Yay, another novelisation and this time for the best film there is. Unfortunately, I stumbled across a pdf version of this book rather than any official physical or digital copy, but I couldn’t resist reading it - and even though the scan wasn’t great, it was SO worth it. Love this story, love the characters, love the extra little insights and slight deviations in the book, it’s all just more of the same brilliance.

It’s hard to review this book because it’s beautiful but of course, completely brutal. Rob writes with such honesty and humour and compassion and rage and everything you can imagine… although obviously you just can’t imagine it. An absolute must read.

I thought this BBC post about the future of the album was interesting, considering that I spend more time than I’d like trying to decide what counts as an album for my music listening project. The article is pondering the past and future of the album, given how much focus there has been on singles of late, with Taylor Swift leading the charge in a celebration of all things long play.

I’ve seen this before and love it, it has all elements that appeal to me: a crime drama, a mystery to be solved, and Sandra Bullock being amazing as always. It’s not so much a whodunit, because you know whodunit, but it’s a how and will they get away with it kind of story. I had forgotten or not realised that Ryan Gosling is in this, he’s in so many more films than I realised! But yea, dark crime movie that’s a must watch.

I’ve forged ahead and watched a lot of Trying episodes in an effort to finish my rewatch before the fourth season begins. I really can’t express how much I love this show, and how much I relate to Nikki. The only way is by continuing to share the best quotes.

The track Shining featured in a recent movie we watched (Win a Date with Tad Hamilton) and although the film was pretty terrible, I was reminded how much I loved this song and Story of My Life at the time. Kicking off this album with those two songs is a strong start and of course the rest of the album struggles to live up to its own hype but it’s all very serviceable pop, even the inoffensive cover of Fast Car. Ultimately a two-hit wonder, but perfectly easy to listen to the whole thing.

I have found recent Pet Shop Boys albums to be hit or miss so I was a bit nervous going into this one. The first listen through, I thought it was okay, but perhaps nothing to write home about. On the second listen, it started to grow on me a bit more and I quite enjoyed it. I still think there’s nothing outstanding on there but it’s very listenable, so no major complaints in the end.

The third novelisation of the original trilogy and another new writer in the series. I liked this one just as much as the second, maybe slightly more, but I have to admit the alien languages being written out was a bit annoying. We know Artoo boops and beeps but we don’t need to read whole sentences of it, do we? What’s the point? But outside of that, it was interesting to dip into the motivations of other characters - hearing about what Vader was thinking about as he was dying, and things like that. A good read!

I’ve seen this play twice, accidentally the second time as I’d forgotten I’d already seen it until the first scene seemed so familiar. But both times were great, what a classic. It’s interesting to read a play, the way it flows is so different to seeing it unfold on stage. The directions are less interesting, the focus is really solely on the dialogue, and although aging at this point, it’s still a brilliant mystery and whodunit. Keep the secrets, though!

I was given a physical copy of this book and boy was it a big book, so heavy that my hands (more used to ebooks at this point) were aching sometimes during a longer reading session. But it’s worth it. The book covers various interlinked characters across the world - their hopes, dreams, romances and losses - during significant events such as the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, the assassination of JFK and his brother, as well as race riots, communism, and much more. As you’d expect with Follett, it’s supremely well written, absolutely gripping despite it’s length and fully engaging from start to finish.

The second book in the series about Lizzie Vogel is just as good as the first. Slightly older now, our intrepid heroine gets a part time (although tends to take up a significant amount of her time) job at an old people’s home, and the book is filled with stories about the characters within, both residents and staff. There are inklings of romance as well, and the continuing adventures of having a difficult family to deal with. Loved it and can’t wait to read the next one.

This movie got off to such a slow start, we had to extend the 20 minute rule because I was curious to know what happened even though it was dragging the premise out. And then at about 40 minutes, I was enraged because there’s such an obvious solution - the guy is a lawyer, so man up, apologise and offer to help him out with his legal issues for free. Problem solved. But no, this is men just being terrible humans to each other. It did get better and a bit more entertaining, although still totally unbelievable, by the end, and raised some interesting questions around morality, but I think it could do better.

It is mad to think this was the first animated movie of its kind, the legacy that it kicked off, and just how long ago it was. It’s not the most exciting movie of all time, and the songs get a bit high pitched and gooey by the end. Plus, of course, the evil Queen’s strategy makes no sense. But for its time and what it is, it’s a really good effort!

I’ve noticed this series of TV films in passing occasionally, and thought they were probably worth a look - featuring lots of well known faces, and helmed by the lovely Sian Gibson from Peter Kay’s Car Share. But I tried this one, the first in the series, and it just didn’t grab me at all - very few laughs, a slow pace, and a weird idea that they would just ignore a murder and carry on.

I don’t know why I wanted to watch this one, as the previous animated Addams Family did nothing for me. But I am drawn to these kooky characters and wanted to see what they were up to. This is a weird film, the other one never felt like it needed a sequel and all this one does is stretch the limits of the characters, making them do things they would never ordinarily do. It’s okay, but not worth seeking out.

I must have owned this album on CD because I remembered a lot of the tracks that weren’t singles, along with the ones that were, obviously. I quite like it, there’s a great mix of stuff on there but on the flip side they do take a bit far in terms of it being slightly rambling and incoherent. But you can’t argue with Where is the Love? that continues to be relevant to this day.

Oh no, this was a slog. It was hard to know what to expect from this album because Taylor is in a more mellow era of her music but equally, this is a heartbreak album so there could be all sorts in there. Unfortunately, it was so mellow it was dull. It was really hard work to get through it twice. And worse, it feels like there could have been a couple of ragers in there, Reputation-style, but they’ve been dampened to the point of snoozing. I can’t wait for Taylor’s next evolution.

Another Paddington book that I really enjoyed, although slightly out of season with a focus on stories around Christmas. Singing carols but getting swept up into a waiter position at a posh party is just so Paddington, isn’t it? And honestly, who would trust this well-meaning but accident-prone bear with an important role at a wedding? A very fun book.

There’s not a huge amount to say about this film, it’s a mediocre rom-com at best, some cute ideas and I did like the foreshadowing of the ending that I absolutely should have seen coming. It doesn’t do so well that Topher Grace’s character is sometimes a bit creepy, and Josh Duhamel’s character isn’t enough of a bad boy to make the choice obvious and easy. But mostly and good watch and of course Kathryn Hahn steals the show at every opportunity.

I think this is probably a really good film. It’s got that dry humour that Carrie Fisher is famous for and Meryl Streep was doing a good job of that slightly unhinged but determined main character. I just couldn’t cope with it, it felt too close to real life and I sort of don’t want to know that about Carrie. I just want to remember her fondly. So probably more a reflection of me than the movie but unfinished.

I wanted to wipe my mind of the Blair Witch and you can’t find anything more different than a Disney princess doing what she does best. This is fun, great songs, and some enchanting (pun intended) characters. You love to hate Gaston, the clock and the candlestick are clearly a brilliant couple, and the beast learns some valuable lessons along the way. I do hope Belle gets to spend as much time as possible in that epic library!

I originally saw this in the cinema, I think, and have a vivid memory of being bitterly disappointed by the ending. Some guy stood facing a wall? So what? I thought I’d watch this again as it was available for free, and it’s just the same feeling. I think the idea is great, there is a concept in there that could be really scary and really engaging. But the characters are quite annoying, very screechy, and the end result just disappointing.

I was on something of a leadership course this week and they mentioned the book Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet, which I have previously read. We were played the below video which illustrates a talk from Marquet in relation to this book and I just love it - both the animation as it’s very engaging, and the message at heart as well.

Last year, in preparation for the new series of Trying, I started rewatching the show from the beginning and loved it so much that I had to start pulling out the best quotes from each episode to refer back to. I only got a couple of episodes done last year but I’m picking up the thread again now with some more absolute gems.

So after watching Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet that left me feeling pretty blue, I figured this might be a good way to cheer back up again - the same story but based on garden furniture. If we’re being honest, it’s mostly the pun in the name that attracted me to this, but as I started watching, I was staggered by the calibre of the voice cast. It’s not a great film, really, but the cast do the best they can with what they’re given, and it’s always nice to hear Elton John songs.

After reading the novelisation of the first (fourth) Star Wars movie, I quickly moved on to the next, and this one I found slightly less engaging. The writing is still good and it’s just as effective at painting the picture of the various worlds, but I felt like some of the emotion was missing. The ‘I am your father’ piece just didn’t work so well in the novel as it does in the movie - although potentially that’s just because it’s so iconic. Sitll a good read though.

I’ve put off watching this over and over again because even though I wanted to complete the trilogy on here, I just remembered it being really bad. Actually, it wasn’t as gross or bad as I remembered and was pretty funny in places. Of course there are moments that don’t stand the test of time, and I could really do without Fat Bastard in any capacity, but even those scenes weren’t as bad as my memory suggested. Glad to have completed the set!

Another Doctor Who story and this one was a pretty down to earth and standard Whovian puzzle to be solved. I quite enjoyed it, a village that is being tormented by something, humans being the best and worst that they can be, and the battle between greed and good. The Doctor and Martha have their fair share of trouble to deal with in this but it’s got some good ancillary characters too, and was well read. Enjoyed it.

I’ve seen reviews of this book that aren’t necessarily so positive because readers are used to a certain style of Linwood Barclay and this is a bit different. Luckily, I don’t have that problem, I don’t think I’ve read any of his works before. This was good but it wasn’t quite as coherent as I would have liked. The concept is brilliant and totally believable but it goes a bit far - of course there’s a chance of AI cars being hacked but are they really going to be able to gang up on a person and figure out how to climb an escalator together? I don’t know. Weirdly, it felt a bit derivative of Jurassic Park. But an interesting read, anyway.

This was a lot of fun, Paddington getting up to his usual mischief but for whatever reason I really enjoyed this scrapes more than some of the previous ones. Paddingtong getting confused on board a ship, getting involved in the stock market, and trying his hand at both hairdressing and ballet! Sounds mad but it always works out right in the end.

I’ve definitely seen this before at some time in my life but I couldn’t remember very much about it. I was surprised at the start, it took a really long time to get going - you’re just endlessly waiting for the alien and the kid to make contact and the adventures to start. But when they do, the fun ramps up and it’s just an enjoyable ride. There are some effects and moments that haven’t aged so brilliantly but mostly it stands the test of time exceptionally well.

I’ve seen this before and remember liking it, particularly the music. I’ve a love/hate relationship with Baz Luhrmann’s film-making but this one is on the good side. The scenery and the visual storytelling is perfect. The only real problem with it is the text. I just can’t with Shakespeare and that makes this a bit of a non-starter from that point of view. It’s probably the most accessible the bard has ever been to me but it’s still not what I’m after.

Barry White is iconic, and this album has two of the best songs on there, so a great one to listen to. White has such an incredible voice that I didn’t even mind the song that was more talking than singing (why would you do that when you have such a great talent?). It was a really smooth, engrossing listen and I overall loved it.

I was quite enjoying this album, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from Tyler Hubbard - some solid country bops. Then I got to Back Then Right Now which I thought I absolutely knew as a single, except it wasn’t the song I was expecting. I couldn’t figure if it was an album version or a cover and eventually realised it’s a completely different song to the same titled one by Tenille Arts. So a good album really but let down by that oddity.

This is so good. I listened to the audiobook because it’s read by the cast, and the way it’s structured ultimately feels like a bit of a sketch show featuring the brilliant Ghosts cast. Given that the series came to a satisfying but slightly heartbreaking ending, it’s nice to hear from them again and dig a bit more into the histories of these brilliant characters.

I’m fuming about this film. The first hour was SO GOOD. So good. Great acting, great cinematography, tense pacing and a really intriguing relationship developing between the captors and captives. And then what? Forget all that, it’s not really important. Second half, we’re fighting vampires. And sure, I’m peeved at the twist and too uncultured to appreciate the confidence and art in doing it. But what makes it worse for me is that the last forty minutes were just awful.

Weirdly, I’ve only watched one or two of Simon Reeve’s travel programmes, but I find him intriguing - the book only adds to that. Reading of how he started out with a difficult childhood and turned things around, was a terrorism expert before and after 9/11, and then started his travels around the world. It’s well written and engaging, and I know there’s a second book that I’m keen to get into now as well.

I had never heard of this film and knew nothing going into it which was great because it was a really plesant surprise! The cover made me think it was going to be a bit more of those crude slapstick comedies but it had more heart than that. There were plenty of pratfalls but they were all done well, and it was really funny. I could probably have done with fewer fat jokes because they weren’t that funny and actually didn’t add anything to the film. But the rest of it was so good!

I’m always intrigued by a novelisation of a film and this must be the ultimate, no? It’s really well written, considering it’s in a galaxy far, far away where things aren’t quite the same as here on Earth. It’s pretty close to the film, scene by scene, but it does expand occasionally to give more substance to moments. It does suffer slightly, however, from leaning too much to the now-not-correct Luke’s father content, and attraction between Luke and Leia. But ultimately, I really enjoyed reading it.

The audiobook version of this was read by Freema Agyeman and I thought it worked really well - she put some great heart into the situations, and it felt like a proper old school Doctor Who story. A civilisation being used and abused by aliens, with the Doctor and Martha helping out but not the only ones to save the day, some of the natives show real courage too. A good read.

I remember reading and loving the first two short story collections by Deaver, he has that great ability to tell an intriguing story that is then turned on its head right at the end to make you rethink everything. And this third collection is no different. With any short story collection, there are hits and misses and highs and lows, but overall I loved it. Some familiar characters show up but there are also some standalone stories with absolutely intriguing premises.

After seeing tiny Hayden Panettiere in Remember the Titans, I looked through her film credits and spotted this one that appears to be a Garry Marshall that slipped through our net. Considering the subject matter is taking care of kids which isn’t an area I’m particularly interested in, it’s a very entertaining movie, a heck of a journey and quite moving in places.

I wasn’t expecting it, but the first couple of months of this year have seen a real uptick of movie watching in this household. There’s no rhyme or reason to it but suddenly the bug to watch ALL THE FILMS is back and that means keeping an eye on what’s upcoming actually feels like it has a purpose again, rather than just adding to an overlooked list.

I do find some of the headlines on The B1M videos to be a bit extravagant - it’s the biggest this, the greatest this, the worst of this, etc. etc. But this one about the “world’s most remote infrastructure project” caught my eye because, well, of course it did. The video takes a look at a network of undersea tunnels that is connecting the disparate Faroe Islands and it’s a fascinating watch.

I didn’t know a lot about Public Enemy, but they popped up in a film we watched recently, and that inspired me to listen. It felt very much like N.W.A. and a bit of research proved they were around at the same time and doing similar things, but N.W.A. seemed to capture the public’s imagination a little more than Public Enemy did. I do think it’s a good album but is just missing the hooks that keep you coming back to Straight Outta Compton. Definitely worth a listen if you’ve got some rage to expunge.

I just wasn’t that fussed about this album. The last Vampire Weekend record I listened to was full of highs and lows - the good songs were amazing, but the ones I didn’t care for were hard to listen to twice. Unfortunately for this album, it veers more towards the second genre, less good and there are no bangers on there to claw it back. I’ll leave this one, I reckon.

There’s some interesting ideas in this novel, featuring the Doctor and Martha landing on a planet to save the inhabitants from a massive planet-devouring creature, only to find those on the ground aren’t necessarily much better! The humanised robots are really fun and fascinating, and the way they work together is inspiring, so a good read overall.

So far the record continues that Denzel Washington has never let us down (although I wasn’t that fussed about Training Day). This is a great sporting movie with plenty to say about racism - it’s a bit contrived in that sense, and a bit ‘yay football solved everything’ but there are some good characters and plenty to dig into. I have to say, I would never have expected DW to be outshone by a nine-year-old but Hayden Panettiere is so good in this! Mouthy little precocious child and absolutely hilarious throughout. A lot of fun.

This is the last of the Hornblower series that is currently available as an audiobook, which has been my chosen method of devouring it. I thought this one actually showed some more interesting elements than the previous couple of books, although I was surprised at how much romance was in there. You can tell Hornblower is getting older, being at sea isn’t everything to him now and he’s craving the end of a decades long war. Interesting end to the series, I’ll miss this pompous but self-doubting character.