Netflix, hospitals and punk rock
Lets start by giving you the latest of my one sentence Netflix reviews.
Tau - A kidnapped woman is forced into a battle against a sinister tech bro for the sympathy of an AI he created, which put me in mind of a more horror themed 'Ex Machina'.
You are so not invited to my Bar Mitzva - Adam Sandler's whole family stars in what turned out be more of a teen high school movie than I was expecting.
Godzilla Minus One - This is the first Japanese Godzilla movie I've seen, which goes back to it's post Hiroshima roots, featuring Godzilla as a malevolent force of nature that wrecks havoc on humanity.
Circle - Intriguing scifi thriller in which fifty people are trapped in a room where they must choose who dies every two minutes, revealing the prejudices about how we decide on whose lives are worth most.
Trevor Noah: Where was I - "Why are the people who are so adamant about respecting the American flag also those most likley to wear it as underwear?"
Under Paris - OTT but fun shark movie featuring mutated mako sharks in the rivers and catacombs of Paris.
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari - True life account of New Zealand's Whakaari eruption disaster, which I found extra interesting and grim due to having joined a tour to visit the island just ten years before it exploded.
I've finally finished the movies on my Netflix watchlist, so now onto the TV series. First up is Three Body Problem. The origin story of how Ye Wenjie becomes disillusioned with humanity and first contacts the aliens stays faithful to the book. Benedict Wong as the gruff chainsmoking but ultimately likeble cop Da Shi is one of the few other characters that survives intact from the novels.
The biggest change is that the bulk of the action is moved from China to the UK, and the experience of the book's central protagonist Wang Miao is split between the Oxford five. Characters and plot strands not introduced until either the second or third novels are nicely woven into the TV series from the start.
It's all very well done, but think about it for a few minutes and the plot holes start to stack up! But seeing as all the same plot holes were present in the book, I can't blame the makers of the show too much. Looking forward to season two.
In non screen based entertainment news Jimmy (he took over at SGA when I left) and Morganne were back in Busan for a week so they joined me on Monday morning for breakfast and a stroll around the UN Park.
Daehyeon is still in hospital recovering from pneumonia. I visited him yesterday. He's attached to an IV drip and is recovering and hoping to be back with us on Tuesday.
After the hospital I headed beachwards, and discovered a cafe with a rooftop terrace that I had all to myself while I watched the sunset and the drone show.
From there I headed to HQ Bar to see The Vastards and Rumkicks, the latter being a Seoul based punk band just back from their first tour of Europe. Surprisingly, despite Busan being Korea's second biggest city, this was also their first gig in the city! I drank some beers, met some friends and had a great time bouncing around what passes for a mosh pit in these parts. I've missed punk gigs :)
Tau - A kidnapped woman is forced into a battle against a sinister tech bro for the sympathy of an AI he created, which put me in mind of a more horror themed 'Ex Machina'.
You are so not invited to my Bar Mitzva - Adam Sandler's whole family stars in what turned out be more of a teen high school movie than I was expecting.
Godzilla Minus One - This is the first Japanese Godzilla movie I've seen, which goes back to it's post Hiroshima roots, featuring Godzilla as a malevolent force of nature that wrecks havoc on humanity.
Circle - Intriguing scifi thriller in which fifty people are trapped in a room where they must choose who dies every two minutes, revealing the prejudices about how we decide on whose lives are worth most.
Trevor Noah: Where was I - "Why are the people who are so adamant about respecting the American flag also those most likley to wear it as underwear?"
Under Paris - OTT but fun shark movie featuring mutated mako sharks in the rivers and catacombs of Paris.
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari - True life account of New Zealand's Whakaari eruption disaster, which I found extra interesting and grim due to having joined a tour to visit the island just ten years before it exploded.
I've finally finished the movies on my Netflix watchlist, so now onto the TV series. First up is Three Body Problem. The origin story of how Ye Wenjie becomes disillusioned with humanity and first contacts the aliens stays faithful to the book. Benedict Wong as the gruff chainsmoking but ultimately likeble cop Da Shi is one of the few other characters that survives intact from the novels.
The biggest change is that the bulk of the action is moved from China to the UK, and the experience of the book's central protagonist Wang Miao is split between the Oxford five. Characters and plot strands not introduced until either the second or third novels are nicely woven into the TV series from the start.
It's all very well done, but think about it for a few minutes and the plot holes start to stack up! But seeing as all the same plot holes were present in the book, I can't blame the makers of the show too much. Looking forward to season two.
In non screen based entertainment news Jimmy (he took over at SGA when I left) and Morganne were back in Busan for a week so they joined me on Monday morning for breakfast and a stroll around the UN Park.
Daehyeon is still in hospital recovering from pneumonia. I visited him yesterday. He's attached to an IV drip and is recovering and hoping to be back with us on Tuesday.
After the hospital I headed beachwards, and discovered a cafe with a rooftop terrace that I had all to myself while I watched the sunset and the drone show.
From there I headed to HQ Bar to see The Vastards and Rumkicks, the latter being a Seoul based punk band just back from their first tour of Europe. Surprisingly, despite Busan being Korea's second biggest city, this was also their first gig in the city! I drank some beers, met some friends and had a great time bouncing around what passes for a mosh pit in these parts. I've missed punk gigs :)