I have seen bits and pieces of this movie before but never the full thing, and I was kinda convinced that it was a really rubbish film. However, Mr C said I was basing that opinion on the reaction to all the many, many sequels and that the first one was actually very good.

So, we were watching High Fidelity and yes, maybe had had a drink or two along the way. This bit happened: Which I naturally forgot about. So this came as a surprise: And now I have this: It’s a real, physical book because it wasn’t available in Kindle format. And I still went and bought it, which is unusual for me and can mean only one of three things:

Tom Jones in his early career reminds me very much of Johnny Cash. It’s got that old school soul feeling about it, with stacks of shorter songs whipping you through a journey. Tom’s voice is unquestionably brilliant, and recognisable instantly, and they’re all solid songs. But of course, It’s Not Unusual stands out as a proper choon.

As expected, this was a good album that just went a bit wonky in places. I said that about the last James album I listened to and this was more of the same. However, I also didn’t feel like I really enjoyed it first run through, but gradually it really did grow on me. Second time through I was on board, and Mr C suggests a sixth listen will sell it to me completely.

Our third and final South West Coast Path adventure of the summer was all about cliffs. The theme of our adventures so far has been spontaneity and this was another one that we hadn’t really planned out. It was the kind of trip that saw us driving along a coast road and eventually just deciding to take the next left turn to end up at a beach. Unfortunately, the beach we ended up at wasn’t that inspiring, so instead, we decided to follow the acorn which took us climbing up some pretty steep cliffs. It was hard work, but it was so, ridiculously, worth it. These are the kind of views that you see on TV… and views you just can’t look away from.

This is one of the better Disney animations, it’s basically a perfect movie. Incredible cast, moving and brilliant story, lots of laughs but some dark moments too, and a great message to take home. And that’s all before we even talk about the music, wherein every single song is brilliant.

I loved this! Within about five minutes, I loved it. Laugh out loud funny, with great dialogue, a brilliant soundtrack and an interesting story. Of course, written by Nick Hornby, the book gives a great source material to work from but the cast are brilliant and I was super impressed with John Cusack - narrating directly to camera is an unusual way to get through a movie.

It feels a bit incongruous to write about the beautiful sunny days of summer when autumn has more than arrived, but I want to catch up the final two stretches of South West Coast Path we walked this year, before settling down to make plans for the next batch. So, after finding the start of the path, our next adventure was another that came about by accident – we hadn’t particularly been planning on finding the other end of the national trail, but I sort of had an inkling in my head as we drew nearer and nearer that we could make it happen. A glorious blue sky was overhead when we rocked up to the beautiful Studland.

Apple’s recent update to iOS12 has brought with it plenty of changes, some are good, some are bad, some are genius, and some make your life better without you actually realising it needed it. I have thoughts on a few of the interesting new features but I’m kicking off with something that is a subtle change but I’m really loving it. I’ve talked before about how much I like the Activity feature on the Apple Watch, in particular the badges that you can earn, and I’ve also talked about how frustrating it is when they don’t work. They seem to be functioning correctly for me at the moment, which is a good start, and it’s always fun to view which awards you have achieved and which you are working towards via the Activity app on the phone.

I have mixed feelings about Clean Bandit, because their songs can be so different that you never really know what you’re going to get (except a bit of bonus cello!) I really liked the album, actually, it’s stacked with tunes, but there’s one song that is hugely not for me. Come Over gets inside my head in the worst ways, so I dreaded the very middle of the album, but the rest was great.

This is a band that I’ve heard of in passing but really couldn’t have told you anything about. On the first listen, I thought this was a pretty good album and then second time round I enjoyed it even more so that’s a good sign. It’s the first time in a while, too, that I’ve thought an album was just a bit short and I’d have liked some more.

Oof, wanted to like this because, you know, Big Bang Theory fans, but this did not go down well. There were a few fun moments and I loved Alfred Molina, but for the most part, this was a painful watch. Quinn is just not a very nice or interesting character, which doesn’t help when the entire movie is based around his bad decisions and then his attempts to rectify them.

Second film in a row with Sandra Bullock in, what do you mean I have an obsession? This film has an incredible cast - Bullock, Jackson and McConaughey make a formidable team. There’s some Kevin Spacey in there too, of course. Awkward but you can’t rewrite history. Thankfully, his is a pretty inconsequential piece of the puzzle.

The third release in Tomb Raider’s recent reboot emerged into the wild last month, and I can honestly admit to being completely obsessed with it. I’ve enjoyed the previous two games, but it’s taken me a while to get fully to grips with this new Lara and her rather more complex adventures. Everything is rather more realistic, far more brutal, significantly more graphic and eventually, a lot more fun, than the Tomb Raiders that have gone before.

The entire country went crazy for the recent BBC drama The Bodyguard, featuring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes as a bodyguard and cabinet minister respectively. I came to this show late, as always, so was almost completely spoiled in terms of who did what, who died when, and what the outcome of it all was. That being the case, it wasn’t quite as intriguing for me as I imagine it was for other people, but it was still good.

I’m surprised that I haven’t written about the Cormoran Strike novels before, but as I’ve just wrapped up reading the fourth installment in the series, I figured now was as good a time as any. As I’m sure everyone is aware by now, Cormoran Strike is the central figure in the series of novels by Robert Galbraith, which is a pseudonym of JK Rowling. The first book picked up decent plaudits before the real author was uncovered, but naturally ever since that info was leaked, the series has garnered a lot more attention than it otherwise might have. Four books in, and a TV adaptation to boot, Strike and his temp/assistant/partner Robin are picking up a lot of fans.

Up until this point, Flock of Seagulls was just the punchline of a joke about Chandler’s hair, but this week I discovered I really enjoyed their debut album! The stand out tune is I Ran (So Far Away) obviously, but actually they all stood up to the test of time, and I really liked the pop from the first moments of listening.

I was a bit intimidated by this album, if I’m honest, but I really quite liked it. There’s the odd moment where Nicki goes into her weird voices mode which I’m not so keen on, but overall it’s a lot of fun. I don’t know if it feels like a body of work as opposed to a collection of songs, but they’re good so I don’t think it matters.

The second series of Hidden Britain by Drone aired on Channel 4 recently, and I just wanted to take a moment to say how brilliant this programme is. I watched the first series and loved the concept - Tony Robinson introduces film footage taken by drones that fly over areas that are inaccessible or, at the very least, not open to the public. Now, let’s be clear from the start, that description does get a little bit stretched on occasion, particularly in the second series. Some of the locations you could get to on foot, and there often are people milling about, but still, it’s good to get a new view and look at things from a different angle.

Whenever we watch a film that doesn’t go so well, the immediate reaction is to turn to a known gem, and Practical Magic is one of those. I remember it from when I was younger, who doesn’t love a version of Dawson’s Creek only with magic? It has small-town drama, romantic tensions, a great nineties soundtrack, and all with bonus magic on top.

I have a vague recollection of seeing this film before and liking it, but this time round I couldn’t quite figure out why. It did feel like it was going somewhere and perhaps if I could have summoned some more patience it would have been okay, but in the end, I just couldn’t justify keeping watching something I wasn’t enjoying.

Had never heard of this film but I like a sports film and I like a good Kevin Costner movie, so this ticked all the boxes. I wasn’t sure at first about the concept of a baseball groupie, but once you go with it, you have a fun film with some interesting concepts. Youth versus experience, the hot-head that won’t listen, learning things outside the sport that help inside, and trying to make the best of things when they don’t go your way.

Loved this. A bit of nineties Britpop to get the week going nicely. As always, I knew more of the songs than I thought, and although I was worried William Shatner would have ruined Common People for me, he absolutely hadn’t. So, fab work from Jarvis Cocker and his crew!

Ah, I don’t know what to make of this. I’ve been waiting and waiting for this album and was superbly excited for it, which I think was my mistake. I shouldn’t have hyped it up so much, because it didn’t quite do it for me in the same way as the previous album. It was very good, but some of the songs are better than others, and as a whole, I just preferred the previous work.

The story is a little bit Romeo and Juliet, a little bit Cutting Edge, a little bit of everything, and when you add in some fun dancing as well, there’s a lot to like. The soundtrack is brilliant, really made me nostalgic for the late 90s/early 2000s. The acting is great, the issues raised interesting, and it all results in a satisfying ending.

I genuinely can’t fathom why it’s so popular, aside from the fact that some things just catch on as a cult event and that’s the end of it. But this film is so weird. There doesn’t appear to be a story, the two main leads are really not very likeable, and although there’s the undercurrent of romance that leads to what you might call a happy ending, it’s really not a strong narrative to get you from A to B.

The last time I talked about Doctor Who, I was pondering the news that Peter Capaldi would be stepping down from the show. I talked about the rumours that there might be a female Doctor and how I wasn’t sure that’s where I wanted the show to go. Well, that’s where the show is going and I have completely changed my mind. I’m on board. I can’t wait to see what Jodie Whittaker does with the role and I think it’s a fab breath of fresh air into the show.

I really enjoyed this! Weirdly, I thought I knew something about Counting Crows but I didn’t know any of the songs and can’t remember why I’ve heard of them. However, it was a good album, a genre of music I really like, and one I will likely to listen to over and again.

I was super keen to listen to this because I loved the last album from Carrie, but this one was something different. It’s clear that Carrie has been through a lot, and of course we’re in a different and more difficult world now, so it was a more contemplative and slightly more downbeat offering. Good album but not up there with Storyteller.

So, I do love this film and am maybe more nostalgic about it than it actually warrants, because this latest watch of it did make me realise that’s it’s not actually a particularly good movie. Keanu Reeves is adorable, of course, and the pair of them have a good chemistry in their goofball stupidity.

I loved Mezzanine, one of the early albums in this adventure of mine. This album didn’t really do it for me at all. Unfinished Sympathy is the best thing on there, and even that wasn’t exactly a favourite. The rest of it wasn’t memorable and wasn’t something I’d choose to listen to again.

I was really looking forward to this album coming out, having listened to a handful of the singles and loved them, as well as Julie Adenuga on Beats1 really bigging it up. I loved the album, but could really have done without all the chatting and interludes along the way. They’re fine(ish) once, but not necessary time and time again. Otherwise, it’s a brilliant album, love it.

Project ‘Catch up Michael J Fox’s back catalogue’ continues with this film that is a bit of a mish-mash of genres. There’s a legitimate business story in there, hidden away beneath layers of fish-out-of-water comedy, slapstick craziness, and a love-triangle cherry on the top. Although it doesn’t quite know what it’s trying to be, I still really enjoyed the film.

What a weird movie. I mean, what kind of meetings were they in to come up with this very random scenario - let’s make fun of advertising but also feature a mental institution but also maybe a bit of a rom-com and some rogue doctors and a helicopter scene at the end.

You know what you’re getting into with a Deadpool film - that intensely meta, self-aware nonsense packed with references and jokes that are impossible to keep up with, but also managing to fit in some semblance of a recognisable superhero story with a satisfying conclusion.

I used to listen to Sash albums by snatching them from my brother’s room, so this was nice and familiar. Encore Une Fois! Stay! Ecuador! Good nineties dance beats, but I think it’s mostly nostalgia for me at this point, and I’ll stick with the singles rather than indulging in the album too often.

Lovely chill album, this one. I think I liked it more than the last one I listened to and there were no embarrassing ‘who does his voice remind me of’ moments. It was just a nice, relaxing album with intense but reflective vibes. I feel like this is the kind of music you could have on in the background and never get bored of it.

Like many others, I recently finished watching Sharp Objects, the HBO mini series starring Amy Adams and based on the book by Gillian Flynn. I’ll be honest and admit I only watched this because it has the lovely Amy Adams in it, I didn’t particularly enjoy Gone Girl the book or the film, and whilst I did like Sharp Objects as a novel, I was worried how it would unfold on screen.

Mr C and I are on a bit of a health kick at the minute - nothing crazy, just trying to make better choices - and that means ditching the share bags of Cadburys for something a bit more refined and, dare I say it, grown up. I’ve been perusing the dark chocolate aisles in awe and wonder, there’s such a wide selection, flavours, percentages and choices, it can be quite overwhelming!

So, I love this film. I’ve seen it over and over, although not for a good long while. I didn’t think it would be Mr C’s cup of tea, but eventually I got my way and managed to get it on our screens. Thankfully, it went down very well - quirky, imaginative, with some interesting characters, snappy dialogue and funny moments.

Not quite sure how we landed on this one, but a bit of John Cleese always goes down well. I thought the movie started off really slowly, it took a long time to set the scene and get everything going, and to be honest there wasn’t much comedy until Cleese showed up.

A while back, I talked about how I was just starting to figure out how awesome Manic Street Preachers were, and that I felt I’d missed out on a significant chunk of their career. On the flip side, good friend Lukeh is an absolute expert on the subject and should be considered a super-fan. So, Mr C plied the man with mango-flavoured beer and demanded that he concoct an incredibly specific playlist of ten songs that would introduce a new fan (me) to the band, digging a little deeper than the obvious but not being too obscure as to be off-putting. All this after a drink or two and completely on the spot with no research.

I had sort of written this film off as not going to be very good, but then I heard a Pop Culture Happy Hour episode where they put it in the same bracket as Game Night, and we loved that one, so why not give this one a chance?

There are all sorts of weather apps available out there, from the quirky Carrot forecasts to the more staid Met Office offerings. Their use very much depends on how you like your weather forecasting – long range and high level, a broad overview of the country at large, or as I prefer, very localised to-the-minute weather predictions. That’s where Rain Today comes in. It’s a great app for one purpose – telling you whether it is raining, or whether it’s going to in the very near future. Obviously you can look out the window for the present weather conditions, but knowing whether you need to take a brolly on that short errand you’re going to run can be very useful.

I love Julie Adenuga’s Beats1 show, airing in the UK between 2 and 4pm every weekday. I try and listen to as many as I can, usually on demand, and there’s often little snippets of conversation that make you laugh or make you sit up and take notice. On Friday’s show, where Example and Rebecca Judd joined Julie in the studio to take a look at the new releases that day, there was an example of the latter. Example was discussing the time he bought a car for a fan – as you do – and his co-hosts were sharing their shock and awe at such a kind gesture. Example was having none of it though:

I don’t know how I’ve managed to get this far without listening to any Billy Joel but how can you not love this? Happy, optimistic, joyful music that sort of sweeps you along and doesn’t put you down for 40 minutes. I thought I would only know Uptown Girl but I also knew Tell Her About It.

I really, really liked this album. Its been a while since a rap or hip hop album has appealed to me but this one was great. I love the main single with Rag N Bone Man, and generally speaking all the features are really good. Top notch and a welcome change of genre for this year.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to see Pressure, a play by David Haig that is currently in the West End. The play tells the incredible true story of James Stagg, a meteorologist who was tasked with predicting the weather conditions for the D-Day landings. With Stagg predicting severe storms and Irving P. Krick - Hollywood’s meteorological movie consultant - predicting beautiful weather, the future of Britain, Europe and the United States rests on one single forecast.

I have seen mixed reviews about this film, and I think most of it comes down to whether you have read the source material or not. Those that have and are particularly fond of it may have looked down on this film for differing so much from Ernest Cline’s novel.