Amazing presentation

Mark and I presented a awesome powerpoint of BBFC censorship on Fight Club, I feel that I constructed a good argument with several case studies (Braindead made the class squirm with delight.) Also after watching the BBC TV version of Birdsong I felt compelled to pick up the novel and give it a go, certainly seems quite good at the moment and I will definitely continue.

Chaplin the biopic was just incredible, the ending moved me to tears of joy as it reflected on a mans life and his creations that gave so much joy to the world. Downey Jr. was great as the Chaplin and it has encouraged me to final get around to watching the Great Dictator sometime soon.

Back to the silent era

Very tame day of school today, we finished watching Nosferatu in film studies and to be honest, it was a bit pants. There were very few moments of genius or intrigue unlike Caligari, Count Orlok was the highlight of the film but there wasn't nearly enough of him as the film instead focused on the estate agent who is a very dull character. The score was absolutely ear-stabbing and completely fails to put you in a state of dread or fear and either makes you want to laugh out loud at how outrageously inappropriate it is or turn off the film completely to avoid having a migraine.

On the flip side I also watched another Chaplin film today: The Gold Rush. It got off to a slow start with some gently funny scenes but right after the halfway point you remember just why Chaplin is such a master, he does not simply create comedy but also tragedy that helps you empathise with the main character, this is most apparent in a heart breaking scene where his dinner date for New Years Eve does not turn up; it gave me a feel. The highlights were the cabin finale which is introduced perfectly and is visually terrifying and the wonderful Oceana Roll dance which almost made me laugh to tears. While I still think City Lights was his finest work, this comes pretty close, if your up for a bitter-sweet slapstick then this is almost as good as it gets.

Bonjourno!

Dragging myself out of bed was a faf today, I half convinced myself that we were snowed in an there was no point in getting up because school was cancelled, I could see the snow on my window and I was feeling toasty. It turned out it was just condensation on the window. Mark seemed to share my same frustration with Monday mornings, at multiple instances he attempted to convince us to turn around and just go home; strangely enough, his luck was in. At lunchtime we found out that school would be closing on account of a burst pipe so we got half a day off!

We celebrated by watching Inglorious Bastards with lashings of popcorn. I had built up such high expectations of the film that I think that actually made me enjoy it a bit less than I thought I would. I thoroughly enjoyed it but some scenes just didn't hold my interest in the way Pulp Fiction did, tense as they were. Christoph Waltz was just a force to be reckoned with, every time you see him onscreen you hold your breath, just a brilliant villain. Brad Pitt also deserves some mention, especially with the ultimate crappy Italian line which was just perfect. 

Damn you, World of Warcraft!

I promised myself I would never go back, I flirted with it yes, I even laughed about it with Louis whenever we talked about it saying how much better our lives have been since we kicked the habit. However he has talked me back into it under the promise of a free couple of days trial and a half price subscription for a month with some more friends to play with. Spent a good 5 hours on it today, I regret nothing. Except making a complete arse of myself while role playing as me and Louis were taking things far too literally.

Working 9 til 6:30

Again, sorry about the lack of a blog yesterday, my energy has been sapped from me on account of my cold and I fell asleep faster than a narcoleptic on ketamine. Luckily for you not much happened to me yesterday with the exception of an amazing lunch cooking session where we danced and fried sausages and pancakes. I also watched Drive which was pretty much a case of love at first sight, just instantly adored it and left me thinking about it for ages; great soundtrack.

Today at work I was introduced to the coffee machine, I am now pretty good at making americanos, lattes and cappuccinos, it was a little tricky getting the knack of how to froth the milk just right for the latter but I think I got it now. Also on account of the snow I was asked to salt the driveway by my employers which was kinda cool I guess, my hands were pretty orange afterwards though!

Koyaanisqatsi

Me and Josh got around to presenting our History essays on the Peasantry today and fortunately it went down quite well, the teacher did single out my presentation skills in the speaking department but addressed them constructively which was quite nice. The most recent game of choice in our breaks has become Windows XP 3d Space Pinball. I was comfortably holding the number 1 position on the scoreboards until Herbie came and destroyed my score and my soul... on his first go. Speaking of Herbie, I am finally beating him on icheckmovies! it took 9 months but I have now caught up with him which, frankly feels amazing.

Very rarely am I in the mood to watch something like Koyaanisqatsi, but I decided early on that I just wanted to get a nice dose of life. It was essentially the tone Terrance Malick seems to be trying to create in most of his films, yet he has to juggle the burden of including a narrative. Koyaanisqatsi on the otherhand was curiously mesmerizing from start to finish, the cinemattography was consistantly innovative while the music suited it perfectally. I'm not sure if I was thinking anything during the movie but I can remember feeling different emotions to various moments, it was a truly unique experience and the fastest 83 minutes of my life; reccommended viewing!

New concept?

Me and Dan had a very... interesting brainstorming session today for a new video. After kicking around numerous little ideas we have now come up with an idea that we are really proud of, pitching it to Mark will be the biggest challenge we think. Speaking of Mark, he's just had his big interview for a place in Bournemouth uni, he was super nervous about it but I'm sure he did very well and he is just the kinda guy they are looking for.

After falling in love with the simple but elegant piano piece 'Promenade Sentimentale' I just had to go and watch the film it came from: Diva. It was a very curious piece of cinema, I'm not sure whether I would recommend it to many people appart from pure music and opera lovers with a kick for thrills. It was bizzare and beautiful, like that dream you go back to sleep for especially to see the end of.