Feminist, Moi?
I don't think about feminism a lot. Call it male privilege if you like. That's not to say that I haven't considered myself a feminist, I've just never really considered my opinion important.
Here's the thing: I'm a white guy living in a country in western Europe. I'm a gay guy with no sisters who went to a boys' school. There are questions about being a woman, about being a feminist that have never touched me, and I've never felt the need to address. Because here, on our little island on the fringes of the Atlantic, feminism is a weird scary thing that weeves in and out of legislation that I just don't want to go near.
Talkin' About Tolkien
Spending a lot of time at home recently has given me the solitude to do a lot of things; to get back to building websites and reviewing things and writing about things and...okay, fine, all I've been doing is playing video games, now stop judging me!
It's been a while since I sat down and played any games; a big part of it was nausea and the general awkwardness of my brain after having surgery and various people and chemicals poking at my left hemisphere. But I've played quite a few games recently, and they've gotten me back to a sense of "normal."
It's A Jurassic World After All - Jurassic World (2015)
No, I don't know why they continue to keep (re)making sequels and prequels and spiritual successors to films that don't really needs to be fiddled with.
This is the rant that I was ready to go on about Jurassic World. And probably many people like me, 20-and-30-and-something-somethings: "why are you messing with the original?"
Except...that's sort of what Jurassic Park is all about, isn't it? Messing with the originals and bringing a monstrous bastardised behemoth back to life with disastrous results. That's the joy of Jurassic World; every argument you can make against the film is already there It's a freaking theme of the entire franchise, and you can't get much more meta than that.
Paranormally Active - Paranormal Activity (2009)
Few films have experienced the frenzied internet marketing hype that Paranormal Activity has received in the last few months: sure, this year has also given us the phenomenal trailer to Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus (a far better experience than the film) and Neill Blomkamp’s debut feature District 9 proved that aliens could still rake in the cash at the box office. But the effortless success that Paranormal Activity has had in the US has kept the film riding high in terms of takings and hype. It’s even been a consistently trending topic on Twitter since even before its release.
In Space. Screaming. Yadayadayada - Pandorum (2009)
Horror movies set in space are always a bit hit-or-miss: for every Alien, there's a Jason X, and a hell of a lot more in between. Pandorum, a US/German co-production from director Christian Alvart, might have a trailer that tries to sell it down the Alien-route, but having watched the film, you might be left wondering if you have to re-evaluate your opinions on what makes a bad horror-in-space film.
In Search Of Home - Away We Go (2009)
Having already won Oscars and hearts with Revolutionary Road and his directorial debut American Beauty, Sam Mendes returns to the world of couples and relationships for Away We Go, being flown into cinemas by stork this weekend. Yes, this is a film about pregnancy, babies and families, but before you start worrying that things might get too mushy, you can relax.
Is It Really Better Late Than Never?
With the internet more rife with pirates than a Johnny Depp movie, we all know illegal downloading exists, and Irish ISPs and their reactions to sites like The Pirate Bay have been hitting the headlines over the last few weeks. The music industry in particular are doing their best to clamp down on piracy and illegal downloads, but let’s be realistic: internet piracy will probably never be completely eliminated, at least not until the ultimate cause gets nipped in the bud. So is piracy the result of consumer greed, or in some ways, have the entertainment industry been too slow to move into the digital age and created a situation of their own delayed action?
Hardcore Prawn - District 9 (2009)
If you haven’t already seen Alive In Joburg, the short movie on which District 9 is based, you might want to check it out before heading to the cinema to catch out this year’s most original feature, and possibly one of the best alien invasion movies to ever be committed to celluloid. But don’t think that you need to watch Neill Blomkamp’s short before hitting the cinema, as the film on its own is no less impressive.
In Basterds We Trust - Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Revisionist history isn’t necessarily synonymous with Quentin Tarantino, but it’s what you get in his latest big-screen offering, the intentionally misspelled Inglourious Basterds. In some ways, it’s a typical Tarantino film, some parts offering wickedly dark comedy, witty character interactions and bloody violence; in others, it’s quite different from anything Tarantino has done before and marks a more mature approach from the director, while retaining everything that has made his films instant such cult classics.
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