Amy's Christmas Crackers - Gay Trekkies

My Mum got me the Little Britain Series 1-3 boxset for Christmas and I have only just had a chance to start it. I had the first series knocking about somewhere but it was a knock-off and I lost it so it was refreshing to see these characters growing from their inital conception to the people that have become cultural icons in British Comedy.

I was in a really bad mood (for some reason, I hate New Year!) and so I lay on the sofa with a blanket and a cuppa (both appropriately and coincidentally in my Little Britain mug) and clicked "Play All" on the DVD menu and a few episodes in I saw the Daffyd "I'm the only gay in th village" Thomas talking about gay trekkies!!

Its funny, as Little Britain always is and I do not get why I do not remember this. Maybe it was his comment about DS9 that forced me to erase it from my mind because of my pure love for both shows. Matt Lucas is one of my favourite people in the entire world. (See some of his Shooting Stars stuff here).

Anyway Trekkies and comedy fans alike... ENJOY!!!

Amy's thoughts on... Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr) and his loyal partner in crime-busting, Dr Watson (Law), find themselves up against the sinister Lord Blackwood (Strong) and his evil, apparently supernatural, plans. It's a situation complicated by the arrival of Holmes' ex-amour, the untrustworthy and dangerous Irene Adler (McAdams)...

Well, well, well... what a week!! I don't go to the cinema for months and then I go twice in 2 days!! In a way, I had to see this movie. For 2 reasons. The first being Guy Ritchie. I am a big fan of Snatch, RocknRolla and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (I haven't seen those other supposedly "bad" films he has done) and I really like his style. It is original in the way Edgar Wright is. The second reason is Jude Law. Now please do not roll your eyes! I happen to be a Jude Law fan. Yes he has done a lot of shit over the years, but in Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr Ripley and Enemy at the Gates he is amazing!

This is the first Ritchie-directed movie that he hasn't written (that I have seen anyway), a blockbuster and a family film. It feels weird connecting him to the film when there is no swearing or excessive violence (even my friend was surprised he had directed when I told her as we walked out of the cinema). But there are still little "feelings". Such as the gritty London setting. The landscape shots could have had better in the CGI department but this London had the feeling that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen did (or as my father calls it: "the film that shall not be named!" Guilty pleasure unfortunately). According to wikipedia, some of the street scenes were filmed in Manchester, my home!! YAY!! Also, the bare-knuckle fighting that Holmes in involved in is the biggest hint of "Ritchie-ness" involved. But overall, this is the least Guy Ritchie film that Guy Ritchie has made. However, I reckon it is the plot that mainly sees to this. Ritchie's plots mainly involve ensemble casts with many interweaving sub-plots that either weave together very cleverly or can often be one sub-plot too far. But Sherlock Holmes is very simplistic. Yes there are a few twists and turns here and there but the plot is a bit thin on the ground.

Robert Downey Jr. has had one hell of a comeback hasn't he? I still have not seen Iron Man yet (but will do this week... I promise!) but he is definitely one of the greatest in the business at the moment. His performance as Holmes is just a pleasure to watch on the big screen. And his accent isn't too bad either! Jude Law hasn't had a great year with the tabloids but he hits back with a performance that is very different from other interpretations of Watson (well, so I've heard) with him being the heroic best mate rather than the bumbling one. He should stick to the "sidekick"/"supporting" role because he excels at it. The chemistry between the two brings out the comedy of the film. They are like an old married couple: bickering, getting on each other's nerves and what-not but at the end of the day, they would do anything for each other.

Mark Strong, teaming up with Ritchie again after his wonderful performance in RocknRolla, makes a sensational baddie. He has the voice for it too. And Rachel McAdams is always a pleasure to watch but I felt her screentime to be severely limited. And we didn't even see her Ann Summers underwear fashion show that was in the trailer. Makes you think about what else has been deleted. And its the same with Kelly Reilly. I really like her and she was barely in it!! GRRRR :P

6/10 - Overall its a wonderful start to what will hopefully be a franchise. It isn't Richie's best, but not his worst by a very very long shot. It is a funny, action packed film that is never boring, but often feels a bit flat.

Amy's thoughts on... Avatar in 3D

When his twin brother is killed, disabled ex-Marine Jake Sully is recruited to aid a mining expedition on the distant jungle moon of Pandora as only his DNA will bond with the alien hybrid body, known as an Avatar, that allows humans to breathe the toxic air. With orders to infiltrate the Na’vi, Jake finds himself falling in love with native girl, Neytiri, and complications soon ensue…

It is by no means a secret that James Cameron is my favourite director of all time. Unfortunately I made this choice long after Titanic sunk the cynical "I'll decide it's crap before I have even seen a trailer" critics and became one of the most popular movies of all time!! So I have not had the experience of seeing my favourite director working his magic on the big screen. I was also pretty rewarding to hear that he was returning to sci-fi with a movie so ambitious that he had to build the technology to make it happen.

So the self-proclaimed King of the World is back big-time baby. Originally set for a release date in 1999, however, at the time, the special effects he wanted for the movie ran the proposed budget up to $400 million. No studio would fund the film, and it was subsequently shelved. He also wanted technology to "catch-up". And he was right to.


In my 20 years of living, I have sat in cinemas many times and been blown away by certain effects. Notable examples include several scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Day After Tomorrow. Avatar was beyond that. I was speechless (honestly!!) and getting goosebumps. For once I was watching a film where everything didn't just look real, it felt real. Just little things like facial muscles and pupils that add more realism than anything Pixar has ever done! Even the creatures as they flew around the mountains and the helicopters themselves didn't look like they were Computer Generated. It is impossible not to be completely immersed in the stunning visuals with such painstakingly intricate details that it would take a few viewings to catch everything. Astonishing stuff. This is proof that maybe George Lucas should have waited about 10 years!! All the things that Lucas did wrong in those prequels, Cameron did right  in Avatar.

Cameron is so good at a lot of things. But unfortunately, his writing isn't too great and the story is predictable. But I just do not care!!! So yes it is Dances with Wolves in Space and Smurf-ahontas but I felt for these characters, even though they were CGI!! So the story is predictable. But I don't care!! Everything else, in my opinion, is so right!! Pandora itself is amazing. Cameron has created a world and a culture that makes you care for these people to the point that you actually want the humans to die horrible deaths!! And the last 40 minutes is what Cameron is at his best at: action. Pure no-holds-barred, imaginative battle scenes that are just astonishing to watch, bringing that adrenaline rush that we love from Cameron films like the scene where the marines discover the hive in Aliens and the motorcycle chase in T2.



Now to the 3D arguement. I wouldn't say I have been against 3D, I'm just not a big fan. This could also be coupled with the fact that I am so skint that I didn't even pay for this trip!! I saw Coraline in 3D earlier in the year and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I reckon Avatar will be just as much fun in 2D but the 3D is definitely an experience to relish.

Now, the actors. Sam Worthington, fresh from his highly praised role in Terminator: Salvation (well, he was one of the better things about that movie!) establishes himself as a Hollywood actor. His performance as Jake Sully may well be what Jack Dawson did to Leonardo DiCaprio. Stephen Lang is absolutely badass in the role of the Colonel!! But I do wish Michael Biehn had the role as was originally intended during pre-production. Zoe Saldana finishes off an astonishing year for her career in style. The roles of Uhura and Neytiri will be enough to make people forget that she was in the god-awful Britney Spears movie. And Ellen Ripley returns. Well, not quite. Sigourney Weaver returns to the world of Cameron and she, as usual, never disappoints. She's like Michael Biehn: No matter how shite a movie she is in she will always squeeze out a reason to watch - which is her!!!

There are also a lot of references and what-nots to other movies of interest. A particular scene where the Colonel jumps out of an exploding helicopter inside an AVP suit is so "Terminator coming out of the fire" moment which is just awesome!!! The AVP suits are also a blatant nod to the Loaders from Aliens in which the greatest movie quote in all of creation was snapped to the Alien Queen. And it could of been my imagination but does "Jake Sully signing off" sound a bit familiar?? 


8/10 - Despite a few flaws, Avatar is an extraordinary experience that more than lives up to the hype. I will even go as far to say that Avatar is this generations Star Wars. A bold statement, but Avatar will change films in the same way Star Wars did in terms of how films were made as opposed to how we, as the audience sees them. 

Repo Men - Trailer

Jude Law

Amy's Christmas Crackers: Do Jedi's colour co-ordinate?

• Purple Fleece Blanket/Throw from Primark - £15

• Purple Toy Lightsaber from Woolworths* - £4.99

• Christmas Tree from Wilkinsons - £10

• The look on everyone's face when I popped out like this - Priceless

*I miss Woollies :( 

Amy's Christmas Crackers: Jason Manford Live at the Manchester Apollo

So this is a gift that I actually asked Father Christmas for. It was one of many DVDs I got in my sack including Family Guy, Star Trek, Little Britain and Supernatural. And it was the first one I watched (after Poirot had finished... so yeah, I like Poirot, deal with it!) on Christmas night and I was in stitches!

Most of the jokes are re-used from other shows he has done like Live at the Apollo and Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, but Manford is just a legend! I went to London to be in the studio audience of one of his shows and it was friggin' awesome!

The following clips are clips from said stand-up show. Hopefully this will persuade you to buy this because Jason Manford is one of Britains greatest talents! And I love his work!

Amy's Christmas Crackers: Nerdgasm Alert!!

I thought that I would share easily the most geeky thing to come out of my Christmas sack. After opening the various DVDs (which I will watch tomorrow), make-up (which I will probably never wear), Peter Kay's Saturday Night Peter (which will be read after Rendezvouz With Rama) and the Chula Ship from Dr Who (WOOTS!), this suddenly popped up!

Its only the fricken phaser!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!

Awesome Youtube Video of the day.

Why I think Mark Hughes shouldn't leave City!!!

I am still buzzing from the excitement of the football (City won, United and Liverpool lost). I am a big fan of Mark Hughes. I hated him when he got the job because of the United connection but I was slowly won over by him mainly because of the fact that the last match I went to, before the Sheikh Mansour takeover, we won 3-0 and it was magnificent!!

This season hasn't been great. But not terrible! Yes, we have drawn 8 of the last 10 but at the end of the day, 8 points are better than 0!!! But our defence is lacking. So, here are my points:

• It is my personal opinion that Hughes has spent very wisely. Shay Given (easily the best signing!), Craig Bellamy, Shaun Wright Phillips, Vincent Kompany (I went to his debut match!), Kolo Toure, Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong have been fine additions to a squad that lacked team work. (not too keen on Lescott. Do you think Everton will buy him back off us?)
  
• Despite our lack of defence (ironic considering that there was once a time when we had the best defence around), our attacking power is at a new height. Craig Bellamy and others including Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and Emmanuel Adebayor have scored amazing goals!!
• While Manchester United have already lost 5 this season City have only lost 2. 2!!!!  I watched both of those matches on the telly. One of them (0-3 against Spurs) was one of the worst matches I have ever seen. The other (a 4-3 loss against Manchester United), despite the loss or 2/3 points is still one of the greatest matches I have ever seen in my 20 years of living. It was thrilling from start to end and also established City as a dominant force to break into the top four. In previous seasons, City have has this annoying trait of not being able to make a comeback. They will fall behind and stay behind. But not anymore. The match against Chelsea also proved that!
• And, listening to the discussion about it on Soccer Saturday (Jeff Stelling is the most awesome bloke on Sky Sports News!) none of them think that Hughes should go. This is enough for me to say that he shouldn't go!

I have said my piece. Please comment if you think there is another reason he should stay, or even if you have an arguement against it!. I am in the mood for a good tiff!!!

 

My First Birthday Message

While I was busy watching The Exorcist, my friend took the time to send me this lovely photo that she made herself and I felt the need to share it with you all!!

Thankyou to the wonderful Chloe Dungate!! This is truly spectacular!!

Amy's Christmas Playlist

So, I had this 2 hour skype converation with my Dad the other day. It went like this:

Dad: "Amy, you left loads of CDs behind including that signed album you have"
Me:  "I know Dad, just leave it. *very bored*"
Dad: "Oh! And I found your christmas CD."
Me:  "What Christmas CD?"
Dad: "The one that you burned. It has "Amy's Christmas Tunes 2007" written on it."
Me:  "Is it any good?"
Dad: "Amy... its one of the best Christmas playlists I have ever heard"

PLEASE NOTE: Now this is a lot from him. I am famous for my bad taste in music. A lot of people laugh at my Elliot Minor hoodie and my love of James Blunt (I have just lost your respect now havent I?).

Dad: "Well, the CD is a few years old now and its all jumpy in the CD player. Can you make a knew one?"
Me: "Why can't you make it?"
Dad: "Cos you can do it"

Cheeky bastard.

I fall into this trap every Christmas; I can never seem to find my Christmas playlist! I have to re-download them every year! So I downloaded them again. And having made my CD (and a playlist on iTunes for mt iPod) I am going to share it with you!!

Bloody Nerves...

At exactly 10AM GMT this morning I have a live TV assessment. Basically we have to record our show without any interruptions as if it were live. It is currently 8AM and I am starting to feel the nerves. So I decided to reassure myself with what me and may group made last year. The assessment was to make a TV show that was a children's factual program that was about anywhere in the world except for England.



So, it isn't great (so yeah I screwed up with a camera shot towards the end! boo-fucking-hoo!!)! But we were proud of it! When I did that one, we rehearsed it so many times that I didn't need my camera cards. But for the one we are doing today, we have so much set to put out that rehearsal time has been severely limited. Hopefully we can get a little rehearsal in before the designated recording time of 11AM; it would certainly help settle my nerves...

But then I remembered something: the production value this time round is much higher. The budget is bigger (with each member of the group giving £11 each) and because we are the only group having their assessment today, we get first choice of the set!! When we did Jambo, we though it was fantastic. It looks kinda tacky now when we have found proper props to use rather than a papier mache mountain!!

You probably thought you will get "Amy's Words of Wisdom" about nerves when you started reading this. Sorry to disappoint you; I just wanted to let off some steam. But some reassurances will be welcomed! My twitter is...

lolz!!

Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea

I think its pretty much common knowledge that I enjoyed this game immensely. Me and my good friend Joe went to the pub and watched the match in glorious HD.

The game started off well. I thought City put a hell of an effort in but it just wasn't good enough. Chelsea over-powered us easily at times.

Then that horrible thing happened: Adebayor own goal. We knew it wasn't his fault, but City desperately needed a win. I spoke to a City fan at the pub:

Stranger: "I can't see City coming back from that"
Me: "Well we couldn't last year. But the team is much better as a unit than they were last season and after what happened at Old Trafford, you never know!"

It was at that point that he started to look at the match from a different view. So yeah, City lost at Old Trafford, but I still say it is one of the greatest football matches I have ever witnessed in my entire near-20 years of living! That conversation also proved that Mancunians are the best people in the world! Because they are the only people who are willing to talk to strangers about football in the pub!! I tried once with a Man U supporter (from London no doubt... ) didn't go too well!!

And my God what a comeback!!! City seem to have finally broken out of the "fall behind and lose all hope" way of playing and gone for more of a "oh shit! We're behind, lets kick some Premiership arse!". And I bloody love it!! It has been a while since I saw a brilliant MCFC match (yeah, the Arsenal one midweek was good, but I missed most of it... oops!).

Oh, and another thing this match proved is that Shay Given has been the best signing Mark Hughes has made since the mega-big takeover last year. Given consistently shown that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and that showed with the penalty save. So the penalty wasn't taken brilliantly by Frank Lampard (who hasn't missed for a few years!) but Given still managed to make something of it, and I love him for it!!

I am still over-excited by this won. Not only is it out first win for a while (then again, we havent lost since THAT derby!) but it is the first time we have beaten Chelsea for a while. We also showed the potential for breaking into the Top 4.

So before I ramble into the night, here's a little parting gift to all City fans out there: a nice little sing-song:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Teaser Trailer

Yes, you read right!! The Harry Potter 7 trailer is now with us. Odds are that most of you have already seen it (there was a leaked version yesterday and today I RT'ed this one and I also reckon its on the HBP Blu-Ray release). But I thought I'd post about it anyway.

Its looking good. I know its only 60 seconds long but its already starting to make me wish that November wasn't 11 months away. I demand that time goes quicker... :D

Amy's thoughts on... The Warlords

Well, I was bored, as I often am! And so i decided to do some channel-hopping. I knew it was a very futile thing to do, I mean it was 1am and it is a weekday! So nothing would be on.... except for Film4 which is currently undergoing a "War Season". I had missed the first 20 minutes, but the name sounded vaguely familiar. I then remembered Empire Magazine gave it a really good review. But it wasn't that reason that I was hooked; it was the battle.

I joined the movie right in the middle of a battle. And believe me when I say that this film, with a little bit more blood, would have given Lord of the Rings a run for their money!! From what I could gather from the TV Guide and what-not, three blood brothers fighting a war in China in the 1800s. What also kept me watching (because lets face it, most people would continue with the channel-hopping after the battle!) was the fact that I recognized each one of the 3 actors. I found this a bit of a shock considering I haven't seen many Asian films.

First we have Takeshi Kaneshiro. I like to say he's in my favourite Asian films, but to be honest all of the ones that I can think of off the top of my head, none of them were bad! He was in House of Flying Daggers, which I am a huge fan of. In fact, I may watch it after seeing him in this!! He was also in probably my second favourite foreign film and that is Chungking Express (a must-see for any film fan), a film that had me addicted to California Dreamin' for months!! While I thought his performance was fantastic, it was overshadowed by his co-stars.

Andy Lau was also in House of Flying Daggers in an electrifying performance. He was also in the Infernal Affairs movies which was later remade into The Departed. Now I have only seen the remake but as far as remakes go, The Departed is definitely one of the better ones. He was easily my favourite performance in the whole film, one that gains throughout the whole film until the climax (so, like sex really!! :P).

And of course, we have Jet Li. If you erase movies such as Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Lethal Weapon 4, he was is a very highly acclaimed actor in Chinese martial arts epics, such as Hero, which used to be my favourite movie until James Cameron saw to that with Aliens. Hero is, in my opinion, the perfect story of love and revenge, accompanied by the most stunning visuals you'll probably ever see in a movie! (With House of Flying Daggers being a notable exception). The Warlords however, is the complete opposite of Hero. 

Hero focused more on the martial arts side of things and was a lot more lavish and "matrix-style" without going too over the top. In The Warlords however, there is some amazing choreography with the battles and fights etc but, if anything, the main focus of the whole film is how war brought these men together, and then ultimately, broke them apart. And Li's performance is the same. In Hero, he was great at his arts, as per usual, but was a bit bland. Here, he gives a powerful performance of a man who commits atrocities in the name of justice. This begins a cycle of events that cause these blood brothers turn against one another due to the harsh realities of war and political intrigue.

As I'm sure you have gathered by now, I cannot recommend this film highly enough. And this is from someone who missed the first 20 minutes!! It has everything that a movie-goer wants: blood, battles, love, revenge, war and fucking everything else you can possibly think of. Except for spaceships and zombies, but thats just common sense!!

Wrestling - A Newcomer's View

Before I came to University, I had no interest in wrestling whatsoever. And, throughout my first year it was the same; it wasn't that I had dismissed it, it was because I had never taken the time to sit down and watch a full length show.

And my flatmate, who moved in in September, is proper into it!!! She watches Monday Night Raw at 2am and Friday Night Smackdown at 10pm every week! Slowly but surely I was being dragged into the so-called "dramas" and what-not. I knew it was not real, but a scripted show, which made it no different than Hollyoaks really except it has a MASSIVE studio audience! As I learnt the rules and learnt the people, I slowly became addicted.

Then my flatmate, Becky, my best friend, Chloe, and her friend from home, Dan (another avid wrestling fan), decided to watch Hell In A Cell, a SBO event at the local pub on campus. We have now made it a tradition to go to that pub and sit at the same table every time there is a match on SBO (we have already seen Bragging Rights and Survivor Series; next it will be TLC in 2 weeks!).



Yes its cheesy at times and yes there are times when you think "surely hitting him there would be better" or "just get up you bastard and tag each other already" but I think that is the mark of a fan, not an obbsessive one mind; but then again I do have a Randy Orton desktop background replacing my Starbase 66 one and I even have my 2010 WWE calender already. So what? lol. I am enjoying it a lot more than I ever thought I would and it was all thanks to Dan who said "you know, its not that different from any other show. Its scripted and what-not. You just have to go along with it", an it was relatively easy to do so after that.

Nuff said :-)

A Shameless Plug - Lincoln Christmas Market

When I first announced to my family that I had my heart set on going to the University of Lincoln to get my degree, most of my relatives said "oh the Christmas Market there is absolutely amazing". I didn't think much of this if course since I just thought they were passing and decided to go. But when the first weekend of December came around in 2008, I was shocked by the impact it had; people from all over the world came to visit this market, not just for the amazing food, beer and exercise, but for the true festive experience. Here are some facts:

1. Number of visitors - 250,000.
2. Meters of temporary flooring - 3,190 metres (over two miles!!).
3. Number of local stalls - 115 
4. Number of stalls overall - Over 300.
5. Number of coaches visiting the 2004 event - 799.
6. The number of cars using the Park and Ride service - 9436.
7. Number of electric sockets installed especially - 498.
8. Hours taken to install all the electrics - 830.
9. The number of Reindeer' on the Santa's Express ride - 8.
10. Number of days spent organising - 365!!! (a whole year).
11. It's the 25th Christmas Market in 2006, which is a huge achievement.
12. The Lincoln Christmas Market began in 1982 with just 14 stalls.
13. About 30,000 leaflets are distributed to let people  know about the market.
14. The market generates around £10 million for the local economy.
15. It is one of the biggest of its kind in Europe.
16. There will be several new stores this year.
17. The Lincoln Christmas Market takes its inspiration from its German twin-town of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse.

I can assure you that none of these facts are over-exaggerated. In fact, if anything, they're probably a bit low because these statistics are 5 years old. The Market is so popular, that you have to walk in a one-way system around the Castle grounds and back to the front of the Cathedral. And it is also quite difficult to get to. This is because to get there in the first place, you have to walk up a road called "Steep Hill" (which I assurse you, is very appropriately named! And walking down it with a lot of heavy market shopping (which I, very stupidly, did last year) is just as, if not more, of a challenge. And getting to Lincoln itself is difficult on the train, because it literally is in the middle of nowhere! So the council get extra trains to bring the tourists in because those particular trains only have the 2 blood carriages!!!! (I do wish they'd do that for students because its very difficult to stand with a really big suitcase!)


Last year I went absolutely wild and bought some amazing things including lots of beer (3 different breweries were there, 3!!!), german biscuits, different types of odd cheeses, toys for my baby sister (which she loved!!). 


It is truly an amazing experience. And in the wake of this weekend's market, in which my family will be visiting me (which is a treat in itself, haven't seen them for months!) and go to the market, I thought I'd plug it for everyone else!! So if anyone just happens to be near Lincoln during the first weekend of december, you must go!!!


I have said my piece!