If the apocalypse comes, beep me.

Hello to all you readers with pleasant attitudes out there! Hope the night bids you well, as you attempt to stay up all night on a Netflix binge or for one last level. As you can see, we have had some lovely introductions from some of our writing team  so hope you all look forward to their upcoming content. What will they write? How will they write it? Will they find true happiness and love in this barren, frightful world?! Oops, wrong script...

Anyway, I'm sure anyone who reads their work will love the support and I hope you all love our work. Right, that's enough sentimental stuff so back to why I am writing myself. Since my first post was an actual review of sorts, I realise that I never introduced myself like the rest so will jump on this bandwagon and do one myself in case anyone is actually interested. You can probably guess that I too study Film and Media from previous posts and from the fact everyone else does. Its how we all met, shared our love for films, games and all that is popular culture, So much in fact that some of us took Popular Culture as a module of study... yeah, bought as difficult as it sounds when political economy of culture crashes on top of you like Northern Rock did. But in all seriousness, we do enjoy the area as gives us all a chance to express our opinions about the films we watch, games we play and any form of media that we consume whether it be for pleasure or study.

Firstly, I'll get this out the way and admit to the fact that I'm a huge fan of vampires. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Not that I get an infinite amount of vampire jokes since I wear a ring from The Vampire Diaries (I like the show, so what? Each to their own) and actually have a sensitivity to garlic (fate is a cruel entity). But I do prefer the older, more horror orientated stuff like Dracula, Interview with a Vampire and The Lost Boys. Yet, Buffy and Angel will always reign supreme to me regardless. I've just always liked vampires as a whole, maybe to do with the whole symbolism of teenagers in crisis and the difficulties of growing up or because living forever means you can read a lot of books.

Only I'll never be able to sleep all day and read all night. Never dying or growing old would be lovely too.

Recently, I have been into television more than film as nothing as really grabbed my interest as deeply with shows like Hannibal, Castle and Daredevil. Mainly, because they have more time to develop characters, establish a plot and just genuinely blow me away with the way it's shot or the actor's performance. But my favourite films are ones like Robocop (original, who do you take me for?), Dredd, The Crow and Starship Troopers since used to watch many action films with my Dad. It polluted my taste as have a tendency to leave my brain at the popcorn counter on occasion. But I'll still watch anything within reason, like Tom Cruise is not in it or looks like a film that I have seen spiritually through another (Southpaw being a recent example or recent Marvel films as burnout is starting to hit this comic fan hard).

Games are my other main passion, just like the others. Resident Evil has always been my favourite series and unfortunately, a shame to see it fall so far from its former survival horror glory (the second game was my favourite, with 5 being the most fun with my friends due to mercenaries mode). I play a wide variety to explore my tastes but slap a Shin Megami Tensei game in my lap and I'll be there till I either die 20 times in a boss fight or its completed.

Well, there is a little more information about me to help give you an idea of what I will be writing about in the near future, alongside the others as we have thoughts for some group articles or pieces. They may range from trailer reactions, opinion pieces on certain films and other collaborations depending on what recent news pop. culture decides to through our way.

I will see you all in the next post and hope you all have the most pleasant day.

P.S The name, Mr Pleasant, comes from the book series Skulduggery Pleasant if you were wondering as come on. He's a talking skeleton with magic and wit so sharp that it could be used in a sword fight.

Greetings from the Twilight Zone...or thereabouts

Aaaaaaaaalllllllllllllreet my little tinkers!

I'm sure you have already made yourselves acquainted with my fellow compatriots; the handsome Mr. Pleasant, his darling crumpet-butterer Miss Moneypenny and the fluffy dog in the wicker basket Dr. Hell Toro. It would be rude not to introduce myself!

You're travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. And you just so happen to bump into your humble narrator; Con Man.

So, WHO is Con Man? He is a handsome young chap with many loves including Doctor Who (seriously, one day you need to see my shelves!), superheroes, retro gaming, movies and music of any genre and any age, and DVD collecting. I used to make YouTube videos under the alias powerhousechipmunk23 (which is an awfully stupid name isn't it? Shame my 13-year-old self), and fancy get back into the swing of things with this bunch!

WHAT is Con Man? To put it simply, Con Man is Banta Claus, the Archbishop of Banterbury, who loves to sip upon a can of Banta Fruit Twist. But occasionally an IRN BRU will do I suppose. I mean, if there's nothing else in the fridge.

WHERE is Con Man? Well, that would be telling.

WHY is Con Man? Jeez, I'm no philosopher. It's just a work nickname though. Con is short for Connor. I happen to be a man. And a con man is apparently a thing. So yeah, Con Man it is. I couldn't really make an appropriate nickname using the surname Bell...

And finally, HOW is Con Man? Not too shabby actually, but my fingers are knackered after typing up this wonderful little post!

I have some incey wincey plans of my own in the works for this blog, and hopefully you will join me on my journey into the pages of history. Who knows, perhaps one day we can form an army of Con Men! Get shirts and mugs! And get Michael Bay to make a shoddy adaptation of our conquest!

Until then, my brothers from other mothers and sisters from other misters, just sit back, relax, and stick the kettle on! 

Peace out,

Con Man

<3<3<3

"Who's the quiet one in the corner?"

Lets begin this by stating that I have always struggled writing these sorts of introductory 'things', but I would like to explain one reason why I love film as much as I do and it might help you get to know me better than any list of facts might.

As a long suffering introvert (when not full to the brim with whiskey) I tend not to enjoy talking about myself very often, preferring to talk about other things (often film and music) instead until I have built at least a bungalow-sized foundation of trust with said person or people. As such my love of anything but myself  has significantly grown since I was a child, in particular film. My mother was and remains a massive fan of Horror films and we would watch them avidly together when I was young. I had already seen films such as Psycho, Evil Dead, Halloween, The Thing, Dracula and many many others before the age of 5 or 6 and I would watch them and many more repeatedly whilst growing up. Some may be horrified by this, see it as inappropriate or whatever but this early introduction to adult films and the many happy memories associated with it is probably the biggest reason I love film so much and I wouldn't change any of it - and I didn't turn out to be THAT messed up at all so HA!

This scene from Salem's Lot didn't emotionally scar me at all...

Anyway, questionable parenting choices aside, time for that list of facts.

• My real name is Sam, not Samuel (I like to tell people my mother died halfway through naming me)
• Studying Film & Media at the University of Sunderland
• Usually found enjoying - Film, Music, Comics, Video Games, Books, Writing, Pizza, Whiskey, Blueberry Rockstar, hunting achievements on Xbox, putting way too many hours into Destiny.
• Usually found hating - Everything else
• First film at the Cinema -  Jurassic Park
• Favourite Film-makers - Guillermo Del Toro, Park Chan Wook, Andrea Arnold, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Rian Johnson, David Lynch, John Carpenter.
• Least Favourite Film-makers - Tim Burton, Michael Bay, Judd Apatow, The Farrelly Brothers

There, now you know me about as much as most other people do.

Finally I would like to state that I am extremely excited to be a part of this blog as I greatly enjoy writing about the things that I love and the rest of the group are all lovely and interesting people that I enjoy spending time with. You will mostly find me writing about film and comics, however I will surely end up writing about a whole range of things from the worlds of television, video games and who knows what else. Either way I hope you enjoy everything you read from myself and the other folk on here.

...that is all.

You had me at 'Hello'

Hello one and all, as my first post I’d just like to say ‘hi’… so, er, hi!

As a Film and Media student, you end up watching a rather unhealthy amount of films and TV; that's not to mention the tendency to sit and play games while shamelessly using the excuse of ‘it’s research!’. 

Following a natural course from English and Media Studies, I just sort of ended up doing the degree in Film. Honestly? I’m glad that I did. Although, my younger self, desperately wanting to be an archaeologist (thanks Indy), would be bitterly disappointed.

The term film-buff tends to refer to avid movie-goers that like to have a good natter after a trip to cinema; studying Film, although it does include a fair bit of nattering, offers a whole lot more:

• You spend an insane amount of time in the cinema with great company and fantastic films.

• It offers a brilliant excuse to shun the typical Friday night drunken exploits for a night of (academically certified) binge-watching, courtesy of Netflix.

• It also gives you the opportunity to develop excellent pub quiz knowledge, specifically for those notorious film-related questions.

What's not to like?

Finding out the inner workings of an industry can be both a gift and a curse, but since I was a kid, I’ve always thought of film as being rather magical; even as an adult, it’s a particularly clever illusion that never fails to amaze… well, at least when it’s done right. *Thank you David Fincher* However, that’s enough about Uni, there is after all only one year left to go *cue dramatic music,* one year until... well, I'd rather not think about the real world just yet.

It is an honour to be a part of this blog and I certainly hope that it will grow into something awesome, if only just a place for us to rave about an amazing game or film… because, let's face it, there’s plenty to rave about. From me, expect to see ravings of an eclectic range - as an eternal optimist, I'll give most things a go. 

For now, at least, I will get back to sipping my tea and starting up The Witcher 3… again, because those trophies won't unlock themselves.

Cheerio!

Well that tickled my funny bone!

Hello all! Hope you have had (or having) a pleasant day/night/evening/period of total laziness and welcome to my first official post! Of sorts, under my pseudo-name Mr Pleasant (not that it matters as my real name is on the side and underneath the post) but to be honest, I like it and it sounds awesome so I'm sticking with it.

Back to the post. I have always liked comedy. Whether it be comedy based plays, shows or media in general as always have a place for a laugh in my life since most of us need it to get through the day. Yet, even though I have been to comedy 'gigs' in the big stadiums like Metroradio Arena and the O2, I have never been to a comedy club. The smaller shows in which you see either up and coming comedians honing their craft or veterans, who play the festivals and like to tour the smaller clubs.

Today however, I finally went to a local event called Funny Bones Comedy Club at the Gala Theatre near where I live and loved the living hell out of it. Even more than the bigger gigs I have been too as I get to see acts I have never seen before. You can only see Lee Evans so many times before you begin to notice that some of the same jokes from old shows leech into the new ones. But don't get me wrong, I still like him but the reason Live at the Apollo and Comedy Roadshow appeal to me is that I get to see acts I have never seen and experience different styles of comedians (naturally some I like and some I loathe) but that's the whole point of comedy, its about tastes, preferences and if your gallows sense of humour is as dark as mine. So watching the likes of John Scott, Tony Jameson and Jack Gardner while being hosted by Christian Steel, it was a new experience for me. To be in this smaller room and environment that feels more intimate since it fully relies on the limited crowd to get into it and get behind the act. The crowd really helps a show as if they refuse to cheer, laugh or get into it, you feel sorry for the act and annoyed that the crowd are just so reserved. You're out watching a show! Enjoy it! Let your deepest belly laughs out as all in the same possibly embarrassing position to potentially let out a full blown snorting laugh instead... or like the crowd tonight which finally got going when you plied them with enough alcohol.

Anyway, to the sets! Without a doubt, the best set of the night belonged to John Scott. The main headline act stole the show as had a lovely blend of political and personal comedy, particularly with the long constructed joke that compared the political journalism of awful tabloid papers that exaggerate issues of immigration, race etc. and compared it to old nursery rhymes. Such utter perfection in joke telling that you can tell he knows his craft and honed it over time so has the great sense of timing, technique and simply some of the best jokes that have made me howl and groan (in a good joke sense) when one goes straight for the nuts, takes away your moral compass and just makes you erupt into dark based laughs. Could not recommend him more, how I never knew about him before makes me feel ashamed for not knowing about this comical genius. Sure, I'm gushing like a fan boy over who is better between Batman and Superman, but screw it as don't care and its true. Go see his material already.

Tony Jameson was the first act on, before the crowd were fully engrossed in their alcohol so where not as lively as they were later into the night. A shame as had some really good jokes and material that actually tickled me quite a lot (even more so when he mentioned Blockbuster and how students always worked for them or some high street shop, basically my life as worked for the company myself). His technique was laid back and relaxed so was easy to keep your focus on him as he crafted his stories about wedding planners, how teachers are alcoholics and other observational comedy that is the norm for the industry these days. I liked his set a lot but some jokes did fall flat or were too long winded when you could have finished them earlier, rather than go for the extra punchline. When someone is already laughing, just let them enjoy it as if the next line falls flat, it pulls them out of the moment. Overall though, would be more than happy to see his stand up again with a better crowd who would help put him at ease more so can just focus on his routine than the silent crowd who barely laughed at the start and just grinned mildly.

Jack Gardner, the middle act, was a weird one however. It was like one part act, two parts crazy excitable persona and last part deciding what kind of comedy he wanted to do. It was like Milton Jones mixed with funny voices and drawn out sentences. Basically, decent funny moments crossed with groans or perplexed looks when the part of his act that relied on drawings and storytelling based around them which you couldn't see as went too quick or just weren't funny (of course, just my opinion as personally never been a fan of certain surreal or 'strange' style of comedy). Yet, you can tell he was relatively new so just needs some time to find his feet and tighten the act up so more focused as don't want to sound too mean on the young lad. His early Rolf Harris joke absolutely killed me as came out of nowhere and sucker punched the hell out of me. Also, poor guy was the only one to get heckled in that his final joke was finished by an audience member but handled it superbly so credit to him. Good luck in our future gigs and hope your act shapes up nicely.

Lastly, the host that was Christen Steel. Funnily enough, I actually know him as does our local pub quiz and was the one who invited me. But don't worry, won't be biased and say what I think. It was the first time I had seen his actual stand up so didn't know what to expect. Only to have my gallows and dirty sense of humour funny bone constantly tickled as was not expecting some of the things he came out with. Burglars faced with your erect penis, not knowing the difference between your girlfriend and the family dog alongside special moments with your grandad. It completely caught me off guard but that's one kind of my comedy leanings so enjoyed it. There were moments in which he took a bit to get going, were jokes didn't work or had nothing. Yet, once the crowd were going and getting behind the acts was when he thrived. You can tell he is a comedian who plays off the audience so when they play back, they give him the chance to spin some comedy gold. It also put him at ease and allowed his set to flow more relaxed and freely so the jokes came back meater and with substance that allowed for further plays offs to other jokes or good repertoire with the audience.

Overall, it was a delightful first attempt at the comedy club scene for me and I liked it so much that it gave birth to this unexpectedly long blog post as never written about comedy before so feel free to trash me if been talking absolute bollocks and know nothing like Jon Snow (oh original, Game of Thrones joke and reference). Don't know if any of the comics mentioned will read this but a big thank you for opening my eyes to a much better sense of what comedy is and how it is displayed to fellow comedy lovers. Keep up your craft as without you all, the world would be a much more depressing place and significantly quieter.

Thank you for reading and have a pleasant weekend my darling readers.

New coat of paint...

Hello all! Nice to see you again! (Figuratively of course as not like I can see you through the screen... *checks webcam to make sure its off*)

Well as you can see, the blog has gone through a better retrofit of sorts in that the template is much more bearable to look at. Plus, if you look under the header, it has tabs! Well sort of, more like simple search buttons that search for a specific writer's post by filtering it down. So if you have a favourite Pleasantry (is that what we are going to call them?) then by all means, click their name and enjoy their posts over the rest as did mean the whole fighting to the death thing.

Which moves me on to my next point, yes, this blog will have multiple writers as managed to get a couple of my fellow academics who want to give this a shot. They will slowly be added as things progress in terms of getting this blog stable as all prefer to have it in a decent shape before start posting things left, right and centre. So far, there will be about six fellow Pleasantry's (yep, certainly going to become the thing we are called) so will likely have either make a post about themselves or one big, special joint post to celebrate the birth of this little team.

Our main aims will be to do articles on... what we like really. So might be reviews on games, films and comics to thoughts on issues in such worlds like the remaster culture in games or paid exclusivity deals. Also, if any world cinema buffs intended to read this, one of our writers is aficionado of sorts in this area so might produce some articles on that subject. Will let you know if he can put the wine down for a second (oh trust me, he does drink wine and can speak some French so prefect guy for that section). We will also intended to move onto platforms as podcasts, audio pieces and even video down the line but just want to get some standard written pieces up first and under our belt. Then we will whip out the non-existent budget and see what we can do as already have some ideas such as 'A Pleasant Chat' and 'Keeping Pleasant Company' as possible names for video discussions and podcasts.

All in all, think that is mostly it. Just to let people know we do have some motivation to try and make this something to help our writing skills and possibly, have people enjoy our stuff as always a bonus if you few readers enjoy our future stuff. We will also try to improve the blog how and when we can, so it won't always look like this (unless it works, then don't fix what ain't broken) or be so inefficient.

So thank you all for your time and hope you all have the most pleasant day.

This thing on?

Hello all and good... well, whatever time zone appropriate greeting is right for you when or where you decide to read this. This is the first post of this blog that I'm trying to keep going so I have something to write about or for while finished university for the summer. 

Before you all ask *sees only one hand raised* I study Film and Media and approaching my final year so not long left before I get let out into the big, bad and unemployed world. 

Oh such much satire already!

Anyway, back on track. The essence of this blog is to just give me an outlet to attempt some form of self based opinions on films, television and games that get released or have been released as do love a bit of a retro bash (local comic café had Time Crisis on PS1 so naturally, I'm going to play the shit out of it). It all stemmed from my habit of having little comment or rants about issues in gaming and my thoughts on films which sparked some nice dialogue between some friends so made me think, why not do it a little more... professional, rather than pasting it all over the old blue and white social media page.

Naturally, the whole look of this page and blog is awful. Stuck on some quite frankly, dreadful template until I actually decide how this thing should look and sound in terms of writing style. Also, getting some sort of writing team so this thing will get some content as if just left to me doing stuff, it will be barer then Steam Greenlight of actual finished games. Yes, I do thank whatever holy being exists for Jim Sterling as I enjoy his work. Got a problem? Move on as I believe in the belief of if you don't like something, why stay to watch it? You're just wasting you own time doing something you actually like? *Sigh* 21 years old and still don't get humanity sometimes. So will likely try and get it looking, somewhat credible and with content in the next week or two, depending on my attempt at thinking up things worth writing or reading.

Think that will be a sufficient short introductory post for now. Hope you few (one) readers that decide to stick around and see what happens will enjoy yourselves while I try to construct this awesome persona with a catchy sign off for you all as all the best writers have these. Sterling, Yahtzee and... well those that I remember for the moment.

So long and have a pleasant day my readers.

(Note: That could so work!)