Model Citizen

I have'nt done a Home Cinema post for a while so here goes:
I wanted to upgrade my DVD player, I'd been using the excellent Pioneer DVR 7000, one of the best recorders on the market, but for watching DVD's it had a couple of things that were a bit annoying. Namely, the incredibly long load time, the time it took to access a menu and the quality....I just felt I could probably get something better. Plus my son Nathan wanted a DVD player in his room, so a new player meant they could all move round one, with the DV717 going into his room and the 7000 going into the kitchen....
So, I of course did some homework, which for me meant asking someone who knows more about it than me...which is of course AV Talk
Now here comes the shocker. I knew there were some seriously good Arcam players for a few grand, and that is a lot of money to me, but then someone mentioned the OPPO!



Now I'd never heard of this, but as it turned out it was being sold by CRT who had done a brilliant job with my cables and was one of the most outstanding companies I'd ever dealt with. So I gave Henry a ring there and got the lowdown.
Listen, this is all true.
This player costs around £165 delivered, beat ALL other players in something called The Secrets benchmark where it scored a staggering 98% ! It upscales your picture to match your screen resolution through a DVI or HDMI lead. What this means basically is that if you have something like a Plasma Screen, it can look superb, much better than a normal player. It has a load of features, can handle nearly any disc you chuck in it, is Multi Region and has downloadable firmware updates that you just record on a CD and play to upgrade!
It sounds all too good to be true, does'nt it...but it works!

So, all I can say, is check out the links above and look into it yourself if you dont believe me. it really is as good as they're saying.

"The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman"
I'm one of those people who actually liked the film. The idea of putting together Alan Quatermain (note, that's Quat, not Quart) with Captain Nemo, Dorian Grey, Dr Henry Jeckyl and his not so tame alter ego Edward Hyde was just brilliant. Throw into the mix a common thief Rodney Skinner who has taken the formula to become The Invisible Man, Wilhimina Harker, the last victim of Dracula and also a young American Tom Sawyer, and you have a rip-roaring adventure.
I also liked the usage of Professor Moriarty as the villain hiding behind the position of "M" a role more widely known in the Bond world. Moriarty is using the alias 'The Fantom", linked but not the same character as the Phantom of the Opera.



The novelisation by Kevin J Anderson, adds a little more to the story, for instance we meet the character Campion Bond, an underling of M, a created character when James Bond was not allowed to be used. Also, we find out that Special Agent Tom Sawyer is seeking revenge for his murdered partner Huck Finn. We also learn that The Invisible Man is displaying the characteristics that H.G. Wells believed would happen to someone with this phenomenon i.e. they would have a godlike complex, basically doing what they want at the expense of lesser mortals. This is seen when we learn Skinner was caught at a Girls Academy after incidents of Immaculate Conception. And lastly at the end of the book we learn of the sightings of gas emissions from Mars, which is of course a reference to the original works.

Before that I must mention the models of the film. The pure glossy white Victorian look of Nemo's vehicles, with silver chrome embossing I thought was wonderful. There are 2 models available at present, both injection plastic from the company Wave. They are the Nautilus and the Automobile.
I have both in my gallery and they can be viewed here:

Nautilus
Automobile1 Automobile2

Next we come to the start of it all. Alan Moore's graphic Novels, illustrated by Kevin O'Neill.



The first sees the League, this time only 5 strong. Quatermain, a very old drug addict, Nemo, an aggressive Indian, Dr Jekyl timid as usual, Mr Hyde, who steals the show whenever he appears and Mina Murrey, still the victim of Dracula, but with none of the abilities displayed by her film couterpart. and Hawley griffin, the original Invisible Man.
They set off at M's request through Bond to track down a chinaman in the west end, who I gather is Fu Man Chu, though never actually named, this is so the Napoleon of crime can once again rule unchallenged. The mission to snare the League is to retrieve Cavorite, the substance invented to reach to the moon.

Also worth mentioning is the short story at the end where Quatermain after taking the drug Tuduki, has an astral voyage where he meets Randolph Carter, Carters Civil War hero Uncle John and the Time traveller. Together they learn about the "Others" from the outer realms and do battle of a sort.
Uncle John is of course John Carter of Mars, who we will see shortly....



The second sees the last outing for the team in this guise (yes, there have been teams before, and will be again!), it starts with an uprising on Mars led by John Carter with help from Gulliver to get rid of the invaders. These invaders flee to Earth to start the War of the Worlds. The Martians proove a bit to efficient and the League splits, with Nemo and Hyde left to defend the Thames and Mina and Allan in search of a mysterious Dr. Moreau who has something that will help win the war...and as for Griffin....well, read it for yourself. The book finishes with the splitting of the League, but fear not, the Black Dossier is out soon....

I'm absolutely amazed at this. I was experementing on doing a figure completely in pastel shades. The result was very pale and delicate as I hoped, but weather it made a good finished kit, well I was in 2 minds.
Anyway, I was very dubious about even showing her off, but I did, and E2046 has made her gallery of the day!
Anyway, for a larger look at her please click on my gallery to the right.