Britain: Brilliant but Barmy. London 2012 Opening Ceremony

So I finally found a copy of the London 2012 Opening Ceremony online and watched it. I'd seen bits on YouTube, but I must say I was impressed. I imagine if you didn't understand any of the imagery, it might not have been as impressive as the sheer scale of Beijing 2008, but to me it was considerably better.

The flame made of copper petals brought by the teams was a nice touch. Source here.

I must admit that I've found nearly all of the opening ceremonies I've seen crushingly dull. Beijng may have been visually impressive, but it was meaningless. There were colours, acrobatics, coordination and organisation, but no spirit. Danny Boyle's Isles of Wonder performance told a potted history of British culture, introducing countless pieces of pop culture imagery in a show that did a surprisingly good job of capturing the changing nature of Britain without resorting to either pessimism, cynicism or excessive nostalgia.

The Queen with James Bond (and Corgi). Source here.

Sure, it wasn't on the scale of Bejing, but it more than made up for that in character. This excellent review from Ai Weiwei, the Chinese political problem child who designed the Bird's Nest but turned down the opening ceremony gig, hits the nail on the head. The London ceremony was a genuine attempt to reflect the things held dear by real people in a real society - not just an idealized vision of a faceless nation. This is perhaps clearest in the fact that many of the cavorting medical staff were genuine, members of the construction team formed the guard of honour for the torch, and instead of a great name lighting the torch, it was seven young athletes. Oh, and no lip syncing-children either.

The industrial construction of the rings was ingenious and spectacular. Source here.

There was also a healthy injection of humour, which was exceedingly welcome. One of the things I've found hard to swallow about previous ceremonies is the stoic commitment to straight-faced seriousness, less so here. You can hardly accuse a ceremony of excessive seriousness when the highlights are the Queen 'jumping' out of a helicopter to arrive by parachute, and the most-discussed bit on Twitter was a cameo from Mr Bean and the LSO. One Guardian reviewer deplored the Mr Bean skit, and in the process showed that he completely fails to appreciate the mood of the nation.
I was left wondering what the rest of the world must think of us now. I can only wonder what those not in on the story of Mary Poppins made of a horde of flying 1920s women with umbrellas should warding off Lord Voldemort. It makes sense though, this is the country that brought Monty Python to the world. Danny Boyle created a show that was quintessentially British in all its multi-faceted meanings, who care if the world thinks we're barmy.

And the best bit? We all expected to be completely embarrassed, but we weren't. It wasn't totally rubbish at all.

England's Green and Pleasant land. Source here.

Oh, and can I just say, British Eurosport's coverage was fantastic. Barely a word of commentary with no inane waffle. Take note, BBC.

My Tourist Year so far

Walking around Gardens by the Bay on Tuesday evening, Denise and I realised that we've done loads of Singapore's major tourist attractions this year. Normally this would work out very expensive, but there are advantages of having a friend in the civil service who can occasionally get passes and tickets for the Zoo, the Flyer, the Gardens...
So, in not particular, but roughly chronological, order, here's a quick rundown of some of the things we've done:

Sentosa Beaches

Actually, we did the Sentosa beaches twice, once the day we got engaged, and once when Jon Lee came to visit. They're manmade, and there is something a bit artificial about them, but they are attractive nonetheless, and for someone whose only visit to the 'English Riviera' was in a torrentially raining October half term, any beach with palm trees is exotic...

                  

 

Sentosa Cable Car

Unfortunately none of my photos from this came out at all well, it being night. We rode the cable car out to Sentosa before I proposed on the beach, and I think it's worth doing once. The cars are much smaller than on the Singapore Flyer, only large enough for a max of four people, I think. In a way this was nicer though, because you felt less isolated from the view. A view which is worth seeing, by the way.

Universal Studios

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my three locations so far have centred around Sentosa Island. The biggest attraction there is Universal Studios. In the first part of the year we were both students and so could go on a weekday during term time. It makes a big difference. We had been before, but Battlestar Galactica was shut, Transformers hadn't opened yet, and we didn't know about half the non-ride attractions. We definitely got more out of the second visit, riding each half of Battlestar Galactica 6 times (my first coaster with inversions), Transformers about 3 times (best use of 3D I've seen, combined with the physical movement, but works best when other people are there screaming), the Mummy a couple of times (tamer than BG, but has a much scarier atmosphere to compensate), watched the Waterworld show (it's quite an impressive live stunt show) and various sundry other things. Worth looking up what times things happen before you go to make the most of it. Universal is one of the most expensive attractions here, but on a non-busy day, you can really get your money's worth.

Marina Barrage

Not strictly a tourist destination I guess, the Marina Barrage is a barrier that controls access of seawater into the marina, and is controlled by a large pump building - which has a grass roof that makes a great location for picnics, and offers a spectacular view of the Marina Bay area.

   

Harry Potter Exhibition

Not really any photos from this, we weren't allowed to take them inside. The exhibition was on at the Art Science Museum next to MBS, and contained just about all the movie props I could think of, in mockups of the movie sets, it was pretty cool. If you're into Harry Potter of course. Some behind the scenes material might have been nice, but as a props collection, it was pretty comprehensive. I'd love to see the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings ones though.

Wicked

Back in March, we watched the musical Wicked, performed at the Grand Theater at Marina Bay Sands. I love the mall at MBS. I'd never actually shop there, it's all Prada and Armani and all that, but it makes for a very shiny, posh-looking mall, and it's nicely designed. I'm easily impressed by shiny buildings, and funky architecture, I like Orchard Road for the same reason (for English readers, read Oxford Street). The show was great, and despite being on the very back row, it was completely audible and the view was unobstructed. You couldn't see facial detail, but I think you'd have to pay a lot more for a noticeably better seat.

Sentosa Attractions

Sentosa Island also has some other activities, of which we sampled some. Desperados is a 3D attraction where you sit on saddles and use a gun to shoot bandits on the screen. The 3D seemed slightly blurred, but it was quite fun to do once. The Extreme Log Ride was a '4D' ride where you sit in a pod and watch a 3D screen - in this case imagining that you are a log going through an implausibly risky log flume in the jungle. It was quite good, but having also experienced the excellent Transformers ride recently, which is similar, it felt less impressive. The Luge and Skyride were fun though, the Skyride is a ski-lift that takes you from the bottom of the hill high above the trees to the top, where you can then get on the Luge (which is kinda like a toboggan that you can steer and brake) and go back down. You could get up to a good speed on the Luge (fast enough to crash, as Denise discovered...), and it would be fun to do that one again.

Singapore Flyer

The Flyer is distinguished amongst ferris wheels as being the tallest in the world (slightly bigger than the London Eye). It is essentially a clone of the London Eye concept, and the view of the city and Marina Bay area from the top is great, I'd say sunset into dark is the best time to go, as the city lights are really rather nice. It's not as high as the Skypark on the top of MBS, but in some ways is better, as you have a 360 degree view, and the view include MBS. I have to say, they have done a brilliant job with the Marina Bay area, it is definitely a nice place to be.

         

Zoo and Night Safari

Singapore Zoo is great, cheap to get in even if you don't have a friend with a pass, and it has nearly all the animals you would expect. Definitely worth going if you're here. Just expect to sweat a lot. The Night Safari is also great, with a fun show and the tour is good. If you want photos, make sure you had a good camera though, as you can't use your flash.

        

        

East Coast Park Cycling

I haven't cycled in a long time, but East Coast Park is a really nice spot. It's a strip of land by the sea that has been landscaped and laid with a road that you can rent bikes and ride along. Apart from several wobbly moments, this was a really nice way to spend an afternoon, it was a sunny day, but the trees provided loads of shade.

Gardens by the Bay

Only recently opened, the Gardens fill a patch next to MBS to help complete the Marina Bay area. Similar to the Eden Project in the UK it has two domes of non-native environment plants as well as a large outdoor garden and a short walkway suspended from artificial supertrees that give you a view of the Gardens and the general area. Like many places in Singapore, this place works well both in the day and night. My recommendation would be: outside during daylight, also the Flower Dome during daylight (it's not well enough lit at nigh), then as the sun is going down, go into the Cloud Forest Dome and wander round there until dark, enjoy the lighting and views of the city, then try the OCBC Skyway, which offers a spectacular panorama of the whole area. People have said some negative things about the Gardens, possibly about the cost of entering the domes, we got free tickets so didn't have to worry about that :P It's very tidy and sanitized for Singapore, but it really is a lovely spot. Just don't pay $20SGD for chicken rice, I've had the stuff from Mandarin Orchard and I'm afraid that you can't tell that much difference. It's chicken and rice after all.

       

       

       

So there you have it, not a bad collection for 7 months. One day I'll save up for a better camera than Instagram and go round them again. There really are some beautiful spots in Singapore, and some really cool architecture.

Avengers Awesomble

So Denise and I went to see the Avengers last night, and I have to say it was everything I expected it to be. If I had any criticisms it would be that they could have taken more advantage of 3D and they could have made it 3 hours long; I wanted more. Which I guess means they got it right.

The first thing they did right was getting Joss Whedon on board. He is perhaps best known for his creation of Buffy and Firefly, and is clearly someone who understands what is important in a superhero movie. His screenplay was spot on, full of clever lines, and making room for enough vs battles to satisfy a Marvel version of Tekken.

The heroes themselves are perfectly cast, and are, thankfully, continuations of the characters from their respective solo movies, and haven't been reduced to generic heroes. Mark Ruffalo is no second fiddle to Eric Norton as Dr Banner, and it's nice to see that no hero outshines the others. They have been given their roles and each gets their fair share of good lines and impressive moments. Special mention also goes to Tom Hiddlestone for turning in a more nuanced performance as antagonist Loki - his lingering jealousy adds a bit of depth to the classic 'bent on world domination' thing.

The special effects are also excellent, but whilst big, somehow never overwhelm the characters themselves. It's also nice to see responsible Captain America worrying about potential civilian casualties - usually ordinary people get forgotten in massive city-trashing action scenes.



This movie goes to show that people aren't tired of big loud special effects action films - but you need more than that to make a good film. By rigorously enforcing continuity through multi-film contracts, Marvel have constructed a believable universe with characters that we actually care about, and that makes all the difference. Michael Bay take note.

It'll be a tough act for the various sequels to follow, but Marvel have shown a sure hand so far. I just hope they can tie up some loose ends by getting Spiderman on board too, although I fear not.

Perhaps DC will get the message as well, and we'll one day see a Justice League of America movie. We can but hope.

What did you think? Have you seen it, what was your favourite part (try to avoid spoilers). Can The Dark Knight Rises top it?

Thor: Be careful what you say, Loki is my brother.
Black Widow: He killed 80 people in two days.
Thor: He's adopted.
(Seriously, I've never heard a cinema laugh that much in an action movie).

Tintin - my twopenneth

The day before yesterday Denise & I went to see the new Tintin film. We didn't see it in 3D, so I can't comment on that side of things (although I've heard the 3D work is good), but we did watch it in Digital, although I'm not quite sure what the difference is supposed to be in terms of experience.

When I first saw they were releasing a film that wasn't the old TV series I was rather concerned. I've seen movie adaptations of books I like before, and they're often just a little bit disappointing. The strength that the TV series had was that it used the same drawings as the original books - it was just an animated book - not much room to screw things up there.

However, having watched it my fears were quelled and then some. I've watched a few adaptations (looking at you Harry Potter) where you end up with the feeling that the filmmakers didn't really get the books or just weren't fans the way you were (I mean, seriously, how could you consider it even remotely acceptable to leave out winning the Quidditch Cup from Prisoner of Azkaban?? That was the best bit of the book.), but I felt watching Tintin that the creators cared enough to not just approximate the books but also reproduce them. One of the most enjoyable things was seeing that so many characters who appear once and are utterly insignificant were still renderings of the drawings used in the books (example, check out the market seller right at the beginning vs. the same character in Secret of the Unicorn, or the crew of the Karaboudjan). Now, I will say that they've changed story elements, the bad guy in the film wasn't the bad guy in those books, and they've blended The Crab with the Golden Claws with Secret of the Unicorn (which tbh, I expected them to do), but the fact remains that they've included a lot of the material from the books and they've done it in a way that is completely in keeping with the spirit of them, so for once I don't mind.

It's also one of the few adaptations I've seen where the characters are mostly like I imagined them - Jamie Bell is a perfect fit for the youthful sound of Tintin without sounding like a child, while Andy Serkis (of Gollum & King Kong fame) is excellent as Haddock (one day he'll land a major role in a major film where you get to see his face), and Bianca Castafiore is also spot on (I was impressed that they even managed to capture in sound the painful noise that Haddock experiences whilst letting you see why others consider her so good, a job I doubted they could pull off).

Full credit also for the adoption of the motion capture animation. People have said negative things about films like the Polar Express that use it, but the characters looked alive in this, whilst still fairly representing their cartoonish features. One frustration I've had with CGI people in films is that their movements don't quite look real - they're just a little to smooth (or sometimes to jerky) and don't quite feel like they interact with the environment properly - but motion capture gets round that to a fair extent because humans provide the movement and you can really see it in the excellent swashbuckling flashbacks and a few punch-ups (also congratulations to Spielberg for not cutting out the fights and guns of the books - like the books no one actually gets shot dead but it's good to see they've maintained that side of things - you don't have to cut it out for it to qualify as a family film).

So all in all I was thoroughly satisfied with the job they've done with it - it's so nice to watch a film where you know the makers cared as much about the little details as you do - it's clearly the work of someone who wanted to bring the books to life rather than just exploiting the license. Bring on the (highly probable) sequel.