Lovely little film this one. It’s a gentle walk through a cute story - not hard-hitting, not tough, not even that emotional. It’s just a nice little gem of a story that gives you something to think about in terms of how much your home can mean to you, and what you would do to stay in it.

David Jason is a much-loved figure on British TV screens, but I realised as I started reading this that I really don’t know much about him. It’s fascinating to read about his earlier life - from tentatively messing around in youth drama clubs, to deciding to give acting a shot as a career. I’m also impressed with how quickly it all came together for him, although of course the few pages of a book can’t really cover all the ups and downs there no doubt were along the way.

I love Dawn French enormously. She recently released a new book/diary, wherein she shares her thoughts and feelings and lists and photos throughout the year, and you do the same. It’s an interactive sort of book, where there are plenty of spaces for you to add your own notes and doodles, over and above the actual space for diary entries. I love Dawn French so much that I have done two things I wouldn’t normally do: bought a physical book, and then written in it.

Oof, loved it! How have I not seen this before? So many elements add up to making this a Christine-favourite film. Jan de Bont of Speed fame. Written by the amazing Michael Crichton. Incredible cast (that we spent the entire time going ’that’s the one from this film… but younger.’) and most of all a great story.

We had low expectations coming into this one, having watched a dull film beforehand, and it being quite such an indy low-budget option. However, it was far better than I would have expected and entertained throughout.

This was a bizarre twenty minutes to sit through. Another all-star cast, but so many famous names can’t make up for the fact that it was really boring, dull dialogue, not a lot happened, and the only amusing moments were from Robert Di Niro being a gross old man again. Avoid.

It’s interesting, because the more famous the actors were, the less interesting their characters were. Ben Affleck was non-existent, Bradley Cooper a nightmare, even Scarlett Johansson didn’t really sell her character to me. On the flip side, I loved Ginnifer Goodwin’s kooky portrayal, and her story with I’m a Mac would have been more interesting if told all by itself!

We needed this film after a couple of bad ones. Actually, that’s not fair, but what this film delivered was exactly what we expected and that was what we needed. The concept is great - hitman needs a bodyguard. The partnership works really well, that love/hate thing, and Reynolds and Jackson are both brilliant and also play well against each other.

This was a bit of a weird one for Mr C to pick, but actually, I really loved it. The famous songs, Tease Me and Twist & Shout, obviously are fab, but I enjoyed all of it. Lovely, chilled reggae vibes and lots of Chaka Demus saying, hey Mr Pliers, my turn. Such fun.

I was expecting quite a lot from this debut album from Camila, and in the end I think I’ve ended up a bit disappointed. It’s a really strong debut, lots of good songs and I like the pop vibe tinged with the latin edge, but it’s very short and I’m not sure it’s going to end up as a top five.

Ordinarily, you wouldn’t find me in the reptile house of any theme park or zoo. I’m not that keen on zoos anymore, and dude, there are snakes in there. However, our visit to Drayton Manor was on one of the coldest days of the year, and snakes do at least have the right idea when it comes to sleeping somewhere warm. I was snapping pictures here and there, still testing out the reaches of this iPhone 8 Plus camera – a huge improvement on my last.

Oof, what a supreme disappointment, especially when the first one was so good. This, was just a mess. The story was overly long, many of the plot points unrealistic (whereas the first film at least felt like it was based in reality). It was too graphic, there was a lack of taste and decency throughout, and it felt like it veered too far into parody of Bond, rather than an homage too.

I’ve been meaning to write about Les Mills for a while now and have a lot to say, but for now, I wanted to give a quick shout out to the new, free workout they’ve released featuring Nina Dobrev. They built up to it for a few weeks, with a new challenge each week such as completing as many burpees or lunges as you can in a minute. I didn’t participate in these challenges and now I wish I had because I would have been a bit more prepared for the awesomeness of this workout.

I quite enjoyed the first book set on the south coast of France, wherein a small group of expats make their way through adventures involving drama, relationships, money, crime, and much more. The second is more of the same, although it has to be said the cast of characters has expanded considerably in this one.

The thing about Duran Duran, and I think I found this when I listened to Rio as well, is that I really enjoy the music. Yay, Duran Duran, great songs, great voice, fun to listen to. But if you asked me anything about this album now, just a few days later, I couldn’t tell you. Ordinary World is fantastic, the rest mostly forgettable. But it’s so good when you’re in it! Weird.

Great album this one, I loved it. Having only heard Bad at Love before, I wasn’t totally sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed the concept and the way the album worked together. It kicks off with a bit of Shakespeare and winds through love and hate and many great songs.

This is another of those films that is really, very bad. Entertaining and fun to watch but not a good film at all. And considering the cast, it was a wasted opportunity really. It should have been funnier, should have had a stronger, less predictable story, should have been better.

We’re a week into 2018, and if you made New Year’s Resolutions you will either be celebrating one week down, 51 more to go, or you will be disappointed that you’ve let them slide already. Either way, I thought it was a good time to share the tips that motivate me to stick to habits. New habits are hard, they don’t always stick, I’m not perfect, and that’s why this reminder is as much for me as guidance for anyone else. These aren’t new or revolutionary, they’re just the key five things that will help you continue (or restart) the journey to getting your goals.

Another great adventure story from Ken Follett, this time taking place at various points across the globe - most notably in Afghanistan - as spies and secret agents from both sides wage war against each other. Caught up in the middle is Jane, a smart but trusting woman who finds herself mistreated and mishandled but ultimately capable of looking after herself.

I’ve never been a coffee drinker. I’ve enjoyed the smell, but never liked the taste. For a long time, I just never had coffee, but I must admit to occasionally being pressured to find something to drink in a coffee shop and opting for the sweetest, most caramel-enhanced, beverage the menu has to offer. I have a feeling that’s all about to change, as the festive period brought with it a new Tassimo into our house. Two days in, two Costa coffee lattes later, and I’m converted. Who knew coffee could actually taste nice?

The underlying story here is an interesting one but there’s quite a lot going on that takes a while to get used to. The main focus is on Kaz, who is released from prison and has to try exceptionally hard to stay out of trouble thanks to her extended family. Around here, there are villains and heroes, undercover cops, a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top of the department plus lots of characters with their own issues.

I’ve been waiting to listen to this just so I can quote The Wedding Singer legitimately, but I’m glad I finally got round to it. This is a slightly happier sound for the band, and I really enjoyed it. It was quite distracting how much the songs and particularly the lead singer reminded me of The Killers, but hey, The Cure came first!

Stormzy burst onto my radar over the last few weeks, and so I had to start the year with the album everyone is raving about. I enjoyed it, although found it to be quite eccentric, a lot of different pieces thrown together. Still, there are some real highlights, and of course, Blinded By Your Grace is a wonder.

It’s this time of year that people start talking about making resolutions. I’m guilty of it too, and I always have those thoughts rolling around my head for New Year: eat less, move more, write more, do more, be better. This year I was all ready to get specific again, and then I realised, it’s not about those measurable goals. Sure, I have plenty of things I want to achieve in 2018 but the overarching thing that I, and the world, needs is not a list of my boring plans.

This annual tradition has had its ups and downs. Initially, Mr C enjoyed the process of selecting his top five songs and films of the year gone by. Then he started agonising over the choices and gradually began to hate this time of year. But I care not! It’s a tradition and we’re doing it for 2017 just like all the years gone by. This time, to appease him and because we really weren’t inspired by cinema so much, I’ve said just songs, not films.

This was a really interesting film. With Edgar Wright behind the helm, you know you’re in for something very stylish and well-crafted, and it was that. The story was good, characters interesting, and the scenes were a lot of fun to go along with.

My overriding feeling on reading this book is melancholy - from the wintry setting and the isolation felt by almost all of the characters. Even though it’s a small and tight-knit community, there seems to be a distance between all of them which only goes to add to the mystery of who can possibly have committed the murder.

I’ve been dreading this moment pretty much from the second I hit publish on last year’s round-up of my musical adventures. Now it’s time for me to pick not only my top five albums of the year just gone but also update my top ten albums of all time. Naturally, this only includes the ones I have listened to in the course of this album adventure nonsense, so it’s actually the top ten albums of all time out of 200 options. But that’s double last year, and the more I listen, the more I learn.

I do so love Miranda that even though this is a kid’s book, I had to read it. Poor Chloe who loses her smile when life starts to get on top of her, she has to go on a handful of adventures to try and find it again. As an adult, reading this, the allegories with real life are obvious, but as a kid, I think this is an important story that will hopefully help anyone in the same situation.

I post the majority of my book reviews to my Goodreads profile, but occasionally like to hand-pick those that have earned five stars to share here. I haven’t been as voracious in my reading appetite this year, and have indulged in some books that I’ve read before, but still there were some great highlights along the way. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick I love Anna Kendrick a lot, so it was no surprise that her memoir was right up my street. Having said that, I was a bit taken aback by the book because it was basically like reading inside my mind - some of the anxieties, some of the anti-social tendencies, some of the obsessive compulsive stuff, you mean Hollywood stars feel like that too?

I previously wrote about potential Christmas jumpers for those not looking for mainstream products, but this is the one I opted for: Most Wonderful HAIM of the Year. Naturally, I wanted to show this off with a photo, but it’s harder than you think when you’re in a particularly good mood at Christmas. Eventually, after too many photos where I obscure the genius of the shirt, it was demanded that I sit up straight and behave myself. So I sulked, of course.

It became startlingly apparent last year that we were missing out not having seen Elf. It came in second place on Richard Osmond’s World Cup of Christmas Films, and there was even an elf-based dance on the Strictly Christmas special. So, this year, it was high up on the festive to-watch list.

It’s been a bit of a busy year, so expeditions and adventures have been few and far between, but every December we are obliged to leave the house. The brilliant Giggles Advent calendar features jokes from many contributors of which I’m honoured to be one, and to make a fun and interesting video, Mr C and I look for new places to explore. This year, it was Drayton Manor - the medium sized theme park that features a large section of ground designated to Thomas the Tank Engine, otherwise known as Thomas Land. They were turning Thomas Land festive, and we thought what better place to capture a Christmas joke.

So, I was in between TV shows, eagerly awaiting the arrival of series two of The Crown. I had a few days to spare and Mr C suggested, based on a random tweet he’d seen, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, available on Amazon Prime. I’d sort of forgotten I even had access to Amazon Prime content, but looked this one up. It only took maybe half an episode before I was hooked. What an incredible show, and here are five reasons why:

I was feeling a little guilty when I started reading this that I only really knew ‘Mass’ for his stint on The Big Bang Theory, but he mentions that in the book and it doesn’t come across as a bad thing. In fact, he’s got a great attitude that once you’re done flying, your best job is to generate awareness and excitement by inspiring the next batch of youngsters into the sciences, even if that is through a slightly nerdy sitcom.

This is such a great idea. I don’t read many physical books anymore, but the concept of picking up a random book whilst browsing, truly random, wrapped in brown paper packaging and literally tied up with string, is inspiring. From the website: A Blind Date with a Book is a hand wrapped book, carefully curated from a wide range of popular genres that is tagged with intriguing clues alluding to the book inside. This curated collection includes everything from mystery, romance, classics, horror, adventure, science fiction to young adult.

We’ve been working on a Christmas playlist for a Sidepodcast friend, and finally have come up with the goods. As I say over there: During the past week, I listened to Apple Music’s attempt at a Christmas playlist that had one or two classics but for the most part featured party songs, tangential festive tunes, and those slowed down advert covers that are so very popular these days. That didn’t impress me too much, so I set about making a better playlist, published on Apple Music and fabulously called: How a Christmas playlist should be done.

Another story in the Lincoln Rhyme series, and this one is a bit of a departure from the previous ones. Firstly, the crime they are investigating is a bit of a woolly one, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of hard and fast evidence that Lincoln can cast his forensic eye over and it’s more of a cerebral crime solving book than we’ve seen before.

I mean, I love this album. Mr C very kindly gave me the choice of BSB albums to round off the year with, and although I didn’t know it before I made the selection, this one is my favourite. It’s the boys at the height of their fame, at the height of my fandom, and it’s stacked full of pure, unadulterated pop pleasure.

This is a great album, fully of innovation and wonder and tension, guitars and rock and rhythm. I’m not always so keen on the songs that experiment from popular formulas but I really liked Sky Musings, and Don’t Delete the Kisses is a classic. Great rock that will be listenable over and over for a while yet.

I really thought this film wasn’t going to be that good - another of those predictable comedies with a few jokes, some good one-liners and not much else to think about. But it wasn’t. It was actually really, really funny with characters that were interesting and, whilst a little stereotypical, at least had more depth than your average comedy character does.

It’s that time of year, when offices start going a bit crazy with decorations, Christmas lunches, office parties and goodness knows what else. A trend I have noticed is the Christmas jumper competition, and whilst your snowmen and santas are all well and good, I’ve found a couple of Christmas jumpers that might be slightly more fun to wear. There are loads of good Star Wars ones out there. “I find your lack of cheer disturbing,” is a good one, but I’ve picked the Yoda one, because you know, Yoda knows best. This one is kinda subtle in the sense that you have to have seen Stranger Things and know what it’s all about to get it. It’d be a good way to find your fellow Stranger Things fans at a party where you don’t know anyone. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey. There’s not much else to add. The design of Christmas jumpers to have a lot of lines of various patterns lends itself very well to platform gaming, so you have to go to the master: Mario. And of course, where would we be if we didn’t have a Back to the Future jumper?

Yesterday, I talked about the concept of diving headfirst into a new subject of your choosing and just going for the learning ride. This is something I’ve struggled with before, and particularly when it comes to history. I didn’t enjoy history that much at school, but have since found a fondness for finding out how the world has come to be in the position it is in today. The trouble with history is it is a HUGE SUBJECT. Almost like it encompasses everything that has ever happened or something.

There’s something slightly different about this Lincoln Rhyme book. At first, you think you’re reading just the standard thriller where the paralysed criminalist analyses every scrap of evidence to effectively hunt down perpetrators of serious crime. But there’s more to it than that, and the twists upon twists are a wonder to behold.

There’s something brilliantly wonderful and overwhelming about diving into a subject you don’t really know a lot about. I’ve done this a few times: with films, with music and most recently with sport – getting fully involved with tennis, and this month, jumping feet first into Formula E with a new podcast and everything. At first, it seems totally overwhelming. There’s so much you don’t know, an entire history that you’ve missed out on (not so much with Formula E, being just a baby motorsport series), and so many connections you’re going to miss. What you have to do is push that to one side, ignore all the voices telling you it’s too big a subject, it’s too late, you might as well just watch re-runs of The Big Bang Theory instead.

I’ve never really been a fan of Flo, I think she’s got an incredible voice and is exceptionally talented but it’s just not really been to my taste. So I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy the album but actually it was much better than I expected. You get used to the powerful voice after a while and the songs are marvellously eclectic.

Nice album, this one. I feel like it’s a return to form by the band, more relevant than some of their other work, but I do think it’s lacking some big memorable songs. The single is good but otherwise nothing really stands out. Good music to work to though.

Ooh, I really liked this album. For a brief moment I thought I liked it more than Rumours but then I came to my senses. Some great songs on there though, and kicking off with Big Love really sets the scene for the rest of the brilliant album.