’ll see how utterly awesome it is.
But then, he told us that the next Bluetones tour will be thier last. It was horrible when he said it and explained why, such a shock. It seems like they’ve finally given up. I’ll probably write more about this in the future.
That sort of put a bit of a downer on the rest of the week and it’ll probably take many a year to actually get over it.
But anyway, it was also my sisters birthday on Friday so we had a pension party with all the grandparents on Wednesday night. Me and teh sistar made a cake which was not our best, but still 3 tiers of awesome.
When we were eating, the grandparents went on some long ramble about places they’ve been and somewhere was mentioned to which my granddad replied “Victoria (me, lol) would like it there, it’s full of goths!” Oh how he lol’d.
I mean, fuck.
In other news, my dad managed to get my toe stop off my shiny new skates which means I now have 2 lovely guards on the front rather than 1 guard and a load of duct tape on the other. He had to do it with a hilariously massive, rusty old spanner from the garage because nothing else would fit. Oh lol, American things.
Anyhoo, that’s pretty much what I would’ve tweeted last week.
tl;dr
The Predictable Failiure
FFFUUUUUUUUUU Fully intended to go out with teh flatmates tonight for the first time as I think they think I’m a bit of a horrible recluse. That’s fair enough though really, although I did stay up drinking with them on the first night. I also meant to go out with them on Wednesday night but ended up going to the same club with a different person. To make matters worse, I’d had pre-drinks with them then left, forgetting to let them know.
I don’t think I’m being shit, at least not on purpose, but they all seemed to instantly click and get on so well that I’ve predictably felt like an outsider from the beginning.
Also, no idea if its freshers flu, tiredness or just my bodies dick way of telling me DO NOT WANT THIS LIFE SITUATION, YOU WILL STOP WORKING NAO KTHXBAI but I’ve felt completely zoned out for this entire week which has decreased my already appalling social skills and memory to next to nothing. Not good when you”re trying to learn names and make friends. It’s as though my mind is completely disconnected from my body. The sort of feeling you get when you’re still slightly drunk after a massive burst of drinking but have sobered up to the point where your mind knows pretty much what’s going on and yet you’re still unable to control your body and speech. eg. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: “Which is interesting, because the brain continues to function more or less normally…you can actually watch yourself behaving in the terrible way, but you can’t control it.”
Anyway, I was about to leave and see someone from my course at the su bar for a bit when the flat people actually knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to have a takeaway with them so I thought yes! Sit with them, get pissed, no plans for tonight so I can go out with them and hopefully they won’t think I’m a total twat. It was all good, despite me being stupidly quiet and unable to really join in the conversation. Started the drinking games and joined in a bit, downed the shit mix which got me instantly hammered and then said I’d go out with them. But! I’d said I’d possibly go to a bar with the same person from the other night so text them to say not to worry about me and he replied saying he was just about to ask if I wanted to come and see their new fish. (one of them totally looks like Tom Kirk jsyk) I had about an hour so went round, watched youtube videos with him and this other guy for about 3 hours like geeks, then realised the time. FAIL! Now they’re going to think I’ve done the same thing that I did the other night and ditched them when it honestly wasn’t on purpose.
God this is balls. I know what I should do and I know what advice I’ll get given but really, I just can’t. Maybe things will be better when this zoned out shit wears off (fingers crossed it does pretty bloody soon) but even so, still means I’ll have to make a more of an effort once Freshers is over.
P.S. Guess who’s drunk?! This was basically just meant to be a twitlonger, lulz.
Wells aka Sandford
Here, at long last, by popular demand, are my photos from our trip to Wells aka the village of Sandford. (Excuse how stupid I look in these photos, but honestly, they’re the less retarded ones. I don’t photograph well.)
It’s so odd, this is the second time we’ve been so we knew our way round anyway but the entire place is exactly the same as the film. The first time we went we knew where to go, where everything was and the names of the buildings just from watching the film and the dvd extras. There isn’t really much more to Wells than what you see in the film, aside from the cathedral itself. It’s just like being in Sandford. Many geekgasms were had.
lol, I’m Jim Broadbent.
Dead Wright, the path where Mike Tight was tragically murdered.
The Co-Op, previously Somerfield and before that, Gateway.
Edgar Wright used to sort these trolleys. Well, not these exact trolleys but still *fangirls*
Serial Killer?
“Want anything from the shop?” (lol at that man. Angry man is angry.)
And here’s the non-retarded pictures. Taken, edited and matched up by @Sarahnb. I’m actually pretty impressed by how well she’s matched them up to the stills.
Power of the Internetz (Ignorance is Bliss)
Feel free to dismiss this as the angry ramblings of a bitter idiot but it’s something I’ve felt for a while and have been thinking about a lot recently, what with all this Neutron Star Collision business. I wanted to get it off my chest (hur hurr).
I’ve loved Muse ever since I first heard Butterflies and Hurricanes on the radio when I was twelve. I got Absolution for my Birthday and when Black Holes and Revelations came out I bought it straight away with my own money. After that, I thought ‘why the hell I don’t have any of their other albums?’ and bought them all in bulk from HMV. They then remained on a constant rota in my cd player up until last year. I loved them, never analysed them, never saw any flaws in their music. I just loved them, more than any other band I’d ever heard.
But when I heard about the new album and the likelihood of another tour I decided to join the forum. I’d never seen them live before and despite them being pretty much the only music in my life for several years, I hardly new anything about them. I wanted to make sure that with The Resistance, I didn’t miss a thing. At first it was brilliant; the treasure hunt was completely fantastic. I followed it all and hardly slept for a week. I was unbelievably excited at the prospect of a new album and seeing them live. But then United States of Eurasia was released and the hate started. So much analysis. I was genuinely shocked to discover that there were fans of the band who disliked the song. But I ignored it. I got my Tinmuff tickets and almost died from sheer happiness when they played Undisclosed Desires for the first time. The euphoria lasted for weeks. Then The Resistance came out. As expected I was surprised and almost confused but loved it nonetheless. Although it seemed that almost nobody else did. “Oh lulz, Guiding Shite. Uprising is so boring live. Bahaha, Fench fail.” etc, etc. It was at this point I found myself really analysing the new songs as well, picking them apart and comparing them to ‘classic’ Muse. My opinions really started to become influenced by the board and by twitter, people who I had gotten to know as Muse fans actually disliked the new stuff and criticised it accordingly.
Then there was the setlist phase. Knowing I would be seeing them at the NIA in a few months time, I followed the Sexy Plane just out of sheer excitement. More hate and much beef ensued but by this point I could hardly tear myself away from the boards. It got to the point where I actually found myself at my second ever Muse gig (originally to be the first if it weren’t for Tinmuff), at the barrier mere feet away from the Matt Bellamy thinking ‘oh no! Megaphone!’ Where the fuck did that come from?! I bloody love Feeling Good! Thank you board.mu Thanks very much.
Before the boards I didn’t know Twilight was a bad thing but now I despair over the thought of Muse being involved. I’d have been blown away by the fantastic stage set up, not angry that they weren’t putting more effort into setlists. (Having only seen them at Tinmuff it made no fucking difference to me what they played anway!) I’d be enjoying the journey, watching Muse develop and move forward with their music, exploring new ideas and getting technically better rather than worrying about their future and where they might be heading. I’d be loving them and appreciating them as I used to without thinking they owe me something and have let me down. After all the years of pleasure they’ve given me, who am I to suddenly start criticising and insulting their decisions?
Maybe I was just a massive fan girl without realising it, maybe I take it too seriously or am too easily influenced but there is no doubt in my mind that joining the Muse community, rather than increasing it, has massively hindered my enjoyment of this unique and incredible band, a band that I once loved unconditionally.
Sometimes, I’d rather just not fucking know.
(By the way, this is just my personal opinion. I’m in no way saying that other people shouldn’t write blogs and express their opinions. I get that there are fans that’ve been around since the very beginning as part of the community. It’s just something I think I want to start distancing myself from. I also get that I’ve just written a blog complaining about people writing blogs. Oh wellz.)
The Return of The Doctor
Well, Matt Smith is quite good. What a relief. It seems likely he’ll probably be just about as good as David Tennant, not better, never better, but as good. The one thing I think he lacks that Tennant had is depth. Not that Matt Smith doesn’t have depth as he does, episode 2 proved that already. But with Tennant, you could just see on his face the history and terrible past the Doctor has and all the emotion that’s built up over all those years, everything he’s been through shows. I know he was in it for three series and so obviously had more time to invest in the character, but it was just there, behind his eyes.
I’ll admit I was very worried about the new series despite Moffat taking over. I had seen a few of Christopher Eccleston’s episodes, none of the older ones, but I started watching it properly because of David Tennant so I’d thought that maybe it was his Doctor that I loved and sympathised with rather than the actual character. Although I was definitely willing to give him a chance, my feelings on Matt Smith were pretty much DO NOT WANT.
However, after watching The Beast Below I’m glad to say I was wrong. The premise of the show itself and the idea of the Doctor is so strong that as long as the writing remains good, maybe in the end it doesn’t matter who plays him.
I know I’m probably a bit slow on the uptake here as well being as the show is based on the fact that the lead actor can change without the show itself changing so of course it still works. Silly me.
But all that aside, I still can’t help imagining what certain scenes would have been like had Tennanty been in them instead and how much more I would have enjoyed it. Oh well, we’ll always have the box sets and with Moffat in control this could well be one of the most consistently brilliant series yet.
Day 3
Guess what this was inspired by, lawl.
Day 1
It’s not very good but I don’t mind, I enjoyed doing it and I like the idea.
