Entertainment

Can you beat the Classics?

This is a question that is going to form part of my poll, it stems from my daughter watching "Willy Wonka and his Chocolate Factory" before going to bed, that is the original one with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. She thinks(and she is 8) that it is the best one, because it is funnier and the songs are better. I have to agree, what's more it got me to thinking about these classic films that never lose their appeal whatever the decade they are seen in.

So how about these two;

I would say half the world must have seen these two films at one point or another and an awful lot of people remember the songs. Why? Because they actually meant something, were easy to follow and they were geniunely catchy tunes.

Can ANY film house improve on these or remake them? I doubt it.

Johnny Depp was a brilliant Willy Wonka, but the film relied to heavily on special effects, something the original had very little of, it relied more on the human factor.

Nanny Mcphee I suppose is a try at doing a Mary Poppins, but the 'magic' is just not there.

I geniunely believe that these are two films that could NEVER be remade, they simply cannot be improved upon, even with the actors of today.

I'd be very interested to know if you out there in the internet world wide web can think of any other truely classic films that can never again be repeated.

The Godfather 2 probably can, ET yep that can be done too, Star Wars? Compare the new films with the original trilogy = PANTS!

There are probably so many out there that I haven't covered, but these two really are timeless classics, that will never see the like again. Just don't forget to let your kids watch it, and then when they misbehave, threaten them with this;

Future not so bright

It's all gone Pete Tong!

No not the film, but the fact I am now officially being made redundant! I cannot say too much at the moment for obvious reasons, but am quite dissapointed.
Still life goes on and I am confident of finding a new job soon.
So if there are any companies out there that are interested in employing a well motivated, hard working electronics engineer, have a look at my CV on this Dave's CV.

More to follow;

Movie Review

The Golden Compass

OK, OK I know that this film has been out for quite a while now on DVD, but I got my first chance to watch it last week. Now it is classed as a family film, which in many respects it is, but there are lots of dark elements in it.

The story is based in a parallel universe, in which all the 'human' characters have their souls on the outside of their bodies in animal form. These souls are known as Demons for some reason or another. Lyra Belacqua ( Dakota Blue Ricards ) is unique among her kind for she is given an Alethiometer ( a golden compass that tells the truth) by her 'uncle Asreil' ( Daniel Craig ), her uniqueness is that she can read it.

The film follows Lyra to the kingdom of the Snow bears, where Lyra must rescue kidnapped children who are being used in evil experiments by the wonderfully wicked Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman).

Now the special effects in this film are pretty amazing, and I was blown away by the way the animal demons so closely followed the humans. The snow bears were awesome in effect, and the battle scenes very very well done.

All in all this is a very enjoyable movie, it may be hard for younger children to follow, but they wont care, as they will be too entranced by all the animals and fantasy elements. My 8 year old has seen it twice now, but still has loads of questions about why? and how?

However, one moment of the film TOTALLY ruined it for me, made all the previous spectacular special effects disappear into the ether, and made a joke of the word special effects. That moment was when Lyra is carried across the Ice by Iorek Byrnison the snow bear. Here's how it looks;

Imagine you get a large doll, like a tiny tears, or better still a cabbage patch doll, then tie it to the back of your dog, now get the dog to run around, then film the result. That is basically what Lyra on a snow bear looks like. I cannot describe how awful it is, and it was the ruination of a good film.

But taking that to one side I am still going to give it 4 stars!

Certificate: PG-13

Running Time: 113 mins

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Neil, Ian Mckellen,Freddie Highmore

Rating: *****

Joke Time

A Rude Joke

Just thought I'd have a bit of a change and post a rude joke. Expect more to follow!

A posh hotel holds three weddings on the same day and at the end of the night the 3 grooms meet up at the bar to discuss the days events over a couple of shandy's. One questions the other two, "Listen, it's our wedding night and I was wondering - how many times are we expected to...um...you know.... do it?"

The other two look blankly at him, wondering if the usual 2 pumps and a squirt is enough, or if should they go for it twice, seeing as it is a special occasion. Eventually, they all decide to retire to their respective wives and see how the night goes, with the idea to meet up the following morning over breakfast to discuss what went on.

Suddenly one of the grooms pipes up, "Hold on lads, we can't discuss our first night marital goings on over the breakfast table with our new wives sat with us."

"No you're right. What we'll do then, is for every piece of toast we order with our breakfast, that'll be the amount times we did it" offers another groom.

They all decide it's an excellent idea and depart.

The next day in the hotel dining room, the grooms are all looking a bit dishevelled, but that's nothing compared to the brides, who can barely stagger across the room to their tables.

The waitress comes up to the first groom to take his order, "Hello, I'll have the full English breakfast with THREE pieces of toast please". The other two grooms smile at him and raise a glass of fresh orange in a toast to his fantastic prowess.

The waitress moves to the second couple, and the groom orders, "I too shall have the full English breakfast but could I have FOUR pieces of toast" The other two grooms turn to make pistols from their fingers to shoot a salute to the master swordsman.

The waitress gets to the last groom "I shall also have the full English breakfast please, yet I shall have..." he takes a deep breath "SEVEN, yes SEVEN PIECES OF TOAST" he calls for everyone's benefit whilst giving a big cheesy grin to his two wedding mates, who stare at him in disbelief at the thought how raw his poor corey must be.

"Seven pieces of toast sir?" queries the waitress. "Why, that's an awful lot"
"Yes indeed young lady, seven pieces of toast it is." She writes down his order and turns away, but before she can leave, the groom calls after her again

"And by the way love, can you make two of those brown?"