There are many thankless tasks in this world but as Seth MacFarlane is probably now realising, being the host of the Academy Awards is possibly the most public way to make yourself a worldwide figure of hatred literally overnight. His reviews are not great and some of the Twitter vitriol has been appalling…
Think of the Children
25 February 2013 by Leave a Comment
When I first got my Kindle I went through a period of downloading many, many free and cheap books. More than I could possibly read in a decade and with no quality control whatsoever. There was a flurry of mindless downloading of books onto my new and special machine. I was, I admit, greedy. In some cases I discovered gems that I would previously never have found…
Oscars 2013 Live Blog
24 February 2013 by 4 Comments
Live blog of the 2013 Oscars – join in with discussion of the winners and losers in the biggest night of the film year.
Oscars 2013 Predictions
24 February 2013 by Leave a Comment
It’s Oscars Day and I’m excited. I love the Oscars, I love the good and the bad outfits. I love the gushing speeches and the losers proving why they lost by not being able to act happy for the winners. On the other hand I can’t stand the moaning minnies who complain that it’s all back-slapping and aren’t there more important things in the world to be concerned about…
This Means War
20 February 2013 by 5 Comments
Sometimes I read reviews of romantic comedies that are very scathing and make me think I’m about to watch the worst movie ever made. I’m usually pleasantly surprised by a film that is a bit mindless but normally quite fun and enjoyable…
Soulseeker
19 February 2013 by Leave a Comment
Just over a year ago I reviewed Sinclair Macleod’s The Reluctant Detective, the first in his series of crime novels set in Glasgow with an insurance investigator who gets caught up in murders. I mentioned in that review that while The Reluctant Detective wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination a cosy mystery nor was it quite dark enough to be categorised as a “tartan noir”…
A Good Day To Die Hard
17 February 2013 by Leave a Comment
I imagine that in any number of Top Tens I could do Die Hard would feature prominently. Top Ten Action Films – check. Christmas Films – yup. Films set in tower blocks, Bruce Willis films, films with leading men wearing vests. I will make up spurious Top Tens just to find new ways to extoll the virtues of Die Hard. I really do love the original film…
Aberystwyth Mon Amour
15 February 2013 by Leave a Comment
In my own personal backlash against the influx of Scandinavian crime fiction I was determined to read more British thrillers this year and did relatively well. I may have been last to the party in discovering the brilliance of Mark Billingham but at least I discovered it. I took a tour of some M.C. Beaton cosy mysteries..
Warm Bodies
14 February 2013 by Leave a Comment
After a brief period of unpopularity zombies are back to being the supernatural bad guys of the moment. Vampires are on their way out and I blame (or depending on your point of view, thank) The Walking Dead for the resurgence of the zombie. It could be worse, we could be over-run with sparkly bloody nightcrawlers for all eternity. The latest zombie flick is Warm Bodies…
Zero Dark Thirty
13 February 2013 by 4 Comments
I’m doing my best to catch up with as many of the films and performances in this year’s Oscar race before February 24th. I’ve managed Lincoln, Les Miserables (for the second time) and The Impossible in the past few days. I may have missed the boat on The Master, Argo and Amour but if it’s still on locally I’ll get to it. I was really glad to have made it to Zero Dark Thirty…