The Union diaries

Why hello, and welcome to my something that resembles a blog page.

I've been at Portsmouth a year now, and can honestly say that its been a brilliant experience. I suppose it's slightly nostalgic that I'm writing this entry on the first night of this years 'Secure A Home' event, which I attended last year, but anyway, onwards and upwards!

For those of you who are new to the Union and are wondering what on earth am I doing writing my first entry in the early days of September, well, I came back early :-)

The soceities at UPSU are a huge part of the vibrant lifestyle that the Union offers and this October see's the return of one of the best events of the year. I am of course referring to Freshers Fayre (1st and 2nd Oct!) which will be held in Ravelin Park, just behind the University Library. Joining a society is a superb way to make new friends and also fill some of that time you have after lectures and uni related work-its a must!!

Thats about it from me on this very brief post. I'm sure I'll return at some stage with more news and ramblings!

S

August. Not what I was hoping for this year, seeing as I had to wait ‘til it was all but over for the big guns to come out, and everything else looked average at best.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army 

If The Dark Knight was the brooding teen, Hellboy 2’s his kid brother. Fun and full of cool ideas – brimming with a different sort of creativity. 

Following the first, in 2004, of what may be a trilogy, Hellboy 2 follows the eponymous red hell-beast turned good guy. Together with his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz and best mate Abe, an amphibious blue, fish-man creature as they must fight a new evil. Namely Prince Nuada, from the mythical realm, who wants to end a truce between his people and humanity by regaining control of the Golden Army. This is an ancient, indestructible army, 70 times 70 strong –  which were forged long ago to fight against humanity at the behest of King Balor, the Prince’s father, a decision he soon regretted, choosing to hide them when he saw the death and destruction they caused.

Better than most 2 of 3’s, Hellboy 2 has a surprising amount of laughs as it goes about setting up the threequel that’s not yet absolutely, definitely going to happen. Director Guillermo del Toro has a lot on his plate before he can make Hellboy 3 – a ton of producing for different films, plus co-writing and directing The Hobbit movies, two films that take place before the Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

I wouldn’t bet against a Hellboy 3 though. Guillermo del Toro clearly has the energy and creativity of that metaphorical kid. Hellboy 2 is beautiful. Visually stunning throughout, he cleverly mixes the volcanic steampunk styling of the Golden Army with the otherworldly influences of the numerous trolls, goblins, evil fairies and the like into a believable world. His alarming attention to the little details, like something smaller than a loaf of bread dying theatrically or the intricate workings of the headpiece of a soldier of the Golden Army, make me wonder if I could hear the cogs working in del Toro’s head if I got close enough.

Clearly then, I loved this film. I loved the characters, the humour, the imagery, and the ideas. The plot could have been better or just resolved better, but with this much going for it, this is a minor problem. 

4/5
 

The Wackness

This ain’t the new Juno. It doesn't matter that I saw it in the same tiny screen where I saw Juno, but with even less people. I don’t care that it stars Olivia Thirlby (Juno’s mate Leah) because she’s playing a different character. It’s not even her story, the same time or the same setting. Instead its 1994, NYC and follows Luke (Josh Peck), teen pot dealer and loner, through the summer after high school. He’s the guy who’s everyone’s friend and nobody’s. The closest he really has to a friend is his psychiatrist Dr. Squires (Sir Ben Kingsley) who has enough issues of his own. With everyone else from school leaving for the summer, Luke faces further loneliness. That’s until he learns that his hot classmate Steph (Thirlby) is staying in the city too. Shame her stepdad is Dr. Squires and he’s dead set against the relationship. This film is not about what happens, but how and why it does, and how Luke deals with it that matters. He’s just a normal kid trying to get through life. He does have extraordinarily good taste in music though, so the soundtrack’s worth checking out. In case you’re wondering, ‘The...

Firstly, a few reviews of the films I saw in July. I imagone that if you'd been to the cinema at all in July, that you'd have seen one of these three. I'd love to know what you thought of them, or anything else you might have seen.

Secondly, a little look at some of the films out this month, using MSN's August roundup as a starting point. 

Hancock - July 2nd 
I enjoyed this oddly original superhero tale, as much as 4/5 stars, and then I read some reviews and changed my mind.
I realised that although it was funny in places and the SFX were cool, it did seem to change genre completely
as it drew to an end. I can see this becoming Will Smith's 'go to' role if he's having trouble, like Men In
Black was. A good cast let down by a simple plot with a twist you can see almost before the movie starts.
Fun enough, but I can't help but wonder if its Wednesday release was just to capitalise on the Orange Wednesday receipts.

3.5/5

WALL·E - JULY 18th 
Pixar does it again! The story of the last refuse-collection robot on an abandoned Earth is funny and also
cute. Despite the fact that the most endearing characters are machines, WALL·E is a very human movie. It's
got all the classic themes of loneliness, love, adventure and man-on-a-mission, only its mostly robots doing
it all. There are human characters in WALL·E, but by the time they turn up, they ain't a patch on our little
square bin-bot. The story of why they left Earth (and why they left it in such a state) is well handled and
at times, clever satire, only slightly pushing a worthy message onto wide-eyed widdle kiddies.
Not that its just for them, but if your old enough to copy Hancock's drunkeness, go see The Dark Knight first. 

4.5/5

The Dark Knight - July 24th
The newest Batman film is nothing short of incredible. The biggest story is Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker - a
breathtaking portrayal that's creepy, funny and completely enthralling. I found that the plot felt almost like a
secondary thing, but it was just as entertaining. It's twisty and twisted, with the actions of both the heroes and
villain(s) being, by turns, cruel, unusual and unnecessary. The acting of the rest of the cast was spot on, but special
mention should go to Maggie Gyllenhaal, who has made the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins)
her own. It's been said since it'a release that The Dark Knight raises the bar for all superhero movies, but it raises
the bar for all movies. Having topped IMDb's Top 250 film's upon its US release in mid July, and barely getting anything
like a negative review, The Dark Knight is so good that it's unlikely to see any serious competition until The Watchmen
is released.
 
4.75/5


In three movies, that was July. I've not seen anything else (shame on me), but there wasn't a lot else to see. But its all
about August now, so what's coming up?

Well MSN believe that this lot are worth watching.

I agree with them about Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Get Smart and The Wackness. I'd maybe see

I've been employed by the Union in one capacity or another for one month short of the last six years, so it's quite strange to think that yesterday was the last time I'd be poking around the place as an employee. In my time there, I've learnt to pull the perfect snakebite (although I've probably forgotten how to, as well) as a bar monkey, put together and run a sound system and lighting rig as an ents monkey, been involved in designing, building and running the website as a pixel monkey, and - for the last year - been the media officer, looking after the Union's student media output.

I've made a few friends, upset plenty of people, and been given some very cool opportunities, so really this is a thankyou from me to everyone who's made the last six years - and especially the last year - as fun, interesting, and challenging as it could have been. To all the staff and students I may have upset with my git-like behaviour, please remember it was never personal (if it was, I would have told you explicitly!).

I'm not sure what's next for me. I have a one-way ticket to Ibiza booked for this Saturday, and I'll be out there looking for a job and a flat with next year's Pugwash editor Steph Hall. We might only survive a week and find there's nowhere to live, or we might get lucky and make it through the last two months of the summer season - I really don't know. If you fancy laughing at me, join the Facebook group and I'll keep you updated on the latest stupid thing I've done...

Anyway, I'm off properly now. I'll be over at Greyhead.co.uk and no doubt in the news soon for being involved in some embarrassing scandal involving a goat and a nudists' beach in Ibiza.

Rena, Elle, Mike, Steve, Jaf, Fraggy, Tom, Jacob, Tallie, Laura, Pete, other Pete, Ben, Darby, other Steve, Jo, Karen, Tracey, Cherelyn, Sharon, Graeme, Wayne, Cat, Gamel, other Tom, Aakash, Caroline, Gina, Fred, Maz, Sloppy, Carl, Clive, Jim, Ryan, Rob, Hannah, Bex, Shrey, Rich, Alex, Scott, Janet, Stuart, John, Mario, Adrian... ok, «everyone» at the Union: thanks :) 

Good luck Tom, goodbye everybody and, of course, bloody cheers :o)

/al

It is strangely encouraging to see that, about the same time that Pugwash News was suffering its own dramas during issue 9 this year, Imperial College Union's Felix newspaper was suffering as a result of non-editorial pressure to censor itself.

This isn't going to be a rant - or any kind of discussion - about the role of independent student media within a parent students' union institution, but it is interesting to read the following comment: