I've Been Dredding This..

In this review I am to become the Judge, Jury, and Executioner. 24 hours after seeing the film I’m still undecided to whether I actually enjoyed the film. Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t bore me or leave me disenchanted. I went into the film with low expectations and for this reason I knew that it would be your typical special effects motivated action film with a lack of narrative or character progression buth that didn’t really affect me and In fact I enjoyed the gratuitous violence and special effects all the more. The one thing the film did right was its use of slow motion 3D. I have always been a staunch critic of the use of 3D in cinema. The only film I think that has gotten it right so far was Jackass 3D, the reason? Slow Motion 3D, something which I haven’t seen too many films use since. Whether through luck or genius the inclusion of the drug slo-mo to the motion (yes, it’s an awful lazy name), helped ensure the application of slow motion 3D throughout the film. 

Having watched and enjoyed the original Judge Dredd many times of the years I was a bit sceptical of Karl Urban’s portrayal of the character, but his performance completely won me over. His rough ready, emotionless performance even led me to completely forgot he was Eomer one of my favourite characters in Lord of the Rings, which was a welcome relief in a film in so few characters, one bad performance had the potential to ruin the film and unfortunately I think this is what happened. The major disappointment of the film was the lack of a decent arch-villain for Dredd to face off with. Lena Headey’s role as the ex-prostitute turn gang leader was a very weak and frankly a bit boring. Don’t get me wrong I love Lena in her role as the deluded maniacal Queen Cersi in the Game of Thrones TV series. But this role just didn’t suit her personality or her acting ability.

The final disappointment was that for a film that is clearly aimed at young males (9 males under 30 was the audience), I don’t think the film did enough to appeal to this sort of audience, maybe trying to make it appeal more universal in the process. Consequently there was very little female sex appeal or nudity. Bless Olivia Thirlby; although it’s the most attractive I have ever seen her, my god the blonde hair! (Never really noticed hair before on a woman in that way, but hers I really got to me). She isn’t really attractive enough to pull off the sexy sidekick, these films stereotypically have. With no other eye candy the film was distinctly lacking in this department.

 So the Final Scores are…..

 ** 2/5 Stars

Pros: Slow Motion 3D Work

Cons: Lack of comedy, nudity & sex appeal.

You don't know the power of the dark side!

Yes I realise that this blog has started off in a very dark place, but unfortunately that’s where I am at emotionally at the moment. I understand that this doesn’t make for great reading or entertainment, Hopefully this will change soon and the blog will becoming a mixture of both fun, happy and entertaining posts as well as the darker, also in-depth, therapeutic, looks at my own existence. 

I’m off to see the new Dredd film tonight, with a few mates so hopefully I’ll post up a mini-review of that within the next few days, hopefully that will start off the less dark posts, and I have a few other ideas which I’ll pop up when I get some time.

On that note

Watch This Space!

“To run away from trouble is a form of cowardice and, while it is true that the suicide braves death, he does it not for some noble object but to escape some ill.”

—

Aristotle

How The Blockbuster Began

In the film, The Butterfly Effect, the series or chain of events is referred to as the blockbuster. I have also been calling the chain of events I set off several years ago the same thing. And now since Wednesday the 19th of September a day that’s only significant to me and one other. The day would have been the 3rd anniversary of me and a girl that I loved for 9 years. (Even though the date isn’t correct and never was I conceded to let her think it was. That’s a different story!)

My Blockbuster started about 1 & half years ago in my final year of university. It was winter time with snow on the ground and frozen ponds. It was at this time that I was experience the largest depression I had felt in years, in fact since I tried to kill myself at the age of 16. This combined with the stress of university exams and dissertation over whelmed me entirely. My only lifeline, the only thing that kept me hanging on? Her…

When I needed her the most, to be there holding me in her arms and she backed out of coming to see me. This utterly destroyed the last hopes I had of hanging on. That night I did something I regretted, I broke up with her and took myself off miles into the Surrey countryside to kill myself. That night I spent several hours contemplating on the side of a frozen lake to jump in. The freezing cold water instantly shocking me into a form of paralysis and robbing my lungs of air, it would not have been a pretty way to go and i would not have the strength to fight. Why I did I not jump in? Her…

Since then there has been a shadow hanging over a future relationship, of mistrust and inability to get pasted what happened that night, on both our accounts. This is what I truly believe was one of the major issues led to the eventual break up 1 and a half years later. This has since left me feeling if I should have jumped that night. Why? To save her from me…

to be continued….

“I’d think twice about what you’re doing. You could wake up a lot more fucked up than you are now”

—	Thumper - Butterly Effect

Wings of the Butterfly

The Butterfly Effect has held the crown of my favourite film of all time, despite many contenders challenging it over the years. Still it holds a pride of place in my mind. When I first saw in many years I found it a thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining psychological thriller. But the true reason why I hold it in such high regard is because through the years and many repeat viewings and different versions of the film, it has taught me more about myself than I’ve ever cared to give it credit for. With each viewing I increasingly associate with the film and see parallels within my own life more and more.

No I’m not saying I have magical super powers to be able to go back in time to change moment in the past, if I had I would have ended up like the Directors Cut and I would not be here talking to you now. Instead both the stigma and the love story echo to my own experiences in life. The moral of the film it that of the so called butterfly effect in chaos theory.

“It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world - Chaos Theory”  

In other words a small change at one place in time can result in drastically large differences to a later time. It is this theory there has been much truth in my life, where decisions I made up to 7 year ago, has drastically changed my life and led me to where I stand today. Alone and in the Wreck of the life that I’d always wanted and dream of. It is now in this moment that I see this and must learn from its lesson, which after today’s viewing seems even clearer in my mind and I have to thank to film for place this concept clearly in my mind once again. As I grow older, but not so wiser I’m sure it will continue to watch this great film over & over to teach me more lessons.

From Small Beginnings...

As many of you may now know and for those of you who don’t know, in the last few weeks my life has slowly but surely fallen apart around me, leaving me in the ashes of a mistake that I’ve regretted for the last month as it set all these situations in to motion.

The mistake you ask? I naively thought I could control a condition of was diagnosed with several years ago. Cyclothymic Disorder, a form of rapid cycling bipolar, I have lived these past years fighting the constant battle with my mind. For too long I fought this battle alone, and the toll it has now reaped has left me broken, but it may have won the battle but I’m determined not to let it win the war!

The first offensive in this new war was to tell my closest friends, something I’ve never wanted to tell anyone. The stigma of mental illness is well founded in modern society and has led me down this dangerous road, where I’ve lost close friends and ones I’ve loved over the fear of anyone knowing. Now that phase has ended to next attack with be on here…. the internet and in particular this blog, where you the world will find out more about me than I’ve cared to share with anyone for years.

Hopefully with you as reinforcements I can turn the tables and start to win. For that I thank any of you who are reading this, feel free to comment, ask me questions and generally interact with this blog and I’ll appreciate it and thank you again in advance