Adam Grundy

Last night I sat down to watch a film. Shocker, I know. Can you...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:56:19 +0000

Last night I sat down to watch a film. Shocker, I know. Can you imagine!?

For some reason I decided to ignore all the flashy stuff Sky Movies were trying to throw at me, and decided to finally watch the 1967 Kramer film ‘Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner’, starring Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Houghton.

I mean, there isn’t much to say about it all that hasn’t already been said. It’s a funny, witty, poignant piece of cultural history that transcends the screen. If anyone wants to know what the term ‘good acting’ means, point them back to this classic.

Compared to the terrible remake ‘Guess Who’, it doesn’t rely on displaying ridiculous, over-the-top stereotypes of certain characters to emphasize the differences between the two families. It also doesn’t have Ashton Kutcher in it, which is my most basic request for anything. “Hey Adam, you should watch ______” “Does it feature Ashton Kutcher post-That 70’s Show?” “Yes” “No way!”.

Anyway, I did a little research beforehand and came across the story that Spencer Tracy died 17 days after filming had been completed. Tracy and Hepburn were such old friends, she used to drive him to set. Apparently, in the scene above, the tears in Hepburn’s eyes were genuine, as she knew Spencer was frail, and his whole speech about how love lasts through the years got to her.

Well, it got to me to, after knowing that piece of trivia. I was so choked up by the end. It’s such a good movie, and I know I say this a lot, but I just wish cinema was more like this than like 70% of the stuff out in the local multiplex. You should definitely watch this film.

First time I’ve played this since I was given it on my,...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:05:26 +0000

First time I’ve played this since I was given it on my, like, 18th birthday perhaps?

So good.

Top 3 Date Movies for Valentines Day.

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:25:00 +0000

Valentines Day means one thing to me; it’s officially 24 hours till my birthday. This year however it’s also 24 hours till my two friends Kyle and Ryan appear on Bargain Hunt, so set your Sky+ for Wednesday’s episode, unless you don’t like Bargain Hunt, in which case please close this tab in your browser now. (edit: the episode got moved to Monday. Dang!)

February 14th is a day that people give each other shit the shops shove out, that’s a fact. A projected social image. Y’know, it’s like, surely everyone can’t enjoy all this flowers/chocolates/love hearts business, right? Surely you suckers who will be ‘celebrating’ tomorrow in some fashion could be a little creative? You know what says love? A travelcard for the week. It’s useful and it says ‘baby, I’m looking out for you’. Hopeless romantic, I know.

So this is how you’re night will probably go tomorrow. I know how shit like this goes down because I can read your minds like Charles Xavier. You might meet up with your beloved, maybe exchange some tacky-ass gift. Are you cooking, or is your partner? Maybe you’re ordering in, in which case, Jesus buddy, a takeaway? Cla55y.

If you’re a sub-human cretin, maybe you went to see The Vow for Valentines Day, in which case I implore you to die. You honestly looked at the trailer and thought “that looks good!”. Guy tip: If you take your girl to see this film, you may be thinking “this will get me in her good books!”, but you’re exposing her to Hollywood pretty boy Channing Tatum. The film will end, the lights will come up, and then she’ll have to look at your ugly mug the rest of the night. Don’t set yourself up for defeat. (Originally this rant was aimed at This Means War, McG’s most recent diabolical offering. However, it’s only being released on the 17th. Why would they choose to release a romantic comedy, but miss the Valentines Day crowds?)

Once all that shit is done, maybe you’ll cap your night off with a DVD. You know what I mean. “Oh, let’s just watch a film! Oh you’re tired, me too!”. I know how shit works. Contrary to belief I am human. Anyway, here’s a list of three films you should be watching on this insanely stupid day:

Road House

Every stupid girl loves Patrick Swayze. Pop culture dictates they do, and they follow suit. I’m not saying every girl likes the Swayz, but ask a girl what her favourite movies are, and whether it’s a guilty pleasure or they’re proud as hell of it, Dirty Dancing and Ghost will be up there. I know, I don’t understand it either, but this is just how things are.

You know how to tell if a girl is cool as hell? If she says her favourite Patrick Swayze film is Road House. Road House is pretty bad ass. I promise you, of the three Swayze films previously mentioned, this is the only one you can sit through. For that reason, you can perfectly work this one into your film selection for the evening. “You know, I heard about this really nice film we could watch…it’s got the guy from Dirty Dancing in…oh, you like him? Let’s watch it then!”. Before you know it, bar-room brawling. Yeehaw.

True Romance

This is just a good fucking movie.

Gran Torino

Ladies love the Hobbit-boy Jamie Cullum (he was part of the soundtrack). Guys love it when Clint Eastwood is in bad ass mode. EVERYONE can appreciate Gran Torino. Sure, it might get a tad uncomfortable. Christ knows nothing kills the romantic mood than a lot of racist terminology for Koreans. I won’t spoil it, but by the end you can turn to your partner and say “I’d do that for you, y’know”. If they ask what you meant by that, don’t even try to explain, because I’m pretty sure none of the actions of the film could be applied to situations in your life. Just bone.

Whatever you decide to do, whether you’re in a relationship or you’ll be feeling completely alone to the point that it eats away at your soul (too personal?), don’t forgot it’s my 23rd the day after, and that Valentines Day pales in comparison to the anniversary of my glorious birth.

I won! I’d like to thank the academy of best friends for...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:11:19 +0000

I won! I’d like to thank the academy of best friends for this honour. on Flickr.

I won! I’d like to thank the academy of best friends for this honour.

The video we shot for Jethro Fox’s song...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:45:38 +0000

The video we shot for Jethro Fox’s song ‘Before’ dropped yesterday.
I do despise the term ‘dropped’ for a video but I guess it’s appropriate…
It made it’s debut on Fake DIY. If you probe hard enough into the archives of that site I crop up there many moons ago, but I’ll let you do the investigating on that one…

Watch the video, see what you think. I’m pretty proud I was involved in the whole thing. Everyone was chill as hell on the day (including me, as always) and as a result, good things happened.

I went to the FACT Cinema in Liverpool yesterday to see Carnage,...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:34:55 +0000

I went to the FACT Cinema in Liverpool yesterday to see Carnage, the new Roman Polanski film. Interesting (the use of this term being debatable depending on how interested in my ~~pathetic~~ existence you are…) fact; the last time I went to FACTwas on a college trip to watch Hotel Rwanda. I used to do a mean Don Cheadle impression. Afterwards we went to Subway. It was such a cheery day. Steak and Cheese on Hearty Italian mixed with genocide and tyranny, my favourites!

Thankfully, Carnage was nothing like Hotel Rwanda. A lot less bloodshed, guns, and Don Cheadle. You can go look up the finer details of the plot, but it basically involves two couples forced to meet after their sons get into a playground scrap. It was absolutely hilarious. I am no fan of Jodie Foster or Kate Winslet, but it’s hard to fault their performances at all. John C. Reilly and the amazing Christoph Waltz were on such good form, but it’s rare you ever see them do wrong anyway.

With the whole film being set in just the one apartment, I think it definitely proved that movies don’t have to jump from location to location just to keep the attention of the audience, that it really is down to the writing and familiarity of character’s emotions to us. It was so fun to see the two couples as they present themselves to strangers, yet over the course of the film, their layers of decency slowly tear away one argument at a time.

Honestly, I had so much fun watching Carnage. I would watch it again right now if I could. Everyone was so unique and had certain traits that played against each other so well, it was a strange delight to see. Plus, no one drove down a road over loads of dead bodies in Rwanda. Always a plus for any film.

So, The White Star in Liverpool is this old as shit pub filled...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:45:00 +0000

Uh...Ismay?

Exhibit A: Jawa

Exhibit B: A photo of Ismay

So, The White Star in Liverpool is this old as shit pub filled with old as shit people. It’s quite cosy and the beer is nice, which makes it very redeemable. Anyway, the walls inside are full of Beatles stuff and loads of paintings and photos of old boats. Cruise liners and…other types. Giant-ass old boats really do nothing for me, but according to a friend, the Titanic was built by the White Star Line. Get out, you say? No, this is my place of documentation.

I guess it explains all the boat malarkey dotted around the place. I must stress this is a nice pub. Y’know, last time I was in the Wetherspoons nearby, they rang the fire alarm and told us to go get breakfast at McDonalds instead? That really happened. I have witnesses. Why was I at a Wetherspoons for breakfast a few weeks ago? Because this is how I roll with my chums (real and imaginary). Wetherspoons would do well to take note of the cheery barkeep in the White Star.

If you go into the beer ‘garden’ at The White Star, which is effectively four walls and some ancient concrete flagging, you will see the walls painted with some really cool stuff about the Titanic. Oh shit, did this get controversial? Uh huh. In the harsh red light of the outdoor heater, it all looks pretty sweet.

But I do take issue with that drawing of ‘Ismay’. I’m pretty sure a Jawa didn’t make it on board the Titanic…

I’m hardly the greatest at drawing (in fact, I’m what the soft sciences refer to as ‘a retard with a pen’ while doodling), but that’s a pretty horrific depiction of the man.

Make your own mind up, but I’m right.

Super Bowl

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:35:03 +0000

Do you make a habit of watching the Super Bowl each year? I do. Every year I have a £1 bet on who will be the victor. It was supposed to be ‘loser picks next year’, but quite frankly I can never remember if I won the previous year or not. Let’s just say I did. Wow, what a win!

I’m not a big NFL guy. I think everyone likes to support a team in a sport, but I just can’t be bothered keeping track of one NFL franchise. When I was in high school, I knew a kid who was really into it. I won’t mention his name. Let’s call him Timmy. Timmy was so flippant on who he followed that it used to piss me the hell off. I have pictures with him when he was wearing a Man United shirt, and now he supports Liverpool (from bad to worse!). When we were kids, he used to follow the Cowboys. He lived in a massive house and had Cowboys stuff all around him room. I think we didn’t go to his house for a year or so, but on the next visit it was decked out in all Patriots garbage. Like, when you’re a kid, how does that conversation go with your parents? “Oh, thanks for the Cowboys wall clock, but I don’t like them any more…now I like ______ team”. R u 4 reel?

So I guess that is why I just haven’t chosen a team. In regards to the bet, my dad has decided he’s going with the Patriots, so I guess I’m a Giants fan for the night, which is okay, because I like blue and white. What’s your favourite colour?

While I was in University these past three years, we always made a point to throw a little happening at our place on Super Bowl night. Last time, we watched it on two TV’s, drank loads of beer and generally just go off our faces. It was a lot of fun. It’s a shame we’re all in different parts of the country now, but I shall be having a few beers while I sit alone watching the game.

I’m not even sure if they all really liked watching it. I guess it’s just important to create your own traditions with your friends. Real traditions, not some ‘Coca Cola Christmas Truck wooooooo!’ bullshit tradition. You’re not unique and you’re not funny, arseholes.

It’s my birthday on the 15th. I’ll be 23.

Fuckabee on Flickr.Weirdest episode of Huckabee ever. I hate...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:51:06 +0000

Fuckabee on Flickr.

Weirdest episode of Huckabee ever. I hate this man and his dodgy wig.

I couldn’t not reblog this. So...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:15:24 +0000

I couldn’t not reblog this. So brilliant.

thedailywhat:

Short Film of the Day: Psych yourself up for Chronicle (in theaters now!) by watching Chronicle screenwriter Max Landis’s Drunk History-esque, semi-sweded, sNSFW, not-all-that-accurate retelling of The Death and Return of Superman starring Elden Henson (Fulton!), Elijah Wood, and Mandy Moore.

[/film.]

Thought I’d lost this little guy when I moved all my stuff...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:29:05 +0000

Thought I’d lost this little guy when I moved all my stuff up North. Love you Kingler!

Hmmm...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:13:56 +0000

This week I finally finished watching the first series of The Borgias. Jeremy Irons has such incredible delivery. I think he is the reason why Die Hard 3 is my favourite of the trilogy (I refuse to count 4.0 as a Die Hard film, I’m sorry) I wish I spoke like him instead of this mangled, Northern glum I was blessed with. I also thought the three Borgia children were outstanding, Cesare and Lucrezia especially. Their characters go through such a transformation over only a few episodes, but in a very convincing manner.

I need to (finally!) watch Game of Thrones before Season 2 kicks off, but I think I’m much more prepared for it after watching The Borgias, totally.

Other than that? I’m a few pages in to working on something that I don’t immediately want to throw away. I think the hardest part is coming up with unique characters that can play off eachother whatever the scenario, but one must try.

Y’all see that last Everton match? I was so proud of them. I was also very drunk so maybe that was what got me in the mood. So glad Saha has moved on. Useless.

When I startes writing this I didn’t know I’d start on The Borgias and end with Louis Saha. Hmmm…

I think I’d be more interested in watching Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close if the ‘game’ that...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:44:00 +0000

I think I’d be more interested in watching Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close if the ‘game’ that Tom Hanks left his son was actually Jumanji.

“Yo, I wasn’t really in 9/11, I was just waiting for you to roll a 5 or 8!”

Things I'd Rather Do Than Watch An Episode of The Only Way Is Essex

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:52:00 +0000

Burn my eyebrows off

This could easily be achieved, and is probably the most do-able one on this list. I think I’d look fetching.

Talk to someone about cars

“This car goes well fast and has a 789089 horsepower! It’s got front and rear suspension! 2.4 diesel engine! Wheels! It goes well fast!”

“Why does any of that matter, when the speed limit is 70mph?”

“Oh, get a life! Anyone who thinks cars are merely vessels of transportation is SAD! Top Gear is well good. How can you think driving is boring?”

“It is”

“I know Adam, I’m sorry. You’re right”

Die.

Seriously, if this is what the majority of people watch for entertainment, the Iranian Nuclear Programme is the least of our worries. I think anyone who watches that program or finds themselves envious of the situations the cast members find themselves in, should probably just throw themselves down the nearest flight of stairs. It’s not a question of taste either. There is quality programming, there is trash television, and then there’s stuff that I could only watch if I was being put through some form of Clockwork Orange torture.

———-

It’s been a really slow week for me. I’m starting scripts, going to sleep, then when I re-read them upon waking they seem like a piece of shit. I don’t know whether it’s merely just being too critical of my own work, or may be not having the initial belief in the idea in the first place? I’ve wrote a number of short sketches so far, I just need to organize myself, try and get a few people involved who may help shoot them. It’s all a bit blah right now.

At the start of January I began looking into spending a year in Korea teaching English. Is this a good idea? I think I would seriously benefit from having a year away from this country. I could potentially save up a lot of money for film equipment, as I’ve not been blessed with funds to start shooting my own stuff 24/7 straight out of Uni. A good year away visiting some amazing places might just be what the doctor ordered. At any rate, a change of scenery is definitely needed.

I’ll hopefully be doing a lot more podcasting soon too. I’ve been speaking to someone about working on a new show, and I think I’m also going to start another one by myself sometime in the next month. I think creativity is a lot like when you start running. Like, if you haven’t done any exercise for a while, the first part is the hardest. But once you’re on a roll, on a schedule, on a personal deadline, I think it becomes much easier.

I’m going to try and finally watch The Artist this week, so help me Zeus. Surely it’ll still be playing somewhere in Liverpool, right?

I had a dream that a plane blew up above my house and the pieces started to crash to the ground. It was grizzly. Imagine Donnie Darko, but set up North. Whack.

I ain’t lyin’, the last one makes me throw up every...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:50:25 +0000

I ain’t lyin’, the last one makes me throw up every time I see it.

How I Would Write The Top Cat Movie

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:45:07 +0000

So it’s been announced that August 2012 will see the release of ‘Top Cat: The Movie in 3D’, the new movie adaptation of the popular cartoon series. TC is back, along with his street-cat gang. From what I can make out, the film will actually be an English dub of the Latin-American Top Cat movie that was released late last year. Looks like the Top Cat of old with some new animation, and that’s great y’know, but I just have this sneaking suspicion it will be mangled into something that resembles the recent Yogi Bear disaster, with shit celebrities voicing characters like Choo-Choo or Brain, and I can only assume a tacky Lady Gaga song will be thrown into the soundtrack. Kids love that shit!

This is not how I would have done it. In fact, I had a better idea for a Top Cat film.

For one, Top Cat would be a live action film.

Top Cat is in fact, not a cat, but a total bum, a homeless fellow.

Warning: this story gets weird.

All those scenes where Top Cat is talking to Benny and Spook? Oh, they’re still cats. I wouldn’t change that, but Top Cat spends the entire film off his face. Dude smells of vomit and urine, he just spends his day sat in a trash can near a telephone. His odour attracts all the local cats to him, they can smell him a mile away. But TC is crazy. We see loads of cats just purring and meowing around him, but Top Cat, he can hear these cats talk. Dude is fucked up. He plots and schemes with these cats, all the while none the wiser that he’s lost his god damn mind.

Officer Dibble (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a local policeman who has been tasked with working in the community, trying to clean the streets up. He tries to help the homeless, trash can-dwelling Top Cat (I’m open to who will play TC, you be the judge of that from the picture). Dibble tries to get him clean, get him into a shetler, but mainly tries to get Top Cat to put some friggin pants on. Oh yeah, TC doesn’t wear pants. This film will take the ‘cartoon characters don’t have to wear pants’ notion and thrust it in your face, literally if it’s 3D. Dude’s private parts are everywhere, mangled and stuff by all the cats chewing on him.

I think in the end, Top Cat just kinda…dies. A harsh winter comes and his gang of cats that he talks to just go home at night, but TC just passes away in his can. It’d be pretty sad and stuff, naked guy who thinks cats are talking to him dying alone in a back alley, but Top Cat: The Live Action Movie is all about real life shit.

Now tell me you wouldn’t watch that film.

Here’s a picture from the set of the video I was helping out on...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:33:52 +0000

Here’s a picture from the set of the video I was helping out on yesterday. Can’t really say too much about it right now, but hopefully it’ll be edited together in the next week or two. We got so much footage.

It was really great to work with a crew and band that seemed to work together so well. There was a lot of freedom of input which was very refreshing, and even though everyone had to be awake mega-early, it was a great working atmosphere. It was also cool to hear a song back to back for a few hours and still love it. I remember when we shot our music video a few years ago, it drove me crazy listening to the same track over and over. Of course, yesterday’s shoot was in a lovely Scandinavian church in Liverpool, not a dank practice room we used to rent.

Aside from shooting and setting up, I was able to get some cool behind the scenes photos on my Praktica camera, so when I (finally) get those developed I’ll share them!

Aww yisss. Found my mum and dad’s old record collection in...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:13:45 +0000

Aww yisss. Found my mum and dad’s old record collection in the crawl space (a storage thing in my room. It looks like the one Joel gets locked in by the bullies in Sixth Sense). I can finally use my record player for more than just the B-52’s, Test Icicles and Madison Avenue, though I’m sure they’ll be making a return sooner rather than later…

I have to be up really, really early tomorrow for a shoot. I don’t think I’ve ever taken a train this early to Liverpool before…

So this is what I’ve begun to do with my free time;...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:49:00 +0000

So this is what I’ve begun to do with my free time; sending ~~witty~~ sarcastic emails into The One Show.

The joke is on you Matt, no one was making me watch it at all!

One of the greatest Reddit threads I've ever read: "Tell me your 'glitch in the Matrix' stories."

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:45:20 +0000

One of the greatest Reddit threads I've ever read: "Tell me your 'glitch in the Matrix' stories.":

reallykatie:

journalofajournalist:

Nix that, one of the best things ON THE INTERNET ever. 99% of these folks just had whoops-I-forgot experiences, but hey! Crazy good reading!

my glitch in the matrix: i just lost half my friday night reading these stories. I LOVE THIS STUFF.

I spent most of last night/this morning reading all this stuff.

So many strange occurrences have been happening over the past few weeks while I’ve been at home. I recapped on here about a key dropping, but so many other things have happened since, and not just to me! Freaky leaky stuff I won’t post on my own blog for fear of readers coming to the conclusion that I’ve actually gone insane after spending a lot of time in my home-town. But if you see me soon, be prepared to hear all about it.

Anyway if you’re really, really into reading about simulated reality, hit up that reddit thread. It’s so good.