I've moved back up to Sheffield for the next three and a half months, for more animation fun and fancy free frolics. And things have been pretty productive: playing Tekken 6, watching films and doing absolutely nothing else. I wrote a couple of reviews, but they won't be up on the public internet for three days. Here's some I prepaired earlier

My first class of the semester is on Monday and it starts at 9, which automatically makes it my least favourite class of the course. Ho hum. Till then I'll keep writing up bits of Dial M for Mephistopheles 2 till I run out of ideas. I should really put the first one up on the internet. Here's another random extract:

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A godless place. That’s what the world had become. A godless place is dangerous. Nothing can live in a godless world, especially not anyone born from the Devil. The Antichrist shivered, and tried to cover himself with a blanket, but the cold wasn’t outside. It came from inside and every second it was destroying another part of him. Armageddon shouldn’t have happened. There should have been a warning, and rapture ... everything. But there wasn’t. One second there was life, the next there was nothing. Where had everyone gone? Surely they hadn’t been taken into heaven, or dragged into Hell. There hadn’t even been a show. No riders, or monsters or angels. He wanted to hit something, but he felt tired and cold. He sat in his small broken church, and tried to pray. But he knew it was pointless.

There was a noise behind him. Footsteps on the stone floors, possibly heels. He turned around slowly, aching in every bone. A female voice spoke. The Antichrist had never heard the voice before, but somehow it seemed so familiar, like he knew it from birth. “Hello,” she said. “Who are you?” he said the hazy figure in front of him. He couldn’t tell if his eyes weren’t working properly if she was like that. The blurry figure moved towards him. She might have been wearing a tight red dress, but it seemed to flow behind her like smoke. He couldn’t see her face properly. She spoke again. “My, my, how you look terrible, my son.” Every word was enunciated perfectly, with a voice so sharp it could stab through armour.   “...What?” The Antichrist couldn’t hear very well. Then something dawned on him. “I ... I know you. You were in ... my dreams.” The female form in the tight red dress stood next to the Antichrist, now. She crouched down, so she was at the same level as he. He could finally see her face now, although he couldn’t put a single word to describe it. She looked into his eyes. “Oh, my, now that’s very flattering, Chris,” she said. There seemed to be no implied tone in her voice. She spoke, or maybe she was just planting words into his mind. “Chris ... you know ... my name? You know me, don’t you?” “Of course I know you, dear. You would think that the only person you’ve seen since you ... since you massacred everyone would be just a human? You think you are, love, but you’re so much more.” “I didn’t kill anyone!” Chris screamed. Or rather, he tried to scream. He only choked the words out. “But you did. You did all of this, you know. All your fault. There’s retribution at some point in the line, you know. Suffer for your sins. But we’re not up to that.” Chris could barely think. He was shivering still, but somehow the presence of the woman made him a bit warmer. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “Just tell me what you want.” “I want you, dear. You need to finish what you started.” Then it dawned on Chris. “You ... you killed her! In my dream! You did it, you caused all of this!” He tried to lunge towards her, but she vanished and reappeared five inches further left. Chris fell on his stomach, lying on the stone ground. He made an attempt to get back into his sitting position. “Dear boy, that’s not called for. Now you need to stop messing around. I have more things to do.” She stood up, and beckoned him to do the same. “Come on, you’ll feel so much better with me.”

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And then more shit happens

This week I was told over by Chris on this blog that you can get paid for doing reviews. I like trying things, I like watching films and I certainly like criticizing and getting paid for it, so I signed up. I don't know if you guys can see this page, or if you have to be logged in. Otherwise I'll just post them up individually when I do interesting ones worth reading, like this one about A Tale of Two Sisters, this one on the Dark Knight, and this on Godzilla. Fuck knows if those link work, either. But I'm getting money from it so I don't care. Actually.

*edit* I just learnt, my reviews only get published days a few days after I write them. Oh, right. Gotcha

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Today I helped a bunch of Haitians by packing and loading up great big boxes of big-ass tents, and survival things like water purifiers. I think I may have to go back tomorrow and start all over again because 300 boxes isn't enough, apparently. I feel like a better person, already.

I also learnt today this. Today has been filled with happiness, except when I had to pay 250 pounds into my stupid account because it was overdrawn. 

Ok, now I'm gonna watch some TV or something, or ... maybe ... go to bed early ? *gasp*

Here's my list of top 5 Christmas films (and why): I was a bit bored ----- Home Alone We all love the story of the boy in house by himself who likes to beat up bad guys with his psychotically clever traps. It’s sadistically violent, a bit like if Ichi the Killer had a Christmas special, but it’s a lot of fun to watch, bringing the anvils-on-heads action we love in cartoons into live action. Despite all its ridiculous carnage, Home Alone still manages to get the message of Christmas, and love and family across, although this mostly involves talking to creepy strangers and listening to their wise, wise words of, um, wisdom. How the Grinch Stole Christmas The Jim Carrey one, that is. I don’t think I need to say why this film was in the list. It’s hilarious, it’s touching and guaranteed to make your heart grow three sizes in a day. It expands really well from the original, making the Grinch less of pointless villain and more of a likeable character, detailing his past and why he was in Mt Crumpit in the first place. The people who didn’t like it are just insane. Bad Santa Not many people have seen this one, and I don’t know why. Billy Bob Thornton plays an alcoholic mall Santa who, at night, steals things from the mall he works for with his midget assistant. To escape the cops he hides out at this kid’s house (who thinks he really is Santa) and meets the mum from Gilmore Girls for some reason. Eventually the boy teaches him the meaning of Christmas, more or less, and the ending is surprisingly sweet. There are also great co-starring roles by the late Bernie Mac and John Ritter. If you haven’t seen it, do so this Christmas . Mickey's Christmas Carol Warmer than a glass of mulled wine to the face, this film goes through the entire length of Dickens’ classic in a mere 24 minutes. It also has Goofy in the most ironic role he’s ever been in. Jacob Marley was a horrible man who took money from widows and stuff. Anyway, it’s the typical story of the Christmas Carol with the character of Scrooge being played by, well, Scrooge. It’s really short in its runtime, and probably would have been better if they had extended the play time, but all in all you can’t not love it.

Die Hard A bit like Home Alone in a lot of ways, Die Hard is what Kevin McAllister would have done if he had a couple of submachine guns and some badass catchphrases. Die Hard teaches us that although the weather outside is frightful, the gunfire can certainly delight anyone. It’s definitely one of the best action films around. A lot of people might not agree it’s a Christmas film, but a lot of people seem to think it is. It’s set at Christmas, and at the end everyone’s happy they’re with their families and not at the bottom of a burning building, so they understand the true meaning of Christmas: Yippe Kay Yay Motherfucker

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Ok anyway. I'm in London now, due to leave for the southwest in a little under two hours now. It's so cold here it's getting harder and harder to not come up with a million Mr Freeze ice jokes. I'm gonna spend a month in Cornwall, or something like that. That's usually the normal amount of time I can spend there before being driven batshit insane. Fun times!

Countdown to Christmas: I don't even think I'm keeping track any more