The Sunday Supdate: 08/01/12

Like a newsletter, but with less effort.

Happy New Year everybody, and welcome to the first Supdate of 2012, where I'll be implanting mostly useless knowledge into your heads. First on this weeks agenda is concerning a certain promise I made a while back:

Short Film Sadness...
In the last Supdate I mentioned the Short Film I'd been working on at school, entitled Facehook. While I can confirm that post-production on the epic mini has indeed wrapped, something else has unfortunately come to light. Due to certain "Plagiarism" rules in the exam board, the film can't be posted online until after it's been officially marked. So despite my best wishes, you're just going to have to wait until this June to witness what critics are already hailing as "a masterpiece". At least this way it'll have a "Summer Blockbuster" vibe going for it...

Expanding The Empire
In a desperate attempt to stay current, I finally gave in and created a Facebook Page for the blog. Complete with a tacky, Microsoft Paint-created profile picture, the page now enables you to "Like" me (because liking in the real world counts for nothing these days) and be treated with all the latest posts and whatnot via that feed. Here it is here if you failed to take the other link hints. That's right, just click here. I won't bite. Promise.
 Likes are very much appreciated, thank you!

     I've also been thinking about a couple more feature-type things to get started, especially after the amount of fun I had with the beat-boxing, vocal thingy I did. A couple of helpful "How To" articles too, perhaps? And maybe some more Single Epsiode reviews of shows, like last week's Sherlock episode that I looked at. The Podcast project has also taken another step toward actually, maybe, kind of, hopefully happening, especially after all the research I've done by listening to the awesome podcasts over at the Nerdist Network. Template: found. And maybe once all these blasted exams I'm having to work for this month, I'll be able to do some more networking.

Nearly 1 Year Old
Tomorrow (9th January 2012) marks the first birthday for the blog. I'll be celebrating in numerous ways, such as:

• Doing a post about it (obviously).
• Revising for exams.
• Giving away a free DVD boxset in the anniversary giveaway I'm going to set up.
• Drinking a lot. Mostly tea. I am British (and 15) after all.
• Sleeping.
• Making a blanket-fort.

Hey, can't blame a guy for wanting to party, am I right? Especially if Magnitude turns up:



Catch ya later.

ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 11/12/2011

Ah, Supdate, your aroma is but a distant memory of my past - one which has long since drifted from the metaphorical air, only to be cast down unto us once more. Not since October have you poked your head out from underneath the mass of reviews, news and awesome, and so I call upon you once more! You know, to talk and stuff...

But What To Talk About?
Well, now that's a tricky one. How about all the reviews I've done recently? Pretty hectic, seeing as things on the critical front had slowed substantially. Now I'm whacking out the TV RE:Views (Community S1 incoming!) like it's nobody's business. Except it is... A lot of people's actually. Maybe even mine someday! Anyway, so that's cool. Also: 9000 hits! Squeee!

Are You  Mocking Me?
Last week was pretty bombed out due to my Mock GCSE exams. Word from the wise: they're not fun. What's even less fun though is the fact that I have real ones after Christmas; literally the second week of January. What's up with that?! That means that precious week off that I have after Christmas will be spent revising... Bleh.

Wait, Did You Say Christmas?
Oh right, amid my ranting there was mention of the "Most Wonderful Time of The Year". Of course, Christmas is around the corner, so perhaps I'll do a couple Christmas posts before the big day. I have no idea what I'll talk about, but you'll have to wait and see. Other than that, Christmas-wise, I'll try and post some stuff about my own i.e. what I got, what I'm going to do with what I got and why you should get what I got too. Plus I'll capture Santa for an interview, and hold a live blog-auction (blauction?) for his reindeer and sleigh.

Isn't That Guy From Scrubs in a Play Soon?
So here's something pretty awesome: Zach Braff (yeah, that guy from Scrubs) has written his own play, "All New People", which ran on Broadway earlier this year and is now coming to London in 2012. The best part: Zach's going to be starring in it (he didn't in New York) and I've got second row seats! The even bester part is that after the show, I'll be hanging around stage door to procure a picture with JD himself. I'm not sure whether I'm more excited for the show, or the chance to get a photo with him... Hell, I may even ask to "Eagle" with him. Disclaimer: Not Sexual.


A Short Film, You Say?
Over the past 6 months in my Media class, a group of friends and I have been making our own short film. It's called "Facehook" (play on words = win), and it's a friendly tale of how paedophiles exploit social networking sites for their "Immoral Pleasures".  No, I'm not kidding. Dark, a little twisted and slightly unsettling, you can expect a masterful piece of film, from a talented cast and crew of 15 year olds. I acted as more of the writer (duh)/director/editor guy, (as my vlogs have more than proven that the screen is not where I belong), and you can expect to appear here before the year is out. That is, of course, as long as I manage to upload it from DVD. Just don't expect an Oscar winning piece (not yet anyway).  Fingers crossed for no copyright infringement! *cough*TheSocialNetworkSoundtrack*cough*

You Done?
That just about raps it up here, so to sing us out is OneRepublic, with their new Christmas song, "Christmas Without You". Available for download now, folks:

ATR




Hey, Wait! What's This?

Shhhhh... Spoilers...

The Sunday Supdate: 09/10/11

It's been a while since we last caught up, and so a steady amount of talking points has arisen for tonight's agenda. So sit back, relax and enjoy the nonchalant show. It all began with the 3 P's...

Publicity!
Regular visitors should easily recall my recent posts regarding and praising the new web series, Husbands. And they aren't the only ones... Writer Jane Espenson and actor of the show, Cheeks, have both shown a huge amount of acknowledgement for me, with ReTweets and links (also via Twitter). I was even put on the Husbands Press page, with a quoted excerpt from my RE:Commend! And you know what? Recognition rules! +5 Fame!

Podcast?

It would seem I'm becoming quite the internet media addict, and as such have decided to possibly extend my medium. Hot on the heels of my "famously successful" (read: crashed and burned) Vlogging experiment, the Dude Meister Podcast could bring something new to the table. I think the problem with the Vlogs was that I wasn't entirely comfortable with myself on the screen - I didn't really feel I could be myself. Take out the image and you've got just my voice, which could inspire confidence and fluidity when I'm only to be judged by ear alone.

   I could talk about movies and TV, games and books - basically geek culture in general. Guest co-hosts would be downright awesome, although probably currently limited to immediate friends and family... Interviews would be nice, hard to secure, but nice. Hell, I could even throw in some transitions of my own composition. Weekly most likely, and a while yet. I don't want to hype it up any more than that though, in fear of eating my words, choking violently on them, and then hocking them up in a great sticky mess, staining the metaphorical carpet with splashes that are still lingering months after... So I'll leave it there. Stayed tuned.

Patrick.
These quotes at the top aren't for nothing you know, so please take the time tor read them. The past couple have been courtesy, as it states, of Fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss. Now this guy is relatively new to me - I hadn't even heard the name until a few weeks back. He is the writer of The Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy of books and the first, The Name of The Wind, has been preoccupying my life for the past fortnight. Now with only 20 pages left of the 662 page epic, I'd just like to savour it with this section. INCREDIBLE. I'd go as far to say that this was one of, if not the, best book of my life. I'll drop the RE:View sometime this week, but I'm a little anxious as to whether I am worthy enough...

RIP Brian Jacques
On the subject of books, I discovered some upsetting news recently. Acclaimed British author, Brian Jacques, passed away at the age of 71 on February 5th this year. Now Jacques was the man behind best-selling series, Redwall - the series that dominated my childhood experiences of reading. To date, I have 18 Redwall titles sitting on my shelves upstairs, the majority proudly cracked with creased spines and folded pages. The tales of the creatures of Redwall (woodland-type animals) and their epic battles with the evil vermin would keep me entertained for years, frequently taking a torch to bed for some late night stealth reads.
 
   To say this was what got me into the fantasy genre in the first place is a huge understatement. So the (belated) news that their creator was dead was quite emotional for me. Even though it's been a few years since I last picked one up, I've got the greatest amount of respect for this man and his series - so much so that after reading the news (and I am in no way ashamed of this), I threw on some emotional music via iPod (violins and everything!) and sat, at my bookshelf, gently grazing through the pages: smelling the finely peeled paper, feeling their weight and getting hit by a warm wave of hard nostalgia that ran right down to my heart. I won't lie; I welled. But that's me. A soppy, reminiscentful type of guy. Long live Redwall. Long live Brian Jacques' legacy.

Brian Jacques
1939-2011

And on that heartfelt note, I will make my exit. Thanks for reading and thanks for being.

ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 18/09/11

So... this happened:

Yep. That's me. Dancing. Ridiculously. With my Sister.
Her dance presentation evening. Roughly 50 people. Fun Pairs Competition.
Got my groove on. 4th place. Trophy.
That's just how I roll.


Back In The Saddle
Earlier today I posted my review of 30 Minutes or Less, and contrary to popular belief, I was kind of dreading it before hand. I hadn't written a review in almost 2 months, and so such anxiousness was expected. Could I write it well enough, could I be bothered, was it worth it etcetera, etcetera. In the end I did it. Just sat down, pulled my finger(s) out and got on with it. And I enjoyed it. I had a blast typing through it and weaving my words together into a sensible pattern of reading. I'm pretty happy with the finished result and hopefully you are too.

Seriously, That's All You Have To Say?
Pretty much. Come on, surely the video's worth a bunch? Just loop it or something, to kill some time. Oh and help me out by voting on the poll. Thanks. Catch ya later.
ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 11/09/11

Wassup home dogs!? Would you like me to start over in a less douchey way? Well touch luck, cause I'm sticking with it! Late night Sunday = tired blogger = rough post (?), so try to stick with me for this.

In Remembrance
We all know what the date at the top says and we all know it's been 10 years. That fateful day of heartache and destruction, immortalised by this haunting date. So let's all spare a thought to those who lost loved ones and have since as a result of the tragic events that took place that day. When people say it was one of those "where were you?" moments, they're really not wrong. Even me, as a 5 year old can remember my Dad's urgency to get home after picking me up from school, and then seeing all this stuff on the TV. It was as if an image of two burning towers had been etched into every screen for the next few weeks. And then being there, in New York itself a couple years ago, I could still sense this feeling of tragedy around the Ground Zero site, despite the fact it was mostly blocked off for construction purposes. RIP Victims and Heroes of 9/11.

A Photo of Epic Proportions (and Questions?)
Anyone on Twitter earlier today may have noticed a whole load of Nerdgasm coming from one image tweeted by Nathan Fillion:

For those not in the know, that's (from left to right) Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Serenity), Felicia Day (The Guild), Simon Pegg (Shaun of The Dead, Paul), Edgar Wright (Writer/Director of Shaun, Hot Fuzz) and Anthony Head (Buffy, Merlin, Little Britain). And they're in Joss-Freakin'-Whedon's house! So much awesome in one place!

     It's no surprise then that my head (along with many others out there) has been buzzing about what this meet up could mean. My theory? Well, Edgar Wright has recently finished writing the script (along with Attack The Block creator, Joe Cornish) for a movie adaptation of Marvel hero, Ant Man. This links into the rumours that Nathan Fillion could be the one to play him (YES PLEASE), and that Joss is writing and directing The Avengers, another Marvel property. So, could this be a meeting to discuss plans on working Ant-Man into the Marvel Cinematic continuity, with possibly the other actors involved. Pegg as villain, perhaps?

Or maybe something else from the many Whedon properties? Dr Horrible related? Buffy? Dare I say, Firefly!? Or something new entirely? If it was any of these, I don't think I'd really care what because the thought of seeing all these guys working together makes my head explode. Fillion and Pegg, two of my favourite actors teamed up with Wright and Whedon, two of my favourite writers/directors, with some Felicia thrown in: I don't think I could take the amount of happiness that it would fill me with.

  But this kind of wild speculation always gets me kind of depressed when it turns out not to be nought but that. So for now let's just assume that it's a bunch of Hollywood (and Geekdom) A-listers hanging out together just for the sake of awesomeness. (Ah but come on, that "Shhh" expression from Edgar's gotta count for something?) Still the sweetest thing I saw today!

School's Back

Of course, this being September, the old school routine had kicked back in and is live and swinging. Final year of secondary school, GCSE's and all that. Big year ahead, or so I've heard (from pretty much EVERYONE). Will it all affect the blog? Hopefully not, if I can effectively maximise my time management (working on it!) then we may see a rise in some enjoyable writing. RE:Views incoming, and maybe a new "RE:Commend" section, devoted to suggesting some great things in life. Be it a TV show, book series, food, activities, websites or whatever, RE:Commend could be like a mini review feature, minus all the hard hitting critique, and a place with me just trying to introduce you to something I believe is awesome. Cool beans, eh?

So until next time, my intrepid viewers. Stay safe, stay smart, stay reading and most importantly, stay awesome. Over and Snout.

ATR

         More Marvel              More Supdates    

The Sunday Supdate: 04/09/11

Because I'm a true believer in structure, I've decided to break Supdates up into relevant sections. Nothing major, just helps with the flow of transitioning into new topics and what not. So dive in!

Worst Summer Ever?
As school begins to leer its head once more, further devouring the fading light that was the Summer break, you can't help but reflect on what you've done these past 6 weeks. Maybe you went on holiday, somewhere grand and beautiful and relaxing, maybe you did an amazing thing or met amazing people, doing things you wanted and needed to do, or maybe you just spent 3 fortnights sitting on your arse doing naff all.

   Unfortunately, I fall into this latter category. Yep, almost 42 days and nothing to show for it. In fact, I could probably teach a crash course in procrastinating and laziness after this. I wanted to blog a lot this Summer, but instead only pushed a mere 3 pieces in August, a laughable amount considered to the previous month. Distractions take over and before you know, I'm here. Oh and a tip: don't make big "To-Do" lists, it just makes you more depressed when you look back and see NOTHING crossed off. But I digress. Besides that wasn't the only reason that this has been a somewhat lacklustre Summer, because as usual the Great British weather decided to be a douche and treat us like a soggy slice of towel roll... It's not a perfect simile...

Writer's Block and A Little Inspiration

Thanks Felicia!

Like I've said, articles (and my writing in general) have become... constipated, to put it into context. They just don't want to shift out of my head and onto the page/screen. So after 5-ish weeks of that I read this: http://feliciaday.com/blog/how-i-started-writing - a great piece from The Guild (an awesome webshow) creator, Felicia Day. Turns out, she too used to just sit on her bum and think about writing things, rather than getting up and doing them. She even used to be a World Of Warcraft addict, spending hours of her time a day on the game (which actually gave her inspiration for The Guild). Anyway, the short article gives her tips on how she embraced her creativity and took hold of her writing prospects, through various books, websites and exercises. Definitely check it out if your having trouble with any creative projects, because it really inspired me and gave a lot of hope to a shrivelled dream. Also try ZenHabits.net, another great blog full of helpful hints on how to prioritize, organize and get through life that little bit better. It really is shame I didn't discover all this cool stuff at the start of the holidays.

The Awesomeness of The Guild
So while we're still on the topic of Felicia here, I'd like to talk to y'all about her aforementioned web series, The Guild: focusing around a group of MMO players as they try to juggle their totally unimportant real lives around their much loved (and addictive) RPG. Funny as hell, and littered with awesome references to video game culture, The Guild's an incredibly satisfying series, chock-full of laugh out loud moments and a rich, varied cast of hilarious characters.


   You can catch up with it from the very beginning now, for free, over at watchtheguild.com, or on their YouTube channel! Also, if you happen to have Xbox Live you can find seasons 3-5 all in great quality on the Zune marketplace for free too, and episodes appear there first exclusively, every Tuesday (the latest was insane, due a very awesome special guest cameo). So long live The Guild: The show about gamers, for gamers, by gamers! Here's the crazy-hilarious Bollywood style music video from the "Guildies" themselves:

Enjoy! And I'll catch you all on the flipside.


The flipside being sometime this week.

Hopefully.

Arnie is Out.
ATR
Follow Me: @DMeisterTweets

The Sunday Supdate: 21/08/11

So I've been away for some time now, and while I could just easily write it off to you as me being on holiday or something, I won't because that would be lying. And you know what they say about liars... "That they will burn in a special kind of hell reserved for child molesters and people who talk in the cinema?" Uh, no I was more referring to - you know what, it doesn't matter... So no, I haven't been training with monks in the Himalayas or assembling a team of the greatest bloggers ever known or playing Volleyball in Tanzania with Rolf Harris or even hunting down Nazi sympathisers in Finland. However, if you really want to know why I haven't been blogging lately, then you can watch this rather pointless vlog I attempted yesterday, in which I murder myself. Or if you don't want to know, save us both the embarrassment and skip past this 3 and a half minute video of awkward silences and gargantuanated "Uhm"'s.

 
It's funny, whenever I have a great month of hits (>1000), the next is always a rapid decline. Perhaps I have this subconscious fear of not reaching there by trying, so I just naturally shy away. I should really stop paying so much attention to the Stats really, and that might stop this autonomous cycle.

Alright, enough about me, here are some new (I use that term loosely) movie stills:
SORT OF SPOILERS AHEAD... BUT NOTHING MAJOR... UNLESS YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE REALLY PEDANTIC FANBOYS... IF SO GET LOST... OR DON'T BECAUSE I'M DESPERATE... BESIDES, YOU'LL SEE IT ALL IN THE TRAILERS...

Henry Cavill stands... hunched as the new Superman in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel (2013). Looks like Snyder had some of the 300 costume parts leftover, with Supes' long, flowing cape. You can also see that his costume looks like the "Basket Ball" material that the new Spider-Man is sporting (The Amazing Spider-Man), which I've got no problem with (though some do). The classic S is still emblazoned nice and wide on the chest, but there's no sign of "over the tights" pants, although that could be a trick of the (utterly atrocious) lighting at work here. And hopefully his face won't be this menacing throughout the whole movie when it drops 14th June 2013...

And here with have the lovely Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.  The costume's looking very latex-y as per usual with such a character known for her tight leather duds. Seen here on the Bat-Pod, it would seem our feline friend has pinched it from good ol' Bats, either that or she's using it under his digression (perhaps he's in trouble?). Whether those goggles are part of the costume or just simply for when she's zipping round Gotham on the bike, has been the source of many an internet (read: fanboy) debate. I'm a little on the fence on this one... Although if there were alternatives for a face mask, I'd like to see them. Flowing hair's cool though, I'm down with that. For the most part, it looks like they're keeping the costume clean and simple, ditching the cleavage-y look that comes clichéd with Catwoman, and keeping Hathaway's boobs tucked away in there. (But if you happen to want to see them untucked, I suggest Love and Other Drugs). The Dark Knight shall Rise on 20th July 2012.

Yay! It's The Hunger Games! Nothing too overwhelming here, mind. You've got Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class) as our hero Katniss on the left there, a headstrong girl who must fight for her life in the savage Hunger Games against 23 over kids in this dark dystopian future. Then on the right is Liam Hemsworth (Uhm... He's the brother of Chris Hemsworth (Thor (Oh snap! Double bracket. Wait know it's a triple! This is like...(INCEPTION! Que the giant horn music! BWOARRRRRRRRRR!(Okay, getting a little off topic now... So how many close brackets do I need to put to end this now?))))) (I think that's enough...) as one of two romantic interests, Gale. Now Gale is Katniss's bud from back home, the guy she used to (illegally) hunt with, and both were crack shots with a bow. So this little scene must be before the games starts in their home "District" of 12. Both are very well interpreted from the books, particularly for how I pictured them. My only issue is that Gale looks too shiny, if you know what I mean. A guy who lives in near-poverty and spends his days running through forests shouldn't look so perfect. Where's the rugged edge to him? Anyway, The Hunger Games will be in cinemas March 23rd 2012 and may the odds be ever in your favour.

Well, I'm all "stilled out" after that (not to be confused with "stooled out"). Yeah they're 3 weeks old but who cares?! They're sweet aren't they? 

Happy 99th post by the way! The next one will be celebratory of course, although I've got no idea what it might include. 5000 hits would always be nice... But so would the knowledge that you're all happily reading this and being at least an inkling amused by my internet musings. Ta-rah for now friends, but come back soon, won't cha. Cause if you don't it'll be like leaving me hanging on a high five. Just standing there for hours, hand raised waiting for a sporting clap - that fractional touch that let's me know "Yeah, we cool.". So, are we cool?

ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 31/07/11

Okay so I'm going to make this quick as it's like 11pm and I'm on my step family's PC while they all sleep about 2 metres above me. Plus this computer isn't exactly what you would call reliable, so a crash could be imminent at any moment...

 So of course this week I started up DudeMeisterVlogs down on YouTube, with some incredibly awkward videos of me talking about nonsense and sounding like a douche. But, work is work, and I'm determined to carry on with it, just have to get into the flow if you know what I mean. Once I've found that point where I can loosen up in front of the camera, then perhaps we'll see some actually worthwhile content.

  Along with all that, we've had the busiest month of the blog so far (22 pieces, incl this), partly down to that monster of a Tuesday this week, belting out a whopping 5 trailer articles for you to feast upon. I got to tell you, that was a pretty relentless day that has left me able to recite every word of each of those trailers, which is at the annoyance of others when they appear in the cinema. So that brings us to the hits. July is in contention with May's 1077 count, with an impressive 1033 which could rise to conquer depending on how fast you can refresh your page in the next hour.

   Jesus Christ! Oh sorry, Dynamo: Magician Impossible is on the TV behind me and that guy is just blowing me away with what he can do. If you haven't heard of him, Dynamo is a UK magician who is currently considered as the best in the world, performing tricks that defy what we conceive as humanly possible. Walking on water!? Stepping through glass!? Turning cardboard into butterflies!? I've literally spent the last few hours (I've been watching the marathon on Watch) with my jaw to the floor in awe (hey, sick rhyming!) of this dude's talent. There's just no way these things are happening. Truly unbelievable.Please take the time to check him out, and I promise you won't regret it.

  All right, that'll be all. Like I said, I've got time constraints and there are two dogs barking at me in the hallway so I best be off. See y'all yonder.


ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 05/06/11

What did we learn this week? Well, Twitter is an effective method of plugging. 59 views from just one simple comment on a meaningless image of Swayze's snot. Who'd of thought it? And that generous donation of hits managed to push me through the 3000 barrier. Woo!

I swear there's an image for every single different hit marker...

  Which was a bit of a save, since nothing else has found its way onto the blog this week (No RE:Views, features unfortunately). But if we can just make it through another week and a half, then perhaps there'll be a stirring. Although I am very determined this week to actually write a review, so there'll be that to keep you satisfied. X-Men: First Class, in case you're wondering, as I would have seen it twice by Wednesday, allowing for a much more observant RE:View of the spectacle. Spoiler: It's incredible and its name pretty much reviews itself.

In other topical news, there was the Britain's Got Talent final last night, which I consider to be a complete waste of time. I mean fair dos to the winner, Jai McDowell, but he was just a singer. And a fairly boring singer, in my opinion. Shows like X-Factor are for those types of acts and yet we still end up with just singers in the final 3. Granted two of those singing acts were kids, but there's still a lack of variety; coming from a show which lands the winner in the Royal Variety Performance. And all that controversy over little (mega camp) Ronan Park, which potentially was his downfall in the final 2 was surely a pretty unfair smear attack. It felt as though after being accused of fixing, the show was then fixed as to not look like it had been fixed. Hmmm... Anyway, I was disappointed for my favourite, pianist Paul Gbegbaje.

Never mind, Mr Silent G.

 Ah well, another year, another talent show over. I'll have to do a cut and run here now, as I've got my first Maths GCSE tomorrow (wish me luck?) and better get my z's on soon. Until next week, amigos.
ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 29/05/11

The Return.

Yes, I'm back after a week of un-supdated-ness. Apologies if you missed me, but don't be too worried because you're in luck with this considerably monster-sized update! (Assuming that I can find enough things to talk about - I do make this up as I go along, after all.)

  Okay, so "WHERE THE CHEESE BALLING THUMPER CATS HAVE I BEEN!?!?!"?. In short, nowhere. The lack of a Supdate last week was in fact wholly unnecessary, and should be blamed solely on my shoddy, uninterested brain. In even shorter terms: CBA. No matter, comrades; I will work harder!

  Anyway, here's the first picture of Tom Hardy (Inception, Bronson) as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises:

Pretty sweet, huh? The mask design looks very contemporary and thankfully non-camp (ala Batman and Robin)and director Nolan's style is flawless, as ever. I know it's a bit old now, but absence is absence, and I really wanted to include it; especially for those of you who's eyes haven't graced its presence as of yet.

           On the topic of movies, I saw Pirates 4 (after a bit of a Hangover 2 cuffufle)  today and was pleasantly surprised by it.  Depp was as good as ever, and there was a great showcase of  recognisable faces on screen (Richard Griffiths, Stephen Graham). In all honesty, it was far more enjoyable than I had expected and reminded me a lot of Indy's The Last Crusade, what with the "hunting down of a mythical object" angle of the plot line. RE:View? Stay tuned...

  I also seem to be getting really into Joss Whedon's works at the moment. As you know, I expressed interest in his sci-fi/western series, Firefly, a couple of weeks ago (of which I am now in love with) and have since expanded into some of his other stuff. Namely: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Possibly the only good thing to come out of the writer strike of 2008, this delightful tragi-comedy musical web-series has been stuck in my head for the last two days. Here's a taster: 

Yep, it's the openly awesome Neil Patrick Harris!

You can actually find the whole thing on YouTube if you want to check it out in its entirety, which I implore you to. Seriously, you'll thank me. You may even want to buy this after:
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: The Book 

          Now I know the hits have dived this month, and you can't blame really blame the little guys. There's been very little activity and nothing new has flourished yet. But hold onto your savoury snacks, because I'd like to (try to) introduce the new WTF (What The Fridge) weekly feature. It could be a picture, video, track or generally anything that makes no sense and just makes you question humanity, the world or even yourself. Suggestions would be nice too, if you ever have anything in mind. And the best thing; it's not going to be restricted to a certain day of the week! It could be anytime! Okay, so maybe that's not the best thing, but it certainly helps me out having no commitment deadlines (Tuesdays can be a tough squeeze).

Stuff like this? I think so.

  That's all for now, so come back in the week for the first WTF, a new trailer, maybe an RE:View and if you're really lucky, perhaps a special feature. Stay safe now.  

The Sunday Supdate: 15/05/11

Reservoir Dogs; Countryside Style

God, am I knackered.
Well the majority of my weekend was spent walking. Walking up hills, walking by rivers, walking on roads; even walking down "mountains". And why did I do all this? The Duke of Edinburgh Award, of course. Just a practice hike to prepare us for the real one next month. But despite all the hardships, it was on the whole a good laugh. From my times as the newly coined "Hydro-maniac" and some rather interesting DIY baseball games (involving sombreros and a sleeping-mat), to the many big-balled sheep and the midnight medic duties, the entire time was worth it. So cheers to everyone who was there, who are most likely sharing in the various aches and pains with me.

Also this week I saw Attack The Block, which turned out to be great and hopefully I'll find the time to review it next week. As I said last week, things are moving slowly lately and the hits counter has taken a dive due to the lack of articles. But just hang on in there, I'll return to full capacity soon enough. Plus I really want to write some more fiction to put on here, just to give a creative flair to the site.

 But I digress. It's late and I'm tired so that's all I'm putting for today, readers. Feel free to vote on the polls to the right, now with more POTC. Have a great week and I'll be back here this time again next Sunday, with hopefully a decidedly longer post. Over to you, Baby Monkey:

Over and Out.
ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 08/05/11

Well, the word of the week was absence (not to be confused with abstinence). I'm aware that there hasn't been much movement this week, and I apologise to those craving some ground-breaking weekday blogging. Why, I hear you ask? Well, I don't know to be honest, just haven't had the time or the ideas. But don't go expecting a sudden surge in activity now though, as I've still got various exams and the like to be dealing with, and you know how priorities go. I'll still keep the Trailer Tuesdays and occasional RE:Views in, and the odd piece if I have the time.

But I am still endeavoring to keep it all fresh, and recently brain-stormed some ideas. I'm toying with the idea of a couple new weekly features that could or couldn't go ahead in the coming weeks. There's also this field-study/research thing I want to kick off if I can get the commitment for it in. But I must keep my silence on it all if I wish to pertain the dramatic hype or whatever you want to call it. Stay tuned...

Attack The Block invades cinemas this week, and for those who don't know what it is, check out this trailer here. A friend and I have been disputing whether it'll be any good throughout this week, me saying yes and him saying no. However, I hope to prove him wrong come this Wednesday(opening day!) when I go see it. After all, it has been described as the next Shaun of The Dead, so I have high hopes. RE:View? You'll just have to wait and see.

What do you think about ATB? Have a say on the poll >

Also started watching Firefly last week, the hugely popular sci-fi show from 2003 which gained a cult-following for it's inventive combination of the sci-fi and western genres. However, the SOBs over at FOX cancelled the show after one season for some bizarre reason, but it's a mistake many fans will not forgive them for. So I decided to see what all the fuss was about and even though I'm only a couple of episodes in, I am loving it. Everything is just so bang on, from the characters and dialogue to the sound and action. Pure awesome. So, taking inspiration from a HSSS video, what shows were you pissed to see cancelled? Vote on the poll to the right.

Yay, more polls! Good to see them return after a little hiatus. Right, that's all for now, so here's a song I've been listening(and playing) to recently. Enjoy!

The Sunday Supdate: 24/04/11

Not much to say about this week. Nope, nothing at all in fact. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

But then there is that small fact that WE HIT 2000 HITS! which I could talk about...
Uh-huh. You heard it right, and probably saw it right (at top of page), the blog has now reached over 2000 hits. 2159 is what it stands at this very moment, which means I've actually got over 100 extra. I think that's quite impressive, all things considering. 4 months, almost, the site's been up and running, so I'm pretty proud with that figure.

    On to other things now, and this oncoming week sees the first of the Super-Hero summer movies being released. Thor hits cinemas on 29th April (Friday), but I shall be seeing it on the Wednesday for some reason. I think it's a preview screening or something, either way it's awesome. So there should be an RE:View of that dropping soon.

    Talking about this Friday, it's the Royal wedding! Now some, if not all, may be screwing your noses up at the thought of some over-glorified posh boy getting married, but I'm kind of looking forward to it. The way I see it, it's history in the making, something you can look back on  and say "I remember that...". Plus if you buy any of the cheesy-as-hell memorabilia of the day, it'll be worth a fortune in the future. You seen how much any of that Diana stuff goes for these days? And besides, you get a day off, don't you?

Okay, that's just too far...

       Anyway, a couple of RE:Views went up this week. Sucker Punch and Your Highness; not the greatest movies I've ever seen, but then again, not the worst. Kind of getting into some better layouts with the reviews now, with a few pictures strewn in between every couple of paragraphs to break it up a bit and keep it fresh. I understand that just solid text can be a bit intimidating sometimes, so I've tried to streamline it a little. Plus, I added a touch of colour to the Trailer Tuesday this week too, to really make some things pop and make it easier to find certain items.

Right, I'm going to sign off now. Have a great week everyone, and always; stay safe and stay tuned. Oh, and Happy Easter!
ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 17/04/11

I've got no opening sentence, so let's just get on with this.

Pretty slow week here, considering I haven't been at school. Sorry about the lack of a certain Tuesday feature involving theatrical movie previews, but I just couldn't find the motivation. Never fear, because I've already got the next one figured out. Or should I say I've "opposable thumbed" it out. Eh?

    On an unrelated note, here's an awesome video from Peter Jackson about The Hobbit:

Awesome or what? This movie is going to freakin' rock. And did you know the whole thing's being recorded not only in 3D, but in 48 frames per second! What does that mean? It means twice the picture quality of the usual film standard, baby! 2012, hurry up already! But not the end of the world 2012. You, sir, can wait!

  Saw Sucker Punch earlier today. I won't say anything now, so you'll have to read the RE:View (which should be dropping tomorrow) to get my honest-to-god opinion of Zack Snyder's latest Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Stripper/Thriller epic. And hopefully, I'll be seeing Your Highness on Wednesday, so a RE:View of the Fantasy/Comedy/Another-Film-Natalie-Portman-Is-In movie should also be inbound. Oh, and I'll be picking up the new Mortal Kombat game on Thurs/Fri when it releases, so maybe my first fully-fledged game RE:View could be coming.

  Also, after my post-Kapow! blues wore off, I got in touch with the Beast Cosplayer from the con, and am now recognised by him and his wife, along with their kick-ass review site, hesaidshesaidfm.com! Expect a feature on them very soon.

     1800 hits now, so that's pretty cool. Although I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed with the amount of views my God and Satan post got. After all, you guys did mostly vote for more editorials like that. Oh well, maybe it's God's way of telling me not to mess with religion. Or it's your way of telling me "We don't care.". But perhaps this mention will boost the hits.

  That's me updated out for today. Thanks for reading and stay tuned. In the words of Toby Turner: "Bless your face! If you sneezed during this Supdate* bless you. Peace off." BOOP.

*Supdate in place of the usual "video" that he says.


Buy Mortal Kombat Here!

The Sunday Supdate: 10/04/11

Well, guess who just got back from London's "Kapow!" Comic-Con?

 Yep, nearly 6 solid hours of geeky goodness. Unfortuantely, I won't be able to give you the full report (with pictures) until tomorrow, but rest assured it'll be worth the wait. Unlike some of the queues I stood in... Waited in line for ages, only to be turned away at the last corner, defying me of the Kick-Ass writer/artist's autographs. Ah well, got some good pics of them and there were a few stunning announcements made by Mr Mark Millar himself, writer of Kick-Ass and Wanted. Plus, exciting new Misfits news and some intriguing costumes to look forward to.

   What else has been going on this week? I got an A* on my recent maths mock, if than can constitute worthy news... Saw my sister's college performance of We Will Rock You, which was impressive if a bit awkward at times... Never realised how terrible the story is in that show though. Terrible pacing and the ending just makes no sense. But if it entertains, then who cares?

  Still haven't seen any more movies, but what with the next couple of weeks being school-free I should be able to slot some in. And with all that extra time on my hands, maybe some more editorials/opinions will crop up in the coming days. My Foxy Bingo piece felt quite fresh, despite the foul language, buy hey, I starred it out right? I do like the idea of the Cracked style srticles of "# Reasons Why...", and may use the unique structural style again sometime in the near future.

     As for now, well I think I'll be signing off. Come back tomorrow for my full Kapow! (yes, I do need to put an explanation mark everytime) coverage, and don't forget to pack some spare underwear. Good night!
ATR

The Sunday Supdate: 03/04/11

Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Hope you're all well and coping with your everyday lives. This week's been... somewhat fast, I'd like to say. That of course is in no way a bad thing, I guess. Just felt like it was only yesterday I was typing on about 1000 hits (which has now nearly grown to 1300).  Maybe it's just me. Life seems to be whizzing me by lately, things changing and evolving. And even the hours pass without me knowing. I just looked at my watch and realised it was already half nine. No time for reading tonight I guess...

  So, what's been Sup this week? There were two new posts, if you read them. The usual trailer Tuesday and a slightly different post focusing on seats and the like. If my quote hadn't given it away already, I watched the Scrubs season 8 finale for the 4th time this week. Man, those final scenes never fail to well my eyes up. Yeah, I know I'm such a wuss. Anyway, some of the stuff in it really related to me this time around - about things ending and how they never match what you'd hoped in your head. 

    However, I have get some awesome (and very geeky) news to share. Next Sunday, I shall be going to Comic-Con! Well, Kapow! Comic-Con, which is the UK's equivalent to the mighty San-Diego convention. Expect some awesome photos dropping next Supdate or after, of all the geeky goodness. Comics, movies, TV, games, and of course Cosplay are abound. Don't worry though, you won't catch me in a dodgy costume...

 Coming up... Well, I I recently obtained the book Plague (which you can buy through the link at the bottom), which is the 4th in a series of novels known as the Gone series. I am a massive fan of this series, so it's likely there'll be some sort of RE:View inbound. Also, I'll probably see Sucker Punch soon, because it does look rather awesome. Some negative reviews have turned me off slightly, but I'll be sure to try and get my thoughts across in another RE:View if and when I see it.  And stick around for tomorrow, because I've got something scary up my sleeve. Plus I really should post some more doodles soon...

   Alright, that'll be about it. See you next week (which at this rate will feel like tomorrow) for another Supdate of possible Comic-Con-ness and take care. And remember the polls to your right, people!

ATR

Oh, and I thought it'd be cool to leave my initials at the end of Supdates, all professional like.

Plague (Gone)

The Sunday Supdate: 27/03/11

Aha, my good friends, so glad you could join me on this fine Sunday evening. Apologies for my unacceptable absence last week, I don't know what came over me. Anyway, I'm here now, so let's get my Supdate on.

Aah, Domo is so awesome...

 As you may have seen by now, I have passed the 1000 hits milestone by over 100 now, and I gotta say, it feels good to see 4 digits up there. I know I say it every week, but thanks again to everyone and anyone who's even had the remotest peek on the blog. Every little helps, so keep the views coming! 5 digits, here we come!

  I blasted out a couple of RE:View's this weekend too, catching some of you off guard I believe, especially todays Limitless review which I didn't even know was coming. I keep updating and editing that by the way, so you may want to check it again for my slight change in opinion. (It's only about 1 sentence different, changes nothing and I'm just using this as an excuse to squeeze a few more hits out of you...)

 I could really use one of those pills from Limitless though, would really help out in certain situations. I could type all this in about 132 seconds, complete my GCSEs within a week and start university next month. By next year my name will be draped across every sign, billboard and paper in the world, though they'd have to use a small font as my name is remarkably long... Plus by that time I would probably have been chased down by some pretty mean Russian Gangsters, been accused of murder and experienced countless blackouts of time...

 Spoilerish Day-Dream over now, and I'm tired. Guess it's time for some Spoilerish Night-Dreams. See you soon, folks. Oh and I'll make sure to get a new poll up and running soon.

The Sunday Supdate: 13/03/11

It's Sunday. It'Sup. It's a Date.

Let's do this.

"Get ya blank piece of papers folded together to look like a paper that no-one has written on!"

 So this week saw me plagued with the ailment of flu, forcibly chained to a sofa-bed for a 3-day Scrubs marathon of achy-ness.  And for that same reason, I am unable to write up my planned article on the Forest Band Night, because unfortunately I couldn't go... I heard it was good though, so maybe that's good enough for you?

  Anyway, I'm nearing the 1000 hits mile-stone, so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all and everyone who has clicked on. Whether it was out of interest, jealousy or plain boredom, here's a big cheers to you 919 people so far who've read something or other. Oh, and it turned out my last two pieces have been the most popular yet,  amassing nearly 80 views between them on individual hits. Impressive, considering I didn't even share one of them on Facebook... Plus Charlie Sheen's still a douchebag.

 Scary week in news though... Poor Japan. That Tsunami has left half it unrecognisable with all its sludge and water, and even Nuclear meltdowns now. Jeez, where are the Power Rangers when you need them? Still 12,000 people missing too, so this looks like it's going to take a while to die down. Uh, I guess that wasn't the best choice in words... Anyway, my thoughts go out to all those who have lost or are still looking for loved ones.

  On a lighter note, I got a job! Yep, that's right, I'll be delivering papers every morning bright and early! Not the most enterprising of career opportunities, but I'm 15, what do you expect? So that makes me £20 richer every week, allowing me to buy more things to RE:View! I'm just too kind to you guys. 

The Sunday Supdate: 06/03/11

14+1=15

To me!

  Yep, in case you hadn't guessed it, I turned 15 this week; yesterday to be precise. Well, 12:34 yesterday to be really precise. It was good and I got some new stuff to keep me busy; a keyboard, some books and a few pairs of socks, to name but a few of the goodies bestowed upon me for simply living over 15 Summers. Being fifteen is cool too, seeing as now I can watch 15 rated movies legally and feel safe in the knowledge that my RE:View's aren't breaking the law in some way. Just you wait mister Indian cinema man who didn't let me into a movie once, because I'm gonna flash you my ID so hard your eyes will burn in the flurry of fifteeness!

 This week also saw my Hangover 2 analysation, roping in an impressive 29 views in just 5 days, and that was  just from individual hits on the post itself. Overall, I've gained over 90 hits in a mere week, boosting me well past the 700 hundred mark. If we carry on at this rate, 1000's going to be a breeze!

 Anyway, onto the future. I'll try to come up with another original article soon, along the lines of the "Phoenix Jones" and "Troller" pieces. The subject of said article is yet to be decided, but I've got a couple of ideas circling my brain like electrons in an atom (sorry, I've been doing a lot of science this week).  Maybe some news stories are in order too? Plus, I'd like to get some sort of book RE:View out there, just so I can have a little more to talk about than the bog-standard movies or games. Talking of books, I am completely swamped with them right now, juggling about 3-4 stories at once. Hopefully I'll be able to burn through them this week, freeing up some space on my bedside table.

Not much else to really say this week, and to be honest I don't think I've actually said that much here anyway. Keep checking back though, because I have feeling it's going to be a busy week on here. I don't know why... I can just sense it. Have a good one.

The Sunday Supdate: 27/02/11

Good evening, good evening, good evening, good evening!

Random image I found that was kind of relevant... Don't even ask.

 Hope you've all had a good week, especially those who have been on half-term. But unfortunately for you, and me, it's back to school bright and early tomorrow and some pleasantly monstrous science exams on Wednesday.  Can't wait for that...

 Back to the week at hand however, and I certainly saw a lot of movies. True Grit, Paul and Gnomeo & Juliet were the week's cinema trips and all 3 were greatly enjoyable in their own rights. On the DVD side of things, I caught Four Lions, Legion and Fight Club. Four Lions was good, as far as satire about terrorist bombers go. Legion; meh. But Fight Club (I know, it's rather embarrassing that I haven't seen it before...) definitely surprised with it's thriller type twists... I genuinely thought it'd just be about, you know... Fighting.

  As for the blog, things are running rather smooth. I hit 600 hits today, which is always a good achievement I guess. 500 would have been a better place to celebrate, but that's come and gone now, so 600 will have to do. The Paul RE:View should be coming shortly, as voted by you guys (all nine of you!), although I really should have had it out yesterday... Trailer Tuesday this week is already written and ready, and I can officially confirm that there is absolutely no Marvel involved! What it actually is, you'll have to wait for, but I'm sure it'll be a hit if you liked the movie's predecessor and I'm confident that you did.

 That's all for today, as I'm kinda tired after a good day in London and I have some... stuff to do. But never fear, I'll make this Supdate (get it?) into a weekly regular. So I'll be spilling some more verbal stuff all over the internet for you all to carefully read with regulated enthusiasm, next Sunday, when I'll be 15 and 1 Day! Anyway, stay safe, and stay tuned.