One Day

This film is good, but not anywhere near as good as the series.  I both liked and disliked Anne Hathaway in it however.  At the beginning, she is able to hide her looks as she portrays Emma really well.  But, towards the end of the film, her looks are apparent.  While a similar transformation took place with Ambika Mod, I am sorry to say this, but the end result is different.  I have not read the book, but I think that both acted the part of Emma really well, but the character was best played by Ambika Mod.  I do not think that it is as bad as the reviews of the time, but it is not as good as the series.  But comparisons are unfair, as the series was produced and acted brilliantly, but also had more time than the film can offer.  

Bridget Jones's Baby

After watching the latest instalment in the film series, I realised that I could not remember much about the second and third films. So I have watched them.  You know my views on the second film and this is about the same.  An enjoyable film, which warms my heart as it features London.  But in essence, it is a feel good film.  If you are after intricate plots, beautiful cinematography and the like, this is not the film to watch.  Basically, if you like the other films, you will like this one.  I love the characters and am glad that I watched it again.  Would I watch it again?  I guess so, if it was on TV, but I doubt that I would go out of my way to watch it again, not unless they produce a fifth film!

The Best People

Sorry, I do try to ignore the Orangutan in The White House, but this story has to be commented on. Top Trump cabinet members added The Atlantic editor to a chat discussing strikes on Houthis and did not seem to realise until he shared the story.  The person who added the Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of the Atlantic magazine, may have been Michael Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser.  Though Pete Hegseth is being touted by some as the moron who did so.

In the last Trump administration, many of The Best People went to jail.  The incompetence of this administration was to be expected considering the backgrounds of the people he has appointed, but this level of stupidity may be hard to beat.  But I suspect that they will do their best.  And we have almost four more years of this for them to do so. 

Mississippi Burning

Before my daughter left for her travels we watched films together. My son tends not to watch films with me, instead we watched TV shows and are watching Fresh of the Boat. Anyway, she is back and we watched a film together.

We had been for a walk earlier in the morning, taking the dog to Gosbecks (Leia gets very impatient if we do not park quickly) on a different route to normal. During the walk, she talked about her time travelling and one of the topics discussed was The Vietnam War. So when we got back I suggested we watched Platoon before it leaves Amazon Prime. While searching for it, I noted that Mississippi Burning is also due to leave and mentioned that it was a film worth watching. So she decided to watch that instead. I have watched this many years before. Watching it now has a special relevance considering what is happening in the USA. So many of the issues it brings up could be issues faced today with the resurgence of racism and white nationalism as well as the way Trump has views on how the law should be.

She is back!

My daughter is back after almost two months away.  The dog is very happy, as are the rest of us. There was a worry yesterday when we work up to this message. I relaxed more when I found out that the airport itself was not on fire and I was confident that the airport would be open the next day and that she would get back, but there was always a worry. 

I was under the mistaken impression that as the volcano was to the east of Bali, that flights to Singapore, which is to the west of Bali, would be unaffected, but again this was not the case as some flights were cancelled.

We all missed her, but the dog has expressed it the most.  Anyway, she is asleep on the sofa so I need to wake her up so she can sleep in her own room, 

The oldest profession should be legal

I have discussed this before, notably after Lily Philips had filmed her exploits.  Since then, her 'body count' has been surpassed by Bonnie Blue.  But this is not about that.  It is about how I think that prostitution should be legal.  And not just prostitution, but other forms of sex work as well.

As I have stated before, I do not want any woman (or man) to have no choice but to resort to working as a prostitute, but like it or not, for some men and women, this is how they earn money. What I want is a system to support sex workers, so that they can get the help and support to work in a safe manner, but more importantly, the help and support to get out of the trade if needed. Making sex work legal may also help to reduce sex trafficking as sex workers would be given rights. 

 

There are websites for men to be sugar daddies and many men seek ‘love’ from abroad in a way that many consider to be transactional for too many women. 

In a nation where we are looking at having to cut payments to the most vulnerable, legalisation and regulation of sex work may actually help the economy.  After all, lets face it.  Keeping the current situation has not stopped things.

Abortion and Savita Halappanavar

I watched an interesting video today.  It reminded me of the case of Savita Halappanavar, a dentist who died in Ireland due to the laws it had on abortion.  Her unnecessary death was the catalyst which brought about the change in Ireland which ended the laws banning abortion there.

When the US decided to allow states to make their own choices, many banned or placed huge restrictions on abortion.  And since then, women have died.  

We in Europe do find it strange that the pro-life lobby are willing to allow mothers to die.  But then this is the nation which prefers to have school shootings rather than decent gun controls...  

The Railway Tavern Kelvedon

My wife and I had a pleasant afternoon here.  I had been for a walk with Nick and on the way back, my wife, who was driving back home asked about lunch together.  We discussed different options.  It being a sunny day, one option was to eat in the garden after getting some food locally, but we settled on going somewhere new.  

The location was pleasant, or would have been but for the ducks, or rather Leia, our dog, wanting to kill the ducks.  I enjoyed my food, but my wife chose poorly and did not enjoy hers as much.  But parking was easy and I would return again.  

The best bit was spending time with my wife though. 

Reforming welfare

The government want to cut welfare and reduce the cost to the state of supporting people.

I agree and disagree with them. In my job, I do come across a few who can work and do not seem to want to. But most of those who are on benefits need them, either because they are in low paid jobs, or because they are not able to work.

Poverty increased under the Conservatives, not just for those out of work, but for those working as well. Yes, the government is right in that we should be helping people to come off benefits and back into work, and yes the government is right in that too many need “encouragement” to do so. BUT the Conservatives oversaw a huge rise in Foodbanks, and too many people have health issues preventing them from working properly. While waiting lists are coming down, it is hard to get people back into work when it takes so long to have health issues (that limit the work they do) addressed.

What I would like to see is a Universal Basic Income for adults born in the UK. 

The pub quiz

Nick and I presented our local pub quiz last night. My wife did not attend as she was tired from a weekend of spring cleaning. Sadly I did not present it as well as I would have liked. In general the quiz was too hard, something I will need to rectify if we get to present it again.

And doing this meant that I did not get to watch the highlights of the Arsenal game. We won, which is good, but the question of if we would have beaten better opposition comes to mind. Like us, Chelski has no striker, but we adapted to that better than they did.

It was good to score again from a set piece, this time it was a corner. That may be how we defeat Real Madrid when we face them in the European Cup. 

Captive

There are several films with this name. This film was made in 2023 and is not worth going out of your way to watch. 

When I watch a film, I am looking for several things. Is it made well? Does it tell a different story? Those are just two things I look for, there are others, but basically this film offered next to nothing new.  There are many better films out there, and while there are also worse ones, few horror films have so little scares. This review gave it two out of five and I would have to agree.  I would not go out of my way to watch it, but if there was nothing else to watch, it is an almost adequate time filler. 

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

This film is not too bad.  In fact, if you consider that this is a silly Rom-Com, it is made quite well.  I can see that many are not going to like it, but this is not a cerebral film.  It is one where the character is lovable but annoying with the two main characters being stereotypes, but well executed ones.  If you do not like the other films in the series, you are not going to like this one.  I would not go out of my way to watch it again, but I would watch it if I found it on television while channel hopping.  

The look of love

Another interesting film. Not one I would watch again, and one where it would have been more interesting to have a female perspective when it came to making it, considering the topic relates to pornography (and related matters). 

The Guardian rated it three out of five, and I would say that is fair as is the description of it being “shallow but watchable” which is surprisingly accurate.

I am not sure that anyone who is not interested in the area of Soho, or remembers the influence that Paul Raymond had with publishing. It is amazing to see so many British stars making the film. So, yes, shallow, but watchable.

King Kong

Watching this last night brought back memories of when I had watched King Kong before.  I like this film but never got round to watching it on the big screen, probably because my daughter was only a few months old.  I do remember talking to a friend of my wife who was upset when "the monkey died" (which was my words) but I had not watched the film and did not realise just how good it was.

Yes, the film has some stereotypes which would probably not be in film now, especially as I suspect that the inhabitants of the pacific ocean do not look like the natives on Skull Island. And the CGI is dated.  But it is by far the best of the more recent King Kong films.  

Yes, even with it being so long, I would watch it again, but if I had to make a choice, I would watch it until the capture of King Kong.

Anyway, while I do not want to focus on the insanity of Trump for the next four years, this is a clip I had to share, because it made me laugh so much!  It is the best line on this tariffs that I have heard.  

Picture This

As a family (without my daughter) we watched this. I did not think that I was going to like it as I did not think that it flowed well at the beginning, but it improved.  The ending of the film was predictable, but the journey to that point was not the usual one that a RomCom takes. Needless to say, not everyone likes it, but the three of us did. I would say that the weakness was the predictable love interest, but the strength of the film is some of the other characters.

Next to Arsenal. What a game. We should have scored more than the amazing goal that Rice did score, but we were also lucky not to concede loads as well. We are not going to win the title, and I doubt that we will win in Europe, but I think that we can beat Real Madrid, if we face them in the next round.  

A Quiet Place: Day One

First of all, family. My son went to London yesterday with friends and had a great time. My wife was a bit nervous as it was his first time doing so, but as I pointed out he was with friends and would be doing his soon anyway. With my daughter in Bali, this helped her anxiety, and s being busy cleaning the house distracted her as well.

Now onto the title of this post.  This is an enjoyable film. I have yet to watch the second film in the series, and the first was much scarier, but I would recommend this to science fiction fans who liked the first film.  I love the different lead character (compared to other science fiction films), though the pet on a lead does annoy me as I am sure it would make a noise.

If you want a film to scare you, this is not it. But despite that, it is enjoyable with a decent script, characters and direction.  I would not compare it to the first film in the series, but would compare it to another science fiction “end of the world film” that film being Cloverfield. 

An Alliance With China?

Novara Media have done a piece on how Europe should consider getting closer to China now that America and its America First policy is leaving Europe to fed for itself.

It forgets several things.  One is the way that China has been accused of engaging in genocide.  

The other relates to the concerns that China has been linked to the damaging of undersea cables in the Baltic. 

Europe needs to look to itself, not China when it comes to ensuring that Russia does not invade yet more nations. 

Star Trek: Section 31

It is not often that I come across a film that is so bad, but it is.  It has some plus points, it has good special effects and it means that Star Trek V; The Final Frontier is no longer the worst Star Trek film.  

The plot was predictable, the characters were unimaginative, but the worst bit, was how they ruined the character of the evil Terran Empress Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius.  The series Star Trek Discovery has lost its appeal to me, but while that lacks inspiration, it is not awful like this film.   

Section 31 in Star Trek is known for amazing operatives, which means that they would not have a moron on the team, like the film had.  Also when it come to how Philippa Georgiou came to rule the Terran Empire at the beginning of the film, that made no sense when you see how career advancement takes place in Mirror Mirror and the other Star Trek episodes which feature the Mirror universe. 

I made a mistake in watching this film.  Take my advice and do not watch it.  

The Gorge

A very disappointing film.  I liked the horror themes in it, how The Hollow Men would come and how the land in The Gorge looked, but that was about it.

The film starts well, but rapidly starts to fail.  Normally, I do not include spoilers in my review, but I am going to have them now so I can get my rant over. The character is dropped away from The Gorge, making their way to the place that they are meant to guard.  But, when there, they have food, and have to work to restock ammunition.  Which leads to the question of how the ammunition gets there.  Somewhere that well stocked will need people to stock it up, which means that they fly the supplies in, and if so, why not fly the replacement guards in.

Also at the end, when the characters escape by getting up the cavern wall, why do the defences not kill them the way they kill The Hollow Men?

There are very few reasons to watch this, and considering that there are much better films out there, watch them instead. 

Who needs a striker?

I should have posted yesterday about how Arsenal may not need Saka as much. Nwaneri is amazing. While I do not think that he is as good as Saka, he is almost as good.  But Saka is 23, while Nwaneri is only 17.  Both should improve as they get older, but Saka has been doing this and while Nwaneri should do the same, Arsenal has seen talent not reach its potential before and I hope that Nwaneri learns from the mistakes of those before him without repeating them.

Anyway, what an awesome result.  For those, like me who missed it, the highlights are on the links below.  I would favour playing Real Madrid in the next round as they are more likely to play football against us, which means we have more of a chance to beat them.

And just for the record, I do think that we need to play with a striker.

This weekend

Yesterday we took my son to London for a treat. He had wanted to go to a particular restaurant there and do some other things. As the restaurant was not dog friendly we had to take Leia to the dog sitter before we left. The drive down was interesting due to fog, but that cleared up when we were in London.

We returned to Maltby Street market and had some breakfast before taking him to the shops he wanted to go to.  We made it to the restaurant in good time and had an amazing meal. We all loved the chicken, but our views diverged when it came to other dishes.  We also got to have an interesting cocktail (mocktail for me) before our lunch.  My Mum was not happy that we did not see her, but there was no time as after Lunch, we took my son to Spitalfields market where he loves to shop.

Today, we rested, though my son was working for his A-Levels. Sadly I have come down with a viral infection so I was  not able to do the long walk I usually do on a Sunday. Fingers crossed that I will be better for tomorrow!