I’ve heard of this film, I mean who doesn’t know that morning greeting, but I really didn’t know anything about it. Was glad to have watched it, it’s a movie that showcases just how gripping watching Robin Williams do anything can be. He’s off on his own, riffing on the radio, no doubt improvising all of it, and I didn’t understand half of what he was saying but still loved it.

Another good entry in the John Wick franchise, I hadn’t realised how much I’d been looking forward to it until it popped up available to watch. The violence at the beginning was… a bit much for me, if I’m honest. I don’t remember the others being quite so bad - I think because there was so much hand-to-hand and knife stuff. After Wick got his hands on some guns, it was a little better.

Bicester Village has a couple of bears keeping watch over all the shoppers. Not going to argue with them!

Checked Paddington off the list of fictional things to photograph in London railway stations. Next up, Platform 9 and 3 / 4.

Been flitting around here and there on the South West Coast Path, and whilst you can’t deny the beauty of the Jurassic Coast, there’s something very special about Cornish shorelines as well.

I was expecting this to be more of a rock/punk album, all guitars and shouting, but actually it was a bit more muso than that. There was a lot of drumming, lots of musical interludes, and a variety of vocals - singing, shouting, talking, all sorts.

You have to go into this album knowing that it’s old school country, but once you’ve got the right head on, it’s a really good collection of tracks. There are some great collaborators on board, including Stevie Nicks, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, James Taylor and Johnny Cash.

This was such a disappointment. Putting two great women together like this should work out with a great movie, but it just didn’t work from start to finish. It took too long to get them together, and then they were enemies rather than working together to con someone which would have been far more fun.

I’ve watched this one a lot when I was a kid but not so much since then, and when it was recently released on Apple TV, I wanted to snap it up and watch it again. Convincing Mr C to get on board wasn’t easy but eventually I wore him down. I couldn’t promise him that it was a good film, because in my memories it wasn’t the best, despite the fact that I loved it. But actually, on this latest watch, I was pleasantly surprised.

I didn’t know much about Hairspray before seeing the live version in 2016, and since then have also seen it in the theatre. I thought it was about time we saw the musical film version because, my god, what a cast! Every single person is a huge name and together it becomes a melting pot of talent. In fact, the only person that doesn’t really work for me is John Travolta. And that’s not because he’s not brilliant, but I didn’t like his Dr Evil take on the mum.

This movie was not what I’d expected it to be at all! The start and the end kinda were - women sticking it to the man and getting one over on their misogynistic boss - but the middle, oh boy that goes places I certainly didn’t expect. Stealing bodies from hospitals, tying up people for weeks, WEEKS, in their own homes, the dream sequences with cartoon bunnies and stuff… I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.

Actually, not an elephant, but the unique selling point of Dudley Zoo is that it’s also a castle. The animals are milling around the ruin walls and you get the experience of visiting a zoo but also visiting a castle. There’s a variety of animals in the castle grounds, and the zoo does a good job of offering up some good views and some things I’d not seen before - the ability to go through a little tunnel and pop up in a little cupola in the middle of the lynx exhibit, for example. That was kinda freaky, but fun too.

Oh, this was such a predictable film. We basically knew the ending before it even started, and it was such a poor man’s Save the Last Dance, I couldn’t quite believe it. The story was very similar, but I wasn’t convinced that the stakes that got the boy killed were high enough and a lot of decisions made by the characters along the way didn’t make sense.

I had a sudden desire to watch a detective movie, so searched for a list of the best and this one popped up. I’d never heard of it, and it seems like it should be more famous than it is - it’s got a tremendous cast and tells an interesting story.

My word, what is this film? It feels like it desperately wanted to be Die Hard on a boat but it fails at almost every turn. Seagal has almost no expression or chemistry or maybe even acting ability, and teamed up with Eleniak… well, it’s not a relationship that is going to go far.

Some of the recent Marvel news that has been filtering out of Hollywood has made me feel like this is a film series I just don’t want to follow anymore. Combine that with how much I didn’t enjoy the two-part Infinity War and Endgame story, and I was losing interest by the second. I was confident that every single film that went by was getting lower and lower scores from me and that it was all going to hell in a handbasket.

This is just a solid Billy Ocean album. If you like his style, old school R&B, then you’ll like the album, and I really do. There’s some standout tracks, obviously the single Love really Hurts Without You, and some that don’t quite age as well as you’d hope. Any song that talks about little girls doesn’t work anymore, even if it doesn’t mean what it sounds like it means.

Took a little while to get my head around this one, after the bitterness of Reputation. The first track is something of a similar vibe and I was worried we were going to be in for another hour of ranting at the enemy. Thankfully, Taylor seems to have mellowed a little, and this album is much more like 1989.

It took me a long time to get round to watching this film, despite the fact Mr C has been saying how good it is for many years. I think it might be because Madonna is in it, and, for whatever reason, that was putting me off. Never mind though, because I’ve watched it now and oh my god, I loved it. I really think it has shot up to be one of my favourite films. The women are all brilliant, the relationships interesting, the situation stressful and competitive and sporting and sad and overwhelming all in equal measure.

Loved this! From start to finish it was brilliant. Funny, good story and a legitimate spy action thriller underneath it all. I didn’t even see the twist coming, although probably should have done. Loved the relationship between Kunis and McKinnon and how it evolved and eventually got closer.

It was a weird one. Couldn’t quite place the tone of it, and so many odd things were happening. And I didn’t really get the Les character at all, he was kind of annoying, didn’t have much of a personality, and clearly didn’t want to be a bad kid - either go rogue or don’t kiddo, otherwise don’t waste my time.

I’ve seen this once or twice before when I was younger, and I vaguely remembered it being one of those movies that is full of cringeworthy moments. They’re not really my thing anymore. But we got it in a bundle of movies and thought it was worth a shot. It wasn’t. Just not funny. Twenty minute rule very much in effect.

Stumbled across this beauty on my Jurassic Coast travels. The Geoneedle features many different types of rock to commemorate just how much history is on display in the area. From the National Trust page: The Geoneedle at Orcombe Point is an impressive landmark constructed of the various rock types found along the World Heritage coastline. It was commissioned from public artist, sculptor and designer Michael Fairfax to commemorate the opening of the World Heritage Site and was unveiled by HRH the Prince of Wales in 2002.

Had to get the National Parks badge on my Apple Watch, so where better to go for a bit-more-than-a-stroll than the Jurassic Coast?

Quite liked this one, although I did think it went on a bit. I liked the whodunit at the heart of it, the mystery and the guessing game of who could possibly have done such terrible things. I wasn’t convinced by Michael Douglas’ off-the-rails cop and how quickly he fell for this woman. As if his job means literally nothing to him, he didn’t even think twice.

Having watched the very young Jonas Brothers in the movie Camp Rock, it seemed only right to hear what their debut album was all about. It was quite good, actually, just some pure pop. It actually put me in mind of Busted - I feel like Jonas are the band that Busted want to be, truly American, with the guitars and jumping around and pop-ness.

I had very few preconceptions of what this album would be like going in - I’ve found Kaiser Chiefs to be hit and miss in the pass. Some hits but more recently perhaps a few misses. Thankfully, this album I found to be really good. Short and sweet, lots of tunes, the occasional anthem. It’s stacked full of confidence and some uplifting messages - people know how to love one another. I really enjoyed it.

I really thought this was going to be a problematic movie - the concept doesn’t lend itself well to the more modern gender discussions we’re all having at the moment. But actually, put your trust in Garry Marshall, it wasn’t too bad.

I love a good sports film, and this had everything a good sports film needs - the heroes, the villains, the hope, the glory, the triumph and tragedy, and a last gasp, all eyes pinned on the final moments… to then deliver the results one way or the other. But on top of all that, it also had some interesting drama. I’m not gonna come out and say these guys are the best actors I’ve ever seen, but you really felt for them being stuck in this small town where football is considered the only way out.

So the new trailer for Apple TV+ series The Morning Show looks gooood. I didn’t want it to be good because I have too much TV to watch as it is, but trust Apple to dive in with some quality TV straight from the off. It’s some of my favourite people and it looks dramatic and interesting and dammit… gonna have to clear some time in my schedule.

I really loved this. Firstly, I love a memoir-style book based on a challenge and reading 12 self-help books in 12 months definitely falls under that genre. Marianne decided to see if some of the most popular self-help books would help revamp her life and threw herself headfirst into the task of actually doing what the books say rather than just reading them from the comfort of your sofa and expecting your life to change.

I recently decided I wanted slightly more control over my news intake than occasionally looking at a news site, randomly perusing Apple News, or constantly being a day behind on Twitter. I thought, ah remember the good old days when you could subscribe to whatever RSS feeds you liked and follow the news straight to your RSS inbox? Why not try that again? Turns out, it’s really difficult. People don’t really do RSS anymore, and if they are doing RSS, they’re not talking about it. Only a handful of websites actively display a link to an RSS feed, otherwise it may as well not exist – because how do you find it?

I rated Infinity War a 1 out of 5, and this movie gets a 2 because it left me slightly less despondent and down in the dumps about everything. But only marginally. There was more to like in here. They did the time travel thing I like of revisiting existing activities from a different angle (seeing Starlord dancing outside of his headphones was hilarious), only slightly tinged by not being able to remember it all from first time round.

I’ve seen this film once or maybe twice a long, long time ago and I knew that I loved it. I’ve been waiting, not-so-patiently, for it to appear anywhere, pleeeease, and finally it popped up on Amazon Prime. Hooray! Thankfully, it lived up to my nostalgia and the hype I’d given it within our household. Funny, with interesting characters, doing twisty-turny type things and leaving you guessing. I really wasn’t keen on Gene Hackman’s character, and I suppose his story felt a little unfinished, although of course it ended with the most final act of all."

I can’t quite remember how we hit upon this album to listen to, other than a little bit of wine and lots of fun music discussions. I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to it, only knowing of Jump - and only that because of the Friends With Benefits and Pitch Perfect references.

Loved this album! There weren’t too many brand new choices out, so I looked back to last year to see something I might have missed and was flabbergasted to realise I hadn’t listened to Janelle Monáe! Make Me Feel is obviously an absolute Prince-style classic, but the entire album lives up to the hype.

This maybe wasn’t the rom-com I was hoping for, it was far more serious than the current breed of comedies. But it was still good and raised a lot of interesting questions about love and friendship. It was quite nice, as well, that there was no real bad guy, although Vince did the best he could to be hated. It was just people falling in and out of love and doing their best to deal with it.

A visit by the Thames, and good use of the Spectre app.

I loved this and I’m not ashamed of it - it’s exactly what you think it’s going to be. A group of Disney teens running around singing, dancing and getting into scrapes both romantic and otherwise. It took a minute or two to adjust to seeing all the baby-faces, and let’s be honest there are a lot of flaws in the way the story comes together. But it’s fun, and it’s musical, and everyone is friends by the end of it. What’s not to like?

Hmm, a very quick read this one, it was an easy thriller that kept me turning pages but I do have to admit that I guessed the twist early on. It was well written in the sense that it kept you wanting to see what happened next, but at the same time there seemed to be an endless amount of Russian Dolls and it felt quite drawn out.

I don’t always like comedy fiction because it can be quite hard to get the right tone coming across in the written word. This book, though, grabbed me straight away with relatable and funny characters getting themselves into all kinds of mishaps. Quite quickly, you realise that someone has been shot with an arrow at a holiday park, and then we spend a lot of time seeing how events led up to that, whilst also keeping an eye on the police investigation into what happened.

It was really good! In the category of rom-com, although the rom is mostly happening to our protagonist’s brother, it tugged at a lot of feelings for me. I did not enjoy school either, kids are mean, so it was interesting to see what it might be like to be confronted with someone from your past like that.

Hmm, conflicted on this one. Overall, I think liked it but that comes with a heck of a lot of caveats. The good is that the acting was top notch, it was a well crafted movie, and the story revealed itself quite well. I can see the hand of Gillian Flynn all over it. Everything that happened was important to the story, nothing was throwaway. But there were a few things that annoyed me.

Add this app to the pile of really useful things that I didn’t know I needed. Hindsight app’s sole goal is to give you a countback timer from the last time you did something. So it might be that you are trying to break a habit – the last time I smoked a cigarette – or that you are trying to keep to a goal – visit my friend every two weeks – or simply that you want to have a way of being accountable for something – last time I stacked the dishwasher and forgot to switch it on.

Very interesting book, this one. A relatively short young adult novel set in what at first appears to be a utopian future but gradually the rose-tinted glasses are taken off. I like that it’s a gradual process to understanding that this seemingly perfect world is not all it’s cracked up to be. That we go on the journey of discovery with Jonah who has his own issues to deal with as well. I thought the end felt a bit rushed, Jonah suddenly flipped and decided to do what he did, and of course it doesn’t come to a satisfying conclusion at all. But, for me, it’s not really about that, it’s about the topics broached within.

If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve already drifted away from Strictly Come Dancing. There was a time where I would blog about my thoughts several times through each series – at one point the BBC included a link to one of my posts on their website. That saw views skyrocketing, let me tell you. But last year, I didn’t watch the show at all. None of the celebrities particularly grabbed my attention, and boy that show eats up a lot of your time if you get invested properly.

What a journey I’ve been on listening to this album. At first, I was excited. I love Busted, who doesn’t? Then I was surprised. I know more of these songs than I expected. In fact, I know all of them! I must have owned this album when it was first release. Hoorah! And then I really listened. And you know what? This is one of those pieces of art that is actually kinda problematic the more time that passes.

I’ve been looking forward to this for ages! Pretty much every song Mabel has released has been a hit for me so gathering them all together in an album sounds like heaven. And it works! It’s exactly what I was expecting from Mabel, a handful of the singles interspersed with some new songs, all of which fit together nicely.

This is a fantastic collection of essays, in a variety of formats, from women across all walks of life - actors, broadcasters, writers, poets, activists. The only thing they have in common is feminism, and this book aims to share some of their thoughts with you. What I love about it is that it’s not a manifesto, it’s not a guide to being a feminist pointing out all the ways you’re doing it wrong. It’s just people and their thoughts on the struggles of feminism, from using the word itself to throwing yourself into the cause 100%.

Dark Mode has been available on macOS for a while now but Apple are bringing it to mobile devices when iOS 13 is released in September. In preparation for this, I’ve added support for Dark Mode on this blog, and it’s soooooo pretty! This is a huge step for the site, not just because Dark Mode is a nice feature, easier on the eyes, and a great option to have for reading content on the web. But also, because I’m no longer beholden to Wordpress to make it available, or to the theme makers to enable it.