A maybe monthly round-up (1)

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Life

Bye-bye October. Hello November. October has gone by ridiculously quickly. Wasn’t it just September? Oh, wait, is that just senility creeping in early?

I survived St Judes Storm! *sigh* The build up over this was hilarious. Bigger than the storm of 1987, they were saying! I remember the storm in 1987. It was terrifying. Sure I was three. But I remember being terrified. St Judes Storm managed to blow my bin open. WOOOO. My 50ft trees in my garden were still standing. Though public transport ground to a halt. God bless British public transport.

Exciting stuff. I got my G+ vanity URL! Along with hundreds, probably thousands, of other people. But it still managed to excite me – http://google.com/+JainaMistry

In other terribly unexciting social media news, I’m back on Pinterest. I never really left as such. But, I just forgot about it and didn’t think I had a use for it any more. Oh no. I’ve remembered why I liked it and so, will be pinning like a fiend from now on. Maybe not quite fiend-like. Near-fiend. Feel free to follow me.

So, back to something vaguely interesting. How was October? Well, it went quickly and quietly…

  • Managed to see 6 films – Much Ado About Nothing, Mud, Captain Phillips, This is The End, Monsters University and Thor: The Dark World.
  • Tried and failed with so much new TV. Is this the beginnings of truly getting old? Everything is just so awfully bad. Or cheesy. Or dull. Or all of those combined. I’m looking at you Shield, The Blacklist, Dracula, Sleepy Hollow and more my brain can’t even be bothered to remember. I’m even beginning to wonder if I should keep watching things I’m currently watching. The idea of devoting so much time to TV shows is something I’m beginning to loathe. God, what a freaking grump!
  • But Masters of Sex continues to impress. The last episode had me in tears! Great stuff.
  • Oh and one returning show that is a welcome breath of fresh air – American Horror Story. Forgot how much the opening titles freaked me out. And Jessica Lange needs to be in everything.
  • Went out to see The Pajama Men a couple of weeks back. More on them below!

Even if TV was a bit of a let down last month, there were plenty of film trailers that caught my eye:

Can’t believe I have the Captain America trailer up there, but it has sparked my interest. Even though the first one was so incredibly dull. This looks, marginally, better. Day of Future Past trailer surprised me the most. I was expecting a bit of a car crash, what with everyone and the kitchen sink being thrown at it by Bryan Singer. But pleasantly surprised.


The last couple of weeks, with my interest in anything TV related waning, I’ve got a few more films under my belt. Not going to hit my hundred for the year, but I can see how many I can fit in.

This is The End

This is The End

Is it fair to call This Is The End totally ape-shit? Because it’s what I’d like to call it. The kind of ape-shit crazy that I really, really like. Sure things get a bit crude, but what else do you expect from these guys?

One thing I wasn’t expected is to jump. Honestly. A couple of moments caught me completely unaware. And I jumped. Then laughed. And told myself off for jumping. I’m made of better things than this, damnit!

It’s a fun film. I enjoyed it. Totally out there. A film I could easily watch again. Possibly have on in the background while playing Ticket to Ride. Sure it’s very silly and incredibly self-indulgent. Sometimes we need films like that.

Monsters University

Monsters University

I missed Monsters University when it hit the cinemas. Though, I don’t think I missed much. Bit harsh? Yes, definitely. MU is a fun little film. But far from Pixar’s strongest. Fairly formulaic stuff that you come to expect from a Disney Pixar sequel film. There weren’t many surprises. Sure it looks lovely and it’s great to see Mike and Sully again. It just what I was wanting out of the film.

Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World

From one formulaic sequel to another. Again, that’s probably a bit harsh. But Thor: The Dark World was pretty much that. And, in my opinion, definitely missed Kenneth Brannagh’s presence. Asgard just wasn’t as grand. Really missed Patrick Doyle on scoring duties. It just sounded so generic. There was some creativity missing.

The whole London setting was nice to see. And not ‘normal’ London – Westminster, Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, blah blah blah. Instead they’re destroying Greenwich instead! HUZZAH!

Though that’s not to say it wasn’t fun to watch. It’s decent enough popcorn fair with all involved doing good enough work. And yes, there’s the set up for Guardians of the Galaxy and an extra scene at the very end of the credits. It just wasn’t as good or as interesting as the first Thor film. And it’s beginning to feel apparent that all these Avenger films are mostly about setting up future films rather than being solid standalone stories. Which is a bit meh.


I haven’t been to the theatre for ages. Can’t remember the last time I was in a theatre. Think it might have been last year when I went to see The Thirty Nine Steps. Jesus. A long time!

The Pajama Men

The Pajama Men

Rectified that last month by going to see The Pajama Men in town. It is incredibly hard to describe what these guys do. Saying that they do improv comedy barely scratches the surface. One of those ‘you have to see it’ sort of deals. See it and split your sides laughing.

I do believe that early next year they’re going to be in Washington DC and NYC. If you’re anywhere near, do yourself a favour and go and see them. It’ll be one of the funniest things you see in a long time.


So what’s November got in-store for me? Well, nothing so far! Well, Gravity is finally getting its UK release, so I will be catching that this week.

I know my recent history with photographic 365 projects and the like isn’t great, but very tempted to try this photo an hour thing. My problem? If I’m at work, it’ll be an incredibly dull photo-an-hour. Oh look, it’s my keyboard. And my keyboard again. A cup of coffee. That will require a day of interest. And of course, even over a matter of a day, I guarantee you that I’ll forget to take a photo during a few hours.

Has October been good for to you?

20 Comments

  1. Yeah, for real, where did the month go? Time needs to stop doing that already. ๐Ÿ˜›

    I also thought This Is The End was a really awesomely fun movie. Still waiting on Thor 2 to open up here, however. But yeah, October’s been pretty decent to me. Movie wise, it’s been the strongest of the whole year thus far with Gravity, The Counselor, and Captain Phillips all landing in my Top 10 so far. Hopefully the rest of the year can maintain this level of quality.

    And yeah, that new X-Men trailer sure does look impressive, don’t it?

    • Have heard very mixed things about The Counselor. I am still really looking forward to seeing it.

      The new X-Men trailer looks very impressive. Until I see Halle Berry and I cringe.

  2. Of those trailers, Her, and The Act of Killing I’m most interesed in. Hopefully that new X-Men film is as good as X-Men First Class.

    My expectations for Gravity are sky-high(pun-intended), I’m seeing that soon. A couple of bloggers said it’s overrated, but seems most loved it.

  3. Captain Phillips was my only cinema visit in October. Thought it was an incredible piece of work…tension-filled from start to finish and some mighty fine performances…

    …by the way, I love the current header image with the silhouetted flowers in front of the setting sun. Beautiful – I’m guessing it is one of yours Jaina?

    • Captain Phillips is a brilliant film. The tension was sky high, almost all the time! Brilliant performance from Tom Hanks too.

      That is my photo ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you for the lovely comment!

  4. October was a great month for movie watching for me, saw almost 2 dozen films which is a lot for me, including some most-anticipated ones like 12 Years A Slave and August: Osage County.

    Glad you survived St Judes Storm, that sounds terrifying indeed!

  5. Oh btw, if you’re curious about The Act of Killing, check out my review & interview w/ the director when he was in town in MN a few months back. It’s truly an eye-opening & harrowing documentary.

    • Ooo, will do. Thanks Ruth. The Act of Killing is going to be on TV here this week, so looking forward to catching it ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Interested to check out Captain Philips…still waiting for it to be released here. Saw you mention The Act of Killing in the trailers, really try to check that out, really shocking stuff. You can compare it to what the world would be like had the Germans won the second World War.

    • Despite how horrific the film sounds, I really want to see it. I’m on a big documentary film kick at the moment. Saw TT: Closer to the Edge, The Crash Reel and Life in a Day all last week. Seeking out more to watch.

      • So many interesting documentaries to check out. Check out some of the newer by Werner Herzog. If you like courtroom dramas try to get your hands on The Staircase. Another one which will have a big impact on you is Dear Zachary. Best not to read too much about it in advance. If you need more suggestion just let me know!

      • Thought I had already responded to this, but if you want advice on other documentaries worth checking out let me know. Happened to see The Crash Reel yesterday, which was very good.

        • Knew I could rely on you, Nostra, for documentary suggestions ๐Ÿ˜€ Will check both of those out you suggested.

  7. Saw Thor, and mostly agree with you. If it weren’t for Loki (Hiddleston) and his one liners, it would have been very poor. Have you seen Gravity yet?

  8. Ps I like Captain America. And that has nothing to do with his physique, of course ;). Good to see he has a new, badass suit. And I did love it when Loki shapeshifted into Cap. Very funny.

    • Have seen Gravity and it is DEFINITELY in my top films of the year. Fantastic film.

      Ha! That was a funny moment in Thor. And yes.. I too fold when I see Chris Evans in Captain America get up. And out of it… Ahem!

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