hey amii, what you watching?

AFTER LIFE

DISCLAIMER: I don’t like Ricky Gervais. I never watched The Office, I wasn’t religious about watching Extras and I think the only stand up of his I’ve seen is Animals. I don’t like Ricky Gervais because he decided that his onstage persona was that of an arrogant arsehole - which would be a nice segue into After Life if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m not finished. The first time that I saw this persona was during Comic Relief many years ago when the character Ricky Gervais decided to go to New York instead of a developing country. Don’t get me wrong, I got the schtick. I just didn’t find it funny. I didn’t find him funny. And thus, as a comedian, I didn’t like him.

I wasn’t really planning on watching After Life because of the above, but I did. Today I was actually going to write about my initial thoughts on new ITV drama CHEAT, but having just watched the last episode of After Life, I felt compelled to write about this instead.

Ricky Gervais gives his character, Tony, license to be the arrogant arsehole Ricky Gervais by virtue of having his wife die of cancer. So we follow the story of Tony, post-wife’s death, battling depression, wanting to kill himself and conversing with an assortment of people who remind him, mostly, that life is for the living. I am susceptible to letting a story take me in and so, even though in the back of my head I’m going “this is just Ricky Gervais giving himself license to be Ricky Gervais through the guise of losing his wife”, I’m sold on it. I feel for Tony. Mostly because Gervais does a great job of showing Tony’s vulnerable moments. We need those, of course, to connect with him at his most arsehole level. As the writer (and director) of the whole series, Gervais allows Tony to have some of the most wry observations about life and death and everything in between and I think because it’s so eloquently written and expertly delivered, it’s hard not to like what he’s done here. As the writer, outside of the character Tony or persona Ricky Gervais, he brings up conversations I never thought someone like him would have or write about (as was my perception of him), such as addiction and sex work. I don’t know what it’s like living in a small “sleepy” town, but he does a great job of accentuating it’s quirkiness through all the characters he meets as a features writer for the local free newspaper. And it’s through those characters that he begins to have a bit more understanding about what he’s going through, such as when he meets a man who was sent five of the same birthday cards in the post in Episode 1.

I know this show is about Tony and I know it’s about his blinkered view of his feelings, his emotions, his loss, but one thing that did irk me throughout the series was the lack of self-awareness he had towards his boss, who also happens to be his brother-in-law, who also happens to have lost his sister to cancer, Tony’s wife. I get it and I know why it was done, but I just couldn’t help but feel for Matt, who is constantly doing his best to make Tony happy, but felt like no one was looking out for him, no one was caring for him or his feelings. He lost his sister. But it’s barely spoken about. But as I said, I know it’s Tony show and I know why it was set up like that, I just wanted to give Matt a cuddle.

hey amii, what you watching?

ONE DAY AT A TIME

One Day at a Time remains one of the most beautiful shows masquerading as a comedy. Sometimes it does like to hit you straight over the head with their point of view, but we forgive it for it’s more meaningful moments.

Now in its third season (and I’m guessing soon to be picked up for a fourth), ODAAT has highlighted some of the most important issues in today’s society from racism, sexuality, drug abuse and mostly notably depression and PTSD. Anyone who has seen the show (and it should be everyone) will remember how they felt watching Season 2 Episode 9, Hello, Penelope, and knowing they’ve found something truly special in this Netflix remake.

I think it’s fair to say that most of the people I know who watch it don’t find it laugh out loud funny, though I have been known to chortle from time to time. What we all love about it is the sincerity in which it raises important issues. Season 3 dropped on 8th Feb on Netflix and I have been binging it like the millennial I am. I have just finished the second to last episode and couldn’t wait to finish to write about the show. Again, another poignant and heartfelt episode, Drinking and Driving, reminds us what makes this show so brilliant and beautiful, meaningful and wonderful. The love we have for these characters, urging them to live, love and be their best selves, even against the odds of current situations and past trauma (a testament to the great writers as well as the great acting), is what elevates this programme above your typical sitcom. They allow us in on their journey, we are there at their highest highs and their lowest lows and, in true sitcom form, we leave the Alvarez apartment with a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

One Day at a Time is a sitcom for the times and of the times. In a day and age where we’re all just trying to figure shit out, they’re here with us, just trying to figure shit out too.

hey amii, what you watching

THE BBC

As I was eagerly awaiting KILLING EVE to come out, another couple of shows piqued my interest, BODYGUARD, from writer of LINE OF DUTY, Jed Mercurio, and PRESS, which, I realised as the opening credits rolled, is from the writer of DOCTOR FOSTER, Mike Bartlett. I like Line of Duty and Doctor Foster. I knew Bodyguard was Mercurio’s latest project and after a lot of hype, I finally had “time” to sit down and watch a couple of episodes over the weekend. I did the same with Press (and yes, Killing Eve), but Press I had come upon through social media disdain for the show. I was intrigued. I thought Bodyguard was great and I laughed at what the social media-phere mocked of Press. Nothing was terrible and all in all, alright viewing.

I also watched Killing Eve. I love it, I want to devour it all, but I know once I watch it, it’s gone - I’m trying not to binge… Though it was hard last night.

Anyway. As I am the usual latecomer to shows, I watched all of these on iPlayer. So I started looking at what else is on there. That’s when I came across BLACK EARTH RISING. This is (one of the reasons) why I’m writing this post. I had read the little blurb on iPlayer and seen the little image and honest to god thought to myself, that doesn’t quite sound like my cup of team, but I want to check it out to support bame arts/artist. I was drawn in by the opening exchange and looked forward to what this show was about. As I continued to watch, the authored credit (also directed by) came up - Hugo Blick. It’s a name I didn’t recognise (though later realise I have seen his work). I have often assumed by a name, so I thought to check who this Hugo Blick was. And it appeared I was right to assume. Which I’m very disappointed about.

Whilst I’m here, there is another bugbear I have, especially with BBC television. The majority of shows are written by one person and one person only. I know that BBC series’ are short, mostly between 5-6 episodes. I do find it frustrating that, although there are strands for developing talent, I think it would do our industry some good to adopt a writers’ room approach to their dramas. Even directors are used to such regularity as writer/creators, which I believe has even less of a talent scheme behind it - though don’t quote me on that, I haven’t actively looked for directing schemes.

Anyway, just some thoughts on what I’m watching. Not what I’m watching, but why I’m watching. Which, really, is lack of variety. Despite the options.

hey amii, what you watching?

THE GOOD FIGHT

I was a fan of The Good Wife before The Good Fight. Some people didn’t like The Good Wife, but like The Good Fight. I imagine there are some people who liked The Good Wife but don’t like The Good Fight. I liked The Good Wife. I fucking love The Good Fight.

The latest episode to air on Channel 4, the penultimate episode of series 2, sees the firm’s investigator stopped for driving whilst black, leading to a wholly more underhanded plot. But it’s not just the topics that are never off the table for The Good Fight why I love it so much. Series 2 - as it should do - has improved so much on it’s first year. It has upped the stakes for all the characters as well as constantly taking notable jabs at the Commander in Chief without ever flinching. Unlike Dear White People, The Good Fight takes place in a very real version of the the real world - a bit of an oxymoron, I know, but it is still fiction after all.

There has been eleven previous episodes of this series before “Day 485”, so why am I only now talking about the fact that I’ve been watching The Good Fight, with only one episode left of series 2? Don’t get me wrong, I have loved pretty much every minute of this series, but there was something about this episode which compelled me to talk about it. The way in which this show is constructed, not just in the characters and their stories, but the way they tell their stories, the writers tell their stories, is just on another level for me at the moment. The set up, the conflict, the pay off of every episode of The Good Fight is some of the best in television right now. The conflict, oh the conflict. The way in which we get to see these lawyers and investigators rack their brains on how to solve a problem, win a case - in the directing and editing of the show too. And the cast are all brilliant at bringing these characters and cases to life. I absolutely adore when they throwback to previous episodes - and of course, sometimes even The Good Wife - and this episode had quite a few. Nothing I loved more from The Good Wife was the recurring guest lawyers and judges.

I like to write about the things I’m watching or seeing, and it’s always those ones that leave me with a visceral feeling that I want to write about most. But it is also those ones that I am so in awe of that I struggle to find the words for how I feel about them. Obviously I never really know this at the time, but I perhaps might start making a bit more of a concerted effort to figure that out.

hey amii, what you watching?

DEAR WHITE PEOPLE vol.2

Dear White People is an easy binge because it’s 10 half hour episodes, so only five hours of time, but either way, binge it I did - four hours on the Friday and two the Saturday morning.

Before getting into vol.2, I should note that I saw Dear White People when it came out in the cinema over here. I enjoyed it. When I saw it was coming to Netflix as a television series - and all the subsequent hoopla about it (mostly from people who probably didn’t see the film) - I really enjoyed it. And I really enjoyed the show as well, when it came out. But this season, THIS SEASON… I might have to watch again to try and explain all the reasons why I fucking LOVED this season.

When the film came out, I knew of a few people who would consider themselves liberal, who didn’t fancy watching it because they worried they might come out of the cinema “feeling guilty”. So I ended up going to see it on my own and quickly discovered that the film in no way, shape or form is about white people really. Which I should have guessed, but anyway. Then it came to the series and of course loads of people got on their high horses about it, the film probably having passed them by, to deem Dear White People racist towards white people. Mostly basing it off the title and an admittedly provocative trailer. Again, the series, just like the film, isn’t really about white people.

For those who haven’t seen the film or first series (firstly, why the hell not?!), Dear White People is the name of a student radio show hosted by (one of) our lead(s), Sam White (irony not lost). The second series is all about the discourse that radio show has created amongst the fictional Ivy League university, Winchester, from the formation of an alternative radio show, the rise of internet trolls and people generally feeling like they can or can’t say whatever they want, depending on their side of the fence. This all culminates into one of the most brilliant acts of defiance and protest against a familiar face, for those who have seen the film. All without ever mentioning the “T” word. Something I think they did really well to avoid by bringing outside politics into the Winchester and making it about the microcosm of politics on campus.

I think I need to go back and watch it again because there’s so much more I want to say, but I’m getting all jumbled with excitement over how great this was. WATCH IT!

hey amii, what you watching?

LUCIFER

Okay, full disclosure, a) I used to think Tom Ellis was good looking, but maybe age and this tv show haven’t done him any favours and b) I’m still annoyed they killed Leslie Shay on Chicago Fire. that being said, let’s talk about Lucifer.

As I was checking out of Amazon for Cards Against Humanity, I accidently signed up to Prime one month free trial (note to self: remember to cancel), so I figured I’d put it to good use - and watch the second series of Sneaky Pete. After that was over, I flicked through the other shows and landed on Lucifer. Someone I know quite enjoys it, so I thought “what the heck, I’ll give it a go.”

There may be spoilers ahead...

I’m nearing towards the end of the second series and honestly, the only reason I’m still watching it (besides my free trial) is in hope that Lucifer and Decker never get together. I really enjoyed the fact that Decker was more or less instantly repulsed by Lucifer - because it’s easy to see why. And I get the bad boy gone good anti-hero trope they’re trying to play with here, but in the 30-odd episodes I’ve watched, he hasn’t really gotten better. For the most part, probably because he thinks he doesn’t need to. But where I’m at in the series, they’ve already kissed, feelings have long been developed and she clearly doesn’t feel as repulsed by him as she did in the first season. The thing that bugs me most about this show and their arc is that it’s a very inorganic blossoming of their relationship. It started during the first season, how Lucifer would come in on a case, find a way to cause trouble in it, vaguely save the day and Decker thanking him and/or apologising. All the while, he rarely shows any gratitude or remorse. Again, I know it’s in his character to do so and that’s fine by me, but I feel it shouldn’t necessarily be in her character to give in so easily. She says he doesn’t lie, yet she doesn’t believe he’s the devil. She says she relies on him, yet in nearly every episode he does something to make himself unreliable and she points it out. She says he’s a good person, yet he’s stubborn, selfish, arrogant, snobby, vindictive, douchey to Detective Douche (Dan, Decker’s ex-husband) etc etc etc. And again, he’s the devil, those personality traits are absolutely fine. I don’t care that he’s stubborn, selfish, arrogant, snobby yada yada yada. I care that this supposedly wholesome, good natured Detective has fallen for him, because it doesn’t make sense. Until they add the caveat that Decker was made by God for the purpose of meeting Lucifer. But technically we don’t know to what end - well at least where I’m at in the series. I was so hoping that it turns out she’s technically his sister by immaculate conception. That’s currently not where this story is heading. I just really want them to not be together. It’s kind of gross.

hey amii, what you watching?

DAPHNE

Daphne is not good. Yes, the character is not good, is not supposed to be good, but really I just mean the film as a whole. I just didn't get it. And quite frankly I didn't care to get it. This film, and its central character may resonate with a few people of our generation, but it feels like a harsh extreme against how people actually are. I'm sure there's a fair few of us who wish we could act that cold and careless, but nobody really is - even Daphne herself. Sort of. 

I spent a lot of this film just urging her to tell someone about what happened, explain why she was acting like this. The moment it does come, however, it's a mess. In a late night bar confession, Daphne tells a friend, who we've been vaguely introduced to at the beginning of the film. In a claustrophobic space with cramped camera angles, the dialogue is far removed from the revelatory moment this is supposed to be. It's just weird.

Daphne is supposed to be a "portrait" of a real 21st century woman. It's supposed to be a complex, three-dimensional character study. And according to IMDb it's also supposed to be a comedy. Okay, and a drama, but it lists comedy first. It's actually a pretty sad story really. Sadder still, it's unintentional. Writer, Nico Mensinga, thinks he's written a "vibrant character portrait of a young woman on the threshold of much-needed change."*, really, he's written a two-dimensional, paint-by-numbers, cliche ridden (the irony intentional), hot mess of a character that he thinks 21st century women are like. 

Outside of that, there are other issues, which are just my pet-peeves of film (and television). 1) Daphne is a single, 31-year-old line cook at an okay-looking bistro. She also lives on her own in London. Unless she's got a secret stash of inheritance money somewhere, she wouldn't be living alone. 2) In one scene, a woman sits next to Daphne on the bus, with a child in her arms. Not only are there two free seats in front of her (which anyone would sit in so not to have to sit next to a stranger, especially if you have a child and especially especially in London!), but then they progress to having a conversation. Which in turn leads to a big character revelation. Londoners do not do this.

On the note of this bus scene, and the confession to her random friend scene, they feel shoehorned into the script so Daphne can come to some sort of realisation. They don't feel natural at all. Then again, the whole film doesn't feel too natural anyway.

I just didn't get it.

*I'm aware he wouldn't have written the IMDb entry.

Morning Pages // Wednesday 30th Aug 2017

So I was told about this thing called Morning Pages at the London Screenwriters' Festival Talent Campus that I was on a few days ago and I thought it was an interesting concept concept so I figured why not give it a try.

It's supposed to help you clear your mind for the day ahead and act as a bit of a brain dump of everything that's in your head at the moment. I don't think it has to really make much sense, but you have to write about 3 pages, I think he said. Maybe after today's one I'll have a look at what it says online, what other people, or rather how other people are doing it because it might just be a time limit or something...

I found this concept of morning pages quite interesting because it almost sounds like a newspaper. Except it's a newspaper just for you. It's a newspaper, or more like a newsletter about how you, or rather I am feeling when I wake up... It's an interesting exercise I would like to share.

I think maybe I'm being too controlled in my approach to this and I'm not doing a very good job of letting all of my brain fartiness out, so to speak. I need to be putting on here everything that I deem unnecessary to be thinking about of to take me forward for the rest of the day. Though I think I am trying, I just get ahead of myself faster than I can write. I'm trying to crack my neck, limber myself up as if that is going to help my brain capacity in any way. I don't know what I need to do to give myself something to write about. I think I've frightened my brain away. It usually loves to go around and round with non sequential things that are either out of control in the past or non existent in the future, yet here it is now at a total blank. Although I can feel the on set of a headache. I don't know whether this is because I've barely touched my coffee or that my brain is working far too hard for it's liking this early in the morning...

The thing with this just being a brain dumping all over the page is that I'm not sure if it's because I'm thinking too fast and trying to keep up or just that I've put a lot of tension in my arm that it feels like - no, not quite the right sentence... a) my arm hurts because I'm writing too quickly because I'm thinking too fast or b) that I've put a lot of unnecessary stress and tension into it, which I think I have done in the past. My handwriting is getting progressively worse. So maybe it's a lot of both to some degree. I don't really know what else to say, again my mind is just blank besides the things I am writing out here and I have the lyrics to Feels by Calvin Harris in my head now. That's going to be there a while. I shouldn't have said lyrics, more the song playing in my head. I do wonder if there is at least a version of this in which you time yourself because I don't know how long I've been writing for but it's definitely long enough for my coffee to get cold... I'm wondering whether to go to another fourth page as I approach the end of the third, but there are other things on my mind right now... I probably should have looked into this before I started. I don't think the concept is that hard to get however, but some of the finer details I think should be known. It's just made me think about something else I can do on my website which hasn't been updated in a long time, but I think I should do something before the festival. I mean I say I should, but I know I'm going to because it just has to be done.

Something about window shopper. I still have Feels in my head - the song not my emotions. It was an intermission thing, I think. I wasn't thinking about anything else so my brain just filled the space. But really as I'm writing and thinking, it's background noise in the back of my brain, just underneath the surface of what I was thinking in the forefront so when I stop thinking in the forefront, it comes to the forefront as if you have this music playing in a room you are having a conversation in and when you stop talking you are able to hear the music better. I'm going to have to listen to feels after this to try and get it out of my head then all of a sudden I've got Kylie Can't Get You Outta My Head in my head, but the difference being Kylie will pass. Feels will pop back in and it kind of just has done, no you've gone for a moment and I think Kylie has. I don't think I'm quiet enough for either one to come through at the moment. I guess I'll know when I stop writing. So yeah, I'm going to do this hopefully everyday. Anything of use or whatever I might just put up on the website. I don't know what the finer details of it is so I'm going to research into that and I've had a good idea for some of the other things I have written and am now going to put them up on my website as well. I need to find my little outline plan thing for it because I was restructuring my website and I had it written down somewhere. I will find it, but in the meantime, this has been my first morning pages. Hopefully it will get better tomorrow. Better isn't what I mean.

The 25 Plan

My Actual Life Right Now

PROLOGUE

I always knew what I wanted to do in life. I was going to be a doctor. Or a mechanic. Or a firefighter. Or a chef. I was going to save lives, fix things, work with my hands, be a part of the community. And I knew when and how I was going to do it. Whatever I wanted to do. I had a 25 plan. At 10, that seemed like a long time to make sure I had everything in place in order to achieve my dreams and ambitions. By 15 I had narrowed down what exactly it was that I was going to do, setting in motion the route I had to take to get there. You see, I didn’t come from a particularly well-off family and just the idea of maintaining a full-time job was ambitious enough, let alone in something that might be deemed a career. So I knew what I wanted to do and I knew how I wanted to do it. And all by the age of 25.

Now, of course, things change, people change, plans take… detours. But that’s okay because I’m still on the right track. With the approach of my 25th birthday, I decided to rethink my strategy. I had a decent job, the pay was good, it was field-adjacent to what I want to do. I decided instead of thinking such long term, I should think short(er) term. Compartmentalise. This I could do. One thing at a time. And not just in my career. What my job affords me is the time and money to do other things. I really want to pass my driving test. So I booked my theory. Passed my theory. And started taking driving lessons. I even booked the practical test.

When it came to my personal life, like most people, when I was young I thought I would have someone by 25 - bahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Life really doesn’t prepare you for that. But it was okay because it was on my to do list, right after driving, finding a new job and look to move.

It’s funny how things turn out.

FRIDAY

“We’re making cuts.”

This is why the meeting was so important. Everybody had seen the email, a few had even tried to get out of it, but one thing was sure, nobody knew what it was about. Until now.

We were already a small team, ten of us, and this would have been the second round of cuts in the same amount of years. Granted, we went from a staff of about 30 to ten, with a few resigning in the middle, but it’s hardly like there was much downsizing that could really be done. But it was the case and we were going to be halved.

“This is how it’s going to go”, tall, dark and vampiric was taking us through the structure of the new and improve company, his CEO position never wavering from the top spot, “three of these current jobs will stay, and we have two new positions we need to fill.”

We bandy around our enclosed documents of the new job roles.

“This weekend I want you to take your packs home, have a look at the roles, think about what you want to apply for, if you want to apply for any, and on Monday we’ll start consultation.”

We side glance at each other eyeing up the potential of our colleagues cum rivals.

“Monday will be consultation, Tuesday we’ll hold interviews and by Thursday we’ll announce. The change will happen the following week.”

“Sorry, what?!”, the leader of our pack jolts his head up from the job roles. We all look round in the sudden realisation of our very real and very sudden predicament.

“We have to make the changes at the beginning of next month. Which is Friday after next.” TDV tries to look sympathetic to our cause to keep us on his side of sympathy, but Leader gets up and leaves trailing, “I have work to do.” We all follow.

My desk is awash with work, so I grab my cigarettes and head outside.

“We’re being downsized”

“What?!”, my flatmate. I thought it best to tell her straight away.

“Yeah”

“When did this happen?”

“Just now”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know”

“How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know”

…

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s quite registered just yet”

“How is everyone else taking it?”

“Not too good, I guess. I don’t know”

I can’t be bothered to inhale anymore, so I stump out the cigarette and walk back in. I finish up the day and go home clutching “documents enclosed”.

SATURDAY

I wake up relatively early and prepare myself with the necessary information to tackle this head on.

1. What are the jobs on offer?

2. What are my other options?

3. How much money do I have?

4. What the fuck am I doing?

I haven’t started before my flatmate slinks into the living room and plops down on the sofa.

“Are these the job roles?”, she leans over and picks the documents off a dining room chair I’ve placed in front of me as a makeshift table.

“Yeah.”

“Can I have a look?”

She starts to read through everything, the letter of intent, the new company structure and, of course, the job descriptions.

“Do you know what, I haven’t actually looked through any of it. I just kind of scanned it. But it doesn’t exactly sound too appealing.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. But I’m trying to figure it out.”

I spend the rest of the day actually reading through the job descriptions, plunging into the unknown depths of my bank account and reviewing my CV. Until the football came on.

SUNDAY

I spend time with my grandad. He’s the business sort, but really he’s a manchild. We drink and talk about my options. But mostly we drink.

MONDAY

I came in later than usual, we only needed to be there for our meeting. I chatted with those of the pack that were still there before being summoned into the small office.

“Okay, so I’m just going to explain a few things about what we’re going to do here”, inhumane resources leaned into the conversation that she initiated, “in this period of time, the consultation period, we will gather information from you, talk about what you would like to do, what your options are and if there is anything that we can accommodate you with.”

We go through the formalities of what I would be entitled to if I should be made redundant and the meeting lasts about 10 minutes max.

I go home and think about my options. Like, actually think about my options.

TUESDAY

I’m a lion. I stalk the grounds, eyeing up my prey, lying in wait for my time to come. My time to pounce. TDV and IR call me into the small office. They give me the spiel, TDV taking the lead, “so firstly we need to know what position or positions you’re applying for…” I listen and wait for my cue. I’ve rehearsed this over and over in my head.

“After taking careful consideration and looking at the options available to me, I have decided to take redundancy.”

The air conditioning, which is making me incredibly cold, whirls in the otherwise silent room. Eventually IR chips in, “erm, well, yes, I mean, that’s okay, you can do that, if that’s what you want.”

I don’t know who’s more surprised, TDV or me being surprised that TDV is surprised. The meeting lasts 5 minutes.

WED-SAT

It’s irrelevant. Fast-forward.

SUNDAY

My birthday. No word of a lie, this all took place the week before my 25th birthday. Call it fate, call it destiny, I like the term kismet. But here I am, reaching my 25th birthday, my 25 plan. No job, no destined career, ruling out line 2 on my to do list. Sort of. I still have this plan of compartmentalising and I’ve spent all this money on driving so I’m not going to stop just because I don’t have a job. I still have money coming in so I can still continue down that line. Then I’ll work on the job thing - number 2 on to do. Besides, I’ve booked the test, it’s in a couple of weeks, then maybe I’ll take some time off, go on holiday, come back at the beginning of the following month ready to start the next chapter of my life.

MONDAY

It was a bank holiday, so regardless of whether I work or not, I wouldn’t have been working that day so I decided not to work. I allowed that.

TUESDAY

Or rather today. This morning I got an email from the people you book your driving test with, I don’t know what they’re called, telling me that  the examiner that was due to do my test was unavailable and had cancel. It’s had been rearranged for the end of the month. Now I know that I have no idea whether I would have passed or not, but I kind of had to laugh. There goes another plan out of the window, looks like I won’t be going on holiday at the end of the month. Looks like I won’t be able to move onto number 2 on to do when I thought. There’s a famous quote (I won’t mention who by, but if you know, you know) “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Well, I must be God’s favourite comedienne.

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This page is a work in progress.

hey amii, you did it again...

I know, I know, I'm getting a bit slack on these blog posts.

Firstly, I saw Legend last week. The performances from Tom Hardy, and everyone in fact, were brilliant, but you have to bare in mind that this is based on a true story and these things, more or less, actually happened, making the Kray twins not very nice people.

I don't think the film did enough not to glorify their way of life and for that I would give Legend 3*.

Arsenal won again, 2-0 vs. Stoke. Here's a fun statistic: Arsenal has the best record for shots currently in the Premier League. Arsenal have the second worst (only to Liverpool) conversion rate. That is all.

hey amii, what you watching?

I'm back again watching films before they come out in the cinema, it's a hard life I know. And last week I got the chance to catch the latest teen cancer trust film. Ok, that was a bit mean...

Me & Earl & The Dying Girl

Me & Earl & The Dying Girl is a quirky, coming of age blah blah blah... No, in all seriousness, it's a good film. At moments I felt it was trying too hard to be clever, but most of the time, it was just clever. The lead character is rather annoying, but I'm reckoning most 17/18 year old boys are pretty similar to him. Stand out performance from RJ Cyler, who plays Earl. Stand out scene, about 2/3s of the way into the film - so the end of the 2nd act, beginning of the 3rd, for those film savvy people out there. It's a confrontation scene that holds it's shot for an uncomfortably long time, similar to the confrontation scene between Michael Keaton and Emma Stone in Birdman. Very touching and well thought out ending, with little clues throughout the film.

Well worth the watch.

3.5*

hey amii, who's playing?

Yet another frustrating performance gaining all three points from an own goal.

Playing away at Newcastle everything seemed to be going in Arsenal's favour, free kicks, bookings, sending offs... except we just couldn't score. I'm not going to dwell too much on this as we did walk away with 3 points after a deflected own goal (we have still only managed 1 goal in 4 games that we've actually scored). We now sit in 5th, which is a big step up from the beginning of the season. Chelsea have lost again, which is a small saviour, but Man City are still running riot at the top of the table. Then again, we're only 4 games in, so no point panicking just yet...

hey amii, what you playing at?

I have been so so busy this past week that I haven't had the chance to tell you what I've been watching or who's been playing and I'm off again to watch something else tonight, so I will be brief...

What have I been watching?

The Wolfpack

Interesting story, but perhaps lacked real direction. The "characters" were good, but with the subject matter in mind, found them to be parodies of movie characters rather than real people. Not their fault, of course, but almost made the film seem wanting.

3*

Vacation

Oh. My. So bad. Though the rest of the cinema seemed to be laughing every minute. I had one or two small chuckles, mostly in poor taste. Only watch if you're a National Lampoon's fan, I suggest.

1*

Mistress America

I didn't actually see this before it came out in the cinema, but I wanted to talk about it anyway. Noah Baumbach springs back from a decent effort of While We're Young. This was a lot more of what I excpected from him (and Greta Gerwig, co-writer of Mistress America, who was missing from the latter film). Relatable story, interesting cast, great dialogue. Win.

4*

Arsenal Vs. Liverpool 0-0

Well, what can I say?, it was abysmal and yet another reminder why we need a striker. We're lucky to have a point and I feel sorry for Cech for agreeing to be a Gunner - but then again, I feel sorry for me for putting my heart and soul into such an annoying team that I absolutely love to pieces. COYG!

hey amii, who's playing?

Nothing is fair in love and football and although, yes, we won, it wasn't without hardship and luck. I'm probably going to be writing that a lot over the next 9 months.

Now we "safely" sit in 11th - at least it's not the bottom of the table. The game went similar to those of late with hands loosely covering eyes every time the opposition get the ball. We're still not making the most of the copious amount of chances we're getting and I'm really starting to understand why commentators and pundits alike are saying we need a striker.

All's well that ends well, I guess. On to the next match.

hey amii, who's playing?

It's started. The Premier League is back and Arsenal start their season with a home fixture against West Ham. It's a London derby and one Arsenal hasn't lost in 14 meetings. Until today...

sitting pretty shitty at rock bottom

Arsenal lost 2-0 to West Ham in a quite frankly infuriating and frustrating match. With the majority of the possession and clocking up 22 shots (6 on target) Arsenal never managed to capitalise on a very defensively exceptional West Ham.

I'm not going to say much more, I need to go drown my sorrows. Just waiting now for the #WengerOut calls... 

hey amii, what you watching?

I came about a month late to the Sense8 game, but finished it within the week.

Sense8 is one of the best new programmes I've seen in a long while and I've been telling everyone, EVERYONE to tune in to it.

Instead of explaining the concept of the show, I'm just going to talk about how I felt watching it. Sense8 gives you the hope and aspiration of human connection. Even though this sci-fi drama from The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski deals in something otherworldly, it has a very human backbone for the need we have to be a part of something else, someone else. The ideology behind the story is a very human basic need. Plus, it gives a whole new meaning to the term "clusterfuck".

I just hope Netflix hurries up and renews this unique and brilliant show.

hey amii, who's playing?

Yes, that's right, I am a Gooner - feel sorry for me. Or not, if you're a Chelsea fan (or a fan of any other team that we've made enemies with over the years).

As the new season looms in the background of this weekend, we rejoice in the start of a new year of football by coming together to watch the winners of the Premier League (Chelsea) and the winners of the FA Cup (Arsenal) do battle in the form of the Community Shield.

Mostly regarded as a "meh" competition, the Community Shield does little to judge what the next 9 months have in store. Which is fine. I'm an Arsenal fan. We (try to) keep our expectations firmly in check.

So, I'm not going to gloat that we beat Chelsea in the Community Shield 1-0 yesterday because the real test starts this Sunday.

hey amii, what you watching?

So I took a picture of the poster for this film because if you guys haven't seen it, I just wanted to point out the how well received this film has been. It's been very well received. And not by some Heat or Zoo film reviewer. Not to disparage Heat or Zoo film reviewers.

And not necessarily disparaging a decent effort from Hansen-Love either. Perhaps it's because I wasn't part of the drug-fuelled, bright light, smoke-filled club scene of the nineties. It was nostalgic, but a nostalgia that I can't partake in. I wasn't lost in the hazy daze of the party life. But it was interesting and informative in it's own right.

Even though the main character Paul is unbearable at times and the only main female character, Louise, seems like an afterthought most times, I thought Eden was good. But just good.

3*

hey amii, what you watching?

In a massive theatre, seating something like 1500 people, I saw this;

In fact, I watched it two weeks ago, but seen as it's only just come out today, I figured I'd leave it until now to tell you guys what I thought of it.

When people have asked me what I thought of Ant-Man, I always compare it to Guardians of the Galaxy because I think both of these films are pretty obscure comic book adaptations.

Ant-Man is not as good as Guardians. It does pretty well for itself and it has quite a few amusing moments, but not necessarily laugh-out-loud (which I may have been in the minority about). The best part of the film probably comes from the fight scene at the end. I won't spoil too much of that, but it was refreshing to see the lack of city destruction in an action film for once.

3*

P.S. These guys were there too...

Ant-Man director Peyton Reed and star Paul Rudd