Off Topic The Goodhand Arms

Which one?

 

Civil War. The one at the cinema.

 

Oh OK. I could watch the first two, if I wanted to. Any good?

 

First one is ok. Second one is a good though. But Marvel seem to know how to build up their super hero films unlike DC.

 

Yes, I've noticed that. What they've managed to do with the X-Men is cinema gold.

 

My wife and I stayed at the Premier Inn, at Gatwick North Terminal, Wednesday night. We arrived after 7pm, to a very cold room, put the heating on and went downstairs for a drink. An hour later we returned to the room to find it still cold.
As we'd had a long day, didn't want to cause a fuss, we just hopped into bed to warm up.
Next morning, when checking out, we mentioned the heating not working and were surprisingly offered our money back, which we accepted.
When walking down the road, I glanced back at the hotel and discovered why the room had been so cold. The external wall was missing!! Have contacted their head office for a comment.

 

They must have been working very quietly.

 

And very early. Took the photo at 08.00.

 

High speed Bob Ross on a tile.

 

Another film up. The Hateful Eight [2015]. Old Tarantino does keep churning out these formulaic stories. It's yet another blood fest, this time set in a post US Civil War period with characters having grievances on both sides. The actors talk in short monologues, as per usual. They all claim to have thought their scenarios through up until their point where it goes wrong for them, and then they get killed in some fashion. Yet it is mildly entertaining in a way. The story is artificially convoluted and I won't bother to go into it here. Suffice to say that the time-line is buggered about with to add suspense. Also, as per usual, QT manages to get everyone to cross the line of PC repeatedly, but they do it politely as usual. And then there's the running joke with the door which wears thin very quickly. There are one or two points of interest. Kurt Russell gives a performance crossed between his character Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China and full blown John Wayne. It's memorable and probably the most entertaining thing, and you almost wish he was there a little more. Samuel L Jackson does his usual great vengeance stint in a QT film, as does Tim Roth do his turn. The rest of the cast play their supporting roles, with Bruce Dern putting in a cameo with a couple of other QT regulars scattered around. I have to admit I almost expected uncredited walk-ons from Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis and John Travolta, but we were spared.

Is it a good film? Not really. Yes it is nicely shot and some of the acting is fine, but it's just Tarantino appealing to his select audience again and raking in the dollars. I found it sickly sweet and just plain sickly in turns, yet I still enjoyed Kurt Russell's swagger. He's about the only one who can do that these days and get away with it. That's a thin reason to watch a QT film though. There's only so many times you can kill people in a slightly tongue-in-cheek fashion.

One bit of trivia: Gang leader, Jennifer Jason Leigh finger picks a guitar and sings a song. Reports are, from the time of the film shoot, that guitar makers Martin provided an actual antique acoustic from the period. In the scene, Kurt Russell snatches it out of Leigh's hands and smashes it to splinters against a room stanchion. During a break in the shot a substitute guitar was meant to be used for smashing but this never happened and the antique broke into little pieces. At the time I believed it after seeing trailers, but on seeing the film it feels like that news was a publicity stunt. That's the effect the film has. It's layered without having any depth. See it if you're curious.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36169929

 

Very sad that

 

I used to know a Chilean guy who does finger painting. He was every bit as accomplished and quick as the guy in the film, and always attracted a crowd in the Spanish markets. I used to chat about football, with his brother in law, who hailed from that exotic, footballing outpost of Wolverhampton.

 

Tremendous series and brilliantly acted.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/art...-something-chris-middletons-road-to-the-games

What a man , not ashamed to admit I got a bit emotional reading this .

 

Tarantino deserves imprisonment for allowing a priceless antique Martin to be destroyed. I shan't bother watching that, thanks for the warning TSS!

 

Yep, I hated it as well. Basically Pulp Fiction with cowboys and bad acting. Pulp Fiction is a classic were as Hateful 8 won't be remembered for too long.

 

Well I liked it.

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/like-them-hate-them-corpse-hotels-here-to-stay

Japan has so many people dying that crematoriums can't cope...must be post-war baby boomers as in Europe. So the new business of corpse hotels is springing up....a place where you can store your relatives until you can cremate them. Neighbours not happy as you can imagine.