Blog

The thoughts, opinions, happenings, and just plain ramblings of a seemingly boring person.

Movies

New Mouse (G502) & Avenging Again

Categories Movies, Technology

Logitech g502-proteus-coreIt's been a while, but now I have the excuse of taking care of a new life and attempting to get some sleep at the same time! 😉

I bought a new mouse this week. My last mouse, the G9x, has performed superbly over the past four years. However, recently the rubber coating on the mouse has started to oxidise and get sticky, so I thought it was time for a new one.

I picked up the Logitech G502 on sale for a very cheap $49, and it hasn't disappointed. It's amazing how much cheaper these top-tier mice have … Read more →

The Best and Worst of 2014

Categories Gaming, Movies, Rants

I don't feel like I've been exposed to a lot that has been on offer this year in terms of movies and games. Nevertheless, tradition must be observed, so here is 2014's movies and games that I most enjoyed, and those I didn't at all.

Movies

I haven't seen any of the Boxing Day movies yet, but I doubt what is on offer will change my mind from the movies I have already seen this year.

The Lego MovieBest Movie: The Lego Movie

Yeah, big surprise, I know ;). It was looking like it was a tough choice between Lego and … Read more →

Her: Provocative Stuff

Categories Movies

Her movie posterLast night we watched Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix.

The movie is set at some time in the nearish future (where high pants are seemingly fashionable), and it centres on an introverted writer who has a relationship with an intelligent computer program.

It was quite a provocative film, focusing on the nature of relationships between people, technology, and consciousness in general.

Overall I found it quite a strange movie, being amusing at times, as well as extremely uncomfortable at others.

I enjoyed the exposition of how we, as people, react and interact with software and technology in general, and how … Read more →

The Best and Worst of 2013

Categories Gaming, Movies, Rants

It's my usual 'Best and Worst' post time! For those not familiar, I summarise the best and worst movies and games that I have watched and played this calendar year. These are only from the movies/games that I have personally watched/played, so it's definitely not exhaustive.

Movies

Keeping in mind that I have only seen one movie out of those that were released over the Christmas/Boxing Day period, here is a list of the movies that I have watched so far this year.Django Unchained

Best Movie: Django Unchained

Usually a movie will jump out at me as one of the … Read more →

Ender’s Game (the movie): Impressed

Categories Geekery, Movies

Ender's GameLast night we saw Ender's Game. Some spoilers may be ahead.

I had read the book earlier in the year, so I was quite eager to see how they would portray a book that I thought was not suited for a transition to the big screen.

I have to say that I was pretty impressed. I think they did quite a good job at compressing the story, themes, and relationships into a very watchable two-hour movie. Knowing the story of the book beforehand, it did feel very rushed, but while a lot of depth and other sub-plots were understandably minimised … Read more →

The Best and Worst of 2012

Categories Gaming, Movies, Rants

Like last year's 'Best and Worst' post, this year has been a bit lean gaming-wise. Finishing off building our house and moving in in the first quarter, and planning and taking holidays in the latter half of the year go someway to explaining it, and the aging console generation might too,  but I'm beginning to fear that I might be moving away from gaming.

Also continuing on from last year, we saw a lot of movies. My count is 32 released in this calendar year.

Anywho, here is my critical wrap of 2012.

Movies
(see here for a … Read more →

Boxing Day Movies: Les Mis & The Hobbit

Categories Movies

The Hobbit - An Unexpected JourneyThis year there were three Boxing Day movie releases that we really wanted to see: Wreck-It Ralph, Les Misérables, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Thanks to advance screenings, we got to see two of them even before Christmas Eve.

On Friday we saw Wreck-It Ralph, and on Sunday we saw Les Mis. After recently seeing the West End theatre performance of Les Mis when we were in London, the movie left me feeling a little flat. Russell Crowe was definitely the weak link in the singing department (especially compared to the powerful voice … Read more →

Wreck-It Ralph: The ‘Proper’ Pixar Movie of the Year?

Categories Gaming, Geekery, Movies

Wreck-It Ralph

Tonight we went and saw an 'advance' screening of Wreck-It Ralph. I put 'advance' in quotes because it was released in the U.S. a month and a half ago, so a screening five days before the Australian release is hardly 'advance' in today's connected world. Insert here my usual disgust of these archaic practises and so forth.

In short, the movie was fantastic.

Following the disappointment of this year's Disney/Pixar release that was the well below-par Brave, this movie as a purely Disney release hit more of the Pixar heights in all aspects. I'm not sure if Disney … Read more →

Skyfall: A Decent Bond Film

Categories Movies

SkyfallOn Friday night we saw the latest Bond film, Skyfall, at a ridiculously crowded late session. We had originally planned on seeing it when we were in London right after it was released in UK on the 26th October, but I was too unwell at the time. By the way, it's still shocking that for a movie of this magnitude that the Australian release date is a month later than the UK, and two weeks after the US. In an internet connected world, it's just not acceptable any more.

Anywho, some might recall my earlier opinions on Casino Royal… Read more →

Disney Buys Lucasfilm

Categories Geekery, Movies

Star Wars DisneyThis is kind of old news now, but nevertheless it's going to be 'current' for the next few years.

Whilst we were in Hong Kong at the end of October, news broke that Disney had reached a deal with George Lucas to acquire Lucasfilm and all its subsidiaries and intellectual property for the sum of around $4 billion. I had to check multiple websites and multiple sources to make sure it wasn't some kind of huge practical joke.

Although $4 billion sounds like a lot of money, when you look at what Disney is acquiring it doesn't seem all that … Read more →