Film of the Week: Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge

Also known as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, this fifth instalment in the series sees Captain Jack Sparrow hunt for the Trident of Poseidon, along with Henry Turner and Carina Smyth. Henry’s goal when finding the Trident is to break the curse that’s keeping his father, William Turner who during the events of At World’s End, is now captain of The Flying Dutchman. They are also hunted by Captain Armando Salazar, an undead pirate, who is also searching for the Trident to wipe out all pirates.

Bearing a similarity with the first film in the franchise, Jack Sparrow is no longer the main character. Whilst the plot does revolve around him mostly, he mainly follows along with the other characters. Salazar’s ultimate mission is to wipe out all pirates from the seas, but Jack was the one who trapped him in the Devil’s Triangle, and so wants revenge for cursing him to be a ghost forever.

The Trident of Poseidon has the ability to end all curses. This also frees William Turner from the Flying Dutchman, so he can walk on the land without any side-effects. It was nice to see Orlando Bloom reprise his role, along with Keira Knightley as Elisabeth Swan respectfully, even if it was right at the very end. Johnny Depp and Jeffery Rush slips naturally back into the role of Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa, as do the rest of the cast.

The franchise is good at expanding its mythology and increasing the size of its world, but unfortunately, the story in this one felt a little rushed. It shouldn’t matter that this is the shortest film in the franchise, but it does show. I enjoyed the film for what it was, because I like the characters and seeing their story continue along what can only be described as a huge rollercoaster ride, but if I were to compare it to the other films, which I have to because it is the fifth in the series and not the first; it fell victim of tiredness. Written by different people, directed by different people, and scored by a different person – with fresh faces entering the series, I did have high hopes that they could reinvent the series, but unfortunately, their finished product was only a worn out story that was also rushed.

Without comparing it to the other films, it’s a treat watch. The story is fun and easy to sit back and relax to without wondering if you’re missing too many important elements. It does have a 12 certificate, but it is fun for the whole family, and seeing it on the big screen only made it that much more enjoyable. Even in a spoiler filled review, I don’t want to give away the ending, but it’s one that I was not expecting in the slightest, and does set a course to a sixth instalment, because I simply can’t believe that they would do what they did, especially after being such an important element throughout the franchise and has become much loved by all – I may have given away too much… No, I think it’s still cryptic enough to not know what specifically happens.

There are obviously unconfirmed rumours going around suggesting a sixth instalment, but they are only an extension from the previous rumours pointing towards the production crew filming the fifth and six instalments back-to-back. As much as I want to say “I don’t know where else they can take the series”, I said way back when the fourth was announced. This time however, with every curse broken, it might be difficult to explain away some things, but of course, the world is a much bigger place. With all the curses broken, it might actually give the studio a chance to do what I thought they would do with this series, reinvent it.

To sum up this movie – it’s better than the fourth instalment. I’m now considering the fourth as an interlude movie between the two main series.

P.S. I do have one question. At the beginning of the film, Salazar specifically states, "dead men tell no tales" when refusing to tell Henry why he wants to hunt down Jack Sparrow, so why did he explain the story to Barbossa? In keeping with the meaning of what he said, it would have been better if the flashback sequence was shown at the beginning of the film, before Henry Turner's scene.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 179:

He stood in front of me in a casual position as if this was just another day for him. He looked a little out of place. He wore plain clothes: A plain red T-shirt and blue jeans. His hair was long as if it hadn’t been cut in over a year, he wore thick glasses that sat on his nose in an awkward position as if he deliberately bent them out of shape to make them sit better. He had a hunched posture, telling me he was very relaxed. He was the most casual looking person I’ve ever seen. At least he didn’t have his hands in his pockets. Instead, they were dangling awkwardly beside him as if he doesn’t know what to do with them. He had a very monotone expression. It seems as if it would be too much effort for him to make any sort of smile or even a simple expression. He really did look bland.

‘Hello,’ he said.

‘What I don’t understand is how you can expect someone, especially me, to go through all of that and have a simple, casual conversation afterwards as if we were sitting down for our daily afternoon tea,’ I said staring at him as I stepped out of the elevator.

‘Would you like tea?’ he asked, ignoring everything else that I said.

‘Are you going to release my friends or do I have to persuade you,’ I threatened. I was shaking with anger. The last thing I want to do is physically hit him; that is not the person I am or want to be.

‘Are you going to answer any questions that I have. After all, that is what we agreed. I’m surprised you haven’t asked for my name yet,’ he said not even caring one bit about my threat.

I stepped even closer towards him. It was then that I noticed he was a head shorter than I was. I stared down at him whilst he stared up at me. His monotone expression, not shifting one bit.

‘I know that you aren’t going to do anything to me,’ he said.

‘And what makes you so sure,’ I spat.

‘I don’t. But I will be very sure once I’ve shown you this,’ and he very lazily pointed towards a screen on our right that showed Amy and Tom lying on their beds, staring up at the ceiling, waiting for me to arrive. ‘All I have to do is give the command and they will be punished for your actions. How I can do that is through a little device that is attached to the inside of my ear. All I have to do is think the word, ‘activate’, and their punishment will, well, activate.’

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ I said standing my ground.

‘Answer my questions, as we agreed, and I there will be no reason for me to,’ he said simply. I thought about it for a good few seconds, trying to think of a way out of here. All I want is for all of this to be over with. I will not let anything happen to Tom and Amy.

‘Fine,’ I said.

‘Excellent,’ he said, slightly cheerfully, his expression changing only but a millimeter. ‘Now, if you would like to follow me, we can sit down and have a civilised chat that doesn’t involve threats. It brings down the mood so much when you do.’ I don’t get what is going on. I stopped a person trying to cause chaos in the shopping centre, defeated an entire robot army, stopped an evil person trying to take over the world, saved an entire planet from being ripped apart by skyscrapers, and stopped a person who calls himself Magician that was hell-bent on doing anything and everything he could possibly do with a very powerful magic staff to claim the watch for himself, and defeated an entire army of monsters. I’ve done enough things to tell me that no person or no thing is going to stand in my way, yet he is. I feel like I’m not doing enough to save my friends. I feel as if I’m not thinking straight. Maybe it’s my constant thinking that I want this to be over and that I don’t want my friends to be hurt that is leading me down this anticlimactic road. I’ve repeated those two thoughts in my head so many times I’m surprised they haven’t become meaningless already. What am I doing? I’m so much smarter than this. I’m so much better than this. I can do anything. Yet I’m refusing to do anything out of fear?

He led me into a room where two chairs sat opposite one another. He pointed towards the one on the right whilst he was making his way to the one on the left and promptly sat down. As I was sitting down, a screen switched behind him showing Amy and Tom once more. That was obviously there to remind me that I shouldn’t cross any line and stick to what we agreed, which is for me to answer any questions he has.

‘How did you come across the watch?’ he asked not wasting any time.

‘And these questions are not in any way part of any plan to acquire the watch,’ I stated instead of asking.

‘You know that they aren’t,’ he said. I was amazed that he didn’t push for an answer.

‘Here’s the thing that I’m struggling to understand,’ I said. ‘Everything. I’m struggling to understand everything. You trap me in a small concrete wall, threaten me and expect me to complete various tasks, which I agree to for obvious reasons, and now we’re sitting down talking about my watch because that is the whole point of why you wanted me to do these tasks in the first place. One minute you’re asking how I answered every question correctly first time round, and then you don’t bother to challenge me any more even though you knew full well that I was using the watch. I mean, I’ve never heard of so much inconsistency in all my life. It’s as if you don’t have a clue what you are doing. You started this without a plan. You started this with an expectation rather than a goal. Why are you so all over the place?’

‘You are from a parallel universe, are you not?’ he questioned.

‘I am. How do you…?’

‘Then you of all people should understand that there are subtle differences between each universe, each world.’

‘That doesn’t really answer my question,’ I said.

‘But it’s enough for you, fill in the blanks,’ he said.

‘This is precisely what I’m talking about. You’re too all over the place to properly understand. If I wrote this down, the reader wouldn’t understand either. They would put the book down and refuse to carry on. If I were to write this down I would be amazed that they would have gotten to this point where I’m questioning your consistency.’

‘Are you not going to answer my questions?’ he asked.

‘Maybe I have, but you’re just didn’t get it because you’re not fully concentrating on getting things straightened out,’ I said.

‘You still haven’t asked my name,’ he said. Was he trying to avoid the situation or what?

‘Do I have to know your name?’

‘Wouldn’t it make the conversation better? If you were writing this down, surely you would want to know my name so that you don’t have to keep playing the very boring pro-name game.’

‘It may make the story that more interesting if I kept you a secret,’ I stated.

‘Maybe. How did you come across the watch?’ he said suddenly. ‘A straight answer would be better than playing a game.

‘I found it,’ I said.

‘That watch is legendary, according to some people that I’ve spoken to. That watch can give its owner unlimited power to do whatever he or she wants, however they want, without question. And you just found it? How?

I shrugged. ‘I’m still finding that out myself, so I’m afraid I can’t answer that.’

‘What was the first thing you did when you put it on?’

When did I start answering his questions? I thought I was trying to… I don’t know what I was trying to do.

‘Why don’t you read the book,’ I said.

‘A clever answer,’ he said. ‘But are you going to sit down and write this book?’ he asked.

‘Maybe,’ I said simply.

‘So, there is a chance that you won’t sit down and write it. With that, I would like you to answer my question.

‘How did you trick me into answering your first one?’

‘Through my inconsistency of course,’ he said, ‘what was the first thing you did when you put it on.’

‘Changed my clothes from an ordinary set to a suit,’ I said before realising that he had somehow gotten me to answer his question again.

‘Really? You can change your clothes. What else can you do with the watch?’

‘Hang on. You said that your inconsistency tricked me into answering your questions. How does that work?

‘You’re asking more questions that I hoped you would,’ he said.

‘I’m a curious person by nature.’

‘That you are,’ he said.

‘But that wasn’t our agreement. You agreed that you would answer any question I have in exchange of seeing me in person. I have obeyed my half of the agreement, why is it so hard for you to obey your half?’

‘What do you already know about the watch? Those stories that you heard, read; what did they tell you?

‘Enough. What else can your watch do?

‘I can travel to any parallel universe, in time, manipulate time…’

‘Continue,’ he said simply.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: Street Cat Named Bob

When watching this film, it seems you have to ask yourself ‘who rescued who?’

This film is based on a book of a true story, of the same name by James Bowen (played in the film by Luke Treadaway) the London busker who took in Bob (who played himself along with other cats) and gave him a home. I read the book in one day, I just couldn’t put it down, and as it is an easy read, that is not a bad thing, it actually adds to the impact of the story. I can see why they made the book into this film.

As you watch this film, it proves, give some people something good to focus on and wonderful things can happen as a result. Also as I watched I hoped that there are more understanding, for the right reasons, people out there as portrayed in this film; such as when he missed an appointment because he had to take Bob to a vet. People never gave up on James and he proved to them, to be a worthy candidate.  

When James sees his flat for the first time he says “Wow”, despite the flat being unpainted, having a resident mouse and in a block where most people would fear to tread. Just goes to show the different levels of “wow factor” out there and this film should make us realise how grateful we should be for what we have.

You couldn’t have a film like this without including that clichéd line you can “stay for one night”. That never or rarely works. In this case though a good thing wouldn’t you say. Made me smile when I heard James say that to Bob and said to myself “Yeah right”.

What I also thought was a great idea was how the filmmakers told parts of the story looking through Bob’s eyes. This added to the film and included Bob in it as one of the main characters. He is after all one of the reasons the story came about.

When I first watched this film I cried all the way through. The connection between Bob and James was so beautiful and it was heart-warming to hear when James’s dad Jack (played in the film by Anthony Head) said “Son and Grandson”.

This film gives a realistic, graphic insight into what addicts and those who want to become ex-addicts go through. Even how their families may react to them, this has another level to it, as you have also a step family thrown into the mix. As James’s dad has remarried and has two other daughters. One who is sadly allergic to cats, which also doesn’t help matters when James turns up at their house with Bob, who despite being described in the half hour special feature, behind the scenes, on the DVD as acting as human, is still a cat, but still a great actor by all accounts.

The film is certainly worth a watch, just have plenty of tissues ready.

Jerry’s Journal: I Thought This Was Lost

Searching through my hard drive, I came across this picture that I hadn’t sorted into the right place. During that unexpected crisis with my hard drive a few weeks ago – one that I’m still slowly recovering from – I found this picture lurking on another drive. This picture was taken in Hadleigh, on one of the many public footpaths. It was a little muddy, but Jerry enjoyed himself – to the point where he decided to sit down and rest on a bridge for a few seconds before heading back up the path.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 178:

Then the knight flickered and disappeared. Is that over? Are all my chances up? Did I lose?

‘You know, I’ve been thinking,’ his voice, drenched in curiosity boomed over the microphone once more. I didn’t lose. He just changed his mind.

‘I wasn’t going to bring this up until the end, but I just couldn’t wait, if you know what I mean. Your hand is obviously quite messed up. Broken if I’m not mistaken, and yet you’re acting as if it is just a scratch, nothing more, and earlier, when you were sitting down, completely exhausted, you then got up and started running about as if you had just had a good long rest. I don’t know about you, but no amount of adrenaline will allow you to do that unless you have a special kind of device known only as the watch. No one has ever done that, and no matter what the odds are of someone actually doing that eventually, when you are wearing the watch you are practically throwing the odds out of the window, never to be seen again. And then you combatted the soundwaves that I so expertly set up to specifically distract your senses, and you just ignored them entirely. You gave an excellent excuse that I must admit was very convincing, but I knew it was a lie from the way your face was all so struggling to think of something clever to say beforehand. I must admit, I did think for a good minute or so whether you are actually that good, but then I quickly realised that you just weren’t. I’m sorry, but you’re using your watch and that calls for drastic action.’

‘If you knew that I was using my watch all along, then why didn’t you say anything. Why didn’t you stick to your word and hurt my friends? Do you have another plan up your sleeve?’

‘I’m not going to answer that question just yet,’ he continued. ‘I would like you to answer mine first. I was watching you closely and I never saw you once go for your watch and activate anything. How were you activating the watch?’

‘And what will you do with the information if I do tell you?’ I asked. I’m not about to give away anything concerning the watch to someone like him.

‘Nothing,’ he said. His tone of voice was plain and simple, making it hard to tell whether or not he was lying. Knowing him, he probably is. ‘Genuinely nothing. I don’t care for the watch. All I care about is finding out whether or not the person wearing it is able to look after themselves, and I’ve already got my answer to that, so are you going to answer my question now or would you like some more convincing. I can threaten you with hurting your friends since that always seems to work.

‘How about you show yourself first. All you’ve ever done from the very beginning is hide behind a microphone. How about you convince me by showing your face.’

‘A valid proposal. I’ll think about that. In the meantime, you are allowed to repair yourself. That hand is starting to make me gag. I’ve always hated the sight of blood. That’s why I work with holograms; there’s never any mess to clean up and I love technology.

‘So is this over then. You’re going to let me go. Let my friends go. We can go home.’

‘I don’t think you’re going to like the answer to that question,’ he said. That obviously means no. I didn’t waste any more time asking any more questions. Instead I tapped away at the watch, repairing my hand. My fingers clicked and snapped into place as my healing factor increased tenfold. It really wasn’t the best of sights to see your fingers twist and turn like they did.

After my hand and arm was back to normal, I returned everything back to how it was before. I’m now my normal-self again. I breathed a sigh of relief that all my stats were back to being ordinary. I moved my hand, my fingers, crunching it up into a fist, then opening it up and repeating until I felt a slight ache in the back of my hand. For some reason, I just had to do that.

‘I have decided that I will come and meet with you face to face in exchange for some answers,’ he said. ‘If you would kindly make your way to the end of the room where I will open the door for you. I will then make my way down where I will reveal my true identity. I don’t normally do this, but since you are a special guest of some sorts, then I will make an exception. Are you OK with that?’ he asked.

‘I am,’ I said, accepting his offer.

‘Excellent,’ he said with that tone that told me he was smiling. ‘See you in a couple of minutes, then,’ and the microphone went quiet. I spun on the spot until I was facing directly at the door. This was a sudden change of pace. Everything that has happened here has been very hard to understand. Very clever ideas that could have been used for something much better than testing people to their limits for reasons that I simply cannot remember anymore. It was only when I was walking and not having to worry about any challenges that I was able to fully contemplate the size of this room. It must be at least the size of a football pitch in length and width, if not, then two. I cannot believe that I was able to run from one end of the room and back again without any help from the watch. And the technology in this is obviously far more advanced than anything we have back at home. We aren’t able to create fully rendered and realistic holographic dragons or knights that can breathe fire or run at an insane speed.

I reached the end of the room. The door clicked open and I found myself standing in that small concrete room once more. The door swung shut behind me, plunging me into darkness once more. Then the room started to move upwards. Were all the concrete rooms able to move like lifts? Probably. Actually, the first one wouldn’t be able to as that had fake walls. The concrete room/lift came to a stop and the walls/doors started to open. I could see the outline of someone standing behind it, the creator of this place, the man in charge and the person who is going to get a piece of my mind.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Random Topic Generator: MARVEL Vs DC

Last year, I’ve unintentionally gave the allusion that I was a MARVEL fan boy. Possibly due to the way I was praising MARVEL, but criticising DC. I have tried to balance the scales by writing a few posts highlighting what I like about DC, but it didn’t help much because of the way I wrote some of the MARVEL articles. This article is my way to officially stabilise things once and for all. I do enjoy both companies a lot more than I’ve said.

I would like to point out before continuing that this article isn’t my attempt to cement which company is better than the other on a global scale, instead on a personal level. I will be pointing out what I like from both companies and how they are better than the latter, or equal to.

I want to say first is that I don’t read the comics. My main reason is because the incredible amount of storylines, each containing a complex amount of continuity. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to jump into a character’s comic book because it’s hard to fully understand everything that’s going on. I can come away with plenty of questions – some will be answered in future issues, but the majority have already been answered in previous issues, and it can take a while before I’ve gotten all the information to catch up with what’s happening in that specific issue I’m reading.

A couple of years ago, DC rebooted their entire catalogue of comics. They stopped everything and restarted at issue no. 1. The New 52 looked intriguing. Finally, I was able to enter the world of comic books… but I didn’t. When DC relaunched and released their first issue, I was nearing the end of college, and so I was fully concentrating on passing tests than comic books, and before I knew it, a lot of time went by and I found myself back at square one. Whilst DC had made it a lot easier to jump than before, I still had to search around for issue number 1 because it was now a few issues in, therefore I would have entered halfway through a particular storyline. I continued to stay clear of comic books and keep my attention on the movies and TV shows. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t dismissed everything. The movies and TV shows do include a vast amount of easter eggs relating to various events and/or characters in the comics. If I were to read them, I would have gotten them, but since I don’t, they went straight over my head.

To have a better experience when watching the films and TV shows, I searched around and found a couple YouTube channels focusing on explaining all the easter eggs throughout a film or an individual episode. I have enjoyed all the films and TV shows a lot more afterwards, so if I happen to watch it again, it would be as if I was watching it for the first time, because I would be seeing so much more than I had done before.

When it comes to films and TV shows, I have frequently stated that my personal preference is that MARVEL does better films whereas DC does better TV shows. MARVEL has their cinematic universe on the big screen, and DC has their universe on the small screen, but the size of the screens doesn’t matter. They are extremely and continuing to be successful.

DC’s TV shows include, Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. The creators only intended Arrow to be on its own, with no superpowers. But things didn’t go according to plan, and for the better. From Arrow came the entire Arrowverse. Four shows with their own storylines but occasionally crossing over with each other for some of the best TV experiences I’ve ever seen. Last year’s four-night crossover between all four shows looked to be a miracle. Being on the CW, their budgets aren’t as big as some of the larger networks. As their shows have increased in success, more money is available, but they still have to be cautious with what they do with it. That didn’t stop them from ramping things to the max. How they pulled it off without cracking under pressure was stunning. Arrow’s season 5 finale looks to be better than anything they’ve ever done before. The Flash’s season 3 finale looks to be a mind-bender, and therefore thoroughly enjoyable. Supergirl’s season 2 finale looks to be above average because I think they are still finding their feet slightly, but I’m confident season 3 will be better than the previous 2 season. Legends of Tomorrow has already had its season 2 finale, but the cliffhanger was unexpected and I cannot wait for the next season to see how they would resolve it.

MARVEL’s films have been dominating the big screen since 2008. Iron Man pathed the way for a gigantic “experiment”. With hype already building for Avengers Infinity War that’s not coming out next year, it is to be a monumental achievement if they can pull that off. With so many characters slated to star, with it also being a conclusion to an overarching storyline throughout the series with Thanos coming to Earth in attempt to take the Infinity Stones and conquer Earth and the Universe, the nerd in me wants to time travel to the future right now.

DC’s films on the other hand, aren’t quite on MARVEL’s level. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be. MARVEL started their universe in 2008. They’ve had 9 years to build and perfect their universe into what it is now. DC released Man of Steel, then did the crossover event with Batman, then releasing Wonder Woman shortly before Justice League hits the cinemas. That’s too fast. They would have had less criticism if they played the long game the same as MARVEL has done. I believe if they followed this plan, they might have been within a chance of building up what they are trying to do now but too quickly. Starting with Man of Steel, then Batman, Wonder Woman, then the Superman Vs Batman crossover event that includes Wonder Woman and The Flash and Cyborg, and all the other teasers. Wonder Woman would have more of an impact if we knew her origin story in that universe before being suddenly introduced to her in Superman Vs Batman. Then, release The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, then do the Justice League movies – possibly at least one more Batman movie before, but it works just the same afterwards.

MARVEL’s TV shows have increased in quality considerably over the years. Their Netflix series are immensely entertaining, but it still doesn’t quite excite the nerd in me as much as DC’s Arrowverse.

During my research into the various comic book lore without having to read any of the comics, I discovered two videos, and subsequently a channel that I quickly subscribe to, explaining absolutely everything in both MARVEL and DC.

The Imaginary Axis explained both company’s multiverses, and various other lore. Both videos opened my eyes to just how much both companies have built. Both are well-thought out on so many levels.

I prefer DC’s multiverse to MARVEL’s, purely because DC’s is easier to understand. You could argue that DC’s simplistic nature means it’s not that good, but from another perspective, by keeping it simple, therefore easier to understand, it can bring in more people simply because they can follow exactly what’s going on without feeling too confused. Seeing DC’s lore on this map doesn’t help me with reading any of the comics. They’re still difficult to follow. However, with all the information I’ve gathered from multiple other sources across the internet, I’ve generated a big enough picture that quenches my appetite.

I’m not a MARVEL fanboy, neither am I a DC fanboy. I enjoy both but from different aspects.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

1,000 Words: Has Science Gone Too Far?

Film of the Week: Hacksaw Ridge

This is not a film you can sit down and watch, this is a film you have to prepare for. It’s a powerful war epic that doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the detail. This is not for the faint hearted. If you feel queasy or otherwise at the sight of blood, then stay clear of this film. The war scenes are intense. There’re the most realistic scenes of war since Saving Private Ryan’s opening scene showcasing how intense D-day was.

Hacksaw Ridge follows the true story of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector in history to earn the Medal of Honour, the highest medal, without firing a single shot, or even holding a weapon. His intentions are to fight by being a medic. Singlehandedly, he saves 79 lives. It must be noted however, that the official number is hard to come by. Some say it’s over 100, others say it was less than 79. The filmmakers decided to meet in the middle and go with the number in the film. He combats exhaustion, The Japanese military, and constant bombarding from the ships out at sea that are attempting to exterminate the enemy by firing huge bombs in their direction.

Desmond Doss’s services were inspirational. He fought with the 77th Infantry Division during the battle of Okinawa atop of Hacksaw Ridge, where their mission was to push back the Japanese. If they were successful, their chances of winning the war would increase considerably. Being a Seventh-day Adventist, he refused to carry a weapon. Others believed him to be crazy for attempting to go into battle without a way to defend himself. He turned their words upside down when he went above and beyond the call of duty and rescued and saved the lives of many men.

With the film being based on a true story, some creative influences have slipped in, but it stuck to as many of the facts and portrayed them tastefully and as accurately as possible, to show us the audience what it was like fighting in a war, and the challenges the army and Desmond Doss faced every second.

Andrew Garfield’s performance, and everyone else’s was sensational. This two-and-a-half-hour epic feature film explores every aspect of training, and fighting, and the relationship with their fellow colleagues.

This was Mel Gibson’s first role as a director in ten years. He does not show any rust. He knew exactly what he was doing to generate the running theme of anti-war. To add to the incredibly powerful atmosphere Mel created, Rupert Gregson-Williams’ score captured every emotion all at once. Normally I watch a film to have a rest, but instead I came away from this film needing a calm down. I can only imagine what it must have felt like watching it on the big screen at the cinema.

One of the things I am grateful for is the lack of shaky cam. Intended to increase the action, all it does it create a disorientated mess that’s hard to concentrate on and disconnects you from the film, sometimes even making you dizzy or ill. There is a lot of action scenes in this film, and if Mel decided to use shaky cam, I doubt it would have been half as successful. Everyone can focus on everything that’s going on without having to struggle or rewind to catch a pivotal moment.

It will be a while before I’ve prepared myself to experience this film once more, I will be honest. It’s not something I can stick on in the background, or fall asleep in front of, or because I have nothing else to watch. If I am to watch this film again, I really have to have a reason so I can brace myself for the intensity and emotional rollercoaster it brings.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 177:

The second holographic enemy was already spawning before I had the chance to stand up. From the looks of it, it wouldn’t be as big as the dragon was. If anything, it appeared to be human-like shaped. As it was spawning, I communicated with Interface in my head once more and requested that he gives me the ability to stay energetic without getting tired.

Immediately, the achiness in my legs went away, my breathing died down to a normal level; I had all the energy that I needed to stand on my feet for as long as necessary. In fact, I felt so pumped full of energy that I practically jumped up onto my feet. I could quite easily run laps around this room now without breaking a sweat. Awesome. But I shouldn’t get cocky. I should remain level headed.

I’m waiting for my second enemy to spawn in completely. It was indeed a person. This person was wearing a set of gold armour. A knight of some sort, maybe? There has to be more to this person that meets the eye. A single knight after battling a dragon. The second wave should be harder than the first.

Actually, in a way, it does make sense. It’s always a knight that slays the dragon, which means the knight is more powerful than the dragon. Oh, that’s clever. The second wave is me battling the knight that would have slain the dragon, thus I’m up against a harder enemy. That’s very clever, and efficient.

And then the spawning in was complete. Standing in front of me, sword in hand, a gold plated armour-wearing knight. Its helmet had two horns, one on each side. Its chest plate had that look about it of being very heavy and very tough to break. In fact, the knight’s entire armour was thick and would have been very hard to break through if I had to actually fight it, but instead I’ve merely got to get away from it as much as possible.

It’s obvious what the knight is going to do and I have no weapon. Well, I successfully defeated a dragon, a single knight can’t be that difficult. Don’t get cocky. Remain level-headed.

It would be handy if I did have my very own sword just in case of any close encounters, but unfortunately, being a hologram, I won’t be able to pick it up, and from the way my hand is, I doubt I would be able to use it that well anyway. I just have to find that button to turn him off as fast as possible.

I turned my head to where the button was last time and saw that it had retracted into the wall. I think I have this figured out: A button will appear in a random place at any time during the battle and it will be a 50/50 chance whether it is active or not.

The knight raised its sword above its head, ready to advance. If this is an accurate simulation, then its armour would slow it down. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case at all. Because I was trying to work things out, I unintentionally waited until he started running. He was blisteringly fast. Faster than I had time to react properly. His sudden appearance, looming over me made me jump out of my skin, nearly forcing me on the floor at the same time. He raised his sword into the air once more, getting ready to slice me in half. I dived out of the way, mirroring the actions that I made when dodging the dragon’s claws.

I started to run. I wasn’t running in any particular direction, I just wanted to get away from this knight. But I didn’t get half way across the room before he appeared out of nowhere, right in front of me, for the second time. I nearly ran into his sword, only just slowing down before my chest collided with the tip. I started running in the opposite direction, but the moment I turned around, there he was, right in front of me, swinging his sword down. I dived out of the way the instant it hit the ground, creating a series of sparks and clanging noises. If I had a sword, I might be able to disarm it, but I don’t and so will have to just rely on running, which isn’t that helpful, to be honest. If that button could appear, and an active one, that would be nice. Any second now would be nice. Preferably right this very moment, but I’m not one for rushing…

I might not be running out of energy any time soon, but that doesn’t stop me from nearly tripping over my own feet from trying to out manoeuvre the enemy. I swear I’ve pulled many muscles in my stomach from twisting and turning this way and that, going as fast as I can without making a horrible mistake. I really hope that I don’t forget to repair my body before turning off my ability to not feel pain as that would mean for a heck of a bad time.

Why am I thinking about after this battle when I should be thinking about the battle? That minute amount of distraction caused a lot of problems. The knight appeared right in front of me for yet another time. Due to my thinking of other things, I couldn’t slow down fast enough. The sword’s tip neared my chest. I tried everything I could to move my body out of the way. I’m going to lose this battle all because of a stupid mistake. I threw myself down onto the ground. I landed on my arm in the wrong way. I didn’t hear a snap, but it was obvious that it would have hurt immensely. Great, my arm may be out of commission as well, but if I’m not careful, I’ll be out of commission as well. The knight saw that I had tried to dodge his sword by throwing myself onto the ground and swung his sword down. I was in the wrong position to roll out of the way quick enough.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: The Haunting House – Shivers series, book No.6 by M.D. Spenser

If ever there was a reason to ‘Hug a House’ this story is it and as Caitlin and Lynne found out the hard way; to survive they had to give a big hug.

This portrays how parents tend to blame the older sibling for the naughty things carried out by the younger sibling. Although I did wonder why the older sister Caitlin got into the hole with younger sister Lynne when they were both told not to get into it. That part is confusing and I wondered just where it was leading. In the end it made sense as the house started to turn against them.

This also portrays that parents act like they know better and don’t believe their children when confronted with information they deem silly or naïve. The parents not listening and blind to what has happened, carry on as they normally would and go out. The sisters are left on their own in a house that has a mind of its own. If you know the well-known little Beetle car Herbie, then imagine he has an evil twin in a house form. This is it. The descriptive words used for what is happening is well written and I felt myself routing for the sisters to make it, but alas until they expressed love the house was having none of it.

It was nice to see the two sisters being bought together and more friendly towards each other and working together. so much so that I think we sometimes under-estimate how children are and act, individual or as a team of two or more.    

It is an intriguing read and kept me hooked to the end. The cover is striking and I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but this is a great story and even as it is meant for teenagers and I am an adult it is good to look at it as a parent. 1. You should listen to your kids, they learn new things at school and out and about all the time, as adults I think we could fall in to the trap we know more but it isn’t always the case, and 2. We should give kids more credit in solving problems they find themselves in. this has certainly opened my eyes.

The story has a nice ending, as the house just needed to hear and feel the love and also now needs a new kitchen but that is up to the parents to sort out and build. At the I felt myself thinking ‘I wish them well in their new home now’. Love is all it takes and possibly a builder.