Sunspots

Just back from seeing Sunshine, the new film from the people behind Trainspotting and 28 Days Later (also saw the trailer for the latter movie's sequel, 28 Weeks Later). It's kind of a cross between the sci-fi horror of Event Horizon and the human horror of 28DL... quite imaginitive and, since you know from the start that no-one makes it out alive, a strangely brave film. It has been said that it was made to a very small budget, but you'd never know to watch it... You just don't notice that the usual Hollywood set pieces aren't there because there is action, but there's also good characterisation, subtlety, and a compelling story. Hollywood take note.

Also, being in Uxbridge on a Saturday, I paid a visit on The Entertainer. Not much in the way of TransFormers - that is to say, not much I don't already have - but it's nice to know they're still stocking them, in their inconsistent, scattershot way.

I picked up the Classics Predator Attack Team (two decent models, one complete shite, as seems to be the usual with the Classics Mini-Cons), and an Alternator Shockblast. Even though I own the far superior, part die-cast Binaltech version, he was on sale for a tenner, so I couldn't turn him away. And, yes, I know that doesn't jibe with the last two posts where I wrote about cutting down... But, seriously, faced with an Alternator as good as Shockblast for less than half price, I consider it a good investment...

It's actually quite a different model to the Binaltech one. Not least in terms of weight and colour - being molded in dark purple plastic, rather than painted that colour - but also in terms of small details about the model itself. BT Laserwave's eye is molded in cloudy yellow plastic, and the light piping juts out of the top of his head as an extra detail. AT Shockblast's eye is molded in clear plastic, with a yellowish dot painted on the middle, and the light piping is meant to be flush with the top of his head, so it's not noticeable. Also, while the BT version stuck with the magnetic couplings for the steering bar, the AT version uses a peg-and-hole system. Works just as well, perhaps better, considering how flakey the magnets are in the Subaru mold.

The BT/AT Mazda RX8 is one of my favourite molds - sporty car, reasonably posable model thanks to ratcheting joints in the legs and, best of all, the feet appear to lie flat on the ground because of a tilting joint for the 'toe'. It's a shame this wasn't worked into the Subaru mold, as it really makes a difference to the look of the model.

Made a start on updating my website today - nothing much, no reworking of any pages, just updating the content... That'll have to do for now, though I may look into the 'proper' update on Monday. I think Photobucket is working quite well - as I reach my 50Mb limit on my ISP's server, it's nice to know I've got another gig lying around spare...

With any luck, and a fair wind, I'll be flying my kite tomorrow...