Festival Bookings

Last night I was watching a 1997 film called Event Horizon, directed by Paul WS Anderson. Basically, in the year 2040 an experimental spaceship called "Event Horizon" disappears near Neptune while testing it's new 'Gravity Drive'. Seven years later, the ship reappears and a rescue mission (headed by Laurence Fishburne) got to investigate, accompanied by Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill), the "Event Horizon"'s original designer. When they arrive they discover the crew have apparently all been gruesomely murdered. Investigating the ship, the rescuers are confronted by terrifying hallucinations, which leads them to conclude that the Gravity Drive took the "Event Horizon" much further than anyone could have guessed, and that it has brought something back with it. The film is kind of like a haunted house story in space with very obvious similarities to both the Aliens and Hellraiser franchises. The special effects and sets are very impressive and there are some pretty spectacular action scenes. It also benefits enormously from a very talented cast. However there is nothing really new for fans and, despite being gruesome, it never manages to be at all scary.

Today I had the day off work and booked some shows for the Film Festival. I'm going to be seeing Ray Harryhausen (one of the pioneers of special effects) talk about his work, Dreams with Sharp Teeth (a documentary, narrated by Robin Williams, about the life and work of controversial science-fiction author Harlan Ellison), WALL.E (the latest Pixar anmated film about a cute little robot), Summer Hours (a French drama, starring Juliette Binoche, about family members fighting over a priceless private art collection), Red (a thriller, based on a novel by Jack Ketchum, about a man who finds his retirement disrupted by a gang of thugs), Married Life (a dark thriller about a man trying to get rid of his wife, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rachel McAdams) and the Surprise Movie (which is basically a mystery film which you don't find out what it is until it starts, basically). So I am very pleased I managed to get all of those.

This afternoon I went up to Holyrood Park with my mum. We had our lunch in a cafe there. I had a bowl of chicken and vegetable broth, a scone and a tuna sandwich. Then we walked around the park. It took about an hour and we walked around three miles. So, it's been a good day.