Band of Brothers – Part 2

Band of Brothers, the production from Steven Spielberg and others, was perhaps one of the finest pieces of television since the turn of the century and there is not much doubting there. It is a must for any DVD collection.

I’m therefore pretty darn happy that the team has decided to follow up its success with The Pacific, a new HBO mini series that looks at America’s battle with the Japanese in the same war. Like the original series it will no doubt rock. Here is the trailer for our viewing pleasure…

Cool Sesame Street rendition

Courtesy of Innocent Drinks’ email newsletter I came across this wacky video. Me love it.

London transport’s finest

Those of you that don’t live or work in London might not realise we are undergoing a 48-hour tube strike right now. Frustrated yesterday one of my friends decided to opt for transport by boat to get home after work. No joke this turned up…

Film Review: Terminator Salvation

My first trip to the cinema for a while was last night and I went to see the film that perhaps I’ve been most looking forward to all year, Terminator Salvation.

Whilst the reviews for this movie have been mixed I very much wanted to make my own decision as to whether or not the film was on a par with the first two of the series or whether it was a disappointment like the third. In reality, though, it was between the two. I guess I couldn’t have expected more from a director whose previous efforts include the poor Charlie’s Angels movies and whom calls himself McG.

Everything was in place here for Terminator Salvation to be a classic. The casting was spot on (Christian Bale and Sam Worthington especially), the continuation of the storyline works and the realisation of the world after Judgement Day is a visual treat that keeps true to the original films. Great to hear that theme tune again too, what a classic.

I’m very much of the opinion that there is enough here to warrant a sequel (or two) but I did come away from the film thinking there was something missing. At times the film was definitely leaning towards the fromage side and you never ever got this from the Terminator classics. Also and in typical Hollywood fashion the CGI is somewhat over the top, which again you didn’t get in the originals.

I felt that the film was catering too much to the new cinema audience that seem to be happy with such a format, but by doing this you will always upset those that fell in love with the story and its characters in the first place. Today’s filmmakers should realise that by toning down the big explosions and special effects you often get bigger suspense and impact, which the first two films had bucket loads of. The recent Batman films have shown this, so perhaps Bale can bring some of this experience to the next films if they ever get made, which I hope of course they do.

Britain: the home of democracy. Yeah right

The electorate has spoken in England and there are now no Labour-run councils in the whole of the country. The Government has now also moved into third place behind the Tories and UKIP in the UK-wide European Election vote, despite totalling the same number as MEPs as the latter (13 each, compared to the Conservative’s 25). Check out the Beeb’s coverage here.

There is no doubt this is a complete disaster for Gordon Brown and the Labour Party and that there is nothing to spin here. I’m of the view, however, that this could end up being even more of a disaster for the British political system and most importantly for us…the public. If Brown stays on (which seems likely) it will be against the will of the public and ultimately against what democracy is all about. To make a dramatic point, under Gordon we will live under a dictatorship run by an unelected Prime Minister who sets his own agenda despite the will of the overwhelming majority.

It is my view that we are entering a hugely dangerous period in our nation’s politics and that the outcome of the next twenty-four hours (or so) will decide whether we care for democracy or not. We have nothing more to do than put faith in the Labour Party’s elected MPs to make the right choice on behalf of the British public. Some of you may feel he’s the right person to lead the country but we’ve spoken, we don’t and you work on behalf of us. Do your duty please.