the itisi meme

That scene is really frightening actually !

2012-03-30T11:46:23.313+01:00

That scene is really frightening actually !

Steady, Kate :-)

2008-10-04T07:44:00.000+01:00

Steady, Kate :-)

methinks you are absolutely right. Great blog!

2008-08-16T01:34:00.000+01:00

methinks you are absolutely right. Great blog!

I liked him Reign of Fire and Empire of the Sun, b...

2008-08-14T11:41:00.000+01:00

I liked him Reign of Fire and Empire of the Sun, but he was only a kid in that. I can see what you mean though, Tom Cruise has the same effect on me. I can't bear anything with him in, which is a shame because some of his films would have been quite good if with another actor.

I love Batman, just not Christian Bale. He can rot...

2008-08-11T16:51:00.000+01:00

I love Batman, just not Christian Bale. He can rot in hell for all I care. One of the reasons I love Shaft so much is seeing him getting shot at the end One of the best scenes in any movie! :)

I haven't seen the animated series, but I have hea...

2008-08-06T09:27:00.000+01:00

I haven't seen the animated series, but I have heard good things abut it.

LOL @ clunk around as Batman and bore folks to tears with his wretched acting! I take it you aren't a fan.

Aha, so you're the viewer LOL

2008-08-06T09:20:00.000+01:00

Aha, so you're the viewer LOL

I know it's complete tosh but I'm rather enjoying ...

2008-08-06T01:45:00.000+01:00

I know it's complete tosh but I'm rather enjoying it.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that I fancy the pants off Julie Graham!

The Batman from the animated series is actually th...

2008-08-05T17:48:00.000+01:00

The Batman from the animated series is actually theb est one ,but ifyou're talking on screen, I'm going ot have to go with Michael KEaton. Nothing against Adam WEst, I just liked Keaton better. Christian Bale is a worse Batman than Clooney was in my opinion. It's painful watching him clunk around as Batman and bore folks to tears with his wretched acting!

I voted for Adam West because to me, he was Batman...

2008-07-18T00:11:00.000+01:00

I voted for Adam West because to me, he was Batman. I grew up watching his ever so slightly camp adventures with Robin, Alfred and the legendary tool belt. Later Batmans (Batmen) may be cooler, but he is the benchmark by which I judge them.

I've just remembered. Mel not only appeared in two...

2008-04-04T11:21:00.000+01:00

I've just remembered. Mel not only appeared in two of them, he either directed or produced one of the others.

Thanks Kathy! When I saw the interview it piqued m...

2008-04-02T23:16:00.000+01:00

Thanks Kathy! When I saw the interview it piqued my curiosity - for some reason I need to know this stuff.

I was surprised by his choice of dogs, but I suppose it proves the adage that strong men don't need tough dogs to impress anyone.

Mickey has had several chihuahuas in the past and ...

2008-04-02T22:44:00.000+01:00

Mickey has had several chihuahuas in the past and present. Mostly known is "Loki" who was on the set.. BUT not in the movie. The name of the blonde chihuahua in OUATIM is "Taco." "Loki" was a tad jealous from time to time and went on walks with RR's wife at the time, Elizabeth. :)

LOL You are right, the French have got arguing dow...

2007-03-23T19:58:00.000+00:00

LOL You are right, the French have got arguing down to an art form, they can even shrug sarcastically. I know! I had a French grandma.

Rumours that I have inherited this trait are greatly exaggerated.

The original version of Taxi. Am I right in thinking Alain Delon was in it?

ps: Say 'HI' to Dan. I know a Dan, but I'm guessing they aren't the same ones.

Generally subtitles are far better. for exactly t...

2007-03-22T13:19:00.000+00:00

Generally subtitles are far better. for exactly the same reason. (Dan, who is reading over my shoulder agrees too). For example: Taxi, Taxi 2 and Taxi 3 (the French originals) are very fast paced and dubbing would be hard pressed to match speed and tone. After all no one can argue as well as the French can.

My preference is for films to have sub-titles beca...

2007-03-15T20:46:00.000+00:00

My preference is for films to have sub-titles because I find that however good the dubbing is, it never quite captures the emotion and expression in the voices of the original actors. With sub-titles you have the best of both worlds, you can follow the dialogue and understand it's context.

Ah, LOTR, we will have to agree to differ about th...

2007-02-12T11:33:00.000+00:00

Ah, LOTR, we will have to agree to differ about that - I didn't like the way Peter Jackson directed it at all. (But, I don't like his films full stop.) It felt more like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, than an actual retelling of the story. Francis Ford Coppola did the same thing with Dracula and ruined it.

I do think Sam Raimi has done a good job with Spiderman though - but he does have a knack for making that kind of film.

When the mix of writer and director are good and t...

2007-02-11T17:09:00.000+00:00

When the mix of writer and director are good and the producer is just as keen it really works. I'm thinking of LOTR and some of the super hero films where the people who have worked on it like, loved or were fans of the source. The Harry Potter books are a good example where good budget has improved the books. This is because the writer there tells a great story but is a weaker writer than her fame suggests.

Oops, forgot to post my answers. Do you think fil...

2007-02-05T17:44:00.000+00:00

Oops, forgot to post my answers.

Do you think films/movies which are based on books are always worse than the original story?

On the whole yes. Sometimes, a production company will order so many rewrites of the script the original plot vanishes without a trace. On other occasions, a director will not have the right feel for the kind of work an author produces. Even when a great effort is made to maintain the spirit of the original work, it is hard to translate certain aspects of a novel into a purely visual format. Thought processes, back stories and so on can be difficult to reproduce authentically and naturally.

Have you ever seen a film which was better than the book it was based on?

Yes, Jaws is much better than the Peter Benchley novel.

You know, I have always thought that about the thi...

2007-02-05T17:36:00.000+00:00

You know, I have always thought that about the third part of LOTR - it is slow going. I prefer the opening chapters, in the Shire, and when the Hobbits set off on their journey. For me, it went down hill a bit after they met Aragorn.

Whatever my strengths and weaknesses as a writer, ...

2007-02-05T17:10:00.000+00:00

Whatever my strengths and weaknesses as a writer, one thing I have discovered is I'm crap at writing reviews. However, to answer your question, despite the fact that I've read Lord of the Rings probably 8 or 9 times in my life, I thought the films were better. I was quite blown away by them and kept commenting to my wife how these were the only films I'd ever seen where the pictures were better than the ones in my head. And if you've ever read Tolkien's work, you'll know that especially the last book is really dry and hard going. It reads more like the bible than a decent novel. Almost every paragraph begins with "And..."

Yes, Tim Burton is very distinctive. As you say hi...

2007-02-02T18:56:00.000+00:00

Yes, Tim Burton is very distinctive. As you say his films are dark and moody, but they have a quirkiness to them that only he seems to create. I think that is why Johnny Depp works well with him, he excels at dark and quirky.

You're right about the impact writers can have. Quentin Tarantino writes a lot of scripts as well as directing, and you can identify them even without knowing in advance. A couple of years ago, I was watching a film and remarked that it had the feel of a Stephen King novel. It turned out it was based on one of his short stories.

Actors don't seem to have the same kind of impact. Well, I suppose there are exceptions such as Jack Nicholson, but generally they don't set the tone of the film.

Yes. For example a Tim Burton will be dark and mo...

2007-02-02T17:52:00.000+00:00

Yes. For example a Tim Burton will be dark and moody.

But it's not just directors. I watched what I thought was a B-Movie about a plan crash. It was actually a real good ghost story.

I said after that some bits didn't seem to fit with the rest of the story. "Must have been a book" says I. Yep - terns out to be based on a book by a favourate horror author of mine.

It takes a level of skill for a director to have an effect on a film. Lesser directors are pushed along by the script rather than they pushing it. The result lacks "imagination".

If you knew every directory very very well you would probably pick out every last one of each film they made. This is because director and writer have the biggest impact on a film.

Do you think directors have a signature? Yes Ca...

2007-01-29T18:53:00.000+00:00

Do you think directors have a signature?

Yes

Can you identify the director of a film, just by watching it, without knowing in advance who the actual director is?

Yes, sometimes. Of the top of my head I can remember really disliking the film 'Full Metal Jacket' partly because it reminded me of a Stanley Kubrick film, and it turned out he directed it.

If you answer yes to the first two questions, do you think this is true of all directors, or just a select few?

I don't think all directors have this ability (or curse, I suppose it depends how much you enjoy their work) Some are very distinctive, for example: Martin Scorsese, Roberto Rodriguez and Francis Ford Coppola. Or the above mentioned Stanley Kubrick and Ken Loach - I don't like his films either. And you can often identify a John Carpenter film because of the lousy music (he often composes it himself which isn't a good idea). Others are not so obvious, some directors seem to go in a different direction with each film, others just don't make that much impression, that isn't always a bad thing though. Sometimes, a cast is so strong, the director doesn't need to do a great deal.

And here are my answers . . . Ridcully - Stephen F...

2006-04-29T13:41:00.000+01:00

And here are my answers . . .

Ridcully - Stephen Fry
The Dean - Robbie Coltraine
The Bursar - Rik Mayall