Crazy, Stupid, Love

Saw Crazy, Stupid, Love last night. Hmmm … not a very good film. But then again I didn’t really expect it to be. So why did I watch it? Well it was a “couch night” with Seema (my wife) and I. She wanted to watch something “nice”, which usually means a romcom (or chick flick). Every now and then you’ll strike good one. Not on this occasion. I thought with Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling starring, this film might’ve climbed out of my pit of pessimistic expectations. Sure we had the odd giggle, but on the whole it was your usual corny romcom pap that in a years time will be lost in the oblivion of similar films. Not without regrets though as a film like this does wonders to my appreciation for good cinema, and of course a night in, watching any film with Seema, is time well spent!

Prometheus

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Prometheus. A film I am really looking forward to. Not exactly a prequel to the original Alien(1979) but set in the same fictional space and unpackages many of the questions that arose from Ridley Scott original masterpiece. Alien is one of my favorite films, it chilled me to the core and hasn’t lost anything over the years. What’s really exciting is that Prometheus has the same pedigree as Alien with Ridley Scott’s returning to direct. From what little I’ve seen of released (and leaked) stills and footage Prometheus shares the same feel as Alien … and so it should should! However, now I’m expecting great things which makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable. Here’s hoping that Ridley can pick up his game after his recent disappointments.

Fantasy as a literary genre

Just posted an abstract to last years essay on “fantasy as a literary genre” in the academic section.  You can view it here.  This essay covers Pan’s Labyrinth and Where the Wild Things Are (both fantastic films) and how they fit into the various models of fantastic fiction.

Tree of Life – review

Just posted in the reviews section a small musing about Malick’s The Tree of Life. It’s a must see and looking like topping my 2011 list.

Welcome to Cinematic Musings!

My thoughts on film … good and bad, past, present and future. Some comments may be short one liners and others longer. I will put up the odd review (see the reviews section), and post abstracts of academic writings I have done (see the academic section).

Feel free to comment anywhere.

A bit about me:
My name is Toby Woollaston and I live in Auckland, New Zealand. Currently I am slowly making my way through a Master of Arts at Massey University (New Zealand) part time. The focus of my study is film theory and I am doing this out of sheer interest. I work full-time at APN in the Media Services department. I have a wonderful family (wife and two kids) whom I love dearly.

To contact me: twoollaston@gmail.com