Up, close and personal

After watching House for a while, one gets the urge to read back old Holmes' novels, if only to find out how faithful our Greg is to the original character (BTW, if anyone out there knows who Cuddy is in the books, I'm dying of curiosity here, dudes) I've finished the first set of novels this last week (A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes) and will start on the second soon. It turns out that it's like CSI for me, I just guess who's behind everything in the first fee pages but don't have the nerve to prove it, so I just sit and watch. Not much mental exercise for me, it seems :(
All in all, I just found out that Holmes and House are even more similar than I thought at the beginning (and, yep, I noticed at first glance that they both live in 221B), plus in the novels it's also never lupus :P
What to read now, what to read ...

Maybe I'm growing exigent with the years, but where are scripts when you need them? The last movies I have seen had none, and, ok, we have just finished that writers' strike, but it was mostly about TV series and those seems okay to me...
Film 1: Jumper. How can something with so much money in it be so bad? And I'm the first to acknowledge that Christensen is kinda cute but, unlike Orlando Bloom, who has just two expressions, he only has one! Jumper makes you wish you had the same power that Christensen, if only to jump out of the cinema and into anything less boring, like thr wedding video of your cousin in Ibiza. Scifi films must be careful to keep the rules they've establish themselves for the sake of credibility, but here they don't even care for that. There is no story apart from, hey, I've got these cool powers and I'll enjoy myself. It would be better if there were no dialogues either. Those last lines with Christensen going "so I am a jumper" (dramatic pause) "and you are one of them" (another, longer, dramatic pause) Pleeeeeeaseee! They also make the same error that independence day, daylight for our flat earth all along (except in Japan, it is always night in Japan, of course). If you want to lose your money and 90 minutes of your life, suit yourself. Otherwise ...



Now, on DVD, we go to spanish movie The Abandoned, which is a good show of how spanish people can do movies as bad and boring as the rest. Unlike good flicks like Darkness, or tolerable ones like El orfanato, this one is boring from the very beginning. The director says he wanted people to spend a bad time for the whole film and he gets it,but not for the reasons he thought. It goes about a woman who goes back to a farm in Russia when her biological parents die and finds out she has a brother and also that the farm is quite haunted (but in a boring way) Lots of Silent Hill (another little jewel, like this one) like-dumps and few light and you get a movie. I don't even recall what the rest was about because I slept through some parts, I'd only say that they both die and save you from suffering through this flick all along.



Finally, 30 days of night was sort of nice, even if only because the comicbook was a bluff in my opinion. Vampires look just like in the comicbook also and the town gets a pretty scary look. Just in case someone wants to know, the story goes about the village most in the north of the US (Barrow, Alaska), where the sun sets for 30 whole days in winter. At some point, vampires realize that and prepare a banquet-party over there, First they isolate the village and then they attack. I think it is nice in the film that they remove the email vampire organization part and put instead the initial vampire attack which was not in the book (probably because it would have been either too tiresome to draw or maybe it was and I could not find it among all those undefined paint splashes). Time passing gets a bit unrealistic and vampires are not very savvy, but, all in all, the flick was okay.

Okidoki, so here are the latest news on the movies I've seen these last weeks. Minor spoilers ahead!

First of all, we go to Alex de la Iglesia's Oxford Murders. Good filming and all, but not too interesting plot, some Deux ex Machina (Leonor Watling practically find the solution herself and does not even have to sing :P) and a slow starting. I think I was expecting something more after "La comunidad", specially with all the advertising this movie had. It's entertaining, though, if you try not to think about maths as Da Vinci Code is entertaining if you know nothing about heresy, Leonardo's painting and criptography. Anyway, I'm kind of partial to action flicks or Sherlock-like mysteries so pay no attention to my opinion on this ...



Cloverfield! This one, I really liked! Same structure as REC, but far more entertaining. It looked like old survival films with Heston and friends and FXs were amazing! Plus the monster is really scary, as they show only minor parts of it most of the time. Slow start, but perfect tempus and well tied end. What are you doing reading this? Go watch the film!



Oh, and I also read, even though I don't usually post about it. This is the last book I've finished (I'm now back to Sherlock Holmes, House made me nostalgic): Terry Pratchett's Wintersmith. It is about how Winter falls in love with young witch Tiffany Achings. Even though we've got the major ingredient for the book to be in my list (Granny Weatherwax), all in all, it didn't make it. I find books about Tiffany a bit too serious and introspective, quite different from the busy, messy pacing of the rest of the Discworld Universe. Anyway, any Pratchett is better than most authors for me, so as long as he writes, I read. BTW, the new book of exerts from Discworld is really a nice edition ...



So this is all for now. See ya soon, guys!

This last friday my cousin has presented his new work in Granada, around 70 paintings of places all around the province. If you happen to be around the place, it is really worth a visit.

I'm talking here about Hard Candy, a movie that mostly takes place inside a house, has almost no FX and there are just 3-4 players around, mostly 2 all the time. I'm not commenting anything on this movie, because it is better if you don't know a priori what it is all about. Just as a hint, it starts with child molesters. The best part of the movie is, in my humble opinion, the amazing work of the main actress, young Ellen Page. It is already on DVD and I did not even notice when it was on screen, but, if you've got stomach, I'd surely recommend it.



Another nice watching this weekend -I'd not say surprise because everyone had recommended it- was IT Crowd, about the guys (and girl) in the computer department of a big company. It is cliché gone nuts, and every episode was funnier than the previous one. I thought I could not laugh anymore after Richmond's introduction, how nuts can the script people be :D:D:D Looking forwards to next season.



I'll go into Rome season 2 next, now that my Scrubs DVDs are almost over ..

Pues ya de retorno de las navidades, los turrones, los empachos y las gastroenteritis y pasando mas por el medico que un coche viejo por la ITV (que pena haber caducado, con lo que yo he sido ...), aprovecho para dejar la cronica cinematografica de estos dias. Poco he visto y menos que tendria que haber visto, porque vaya falta de guiones de que peca Hollywood, y vale que estan de huelga de bolis caidos, pero es que hay cosas que claman al cielo. Mis dos ultimas grandes adquisiones visuales, "Soy Leyenda" y "Alien vs predator 2". Despues de esto, mas de uno pensara que me merezco lo que me he tragado y, si no, a ver pelis de directores checo-albaneses con apellidos impronunciables, pero es que antes la accion tambien tenia su aquel. O quien no recuerda el Alien 1 o el primer Terminator.



Al Will Smith voy a terminar por tomarle odio mortal, y eso que el pobre hace lo que puede. Ya solo lo perdono porque en todas sus pelis enseña abdominales. El final de Soy Leyenda es para darle de palos a los guionistas y mas al Will por tonto del c**lo. Ver para creer. Por cierto, espero que no le hayan pagado mucho a los de los efectos por ordenador en la peli. Unos recortables de mutantes movidos como marionetas y los leones de los click de Famobil hubieran cantado menos. La peli mas aburrida no puede ser, salvo el repullo ocasional tipo tia con pelo en la cara de las pelis japonesas, acompañado del cha-chan de la BSO, por si te has dormido en medio. En fin, cualquier parecido con el libro de Matheson es pura coincidencia.



Y ahora el segundo peliculon. Si bien Paul Anderson es uno de mis directores de cabecera, he decidido evitar todo lo que produzca y no dirija. Tenia que haberlo hecho despues de Resident Evil 2, pero una no escarmienta y le di un voto de confianza por Soldier. Pues no. AVP1 era mas bien simplona, pero tenia su encanto, con unos personajes majetes que van cayendo uno por uno, y ese entorno antartico-gigeriano y su historietilla de trasfondo. AVP2 no tiene ninguna de esas cosas. De hecho, no tiene nada de nada quitando a Michelle la de 24 que podia haberlo arreglado todo desde un principio llamando a Jack Bauer. No he visto semejante vacio de guion desde el Proyecto de la Bruja de Blair y eso que en medio me he tragado cosas como Historia de Ricky o La Cosa X del Espacio Exterior. La peli se basa en producir una especie de Alien con rastas que viene del Predator pardillo infectado en la peli anterior y que, como todos los aliens que se salvan de chiripa en todos los filmes, tiene capacidad de reproducirse. Con tanta reina, el planeta alien debe ser como la jaula de las locas esa. El rollo es que se cae a la tierra al lado de un pueblo y lo masacra, con la ayuda de un Predator estilo Sr Lobo de Pulp Fiction que viene a arreglar el entuerto. Al mismo tiempo te presentan un puñado de personajes que te dan exactamente igual y que van matando sin pena ni gloria hasta que al final se salvan los que ya sabiamos que se iban a salvar. Lo mejor, los tres segundos del final, dedicados a los frikis hard-core. El resto, no pagueis por verlo, amiguitos.

A ver, a ver ... Que he visto ultimamente ... Asi, a bote pronto, me acuerdo de Beowulf, molona, si se ve en 3D IMAX, Stardust, que no esta mal como cuento de hadas, First Snow, que me aburrio soberanamente, y, el jueves pasado, lo ultimo de Balaguero y Paco Plaza, REC. REC es como la version española (y bastante mejor, afortunadamente) del proyecto de la bruja esa de Blair, donde 3 americanos se van al bosque sin una mala muda de calcetines pero con la XBox para enchufarla en un arbol o algo, y alli que se pierden entre cuatro matojos. En este caso, hay un par de reporteros de cadena local esperando a que pase algo en un parque de bomberos para ganarse el sustento cuando reciben un aviso de un bloque de vecinos como el de Aqui no hay quien viva pero en Barcelona. Una vez que entran, sanidad, actuando rauda como nunca se ha visto, les chapa el bloque por amenaza de zombies descontrolados, pero, como buen cuerpo de administracion, no les dice na de na ... y alli que se encuentran ellos, en amor y compaña con los zombies y los vecinos, que no se sabe que es peor, camara al hombro y a grabar como unos profesionales.

Sera porque despues de Darkness esperaba mas del Balaguero, pero la peli no me mato. Se dejaba ver y tal, pero era algo lenta al principio y bastante repetitiva y la mayoria de los sobresaltos son estilo china pelua y blancuzca de esas que salen en el terror asiatico. En fin, algo que ver mejor en casa delante del DVD y con las luces apagadas, imagino. Aunque solos en la sala como estabamos tambien tenia su puntito, claro ...

Here I was, with nothing else to do besides the usual ton of reports, scripts and lessons so I thought to myself, There! I've got a weekend left this month, why not fly to Las Vegas? Sounded good, I had never been there and it still had not gone to the point of Resident Evil Extinction. And, also, it happened to be in the way to my next forced destination.


The stop and New York implied, as usual, to wait for a delayed plane. Nevertheless, we got to Las Vegas on time to see all the lights on. Boy, it looked like a theme park! We had managed to get a hotel close to The Strip, the Palace Station. It was okay, bur close is not enough in the US! Crossing the street is an issue even if you are not a chicken. The next morning it took us almost one hour to reach the Wynn and a little less, but a lot more of adventures to get back (including fence jumping and what not) , so we stuck to the hourly hotel shuttle service afterwards. After extensive walking, we did not see half the casinos, but I already decided that I preferred the ones with indoor skies, like Venetia, Paris or Planet Hollywood. Food was not particularly cheap -as reported by some friends- but portions were HUGE, so I would have gained a few pounds had I not walked so much those days.



I booked sunday for a trip to Grand Canyon, but it was somewhat dissappointing except for the Joshua Trees (go, U2!). I did not get the chance to walk too much, everything was so controlled that it looked less real than Las Vegas itself. Even the helicopter drive and the skywalk looked like some cheap attraction, but maybe I was expecting too much of the experience. All in all, I stick to the crevases in Iceland. And food was particularly ghastly. Along with casino hopping (I do not play, I'm too obsessive to put myself into temptations), I decided to go to as many attractions and shows as possible, and believe me, in Las Vegas deciding where to go is not as easy as it seems. There are these boots where you can buy tickets at half price if you wait for the queue and have no specific show in mind, so we went to Le Cirque du Soleil (Zumanity), the knight show at Camelot, the roller coaster at New York, New York, the pirates at Treasure Island, the acrobatics at Planet Hollywood and I'm sure I'm missing something, but it is okay. And, on top of it all, we found all clichés are true, from the dancing fountains at Bellaggio to guys in Elvis suits and people in front of coin machines that no longer carry cups of cents but credit cards in a chain. And big limos full of shouting blondes! I even bought a rock guitar handbag for my sis! Wouldn't mind going back sometime :)

So they told me, so they did. So many years on the run and I get to go back home in blue. And, believe me, I do not bruise easily :P

This are three pictures of my most recent sport acquisitions (not acquired at the same time, thankfully). Don't worry about it, though, they do not hurt ... much

Fighter (Christina Aguilera)
The kill (30 seconds to Mars)
Tourniquet (Evanescence)
Prayer of the refugee (Rise Against)
Koppelia no hitsugi (Noir)
I suggest (Marlango)
Dance me to the end of love (Madeleine Peyroux)
You're speaking my lenguage (Juliette and the licks)

Yep. I don't like profound, intellectual flicks, I'm not that deep myself. Hence, I've decided to watch anime for a while and see where it goes ...

This week, I'm partial to:

Noir


Basically, this is about a renowned assassin, Mireille Bouquet, who is contacted by a mysterious girl who claims to have forgotten about her past. All she knows is that she is named "Noir" and that she has amazing skills to kill and no trace of emotion when doing it. The girl asks Mireille's help to find out who she is, as their pasts seem to be linked somehow. Mireille agrees, but she warns the girl that, after everything is settled, she will have to kill her (quite unlikely, as soon the mysterious girl becomes her only friend). Both women start to work together as Noir, only to find out that an ancient organization known as the Soldats are behind their trace and that another lethal woman who claims to be the real Noir is toying with them. This is as far as episode 13 goes without spoiling too much of the fun. Action scenes are neat and the argument is not too complex. Characters are quite nice and animation is elegant. The best, though, is the amazing soundtrack and, specially, the main theme "Kopperia no Hitsugi".


X Clamp
This one is swords and fantasy. I'm just starting with the battles, but as far as I've watched, it goes like this. The Apocalypsis is coming. The main character, Kamui, seems to have a power beyond anything known on Earth. He is supposed to choose between being a sky dragon and saving Earth or an Earth dragon, a day X in 1999. If he decides the first, he'll join the seven seals. Otherwise, he'd join the seven angels. While the first ones believe that Earth is worth saving, the angels would rather have it destroyed so that something new, and possibly better, could start. Kamui has suffered a lot and lost everything, so he is unsure about which path to take, specially as both parts try to attract him to their sides. The only thing he is attached to are his best and only friends, Kotori and Fumaa. However, as soon as he chooses one side, his antagonist will be born, with equal force and a different alignment. And whatever he chooses, he will lost what he values more. This anime is quite fun and all characters are pretty interesting and original. It takes a while to start with the action, but moves pretty fast afterwards.

Maybe I'll go back to Bleach some time soon ...

B&W ink rulz!!

Far away from home and ignoring what was ahead ...

... but today's conclusion, boys and girls, is that only two creatures may offer pure, unconditional love: dogs and kids. Just choose your pick; any other is basically selfish, non-constant and highly conditional.

Follow the three intrepid travellers (now thinner in body and temper) all the way to the
West of Scotland. A brand new issue in my absurd adventures in UK.

Meet Yoruichi, neko-san. I've always liked black cats, BTW ...

Two quick Bleach pencil sketches I felt like uploading today.

And now, after summer break, on with the adventures in UK during my Interrail. This time, Edimburg and everything after!

Yep! Back from Egypt this morning and I've visited 40 countries thus far! A friend sent me this gizmo to plot in red the countries I've been to and I decided to give it a go:

Africa is mostly marked as From here there'd be monsters and Asia is pretty large to cover, but not bad, huh? Mostly because US is large, but only three countries and I've been to all three of them, even though only to four or five cities :P

Anyway, there's still time :)

Been there, drank limoncello, ate the ice cream and did the sketckes :)
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