The Hurt Locker

Gone are the days when retrospect played a part in movie making...George W had hardly left office before we had 'W' by Oliver Stone.
No more is this prevalent than in the modern war movie...though they are not so much war movies, but movies about the Iraq war.

The Hurt Locker is one of these movie...The story of a new addition to a specialist bomb disposal squad on the streets of Bagdad.
The story is supposed to be giving us an insight into the daily lives of these soldiers in this absurd war..but never really hits the mark. Filmed in a semi (over used) docu-style as many war movies are, but never seems make you feel part of the drama.

I loved the recent HBO miniseries Generation Kill and so was looking forward to The Hurt Locker and really wanted to like, even love it as the pre-release buzz was that this was a classic, but for it wasn't.

I felt contrived and unoriginal...that said it wasn't all bad, in fact at times it was gripping and had several nice (but under used) cameos.
The director Kathryn Bigelow, who brought us 'Point Break' and 'Strange Days' has been grasping for hit for a while and she almost gets it, but this movie is trying to be a crowd pleaser and a subjective look at the Iraq war all at the same time...and the two never really blend.
4/10

Watchmen: Directors Cut

First let’s get the bad bits out of the way...

Why is the DC version only available on import? and what is the need to bring out several different version of the same film over a period of months....the Watchmen ultimate edition comes out at Christmas...

And now the positive...

This is as close to the original graphic novel, without including the 'Tales of the Black Freighter', comic within a comic (this will be included in the Ultimate version).
So fans of the graphic novel will be happy...very happy....just like me.

The story of the masked avengers being picked off by a mysterious killer in an alternative 1985, where Nixon is still president and the threat of nuclear war is ever looming is genius.
The characters are really people, not just blue costumed Ubermen, flying saving cats from trees.
Original meant to be characters from the DC back catalogue, Batman, Wonder Woman etc...but blocked over fears of ruining the charterers reputations. It’s easy to see the roots of Night Owl and Rorschach from the DC universe, but these new guys are have a real depth to them...disillusioned with the world and the their formed masked avenging days.

A special mention must go to Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach a firm fan favourite, but played perfectly, tragic and heroic at the same time.

Running at over 3 hours the Directors Cut version can seem a long haul, but for me it was enjoyable afternoon. For the average movie view it’s probably too long, as its paced quite slowly compared to the recent flurry Superhero movies...So this won’t appeal to everyone.

8/10...Just make sure you have the big packet of Doritos to hand.

The Bank Job

I have to admit, Jason Statham (The Stath) movies are a bit of a guilty pleasure. Ever since seeing his definitive performance in Snatch I’ve followed his career. He's moved from ‘Cockney Geezer’ to martial arts 'Bad Ass' through the Transporter series and Crank.

Obviously the guilty pleasure is that he is a pretty poor actor, that usually sticks to c grade action movies...So I was quite looking forward to The Staths return to ‘Cockney Geezer’ territory in The Bank Job.

A cross between The Italian Job and Buster, The Bank Job is a 70's heist movie set in London.

Statham plays the 'Cockney Geezer' / petty criminal with a heart. Statham and his cohorts get are persuaded by an old colleague to do 'one last job'...all pedestrian stuff so far.

Of course there is an inside man, a general splattering of unsavoury types, cops and MI5 or 6!

It’s all been done before...some including Statham. It's obviously a UK film, but doesn't show London of at its best. Obviously filmed on a very small budget and unable to dress streets and sets to give it the authentic feel of the 70's. It's no Long Good Friday.

Some nice work by the supporting cast and the usual from The Stath, though he keeps the 'action man' at bay for most of the film. A fun distraction for an evening 5/10.

The International

Another thriller starring Clive Owen, probably with a huge twist at the end where his boss is actually the orchestrator of the whole affair. I'm such a cynic.

To my surprise I was proved....right...almost.

The story revolves around Owen, an Interpol agent tracking down clues that lead him to uncover a corrupt bank funding global criminal activities, but that’s too simple...obviously all the major governments and agencies are involved or aware. How can one man fight such a huge organisation and win. No spoilers...just watch and find out.

My expectations weren't high, but some nice camera work and tasteful direction help as well as a standard performance from Owen help to keep this at 5/10

Ok, it's been a long time since i last blogged.
I promise i will be better this year...
Now also on twitter:
https://twitter.com/thinkincircles

More updates soon.

Cheaper than using recruitment consultants!

For all of you that are interested in social networking and how our business can benefit from it, have a read of this article on the BBC website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7501073.stm

The article is regarding a report from Gartner, stating that business aren't making the most of social networking sites...Also an interesting comment from CEO, Robert Phillips of Edelman, who use social networking for recruitment..."it was cheaper than using recruitment consultants and more beneficial at tracking down the right person."

Something to think about!

What is a JobBoard?

I think the term JobBoard has been lost over the years and is now causing some confusion… I would argue that a JobBoard is a business model, accounting for the likes of Monster, CareerBuilder, Seek etc.
They advertise jobs (as a third party) on behalf of clients, be they direct employers or staffing/recruitment agencies and have no involvement in the pay-rolling of perms or temps/flex-workers.
What most of us have on our websites are job listings that we are advertising on behalf of our clients. Most of the time we take a fee for finding a candidate and if a temp/flex-worker we then pay-role that candidate.