Channel 4’s Peep Show comes perhaps second only to Curb Your Enthusiasm when it comes to televisual sitcoms. Forget The Office, Peep Show is the smartest, freshest and funniest sitcom to come out of Britain ever.

(That Mitchell & Webb Look is horrendous, though)

So when it was announced that the writers and stars of Peep Show were bringing their shtick to the big screen as a tale of former-friends-turned-bitter-enemies set in the tacky, phoney world of magic, I was thrilled.

And in the end, it’s a little disappointing. Perhaps I’ve myself to blame - it is as advertised really, Peep Show set in the magic world. What’s in the film is straight from the TV series - Mitchell & Webb play very similar characters to the ones they’re famous for, there’s the out-of-nowhere offensive putdowns and one-liners, the akward exchanges with women, and so on - but The Magicians still falls short.

For whilst The Magicians is very much derivative of Peep Show, not everything has made it across. Foremost, there is a lack of connection with the characters or the situations - a key ingredient of the TV show’s success. The supporting characters are largely one-dimensional, and it struggles to maintain laughs over the running time.

So, we’re left with a decent comedy, if not one that fully capitalises on its heritage.

Like Moldy Peaches? Like Neosupervital? Like hip, trendy synth-pop with funny, pop culture-referencing, low brow lyrics?

Fight Like Apes.

http://www.myspace.com/fightlikeapesmusic

Yesterday, I found out where I’d be posted with the JET programme in Japan.

Okayama, here I come.

I don’t really know that much about Okayama, despite stopping over there for a night with some classmates. Of that night, I remember searching for almost an hour to find a not-very-convenient-at-all convenience store, and swimming naked in what I would soon find out to be sewage-contaminated water.

I’ve done some googling, talked to some of my Japanese mates, and it sounds nice. I’ve yet to find out if I’ll be in the countryside or one of the cities, so I’ve kept my research general, for the most part. It’s famous for yakuza and strong, rough accents, peaches and grapes. It’s an hour and 30e away from Hiroshima in one direction, and my old stomping ground of Kyoto in the other. The prefecture is littered with hot springs, which became something of an addiction of mine during my last stay in Japan.

So, I’m excited to be heading back out. It’ll be different to last time, no doubt. I won’t have the safety blanket of student life, or the crowd of students from all corners of the globe. But I’ll have a job, I’ll have money, and I’ll have a chance to immerse myself a little deeper into real Japanese culture. I can’t wait!

On Saturday morning, I sat the last exam of my degree course. Even better, I’m pretty confident that I’ve done well in all my exams this semester. As it stands on results so far, I’m just a couple of percentage points off a 1st class degree, which is a lot more than I deserve!

College has been a fun ride for the most part. In first year, the Japanese language class was close to 20 (perhaps more, I’ve a hazy memory), and its dwindled down to the remaining 7. All too often it looked like I was next to get the chop, as I took apathy towards exams to a very high level  - especially during the first two years.

In 3rd year, I lived and studied in Kyoto for a year. The year was life-changing in many ways, and it definitely changed my attitude towards college. I had failed my second year exams, and failed the repeats of my second year exams, but as luck would have it, I would be in Japan when that fact was discovered. By the grace of my DCU lecturer, I was allowed to stay in Kyoto for the year, and face repeats again upon my return to DCU.

College life in Japan was a bit mad. 3 hours of continous Japanese classes every day (broken only by a quick run to the combini for a curried rice or onigiri) and additional classes after that was a timetable I was not used to! And attendance was compulsory too, if I didn’t attend 80% of my classes, I failed straight away.

I struggled through, and the subsequent 50 minute lectures in DCU seemed a doddle. Whats more, I was no longer learning a language I had only a passing interest in. Now i was motivated by a new-found love of Japan.

And now I’m finished my four years, and heading back to Japan. Woohoo!

Is it just me, or is there a serious amount of promising films out in the cinema at the moment?

Having only sat through Spiderman 3 last week, I figured I’d be able to catch up on 28 Weeks Later over the weekend. It wasn’t to be however, with Zodiac and Black Snake Moan also vying for my attention. The girlfriend had the casting vote, and she inexplicably chose Robert Downey Jr & Jake Gyllenhall over zombies or Christina Ricci in her mighty whities.

Still, I’m not one to turn down a David Fincher-helmed serial killer film.

Zodiac is, the opening reels tells us, based on actual case files. Concerning itself with a serial killer in 1970s San Francisco - or more accurately an intrepid cartoonist’s quest to bring said serial killer to justice - there’s a pretty solid plotline from which to hang the film.

To be absolutely clear, this is not Se7en, nor does it try to be.

Instead, the audience are treated to a very strange, slow-boiling detective story slash horror slash comedy. It’s very hard to pin down the film. The murder scenes are terrifically disturbing, but they’re juxtaposed with quirky and often laugh-out-loud exchanges, notably between the excellent Downey Jr. and Gyllenhall.

Very strange? Very, for a mainstream release such as this. As well as the genre-bending, characters are introduced, fleshed out, only to disappear with out explanation or significant resolution. These red-herrings perhaps mirror the investigation for the Zodiac itself, and whatever the reason, they are quite puzzling.

In the end though, it all adds to the film’s charm. The frequent switching of pace and tone wards off numb-bum syndrome, and we’re left with a very polished, stylish and memorable take on the genre.
View the trailer below, but better still: go see the thing!
(more…)

Paddy Corry’s Movie Reviews recently reviewed Flags of our Fathers. All in all, it wasn’t a particularly positive review, with criticisms of the long-winded, slow-moving and somewhat confusing manner in which the story was told.

They are undoubtedly valid criticisms, and the film could certainly have done with shedding a few minutes in the editing room. However, despite that, Flags of Our Fathers stands as one of the most unique, freshest war films in years. This was certainly not war-porn: the battle scenes, while visceral, were more harrowing than adrenaline-pumping, popcorn-munching enjoyable. But nor did it veer too much in the opposite direction - the depiction of war was not overly sentimental and didn’t seek to pull on the heart strings with every scene.

Indeed, it’s not the scenes on the island that have the most emotional impact. Rather it’s the scenes in America that stir feelings in the viewer. The soldiers being manipulated into accepting the accolades for what they saw as a trivial event (and which some were not even a part of), and being turned into nothing more than marketing tools by the Army was frankly much more disgusting than seeing yet another soldier with his intestines dribbling onto his lap. Over-exposure has weakened the effects on the viewer of actual warfare, and this was a worthwhile attempt by Eastwood to re-engage the audience in the topic by focusing on a rather different aspect. It’s not perfect, but it’s a definite breath of fresh air in the genre nonetheless.

Letters From Iwo Jima

However, of the two Owi Jima films, Letters From Iwo Jima deserves the praise. Originally conceived as little more than an afterthought, it too offered a new take on a stale genre.

Told from the eyes of the entrenched Japanese soldiers on the island, we are presented with a very human portrayal of the Japanese. Too often in war movies are ‘the enemy’ presented as little more than two-dimensional evil-doers, in stark contrast to the whiter-than-white allied forces. As such, Letters From… should be commended for breaking the norm. Indeed, not only does it do this, but in some scenes even paints the American forces in a barborous, mal-educated negative light. This was a particularly brave decision, considering the political climate and public sentiment in America.

At times it sails too close to racial stereotypes, and certain scenes do seem out of place and at odds with the tone of the film as a whole. However, much like Flags…, this film chooses to take the path less trodden, and is all the better for it.

…Videogame Localisation.

As part of my degree, I had to write a dissertation on an aspect of translation. Not wanting to do actual research, I chose to do it on the impact of the technological arms race on the role of the translator in the videogame industry. Exciting, isn’t it? Yeah. So having spent literally over 5 hours writing the infernal thing, I may as well upload it for your viewing pleasure.

Warning: It’s not very focused, and all very boring, really. Here.