Messing With The Script

Conditions: Improving, finally.

The Tick of the Clock

Iran has been under a close microscope recently because they are building a nuclear power reactor, and everyone seems to think they're also building nuclear weapons as well. The U.N is getting ready to put out a report that will likely include more evidence of these activities. The concern is what will be made of it.

Israeli President Shimon Peres, when asked by Israeli television if "something was bringing us closer to a military option rather than a diplomatic one", he replied: "I believe so."

He continued: "I estimate that intelligence services of all these countries are looking at the ticking clock, warning leaders that there was not much time left.

"Iran is nearing atomic weapons and in the time left we must turn to the world's nations and demand [they] fulfil their promise... which is not merely passing sanctions. What needs to be done must be done and there is a long list of options."

Analysts say they believe Iran may still be several years away from having nuclear weapons.

- bbc.co.uk/news

And so yet again we're put into a ticking clock situation, with Iran seemingly developing nuclear weapons, and Israel preparing a military option to deal with it. And I still do not see how that could possibly be a smart thing to do. Launching a strike on Iran based essentially on an irrational fear of a country essentially commiting suicide, is nonsense. Will they come to their senses?


Film Review: The Three Musketeers.

I guess it's tough to appeal to today's teenagers when all you have to work with is a bunch of sword-wielding heroes whose job is to protect the king at all costs. Maybe because Dumas' book has been turned into a movie about 20 times by now, director Paul WS Anderson decided it needed something new. A new plot twist, maybe. Or a new setting. Perhaps some kind of new character could be fitted in? Or maybe, just maybe, you could just introduce giant armoured airships into the mix, and have them battle it out with each other in the finale.

Now, I'm no huge stickler for historical accuracy. However I am a big fan of historical sense. Historical sense allows the musketeers to use muskets, and swords, and wear odd clothes with frills, but to do all these with a more modern sensibility - so it always looks cool. Now, a giant bloody flying warship may look cool, but it is so far out of touch with the period of the film that it's just annoying. Also, since every castle, palace and barn back then was bristling with cannons, building giant airships seems stupid and pointless anyway. And when you start your movie out by having our heroes discover and then blow up a secret vault belonging to Leonardo Davinci, beneath the streets of Venice, then sympathy becomes a little strained right from the start. One wonders what they would do for an encore, blow up the city of Paris with a stealth bomber perhaps?

The actual story plays out as you'd expect. Heroes meet each other, are tasked to save the Kings honour, much running and fighting ensues. I have to say that despite the flippancy with which it conducts itself, the movie is at least trying to do something interesting. Milla Jovovich is brought in as a super spy/cat burgler, and conducts herself very well - as you'd expect. Also the sword fighting scenes are actually pretty good. But the point of all this is meant to be the partneship between the 3 musketeers and D'Artagnan. And the actors they hired are certainly up to the job, but unfortunately there ends up simply being not enough room, or time, to really develop the characters and the partnership. It's frustrating, I'm sure there's actually a good film hiding somewhere in amongst the annoying side characters and massive CGI airship battles, but it's too afraid to come out. Two swords out of five.


- Peace out