The fax machine stopped sputtering, and Kalinske picked up the sketch. “Ah,†he said, trying not to sound repulsed. “Very interesting.†Kalinske stared at the drawing, trying to see in it what Nakayama saw, but it was no use. The hedgehog looked villainous and crude, complete with sharp fangs, a spiked collar, an electric guitar, and a human girlfriend whose cleavage made Barbie’s chest look flat. “I assume this is his girlfriend?â€
I’m a gamer, so I loved it*. But its also a great insight into one of the biggest parts of recent pop culture came to pass, so non-gamers might love it too.
I loved it. Gareth Edwards is a fantastic director and, while there’s a few clunky bits in places, overall his interpretation is a brilliant take on the Godzilla legend (let’s face it, you couldn’t get much worse than the last attempt).
He’s going through some technical difficulties at the moment (due to a lack of Internet while travelling) however you should definitely sign up to his newsletter, as it’s one of the best resources for interesting news (tech + real world) every day.
Things of note for the week ending May 16th, 2014.
1. #SadBatman
I blogged about Ben Affleck’s new Batman recently opinion has been fairly divided (as usual). Whatever your thoughts, thanks to the amazingly morose stance Bats is in (in said new press shot), Batfleck just looks sosad.
Joking aside, I think he looks excellent. Especially in contrast to a) what’s gone before and b) what version of Batman we know he’s going to be based upon.
Now just deliver a great film (less destructo-porn this time though please, Mr Snyder).
The Licker, The Happy One, and The Pooper. That last one is definitely my favourite. You can see the rest of the family over at the website of their creator, Vanessa Ramirez.
I love ’em.
3. The Flash is coming
Some of you may know of the [actually very good] TV show known as Arrow. Taking a realistic look at the development of the DC character, Green Arrow, the show has won acclaim from TV critics and geeks for its ambitious story-telling and smart creative choices. If you’ve not seen it, it’s worth looking it up.
Halfway through season two, they introduced a character named Barry Allen and well, thanks to a series of unfortunate lightning-based events, he’s now got his own TV show.
4. Fish About a month ago, I finally laid my hands on a rather awesome Sony Z2.
If you’re looking for my thoughts on the phone, by the way, check out Episode 095 of my mobile technology podcast, The Voicemail. That’s where my initial thoughts can be found.
In March I wrote a post about the reason why I use Google+. In short, it’s only really down to one thing, and that thing is a little feature known as ‘Auto Awesome‘.
What Auto Awesome does is automatically add special effects to the photos that it thinks could do with them. Obviously this is all done separately from your main folder, so you don’t ruin your originals, but the net effect is actually quite fun and cool.
The awesomes themselves vary but my favourite is definitely when Google+ spots a batch of photos that look similar, and then throws them together to create an animated gif.
THE COMPETITION
Shortly after that post went live, I was alerted to a Google-sponsored Motion Photography competition at the Saatchi Gallery (that obviously lent itself to the creation of these Auto Awesomes).
Of the six categories available, I entered this one into the Urban category –
I didn’t win.
Boo.
BUT I DID MAKE IT AS A FINALIST!
Which means:
My work was judged by film director Baz Luhrmann, artists Tracey Emin, Shezad Dawood and Cindy Sherman, and Saatchi Gallery CEO, Nigel Hurst – AMAZING!
My work is at this very moment on display in the Saatchi Gallery – SPEECHLESS!
And that’s pretty darn awesome.
As you can see, I’ve already been to see my stuff (and the rest of the entries, including the rather excellent winning entrants) and the whole exhibition is pretty special.
It’s an odd feeling, having work up in the Saatchi. It didn’t really hit me until I was leaving, just how lucky I am to have stuff there. The other work that has appeared in that building. The other artists. The effort.
I’m still a bit dumbfounded by it all really.
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The Motion Photography Prize is on display on the top floor of Saatchi Gallery, King’s Road, SW3 4RY until 24 May.
Things of note for the week ending May 9th, 2014. This week featuring gorgeous art, fantastic film, and provocative pieces of YouTube fodder.
Things of note for the week ending May 9th, 2014
1. What We Do In The Shadows
A couple of film previews this week, first up What We Do In The Shadows, a vampire mockumentary co-written and directed by he of Flight of the Conchords fame, Jermaine Clement.
2. 101 Things to love about NYC… in 1976
Scouting New York is one of my favourite casual blogs. Casual in that I don’t read it religiously, but I like to swing by every now and then and see what’s up. Written by a chap named movie location scout based in New York, it’s an awesome take on all things esoteric from the big apple.
His latest discovery is this list of 101 things to love about NYC and it’s pretty awesome.
3. The Phones Show Chat
Every week, pretty much without fail, my buddy and I, Stefan Constantinescu, record a 30 minute podcast covering about mobile technology. We’re not the only guys that do mobile-related podcasts, 361 degrees is one, Steve Litchfield and his Phones Show is another. In fairness, Steve’s actual show is a 15min video on YouTube, however it comes packing with an accompanying podcast covering that week’s topics in a bit more detail.
Why am I talking about it this week? Steve invited me on as a guest and it was probably the geekiest and best conversation I had all week.
4. Untranslatable Words Illustrated
New Zealand artist, Anjana Iyer, recently undertook a personal project to ‘illustrate words found in foreign languages that cannot be Anglicised word for word’. The series, entitled ‘Found in Translation‘, is wonderful –
But it has to be said, this one, for ‘Rire dans sa barbe’, is definitely my favourite.
5. The Most Important Sexy Model Video Ever
Caught this in Marketing Week yesterday.
Just watch –
Opinions in the comments please.
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Bonus thing this week, from one Mark Jennings
In 1692, some 270-odd years before Pantone, an artist decided to document and describe every colour imaginable over 800 (completely handwritten) pages.
Bonus bonus thing: Mark Jennings also goes by the moniker of ‘Mark of Respect‘ and is the sole proprietor of Drinks Galore – ‘elegant drinks tasting for spirited amateurs’. There’s an event coming up in June that is all about gin.
For a reasonable price you get –
5 incredible gins – 3 of which will be neat to show you the true essence of gin
Hands-on gin and tonic masterclass
A cocktail on arrival
Chill out in the wonderful private space at The Hox
Friendly, expert information about the gin
If you like gin, you should go. Tickets are available now.
1. GASP!
The shot above is, unfortunately, not ‘real’. As in, it was manipulated to be that way. However, it’s still awesome. You can find the original image, and a whole other ton of stuff, over on this guy’s Instagram account.
I like my women the way I like my kebab. Found by surprise after a drunken night out, and covered in too much tahini. Before long I’ll have discarded you on the pavement of life, but until then you’re the perfect complement to a perfect evening. Man, 32. Rarely produces winning metaphors.
4. Perfect Pitch I shared this on Facebook earlier this week but it’s worth repeating.
Uber gadget geek and technology presenter for all kinds of techy televisual stuff (and all round nice person), LJ Rich, has a condition known as ‘Perfect Pitch‘, which Wikipedia defines as ‘a rare auditory phenomenon characterised by the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone’.
When I first met LJ (many, many moons ago) I remember her talking about it at length, even going so far as to tell me what note I speak in! Perfect or Absolute Pitch, as it sometimes known, comes up from time to time on LJ’s blog (LJ has, somewhat unsurprisingly, a musical flavour to her technological geekery) however, earlier this week, the lovely Miss Rich put electric words to internet paper and wrote ‘Living with Perfect Pitch – what it’s really like‘.
5. Blue Jam / Bad Sex Chris Morris is a UK satirist famous for all sorts of controversial comedic-based efforts. From 1997 to 1999 he produced a Radio 1 ‘ambient comedy’ show called ‘Blue Jam‘ which, amongst other things, featured a highly NSFW segment called ‘Bad Sex’. I was reminded of this recently when, for the first time since broadcast, Radio 4 repeated the Blue Jam episodes and I found myself dying with laughter at this particular segment.
Someone has, rather brilliantly, collected all of the Bad Sex segments together and uploaded them as one 15min video on YouTube. It is bizarre, surreal, gross, weird, mental, and generally just very, very dark.
Things of note for the week ending April 25th, 2014.
1. The Dalai Lama’s Ski Trip
This, via Slate, is quite wonderful and easily the best thing I’ve read on the internet this month.
Just then, an expert skier entered from a higher slope, whipping along. The Dalai Lama saw him and said, “Look—too fast! He going to hit post!†He cupped his hands, shouting down to the oblivious skier, “Look out for post!†He waved frantically. “Look out for post!†–
The skier, who had no idea that the 14th incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion was crying out to save his life, made a crisp little check as he approached the pylon, altering his line of descent, and continued expertly down the hill. –
With an expostulation of wonder, the Dalai Lama sat back and clasped his hands together. “You see? Ah! Ah! This skiing is wonderful sport!â€
The image above, from a piece over at The Monkey Cage, is just one chart from a very interesting piece of research. Turns out, the further respondents were from getting it right, the more likely they were to want the US to intervene.
4. Minimalist Film Posters
James Whatley in ‘blogging about pretty cool film posters’ shocker, I know. This bunch are alright but not spectacular. The only one worth sharing is this rather cool take on Reservoir Dogs.
5. The Bradley Timepiece
This watch, designed for blind people and named after a Paralympian gold medallist who lost his sight in Afghanistan, is up for design of the year at London’s Design Museum.
It’s rather awesome, but it’s mostly being bought by sighted people.
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“Here’s hoping future installments deliver on the early promise [that at least some of] the cast have shown.” –
Well, did it?
No. It didn’t.
And I’ll get to why shortly. But first, the good stuff.
The Cast
TASM2’s main players are perfect (it’s the secondary characters that make you cringe*). Andrew Garfieldis Peter Parker just as much as he is Spider-Man. The latter of the two, especially in the earlier action scenes, never better in fact. Funny, fast-talking, and clearly very much at ease with who he is, Spider-Man of 2014 is pretty darn spot on.
On a related note, much has been said about the outstanding chemistry between Garfield and his leading lady, Emma Stone. This, again, is a definite highlight and the screen sparkles and shines whenever the two of them are together throughout. In fact, some of the film’s best laugh out loud moments come from their quick-fire back-and-forths; their relationship has never been more believable.
Jamie Foxx, as new villain Max Dillon – aka Electro – is actually really good too. His journey from ignored nobody through to genuinely messed-up-in-the-head super-villain is superb and in all honesty, probably deserved more screen time than he actually got (but we’ll come back to that).
Dane Dehaan is a great Harry Osborn but again, not for very long. I haven’t seen Dehaan in anything since the seminal super-powers flick, Chronicle, so it’s good to see him bringing the gravitas and pain to the always conflicted character that is the heir to Oscorp.
Finally, on the casting front, it must be said that Sally Field is without doubt one ofthe best things in the entire film. Her screentime can only add up to something around 15mins in total, but the emotional punch her Aunt May delivers in one particular scene (as well as others) makes her stand head and shoulders above all else and the film is much better for it.
All those great actors, all those great performances – what could possible go wrong?
The Script
It’s terrible. I mean, really really terrible. There were rumours of multiple rewrites and myriad changes constantly throughout the making of this film (an entire character, in the shape of Shailene Woodley’s Mary-Jane Watson was written, shot, and then later edited out of the final cut) and the script has clearly suffered for it. Admittedly Jamie Foxx is a great actor, but he’s worthy of an Oscar nod for pulling off this line with a straight face –
“Soon, everyone in the city will know how it feels to live in a world without power, without mercy, without Spider-Manâ€
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Great actors do their best with terrible lines.’
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The Plot
To say the plot [and pacing for that matter] of TASM2 is ‘convoluted and messy’ would be an understatement. In the original Spider-Man trilogy, it is universally accepted that Spider-Man 3 is the worst of the three. With the blame, amongst other things, being placed firmly on there being too many villains and not enough time. Sadly, you can say the exact same thing about TASM2.
The Goblin’s arrival seems unnecessary and rushed, especially as Dehaan was doing such a great job as Osborn (and moreso when you remember it took James Franco’s Harry Osborn a full two-and-a-half-films before he finally turned), and the appearance of the mechanised Rhino later on in the film is almost laughable in its whole only-reason-to-exist-is-so-that-we-can-sell-more-toys cheek.
It’s a joke.
Thing is, it’s not only that TASM2 tries to cram in as many references as humanly possible, but its also Sony’s whole ‘we’re building a world/platform for sequels’ thing.
The problem here is twofold. First, the story loses focus and feels bloated. Second, and this is the major deal-breaker, as a result of this ‘sequel-itis’ Spider-Man never really goes through any real sense of surprise or peril.
Don’t get me wrong, while more bad things happen in this film than the first one, there isn’t any real point throughout that you think ‘Oh no! How will Spider-Man get out of it this time?’
I get it. He’s a super-hero. But still. Even his lowest ever low point doesn’t actually feel that low, and that’s a really bad thing.
In Closing
As I’ve already said, TASM2’s casting is [almost] perfect and the film gets away with a lot because of it. However, more time should’ve been spent on the story at hand, not on the wider sequel-set-ups and, as a result, the end result lacks any real emotional impact.
#SpiderMan2 is a good Spider-Man film, featuring a collection of decent actors let down by a rushed script and no real sense of peril.
Yes, my main points of contention have been about story, pace and scripting, however, perhaps a new/decent director wouldn’t let those things through the net. Marc Webb has already been signed up for TASM3, and I really don’t hold out much hope for it to be much better than this.
Which is a real shame, because he makes a darn good trailer.
Two supporting characters in particular really SUCKED for me.
First: Paul Giamatti. It’s clear PG is meant for bigger things to come in [the already planned/announced] TASM3 however, as Russian gangster Aleksei Sytsevich – aka The Rhino, I can’t work out if he’s woefully miscast or utterly wasted. Whichever one it is, he brings the film down.
Second, Marton Csokas turns up in a random cameo as Ravenscroft Institute’s Dr Ashley Kafka and, when that happens; the whole film takes a swerve into Batman Forever territory. Every time I saw him, it was as though the director had just stepped out for lunch or something. I wanted to throw popcorn at the screen it was that bad.
For the uber-geeks out there, wondering if there’s any kind of post-credits sting similar to the first one (with Dr Connors getting a visit from a mysterious inquisitor) you’ll be sadly disappointed. That being said, many publications are reporting that there’s an X-Men: Days of Future Past scene midway through TASM2’s credits.
But this is not the case at the IMAX.
About 70% of last night’s IMAX #SpiderMan2 audience stuck around for a post-credits sequence that didn’t arrive. There was actual booing. — James Whatley (@Whatleydude) April 19, 2014
Things of note for the week ending April 18th, 2014.
1. BFI Player
Not sure if this is available outside of the UK but the British Film Institute launched their own web-based content player recently. If you like bloody good film, it’s not a bad place to rent stuff from (and there’s 15% off if you’re a member, obvs).
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
This has got car crash written all over it BUT wild horses won’t keep me from seeing it at the cinema.
Yes, Michael Bay is rebooting the Turtles.
No, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be keeping to their origin stories.
Yes, the trailer looks terrible / typically Michael Bay.
No, there’s no sign of Krang.
Yes, Megan Fox is playing April O’Neil.
No, the Turtles aren’t as small as they’re supposed to be.
Yes, Splinter will be in it.
Things of note for the week ending April 11th, 2014.
1. Useful [and timely] Social Media Tips
The Easter break is coming up and, one week out, if you’ve not made the right prep for your social channels, now might be a good time to sort that out. This post, from the endlessly-knowledgeable Stephen Waddington, is a good place to start (and bookmark for future use).
2. A 9hr trip into SNES history
Did you ever own a Super Nintendo? Then you need to [at least attempt to] watch this nine hour epic, showcasing ALL OF THE START SCREENS FROM EVERY SNES GAME EVER.
ZOMG.
Yes, they’re in alphabetical order. My personal favourite, Streetfighter II is at 06:45:50 and if, like me, nearly all your old games started with ‘SUPER’ (Super Bomberman, Super Mario World, Super Street Fighter II etc) well they all start at 06:52:45 – enjoy!
3. Sony ad of colour
I’m in the final throes of completely Sony-fying my life (a new TV, amp, and console, with the matching phone arriving next week), so it seems only fitting that we celebrate this gorgeous ad –
4. RANKING EVERY WWF/WWE WRESTLEMANIA MATCH EVER
You need a day to read this.
EDIT: I wrote this list of five things at the start of the week. Between then and now however, it was announced that just days after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, The Ultimate Warrior had sadly passed away.
In the list linked above, the first match I ever saw comes in at No. 33. That was Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6 (World Championship vs Intercontinental Championship), it was an amazing match and the image of Warrior Gorilla Pressing Hulkster up above his head became seared on my mind forever.
RIP Warrior.
Your fans thought you were the best thing in the world.
5. Good list of interesting upcoming films
I like films. If you read my blog, there’s a good chance you do too. iO9 has put together a list of upcoming genre movies that aren’t sequels, remakes, or reboots. Stuff to get excited about.
whatleydude.com 
