Not exactly a classic film for my 700th movie review, but it was exactly what we needed after a stressful few days. You sort of know exactly what you’re going to get with Kevin Hart and The Rock in the same film, and I was only slightly surprised at the Rock’s character being a little goofy throughout, even when in full spy mode. Otherwise, it does exactly what you expect of it.

You know that meme where celebrities read mean tweets about themselves? Well, app developers have picked up on this and started reading one star reviews of their products. The end result is brilliant, if you’re slightly geeky like me. Love the people that are confused and say really nice things but then award one star. And poor Marco who gets all the personal comments and nothing about the actual app in question. Hope there’s more of these in the future, although of course I don’t actually hope that developers keep getting one star reviews!

I loved Jonasson’s first book and really enjoy the style of his writing so I was over the moon to read this book. It carries on in the familiar pattern, a lowly character at the start of the story goes through a series of bizarre events and ends up having an impact on a major figure in the end.

I love Alanis so I sort of can’t believe I haven’t listened to this one all the way through before. It’s so good, full of angst and rage but a real sense of self belief. Some great songs, even if you can’t take Ironic seriously anymore. But You Learn gets stuck in my head in the best possible way. Great job, definitely one I’ll listen to over and again.

In places, you can hear the Keane-ness of the album shining through, but it’s not as close to the band’s music as I expected. There’s more production to it, more instruments and actually more upbeat songs as well. That isn’t always a good thing, it’s missing that wistful edge of Keane music. Some of this you can tell is influenced by Tom’s personal struggles but it’s an overall positive experience.

I’ve been vaguely aware of this book and film for a while but never really got round to reading it. For some reason, the idea of University Challenge popped into my head and then I thought this would be the perfect book to go with it. I love how the book is structured, with a relevant question at the start of each chapter, and that it flows through a full term at university.

Good album, from start to finish, but the problem I have with it is that it starts with Where the Streets, Still Haven’t Found, and With or Without You, so you have to ask yourself, what is the point of the rest of the album? Those three songs are incredible, and whilst the rest is fine, they are overshadowed by such an amazing start.

Up until this year, when a certain motorsport game came out that replicates the 2016 F1 season, I called our Playstation 4 “the Tomb Raider box” because that’s pretty much all it was good for. I’m not a big console gamer but Tomb Raider has always been a huge love of both mine and Mr C’s, so it was only natural we grabbed the new Rise of the Tomb Raider game as soon as it became available (which was a year later than on the Xbox, thanks peeps).

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would, it’s not like Mel C was ever my favourite Spice Girl but I quite like what she’s done here. It really feels like grown up pop, like a Spice Girl album that has gone through puberty and now has actual problems to deal with. Pop but with just a bit of an edge, I like it.

I can’t believe it was three long years ago that I first wrote about the magic of the Duolingo language learning app. Three years of free French lessons (with a few hiatuses here and there) and I definitely feel like I know more of the language than I ever have before. What’s also amazing is looking back at my initial post, to see how the app has developed. It has a fresh and much cleaner look now, the lesson style has changed slightly from a “three strikes and you’re out” approach to a more “keep trying and you’ll get there” system. There are also a lot more languages out there to choose from, I’ve already experimented with a spot of German and Dutch, but always come back to the more familiar French.

Mr C is obsessed with Taylor so he’s planning for me to work my way through all the albums, starting at the beginning with baby Taylor. This is a cute album, so very country in places, but with good heart and good songs and just a nice start to what has become an incredible career. Particularly enjoy how very country Our Song is.

This was a pleasant surprise for me. I thought I perhaps didn’t like KOL because they were overplayed or something like that. However, this album was brilliant! Some of the guitar riffs felt familiar but then the songs developed in a completely different way so it was fun to listen to something that felt both familiar and brand new at the same time. Great stuff!

This is the tale of a little known escape attempt from a German Prisoner of War camp in the midst of the Second World War. A large scale attempt to get out was attempted after the prisoners realised their tunnelling exploits were not getting them anywhere.

I listened to the audiobook of this, read by Sue Perkins herself, and whilst I haven’t read the book in isolation, I can only recommend indulging in the audio version instead. It was incredible to listen to the author’s words from the author’s mouth, including the odd moment where she made herself laugh.

I enjoyed this book far more than the previous Gabriel Marquez I read, but even so, it still wasn’t quite my cup of tea. Tracking the story was hard work but fun, so many generations trying to keep a brand new village in tact. I really couldn’t keep on top of the characters, partly because there were so many of them but mostly because they all had very similar names.

They must have been really confident that these were a) classics and b) just the first volume. Luckily, it is a great album, and so although the title makes it look like a compilation, it is actually a solid body of work by one group. It makes for some relaxing listening, especially starting with Keep on Moving, and ending up with Back for Life.

Love this album. It’s maybe not got quite so many instant classics as the previous album, but it’s stacked full of good songs, and they span quite a variety – from looping Bieber-style pop, to more gospel choir piano tunes, plus bonus Peter Gabriel! And if you don’t like that stuff, there’s enough OneRepublic anthems to get you through. Quality.

It’s written as a chronicle of the history of the show, with some asides and facts thrown in to make it interesting. There’s a step by step guide to the cast and how they were chosen to make their appearance in the show, and then the best bit of the book is the series overview, that goes through each episode in turn, adding in behind the scenes nuggets of production.

Yay, another Tom Hanks film, right? Hmm, well, I’m not totally convinced. The first half was great, Tom Hanks out of place in Saudi Arabia, the brilliantly funny driver taking him to and from a new city. I love new builds, particularly when they come in the shape of potential entire cities! The characters were great, the doctor, the annoying receptionist, the frustrated crew.

The BBC recently published a short video that explained why some people respond better to having music playing when they’re studying and others work better in silence. This is a topic that has been on my radar for a long time, because Mr C and I differ radically on our approaches to concentration. He can listen to music as he works and learns, whereas I don’t favour silence but certainly prefer a white noise that requires no additional concentration.

I really wasn’t expecting a huge amount from this film, it seems to have flown very much below the radar. But the trailer was fascinating and I really like both Stewart and Hoult, so was keen to see how it all unfolded.

I’ve been paying a bit more attention to my Apple Watch exercise rings again recently, and although I usually work on a week by week basis, I was perusing the history in the accompanying iPhone app. There, you can see how you’ve done each month and it’s also a good way of comparing days, ie. seeing if you often take Fridays off. I was surprised, however, going back a couple of months, to see a trend I hadn’t really noticed at the time.

I started watching 11.22.63 a long while ago, and have just, finally, after such a long time, gotten to the end of it. I was so looking forward to watching this series, James Franco goes travelling through time in an adaptation of a Stephen King book? It couldn’t really sound more perfect if it tried. The first episode was massively intriguing, and I forgave its slow pace as it was setting up an absolutely intriguing premise. The moments where he jumped through the time travel window and found life to be exactly the same again and again, I loved all that stuff.

Ah, I really enjoyed this album. These are one of those bands where I think I don’t know any of their songs but I knew at least three of them and they’re all good ones. It’s beautifully eighties, with those keyboards and drum kicks, but at the same time it hasn’t aged horribly, there are some proper classics on there. Also like how the songs lead into each other nicely, proper album work.

Brilliant album. After embarrassing myself watching Passenger on AMF10, I figured I should listen to the new album, and I’m glad I did! Distinctive voice, great guitar riffs and lovely tunes – ranging from easy listening, to the more slow and depressing sort, it’s a relaxed album perfect for chilling out to.

I’m not an American citizen, so am interested in their election only so far as what happens over there seems to affect us anyway. I’m not usually one to talk about politics either, because it always seems to be to be a topic that causes arguments and resolves little. Even so, I think it’s worth highlighting a presidential candidate who has set up her own podcast, called With Her, to cover the last few months of the campaign.

I was superbly excited going into this year’s Apple Music Festival, even more so than usual. Previous years have seen me bouncing around in glee at the concept of a fortnight’s worth of free live music, streamed around the globe to be soaked up in the comfort of my own living room. This year, given my focus on musical education, I was looking forward to it even more! Plus, the line up looked exceptionally good.

This video is so gorgeous. Watch it full screen if you can. What’s incredible is that we could very well be living through the moments that will be detailed in future history textbooks, when that billionaire changed the face of space travel as we know it. Incredible.

It’s exactly what you expect from late 80s George, the songs sound mostly similar except for a couple of slightly out of place ballads – at one point he goes very Sinatra swing. However, very entertaining, if a bit “I’m so sexy” in places.

Saw Christine appear on the Elton John Apple Music Festival evening and was instantly obsessed. Watched her on her support act evening too, and then quickly downloaded the album. Amazing, love it all. Quirky, dancey, French, and Tilted gets right inside my head.

I’ve always been interested in the standing desk revolution but never really had the opportunity to investigate any of the options until recently. In my day job, getting a standing desk wasn’t really an option, whilst at home, adding a motorised desk to the office would involve a significant reshuffle of furniture. However, a friend bought themselves a Varidesk and very kindly lent it to me for a weekend. The Varidesk is a great halfway house idea to allow people to convert their existing desk situation into a moveable standing desk instead. Two small levers either side of the main desk part, allow you to raise and lower the level at will, making it easy to stand or sit without committing to either one.

This film sort of doesn’t fit in anywhere. It’s not an all-out comedy. It’s not a dramatically moving piece. It’s not an indie effort, and it doesn’t look so incredible that it can rely on beauty rather than story. Somehow, it inhabits an uncomfortable area that doesn’t really have a genre, and yet it was still really interesting.

After a little bit of delivery drama, my new Apple Watch Series 2 arrived just in time for the weekend, and so naturally, I headed out to test out the one thing I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced - swim tracking!

This is a bizarre film, really. Firstly, I didn’t realise that Jodie Foster was a director so that was a pleasant surprise. Then it has the wonderful reunion of Julia and George, except they are barely ever on screen at the same time.

Amazon’s continuing efforts to deliver consumables to your door before you’ve even realised you need them has seen a rapid expansion in the UK recently. Their Pantry service launched a few moons ago, their Fresh option has been gradually creeping across London presumably with desires to go further, and just a few week’s ago, the Amazon Dash buttons were launched. If you’ve not heard of them, the idea is simply that you set up a small device with a button so that when you press it, specific goods come to your door. The buttons are supplier specific, and offer a range of goods for you to select from, that should arrive with Amazon Prime swiftness. That’s the idea, and in principal, I love it. The concept of reaching for your last dishwasher tablet, or getting to the bottom of your jar of olive oil, and simply having to press a button to get more is brilliant! Forget having to remember to put it on a shopping list, you never have to think about it again, and stuff just turns up at your door.

Passenger, playing at the Apple Music Festival this evening, perks up my attention. Me: “Who does he sound like?” Mr C: “Not sure.” Me: “Is it Mumford & Sons, maybe?” Mr C: “Could be, the guitars and stuff.” Me: “No, it’s his voice, it’s familiar.” Mr C shrugs. We listen on. Two songs later, Passenger starts playing Let Her Go. “OHHHH, this is who he sounds like! This is the song I was remembering!”

I only knew one song going into this album and it was a bit of a surprise, as the songs were all far more dancey than I had anticipated. I loved it though, really great songs, sort of quirky like Gwen Stefani, with some odd but brilliant lyrics.

I was sort of dreading this one because I’m still conscious of disliking Drake’s album. However, this was a really solid R&B/hip-hop outing, very relaxing and brilliant to drive home to of an early autumn evening.

There are lots of productivity apps and habit trackers available on the iOS store, but I have become partial to Streaks. It’s such a simple app that can really make a difference – although admittedly my streaks have not been so fruitful lately. The app is really easy to use. If you have a goal in mind, something you want to do on a regular basis (most likely daily, but can be adjusted to weekly or monthly if required), you can set it up on Streaks to track your progress. When you complete the goal on any given day, you just pop to the app and tap it as done. You can view your progress, and your statistics with a couple of simple taps, and you can do that for up to six different goals.

It took a while to work up the courage to watch this one, as its reputation as a bit of an odd-ball film preceded it. It certainly did take a minute or two to adjust to the style but once you know it’s slightly surreal, definitely all over the place, and wonderfully humourous when you’re least expecting it, then it’s really, really good.

I know the three main singles from this album but I’ve never really indulged in any extra-curricular Belinda tracks, and I thought it was a really solid album. It’s intensely eighties, obviously, but she has a great voice and it’s got some really catchy stuff in there.

Listened to an older Bastille album just two weeks ago, and it’s interesting to hear the differences. Still a good album, still full of the drums and drama, but with more of an edge to it. Found the radio inserts a bit odd, but enjoyed the album from start to finish.

Loved this. I didn’t actually know the full story of Eddie the Eagle, only that he was an Olympic hero for NOT being very good. Post-film trivia suggests this film takes big liberties with the story, but the fundamentals are there.

Highs and lows in my feelings for this one. The singing scenes were really, really atrocious, so hard to get through. I get that’s the whole point of the story, and it was slightly better when she was attempting an actual song, but that first sequence where she was getting lessons was dire. Almost ’turn it off I can’t bear it’ dire.

I’ve read this one before but could remember very little about it so figured it was about time I reminded myself what it was about. I really enjoyed it just as much second time round as I did the first, following the story of an attempted robbery at a high tech bio-facility, where deadly viruses are stored.

Brilliant album, how could it not be with the remarkable Ryan Tedder? Pop royalty, catchy, sing along, impossible not to move to but equally emotional in places. Loved it.

Totally what you would expect, slightly poppy country music. I so wanted the Backstreet Boys track to be amazing but I didn’t think it was, sadly. There are a good selection of guests on there, but there are no real stand out songs.

Interesting story this one. It’s very much in the same genre as The Hunger Games, as in a dystopian future sees children subjected to horrible manipulated gameshows that could end up in their death, with the reward being a marginally better lifestyle than what they have at the moment.

Here’s the amusing and slightly ironic thing about our viewing of Dirty Dancing. It was a film that was firmly on my side of the camp, I love it and always have done, but it’s very much a girly sort of watch. Mr C had always proclaimed he’d need a little alcohol to get properly into this one.

Really enjoyed the first film in this series, so was interested to see how the sequel would hold up. It follows similar lines to the first - group of slightly obnoxious teens moves in next to a couple who really just want to get on with their own slightly bonkers existence.