Christmas 2020

 Here in Britain the news today is that the Brexit deal bartered with the EU has been approved unanimously by Parliament. I'm glad that there has at least been a deal reached even if it is at the eleventh hour, it was uncertain only a few days ago. There was enough will to want to make the relationship work and so it should.

Other news includes approval of another vaccine for Covid-19, this time it is the Oxford developed vaccine that doesn't have as many storage limitations as the Pfizer vaccine. So this one might actually be used in more parts of the world.

Due to the large programme that is needed to deploy vaccines it will be some time before the population at large is vaccinated. I've seen reports of timelines such as Easter but I think that's optimistic. Just remember this vaccine is for the whole population, at least as many as those who don't actually refuse to have it. There are some people who will refuse and for the life of me I don't understand what their argument is. There are uncertainties sure but they are about how long the vaccine will work and the extent of the resistance not about whether it works or not. I feel it will be the autumn of 2021 before most people have been vaccinated. Unfortunately, for the entertainment and hospitality industries I feel any events being planned before September may need to be rescheduled. But I will be happily proved wrong.

Christmas has certainly been a tame affair this year. No events have been allowed. So it's been a Christmas at home without even being able to have family over with us or visit them. At least we are safe and have not had the virus. I am very grateful for that and will accept the isolation to keep everyone safe.

The state of life has not changed since I last commented on it back in May. It's been a continuation and this New Years Eve many many people will be very glad to see the back of 2020. It certainly has been the year that was unlike any other in my lifetime.

Just a word about Christmas presents this year. I have received an Amazon Echo speaker and started a trial of Amazon Music Unlimited. Also got F1 2020, a videogame with a lot of content included in the package - unlike some of the other versions. I have not succumbed and bought a PS5, I shall wait on that front until next year some time.

My other main news that I haven't reported is that I have been volunteering for a local radio station for a few months now. This has at least been something of a distraction from the Covid-19.

Presidential Election 2020

The US presidential election happened on 3rd November. Incumbent President Trump to this date and to the best of my knowledge has still not conceded victory to president-elect Joe Biden. Well lets not forget that Hilary Clinton won the popular people's vote in the last election and Trump only got in due to the electoral college system. This time however, the electoral college system didn't vote in his favour and Joe Biden won more electoral college seats. These results have been certified. President Trump's pursuit of legal cases to change the results have not succeeded mainly because everyone else can see through them for what they are: "trumped up" is a very appropriate term under the circumstances. I don't know what trickery and machinations are left for Trump but I think he will do all he can to subvert the results, so it is not all over. In the meantime, he continues to be obstructive and only allow the cogs of government to conduct the most legally basic forms of transition. This is actually damaging the US and will affect the ability of Biden's government to get started tackling all of the many and extensive problems his administration will unfortunately inherit from the failure and frankly, the joke that has been the Trump presidency. Not least actually addressing the Covid-19 pandemic response instead of denying and obfuscating it.

Wrong Turn 6: The Last Resort

I have a note that I watched this film. That's it. That's all I can remember. It was a few weeks ago I know but really this was a film that made absolutely no lasting impression on me. I've just read a Wikipedia article about it and it vaguely sounds familiar but that's about all. Dredging now but I recall a few sparse details, there seem to be too many deaths to be really believable and they are too frequent. It's one of those films that I think are made for fans of a franchise who find something appealing in having more films in the franchise, however I personally wish that in these situations they would just stop producing more films. I read a few reviews that suggested it wasn't the worst in the franchise but just remember the bar is set pretty low.

Embrace of the vampire (2013)

 Pretty much as usual I started to watch this film with no expectations. I wasn't enthralled right from the get go due finding the acting pretty wooden. Sharon Hinnendael plays the central character called Charlotte and she is very pretty, so you'd imagine watching her should be a pleasure. However, in this mixed up movie that can't decide what it wants to be she is just under-utilised in a criminal way. The better scenes are where other girls in the university are bullying her but even these suck. I didn't enjoy this film much at all and I can't see why anybody would really, it certainly doesn't repay any time spent watching it. Not recommended, not even for fans of vampire films.

Beneath (2014)

 There are several films with this title, this one is directed by Ben Ketai. It concerns a young female student back home for a while to celebrate her father retiring from his job as a miner. Celebrations are going on in a bar with his workmates and in the banter it is suggested she is against workers being exploited. So, one thing leads to another and she is challenged to spend a few hours in the mine on her fathers last working day and she is only too happy to pick up the challenge.

So the next morning, hangover burning a hole in her head, she is taken down into the mine. She is given a shovel and has to shovel coal into a bin. While she is getting used to the work, at the mine head the drilling stops as the driller finds a hard bit of rock. He's encouraged to continue and breaks through into another tunnel but this causes a collapse and they become trapped down in the mine. Calling up to the surface determines it will take 72 hours to get down to rescue them. They have a metal cabin which provides fresh oxygen via tanks and can keep them alive when the air becomes toxic in the mine.

It turns out that there was a disaster in the past, where nineteen miner's lives were lost because they could not be rescued. So, things start to go supernatural now and something starts turning the men against each other. The young female student starts seeing weird things and the men are disappearing and getting killed in increasingly gruesome ways.

This film is a watchable B movie, if you are bored and have some time to spare.

Open House (2010)

 What was surprising about this film was that even though the plot was sort of ridiculous, the execution, acting and direction were of good quality. The fact that it was so well-made actually made up for holes in the story and it turned out to be a good thriller.

It concerns a woman who is trying to sell her house after the break-up of a relationship, I think with her husband but whether they are married or not I'm not sure. A man somehow gets in the house and traps her in a sort of crawl space between floors in the basement, handy since it has a door he can lock. He commits several murders with a knife and is joined by a woman. At first you might believe they are romantically involved but it turns out she is as murderous as he is, infact probably more so since he has to cover up after her murders. She seduces the woman's partner and kills him. Turns out that the killers are actually brother and sister.

The woman thinks the owner of the house has been killed but instead the man is keeping her downstairs and bringing her up during the day while his sister is out.

Murdering people is easy in this film, there are no police involved at all. No difficult questions and no detectives sniffing around. Despite they are occupying a house that is not theirs and on the property market. Someone from the company she works for leaves a message on her answerphone. The house cleaners turn up. The female owner tries to get rid of them, slipping a piece of paper into one of the cleaners hands that reads "call police". He reads this and recognises the situation and starts to ask his wife to leave but at this point the male murderer suspects something is wrong and kills both cleaners. He then beats the woman with his belt.

The female owner tries a different approach and tries to convince the man to leave his sister and run away with her. While they are upstairs discussing this, the sister unexpectedly comes back with the estate agent. The female hides in a wardrobe. The sister allows the estate agent to show her the house, she insists on seeing the bedrooms. While in the same bedroom as the female owner the sister tries to seduce the estate agent. The brother comes out of the bedroom and slashes the estate agents throat to the annoyance of his sister, she's concerned about blood seeping through the floorboards.

In the evening they invite guests over. People we've seen before who are friends of the owners. Well, it's not the type of house party I would want to go to, lets leave it there! Overall,this film shows that even with a script that has lots of holes in it, you can make a decent thriller.

Honeymoon (2014)

 A young newly wedded couple arrive at a remote house in the woods belonging to the girl's family. What can possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot actually but it is done bit by bit and the suspense really does build up well. I shared the man's frustration with not understanding why his wife was becoming more remote from him. This is another film that contains a good twist to the story. It's not what you think in the end and to be kept in suspense for the length of the film is a great achievement from the director Leigh Janiak whose first film this was. One of the stars (Rose Leslie) is in the hit TV series Game of Thrones. It was a lot better than the average film on the Horror Channel.

Road Games (2015)

 This film was quite an interesting take on a familiar theme. An Englishman hitch-hiking in France meets a young French woman and they hitch-hike together. A French house owner passerby stops and gives them a lift. At first it seemed as though the killer on the loose that's in the news is the Englishman. However, all is not as it seems. There are some good twists in the film that will keep you watching, I quite enjoyed this from a plot point of view, despite not particularly liking the actors involved.

The Possession of Michael King (2014)

I wasn't really sure what to make of this movie. A young man is spiritually lost, he has lost his wife and she believed in the supernatural world. He wants to prove there is nothing in it and chooses to make a film of his experiences trying to connect with the afterlife. He is a film maker by trade, so the film plays out in the style of found footage. A trope that is overdone in my opinion, especially in horror films.

So he visits a variety of fraudsters who make claims that they can summon demons or talk to the dead. After a few he starts to develop a ringing in his ears and strange things start to happen. His sidekick abandons the project, he doesn't like what is going on. It turns out that there is some entity trying to take charge of Michael.

This isn't an enjoyable film to watch, there are some unpleasant scenes (for example, he enters his sisters bedroom while she is sleeping and lifts the duvet to feel the top of her thighs) and I found it a bit on the long side. He does indeed seem to be possessed by the close of the film, so he got what he wanted I guess. I didn't like the character of Michael and that's quite important with a film like this. Perhaps others would like his character but I couldn't muster up any sympathy for him, if you go looking for trouble and then find it where you didn't expect to, more fool you.

Static (2012)

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It manages to keep its surprise until the end, at least it did for me. A couple are seeking to get over the death of a child and have moved out to the sticks. A young woman knocks their door one night claiming to have broken down and that there are a gang of people after her. They bring her into their home and the husband immediately trusts her but his wife is more suspicious. They do indeed see the people who are tying to find them in their home, they are wearing strange masks.
The twist in the story is the same as The Sixth Sense from 1999. This 2012 film didn't get very positive reviews when it was released but it's not a terrible film, its just not a classic either.

Grave Halloween (2013)

I watched this film in two parts and hoped the second part would be better than the first, it wasn't. It is set in a Japanese forest known locally as Suicide Forest for the sheer number of people who commit suicide there.

Some American students are making a documentary for one of them whose birth mother committed suicide in the forest. They meet up with some other American students who are also in the forest but seem to be there for a good old laugh. These jokers find an abandoned tent and find an expensive Rolex watch, that one of them takes hoping to sell and split the profits.

It doesn't end well for any of our students but the story and the journey to get to the end are not told in an interesting way. The make-up effects are pretty good but the dialogue and story are weak. It could have been a lot better because there is probably a more interesting way to tell the same story.

When A Stranger Calls (2006)

The Horror Channel has a season called Sunday Thrillers and this film was the one from last week. I wasn't going to watch it but in the end it was on TV and I just continued to watch it. I guess it says something about the film that I continued to watch but quite what that is I'm not sure. I did enjoy the performance by Camilla Belle who plays a young girl who is baby sitting for a wealthy couple who live in the middle of nowhere.

The film is a psychological thriller about her receiving a series of phone calls through the night that eventually transform into a very real physical threat to her life and the lives of the other inhabitants of the house. This is a remake of a film that I can't remember if I've seen. Is it better than the original? I don't know because I can't remember the original, the original is apparently famous for having a very scary first 20 minutes. Probably not the same class on show here but I thought Camilla's performance as the main character was strong.

Girl House (2014)

A female student who is struggling financially joins an online porn website called Girl House run from somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The USP of this place is that there are surveillance cameras all ove the house to watch the girls going about stuff around the house like playing pool and taking a shower.

She moves in and gets a chauffeur driven car to university lectures. At other times she performs striptease and chats to paying web guests. One of the paying guests is an obese man who seems to have some form of psychological damage due to being humiliated sexually by a couple of young girls during a flashback. He threw one of the girls who he had pushed off her bike over the edge of a bridge. Well, he forms an attachment to the new striptease girl and he shares his photo with her, the other girls in the house somehow find it and pin it to the noticeboard in the house with a nasty comment. Somehow he sees this and he sees red. He goes on the rampage and because he is into computers he is somehow able to tap into the cameras and find out the location. There is a sub-plot about another student at the same university who was in love with the girl from the past and now watches her and realises who she is.

This is a silly film but nonetheless it is quite enjoyable to watch. The porn is totally turned down for a polite audience, so I guess the film will appeal to a wide audience and not just men. There are plenty of gruesome murders, so if you like gore you'll probably like this.

The Apparition (2012)

This film was one that apparently bombed at the box office and I can see why, having barely watched it a few days ago there was nothing memorable about it I could remember. I needed to read the plot synopsis again on Wikipedia. The film ends in a camping section of Costco. Need I say more?
It's very loosely based on something called the Philip Experiment that was conducted in 1972 in Canada. That doesn't make it any better, by the way.
There are some nice looking actors in the film, Ashley Greene is the female lead. As a result of a séance conducted at a university several years before an entity has been let out from "the other side" and is haunting one of the students who took part. He lost his first girlfriend in the experiment. He now has a new girlfriend and they are moving into a house together. So thinks start happening around the house and a strange fungus appears. The new girlfriend finds a box of stuff belonging to the student and realises she might end up in the same fate. One of the students who conducted the experiemental séance originally gets back in touch (the actor who plays Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter) and they try to perform some kind of exorcism - with electronics involved, though frankly at this stage things were so ridiculous I was past caring.
Not a film I can recommend to you.

Deadline (2009)

This is one of those haunted house films that get made a lot. There is a hint of a lesbian relationship between the two female characters in this film but it is never made obvious. A writer who has gone through a mental trauma needs peace and quiet to finish a book. She starts to hear strange noises and gets caught up in watching DV tapes of the previous owner who was a man who got obsessed that his pregnant wife was cheating on him. It turns out that there are a lot of similarities between her and the previous owner's wife. Not a scary film really, I sort of lost interest during the film but stuck with it.

Devil May Call (2013)

This film was more interesting than I thought it was going to be. But that's not necessarily saying a lot! It's about a killer who calls a crisis hotline on a regular basis insisting he speaks to a specific handler. She happens to be a young female who is blind. The killer calls on a night when a male student is also visiting the centre to learn about the job. He listens in on the call. Unfortunately for the killer he has to hang up to kill a woman held hostage in his house who has escaped. He does this before the call handler can tell him she is leaving. He calls again in the night and one of the other call handlers accidentally lets it out that the one he prefers is leaving. He doesn't take it well and turns up at the centre and kills the security guard and receptionist and then attacks everyone remaining in the building, its the night staff so is quiet anyway. He takes the call handler he prefers back to his house, it's unclear what he intends to do. But things don't go exactly to his plan. It's obviously a low budget movie and was shot very quickly with a limited set of locations. I disliked the killer, maybe that was intentional. Some films have a baddie you can like but this one didn't. He didn't say much and has a very flat delivery. Not a movie I'd particularly recommend or want to watch again.

The Vatican Tapes (2015)

This film has a title that you think would mean the film is very memorable but that's not really the case. I was watching hoping it would get more interesting than it did. The plot involves a young American woman and how she becomes the anti-Christ. Yep, it's that silly. After a car accident that she seemingly caused herself by grabbing the steering wheel of the taxi she is in, she falls into a coma. Her father and boyfriend think they've lost her after 40 days and the life support is turned off but after a few seconds have lapsed she coughs and lo and behold she recovers! Except she is not as before. Crows start gathering outside on the ledge of her hospital room. She starts talking in an old language and can get people to do things that hurt themselves. A Roman Catholic priest believes she is possessed by the devil and tries to perform an exorcism but she's too far gone for saving. As she is stabbed with a blessed knife she disappears. Only to re-appear reborn with holes in her wrists and ankles as if she'd been crucified. All very silly but nicely set up for a sequel.
I watched this but didn't really enjoy it very much, I didn't feel any sympathy with any of the characters and didn't particularly believe Michael Peña's portrayal of a Catholic priest, since watching his appearance in the Ant Man films, I always expect him to say something funny. He has a face for comedy, not horror (sorry, Michael).

The Victim (2011)

This film stars Michael Biehn, who played John Carter in The Exterminator. He's much older in this film, 56 years old he states. Two girls are with two guys in the woods, they are good time girls.They want to party but one of the guys is a horrible man and kills one of the girls during sex. He calls his buddy and they panic, they decide to kill the other girl. She realises and has to run. She finds her way to a cabin somewhere else in the woods. It turns out to be Michael Biehn's place. He wants to be left  alone and doesn't want to help but she insists. He does believe the girl's story. Then they hear someone outside, it is the two guys. They say they are police looking for a female fugitive suspected of murder. He doesn't believe them and turns them away, not letting them in to his cabin.

It turns out that the murderer is next in line to be the county Sheriff. So not a great situation. It's a film that is well paced and quite short. It's a strange one in some ways because Michael Biehn wrote the screenplay, directed the film and his company produced it, the female co-star was one of the producers. It's a grindhouse film, I'll have to look up what that means. It was entertaining if not unpredictable.

The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

This film is one that I've heard the name of before but wouldn't have been able to picture what it was about. It's the story of a successful female fashion photographer who suddenly starts to see through the eyes of a murderer. It's a great premise for a film. The execution lets it down though. Faye Dunaway plays the part of the photographer, not very realistically I might add. Her eyes are pretty scary when the shot is a close-up. That's the only scary part however. The casting choices are strange, Tommy Lee Jones plays a detective that falls in love with the photographer. He sports a monobrow and it seems unbelievable that he would be attractive to the photographer. The fashion photographer takes provocative photographs of semi-naked female models. They are much more reminiscent of the kind of photos a man would take.

The plot is a bit of a convoluted one and I'm not really sure I understand it at all. I can't tell you why she was having these visions through the murderer's eyes though. Not a film I can easily recommend.

The Last Exorcism (2010)

A preacher from Baton Rouge in the US is followed by a small film crew as he describes how he uses his skills as an entertainer within the church. He doesn't himself believe in demons but he knows that the people being exorcised believe they are possessed so by putting on the theatre of "curing" them of their possession he hopes to be doing good. He knows that through use of some measures to exorcise demons some people have been killed such as through asphyxiation. The preacher believes his way is better but he is a bit jaded by it all. He opens a letter at random that is sent to him and it is a call for help, with all the usual traits of this kind of request. He is very cynical himself and exchanges knowing looks direct into the camera because he is aware of being filmed.
This time however it is different. He sets up his usual ritual and stages demon noises and bed shaking as he works and the girl seems to believe the demon is gone. But it does not work. She turns up out of the blue at his hotel on his way back home. She doesn't know how she got there but she then vomits and they take her to hospital They take her back home and discover she is pregnant, as a virgin they begin to suspect her father is involved. Then she admits that the father is a 17 year old boy who works at a local diner operating out next to a gas station. The preacher wants to pass this problem to a psychiatrist but the father is having none of it. So the preacher turns to the local Pastor for help. He goes into the village to speak to the local Pastor. The pastor agrees to visit the family despite having a falling out with the father where the father pulled his girl out of church school to be home taught. Everything seems well, so the preacher leaves with the film crew having the pastor and pastor's wife attending the family.
As they leave town they spot the local diner and go inside to check on the boy they believe to be the baby's father. It turns out he isn't the father and is actually gay, having met the girl only once and exchanged polite words. Instead of leaving it to be someone else's problem the preacher decides to turn around and go back to the farm. It's getting dark and the house is quiet with nobody home. They enter the house and are disturbed to find Satanic painting on all the walls but nobody is home. They are on the verge of leaving when they hear screams coming from the woods. They run towards the screams even though the two members of the film crew accompanying think it is a bad idea.

I won't spoil the ending but it ends rather predictably. Quite an entertaining film but not as scary as I thought it might have been. I liked the premise of it and thought it was well acted.

Chained (2012)

Chained is a film by Jennifer Lynch, shot in Canada. In the description made by the TV announcer I was led to believe it would be a film with an unpleasant subject handled in an exploitative way, like the Eli Roth SAW films. However, I would compare this more to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
Chained is the story of a young 9 year boy who is abducted with his mother by a serial killer who drives a yellow cab. At the start of the film we see the boys mother on the phone to her husband and he wants them to take a cab instead of the bus home for safety and security reasons.
The cab driver misses their intersection and the boy's mother starts to freak out understandably. A little bit unbelievably she can't get coverage on her phone to alert someone. She starts screaming and panicking and the driver pulls over and when he opens the door he is able to over-power her and punches her in the face knocking her out.
He pulls at his home (somewhere that has a lot of open land around it) and enters the garage. He drags the mother out of the car and leaves the boy. We hear her screams and see the boys terrified and frightened reaction. When he returns to the boy, the boy asks for his mummy and is told she is gone and is never coming back. He asks if the boy has a name and calls him Rabbit. He also says he expects no sound from the boy and the boy to wash and clean the house and eat only what is left over from the man's plate. The boy is left alone and tries to escape but the man is outside, the boy is knocked unconscious and when he wakes finds he has a shackled ankle inside the house.
The man brings girls home and rapes then kills them. The boy has to clean up the room afterwards and bury the bodies in the cellar of the house. We don't see much as the viewer but we're not left with any doubt about what happens. Identity cards of lots of girls are kept in a box and the man wants Rabbit to cut out the news stories of missing girls from the newspaper and stick them in a scrapbook.
As I said, the subject matter is dark. The boy becomes a teenager, still held in captivity. We see the man have some nightmares. His father was abusive. We also hear him describe all women as whores and sluts. He holds women in contempt. We see him as a cab driver one day when an older man and his son get in the cab, whatever has happened we don't know but the man is verbally unpleasant to his son. This brings back the memories for the man.
Later in the film, he wants Rabbit to choose a victim from a school yearbook. He tells the boy his view of the world will be different once he loses his virginity. He also gives the boy books to study, they are about the human body. Rabbit doesn't want to pick a girl from the book but is eventually forced to.
I won't spoil the rest of the film, there is a good twist to the story at the end. It didn't end in quite the way I thought it would.

I was expecting an unpleasant film that I would never want to watch again but instead I thought it was an interesting and unusual take on the subject of serial killers. It didn't feel exploitative while watching. I could recommend this film, it's not a horror film per se and I'd say was more of a psychological thriller. The acting is pretty good too.

Seed of Chucky (2004)

This is the fifth film in the Child's Play franchise and the first (I think) that I've watched all the way through. The main character of this film is the offspring of Chucky and Tiffany. Their  "child" is called Glen/Glenda and the real gender is not really identified in the film. This is supposed to be comedy horror and their are a few laughs but they're not very funny. It's a better film than I was expecting but my expectations were very low to begin with. The plot is poor and since the main characters are dolls their expressions don't really change much. Some of the acting is pretty dire but that is part of the black humour. Good comedy horror should be scary and funny. This just doesn't pass either bar so I couldn't recommend it, those who've watched and enjoyed other films in the franchise will probably love it.

Banshee Chapter (2013)

I think I’ve seen this film before just maybe not the whole way through. This time I did watch the whole way and enjoyed it. It’s based on experiments carried out on US citizens, off the record trials that had disturbing effects on the individuals in the study. A reporter’s friend tracks down a vial of a chemical used in these experiments and starts to write a book, he’s also sent a video tape of the experiments. It seems the chemical opens some kind of portal for aliens to enter. Or if not aliens, some kind of supernatural entity. It is visualised with the individuals face contorted with entirely black eyes. The friend disappears and  the reporter goes looking for him. She watches the videotape and pieces together the story. She eventually tracks down the source of the chemical, which turns out to be an author. He’s a great character, somewhat William S Burroughs like in nature. It’s an entertaining yarn, there are some holes in the plot and not everything works but the pace is good and its an interesting story.

Lockdown rules for all?

So we learn that during the height of lockdown that one of the most senior members of the government's advisory staff took it upon himself to drive over 200 miles away from home with his family. This while the rest of the public were expected to respect the lockdown and stay away from the funerals of those they love. It is very disappointing behaviour and rather than flocking to defend Dominic Cummings the Prime Minister should have the decency to realise he has to make fair decisions for all. Quite why the rules should be bent for Dominic Cummings and not for everybody beggars belief. But that's not the only thing that beggars belief about this government. I saw the coverage of him leaving the house this morning and a right bag of rags he looked. Okay, so it was very intrusive to have the press outside your home but WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

Witchfinder General (1968)

Strange that this film seems so tame today given it was heavily censored at the time it was first released and was regarded by some as morally bankrupt. There are some scenes that imply gratuitous violence and rape but you don’t see this. If it were made today it would be a lot worse. The lead role is played by Vincent Price, he plays the character Matthew Hopkins. A sadist really, self appointed witch finder for parliament during the English civil war.
A vicar is tortured and his daughter offers herself to Matthew Hopkins to prevent even worse torture. She is betrothed to a soldier (played by Ian Ogilvy who would later play The Saint in The Return Of The Saint in the 1970s) who returns to her village and swears revenge on Hopkins. Lots of horse riding scenes follow. He does eventually catch up with Hopkins in a town in East Anglia. No happy ending in this film, one of the reasons its regarded as a horror rather than a historical film. It’s definitely worth a watch for a Vincent Price performance if nothing else but Hilary Dwyer the vicar’s daughter also turns out a good performance.

New mobile phone

The last time I upgraded my phone was in November 2016, I've had an Android phone since November 2014 and have stayed with Android for my new phone. My wife needed to change her phone first and we got her a Samsung A40. She had been living with that for a few weeks and I was considering different phones but I was so impressed with hers that I got myself one. I think it is good value for money and the screen is very good (it has an AMOLED screen). It's slightly smaller than my Moto G4 was but it fits better in my hand and is not so uncomfortable in the pocket of my jeans. The screen is still big enough even if it is smaller. The cameras are good, better than my previous model, and camera phone cameras are all pretty good these days I have to say. I've had it a couple of weeks and am very happy with it.

Eurovision non-event

Last Saturday would have been the Eurovision Song Contest but instead they just broadcast a show playing the songs that would have been appearing. I didn't watch it. I watch Eurovision for the voting part mainly. Last weekends show held no interest for me at all.
This weekend the strict lockdown has been unwound slightly, with the ability to enjoy picnics in parks and other spaces provided we keep socially distant. I can't see this being very successful as some age groups seem to believe they are immune.
Also, what has annoyed me this week is that now more people can go out, the litter on our local park has started up again, it's disgraceful to see cans and bottles on the ground. Pick it up and take it home with you. It's not much to ask is it?

House (1986)

This film was billed as a comedy horror. A Vietnam vet and author called Roger Cobb is living alone, having divorced his wife. His son went missing a while ago and he is still trying to come to terms with life. His aunt hangs herself in an old house she lived in and Roger decides to move in there. He soon finds that the house has a secret and that monsters live there. He has a nosy neighbour who tries to help Roger through a bizarre sequence when he shoots his ex wife, rescues a neighbours son from a monster and survives a drop into the darkness from his bathroom cabinet. In this place he finds his son and brings him back and the film ends with his ex-wife arriving and Roger looking pleased with himself.
Neither comedy or horror, this film falls flat on its face in a place it is difficult to come back from, rather like the character's son. I would avoid this unless you like special effects that are not CGI based. There are some monsters in the film but they move awkwardly and slowly and are not all that scary.

I Spit On Your Grave 3: Vengeance is mine (2015)

This film is the third instalment of a remake from the first film of the same name made originally in 1978, which I confess I haven't seen. I don't enjoy watching rape and revenge films and only sat through this because it was a horror channel film. The acting is not bad, Sarah butler is quite good, but the plot is pretty dreadful. The victim Jennifer Hills from the first films is living under a different name and working in an office job. She is attending group counselling evening classes for victims of assault. She makes friends with another woman there called Marla and they bond over their hatred of males.
Led by Marla, the two follow the abusive father of one of the teenage girls attending the group and attack him to scare him off from raping the teenager. Marla is later killed, the suspect is her abusive ex-boyfriend. Frustrated that the prosecution failed to find him guilty our main character Jennifer lures, attacks and kills him herself. In the counselling group she learns that the abusive father is abusing again and she lures him also. She hammers a metal pipe up his arse, killing him. Throughout the film she has daydreams of murdering people, we see these visualised for the pleasure of the gore.
The film has quite a strange ending in my opinion but I won't spoil it here. I think you probably know what you're in for if you watch this film and while not terrible, I don't think it is very recommendable.

Mental health under the coronavirus lockdown

There are some aspects of the lockdown that are pleasant. The return of animals moving into habitats that are no longer massively frequented by humans. The air quality over lots of cities has improved. The much lower levels of road traffic. The quietness of weekend mornings especially but mornings in general are quieter.
Then there are aspects that are unpleasant. Shopping for groceries is stressful to me. I hate it. I know I am exaggerating here but it feels almost like airport security. Stress. So I go as little as possible but with a family to feed one of us has to go once a week at least, if just to buy milk, bread and teabags.
Not going out so much means we are closer as a family than before the lockdown but this has brought with it some difficulties of its own. There are times when we get on each others nerves. I think it must be especially difficult for those who are living with abusive partners. Man, that's got to be tough.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his partner have a baby boy now, born last weekend. In some ways that's brighter news for the whole country.
It has also been a week in which President Donald Trump suggested that disinfectant be injected into the blood to cure coronavirus and that also the virus doesn't like light, so bringing a dose of light into the body should be investigated. These are things that anyone might ponder in private or ask the professionals about however, you just don't do these things in a press conference watched by millions of Americans and the rest of the world. Of course its not the first time he has spouted off about the benefits of unproven treatments, while at the same time let's not forget he has cut WHO funding from the USA. The man is an absolute tool! And yet, even though the video footage is clear, what we get told is that his words are taken out of context. His words were just sarcasm to see how the negative press would report him. So the next day he leaves the press conference without taking any questions. He describes any challenge from the press as fake news. He does not like to be challenged by the press but excuse me have I missed something or isn't that their job? He'd rather hide behind his Twitter account and bully and snipe at people. He's a shockingly bad president. I just hope that the Americans can see him for what he is. He complains about fake news, well here's news: he's a fake president!

Easter under lockdown

It's Easter Monday now, the fourth and final day of the Easter holidays. I have started playing Skyrim, learned how to use Frequency Separation in Affinity Photo, edited some photos from a photo shoot that I thought were beyond salvage and reclaimed them. I have spent time outdoors in the garden, mowed the lawn, eaten meals outside with my family and completed the reading of a book. Prior to the Easter break the fear was that the general public would not heed the government's warning about lockdown but it turns out that the vast majority has heeded the government's warnings and has stayed home. Last Sunday I was shocked to hear that Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital and I was even more shocked when the day after we were told he was in the Intensive Care Unit. At that time I couldn't imagine what the outcome would be but I'm glad to know that he has now been released from hospital: must have been a very unsettling time for him and his partner/family. The country needs Boris, I didn't think I'd ever hear myself say this but it does.

Getting used to the new reality

So, after nearly a week of the so called Lockdown Measures the UK is more of less complying but it will be 2-3 weeks before we know the extent of the effect this is having. I am fairly impressed at the moment of the response of the British in general. Supermarkets are limiting people in stores and people in queues outside are keeping to 2m apart. The staff are providing sprays to wipe down trolleys and baskets and in some larger stores there is a routing system to follow once you are indoors.
All of this is SO STRANGE. It’s like waking up in the middle of a nightmare and realising it’s life now and not fiction. All of my colleagues work from home now, I used to work form home 3 days a week, that was too long but the whole time working from home is just bizarre.
I can’t even think about the end of this because there is so much we must all do before we get to the end of it. Only by keeping on acting responsibly like we have been will we beat this horrid disease.
I am VERY GLAD not to be living in America now. Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister has tested positive for the virus and I wish him a speedy recovery. President Trump just this weekend has not signed off quarantine of New York. When challenged about America having now the largest number of infections even after China, he said it was testament to the rapid and large scale testing efforts being extended. Well, its not just about the testing. The reason for not quarantining New York, where the virus seems to be out of control? Economics. I don’t think families of victims who die will appreciate that view at all. It shows a blatant disregard for human life. Did he close stores except for essential supplies? Nope. He allowed gun stores to remain open. This is stupid. People buying guns is not going to help the situation. That’s just common sense I’m afraid, something that President Trump does not have a monopoly on, although he would say he does if you asked him. A reporter asked him a question about scared Americans and instead of answering the question or providing reassurance what did Trump do? He took offence at the reporter asking the question and said to the world that the man was a terrible reporter. This is the way Trump behaves. Like a sore loser. Like a spoiled brat. He definitely is NOT the adult in a situation. So for these reasons I’m glad I don’t live in America. Wonderful country although it is, it’s not for me under the helm of such a tyrant.

Coronavirus COVID-19

The third week of March 2020 has seen the government take increasingly drastic measures to suppress the COVID-19 virus from transmitting person to person amongst the general population. Measures have gone from advice to ordering people to avoid social gatherings and the pub and restaurants, travel only when necessary on public transport and to work from home where possible. Schools are closed now until further notice except for the children of keyworkers and those who are classed as vulnerable. While the majority who get the disease will get it in a mild form, not everyone will. This is the dangerous thing and those who have less ability to get over it will succumb and go downhill rapidly.
These orders have increased the sense of panic in the population and shoppers are stripping the supermarkets of food and other essentials.  I couldn't even buy bread on Tuesday night, even before the more stringent orders were issued. It is market day today in town and the fruit and vegetable stall had long queues either side of it. I've never seen it like this in my lifetime.

Day off

Had the day off today. Had a very nice walk with my puppy in the local woods, this morning it was cold but sunny. Great weather for dog walking. This afternoon less so but I walked between 2-3pm and the rain didn't start until after 3, so I timed that right.
This coronavirus is a worry. My son needs some hand sanitiser for a school trip in April and we can't get any anywhere. Well, that's not quite true, we did find some in Aldi but some people don't think it is good enough. The information is a bit unclear on what will be ok and what won't, the % of alcohol content in the gel I mean.
Well the good news is that I am now the proud owner of a Canon 7D camera. I had to trade in my other cameras in to buy it though. Ah well, I will use it more than those. I still have a Panasonic Lumix, a Nikon and now a Canon. I also have a Fuji bridge camera.

Week off

I have the week off. The weather has been pretty dreary for weeks now and this weekend is no exception with Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis battering the UK with wind and rain. In some parts of the country there are red weather warnings meaning there is a danger to life.
I have to plan what I'm going to get up to this week. I would really like to acquire a camera but in order to do that I may need to sell some equipment I've already bought. I'm interested in getting hold of a Canon 7D or Canon 70D, either would be great. Just can't afford one at the moment.

Caroline Flack

Looks like another celebrity suicide hits the headlines, this time the sad news that Caroline Flack is dead. Lots of other celebrities are referenced in the news stories, making comments on Twitter and other social platforms, about her. Shame that she felt she had to escape by taking her own life at age 40. A tragedy really that it should come to that. Being a star you might imagine that she has people around her all the time, calling her and talking to her. She was in court recently over an apparent domestic with her boyfriend. I'm sure that the stress that must have involved was playing its part in her mental wellbeing. I wished that mental health was given more time and money in this country. I think a lot of people are left to struggle without the help they need when they need it. It's not good enough.

The Bridge (starting 2011-)

As the days are short and the nights are long, what better way to pass the time than with watching some Scandi-noir! That's why my wife and I have been enjoying the TV series called The Bridge. The one we're watching is I think the original with English subtitles and the audio in Swedish and Danish - well I can't be sure about that as I speak neither. There are 4 series of this that I have watched and enjoyed. The central character is Saga Norén, a detective with the Malmo police in Sweden. Over the course of the 4 series we see her with 2 main partners, Martin and Henrik.
The Bridge in the series is the Øresund bridge that spans between the 2 Scandinavian cities Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmo (Sweden). Saga's partners are both Danish detectives and during the course of the series we see some of the relations between the detective's superiors.
What is interesting is that Saga continues to fight crime with a form of autism that means she doesn't empathize at all with victims or suspects, she is also working out how she has relationships involving more than just sex. She has a somewhat liberated attitude to sex I'd say. Seeing her grapple with how a partner can provide more than just the regular availability of sex is quite amusing. Despite being a serious crime story the personal stories of the characters involved is what makes the series special. Saga also has a past with her sister committing suicide at 14 and a mother with undiagnosed Munchhausen Syndrome. Martin is unfaithful to his wife and has a son from a first marriage and children from his current wife who is pregnant again. Henrik is haunted by his wife and children who disappeared 7 years ago and haven't been found. He asks Saga to help him find them off to the side of their normal cases.
So during the course of the different series there is a lot going on. The plots are intricate and somewhat confusing in some cases but as each series goes on then more and more is revealed, so the viewer is kept interested. At least I was! So, in my view this is a great series and definitely worth seeing if you like Scandi-noir style stories.

Saga and Martin

Saga with Henrik

Happy New Year 2020!

It is January 1st 2020. The start of a new decade. It sounds so futuristic to type 2020, easy to type. This blog has been going for 15 years now, albeit with a pause over the last few months of 2019. Life has been a little bit hectic with work and concentrating on photography and simply trying to relax and not worry so much about time passing but enjoying the moment. We have been living with a new family member since the 10th December, a puppy. The pup is a pedigree Hungarian Vizsla, a beautiful dog with a short brown coat and thin floppy ears. Quite big and strong.
So, in terms of plans for 2020:
Reading challenge - I have done this for the last few years and will continue with it again this year. I have read more this year due to buying a new kindle paperwhite prior to the cruise we went on.
Photography - I have spent the last couple of years developing my understanding of the basics. I would like to do more advanced things and be more creative. I have photographed models and formed a friendship with a cosplayer and would like to keep on branching out in portraiture.
Physical activity - in February 2019 we joined a gym and have been attending regularly, albeit with a pause in December. Over the last 3 weeks I have gained some weight I want to lose and now we have the pup I want to start getting out and about with him and the family.
Film & TV - I would like to complete watching things I start and watch more of the things I know I like, actually enjoy the time watching things rather than seeing it as time lost.
Videogaming - rather like my TV viewing, I would like to use the time playing games to play ones I enjoy and give a better experience.
Music - I think 2019 was good for music, I expanded the bands I listen to and bought a number of new albums. I know that new Nightwish and Delain albums are due out this year. I hope there will be a new Arch Enemy album out this year also but I haven’t heard this is planned.
Holiday - we have a cruise booked for the summer. It’s a 2 week adventure in the Mediterranean and should be a highlight of the year. One experience I haven’t blogged about was a trip to Bergen in Norway I did for work. It was a good experience and I would like to use some leave to visit another country with my wife.

That’s the first post of this year completed. Have a great 2020!!!!