Matt’s Journal

This weekend was somewhat relaxed, it consisted of a few menial tasks and watching a good few films.

Friday night, just walking in the door from work Katie asks me if we can go and see Saw 5, a film that we had down to see a good few weeks earlier. We discussed what screening we would attend over dinner and prepared to head out for the evening.

Then I spotted somebody had posted a DVD Rip of the film on ThePirateBay, this changed everything. Instead of having to spend £14 plus snacks and petrol on getting to the cinema, we decided to open a bottle of wine and watch the film at home. Many people will read this and think, “You’re a dirty Pirate”. My response would be something that would not convert easily to text. The problem with this film was that I felt 100% justified not going to see this film in the cinema, it was a pretty poor release from the always reliable Saw franchise.

Saturday saw us head out shopping and return home early to await the delivery of our dining chairs (of which 4 out of the previous 6 delivered were incorrect) from Debenhams. Once I had brought them inside, I spent most of the afternoon struggling with an Alan Key trying to erect them whilst Katie’s parents popped in briefly.

That afternoon/evening I watched the film Adulthood (of which all films mentioned in this post are rated in my Movie Reviews section), before taking Katie to her friend’s birthday meal. I also managed to catch 75% of the film; Eastern Promises.

Sunday morning saw me play my weekly football match for my team, a day that started of warm only to thunder down with rain. I managed to miss a penalty to win the match, much to the delight of my father in law! The rest of the afternoon was relaxation and we watched another horror film; Splinter.

Yesterday I was in London for a business meeting, meaning this morning I feel like going home early and doing what I have done all weekend…watching a few more films!

Imagine if in all your favourite movies, the characters used a mobile phone. Found courtesy of Slashfilm:

This weekend I went and saw Cloverfield. Arriving a tad late, we shuffled into the theatre and found the whole place packed, the only available seats were four rows from the front…….fantastic.

Anyways, the trailers finished and the movie commenced, the start of the film taking time to build up familiarity with it’s characters and back story. This was all filmed from a first person perspective, the best friend of the film’s lead. It’s all very docile until the monster hits New York, suddenly buildings start falling, there are explosions on every street corner and there are a whole load of people running in any direction possible.

I don’t want to ruin the film so I won’t go into much detail other than to say you should see this film. Make sure you are situated far away from the screen and you have taken your motion sickness pills as the camerawork is not steady!

Don’t believe rumours there are secret clips at the end of the credits, I stayed and was sorely disappointed!

There were the summer blockbusters like Die Hard 4.0 and Blockbusters…I came, I saw and I watched in awe. Our American counterparts have release dates well before our own but here are a list of films I want to see either in the next two weeks or the whole of 2008..

1. I am Legend

Starring Will Smith, “I am Legend” is a film centring on “the last man on earth”. The trailer depicts Smith in a desolate New York City with only his dog for company. Problem is, is he really alone?

It smashed records in the US and with a Boxing Day release in the UK, I can see it doing the same here. Is it me or is Will Smith actually a really nice guy (judging from interviews etc)?

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A few years back, as I slumped into bed from a late night out, I put on the TV and caught the last remaining minutes of Jonathan Ross’ film night. On this particular programme, he was reviewing an animated film, one by a noted Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki; Spirited Away.

Even though I caught the last few minutes, I was impressed enough (not to buy it) to stick it into my trusted Bittorrent search and grab a download of the film. I sat back and let myself into the world that is Studio Ghibli. If you are wondering what Studio Ghibli is, let Wikipedia show you the light:

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio, and previously was a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten. Its emotional anime films are widely praised all over the world. Its name derives from the nickname the Italians used for their Saharan scouting planes in the Second World War. The theory behind the name was that the studio was blowing a new wind into the Japanese anime industry. The company’s logo features the character Totoro from the film My Neighbor Totoro.

Since viewing Spirited Away, I bought the DVD and looked at what else the studio had done. I found a new film, Howls Moving Castle and did the same, downloading it and loving it. All I can say is since then I have taken to all the films they have produced and look to add them to my collection at any opportunity. Owning half the collection, I can’t see myself stopping anytime soon.

I seriously suggest you view the two I have mentioned here, you won’t be disappointed. Check the video promo below which shows you snippets from all the Ghibli films:

The best place to get these films that I know of at the moment are HMV, they are all £5.99 or lower. Play.com offers them at £12 and over, so I would definitely go with the HMV route.