A trailer was released yesterday for a new Marvel series called Visionquest. The series follows main character Vision and appears to catch up his story since WandaVision. I don't know about anybody else, but I didn't know this was in the works. I'm a bit behind on the MCU of late, The Fantastic Four is still on the list and there are a couple of series I've missed. Whereas a …

Strictly Come Dancing has undergone the biggest shake up in its twenty year history ahead of the 2026 series, and I'm left a bit bemused by it all. When former hosts Tess & Claudia confirmed they were leaving last year, it was obvious that the show had a good opportunity to mix things up a bit, but I wasn't necessarily expecting the number of changes we've seen. Presenter tense The …

I had an itch recently to go to Stratford-Upon-Avon. There's no real good reason why, as I'm not a particularly big Shakespeare fan, but I've been before a while back and remember it being particularly picturesque. Of course, this time, I was going in the middle of one of the UK's many heatwaves, so the grass was all dead and dry and the good looking photo opportunities were few and …

At the Stratford Butterfly Farm... my best photos were not of butterflies.

Gorgeous colours at the Stratford Butterfly Farm.

At the Stratford Butterfly Farm... my best photos were not of butterflies.

A visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon, during one of this year's heatwaves. Bet it's a bit cooler up there.

Honeyz have popped up a few times on the Top of the Pops replays through the late 90s and now into the new millennium. Their recent appearance was for Won't Take It Lying Down which is a new vibe and look for them, a band who more traditionally do ballads wearing pastel suits. Either way, it was time to give the album a listen. It's good, I like the singles and the harmonies are great. There's nothing too stand-out about it though, it could be any number of other pop/R&B bands. But no complaints from me, it's a fun nostalgic listen and worth the time.

I remember really enjoying Amy Shark's debut album, it felt like such a fresh sound in that singer/songwriter genre. There have been a few albums since but I'd sort of forgotten about it until this brand new one. I loved it! It does have that Amy Shark sound that I like so much, and it really doesn't sound like anything else. We've got great songs and interesting topics, and it's just overall a solid good album.

I really love old movies, how they are structured and how they do special effects. This one seemed to favour talking a lot over actually showing anything, which often works well in the horror genre. The tension was rising all the time. We did end up seeing the thing, which seemed to be just a human-shape that wasn't that scary, but up until then, it was good. I liked the characters too, the banter amongst the lads, the romance between our two leads and the rollercoaster of moods from the journalist. Not a perfect movie by any stretch, but definitely entertaining.

I wasn't sure what to expect when taking in a performance of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, as the UK tour passed by. I definitely wanted to see Ralf Little in the title role, but I've had a hit and miss relationship with John le Carré's work. This book has been my favourite so far though, so the odds were in its favour. And I absolutely loved …

Eve popped up as a question on a recent Hit List episode and I remembered what tunes she has, so it was easy to pick this as a classic album to listen to. It's brilliant. Let Me Blow Ya Mind is a real banger but the rest of the album stacks up and is a great flashback to the early new millennium. Some good guest artists and everything with that extra layer of sass and cool that I'll never have. Love it.

Once again, we have a Charli xcx album to review. I love her, I really do, but you never quite know what you're going to get and sometimes it's brilliant, sometimes unlistenable. Thankfully, this one fits the former - proper pop songs, but with a slightly antsy feeling that fits Charli perfectly. It feels like we're talking about bigger concepts, particularly the final track with No One Lasts Forever. I think that loop goes on a bit too long, moving from haunting to irritating, but generally speaking this is a classy album and I liked it.

I wasn't too far behind the curve on Ride or Die, it was released mid-way through July, but I still ended up having to power through it to be done in time for Hannah Waddingham's next stint on Ted Lasso. The woman is keeping busy and long may it be so! I absolutely loved Ride or Die, a female led spy series with two best friends in Waddingham and Octavia …

This summer is a big one, heatwaves and droughts and consistent weather that we're just not used to in the UK. I don't know about anyone else, but it's really just become a matter of survival and I genuinely think I will never complain about being cold again. In the meantime, although the forecast is suggesting slightly reduced temperatures going forward, there's not really an end in sight for this …

This was such a pleasant surprise. Point Break appeared on the Top of the Pops replays - we've reached 2000 now! And Stand Tough was a great song, very reminiscent of Five. How do I not remember this song? So I thought I'd give the album a go as a bit of a joke really, the title is weird, I don't remember the band and there's probably just one good song on it. Not so! It was fun, the whole album has that Five vibe and it really stands up to the lead single. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's definitely mine!

I was a bit nervous about this album, massive Shania fan that I am, because all the build up to it and the concept pointed towards hardcore old school country. Actually, although it is much more country than the last few albums, it's not twee and it's very listenable. A couple of guest artists anchor the beginning, middle and end of the story, and it's a good album. Probably not one I'm going to reach for very often but certainly nothing like what I was expecting (dreading).

One of the things I've really enjoyed about my various review sections on this site is how they evolve. The films started out as a weekly thing, just me and have rolled through watching loads of movies with Mr C, to a reduced load now supplemented by black and white films I watch by myself. I've added a Games section that didn't exist before. I'm constantly debating what albums count …

Just randomly browing around YouTube and this incredible Roxette video popped up, celebrating 40 years since the release of their first single Neverending Love. Featuring the iconic duo Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle rendered as adorable puppets, the video is littered with Roxette references and easter eggs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T5MK4c-pjc I hadn't realised on first viewing that this was a fan video, created by someone just for the love of the band …

It was entirely invevitable that after being obsessed with Crocodile Shoes, I'd have to give Auf Wiedersehen, Pet a look. People have recommended this to me before and I've just never got round to it, but the first two series are available to watch on ITV streaming, so it was worth a look. I LOVED IT. This mismatched group of lads, away from home and just trying to scrape together …

Another album celebrating an anniversary - twenty years since this one came out. Oof, it's not great. I like Black Eyed Peas so this really shouldn't be too far out my comfort zone but this style really doesn't do it for me. London Bridge is a real mess, photos in front of the wrong bridge, the idea of it going up and down which it doesn't. And what's with the spelling of Duchess? The songs that are like proper songs on here are good - Glamorous, Big Girls Dont' Cry, I like. But the rest of it I could happily avoid.

Whilst I've been aware of Gracie Abrams for a while, I feel like she's shot up in popularity and success more than I'd realised. This is a great album, and I can see why she's doing so well... but it's just the Olivia Rodrigo sound in a different package, isn't it? The vocals are less whispery, occasionally reminded me of Lorde, but as a whole, the sound is exactly what you'd expect from these great, modern, pop ingénues. Loved it.

At this point in the Jurassic Park/World franchise, you can't help but being a bit nervous about a new movie release. This one is another reboot, no returning cast members, and Scarlett Johansson at the helm. It was alright, actually! There are definitely worse ones in the series. The characters were well drawn, the story made sense and although foolhardy, didn't really have any major plotholes.

Roxette popped back to my attention with a 40th anniversary of their debut single. That's not on this album but it made me want to listen to the band, so I quickly picked this one and got on with it. There are some real gems on here, and it all has that great Roxette sound - I love that their voices go together so well, but they also work well one or the other on their own. It's a real, top notch, classic album and I'm glad to have listened to it.

There's a period of Muse that I really enjoy (Time is Running Out, etc) but I've not listened to anything from them in a while. If the reviews are anything to go by, then this album is a return to that sort of space-age extraterrestrial form that I like. Thank goodness! I don't know what I missed, but I'm glad to have listened to this album, it's great. There are no major bangers on there that I'll remember forever like Time is Running Out, but it's a good listen with that signature Muse style.

Wimbledon 2026 is almost at its conclusion, and as I'm less interested in the men's final than I should be, I'm happy to draw a line under it for this year before we have crowned both champions. It's been brilliant, for me much better than last year and with plenty of intrigue throughout. I wrote in my first week roundup about how many seeds were falling by the wayside and …

It's rare that you actually find a 'read-in-one-sitting' book, and even rarer to have the time to do that. But for this one, I absolutely did and what a thriller ride it was. The story starts as what seems like a straightforward investigation into a kidnapped child but as the details start to unravel, we get more twists and turns and potential suspects and it's really well done. I was hooked from start to finish.

I really liked this romantic journey through time. It treads the well-worn path of two people trying to be friends even though they so obviously love each other, and the ups and downs of a relationship that lasts for many years. There's a split narrative between now when they are reconnecting and then - before whatever it is happened, happened. It's a pretty traditional structure these days, but it works well in this instance, and I really enjoyed the will-they-won't-they-what-happened journey.

I loved this. As I mentioned on the Confessions II review, I had to listen to this first as that was considered something of a sequel to it. For the first time, I listened to the same artist for old and new album this week and it was an interesting experiment. This album was so brilliant, kicking off with that absolute classic of Hung Up - I remember such a furore around this at the time, that Abba had actually given rare permission for a sample. But the rest of the album lives up to that banger of an opening and becomes an instant classic. I really loved it.

You couldn't ignore the release of this album with a lot of promotional activity by the legendary Madonna building up to it. I read that it was something of a sequel to the previous dance album Confessions on a Dance Floor, so I realised I would have to listen to that one first - I decided, for the first time ever, to listen to the same artist for both new and classic albums. The previous album is a banger, this one, not quite reaching it's heady heights. It's good, it's great dance music, it does the job, but it's all pretty much the same. There were no huge standouts in the same way that Hung Up or Sorry get stuck in your head. So it's good stuff, but maybe would have been better not linking it to the prior record.

As I've said many times before, I love a good movie novelisation. This was not a good movie novelisation. It tells the story of the film, fine, but the extra insight that you get from reading a book of the screenplay was... well, disturbing. ET has a whole backstory about being a botanist, but also as we get to know his thoughts through the activities on Earth, I'd rather not know. When you watch the film, he's a sweet lost alien. In the book, it's a very different tone. Also we get to know more about Mary, the mother, and that's worrying in itself too. It's an interesting read but if you have any affection for the film at all, I'd recommend giving this a miss.

I honestly had no intention of reading any more of the Sweet Valley High books, but the last one ended on a cliffhanger, and this one was just sitting right next to it ready to go! So I read through it super quickly and got to the bottom of Enid's secrets. Jessica continues to be a terrible and selfish human, but thankfully Elizabeth is there to put things right. Now, let that be it, no more SVH, right?

I chose to watch this movie mostly because of Glynis Johns who I obviously know from Mary Poppins. But it turns out to have been a really good choice, because I loved it. An interesting story about an engineer who has concerns about the planes he has worked on, ends up flying on one of those planes, and ultimately has to figure out if he's right or wrong before anyone else gets hurt. I loved the characters in this, and how they all got fully invested in the story. I thought the bit on the plane was a little bit drawn out but it was needed to understand why these women would follow this guy around. There could have been more story around the kid, but maybe there wasn't really time. Regardless, I enjoyed this a lot!

This was a great movie. It has a great balance between comedy and the seriousness of the impending world war situation. I love Rex Harrison in this, dashing and confident and easily switching between his characters within the movie. The story gets stuck in right from the beginning and the action barely pauses after that, which is rare and beautiful in an older movie. The comic duo of Caldicott & Charters are perfectly utilised. There's a backstory here relating to the movie The Lady Vanishes, as apparently this duo appear in that too, so I will need to investigate. But overall, a brilliant film.

I could prattle on and on here about how I wrestled with this book - tried not to want to read it, reasoned between boycotting and separating the artist from their work, maybe I should read it and not review it, blah, blah, blah. Ultimately, I HAD to know what the next steps were in the relationship between Strike and Robin, and I did the best I could not to fund anything I don't believe in by buying this second-hand. Thus, here we are. Actually, that was the only bit of the book that was interesting to me - the people that we already know. Our main detective duo, their respective partners, families and dramas, and the wider machinations of the detective agency (Pat and the fish!). I couldn't follow the main mystery very well, it was so sprawling, and probably could only tell you one or two facts about it now that I've read the whole thing. But Robin and Strike remain absolutely captivating characters with a charismatic relationship, and that's what will keep drawing me back in.

This sounded like an interesting concept, although the film was released a little before the current AI boom we're experiencing. But it wasn't. It was boring, and very hard to care about. We spent very little time with the main character before things started to go awry, so the stakes didn't seem very high. I deployed the twenty minute rule here and quite firmly switched off.

This is a nice, pleasant movie, very twee and dated at this point but I can totally understand why it would be one of those that if you saw it as a child, you would remember it incredibly fondly. Watching as an adult, in this day and age, it just speaks of a completely different, kinder but more primitive time. Bernard Cribbins was the highlight for me, although I did think that moment shutting the curtain with his wife was a surprise in a children's movie! I don't remember the book very well, probably need to read it again, but I think there are quite a lot of changes but it all works so no complaints from me.

I don't know why these books popped into my head but I suddenly had a desire to visit the Sweet Valley High world. I was aware of this series of books when I was younger, and of the TV adaptation, but none of it really crossed my path. I was surprised to see the books were being published until 1998! Anyway, I found a copy of this first book on the Internet Archive and devoured it. Oh, it's so gloriously teenage and full of high school drama. I loved reading it but my biggest takeaway was how horrible a character Jessica was! I wasn't expecting that!

McCurdy is a great writer, her memoir made that very clear, and this is a very readable debut novel. But there's something odd about it. It's meant to be disturbing and unsettling, that's fine. It's vulgar and obsessed with sex and occasionally worryingly relatable, that's fine too. But it's missing anything that brings you in to the story, makes you care about the characters, makes you invest in the outcome of this story. We don't know why we've got into this situation, and we don't really know where we are at the end either. I wanted to like this more than I did, but I also think there's a lot more to tell here that we're just not given access to.

As I do most years, I have taken some time off work over the Wimbledon fortnight to be able to absorb as much tennis as possible, and boy what a first week of grass court action we have had. I paid quite a lot more attention to Wimbledon Qualifying this year as well, so was going into this week with plenty of tennis activity already in my mind, and lots …

It's Wimbledon fortnight so completely understandable that this popped back up on the iPlayer. It's been on my list to watch for a while but I'm left a bit nonplussed by the whole thing. The story of Serena and Venus absolutely deserves a retelling but why is the focus of this on the dad? He played his part, sure, but they're the ones doing the work and breaking down the fences. Not sure if it was the intention but the film definitely made me wonder how much more they could have achieved if he hadn't been so obstructive. As a film, it's fine, it's well made, it tells the story, it does the job, but the subject matter just needed a lot more thought.

I love a good novelisation and as The Sting is one of my favourite films, it's no surprise that this is right up there as a 5/5 for me. The story is just so good, the con is perfectly executed and has multiple layers that we know about. The characters are fascinating, there's a bit more in here around Luther and some of their activities before the big con starts, and it's just brilliant to revisit this story in a different medium.

A fun little film this. It's a bit slow starting but I like that it doesn't over-explain anything to start with, you just go on the journey with these characters. It's also great to have a time travel movie that isn't really about time travel, it's there to serve as an opportunity for redemption, and a few fun jokes along the way... it's a fun take on the genre. The trio/quartet of main characters have great chemistry together, and the twists and turns really took me by surprise. You were never quite sure what was going to happen and whether it was really true or not. The soundtrack was exceptional, nostalgic but not aged, and really fitting the action well. And there are deep cut references and areas where I need to do more homework, so plenty to revisit on future watches as well. Loved it.

Last year, I watched both series of The Gold and became instantly obsessed with the Brinks-Mat story. I wanted to read everything I possibly could on the subject and finally got my hands on this book by John Palmer's wife. It was fascinating to revisit the subject again but I don't think this book adds anything to what we already know. Most of the story is that she had no idea what was going on, and then flipping back and forth on whether Palmer was a good guy or not. I can't imagine what it's like to have to deal with this situation, and the book goes someway to describing it, but I think there's a lot more to be told that hasn't been.

It's always nice when there's a reason to pick a classic album, rather than just random selections. This one has just been remastered as a thirty year anniversary, and even though I refuse to admit the 90s was that long ago, I dived right into this. It's brilliant. Tina's exceptional vocals but evolving and keeping up with the times. Occasionally it's a bit middle of the road, but then you have absolute bangers like Missing You and On Silent Wings. Plus a bit of Bond, what more do you need?

I don't know if I had any specific expectations of this album, but it was exactly what you'd think an Embrace album should be like. It has that 2000s feel but doesn't sound dated, it's upbeat for the most part and it feels a bit more approachable than when bands had to be cool. It's not gonna shake the music world at all, but I really liked it!

I followed this book from conception to production and funded it along the way, so I was well disposed to read it. It went down very quickly as theatre scripts do, and I could easily visualise all the action as it was happening on the page. There are quite lengthy descriptions of the magic acts, which are slightly less interesting to me, but otherwise it's a good script and an interesting mystery. It was so lovely to have Jonathan and Maddy back together again.

I'm deep in watching Wimbledon at the moment, so TV has taken a back seat but before that I'd watched a few good things that are worth a mention. The Prime Video series The Girlfriend was an eye-opening experience. Reviews have been mixed for that show, but I really liked it. The concept is an over-protective mother of a young guy, and his new social climber girlfriend butting heads over …

I've got a bit of a backlog of blog posts to write but I didn't want to forget to make a note of the UK tour of The Shawshank Redemption. The play is an adaptation of the Stephen King short story and/or the movie and is just as tense and oppressive as both of those other mediums. Joe McFadden stars as Andy, and I'll be honest, I'd seen him in …