I have been wanting to see this film since catching a trailer for it on the internet back in the Spring. For anyone who doesn't know it is the story of the creation of Facebook and the legal battles that ensued between the well known founder Mark Zuckerburg and another group of Harvard students who claimed the site was their idea. It starts well, and intellegently uses a time shift device to move through the narrative from the scenes of the legal action to the events themselves. The scenes are all tightly edited and there are plenty of quick cuts which keep the pace going nicely. For the non-geeks the good news is the boring coding in darkened dorm-rooms is kept to a minimum and it turns out that even the creation of one of the web's biggest hits can be turned into a love story if you try hard enough. There are good performances from Jessie Eisenberg as Zuckerburg, Andrew Garfield as best friend and financial backer Eduardo Saverin, and even Justin Timberlake puts in a good if slightly over the top performance as Napster founder Sean Parker (who comes off by far the worst from the movie in terms of image). The real stand out though has to be Armie Hammer who plays both of the Winklevoss twins brilliantly. There has been some criticism that the story isn't close enough to reality, or that it lacked some sort of moral undertones about the rights and wrongs of social networking but personally I didn't go to the cinema to see a documentary so it was an entertaining well made film with an excellent soundtrack.

If you read this blog regularly, you probably think I only ever go and see children's films at the cinema. And, well you would be right.

This is because they are the only ones that the wife and I can agree on. We used to enjoy seeing scary horror films, but then we moved in together and suddenly they lost their appeal. ;0)

So usually one of us suggests we go to the cinema and then selects their choice of film, the other doesn't agree and we reach a compromise of the latest animation!

Anyway this is a round about way of saying that we went to see Toy Story 3 this weekend and I have to be honest I quite enjoyed it.

Most of the usual Disney Pixar style is there with plenty of wry jokes as well as a moral tale about coming of age and sticking with your friends even when the chips are down.

I did find some of the preachy moralising rather uncomfortable though, and I think that if I had children I wouldn't be so happy with some of the questions the film could raise.

The techniques were faultless though, and the animation was as impressive as ever, although it has become even more apparent to me that 3D is simply a device to persuade cinema goers to part with even more of their cash for no actual benefit as the feature wasn't really essential to the experience whatsoever.

 

As a radio man, my usual routine in the morning revolves around listening to as much wireless as possible, usually switching between national stations upstairs on the clock radio, a local station in the kitchen while I have my breakfast and then something speech based in the car on my way to the office.

Not this week though. While watching my breakfast I've been giving the new morning show from ITV a try. It has replaced GMTV which was largely responsible for launching the TV careers of Eamonn Holmes, Dr. Hillary Jones, Fiona Phillips and Penny Smith.

It is early days for the new show that launched after much fanfare for poaching Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley who proved popular on the BBC's One Show. Their chemistry is apparently what turned their previous show into a ratings winner, and I must admit I have enjoyed watching them this week.

The features seem to me to be more news orientated than GMTV used to be, there have been some very strong items including a look at what happened to those who lost out over the Farepak collapse two years ago, and interviews with Tony Blair and Prince Charles.

There are some things which still need work though, several blogs I've read have picked up on the ridiculously easy quiz question, and the "Something cool before the kids go to school" feature feels like it could be running out of steam already.

The most noticeable difference for the new show is the set, which has a very impressive view over London, although I do wonder what will happen as winter draws in and the mornings get noticeably darker!

Overall I think that ITV Daybreak has had an impressive first week and I have high hopes that it will continue to do well. I expect there will be some producers responsible for BBC Breakfast having a few tough conversations too as it does make their offering look a little tired and dull. It's no competition for the radio in the car though!

For my birthday my wife booked us a table at a new thai restaurant which has just opened in town. She told me we were going out to eat but kept the choice of venue a secret. I was pleased when I realised where we were going as the place is right near work and I've been walking past for the last few weeks thinking I would really like to give it a try. The restaurant itself is quite large and airy with a nice traditional yet modern feel to it. I'm guessing that they hope to grow over time as there were loads of tables and I can't imagine it is full very often. The menu was a good mixture of classic thai food and other asian style dishes including excellent noodles.

For my birthday my wife booked us a table at a new thai restaurant which has just opened in town. She told me we were going out to eat but kept the choice of venue a secret. I was pleased when I realised where we were going as the place is right near work and I've been walking past for the last few weeks thinking I would really like to give it a try.
The restaurant itself is quite large and airy with a nice traditional yet modern feel to it. I'm guessing that they hope to grow over time as there were loads of tables and I can't imagine it is full very often. The menu was a good mixture of classic thai food and other asian style dishes including excellent noodles. 

I still haven't really got used to watching 3D films. The glasses sit funny on my face (unlike my wife I don't wear glasses normally) and after a while I have to lift the glasses up as I get a weird seasick sensation. Perhaps I'm thinking about it too much? Anyway, we went to see Alice in Wonderland last night, in 3D. The first thing you probably need to know about this film, if you didn't already is that it's directed by Tim Burton. That pretty much guarantees a few things, firstly that his girlfriend Helena Bonham Carter will be in it, that Johnny Depp is likely to be in it and that a lot of the visuals will be pretty dark and spiky. Alice qualifies on all three counts. Johnny Depp plays the psychologically deranged 'Mad Hatter' with the most interesting eye make-up. Bonham Carter plays the arrogant and pompous but slightly child-like Queen of Hearts. All of the Underland scenes are suitably dark and spiky, except for those in the castle of the White Queen (played by Anne Hathaway) but the atmospheric lighting and digital effects still give it a certain edge. Personally I felt the plot was a little slow in places, especially the early scenes where Alice is at the garden party to receive a proposal from Hamish (played by Leo Bill). I also wonder if ginger haired actors only ever get to play weak sensitive characters? Anyway yes the first few scenes are quite slow. Things get much better when Alice falls down the rabbit hole though, and the pace picks up considerably. Mia Wasikowska puts in an excellent performance as Alice and she is supported brilliantly by the aforementioned stars Depp, Hathaway and Bonham Carter. The Tweedles played by the brilliant Matt Lucas should also get a special mention for managing to make even the smallest of gestures or vocal nosies to raise a laugh. Overall I would certainly recommend this film, not least to enjoy the unique approach of Tim Burton combined with the new digital techniques afforded by modern cinema. Just try to avoid feeling seasick from the 3D glasses!

I still haven't really got used to watching 3D films. The glasses sit funny on my face (unlike my wife I don't wear glasses normally) and after a while I have to lift the glasses up as I get a weird seasick sensation. Perhaps I'm thinking about it too much? Anyway, we went to see Alice in Wonderland last night, in 3D. The first thing you probably need to know about this film, if you didn't already is that it's directed by Tim Burton. That pretty much guarantees a few things, firstly that his girlfriend Helena Bonham Carter will be in it, that Johnny Depp is likely to be in it and that a lot of the visuals will be pretty dark and spiky. Alice qualifies on all three counts. Johnny Depp plays the psychologically deranged 'Mad Hatter' with the most interesting eye make-up. Bonham Carter plays the arrogant and pompous but slightly child-like Queen of Hearts. All of the Underland scenes are suitably dark and spiky, except for those in the castle of the White Queen (played by Anne Hathaway) but the atmospheric lighting and digital effects still give it a certain edge. Personally I felt the plot was a little slow in places, especially the early scenes where Alice is at the garden party to receive a proposal from Hamish (played by Leo Bill). I also wonder if ginger haired actors only ever get to play weak sensitive characters? Anyway yes the first few scenes are quite slow. Things get much better when Alice falls down the rabbit hole though, and the pace picks up considerably. Mia Wasikowska puts in an excellent performance as Alice and she is supported brilliantly by the aforementioned stars Depp, Hathaway and Bonham Carter. The Tweedles played by the brilliant Matt Lucas should also get a special mention for managing to make even the smallest of gestures or vocal nosies to raise a laugh. Overall I would certainly recommend this film, not least to enjoy the unique approach of Tim Burton combined with the new digital techniques afforded by modern cinema. Just try to avoid feeling seasick from the 3D glasses!