The Cabin in the Woods, Battleship and Lockout

Though there is nothing intelligent in any of these three movies, they have to be seen on the big screen or not at all. The one thing they have in common is a touch of science fiction, so I have to wait until next week to see a proper story. When you combine the writing talents of Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) and Joss Whedon (Serenity etc), you are sure to come up with something interesting, and Cabin in the Woods is certainly that. Although the first two thirds seem like a rehash of so many other horror movies. It is only the unexpected final section where things are turned upside down. It is only then we realise what all the earlier mysteries are about. It was a surprise to see Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford take prominent roles but they gave a nice counterpoint to the usual dark stuff. And an unexpected cameo at the end from someone. All together, great entertainment if you like this sort of thing.

Battleship is a fairly predictable alien invasion movie, but with one difference. It is set mainly on naval warships. It is clunky, noisy, with nothing original and an awful script. But the action scenes are pretty well done and you can see where the huge budget has been spent. So again, reasonably entertaining on a big screen, but that is all.

It is 12 years since Momento and you have to hand it to Guy Pearce for the extraordinarily different roles he has played since then. In his new movie, he is unrecognisable from King Edward V111 who he played in The Kings Speech. So is he now the new Bruce Willis? There are lots of similarities, that especially reminded me of Die Hard and The Last Boy Scout. This movie is a fun rescue mission circa 2079. A pretty daft plot is saved by some entertaining banter between Pearce and Maggie Grace as the President's daughter he has to save. First time writers and directors James Mather and Stephen St. Ledger have given the film a retro feel and despite it being pretty hammy, on the huge screen at MK, it was a fun ninety minutes.

Bert Weedon RIP

Bert Weedon, who died last week,  was an inspiration to so many budding guitarists in the 1950's and 60's. His book "Play in a Day", first published in 1957,  was the manual for the electric guitar that was instrumental in  producing so many great bands and musicians. Paul McCartney said "George and I went through the Bert Weedon books and learnt D and A together".

Bert was possibly the first person to play the electric guitar in this country, having first been tought classical. This was the only tuition he could find, but always wanted to play the new American music. He was in huge demand in the 50's and 60's for recording and playing live. He even had minor hits of his own.

Bert was a staunch supporter of the Grand Order of Water Rats, a big variety charity, and for whose work Bert was awarded the OBE. He was made King Rat for 1992 and this was announced at the Annual Ball in November 1991 at which we just happened to be invited. Alison swears it was only because I was drunk that I went and obtained his autograph and had a little chat. What a great guy.

Time's Up

The hostas that I planted in containers last summer were badly damaged by snails ( I think you either have slugs or snails, and I have hardly ever seen the former). So over the winter the hostas seem to have died. However over the last few weeks they are sprouting better than ever. Looking for some protection against the darling little creatures, I found a recommendation for this copper tape that you stick to the plant pots. Whether this works or not, watch this space.

The Hunger Games, Headhunters and Pirates

A movie of two halves, The Hunger Games is an engrossing futuristic film based on the novel by Suzanne Collins. The first half is all sci fi style, with quite brilliant sets and costumes as our teenagers are prepared for a battle to the death. For the second half think Battle Royale goes to Hollywood. The notion of these young people killing each other in a contest seems highly distasteful, but director Gary Ross, who cowrote the screenplay with Collins, manages to make it all quite subtle with a little help from the censor. Thank goodness they were aiming for a 12a certificate. In the end, it succeeds so well because of the performance of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. She has grown up a little since her Oscar nominated performance in Winter's Bone, and brings a refreshingly tough portrayal of a true heroine trying to survive rather than kill. There are also some interesting cameos, particularly from Stanley Tucci as the TV host, Woody Harrelson and an unrecognisable Elizabeth Banks.

Why is it that Scandinavia is currently making all the best thrillers? The latest is Headhunters from the book by Jo Nesbo. Apparently he is the top crime writer in Norway, and it is here that the story is set. With a Norwegian cast, we are treated to their gloriously impenetrable language with subtitles. Aksel Hennie plays our art thief headhunting antihero (a mass of neuroses and all because he is only 5ft 6in) who becomes entangled through both his "occupations" with a hostile killer and has to go on the run. The action sequences are terrific and are a throwback to the best of Alfred Hitchcock. Director Morten Tyldum keeps up a fast pace with twists and turns along the way. OK, there are some faults with the plot, but this will certainly be one of the best films of the year.

It takes a lot to get me out to see any animation movie. I can only think of having enjoyed WALL-E and Up over the last few years. But the reviews for Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists were excellent, and it was made by Ardman. So how could I go wrong? Quite easily. It fails because of the script. Getting Gideon Defoe to adapt his children's books about pirates for the big screen was a huge mistake. OK, there are some funny moments, but when the best of these are some visuals over the final credits, something must be wrong. The high quality cast do their best with the voices, especially (and surprisingly) Martin Freeman as No 2 and Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria. The animation is as great as ever, and when the movie goes into action sequences, we are treated to some excellent stunts. But as I watched, I just wondered how the dialogue was so dull and awkward. It was only afterwards I found out why. What a missed opportunity for something that could have been first class.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, The Woman in Black and Smut

Having enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell's After You'd Gone and her Costa winning novel The Hand That First Held Mine, I selected one of her earlier books to read next. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is a shocking, unsettling but gripping story about a young woman who, in 1930's Edinburgh, is left in a mental health facility for most of her life. Is she mad or disturbed or even  just a bit unusual? Esme's family do not want to know. Fast forward sixty years and Iris receives a letter that her great aunt is about to be released. How Esme's history unfolds dramatically in tandem with the present day is a testament to the writing skill of Maggie O'Farrell. Her prose is from the top drawer. But nothing could have prepared us for the devastating conclusion.

Many of the reviews of the movie version of The Woman in Black had noted how it was different to the book in many ways. So I had to find out how Susan Hill had first imagined this story in her short novel of 1983. The screenplay now seems to have taken all the events from the book and mixed them up. The result is that the novel is far superior in all respects except one. The plot would not have made it an interesting film. It relies to a large degree on the feelings of Arthur Kipps as he experiences the haunting in subtle but disturbing ways. The appearance of ghost is much, much more dramatic than the shock produced just for the filmgoer's benefit. So the book does stand on it's own very well, and demonstrates just how difficult it is sometimes to bring such a story to the screen. I have to say that the writing is not to the standard that I normally go for, and it feels quite old fashioned in some way. But it does have a good atmosphere and is a ghost story and not a horror tale, and that for me makes it a satisfying read.

Even shorter is Alan Bennett's Smut. In fact it contains just two short stories. But what they lose in length they gain in entertainment. In fact I cannot understand why he does not write more fiction. His very short story The Uncommon Reader is exquisite and his only other fiction is Four Stories (I'm guessing short again) which is on order. Back to Smut. Well, the two stories are a little naughty, but in Bennett's hands they are always subtle, witty and so much fun. They are about mature, sensible, middle class women. No surprise there. I don't read a lot of non fiction, but I can never decide which is my favourite book of all time, his Writing Home or Untold Stories.

My First Running Injury

It was all because I disobeyed orders from my coach. On Good Friday, as Alison was running the Maidenhead 10 mile race, I took myself off for a run along my normal route by the canal from Halton. I had upped my distance to five and a half miles the previous week, so I thought a three mile plus at a faster pace would be OK. It wasn't. It did not seem like I was going that much faster, but I reached the half way point two minutes earlier than my previous fastest time. It was only on the way back that I started to feel the pain in my right calf, to the point where I just had to stop. Whether it was the speed, or having to stretch to avoid a dog that was wandering over the tow path, who knows. But a calf strain is what it certainly is. That was a week ago, and there has been little improvement. So running is on hold. Alison was not impressed that I had run too fast. I will have to listen next time. (But the faster pace did seem great at the time).

The Refurbished Conservatory

It had got to the point where most of the glass roof panels to the conservatory had broken down and needed replacing. We looked at various options and finally went for the Pilkington Activ Blue that was recommended especially for conservatory roofs.

So before the installers arrived last week, I managed to paint the joists and the edge at high level, something I had avoided ( and was not really necessary) before. The new glass has a slight blue tinge, more obvious from outside than in. But it looks really good, and far nicer than the misted panels we had before.

This week I made the effort to clean all the rest of the white paintwork, and cleaned the windows inside and out. I have to say that the conservatory has never looked as pristine as it does now since the day it was installed fifteen years ago.