A Year in the Life of Ben
2014
Ninth in an ongoing series.
(Hopefully)
The 2014 Awards:
Favourite day of 2014: June 28th - Trip to Martha's Vineyard, other that getting lost and almost missing the ferry back it was a perfect day.
Villain of 2014: Whoever broke into the garden shed.
Best purchase of 2014: New couch
Best 90 seconds of the year: (tie) Star Wars: Force Awakens trailer, my love making (sorry).General thoughts on 2014: It's all been a bit of a blur, but I've had a great year. Some adventures big and small, not as much time with friends as I'd like. Full year in new job which I enjoy, no major bad news.
Personal goals for 2014 and how they turned out:
- Beat Kerry MacGregor in an arm wrestle. She is no woman but some kind of beast. YES - Although it wasn't in public.
- The return to San Diego Comic-con or something similarly cool in the states. Returned to the states to do something cool but not Comic-con. KIND OF - Not Comic-Con but did Amnesia Rockfest plus lots of other cool stuff on different trip to the states.
- Complete USA Road Trip Volume 2 (West coast if successful in comic-con tickets, East coast later in the year if unsuccessful) - YES, East coast trip.
- Shoot 'Nutcracker' but only if it's ready to go... it won't be rushed. NO - but shot Paradox Knocks instead to hone skills and trial crew for Nutcracker.
- Get to grips with new job and become pretty damn good at it. -YES... Well I haven't been fired yet.
The Lists of 2014:
FILMS
My Favourite 10 Films of 2014:
10 - Interstellar
09 - The Raid 2
08 - The Wolf of Wall Street
07 - Nightcrawler
06 - The Grand Budapest Hotel
05 - Inside Llewyn Davis
04 - The Lego Movie
03 - Pride
02 - The Guardians of the Galaxy
01 - Boyhood
Fantastic year for film, need to mention these masterpieces as well:
Under the Skin, Blue Ruin, Cold in July, Snowpiercer, Captain America: Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Edge of Tomorrow, Gone Girl, 12 Years A Slave, The Wind Rises, Fury, We are the Best, Her, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, Imitation Game.
Biggest Disappointments: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Godzilla, Noah, The Monuments Men.
Worst films I had the misfortune of seeing: Horrible Bosses 2, Transcendence,Sabotage, Tusk
Underrated (none are great, but better than expected): Horns, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Purge: Anarchy
Overrated: The Double, Chef
Favourite scenes of the year: The Quaaludes kicking in (Wolf of Wall Street), Cooper watches the video messages (Interstellar), The kitchen fight (The Raid 2), Genesis (Noah), Infra-red fight (Snowpiercer), Quicksilver in the kitchen (X-men: Dofp)
Films of 2014 that I missed but plan on seeing very soon:
The Guest, Mr. Turner, 71, Joe, Leviathan, The Rover, A Most Wanted Man, The Boxtrolls.
Top 10 Most anticipated movies of 2014 and how they turned out:
10 –
09 - Godzilla 6/10
08 – The Wind Rises 8/10
07 – The Grand Budapest Hotel 8/10
06 – X-Men: Days of Future Past 8/10
05– The Wolf of Wall Street 8/10
04 – Interstellar 8/10
03 – The Guardians of the Galaxy 9/10
02 - Noah 6/10
01 – The Raid 2: Berendal 8/10
My Favourite 10 Albums of 2014:
10 - Taking Back Sunday - Happiness Is
09 - Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
08 - The Menzingers - Rented World
07 - The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
06 - Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In The End
05 - Manchester Orchestra - Hope
04 - I Am The Avalanche - Wolverines
03 - Finch - Back to Oblivion
02 - Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
01 - The Xcerts - There is Only You
Need to mention how good these albums are as well:
Bear Arms - Strength and Conviction, Machine Head - Bloodstones & Diamonds, Moose Blood - I'll Keep you in Mind from Time to Time, Slipknot - 0.5 The Grey Chapter, Crosses, Rise Against - The Black Market, Circa Surive - Descensus, Brody Dalle - Diploid Love , Four Year Strong - Go Down in History, Owl John, Say Anything - Hebrews , Rancid - Honor is All We Know , The Used - Imaginary Enemy, Skindred - Kill the Power , Mogwai - Rave Tapes, The Lawrence Arms - Metropole , AC-DC - Rock or Bust, Royal Blood, Linkin Park - The Hunting Party, Slash - World on Fire, Piano Becomes the Teeth - Keep You.
Biggest Disappointment: Twin Atlantic - The Great Divide
My Favourite Song of 2014:
Musical events I attended in 2014 ranked:
22 - Alkaline Trio - ABC, Glasgow (21st April)
21 - The Wonder Years - QMU, Glasgow (10th May)
20 - Neutral Milk Hotel - Corn Exchange, Edinburgh (14th August)
19 - Machine Head - Liquid Room, Edinburgh (31st July)
18 - A Day to Remember - Corn Exchange, Edinburgh (18th November)
17 - Kronos Quartet - Usher Hall, Edinburgh (19th August)
16 - The Menzingers - Classic Grand, Glasgow (1st October)
15 - Limp Bizkit - O2 Academy, Glasgow (16th February)
14 - I am the Avalanche - Glasgow Audio (16th May)
13 - Rise Against - O2 Academy, Glasgow (4th November)
12 - The Xcerts - Oran Mor, Glasgow (6th December)
11 - The Gaslight Anthem - Corn Exchange, Edinburgh (21st November)
10 - Manchester Orchestra - ABC, Glasgow (2nd October)
09 - Warped Tour - Toronto, Canada (4th July)
08 - Against Me! - The Garage, Glasgow (15th November)
07 - Andrew WK - Classic Grand, Glasgow (30th July)
06 - Brand New - Barrowlands, Glasgow (15th April)
05 - Lit - Cathouse, Glasgow (13th May)
04 - Slash & Biffy Clyro MTV World Stage - O2 Academy, Glasgow (7th November)
03 - Biffy Clyro - Barrowlands, Glasgow (5th December) (Playing Blackened Sky & Puzzle in full)
02 - Brand New - The Troxy, London (12th April)
01 - Amnesia Rockfest - Montebello, Quebec, Candaa (20th & 21st June)
Most Albums Anticipated of 2014 and how they turned out:
Foo Fighters - 7/10
Weezer 8/10
Say Anything 7/10
Crosses 7/10
The Xcerts 9/10
Manchester Orchestra (Cope 8/10) (Hope 9/10)
The Gaslight Anthem 7/10
Circa Survive 7/10
Bruce Springsteen 7/10
The Good Times of 2014:
USA / CANADA Road Trip
Toronto > Amnesia Rock Festival > Quebec City > Bangor, Maine > Boston > Martha's Vineyard > New York > New Jersey > Scranton, Pennsylvania > Toronto
Clare and myself embarked on an epic east coast road trip of USA and Canada driving about 3000 miles over 2 and a half weeks. Highlights included going to the Amnesia Rock Fest which had a festival lineup that, in my opinion will never ever be beaten, I mean just look at it:
Following that we spent a night in the Fairmount Frountac hotel in Quebec, which is probably the poshest place I've ever been allowed to enter.
We then crossed the border into USA an drove through the beautiful Maine countryside to arrive in Bangor. There we partook in some delicious seafood and a Stephen King tour which was superb.
We then spent 2 nights in Boston which is the craziest traffic I have ever driven in, we saw the sites and returned to the hallowed ground of a Cheesecake Factory. We then spent one beautiful day in Martha's Vineyard (the real life home of Amity Island from Jaws). Really wish we had more time there but otherwise it was probably my favourite day of the trip (excluding the part where I got us lost and almost missed the last ferry).
New York was everything I hoped it would be, the excitement of driving into Manhatten blasting Andrew WK's 'I Love New York City' was a particular highlight. I wish we had more time there but we didn't waste the time we did have - Central Park, Brooklyn, Connie Island, Statten Island, shops (Nintendo World!), Rockefeller centre.
We then drove South to New Jersey and did a quick whistlestop tour of Kevin Smith's comic shop, the Quik Stop from Clerks and Asbury Park (the spiritual home of many of our favourite bands).
We soon returned to Toronto (quite a drive that one from USA) via 5 minute stop at Niagra falls literally illegally parking and running over for a quick photo. Loved Toronto, we did our second Warped Tour on our 2nd Anniversary and went to see the band Say Anything the day after who seldom play the UK.
The whole trip was a blast, but think soooo much driving.
The Shooting of 'Paradox Knocks.'
As I continue to prepare magnum opus 'Nutcracker' I was looking for another short film that I could shoot in the meantime, Adam Pidgeon e-mailed me the answer in his script which was then titled 'Time Enough'. I decided that title wasn't mental or stupid enough so renamed it 'Paradox Knocks.' The film was quickly put into production and was shot over a weekend in October at Kerry and Stu's house in Arbroath. The film was partially funded by my first crowd funding campaign which was an interesting and incredibly helpful experience. The cast and crew were absolutely top notch, their professionalism was hugely impressive. The film will premier in early 2015.
New addition to Thompson family - Cara.
Following the death of Lucy last year, my parents vowed never to get another dog. Luckily they changed their mind and got Cara. She is pretty awesome.
New Kitchen
This is a fairly boring but I can't tell you how excited I was to get a new kitchen. Many thanks to Kristoffer and Fiona Wilson for this.
Turning 30
Had a very sensible birthday where we enjoyed sushi and many drinks. Unfortunately I made an arse of myself by quoting Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys 2. I must of been drunk, quoting Martin Lawrence has never brought any good to the world.
Other notable times of 2014:
Me & Clare's trip to Linlithgow Palace In February, a place I loved as a kid.
Alastair Allan's stag - Oktoberfest, Edinburgh and Airsoft.
Book of Mormon in London
The Room screening at the Cameo with legends Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero
Euan Simpson's stag - Clay Pigeon shooting.
First MRI scan.
Noah Scottish premier at Filmhouse with big man Russell Crowe in attendance.
The Bad Times of 2014:
A No vote in the Scottish referendum and UK politics in general. The 2015 general election will be a disgrace.
Garden Shed got broken into. Nothing stolen, but still a pain in the arse.
Clare's dog Meg passed away.
Death was a right prick this year killing many legends - Robin Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Wayne Static, Richard Attenborough, the list goes on...
Getting the car stuck in the mud at the Amnesia rockfest at 2am, with barely anyone around the help in French speaking Canada, seriously thought our holiday was wrecked 2 days into it.
Goals for 2015
I only have 1 boring goal for 2015 and that is for me to either leave 2015 with some savings in the bank or to have made another short film (using savings).
Anticipations for 2015
Hoverboards
The release of Paradox Knocks. Should have a premier in February / March. Hopefully festival screenings to follow.
Shoot another short film, maybe Nutcracker, a short I've been trying to get made for a couple of years now but only if I have the money. Main priority this year is to leave it with some savings.
Clean driving license for first time in 8 year in February! (knock wood)
Weddings: Tom Simpson & Sarah Robertson, Niall McGuinnes & Sharon Frasor
Video Games:
Uncharted 4, Zelda Wii U, Resident Evil Revelations 2, Batman: Arkham Knight, Star Wars: Battlefront, Rollercoaster Tycoon World.
Television:
Better Call Saul (s1), Fargo (s2), Rick & Mory (s2), True Detective (s2), Daredevil (s1), House of Cards (s3), Game of Thrones (s5), Walking Dead (s5, s6), Parks and Recreation (s7), Community (s6), Westworld (s1), Mad Men (Final Season).
Movies:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Birdman, Crimson Peak, Mad Max: Fury Road, Foxcatcher, Jurassic World, Spectre, Mission: Impossible 5, Ant-Man, Entourage, The Hateful Eight, Tomorrowland, That's What I'm Talking About, TWO PIXAR FILMS!! - Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur.
Albums:
Brand New, Deftones, Bring Me the Horizon, Frightened Rabbit, Tool, Biffy Clyro, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Blink 182, Team Sleep, The Offspring, The Wonder Years.
Gigs: (so far)
AC/DC, Foo Fighters, Fightstar, Dropkick Murphys.
Thoughts on 2015:
Right now 2015 is looking pretty predictable which I am 50/50 for and against. It'll be a year of trying to behave and save money which is something I am terrible at. The trick is for it not to let it hinder life's little adventures. I hope I have a little more spontaneity and do things that I'll never get a chance again in future. I also hope to give more time to the friends who give their time to me. One last thought on 2015 - if Star Wars isn't my favourite film of the year something has gone very wrong!
Thanks for taking the time to read the summation of a rather great year of my modest but happy little life.
Hugs, kisses and jacuzzi dressing gowns:
Ben
xxxxxx
