This wasn’t quite as good as I hoped it was going to be, but it was entertaining enough and certainly one of those schmaltzy Christmas films that we were looking for.

I haven’t seen the original cartoon version since I was a kid so I’d actually forgotten a good chunk of the story, although remembered how lovely some of the songs are. Great cast, lovely story, quite a lot of shots where you just know nothing you’re looking at is real but I guess that just adds to the magic-ness of it all.

Mm, disappointing. Good cast but they don’t have a lot to work with here. The film can’t quite decide whether it’s a comedy or a drama. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy, but not intense or moving enough to be a drama. There are moments of both but it feels a bit disjointed and odd.

Thoughts on this one: The trailer makes it look terrible, but actually it’s a really good film. Don’t get me wrong, it’s derivative of everything and barely has an original idea in there, but it’s still very entertaining and a very well-made adventure. Sometimes you just want to watch a film like Die Hard.

Really lovely film, this one. A beautiful little indie work featuring the wonderful Nick Offerman. I liked that his character had plenty of challenges to work through, and had his moments of sadness, but it wasn’t a morose film, there was a lot to like and be happy about.

We watched this film last year, one of those that we put on the TV as background noise and ended up for the most part just sitting and watching. So this Christmas, we made it an official Film Watch entry, and loved it all over again!

Lovely Shania produced another album with lots of great crossover country/pop tunes, and there’s not a lot to dislike about this. The only thing that raises question marks is why there are three different versions - country, international, and your regular pop. And the mix and match that goes on in Apple Music is crazy. But I like what I heard and I still love her.

I have mixed feelings about The 1975, they make good songs but I don’t like the quirky edge they force upon themselves. The name of that last album gives me rage every time I see it. However, this is a new one with a reasonable album title and some really good choons included. I love the songs that sound like real songs, they’re right up there with some of the best of the year, but then the weird stuff just isn’t for me at all. The ‘song’ that is actually a tale about a robot was even less fun second time round.

I really enjoyed this film, even though there weren’t very many likeable characters in there. Usually that would turn me off, but the story and twists and turns were so interesting that it kept me engaged.

Somehow I’ve never seen this before, but it was quite entertaining as it goes. I’ll admit we had enjoyed a glass or two of wine as we settled in to watch something, anything, to get Mammia Mia out of our minds.

Just awful. Was I watching the right thing? I don’t get why people love this so much? The audio was terrible, the ADR incredibly distracting. There was a hint of a story there but the songs didn’t make much sense in situ. How could a cast this brilliant create such a terrible movie?

Well, this was an adventure. I was scared by how long this movie was when we first started watching but actually it didn’t feel that long as it unfolded. There were certainly plenty of twists along the way, and we audibly gasped a few times. Mr C was very good at not trusting anything he saw, where as I did get sucked in to a few of the face-swapping traps.

I’d never even heard of Taskmaster until this latest series, and it only crossed my path because I follow James Acaster on Twitter, and he was a participant in the latest series. I like Acaster’s work, and some of the clips and gifs I’ve seen have made me wonder what all the fuss is about. I had to do a bit of digging to find where I could watch this show – it’s broadcast on Dave, which means it’s part of the UK TV family. There’s an on demand app called UK TV Play (I do not recommend this app, it’s very poor compared to other video streaming efforts). So, I downloaded and started watching.

I used to listen to Anna’s podcast but not so much anymore - not because it isn’t good, but because, to be honest, I wasn’t so interested in the problem solving part of it. I liked the chat with the guests and the probing segments, and Anna was always so brilliant at getting people to open up whilst being honest about herself, but in the end I paused listening.

Every time I read a Jacqueline Wilson book, I always start out wracked with guilt that I’m far too old to be reading them but then get sucked into the story and finish it up anyway. This one was aimed at slightly older readers, which was better, although it did mean the story took some dark turns here and there. The bit with the paint, goodness me!

Ah, what a lovely album. I recognised the title and the title track from the theme tune to Extras, and of course there are a few great songs on there - Wild World, Father and Son, etc. It’s a really good, quite relaxing, occasionally moving, piece of work. God I really do love Wild World as a song.

The thing about this album is, it’s exactly what you would expect. Olly Murs makes good pop so it’s a perfectly pleasant and listenable album with a few good guests. The one mistake he’s made is, on the version I listened to, he finished off the album with a handful of his other singles, like a greatest hits. And that meant I preferred those a lot more than the new stuff.

So, I re-watched the first Incredibles movie before this one because I couldn’t remember it at all. And I wasn’t super duper impressed so I don’t really know what the fuss is all about with this series. And I also don’t think that film needed a sequel but here we are.

I was aware of the hype surrounding Netflix’s recent horror offering, The Haunting of Hill House, but I wasn’t sure I was prepared for it. I quite like a good horror but haven’t watched anything in that genre for such a long time, I’ll be honest, I was a bit nervous about my nerves. However, a friend recommended it and thus I was convinced to at least give it a go.

The story was good, the twists and turns intriguing, and of course a great, if painful, journey for this kid to go on. I felt quite stressed about how public the end of the movie was and a bit disappointed in who Blue ended up being - I guessed quite early on that it would be who it was because hey, kissing someone of the opposite sex doesn’t mean anything, really, not when you’re a teenager.

Bit of a weird concept this one, man in a coma, woman lies quite a lot and ends up infiltrated within his family. I was conflicted about what was happening throughout most of it.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting huge amounts from this. Melissa McCarthy has a hit and miss strike rate from what we’ve seen so far, and the concept didn’t look too original. But the trailer was okay and we were in the mood for some relatively straight forward comedy, and this seemed to fit the bill.

I love The Big Bang Theory so was interested to read the story behind one of its stars - particularly one who has brought his own heritage and culture to a very American show. I really enjoyed this memoir, it was never dull even though it did relate some childhood stories here and there. But it was mostly about a person who sometimes fits in and sometimes doesn’t, sometimes is surrounded by thousands of friends and family, and sometimes is sitting alone in a dorm room wondering what to do with his life.

I don’t know if this is the kind of book I would usually read, but the more I read the more I started to get into it. It felt like a bit of a slow start, but gradually it gathered steam, particularly as the historical parts started to take shape. Following two time streams with a modern day archeological dig and flashing back to those around in the time being slowly uncovered.

Right, there are two parts to this. First time through, I couldn’t really look past The Living Years. Why would you bother with the rest of the album when you have such a good song to start with. But then, of course, the second time I listened through, I quite enjoyed the rest of it too. It’s wonderfully eighties, of its time, and just a solid listen.

I like the direction the girls have taken with this - standing up for themselves, not caring what people think, and championing all the right things: feminism, feeling good about yourself, not taking any nonsense. The singles are good, the rest of it didn’t really stand out but was exactly what you’d want from Little Mix - pop grooves to boost your confidence.

Earlier this year, I worked my way through Swift Playgrounds – Apple’s easy-to-use educational tool to teach you the basics of the Swift language – and to celebrate, purchased a quite adorable R2D2 that you can program with that self-same language. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite make the leap in my head from the playgrounds I had been messing about with to the more tangible efforts with a toy, and the instructions that came with that little droid were a bit more advanced than I was.

I mean, sure, it’s cold and drizzly and dark, but the colours.

From our viewing perspective, this film was hurt by the fact that we watched it immediately after Tag. Completely different genres, and with such a slow start it felt like the story took ages to get going. Rob Brydon is great at what he does, but watching him get frustrated with life for half an hour wasn’t the best start.

Very interesting film, this one. It’s a dark comedy, along the lines of Game Night - a bit of a twist on the normal comedy format with some moments where you’re genuinely shocked. It’s a fascinating idea, this true story, games lingering on into adulthood when they really should have stopped, and how they affect the lives.

Pretty good, really. It’s an ambitious feat, to reimagine the world of Ocean’s after such a good initial trilogy (well at least some of the trilogy, anyway). But here, there’s another fab group of people ably helmed by Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett - I really liked them as a duo.

Loved this! I know Joan Jett from Bad Education, but that album wasn’t available on Apple Music so this was a close second. It was great, just some pure pop rock from a kick-ass lady who can pull off a tune, whether original or a cover. I Love Rock ‘N Roll is a great title track too.

I liked this, I mean, it was very Muse-y, so you know what you’re getting. I know that Muse can write about deep and meaningful topics but I don’t know if I got in that zone in just two listens. But what I did find is that I really enjoyed the music, and found it great to listen to, regardless of subject matter.

When we watched the new Tomb Raider film back in July, I was quite inspired by some of the behind the scenes footage that showed Alicia Vikander getting super fit to play the role. I wanted to be super fit like that too! Get to the gym, lady, and sort it out! It worked, for a bit. But how funny, then, that it’s also the fault of Lara Croft that my workout schedule has been interrupted in recent weeks.

I mentioned before how the household is looking to make healthier choices, and that involves me spending a bit more time in the kitchen than I have been doing over the last few years. I’m not the best cook, but I do quite enjoy the process and whilst my presentation skills are essentially non-existent, I can occasionally whip something together that tastes nice. At the moment, my mealtime focus has turned to using fresh ingredients wherever possible, and avoiding ready meals. It takes a bit more effort, but is worth it. Meanwhile, my baking focus has turned towards sugar-free. I was a bit sceptical of the sugar-free movement when it first arrived (and by that I mean when Davina first started banging on about it), but now I’m intrigued.

Occasionally, I want something quick and easy to devour, and at the same time revisit my childhood. I always remember having Enid Blyton books to hand, but I don’t think The Secret Seven were one of my favourites. For a start, it’s quite hard to remember seven distinct people, particularly when they are all quite similar plucky young kids. I did like, however, when compared to the Famous Five, that the count in the title didn’t include a dog!

Whenever I listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I tend to just think ’this is good, sounds like Red Hot Chili Peppers, just as you would expect’. And this album was exactly the same as all that. It’s a long one, well over an hour, but never boring. Just lots of good rock tunes from a band who are very good at what they do.

I was quite excited about this album because I love the single Malamente, and Julie Adenuga has been bigging up Rosalía for a while now. I didn’t really get on with the album as a whole, unfortunately. There are some good tracks on there, but then there are also some songs which are quite warbly, screechy even, and I just wasn’t down with it.

This film is really good at what it does but let’s not pretend it’s deep and meaningful. It’s your standard Disney kid’s film about a girl who wants to become an ice skater, and she has to overcome the competition and deal with her mother’s disappointment as well.

I realised, when I started reading this, that I actually don’t know much about Patrick Swayze. Other than the fact that I fell to pieces the last time I watched Dirty Dancing, I couldn’t really tell you anything about him. This was, then, an interesting autobiography, detailing his early life obsessed with dancing, through the difficult years of trying to grow a career, through to finally making it and dealing with fame.

So I managed to get Mr C to watch The Lion King, and after viewing that one, I realised he probably needed to watch Aladdin as well, because I was going to want to see the live action remake next year. We finally got round to it, and yay!

After something a bit relaxing and keen on seeing Hayden Panettiere on screen again, we tried this teen rom com thing. It was fine, funny in places and also quite moving in others, but ultimately… no different to any other prom night hijinks film you can name.

This was an interesting one. I always feel a bit weird about films where it’s not totally clear who you should be rooting for - or in this instance whether the bad guy is really all that bad or not. It’s good to have a bit of nuance, but it always leaves me wondering how I feel about what I’ve seen.

We’ve seen four episodes of the new series of Doctor Who and that’s long enough for me to cast my opinion on the whole thing. Heck, it only took a couple of episodes to know I wasn’t keen on Capaldi, but where do I stand on the Whittaker era? Good news: I love it! It’s fresh, fast, funny, approachable, likeable, different and new. Here are five slightly more specific thoughts:

Interesting one this. I’m always curious to read the first book in a new series to see if it captures my attention - but I can’t decide if this one did or not. It was a cop thriller style story, following a slightly unorthodox detective as he went about solving whatever crime was put before him. It had some of the cliches that you know - being taken off the case but still investigating, the twist at the end where it turns out someone you least expected was involved, the connection with the hunted that only our protagonist has.

I was kinda hoping this would be better than it was. The album is billed as one of the greatest ever, and I do like some of Radiohead’s work. This album was perfectly good, with some real highlights, but I don’t know that I cared for the whole thing, particularly, and I certainly wouldn’t put it up there as one of the best ever.

Love this album. Run Run is a great song to kick off with, and we travel through some great highs and lows to end with the inspirational Just a Kid. It’s a short album, just eight songs lasting thirty minutes, but it still had a pretty big impact on me.

My Life List needs a bit of tender loving care, having been neglected recently, but before I do that I wanted to write a quick post about starting your own list. I think Life Lists are not as in vogue as they were a year or two ago (let’s be honest, the world falling apart is probably a bit distracting), but I still think they can be useful and inspiring. I’ve talked to a few people recently who expressed a desire to start their own lists but fall back on ‘I wouldn’t really know where to start’. So, here are my five tips to getting started:

By the time we watched this film, we’d had a couple of drinks, and I think that’s the only reason we enjoyed it as much as we did. It’s not a very good movie, but what it has is that constant ‘Oh my god he’s in it’ and ‘wait a minute, that’s her!’ There were some funny moments, and some gross moments, and that moment when we suddenly realised it was a spin off from Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Yay! It was good! This was a film Mr C and I have both kinda been dreading. There’s always pressure on me to watch classic films that everyone loves in case I end up not liking them. And he was really worried that I wasn’t going to. Eventually, we just dived in and thankfully, I liked it! Not just that, actually, I loved it.