I just happened cross the back page of the local rag on the way in tonight and there’s an utterly pointless headline regarding Glasgow Rangers‘ match tonight. Basically, they’re defending the best defensive record in British league football.
They’ve conceded fewer goals in league play than even the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United. If I recall correctly, 14 in 26 games. Apparently this is a huge thing to crow about.
However, saying this means they have the best defence in British football is like saying that Switzerland have Europe’s best navy as they’ve never been invaded by ocean-borne attackers. It’s simply not just a matter of numbers.
You can’t publish a statistic like that without taking into account what Rangers are up against on a footballing basis. Drop them into the EPL and does anyone really think their defence would still only have leaked 14 goals? A quick check as of 20:46 this evening and the goals scored in the EPL are as follows:
Tails off a lot faster, doesn’t it? It’s not wholly to do with Rangers’ defence being good. It’s also the fact that SPL teams aren’t as free-scoring as their EPL equivalents. Drop below half way and SPL teams are barely managing 20 goals – and that’s against other teams of their calibre, not just Rangers and Celtic.
As a little aside that made me smile, at the time of publishing this Rangers were losing 1-0 at Motherwell.
And, no, it’s not a fake. Check out the video below – though clicking through to the site proper may be your best bet. There’s a drop-down beneath it which gives many options for different 3D standards/methods including “cross-eyed”. Not the healthiest way to view 3D but it does work if you cross them just right.
The single most expensive advertising blocks in TV in the US are during the Superbowl. Google bought one and broadcast the one featured below. All of the ads they made are available to have a look at on YouTube (they’re called “searchstories“), but I really think they picked by far the best.
It’s a simple, beautiful little story. But half the skill is not in telling a tale, it’s in how you do it. Look at Avatar which, I maintain, has a very weak story but is told in a rather amazing fashion. Or indeed, at the silent video I posted a few weeks ago. This is simple, but really clever.
I’ve told loads of people in the past not to install more than one anti-virus solution at a time. They get in each other’s way, slow the system down and generally create a mess. Well, Immunet’s different. It’s very low footprint and is happy alongside quite a few existing products which boosts your protection – they recommend Norton, AVG, McAfee and Microsoft Security Essentials.
The other difference is in how the product works. You don’t download updates all the time, but do need to be connected to the internet. The “virus archive” is stored online in the cloud, shared by all users. This way if a new virus is discovered, all users are notified instantly.
Any new programs which are installed are checked online before the installation proceeds. This will help protect against spyware sneakily installing itself and nips potential problems in the bud.
I’ve just installed it and will see how it runs. Oh, and it’s Windows-only. I’ve no idea if they’re planning a Mac or Linux port.
A great site for some beautiful artwork. There are 650 free desktop wallpapers on this site, and the “low-quality” versions are available to download in a variety of resolutions. If you want high quality you can buy a subscription, which at the moment is on a special deal – lifetime for $19.99.
Having said that the so-called “low quality” ones are stunning. Definitely worth checking out to spruce up your PC.
I don’t like rugby, on the whole. This worked in my favour going into this film as it’s based on real events and I didn’t know what the outcome would be as I had no idea who won the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Clint Eastwood directs, Freeman is – as ever – simply superb and Matt Damon captains the Springboks.
How close is it to what really happened? Who knows. I’m sure there are certain key scenes and events which mirror history but there’s always room for dramatisation (Wikipedia has a small list). Thankfully it’s not overly-sentimental or symbolic, though it does push this from time to time.
Both Freeman and Damon pull off decent accents although some of the other actors appear somewhat stilted, especially towards the beginning of the movie.
This is a good film. Not overstated, not grandstanding, and a very good story. The obvious link between a battered country finding its feet and being led by someone who’s overcoming the odds is very much mirrored by their rugby team’s efforts. If I have a complaint, it’s the huge over-use of slow-motion to enhance “dramatic effect” near the end.
Youth in Revolt
Plot-in-a-nutshell: Boy meets girl, boy has to become bad boy to get girl, boy goes a little too far…
Michael Cera plays two parts in this film – Nick and the alter-ego Francois that he creates to get the girl, Sheeni (Portia Doubleday). The only other film I’ve seen Cera in was Superbad and that lived up to its title. Youth in Revolt is marginally better but still lacks greatness.
If there’s one thing that stands out, it’s the amusing animated segments interspersed throughout the live action. They don’t really add to the story, but they’re amusing and the one at the start got one of the loudest laughs in the theatre. It’s worth watching the one over the end credits as well.
Amusing in places, messy in others. Next!
Astro Boy
Plot-in-a-nutshell: Scientist creates uber-bad killer robot, and also a robotic replica of his dead son. Cue obvious battle.
I’m not a Manga geek so I don’t know how this hold up to the original, however it’s kind of “OK” as a CGI Hollywood version. There’s no denying the quality of the voice cast: Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Nighy, Charlize Theron… However, the script needs more work. Or more jokes.
Visually it’s nice, but CGI films are all starting to look a little samey now. There’s no real imagination in Astro Boy. If you want a mechanical visual feast, check out Robots from a few years back.
The kids will like its simplicity, but adults will miss the added depths, double meanings and references present in films such as Toy Story or Planet 51.
Edge of Darkness
Plot-in-a-nutshell – a cop’s daughter is gunned down in front of him on his doorstep, so he sets out to find out who did it
This film is based on a BBC drama from some years ago which I vaguely recall watching. Obviously, it’s been shifted to the US but well re-written to make it fit both geographically and in a modern timeline.
However, while the drama had several hour-long episodes to fit everything in, the film version has only 117 minutes. As a result, Mel Gibson‘s efforts to locate his daughter’s killer and work his way through the conspiracy tree is often a little messy.
Ray Winstone’s role is rather hard to pin down. We know he’s there but who the hell actually is he? Other than an English guy who swears a lot (i.e. he’s playing himself again).
The film begins well enough, but the thrills and spills promised by the trailer really don’t occur. There’s a lot of soul-searching and threats by Gibson’s character mixed with very occasional bursts of fast driving. It is a drama, not an action thriller – but the trailer is misleading.
It’s a good story, too. But as I said it’s compressed into too short a time. Some questions are left unanswered while other bits of evidence are thrown in and the viewer is left wondering where they came from.
Well-acted, good story but just not suited for film form without better scripting.
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