A Lonely Place to Die

We sat down yesterday to watch “A Lonely Place to Die”, a film staring Angel off of Home and Away (as well as many other fine roles, including “The woman in '30 Days of Night'” and “The chick who is married to Sid's Bloke in 'Alias'”) A film which seemed to be of the “127 Hours” variety; an adventure holiday/extreme sport goes wrong. On the face of it it's about 5 mountaineers trying to climb a large mountain in the remotest part of Scotland they can find. However it takes a strange twist with the discovery of a young girl locked in a box, buried underground. What follows is almost a “Deadly Pursuit” on a budget. The plot doesn't seem to know where to go, although the effects are pretty good throughout. And the camera work/photography of the whole area is brilliantly breathtaking. I was however stunned by one very large scene, which caused me to spend the next 20 minutes shouting loudly and arguing with the film. It is this pivotal moment that I wish to discuss, however it is of course very spoilery. If you haven't seen the film but want to, then please, stop reading. Go watch the film then come back. If you have seen the film, or don't really care then please do read on.

Still here? Good. So, on finding the girl, Rob gets out his map and shows they are on a plateau. The nearest town is fairly close as the bird flies, about 5 miles due south. However there is a rather large gorge (the Devils Drop) between them and the town. He decides to take Alison with him, because she's the main star of the film. The other three are to head East around the ridge, before going south then south west. This is about 50 miles. All is looking good until Rob's rope is cut. Rob is on what we shall call the “North side” of the ridge/gorge. Alison is at this point, clinging to the same side. The bad guys then throw rocks at her, they are clearly on the top of the north ridge. Alison gets down and then, after watching the other 3 for a while, we return to her and she's now running through woods. We can therefore assume she climbed up the south side ridge. In fact we know she did because she finds the other three! There are just the other side of a river. Now, I'm no outdoors type, but.. what direction were they all heading in? How did they meet like this? And – and again I remind you I know very little of the outdoors life – surely this river crossing – dangerous as it appears to be, is still a hell of a lot safer then a 10 million gazillion foot drop to certain death, that is Devils Drop. Alison gets there the same time as the others – in fact, they get there before she does. Why didn't they chose to make that river the crossing point between the North and the South? They had enough rope with them at the start to allow one person to get across the river with one end of the rope, fasten it somewhere on the other side and create a simple bridge to cross. Hell, we made one many years ago in the scouts. Yes I know it's a fast flowing river, but.. Still surely a more sensible option than a drop that you DON'T have enough rope for... So, while I was still reeling from this stupidity of the plot, there comes a moment of terror when the bad guys start shooting our heroes. But.. the shots come from the south side... We see this when Alison crosses back through the water and the bad guys have to try and follow her. When did they cross the ravine? They hardly look the type to take on the Devils Drop. Is there yet another crossing; one capable of being navigated by two blokes – one who clearly doesn't get outside much either! And if so, why didn't Rob try that one?

Twitter, and bringing the world closer.

A slightly different vein for my ramblings today. The topic at hand is Twitter (and some ways, facebook, although Twitter is slightly more in line with the article at hand).

Some celebrities have embraced Twitter as a way to "advertise" their new products. Singers tweet about their latest compositions, actors about their new film or TV show. Many of these celebrities reply to the "normal people" (you and me), making us feel like valued "customers".

As great as it to have the news that Steve Martin is getting ready to do a one-man show, or Snoop Dogg is finishing the last bit of mixing on his new album, to me, the main joy of reading famous tweets is the mundane things.

What I really enjoy, more than knowing that Lady Gaga is about to start a new tour, is that Justin Bieber just burnt his toast. Or Katy Perry stubbed her toe.
Or that Barack Obhama has just farted.

It's the little things that makes Twitter more fun.

As a total aside, sometimes it can ruin the magic. I saw a photo the other day, of Richard Dean Anderson (best known for StarGate: SG1 and of course, MacGuyver) standing in front of his car, scratching his head. MacGuyver can't fix his own car?
It sort of ruins the magic of everything.

This one, however, really made me laugh.
https://twitter.com/#!/rajskub/status/160762663205470209
Chloe from 24 - Jack Bauer's right hand woman; the woman responsible for opening more locked doors, cracking more security, hi-jacking more camera footage than anyone else... And she's can't work her DVD player...

Like I said, it's the simple things in life.

(Ps: Celebrities, tweet more about the boring things :-D )

(PPs: I don't follow Steve martin, Lady gaga, Snoop Dogg, Bieber, Katy Perry... The things I made up are fictional. Apart from the Chloe and MacGuyver one.)

Good looking people in Cult TV...

I made a discovery several months ago, regarding good looking men and women in Cult TV shows. Now I don't profess to have paid any real attention to good looking men. The women on the other hand... It all started back in September, when I had the following conversation with my wife, about a new TV show starting the next week.
"Ringer starts next week" I said casually.
"What's that then?" asks the missus.
"Something about a woman and her twin sister and.. stuff..."
She sighs. "Who is in it?"
"Umm.. Sarah Michelle Gellar."
"Right. So that has no bearing on why we're watching it then?"

All of which lead us into a more in depth conversation about the fact nearly ever TV show we watch has someone I fancy in it.

"But Person of Interest starts the week after that! That's got the bloke who is in the remake of The Prisoner, and Ben from Lost!" I said, trying to defend my position.
"You get Buffy. I get Ben from Lost. Where are all the good looking blokes on TV? All I've got is Supernatural!"

Which then lead her to spend the rest of that afternoon looking for blokes she fancies who might be making TV shows...

Maybe she's just too picky, but of all the shows we watch, there seems to be no one she really fancies, with the exception of Dean from Supernatural.

Even Flashpoint, a show which consists of 6 main characters, 5 of which are male. The odds are good there would be someone for her. But no. None of them do it for her. I meanwhile get to dribble over Jules for 45 minutes.

Just for kicks I listed some of the shows we watch and compared the men vs Women.

Hawaii 5-0: She admits Danno is pretty good. I however get Boomer (from BSG) and New Girl Lori.
Big Bang Theory: Perhaps the perfect example. I get Penny to lust over for 30 minutes a week. She gets Sheldon and Leonard. (I did point out she gets Howard as a bonus...)
Burn Notice: She says Michael makes his face into too many silly expression for her to like. However I get psycho Fi.
Secret Circle: Ignoring the fact the main cast are kids, the lead girl and the evil girl are quite good, while she just gets John Connor. (As an aside I will quickly mention The Sarah Connor Chronicles, featuring the divine Summer Glau...) In terms of the previous generation cast, i get Natasha Henstridge!
Fringe: Hello Alternative Liv...
Merlin: While she admits Arthur is alright, if he was a little older, I of course get Morganna...

So, I asked the question to my friends via facebook: "Where are the good looking blokes in Cult TV", and the response was overwhelming. "True Blood". We have since watched all 4 seasons of that, and yes she has to admit that that's where they are all hiding. (Maybe now would be a good time to mention I was undecided about it, until I discovered Rogue from the X-Men films was the main lead... So, another for me...) So she gets True Blood and Supernatural. It still seems slightly unbalanced.