I used to give either thumbs up or thumbs down. I’m switching to thumbs up, thumbs down, or neither.

Microserfs — This is the kind of book I should just lap up, isn’t it? A geek novel? But I didn’t. It dragged.

J-Pod — More enjoyable than Microserfs. Douglas Coupland’s self-referential bits were a bit hard to take, but overall I enjoyed it a lot more.

Torchwood series 2 — Less gratuitious L/S/V, it’s calmed down a bit. The insertion of Martha and more Who references (especially in the penultimate episode) made it all more enjoyable to watch, though I didn’t think there was a stand-out episode this year, not in the same way I enjoyed Random Shoes. The finale was a bit of a let-down, but came up with some surprises. I’m not a hard-core Buffy fan, and don’t know what those that are would have made of Captain Spike. The BBC actually put out a PG-rated version, but I think even that is pretty dark for kids to see. I’d watch it again one day — it wasn’t brilliant, but it had its moments.

Fistful of Quarters: The King of Kong — Great stuff. Not so much about classic video games as about the personalities involved in the world of classic video games — so non-gamers will enjoy this. The people involved are geeks, and know they’re geeks. The trust from the score referees in the messianic Billy Mitchell, and their mistrust to his challenger is particularly interesting. Not surprised Mitchell wasn’t happy with the way the film portrayed him. Definitely thumbs up. (Maybe I should start giving the double-thumbs up where appropriate?)

Next I need to see Chasing Ghosts.

OMG.

Why did nobody tell me about this before? The King of Kong.

I know, I know… I didn’t actually list the original Donkey Kong in my top ten games… I don’t know what I was thinking of — it’s definitely one of my favourites. My own high score is around the 31,000 mark.

It’s in the cinemas locally now, but can already be ordered from Amazon.com on DVD. Very tempting, but I think I want to see it on the big screen first.

• The Age — feature article on the movie
• Age Review
• A related movie: Chasing Ghosts

Had a day off yesterday. Took the kids on a couple of errands, and went through Fed Square to visit ACMI.

I never fail to be impressed with ACMI, especially since I discovered their Games Lab. Last time I was there they had old Commodore 64 games. This time they were highlighting some of the best indie games from the recent Independent Games Festival, a kind of TropFest for games.

In the video game world, many games are churned out by the big Hollywood-style production houses, coded by drones (as so famously documented in EA Spouse: The Human Story). What we saw showed some nice innovations that you might not get out of those big companies, and it was good to see that small-scale game writing didn’t die with the 80s.

We played a few of them, and ended up downloading one, And Yet It Moves when we got home. A quirky rendition of one of my favourite genres, the 2-D platformer.

We’d really gone for the Pixar exhibit mind you. Which was very interesting, with a lot of material from a variety of their films. What really caught the kids’ imagination was the Zoetrope — loads of Toy Story models loaded onto a turntable, which span around and at top speed was accompanied by rapidly flickering lights to animate it. Very very cool. The admission fee wasn’t overly cheap, but seeing that on top of all the other stuff definitely made it worth it.

I’ve got today off, to enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the first day proper of the school holidays, and generally enjoy not having to do any work (touch wood).

I’ve seen O Brother Where Art Thou twice in the last month, and I still like it a lot. Recently the kids watched it for the first time**, and while I had to explain some of the concepts and plot, they seemed to enjoy it.

Here’s some of the reasons it’s one of my favourite movies:

The film very nicely captures the time and place it’s set.

Harry McClintock’s opening Big Rock Candy Mountain song, describing a hobo’s version of Utopia.

“Damn, we’re in a tight spot!”

“My hair!”

And of course Everett’s more lengthy and involved dialogue.

That scene early on with the steam train going across screen sounds and looks fantastic on a decent sized TV with good speakers. (The UK SE DVD release I have has 5.1 sound; it’ll be near the top of my list for playing when I eventually invest in surround sound.)

Indeed, there’s some glorious photography and sound right through the movie… and of course the music.

The music captures the age it’s set in. And a lot of it is genuine, from the period, thanks to geniuses like John and Alan Lomax, who wandered the country making recordings of songs that otherwise would have been lost to history.

Pappy O’Daniel with the wise words that campaigners and advocates should bear in mind when sorting out their priorities: “We ain’t one-at-a-timing here! We’re mass communicating!”

The look on Everett’s face Where the boys start singing Man Of Constant Sorrow to a delighted audience, completely unaware it’s become a big hit.

All the Ullyses allusions. The Sirens, the Cyclops, the return home — even the old man disguise. And there’s plenty more.

“Oh George, not the livestock!”

“Gopher?”

I’m sure there’s plenty more reasons that will come to me the next time I watch it.

**It’s rated M in Australia, but 12 in the UK and PG in the USA… I don’t normally show my kids M-rated material yet, but I’ll make an exception in specific cases. Compared to many M-rated films, this is pretty mild.

Shrek the Third — was okay I suppose, a few amusing moments, but nothing outstanding. The first Shrek is still the best one… egads they have a Shrek 4 planned — I hope it’s better than the Third, though I bet they’re all successful. I suppose worth watching if someone else is paying, but fails the “would watch again” test.

I had been thinking that Jim Schembri’s article the other day about kids in cinemas was an exaggeration, but on second thoughts, it’s true: some kids (especially younger kids) don’t know how to behave in cinemas, and evidently their parents don’t know either.

Nerds FC — very amusing stuff. Yes I noted the guy who can recite pi — though he knows 486 digits, a long way over my paltry 75. I only caught a couple of episodes of the first series, but will try and see the rest of these ones.

Oh, and just when I thought my footy tipping couldn’t get any worse… 2 out of 8.

Hot Fuzz — Saw this the other week. Very funny, very bloody, very enjoyable comedy, which pays homage to cop buddy movies. The only problem was that the trailer has far too many of the best jokes in it, and I found myself watching some scenes, waiting for the funny line. I suspect I’d have enjoyed the movie a lot more if I hadn’t watched the trailer. Still lots of fun though. If you liked Shaun Of The Dead, you’ll like this.

Robin Hood — So this is the new, hip Robin Hood adaptation? Sorry, but I found it a bit dull. Arrow sound effects with the captions and acrobatics during fights don’t necessarily make for good TV. I think I still prefer the old Robin Of Sherwood from the 80s. The Sheriff was amusing in this one, but not enough to get me to tune in again next week.

I’ve heard from two completely independent sources of Pastafarianism in the past week. Could it be that the age of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is upon us?

RAmen.

Anyway, here’s some quick reviews.

Michael Palin’s diaries 1969-1979 — Very interesting, especially for a Python fan like me, giving the background story behind the group coming together, making the TV shows then the movies, and how successful they became, despite problems with distributors censoring their work, and opposition over The Life Of Brian. Palin normally comes across as thoroughly nice, and it’s pleasing to see some hints of grumpiness in the diaries — so he is human after all! Some genuinely moving moments, too.

Thank you for smoking — Very funny look at PR. Anybody who does media work (or sees spin from afar) should get a laugh from (as well as be in awe of) the antics of Nick Naylor and his Mod Squad comrades.

Little Miss Sunshine — A very funny movie, with a slightly-disturbing (but amusing) ending. Like any good road movie, the best bits are the trip along the way, not the destination.

A big bunch of thumbs ups for all these, from the past couple of months.

The First Casualty by Ben Elton — a mystery set close to a century ago, a bit like Julian Barnes’ Arthur and George, and also very reminiscent of Black Adder 4, but with a much more serious look at the Great War. Elton’s usual humour is absent for this one, but it’s a great read.

High Society by Ben Elton — a look at drugs: the war against it, its presence in society both high and low. But unlike the above, plenty of humour.

Kenny — very very funny movie. Spotted a few locations I’m familiar with.

Junebug — what happens when white trash meets culture. Interesting.

Caffe Latte — Malvern Road, Toorak — work Christmas dinner was delicious. Very good. Probably expensive — I don’t know!

Wah Wah — Richard E Grant’s semi-auto-biographical film. Quite funny in parts, very dramatic in others. The DVD (at least, the Australian version) includes the interview from Enough Rope, which is fascinating.

PS Sunday night. Oh hooray, yet another full-page Barry Humphries article in the Sunday Age. We needed another one.