Dante's Hause

So me and the lads spontaneously decided that we should go to the flicks to watch that new “Sherlock Holmes” movie…seeing as it was $10 movie night.

All in all the movie was supremely average. Firstly some assholes took our seats, but likely someone took theirs etc because we booked 6 seats in a row but as it turns out a bunch of retarded people live in Upper Hutt (SAAAAAAAAAARCASM) and they’re all completely illiterate or have alzheimers…

But we met up with our mate Josh which was a pleasant surprise seeing as I haven’t seen him in about a year…he also informs us that he’s been dating his missus for 4 years…and that he got rid of his awesome Honda Civic that we used to think was a rally car :3

Anyway I sat next to some overly fat prick who wouldn’t stop shaking his leg even after I prodded him and pointed at his leg…usually its not a problem but when he did shake his leg, it shook the entire row. Ugh.

Also the arm on my PC chair is breaking…and the arm holds the whole damn thing together…so I’m gonna nail a piece of wood to it…that’ll solve the problem :D

Oh yea…as far as the movie goes…it had some funny moments and the Sherlock Holmes-ism was portrayed well…y’know the know it all guy that can solve things on the smallest details…however…Robert Downsyndrome Jr had the most hilarious fake British accent ever. You know when you meet Americans that think they can pull off a British accent and then they start off by using a dialect akin to the Queens English being spoken by a goose? Yes…its kinda like that.

And the green screening was so damn obvious it was just annoying. Other than that it was amusing to say the least, not sure if its worth paying $10-20 to see at the films though…just rent it or something.

Oh and in shit news, our family dog “Shadow” kicked the bucket today which is a bit of a blow to the family after 11.5 years…unfortunately he got a spleen growth that was going to grow and burst at some point but in the process it completely drained him of any energy and recently he has been barely responsive to calls and couldn’t eat his food…so Dad finally got him off to the vet and put him out of his misery…he also had Arthritis…so when he did have boundless energy, he couldn’t do anything cause it would be painful.

Shit life eh?

Recently I was recommended a book by my friend titled: “The God Delusion” written by a brilliant man named Richard Dawkins

Firstly its hard to recommend the book because it is both a challenging read as well as being part of a touchy subject. Recently I watched an interview where Richard Dawkins does say that he meant it to be a wee bit blunt and to the point and he doesn’t admit it to be a mistake…to be honest, good on him.

He points out that many religious people (apparently its forbidden to say “all” when it comes to religion because no two religious people can make up their mind about what is exactly right) are simply used to people having a respect for religion that when you ignore that they switch off. To most extent it is true, as soon as they read that this book will potentially offend them and their religion although that is not what it is intended to do.

Religious people are confusing.

Although, I have to give props to my brother at this point who is deeply religious. As soon as he heard what the book was about he immediately wanted to have a read and did so with a (mostly) open mind…which was refreshing to see in a religious person.

Anyway, this book is not designed to preach to the converted nor is it designed to make religious people hate atheists more (because apparently we deserve it or something?) it is simply designed to make people think independently which is rare in current society. I mean if you want to see the devastating effect it has, just look to Americanised Christianity…which to me is simply blind…unfortunately the same book, same God(s) and the same morales are preached to all Christians worldwide regardless if they choose to disown their estranged religious cousins in the USA.

Anyway, as you can tell this post is a wee bit biased…but I care not, seriously find and read this book…its a wonderful read and it will most certainly give you a chuckle or two when you get hit by Richard’s cunning wit. He also recommends several other books throughout The God Delusion so if you want some further reading then go hard.

Woohoo for free thinking!

So I went and watched Avatar, for a second time since release.

I watched it originally in standard movie format but decided to go again and watch in in 3D. I wasn’t expecting much from the 3D experience as I have seen various 3D movies before and they aren’t as exciting as the hype claims.

Avatar was no different.

In watching it the second time, I knew where the scenes would be that would make 3D amazing. Like the holodeck scenes. Woopteydo…a whole ‘amazing’ technology that makes a few scenes look pretty.
Once more with the 3D goggles however I am struck with stretched textures and laggy and hazy movement making focus very hard…which in turn gave me a wicked headache which was explained by my friend Rahul as some sort of sensory overload.

Short story is, its a wonderful movie with amazing graphics and a decent storyline with perhaps a little bit dodgy acting occasionally. But dont waste time just trying to see it in 3D…after the first 5 minutes you will not even notice it any more.

Do watch the movie though, although its overhyped, its still done very well…well worth watching.

In watching it again though I am struck with a few things:

a. I’m pretty sure all the music that includes vocals save for the song on the credits is done in Na’Vi? I could be dreaming but I’m positive I heard native Na’Vi words in there.
and
b. The graphics are fucking awesome!

I’m not talking about the Hallelujah mountains graphics though, we’ve seen enough backdrop scenes in movies to be barely awed now…I’m talking about the Na’Vi and Avatars themselves…their facial work is just amazing and their body movement (including touching and whatnot) is done so damned well…Usually with animated characters you can see a clear distinction of animation rather than perceiving it as real but with Avatar, that’s just not there.

I honestly hate Hollywood for producing pathetic movies like Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe but when you see Avatar it makes it all worth it…the graphics were done so friggin well that you could well believe there are hordes of blue humanoids running around plugging into plants like some sort of hippie Neo.

Go watch it, who cares about 3D…however if you can see it in iMAX then do so…that would be amazing.

Links:

Official site

IMDB Site