In the future, if I am involved in interviews where the job requires knowledge of Microsoft Word, I’m going to ask candidates what the keyboard shortcut for a Page Break is.
Author Archives: Phil
Residents in a lonely gulch of inland California bear witness to an uncanny, chilling discovery.
You make a film like Get Out, people are always going to come into your films with a certain expectation.
You make an excellent homage to a classic b-movie and people give you the “iffy” wobbly-hand of doom….
★★★★
I remember how excited we were for Linux 2.6 #LinuxKernel
It worries me that a good three years after the fact, a serving British Minister refused to agree that “the [Department of Health and Social Care] was overwhelmed by the [COVID] crisis.” He “says he would put it differently” before using textbook definitions of “overwhelmed” to describe the situation.
How can you hold people to account when they twist words like this?
Dr. Lily Houghton enlists the aid of wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff to take her down the Amazon in his dilapidated boat. Together, they search for an ancient tree that holds the power to heal – a discovery that will change the future of medicine.
I watch a lot of “family” films with the children (8&11) and they are roundly poor. This, though, exceeded my expectations.
When we sat down to watch this, I had no idea that, like Pirates of the Carribean, it was “based” on a ride. And I honestly thought it was really clever how they made that link without labouring it. With that out of the way it just turns into a fun, fantasy adventure.
Surprisingly, it delivered a lot of laughs, but this is mostly down to the main cast who are all very good. Emily Blunt is a fantastic comic actress and she generated the most laughs for me. Dwayne manages to be earnest in the right places, despite the fantastical themes, and maintains a subtle edge of unlikeability. Jack Whitehall seems to be playing a version of his own Dad from “Travels with my Father” and that’s as excellent as you might expect. And it’s all neatly leavened with Jessie Plemmons, playing a ridiculous caricature of a German prince (or something) and some well conceptualised CG baddies, that make undead pirates seem a bit dull.
The gender politics aren’t hammered home and even my 11 y/o got some of the more subtle jokes on the topic.
On the downside, the music in places is terrible: anachronistic and off the pace. And the pace slackens in a few places so we can learn inconsequential details about characters. Once again, it’s just that tiny bit too long.
★★★★
There are nine HTML elements that have an attribute of the same name. You’ll never guess what follows next.
I love HTML. I’m not sure how everyone managed to make everything that goes on top so complicated.
A seasoned detective investigates a series of murders at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point in 1830. He is assisted in his investigation by an intelligent and eager young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe, who will go on to become one of America's most influential authors and the originator of the detective genre.
Think Harry Melling is the best thing here, followed closely by Gillian Anderson who seems to be having a wonderful time. The production’s impressive too. Shame about the story.
★★½
In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.
Good but some way short of great.
I had Joker from Lego Batman ringing in my ears throughout the finale…
“This is better than the two boats!”
★★★★
A brilliant toy company roboticist uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to emotionally bond with her newly orphaned niece. But when the doll's programming works too well, she becomes overprotective of her new friend with terrifying results.
Nick Clegg, once again, demonstrates that those in power will only understand the threat AI poses to their wellbeing when they’re on the way to the HIgh Court to get an injunction.