Not a score out of 10

Didn't quite do everything I wanted to this weekend, but I suspect I did better out of it than I might have done.

Yesterday, I'd intended to pop over to Uxbridge to see Shutter Island... but, partly due to a headache, I didn't get out of the flat in time to make the train that'd get me there in time for the early-afternoon showing. That said, I'd also intended to do some shopping out there... not least picking up something for Mothers' Day...

So, the shopping I did... Picked up a whole load of new DVDs (finally tracked down volume 5 of TransFormers: Animated, so now I've got all of it), and picked up a nice box of chocolates that were destined for my mother.

Note the use of past tense.

I got a message from my sister early this morning, reminding me to call our mother and wish her a happy Mothers' Day... which reminded me that there was, at one time, a suggestion of getting together with the brother-in-law's family for a big Mothers' Day bash. For many reasons, my mother wasn't too keen, but I wasn't sure if anything had been planned instead.

Uncertainty rattled around in my head and so, after lunch, I called to wish my mother a happy Mothers' Day.

Turns out she was just putting her feet up. On balance, I figured it'd be best to let her do just that, rather than traipse round with chocolates and put her in a position where she might expect to have to cook or fuss.

DVDs seemed like a good way to while away the day...

Other than TF:A, I picked up season 1 of Chuck (since I enjoyed season 2 on TV, and may end up buying that... Must look up season 3...), The Usual Suspects (which I've been meaning to buy for years), Night at the Museum 2 (which I enjoyed more than the first, and the first was great), and a CGI animated movie called 9.

I missed 9 in the cinema, but it looked really intriguing. A bunch of living ragdolls against evil machines? Sounds like a winner, right? Add the voices of Martin Landau, Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly, and it's starting to sound pretty darned cool.

Well... In terms of the animation, it's excellent... And the creatures built by the evil machine and sent after our protagonists were suitably fearsome. Especially the spidersnake. That was actually quite freaky.

Unfortunately, the story is hopelessly by-the-numbers. The hero starts off the story by making a huge mistake and reviving the bad guy, some of his new-found friends are captured or die as a result, and he spends the rest of the movie trying to redeem himself and prove that he's not useless. There's a cowardly 'leader', a hard-as-nails female warrior, and a big-but-stupid bruiser... oh, and the loony one who has all the answers but can't explain them. Worse still, at the climax, the bad guy is put out of action by the very thing that revived it.

I was deeply unsatisfied... Worse still, where most post-apocalyptic scenarios offer a touch of colour here and there, 9's palette was subdued throughout... the odd green or red glow didn't exactly brighten things up.

Still, the ragdolls - described as "Stitchpunk" by the blurb - were cute enough and moved very well... they just needed a bit more variety.

I was similarly disappointed by the end of TransFormers: Animated, as it happens. I realise that the makers were probably expecting a season 3 (shame on you, Hasbro), but they ended season 1 rather weakly, and season 2 was no different... Bizarre considering how good most episodes were, taken on their own merits. It wasn't perfect... didn't even get close to the likes of Beast Wars/Beast Machines... but what can you expect from a TV series about transforming alien robots that features a number of human supercriminals to bump up the character roster?

Thankfully, season 1 of Chuck - so far - has not disappointed. Season 2 was sparky, fun, and witty. Even introducing Scott Bakula as Chuck's absentee father/inventor of the Intersect didn't break its stride. The interplay between the principle characters is about as flawless as TV gets, and Zachary Levy does an excellent job as the computer nerd trying to hack it as a spy. Season 1, as it turns out, managed to work pretty much from the start.

I also did some photography earlier today but, for no obvious reason, I can't get the pictures uploaded to Photobucket - Flock is unable to get my directory listing... Time to give it another try, perhaps...