coxy's blog

Last night I went to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It was really good.

On Friday night I watched The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas; it was a film that had a limited cinema release - and I think I missed my chance to see it - so downloaded it after seeing the trailer.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas shows the developing friendship between two boys when a family move to a new area of Germany during the second World War, after the father of the family is assigned to run a Nazi-Germany Concentration Camp.

Knowing this was the story, and that the film had a limited release, I was expecting it to be in German with English subtitles - so was quite surprised to find that all the actors were British English and spoke with middle-class British accents. Once you get over this though, you'll find yourself watching a good heart-wrenching film that's well made.

If you get the chance, I recommend you go and see the film. Failing that, download the movie via bittorrent at The Pirate Bay or buy it on DVD.

Last night Vikki and I watched The Darjeeling Limited. I enjoyed it, it was fun - I couldn't quite tell you what it was all about... it was all a bit random, but very watchable. We laughed.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4027350/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product/dp/B0012OTROI/

Tonight Vikki and I watched Felon - where a family man loses everything when he accidentally kills a burglar who broke into his home. I enjoyed it, it was tense - the story was captivating. We cried, nearly.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4321673/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product/dp/B001BFH4HU/

This film looks really interesting - I'm going to go and see it soon. Thanks to Brad Smith for the heads-up.

A word of mouth hit at Sundance, James Marsh’s Man on Wire is a breathtaking documentary presenting French funambulist Philippe Petit and his perilous wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre.

In 1974, standing 1,350 feet above Manhattan, he walked eight times between the world’s tallest buildings, dancing and joking on the wire as he went. Petit’s puckish energy makes him an incredibly engaging subject, and Marsh uses amateur archive footage, interviews, quirky reconstructions and a Michael Nyman score to compose his homage to the spirit of adventure that Petit embodies.

http://www.manonwire.com/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155592/

http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/manonwire/

http://www.cornerhouse.org/film/info.aspx?ID=2751

Is this a record of three consecutive posts over three consecutive days? I have a feeling this is as active as you're ever going to see my blog - so make the most of it; comment, comment, comment.

If we rewind a bit to Thursday night, as my original pre-weekend post stated, I was going to Mark Dormand's leaving booze-up. It was good to see people again from my old workplace; have a drink and a laugh with familiar faces - albeit a brief one. I made it to the coach station to get the coach into Leeds, arriving at 8.30pm. I guess in hindsight I could've stayed later at the pub, leaving to go to Leeds sometime on, because Amanda had already gone to work. She got home at 5am, so I let myself in and was stuck alone in her bedroom until then 'catching some zZz'.

There was a terrible moment where I walked blindly through Hyde Park in Leeds; on my own, in the dark. It was so scary, and I got lost. When I found the exit to the park I was relieved that I was still alive - I couldn't see my hand in-front of my face.

Anyway, Amanda and I were meant to go to Flamingo Land on Friday for her birthday. We got out of bed a little late though and by the time we got to the coach station it was way too late to go to Flamingo Land. We lose.

Instead, we jumped on a coach back to Manchester and went to the cinema. We seen Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (imdb) - which, for the record, was alright. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad; the CGI is superb though.

Already my plans hadn't gone as planned, but as predicted. I was meant to be returning home from Leeds on Saturday morning; come Friday night I was in Manchester, Amanda was out with friends, Vikki was out with friends and I tucked myself up in bed and caught up on some sleep.

To follow suite, Saturday didn't go as planned either - but it was the best Saturday I've had in a long while. With Vikki at work, I made my way into town on my own to meet some people from the photo sharing website Flickr. I had no idea who any of these people were, or what they looked like, but soon found myself amongst a bunch of real nice people.

After we'd all congregated, we spent most of the afternoon walking around the city taking photos and chatting amongst ourselves - and there was one point during the day we happened upon the most unique watering hole in Manchester.

Whilst I really want to chat on and on about how great that afternoon was, how cool the people I met were and how much I enjoyed it - I really don't image you'd care. It would be nice if you'd look through my photos from the day though and comment where you see fit:

Flickr Meet-Up (Easter 2007)