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Another element to the idea of film criticism is that it's not really there to serve the storyteller, to tell him or her how they messed up or how they got it right, it's there to inform the wider audience of the merits and flaws of the entertainment so that they can make an informed decision about whether to spend money on it. How that's communicated, a body gesture or a long tirade, is ultimately irrelevant.
I love Confused Matthew's review of No Country for Old Men, because it very effectively demonstrates why that movie is a complete and utter waste of your time. I wish someone had told me before I wasted mine.
I wish to emphasise this because an interesting development has recently occurred in the games industry with the release of Aliens: Colonial Marines. There was a review embargo on the game before it went on sale, which meant that no-one could post their review of the game before it was released (to have done so would have meant career suicide). Worse, no-one could also voice their concerns in previews due to NDAs. It has now received universal panning from critics, with scores far below what would be expected from a AAA title with 6 years of development time. It's a crap game really. And yet none of the critics could mention a word of it before it was released, before thousands of people pre-ordered the game or went out to buy it on its first day (based on PR and gameplay trailers which now appear to have been a lie). The entire review process failed.
I'm glad the Wii U version was delayed now as I had it on pre-order until I saw the swarm of negative reviews.
This is not necessarily a list of my all-time favourite albums, just a few that I seem to go back to a lot. Oh, there's more than five too, screw the rules.
AC/DC - High Voltage
AC/DC were one of the first bands I got properly in to and the early Bon Scott stuff is by far my favourite. Don't get me wrong, I love the straight up hard rock that AC/DC later became. But this earlier, more 50's rock and roll influenced stuff just brings me back to being fourteen.
Blink 182 - Enema of the State
Another album that brings me back to being fourteen. When I was that age, I was primarily in to classic rock and there was a bit of a stigma attached to pop-punk, so for a bit of a while I was a little embarrassed about being a Blink fan. However, I soon realised elitism sucked and I like what I like. SCREW DA H8RZ MAN!!!
Bumblefoot - Normal/Abnormal
These are two albums but they're sort of connected and I always play them one after another, so I've lumped them together for this. I checked out Bumblefoot when he was announced as the new guitarist for Guns N' Roses some years back and fell in love with his stuff almost instantly. These two albums are quite different from his other, more technically minded material. If you've not heard any of his stuff before, I really recommend checking these albums out.
Catch 22 - Keasby Nights
Catch 22 (and also Streetlight Manifesto, who I'm gonna mention later on) is a band I've only really gotten in to over this past year and this album in particular has very quickly escalated in to one of my absolute favourites. I'm a pretty big ska-punk fan, so I have no idea why this one escaped me for so long.
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Probably gonna get some flack for this, but Chinese Democracy is my favourite GNR album. I loved the whole mystery around it prior to its release, so whenever I listen to it I get brought back to a time when of speculation, rumours and leaks. Speaking of leaks, most of the tracks were already leaked online before it was released so many found the final tracklist quite lackluster as it was mostly stuff that we'd already heard. I gotta admit, I was kinda bummed back then, but hey - I loved the songs.
Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love
I had a bit of an 80's glam phase a while back and this was the album that started it all. The album doesn't really sound like what you'd normally associate with the genre, it's a lot more stripped back and 'punky' and less over the top than the many imitators that soon followed.
Pink Floyd - The Wall
For a long time, Animals was my favourite Floyd album. But when I think about it, it's The Wall that I keep going back to more and more. This album introduced me to the idea of a concept album, something that I love and don't think there are as many around as there should be. I'd love to try my hand at a massive concept album one day.
Reel Big Fish - Turn the Radio Off
I've mentioned certain albums taking me back to specific time in my life and this one takes me back to two distinct periods. One is fairly recent, it kickstarted my whole love of ska-punk which only really began a couple of years back. The other is back to the TFN days as Sell Out and Beer were both part of The Formula.
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks
I often overlook the Sex Pistols when thinking of my favourite bands and I really don't know why. I love the songs, the image and the whole ruckuss they caused back in the seventies. Fun fact: John Lydon's other band Public Image Ltd were playing opposite my dads local pub a few years back and his mates challenged him to get his way on the tour bus. He did it.
Sixx:A.M. - The Heroin Diaries
Most of my favourite albums take me back to a rather happy time in my life, but this one takes me back to a pretty bad time for me. I got dumped, my dog died and discovered my best friend wasn't coming back from L.A. after visiting family for the summer pretty much all at the same time. Yeah, they're all first world problems - but I really wasn't myself when it happened.
Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in the Between
The most recent addition to my favourites. Streetlight Manifesto are pretty much a continuation of Keasby-era Catch 22, so it's only natural that I became a big fan. It's hard to look at this restrospectively and I'm still living the part of my life where this album is acting as my soundtrack.
Going with the whole 'how did this get made' angle, how about a general episode on how films are made from the initial idea to opening weekend? I know it sounds like a bit of a 'movies for dummies' idea, but it could be worth a shot?
So, some of you guys may know I've been working on this for a little while now (big props to drewjmore and BDA who have also helped out with a few vfx shots) and now I'm just glad there's finally something to show.
We have just released the trailer, so I thought I'd share it with you guys. Sorry about the Inception noise though, I added that in as a joke and then it was insisted that I keep it in.
What started out as a little ten minute assignment for a class turned in to a fully fledged Dollar Baby, with money being spent and sets being built. We also managed to snag not just one, but two actors from Game of Thrones too! You've got Liam (who's also a member of the forum) to thank for that.
I dunno if it's just because I'm so familiar with the scream that it seems this way, but I feel as if the wilhelm is higher up in the mix in a lot of modern movies as opposed to being at the same level as any other scream. I dunno, I could be wrong.
Most awesome stunt? I once accidentally tripped off the top step on a set of stairs, hit my head on the low ceiling, almost loop-de-looped right down to the bottom and finally crashed head first in to the corner. I blacked out for a few seconds and then laughed hysterically. All this after shouting 'Hello Cleveland!' at the top of the stairs.
Gotta admit, I used to be a bit of a spoiler hound back in the day for upcoming flicks. I dunno why, I guess it was just the feeling of knowing something that most others didn't. Same thing with the obsession I had over leaked Chinese Democracy tracks. I have become less of a spoiler fiend these days though, it seems like they're not as abundant any more.
1. I think this depends on the popularity of the film, if it's a big tentpole movie then I say it's fair game after a month or maybe less. Lesser-known films though, I tend to be considerate.
1A. I'd say the Lost example is fair, I've never even watched the show and I knew the ending! Again, I'd say it depends on the popularity of the show and also who you're discussing it with. But I'd give a week or so after airing.
2. I would say so as I'd constant be trying to second guess everything throughout the movie.
3. I usually start with 'do you mind spoilers?'. That eases things up a lot!
4. Can't say that's ever happened to me.
5. A friend of mine had a go at me for talking about the scene in TDKR where Batman & Catwoman are fighting Bane's thugs in the sewers. As I'm a comics fan, I've always associated Catwoman with playing on both sides, so this didn't even register as a spoiler in my head. My cousin wasn't too happy when I told him Chewie was gonna be in Episode III, despite it being officially announced and then in the trailer not too long after.
6. Episode III. Right after Attack of the Clones was released, I went in to full blown 'GIMME SPOILERS!' mode and by the time it came out I knew pretty much every scene.
Can't promise when the next TARDIS will be due, Stargazing Live is on soon and it may be sleep-time not long after that. I've been up at normal waking hours for once!
Also, I've used the shiny Paypal button on the homepage to send a little something as a thanks for these tutorials.
Thanks a lot! I'm just happy I thought of modelling something and it actually turned out to look somewhat like what I wanted to make.
Google taught me how to colour polygons (for anybody interested, you select the polygons and then press Q to make them a different surface and thus change the colour), so I spiced Pikachu up a bit.
Since viewing these videos I've attempted a TARDIS (as per homework) and a Pikachu. Neither are particularly great, but only after using the software for a day or so I'm starting to get the hang of it. I still need a lot more practise though!
Gonna take another stab at the TARDIS soon, get it more refined and shove a lot more detail in there. I can see TARDIS's becoming my Lightwave equivalent of lightsabers in AE. For a while, they were pretty much all I could do until something clicked and I suddenly became able to grasp everything else.
