Just a quick blog entry with micro reviews of films watched recently and general news:

Films watched:

The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Well, the title’s certainly a mouthful! I read all the Narnia books in my youth and this adaptation was very close. It also followed the King Kong trend of being a little overlong, having a great beginning, great ending but a middle that was patchy at best.

7/10




On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

I thought I’d try to catch a Christmas themed film over the holidays and this was it. My favourite Bond film by some distance.

It’s a shame that George Lazenby never got another chance to play Bond, while he lacked the charisma of many of the other actors who have played Bond, he added a touch of believability that has otherwise been lacking in Bond film.

The reason that this is the best Bond? There are several. There is the incredible score, which is quite possibly the best movie soundtrack of all time, a plot which is a lot more grounded than other bonds, lacking the gadgets and gimmicks. Then of course there is THAT ending, which always brings a huge lump to my throat.

9/10

War of the Worlds

This more than anything brings back memories of the London Bombings for me (I watched it in London the day after).

Spielberg chooses to focus less on the story at large, but more on the plight of a family as refugees from invader (in this case, from another world). It losses momentum a bit when Tim Robbins comes into the film, but otherwise this an engrossing film.

8/10

A Fistful of Dollars

I got the Spaghetti Western Boxset for Christmas. Out of the Trilogy I have only seen For a Few Dollars More…

This film was a little rough around the edges in comparison to For a Few Dollars More and also Once Upon a Time in the West. Clint Eastwood, however, was as likeable as ever in his “Man With No Name” role.

6.5/10

On the reality front, I spent yesterday (early) evening building a bed for Elliot, his first. Elliot seemed to settle down in the bed quite well, although at around 1:30 he fell out of bed, and from then until approximately 3:30ish, he was a tad unsettled. On a whole, however, it seemed to go quite well. Plus, he has a Batman duvet cover :)

I also have to add that over the last couple of days Elliot has been a pleasure to be around... He has been a very good boy and his whining of the last few weeks seems to have gone away, for the present at least.

I’ve suffered a bit from a cold over the Christmas period, and at present my nose is producing the most disgusting mucus you could imagine. The last time I was this bad I went to the specialist and he suggested an operation on my nose (as I have a ridge of bone which shouldn’t be there in my nose). I eventually didn’t need this as it cleared up… If this persists, however, I may have to rethink.

Just been to the doctor and I'm now suitable dosed up, lets see if I can feel better over the next few days!