Weekend recap
Again, it wasn't too busy a weekend. When I wasn't indulging in my usual pop culture obsessions, I was working on the next Girlz 'N' Games comic (I was working on it till 12:30 last night in fact *yawn*), trying out some culinary experimentation with surprising success - homemade crumbed Wiener Schnitzel on Saturday evening and cheese soufflé on Sunday - and discovering, via a horribly mistimed midday trip to Makro, that apparently a lot of South Africans have adopted a "Fuck the recession" attitude. The crowds, the queues, the spending were overwhelming. I couldn't wait to get out of there.
Anyway, in terms of entertainment, the big screen and the little box won out this weekend.
Film:
My movie priority of the week was of course the South African set action-sci-fi-satire District 9. My full review will be appearing online soon, but I can say briefly that the film is a helluva lot of fun and well worth the praise it's been receiving. Ignore the morons however who have been loudly debating the film's Academy Awards chances - honestly these are nil, except perhaps in the technical categories (cinematography, visual effects, sound, editing).
I'd also add that District 9 is probably not a movie that everyone will like. South Africans whose only cinema diet is Leon Schuster films and other juvenile comedies will likely be traumatised by District 9's graphic violence and language. However, if you enter the cinema as something of a film geek, into sci-fi, horror and other less "socially acceptable" genres, you will have an absolute ball. District 9 is what midyear blockbuster entertainment should be.
On Sunday evening I ended up watching 2 films that probably fall into the chick flick category. What was interesting though was just how different they were.
The first, The Nanny Diaries, despite its silly title, is actually one of those rare female-centred films that I think a male viewer could tolerate, or even enjoy. The Nanny Diaries is in fact quite similar to The Devil Wears Prada in that it's a drama-comedy focused on a directionless young woman (Scarlett Johansson), recently graduated from college, who learns more about herself by entering a professional world and society she has zero familiarity with. In the case of The Nanny Diaries, our heroine becomes a nanny for the offspring of a controlling, neurotic Manhattan socialite (Laura Linney). The film spends more time examining the idiosyncrasies of a very weird micro-society than dwelling on the mushy stuff.
If I enjoyed The Nanny Diaries, I hated Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which I admittedly was half-watching/half-listening to while working. The film is a fantastic example of why romantic comedies should NEVER receive the sequel treatment. Edge of Reason just retreaded the exact same territory as the original (one of my favourite all-time romcoms), only now with a new setting (Thailand) and not even a quarter of the laughs. The film was actually painful to endure. Bah, Hollywood greed.
Television:
Given how busy my schedule is at the moment I'm making slow progress with Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. This weekend I finally finished Disc 1 of the box set, which contains the first 4 episodes. After a jolting start, where characters and the series as a whole have undergone massive changes, it looks like things will start returning to "normal" as of the fifth episode. The quest for Earth resumes...
Alas, I haven't been able to convert the bf to the show, but that isn't unexpected - he takes great delight in disliking series I enjoy, and vocally expressing such views. The only exception so far has been Rome, which I managed to hook him onto from the very beginning. Then again, what guy can resist the macho bloodletting combo of Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus?
Sunday evening saw the conclusion of The Tudors Season 3 on MNET. As I expected, after the beheading of Anne Boleyn at the end of Season 2, the series did lose some of its energy and magnetism. The love-hate relationship between Henry VIII and Anne really drove the show. So Season 3, just 8 short episodes as opposed to the usual 10, floundered around quite a bit, especially since Wife #3, Jane Seymour was just so beautiful, loving and perfect (i.e. boring).
This said the final episode of Season 3 has created a fantastic platform for the start of Season 4 (the show's concluding season) - with Henry now enamored with skanky teenager Catherine Howard.
Anyway, in terms of entertainment, the big screen and the little box won out this weekend.
Film:
My movie priority of the week was of course the South African set action-sci-fi-satire District 9. My full review will be appearing online soon, but I can say briefly that the film is a helluva lot of fun and well worth the praise it's been receiving. Ignore the morons however who have been loudly debating the film's Academy Awards chances - honestly these are nil, except perhaps in the technical categories (cinematography, visual effects, sound, editing).
I'd also add that District 9 is probably not a movie that everyone will like. South Africans whose only cinema diet is Leon Schuster films and other juvenile comedies will likely be traumatised by District 9's graphic violence and language. However, if you enter the cinema as something of a film geek, into sci-fi, horror and other less "socially acceptable" genres, you will have an absolute ball. District 9 is what midyear blockbuster entertainment should be.
On Sunday evening I ended up watching 2 films that probably fall into the chick flick category. What was interesting though was just how different they were.
The first, The Nanny Diaries, despite its silly title, is actually one of those rare female-centred films that I think a male viewer could tolerate, or even enjoy. The Nanny Diaries is in fact quite similar to The Devil Wears Prada in that it's a drama-comedy focused on a directionless young woman (Scarlett Johansson), recently graduated from college, who learns more about herself by entering a professional world and society she has zero familiarity with. In the case of The Nanny Diaries, our heroine becomes a nanny for the offspring of a controlling, neurotic Manhattan socialite (Laura Linney). The film spends more time examining the idiosyncrasies of a very weird micro-society than dwelling on the mushy stuff.
If I enjoyed The Nanny Diaries, I hated Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which I admittedly was half-watching/half-listening to while working. The film is a fantastic example of why romantic comedies should NEVER receive the sequel treatment. Edge of Reason just retreaded the exact same territory as the original (one of my favourite all-time romcoms), only now with a new setting (Thailand) and not even a quarter of the laughs. The film was actually painful to endure. Bah, Hollywood greed.
Television:
Given how busy my schedule is at the moment I'm making slow progress with Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. This weekend I finally finished Disc 1 of the box set, which contains the first 4 episodes. After a jolting start, where characters and the series as a whole have undergone massive changes, it looks like things will start returning to "normal" as of the fifth episode. The quest for Earth resumes...
Alas, I haven't been able to convert the bf to the show, but that isn't unexpected - he takes great delight in disliking series I enjoy, and vocally expressing such views. The only exception so far has been Rome, which I managed to hook him onto from the very beginning. Then again, what guy can resist the macho bloodletting combo of Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus?
Sunday evening saw the conclusion of The Tudors Season 3 on MNET. As I expected, after the beheading of Anne Boleyn at the end of Season 2, the series did lose some of its energy and magnetism. The love-hate relationship between Henry VIII and Anne really drove the show. So Season 3, just 8 short episodes as opposed to the usual 10, floundered around quite a bit, especially since Wife #3, Jane Seymour was just so beautiful, loving and perfect (i.e. boring).
This said the final episode of Season 3 has created a fantastic platform for the start of Season 4 (the show's concluding season) - with Henry now enamored with skanky teenager Catherine Howard.
Comments
Looking forward to your review
Ashley, thanks for the comment. Hoping to get the review up sooner rather than later.
Tim, that short film is quite widely available on the Net if I remember correctly (even on YouTube). I've seen parts of it I think; just never bothered to watch the whole thing.