Graeme's retro game and film blog

Current collection

2012-03-09T04:17:00.005-08:00

So I've taken some pictures of what I currently have, so that I can see my "starting point" and also hopefully be able to chart my progress as I get more and more of the stuff I've listed! There's not that much so far, a good deal of Gamecube games but not so many NES or SNES, and I've not bothered picturing consoles or loose carts, so here we go!

NES

Not pictured are a fair few loose carts.

SNES/N64

Not pictured are a fair few loose carts and Another World.

GBA

Not pictured, once again, are a good deal of loose carts. Picture is a bit squashed but click on it and you should see it properly!

Gamecube

So that's most of my Nintendo collection so far, with hopefully more to come eventually. I didn't bother with my consoles, or newer titles such as Wii and 3DS, so there is a bit more not pictured :)

Games

2012-03-07T07:14:00.004-08:00

I've decided to make a list of my biggest wants with regard to my games collection, and focus on the NES, SNES, and Gamecube. Below is a preliminary list, if I think of anything else I'll add it, and I've given myself a budget of £50 a month to spend on titles, as well as allowing myself to eBay stuff to make extra funds whenever I get the chance ;)

I'll take pictures of my current collections and put them up shortly, but without further ado, here is the list!

NES:

Castlevania 1, 2, 3
Final Fantasy 1
Kung Fu
Soccer
Tennis
Double Dragon 1, 2, 3
Metal Gear 1, 2
Batman
The Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Ice Climbers
Balloon Fight
The New Zealand Story
Mega Man 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
Marble Madness
Yoshi's Cookie
Mike Tyson's Punchout!
Super Mario Bros. 2, 3
Probotector
Rad Racer
Gumshoe
Dr. Mario
Duck Tales!
Bionic Commando
Donkey Kong Classics
Donkey Kong 3
Tetris 2
R.O.B with Gyromite and Stack Up
Duck Hunt
Ghostbusters 2
Time Lord
Turtles 2: The Arcade Game
Shadow Warriors
Urban Champion
Hogan's Alley
Clu Clu Land
Paperboy
Excitebike
Gradius
Pro Wrestling

SNES:

Secret of Mana
Illusion of Time
Secret of Evermore
Super Probotector
Super Empire Strikes Back
Super Star Wars
Sunset Riders
Turtles in Time
Syndicate
Theme Park
Prince of Persia
Super Ghouls n Ghosts
Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Aladdin
Mickey Mania
Super Mario World
Earthworm Jim 2
Mega Man 7, X
Earthbound
Final Fantasy III
Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, 3
Zombies Ate My Neighbours
Super Tennis
Super Punch-out!
Shadowrun
Mario Paint
Super Bomberman 1, 2, 3
Super Pang
Alien 3
Cannon Fodder
Mortal Kombat 1, 2, 3
Super Street Fighter 2
DOOM

Gamecube

Animal Crossing
Beyond Good and Evil
Chibi-Robo!
Donkey Konga 2
F-Zero GX
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Freedom Fighters
Killer7
The Legend of Zelda : Four Swords Adventures
Mario Party 5, 6 and 7
Mega Man X Command Mission
Metroid Prime 2
Pikmin 2
Pokemon Channel
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness
Resident Evil Code Veronica X
Super Monkey Ball 2
Super Monkey Ball Adventure

So, I have £50 to spend this month, and some eBay auctions already on the go to add to that pot. More to follow! :)

Some recent films

2012-02-10T16:21:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd quickly list a few more films I've seen in the past month or so, and stick a little rating next to each.

50/50 (2011) - 7/10
Hugo (2011) - 5/10
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) - 7/10
Uncle Buck (1989) - 6/10
Drive (2011) - 7/10
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011) 6/10
Moneyball (2011) - 7/10
Bridesmaids (2011) - 6.5/10
Christmas Vacation (1989) - 5/10
The Santa Clause (1994) - 5/10
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 7/10
Cape Fear (1962) - 7/10
The Hustler (1961) - 6.5/10
Catch Me If You Can (2002) - 7/10
Inside Man (2006) - 5.5/10
Warrior (2011) - 6/10
The Ides of March (2011) - 6/10
Midnight In Paris (2011) - 6/10
The Descendants (2011) - 6.5/10
The Help (2011) - 7/10
Poltergeist (1982) - 6/10

How the 3DS reignited my love for new Nintendo

2012-02-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

At Christmas time I was surprised to find that I had been given a Nintendo 3DS, and as the weeks have gone on it's clear that it's been a very, very pleasant surprise.

I had gotten a DS and a Wii sometime before but never really played them much, there wasn't really anything on there that got me excited for whatever reason. Sure there were some obviously good games, but nothing that compelled me to turn either machine on to sit there and play with it for hours on end. This isn't the case with the 3DS though, I've been compelled not only to sit and play this machine, but also to take it with me everywhere I go. What follows is a list of some reasons why the 3DS is such a damn good machine:

1) StreetPass. This is the reason that I take my 3DS everywhere I can. When two 3DS systems come into range with each other they will interact and send each other data (assuming they have wi-fi turned on and content sharing enabled), and their Mii will appear in your StreetPass plaza. There are two games in the StreetPass plaza that utilise this feature: StreetPass Quest and Puzzle Swap. In StreetPass Quest, your Mii is captured and locked up in a cage at the top of a castle, and you are tasked with clearing rooms of enemies on the way there through turn-based combat. Whenever you have a StreetPass hit with someone, they will appear in StreetPass Quest as a hero and will aid you in battle. In Puzzle Swap, you have a variety of puzzles to complete, 1 tile at a time, and each time you StreetPass with someone, you can choose 1 puzzle tile from their collection to add to your own. You don't have to get StreetPass hits to play these games, though, the pedometer in the 3DS counts your steps and gives you coins based on how many you take, which you can trade for puzzle tiles or characters to help you in StreetPass Quest. As well as the StreetPass plaza games, you can get content for 3DS games from StreetPass including items in Super Mario 3D Land, have Street Fighter characters battle or items and levels in Resident Evil: Revelations. Even without playing the games it is exciting in itself to get StreetPass hits, each time I'm eager to find out what each Mii is like, and where they're from in the world. Every time I meet a Mii from a new country it's great to check out their country's map on the StreetPass map, most have been from Scotland so far but there's always that hope when the green LED indicating a StreetPass hit comes on!

2) Augmented Reality and FaceRaiders. These are more like tech-demos than actual games, to my mind, but they're impressive none the less. A set of Augmented Reality cards come with every 3DS, and using them with the 3DS camera allows you to play a series of games on your kitchen table, or use character cards to place your favourite characters in real life locations in a variety of poses, and take a picture. FaceRaiders takes a picture of your face and maps it onto a head shape, creating little bouncing head enemies with your face that you have to point the 3DS at and shoot. Fun for a little while, and good as a quick and fun way to show your relatives how the 3D works and looks.

3) The games. The 3DS had something of a slow start when it came to quality titles, with not too much to shout about at launch, but now there are a slew of great games to get stuck into, and a good deal more to come. I would recommend that any 3DS owner buy Super Mario 3D Land, probably the best game on the system. Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Street Fighter IV, Mario Kart 7 and Resident Evil Revelations are also well worth the money. I've wanted to get Pilotwings Resort as well, but haven't found my way to getting that one yet. As for what's to come, it's looking good with Kid Icarus Uprising, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Paper Mario 3D, Luigi's Mansion 2, Animal Crossing and an announced Super Mario 2D title to come.

Obviously there are also some bad points to the 3DS, the biggest of which I would say is the pricing of Nintendo's e-Shop, with asking prices of around £5 for some Game Boy games which hardly seems like an attractive price at all. For the most part though, the 3DS is a cracking machine and I would recommend it to anyone interested in handheld gaming.

More to come, saw some more films I'll give a quick rating eventually.

Some more films

2011-12-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

Watched a few more films recently, just going to quickly list and rate them.

Some Like It Hot - 7/10
The Exorcist - 7.5/10
Rocky II - 6/10
Altered States - 5/10
History of Violence - 3/10
Barry Lyndon - 6/10
Ed Wood - 4/10
Turkish Delight - 5/10
The Wrestler - 6/10
Born on the 4th of July - 6/10
Source Code - 7/10

If you want me to elaborate on any, just say so in comments. Also, feel free to recommend away!

The Simpsons episode titles.

2011-11-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about the Simpsons the other day, as I often do, and inevitably depressed myself thinking about how awful it had become. It's quite clearly not the Simpsons anymore, it's a steaming pile of shit masquerading as such. I tend to avoid watching new episodes these days, and if there are reruns on TV I check what episode it is before watching it in order to safeguard myself against sinking even further into a Simpsons-being-shit-now depression. I've noticed that even the episode titles get worse as you get into later seasons...

If you take early season episode titles, you'll generally find that they're simple, and you can get an idea of the episode's content from there, such as Marge vs. the Monorail, Homer Goes to College and Bart Gets an Elephant. On occasion you'll find a pun or pop-culture reference, such as in One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish and A Star is Burns, but still these are clever titles and still reflect the episode's content, as well as being few and far between. However, once you get to about season 9, you start to see more and more pun and pop-culture based titles, and they just get worse and worse as the seasons continue.

Let's look at the titles of the episodes of the latest full season to finish, season 22:

465. MABF21 (SI-2121 / S22E01) Elementary School Musical
466. MABF17 (SI-2117 / S22E02) Loan-a Lisa
467. MABF18 (SI-2118 / S22E03) MoneyBART
468. MABF16 (SI-2116 / S22E04) Treehouse of Horror XXI
469. MABF20 (SI-2120 / S22E05) Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life
470. NABF01 (SI-2201 / S22E06) The Fool Monty
471. NABF02 (SI-2202 / S22E07) How Munched is that Birdie in the Window?
472. MABF22 (SI-2122 / S22E08) The Fight Before Christmas
473. MABF19 (SI-2119 / S22E09) Donnie Fatso
474. NABF03 (SI-2203 / S22E10) Moms I'd Like to Forget
475. NABF04 (SI-2204 / S22E11) Flaming Moe
476. NABF05 (SI-2205 / S22E12) Homer the Father
477. NABF06 (SI-2206 / S22E13) The Blue and The Gray
478. NABF07 (SI-2207 / S22E14) Angry Dad: The Movie
479. NABF08 (SI-2208 / S22E15) The Scorpion's Tale
480. NABF09 (SI-2209 / S22E16) A Midsummer's Nice Dream
481. NABF10 (SI-2210 / S22E17) Love is a Many Strangled Thing
482. NABF11 (SI-2211 / S22E18) The Great Simpsina
483. NABF12 (SI-2212 / S22E19) The Real Housewives of Fat Tony
484. NABF13 (SI-2213 / S22E20) Homer Scissorhands
485. NABF14 (SI-2214 / S22E21) 500 Keys
486. NABF15 (SI-2215 / S22E22) The Ned-liest Catch

As you can see, pretty much three quarters of the titles are either puns or pop-culture references. As far as I can tell, the ones that aren't are Treehouse of Horror, Homer the Father, The Blue and the Gray, Angry Dad: The Movie, The Scorpion's Tale and 500 Keys, and even then I'm not 100% certain with some of them. The puns in the titles just seem to exist for the purpose of being puns, it's as if the writers think that if they can shoehorn a character name into a film/tv/book/otherpopculturething title or change it slightly it counts as a clever episode title. None of these are clever at all, and don't really give you much of an idea what's going to happen in the episode. I will concede that they are effective in conveying what you should expect from the episode, which is that it'll be an affront to everything classic Simpsons stood for, and not worth you or anyone else's time in the least.

Compare this to season 3 episode titles:

36. 7F24 (SI-224 / S03E01) Stark Raving Dad
37. 8F01 (SI-301 / S03E02) Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington
38. 7F23 (SI-223 / S03E03) When Flanders Failed
39. 8F03 (SI-303 / S03E04) Bart the Murderer
40. 8F04 (SI-304 / S03E05) Homer Defined
41. 8F05 (SI-305 / S03E06) Like Father, Like Clown
42. 8F02 (SI-302 / S03E07) Treehouse of Horror II
43. 8F06 (SI-306 / S03E08) Lisa's Pony
44. 8F07 (SI-307 / S03E09) Saturdays of Thunder
45. 8F08 (SI-308 / S03E10) Flaming Moe's
46. 8F09 (SI-309 / S03E11) Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk
47. 8F10 (SI-310 / S03E12) I Married Marge
48. 8F11 (SI-311 / S03E13) Radio Bart
49. 8F12 (SI-312 / S03E14) Lisa the Greek
50. 8F14 (SI-314 / S03E15) Homer Alone
51. 8F16 (SI-316 / S03E16) Bart the Lover
52. 8F13 (SI-313 / S03E17) Homer at the Bat
53. 8F15 (SI-315 / S03E18) Separate Vocations
54. 8F17 (SI-317 / S03E19) Dog of Death
55. 8F19 (SI-319 / S03E20) Colonel Homer
56. 8F20 (SI-320 / S03E21) Black Widower
57. 8F21 (SI-321 / S03E22) The Otto Show
58. 8F22 (SI-322 / S03E23) Bart's Friend Falls in Love
59. 8F23 (SI-323 / S03E24) Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?

Quite frankly, there's an astounding difference here. It's all short and sweet, and where there are pop culture and puns, they're used cleverly, as in Stark Raving Dad and Black Widower, a play on Black Widow. Where pop culture references are used, it's in such a way that someone can understand the title and how it relates to the episode even without having seen the source material.

All I know is in 20 years time, I'll still want to watch Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington, but I'll have forgotten that The Ned-liest Catch ever existed. Well, one can dream...

Even quicker film ratings

2011-10-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

A bunch of films I've watched in the past few months and quick ratings. Might expand on some later.

The Sting (1973) - 7/10
The Verdict (1982) - 6/10
The Goonies (1985) - 8/10
Brief Encounter (1945) - 7/10
No Country for Old Men (2007) - 7.5/10
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) - 6/10
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) - 6/10
Bad Teacher (2011) - 3/10
The Fox and the Hound (1981) - 6/10
Great Expectations (1946) - 7/10
Milk (2008) - 5/10
Jaws (1975) - 8/10
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1978) - 9/10
Moon (2009) - 7.5/10
Ladykillers (1955) - 6.5/10
Zombieland (2009) - 3/10
Kes (1969) - 6/10
The Untouchables (1987) - 7/10
The Bridges of Madison County (1995) - 5/10
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) - 7/10
Super-8 (2011) - 5.5/10
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) - 5/10
The Departed (2006) - 6/10
One Day (2011) - 2/10
The Inbetweeners Movie (2011) - 5/10
Horrible Bosses (2011) - 4/10
The Lion King (1994) - 8/10
Halloween (1978) - 8/10
Escape from New York (1981) - 6/10

Quick film ratings inc. older films!

2011-07-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I last updated this, but in that time I've watched more than a few films (only one in the cinema though), so I'll just say a quick word and give a quick rating to all the ones I can remember.

The Lives of Others (2006)
I thought this film was fabulous, and I think this is largely thanks to the performance of Ulrich Muhe, who plays the Stasi employee who listens in to the lives of suspected enemies of the state and ends up becoming attached to a certain couple he is spying on. It's just a film you have to see

Rating 9/10

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
This film I decided to watch because of its reputation, and I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. I very much enjoyed the courtroom segment in which Brock Peters gave a great performance as the black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman, Tom Robinson. Other than that though I felt the film somewhat dragged a bit, I wasn't really drawn into the stories of Scout and Jem's childhood, and this was the main focus of the story. Gregory Peck was very good as well, but again his character Atticus Finch wasn't the focus, Scout was, so although I'd like to have seen more of him outside of homelife, but the story didn't allow for that. All in all, not a bad film, but not anywhere near as good as I was led to believe.

Rating 6/10

The Searchers (1956)
This was another one I decided to watch on the basis of reputation, and also because I've very much enjoyed a fair few westerns I've watched but have never really watched much of John Wayne, and this is meant to be his best. Firstly, I have to say that this film looks absolutely phenomenal, I got it on Blu-Ray and was blown away by just how magnificent some of the shots look. Quite simply the film is beautifully shot, but sadly I felt the film fell down in other areas. It seemed to just drag on for me, I could never really get engaged in the story and I thought it went on longer than it had to. Once again, a film with a great reputation that's let me down.

Rating 6/10

L.A Confidential (1997)
This was another one I hadn't seen before, saw it cheap on Blu-Ray and decided to give it a bash. It wasn't a great film, but it was fairly good. I enjoyed seeing the case unravel but some parts of the story left a fair bit to be desired, like how someone could manage to cover up killing as many people as happens in the film, and I wasn't particularly a fan of Kim Basinger's role, or any of the parts with her. Danny DeVito's voice overs were fairly irritating as well.

Rating 7/10

Apocalypse Now (1979)
I had seen this film before but it was a good few years ago, so watching it again was like watching it for the first time since I had forgotten nearly everything about it. I thought the film was good first time round, and better the second. Some of the sequences look truly breathtaking, like real war-zones. The acting performances are also good, Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando put in very good performances, but Robert Duvall does the best job as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, delivering his famous "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" line. The only character I didn't like was the surfer character, Lance Johnson, who seemed to serve no purpose but to irritate me with his idiocy. Although the film lasts over 2 hours it's not one that'll lose your interest, it's paced well and engaging to the end.

Rating 8/10

Updates: The Hangover Part Two, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and more

2011-06-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

I've a few updates to make over the next few days, I've watched a fair few more films and haven't written about them yet. In this post I'll just give my thoughts on two films I saw in the cinema in the past week: Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides and The Hangover Part Two.

Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides

The 4th in the series of Pirates of the Caribbean films, On Stranger Tides' focus is Captain Jack Sparrow's quest to reach the fountain of youth, which is also the object of three other parties' desire. The Spanish, the British (whose expedition is captained by Geoffrey Rush's Captain Barbossa character) and Blackbeard (played by Ian McShane).

I'll admit that I had higher hopes for this film than I did the past two sequels, as this film promised to be, like the first, a self-contained story that will be resolved by the films end rather than the 5 hour mash of storylines and subplots PotC 2 and 3 were, which were a load of old bollocks.

Sadly, while this film is better than the other sequels, it still falls well short of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, which remains the only good film in the franchise. The problem I found with this film is that I simply did not find it at all engaging. I quickly grew tired of drawn out action sequences involving Jack Sparrow escaping from numerous perils, and some of the choices made my characters in the film made absolutely no sense. For example, in the first scene on Blackbeard's ship it's quickly established that his crew are barely more than slaves, and detest working under him, and yet later in the film they are quite willing to put their lives at stake fighting for him. The mermaid subplot made absolutely no sense either, and once again there were invulnerable henchmen, and silly magical powers.

Really it's not worth seeing this film, I never will again.

4/10 (for the purposes of comparison, I would rate the first PotC as 7/10, and the others as 3/10)

The Hangover Part Two

If you're wondering what the plot of the Hangover Part Two is, just think of the first one but change "fucked up in Las Vegas" to "fucked up in Bangkok". It is exactly the same, save for a change in location, a change in who is getting married, and a change in who they manage to lose. So it's Stuart (Ed Helms, the bespectacled dentist) who's getting married this time, and ends up getting accidently fucked up with Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Alan (weird beardy man Zach Galifianakis), and losing his bride-to-be's younger brother Teddy.

The film is watchable, but fairly boring and predictable, especially if you've seen the first. The ending was fairly bollocks as well, at least the part about Stuart's father-in-law-to-be deciding he doesn't hate him anymore, which, given the past 48 hours in the film, would see any doctor declaring him legally insane.

All in all, it's exactly the same as the first film, just in a different place and not as funny.

5/10 (first film would be 7/10)

There are a few other films I've watched as part of the 30 Day Film Challenge that I haven't gotten around to writing about yet, these are:

3. Das Leben der Anderen (the Lives of Others) (2006)
4. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
5. The Searchers (1956)

2. Network

2011-05-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Sidney Lumet's 1976 film Network follows a fictional television network called UBS and its quest for ratings and profitability. It focuses on its upturn in fortunes thanks to soon-to-be fired newsreader Howard Beale (Peter Finch) and his outbursts on his news show. At first the network seeks to punish Beale for his indiscretions but the public take to his ranting and tune in in great numbers to see more.

I think the film shows very well the ruthlessness of its TV executive characters, who will stop at nothing to get higher ratings and earn more money. However, I wasn't particularly impressed with all the overblown, shouty speeches in the film. Every character seems to have one each. It makes sense with Beale's character, since he has clearly lost his mind and is prone to ranting, but it was tiring listening to the weighty rhetoric routinely delivered throughout the film by all and sundry. It was an interesting film, but I was very disappointed.

6.5/10

30 Day Film Challenge

2011-04-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

I'll be away for the weekend, but afterwards I plan on continuing the 30 Day Film Challenge proper. Second film will probably be Network (1976). Stay tuned!

Paths of Glory

2011-04-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

1. Paths of Glory

I haven't really got the will to write a proper review here, the film is about 3 soldiers in the French Army during World War I who have been charged with cowardice after an impossible attack has failed, and their commanding officer who tries to defend them in court. The film was very good, I found the generals to be detestable, and the anti-war message was very powerful. Still though, I wasn't as impressed by it as some seem to be. A very good film yes, but I didn't feel it merits the level of praise it has gathered.

8/10

Not sure what the next film will be, maybe Solaris.

30 Day Film Challenge

2011-04-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Just going to try a 30 Day Film Challenge of a different type, there's one floating about on Facebook which asks you to post a film a day meeting certain criteria (e.g. Your Favourite Film, Film Starring Your Favourite Actor etcetc) but I'm going to pick 30 films I've never seen before and try and watch one every day. Here is a preliminary list of 30, in no particular order:

1. Paths of Glory
2. The Best Years of Our Lives
3. Patton
4. Vertigo
5. The French Connection
6. Barry Lyndon
7. Solaris
8. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
9. 8 1/2
10. The Seventh Seal
11. Rashomon
12. The Lives of Others
13. Once Upon a Time in the West
14. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
15. The Pianist
16. The Sting
17. The Departed
18. To Kill a Mocking Bird
19. Double Indemnity
20. Brazil
21. Psycho
22. The Wages of Fear
23. Heartbreak Ridge
24. The Bridge on the River Kwai
25. You Can't Take It With You
26. La Dolce Vita
27. The Magnificent Seven
28. Treasure of the Sierra Madre
29. The African Queen
30. Touch of Evil

I'll watch Paths of Glory tonight, that one's for definite, but the others might change. I'll try and post every day with a short review detailing what I think about each picture, although it may just end up with a rating and not much else.

Pain in the arse...

2011-01-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

My Amiga 500 came the other day BUT the guy forgot to send the mouse with it! So essentially I can't really use it until he sends it. I dropped him a line about it and he's sending a couple more games with it as a kind of sweetener so that's not so bad I suppose, but still I'd like to have been playing with it by now!

Back to uni tomorrow, I'll pop in to a couple of shops before my lecture I expect, hopefully I'll come back with some goods to post here ;)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

It's a New Year! Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011 and so on. I don't have any resolutions really, except for the resolution to buy more old games, har har.

With that in mind, I've decided to focus on collecting games for the Gamecube, for a little while. I'll still pick up other formats if I see any but primarily get Gamecube ones. I made up a list of the games I most want for the system, and once I get all of those (or even if I get all of those), and then maybe I'll think about trying to get a full PAL set. I found a complete (as far as I know) list of Gamecube games here. The games that made my most wanted list are as follows:

The Legend of Zelda : Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda : The Wind Waker
Pikmin 2
Super Monkeyball
Metroid Prime 2
Odama
Tales of Symphonia
Fire Emblem : Path of Radiance
Doshin the Giant
F-Zero GX
Star Fox Adventures
Kirby Air Ride
Baldur's Gate : Dark Alliance
Wave Race : Blue Storm
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Mario Power Tennis
Mario Golf : Toadstool Tour
Pokemon Colosseum
Mario Smash Football
Final Fantasy : Crystal Chronicles
The Legend of Zelda : Four Swords Adventures
Wario World
Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, 3
Eternal Darkness
Timesplitters 2
Beyond Good and Evil

I made that list at the turn of the year, on Monday I managed to pick up Wind Waker, Resident Evil Zero and also Mario Party 4 in Gamestation for £20, so I've added those to my collection. I've decided also that I'm only going to spend £100 a month on games stuff at the most, and let it roll over if I go under. With the £20 spent already that leaves £80 for the remainder of the month, scary.

Here's a picture of my current meagre Gamecube collection:

In other news, I'm STILL waiting for my Neo Geo Pocket Color to arrive! :(

Disappointment

2010-12-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

Popped into Edinburgh yesterday for a spot of shopping, had absolutely no luck though. I was looking for old computer games (surprise surprise) and all that I found was over-priced, rubbish, or both.

I was in one shop (well I say shop, it was more a room containing piles of electronics and records, I could barely even get the door open) and saw an Amiga 500 hanging (quite literally) off one of the shelves. No games or box or anything, but I thought I'd ask about it anyway. £80! Like fuck anybody in their right mind would pay such a price. £60 he said, though, if you're willing to forgo the power supply... Obviously I left in good haste.

All I could turn up in all the shops I was in was sports titles, for the most part, and not even good ones. Really not what I'm interested in buying...

So, obviously, when I got home I got onto eBay and bid on a shitload of stuff there. I have a disease :(

Should probably be kept away from eBay

2010-12-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Mine was fairly decent, delicious turkey dinner two days in a row isn't something I'm going to complain about! I got a lot of CDs, couple of DVDs and smelly stuff, sweets and other things. Here's a picture of some of the CDs:

I've been going a bit eBay mad, bidding on a fair few things and making offers here and there, if I win everything I'll be a couple of hundred down easy, oh well. It'll be worth it to get all those new old-games and shit ;) If I win any, I'll take pics and post up on here.

Looking forward to getting my Neo Geo Pocket Color but it won't be for a good week and a half at least, thanks to the complete lack of post this time of year. Think there's only 3 days of post coming in the next week or so, and there hasn't been any since Friday! Be looking forward to normal service resuming after the New Year.

Speaking of the New Year, I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do for it. Could just go to the pub but I'd rather not, but it might be the only option, don't know of anyone who's having a house party or anything.

Oh well, wish me luck on my eBay travels!

Merry Christmas Eve-Eve

2010-12-23T15:35:00.000-08:00

Well, I did end up winning a Neo Geo Pocket Color, but it was a different auction!

Looking forward to getting it and playing it but it won't arrive til the beginning of January, ach well. If anyone knows any decent games for it I should be getting, drop me a line. It comes with Sonic, Metal Slug and some baseball game. What I'm not looking forward to is working 9-6 tomorrow, but I'll live. Christmas Day should be good, bit of turkey and probably a couple of CDs, maybe a wee book or two, and of course, a tradition of mine, getting a stand-up DVD and watching it on Christmas Day night. It's usually Billy Connolly but he hasn't had a DVD in a while, but he does this year so it can be back to proper tradition!

Boxing Day shouldn't be too shabby either, more turkey and if all is well then a bit of football too. I don't really get excited about Christmas or anything but the turkey dinners can't be beat!

Here's a wee picture of my boxed SNES games, for the hell of it:

Not pictured is my big box Super Metroid, doesn't fit on that shelf, you might have to click on it too to see it all properly.

Anxiety

2010-12-22T04:47:00.001-08:00

Man I hate the last hours of eBay auctions when I'm in the lead, it's always inevitable that I'll be winning the item until the very last second when I'll be outbid by a penny :(

But maybe this time will be different! I hope so anyway, I really want to win that damned Neo Geo Pocket Color!

Another Eventful Day

2010-12-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

I probably should've updated this over the weekend but I couldn't be bothered, it seems. I wasn't even really doing anything yesterday either, although I was busy Friday and Saturday so there's my excuse.

On Friday I went and saw It's a Wonderful Life, my very favourite-est film, and it was the first time I saw it on a cinema screen. Obviously it was fantastic, the picture was clearer than I thought it would be too. It was at the Filmhouse on Lothian Road in Edinburgh. The film's still running until Christmas Eve so there's still time for you to pop off and see it, it'll probably be the best thing you do all week and a welcome rest from Christmas shopping ;)

Anyway, last time round I said I'd get onto the music I've been listening to over the course of the past year, so here I go. I'll try and keep it varied, not just focus on the same genre but inevitably I'm sure some styles will be favoured over others, that's just my personal preference shining through.

Once again this'll be almost entirely older albums and artists I've only recently discovered, rather than brand new material released this year of which I've not actually even listened to that much of. I will start with the few newer albums I did listen to, though.

The best of the bunch from this year would be The Tallest Man on Earth's latest full-length The Wild Hunt. We're treated to much of what we've come to expect from him, intricately fingered acoustic guitar music underneath his unique vocals. Love is All and the titular track The Wild Hunt are my personal highlights, and seeing them performed live back in November was just wonderful and even better than on CD.

Two other decent albums were Rinoa's post-rock/emo album An Age Among Them and the soft sounds of Pearly Gate Music's self-titled album. If you want to get a flavour for either album, check out Sol Winds (Rinoa) and Navy Blues (Pearly Gate Music). Meursault's latest album All Creatures Will Make Merry was also good, but nothing compared to their first album.

On the more mediocre side of things was Weezer's latest full-length, Hurley. Naming an album after a character from Lost and having the album cover be a picture of his face just seems uninspired, lazy and boring to me. The music of the album itself is fairly in keeping with this sentiment. Although there are flashes of the Weezer of old there is never anything more than that, any of the halfway decent songs seem to depend on catchy choruses to get them through, with the verses merely there to act as borders between choruses (the first track, Memories, is a great example of this). Probably their best album since Maladroit, but it's probably not even half the album that was, and an even more resounding failure when compared to the untouchable Pinkerton and Blue Album.

I've mostly been into post-rock this year, listening to mainly to Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Joy Wants Eternity and This Will Destroy You. My favourite post-rock album is probably The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky. The second track, The Only Moment We Were Alone is absolutely fantastic. Other than that I've listened to a bit of singer-songwriter and folk-ish stuff such as Jackson C. Frank, Woody Guthrie, Tim Hardin and Van Morrison. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's album Architecture and Morality has seen a lot of play as well, along with Grateful Dead's American Beauty.

I haven't really played many games this year, the ones I bought were Red Dead Redemption, Fallout : New Vegas and, as usual, the latest Pro Evolution Soccer. Red Dead Redemption wasn't a bad game, but it grew tiresome very quickly. Every mission seemed to be the same, go to location, kill bad guys, leave location whilst killing bad guys who happen to be chasing you, end mission, repeat. New Vegas was practically the same game as Fallout 3 but it was still very enjoyable indeed, thanks to the new world and storyline. It was big enough to not just feel like an expansion to Fallout 3, but not so different that you might not feel aggrieved paying full price for it. This year's Pro Evolution Soccer is an improvement on the last installment, with improved and more accurate passing, more polished graphics and an online Master League mode being the most prevalent improvements.

I spent about a half hour today cataloging some of my computer games, I got my Super Nintendo games done, I have around 50, 20 of which are boxed with instructions. I'll do N64 and NES next when I can be arsed, I have less of them though. I should do my CDs and records too but that would actually take forever.

Off to play football in a little bit, fantastic. Next update should be in a couple of days, maybe post my SNES games or something. Ciao!

New Dawn Fades (hopefully not)

2010-12-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

I've decided I'll write in this bloody thing again, and try to do it frequently as well. I've said that before in the blog-world but this time I bloody well mean it. I've said that before as well, bollocks...

Anyway, 2010 is drawing to a close now, Christmas is nearly upon us (or is it? It's cancelled if you believe tabloid newspapers, all the online shops won't be able to ship us our goods on time! There's still a full 7 days of post still to come, calm the fuck down!) which means new shit to play with, watch and listen to. It's not been a bad year, and since it's nearly at an end I think I'll have a wee look back and consider the stuff I've experienced for the first time over the course of the year. By which I of course mean music, films and the odd book. I don't imagine any of them will be new releases, in fact the majority will be fairly old indeed.

So let's start with...FILMS

While I've been to the cinema a fair bit more than usual this year (9 times, by my count!), I don't think any of them would get into my top 100 (except Back to the Future, but that doesn't count). The best film other than that was probably Toy Story 3, which, while good, wasn't anywhere near as good as the first film. I also felt it relied far too heavily on nostalgia, and I was actually fairly disappointed when I saw it after having it built up by everyone else I had known who had seen it, expecting to be reduced to a gibbering pile of teary goo but instead being treated to a solid 7/10 children's action film with bits of "Don't you wish you were a care-free child again? Isn't it hard to let that go?" sprinkled in. While I admit I was affected by these sequences, and obviously it would be nice indeed to be 8 again, it just wasn't enough for me to make up for the repetitive nature of the action sequences. I know that Woody and co have to get from one place to another but why does it always have to be such a bloody mission for them to get there? It doesn't really engage me, but I suppose most people enjoyed it.

I missed the other big blockbuster of the summer, just didn't get the chance to go see it. I'm talking about Inception. I'd quite like to see it and will eventually on DVD, although I doubt it'll be the 5th best film of all time or whatever preposterous position it is on the IMDB top 250.

Enough about the films of this year though, the films I most enjoyed seeing were ones released long ago. I watched a fair few, some exceeding my expectations, others falling fairly short. Off the top of my head, the best films I saw this year for the first time were, in no order:

Casablanca, Seven Samurai, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Planet of the Apes, the Princess Bride, Ponyo, Gran Torino, the Manchurian Candidate.

Good but not great were a Nightmare on Elm Street, the Conversation, (500) Days of Summer, the Wild Bunch, Se7en, the Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, Hang 'Em High.

Smelly piles of stinky shite included the Graduate.

My favourite was probably Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It's just a superbly written film, and since I had been getting into Westerns at the time it was just the perfect film for me to watch. The chemistry between Paul Newman and Robert Redford is outstanding, so I'll be looking into watching the Sting, the other film they starred in together which is also meant to be very good indeed.

Speaking of superbly scripted films, Casablanca was probably second favourite. The whole thing is just gold, and the scene in which the patrons of Rick's bar fervently drown out a small knot of German's singing "Die Wacht am Rhein" with an emotional and powerful rendition of "La Marseillaise" is my favourite in the entire film. Whenever someone asks me what I'm doing tonight, the reply is now always "I never make plans that far ahead".

Of the good but not great films, the Wild Bunch probably disappointed me the most. It was generally rather dull, peppered with the odd good scene, but I felt the whole thing went on entirely too long and I can't really fathom why it's so highly regarded. Its saving grace however was the absolutely spectacular shoot-out at the film's end, which alone made up for the mostly rather average scenes that preceded it.

Se7en started out well, but the ending felt like something of a cop-out to me. I won't go into it though in case anyone who's reading this (as if) hasn't seen the film yet.

As well as the films I saw for the first time, I also rediscovered love for films I hadn't seen in quite a while. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the most prominent of these, I forgot just how fantastic it was. It's the perfect action film, I'd love to see one of its quality made today.

I've still got plenty of films to watch, in fact I think I've more now than I had at the start of the year, even with me watching a fair few.

In terms of television I didn't really discover anything new. Lost ended and, as expected, the ending was a massive pile of shit. By the show's end it was so far removed from what made the first two seasons great that it was almost beyond recognition. The Simpsons continues to be soul-crushingly awful (upwards of 12 years now and counting!), whereas How I Met Your Mother continues to be watchable. The Inbetweeners was also good without being anything special. Louie was a very good new show that I watched this year, featuring the comedy of Louis C.K, although the best episode of the series wasn't funny at all but more of a terrifying look at his religious upbringing. As for old shows only just discovered by me, Freaks and Geeks takes the top spot. The cast is just absolutely fantastic, drama and comedy is mixed wonderfully and the soundtrack is also great.

Anyway, I think I've gone on for longer than I had anticipated, so I'll leave music for another time. There's still another 2 weeks of 2010 left, after all.

Slightly updated top 250

2010-03-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

Bold films I've seen, italics I own but haven't watched yet

1. 9.1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 480,735
2. 9.1 The Godfather (1972) 387,118
3. 9.0 The Godfather: Part II (1974) 228,646
4. 8.9 Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966) 145,957
5. 8.9 Pulp Fiction (1994) 390,560
6. 8.8 Schindler's List (1993) 258,567
7. 8.8 12 Angry Men (1957) 107,214
8. 8.8 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 199,395
9. 8.8 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 262,183
10. 8.8 The Dark Knight (2008) 428,764
11. 8.8 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 341,904
12. 8.8 Star Wars (1977) 305,813
13. 8.7 Casablanca (1942) 159,251
14. 8.7 Goodfellas (1990) 214,174
15. 8.7 Shichinin no samurai (1954) 90,861
16. 8.7 Fight Club (1999) 355,918
17. 8.7 Cidade de Deus (2002) 154,080
18. 8.7 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 366,613
19. 8.7 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 230,790
20. 8.7 Rear Window (1954) 111,596
21. 8.7 The Usual Suspects (1995) 252,357
22. 8.7 Psycho (1960) 134,365
23. 8.7 C'era una volta il West (1968) 68,209
24. 8.6 The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 229,938
25. 8.6 The Matrix (1999) 358,088
26. 8.6 Se7en (1995) 259,394
27. 8.6 Memento (2000) 253,388
28. 8.6 It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 96,549
29. 8.6 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 308,420
30. 8.6 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 148,634
31. 8.6 Sunset Blvd. (1950) 50,818
32. 8.6 North by Northwest (1959) 87,888
33. 8.6 Citizen Kane (1941) 132,010
34. 8.6 Léon (1994) 185,465
35. 8.6 Apocalypse Now (1979) 163,990
36. 8.5 American Beauty (1999) 276,767
37. 8.5 Forrest Gump (1994) 279,469
38. 8.5 American History X (1998) 209,052
39. 8.5 Taxi Driver (1976) 145,286
40. 8.5 Vertigo (1958) 86,106
41. 8.5 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 222,400
42. 8.5 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 75,369
43. 8.5 Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) 169,079
44. 8.5 Alien (1979) 169,547
45. 8.5 WALL·E (2008) 164,665
46. 8.5 Saving Private Ryan (1998) 255,081
47. 8.5 A Clockwork Orange (1971) 182,160
48. 8.5 The Shining (1980) 165,983
49. 8.4 Paths of Glory (1957) 41,882
50. 8.4 The Departed (2006) 244,209
51. 8.4 The Pianist (2002) 124,082
52. 8.4 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 78,214
53. 8.4 Aliens (1986) 160,914
54. 8.4 Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) 93,051
55. 8.4 Das Leben der Anderen (2006) 68,117
56. 8.4 M (1931) 37,223
57. 8.4 Double Indemnity (1944) 34,617
58. 8.4 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 205,661
59. 8.4 Chinatown (1974) 74,069
60. 8.4 Requiem for a Dream (2000) 172,859
61. 8.4 The Third Man (1949) 48,213
62. 8.4 L.A. Confidential (1997) 157,052
63. 8.4 Reservoir Dogs (1992) 200,114
64. 8.4 Das Boot (1981) 66,769
65. 8.4 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 31,126
66. 8.4 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 147,794
67. 8.4 Avatar (2009) 208,461
68. 8.4 City Lights (1931) 25,166
69. 8.4 El laberinto del fauno (2006) 141,549
70. 8.4 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 55,707
71. 8.4 Inglourious Basterds (2009) 146,112
72. 8.3 Raging Bull (1980) 84,493
73. 8.3 The Prestige (2006) 186,700
74. 8.3 Up (2009) 87,453
75. 8.3 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 151,788
76. 8.3 La vita è bella (1997) 100,982
77. 8.3 Singin' in the Rain (1952) 52,198
78. 8.3 Back to the Future (1985) 188,015
79. 8.3 Modern Times (1936) 33,056
80. 8.3 Der Untergang (2004) 76,412
81. 8.3 Some Like It Hot (1959) 63,236
82. 8.3 Amadeus (1984) 91,414
83. 8.3 Full Metal Jacket (1987) 141,922
84. 8.3 The Maltese Falcon (1941) 48,820
85. 8.3 Rashômon (1950) 36,332
86. 8.3 Braveheart (1995) 227,088
87. 8.3 Gran Torino (2008) 111,297
88. 8.3 Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988) 42,184
89. 8.3 Once Upon a Time in America (1984) 67,391
90. 8.3 All About Eve (1950) 33,094
91. 8.3 Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 159,789
92. 8.3 Metropolis (1927) 36,764
93. 8.3 The Green Mile (1999) 184,772
94. 8.3 The Elephant Man (1980) 54,309
95. 8.3 Sin City (2005) 240,553
96. 8.3 The Great Dictator (1940) 34,341
97. 8.3 Rebecca (1940) 33,328
98. 8.3 The Apartment (1960) 34,011
99. 8.3 The Sting (1973) 61,992
100. 8.3 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) 162,676
101. 8.3 The Great Escape (1963) 58,251
102. 8.3 Gladiator (2000) 261,021
103. 8.3 Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) 200,108
104. 8.3 Ladri di biciclette (1948) 25,266
105. 8.3 Unforgiven (1992) 91,741
106. 8.3 Batman Begins (2005) 253,376
107. 8.3 Jaws (1975) 129,787
108. 8.2 Blade Runner (1982) 176,099
109. 8.2 Hotel Rwanda (2004) 85,780
110. 8.2 Die Hard (1988) 170,502
111. 8.2 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 31,475
112. 8.2 On the Waterfront (1954) 38,701
113. 8.2 No Country for Old Men (2007) 184,518
114. 8.2 Oldboy (2003) 89,116
115. 8.2 Touch of Evil (1958) 30,751
116. 8.2 Det sjunde inseglet (1957) 34,347
117. 8.2 District 9 (2009) 127,179
118. 8.2 Fargo (1996) 156,774
119. 8.2 Mononoke-hime (1997) 61,158
120. 8.2 The Wizard of Oz (1939) 97,424
121. 8.2 Per qualche dollaro in più (1965) 39,786
122. 8.2 Heat (1995) 135,998
123. 8.2 Strangers on a Train (1951) 31,961
124. 8.2 Donnie Darko (2001) 197,746
125. 8.2 Cool Hand Luke (1967) 42,636
126. 8.2 High Noon (1952) 32,181
127. 8.2 There Will Be Blood (2007) 121,690
128. 8.2 The Sixth Sense (1999) 225,687
129. 8.2 Notorious (1946) 29,542
130. 8.2 The Wrestler (2008) 82,787
131. 8.2 The Manchurian Candidate (1962) 33,085
132. 8.2 The Deer Hunter (1978) 83,004
133. 8.2 Annie Hall (1977) 61,472
134. 8.2 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) 217,291
135. 8.2 Snatch. (2000) 161,559
136. 8.2 The General (1926) 18,579
137. 8.2 Platoon (1986) 102,297
138. 8.1 The Big Lebowski (1998) 165,867
139. 8.1 Ben-Hur (1959) 55,061
140. 8.1 Into the Wild (2007) 88,678
141. 8.1 The Big Sleep (1946) 27,305
142. 8.1 Million Dollar Baby (2004) 130,989
143. 8.1 Yojimbo (1961) 27,165
144. 8.1 Ran (1985) 32,472
145. 8.1 It Happened One Night (1934) 23,460
146. 8.1 The Lion King (1994) 125,153
147. 8.1 Life of Brian (1979) 88,485
148. 8.1 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) 134,956
149. 8.1 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 54,212
150. 8.1 Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 16,708
151. 8.1 Smultronstället (1957) 19,787
152. 8.1 Finding Nemo (2003) 153,327
153. 8.1 Star Trek (2009) 119,507
154. 8.1 Trainspotting (1996) 141,854
155. 8.1 Stand by Me (1986) 84,567
156. 8.1 The Graduate (1967) 73,328
157. 8.1 The Terminator (1984) 168,611
158. 8.1 Gone with the Wind (1939) 74,295
159. 8.1 Toy Story (1995) 135,304
160. 8.1 Groundhog Day (1993) 126,605
161. 8.1 Scarface (1983) 141,855
162. 8.1 Ratatouille (2007) 121,769
163. 8.1 Amores perros (2000) 57,210
164. 8.1 The Thing (1982) 72,834
165. 8.1 Dog Day Afternoon (1975) 55,588
166. 8.1 Gandhi (1982) 47,503
167. 8.1 V for Vendetta (2005) 208,447
168. 8.1 The Gold Rush (1925) 19,414
169. 8.1 8½ (1963) 27,412
170. 8.1 The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 21,945
171. 8.1 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) 117,455
172. 8.1 Twelve Monkeys (1995) 159,776
173. 8.1 Le salaire de la peur (1953) 13,068
174. 8.1 Les diaboliques (1955) 13,292
175. 8.1 The Night of the Hunter (1955) 23,979
176. 8.1 Casino (1995) 101,334
177. 8.1 The Princess Bride (1987) 118,647
178. 8.0 The Incredibles (2004) 148,481
179. 8.0 Hotaru no haka (1988) 31,705
180. 8.0 The Killing (1956) 23,085
181. 8.0 Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) 12,986
182. 8.0 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) 12,164
183. 8.0 The Wild Bunch (1969) 29,223
184. 8.0 Children of Men (2006) 147,091
185. 8.0 In Bruges (2008) 87,641
186. 8.0 The Exorcist (1973) 96,448
187. 8.0 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) 10,451
188. 8.0 Le notti di Cabiria (1957) 10,137
189. 8.0 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 16,286
190. 8.0 The Hustler (1961) 23,887
191. 8.0 The Kid (1921) 12,658
192. 8.0 Harvey (1950) 21,927
193. 8.0 Ed Wood (1994) 69,675
194. 8.0 Dial M for Murder (1954) 27,521
195. 8.0 Good Will Hunting (1997) 140,184
196. 8.0 Rosemary's Baby (1968) 46,903
197. 8.0 King Kong (1933) 36,416
198. 8.0 Big Fish (2003) 132,076
199. 8.0 Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) 52,194
200. 8.0 Låt den rätte komma in (2008) 47,554
201. 8.0 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) 31,646
202. 8.0 Shadow of a Doubt (1943) 19,952
203. 8.0 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) 170,868
204. 8.0 Sleuth (1972) 16,148
205. 8.0 Shutter Island (2010) 29,899
206. 8.0 Magnolia (1999) 115,846
207. 8.0 Stalag 17 (1953) 19,540
208. 8.0 Brief Encounter (1945) 12,460
209. 8.0 Le scaphandre et le papillon (2007) 27,941
210. 8.0 Crash (2004/I) 161,398
211. 8.0 Rocky (1976) 88,925
212. 8.0 Mystic River (2003) 110,864
213. 8.0 The African Queen (1951) 31,916
214. 8.0 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) 123,680
215. 8.0 Network (1976) 31,140
216. 8.0 Duck Soup (1933) 24,892
217. 8.0 Rope (1948) 29,109
218. 8.0 Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 38,684
219. 8.0 Manhattan (1979) 36,168
220. 8.0 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) 218,670
221. 8.0 La strada (1954) 16,500
222. 8.0 La battaglia di Algeri (1966) 12,703
223. 8.0 Wo hu cang long (2000) 103,913
224. 8.0 Changeling (2008) 57,069
225. 8.0 Patton (1970) 37,375
226. 8.0 Little Miss Sunshine (2006) 140,974
227. 8.0 The Conversation (1974) 30,741
228. 8.0 Planet of the Apes (1968) 53,907
229. 8.0 The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 21,849
230. 8.0 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 73,029
231. 7.9 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) 18,145
232. 7.9 Barry Lyndon (1975) 37,271
233. 7.9 All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) 19,989
234. 7.9 Anatomy of a Murder (1959) 15,389
235. 7.9 Les quatre cents coups (1959) 22,016
236. 7.9 Shaun of the Dead (2004) 122,258
237. 7.9 Mulholland Dr. (2001) 94,771
238. 7.9 (500) Days of Summer (2009) 54,358
239. 7.9 The Lady Vanishes (1938) 16,835
240. 7.9 Spartacus (1960) 47,574
241. 7.9 Glory (1989) 54,246
242. 7.9 Tonari no Totoro (1988) 26,991
243. 7.9 The Philadelphia Story (1940) 26,341
244. 7.9 Monsters, Inc. (2001) 104,620
245. 7.9 The Truman Show (1998) 143,125
246. 7.9 Toy Story 2 (1999) 105,292
247. 7.9 His Girl Friday (1940) 19,622
248. 7.9 Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) 28,218
249. 7.9 Brazil (1985) 73,268
250. 7.9 Mou gaan dou (2002) 33,274

117/250

IMDB Top 250

2010-01-29T12:53:00.000-08:00

So bored, just seeing how many films from the IMDB top 250 I've seen...

1. 9.1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 472,429
2. 9.1 The Godfather (1972) 381,876
3. 9.0 The Godfather: Part II (1974) 225,103
4. 8.9 Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966) 142,969
5. 8.9 Pulp Fiction (1994) 384,351
6. 8.8 Schindler's List (1993) 254,541
7. 8.8 12 Angry Men (1957) 104,787
8. 8.8 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 196,066
9. 8.8 The Dark Knight (2008) 420,852
10. 8.8 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 258,758
11. 8.8 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 336,723
12. 8.8 Star Wars (1977) 302,239
13. 8.7 Casablanca (1942) 157,071
14. 8.7 Goodfellas (1990) 210,639
15. 8.7 Shichinin no samurai (1954) 89,675
16. 8.7 Fight Club (1999) 349,913
17. 8.7 Cidade de Deus (2002) 151,337
18. 8.7 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 228,240
19. 8.7 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 362,001
20. 8.7 Rear Window (1954) 109,994
21. 8.7 The Usual Suspects (1995) 249,148
22. 8.7 Psycho (1960) 132,485
23. 8.7 C'era una volta il West (1968) 66,993
24. 8.6 The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 226,507
25. 8.6 The Matrix (1999) 353,330
26. 8.6 Se7en (1995) 255,134
27. 8.6 Memento (2000) 249,530
28. 8.6 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 304,225
29. 8.6 It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 95,393
30. 8.6 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 146,898
31. 8.6 Sunset Blvd. (1950) 49,940
32. 8.6 North by Northwest (1959) 86,658
33. 8.6 Citizen Kane (1941) 130,504
34. 8.6 Léon (1994) 182,100
35. 8.6 Apocalypse Now (1979) 161,830
36. 8.5 American Beauty (1999) 273,125
37. 8.5 American History X (1998) 205,525
38. 8.5 Forrest Gump (1994) 274,512
39. 8.5 Taxi Driver (1976) 142,763
40. 8.5 Avatar (2009) 168,408
41. 8.5 Vertigo (1958) 84,859
42. 8.5 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 74,388
43. 8.5 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 218,831
44. 8.5 WALL·E (2008) 160,571
45. 8.5 Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) 166,427
46. 8.5 Alien (1979) 166,898
47. 8.5 Saving Private Ryan (1998) 251,458
48. 8.5 A Clockwork Orange (1971) 179,361
49. 8.5 The Shining (1980) 163,352
50. 8.4 Paths of Glory (1957) 41,225
51. 8.4 The Departed (2006) 239,395
52. 8.4 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 77,154
53. 8.4 The Pianist (2002) 121,664
54. 8.4 Aliens (1986) 158,305
55. 8.4 Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) 91,445
56. 8.4 Das Leben der Anderen (2006) 66,308
57. 8.4 M (1931) 36,610
58. 8.4 Double Indemnity (1944) 34,085
59. 8.4 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 202,273
60. 8.4 Chinatown (1974) 72,769
61. 8.4 Requiem for a Dream (2000) 169,764
62. 8.4 The Third Man (1949) 47,534
63. 8.4 L.A. Confidential (1997) 155,144
64. 8.4 Reservoir Dogs (1992) 197,022
65. 8.4 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 30,648
66. 8.4 Das Boot (1981) 65,889
67. 8.4 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 146,128
68. 8.4 El laberinto del fauno (2006) 138,831
69. 8.4 Inglourious Basterds (2009) 130,824
70. 8.4 City Lights (1931) 24,662
71. 8.4 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 54,950
72. 8.4 Up (2009) 77,530
73. 8.3 Raging Bull (1980) 83,110
74. 8.3 The Prestige (2006) 182,875
75. 8.3 Singin' in the Rain (1952) 51,444
76. 8.3 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 149,729
77. 8.3 La vita è bella (1997) 99,266
78. 8.3 Back to the Future (1985) 185,123
79. 8.3 Der Untergang (2004) 74,920
80. 8.3 Some Like It Hot (1959) 62,336
81. 8.3 Modern Times (1936) 32,476
82. 8.3 The Maltese Falcon (1941) 48,205
83. 8.3 Amadeus (1984) 90,109
84. 8.3 Gran Torino (2008) 106,622
85. 8.3 Full Metal Jacket (1987) 139,730
86. 8.3 Rashômon (1950) 35,724
87. 8.3 Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 155,326
88. 8.3 Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988) 41,425
89. 8.3 Braveheart (1995) 223,982
90. 8.3 Once Upon a Time in America (1984) 66,142
91. 8.3 All About Eve (1950) 32,626
92. 8.3 The Elephant Man (1980) 53,380
93. 8.3 Sin City (2005) 236,982
94. 8.3 The Green Mile (1999) 181,471
95. 8.3 Metropolis (1927) 35,889
96. 8.3 Rebecca (1940) 32,772
97. 8.3 The Great Dictator (1940) 33,703
98. 8.3 The Apartment (1960) 33,391
99. 8.3 The Sting (1973) 61,078
100. 8.3 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) 160,722
101. 8.3 The Great Escape (1963) 57,492
102. 8.3 Gladiator (2000) 256,922
103. 8.3 Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) 197,753
104. 8.3 Batman Begins (2005) 250,021
105. 8.3 Ladri di biciclette (1948) 24,740
106. 8.3 Jaws (1975) 128,101
107. 8.3 Unforgiven (1992) 90,222
108. 8.3 District 9 (2009) 115,792
109. 8.2 Blade Runner (1982) 173,930
110. 8.2 Hotel Rwanda (2004) 84,364
111. 8.2 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 31,030
112. 8.2 No Country for Old Men (2007) 181,017
113. 8.2 Die Hard (1988) 168,103
114. 8.2 On the Waterfront (1954) 38,071
115. 8.2 Touch of Evil (1958) 30,281
116. 8.2 Oldboy (2003) 86,915
117. 8.2 Det sjunde inseglet (1957) 33,769
118. 8.2 Fargo (1996) 154,604
119. 8.2 Mononoke-hime (1997) 60,219
120. 8.2 The Wizard of Oz (1939) 96,259
121. 8.2 Per qualche dollaro in più (1965) 38,977
122. 8.2 Strangers on a Train (1951) 31,420
123. 8.2 Heat (1995) 133,926
124. 8.2 Donnie Darko (2001) 194,630
125. 8.2 Cool Hand Luke (1967) 41,950
126. 8.2 The Wrestler (2008) 79,724
127. 8.2 High Noon (1952) 31,778
128. 8.2 Notorious (1946) 29,059
129. 8.2 There Will Be Blood (2007) 119,247
130. 8.2 The Manchurian Candidate (1962) 32,690
131. 8.2 The Sixth Sense (1999) 222,864
132. 8.2 Annie Hall (1977) 60,524
133. 8.2 The Deer Hunter (1978) 81,738
134. 8.2 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) 213,959
135. 8.1 Platoon (1986) 100,883
136. 8.1 Snatch. (2000) 158,537
137. 8.1 The General (1926) 18,247
138. 8.1 Ben-Hur (1959) 54,246
139. 8.1 The Big Sleep (1946) 26,924
140. 8.1 Into the Wild (2007) 85,925
141. 8.1 The Big Lebowski (1998) 162,766
142. 8.1 Million Dollar Baby (2004) 128,552
143. 8.1 Yojimbo (1961) 26,743
144. 8.1 Ran (1985) 31,980
145. 8.1 It Happened One Night (1934) 23,008
146. 8.1 Star Trek (2009) 114,730
147. 8.1 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) 132,400
148. 8.1 Life of Brian (1979) 87,225
149. 8.1 The Lion King (1994) 122,897
150. 8.1 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 53,411
151. 8.1 Finding Nemo (2003) 150,760
152. 8.1 Smultronstället (1957) 19,329
153. 8.1 Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 16,350
154. 8.1 Trainspotting (1996) 139,668
155. 8.1 Stand by Me (1986) 83,482
156. 8.1 The Graduate (1967) 71,976
157. 8.1 Gone with the Wind (1939) 73,103
158. 8.1 Toy Story (1995) 133,076
159. 8.1 The Terminator (1984) 165,911
160. 8.1 Groundhog Day (1993) 124,341
161. 8.1 Scarface (1983) 139,450
162. 8.1 Ratatouille (2007) 119,425
163. 8.1 Amores perros (2000) 56,250
164. 8.1 The Thing (1982) 71,511
165. 8.1 Gandhi (1982) 46,730
166. 8.1 Dog Day Afternoon (1975) 54,583
167. 8.1 V for Vendetta (2005) 204,793
168. 8.1 8½ (1963) 26,703
169. 8.1 The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 21,630
170. 8.1 The Gold Rush (1925) 19,083
171. 8.1 Twelve Monkeys (1995) 157,253
172. 8.1 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) 115,405
173. 8.1 Le salaire de la peur (1953) 12,796
174. 8.1 Les diaboliques (1955) 13,037
175. 8.1 The Night of the Hunter (1955) 23,565
176. 8.1 The Princess Bride (1987) 117,540
177. 8.1 The Incredibles (2004) 146,407
178. 8.0 Casino (1995) 99,332
179. 8.0 Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) 12,756
180. 8.0 The Killing (1956) 22,678
181. 8.0 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) 11,949
182. 8.0 The Wild Bunch (1969) 28,789
183. 8.0 Children of Men (2006) 144,515
184. 8.0 Hotaru no haka (1988) 31,050
185. 8.0 In Bruges (2008) 85,057
186. 8.0 The Exorcist (1973) 95,052
187. 8.0 Le notti di Cabiria (1957) 9,905
188. 8.0 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 15,976
189. 8.0 The Hustler (1961) 23,551
190. 8.0 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) 10,216
191. 8.0 Harvey (1950) 21,632
192. 8.0 The Kid (1921) 12,291
193. 8.0 Ed Wood (1994) 68,498
194. 8.0 King Kong (1933) 35,867
195. 8.0 Good Will Hunting (1997) 137,941
196. 8.0 Rosemary's Baby (1968) 46,006
197. 8.0 Dial M for Murder (1954) 26,989
198. 8.0 Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) 51,070
199. 8.0 Låt den rätte komma in (2008) 45,304
200. 8.0 Big Fish (2003) 129,813
201. 8.0 Shadow of a Doubt (1943) 19,607
202. 8.0 Sleuth (1972) 15,859
203. 8.0 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) 168,136
204. 8.0 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) 119,950
205. 8.0 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) 31,104
206. 8.0 Stalag 17 (1953) 19,214
207. 8.0 Brief Encounter (1945) 12,184
208. 8.0 Crash (2004/I) 159,072
209. 8.0 Magnolia (1999) 114,220
210. 8.0 The African Queen (1951) 31,567
211. 8.0 Le scaphandre et le papillon (2007) 27,118
212. 8.0 Duck Soup (1933) 24,579
213. 8.0 Rocky (1976) 87,264
214. 8.0 Mystic River (2003) 108,546
215. 8.0 Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 37,986
216. 8.0 Network (1976) 30,489
217. 8.0 Rope (1948) 28,582
218. 8.0 Manhattan (1979) 35,606
219. 8.0 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) 215,462
220. 8.0 Wo hu cang long (2000) 102,877
221. 8.0 La strada (1954) 16,185
222. 8.0 Little Miss Sunshine (2006) 138,753
223. 8.0 Changeling (2008) 54,745
224. 8.0 Patton (1970) 36,873
225. 8.0 The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 21,509
226. 8.0 The Conversation (1974) 30,200
227. 8.0 (500) Days of Summer (2009) 46,559
228. 8.0 Planet of the Apes (1968) 53,069
229. 8.0 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 71,668
230. 8.0 La battaglia di Algeri (1966) 12,402
231. 7.9 All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) 19,685
232. 7.9 Shaun of the Dead (2004) 119,850
233. 7.9 Glory (1989) 53,582
234. 7.9 The Lady Vanishes (1938) 16,507
235. 7.9 The Philadelphia Story (1940) 25,941
236. 7.9 Mulholland Dr. (2001) 92,875
237. 7.9 Spartacus (1960) 46,776
238. 7.9 Barry Lyndon (1975) 36,617
239. 7.9 Tonari no Totoro (1988) 26,212
240. 7.9 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) 17,736
241. 7.9 Monsters, Inc. (2001) 102,586
242. 7.9 Anatomy of a Murder (1959) 15,036
243. 7.9 Toy Story 2 (1999) 103,532
244. 7.9 Les quatre cents coups (1959) 21,526
245. 7.9 His Girl Friday (1940) 19,274
246. 7.9 Brazil (1985) 72,079
247. 7.9 Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) 27,800
248. 7.9 Mou gaan dou (2002) 32,605
249. 7.9 Casino Royale (2006) 163,861
250. 7.9 Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004) 40,076

110/250

Things to do...

2009-11-20T02:40:00.000-08:00

I've a fair bit of stuff to get through, would be even more if I included the uni stuff I should be doing in that! In any case, here are the films I own that I've yet to watch:

2001 : A Space Odyssey
Amadeus
The Birds
The Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum
Brief Encounter
Casablanca
Doctor Zhivago
Gone With The Wind
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Night Of The Living Dead
Pan's Labyrinth
Psycho
Rope
The Seventh Seal
The Thing
Vertigo

And here is a list of films I need to buy that I want to see as well:

The Good The Bad The Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West
Double Indemnity
To Kill a Mocking Bird
The Pianist
The Maltese Falcon
On the Waterfront
Dog Day Afternoon
The African Queen
Planet of the Apes
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Killing Fields
Arsenic and Old Lace
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Then there's still books to get through! I'm glad there's only 2 weeks of uni left til Christmas break, anyway. Here's some books:

The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
Hot Water Music (Charles Bukowski)
Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
The Trial (Franz Kafka)
A bunch of Sherlock Holmes stories (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Naked Lunch (William Burroughs)

A book (well, more of a set of books) I recently got was The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. I bought it on a whim, since it was fairly cheap and I liked the look of it, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The strips are consistently hilarious so far (about 350 pages into the first book), and one story in particular really came out of nowhere and got to me, it was just too sad (the raccoon story, if anyone is familiar), but it was beautiful at the same time, I've essentially just fallen in love with the whole thing...

That's enough of lists for now. Speaking of lists though, I dunno what to put on my Christmas one :( I have absolutely no idea, I might just fill it with books, those films, don't know...

Now, onto the matter of the recently vacated Scotland manager's post! The names bandied about in the papers really depress me, it's just a case of the usual suspects, SPL and Championship level managers who just happen to be Scottish. I'd rather we got a Scottish boss in, but the only ones who would take it are all diddies, so we should take a chance on another foreigner. The "we tried a foreigner before and look what happened!" argument holds no water, since George Burley was Scottish and terrible, so surely by that logic we should be put off getting another Scot in too? If I were in the SFA, my shortlist would consist of Roberto Mancini, Gerard Houllier and Lars Lagerback. Whatever happens I just hope we don't get in another yes-man who'll pander t0 every whim of the SFA instead of being his own man.

Also, everyone should listen to Dinosaur Jr.'s latest, "Farm", it's awesome.