Nevsky

My avatar was drawn by an ex-girlfriend when I was 16. Probably reflective of some kind of subconscious 'mood', maybe.

Hello, ysbreker! (If you have one still going spare)

Shakespeeeeaaaare! It's fun having rivalries! Enjoyed this week a lot, even if the spawning in the Cops and Crooks games was messed up, and I got 'mega burned' at one point.

Damn you, Mr. Scruff!

I think I'll be getting this on Friday (Xbox 360). Does this mean there's a possibility of some Brutal Thumbs in the future? \m/ Also, I know I shouldn't prattle about a (seemingly idiotic) journalist who specialises in grand sweeping statements and petty, badly-concieved features, but this Guardian article deemed Brutal Legend "a thoroughly generic video game".

I showed my teenage cousin (who watches a lot of crappy modern horror films) Evil Dead II about a year ago, and he was completely confused by it. About halfway through, he was visibly discomfited by the whole thing, so I paused the DVD and asked what was wrong. He answered, brow furrowed: 'Is this supposed to be funny...?' I think he enjoyed it in the end, after that, but he just seemed incapable of aesthetically appreciating something that shot between the posts of parody and sincerity - and didn't clearly telegraph that it was one or the other (like, say, the difference between Scary Movie and Silent Hill). In fact, another friend recently saw Drag Me To Hell, and described it on her blog as a 'parody horror film'. I'm not sure if there's anything or anyone to attach a 'blame' to about this (and of course I'm generalising), but, with my cousin especially (I like to experiment on him with films), he seems to have grown up with a very staid, restricted, generic approach to film. At a slight tangent, I also showed him Rosemary's Baby - which completely bored him for the first hour or so, and then scared the pants off him. Likewise, I think he said The Shining was rubbish because it 'wasn't scary'. (Not to say that toblix is at all deficient for not liking Drag Me To Hell. I'm yet to see it, so I can't comment.)

Right, well, I'm at the Blue Velvet screening from 6.30 onwards (until 8.30, I guess), so can't make something at 7pm. I'll be going to Nachimir's Show & Yell thingy after, though.

So it's definitely the Friday? I'll book my ticket, then. A friend of mine is coming down to stare, doe-eyed at the people in the careers-fair, so I'll be with him, while trying to get some stone-cold scoops. I'm also going to a screening of Blue Velvet at the Tate in the evening, but I'm sure I'll be able to work some Thumb action in. (My Saturday, however, is mostly free, so if there's any residual Thumb event, then I might be able to go to that, too)

'Nevsky, please stop there... yesyesyes!'

This is the reason why I've not checked out The Ultimates yet. I've read quite a bit of Millar (Civil War, Kick-Ass, 1985, Wanted), and I've only found myself liking Superman: Red Son, which somehow manages to get away from his heavy-handedness (or at least his broad ideas and posturing fit that alternate Super Cold War story). Hey, comics! Already a huge amount of great stuff here.

I'm in! Lecture finishes by 7.30pm, which gives me ample time. Good chance to find out whether my lag problems on my new connection are restricted to King of Fighters XII or not.

I might be able to come to this! Getting my internet installed tomorrow. I do have a lecture at 6pm, but I should be back for 9. Tentative awesome.

I can be there. I'm not an integral Thumb, and I'm quite easy (I live in an area of London that has awesome bus links), so I won't bang my shoe on the table. Eurogamer Expo is fine by me. That's central and surprisingly cheap (£6 for a day ticket, am I reading this right?), and it also means I'll actually go this year.

Hope the operation goes well, and the next couple of weeks go smoothly.

I'd be a taker!

Oh! No, that's how I say it, which is a mangled Salfordian accent. I'm guessing that also works for 'generic Northerner', too.

University Course? No, this is at Birkbeck, in London. I finished at Birmingham in 2008, and could probably survive without going there again for a long while.

Awesome, well done! -- I'm settling in my new place in Walworth (right near where Charlie Chaplin was born), which is in South London (pronounced Lun-dun). Getting back into the swing of work. University course starts next week, which should be fun!

I can't, but I hope y'all have some good, clean fun!

I saw a reprinted, restored version of The Godfather this morning. The UK distributors Park Circus are showing it at a few screens and I was completely [ign.com]-ed by it. Considering I've seen the film a couple of times over the years, on DVD and so on, I was very surprised. I thought it was a good film, but not utterly god-damn wonderful. I thought it had flaws. Strangely, seeing it in the darkened cinema, where you can be completely enveloped by the experience, swept all of my concerns aside. The big, widescreen epic feel of it, the warmth and meticulousness of the cinematography and the production design. And hearing the Nino Rota score booming out. Just lovely. I suppose it was a viewing context I couldn't suitably construct in my living room. Has anyone else had an experience like that, seeing a film on the big screen, or in a different context, and finding a new appreciation for it? Conversely, it seems that Citizen Kane is also getting the go-around in the UK, and the screening for that was tonight, too. Wonder how that fares. Oh, I also saw 9, but I'm embargoed until halfway through October for that one (despite it being out in America and, ironically, the site I'm reviewing it for already have already run a US-sourced review).

I'd assumed that was what happened, .

Yeah, I agree. But, I really liked this game, by the way, . And I'm half way gushing myself through an essay on the way the collectibles are implemented.

(Damn, that was nice pasta, though.) Yeah, so I won't be playing for a while. I move flat this weekend, won't have internet at the new place until October 1st (seemingly), and by then my term-time would have started, and I'm going to an evening college. Hey!

Yep, I also failed. Only got back from the art exhibition about 10 minutes ago, and decided that eating was more important than turning on the 360 and trying to fit in one game before 11. Sorry.

Must try harder, James. Looking forward to some GTA tonight. Might not be there dead on 9, as I'll be spending some time feeling awfully out of place at a photography exhibition opening. But this will be my last game for a while, so I'll make the effort.