The Sorcerer's Apprentice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Menu

The menu is Italian, and there is a large selection of dishes to choose from.

The starters range from garlic bread and soups to toasted Ciabatta and prawn skewers.

Main meals include a range of pastas and pizzas, and also chicken, fish or steak dishes.

Sweets include the regulars such as Tiramisu and Icecream, with a nice selection of other sweets such as mascapone cheesecake or lemon tart.

There's a nice selection of red, white and rose wines, beers, soft drinks and coffee or tea.

The restaurant also has a breakfast menu, ranging from croissants to full English.

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.