Two strong female characters, although I properly cannot get over the name Christmas. Bond films do funny names, I understand, but Christmas Jones isn’t a pun in and of itself, and they barely reference it until right at the end. Weird. Loved Sophie Marceau, the right mix of vulnerability and vengefulness.

Such a sad tale this one. It starts and ends with death, and traverses the exhausting trials of grief throughout. There’s a mystery to be solved - why did Ellie’s husband die in a car crash with a strange woman in the car? Was it an affair? An accident? Or, more likely, given the genre of the book, murder?

On a whim, I started watching the entire series of Bond movies starting from the beginning and working through each iteration. Somewhere along the way, I realised I had the Roger Moore autobiography, but I didn’t want to read it until I’d finished watching his 007 outings. With that achieved, I dived in.

Not only is this a Brosnan Bond film but it’s also one I’ve seen before - finally! I love this film enormously. From the brilliance of Jonathan Pryce as your media mogul gone mad, to the incredible helicopter versus motorbike stunt, to the superb stealth boat and remote control car, there’s so much to love.

As much as I’ve enjoyed the process of working our way through every Bond film, I can’t quite describe the relief to get to my beloved Brosnan. I can see why people attach themselves to the different variations of the character, but Pierce is definitely mine. Suave but funny, womaniser but without the aggressiveness we’ve previous seen, an action hero with some relatively up to date kit, and that general feeling of over-the-top but fun and fantastic action.

The story of a journalist working in Berlin in the fraught moments before world war breaks out for the second time, Zoo Station is captivating. Although much of it is logistical - travelling here, meeting this person, setting up arrangements - it’s never boring. There’s a tension throughout that keeps you second guessing and eager to know more. And there’s a sort of depressing foreboding to the piece, watching horrific events unfold without being able to stop them, knowing something terrible is about to happen at any moment.

I was looking forward to this but yet again Mr Franco doesn’t quite manage to deliver. The trailer looked far more exciting than the end result was. It was entertaining enough, and a passable way to spend 90 minutes but it felt quite contrived and a bit of a mish-mash of other, better films.

I’ve grown to really quite like Timothy Dalton as James Bond, even though it’s only been two films. But, as Paul said to me on Twitter, the guy really wasn’t given the best of scripts to work with. The last film was passable, but this one, oh boy, it was not great. I can’t get over how horrific some of it was - and okay, you always expect a few nasty things to happen in a Bond film, but the list was endless.

I was concerned about watching the two Dalton films, mostly because I didn’t know anything about his or Lazenby’s efforts, and the latter wasn’t exactly an outstanding Bond contender. Thankfully, Timothy was a heck of a lot better. He was just as good at hiding his accent as Sean Connery, but made up for it with a stern intensity that Roger Moore had been completely missing.

This is the story of two deaths, or near-deaths, told in two distinct parts by two narrators. It follows the story of Holly, a girl who seemingly has it all but finds her life crumbling around her as she falls ill and subsequently tries to kill herself. The second part of the story follows Holly’s best friend as she tries to pick up the pieces.

Rather than the sticking to the previous format of Mary Poppins arriving in a random fashion, bringing with her adventures galore before leaving again without a whisper of warning, this book follows selected stories from those times. I quite like that change, rather than knowing it will all end sadly when she disappears again, instead you can just revel in the joy and go with it.

I snapped up the book, and read it over several sittings. It took longer than I’d have liked so was a little bit disjointed for me, but luckily there were plenty of recaps throughout to keep us up to speed. I think if I’d read it in a shorter space of time it might have been annoying, particularly having to browse through the whiteboard of clues over and over again.

Lots of mixed feelings about this one. It was, of course, brilliant but definitely not perfect. For a start, the story had me very confused. It felt like a Transformers movie - long, confusing, sort of in two parts, and many times I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. There was also a lot of references and characters dipping in and out, which is part of the joy of the Marvel Universe, I know, but made it very hard work when I couldn’t remember or place half of them.

Thankfully, it lived up to the high expectations. Great returning characters, with some nice surprises along the way. Fab new characters too, with Hailee Steinfeld squeezing in seamlessly with her own brand of craziness to add to the group. Love the concept of the girls being knocked down a peg or two and having to claw their way back up, particularly against the absolutely terrifying Das Sound Machine.

What’s great about being a couple of books behind in a series is that you don’t have to wait so long to read up on the cliffhanger ending of the previous book. In that one, we were waiting to learn if our heroine tied the knot or not, and although you’d think the answer would be easy - as always with Jess, it’s more complicated than it looks.

After some fairly lacklustre Bond efforts recently, this one came storming back with great actors, great action and for once, a pretty solid story! You can sort of tell that Moore is starting to feel a bit old for this one, but soon that is swept aside in favour of an action-packed blockbuster.

The first HTTM wasn’t exactly a rousing success (‘Not a great film, but moments of brilliance and certainly worth watching, if you can cope with it.’) and I wasn’t expecting the second to be any better. In fact, I was actively expecting it to be worse as the trailer looked shocking. I’m not totally sure why I even watched it, other than for that sense of completeness and because it was an easy-going watch for a wine-fuelled evening.

It’s easy to sum this one up - hugely enjoyable but very hard work. It’s fast paced and so quick witted that it’s clearly aimed at hip teens that don’t use the word hip, and can catch onto all the jokes instantly. As oldies, Mr C and I tended to be a few steps behind, but it was a lot of fun trying to keep up!

I tweeted that Moonraker was the worst Bond film to date, and expected that to be the low point. Sadly, Octopussy plumbed new depths of terrible, but for totally different reasons. Where Moonraker had a rushed plot with laughable ideas, Octopussy felt like it could have been good - but it was all wrong.

Another good entry in the Jessica Daniel series, although this one brought out some new reactions in me. Where previously, Jess has had a certain disregard for the rules to go with her hunches and it has tended to work out in the end, this time it felt so clear that she was wrong. Everyone was saying it, and I wasn’t keen on just how far over the line she went in her efforts to prove a point.

It’s not hard to love Clare Balding, talented and knowledgeable presenter, feminist, hugely likeable sports presence and generally a bit of an inspiration. I was keen to read her book, even though it was structured around animals quite so heavily - I’m not a huge animal fan, and horses aren’t up there as my favourites.

Intensely similar to the books that have come before, this sequel in the Mary Poppins series follows the formula that has been so successful - the super-nanny arrives, promising to stay for a limited amount of time, and takes the children under her care on magical adventures in the meantime.

It was great fun to catch up with Jessica Daniel again, as well as her ever-increasing circle of friends and acquaintances. I like to see how the focus ebbs and flows between the secondary characters - some moving into focus in each book and others taking a back seat.

This was a much better outing for Bond after the disaster that was Moonraker. It wasn’t one of the best, but felt very much like your standard 007 adventure. I quite liked that he gradually amassed a team around him, so that the final action sequence was a team effort rather than a solo spy mission. The ice skater was a little intense and scary but Topol was fantastic.

After a hectic day which involved taking in a lot of information and thus resulted in whirling brains, we were looking for something calm and quiet to reset the balance in the evening. This film ticked those boxes, but I think it went too far in the other direction really.

I was expecting this to be your run of the mill high school film - fun but nothing special - but it turned out to be a highlight of the year so far! Brilliant fun, witty dialogue, stereotypical but not boring characters, and a good story. It felt a lot like this generation’s Clueless - finding your feet in high school, and learning how to fit in or accept the fact that you’re never going to do so.

I had such high hopes for this one, coming off the back of the fabulous Spy Who Loved Me and having plenty of space action. Sadly, it was easily the worst of the bunch so far. Clearly rushed and thrown together in a hurry (to capitalise on the success of Star Wars), it was disjointed and in many places laughable.

This was by far the best James Bond film to date! Fun from the start, and although it’s a two hour film just like the previous ones, it never felt too long. With submarines as the main plot, I was always going to be a fan, but when you throw in an interesting plot, an underwater car, some foot and car chases around the Egyptian pyramids, and the horror that is Jaws, well there’s very little missing.

Now that I’ve finished the mammoth task of getting to 500 films, reaching each century doesn’t feel quite as exciting as it did. That said, I am a bit disappointed that this is the one that ended up as number 600. As a concept, the film seems okay - a rich guy going to prison for fraud isn’t convinced he’ll survive in there so gets help - and with Will Ferrell and tiny Kevin Hart on board, it should have been better than it was.

The second Mary Poppins book sees the return of our heroine, to pick up directly where she left off. I quite like the way she swanned back in and convinced everyone they needed her, despite the fact she left at the drop of the hat and was quite clearly going to do the same thing again.

I love Elizabeth Banks, so was quite excited to see that she had the main role in this film, rather than being supporting cast. We were looking for something easy and short, and that’s exactly what this one is. Banks is great, she holds the whole thing together and considering how much screen time she has, it’s an impressive feat. Her two friends were fun, and James Marsden was a refreshing take on the bartender love interest.

I didn’t know much about this one before watching, only that it appeared to have a great cast and told a real-life story. It’s always hard watching the sufferings that went on at the hands of the Nazis, and although it’s easy to say this is just about ‘art’, it has a much more important message than that.

I really enjoyed this one. It gets off to a supremely weird start, the chase through the circus only to shoot off the fingers of a James Bond waxwork? Bizarre. But the big showdown is in the same location, so it all coming round in a big circle did make it a nice journey in the end.

Confusingly, this was listed on iTunes as a relatively new film, but it became clear very quickly that it wasn’t - if only for how young Elizabeth Banks is in it! It’s a great little film, wonderful to see the interactions between grumpy Bill and his super-smart mentee - although the kid’s relationship with slightly older Jessica Alba felt more creepy.

Considering how many times I’ve seen the film, I was surprised to realise I’d never read the source material. After watching Saving Mr Banks I was keen to right that wrong and snapped up a complete collection of all the Mary Poppins works. This first one sets the groundwork with all the characters you know and love, and many of the scenes.

There isn’t a huge amount to say about this really. We watched it because I was ill, tucked up under a duvet and feeling very sorry for myself. Thus, a bit of the bright yellow sponge to cheer everything up! It’s just like the TV show but on the bigger screen: crazy and manic, full of bizarre sequences and odd humour, but generally did the job!

Ahhh, our first Roger Moore film and phew! Sean Connery was good but this is Bond as I first saw him. Immediately, everything felt like it had taken a step up in the lightness stakes. From the instant Moore appears, it seems like he’s having more fun with the gig and that really comes across. However, it is a film made in the 70s and that means there are oranges/browns/flares agogo and I hate that.

What I love about each of these 87th Precinct books is that they focus on a very small subject each time. Sometimes it’s just one crime, often a couple interlinked together, but it’s never a sprawling mess of complicated entanglements - easy to follow, and a charm to read.

It’s interesting, really, that these days there aren’t that many famous astronauts. It’s no less glamorous a job, or one sought after by kids gazing up at the night sky, but it’s definitely become a more mundane concept - there are people constantly orbiting the earth, living in space, what of it?

I really enjoyed the twists and turns, it was nice knowing who the bad guys were almost from the beginning for a change, and following the characters figuring things out, instead of having to guess for yourself. I also enjoyed the courtroom scenes, with echoes of John Grisham, as well as a strong female lead who wasn’t afraid to admit she was scared but equally was capable of taking care of herself.

I’d never really been tempted to read this book, or any of its sequels, but saw a sneak peek at some of the drawings and was intrigued. It’s a difficult book to read on the Kindle as it only works on certain devices, due to it being so picture heavy.

It was weird, to me, that Sean Connery came back for another film. It’s one thing to be able to compartmentalise, to be able to follow changes in actor when they occur in a series, but it’s another to swap in and out as you feel like it. I was thankful that it was such a good story, though, as it made the transition back to familiarity so much easier!

We’ve gotten into the habit of watching the trailer for the next Bond film after finishing each one, and laughed ourselves silly at the ad for this. All it wanted to do was talk up how DIFFERENT the film was, and boy, they were right.

A quirky little story, we opted to watch this one in search of something relaxing, not a blockbuster and a simple, sweet story. Couldn’t have been more wrong, really, as it turns out the world of New York real estate involves a lot of fast talking, throwing plenty of huge numbers around, and lots of people milling about and making themselves comfortable in other people’s houses!

As always, I’m far too old to read these Jacqueline Wilson books really, but I do so love them. This one tracks the unhappy Stella who has to go to summer camp whilst her mum heads off on honeymoon with Stella’s new stepdad. She doesn’t want to go, and is prepared not to enjoy herself, but of course, gradually, she sees there are good things about the camp - even if it is a bit of a dump!

I inadvertently read Chris Stewart’s other memoir - early reminiscing about life at sea - before finding this, the story that made him a writer. In Driving Over Lemons, we are firmly land-locked, with Chris heading from an albeit already eclectic life in the UK (drummer with Genesis, sailor, sheep-shearer) to a self-sufficient farmer in the heart of Spain.

I really enjoyed this book, a crime thriller set in a very small town where everyone knows everything about everyone else. I hate that kind of thing, but for a murder mystery, it makes for a brilliantly claustrophobic environment. The book tracks the hunt for the perpetrator of a heist, in which two security guards driving a money truck wind up dead.

This film solved all the problems that we had with Ex Machina, in that most (not all but a sizeable proportion) of Hollywood films about AI and robots involve them going rogue, taking over the planet, regardless of the human beings. Here, we had a robot actually saving the humans it interacted with, being for good rather than for evil.

Now I have an even greater understanding of what Austin Powers is all about. The volcano, the space stuff, the minions on their little buggies, and of course, Blofeld, everything was recognisable, but this time the original concept rather than the spoof. I loved it. Rather than in previous outings, where there have been bizarre directing decisions (sped up footage being the main culprit), this one was all believable, if somewhat Thunderbirds in places.

As with most kids films, I was glad this was relatively short, as it was utterly exhausting. Total fun and chaos from start to finish, it was endlessly entertaining. Jim Parsons was basically Sheldon but in actual alien form, and Rhianna appeared to be a kid version of herself - from Barbados, and providing all of the music (too much, to my mind).