I only know a couple of Neil Diamond songs, and so for my first album of his, it was lucky that it had one song on it that I knew. The album reminded me quite a lot of Johnny Cash - not in terms of sound, but just the sort of genre. Shorter songs, quite odd topics (the horseflies round your face thing really confused me, I think he thinks it’s a compliment). I quite liked it but I’m not sure I’d particularly seek it out again.

This was recommended by a friend of a friend and whilst I wouldn’t normally stumble across Italian pop, I really loved it and I’m glad I got to listen to it. It’s just pure, catchy pop music, and even though I don’t speak Italian it doesn’t matter at all, you still get the same good pop vibes. Annalisa has a great voice too.

I’m completely conflicted on this because I tend to think I like this better than the first, but Mr C totally disagrees and looking back to the Film Watch for the original, I think I disagree with myself as well! So who knows? I do love this though, perhaps because I have seen it more often than the first. Heather Graham is better than Liz, Scott has some great lines, and there’s moments of pure genius in there. Of course it has it’s downsides, any scene that contains Fat Bastard should be struck from the record completely, but I still love it.

I do so love Jason and his witty words, fast-paced songs and interesting subject matter. I learnt a lot of these songs listening over and over again to a live version so hearing them in their studio format was a bit odd, but it still works. Lots of craft has gone into these and that shines through. They’re intensely catchy tunes and I’ll listen over and over again once more!

This album has gained a lot of supporters in the short time it’s been out, and I have to be honest, I’m not 100% sure I get what the fuss is about. It’s a good album, and stands apart from the more traditional country and from the more pop-orientated modern stuff, but it’s darker more downbeat tone didn’t quite do it for me. Good songs, great voice, but as a whole it didn’t quite work.

This is the sort of story that you’re aware of - man versus woman on the tennis court - but you don’t really know the details that went on behind the glitz and glamour of a show match. Of course there’s Hollywood sensationalism in places, but the stakes are true: women’s equality and the battle against an entrenched view that men’s tennis is just better, versus a reputation and livelihood that’s in danger of being gambled away completely.

I thought this would be your run of the mill pop album but it’s more eclectic than that. The singles are the normal saccharine denim-laden pop that we know, but the rest is all a bit of an oddity. It kicks off with some bizarre folk-violin-drum-and-bass dance mix, and indulges in some feisty female rock as well as super slow ballads along the way. Weird.

Really loved this from George. I was a fan of Budapest but wasn’t really sure I’d manage to sustain interest over a full album. Couldn’t have been more wrong! It’s fun and quite preppy, sweeps you up in its summer holiday, leave all your cares behind, kind of way. A new favourite.

This is one of those albums where I know a lot of the songs but have somehow never actually listened to the whole thing. I really liked it. Lily is one of those artists that you either love or hate, and thankfully I love her. Don’t always agree with her and think some of the songs push it a bit, but ultimately they’re catchy and meaningful, clever and fun, so why not?

I was dubious about this one - a glimpse at the craziness on TV had made me wary, but then I heard Everybody Wants to Be Famous a billion times on Beats 1 and fell in love with it. Actually, the album is great. It is crazy, sure, but it also has that glorious lazy summer vibe so you just kind of chill and go with it.

2018 is all about self-improvement (and waiting for the weather to sort itself out for further adventures), and this month I wrapped up a new qualification that encompassed several exams and a lot of time staring at Microsoft applications. Is it wrong that I have mostly put in the time and effort for this award just because it makes me a master? Mastermind. The Master. Jedi Master. Take your pick, I’m it!

This was an exciting film to watch mostly because it was released on the Monday and my review is going up less than a week later - hooray for Netflix! I know that a film being released on Netflix as an alternative to the usual methods means it’s probably had some issues or not been considered good enough, but I actually thought this one stood up really well.

Lovely Stevie’s first solo album is a really great listen. I can’t lie and say it stood out as separate to the work that Fleetwood Mac do, it had all those influences and more, but it was still great to listen to - particularly Edge of Seventeen with it’s Destiny’s Child bounce.

I was curious about this one because Jack Antonoff writes so many good songs, it’s a wonder he has anything left for his own outlets. I wasn’t sure about this album for the first listen through, but second time round it started to come together for me. I liked how the songs linked together and there were little callbacks throughout making it one whole piece of art.

After loving the first film, I was eagerly anticipating the return of Ben Whishaw’s soft-spoken but impactful bear, and I wasn’t disappointed. Somehow, this film seemed even better than the first - perhaps because we got to dive right into the adventures with Paddington, and also perhaps because the villain in this instance wasn’t quite so intent on a murderous spree and was more about greed than anything.

What a classic album this is. I was, obviously, a huge fan in the 90s, and so this was like diving into a wonderful world of pop-soaked nostalgia. It’s short and sweet, this album, with female-power lyrics, bopping tracks and ultimately just some fab pop. There’s also some dodgy rapping but that just adds to the enjoyment, really.

Embrace do one thing and they do it really well - the songs that start slowly and softly, have a bit of piano come in, and gradually build to a big, soaring, string-enhanced ending. Much of the album follows this pattern which is nice for a while but perhaps doesn’t sustain a whole record. Still good though.

I was quite looking forward to this one, mostly caught up in they hype of so many famous faces, but in the end I think it was a bit disappointing. It’s beautifully made and Kenneth Branagh actually does an impressive job in a role that has been made so famous by someone else. That moustache is crazy but about halfway through, you sort of forget about it.

I can’t quite believe this is Whitney’s debut album, it’s got such incredible songs on it and of course her powerful voice just blows everything out the water. Such a strength shines through the album even in her first recording, and it almost feels like a privilege to listen to.

Incredible debut, really. I love Young Dumb and Broke, which is why I chose this album to listen to in a very quiet week of music. The rest of the album is filled with more of the same, which makes it both really good listening but also perhaps just marginally too long. Great work though, refreshing soulful sound.

I did go into this film with a real sense of misgiving, I just didn’t want to watch. That’s what Marvel has done to me, the far-reaching universe has overwhelmed. Having said that, I should have had some faith, because this current phase we’re in (third?) has been pretty good. Ant-Man was funny, Deadpool hilarious, Guardians of the Galaxy a real treat. So I should have had more faith.

I’ve shied away from Tess Gerritsen books to date after finding one of them just a bit too graphic for my tastes at the time. However, I was curious to read the book that was tied up in controversy with the film of the same name, and also with the film Life.

I’m fond of The Shires because it takes a brave duo to try and take on the might of country music from the UK, and they’re doing pretty well and gaining respect for it. The songs are what you’d expect from a country album, my only real complaint is that there’s a disconnect between songs that celebrate being from the UK, and then others that talk about ‘dimes’ and ‘state lines’. Doesn’t quite stack up.

I didn’t get on with this album at all, I was expecting it all to be a bit random which it was, and I didn’t mind the sheer randomness of it all but it needed to be backed up with some good songs. I didn’t enjoy the construction of the songs really, and that made it a bit of a slog to get through.

At this stage in the Rhyme and Sachs series, we’re used to the pattern of horrifying crimes being solved by Rhyme and his incredible attention to forensic detail. What’s fascinating to me is how Jeffrey Deaver tries, in each book, to set up a new and different situation to throw a spanner in the works. This time, we have Rhyme retired from the NYPD and Sachs particularly grumpy about the whole situation.

I mean, look. This is Bumper doing time travel. So of course I heart it to pieces. Rom com, time travel, laughs, loves, Back to the Future references, it’s almost perfect.

I really enjoyed this album. At first glance, I thought I only knew one of the songs but more of them were familiar than I had anticipated. The songs are well put together and with the dulcet tones of Kelly Jones to ease the way, it’s just a really nice, solid listen.

I haven’t really even thought about Franz Ferdinand for years so it was nice to hear them again - it’s all very similar to how they used to be, perhaps progressing to a slightly more adult and adventurous sound, but for the most part just solid guitars and that recognisable voice. Good stuff, but never going to be a particular favourite.

This was a refreshing take on the spy genre films, firstly because of the awesome setting - eighties music over a shot of grim eighties cars in a soon-to-be-reunited Germany? That’s already fascinating. But also because the unique take on the spy character that Charlize portrayed - firstly being half the size of most of her assailants, she had to use ingenuity and a lot of the props around her as weapons, which added to the drama. And then also because she so clearly showed injuries. Starting a film in an ice bath with so many bruises is like the complete opposite of James Bond.

Recently, I discovered that NOW TV had six series of Gladiators available to watch on demand. I’m such a huge fan of Gladiators (bigger than I even realised, as a couple of episodes in, the theme tune made me a bit weepy!) and although I’ve seen clips and odd episodes over the last decade or so, this is potentially the first time I’ve been able to watch a concentrated batch of Gladiator goodness.

I love Apple’s activity badges, I’ve talked about them a few times here already. I find them incredibly motivating, particularly with the recent upgrades that have made the programme more personalised and more responsive to your performance. Rather than your standard “get your move goal every day of the month”, you now have specific calorie, kilometre, or time goals measured in absolutes or averages, with a new and different challenge each month.

I think I was expecting a bit more from this album, given how epic Annie Lennox is, but even so, this is full of great songs. I’m not sure it’s as memorable as I thought it would be, but still totally enjoyable to listen to.

I was surprised how much I liked this one. It’s stacked full of great rhythms and hooks, which you can tell came from the great mind of Pharrell more than anyone else. Some of the more mushy interludes aren’t my favourite but I do like the down to earth natural feeling of it all.

Soon, Film Watch will reach its ninth birthday, having catalogued over 800 films so far and still going strong. More than anything, for me, it’s a handy reminder of what’s been viewed and an easy way to settle arguments between Mr C and myself about a) whether we have watched a film before and b) what we thought of it. The actual live blogging of the film is less important to me after the event, but is hugely important to ensure I’m paying attention as the film goes by.

U2 made an appearance at the Grammy’s last night, playing in the apparent freezing cold grounds of New York’s Statue of Liberty. Now, I’ll be honest, Adam Clayton isn’t exactly one of my bass heroes, but I’m rapidly rethinking that after seeing his instrument of choice for this performance. I’m still not clear on how one plays guitar with gloves on - fingerless or not. But I don’t blame them, it looks flipping freezing out there.

My obsession with Johnny Cash is growing, so this is his second album and I loved it, naturally. It’s similar to the first - lots of short snappy songs, great train-like guitars and fab beats. There were more backing vocals than before, I felt, which gave it a different ambience, but it still worked for me.

This is just Craig David through and through, exactly what you’d expect from the guy and pretty much what his sound has always been (perhaps a little more grown up than before). The only oddity is his song with Bastille, which is great, but sort of sounds different to the rest of the piece.

I was keen to read this as I enjoyed the previous two books by JJ, but if I’m honest, this one didn’t quite live up to its predecessors. It’s a similar concept, in which characters get up to a number of different mischievous adventures either through their own plotting and planning, or simply through being in the wrong/right place at the wrong/right time.

This is everything that we wanted from Rough Night - girls hanging out, ribbing each other, getting to know each other again, and improving each other along the way. It had plenty of story and drama, and I liked that it wasn’t always obvious what was going to happen, and overall it was just a really well made film.

The next instalment in Lincoln Rhyme’s saga, and you can sort of feel the formulaic nature of this one from the very beginning. The same selection of characters are in place, doing roughly the same things, chasing after the same sort of criminals - usually crimes within crimes - and with the same sort of twists and turns.

So much to love about this film. Firstly, it’s an important story that needs to be told. I like to think I’m finance-savvy but I didn’t really know what went into the global financial meltdown, so this was fabulous education. Secondly, it does a great job of explaining. Okay, I lost the plot a little bit towards the end, but getting famous cameos in to explain the complicated stuff is a brilliant device.

I was a bit nervous about this, thinking it was going to be quite hard, heavy music but it wasn’t. Hard rock, maybe, but no screaming and shouting, so all good. It’s not an album that had huge standout songs, although Pour Some Sugar on Me is fun, of course. But otherwise it’s just some really good, solid rock.

Mixed feelings about this album, really. The two are exceptionally talented and their songs and harmonies are really clear and good and strong. The trouble is, the style of music is, for me, better suited to background listening, which is fine, except I find the close harmonies quite distracting (in a good way), so can’t just let it wash over me. I’m not really sure where this album fits for me, but that’s not to say it isn’t a good one.

Lovely little film this one. It’s a gentle walk through a cute story - not hard-hitting, not tough, not even that emotional. It’s just a nice little gem of a story that gives you something to think about in terms of how much your home can mean to you, and what you would do to stay in it.

David Jason is a much-loved figure on British TV screens, but I realised as I started reading this that I really don’t know much about him. It’s fascinating to read about his earlier life - from tentatively messing around in youth drama clubs, to deciding to give acting a shot as a career. I’m also impressed with how quickly it all came together for him, although of course the few pages of a book can’t really cover all the ups and downs there no doubt were along the way.

I love Dawn French enormously. She recently released a new book/diary, wherein she shares her thoughts and feelings and lists and photos throughout the year, and you do the same. It’s an interactive sort of book, where there are plenty of spaces for you to add your own notes and doodles, over and above the actual space for diary entries. I love Dawn French so much that I have done two things I wouldn’t normally do: bought a physical book, and then written in it.

Oof, loved it! How have I not seen this before? So many elements add up to making this a Christine-favourite film. Jan de Bont of Speed fame. Written by the amazing Michael Crichton. Incredible cast (that we spent the entire time going ’that’s the one from this film… but younger.’) and most of all a great story.

We had low expectations coming into this one, having watched a dull film beforehand, and it being quite such an indy low-budget option. However, it was far better than I would have expected and entertained throughout.

This was a bizarre twenty minutes to sit through. Another all-star cast, but so many famous names can’t make up for the fact that it was really boring, dull dialogue, not a lot happened, and the only amusing moments were from Robert Di Niro being a gross old man again. Avoid.

It’s interesting, because the more famous the actors were, the less interesting their characters were. Ben Affleck was non-existent, Bradley Cooper a nightmare, even Scarlett Johansson didn’t really sell her character to me. On the flip side, I loved Ginnifer Goodwin’s kooky portrayal, and her story with I’m a Mac would have been more interesting if told all by itself!