Slumdog Crap

Am I the only one (again) who couldn't stand Slumdog Millionaire?? I walked out at about the 2/3 mark, annoyed with myself for wasted even that much time. The part that did it for me was the scene where the little kid falls into the cess-pit and goes running through the crowds covered in shit. That was totally offensive and even taking the piss like that does not reflect well on a culture that could allow that. Within the first of the subsequent ten torture scenes I could tell the plot. It was such a superficial stupid artifice of a movie, the success that it is now receiving makes me feel crap for what popular taste actually stands for.

Revolutionary Road 5 minute review

This movie does not have the 'wow' factor of Mendes' American Beauty, I was not left with a sense of poetic brilliance, the plot line is predictable almost from about the first third of the movie, yet it is poignant. Despite being a bit plodding, it does spell out in a literal sense the lies we can tell ourselves and the fears which keep us trapped in SECURITY, and even if it does take a literal response to get this message through, it's one that could be expressed more often. So I'm giving this one 3.5 stars Margaret.

I saw it tonight because of the two lead actors, my favourite couple Kate Winslet and Leonardo. I respect pretty much every movie they've been in, OK and I know it's daggy but I loved Titanic and have seen it several times. So here they are, looking late 30-ish, Leo looking pretty squinty and actually playing an unsympathetic character. That's my criticism - there wasn't much to like in his character, a bit 2D - and therefore not much clue as to what Kate's character (Chloe)'s fascination and devotion to him was grounded in.... she was such an idealistic and comparatively deep character, and she was actually hobbled by this little man. The falsities of people and the narrow lies they tell themselves and each other, believing it, the suburban 'ordinariness' lie, the lie of the 'little person' - perhaps contrasted with the romatic ideal. Who is right in this scenario? Well in this movie apparently it's the madman, the Real Estate agent's mentally ill son, he's the only one who can see - and say - the truth. Albeit in a very clumsy and cringey way. The others, well they patch over it till it becomes disabled by all the layers and the only way out is through Chloe's self-administered abortion with predicatble consequences.

Despite having read such bad reviews, I could 'tune into' the movie and empathise with Kate Winslet's dilemma. 50's motherhood and the frustration of being discounted as a person by a little 'not man enough' man - both sexes trapped and lying within the falsehoods of their roles, both characters trapped and lying within the 'hopeless disillutionment' of the suburban life with kids. Funnily enough, incidentally, saw an exhibition in the East End last week by this Danish artist Professor, also bemoaning the fate of married life with kids. Obviously a semi-serious motif for me right now, contemplating these things semi-seriously whilst I still have some reproductive capacity and whilst there is a semi-serious option here to follow it through. Being surrounded by colleagues - perhaps the 'average' Pom my age, who all have kids, feeling a kind of freak for not being there yet. So yes, these movies which say 'hey it's not all it's cracked up to be' present somewhat of a balance. But are they just expressing outdated views on limits of parenting. Are 'today's parents' much more liberated?.......

BEDZED tour

Visited BedZed on Wednesday - UK's largest zero-carbon village, over 100 homes. See online photo album.

Key points:

Construction:

• brick facade, 300mm internal insulated gap, concrete internal walls - large well insulated thermal mass
• uncovered painted slabs soffit for internal ceilings - electrical wiring run through chunky central conduit - looks OK, functional


• internal doors have gap around 3mm at base to allow air to circulate
• have green roofs which moderate the water run-off (and subsequent storage and re-use) according to the SUDS system (?)

Wind Cowls

• the large distinctive wind cowls on roof are there for air exchange, they provide 3x room air changes per hour and have a heat exchanger in the unit to warm to cool external air before it circulates back inside. Code L-rated
• they run on toyota (? suzuki) bearings and are relatively low-maintenance
• close-up photos - they are made using ductwork/sheet metal fabrication techniques
• it's called passive stack ventilation

Waste Water treatment

• have full on-site black water treatment. To meet regulations it is legal as long as you have your own water treatment company, so theirs is called Albion Water, and they treat it all on site using amongst others a reed-bed system - 6 large tubs - and also they are trialing another black water treatment plant fully self-sufficient - 3 year trial first in the world so still to be advised onthis.

Misc

solar panels gain enough electricity for home use plus around 40 electric cars

• overall construction cost around 16-17% higher than 'normal' house - cost overruns (?) - something abotu double piping etc so not necessarily about process


• used double-glazed Danish windows but now there are Rational Windows available in UK which do the trick

Heating

• re heating - they had a wood-chip fuelled generator (using tree pruning offcuts) but it was not permitted to run 24hrs due to noise pollution so it had to be shut at night so it tarred up and required too much maintenance so has been shut down. Most heating is solar passive.
• FYI, a dog generates around 15W of heat every hour, a cat around 10W, a person sitting around 100W and a person moving around 250W
  
  
  
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More London Snow

 
 
 
 

London Snow

Regina House, SW7 - around 25cm of snow overnight. See online photo album:

090202_London snow

Movie review: Milk

Slightly disappointing movie, could have been exacerbated by the jetlag, but I fell asleep about 30mins into this film, to awake for the last hour - OK it's a long one. Sean Penn does a BEAUTIFUL job as the gay activist Harvey Milk, presenting a hugely likeable fellow, however the plot is purely activist-driven and the film is clearly pitched as a political comment which can make for some 'ramming it down your throat' moments, rather than a generic focus which can lead to more character development. It was one-dimensional in the sense that the characters really do just seem to exist for their lobbying purpose. In fairness though the lead character gives some good guidance on how to handle conflict NICELY and winningly, so I did learn some tips from this. I recommend this movie for a gay first-date, and also if you're feeling a little winsome for the times when you felt really idealistic about making a change. Oh, and the lead character (in real life) did start becoming a lobbyist when he was 40, and did some amazing things in 8 years. Rating 6/10 for above conditional inspiration.