24 - Microdiscectomy + 19

Has it really been 19 days?

19 days of these four walls? 19 days of various degrees of pain and boredom? 19 days of overdosing on tv?

Yes it has.

On the plus side I got the date of my first physio session today. 8th April :) So I should start getting some proper focused rehab in a couple of weeks.

There's not really much else to report on the recovery front.


Boxset watch

24 Season 1
I finished the first season today. It has been a compelling rollercoaster of a show. I can see why such a buzz was created at the time, albeit the 24 episode format meant that there were rather more twists and turns than were plausible.

I have rarely seen an organisation on tv that is both as sophisticated as the Counter Terrorist Unit and as fundamentally hopeless. An organisation riddled with incompetence and traitors. Ok, so hopefully all of the traitors are out of the way now. But with 6 more seasons to watch I worry if there will be anyone left by the end.

Much was written about President Palmer and how he may have desensitised America to the concept of a black President. Maybe I will get more of an insight into that in future seasons. I'm not sure I saw it in Season 1. Because as much as he came across well, his wife would have done Michelle Obama no favours whatsoever.

I hope you won't find it too mean of me to say that I am glad Bauer's wife died at the end. She annoyed me. And if his daughter doesn't get her act together soon she will be next for the chop. Keifer Sutherland was simply brilliant as Bauer. No two ways about it. Vulnerable and tough in equal measure. One of tv's great leading men.

Once I get my breath back I will start Season 2, but I think I will hammer some of the other boxsets first...



30 Rock - S1 eps 1-8

Parks and Recreation - S1 full season

Sopranos - S1 eps 1-4
Utopia - full series (6 episodes)



Film Watch

Men In Black 3  3.75/5
The first MiB film was tremendous fun. The second was a bit of a let down. Yeah I know. Sequel in let down shock. Well I'm glad that they waited so long before making the third film because if it wasn't as good as the first it was well on its way.

So basically it is the classic 'reality has been altered so someone has to go back in time to change something and make it all ok again. But it's done well. Some really clever characters, and a lovely visit to Warhol and the Factory. It ended as these things often do with a big set piece historic event as the background. In this case the Apollo 11 launch.

It was smart, it was funny, and it was quite touching at the end. I'm glad I caught this.


Caddyshack 3.25/5
I guess Rodney Dangerfield is an acquired taste, and though Chevy Chase has had his moments this is not really one of them. The film is worthwhile for Bill Murray and the gopher. Between them they steal the film. I loved this film as a kid. It must be 20 years since I last saw it. I don't love it now, but I did enjoy it.

Things I learned today whilst mining the wikipedia page about the film is that the perky breasted and beautiful Cindy Morgan (playing Lacey Underall - clearly a name that the Bond producers felt they could spare) is blind, which makes her diving board leap all the more impressive.


Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines 3.5/5
This is one of those films. You know, the kind you have seen many times but probably not in one sitting? Well that's what it was for me. I remembered elements of it and probably on a Sunday afternoon as a kid I did see the whole thing, but that would have been a long long time ago. It's one of those multi-star vehicles that the 60s did so well and we don't get so much any more. It's a delight to watch. Silly harmless fun where nice guys win and rotters are foiled.

Terry Thomas is brilliant as his proto-Dick Dastardly and Gert Frobe is comedy gold as the hapless German. There is something intensely watchable about this film. It's a bit too loose and rambling to be a true classic but it's a delight.

First Men In The Moon 3/5

I understand this film was remade a couple of years ago. My question would be why? If you want to see a truly excellent recent sci fi film set on the moon, try Moon.

A bit like The Day The Earth Stood Still (TDTESS) last week this was a film very much of its time, with a large debt owed to The Time Machine. After 1969 such fanciful stories were not possible. It is a fantasy. The basic plot is that satronauts landing on the moon discover that in 1899 the Brits got there first. A survivor of the trip is found and tells his tale.

Aesthetically and in its production values the film is very similar to the Peter Cushing Doctor Who movies of 65 and 66. The monsters (insect like Selenites) could equally have appeared in just about any Doctor Who episode until 1989.

Animation is courtesy of the great Ray Harryhausen and works well for a film of its time and type. Like TDTESS there is some moralising. The Selenites try to understand humans but Lionel Jeffries tells them that soldiers are heroes on earth although wars are considered bad, you know things are going to turn ugly. Jeffries stays behind to his fate as his companions escape. When, 70 years later, a multinational team of astronauts explore the moon they find no sign of life and the civilisation in ruins. In a neat twist on The War Of The Worlds, Lionel Jeffries had a cold when he went to the moon and that humble virus was enough to kill the Selenites




The Muppets 4/5
Beginners 3.5/5
Friends With Benefits 3/5
Jeff Who Lives at Home 4/5
The Space Between 4/5
The Challenger 4.75/5
Genevieve 3.5/5
S1M0NE 2.5/5
Yangtse Incident 4/5
The Day the Earth Stood Still 3/5
The Hunger Games 4.25/5