all made up with nowhere to go

I babysat my nephew last night, so of course I used to opportunity to watch Knives Out on my in-laws' Netflix.

I enjoyed it. I wasn't sure if I would or not, esp because it's been hyped to heck and back, but I actually did like it more than I was expecting to. I wasn't expecting Daniel Craig's character to be such a goofball, but I also enjoyed that! Made a change from the handful of other things I've seen him in.

So yeah, I don't feel like I wasted that time at all, which was nice.

(My nephew stayed in his room playing Fortnite with his friends, which was fine by me, I said he could if anyone was about online, and he got to stay up late because it's half term right now).

~

Other than that, I've had a bit of A Week, some of which sort of concerns work stuff that I'm not going to go into because this is an unlocked post, and honestly it would take too much explaining even if it weren't. Suffice to say it was a lot of Drama, and I got caught in the middle of it and blimey I wish I hadn't been.

~

Other than that, I haven't played Okami since I last posted, as I've mostly either just gone to sleep early, or dinked about a bit in the Theatrhythm demo.

I did watch Flembons playing Celeste, but I didn't enjoy it. It looks like a game that seems very frustrating to play, and, well, I don't like that sort of thing (see also: Dark Souls). Also I'm not into platformers, and the gameplay reminds me of Knytt Story levels that I downloaded a loooong time ago and couldn't get into because I wasn't as dexterous as the designers of the levels wanted me to be. (It's probably easier on a controller than a keyboard, but it's still not my thing).

I also watched Ian from Eurogamer play a bit of Dark Souls II's endgame on his own channel, as he did a surprise stream of it the other night, but I don't know that I'll go back to it to see how he got on. I like Ian (most of the time); I do not like Dark Souls, and I don't know why I keep persisting with it, tbqh!

Thanks to work I have a whole bunch of DVDs I will probably never watch! (You may think I'm joking, but I have a stack I bought in CEX in 2017 and I have not watched a single one of them yet).

But I finally have Monty Python and the Holy Grail! \o/ Which I probably will watch soonish because I think it's my favourite Python film (I love Arthurian myth, in case you didn't know, which you probably didn't because I don't mention it much, if ever). Although I doubt much of it has aged well, there's a bit I'm not looking forward to having to sit through, and let us not forget that some of the Pythons turned out to be colossal tools so YAY*.

I also have most of the Fast & Furious films, as I have a friend who adores them, so her enthusiasm has rubbed off on me over the years, and I thought I would give them a go.

And I have the first three Underworld films as I decided to give them a chance since baby!me was an idiot, basically (although I was very tired of the "vampires versus werewolves" thing when the first film came out, because that was all supernatural fiction was at that point, so I'd just hit saturation).

And then finally, I have a boxset of the Indiana Jones films, so now I can watch The Last Crusade! \o/ Fun fact: I actually saw said boxset when I was buying that stack of DVDs back in 2017, but didn't buy it at the time and regretted it. But not enough to go looking for it, however.

~

In case you were wondering about my sore neck, I solved the problem by spending most of the day in bed, playing NEO: TWEWY and not moving much.

I am enjoying the game, although I think right now it's more because I'm playing a TWEWY game on a big screen than it is the plot (which is mostly making me go, ehhhhhhh a lot, but then again, I'm not that far into it).

( everything else is spoilers! )

~

The final thing I have to say is about books!

I finished reading The Last Vampire, and it ends on a cliffhanger, which is not much of a cliffhanger now, considering there are eight other books after this one. I don't know if I care enough to continue reading the series, but I haven't put them away again, so we'll see in the future.

I was going to reread Lords and Ladies afterwards, but I changed my mind and am now reading Equal Rites. There is a reason for this that basically boils down to: some TERFs said Terry Pratchett would've been on their side, had he still been alive, and Rhianna Pratchett tore them a new one by essentially saying evidently none of them had ever read her dad's work because that was patently untrue.

And then I also saw his official twitter account had posted a quote from Equal Rites:

They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.

Which was obviously also in response to the situation.

And I thought, "I've never read this book, even though I've owned it for nearly thirty years, I should rectify that!" So that's what I'm doing.

(I also dug out Small Gods, as my mum bought me that at the same time as Equal Rites and, again, I've never read it, because I am the world's worst Discworld fan).

I am not very far into it, but I have already sniggered a fair bit, so it's safe to say I think I'll enjoy it.

~

*Yesterday on my way home from work, I was trying to remember if Eric Idle was all right, as I can't remember him saying anything stupid lately (if at all). I'm pretty sure Michael Palin is, because he's the world's nicest person (Keanu Reeves aside), but John Cleese and Terry Gilliam can get in the bin.

I had an interview for a supermarket job on the 21st! I only didn't mention it beforehand because I'm really superstitious about telling anyone (I think that if I tell someone I've even applied for a job, it means I won't get it, so interviews even more so). I didn't expect to get called for an interview at all, so that was a surprise, and I honestly don't think I will get the actual job, although I won't know till the middle of next week.

(It will be HI-LARI-OUS if I do get it, though, because I will be working in the same location I used to work 16 years ago, but in an entirely different building. Hopefully, though, this job wouldn't lead me to quit because of a nervous breakdown!)

And in other job related news, I have been signed up for an online interview techniques course (I asked for it, I wasn't just told I had to do it). I've not done anything like this before. I mean, I have in person, but not using my computer, so this is all new! (I didn't video chat with anyone during lockdown so currently I am all ?????) I don't know if it's one to one or in a group, but I can ask about that next time I speak to the person who referred me.

~

I watched Ellen play through as much as Ghost of Tsushima as was available on Outside Xtra (I forgot she stopped playing for the Kingdoms of Amalur remaster, whoops). I am still in two minds about it. I don't hate the obvious cinematic influences (and they are EVERYWHERE) but they still kind of bug me and I don't know why. Which is kind of daft, because that sort of thing doesn't annoy me in other games? My brain is a weird thing, for sure.

Of course, now I want to consume all the Kurosawa films I haven't seen which is most of them because I've only seen The Seven Samurai. Though the British Film Institute currently have a bunch of them available online if you subscribe, and it's only £5 a month which is not bad!* Not that I can afford a subscription with them right now, but it's something to bear in mind for the future.

~

Other stuff:

- my almost twenty year old Kenwood stereo is finally knackered. The left audio output is busted, so it only plays sound in mono now. So I potentially need a new stereo, but cannot afford it right now.

- I shuffled my chair and side table around a bit in the living room, and everything feels a bit weird now. But I have mildly more floor space, so I am not complaining!

~

*I don't know if it's available outside of the UK, though.

1. I got fed up with my hair, so I have cut the majority of it off. So now I have super short hair, and all the bleached bits are finally gone. However, there is a lot of grey, so possibly I will do what a friend did, and get a semi-permanent colour to go over it. (She did hers blue, and it looked awesome).

2. We are due thunderstorms on Friday, after it has been apocalyptically hot here tomorrow.

3. I rewatched Wreck-It Ralph the other day, and noticed a whole bunch of things I didn't catch the first time. I was also impressed with how well I remembered the plot, and how well put together and foreshadowed the plot is! (Seriously, I wish I could write something that well!) I also didn't think I was enjoying it as much as last time, so was completely caught out when a couple of things at the end made me cry.

4. Talking of animated stuff, I watched an episode and a half of Miraculous Ladybug a while back. The half an episode was a season two one I haven't seen (I haven't seen any of season two*) and IDK if it's just me, but the animation quality doesn't seem to be as good? It's probably me being picky (because I am where animation is concerned), and probably because I haven't seen any episodes for a while.

And I didn't enjoy the episode from series one as much, which was a shame.

*I stopped following the creator on twitter/stopped being as interested in the show when it turned out he's racist. I'm not surprised (he's made comments before that made me think it), but I am really disappointed. But yeah, it's completely soured me on the show.

5. I don't have a number five, but five things make a post, right?

My life, as it currently stands, seems to be draining me of all energy, and awash with hormones at all other times. It also feels to be deathly boring because, while I was doing nothing much before, I am still doing nothing very much, just in a different way.

PFFT.

Anyway, I forgot to note when it happened, but I bought a used copy of Lucy on DVD and I watched it and it was terrible. I was so bored! Luc Besson is usually a much better story teller than this! There was way too much exposition and standing (or sitting) around while it happened. It felt like really wasted potential. Did I mention it was boring?

(I know there was a lot of hate when it came out, some of which I assumed was because it was a female lead and so on. I did not expect it to be flat out awful, however).

~

I seem to have done a lot of top 5 whatevers on twitter lately, so here they all are in one handy place:

( vidya )

( anything )

( male vocalists )

( female vocalists )

( favourite tv shows of all time )

( top 5 books of all time )

Bonus: three films that came out the year I was born:

Excalibur
Clash of the Titans
Time Bandits

Films watched recently:

# Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
# King Ralph
# Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

(I am so bad at keeping track of films I've watched, but this is literally everything I've seen in the last two months. I've got Looper, Point Break, and Chain Reaction on the digibox to watch, and have not managed it yet).

~

The other day, I spent an afternoon reading rubbish on buzzfeed. I seem to have turned this into a habit recently, when I don't know what else to do with myself. I mean, some of the stuff I don't read because it's clickbait I'm not interested in, but I happened to discover that occasionally they do articles about true crime. So I read one about missing people, and one about horrible murders, and then spent that night unable to sleep! GOSH I WONDER WHY.

(I figured in the end it was 60% that, 20% that it was too humid so I was uncomfortable, and 20% that I was too hot).

I then didn't learn from that experience, as I spent the next day reading about stock unsolved mysteries on TVT, some of which included murders, because oh hai Jack the Ripper (I love stuff like this, though, sadly. Though I didn't go looking details up, because I'm not a complete idiot).

And now I'm reading about conspiracy theories because I find them interesting and, sometimes, they amuse me, and they won't keep me awake at night.

~

I started Assassin's Creed, but it's not engaging me. I'll try to finish it, but I'm not going to rush into it.

I also started Saints Row IV and it is essentially Matrix References: The Game. Well, it is at the moment. Oh, apart from the bit in the White House (because you are now President!), which reminded me a heck of a lot of the start of Mass Effect 3.

So yesterday, I investigated the remnants of the library booksale. I was half checking to see if the copy of Pacific Rim that they had was still there. It was, so I picked it up! I also got Jupiter Ascending (which I'd nearly bought a new copy of elsewhere earlier), and John Wick (which I got because Keanu Reeves, and because the internet said it's good???)

And then I started tweeting about Keanu, and how much I like him. And had a whole convo with a friend about him on twitter. And I was feeling shitty, so when I got home, I put on The Matrix Reloaded, and watched the selected highlights* (I actually don't think I've watched the full film in a looong time. I should do that sometime soon). And then I was, like, "I haven't watched the original film in ages. I should do that!" So I did. I had to stop it half an hour out from the end, so I watched the rest earlier today but DAMN I LOVE THAT FILM.

I'm actually going to write a post about these films and my love for them. (Twenty five year crush on Mr Reeves aside).

And tomorrow I'm probably going to watch the Superbrawl from Revolutions, because DAMN, SON.

~

In other news, I wrote a 4500 word short story in two days. It needs a rewrite, and I'm leaving it to stew at the moment, but I'm very pleased with myself.

~

*For anyone who doesn't know that's: from the teahouse fight to the Burly Brawl, then the Château fight, the car chase, Morpheus explaining the plan, and the Architect.

I'm watching the Buffy film and OMG it's so bad. It's just not good. There is some BAAAAAD acting (and some terrible dialogue). I suppose I'm just used to the TV series at this point.

(I like that Buffy's personality is roughly the same between both versions, though).

I wouldn't say don't ever watch this film, though. I'd say watch it at least once, especially if you've never seen it.

~

I finished the main plot in Skyrim the other day, almost by accident. It was kind of eh.

I'm not sad to be done with it, as it's the glitchiest and most crash-prone game I've ever played. Also I don't know if I've been sitting funny while playing it, or what, but it's either given me neck ache or a headache, and occasionally both.

Whatever, I'm done with it now. *throws it on the pile of finished games*

I have no idea what to play next. I don't want to try Lightning Returns again yet (and no way am I restarting a new cycle in that because NOPE NOPE NOPE). I also am loathe to finish P4A, but I am very close to the end of that, so I ought to, really. I think I'll youtube Ultimax, though.

~

HOLY SHIT I JUST REALISED A THING ABOUT MIRACULOUS LADYBUG (apart from the fact that I need to rewatch it)

( spoilers? re: who knows what about whom )

# My mood is balls. I have cried partially every day for the last week. Except yesterday and today, and I think the only reason for that is I slept well beforehand. Anyway, it's just ~hormones~ so whatever, right?

# I fell into goodreads and I can't get out?

# oh yeah - watched Wreck-It Ralph. It was not like I imagined, but I enjoyed it. I would easily watch it again.

Also watched The Man Who Fell To Earth. It was OK? I'm not sure what I was expecting, really. ( rather large spoiler )

(My mum: is he (David Bowie) the alien?
Me: Yeah.
Mum: (unspoken question here about why he looks human if he's from another planet)
Me: ( also a spoiler )
Mum: ... )

and

Me: I haven't seen any Nicholas Roeg films before. The only one I know is Don't Look Now, and I don't want to watch that one.
Mum: have you seen Walkabout? It's got Jenny Agutter in it.
Me: Nope.
Mum: Are you sure? (explains plot).
Me: Yup.
Mum: *sceptical look*

# I finished reading The Drawing of the Three the other day! \o/ It only took me fourteen months! I enjoyed it, overall. The problems I had with it were mainly how annoying Eddie is in the first third of the book, but once I got past that, it was OK!

I am glad that ( this spoiler happened, though )

I'm going to have a break before I read The Waste Lands, though.

(Just started reading The Scorpio Races. It's OK so far, though my inner voice keeps narrating it in an Irish accent, and I don't know if that's annoying me or not).

thebonesofferalletters asked for film recs, and I made an all-purpose list. I'm reposting it here in case anyone else is interested in what films I'd rec when/if my brain is working. (Although as I've said when asked before, checking through my general film tag is sometimes good because even if I didn't like a film, there's a chance you might??)

( ze list! )

If you want to know more about any of 'em, you can ask and I will answer (though I feel like most people have seen most of the films on this list, or at least have heard of them/what they are about).

I also recced two films I didn't like, which were Ginger Snaps and Dog Soldiers, both of which are films about werewolves.

( Read more... )