Assisted dying

Our parliament has made a brave decision. While I was in favour of this bill passing, hearing the arguments of those against the bill, using arguments that do not apply to this bill have actually made me support it more. While David Cameron was in favour of the bill, the arguments of many Conservatives that we need better palliative care, when the Conservatives watched NHS performance fall is an interesting one. 

The Nice Guys

I do not understand how this film is not appreciated more. Yes it has continuity errors, notably being dry after being very wet (you will understand if you watch the film). But it has a twisted sense of humour that I love and a decent plot, one which has a few twists and turns. Yes it is slapstick, but the slapstick is clever, and not typical of what you find in American films. The bottom line is that I would be happy to watch this again and would have had no issues paying to watch it in the cinema.  If you have a similar sense of humour to me, watch it. And my daughter and wife seemed to like it as well! 

Life After Beth

 

I watched this film alone. My daughter, who started to watch it with me, decided that it was not for her. I liked it though, but I appreciate that it was too slow for her. I would describe it as a mix of a zombie film and an American art house film. 

I liked the take of a loving family being glad that their daughter was back, and also that they were trying to protect her, especially considering that they lost her once and did not want to lose her again.

If you are after a classic Aubrey Plaza film where she acts a character like she did in Parks and Recreation, you will be disappointed. I think that it was a good take on Zombie comedy, but much slower than Shaun of the Dead, which many will compare it to. 

General Election petition gathers more than one million signatures

Another headline on Bing, another very misleading one. The desire to make the brand of Labour into a toxic one continues. This time featuring a petition calling for an early General Election which has people from abroad voting in it. Strangely, those on the right ‘forget’ to mention that. Or how it has been promoted by Musk, someone set on defending the rights of those who engaged in the Farage Riots. 

Inheritance Tax and Farmland

Farmers are annoyed at the changes to inheritance tax. I understand their anger. What I do not understand is why they flock to people for support who are the reason that the changes are being put in place.

Jeremy Clarkson admitted that he bought his farm to avoid inheritance tax, but anyone mentioning it now is part of the biased media.

And Rupert Lowe, the very wealthy Reform Uk MP for Great Yarmouth, also owns land. While I suspect he owns it for the same reason, I cannot prove that is the case.

I would have more respect for farmers and the NFU if they had a plan to stop the rich exploiting this tax loophole. 

Wolfs

My wife and I watched this and liked it. I thought that it was an intriguing film, up until the end, and even then it was still enjoyable. It had action, great lines and chemistry between the two main characters, but the plot started to get too complicated towards the end of the film, and I am sure that thanks to some of the complications, they have left too many plot holes.

 

I would not have been annoyed if I had watched this in the cinema, but I am glad that I got to watch it at home with my wife.  I doubt I will watch it again though.

The Marías

I forgot to post about this. I took Monday and Tuesday off work so I could take my son to see this group. We went with a friend of his who had taken him to see Taylor Swift in June. Well I drove them there, waited outside the concert, listened to the crowd loving it and drove them back.

This time I drove them there and went in to see it. My son’s friend is quite short and was able to watch the concert until María Zardoya walked through the crowd and sang in front of us while dancing with an audience member. After that, the crowd changed and while my son and I could watch it, his friend was not able to see over people and had to watch it on her phone, or that of others who were recording bits.

I love live music, and while I did not enjoy it as much as both of them did, I loved seeing the group. Later, I may post a video from that night on here. 

Heretic

When people knock on our door to try to convert me, I love it.  So much so, they do not knock on our door anymore.  Seriously, we are the only home in Colchester which Jehovah's Witnesses leave alone.  I have had religious discussions on the dog walk when I have been approached by people intent on saving my soul.  

So, I loved the idea of this film, and I have to say, I loved the film itself.  It was clever and sadistic.  I understand why it has caused offence.  But I do not think that the film intended to upset the Mormon community more than The Book of Moron would.  

I watched it with my daughter, I am not sure she liked it as much as I did, but she did like it as well.  But she does not speak to those who try to save our souls...

We will not win the title

The highlights of the match were interesting.  I think that we were the better team, but I do not think that we are going to win the title.  We are too far behind the top two teams to catch up with both.  However, Chelski did score an amazing goal.  Oh well.  We might win a cup...

Colchester foodbank gala

My wife and I went with Nick and Lyndsay to an event last night which was to raise money for the Colchester foodbank. While there I was talking to a couple who volunteer there who asked why we came. I will always remember the sacrifices my mother made when she left my dad and it is thanks to charities like this, that we could. We were in that we never starved back then. Now, far too many people depend on foodbanks. I would love it if we could return to how things were before 2010 when there was far less need for this, but while there is a need, it should be supported. 

Night Hunter

This film has not had the best reviews, but I liked it. In fact, I liked it so much, I stopped watching it to start over and watch it with my wife. Like many women, she loves series’s like this, examples being Criminal Minds. My wife was about when I was watching it and said that this might be a film she would like. While I found it to be new and interesting, she did not and worked out bits of the plot before I did.

While the film had a few issues, one being the change in how the character Rachel changes when interrogating the suspect, I liked it.  I have in essence watched it again and while I doubt I would do so in the future, I did enjoy it and disagree with the review in The Guardian.  I loved how, in bits, how twisted it was.

The Invitation

I would rate this as an average film.  Not the best when it comes to horror and not the best when it comes to Vampire films, but what makes this an average film despite these shortcomings are some little touches relating to race, class and privilege which make this a better film than others.  

If you are watching this film to be scared, do not bother, it is not scary at all.  It is intriguing though as I did want to see what the mystery was and how the film unfolded.  Despite not being frightening, it was engaging.  I do not think that I would watch it again, but I am glad that I did watch it.  

How Labour destroyed homeownership for everyone – even the wealthy

I just thought that I would post these screenshots of a headline on Bing, and the article that is shown once you click on the link.

The bias shown against Labour in the media is not something I expected to see on Bing.  Many would consider me to be silly for having that view.  I suspect that I will be sharing a lot of things like this in the next few years.

How a Trump presidency may show the failings of Reform UK

The USA, when presented with a competent woman decided to elect a man who tried to overthrow democracy. Over the last four years, we have not had to deal with headlines detailing insane ideas in The White House.  It looks like the Republicans are to have a clean slate in that they are to take The Senate and The House of Representatives.

This means that from January, for two years, there will be no obstacles to Trump doing what he promised when it comes to tariffs on goods produced abroad as well as deporting illegal immigrants.  He has made lots of other promises.  There should not really be any reasons why he is not going to deliver.

We have seen how Brexit has stopped political parties in the EU for arguing to leave the European Union, because they have seen what a nightmare it is for the UK.  We will get to see how Trump and his policies will affect the USA.  If they are the disaster that many predict, then parties which make similar promises like Reform UK may face electoral consequences.  

Child's Play

I thought that this was an enjoyable film.  Not too scary though, and if you want a frightening film, there are better ones out there.  It had an enjoyable plot, though I was left wondering how Chucky got back from some of the murder scenes.  I have not watched the original, so cannot compare it to what it was based on, but has a fun gore film, it is worth watching.  Just do not watch it if you want to be scared or are expecting a film with an astounding plot. 

Not being able to avoid inheritance tax by buying a farm

There has been a lot of controversy because of the changes in inheritance tax laws for farmers. Basically, some people have bought farms to avoid inheritance tax. An example of this is Jeremy Clarkson who has been quite vocal in speaking out the changes.  While he has made a TV series about farming and a successful one at that, he did buy his farm to avoid inheritance tax. I obtained quote below from this article, but it was originally in The Times. 

"Land is a better investment than any bank can offer. The Government doesn't get any of my money when I die. And the price of the food that I grow can only go up. "But there is another, much more important reason: I can now have a quad bike. "I have always loved the idea. They are like motorbikes but they don't fall over when you leave them alone, they look great and they bring a bit of civilisation to Britain's rather dreary green and brown bits."

Apparently other have bought farms as a way of avoiding this tax, something I never knew until I heard about it on BBC Any Questions.