It gives me great pleasure to say, see you in a couple of weeks! I’m off on holiday and will be back on the 8th of March.
Where am I going? Well, I’m heading to the States. First stop, Phoenix, Arizona. Then we’ll be heading to Portland, Oregon for a week. Then back to Arizona to do the Grand Canyon. Then we’ll have a short stop-over in London to see some family and friends before we head home.
I can’t wait. The bags are all packed, except a few little things I have to pop in the suitcase after I get ready.
While I’m away the blog will mostly be quiet – but I’ve got a few things scheduled in to keep the place ticking over.
I will most likely be Tweeting and Instagramming my way through the holiday. So feel free to stalk my holidays! Can’t wait to make some new holiday memories. Belgium feels like such a long time ago.
See you in March!
(Photo by Liana Metzler, from Unsplash, edited by me.)
Do you remember when the first Guardians of the Galaxy trailer was released to the masses and the masses balked? This isn’t a Marvel comic book film, were the cries. There was space, and spaceships and people with green skin. Ohh… people.
That trailer totally got me. My knowledge of the Marvel universe is limited. Did not have the remotest clue about Guardians of the Galaxy. Nothing. It was new. It looked different. And after the disappointment of Man of Steel, Thor: The Dark World and, to a lesser extent, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I really needed to see a comic book film that would restore my faith in the genre.
Peter Quill – sly devil.
James Gunn’s Gaurdians of the Galaxy did just that. Guardians takes us out of the well-known universe and plonks us somewhere completely alien, while still building a universe and arc that’s going to be pivotal in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It’s funny, witty, dry and sarcastic. It’s a mainstream James Gunn film. And a good one. A GREAT one.
Guardians of the Galaxy felt very much like The Avengers – putting the band together. But with Guardians the band of misfits really felt like a proper band of misfits. Misfits, outcasts and those who don’t fit in. None of these guys can be classed as “genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist” – somewhere Peter, Gamora, Drax, Groot and Rocket just fell of a wagon and carved their own paths.
Thoroughly enjoyed the action in the film. It just feels like it’s been forever since there was a good space based film. (Just as I typed that, my brain went to Interstellar. What I mean is a space sci-fi pulp feeling film. K?) The final battle was incredible. It was perfectly done with some actually very emotional moments alongside Gamora and Nebula slogging it out and epic air battle going on around it all.
I am Groot.
The score disappointed. Tyler Bates’ score didn’t shine in the film. It didn’t bring anything to the moments it was backing. Then on listening to it as a standalone album, I can’t remember much of it. Perhaps I’m moving on from the “soundtrack-y” sounding scores. BUT the actual movie soundtrack is fantastic – the awesome mix vol. 1 was the oddly perfect selection of songs for the film.
Chris Pratt knocked it out of the park as Peter. Funny, intelligent, witty – completely sold on Star Lord. Was surprised how attached I got to both Rocket and Groot. Especially Rocket – the film did a brilliant job at not over sentimentalising the shitty situations each of the Guardians were previously in. Or saw themselves as.
An utterly magical moment in the film.
And it’s that that made the film for me. Despite all the glorious space opera going on and the action – the Guardians of the Galaxy themselves were each incredibly relatable characters. At one point in our lives, we’ve all felt some of what these characters have portrayed. And look at them – they’re fucking heroes who still have a long way to go.
This make it look more badass than it actually was.
See the original [REC] and the sequel [REC] 2. Stop right there. Forget 3 and 4. For that way, disappointment comes.
[REC] 4: Apocalypse was meant to be a return to what made the first one of the best found footage films I’ve seen. Confined spaces. Zombies. Ridiculous weapons to fight off said zombies.
Instead the mythology, set up in the first and second films, has gone a bit weird and off the rails. The film itself lacked any horror or scares. Action was pretty pitiful. The zombies weren’t even scary. Screaming, snarling messes. Everything you think will happen, does happen. The plot has officially been lost with the [REC] series.
A souq or souk is an open-air marketplace or commercial quarter in Middle Eastern and North African cities. The equivalent Persian term is “bazaar”.
I guess you could the Manama Souq is kind of like that. A little bit. It’s more like an area with lots of all sorts of shops selling everything from sandals to potatoes.
Back in November, we took the parentals to the Manama Souq, for them to have some sort of feel of a different side of Bahrain. And well, we wanted to have breakfast at Saffron – probably our all time favourite place to have breakfast in Bahrain.
The last few times we’ve been to the souq I haven’t taken my camera with me. Remembered to fix that this time, and took a small handful of photos while walking around. Continue reading Out in Bahrain: Manama Souq
Simply knowing that a Christopher Nolan film is being scored by Hans Zimmer is enough to get me a little excited. The Interstellar soundtrack is my new The Dark Knight Rises. It’s been playing on repeat since I saw the film. (Following my rule of not listening to a soundtrack until I’ve seen the film.)Continue reading Soundtrack Pick: Interstellar
There’s something about a film that just is what it is and is a good example of what it is. John Wick is exactly that. A fun has hell action film, with a fairly ridiculous premise, that is ridiculously entertaining.
You have to take John Wick for what it is and no more. There’s absolutely no attempt in the entire film for it to be anything but a straight up action film. And the action sequences deliver. They’re punchy (No pun intended.) and really well choreographed. There’s nothing ground-breaking about them – they’re just really nicely done. Continue reading Film Review: John Wick
![[REC] 4: Apocalypse](http://i1.wp.com/time-wellspent.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/rec4-apocalypse.jpg?resize=660%2C408)
