fatvegan

So I switched from Spotify to Deezer and then to Tidal and then back to Deezer. And I looked at Apple Music. And then I switched back to Tidal. Which is all very silly, since I don't even really have internet. But I would nonetheless say that Tidal is very good. It almost all works, like someone might want that sort of thing to work. Tidal even does Last.fm. cough

Except they all suck for parties. Even Tidal, but maybe it sucks less. Because not all those tempting play buttons break your party. With Tidal only some of the play buttons break your party.

I will probably switch back to nothing. Because, as I said, I don't really have internet. So streaming music services are something of a luxury.

The other day I tried to by a film with iTunes. I tried buy movies for money every few months to see if it's possible yet. I know other people do it, but it's nevert worked for me. Usually some about having the wrong operating system or the wrong media player or the wrong codec. This time I spent $6.99 for some GI Joe film. I tried to download it on my poor old 3G dongle and probably spent another $10 on download quota. I was using an Apple TV which I friend gave us, so I thought we could watch it on the TV proper instead of mushed onto my bedroom.

After 3 hours it was downloaded and I got ready to watch it. It spent a long time trying to play. Eventually it said "You need a TV which is HDCP compatible" or some other nonsense. The TV is almost 3 years old, so fair enough I should have to buy a new one if I am keen to pay for films instead of pirating them. However, I didn't have time to pop down to the TV shop and buy a new TV so instead I just watched some pirated movie, which had been downloaded on a proper internet connection some time previously.

Every time I try to pay for popular culture I end up coming to the same conclusion. It's sufficiently difficult for edge cases that I wouldn't bother. And for some reason, I'm usually and edge case. Either Linux issues, Mac issues, slow computer issues, slow internet issues or issues with medieval TVs from 2010. I have many experiences now of paying for films and music, but never actually getting to watch or listen to it. Or listening to it for a while, but then being told I can't anymore because I got a new computer.

This is definitely not to imply we entitled to consume popular culture for free until it becomes easy to pay for it. I don't think we are entitled to anything. However, consuming popular culture for free is incredible easy, reliable, consistent, fast, flexible and cheap. The sanctioned alternatives are none of those things. And I don't actually have any ethical issues with illegal bit copying. I prefer paying for things, because I quite like about trade. I'm happy to give talented rich people more money if they find it affirming to receive more money. But in the scheme of things, it doesn't seem enormously important.

If paying for things was only slightly more difficult than getting those things for free, I think I would try paying for them. And one day soon it will probably happen.

This is my review of Argo, although just written by someone else.

And the winner is … Islamophobia

We watched _Adventureland_ at work tonight. It was good and pretty adorable. Kristin Stewart was actually quite great and adorable. Jesse Eisenberg also adorable. In a much less agonising way than that other indie romance fixture. It was great to see a film set in the 80s that wasn't soaked in obvious cliches. I suspect the script was from someone's autobiographical nostalgia, wanting to reminisce without totally fleecing the decade for gags.

However as these indie romances frequently do it gave nearly all the best lines to the boy who, despite his awkwardness, once again gets the girl thanks to his unwitting charm and charming wit. Also, all of the supporting lads were good or at least interesting and all the supporting lasses were neither. Which isn't that unusual either. I still liked it but.

On the most evil night of the year, a beautiful blonde woman and a ruggedly handsome archeologist hit man, find themselves trapped in a forest haunted by bizarre, flesh eating, Native American demons. As they flee from the woman's crime boss husband, who seeks to murder them for their illicit love affair, their car is destroyed by a head-on collision with one of the demons, a Stone Man. The blonde woman and assassin must escape the the perils of the dark and evil forest, on foot, without becoming demon food or getting themselves slaughtered by the woman's vengeful, Fat Cat husband.

My friend lent me her copy of the The Walking Dead. It's a sweet new zombie TV series. It's really trashy and really great. Heaps violent and pretty fun effects for a TV series. The acting is slightly average, but I don't think the zombie genre would be quite right without a good dose of sensationalism and overwrought panic.

The first season was only six episodes, but now I'm a bit addicted. Hurray for a second season.

More like Punce of Persia!

What a horrific film. Bad in every way a film can be bad and there are many ways. Racist, sexist, orientalist, fucked, shit and boring. Not even the jumping around villages scenes were any good and that is what the prince is meant to be all about.

Possibly the worst film I've seen at the cinema in several years.

There's a sweet horror film festival on in Newtown. Three films in a row. Awesome, but starting to feel slightly nauseous.

Just finished The Descent. It's close to the best conventional horror film I've seen. Didn't really even need monsters to be scary. Pretty great monsters but. And for once characters that aren't actually lame. Not In the character depth sense nor the being uselessly eaten by monsters sense.

I went to see The Road by myself at The State Cinema in Hobart tonight. I was quite excellent. As I walked out one funny fellow gushed merrily to his friend that "it was every bit as bleak as the book." I haven't read the book, but I have heard stories. I think I will read it. I love Cormack McCarthy and John Hillcoat both.

It was also horrible. But so real. It's the first post-apocalyptic movie I've seen that is kind of real. And it's a fascinating thing to watch and think about. I also get a funny feeling that the author is making some pointed statements about the way we take the world around us for granted. It's not quite a global warming apocalypse horror story but it isn't that far off. The film is basically about what would happen to humanity if all the plants and animals suddenly died. I heartily agree with the films assessment that it would be fully like totally shit for everybody.

I do wish we were nicer to this poor little planet. I like it.

We watched Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon for Halloween last night, because it had nothing to do with Halloween. And also because it's Hong Kong kungfu comedy which is the best genre of film there is. It was pretty awesome. Great fighting and actually hilarious. Massively sexist and inappropriate - a lot of jokes were about police sexually harassing women. Somehow the bits in between were still really good. Yet another one of the Hong Kong films that makes you wonder how Hollywood can never get it together. My only theory so far relates to OH&S laws.

The film that everyone loves I kind of didn't like much at all. There were lots of great bits, but overall I thought it was pretty bad. I reckon the ending pretty much destroyed the rest of the film. It didn't just flake out, it actively undermined the only parts of the film I'd like. I didn't like the independence of the Summer character, and I did like the anti-romance, anti-couple theme that seemed pretty solid until it was comprehensively smashed into tiny pieces over the last 20 minutes. I thought that Summer was turned into just another fickle girl who really did want a fairy-tale relationship. And Tom was transformed from a needy, insecure, superficial boy into a jilted victim. Except I had thought he was a great foil to the fully liberated Summer. He was appealing and sensitive and post-modern, but he couldn't get past his own hang-ups to actually make the relationship with Summer work. That would have been a good, alternative romance.

But in the end it was just another shitty Hollywood romance. Except that the sin is even greater with this film, because it flirted for so long with something deeper and more real. Only to through it all under a train.

I also didn't like the lesbian jokes, or really any of the sex jokes. They were crass and out of place, although they should have had the warning bells ringing.

Does anyone want to go to the Australia Ballet with me? It's only $28 for D-grade tickets (which aren't much worse than the $70 tickets). I love ballet, but I've only seen it about one time in my whole life.

I finally got around to seeing Kung Fu Hustle after years of people saying it is great. And it was great. Totally hilarious but it took the kung fu fully seriously. Anyone who likes kung fu or Chinese people should see this one.

I loved District 9. I'd completely forgotten what it was meant to be about when I went in, so it was extra exciting when it turned out to be about aliens. Aliens are like zombies in that they are virtually always fun to watch in films.

This film was super funny and had great special affects. And it even had a nice social message that wasn't too forced. Except it's unusual because I don't know heaps of people who will enjoy the mix of explosions, guts and social commentary. Most people I know that would find the film interesting would probably be preoccupied by the violence. Although it's pretty great violence - as violence goes it is highly recommended.

I thought it was long, boring, silly and annoying. Nothing really happened except endless attempts to capture the angst of adolescent romance. Without even a whiff of success. The worst of the Harry Potter films I reckon.

Samson & Delilah is one of the best films I've ever seen. Almost certainly the most important one I've seen in a long time. And maybe the best Australian film. It is compassionate and thoughtful and fascinating. I would even venture to say it is respectful, but perhaps that isn't for me to say.

Transformers 2 was the worst of films, it was the best of films. It was a total farce. Utterly absurd. Too long in the wrong parts. Fairly boring. Too many sweeping crane shots across young girl's bodies (i.e. more than none). The script was shit. It wasn't funny at all. Many of the actual transformers were totally ridiculous and looked just like the cute children's action figures they are destined to become. The plot was way to ambitious and yet still dumb. Some sort of conspiracy-theory/end-of-times agglomeration that wandered all over the place. The need for an extra level of bad guy is so typical of Hollywood at the moment and it leaves you feeling more juped than jubilated. The whole romance sub-plot is painful and bad and unnecessary and Megan Fox is silly.

However, overall the film was still brilliant. The fighting was totally great. The fight scenes were massively ambitious and that totally paid off. Most importantly, as promised, the film has transformers in it, and transformers are always well awesome (with the exception of the children's action figure ones). Some of the fight scenes were absurdly long and totally indulgent and there is almost nothing that pleases me more. I had a big smile on my face during pretty much every scene without Megan Fox, when the smile turned to a mild scowl.

I think what I miss most from the first film is the humour and the cohesive (and somewhat sensible) story. I think the other thing I found slightly disappointing was how organic the transformers have become. These days they are kind of half ninja and half ent. But I really like it when they are just robots and act robotic.

So I'll give it 4/5. It gets 4 points for the fight scenes but misses out on the final point for doing every other thing wrong.

Transformers 2 opens on the 24th June. Whose up for it? If you aren't convinced of the awesomeness of Transformers, I suggest you watch it repeatedly until you are. Because it is awesome.

I have seen the previews for Disgrace. I have the overwhelming sense that I'm going to be one of the book-lovers that hates the film. In the preview, nothing about the film felt right to me. Most of all, John Malkovich. The girl was also wrong - she seems like a total basket case. That said, I probably don't want them to make a film, because I don't think it can be done well. I don't even want to go and see it, but I will have in order to criticise it fully.