I liked the format of the story - the highs and lows of a final night on the town for a group of friends, with the flashbacks of a relationship slowly falling apart. Eventually the two strands meet and I was really happy that the end was an affirmation of female strength rather than dropping back into the old familiar.

I was completely convinced that there wouldn’t be a bad Julia Roberts movie, but I was wrong. Couldn’t get past the twenty minute rule on this one, it was awful! She just wasn’t a sympathetic character at all, flipping out about a prophecy that she essentially forced upon herself, ditching her husband for no apparent reason and having a complete meltdown about it, and then jumping in with the young actor starring in the play she wrote so their dialogue was unfathomably pretentious.

Some nice classic Oasis here, this was their debut album. I’ve already consumed (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, and obviously this one doesn’t live quite up to the heights of that. But what I like about this is you can feel all the potential in there. Songs that hit the spot and some that don’t but you just know these guys are gonna hit some heights.

I love Travis but didn’t realise this album was coming out so it was a nice surprise. I really liked listening to it, devoured it straight away and was more than happy to listen twice. The only thing is, it wasn’t that memorable. Looking back from the distance of a few days, I can’t remember what any of these songs were.

This was a spur-of-the-moment choice - pick something random off Netflix and see how it unfolds. It was good actually, a slightly crazy idea but at least a relatively original one. The two leads were good and they had great chemistry together, and there were moments that really made me laugh - the Tiffany song in the car was brilliant.

Every now and then I dip into the world of Zombies Run even though I’m not much of a runner these days. I forgot I had bought this book a while back, and actually reading it now was really uncomfortable! It’s brilliantly written and gets you right into the world they are portraying. But some of the hopeful notes and “being healthy is all you can do right now” messages were surprisingly on point.

Once the assistants met and started bantering with each other, things really picked up. Zoey and Glenn are adorable apart and together, and as I mentioned Pete Davidson stole every scene he was in. The bosses were caricatures really but you get to know a bit more about their motivations as the film unfolds and it’s interesting how the relationships change and evolve.

I really didn’t know anything about this book other than that it had been made into a film that I haven’t actually seen yet. I didn’t realise it was about vampires! But it’s a really interesting read, isolating the protagonist as seemingly the last human left without the vampire virus.

We were looking for something really trashy to watch and thought this upside down take on Big might be the one. However, I wasn’t expecting it to actually be very good! I think our low expectations made it seem better than it actually was, but still, it stood up! The premise of the magical janitor was a bit rubbish, but I think the writers were like we can’t beat Zoltar so let’s just get it over with.

I’ve seen this before a long, long time ago, to the point where I couldn’t really remember anything about it except Yul Brynner was in it. So it was almost new to me, and a lot of fun. It’s a good Western in that it’s not too slow paced, and the action is great but not too bloody. The mission is good, and the rag-tag collection of gunmen make for an interesting group.

It’s such an incredible film. There’s obviously the outlaw on the run side of it, but more than that, it’s about these women and how their friendship sees them through everything life throws at them, whilst they’re also changing and growing and learning how to rub alongside each other even though they’ve changed. I also hadn’t appreciated the Harvey Keitel character who actually seems to understand these women - which is not something you see on screen very often.

The latest iPhone software update introduced the concept of widgets - an ability for apps to take up a bit more space on the home screen and display more useful information than just a link to the individual app. The software was rolled out quickly and at the expense of time for developers to do what they do best, so it’s taking a while for apps to be updated, but the few that I’ve seen so far have been really good.

Love this album. I actually knew a lot more of it than I’d expected (went into it thinking I Try would be the only piece I recognised) and I really loved the whole thing. It felt like what I wanted the Billie Holiday album to be - an incredible and unique voice but, thankfully, overlaid not over jazz but general pop tunes.

Well, this wasn’t my favourite of Bon Jovi’s work. Some of the songs were okay, and it was listenable, but it really feels like they’re trying too hard. It’s clear that Jon and friends have some things to say and they’re not afraid to get political, but the effort in trying to get a point across overshadows the actual music. The lyrics are, well: ‘I’ll keep my social distance but I’d like to give the world a hug’. Oof.

This was another fun entry in the 87th Precinct series, with a crime that initially seems solved but has a bigger story behind it. Only the hero, Steve Carella, is convinced that there’s more to the crime than first appears and he has to convince those around him to help him out. Meanwhile, the love lives of various detectives is also interwoven in the story, which is impressive because it’s not a particularly long book.

This is a really good documentary, that tells the story of the cafe from its humble beginnings to being more famous than its capacity can handle, through the journey of new and aspiring songwriters alongside those who have been around for a while. It threw up some really interesting arguments too - people were saying that it’s not about the building, it’s about the songs, but others arguing that you can’t just move the under-threat building to a new location as you’ll be overwriting history. Would a Bluebird Cafe somewhere else in Nashville have the same impact?

Picked this up when I saw that Lauren Mayberry from CHVRCHES had tweeted about it and the concept seemed interesting. It took me a little while to get into it but once I did, I really liked it. The first few chapters aren’t as interesting as the rest, I think. They’re a general overview of fandom which included why people sit outside venues waiting and what it means to be in a fan club.

What a lovely book this is. Simon Barnes takes 23 examples of ways you can get in touch with nature as simply as possible - whether that is just taking the time to sit outside and soak it in, or learn a couple of bird songs, or invest in some good binoculars - there’s something in there that everyone can try.

It’s a good mystery at the heart, with a few twists and turns along the way. I wasn’t so bothered by the astrological stuff, rolling my eyes occasionally just as Strike himself did. But I liked the case very gradually revealing itself over the course of the year. And it was interesting to see the new dynamic in the agency itself as Robin adjusts to a management role as well as the normal investigative work.

With the world imploding, I’m occasionally in the mood for a soft and squishy rom-com style book, and this seemed to fit the bill. Rosie’s husband leaves her with some pretty dire warnings about how her orderliness will keep her single and unhappy for the significant future. So she upends her entire life, buys a van, leaves London and hits the road, dispensing tea and cakes at various festivals. Along the way she finds friends and love, and a little bit of happiness.

I liked this a considerable amount more than My Best Friend’s Wedding. Firstly, it was clear from the beginning that the pair would make a great couple and had a lot of chemistry. Then, he didn’t do anything outrageously horrible to try and break up the wedding - sure he dropped hints and played the game a bit, but he didn’t get anyone fired from the job they absolutely loved.

All the reviews seem to dislike this one and much prefer the first, but I feel the exact opposite. It was so much better when the pair got on right from the start. Well, perhaps got on isn’t the right saying, but they at least had a grudging respect for each other.

It’s a worthy sequel to the first movie but it’s not exactly what I would say a success. It’s fun, the comedy is a bit more obvious and the scares a bit more toned down, so it’s an easier ride. The child is the most unbelievable kid character I’ve ever seen - he was barely scared by anything, far too clever for his own good, and never got dirty even when running through a desert or a jungle.

Here’s the annoying thing: I may have read this before, I don’t remember, but I read it now because we watched the film adaptation. And although in 9 times out of 10 the book is always better than the movie, in this instance I’m not so sure. If I’d read this before watching it, it’d probably have been a straight up 5 out of 5, John Grisham writes law adventures exceedingly well, of course.

I only really started to like this film once the mis-matched pair started to get along, so that was probably the last 15 minutes of the film. Up until then, Nick Nolte’s character was just plain awful - grumpy, racist, rude, aggressive - all for no apparent reason and despite the fact that it wasn’t really getting him anywhere.

I remember really liking this when I was younger but I haven’t seen it in ages and it was curious seeing how it stands the test of time. It takes quite a long time to get going, the movie, particularly with the history class at the beginning that turns into the battle sequence that is still a couple of years behind where the actual story starts.

I knew going into this that I’m not really a fan of jazz, but having watched Forever Young which features the wonderful Billie Holiday singing The Very Thought Of You, I thought it was worth a shot. The album was pretty much as I expected - Billie’s absolutely exquisite vocals layered over jazz music. And as anticipated, I didn’t enjoy the jazz but you can’t argue with Billie’s voice.

I was expecting good things from this album, and I wasn’t disappointed. Really catchy songs right from the get-go, some good messages in there but perhaps not quite so righteous as the last album. There isn’t really a weak point throughout the album, until you get to the last two tracks. For some reason, Keith couldn’t decide between the We Were track by himself, and the We Were track featuring Eric Church… so he put them both on the album, one after the other. It’s really weird to have finished a song and then the exact same song starts over again.

I, like many many people, thought that the Ted Lasso series wasn’t going to be anything special. I was vaguely aware of the character, designed for a one-off sketch, and yea, that fish-out-of-water trope can be funny. But to bring the Southern American football coach to the UK to manage a Premier League team seemed ripe for sub-par comedy. I was expecting there to be a lot of jokes at the expense of the British way of life, lots of men bouncing off each other in the locker room, and a bit of a boorish ten episodes.

I’m sure I’ve read this before but couldn’t remember much about it except the sweet shop situation, obviously. It’s actually a neat little book, telling interesting stories from a childhood, rather than your standard run-of-the-mill memoir. I don’t know if it’s aimed at kids or not but it has that simple feeling that children and adults can enjoy equally.

Our progress on the South West Coast Path this year has been slow, or more precisely, non-existant, given everything that has been going on in the world. And because I am the kind of person who doesn’t focus on finishing one thing but quite quickly flits off to another project, I’ve found another path! This time, the England Coast Path! Why do 630 miles when you can do 2,795?

Although this was marginally better than My Best Friend’s Wedding, it’s another movie where everyone is particularly unlikeable. Jennifer Aniston goes along with the lie for no reason, the friend comes up with the lie in the first place, the boss has weird ways of trying to keep employees and thus forces the lie. Kevin Bacon is just a rogue with very little redeemable qualities, and although I did think Nick was cute, ultimately he was a bit clingy and didn’t go along with the plan that he agreed to. And still liked her after she was so bloody horrible to him. So… no. Not Aniston’s best work, and not one of my favourite films.

This was such a good film! I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it before, and only watched it because it keeps popping up in ‘people who watched this also watched…’ searches. Three brilliant women joining forces to take revenge - but even better than that, the ending was fab that it wasn’t about revenge but about making things better for the future.

Recently, I’ve really struggled to find a TV show that grabs me and keeps me interested and also sits outside of the Apple TV+ catalogue. I’ve talked at length about how great their shows are and for whatever reason, despite there being so much (too much?) choice out there, I’ve barely been able to get past the first episode of anything. I was starting to wonder if the quality of Apple’s shows hadn’t ruined other TV for me!

Well this was not at all what I was expecting and not in a good way. All the characters are pretty terrible people except George, who was wonderful and honest and supportive and really quite a loveable creature. Everyone else is just mean, duplicitous and acts insane.

If you’re any kind of space nut you’ll have heard of this podcast already - it’s been around for two series now and is an outstanding piece of production that drags you right into the heart of space missions and doesn’t let you go until they’re over. 13 Minutes to the Moon is a BBC podcast that started with the story of Apollo 11, and specifically centred on that descent from the Apollo craft to the lunar surface.

I listened to the audiobook of this, a while back, and realised for whatever reason, I never got around to reviewing it. So I quickly whipped through it again. It’s an interesting insight into the journey of a young girl who was conceived near the site of the Chernobyl reactor, to a five-times Grand Slam champion.

I think this is one of the weirdest films that I’ve not actively stopped watching. I’m aware of its cult classic status but have never seen it and didn’t have any idea what it was about. I was expecting a normal, if slightly offbeat, teen movie, but this (a bit like The Craft) takes a very dark turn and never comes back.

I tend to enjoy Panic! at the Disco music but this album doesn’t work for me at all. There are a handful of good songs in there but what really annoyed me was the variety. It’s like they took a million different music ideas and threw them into an album - different instruments, different styles, every single song was nothing like what had gone before.

It really stands up to the hype test - glorious from start to finish. There are some real highlights, of course, and Underdog massively stands out from the crowd. But I loved the somewhat chill feeling throughout. It feels like a solid, unified work, lots of self-awareness and learning and feeling good about yourself.

Although this one isn’t perfect, it stands up pretty well. It’s sentimental and soppy, but I love the semi-time travel elements to it, there’s a romance that isn’t the main obvious story, and then the Daniel character advising Elijah’s young self on romance is just adorable.

I really don’t know where to start with this film. I couldn’t remember a lot about the first one, but know that whilst the story wasn’t that great, it was the characters that endeared and made it worthwhile. Unfortunately, all that great work was undone with this one.

New software became available this week for Apple devices - phones, iPads, TV, and watches - and brought lots of new and intriguing functionality. I can’t wait to get best use out of widgets to organise the phone home screens, tracking sleep on the watch, and scribbling various things on iPad with the pencil. But one of the things I didn’t think I would be so interested in has totally grabbed my attention, and that is sharing Apple Watch faces. Putting together the ideal watch face is something I wish I was better at but just can’t get interested in. I’ve settled on two main faces for my watch, one focusing more on activity, the other on weather and calendar info. I flip between those two and that’s about it.

I know the main Culture Club classics but I don’t really know a lot else, so it was interesting to go back to the start of their journey and this debut album. Ultimately, it didn’t really work for me, it felt like they were throwing a lot of different ideas at the wall and seeing what stuck.

This feels like an album that probably shouldn’t work - The Chicks have been through a lot, have changed their name, and have used the extensive pain and misery of divorce to fuel the songwriting throughout this record. But somehow it does. It’s angry, sure, and if you’re feeling in a zen mood, it’s not going to work for you.

Everything is open Nothing is set in stone Rivers turn to ocean Oceans tide you home

When the first episodes of Ted Lasso were released on Apple TV+, I tweeted this: “Genuinely hoping for Apple TV+ to deliver a stinker at some point and I thought Ted Lasso would be it. But my word, those first three episodes made me laugh and cry. Gorgeous.” I have a lot, A LOT, more to say about Ted Lasso but I’m waiting for the series to end before I formulate some thoughts. However, in the meantime, I have managed to find a show on Apple TV+ that I haven’t liked! At last! Now I can sleep.

After being less enthusiastic about the last couple of Bond books, I really enjoyed this one. Things seemed to pick up and I feel like it tied in really closely to the film, I could picture a lot of the events in my head. It’s an odd one to begin with, though, as there are ten full chapters before James Bond even shows up. Instead, we’re with the bad guys finding out what makes them tick. It’s unusual but I quite liked it.

It’s really good. One of those lovely stories with a great cast doing nice things and just trying to make something work against the odds. I love that Celia’s character is so ready to embrace the cultural differences that make London work. And the family dynamic that they’ve created because they’re not really family at all. Heartwarming.

I’m amazed at how closely the style of the writing reflects the original author’s. The way that Frost goes about his business, the conversations he has, and the many threads of story that weave in and out of each other, it was all exactly as I expected. There are some brutal crimes, some more simple than others, and plenty of arguments, flirting and of course, insomnia. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to read the next one.