Terminator 2: Judgement Day: 5.0 Stars
I went to see The Wedding Present play in London last night. There’s not much point me saying anything about its performance, as it’s the 4th best band on the planet. Instead, here’s what I remember about the gig that doesn’t include the band. At the end of its set, the guitarist from the first support band, Dead Wolf Club, smashed his guitar on the stage; very rock ‘n’ roll, except I got the distinct feeling he does this a lot and then just glues it back together again for next time. The other support band, TOQUIWA (formally the Pinky Piglets), was from Japan and therefore made no sense whatsoever; three Japanese women running about on stage singing about wanting a chocolate and doing a lot of things that I haven’t a clue about, confirming my belief that Japan isn’t really from this Earth. The venue, Koko in Camden, was really cold. Koko has the worst bar of any venue in London; nothing on draft, with tins of bog-standard cider around £4.50 a can. Koko has the worst decor of any venue, all gaudy red and gold. Koko is the worst venue to get out of afterwards; considering its size, it takes forever. A few years ago Koko used to have crappy sound, but it’s now much improved. Between each band’s set, the stage lights got pointed towards the crowd, which was really annoying; I shall be seeing yellow spots before my eyes for weeks. The stage at Koko is too low. (As you’ve probably gathered, Koko is not my favourite place to see a band.) As far as I can remember, this was the first time I’d been on the proper Guest List for a gig; I’d like to say I was a ‘friend of the stars’, but in reality I just happened to get my ticket in a slightly obtuse way. My journey there was swift and easy, as I basically walked onto all three trains without a wait; I think the track in the West Country should get flooded every week, as it seems to improve train availability, despite there being lots of cancellations and delays. My journey back was also easy; I even had my ticket checked on the train. The woman sitting in the row of seats in front of me didn’t have a ticket, although there’re a million ways to buy one at Paddington Station, so it was obvious she was trying to get away without paying; she had an American Express credit card too, so I doubt she’s exactly poor; I’d have thrown her out of the train’s airlock into deep space (or whatever the train equivalent is) if I’d been the ticket inspector. I read the London Evening Standard on the journey back, as there was a copy on the seat. The Standard is a shit paper, no wonder it’s given away free. This edition included some dreadful rubbish about young people and claiming housing benefit; if any other group in society was so picked on and vilified, we’d all be out on the street demanding equality and new laws. Had an interesting chat with two guys in the crowd while waiting for the bands to appear; one later decided my t-shirt’s arm would make a great way to dry the sweat off his head, but I’m sure it was a sign of solidarity; but honestly, what sort of person wears a leather jacket in a most pit? It’s going to be hot there! The Wedding Present has very happy fans; the guys behind me in the crowd spent half the set just laughing as everything going on around them. The band’s fans are mostly men. The gig finished before 10:00pm; a nice, civilised time. Like the Wedding Present, there’s little point in my trying to give any sort of objective consideration to this film, as it’s just so awesomely amazing.
1991 – Certificate: 15 – USA
What can I really say about this movie? Everything about it is great. It’s probably in my Top Ten films of all time. This was the first time I’d watched it on Blu-ray and it looked and sounded fab on that. I was also watching the Ultimate Cut for the first time, which includes a number of extra scenes, even more than the Director’s Cut, including a great dream sequence that features Kyle Reece from the first Terminator movie that was entirely omitted from the version shown in cinemas; and a not quite so great extended ending. A modern classic and possibly the greatest action movie ever made.
Recommended for everyone. Well nearly everyone.
No cats, decapitations or chainsaws. There’s a fair bit of shattering, melting and general ripping apart going on though.
Top badass moment? “Come with me if you want to live.” No ifs or buts there. 100% badass and good advice at any time, especially when some liquid metal freak is after you. Trust me, I know….
The Terminator: 5.0 Stars
“Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.” That reminds me, we’ve been going through a bit of a restructure at work. It’s not been a hugely enjoyable experience. I guess in the long-term it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, in the same way that the large-scale, post-war slum clearances in areas well-known for high levels of social need, led to their replacement with modern, high rise flats, which are now well-known for, em, high levels of social need, (okay so it’s probably not the best analogy on a wide range of levels), but it still sucks. By some strange quirk of fate I seem to have survived this process and now find myself in a ‘job-enriched’ environment. Considering my almost total lack of ambition and ability this is indeed a strange turn of events. At the moment I’m finding I’m saying good-bye to a lot of colleagues, some of who I’ve known for years and have so much respect for and many of whom have probably helped me cover up my singular lack of talent in the past. (What can I say? The only thing I’m really good at is bigging myself up on the back of others’ hard work.) It’s all pretty depressing though. I want to be angry about it, but I can’t identify anyone or anything to get angry with, which makes it all even more frustrating. Maybe what’s going on at work now is a bit like this film and it will spawn a hugely popular, multi-million pound franchise that goes on for years and years. I look forward to the time when I walk into a room and people look at me in awe, huddle together in groups and in hushed tones say to one another, “you know who he works for, don’t you?”
1984 – Certificate: R – United States
I love this film! It’s certainly one of my 50, all-time favourite movies and a genuine classic. The theme tune is iconic too. Arnold Schwarzenegger is so perfect for the part of the Terminator and it’s great to see someone in a film who looks after his body as well as I look after mine. Honestly, at times it felt like I was looking into a mirror, which was a bit disconcerting and I have to say did spoil the film slightly for me. I think Arnie’s a bit taller than I am though. I’ve seen this movie loads of times, but this was my first viewing of it on Blu-ray. Reference material it’s not, but it did look great; a lot more colour and detail than I can remember from watching it on DVD. It’s always been a gloomy, muddy looking film, but the format does manage to clean up the details a lot. The effects still look good most of the time too, not bad for a film that’s 28 years old. It doesn’t look especially dated either, well as long as you don’t look at Sarah Connor’s hair.
Recommended for everyone, even those who don’t like this sort of film. Actually, those sort of people should be forced to watch it.
No cats and no decapitations. The Terminator’s head does get a bit stripped and squashed though.
Top badass moment? If any film offers a lot of choice, it’s this one. Anyway, I’m picking the “I’ll be back” scene. Be honest, who hasn’t wanted to do something like that when you haven’t got your way in a shop? Well okay, then going on to slaughter everyone that works there is probably a bit over the top, even for me, but trashing the place with a car certainly makes a point about the customer always being right. Consumer power at its best!
Penny's Gallery
Saving the Planet – July 2010
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