Lou's Reviews

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-08-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

I've just got back from seeing this film, and whilst it's the best version I've seen (well you can't get much worse than that awful mouse), it's good but not brilliant.

==Synopsis ==

Morgana has destroyed Merlin, and now threatens the world. Balthazar and Veronica are the only two of Merlin's apprentices left to fight the battle, since Horvath has turned tail and moved over to the dark side. Veronica draws Morgana's life force into her body, and Balthazar manages to trap them both in to a Grimhold. Morgana will always be a threat until the Prime Merlinian can be found.

Fast forward more than a thousand years, and a 10 year Dave stumbles into an antique shop. Coincidentally the shop is owned by Balthazar, who recognises Dave's potential. Sure enough Merlin's ring comes to life as it's placed on Dave's hand. Balthazar has finally found his apprentice, but Dave accidentally unleases Horvath back into the world, meaning it's another 10 years until his training begins.

==Cast ==

Nicolas Cage as Balthazar Blake

Jay Baruchel as David Stutler

Jake Cherry as Young David Stutler

Alfred Molina as Maxim Horvath

Alice Krige as Morgana le Fay:

James A. Stephens as Merlin

Monica Bellucci as Veronica

Teresa Palmer as Becky Barnes

== My Thoughts ==

I enjoyed the film and there were a lot of great effects, they even managed to get in the Mickey Mouse dancing mops and the tune that went with it. It's definitely a kids film though, there are far too many plot holes for the average adult. As seems to be standard with current films, they've gone for effects over story.

Nicolas Cage makes the film, although I might be slightly biased because I think he's a good actor anyway. I've never seen Jay Baruchel in anything else, but he does a reasonably good job in this film, and Teresa Palmer is very good. Alfred Morina is not so hot, he reminded me of David Suchet as Poirot throughout the film, although his clothing doesn't help in that respect, but as a bad guy he's pretty wimpy and not very threatening.

As I said before the effects were good, particularly the eagle, and my kids enjoyed the wolves and puppies, although you'll have to watch to understand what I'm talking about there, because I don't want to give too much away.

For adults I'd give it a 6 of of 10, for kids probably an 8.

Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time

2010-05-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

Cast

Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan
Gemma Arterton as Tamina
Ben Kingsley as Nizam
Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar
Steve Toussaint as Seso
Toby Kebbell as Garsiv
Richard Coyle as Tus
Ronald Pickup as King Sharaman
Reece Ritchie as Bis
Gísli Örn Garðarsson as Hassansin Leader

Synopsis

Dastan is a poor street urchin, one day he saves his friend from a beating by the town guards. Unknown to Dastan or the guards, the king is watching, and he's touched seeing Dastan risk his life for his friend. Because of this the king adopts Dastan into his family.

Several years later Dastan and his brothers are camped outside a holy city, they are debating whether to attack, or leave the city as per their father's order. Suddenly they are confronted with a shipment of weapons which has left the city, and is heading to their enemies. This seals the fate of the city and the Persian's attack.

During the fight, Dastan comes into possession of a dagger, which seems to be of particular interest to the princess of the conquered city.

The king comes to celebrate the win, but Dastan has forgotten to buy a gift for the king. His brother gives him a cloak, but after the king wears the cloak poison seeps from it and the king is dead. Dastan is blamed for his murder, but with the help of the princess he escapes. How can he prove his innocence, and how will the dgger help him?

My Thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by this film, it's a very westernised eastern story, but this doesn't detract from the film too much.

I've heard of the Prince of Persia from the video games, although I've never played them, so I wasn't sure what to expect, except that the trailers looked very similar to Assassins Creed II, a game I've played a lot. So presuming the Prince of Persia games are anything similar, then it's made a good transition from the games console to the big screen. I read since that the film doesn't follow the plot of the game, which seems to be the norm these days, as Avatar was just the same.

The casting was good, although Jake Gyllenhaal was a little too 'designer stubble' rather than natural stubble in his looks, but he plays the part very well. The choreography for the fight scenes is done very well, especially the assassin whips, which are done so fast you can barely keep up with them. The only actor I've actually heard of is Ben Kingsley, but not having big names didn't affect the film.

The cgi graphics were good, if I didn't know that film companies are too stingy to hire hundreds of actors, I would certainly have believed that the hordes of people were real. And the last few scenes where the story comes to a climax is pure cgi, but it's still good.

A well recommended film, I took my 12 year old son, who absolutely loved it, I can see us having to buy the DVD when it comes out as well.

Grizedale Forest

2010-05-21T13:31:00.001-07:00

Location

Grizedale is located between Esthwaite Water and Coniston. Parking always used to be a problem here, but they've created a larger car park a couple of years ago, so chances are you shouldn't have a problem now.
To reach the forest from the North you need to take the A591 to Ambleside, leave Ambleside A593 to Langdale/Coniston. First left B5286 to Hawkshead. Bypass Hawkshead follow B5286 south then first right at tourist sign "Theatre in the Forest", follow to Grizedale approx 2 miles.

Or from the South M6 junction 36 take A591 first exit A590, Barrow follow A590 past Newby Bridge Havethwaite Crossroads, right turn, tourist sign "Grizedale Forest Park", follow signs for Satterthwaite/Grizedale north.

During the high season (Easter to Oct/Nov) you can reach Grizedale via the Cross Lakes Experience, where you can arrive from either Coniston Water or Bowness Pier. There’s also a bus service that runs from Hawkshead to Grizedale to Newby Bridge.

The Forest

At the old car park (which is still useable) you'll find the visitors centre, the shop, the cafe and a massive playground for the children which is all wood and looks like a ship. There's also a place to hire cycles and the Go Ape tree top experience, where those over the age of 10 can swing through the trees and clamber around 19 metres in the air!! I have to say I've never tried it, the trees would probably bend under the weight, but I've watched people doing it and they always look like they are thoroughly enjoying it, and I admit I'd love to have a go on the zip wire. It's open for children over 10 and adults, currently the prices are £20 for children up to 17 and £25 for adults.

For the less adventurous among you there are several different walks around the forest, all of differing difficulties and distances. Some of the walks are free of stiles, so they are suitable for wheelchair users, although none are actual pavemented walks, so they might still be hard going depending on the style of wheelchair, because I know some are far more difficult to push or handle than others. The other walks range from a 1 mile blue walk which is classed as easy to a 9 and a half mile orange walk, which is classed as strenuous. The walks are all marked out with arrows of certain colours along the route, so you don't accidently go along a more difficult path. All in all there are 8 marked walks. The forest is also home to the country’s largest off road cycling facility, it has 5 marked cycle routes of differing difficulties.

As you're walking round you'll find statues hidden among the trees, I say hidden, some of them are quite obvious and out in the open, but the kids love to be the first one to spot the next statue. The statues are mostly made of natural materials, although some of the newer ones are metal rather than wood. Some of the figures are interactive, for instance you can play the forest xylophone.

At the beginning of the forest close to the Go Ape area there is a small stream running through the forest. Providing they have wellington boots on this stream is just right for the children to jump in and splash about, without any worries about it being too deep.

Visitors Centre

The visitors centre is open all year round, except for Christmas week. It opens at 10am each day and closes between 4pm and 5.30pm depending on the time of year (later opening during the summer). The visitors centre has details of the walks and cycle trails, they have leaflets which show all the walks, but as previously mentioned all the walks are well signposted with colour co-ordinated arrows. They also sell souvenirs, and just across from the main centre there’s a small cafe which has hot and cold snacks as well and hot and cold drinks, although they are a little expensive, so I’d advise packing a few of your own drinks. There are indoor and outdoor seats, the outdoor seats are also available for anyone who wants to take a picnic.

On the opposite side of a small stream you’ll find a cycle hire shop, so you don’t have to take your own cycles, the latest you can hire a cycle is 3pm, and it has to be returned by 5pm.

Also close to the visitor’s centre is a large children’s park. The playground has a large wooden structure in the centre which is shaped like a pirate ship, and has slides and climbing frames. This is usually being used by children aged 10 and under, with a few children around 11-13, after that age it seems like it isn’t ‘cool’ enough to be used.

Just outside the Visitors Centre you’ll find the Theatre in the Forest. There are different plays and performances going on through the year. For instance the Brewery Art will soon be performing their hilarious adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III.

The forest is busy nearly all year round, but during the summer you’ll find the area very busy. This means you are unlikely to find any quiet time around the visitors centre, and the shorter walks will be quite crowded. No matter which walk you decide to take I would recommend you plan for a full day at Grizedale, the scenery is beautiful and despite what I mentioned earlier about crowds, you’ll still be able to find some time and space to enjoy the tranquillity of the forest.

Final Opinion

I love going to Grizedale because there's something for everyone. My children love it because they enjoy the playground, they love to hunt for new sculptures, and they really love jumping in the stream!

I find the cafe and shop expensive so we generally take our own food and have a picnic, and will just buy an ice cream or something small during the afternoon if we need to.

The routes are well signposted (and by signpost I don't mean great big ugly things that spoil the forest, they are small and don't detract from the natural beauty), however, if you don't pay attention, or head off without looking to see which colour is which, you might find yourself on a much longer walk than you thought. As I did once when I ended up on a cycle trail not a walk, and 4 hours later was starting to worry that I'd never get back. Although in a way it was a wonderful mistake because it took us up quite high and the view was outstanding.

A lovely day out, that's well recommended.

The Golden Compass

2010-05-21T13:29:00.001-07:00

I watched this for the first time last night, and only because someone had bought it for my children. I'd spent a long time avoiding buying it because I do not like Nicole Kidman one bit.

~What is the Film About~

The film is based on a book called the Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. It revolves around a girl called Lyra in a world not dissimilar to our own, except everyone's souls live in a daemon which manifests itself as an animal. The daemons of children can change shape, adult daemons appear to be fixed in one form.

Lyra lives in what appears to be a boarding school where her uncle (Lord Asriel) works. After she thwarts an assassination attempt on her uncle, he travels to the north to find evidence of 'dust'.

Then along comes Mrs Coulter who wants to take Lyra under her wing and take her north as well, the school headmaster is reluctant, but eventually agrees that Lyra can go. Before she leaves he gives her an alethiometer (Golden Compass), which only certain people can read.

The rest of the story follows Lyra's fight between good and bad, the introduction of Iorek Byrnison, fighting bear, Serafina the witch and Lee Scoresby an aeronaut. Both of who aid Lyra on her quest.

I could go into a lot more detail, but it would spoil it for anyone yet to watch.

~The Main Cast~

Nicole Kidman - Mrs. Coulter
Daniel Craig - Lord Asriel
Dakota Blue Richards - Lyra
Ian McKellen - Iorek Byrnison (voice)
Eva Green - Serafina Pekkala
Sam Elliott - Lee Scoresby
Christopher Lee - First High Councillor

~My Thoughts~

I quite enjoyed the film, despite still thinking the acting skills of Nicole Kidman let it down, I find her very one dimensional. However, the acting from Dakota was enough to carry the film alone. She did a wonderful job in the main role and the other cast members also did a good job. Ian McKellen was the perfect voice over for the bear.

The story flowed fairly well, although I never really understood the point of dust and what the significance was. Which made it awkward when my children also asked about dust and what did it mean.

The animation was good, and fairly realistic looking, well as realistic as talking bears can be lol.

So altogether I thought it was acceptable as a family film, certainly not worth all the hoo-ha there was when it first came out. Just a pleasant watch with no sex (or innuendos) or swearing, and a fight between good and evil.

Furry Vengeance

2010-05-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

Cast

Brendan Fraser as Dan Sanders
Ricky Garcia as Frank
Eugene Cordero as Cheese
Patrice O'Neal as Gus
Jim Norton as Hank
Brooke Shields as Tammy Sanders
Matt Prokop as Tyler Sanders
Billy Bush as Drill Sergeant
Ken Jeong as Neal Lyman

Synopsis

Dan Sanders is a loyal employee of Lyman Industries, so loyal in fact he uproots his entire family from Chicago, and moves them to the Oregon wilderness, in order to supervise the construction of a new 'eco friendly, green' site. Unfortunately unbeknownst to Dan, Neal Lyman is not as eco friendly as he makes out, and is planning to flatten the forest in order to double the size of the housing development, adding shopping malls with woodland themes!

Only the current inhabitants of the forest have other ideas, and they embark on an elaborate plan to make Dan see what a mistake he's making. Unfortunately for Dan, this plan is bound to make him a laughing stock at work.

My Thoughts

I've rated this a 3, but it almost got 2 star rating. For an adult it is very poor indeed, but my daughter and all the other kids in the cinema were laughing hysterically, so it must have hit their wavelengths.

The one good thing about this film was that it avoided the 'talking animals' pitfall that so many of these films fall into. It did however have amazing animals, with the ability to communicate that would make special intelligence jealous! This is where it fell down from an adult point of view, it was way too far fetched, but the kids enjoyed the 'nah-nah' type noises the animals would make once their plan had come together.

The film used real animals and stuffed ones too, I think they knew that the stuffed animals were never going to look realistic, so they went for the exact opposite and made them so totally unrealistic you couldn't help but laugh at them.

There were a few points in the film that most adults would find themselves chuckling away to. But unlike Shrek for example, there are no adult themes in the film, so it's not a case of there being laughs for kids and double entendre jokes for adults, all the laughs hit the lowest common denominator.

I don't think Brendan Fraiser did himself any favours with this film, he is a far better actor than the storyline of this film allows.

The storyline is a rehash of so many other nature v developer films or tv shows, and the outcome is pretty obvious from the beginning.

Still it was worth the entrance money to hear my daughter laughing away, so it wasn't all bad.

Beningbrough Hall

2010-05-07T02:02:00.000-07:00

Beningbrough Hall is located just outside York near the small village of Beningbrough. It is 8 miles north-west of York, and 2 miles west of Shipton along the A19.

Admission and Prices

As with most National trust properties opening times aren't simple as they could be.

Grounds/Shop/Restaurant

Most of the grounds, a shop and restaurant are open 11 until 330 Monday to Wednesday, and at the weekends. During the high season March until early November they are open until 530, and during July and August they are also open on Friday.

House

House opens later in the year, (March rather than February) and until mid-March is only open at the weekends. From March to November it is open Monday to Wednesday and weekends from 11 until five. And again as with the grounds during July and August it is also open on Friday.

Galleries

The galleries are open all year round, but they are only open in from 11 until 330, and their only open at the weekend.

Prices

Gift Aid Admission (Standard Admission prices in brackets) Summer: £8.40 (£7.60), child £4.20 (£3.80), family £20 (£18). Groups (£7.30). Winter: £5.50 (£5), child £2.60 (£2.35), family £14 (£12.50). Groups (£4.40).

Again as with all National trust properties the admin prices include a gift aid donation, but you can pay the standard admission if you do not wish to pay the gift aid.

What to See

************************************

House is a 1716 Georgian mansion, which can be visited all the several floors.
The upper floors house the galleries with some interesting interactive galleries. In one gallery you can take a picture of yourself and superimpose it onto an 18th-century portrait and then e-mail copy to yourself. In another area you can dress up in Georgian clothes (although they are not full outfits, they are specially made outfits which will hook over your shoulders).
There are also rooms which have puzzles for children to do.
Some of the ground floor rooms and some of the rooms on the first floor don't have any electric light, so if you are visiting out of high season then the best time to view these rooms would be around midday, as the natural light may be too dull early in the morning or later in the afternoon.
A lift is available to all floors from East Courtyard, for anyone using a wheelchair. There are also five wheelchairs available from the reception building.

Grounds

There are lots of lovely gardens to see, one of which is a fully functioning garden which supplies lots of the produce used in the restaurant.
Also in the grounds you'll find a wilderness area, which is a large play area for children which incorporates lots of wooden climbing frames and other activities based around a large wooden fort.

For cyclists there are two miles of National trust permitted cycle routes, which are available to use.
Some of the paths in the grounds and gravel are paths, so wheelchair users may struggle at these points. But mostly the grounds are accessible to all users.

Refreshments

There is a restaurant called the walled garden restaurant which sells a variety of hot lunches, snacks and cakes. It also has a selection of hot and cold drinks including alcoholic beverages. Gluten-free and vegetarian options are also available, as is the children's menu.
You don't want a sit-down meal you can also use the kiosk window to buy snacks.

Shops

On-site you will also find a National trust shop, selling the usual variety of National trust souvenirs, there's also a small plant centre and a second-hand bookshop.

My Thoughts

We really enjoyed our trip to Beningbrough Hall, the interactive galleries really made all the difference for my children; it turned what could be a dull trip around a musty old house (in their opinion) into a fun day out. Being able to e-mail the fruits of your labour to yourself is also a great idea, and it means you can have a laugh at yourself when you get back home as well.

The gardens were really beautiful, and of course the children enjoyed a wilderness area which is suitable for children up to around 11 or 12.

The food in the restaurant was very nice but it was rather expensive, and had we thought about it in advance I would probably have taken a picnic to eat, and then just bought a couple of tea and perhaps a cake for a mid-afternoon snack.

The Book Of Lost Things

2010-05-02T05:43:00.000-07:00

I am a huge John Connolly fan, I was hooked from the first few pages of his first novel Every Dead Thing, and although this book wasn't part of the Charlie Parker series I wanted to read it.

Synopsis

Set during the war, the story follows David who is a young boy who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, he is compelled to tap items such as the tap an even number of times before and after he uses them. He does this in the hope it will help his mother, who is very ill. Unfortunately for David it doesn't work and his mother dies.

Not long after her death his father takes up with another woman, David doesn't like her because he thinks his father is betraying his mother's memory. David is forced to move away from the house he grew up in, and where the memories of his mother reside, when his father moves into the home belonging to his father's girlfriend (Rose). Eventually his father gets remarried and pretty soon David has a half brother.

David feels alone in this new situation and he is angry at the world, and is angry at his new brother Georgie. After a huge fight with Rose, David is lying in his bed, when he hears the voice of his mother calling him. He follows the voice as it leads him through the garden, but suddenly a german bomber is hurtling towards him and he dives into a gap in a tree truck to avoid it. The gap in the tree is a passage though to another world.

A world ruled by a king who has lost control, and full of mysterious monsters and strange fairytale creatures.

My Thoughts

Th first word that springs to mind when I think of this book is strange, but it's then changed to strangely compelling. The story is weird to say the very least, but it's the sort of story that you just have to carry on reading because you just don't know what's going to crop up next.

Some things are really amusing like the alternative Snow White who's a total chav hag and the dwarves who are uptight about perceived sizism. Then other parts are quite disturbing, for example the use of lost children to fuse with the bodies of animals in order to hunt for sport, or Red Riding Hood sleeping with wolves to create a wolf/human hybrid.

The book also raises the issues of how parents deal with the death of another parent, in this case David's father cared little about David and his feelings, and was only interested in his life and how he was affected. This is a situation many real life children of David's age find themselves in, and as with David, many find themselves shoved to the sidelines as the new partner and partner's children take centre stage.

Connolly adapts very well to this new style of book, and makes the book just as interesting and compelling as the Charlie Parker series.
Because his writing is so good I felt a great deal of sympathy for David, as well as some of the characters who helped David on his journey, and Connolly can also make you really detest the bad guys.

I would definitely recommend this book, but on the basis you are buying a great fiction novel, not on the basis that you're buying a John Connolly book, because it's so far removed from his others, you might find yourself disappointed if you're hoping for anything similar to Charlie Parker.

Petit Nieulle

2010-04-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Located in a small village just outside La Rochelle on the west coast of France, this cottage is a lovely base for your holiday.

The cottage is actually located in a village called Nieulle Sur Seudre in the Charente region. The village is very small but without a satnav the cottage would have been rather difficult to find, as the instructions for the final few miles were very basic.

However, once you’ve navigated the small roads of the village the cottage is a very pleasant surprise. It seemed to us that it may once have been two separate cottages that have been joined together, as not only are there 6 bedrooms in the cottage, but there is a studio flat attached where the key holders can be found.

As just mentioned there are 6 bedrooms, one of the three downstairs bedrooms has an en-suite shower room as well. There is also a separate shower and toilet downstairs, and upstairs there are the other 3 bedrooms and a separate shower and toilet. All the bedrooms downstairs are double rooms, and one has a double and single bed in it. The main bedroom upstairs is a double and also has a cot in the room, the second has a bed which is larger than a single, but smaller than a double (so may suit a new love bird couple who still enjoy the closeness, rather than a wizened old couple who sleep at separate ends !) The third bedroom upstairs has a single bed, but it is still a reasonable sized bedroom.

There is one main living room which is very large, it contains a 3 seater settee, a 2 seater, 4 single ‘comfy’ chairs (2 of which are designed for style rather than comfort I think), a dining table and 8 chairs, TV, video and DVD combi, a wood burning fireplace (which we didn’t need, so I can’t comment on that), there’s free wifi, which took a little sorting out, but was fairly speedy and there's a billiard table. There is a 450€ deposit for the billiard table, so we never bothered with that, but it is covered so makes a wonderful junk stop for putting bags, hats, car keys etc. The living room has patio doors out to the garden.

The kitchen, considering the size of the house, is mighty small. Although they have managed to fit in a washer, a dishwasher, a microwave, kettle, toaster and a full sized fridge freezer, but the worktop space is at a premium. Having said that, we did manage to cook meals for 8, and there is more than enough crockery and cutlery to go round.

The linen and towels are included in the rental costs; pets are welcome in the property and most important of all there is a private swimming pool, which has an electric pool cover and a small diving board. There is plenty of space around the pool for 8 sun loungers, and still leave room for kids to play. Next to the pool there is a shower which sprays short bursts of cold water for you to rinse off after coming out of the pool.

The inside of the cottage is very oldie worldie and quaint, the main room has lovely beams across the ceiling, and the furniture is old fashioned. Only on the final evening did we discover that the coffee table actually opens out into a large gaming table, perfect for playing cards, or Pictionary as we were.

The garden isn’t huge, but is big enough for playing badminton and scatch, and there’s also a shed for storing the sun lounger covers and any floating toys for the pool. Anyone visiting now will find a the tree missing a fair few leaves after being bashed by badminton racquets in order to get the shuttlecocks back down again. There’s a wooden table with wooden benches under a vine covered canopy for eating outdoors, plus there are a couple of white plastic tables and chairs for sitting out in the garden. Behind the pool area there is parking for two cars and a grassed area with a couple of washing lines, handy from drying out towels, or I suppose washing some of your clothes to save a job when you get home.

When we arrived we were greeted by the key holders, who were absolutely wonderful, very enthusiastic, and far better at English than we were at French, much to our shame, although we did try our best. They showed us around the cottage and showed us how the oven, dishwasher, etc worked. They also had juice and water ready in the fridge and served everyone a drink whilst they were chatting, and had very kindly bought a bottle of the local wine for us. As the gentleman went off to show a couple of us how to work the pool cover should it be necessary, his wife showed us some of the areas to visit and gave us details about which beaches were manned and safe, and which beaches were without lifeguards and were more dangerous. All in all you couldn’t fault the reception we received, and after such a long journey it was nice to be greeted properly, rather than being thrown a key over a reception counter and left to get on with it.

As the cottage was in such a small village, there was no street lighting, so the rooms were pitch black at night, which I loved, because I cannot stand even a sliver of light during the night, it was also absolutely silent, no raving drunks banging around at night, no cars racing around, absolute bliss. Probably the most noise came from us, with my nephew and niece becoming highly competitive over a game of Pictionary and Monopoly! The beds seemed comfy enough, no one had any complaints about mattresses, but luckily we’d had a good look at the photos on the Frenchlife website, and decided in advance that the pillows looked flat, which indeed they were, so we’d taken our own pillows as extras and they came in very handy.

The cottage is also well situated in the village for walking to the local Patisserie for early morning croissants and fresh baguettes, and the local supermarket. Although we only used the supermarket once as it was just small and a little expensive. A much large (in fact huge) supermarket can be found in Marennes, a town about 15 minutes away by car. The villages all seemed friendly enough, whilst we never had long conversations, they all said hello and gave a smile as we walked past. There’s a small cafe bar, but no restaurant in the village, so if you’re eating out you have to travel by car for about 10-15 minutes.

Can be booked from various site such as this

http://www.holiday-cottages-in-france.com/fc/franceLB653.htm

2010-04-21T04:51:00.001-07:00

Cast

Sam Worthington as Jake Sully
Zoe Saldana as Neytiri
Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch
Joel Moore as Norm Spellman
Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge
Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacon
Laz Alonso as Tsu'tey
Wes Studi as Eytukan
CCH Pounder as Moat

I didn't really hold out much hope for this film, I'd heard loads of people raving about the film, which usually means I hate it. This time I enjoyed it though, i still didn't think it was rave worthy but it was definitely better than expected.

The graphics were a bit of a letdown for me, I'm sure they were really new age technology in the way they were developed and technically they did look excellent, you couldn't see the joins. But visually I thought they were a bit samey, the Na'vi looked pretty much like any other alien creature out there, except they were blue. So a bit same old, same old for the graphics.

The story was another rehash, but this time a rehash of real life and one that needs telling again. The story of the Americans and their inability to understand that life is worth more than the almighty dollar, and destroying civilizations is just wrong on so many levels. The scene were the tree was destroyed almost made me cry, not because of any affiliation with the Na'vi, but because the terror the felt was the same terror felt by so many countries that the US has ridden roughshod over.

The ending was predictable but good nonetheless, although it might have been nice to have a more unpredictable ending for a change. It was a bit on the long side, thank god we had the extra legroom seats in the cinema because otherwise I think I would have struggled to watch to the end, because the film didn't really warm up until about an hour and a half into it. They could have easily cut an hour and not missed anything.

It's worth a look for anyone who likes fantasy films, but pick your seat wisely.

Night at the Museum 2

2010-04-21T04:32:00.000-07:00

Night at the Museum 2 is the sequel to Night at the Museum (bet you never worked that one out!), in the original we found out that all the exhibits in New York's Natural History Museum came to life at night, due to the power of the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Now he's back, but things have changed.

Synopsis

Larry has given up his position of night guard at the museum, and is running a successful company which produces and sells his inventions. His ideas for the inventions have come from his time as a night guard, the over sized dog bone (which he used to keep the T-Rex happy), the unloseable keyring (after the monkey kept pinching his) and the latest gadget, a glow in the dark torch for when you need a torch but it's dark and you can't find one. Because his company has been so successful, he hasn't visited the museum for a few months, when he finally gets there he finds that many of the exhibits are packed up for transportation. After talking to Dr McPhee he finds out the museum is being updated and the exhibits are being changed for more hi-tech devices. Teddy Roosevelt informs Larry that the Tablet of Ahkmenrah is staying in the museum, but they don't realise that Dexter the monkey is listening.

Just as Larry is about to sit down to eat with his son Nicky the phone rings, on the other end is a terrified Jedediah, who tells Larry that Dexter stole the tablet before going back into his box, and all the exhibits stored in the Smithsonian archives have come to life, including Ankmenrah's brother Kahmunrah. Kahmunrah is after the tablet in order to bring back his minions from the underworld and take over the modern world.

Larry decides he has to rectify this and flies off to Washington to retrieve the tablet.

Cast

Ben Stiller as Larry Daley
Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart
Owen Wilson as Jedediah Smith
Hank Azaria as Kahmunrah / The Thinker / Abe Lincoln
Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt
Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible
Alain Chabat as Napoleon Bonaparte
Steve Coogan as Octavius
Ricky Gervais as Dr. McPhee
Bill Hader as General George Armstrong Custer
Jon Bernthal as Al Capone
Patrick Gallagher as Attila the Hun
Jake Cherry as Nicky Daley
Rami Malek as Ahkmenrah
Mizuo Peck as Sacajawea

My Thoughts

I was really looking forward to watching this film, because I'd seen the first one, and my children had seen it while it was at the cinema and really loved it, but I was a little disappointed.

The storyline was reasonably good if somewhat unbelievable, although any story about museum exhibits coming to life is going to stretch the imagination some what. The main problem I had with this film was Kahmunrah, or more specifically Hank Azaria who was absolutely atrocious in the role. From what I can gather the character was supposed to be funny with hint of menacing, but the menacing just didn't work and it made Kahmunrah look like a bit of a prat and so you had to wonder what all the fuss was about. I also don't like it when they use speech impediments as a comic prop, people will probably think I'm just being sensitive, but I don't find taking the mickey out of something that causes people a lot of pain in the slightest bit funny.

It also seemed like they'd lowered the special effects budget, because some of the effects, especially when Jedediah and Octavius were in shot were very poorly done, even my son commented on how poor they were. Jedediah and Octavius were my favourites in the original film, and they keep the top stop in this film too, especially Jedediah. Both parts are acted well, and along with Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson is the saviour of the film. As in the first film Ricky Gervais makes me cringe, I really can't stand watching him, and it embarrasses me that the Americans must think he is the best this country has to offer, as in the first film he just plays the same part as he did in The Office.

There were a few laugh out loud moments, but they were very few and far between. I think that the comic value of exhibits coming to life was stretched to the limit, bringing in Darth Vadar and Oscar the Grouch as failed bad guys just shows how far down the barrel they were scraping.

My daughter immediately recognised the Jonas Brothers when they voiced the singing cherubs (agghh just when I thought I'd escaped those guys), but apart from their three little ditties and Ride of the Valkyries, I didn't really notice the rest of the soundtrack.

This is all very negative, and whilst there were a lot of bad points, it was still watchable, and the kids still enjoyed seeing it the second time round, I just wouldn't rush out and buy it.

There were no DVD extras on the DVD at all.

Yes Man

2010-04-09T07:57:00.001-07:00

I've just had the misfortune of watching Yes Man, and you can probably guess that I was really disappointed.

Synopsis

Carl is a bank clerk in charge of approving or denying loans most of which he denies. After separating from his wife, he has withdrawn into his shell and no longer enjoys the company of his friends. In short he's turned into a grumpy old man, that is until he runs into an old friend whilst he's eating his lunch. His friends tells him of a seminar that's coming up in a few days, which gas changed his life for the better.

The concept is simple, you can improve your life by saying 'yes'. And that's what Carl decides to do, but it's not as easy as it sounds, there are somethings you just want to say no to, the trouble is bad things happen when Carl says no.

Cast

Jim Carrey as Carl Allen
Zooey Deschanel as Allison
Bradley Cooper as Peter
John Michael Higgins as Nick
Rhys Darby as Norman
Danny Masterson as Rooney
Fionnula Flanagan as Tillie

My Thoughts

The basic idea for the film is a great one, although it seems very much a film along the lines of Liar, Liar. In this film he can't say no, in the other he couldn't lie, and both situations led to amusing consequences, or it did in Liar,Liar anyway, in this film someone forgot to tell the writers to add the jokes in.

I'm not a huge Jim Carrey fan, I liked Liar, Liar and Bruce Almighty, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he's a great actor. In this film he's particularly poor, although the script doesn't really give him a lot to work with. The problem with Carrey is that he has little in the way of natural acting ability, and when faced with a poor script like this he tends to rely on pulling stupid faces and flapping his arms around in order to get a few laughs.

What I find absolutely amazing is that the film was given a 12 rating. My son will be 12 in a couple of months, so I had no problem letting him watch it, after all Indiana Jones is rated 12 as well! But this should have been a 15 at least, there's lots of foul language, and not just the odd 'sh*t' every now and again, there's the F word thrown in a few times as well, but I suppose you can rationalise that by saying that kids hear it in the playground all the time (although I don't see why films should exacerbate the problem). The worse thing for me when I was sitting next to my 11 year old son was watching an OAP giving Carl a BJ, and taking her teeth out to do it. Seriously I didn't know where to put myself, it's not the sort of thing I expected my son to see (albeit mainly but not wholly inferred) at his age. I'm no prude, and we did chuckle later in the film at Carl riding a motorbike in a hospital gown, with his butt hanging out for the entire world to see, but the other scene was just too much.

Apart from that, it just wasn't funny, the premise of the film allows for a million laughs, but I think we managed about 3 or 4 chuckles between us, the script was just too weak, and the execution too poor. None of the cast really stood out for me, but if I had to pick the best of the bunch I'd actually choose Bradley Cooper, as he seemed to have a more varied repertoire than the others. The ending was totally predictable too.

DVD Extras

Gag Reel (series of outtakes and Jim Carrey acting the fool)
Down Time on the set of Yes Man
Jim Carrey Extreme Yes Man
Future Sounds Munchausen By Proxy
Exclusive Munchausen by Proxy videos.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2010-04-07T16:27:00.001-07:00

The film begins in a hospital with Caroline and her mother, her mother is dying with only a few hours to live. She suddenly tells Caroline the tale of Mr Gateux (or Mr Cake) and his train station clock, the clock runs backward, and this prompts Caroline's mother to ask Caroline to read from a diary she has in her suitcase.

The diary has been written by a man Caroline doesn't know, and is the story of his life, it was written by Benjamin Button. Benjamin was born on the night that World War I ended; whilst everyone else is celebrating Benjamin's father is rushing home to his wife. He gets home to find the priest has already been called and the doctor informs him that she will die shortly. He rushes to his wife's side, and with her last few breathes she asks him to make sure 'there will always be a place for him', her husband agrees, but within seconds of seeing the boy his promise is forgotten. The sight of his son horrifies him so much that he rushes to the river to drown him, but is interrupted by a night watchman. Instead he runs until he comes across an old people’s home, and leaves the child on the step and places a few dollars inside the blanket.

Queenie is in charge of the home and soon discovers the baby on the steps, she's initially repulsed by the sight of the baby, but it only takes a few seconds for her to redeem her composure. She asks the doctor go take a look at the baby, he informs her that he's suffering from diseases normally associated with the elderly, and he wouldn't be long for the world. Queenie decides to take the boy in and nurse him through his last few days, but those last few days don't come as Benjamin gets stronger and stronger, almost as if he's getting younger not older.

Cast

Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button – adult
Spencer Daniels as Benjamin Button – age 12
Cate Blanchett as Daisy Fuller – adult
Elle Fanning as Daisy Fuller – age 6
Madisen Beaty as Daisy Fuller – age 11
Taraji P. Henson as Queenie
Julia Ormond as Caroline Fuller
Jason Flemyng as Thomas Button

My Thoughts

I did wonder how they were going to turn this book into a film, and as with so many books the answer was obvious, to completely ignore the book and just make up your own story, although this story made slightly more sense than the book.

I quite enjoyed this film; it was one of those films that was good but not great. The main problem was that it seemed to go on a bit in the middle, and I found myself at one point wondering if it was ever going to come to an end.

I also think it would have benefitted from a different lead actor, I don't think Brad Pitt is a bad actor but because a lot of the film was narrated, it needed someone who was much more expressive with body language and facial expressions.

Some of the characters were really strong, Queenie for example, whilst others were very weak, Benjamin's dad, which was annoying, because the inconsistency meant the film went from some really good scenes to really bad in the click of a finger. I couldn't take to Blanchett’s character, (as she was in her twenties or thirties) because she was too sour faced and downright nasty in parts, but she wasn't one of those evil villains you love to hate either.

I wasn't overly impressed with the effects to be honest, but then what does an 80 year old baby look like? I suppose it could have been quite a good rendition, but we'll never know. They also didn't seem to age Blanchett properly, at one point she was complaining of wrinkles yet you could have bounced a penny off her face, her skin was that taut.

I had to put the subtitles on at the beginning, because the speech from Caroline's mother was so muffled (due to her being close to death) I couldn't understand what she was saying. I turned them off when the film proper started, but because it kept flashing back to the hospital I left them on for the duration of the film in the end.

I did enjoy the film, but I wouldn't rush to watch it again.

Planet 51

2010-04-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Deciding against the panto this year, we decided to go to the cinema, but unfortunately there were no big blockbuster films suitable for kids on at the time, so we decided on Planet 51.

Synopsis

Lem has just landed a new job, he’s just found out that the girl next door (who he’s had a thing about for years) likes him, and he’s doing great at college. Life couldn’t be better, well except for the hippy Glar, who is also interested in Neera. It’s a lovely afternoon, the food is cooking on the barbie and everyone is having fun, for all intents and purposes it’s a great day on 1950’s Earth. However this isn’t Earth, it’s Planet 51, Lem and his family and friends are little green men (and women).

Lem’s life is about to get complicated though, as Captain Charles T. Baker (Chuck) an Earth astronaut lands in his backyard, a proceeds to destroy (through no fault of his own) every part of Lem’s life.

Down at Area 9 (forget you’ve heard that), Rover comes back to life as Chuck’s ship comes into range. Rover is an AI probe (who has a thing for rocks) who’s programming tells him to seek out Chuck.

With the help of his best friend Skiff, and neighbour Eckle, can Lem get Chuck and Rover back to their ship, before General Grawl and Professor Kribble find them and dissect them.

Voice Cast

• Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker
• Jessica Biel as Neera
• Justin Long as Lem and Rover (vocal effects)
• Seann William Scott as Skiff
• Gary Oldman as General Grawl
• John Cleese as Professer Kripple
• Ryan Rosenfeld as Marv

My Thoughts

I actually enjoyed this film even though I didn’t have high expectations. The animation is good, and unlike some of the newer films I’ve seen lately it’s not harsh, the characters have soft edges rather than the sharp features of the Japanese style films.

Chuck is a bit of a pratt when he first arrives, but soon becomes a really likeable character, and Lem is a cutsie character from the beginning. The voice actors seem to match the characters quite well, Dwayne Johnson is much better as a voice actor than an actual full blown actor, and John Cleese is good as the Professor.

There are a lot of references to other films in the movie, which adds a nice dimension, unless you’re too young to remember the original films of course, for example when Chuck first lands on the planet, the tune to 2001: A Space Odyssey is playing in the background, and Chuck begins to hum it, I got the joke, even if the kids didn’t. The same with the Singin’ in the Rain reference, although the kids were chuckling at that scene, they didn’t understand the significance of the song. Of course no space film would be complete without a reference to ET and Star Wars, and this one is no exception.

I think this is a pretty good film for kids and adults, there are plenty of jokes just for grownups, and plenty of slapstick and wind related jokes for kids.

Couldn't ask for more

2010-04-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Location

The restaurant is one of four in Manchester, it is situated on the corner of Deansgate and St Mary's Street, less than 5 minute walk from the Arndale Centre.

Opening Hours

Mon - Fri 10:00 - 23:00
Sat 9:00 - 00:00
Sun 9:00 - 22:30

The Restaurant

The restaurant seats 92 people, but I would advise anyone to book a table in advance. We went at four in the afternoon, and we thought we were being overly cautious booking for that time, but the restaurant was busy even at that time, with only 2 other table free.

By the time we left at about six o'clock there was queue of people waiting for tables which stretched out of the door. Which is testament to how good the restaurant is, I don't think I've ever seen anyone queue for a restaurant before, let alone in the cold of winter.

One of the things we really liked about the restaurant was that they didn't try to rush us at any stage of our visit. We were given plenty of time to select our meals, which wasn't easy because so many of the dishes sounded absolutely mouthwatering. Our waiter was great, he appeared to be extremely happy in his work, and was jolly and smiling the entire time, he also impressed us by being able to take the wine, starter and main meal orders for the entire party, without needing to write anything down.

The most important bit though is the food. And it was all absolutely beautiful, everything was cooked to perfection, and the sauces were gorgeous. The portion sizes were great too, not too much that you'd feel overwhelmed, but big enough to satisfy you. Some of the sauces were lovely and rich, but they weren't heavy, which meant we all had space for a three course meal.

As I mentioned earlier, nothing was rushed. We didn't have people hovering over us making us feel like we had to hurry so they could clear the plates and get the next course out. But at the same time, we weren't left with dirty plates on the table once we had finished. There was also a decent period between the plates being cleared and the next course being served. I think there's nothing worse than one waiter or waitress clearing your plates away and another swooping in with your next dish immediately.

We decided against coffees or liqueurs after the meal, and just asked for the bill. Even this stage wasn't rushed, our waiter brought the bill and said 'it's okay, take your time'.

I really can't praise the waiting staff and chef(s) highly enough, I have to say it was one of the best meals I've had in such a long time, and faultless service as well.

Cross Country - James Patterson

2009-11-27T02:22:00.000-08:00

==Synopsis==

Alex is called on to help the investigation of the deaths of an entire family, when he gets there he realises one of them is Eleanor Cox his ex girlfriend. Witnesses have mentioned that the perpetrators, although masked seemed to be very young, they could even children.

Soon there is another mass killing and once again Alex, Bree and John are called in to investigate, yet again it seems that children are involved.

All too quickly Alex discovers that the person they want for these murders has left the country, but Alex can't just leave it there, he wants to bring him to justice for Eleanor's sake, and to do so he must travel to Africa and put his own life in danger.

==My Thoughts==

I enjoyed this book, but there was something very sad about it. Throughout Alex's trials in Africa we hear of the horrendous atrocities which happen on a daily basis to real life residents of those countries, and it seems inappropriate to enjoy a reading book detailing the rape and murder of young children, knowing that there is probably a young child suffering at that moment in time. But I did enjoy it, because as dark as some of the scenes were, the book is about more than a few pages.

Again, even though I said I enjoyed the book there are an awful lot of plot holes in it, and I don't like the way Patterson is trying to turn Alex into some John McClane style action hero, he has always helped the police from the sideline, getting inside the mind of the killer, and occasionally coming up against bad guys during the course of the investigation. And throughout the entire series of books he has struggled with the dilemma of catching the bad guy, or spending time with his family. Yet here we're supposed to believe that he can set that quandary aside with a flick of a switch and rush off to one of the most violent and dangerous places on earth. And we're supposed to believe that his current girlfriend has absolutely no problem whatsoever with him rushing off half way around to world because of his feelings for a dead lover!

I've mentioned before in a James Patterson book review that I like the short chapters, because you're not waiting for ages to get to the next chapter if you find yourself dropping off whilst reading (as is the case with the book I'm reading at the moment, and it's very annoying), but I think he's taken it to the extreme in some cases with this book. A couple of chapters were only 2 pages long, and once you take away the large header and footer, the actual text only takes up one page. The book was paced quite nicely though, but there was one part of the storyline that I would have removed, but I can't say much as I don't want to spoil it, except to say I thought Alex had far more integrity.

I do think James Patterson should think hard before producing another Alex Cross book though, because he seems to be running out of ideas and taking Alex in a direction that is completely inappropriate considering everything we know about Alex.

Double Cross - James Patterson

2009-11-27T02:21:00.000-08:00

Double Cross is part of the Alex Cross series of books by James Patterson which started off several years ago with Cat and Mouse.

== Synopsis ==

Alex has given up consulting for the FBI, and moved back into private practise. He hasn't cut all ties with the police though, because he's still dating Bree (Brianna Stone) who's a senior homicide detective, and of course his best friend is John Sampson, also a detective.

Whilst on a weekend camp with Bree, she receives a call to attend a murder scene. Rather than mess around swapping cars Alex travels to the scene with all intentions of waiting in the car, but curiosity gets the better of him, and he goes up to the scene. He soon finds himself being drawn into the investigation despite his reservations.

Unbeknownst to Alex, at the same time Kyle Craig, who was Alex's nemesis for so long is planning his escape from death row, but what does the so called Audience Killer who Alex is now trying to catch have to do with Kyle Craig?

==My Thoughts ==

If you haven't read any of the Alex Cross series you may find some aspects of this book a little confusing. Having said that, it's also a standalone story, there are a few references to previous books, but it shouldn't spoil your enjoyment too much.

The whole series is great though, so if you are going to pick one up, then I'd highly recommend reading them from the beginning.

Double Cross is written in Patterson's usual style; the book flows at a steady pace, and never becomes dull. He also writes in very short chapters, some of which are only a couple of pages long, and although it might seem that short chapters will break up the flow, they actually do the opposite, they help keep the tension going throughout the novel. I also prefer shorter chapters, as I generally read for pleasure (rather than to study) when I go to bed, and there's nothing worse than starting to drop off, but having another 20 pages to read before you get to the end of a chapter.

Unusually for Alex Cross novels, there is very little attention paid to his family, they are mentioned on occasion, and there's one incident involving Damon, but his normal angst regarding his family versus police work are played down in this novel.

There are two parts to the ending of this book, one part I thought was obvious from very early on in the book and wasn't a surprise at all, the second part however I was surprised at.

I would definitely recommend this book, but in order to get the best out of it, I would recommend reading the Alex Cross series from the beginning.

Hard News

2009-11-04T01:46:00.000-08:00

Hard News is written by Jeffery Deaver, who is probably best known for his Lincoln Rhymes series, the most famous of which was The Bone Collector which was made into a film starring Denzel Washington.

The book is about a young woman who is working in the news room of Network News, when she receives a packet containing a video from an inmate found guilty of a murder for which he has constantly pleaded his innocence. After watching the video Rune cannot help but believe the man, his plea has hit a nerve and she wants to tell his story to the world. In order to do so, Rune must convince the anchor of the station's current affairs broadcast that it would be a worthy cause. The anchor (Piper Sutton) is unimpressed at first, until she discovers the man in question is the very man who was convicted of murdering her boss and Network News executive.

Rune is instructed by Piper to being investigating the man's claim, however, she wants to keep it close to their chests due to the nature of the investigation. But of course nothing goes to plan, and Rune finds her own life in danger after a hitman comes to town, determined to stop the story going ahead.

I've read a couple of Deaver books, but this is the first one that didn't centre around Lincoln Rhymes. I found the writing to be some what below the standard I was expecting. At no point did I find myself vesting any interest in any of the characters, in fact I found all of them quite irritating in one way or another.

The plot also seemed a tad unrealistic, and several times I found myself thinking, 'yeah, like that's gonna happen' or something similar. I would say it is an adult book, but it's almost written on the level of a teenage writer, as if Deaver is trying to bring in readers from another dymanic.

All in all I was very disappointed, it was an okay story, but far from good and definitely not of the standard the Deaver can write to.

TheReapers

2009-11-04T01:45:00.000-08:00

John Connolly has to be one of the best authors around at the moment. From the first page of Every Death Thing, the Charlie Parker series has been superb reading.

The Reapers comes from a slightly different angle to the rest of the series, the emphasis isn't on Charlie, but on Louis and Angel.

The basic outline of the story is that years before Louis took a contract to kill a young man, which of course he managed with no problems. However, the man wasn't who he thought he was, and his father has spent years tracking down the man who arranged the hit, the killer and his driver. The driver was taken out in the bathroom of a bar, and now Louis is in the firing line.

The writing, as usual, is outstanding. John brings the characters to life and without being boring gives you enough detail so you feel like you really know them.

I've said in a previous review for another book, that you're not really supposed to admire people who kill for a living, but you can't help but admire Louis even in the earlier books. In this book you find out lot more about his past and it becomes far more apparent how past events shaped his life and his future.

There is also more to find out about Angel as well, although much of his past is well known from the previous novels, we find out more about what makes him tick and his inner thoughts and feelings. Angel is another man who's qualities you can't help but admire. He went through a terrible childhood, he's been subjected to some horrendous acts because of his association with Charlie, and was just a simple burglar (albeit not a very good one) before meeting Louis. Yet despite wanting a peaceful life, he has found love in Louis, and has stuck with him through thick and thin.

I normally don't like books that jump backwards and forwards throughout, but in this case it adds to the suspense of the book. We get to find out a little more about Louis' past, before jumping back to the present day.

The only thing I don't really like about the book is that Charlie very often is referred to as The Detective. Really Charlie deserves better treatment than to lose his identity and be referred to just as the Detective.

Because it doesn't centre around Charlie, the supernatural element is barely mentioned. This is shame, because it was one of the things that made John's books stand out amongst other crime based novels.

But that doesn't stop it being a real page turner. My hope is that John doesn't do a Scarpetta and take the characters any further. In my opinion one more book would complete the series, seeing the trio going out in a blaze of glory, rather than carry on until they became dull and boring.

Lost

2009-10-24T08:39:00.001-07:00

I was very wary of this book, and I've had it on my shelf for ages. The reason why! Because it came as a freebie from Mills and Boon, so I immediately thought it would be a lovey dovey, soppy romance, and those books just aren't my thing. Then one day I was sorting out and I noticed on the front it said 'More Gripping Than Grisham', so I thought I'd give it a try.

~Synopsis~

The book begins with a short prologue, which describes Ricky Lang being somewhat vile toward his girlfriend, whilst at the same time having visions of his children, whom he can no longer see.

From there we skip to part one, which begins the story of Jane Hartley, who's a single mum, and a wedding dress designer. Jane has 16 year old daughter called Kelly, who as a child was in an out of hospital receiving treatment for cancer. Now on her way home from work Jane spies someone who looks distinctly like Kelly, riding on the back of a motorbike with no helmet on. Pulling alongside she realises it is Kelly and is horrified. when Kelly returns home that night, they discuss the risks Kelly was taking, and Kelly goes off to her room to think about what she did.

That is the last time Jane sees Kelly. The next day Kelly has gone out already, or so Jane thinks. Then she receives a call from Kelly, frightened and whispering that she needs help because she's made a big mistake. The line goes dead and Jane's nightmare begins.

The police put it down to Kelly being a runaway, and make all the right noises about how it'll turn out okay. But Jane is not convinced and hires ex FBI agent Randall Shane to help her find her daughter.

The search leads them to cross paths with Ricky Lang, and various other unsavoury characters.

~My Thoughts~

I have totally mixed feelings about this book. Some parts are very good, but some parts are clichéd and predictable. As with many books it is written from two perspectives. When Jane is at the forefront it is written in the first person, when Ricky is the main character it is written in the third person. That actually works well, until Jane occasionally starts 'talking' to the reader, rather than just tell her story. When she is talking to the reader, it makes it seem like the book is written by a 5 year old.

The characters are varied, and you can get a feel for them, enough to feel sorry for Jane, after all the heartache of having a child so ill, for them to disappear and the police not to care, you feel she deserves a bit of happiness.

Randall Shane is probably the least interesting character, he has some secrets he's keeping close to his chest (don't they all!), but I was never really that bothered, that I was rushing onward to find out what they were.

Ricky Lang, is the type of bad guy you don't even love to hate, you just hate. There are no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

As I said earlier the cover states that the book is 'More Gripping Than Grisham', now I would say it's more gripping than a entomology book by Gil Grissom (CSI-Vegas), but it's absolutely nowhere close to being in the same league as John Grisham. It's a bit like saying a local boys football club compares to Liverpool FC!

I have to say I'm a bit short on opinion here, but mainly because the book was just okay, nothing especially good, and nothing particularly bad.

Overall I would say it's a reasonable read, the type of thing you might take on holiday when you don't want anything that's going to tax your brain. But if you like depth, twist and turns, thought provoking novels, then give it a miss.

Gene

2009-10-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

This book was outside of my normal crime fiction genre, but it was recommended to me so I thought I'd give it a try.

~Brief Synopsis~

The book starts on the day Cyclades dies, killed in battle on the day the Trojan horse brought destruction to Troy. After being injured during the fight Cyclades was tended to by a wild haired women. Cyclades dies at the moment he witnesses his own conception!

Fast forward a few hundred years, and the book begins proper in New York City. Detective James North has been called to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a young man has grabbed one of the ancient Trojan swords and already killed one man and injured others. North cannot understand why he has been assigned, until he is told that the man has asked for him by name.

Not sure if the man is high on drugs or just mentally unstable, North attempts to strike up a conversation with him. The man only identifies himself as Gene, or Satan's Oath. North asks Gene how he knew to ask for him by name, but he doesn't answer, just shouts at North that he is the only one who can make it go away. A struggle ensues and Gene escapes, injuring a mounted officer in the process, he takes the officers horse and escapes through the park.

North manages to keep up with Gene until he is close enough to tackle him. But during the scuffle Gene stabs North in the thigh, Gene has injected North with something. This is where North's nightmares begin and he begins to find out precisely who and what he is.

The book not only follows Gene and North, but also flashes back to Cyclades and his arch nemesis Athanatos. And also a man called Porter who has lived many years in the Lebanon and surrounding areas seeking out the meaning of life, and reincarnation.

~My Thoughts~

As I said earlier this is an unusual genre for me, and although I read many, many fantasy novels in my early 20's, its been some time since I've read one. So it took me a long time to get into the book.

I wasn't keen on the way the book jumped around so much. First we were in Trojan times, then modern day, then modern day but the other side of the world. Some of it was written in the first person, but most of it was written in the third person, and whilst I've read other books written from two view points before, it didn't make this book gel together very well. At some points I found the book totally confusing and quite baffling.

However, I don't like to be defeated and trudged on with the book, and from around about one third of the way through I really started to enjoy the read.

I really wanted to find out exactly how Gene and North were linked, and what on earth they had to do with Cyclades and Athanatos, but I didn't find it a great page turner. I was quite happy to read a bit and then put it to one side and read more another night, whereas other books I've said to myself 'just another chapter' until its either morning or I finished the book!

I found it difficult to relate to any of the characters because the book jumped around so much. North is the main character but even he didn't elicit any feelings of sympathy or admiration.

I found the ending a tad disappointing as well, however I won't say any more about it as I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

So overall I'd say its a reasonable book, not great, and I wouldn't rush out to buy another by this author.

Relentless

2009-10-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

I bought this book after reading a great review on this site, and have now had chance to read it. So here is my review.

~The Book~

The main character in the book is Tom Meron, whilst happily going about his own business, looking after his children, the phone rings. On the other end of the phone is Jack Calley, his best friend although someone he hasn't heard from in 4 years. Its obvious immediately that Jack is in trouble and there are people after him. In the last few seconds before the call goes dead, Tom hears Jack give out his address.

This leads Tom down a dangerous path of violence, corruption, betrayal, and most serious of all his children might be in danger.

~The Characters~

Tom Meron - A down to earth office worker, who's general level of excitement appears to be deciding what to watch on the TV that night. The character of Tom just makes you ooze sympathy, everything about him is normal. Yet here he is drawn into a dangerous world, but he has no idea why he's been pulled into it. He goes from Joe Average to man on the run within minutes of picking up a phone, his life changes forever.

Kathy Meron - Tom's wife, now this character doesn't give the reader any cause to feel sorry for her, in fact her actions make Tom seem even more sympathetic. And whilst she's not a hateful character, she's certainly not likeable.

DI Mike Bolt - The senior police officer instructed to investigate the suicide of a senior judge, who's case overlaps with others leading him towards Tom. There are several mentions of pain and suffering which Bolt has been through, but these don't become apparent until very late in the book. The references don't give enough depth for the reader to connect with Bolt, and he just comes across as your average detective who's hell bent on solving the crime.

Mantani and Lench - The baddies of the book. Neither of which have any redeeming qualities. Lench is basically a mercenary for hire and Mantani is his side kick. I've read other novels where there's a hitman who's killed goodness knows how many people for the money, and occasionally, even though they're bad guys, you can't help but admire their skills. Lench on the other hand does not bring out any thoughts of admiration.

~My Thoughts~

I've never read a Simon Kernick book before and this one I really enjoyed, I will certainly be looking out for his books in the future.

At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy it, I can't remember if the review I read mentioned it or not, but if it did I'd forgotten that it was set in England. Now I do have a thing against watching or reading any crime dramas set in England. I don't know what it is, maybe I just like to believe that all horrible crime happens away from our shores.

So at first I was thinking 'oh no, I'm going to hate this', and I also didn't like the fact that the blurb on the back is basically the first two pages of the book. That seems a little lazy on the part of the publishers to me.

However, once I'd read the first few pages I was hooked. The book is written in the first person where Tom is the major character, and in the third person when Bolt takes over. I have to say when Bolt first appeared my thoughts were 'No, aghhh I need to know what Tom is doing' and I was very tempted to skim read the chapters where Bolt was investigating.

Luckily I resisted this urge because Bolt's investigations are a major part of why Tom's life has been turned upside down like it has.

I think the author invests well in the characters of Tom and Kathy, but could have done a little more to bring out some sympathies for Bolt. I liked the fact I didn't feel any admiration for Lench's skills, I really don't believe a hitman should be the cause of any admiration.

Normally I would read the likes of James Patterson, John Connolly, Karen Rose, Patricia Cornwell for my crime drama fixes, and whilst I thought this book was good. I think Simon Kernick has a little way to go to get to their standards. As I've said it was the first book of his that I've read, so I don't know how long he's been around, but I would imagine he's got plenty of time to grow and become very successful.

Perverting the Course of Justice

2009-10-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

I read this book last year after first reading Wasting Police Time by David Copperfield. At first you'd think it was a work of fiction, but sadly it's not.

~The Book~

Written anonymously by Inspector Gadget, the book highlights the day to day trial and tribulations of an inspector of the 'Ruralshire' police force.

Although not actually named Gadget, he is an actual Inspector in the police service.

During the book he talks about not only the stupidity of police procedures, but also the idiocy of things like health and safety; that won't allow stations to have kettles any more in case someone burns themselves, nor allows anyone not qualified to change the time on a wall clock, yet is quite happy for those same people to tackle great hulking thugs, who are high as a kite and ready to kill.

Police reports also come in for huge criticism, the massive amounts of paperwork, most of which is duplicated, takes up so much time, its no wonder we never see officers out on the beat.

However, the main trend that runs throughout the book is the lack of common sense in dealing with incidents.

Within the first few chapters Gadget tells us what happens when someone rings the police. Firstly you don't get through to an officer, you get through to a civilian call centre. His first example is of a man who received a nasty text from his girlfriend. Instead of using common sense and talking to the guy about ignoring the texts, turning his phone off, changing his number etc. The call is logged as harassment, officers will be sent to interview him, the girlfriend will be arrested, her phone seized for a few months. Eventully she'll either get a caution, or the case will most likely be dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service. All this takes up between 10-20 hours of police time, taking officers of the beat. All because someone was upset about a text.

Throughout the book, there are many, many examples where a bit of common sense, and allowing the officers to use their own initiative would have meant a five minute chat and on your way. Instead absolutely rigid procedures are in place and that five minutes turns into hours upon hour of paper work and interviews, and results in large districts being un-policed or policed by a lone officer.

~My Thoughts~

As I said earlier this often reads as a work of fiction, 'You couldn't make it up' would have been a perfect tagline for this book.

Unfortunately I know that some of it is most certainly correct. My volunteer work takes me into the courts on many occasions, and one time I was chatting to two officers who mentioned that because they were stuck in the courts, and the horse fair was also on, their was only one police officer out in the town. This one officer had to patrol a town of 60,000 people and its surrounding area!

So I do believe a lot of what Gadget tells us is true. I'm not naive enough to think there is no bias in the book, I'm sure there is. But even if only half of what he says were actually true then it's an absolute disgrace.

I would say that anyone who have ever moaned about the time it takes for the police to turn up, or that the police should be out catching 'real' criminals, should read this book. It is certainly an eye opener into the world of the police, that is not shown on The Bill or A Touch of Frost.

~Extra Details~

The book is available from Amazon, or direct from mondaybooks.com. Gadget can also be found at his very informative blog http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/.

The Innocent Man

2009-10-13T02:28:00.000-07:00

As a fan of John Grisham I bought this book without reading the blurb on the back, I hadn't realised it was actually a true story and not a work of fiction.

~The Story~

The book for the most part follows the lives of Ron Williamson and his family, although through association with Ron it also encompasses the life of Dennis Fritz. There are also substantial mentions for Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot.

The book is basically about the inadequacies and the injustices in the US justice system. The malicious prosecution of a man and his friend because he is different, because he doesn't fit in with societies ideals, because his physical appearance scares people and because his mental illnesses make his an ideal scapegoat.

~The Men and Women Involved~

Ron Williamson

Ron was a high school college star, destined for the big leagues, his temper and injuries combined to stop Ron making the most of the natural talent he had for sports. Ron is also blessed with a talent for the guitar, which leads him to spend hours and hours alone playing and drinking. Eventually he succumbs to alcoholism, and begins crawling the bars of his home town of Ada, Oklahoma. His temper continues to get him into trouble, eventually he has some psychological testing (over many years) and is found to suffer from bi-polar and schizophrenia. During his time drifting from bar to bar and drinking, he runs into Dennis Fritz.

Dennis Fritz

Dennis was a father and a teacher, separated from his wife he moved not far from the Williamson's. Eventually he met Ron, and through their love of the guitar and music they became friends and started to go out drinking together. Eventually Dennis found he couldn't cope with Ron's mood swings and stopped drinking with him. But the damage was done.

Debbie Carter

A young waitress at a local cocktail bar, who was brutally raped and murdered in December 1982.

Denice Haraway

A young woman who was abducted in April 1984.

Gary Gore

The last man to be seen talking to Debbie Carter, he had also asked her to dance earlier in the evening. But the dance was cut short as Debbie angrily stormed off to the bathroom.

Tommy Ward

A local boy who had the misfortune of having a few misdemeanours to his name, and bore a slight resemblance to a photofit of the suspected kidnappers of Denice Haraway.

Karl Fontenot

Another local boy, who had been fishing with Tommy when Denice disappeared, and was Tommy's alibi witness.

Terri Holland

A petty criminal and jailhouse snitch.

~Their Stories~

As I said before the book is about the mistakes in the criminal justice system which almost cost these men their lives. I don't want to go into a great deal of detail because that would defeat the object of reading the book. So the basic outline is; Ron and Dennis were arrested for the rape and murder of Debbie, many years after the crime had actually been committed, and after the death of Ron's mother who was able to say that Ron was home on the night of the murder.

Tommy and Karl were arrested for the kidnapping of Denice. Both sets of men were convicted on the flimsiest of evidence, mainly consisting of testimony from jail house snitches, particularly the evidence of Terri Holland. Even though it was shown that she could not have heard what she testified to.

The only other major pieces of evidence were so called confessions. After hours of police grilling and threats Tommy and Karl were coerced into giving confessions. The police gave them hypothetical scenarios telling them to imagine what might have happened if it was all a dream. After getting them to tell a reasonable sounding story they were told to repeat it into a video camera, but they were told not to mention dreams or anything similar.

The confessions were full of holes and contradicted each other. When the body of Denice was eventually found, it was shown that there was no resemblance to the crime and the confession. Despite this the prosecution went ahead and their fate was sealed when the jury saw the men on video confessing to killing Denice.

The police used the same tactics again years later with Ron, they also coerced a 'dream' confession, and again this was coupled with the testimony of Terri Holland, who again received a pass on her crimes once the testimony had been delivered.

Dennis was tried separately to Ron and found guilty, he was sentenced to life in prison. Ron was portrayed as the major protagonist and he too was convicted, his case wasn't helped by the incompetence of his attorney, and that the prison guards deliberately messed with the doses of his medication and whispered messages 'from beyond the grave' pretending to be Debbie. This meant Ron was in a terrible state in court and unable to control himself. Ron was sentenced to the death penalty.

Tommy and Karl were both convicted and received the death penalty. When further evidence came to light that proved their confessions to be false, they were retried and received life imprisonment.

The story then continues to tell the readers about the appeals process and how only one judge had the foresight to realise a terrible injustice had been done. It also tells of the horrendous treatment Ron received whilst on death row, and the blatant disregard by the prison service for his mental state.

~My Thoughts~

The description above really doesn't give justice to the complete and utter travesty that occurred in Ada and the criminal justice system. Its hard to believe that this could have happened in recent times, it reads like a tale from the 1800's.

I have never agreed with the death penalty, although sometimes when I hear vile acts against children, my immediate response is hang the b*stards. This is usually only fleeting and my true feelings about the death penalty come back to the fore.

This book strengthens those feelings, if it hadn't been for a few good men and women working tirelessly on appeals, three men would have been put to death. One of whom was so mentally disturbed at some points he could barely function.

I found myself sickened by the actions of the police, who completely disregarded any evidence and despite Miranda being introduced a couple of years early, they also disregarded the rights of their suspects.

But even more sickening was the attitude of the prosecutor, who even after the release of Ron and Dennis would not admit he had made a mistake. He relied on jail house snitches who he must have known would say anything to reduce their own sentence. If he didn't realise this then he is even more dangerous as he must have no sense at all.

At first I found the book a little hard reading, perhaps that was because I was expecting a fiction book, and factual books are written in a different manner. But by around the third chapter I was hooked, I kept having to turn the page, because I was convinced that the prosecutor couldn't be that stupid and the next chapter would show him admitting his mistake.

My heart absolutely went out to Ron's sisters, Annette and Renee. The heart break they went through watching their brother being convicted for a crime he didn't commit was bad enough. But then they had to watch his mental deterioration from afar, and had to fight every step of the way to get him medical help.

I also felt sorry for Debbie's mother, who actually gets only slight mentions in the book. But I can imagine how hard it was for her, not only to lose her daughter in such a vile way, but to think that her murder was solved, only for all the wounds to be reopened.

I would recommend this book to anyone, but I would especially recommend it to anyone who believes in the death penalty. These three men were almost killed by the state for just having the wrong look. Two men are still in jail 22 years later fighting for their freedom.

I now want to read The Dreams of Ada by Robert Mayer, which was published a few years after the convictions, and details the ludicrous confessions of these men.

York Dungeon

2009-10-13T02:17:00.000-07:00

I can't say I was particularly impressed with the York Dungeon, I had heard really good things about the London Dungeon, and I thought it'd be very similar, but this turned out not to be the case.

==Finding the Dungeon==

Firstly it took us a while to find the place. The directions we had and the signposting around York weren't the best, and we almost gave up. It was only because we'd bought the tickets in advance that we persevered.

The dungeon address is York Dungeon, 12 Clifford Street, York, YO1 9RD, which is a little back street well away from the centre of York.

==Opening Times ==

The dungeon opens at 10.30 each day, and closes between 4 and 5.30 depending on the time of year, it closes earlier in low season, and later during the school holidays.

== Prices ==

Adult: £14.00/ Child: £10.00/ Student: £13.00 / OAP (60+ yrs): £13.00

Booking online makes it cheaper, for example booking one adult and 2 children online means you can save up to £10.20. It is 'up to' that amount because the prices vary during the day, and early morning and late afternoon prices are cheaper. The only problem booking this way is that you are limited to a 2 hour slot, I'm not sure what would happens if you miss this slot.

The price is for the tour, and it lasts about 1 hour.

== My Thoughts ==

As I said earlier we struggled to find it, because it was on the corner of a little back street, in fact we only really noticed it because we saw a bunch of people loitering on the pavement. When we got closer we realised that this was the queue for the dungeon. There was a member of staff dressed as some sort of ghoul trying to entertain the queue, but he wasn't being very successful.

The major drawback to this attraction is the party size, they allow far too many people in at one time, and whilst this helps to keep the queues down it also means that the rooms are packed, with people shoulder to shoulder. It also means that children can't really see what's going on, because there are too many adults in front of them and unfortunately in today's society adults won't move aside and let children to the front so they can see.

On the tour you move from room to room, and the staff are dressed in different costumes, and they tell the tales of Dick Turpin, Guy Fawkes, the Black Death amongst others. There's also a mirror room that is supposed to represent the Labyrinth of the Lost Roman Legion, where you wander around a mirror maze.

During the Dick Turpin talk you sit on benches whilst the story is being told, then when Dick is hanged the benches drop a whole inch or two, which I presume is meant to be the thrilling part of the tour, but it fell completely flat.

There's also a mock 17th Century court room, where one staff member dresses up as a judge, and randomly picks people out of the audience to humiliate in the dock. Whilst this was slightly amusing, you could see that the people who were selected were extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed by the situation.

Unlike the London Dungeon there's no ride at the end, so basically you're paying a lot of money for an hours walk whilst being squashed in with a lot of sweaty strangers.

I can't really recommend it, I found it mildly interesting, but the kids didn't really enjoy it, mainly because they couldn't see half of what was going on. And a lot of the time they couldn't understand what the staff were saying, because they were putting on strange cackling voices to try and create a more horrifying atmosphere. Because I knew the stories they were telling I could just about work out what they were talking about, but because the kids had never learned of the Black Plague or Dick Turpin at school they struggled to understand what they were saying.

2009-10-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

Unusually for legal thrillers this book starts with the trial verdict, and as the name suggests the verdict is appealed.

~Short Synopsis~

The books begins at the end of a piece of civil litigation with the giant chemical company Krane defending their dumping of carcinogenic chemicals in a town's water supply and rejecting the claims of the townsfolk and particularly the plaintiff Jeanette Baker, who's son and husband died of cancer.
Krane Chemicals is part of the Trudeau Group owned by billionaire Carl Trudeau.

When the verdict finally comes in the jury have awarded a total of $41 million dollars in damages and punitive damages.

Trudeau insists his company will not be paying out anything, and so begins the appeal.

The story follows the lives of the lawyers who took Jeanette Baker's case and their struggle to overcome the costs of both the case and the appeal. It also follows the lives of Carl Trudeau and his companies, and his love of money over people.

But the majority of the story is about the corruption in the US Supreme Court system and the way in which good men can be manipulated by big business, and how money can buy anything including seats on the Supreme Court Judges panel. It shows that lawyer Ron Fisk, despite believing himself to be in charge, is just a pawn in the game.

As usual I would love to say more, particularly about the ending, but obviously that would be giving far too much away and would spoil it for anyone who hasn't read the book.

~Writing Style~

John Grisham has been a firm favourite of mine for many years, I have read just about every book he has written. Were some have disappointed me, The Appeal most certainly did not. The writing flows beautifully, Grisham doesn't waste valuable pages talking about the technicalities of the justice system, but he does subtly introduce the information you need to know, without it being preachy or seeming like you're reading a textbook.

On the front of the book there is a quote from the Daily Express, which states 'Nobody Does Legal Fiction Better', and its absolutely true. I've read a lot of legal fiction and Grisham is far and away the best in his field.

~My Thoughts~

If you haven't guessed, I thought this book was great. In parts I found it some what worrying however. Because I can truly imagine that in real life these big companies are just as ruthless and manipulative as they are in this book. And for them profits and the shareholders come before the rights of the 'little people', whether they be people living around the company or workers of the company.

It also made me think about the water we drink, how safe is it really? How do we know we aren't all being poisoned slowly but surely? Although I think that's just my over active imagination running away with me.

The book wasn't without its faults. I found the husband and wife team of Wes and Mary Grace Payton who took on the case to be a little too sickly sweet. Other people probably find it sweet and cute that a pair of lawyers would put their livelihoods, their home etc on the line for a client, but I found that just a little unrealistic.

The book certainly brought home how easy it is to manipulate individuals and society when there is enough money involved, and it made me glad that we don't have the same system of electing judges in this country.

After about a third of the book I thought to myself, 'I know how this is going to turn out'. But I was wrong, and I was even wrong about the second scenario I had after the first turned out to be wrong.

Lou's Reviews

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time

Cast

Synopsis

My Thoughts

Grizedale Forest

Location

The Forest

Visitors Centre

Final Opinion

The Golden Compass

Furry Vengeance

Cast

Synopsis

My Thoughts

Beningbrough Hall

Admission and Prices

Grounds/Shop/Restaurant

House

Galleries

Prices

What to See

Grounds

Refreshments

Shops

My Thoughts

The Book Of Lost Things

Synopsis

My Thoughts

Petit Nieulle

Night at the Museum 2

Synopsis

Cast

My Thoughts

Yes Man

Synopsis

Cast

My Thoughts

DVD Extras

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Cast

My Thoughts

Planet 51

Synopsis

Voice Cast

My Thoughts

Couldn't ask for more

Location

Opening Hours

Menu

The Restaurant

Cross Country - James Patterson

Double Cross - James Patterson

Hard News

TheReapers

Lost

Gene

Relentless

Perverting the Course of Justice

The Innocent Man

York Dungeon