book: the magic pudding

Book: The Magic Pudding

When I was in infants school, there was a 4-volume illustrated series about the Magic Pudding, but volume (aka ‘slice’) two was always on the book repair shelf, and couldn’t be read. It turns out that Kel had a copy of this book, so over the weekend I read it aloud to the kids.

I remember it being about a pudding that kept replenishing itself and can, on request, change flavours. In reality, it seems more about a pair of anti-heroes meeting up with someone with great skill in oratory, and their pugilstic ways.

The kids found it funny, and seemed untroubled by the archaic language and occasionally violent ways of the main characters. Being a pudding thief, it would seem, is a way to earn a certain amount of vigilante justice.

Netflix: the hundred foot journey

Netflix: The hundred-foot journey. 

Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal provide some strong performances in something of a formulaic story, but the parts about food and cooking lift it to be a better film than it would otherwise deserve to be. Reminds me of Ratatouille, Doc Hollywood and the Netflix Chef’s Table story in equal measure.  An enjoyable date-night-in kind of film, especially if you’re a foodie. 

netflix: overview of what I’ve watched

In a little less than four months of Netflix subscription, I’ve watched quite a lot, as it turns out. Going back through my viewing history (and ignoring the things I skimmed through but didn’t watch)

Complete Series:

  • House of Cards Season 3
    Dark, brooding, the continued rise of Frank Underwood is compelling, even as there is no small-time individual whose fate is safe from the greater good of the big plans for the US.
     
  • Orphan Black Seasons 1 and 2
    Bonkers science fiction, trashy drama: a bit too racy in places, but the intertwining plots and the breadth of characters played by a small cast makes this a cult-TV show that it’s hard to get past.
     
  • Chef’s Table
    Amazingly well filmed shots of food and biographical interviews with highly skilled chefs from around the world (one per episode) meant that we watched every episode and were keen to see more.
     
  • Arrested Development Season 4
    A shining achievement of non-linear, interwoven stories, with some genuine belly laughs, but less joyful than the previous seasons, and more a case of feeling sorry for these terrible characters. More clever than something I enjoyed.
     
  • Marvel’s Daredevil Season 1
    I originally stopped 10 mins into S1E1, but when I came back and finished the pilot, I went on to watch the whole season. More violent than any of the Marvel movies I’ve seen; the character studies are more interesting than the (shorter) cinema releases. The big story being told was complex enough to hold my interest (though very dark). Each episode has a long action set piece that was a chance to get back to the laptop and multi-task, but impressive visual achievements.

Movies: 

  • Muppets Most Wanted
    Less joyful and funny than previous Muppet movies; the kids weren’t so enthusiastic about it. Some good musical numbers, but I’d rather re-watch the original reboot.
     
  • The Mechanic
    Jason Statham paint by numbers piece: it’s no Transporter for action, nor Hummingbird for character. They manage to salvage a vaguely clever ending.
     
  • The Devil’s Double
    Set in Iraq, a childhood friend of one of Saddam Hussein’s son’s childhood friends is blackmailed into to becoming a body-double for the heir. Dark, terrible, troubling story of awful abuses: probably something better read about than watched.
     
  • Inglorious Basterds
    Tarantino takes on the WW2 genre in glory, over-the-top style. At once more violent and less violent than I was expecting.
     
  • 28 Weeks Later
    Six months after the zombie outbreak of 28 Days Later, attempts are being made to repatriate London. Will anyone survive?
     
  • Thor: The Dark World (already reviewed on the blog)
  • Arbitrage
    Richard Gere in a forgettable drama about corporate deception. A couple of good scenes of the ridiculously wealthy facing off against each other, but mostly B-movie fare.
     
  • Pick Pocket
    A petty criminal with a heart of gold tries to fix up his life. Some funny moments, but another B-movie
     
  • In the Loop
    Cynical political comedy with Pete Capaldi and James Gandolfini among others. Consistently, sweary humour abounds. Tom Hollander is great, and has introduced the phrase “X, X, lemon X” to our home.
     
  • The Sentinel
    Michael Douglas vs Kiefer Sutherland in a CIA B-movie with some ridiculous, suspend-disbelief-failing plot machinations and some weird action scenes.
     
  • The Town
    Ben Affleck directs and stars in an interesting pseudo-redemption story of crime and corruption. Worth a look.
     
  • Prisoners
    Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhall star in this bleak, but excellent film that pushes the boundaries of what people can do to each other.
     
  • Crazy, Stupid, Love
    Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Julianne Moore in one of those romantic comedies that hits a lot of different cliches, but has some more relationship depth than many films in the genre.
     
  • Training Day
    I first watched this when it was at the movies in 2001, and wanted to see how it had aged, and how much my changed perspective had changed it. Still more complexity than a regular action movie. Worth watching just to see Ethan Hawke in a big cinematic role.
     
  • The Way Way Back (already reviewed on the blog)
  • Hummingbird (already reviewed on the blog)
  • Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview (already reviewed on the blog)

Odd episodes:
Here I watched up to a few episodes, but didn’t tap deeply into anything. 

  • Firefly (pilot)
  • Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
  • How I Met Your Mother (Pilot)
  • Mad Men (pilot)
  • The BlackList Season 1 (3 episodes)
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2 episodes)
  • House M.D. (S8, last few episodes)
  • Grace and Frankie S1E1
  • Stephen Fry Live: More Fool Me
  • Sense8: S1E1
  • Derek S2E1

So that’s a lot of screen time, and it’s not counting the shows the kids (or Kel) have been watching. The paradox of the all-you-can-eat subscription is finding the balance between watching too much.

humans are the future of wearables

I was chatting about technology and futurism today, and the topic of Google Glass arose. Google Glass makes a little more sense in the context of the Apple Watch – two different technologies (I’ve used neither one, so take all of this with a grain of salt).

The difference? Glass attempts to sit in between the interaction two people are having. Watch attempts to interrupt as discreetly as possible, and then let the interaction recommence.

For wearables to improve the communication that is taking place between two people, they need to be able to recede. Communication technology – at its best – is about facilitating the human interaction, not replacing or subverting it.

netflix: Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview

Netflix: Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview

A long chat from 1995 with the co-founder of Apple about his business philosophy, the good old days, and the future of computers. Watching it for me is a mix of nostalgia (it’s good to see him looking well and healthy as he draws near the end of his exile in NEXT), insights, and hearing too-oft-quoted insights from people.

My favourite takeaway this time around was the idea of “real artists ship”. That there is a lot of difference between having a good idea, and having a good product: that there’s so much to be done in moving from one to another.

netflix: hummingbird

Netflix: Hummingbird (aka Redemption)

The cliche of “ex-special-forces” gets another run in this beautifully shot, well-acted Statham performance. From the writer/director of Locke (the Tom Hardy film where he has a series of phone calls during a long evening’s drive), there are a number of interesting visual ideas throughout (though there are a few scenes of various adult content including a photographic exhibition, and a haunting sequence around human trafficking). If you’re a Statham completist, this is a performance that’s more acting and less action, though it has enough action sequences in it to pad out a trailer.

Taking better zoo photos

  
We went to the zoo today as a family. It was a good day, and we had (for the most part) good access to look at the animals. Which is, after all, the point of going to the zoo. 

There were some people, though, who seemed to be there to take photos of the animals. People who had spent a significant amount of money on camera gear, and would go up close to the glass, or the edge of the enclosure, and try to get the clearest possible photo of just the animal, clearly, in focus, the sole subject of the photo. 

That’s a laudable goal if you’re on safari, but if you’re just visiting already captive animals, how many of these photos are you going to go back to?

When I go to the zoo, I try to capture what the kids were doing, and interested in, while we were there. I vary between taking photos and taking videos, and I try to avoid having the camera out at all, unless I have a plan to capture something. I want to actually have some memories of being present with what I’m doing (and seeing) not just a selection of things I saw through my smartphone while I was walking through somewhere, disconnected from what was going on. 

This isn’t just limited to zoos, but that was today’s example.

Remember why you’re doing whatever it is – probably to spend time with the people you have brought with you. Do that thing, and if a photo suggests itself, take that photo framed in a way that you will want to revisit. Then put the camera away.  

netflix: the way way back

Netflix: The Way Way Back

 

I remembered something positive about the movie from Mark Kermode, and was looking for something Kel and I could both watch and enjoy. It’s a coming-of-age story for a withdrawn teenager in a broken up family, with some excellent performances (particularly from Toni Collette and Sam Rockwell).

 

If you’re looking for something that engages with a range of family issues, but keeps the explicit content to a minimum, and/or you’re a fan of Sam Rockwell or Pacman, you’ll enjoy this.

All you can eat content

When trying out an all-you can eat content site, it’s tempting to try and make the most of it. But what does it mean to get the most out of a subscription like that? How much value do you put on the discretionary use of your time? What price will your relationships pay when you recede from them for that first trial month, or three trial months?

My experience with Netflix has been mixed in that way. I’ve absorbed a lot of content, but paid less attention to it overall, ever multi-tasking with the laptop: the second and even third screen. People who have had Netflix for a few months ask if I’ve watched everything on there yet, as if its depths can be so easily plumbed. 

But a media subscription is not like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Your media intake needs to be carefully considered, as anyone who has suffered some kind of TV or video-game related dream will attest. 

From renting to buying

When I was a teenager, the largest store in my suburb changed from being a “variety” store to being a video store. The upcoming new release was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Rentals of new releases were somewhere around $5 for an overnight rental, and – I think – $2 for a weekly rental.


Having a VHS VCR was becoming more and more normal, but for our home usage at least we would buy blank VHS cassettes, and tape movies from the TV, pausing carefully to remove the ads. The idea of renting movies was just coming alive in the public consciousness – before that, people had to pay to watch movies at the cinema, or wait to watch them on TV.


The new idea, though, was the idea of buying a new release movie to keep. I have a memory of the new Indiana Jones movie being offered on sale for $120 (for one that had never been rented) and getting cheaper for ex-rentals, but still quite expensive.


There was a resistance on the part of the copyright holder in moving from a rental model to an ownership model.


What we’re seeing now is a migration from renting an individual download to paying for a membership of a library of downloads, but we’ll get to that in a future post.