The Quite Nerdy Blog

Summer is coming to an end and I've started to reflect on what I've actually done with my time. A common theme has come up and that was that I've spent a lot of time binge watching things. Like, a lot. I did the Back to the Future trilogy, Twin Peaks, Preacher and I even managed Stranger Things in one day. It's been beautiful and with the time I have left, I still plan to do much more. Probably Narcos or the Planet of the Apes TV series because I'm trash. Regardless, I think now is the perfect time to talk about binge watching and how great it can be. I want to start with a simple fact: binge watching is really fun to do. Anyone who's ever taken the plunge knows that there's something different about binge watching compared to regular TV watching. There's a sense of achievement from doing a bunch of episodes in one go. Plus with Netflix's strategy of releasing all the episodes to a season at once, by binge watching you get a real community spirit.

I wanted to talk about The Little Prince this week but then this film happened and I hate everything. Nine Lives is a film in which Kevin Spacey is turned into a cat called Mr Fuzzypants by Christopher Walken. I don't want to explain it anymore than that because it gives the film too much credit but I have space to fill so here goes. Kevin Spacey is a Horrible Boss and neglects his family. He decides to get a cat for his daughter and while getting the cat, Christopher Walken says he'll do something bad if Spacey doesn't change his ways. He doesn't, gets in an accident and then becomes a cat. He has to try and find a way to get back into his comatose body before it dies, all while being a cat. It makes less sense on screen than it does here and that's saying a lot. In a film with Kevin Spacey, you expect acting to be top tier. I mean, House of Cards is some of his best work in a lengthy career, the man is at the top of his game! This film does not reflect that

Birthday week on the blog is a great time for me because I indulge entirely and just fangirl over stuff I love. This year, my favourite TV shows but with some special honourable mentions first because there's too many shows to leave out. Hannibal Murder and food have never gone so well together and never looked so good at the same time in this show cancelled far too soon. 30 Rock Tina Fey's consistently hysterical and confusingly meta show about the creation of a sketch comedy show that definitely isn't Saturday Night Live whose spirit lives on in the wonderful Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Fargo We've only had two seasons of this show so far but it's told beautiful, violent stories with amazing performances and superb tension that makes each separate anthology a worthwhile trip. House of Cards Netflix's crowing jewel, House of Cards somehow manages to present a world of politics more brutal than the post Trump/Brexit world we're tr

Well, this is what I get for being too over excited for films. First Pan, now this. Suicide Squad is a film. Can I stop now? It's bad, I don't want to say more. I don't even really remember the story and I'm writing this having just seen the film. No? Fine. There are a series of characters who are stuck in prison and they are used to go on dangerous missions, as you probably know. They go on one mission, the Joker pops his head in occasionally and then the status quo remains unchanged when they beat the heavily CGI-ed villain and we end where we started. Spoilers I guess but like I said, not much story. It really just is a third of the film for moderately interesting introductions and the remaining two thirds on the dull mission that should be like The Raid with superheroes but instead feels like that scene from The Raid 2 where the main character spends a minute punching a wall. I had some hope for the acting in this movie with Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jare

So, I'm trying some "real journalism" here on the blog this week. No goofy lists, not many jokes, I just want to try something new. I am going to discuss feminism and while I appreciate as a generically hetero male it may sound somewhat odd, it's an issue that needs more awareness. This said, I'm going to try not to get weighed down in gender politics and stay discussing the film and story. I'm also discussing the full details of the David Fincher version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so if you haven't seen it yet, watch that and then read this. I think the idea of feminist films is somewhat of an interesting idea. I think it's wrong to force feminist characters or moments into film where it doesn't fit but there's definitely a lack of strong female characters in mainstream media. The main problem I have here however is the way that films are acknowledged as feminist. The most common way is the Bechdel test, in which a film must have