Not yet, but getting there. Yesterday, after having been a tourist for a couple of hours, I got back home and slipped a DVD into the player. It just took off from there. Apart from the occasional pee break and snack attack and the ever-so-annoying nightly sleep, I've been watching films ever since one o'clock yesterday afternoon: Cypher (better than I thought, and Jeremy Northam had an interesting, nerdy look), East is East (third time I watch it and it just gets better), Bent (slow-paced drama about the treatment of homosexuals in Hitler's Germany; a much overlooked aspect of that period, as well as what they did to gypsies, people with Down's syndrome and physically disabled people - their cruelty is beyond belief; this film also features Mick Jagger as a fugly drag queen), My Name is Joe (now, this one was bit difficult to follow for someone who's not used to listening to Glaswegians all day long, but I got through it all right), Nuevas reinas/Nine Queens (the only Argentinian film I own; when I first saw this film I knew I just had to have it - it reminded me of The Sting, which is one of my topmost favourites ever), Frida (second time I see it - I really like this film and I can finally admit that Salma Hayek can act. But what is it about Alfred Molina in this one; I know they've done something to his appearance but I can't for the life of me see what it is), Sister Act (must be the fourth or fifth time I see this, I particularly like the lively Kathy Najimy and the very proper Dame Maggie Smith in this one, as well as the music, of course) and The Actors. This film was a big surprise. It's gone unnoticed past anyone but the critics, who'd like to send it to hell, it seems, but I really liked it. Dylan Moran has been a favourite since I first laid my eyes and ears on Black Books (brilliant!) and he's really good in this film. So is Sir Michael Caine as per usual, but the biggest surprise was Sir Michael Gambon. Now, I know he can act, but I haven't really paid any attention to him until now (although I'm one of those not the least bit disappointed by his Dumbledore.) His hilarious turn in The Actors may very well cause me to begin following his career (which has already been going on for more than 40 years.) And he's tall. Not that that's got anything to do with it, I just thought you'd like to know.

My DVD recorder is very picky. It may tolerate non-brands but would rather accept well-known DVD media brands, preferably of its own brand. This has come to my attention recently, as I have been a bit unlucky with some of the media I've put into it. This week I almost fainted when it went into its infamous "recover" loop on my most precious DVD recording. Skip this paragraph if you don't know anything about DVD-ripping and/or -recording and you want to stay ignorant. The disc in question hadn't been finalised yet, meaning it can only be played on DVD recorders that accept DVD-R media. I had just been watching this precious programme and decided to finalise the disc. Just as I had typed in the title, it goes into "Recover" mode. This is (apparently) a well-known bug in this recorder, and if you're unlucky it may render the whole disc unusable. I freaked out and started cursing at the recorder (which pretended not to be listening.) It turned off and on a couple of times, then came back to where it had been. Panicking, I took the DVD out of the tray, not wanting it to swallow it completely (my last DVD player did that; I was watching my very precious Ultraviolet series when it suddenly stopped and refused to open its tray. I had to disassemble the bleeding thing in order to get it out of there; I bought a new player within the week.) Earlier today I dared putting it back. Fortunately, the programme is still playable (thus far, touch wood) but only on that very recorder. The problem is I would have bought brand media if they'd been available. I've been looking for a year, buying a few through eBay (ooh, that reminds me, must check if I won last night's auction,) but no stores sell that particular brand here, and my contacts within the company can't be arsed to answer my questions. Great customer support. However, since I'm actually very pleased with the product apart from this little flaw (which is wholly due to my own cheapness, really, and not in a tarty sort of way,) I won't mention any names or brands. I've just got one tip for you: Don't buy cheap recording media of any sorts. It usually isn't worth it.

Current track: Roxette - Milk and Toast and Honey

Labels: alfred molina, comedy, film, technology