2. Network

Sidney Lumet's 1976 film Network follows a fictional television network called UBS and its quest for ratings and profitability. It focuses on its upturn in fortunes thanks to soon-to-be fired newsreader Howard Beale (Peter Finch) and his outbursts on his news show. At first the network seeks to punish Beale for his indiscretions but the public take to his ranting and tune in in great numbers to see more.

I think the film shows very well the ruthlessness of its TV executive characters, who will stop at nothing to get higher ratings and earn more money. However, I wasn't particularly impressed with all the overblown, shouty speeches in the film. Every character seems to have one each. It makes sense with Beale's character, since he has clearly lost his mind and is prone to ranting, but it was tiring listening to the weighty rhetoric routinely delivered throughout the film by all and sundry. It was an interesting film, but I was very disappointed.

6.5/10

30 Day Film Challenge

I'll be away for the weekend, but afterwards I plan on continuing the 30 Day Film Challenge proper. Second film will probably be Network (1976). Stay tuned!

Paths of Glory

1. Paths of Glory

I haven't really got the will to write a proper review here, the film is about 3 soldiers in the French Army during World War I who have been charged with cowardice after an impossible attack has failed, and their commanding officer who tries to defend them in court. The film was very good, I found the generals to be detestable, and the anti-war message was very powerful. Still though, I wasn't as impressed by it as some seem to be. A very good film yes, but I didn't feel it merits the level of praise it has gathered.

8/10

Not sure what the next film will be, maybe Solaris.

30 Day Film Challenge

Just going to try a 30 Day Film Challenge of a different type, there's one floating about on Facebook which asks you to post a film a day meeting certain criteria (e.g. Your Favourite Film, Film Starring Your Favourite Actor etcetc) but I'm going to pick 30 films I've never seen before and try and watch one every day. Here is a preliminary list of 30, in no particular order:

1. Paths of Glory
2. The Best Years of Our Lives
3. Patton
4. Vertigo
5. The French Connection
6. Barry Lyndon
7. Solaris
8. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
9. 8 1/2
10. The Seventh Seal
11. Rashomon
12. The Lives of Others
13. Once Upon a Time in the West
14. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
15. The Pianist
16. The Sting
17. The Departed
18. To Kill a Mocking Bird
19. Double Indemnity
20. Brazil
21. Psycho
22. The Wages of Fear
23. Heartbreak Ridge
24. The Bridge on the River Kwai
25. You Can't Take It With You
26. La Dolce Vita
27. The Magnificent Seven
28. Treasure of the Sierra Madre
29. The African Queen
30. Touch of Evil

I'll watch Paths of Glory tonight, that one's for definite, but the others might change. I'll try and post every day with a short review detailing what I think about each picture, although it may just end up with a rating and not much else.

Pain in the arse...

My Amiga 500 came the other day BUT the guy forgot to send the mouse with it! So essentially I can't really use it until he sends it. I dropped him a line about it and he's sending a couple more games with it as a kind of sweetener so that's not so bad I suppose, but still I'd like to have been playing with it by now!

Back to uni tomorrow, I'll pop in to a couple of shops before my lecture I expect, hopefully I'll come back with some goods to post here ;)

Happy New Year!

It's a New Year! Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011 and so on. I don't have any resolutions really, except for the resolution to buy more old games, har har.

With that in mind, I've decided to focus on collecting games for the Gamecube, for a little while. I'll still pick up other formats if I see any but primarily get Gamecube ones. I made up a list of the games I most want for the system, and once I get all of those (or even if I get all of those), and then maybe I'll think about trying to get a full PAL set. I found a complete (as far as I know) list of Gamecube games here. The games that made my most wanted list are as follows:

The Legend of Zelda : Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda : The Wind Waker
Pikmin 2
Super Monkeyball
Metroid Prime 2
Odama
Tales of Symphonia
Fire Emblem : Path of Radiance
Doshin the Giant
F-Zero GX
Star Fox Adventures
Kirby Air Ride
Baldur's Gate : Dark Alliance
Wave Race : Blue Storm
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Mario Power Tennis
Mario Golf : Toadstool Tour
Pokemon Colosseum
Mario Smash Football
Final Fantasy : Crystal Chronicles
The Legend of Zelda : Four Swords Adventures
Wario World
Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, 3
Eternal Darkness
Timesplitters 2
Beyond Good and Evil

I made that list at the turn of the year, on Monday I managed to pick up Wind Waker, Resident Evil Zero and also Mario Party 4 in Gamestation for £20, so I've added those to my collection. I've decided also that I'm only going to spend £100 a month on games stuff at the most, and let it roll over if I go under. With the £20 spent already that leaves £80 for the remainder of the month, scary.

Here's a picture of my current meagre Gamecube collection:



In other news, I'm STILL waiting for my Neo Geo Pocket Color to arrive! :(

Disappointment

Popped into Edinburgh yesterday for a spot of shopping, had absolutely no luck though. I was looking for old computer games (surprise surprise) and all that I found was over-priced, rubbish, or both.

I was in one shop (well I say shop, it was more a room containing piles of electronics and records, I could barely even get the door open) and saw an Amiga 500 hanging (quite literally) off one of the shelves. No games or box or anything, but I thought I'd ask about it anyway. £80! Like fuck anybody in their right mind would pay such a price. £60 he said, though, if you're willing to forgo the power supply... Obviously I left in good haste.

All I could turn up in all the shops I was in was sports titles, for the most part, and not even good ones. Really not what I'm interested in buying...

So, obviously, when I got home I got onto eBay and bid on a shitload of stuff there. I have a disease :(