I've seen this plenty of times before but not for a long time, and I couldn't really remember all that much about it. I particularly couldn't remember what the actual story was, or if there even was one. It's a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed the interaction with the camera, knocking a pencil off a table to have a 'secret' word. There is a story, somewhat predictable in places, but with such bizarre characters, you can't always know where it's going to go.
One of the things I miss most about running is playing about with Zombies Run. Making exercise fun is a key thing for me, and the game aspect of it helped keep my going when otherwise I would probably have stopped early. I've been keeping an eye on apps and things that made moving about fun, and spotted the new Zumba Dance app. Now, I've never done Zumba - my …
It was really very good. Unusual, and oddly arty in places, but an interesting story, fascinating characters and some tough scenes. I read a description of it as First World Problems: The Movie which is very true, but that doesn't mean it's not a good portrayal of the battle with addiction, and how it affects everyone, not just those going through it.
I don't think I would have heard of this if it hadn't been for the film, but I enjoyed the movie and wanted to see what the book was like. They were quite different - where the film has to tell a story and focuses on one man, the book is a mish-mash of stories from a huge variety of people.
It took me a couple of attempts to get into this one, but the words 'time' and 'travel' on the front had got me interested. The story follows a journalist who goes to interview someone about the 1950s and ends up in that time period. It takes her a while to adjust, but she finds herself adapting to life decades ago, and as you might imagine, she learns lots of lessons about herself and about life to bring back with her when she returns to the present.
It's weird how films come along in twos. After watching, and not really liking, Olympus Has Fallen, we were hoping this would be a lot better. And we were not disappointed. I loved it! It's Roland Emmerich, so you have to expect the disaster style movie from the outset, a kind of film I love. Tatum was great as the dad, and the kid, far from being just a prop to get in the way, was feisty and fearless and awesome.
I wrote about our difficult initiation with the Playstation 4, but once it finally started working, there is no question that it's a great bit of kit. We've played a couple of games and been pretty impressed with what we've seen, but most of our attention has been on Need for Speed Rivals. I am the first to admit that my virtual driving skills are practically non-existent, and racing games …
I made one thwarted attempt at reading this, but was determined to give it a second go and I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed the story, although it was a hard read - lonely and sad, with only a little glimpse of positivity right near the very end. The writing was exquisite, however, the kind of prose that makes you feel the atmosphere - the cold and warmth, the anger and the joy.
I love this, particularly Wednesday. Anything that celebrates the weird is good by me. Watching it again after quite a long time made me see some of its flaws and that it wasn't quite as good as I remembered it being. But I still love it, and it's still very quotable to me.
This was an okay film, interesting, procedural with a few plot holes and unresolved questions. I think the main problem with it was the perpetrator was known from the outset, so there was no mystery, no real guesswork to be done. There were some moments of suspense and it had a bit of a thriller about it, but otherwise it wasn't particularly stirring, although equally not boring. I thought Hudgens was really good, having officially bid her Disney days goodbye!
For the previous two series of Sherlock, I have written a dedicated post for each episode, celebrating the highs and lows of each series as it progressed. This year, I didn't feel the need to do that, as my thoughts tend to cover the third series as a whole. That seems like a good place to start, the whole series didn't seem to generate as much excitement within me as …
Another Big Read book, I delved into this classic without any preconceptions, having never heard of it. It took me a little while to get into it, particularly as I haven't read a classic for a while and it takes time to adjust. I did like it but also thought that there wasn't an awful lot in the way of story.
This book, the first of three that he wrote, gives an insight into how the Professor got to his position, what kind of activities he got up to during his time in F1, as well as thoughts on various aspects of the sport from a position as a fan, and as a doctor. A big part of the book is detailing some of the huge accidents that Watkins dealt with, and the aftermath of such. Whether it was a tragic and fatal crash, such as Ratzenberger or Villeneuve, or one that the participant walked away from, Sid talks of them with the same clinical descriptions youíd expect from a doctor.
I always like to look at the iTunes Film Bundles section, to see what they've got on offer. They do a lot of franchise bundles - Back to the Future, Harry Potter, etc. - but this past week I noticed they were doing a set of genre collections instead. The brilliance of these bundles is that they are around the £40 mark, for ten films. And not ten rubbishy films, …
It's probably prudent to separate the F1 fan and the film fan in me apart. As a follower of F1, I thought it did a good job of putting across the story to non-fans, and was a good attempt at being interesting to people who don't give two hoots about the sport. Having said that, the racing scenes got a little repetitive and didn't exactly inspire. F1 is complicated and it's hard to tell the story of a season in just a few short sequences.
I've seen this many times before, it's one of the few films I'd watch over and over on DVD when I was younger. I even watched a lot of the extras to learn all about green screening and that kind of fun and games.
Was a bit wary of reading this, as I recall disliking the second film very, very much, although I can't really remember very much about it. But of course, books are not always like the films they are made into and this was fun, a bizarre year in the life of someone desperately trying to fit in.
This is the first book in a lengthy series about the Women's Murder Club, a collection of professional women who meet and bring their various expertise to the table (usually a cafe or wine bar table) to solve crimes. In this first book, the club is gathered together, instigated by Lindsay Boxer, as they try to solve a particularly gruesome wedding killer.
Console gaming is a slow moving beast, particularly when compared with the fast moving online and app world. But after twenty years in the business, and with a desperate need to distinguish themselves from Microsoft's offerings, Sony should know better, try harder, get the digital side working seamlessly. Santa brought us an incredible gift this Christmas, in the shape of a Playstation 4. It's been well documented that we don't …
As part of my Big Read list, I hadn't heard of this book before, but it was an interesting one! Another of those sprawling epics following multiple generations of the same family through birth, love, death and everything in between. Set in New Zealand and Australia at the turn of the 20th century, there's plenty of reference to the heat, humidity and dust, and the suffocating nature of the conditions really comes across in the prose.
As my interest in Mark Wahlberg continues to grow, this had to be on our list of films to watch, although the premise seemed a bit odd and the trailer didn't peak our interest massively. Still, it looked good, and it was on the Playstation store, as we investigated the Sony option of renting films.
One of those films in the Love Actually strain, and one of those that I have to be in exactly the right mood for. New Year's Day was the perfect time, because my brain was too fried for Sherlock, but just about right for nonsensical romancey stuff.
Just as with the top five songs of the year, Mr C also likes to pass judgement on the movies we have watched over the past twelve months as well. This is a slightly more tricky selection to explain, as we live constantly about four months behind cinema release dates due to the rental window. So, it's not quite "top five films released in 2013" and it's not really "top …
It's the last day of the year, and this is the time when people start making New Year's Resolutions. I don't tend to do that anymore, instead working from a broader Life List instead. When I set about thinking of this annual round-up, I felt a little disappointed about how much (or how little) I've achieved this year. Looking back can be useful though, as I hadn't quite realised I'd …
This is the time of year where I hand over the keys of my blog to Mr C, or at least give him a paragraph or two of space, to share the things he's been loving this year. There are two categories - films and music - and we'll be starting with the latter. Here's Mr C's top five songs from 2013, and I will tell you now, it's been …
This year, I was quite excited to see the Top of the Pops Christmas special, because it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't seen much, if any, of the TOTP brand through the year. I used to watch the 1970s editions that were showing on BBC Four but soon bored of that. I remember last year, there was a festive edition on both Christmas Day and New Year's, and …
I was aware of this one through the entire process - trailers, cinema, and then the rental window - but I didn't really think I wanted to watch it. All the elements should add up to my kind of film - Blockbuster, machinery, a terrifyingly awful future, etc, etc. I can't explain why I didn't want to see it, but I put it off and off until eventually I had to give in.
We really loved the first Red film, just a fun romp through the world of spying and double agents, but with the twist of everyone being slightly older. Thus, we were very much looking forward to the sequel, with the trailer raising our expectations even more.
I hadn't heard of this film before it appeared as a rental, but a quick view of the trailer made it seem like one of those off-beat ones that is probably good for a viewing. There were a few laughs in the preview, so after the horror of Elysium, we wanted something a bit more... human.
Very disappointing. Far too gory for no good reason, mostly predictable, and not a strong enough story to sustain the full length of the film. I also have problems with the ending, because, clearly the situation was unfair but it evolved that way for a reason, and just levelling the playing field isn't going to help anyone, it puts them right back in the same place as when, presumably, the dystopia started. Also, the big bad guy was hard to take seriously.
I used to be a total Grinch about Christmas. The entire concept offended me and I wanted nothing to do with it. I'd link to the many posts I wrote about boycotting the festive season, but really, I'm over it. I've mellowed in my old age. In reality, I've realised that my issue with Christmas is the same as the issue I have with most things - the pressure from …
This Christmas special found itself with a really difficult task to accomplish. Following the almost-perfect anniversary special was always going to be difficult, but it also had to steer clear of the normal festive schmultz to head rapidly towards a regeneration. It was still a heartwarming piece in places, the children of the town called Christmas, the Doctor's dedication to staying in spite of himself, and Clara's constant despair at …
Actually this was surprisingly good. All four were really good, and although there were some scenes I could have done without, and plenty of cringeworthy bits, it was entertaining. I loved the little references here and there, and the bloopers at the end were great fun. One of the better comedies I've seen for a while.
Overall this still holds up really well, a great story and pretty well acted throughout. I read or heard someone talking about re-watching this as an adult and how it just wasn't as good because the scenes with the burglars were just too painful. It definitely was more difficult to watch but I still enjoyed it - even if I did have to cover my eyes on occasion.
I quite enjoyed the language, it really made you feel like you were right there. But, having said that, I'm not sure I followed the story at all well. Some of the twists and turns, and ways that Kim managed to escape situations were fun, but when I got to the end, I'm not sure I could have repeated exactly what the point of the book was or what happened.
An interesting read, this one. It managed to steer clear of some of the more predictable cop thriller tropes, for example, our protagonist was taken off the case before it even got going, rather than halfway through. Dagny Gray was a difficult character to get to like, and I was a bit disappointed that the anorexia storyline did't go anywhere. It had been pretty well handled up to the point it just disappeared.
Every Formula One season tells a story. A continuing saga, a sporting soap opera, it dates back to the inauguration of the World Championship in 1950 and even before that. At the same time, each and every year, the slate is wiped clean and both drivers and teams are given the chance to impress all over again. This book will guide you through the 2013 season, visiting each event in …
The chaps in charge of Tomb Raider these days, Square Enix, have in their infinite wisdom released the first installment of the game for iOS devices for just 69p. I was always more of a fan of Tomb Raider 2, but getting access to any of the early games has been tricky of late. Now, the game that made Lara Croft famous has been released for next to nothing and …
I really liked it! Actually, I adored the first half an hour, when it was just the guys hanging out and niggling at each other. I probably could have watched the entire film without any of the alien/robot influence. But there was that entire robot plot to deal with, and they handled it well - I thought there was a bit too much fighting, that's not really why you watch these films, but otherwise it was good, funny, with nods to the other two, and a none-too-happy ending.
This was a fascinating finish to the trilogy, something just a little bit different. It was a lot darker, with fewer laughs, and it almost didn't seem like a comedy, more like a drama with some amusing lines in. That being said, it was better than the second one for being different, even if it wasn't as funny and certainly nowhere near a patch on the first. Overall, I'd say that they should have just stuck with the first film, but given that they cashed in for the franchise, they could have done worse than finish with this one.
This weekend, we had chance to test out the slow-motion feature on my new iPhone. It's something we've been excited about (as there aren't that many major feature upgrades on the phone), but we needed some time and something fast moving to video. Step up some trusty alcohol. I love it. Although, I've realised that many of the videos I take tend to be slower things that need speeding up, …
At some point this year, I became absolutely obsessed with Cabin Pressure. If you're not aware of it, Cabin Pressure is a Radio 4 sitcom, penned by John Finnemore and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephanie Cole and Finnemore himself. It follows the plight of a small charter airline (although you can't put just one plane in a line) and it is brilliant. I don't remember where I heard of it, but …
Just really, really bad. There were two actual funny moments, and the rest was occasionally amusing - most of which was down to the consumption of wine anyway. It felt like a lot of sketches sewn together, as the film didn't really have a point. The first was about them getting back together as friends and reconciling their childhood dreams with the reality of adulthood. This one was a hotchpotch of things, with no central theme, and the people didn't seem to gel as well as they did the first time. Also, wtf with the deer?
A really good adventure, and a fascinating partnership between the two main guys. It wasn't a top five sort of film, but I still really enjoyed it. I guess there were a few too many factions, and we've established that I struggle when there are too many sides to a story! The beginning also confused me, with the slight jump back in time, for a minute I was worried it was going to go all Memento, but it didn't. Overall, very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.
This was such a fascinating read - inspiring and yet so very sad at the same time. Chronicling the full journey from departing New Zealand, to arriving and fighting through the ice, to setting up 'home' through the winter and then the final journey. I knew about the iconic quotes, going outside, being some time, that kind of thing, but seeing it in context was just so desperately sad.
At the beginning of this year, I wrote about my ambitions to complete a puzzle book. Not a grand aim, I'll grant you, and not one I thought it would take me almost twelve months to get back to. I have, on occasion, sat down to write an update about my adventures through puzzle land, but as it turns out, writing about puzzles isn't as entertaining as I thought it …
It was good. I was sure I was going to use our twenty minute 'stop-watching' rule but I didn't need too. It was funny in the right places, and interesting enough - I don't really understand why the character is so enduring, he didn't seem particularly special... just an amusing guy. It was very BBC, you know, all the people that you recognise from TV, which isn't a bad thing, but made it feel more like an extended TV special rather than a big Hollywood film.
When I first starting putting together my Life List, I pondered adding "See a Backstreet Boys concert" to it. I added it, then I took it off again, then added it, then removed it, and repeated the process a few more times. In the end, I left it off. I wasn't totally convinced I wanted to see the band with just four members anyway, and besides, going to gigs isn't …
On the positive side, this was better than Superman Returns, and they set everything up for more films in the future. It did suffer from 'origin story bloat' in that they had to fit in the whole back story and then try and squeeze in a modern day story as well, which meant it had to be hugely long.
