Blarticle: Meme-bombing

There’s a new kind of graffiti art on the block, people. By ‘the block’, of course I mean the giant void of cyberspace in which we are all linked and more personally involved than we are with the elderly neighbours that have been living across the street for thirty years. With the internet as the No 1. port of call for those who feel in their hearts that they must procrastinate, it was inevitable that the more subversive types of humour would slowly start to creep out of the screen and into the third dimension, taking the form of little signs and quips in all manner of inappropriate places and contexts - the best of which is, of course, the world of work.

Triview: Mario & Luigi Franchise (GBA & DS)

God, I love Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. I’ve played it so many times, I keep forgetting that video games make me as bad tempered as a goat and as apt to spout obscenities as a small electronic box with buttons that swear when you press them, designed for 12 year old boys and forbidden to anyone under the age of 16.

Triview: Phonex Wright Franchise (DS)

Phonex Wright is not a game series it’s easy to find fans for. I’ve got two brothers, one of whom hates slow paced games with lots of dialogue and the other is so lazy he won’t even take a game suggestion from me because that would involve borrowing a DS and putting some time aside to play it. It truly is a mystery. Anyone would think I was asking him to dig me a military war bunker lined with currency that’s been out of circulation for thirty years.

Blarticle: The Best Type of Story

Sci-fi buffs of the world, speak out against prejudice!

Hands up if you like science fiction! Have you all got your hands up? Good, good. Otherwise, I’d have to come and find you in the dead of night and slowly pour my cold, soggy tea dregs onto your peacefully sleeping face. In any case, you’ve heard of Star Wars. The old one with the adventuring and the swashbuckling using laser swords and all that delightful nonsense. That’s science fiction, right?

Wrong. That’s a family classic with elements of spacey stuff. Science fiction is an in-depth exploration of a scientific or socio-economic concept with the use of storytelling and character building.

Blarticle: Baa Baa Multicultural Sheep…

Stop seeing things in black and white

I despise black comedies. No, I don’t mean dark humour – I quite like that. That bit in Pulp Fiction where John Travolta’s character accidently shot someone in the face had me in such hysterics that, had I not been alone, I might now have a reputation for being a bit of a psychopath. No, what I’m referring to is comedy films which work around the entire premise that their characters are black and black people are *gasp* not white people. Particularly irksome are the comparisons, where you’ve got a white guy and you’ve got a black guy and their differences are being ‘explored’ for the amusement of the viewer.

Blarticle: Guilty Pleasures

Could this be the end of normal civilisation?

It’s the same wherever I go and with whomever I’m talking to. They ask what I like: I shrug. I ask what they like: they tell me. I suddenly remember what exactly I actually do like: I tell them. They look at me like I’m a grey-beard loon and shuffle discreetly backwards by several paces.

Triview: Harry Potter

Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed its flaws…

Harry Potter is... No, you're right. I don't need to explain it. You'd have to have been living as a child slave in the basement of some corporate giant to not know about the global sensation of The Potter. So good, that saves me a job.

Blarticle: Anti-Suspence Thrillers

Thrillers are for thrills, not vague irritation

Picture the scene; you are watching a film that has been branded a 'psychological thriller'. You know, then, that whatever the main aggravation for the protagonist, it is going to be something inside their own head. Knowing this, a good director will have tried to integrate a little mystery as to what this mental affliction might be and keeps you guessing. It could be agoraphobia, or claustrophobia. Something is going to tip this character over the edge - the interest lies in what it is, what has caused it and what inevitable tragedies it will cause.

Triview: Pokemon Black

Close, but just falling short of the mark: 4/5

Pokemon.  A franchise you either politely and determinedly ignore, like a yelling homeless man on the London Underground, or one which you follow with an insane glint in your eye and a fire in your heart that may well turn you into that yelling homeless man on the London Underground. I fall into the latter category, I fear. An avid Pokemon fan since the age of eight when I stole my brother's version of Blue and used his Venusaur to destroy a Persian, I am hooked and lost to the world.

Triview: Batman Returns

Enjoyable, but not the best: 3/5

Even if you hadn’t seen his name in the opening credits, you would soon be left in little doubt as to the identity of this film’s director; Tim Burton’s sequel to the 1989 Batman (also directed by Burton) is as distinctively surreal as ever, with his unique brand of dark humour running through it from start to finish.