Love, Betrayal, and the unnerving sight of Nathan Fillion in a fat suit...

This blog is fast becoming entirely movie-related - not entirely a bad thing, mind, it's good to have some direction and an audience in mind - but then apart from movies I haven't really done anything. Except I was in Stratford on Tuesday, wandering around the big park behind the RSC theatre and eating Turkish Delight and Earl Grey ice cream (these are real things and they are AWESOME!).

And I was there to see a movie. So, you know, movies still are the only interesting thing I really do. Ho hey.

The Great Gatsby: Glitzy and glamorous, but it's no Oscar bait...

Last night I was in a packed cinema, staring up from one of the lower seats at a party which would rival anything a modern celebrity could put together. Glitter cannons in the shape of champagne bottles throwing sparkling confetti over everyone, people throwing themselves fully-clothed into the pool, everyone dancing the Charleston to remixed jazz - it's the classic scene where Nick Carraway first meets Gatsby, and it's one of the best things I've seen on the silver screen to date. Forget fight scenes, forget daring rooftop chases and steamy kisses; the highlight of Luhrmann's Gatsby is the fabulous backdrop of lavish, roaring twenties parties.

First-person shooters reborn

I have a problem with first-person shooters. The market is saturated with them: Call of Duty, Battlefront, Halo; they're all variations on the same run-jump-shoot game which is fast becoming incredibly dull and predictable. They're worse than rail shooters in some respects: at least with House of the Dead 3 I still have that arcade-style feel which is fun and addictive. Even if I'm not controlling my character, it's still more fun than I have playing Nazi zombies.

So why am I talking about shooting games if I hate them so? If I so want to be rid of them, why mention them at all? Why not let them drift back into obscurity in their own time, and concentrate on other things? Well the answer to those questions is very simple:

I've found a couple of fps games I really, really like.

Sequels: The Final Frontier...

Okay, so got a lot to talk about. A little over two hours' worth of things to talk about, actually. See, this morning I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness, and I expected something pretty spectacular. I mean, come on: Benedict Cumberbatch as the manipulative, highly-intelligent villain; the new Enterprise crew reprising their roles and getting along a whole lot better than the first movie (well, a little better); vast, exotic worlds, far more elaborate and beautiful than the 2009 movie; bigger fight scenes, more action, a faster pace. Four years might be a long time to wait in the movie world for a sequel, but Abrams and crew have certainly delivered. There's one thing I can say about Into Darkness: it's a step up.

Movies movies!

Okay, so I have two movies to discuss here, let's get down to business.

You might remember in my post a few months ago that I said I was sick to death of superhero movies. Well I've got news for you: I watched Iron Man 2 not long ago. I thought it was about time, given the proximity of the final film in the trilogy, and it looked pretty interesting. And here's the thing:

I didn't think it was all that great.

Never Sleeping again...

If you get the chance, play Alan Wake. Beat the game on easy or normal mode, then think "well that was pretty good. I wonder what I should play next..."

You should play Alan Wake next. Alan Wake on Nightmare difficulty. 

Blinking Lights

     Okay, so this post is going to be a load of reviews. First off, hooray! I got a new laptop, and it is brilliant. I'll talk about that in a bit. Second, I got Red Lights on Blu-ray, and I feel morally obliged to review it because I watched it in the cinema and didn't then. But before I get onto either of those things, I want to talk about Wreck-it Ralph.