To a better life in 2016 and beyond

Marking the end of one year and the beginning of another, I offer this uplifting sentiment: may life be better. Better than what? Better than it was, whether it was bad, indifferent or even already pretty good.

As an original supporter of the Kickstarter campaign for Chris Johnson's book A Better Life, I received an email yesterday offering a free download of the film he has gone on to produce, based on the book, and also titled A Better Life. I watched it last night and found it enjoyable, insightful and uplifting. Like the book, it's beautifully produced and photographed, featuring many of the people who were in the book.

There is no God. Now what? If this is the only life we have, how does that affect how we live our lives, how we treat each other, and cope with death. As a follow-up to one of Kickstarter’s most successful publishing projects, photographer and filmmaker Chris Johnson introduces us to some of the many voices from his book. In this fascinating documentary — learn the stories behind the book in interviews with some of our greatest thinkers. Join Chris as he explores issues of joy & meaning and travels around the globe meeting people from all walks of life and backgrounds who challenge the false stereotypes of atheists as immoral and evil. From Daniel Dennett and A.C. Grayling, to Julia Sweeney and Robert Llewellyn — learn the various ways many atheists have left religion to a better life filled with love, compassion, hope, and wonder!

I got the movie for free, but you can buy it in the form of streaming video, HD download, or DVD.

And you can still buy the original book:

Wanna buy some 'E'? Sure you do!

No, not that 'E' — this is The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson, a feature length documentary film by Julien Temple, previously shown in BBC1's Imagine series, and which until Christmas Eve 2015 was available to view on iPlayer.

Now you can buy it on DVD:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ecstasy-Wilko-Johnson-DVD-y/dp/B017DFEBEK/

Anyone who enjoyed the two-part BBC Radio 4 Mastertapes on Wilko Johnson will absolutely want to see this extraordinary documentary shown on BBC1 in November. Superlatives escape me — this is probably the best biographical documentary film about a living artist I have ever seen. Truly brilliant, uplifting, and surprising on so many levels.

Top Ten seminal science-fiction films... (repost from other blog)

...in no particular order - a personal list.

• Forbidden Planet - Shakespeare's The Tempest given a science-fictional re-interpretation
• Metropolis - imagination ahead of its time
• 2001: A Space Odyssey - the first SF religious movie, with special effects that even today have not been surpassed (equalled, but not surpassed)
• Blade Runner - Ridley Scott's dystopian free-adaptation of Dick
• The Matrix - awesome spectacle, shame about the sequels
• Brazil - Gilliam's finest (in fact, anybody's)
• Silent Running - greenhouses in space, with cute robots
• Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope - strictly fantasy rather than SF, despite the space-ships, robots and futuristic weapons
• ET - The Extra-Terrestrial - highly successful, but full of Spielberg schmaltz
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind - another influential Spielberg flick, though my least favourite here

Remember: not in order. Also remember: this is my list.

Dark thoughts on The Dark Knight (repost from other blog)

Having watched Batman Begins a few days previously, and found all the tedious double-revelations of the Liam Neeson ninja character fairly underwhelming, I wasn't holding out much hope for the sequel.

The technology in The Dark Knight was impressive, up to a point. The explosions (and there were lots of them) were impressive, up to a point. The plot was okay, up to point.

That point, for all the above, was reached when the film could have been expected to conclude. It didn't conclude, but went on to portray technology way beyond the realm of credibility, with more and bigger explosions that resembled a random fireworks display, while the plot descended into mephistophelian obfuscation, forsaking any semblance of coherence.

And it was too long. Half an hour of plot-knotting could have been cut without adversely affecting the story - other than to make it marginally clearer.

The film's one redeeming feature was Heath Ledger's career-defining performance as the Joker: manic, psychotic, remorseless - a truly terrifying villain.