Building | Wanderings and ... wonderings.

Oct 19 2024

Art, Building, Crime, Monarchy, Royal Family, Technology, Television, TV series, United Kingdom

I, Claudius. I suppose it was seminal once.

Brian Blessed sans the beard and his general all-round formulaic Brian Blessedness was at least a shock. We also have shite costumes and dodgy wigs chucked into this insipid, very British mix/mess.

It’s essential history and for the time, I assume, it was event television. But bloody hell it isn’t half fucking boring. I couldn’t get beyond the embarrassing plastic sets and that did it for me. Did they shoot this in a prison? I had to pull the plug for I couldn’t suspend my disbelief.

The likes of Lars von Trier needn’t bother with an art department because that’s his obvious (oh so provocative!) intention; here, the skullduggery had the appearance of a school play.

I’m sure it’s captivating but no thanks, I have a toga from a fancy dress shop I need to attend to.

Tagged Augustus, Claudius, I Claudius, Images, Roman Empire, Rome, TV series

Nov 13 2023

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Architecture, Art, Building, Construction, Technology, Uncategorized

Not bad for a spot of DIY.

Martijn Doolaard makes the most mesmerising videos you’ll see anywhere. They shouldn’t be, but the tranquil simplicity distinguishes the content. And he’s doing something, not filming a cat with a selfie stick.

There’s a Robert Bresson quality here. An inspiration.

Tagged Cabin, Italian Alps, Martijn Doolaard, Restoration, YouTube

Jul 03 2023

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Art, Building, Cinema, Construction, Film, Movie, Movies, Uncategorized

Noah (2014) is terribly dull.

I know very little about any of this; I quite simply do not care for the yarn, and I never will. So such Biblical inaccuracies are of no concern to me, much as a filmic deviation from a comic book also rouses no faux-incredulity on my behalf.

Visuals here were impressive. The rest, absolute shite, from the horrible characters to the bombast, and the general tedium of it all.

Pish.

Bye for now.

Tagged Anthony Hopkins, Cinema, Darren Aronofsky, Film, Images, Movie, Noah, Ray Winstone, Russel Crowe

Jun 26 2023

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Building, Crime, Television, TV series, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

Waco: American Apocalypse.

Another week, another slice of Netflix mayhem, this series says a lot about the power of cults and how disturbed, megalomaniac manipulators make it to the top in these organisations.

A docu of a pre-digital age, the vintage nature of analogue broadcasting and videotape puts it in another century, which it is, but it’s no less contentious because of it. By default, one of its major concerns is the news media’s obsession with and reaction to havoc, co-dependent symbiotic twins. The Second Amendment is surprisingly given little focus, nor is just how this fits into any broader narrative of Carnage Americana.

Decent enough as a basic history lesson.

Waco, more like WACKOS (plural).

Tagged ATF, FBI, Film, Movie, Negotiations, Netflix, Texas, Waco

Dec 01 2022

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Architecture, Art, Building, Construction, Crime, Film, Movie, Movies, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

Thamesmead no more.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/30/cockney-riviera-botched-regeneration-brutalist-utopia-thamesmead

Brutalist and utopia are never two words to be used in the same sentence without negative connotations, but it’s a recurring theme with these building projects. We did, however, experience the “aesthetically pleasing” luxuries of A Clockwork Orange (1971) because of these architectural faux pas.

Once again: “As we walked along the flatblock marina, I was calm on the outside but thinking all the time. So now it was to be Georgie the General, saying what we should do, and what not to do, and Dim as his mindless, grinning bulldog. But, suddenly, I viddied that thinking was for the gloopy ones, and that the oomny ones used like inspiration and what Bog sends. For now it was lovely music that came to my aid. There was a window open, with a stereo on, and I viddied right at once what to do.”