Pure gold, and possibly the most quotable film ever.

Rewatching it, I was reminded of how deftly it changes tone, and wraps what is a wonderfully told story in the shiny wrapper of a children’s high fantasy adventure.

The scene where Inigo is trying to break down the door gets me every time. The actor injects such incredible desperation into his voice – he absolutely nails the character’s emotions in that moment.

Meh.

I got into week two of the story, then stopped to start doing some serious badge levelling. I don’t know what it is exactly about the game, but I’ve lost the taste for it around the point of the Slam competition.

I’ll probably go back to it at some point. In the meantime, A2 Tactics is EXACTLY what I’m looking for: grindtastic turn-based combat with all the RPG love of finding the Next Cool Thing to add one or two points to this or that stat. Change of pace.

Music of Razors tells a wonderful story, and has a lighter touch than Neil Gaiman or Clive Barker, who seem to be the natural comparisons. Cameron Rogers doesn’t need to spell out the entire mythos or reason of the world – just enough to make it feel consistent. The book touches on the psyche, childhood, and relationships, all wrapped up in gripping story.

The fact that Cameron Rogers is also a standup, wonderful guy is frankly, unfair. Fucker.

High Plains Drifter?

Jesus. Christ.

Not what I was expecting. An awesome film, but not what I was expecting by any shake of the stick. When the protagonist (I think hero is a stretch here) rapes a woman as one of his first actions? That’s some strange, cold stuff, right there.

I stuck with it, and I’m glad. It’s peculiar, but absolutely worth watching.

I am a HUGE fan of Garbage, and one day hope to be gainfully employed as Shirley Manson’s loveslave. This album brings together a lot of my favourites of theirs – it’s great to have #1 Crush and The World is Not Enough (Which is just fantastic, unlike the film. Also, the song is sex on a stick) on the same album.

Tell Me Where It Hurts is good, but not great. Still, nice addition, and definitely a album of win. WIN!

Great movie. Sure, it’s not a bullets and banditos Western, but I’d argue it’s a Western nonetheless, even if that has to be a modern or post-modern Western. Laconic, emotionally unavailable men, the camera’s love of the gorgeous scenery…

Fantastic acting, and I get this coincidental mote in my eye every time the climax comes on the TV. Goddamned air conditioning.

Oh my lord. This is so keen, and so iconic – I finally understand why so many people refer to this as a touchstone for Western cinema.

The last time I watched this I was very, very tired and ended up with a scrambled memory of it looking like a Trinity Brothers Western, not the hardarsed epic it is. Definitely a classic.

Three characters scrambling around the edges of something very big, falling in and out of temporary alliances. All of them tough as nails.

Just as lyrical, and as atmospheric as I remember. This is the purest shot of Dark Tower, right there. Before Stephen King goes downhill with stupid decisions like combining Marten Broadcloak and Flagg.

Fucking. Fantastic.

For me, this film is defined in one clear moment: the writer has been pinballing from Old Legend to Old Legend, working his way up the food chain, until he hits William Munney. Now, he’s convinced there’s some art to this whole gunslinging thing – something romantic. When faced with this hollow shell of a man – an old mangy dog who nonetheless is carved from oak, he sees a glimpse of the chaos behind it all.

He asks Munney what his strategy was in the gunfight in the saloon, and part bemused, part completely at sea, Munney answers “I guess I’ve just always been lucky when it comes to killin’ folk.”

Fantastic.

Not bad. Not great, but not bad. Unfortunately, the story focuses mostly on Wizard and Glass rather than The Gunslinger. It comes up to but doesn’t completely finish the climax of that story. There’s a bit of a hint of things later to come (ie. we see the Crimson King) and a bit of a glimpse of the story of The Gunslinger, but not a great deal.

Which is a shame, because, as per the cover, “contemporary” Roland (the old grizzled gunslinger) is lovingly crafted by the artist, and marvelously iconic. I guess I’ll just have to hunt down more of the same.