Most of the reviews I saw of this were less than positive but it has such a good cast I couldn’t resist giving it a peek. Really shouldn’t have bothered. Not sure how so many awesome people can make something that is so dull and unfunny.

I can’t say that I particularly wanted to watch this one, and was pretty conflicted right up until we pressed play. When everything was kicking off between Sony and their hackers, I sort of fell on the side of those thinking it was unwise to make a film about a current world leader who is unpredictable at best.

Everything about this adventure sounds terrifying - canoeing from the source of the Congo river in Zambia, through to where it meets the Atlantic Ocean in the DR of Congo, through hippo and crocodile infested waters, passing by villages where white faces are understandably treated with suspicion but also with a gun, and generally surviving on rice and fish.

I can’t think that I would have read this if it wasn’t for the film, and oddly I’m glad that I saw the movie first. It really helped to have images of the characters in my mind already, as I think I would have struggled to place them otherwise. But as I did have that image, it was an enjoyable read.

I wasn’t particularly bothered about reading this one until I saw the trailer for the film and thought I should probably read the source text before indulging in the big screen version. I’m not sure it was the best decision as the book didn’t sell the story to me at all.

Taken is a film series we have something of a love/hate relationship with. Many people make fun of the first film, but I really loved it. Kick-ass action, and those particular set of skills which really set Liam Neeson off in a new direction. The trouble being, of course, that since then he’s done barely anything but have those skills and it’s not really bringing about anything new.

Having completed the X-men trilogy, there wasn’t really a need to squeeze this film in before starting on the reboot trilogy, but somehow we still wanted to watch everything in the order it came out. So, it was to Wolverine’s back-story that we went, and I quite liked it. I know that Hugh Jackman has said he wasn’t really a big fan of how this one turned out, and I can see that if he was hoping it would be totes emosh then it didn’t quite hit the spot… but for an X-men movie, I thought it was exactly right.

I was surprised with how much I enjoyed this one, although it had bonus John Goodman in it, so it was bound to be a hit. Marky Mark was great, I can’t say I related to his gambling side, given that I wouldn’t bet more than a tenner on anything, and his teacher side was downright terrifying. Somehow I still liked him though and wanted him to succeed.

It took me a while to get into this one, I couldn’t quite figure out why we were following a detective that had all but solved his case, alongside a woman bitter about the sexism in her office. It was a slow start but once things came to a head and our hero Jane Tennison took over the investigation, it was far more interesting.

This book accompanies the TV series of the same name, with Karl Pilkington discovering the highs and lows of what makes people happy, why they do certain jobs, and how various cultures deal with death. I haven’t actually seen the TV show, and only picked up the book as it was in a sale, but I have previously enjoyed the Ricky Gervais podcast with Pilkington’s wry look at life, so thought it would be interesting.

When I could concentrate long enough to watch the film, I really liked it. The audacity of Frank and how ridiculously easy it was for him to get away with his tricks - it’s that age old thing of just having the confidence so that everyone else believes you too.

From the trailer, I thought this was a fun little film, very much like Kick-Ass except for spies, but I hadn’t anticipated the great story and the self-awareness that made it what it was. Packed full with a fantastic cast, some great cameos, and plenty of little inside jokes and secrets, it grabs you right from the start and pulls you in.

I knew I was going to love this film, having watched the trailer a gazillion times and giggled to myself at the big, puffy, Michelin-man style Baymax trying to squeeze through a gap far too small for him. I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed, as there’s always the possibility that kids films don’t work for adults too - thankfully, this was brilliant.

This is the story of a former technology security officer who is called back from a yoga retreat in the Bahamas to investigate the potential undoing of a young startup company about to undergo its IPO. There are a lot of technical parts to this story that make it quite unwieldy and difficult to follow in places. There’s also a bit of a mismatch between which parts are explained and which aren’t.

As a film to watch after some pretty serious endeavours recently, this was perfect. Teen movie, girls being bitchy to each other, some great one liners and jokes, and generally a lot of fun to be had. It’s not perfect, but you can see why it has the same cult status as Clueless - a film of a very similar nature.

This book in the 87th Precinct series raised the stakes a little. Rather than one murderer or a single crime to solve, this one was a series of connected incidents that were leading towards a huge plot to rob a bank. Seeing the cops struggle to connect the dots was both frustrating but also intriguing - would they get there in time?

I put this one off a little, knowing that it was going to pull at the heart-strings, but it couldn’t be denied forever. And of course it did, I cried for about twenty minutes - although oddly my tears came halfway through rather than at the end. Whereas this was clearly a love story about Jane and Stephen (based on her book, it kinda had to be), I was more interested in the biopic side. Thus the scenes where you can see him fighting but having to come to terms with his diagnosis, and his limits, that’s what got me.

I was allowed to lift my head from my study books for two weeks recently, to head to Belgium for a fortnight work trip. It was crazy busy and there wasn’t a lot of time to be a tourist, but I did manage to snap a couple of pictures in Brussels. It’s a lovely place, full of juxtapositions of old and new, and a big mish-mash of languages. I wish I could have had more time to spend nosing around, but had to settle for just a few glimpses of the sights.

Going into this, I knew it was Oscar-worthy, that the trailer looked intriguing but that it was a bit… weird. Having now seen it, I still can’t put my finger on how I feel about it. Clearly, it was a masterpiece, an exquisite work of art, but did I like it?

As soon as I started reading this, I realised I didn’t know much about Scotland’s history. A vague awareness of Skara Brae, and of course the infamous Hadrian’s Wall, but other than that not a lot. This book filled in all the details, and thankfully did it in an approachable and friendly way. Although a lot of time is spent on the lineage of kings and queens through the years, it’s not too hard to track each and figure out the permutations of who was in line to the throne.

I’ve always enjoyed Jacqueline Wilson’s books for kids, even when I should really have grown out of them. There’s something so open and honest about them, all the way through, that you can’t help but fall in love with the characters, no matter how flawed they may be.

I was keen to see this one only because it was clearly Pierce Brosnan doing another James Bond film without actually being allowed to don the 007 suit and tie. A highly trained spy, on a mission, pretty girls, reasonably fast cars, lots of twists and turns and double-crossing, and plenty of alcohol.

The memoirs of an MSF doctor working in three different African locations, all with their own issues and requirements from the medical staff trying to help them out. Detailing the incredible highs and horrific lows from his time spent in the field, Damien is refreshingly honest about the situations MSF staff face, as well as his own reactions to the situation.

This so nearly could have been the best of the three prequels. Hayden seemed to come into his own, picking up his acting skills and it was incredible watching his character getting darker and darker - physically and mentally. The descent was almost unbearable, but brilliant to see.

If you put to one side the fact that Hayden is a bit wooden for about 80% of this film, I actually really enjoyed it. Padmé lost her accent and gained some kick-ass skills, getting completely involved in the action. I liked the mystery of tracing the poison dart, through the Jedi Archives and then to discover the clones - great reveal, that one, especially when you see their uniforms.

A properly oddball film, this one has to tread the line carefully between being smug about rom-coms whilst also being a blatant entry into that category of movies. It was fantastically quirky with little insert scenes, dressing up, the heart on your sleeve thing and some one-liners delivered so deadpan that you almost miss them.

A collection of short stories about time travel? Heaven. This book collates old and new from across the genres to pull together an epic book stacked full of time travel goodness. I love the concept of time travel so this was right up my street. As with any collection of short stories, there are some that appeal and some that don’t, but there were far more hits than misses.

This third book in the Inspector Morse series took on a slightly different form to the previous two. The detective was still particularly obtuse with giving away any details, and I do still wonder how Lewis manages to put up with him - doing all the work and being kept in the dark for so long.

This one started off okay, and the premise of three intertwining stories, with such a strong cast, felt like a great idea. It quickly went downhill, the middle section dragging as you just waited for something to happen. Many of the characters weren’t particularly sympathetic, I couldn’t stand Anna and the guy in Rome was behaving very oddly.

When discussing the order to watch the Star Wars films in, many people suggested leaving out the prequels altogether. That was hardly likely to happen, not least because I bought the digital box set and didn’t want to waste my pennies. So many people don’t like these three films though, I don’t think my expectations could have been any lower.

I was expecting this to be a quirky little comedy and wasn’t prepared for how engaging, dramatic and heartwarming it would be. Bill Murray is on top form as the grump with a good heart, and it was fab to see Melissa McCarthy doing a more serious role than her usual. The story of unlikely friendships between boy and unsuitable adult isn’t new, but it’s done really well, with many sides to each of the characters.

The second Morse book puts the Inspector in a position he’s not entirely comfortable with - a cold case of a missing person, rather than a murder with a body to work from. That makes it all the more fascinating as a reader - the twists and turns of the is she/isn’t she alive on top of the possibilities of who did what to whom and when.

The first book of the Inspector Morse series takes in a tragic murder of a young girl who was hitch-hiking with a friend from Oxford to Woodstock. I’m not sure what prompted me to check this book out, as I haven’t actually seen the TV series, but there’s nothing wrong with going straight to the source material.

At this point in the trilogy, you’re into the traditional formula with the plot based around the theme - people don’t quite believe in the magic that brings museum pieces to life, but then there is something risking their future, Ben Stiller comes to the rescue, and it all works out with a party at the end.

Finally, the one and only scene that I remembered! And actually there were a couple of other scenes that rang weird bells in my head, so perhaps I have seen more of Star Wars previously than I thought. Regardless, it was only this time that it made any sense.

We decided to binge watch the final two episodes of the original trilogy, which means they sort of blend in to each other a little bit. However, I was surprised that this was the one with the big father reveal, I would have assumed that came in the grand finale at the end. Also that it’s one of those quotes that is done wrong all the time just like ‘if you build it.’ Kind of annoying.

Was looking forward to this one, seeing Daniel Radcliffe doing something relatively normal compared to his history of wizards and horror and that kind of thing. The story is, of course, utterly predictable. Boy and girl are friends but fall in love, try to fight it and ultimately end up together.

Somehow I managed to get to a respectable age without seeing Star Wars. Of course it seeps into the consciousness, and there are a gazillion cultural references to it everywhere, but I had never seen it. I had one scene in my head, where there’s some kind of hole in the sand that sucks people in which I think had to do with Jabba, but I couldn’t have told you much else about the plot or the point of the whole thing.

Short and sweet, this book illustrates the author’s transition from sheep farmer and reluctant sailer to hardened adventurer crossing the Norwegian fjords and beyond. From the first tentative steps on board a sailing boat with a friend, through proper instruction, to the warmth of a Greek summer, and then the real challenge of an Icelandic adventure with friends, you get to feel how his spirit evolves through every stage.

I picked this up as I thought it was the start of a young adult series, and it is although it’s also a spin off of an existing set of books. I like to start things at the beginning, and there were some passages in the story that made me feel like I’d missed out on things - those catch up sentences summarising whole books as best they can.

I’ve had this book on my to-read list for a while but decided to hold off until I’d seen the film, just from a spoiler-free point of view. I had a previous book by Gillian Flynn though and knew it was probably going to be a bit darker than I might at first have thought.

I would usually try and avoid Statham movies like the plague. His style of muscle man who can barely move his mouth to whisper his lines doesn’t appeal to me. However, this one has Franco in it and he does intrigue me, so I figured we could at least give it a go.

I think they did a solid job. It does sort of seem like an unnecessary sequel, but then almost immediately you’re glad to be back in the company of these three imbeciles. Them trying to make a good impression on live morning television is just the start of a journey that should be simple but ends up being far more complicated thanks to their crazy antics.

This was an odd one, set out in a unique way with no chapter breaks and written in the first person, present tense. The story follows a bartender who discusses the various patrons that attend the bar, as well as the breakdown of his marriage and his ways of trying to deal with that.

I’ve not seen any of the Madagascar films but this penguins special had to be consumed. The trailers looked awesome and anyone who’s anyone knows that penguins are fabulous. It was your traditional children’s film - fast-paced and frantic, where you can’t even take a minute because you’ll miss a joke or a reference somewhere.

It was good, and there were some lighter moments to offset the dark. I enjoyed the occasional burst of French and seeing how much I could understand. But I think the trailer sells a different film to what you get, and it might not be one I’d have picked if I’d known ahead of time.

I’m not really sure why I bought this book, as I’d seen the film and knew the book was going to be pretty much the same thing. The film was okay, hit and miss with the comedy but an interesting premise and a generally good story.

I devoured this book so quickly, it hooked me in right from the start and didn’t let go. I hadn’t expected it to do so, it’s not your normal crime thriller. Instead, a man looks back to his childhood after receiving fresh news about an old crime. A terrible being was stalking the neighbourhood and three friends decided to do something about it.

I might be admitting some ignorance here but I didn’t know Pellew was a real person, I assumed he was just a character in the Hornblower stories. Finding this book was a revelation, and reading it was fascinating. I’ve found history books, and biography books in particular, difficult to get on with. They have to really grab my attention to keep me reading.

Just like many people, I’ve been curious how James Corden would get on in the wild world of late night US talk shows. You’ll have noticed my obsession with Jimmy Fallon, I’m sure, and the concept of these daily evening entertainment extravaganzas fascinates me. By all accounts, he did okay and there’s at least something to work with. From the clips I’ve seen, it’s a good start but I just have one question. Why would you ever put Tom Hanks in your first show because how are you ever going to top this??