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athersgeoWell, I've umpired today (that's actually not what the ow's about!) - and WLHC IIIs seem a step closer to imploding in firey death. And this, on a day they won! *headdesk*
No, the ow is from the fact that I was (briefly) contemplating umpiring in shorts. So I shaved my legs. For the first time this year (I wear pants in winter so no-one sees my legs unless I'm playing outfield hockey, and that hasn't happened yet). New razor blade, no glasses (ergo partially blind)...my legs look like I've parboiled them - and feel like it, too.
Ow.
And now, because I haven't done one for a while...
I watched this to kill some time this morning (I hate umpiring in the early afternoon - I end up not being able to do anything very much meaningful with my day), having intended to actually go see it in the cinema and never quite managing to get round to it. I saw The Bourne Identity early last year and thoroughly enjoyed it - I was impressed by Matt Damon, who I hadn't previously seen in anything, liked Franka Potente and thoroughly loved the story and the way it was told, so I've been quite looking forward to sitting down with the sequel.
And on one level, I wasn't disappointed. The story picks up very nicely from where Identity left off, Matt Damon does a thoroughly excellent job, as does Julia Stiles - their scene together in the Berlin subway was fantastic. I liked the introduction of the new character, Pamela Landry (Joan Allen), and I liked Brian Cox's return. I was a *little* disappointed that I was able to put the majority of the pieces all together faster than Landry (c'mon - she's supposed to be a CIA hotshot; I twigged the moment Bourne said the dead Russian guy's name for pity's sake!!!), but there were some very nice twists and turns and surprises - including the final scene in Moscow, between Bourne and the daughter of the two Russians he'd killed back in 1989. The biggest surprise, to me, was the way Abbott (Brian Cox) revealed his true colours. That really was a surprise - I had realised that he had some sort of ulterior motive going, but I was thinking along the lines of him secretly wanting to help Bourne rather than Landry, but no; much, much more interesting. I also have to say, I LOVED the running gag of Bourne calling Landry up from a position where he could kill her via sniper rifle *grin*
On another level, I absolutely hate this movie.
Yes, you read that right, I hate the movie.
Why, you may well be asking. The answer is straight forward: The hand held camera work. I'm sure it's all very clever and all very organic (and whatever else the director called it in the promos), but from the point of view of following the damn action it is lousy. There were chunks of the movie that were well nigh unwatchable because of the way the frame was moving around. The worst section was probably the car chase through Moscow where, despite the fact that Matt Damon was in a yellow car and Karl Urban (the bad guy) was driving a black SUV-type thing, I couldn't tell who was doing what and to whom and how. Ditto for the big fight scene between Bourne and the other surviving Tredstone agent. And especially, ditto for the bridge scene, which was so badly cut together that I couldn't tell how the hell it was no-one spotted Bourne dangling from the underside of the Bridge.
And frankly, I'd expected better.
The other thing that I was disappointed with, though here I can at least see the rationale, was the fact that Marie (Franka Potente) was killed off within the first twenty minutes of the movie. Her character was one of the things that really set the first movie apart from the standard sort of thriller. On the other hand, as they'd already done the "along for the ride" idea in the first movie, I can see why they chose to kill her off.
Over all, I did enjoy the movie; as I said first up, above all, the story was good and enjoyable, but I think the next time I watch it, it will have to be with the aide of a seasickness pill...
One last thing; you've probably already seen stuff about FriendDitto in other people's journals. My feeling on the matter is there's nothing I've posted in this journal that I couldn't have floating around in general view. I do make friends locked posts from time to time, but by and large, they're time rather than content sensitive. I would probably rather you didn't archive and remain on my flist, but I'm not going to get my knickers in a bunch if you do - at the end of the day, this is the internet and if I'm dumb enough to post something I don't want people to see, that's my problem!
No, the ow is from the fact that I was (briefly) contemplating umpiring in shorts. So I shaved my legs. For the first time this year (I wear pants in winter so no-one sees my legs unless I'm playing outfield hockey, and that hasn't happened yet). New razor blade, no glasses (ergo partially blind)...my legs look like I've parboiled them - and feel like it, too.
Ow.
And now, because I haven't done one for a while...
I watched this to kill some time this morning (I hate umpiring in the early afternoon - I end up not being able to do anything very much meaningful with my day), having intended to actually go see it in the cinema and never quite managing to get round to it. I saw The Bourne Identity early last year and thoroughly enjoyed it - I was impressed by Matt Damon, who I hadn't previously seen in anything, liked Franka Potente and thoroughly loved the story and the way it was told, so I've been quite looking forward to sitting down with the sequel.
And on one level, I wasn't disappointed. The story picks up very nicely from where Identity left off, Matt Damon does a thoroughly excellent job, as does Julia Stiles - their scene together in the Berlin subway was fantastic. I liked the introduction of the new character, Pamela Landry (Joan Allen), and I liked Brian Cox's return. I was a *little* disappointed that I was able to put the majority of the pieces all together faster than Landry (c'mon - she's supposed to be a CIA hotshot; I twigged the moment Bourne said the dead Russian guy's name for pity's sake!!!), but there were some very nice twists and turns and surprises - including the final scene in Moscow, between Bourne and the daughter of the two Russians he'd killed back in 1989. The biggest surprise, to me, was the way Abbott (Brian Cox) revealed his true colours. That really was a surprise - I had realised that he had some sort of ulterior motive going, but I was thinking along the lines of him secretly wanting to help Bourne rather than Landry, but no; much, much more interesting. I also have to say, I LOVED the running gag of Bourne calling Landry up from a position where he could kill her via sniper rifle *grin*
On another level, I absolutely hate this movie.
Yes, you read that right, I hate the movie.
Why, you may well be asking. The answer is straight forward: The hand held camera work. I'm sure it's all very clever and all very organic (and whatever else the director called it in the promos), but from the point of view of following the damn action it is lousy. There were chunks of the movie that were well nigh unwatchable because of the way the frame was moving around. The worst section was probably the car chase through Moscow where, despite the fact that Matt Damon was in a yellow car and Karl Urban (the bad guy) was driving a black SUV-type thing, I couldn't tell who was doing what and to whom and how. Ditto for the big fight scene between Bourne and the other surviving Tredstone agent. And especially, ditto for the bridge scene, which was so badly cut together that I couldn't tell how the hell it was no-one spotted Bourne dangling from the underside of the Bridge.
And frankly, I'd expected better.
The other thing that I was disappointed with, though here I can at least see the rationale, was the fact that Marie (Franka Potente) was killed off within the first twenty minutes of the movie. Her character was one of the things that really set the first movie apart from the standard sort of thriller. On the other hand, as they'd already done the "along for the ride" idea in the first movie, I can see why they chose to kill her off.
Over all, I did enjoy the movie; as I said first up, above all, the story was good and enjoyable, but I think the next time I watch it, it will have to be with the aide of a seasickness pill...
One last thing; you've probably already seen stuff about FriendDitto in other people's journals. My feeling on the matter is there's nothing I've posted in this journal that I couldn't have floating around in general view. I do make friends locked posts from time to time, but by and large, they're time rather than content sensitive. I would probably rather you didn't archive and remain on my flist, but I'm not going to get my knickers in a bunch if you do - at the end of the day, this is the internet and if I'm dumb enough to post something I don't want people to see, that's my problem!
