Writer's Block

At some stage in the future, Major (Scarlet Johansson) has had her brain and consciousness transplanted into a robot body following an accident in which she drowned. She works for Hanka Robotics and sets after a mystery criminal hell bent on murdering everyone involved in the corporation. But all is very much not as it seems. The film is based around a Japanese manga series, which later became a hugely popular anime film. I'm not in a position to judge to what extent it is faithful to the source material and there have been complaints about the "whitewashing" of the central character. My only real comment there is that if you're going to do a Hollywood/westernised version involving a half robot woman, Johansson is the obvious choice and she frequently conveys a sense of detachment and distance that you would expect from her character. Deference is shown to the story's roots and it's clearly still meant to be set in futuristic Japan, although there is a rev...

In Angel Grove, 5 teenagers discover multicoloured coins in a mine. After they survive a collision with a train, they realise they have superpowers. They stumble upon a base underground where they meet Alpha 5 (Bill Hader) who introduces them to Zordon (Bryan Cranston) a voice in a wall who was once the original leader of the Power Rangers and informs them that they must now carry on his legacy as a team. The five must train to stop Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) who has designs on the Zeo Crystal somewhere in the town. Yeah. The Power Rangers need to stop a witch from stealing a crystal because she can destroy the world with it, or something. Don't focus too much on the plot with this one because it isn't really there. The Guardian's review of this said it benefits from lowered expectations and I think that's fair. Save for a terribly misjudged joke about bull masturbation early doors, there's very little to actively get offended by here. The dialogue is clunky i...

I failed my exam today. And I hadn't failed any exams prior to the triggering of Article 50, which clearly tells you everything you need to know. My views on the matter haven't changed a great deal since the referendum last June. I'm not an economic expert, although famously it wouldn't matter if I was. There's been a lot of ugliness since then and a great deal of resentment from both sides. Leaving the accusations of jingoism and racism aside*, I am yet to see any evidence that departing the European Union will benefit us more than being a part of it. It still feels to me like a big senseless risk, an insular regressive step from what should be a progressive forward seeking nation. The fact we still don't appear to have any sort of coherent strategy is cause for concern. But I'm fully prepared to concede that I don't know what's going to happen. Nor indeed do those who voted for us to leave. I suspect what will happen is both sides will continue t...

I lost an hour on Sunday and still didn't feel like the weekend was ever going to end, with two full length shifts and then a bit more. My industry has an exceedingly high turnover of staff. I don't think it's necessarily because people can't handle the work, but because the nature of shift work requires you to make certain sacrifices that some people struggle with. I think my life would be improved immeasurably if I could find 9-5 work and that's what I've got to strive for. In the meantime, I have an exam tomorrow. I'm trepidatious about it. But then I was trepidatious about the last two. I feel like this is my "Boy Who Cried Wolf" moment though. Having falsely floated the prospect for so long, this is the part where I get my face mauled off. I've never failed an exam. I suppose it stands to reason that there's a first time for everything. But it'll hit me both in the pocket and in the head if I do. Not only have I not been taking...

I'm incredibly jaded when it comes to the England national football side these days, after years and years of disappointment and mediocrity. Yesterday's 2-0 victory over Lithuania will not live long in the memory. But what I will remember is seeing England led out by Jermain Defoe and Bradley Lowery. Bradley is a five year old Sunderland fan who suffers with neuroblastoma. He is an extraordinary boy and Bradley and his family have demonstrated remarkable courage under the most difficult of circumstances. Defoe is no stranger to tragedy himself and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to take young Bradley under his wing. Wembley raised the roof for both of them and rightly so. And then the match kicked off. And then in the 21st minute, Jermain Defoe scored. Because that's what Jermain Defoe does. However cynical I am, it was undoubtedly a special moment and I suspect I won't see a Sunderland player score for England again. He's one of the best footballers I...

In a few hours from the time of writing,Yellowcard will have called time on their two decade long career with a final show at the Anaheim House of Blues. To what extent you can trust any band claiming to be on their final tour, I'm not sure. But they've been on hiatus before, from 2008-10. I'm pretty sure that's how it works, you're allowed one crack at being on hiatus and then you have to quit forever. In the years before and after, there have been few bands who have contributed more to pop-punk. I saw them 13 years ago supporting New Found Glory and thought they had something special, not just because they had a dude who could play the violin. Here were a band who wore their heart on their sleeve and had loads of great energetic songs that stayed in your head. Ocean Avenue remains one of the all time great pop-punk records* and it was a joy to see them revisit it in full at Slam Dunk Festival last year, with a crowd so full of appreciation for it and for them. ...

 I don't usually let new podcasts into my rotation at this point but in recent months I've really been into Talking Simpsons. It's part of the Lasertime podcast network which seems dedicated to an extensive analysis of various facets of pop culture. Described as "a chronological exploration of The Simpsons", a meticulous level of research seems to go into each episode. There's discussion of writers and directors for example (they recently had a long form interview with executive producer and writer Bill Oakley) and the hosts strive to place each episode into a cultural context, commenting on events around the original airdate. They'll also go into detail about various references which are mostly enlightening to a UK viewer. I always end up learning something that I didn't know. Another major plus point is that the show's frequent contributors seem like likeable guys and I'm interested to hear about their engagement with the show when they wer...