Minimalist design

Just came across this: RAD.E8 DESIGN . Very nice sort of minimalist design. Must consider this I suppose.

War of the Worlds – review

I was in two minds about War of the Worlds (t). Spielberg is the Michael Crichton (t ) of movies: a must see, but you're sure you'll be disappointed by the ending. Nothing new there. Tom Cruise is one of the factors which make a movie 'wait for the DVD', and a re-make of a re-make, of a classic novel also doesn't inspire. But it's summer and there's not a lot else on. So we went.
And it was surprisingly good. Very good in fact (although we'll get to the ending in a minute). Cruise, bless his totally barmy self, was even good. Of course, a clean cut, half pint sized guy is completely unconvincing as both a dock worker or even a delinquent father with one grown up and one small kid, but once we got over that bit, he was good. The crying scene where he has to sing for his daughter almost, very nearly, looked like acting. I was genuinely impressed.
No matter what else, however, this is the movie that will always be remembered as the one where TC gets sucked up into an alien's anal sphincter. Superb stuff. And on his, er, rapid re-emergence from said hole, the fact that he's completely clean and un-slimed is only a minor disappointment overall –this is Hollywood after all.
The story clips along. Lots of gratuitous violence. Very, very funny scenes of US troopers (National Guard?) bravely giving their lives so that innocent civilians can live (again, this is Hollywood) and not one clear scene of friendly fire (Hollywood). Tim Robbins does an excellent job of an insane vigilante, but does give the impression of 'why am I in this movie' at times. And the special effects are really, really special.
Like Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds will age very, very quickly. This is one to see at the cinema, but it is probably not one we'll want on our DVD shelf. It's just too predictable, far too Hollywood, and a bit too sweet for a scary movie. (Unless of course the director's cut comes with a properly slimed Cruise in the anal scene.) The two actors who play the kids are pretty good. I thought, Justin Chatwin, the older one, who seems to be about 27 but, based on Cruise as his dad, is probably supposed to be 13, did an excellent job. His sister, an actress with the 'give-me-a-break' name of Dakota Fanning was also good, although a typical Hollywood child star: awesome adult like acting one minute, complete childish screaming the next. (Be warned: this kid can really scream! Take earplugs.)
The one major problem with the movie is the ending. It is completely and utterly crap. Don't you hate movies that make a good job of keeping to logic and reality (even fantasy reality) only to suspend it at the end. Total rubbish, and completely puke inducing. Spielberg has his reputation to think of. He should have killed off Richard Attenborough in the first Jurassic Park, but didn't, and his attempt to generate 'relief' by the ridiculous survival of, not only one of the main actors, but also of the whole of Boston, won't impress anyone living outside of Massachusetts.
Still, on the whole, if War of the Worlds is still on in your area, it's worth a look, even for the anal scene.
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The Island – Review

I'd read poor reviews of The Island, especially about the weak ending, but compared to War of the Worlds, The Island has nothing at all to worry about on that score. As I wrote in my WotW review, the movie, despite many pleasant surprises, has one of the weakest endings for a long, long time, and far too Hollywood. The Island's ending isn't its best part, but it's not that bad! And everything else makes up for it. The Island is fast paced, has loads and loads of action, and shows one extreme version of a very possible future (albeit with Hollywood style glossing over the actual science). Nice stuff.
Ewan is not too bad in this. He's rough enough to do the action hero stuff, but still looks a bit weedy for the real tough guy scenes. In this case it's not at all bad. A certain rebellious streak is necessary for the character and it works well. Sean Bean is equally good as the intellectual bad guy, but, despite his role in Patriot Games, he still comes across as a bit too nice to be the true nasty man type. Scarlett Johansson has also come a long way since The Horse Whisperer. She can walk again for a start, and breasts are only slightly completely obvious at all times –implants? Socialite Life reported that she went topless in the movie. Not true! She keeps her togs on even in the love scene with Ewan (although they're both virgins at the time so probably didn't think to disrobe anyway). In the odd scene, she even looks attractive. But acting wise, there's a long, long way to go. She has one, and only one, facial expression and it's the same as the Magnum Look from Zoolander: a kind of gormless pout. Happy? Gormless pout. In love? Gormless pout. Terrified to the point of heart seisure? Gormless pout. But, perhaps the true test of an actress of this quality: Sprinting at full tilt for 30 miles under blazing sun: constant gormless pout. So maybe she needs to work on this. I don't think she'll be taking on any roles requiring emotions too soon.
Also, why was it that Scarlett's left cheek was so obviously (and rather amateurishly) airbrushed over in a number of scenes? OK, in the X-Box scene (btw, this movie has more ad placements than an F1 car), she's supposed to have flawless skin as a hologramme, but it is so obvious in the scene at Steve Buscemi's character's house and in several others. The only conclusion is she had an almighty yellow zit on that cheek I guess. Pity we can't do this in real life, eh?
Tags: Movies; The Island; Scarlett Johansson; Ewan McGregor; Sean Bean