Based on nothing but my faith in Roland Emmerich, I purchased this film and was quite looking forward to it. What a let down! It made no sense, bombing sequence after bombing sequence, flitting here and there, and not really making any progress with the plot. They were explaining things but I couldn’t follow it.

It’s almost impossible to know what to write about this film. It’s such a weird one! The concept is pretty straight-forward, and as I mentioned at some point, has a lot of similarities with Three Men & a Baby, except with firefighters.

This was good, funny, and Rose and Tiffany were both great. I’m not sure the story totally held up - it was super short so it felt like they sort of ran out of ideas. I’ve got nothing against a short film, it’s a breath of fresh air in the current Hollywood climate, but I think Salma’s character should have messed with them more for it to really have the effect that it did.

Quick and easy read, this one, and I wasn’t sure it was going to compel me for long as I started, but somehow it kept drawing me further and further in. There’s not a lot of action, really, with most of the story taking two forms – Paige is a widow who channels some of her grief into digging a vegetable garden in her back yard, to the disgust of her neighbours. And at the same time, her new boss is instigating competitions to try and get the best from the team and it’s not sitting well with everyone.

It was good! I’ve been trying to avoid most things Star Wars in anticipation of the film so I hadn’t realised there was such a negative reaction to this movie, I can’t really see what’s wrong with it? Good story, great characters, huge respect to Carrie Fisher, fun new creatures, interesting twist to the Rey story, and a big battle scene at the end. Sounds pretty Star Wars to me.

Actually, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. The story basically makes sense, there were a couple of moments where I laughed, and Sonic at least didn’t look horrific anymore. But it really wasn’t a good movie, Jim Carrey’s star-power couldn’t cover the fact that he didn’t really have any good lines, and I just felt sorry for Marsden having to act against nothing for most of the time.

Going into this lockdown, I wasn’t particularly worried about staying entertained as there’s enough content out there to last a lifetime. I am super impressed with some of the things people are coming up with though, to help bring a bit of joy into everyone’s life, and if we’re honest, also to keep themselves busy as well. I wanted to give a shout out to Jimmy Carr’s Little Tiny Quiz of the Lockdown - a daily ten question quiz that is a lot of fun and a significant highlight of the day. Part of it is the set up of the quiz - five general knowledge, five on a usually more visual theme, at 6pm every day with answers coming at 8pm. Part of it is Jimmy Carr’s deadpan style, and I’m loving the consistency of it. Every day, you can rely on getting some questions to answer.

I was perusing through some older audiobook purchases and discovered Stephen Fry reading through the second Paddington book. What could be more perfect in the current crazed situation than going on some adventures with a beloved bear? It’s simple, it’s fun, it has great characters and it’s well-read by Mr Fry. Perfect.

I love this movie. It’s not a good film, I grant you, but it’s a cult classic and one of my favourites. Good ol’ Kevin Costner wielding the bow and arrow, against Alan Rickman’s incredibly camp Sheriff. Actually, the film stood up better than I thought it would, although the first half really does seem low budget - the sets are so obviously put together, it’s wild.

It’s hard to describe this movie. It’s powerful, awful, perfect. Jordan is great as the lawyer who is doing great work but remains humble. Foxx does a good turn of wronged but realistic, quiet but all the more moving for it.

A good second book in the Will Robie canon, and one that very cleverly introduces a new character to the series. Robie’s meticulousness has taken a hit after the events of the last book but he’s still on top form as he uncovers the bigger plot beneath his orders.

The only highlight of the movie was seeing the familiar faces. It was good to get a glimpse of Starfleet and how that part of things works, but that was overshadowed by literally everything else. Very little characterisation, against a neat mystery to unravel but that could have been told in half the time.

The concept of t.A.T.u. is a bit gimmicky, but if you brush aside the novelty act they were going for, this is still actually a really good album. I like the songs, the way they are put together, that sort of on-the-run, the-worlds-against-us vibe, it draws you in.

Such a good album! I was expecting good things because I really, really love Nice to Meet Ya but actually the whole album stacks up against it. It’s some good guitar-style pop, well crafted and sung well, what’s not to like?

I don’t quite know how I’ve got this far in my lifetime without reading this - considered the original time travel story! It’s a good one, I thought, showing great imagination but along with that grounding in science. Don’t just expect people to go along with something, at least try to make it something possible.

It was okay as a sequel but it didn’t quite live up to the first one. Tommy Lee Jones was excellent, really stole quite a lot of the scenes and it was disappointing he didn’t have anyone as good as Harrison Ford to play off. The story wasn’t as good, too complicated, and by the end, when the adorable one got shot, I just checked out, really.

It wasn’t that great, really. It introduces all the characters we need to know for the movie, and of course opens up a lot of questions in terms of timelines, but it’s fine. I thought there was too much fighting and not enough story, but I did like the relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka. There were a good couple of twists at the end too, I suppose.

Actually, the story made more sense than the trailer made it seem. It was still loud and bright and glittery but I didn’t end up with a headache. I felt like the songs weren’t as strong, but I did enjoy country trolls and there was quite a lot of fun in guessing who all the famous people behind the voices were. So that’s something.

One of the things keeping everyone going during lockdown is bonus quizzing from a variety of sources, and that has reminded me that I have been meaning to do a Mastermind update. I rarely pay attention to the quiz show, as good as it is, but just occasionally they pop up with a subject I love and then I can’t help but share the questions. Previously celebrities have taken on Back to the Future, Friends and The Archers. This time, it was a non-celebrity edition and once again everyone’s favourite time travel trilogy was the specialist subject.

I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting to like this one that much, as I already thought Irish Son was a great song and I’ve loved Almost Here with Delta Goodrem since I first heard it. The rest of the album totally stacks up - although I have to admit to not being surprised Guy Chambers had his hands all over it.

Great album! I’m loving how the current state of pop music is firmly rooted in the 80s, and Dua is a perfect example of that. She’s embracing the vibe and running through it from start to finish. You can tell that she’s grown up a little for this album and has some things to say. Boys Will Be Boys is a great song that a lot of girls are going to relate to.

It was very similar to the first in terms of crazy action sequences within the game, lots of over-acting, great fun seeing the characters inhabiting different bodies at different times (although a bit confusing) and underneath it all, an actually heart-warming story about friends and growing up (either to adulthood, or coming to terms with growing older).

Obviously, the music is epic, and you can easily see John Travolta outperforming everyone around him, but otherwise it was pretty boring, hasn’t aged at all well, no one in it is a particularly nice character, and I know that that only gets worse as the story progresses.

We’ve had a sort of love/hate relationship with these ‘Has Fallen’ movies, because they’ve not been very good but they are completely entertaining so it’s not the end of the world. I’m not sure we would have gotten around to this one if we weren’t looking for something particularly action-heavy and thinking-light.

Another good book in the Death in Paradise series. I love the TV show, still, even though it is predictable as anything these days and not featuring any of the original cast. The book, however, that is stuck in the past with the original crew, and it’s quite nice to revisit those days.

This film completely crept up on me. We were looking for some kind of mindless action to distract from the world right now, and Apple had discounted this one as a rental, so in a rare decisive mood, I just went for it. I wasn’t expecting anything and actually it was a pleasant surprise.

When it was announced that we should all lock ourselves away and keep ourselves entertained within the four walls of our house, I didn’t get too carried away thinking of all the things I could achieve. It’s not like that. But I did think I might be able to blog a bit more than I have so far (read: no blogging at all). Unfortunately, marshalling the mind towards cohesive paragraphs isn’t that easy when there’s a global apocalypse happening outside the window. What I have been managing to do is distract myself with music, movies and books, and then write about those. So that’s something.

I climbed aboard the High Flying Birds train on Who Built the Moon, so was interested to see how it all began for Noel and his new band. I really enjoyed this album, actually, it’s got echoes of what I love in the third studio album but is its own thing - and probably closer to the old Oasis days.

Yay! Third album from Kelsea, and she’s still not let us down. Great songs right from the start but there are some stand-outs. Hole in the Bottle is an unapologetic tale of getting through the day the only way you know how.

It’s a great way of showing the side of the story for those left behind, but also that there’s a great bond of friendship for people thrust together in unusual circumstances. Funny moments, sad moments, breakthroughs, arguments, tantrums and ultimately an inspirational performance. Perfect.

I had an interesting journey through this one. At first, I wasn’t convinced at all - the first half hour was boring, predictable, derivative, Vin Diesel doing what he does. I was rolling my eyes. But then, when the twist happened and things started unravelling, it became far more interesting! By the end, I was really enjoying the whole thing!

This was a really good film, great cast, with Samuel L Jackson stealing the show at every opportunity. He’s the backbone of a movie that does a great job at explaining the maths behind it whilst also being entertaining and moving - the inequality on display is just the worst.

Right, so we watched this because the first one was okay, it has Demi Moore added to the fun, and we wanted to check it off the list before watching the reboot with Elizabeth Banks. We’re completionists like that. Oof, I really wish we hadn’t bothered. It was so bad.

I’ve tried to read this a few times, I know the first few pages almost off by heart. Naturally, as a fan of Ioan Gruffudd, I loved the TV show but it’s taken a while for the books to grab me as well. This time, I listened to the audiobook as read by Christian Rodska, and it was really good. I like that it doesn’t shy away from the nautical terminology but equally is easy enough to follow.

From the moment I saw the trailer for this, I was looking forward to it so I was superbly excited when the pre-order finally downloaded. Thankfully, it lived up to every expectation. A fantastic mystery at the heart of it all, with plenty of moments you’re completely led up the garden path, suspicious of people who have nothing to do with it, and tying yourself up in knots trying to figure out what happened.

As a companion to the Apple TV show of the same name, this book features the stories of a huge variety of people who made their way to America by a variety of different means. Some are hugely successful, some are just scraping by, some are happy and some are still searching, but all of them have a fascinating story to tell.

The enforced hibernation that the world is undergoing right now means I’ve managed to whip through the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series is super quick time. After highlighting five of my favourite episodes from the first series, it seems only right to do the same for the second. I enjoyed this season more, mostly because the characters seemed more settled in themselves. The trio of Kirk, Spock and McCoy had more meaningful conversations alongside some fun banter and what appeared to be real, genuine friendships. There were some episodes that didn’t quite live up to my high expectations but mostly, I thought it was a great season, and here are five reasons why:

I used to be a big fan of horror movies but more recently have gone off them somewhat - I don’t think this is out and out horror but it’s certainly not something I would have chosen to watch if it wasn’t for wanting to support the early release dates. I’m glad I did end up watching it though, because it was interesting.

I love some Depeche Mode, I really do, but it always surprises me when the albums kicks off and I’m bobbing my head along with it. Unfortunately, the first time I listened to this I had it on shuffle so I got a bit confused but second time through was better.

I hate to jump on the bandwagon but this is a really great album and I can see why it thrust Lizzo into the spotlight. Obviously Good as Hell is the tune that broke her, and isn’t on here, but there are some real bangers.

A few things about the background to watching this movie: Its release was brought forward to digital rather than going to cinemas due to the global lockdown currently underway. That meant we were keen to watch it regardless of what it was all about because we’ve been waiting for this moment! Films available at the same time as the cinema (or as they should be in the cinema if the cinemas were open). Heaven.

I’ve listened to this before but realised I hadn’t reviewed it which was an oversight. And in the current tense climate of confusion and general overwhelming-ness, I figured listening to some guy telling stories of him being a bit silly during his life is exactly the right thing. This book is based on a feature in Josh Widdicombe’s radio show, which I’ve never heard, but has James recounting moments from his past where he’s gotten into a scrape.

Not sure how we stumbled upon this film, but a good comedy is always what’s needed in times like this. And it was a really good comedy - an interesting idea, well executed, with great work from Billy Crystal. Lisa Kudrow was pretty much being Phoebe but she had her moments too.

This was so good! I’ve never heard of the TV show or the film but I obviously know Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones and they were both excellent. I loved that everyone in this was good at their jobs and doing some great work but still managing to just miss each other. There weren’t any rubbish cops or anything like that.

I’d previously read half of this, which is annoying, because I’d never quite got to the bit where the mother and son duo escape from the room they are being held in. This book staggers me, partly because it’s such a well told story based on such an horrific crime, but also because it’s completely engaging despite being the scatty and unformed mind of a sheltered five-year-old.

I remembered watching this a long time ago and liking it, so I thought we could give it another go (although my other attempts at watching films I liked from my youth has not gone well so far). This one didn’t let me down too much, although it was frustrating to see the obviously pretty Garofalo doubting herself quite so much.

This was so much better than I thought it was going to be. We only really knew of this because Boseman had appeared on the Graham Norton sofa to sell it, and it sounded interesting. With everything going on in the world at the moment, and our brains pretty consistently fried, we wanted some action adventure goodness to keep us going.

I’ve read a handful of mountaineer and adventurer books and I think I want to read more, but I had to re-start with one of the stalwarts of British climbing, Chris Bonington. This book charts his entire life so each of the main expeditions isn’t written about in too much detail, I think I would have liked more, but it’s a good way to get an overview of what an interesting and sometimes exciting life Bonington has had.

The most recent series of Doctor Who came to an end a week or so ago, the second full series to feature the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker. But is she really the Thirteenth Doctor? Such revelations in this series! Spoilers and stuff follow, so do be careful if you read on. I’m talking to myself again. That’s a good sign. Firstly, Jodie continued to be wonderful. Her Doctor had a bit more emotional fallout to deal with this time round, and it was interesting to see her isolating from the group a little bit towards the beginning of the series. It just showed off Jodie’s range though, and the one moment that stands out for me is when she was talking to herself in that final episode. So good and so difficult to do without looking weird.

I thought this was going to be more out and out funny, but actually there were a lot of serious edges to it. Jack Black does a great job, especially considering he doesn’t really have anyone to riff off. The kids are great but not exactly comedy partners, so he’s doing a lot of work to keep things moving.