A couple of spring trips, cinema visits other events.

We recently had a couple of short breaks to get away and see some countryside and interesting historical sites. In May, for my birthday, we went to North Devon and based ourselves in a small village near to Ilfracombe and the coastline (a very pretty area on the edge of the Exmoor National Park, and by the coastal AONB). Here we had the opportunity to do some country and coastal walking and visit some really pretty towns and villages. Our first day was spent in Ilfracombe, a large town in the area, which is also a famous holiday resort and has an attractive harbour. We walked along the SW Coast Path to the west of the town. This was a wery good walk; there were some amazing views to see, but on the return we had to dodge some cows who seemed to think we were going to feed them! One of the best walks we did was around the headland near to Mortehoe, to the west of Ilfracombe. The walk provides some wild and stunning scenery and lots of sheep that seem unfazed by walkers. Another fantastic walk was SE of Lynmouth, along the wooded river valleys around Watersmeet. It was also fun to ride the famous cliff railway between Lynmouth and Lynton. On the way to Devon, there and back, we stopped off and looked around the Somerset towns of Glastonbury and Cheddar - it was very windy at the top of the Glastonbury Tor!

In June we stayed up in North Yorkshire and visited Harrogate, Ripon (to see the cathedral), Knaresborough (fantastic views of the river!), and the famous sites at Fountains Abbey and Brimham Rocks. Driving around we saw some lovely countryside and lots of cows! Also, it was fun to visit the oldest sweet shop in England in Pateley Bridge to pick up some treats....and it only rained on one day! Oh, on the way up to Yorkshire we also visited Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, but more impressive was Newby Hall and Gardens just to the East of Ripon. The gardens there are absolutely beautiful; the most impressive element was the extensive rock garden which was a joy to explore. Thankfully the sun was shining for the few hours we were there! There were interesting wicker animals (created by a local artist) located all over the park.

We spotted some old cinemas in Ilfracombe, Lynton and up in Harrogate. The 1930's Odeon in Harrogate town centre was particularly impressive (see pic). Also, we manged to catch this year's Eurovision broadcasts at our rented cottage in Devon. Bizarre TV, but thoroughly enjoyable, particularly the Moldavian gnomes playing trumpets ...on unicycles!

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Since the last update, our friends Sarah and Mandy have visited us, and it was lovely to see them. When Mandy was here we went to Milton Keynes to attend the Collectormania show which was fun as always - I was very impressed with a friend's home made R2-D2! Also, last weekend I went to the London Film and Comic Con, which was very busy due, I think, to the presence of actress Karen Gillian (from the current "Doctor Who" series). Nice to see friends and 'celebrity spot' at both events, and chat with the cosplayers at LFFC. I got a couple of autographs at both events.

As for cinema films, I've been lucky enough to catch a few recent releases. I saw "Thor" with Sarah and "Kung Fu Panda 2" with Carla, and both films were very enjoyable. Contrary to many opinions on-line, Sarah and I both thought the 3D in "Thor" worked very well. The CGI in "Panda" was amazing; there were some really beautiful shots in the film, and Po's character is fab. :) My pal Gary came up for the weekend just gone and we saw "Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon" - more over the top (but fun) Michael Bay robot destruction -in glorious 'real 3D', followed by "Bad Teacher", a Cameron Diaz comedy. We also did some DVD watching by seeing all three "Star Wars: Robot Chicken" specials, and the first episodes of "The Time Tunnel" and "Land of the Giants". I introduced Gaz to the observational comedy of Chris Lilley in "Angry Boys" and "Summer Heights High". I have yet to buy his first series, "We Could Be Heroes". The shows work so well as the characters are so well realised, and they get themselves into some hilarious situations.

<--- Cameron Diaz in "Bad Teacher"

Shogun DVD

The Mrs. bought "Shogun" on DVD (from play) and it arrived today. We started watching the series this evening, and have just finished the first two-hour episode. Wow, its good!
"Shogun" is an all-star cast mini series, based on the novel by James Cavell, and first shown on US TV in September 1980. The 80's was the time for the high budget mini series: "The Winds of War" is another great example. Anyhoo, "Shogun" follows the story of a English sailor, Pilot-Major John Blackthorne (played by Richard Chamberlain) who is shipwrecked on the Japanese coast in 1600. The series follows his adventures in this new land, as he tries to survive death by the hands of the samurai, meglomaniac warlords, and scheming jesuit priests. We also see him becoming to understand the japanese culture and way of life. Cracking stuff! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series over the next few days.

This disc set is really good. Looks as if they have included a 'making of' disc as well, which we'll get to eventually!
Oh, we had a japanese style dinner as well, to eat as we watched the DVD. :)

"Star Fleet" on DVD at last!

At last, it seems that one of my favourite TV shows of all time, "Star Fleet", will be released in the UK on Region 2 DVD at the end of August.

This was a puppet sci/fi Japanese/European co-production first shown on ITV here in October 1982, so I first saw it when I was a 10 year old sci-fi geekling. And it was simply AWESOME. And like "Battle of the Planets", it still is! Dia-X robot space battles....yay!

I have some "Star Fleet" on video tape already (they were released in an edited format in the late 80s on video rental) but these will be a very nice addition to my collection of stuff!!

* happy....jumps for joy!*

Star Wars 30th anniversary cake!

Tomorrow, the 19th of February 2008, is my 30th anniversary for seeing the original "Star Wars" film! Yes, the film is *that* old and I'm even *older*. Eeek.

I'm amazed that it was 30 years ago that my brother, Peter, took me to the lovely old Regent cinema in Great Yarmouth on a Sunday afternoon to see the newly released space blockbuster. What an amazing experience that was though! The excitement of queing up, getting a 'Star Wars' baseball cap (a cheap and nasty piece of tat is was though!) jaw-dropping visuals, cheering, and dropping my ice cream in the cinema. I guess it was a life changing/creating moment. Three decades on and I'm still a film geek!

Have a look here and here about the original release.

So anyway, Carla and I are going to watch the original cut of the film on DVD, and eat some cake to celebrate! I may take a photo of this if I get around to it. I know it wont be anywhere near as good as the cake that Craig and the rest of the 'Star Wars' fan group had at their recent 30th anniversary get together (see picture) but hey, it will taste nice: Sainsbury's cakes usually do!

Bruce Willis zaps the terrorists!

We watched the "Die Hard 4.0" rental DVD last night. What a cracking film!! We both thoroughly enjoyed this. On the surface it was a thrilling action movie that doesn't stop assaulting the viewer for 2 hours: car chases, exploding helicopters, gun battles, kung fu fights, and wise-cracking cynical characters....all very enjoyable. Behind all of this was a truly scary storyline. What would happen if we lost our essential services--power, water, communications and transport--to terrorism? Well, anarchy basically. What scared me about this plot was how it showed how we have become reliant on technology to help run every aspect of our lives. If that is tampered with or destroyed, what do we do then?

Anyway, hats off to all involved. One of the best summer blockbusters I have seen in years. Shame we missed that at the flicks, as those effects would look great on the big screen.

Tonight's DVD entertainment

We've got "The Lady In The Water" DVD to watch this evening. When it was released about 18 months ago, I recall that it had a poor reception from the critics, and only played in cinemas for a short while. Still, I'm hoping the film will be good to watch. I really like Paul Giamatti, especially in "Sideways" which was a hoot!

Right, must go and do some chores. Yippee.

December catch-up

In case I still have any readers out there…..just to let you all know that I'm still around! I just haven’t managed to get typing of late. Oh well.

We've been doing the usual stuff, including watching loads of DVD's ranging from "The Simpson's Movie" (very disappointing) to "Zodiac" (excellent). I went to the 'Memorabilia Show' at Birmingham's NEC, which had its usual mix of guest stars signing autographs and stalls selling old film and TV tie-in merchandise. I was lucky enough to meet some very old friends there, having not seen them for a few years so that was a pleasant surprise.

I'm really looking forward to the new "Indiana Jones" trailer. It should appear on-line soon and be playing in the cinemas for Christmas. Let's hope Harrison Ford can pull off being an action hero in his mid-60's!

Oh, when I get all the photos from our little pre "Hallowe'en" weekend experience together, I'll post them. It was a great fun day, dressing up and watching horror DVD's and all that silliness.

I'm looking forward to Xmas break, although I have to admit I am enjoying my work at the moment so all is ok there. Only a few more cards to send now.

Recently (thanks to Carla's encouragement) I picked up my pens and paper and started drawing my cartoon characters again. The characters and stories are still in development, but it has been fun drawing them after all of these months!

I've also started to exercise regularly with Carla when she does some of her workouts. It's actually been very uplifting! The worst thing is starting each workout, but once you get into it, it seems ok. We do yoga as well, so hopefully if I stick to it I'll get fitter and more flexible over the next year. There has been some mild pain and some breathless moments, but I intend to carry on.

Oh, a mention to Mark's new "Star Wars" blog here!

Rocky

We've been making out way through the "Rocky" 1-6 DVD box-set (called "The Heavyweight Collection"), which I bought on Sunday. So far, we have watched the first three Sylvester Stallone boxing epics. Of course, the standout film is the 1976 original, which is a wonderful feel-good movie about a small time boxer who as the under-dog captures the imagination of the public as he fights the World Champion. A truly brilliant film, excellent script and great characters, which won three Oscars and was a huge box office success.

We've also enjoyed watching the other films in the series, and seeing the style of the films change (because of political climate and culture) as we go through the late 1970s and into the 1980's.

Some films.....

...that we've watched recently!

"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan": As offensive as the censors would allow, yet rather interesting to watch. Sacha Baron "Ali-G" Cohen takes on the role of the bizarre Eastern block journalist touring the USA, and thanks to his rather rudimentary grip of the English language, this results in some amazing reactions. You will *cringe*! Maybe 'the joke' wears old over the course of the running time, but overall "Borat" is a very funny film. It features some hilarious moments, whilst providing a disturbingly sharp look at ordinary people's attitudes and opinions. Racism, sexism, narrow-mindedness are all exposed.

Oh, one of the cut scenes on the DVD that features a poor supermarket worker is comedy gold!

"The Queen": A marvellous film which focuses on the British Royal family during a time of national crisis: it is August 1997 and Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed are killed in that infamous Paris car crash. Helen Mirren is wonderful in this role, as are the supporting cast. Apart from dealing with a delicate time for the Royal Family, it explores the early relationship between her "old" values and traditions, and the new vision of the country from the recently elected Labour party. Tony Blair (ingeniously played by Michael Sheen) has the difficult task of re-connecting the public with the Royals. Worthy of its Oscar and box office success.

"Talk Radio": A late 80's Oliver Stone film about a Dallas radio 'shock jock', Barry Champlain. Stars Eric Bogosian, who also wrote it with Stone, and is based on the original stage play and book. Excellent and tense character study of an arrogant person who thinks he can help the common man though satirical attacks on his listeners. A complex film that I will definitely enjoy watching again.

I also bought "Doom" and "Clockwise" DVDs the other weekend as they were cheap, but we haven't watched them yet. I remember hiring "Doom" about a year ago and enjoying it for its sheer grade Z naffness! Soon we want to see "The Prestige", "The Notorious Betty Page", and give "Casino Royale" another viewing.

First (past the?) post...

Hi to all out there in bloggy-land,

Just a couple of lines to get this thing going. I think I'll use it mainly for DVD and film reviews, but I'm sure I'll write about some other things....err...when I can remember or be bothered to update it! ;)

We watched "Earthquake" this afternoon...part of last weekend's mega DVD purchase at Nuneaton HMV. Not bad...quite entertaining actually. It has a similar structure to "The Towering Inferno", released in the same year - 1974. (Introduce the characters, then waste a third of the film showing their relationships and situations, then start the disaster!) Charlton Heston was his usual hero self, swaggering through the script with several major stars of the time (George Kennedy, Lorne Greene etc.) The film features some good action sequences and matte work, and yet another great score by good old Johnny Williams. However, there was one effect that was so * B A D * it was funny - the blood splattering in the lift as it crashed down the shaft. Its an *animation cell*! Red paint blobs!! Oh. Dear.
Talking about shaft....Richard Roundtree was in it as well, sporting a groovy stunt biker costume. Can yu dig it?

We watched the new ITV series called "Primeval" this evening. Dinosaurs and other such CGI creatures find their way to suburban England. Cue team of experts to investigate and sort it out. Again, quite fun to watch, although very derivative of many sci-fi and fantasy series...we had some "Jurassic Park" mixed with some "Stargate" and "X-files. Hope it develops well. Next week the preview showed them fighting giant bugs in the sewers! More b-movie rip offs then....
It was nice to see Ben Miller as the cynical Government man. He does the voice of the "PG tips monkey" (or "mung-keh" as he is known.) We both liked Rex, the cute little flying dino. I'm sure if the show is a hit, a toy Rex will be in the shops for Xmas!

Thankfully the annoying snowfall of Thursday and Friday seems to have gone now. All that remains on the square at the back of our flat is a very disheveled looking snow man...his carrot nose fell out as he melted!!

see ya'll soon! :)