Saturday, October 12, 2013
Trivia Bits 12 October
- The Great Fire of London was in 1666.
- Suricate is another name for the meerkat.
- The Australian city of Melbourne failed in its attempt to host to hold the 1996 Olympic Games.
- The Play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was written by Tennessee Williams and was later made into a successful movie starring Elizabeth Taylor.
- A hinny is a cross between a male horse and a female donkey,
- A series of novels about a vampire called Letsat was written by Anne Rice.
- Famed Carnegie Hall is in the US city of New York.
- Another second was added to the end of the year 2005.
- Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera Iolanthe is also known as The Peer and the Peri.
- In snooker, a blue ball is worth 5 points.
Friday, October 11, 2013
More Bumper Wisdom
- Cover Me I'm Changing Lanes
- DANGER: I drive like you do!
- Death is life's way of telling you you're fired.
- Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down.
- Death is the consequence of being alive.
- Despite The Cost Of Living, Have You Noticed How It Remains So Popular?
- Dewey, Skrewem, & Howe (attorneys at law)
- Did you check if your horn works?
- Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way.
- Divers get more tail.
Movie Review ... Jack The Giant Slayer
‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ continues the recent trend in updating beloved children’s tales. This is understandable given the built-in audience of children and adults alike who have grown up hearing them. This version has the elements one knows from the Jack and the Beanstalk story with the special effects working over-time. It also proves how adhering to commercial cinematic excess can muddy the magic found within an original folk story.
Spending his days as a farmhand, young Jack (Nicholas Hoult) craves adventure which happens when he accidentally opens a gateway to a world full of giants. Re-commencing an ancient war and determined to re-claim their territory, the giants kidnap young princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson). Charging into battle to save her and his kingdom, Jack uses all of his strength to re-store order to his troubled world.
A long delayed and mega-expensive production ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ arrives with much baggage. It manages to shrug some off as the CGI is suitably fantastic. The same can’t be said for the script or wooden acting with both undermining any gains. There’s a continual struggle between child-like wonder and gorily violent incident with these obscuring its aims in appealing to a ‘family friendly’ audience. An adventurous spirit is there although it lacks punch or much enthusiasm from Bryan Singer who has directed better films.
‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ also suffers from a continual shift in tone. Moving from crude humour, light drama and romance never settles into one particular emotional plane. This makes it difficult in becoming involved in this initially enchanting world with continued convenient contrivances becoming tiresome. It’s a shame ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ lacks the courage of its convictions in providing anything new to an increasingly stale genre with little to recommend it.
A mediocre addition to the children’s fairy tale genre, ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ isn’t particularly memorable. The sound of Hollywood’s production line factory can be heard as loudly as the giants’ roars with the only thing being slayed being movie-goer’s wallets.
Movie Review Rating out of 10: 5
Movie Review by Patrick Moore
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Patrick Moore's Movie Review is an alternative look at movie releases in Australia.
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Trivia Bits 11 October
- Because he had bad eyesight, Harry Truman memorized the letters on the eye chart to get into the Army.
- The Archer is the symbol of the astrological sign of Sagittarius.
- In humans, the jugal bone is the better known as the cheekbone.
- Celine Dion represented Switzerland when she won the Eurovision Sing Contest in 1988.
- Donald Duck’s three nephews are Huey, Duey and Louie.
- Born in Marion, Indiana on February 8, 1931 was James Dean.
- The Latin phrase Tempus Fugit means “time flies”.
- The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901.
- Robert Zemeckis directed the 1994 movie Forrest Gump.
- In World War 1, Prototype tanks were known as Big Willy and Little Willy.