Firetop

Watched another Amazon DVD rental film yesterday - Flight 93. The story of the passengers onboard Flight 93 on September 11th who stormed their aircraft after it was taken over by terrorists, albeit with tragic consequences when they crashed into a Pennsylvania hillside. I should say ‘allegedly stormed’ because there a quite a few conspiracy theories floating about suggesting that the plane might have actually been shot down by US fighters on an intercept order, but conspiracies follow everything to do with 9/11 don’t they… and there’s no doubt from telephone recordings that the passengers did mount some kind of bold struggle to regain control of the flight. (more…)

Before I was interrupted by a woman using her mobile on the train, I finished watching Million Dollar Baby on the laptop, probably the most depressing film I’ve watched since Angela’s Ashes but well acted and strangely enjoyable. Clint Eastwood plays Frankie Dunn – a retired boxer turned coach and gym owner, with no direct family (you never find out why his daughter doesn’t speak to him anymore). He’s a daily visitor to the local Catholic Church where he asks daft questions of the angry priest there, but again you never get to the detail of his issues. He’s also learning to speak ‘Gaelic’ but yet again, that seems a bit odd and isn’t explained in full, presumably he’s interested in his ancestral roots. (more…)

I don’t remember being overly enthused about the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, but I do remember that it kept my attention for the duration. This was aided by a smattering of humour from Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and the one-eyed bungling pirate (you know… ‘That guy out of the office‘). Last night’s trip to the cinema for the second instalment, despite some humour, left me confused, worn out, stressed, tired and bursting for the toilet (it’s a long film). I consider myself a fairly intelligent lad, I certainly got to grips with the Matrix 1, 2 and 3, so just why was Pirates of the Caribbean ‘Dead Man’s Chest’ harder to follow?

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