I took this to be a covenant that if I survive this term, never again
will God destroy my spirit with a flood of Tripos questions.

Exactly 28 days remain until my final exam. I mention it because number may hold more significance later in this entry. Exams notwithstanding, life goes on. Unless you are a journalist, that is, in which the case the only thing happening the world seems to be the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. I hesitate to label it missing white woman syndrome but the coverage does seem somewhat disproportionate, with celebrities getting in on the action by waving around rewards. The sheer level of parental idiocy required to leave a three-year-old alone in a foreign country seems to have been entirely overlooked. Meanwhile our dear PM has finally announced his actual retirement date (rather than the date of the announcement of his future speech about when he’s considering thinking about discussing retirement, perhaps taking a leaf out of Bungie’s book). The strangest thing is seeing a cheerful Gordon Brown on TV and in the press. It suddenly dawned on me that in the past 9 years I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile…

I finally got round to another incremental update to the site in the form of the menu bar of this section (it will shortly spread to the others). Aside from the minor aesthetic change to its appearance and rollovers, it has also been recoded to use a single image file which ought to remove the lag that some were experiencing with slower connections.

I was unable to join the group who headed out to see 28 Weeks Later, the follow up to the acclaimed British zombie flick 28 Days Later. The film has certainly polarised audiences, an unsurprising occurrence that tends to accompany sequels that have been handed over to a new cast and crew. Although director Fresnadillo has little experience, his short list does include the superb Spanish film Intacto, about gambling with people’s luck and fortune. Yet the main criticisms do seem to be directorial, specifically regarding the action sequences that are allegedly akin to swinging a camera around on a rope as fast as possible and then editing the sequence so that no shot lasts more than a second. Motion sickness is a genuine concern, and actually following the action is laughable to the point where more than one person did not realise a character had been killed until afterwards when they realised the person was no longer present. However the sheer destructive force unleashed upon London may be worth seeing in itself. I share this now only because there is a good chance I won’t be able to see the film before it disappears from the big screen. If you have seen it, please do offer your thoughts in the comments. Now if the franchise follows the Batman/Superman model, I’d recommend skipping the next two films but 28 Decades Later ought to be a belter!

EDIT: Sparkie has offered four important rules if you plan on watching the film yourself. Ignore them at your peril.

Spring cleaning in the Critic section I realised that although the Film Reviews archive was supposed to stretch back to 2003, it was missing several reviews that I had written that year. They require a little reformatting from the old site, so I have transferred a few over and you can expect the last few to appear in the next few days. Meanwhile I also hope to beef up last year’s short list as I rewatch several films that I didn’t write about at the time. This being exam term, however, you probably shouldn’t hold your breath.

I have also updated the DVD bargains with an exam term flavour, resulting in it being filled primarily with TV shows that can be watched over lunch without the excessive guilt that comes from watching an entire film.

My Spider-man 3 review has attracted a lot of interest and some criticism so I thought I’d clear a few things up. The text of the review may appear overly harsh, particularly given the overall rating 2/4, but I feel that if one is to spend such an inconceivably large sum of money on a film then they really do need to be able to justify it. To produce a film with the same actors and crew that is inferior to its significantly cheaper predecessor is just unforgivable. Now I was worried that I might be unfairly rose-tinting my memory of Spider-man 2 with hindsight, so I went back and rewatched it. I was not. It is an exceptionally well crafted superhero film, both in visuals and content. Spider-man 3 is, to put it mildly, not. On the other hand the reason it’s rating falls dead in the centre of the scale is that when the film was over I did not feel an irrational hatred towards the filmmakers or even a desire to have my money back (like, say, The Matrix Revolutions). All I felt was a strong desire not ever to see the film again — but I was still content to have seen it once. Unseeing it was not at issue while I had strongly desired such an improbable temporal anomaly following Freddy Got Fingered. And to put it into perspective, at least it’s no worse than the game.

Cat’s birthday yesterday meant an excuse to sample the new Wagamama, recently opened on Regent Street. Although I generally enjoy their food, I realised it is a prime example of a restricted menu that cannot really serve to please everyone, certainly not on a repeated basis unless one is to stick to a certain dish. For a similar experience I think the modern Japanese styling of the Miso is probably better, resulting in a similar vibe and price but catering for a wider range of tastes. Perhaps they could move one of the two in Croydon, given that one can walk between them in under five minutes…

Yesterday was Rav’s birthday which we celebrated first by gorging ourselves on takeaway Nando’s (the new ability to take sauces away in small plastic tubs is great) and then heading to an opening night showing of Spider-Man 3 at the Picturehouse. Not even my favourite screen in Cambridge could improve the disappointing mess of the final instalment of Raimi’s trilogy. I shall not dwell on it here since I have already written a full review, but suffice to say one of the more positive reviews I have read described it as “a smartly subversive drag show”. At least I think it was supposed to be positive. When even the mainstream press are panning a blockbuster movie, one has to wonder about the motivations of those reviewers who continue obstinately to praise it — are they nobly defending their opinion or just protecting their future free preview tickets?

Afterwards we returned to K to celebrate with an unfathomably unhealthy triumvirate of chocolate cakes. It was as if dark powers* had aligned in this confluence of cocoa that seemed to suck the light out of its surroundings. A warning notice was required. As I was involved in springing the surprise cake attack I was unable to take photos, though Rav certainly sounded pleased. Outdoing even the DeathCake™ was the gift of a projector, contributed to by most of the people in the room. He immediately set about clearing an entire wall to screen several episodes of Scrubs as a test. Based on his grin it definitely passed.

* Apprentices Dave and Angie under the tutelage of the dreaded Sith Lord Jamie Oliver.

The photos I do have are in a gastronomic vein, taken during the preparation of the DeathCake™.

I’m back in Croydon now, but had a fantastic final day in Cambridge. How better to spend an evening than Pan’s Labyrinth followed by an extravagant poker game? First off, the Guillermo del Toro helmed film is an adult fantasy masterpiece. Visually stunning, it finally shows that elaborate realistic CGI effects are no longer the domain of Hollywood/Japan alone. I knew the Spanish film was dark in tone, though I was unprepared for just how brutal some of the “real world” violence would be. This is not merely the Tim Burton brand of dark fantasy; it is definitely intended for adults alone. The dichotomy between the whimsy of Ofelia’s imagination and the all-too-real backdrop of fascist Spain is perfect for the film’s mood and intent, weaving the two together in the most powerful ending I have witnessed for some time. Hopefully a full review will appear soon, but in the meantime you must see this film.

About a week ago, no doubt still soaring on a lingering Bond high, Ravi and I frivolously discussed the possibility of holding a poker game in black tie. At the time the situation seemed to merit it. One week later we found ourselves going ahead with it because, well, we hadn’t done anything suitably silly for far too long. Booking a T staircase supervision room for its large table, eleven of us (including Angie, Sparkie, Sonya, Irina, Andy and a certain Fellow) gathered to do battle. Where lack of money could not, the dress code lent suitable charge to the proceedings along with a variety of alcoholic beverages to taste. It also enabled the establishment of a new tradition when going “all in”, now to be accompanied by undoing one’s bow tie with a flourish (requiring, of course, that all participants wear real ones). Perhaps puerile and definitely one of those “only in Cambridge” flights of fancy, it was definitely worth it and provided and a perfect end to a pleasant term.

Shreena just blogged about a video in which the BBC Culture Show visits Whitby Gothic Weekend. It’s a slightly superficial insight into the Goth community (you’d need rather longer than 7 minutes) but is an interestingly open-minded exploration, with musings on the future of the culture and why after twenty years it has not already disappeared like so many others.