[What Was The Last Movie You Watched?]

The Mighty Ducks 8/10

Great performances and genuine conflict augmented by excellent plot twists and a stunning surprise ending.

Emilio Estevez has rarely been this good.

[Last Book You Read....]

I liked the books. So they're good.

[Last Book You Read....]

Totally agree. It's meant to be something you enjoy doing in your spare time. Human beings love stories, whether it's soaps, computer games, books, etc. Books are the most rewarding in my opinion, but if I was trying to encourage someone to start reading I'd hand them a page-turner before Wuthering Heights. It would put you off forever!

One thing I would say about reading though is that there is a progression as you get older if you're reading consistently. Your vocabulary increases, your knowledge of certain areas increases and you end up reading books you never though you would when you were younger. Book I'm reading just now I'm looking up a word every few pages, but I don't see it as a bad thing.

I thought that comment was really incisive and you're right; it's knowing the audience. You're also right about progression; I adore Steinbeck as a 20th Century writer but before that there were absolute belters being written especially in the 19th C.

[Last Book You Read....]

Yeah spot on, I've ploughed through "classics" out of a sense of duty, but not really "felt" them. It;s all subjetive. And when I see ertain types of books being run down for being cheap or tacvky I invariably think of Shakespeare, who was writing the renaissance equivalent of American Pie and Con Air but is now feted. Times, cultures,attitudes and tastes are too varied, and can change too much, to write any book off as being "unworthy"

Now I'm off to read some comic books....

I said there are a lot of classics that should be read in my opinion before modern pop novels. I have read "War and Peace" for example and it's an excellent read with compelling characters, a gripping narrative and an excellent psychological dimension that transcends time. As for plays and films, I thought we were talking about books?

Taste is the main differentiation to any reading preferences but whereas I found any Tolstoy book rewarding I find a lot of pop novels, quick and easily forgotten. i did find the Epilogues in WAP a bit heavy going but they're more akin to a sociological thesis rather than a novel.

[Last Book You Read....]

I thought the title journalist was a pretty sympathtic character, as was his business partner and the Henry Wagner, I'm sure if I tried to remember there would be someone else.

I'm not quite sure how Lisbeth contributed to mysoginy? But it;s been a few years so I may be rusty on some details.

Again, I can;t remember any implausible investigations techniques but I could just be forgetting them. I'd expect that side to be fairly well grounded, given the author was an investigative journalist.

In fact, if i;m honest, a strong biography of the author may be more appealing to me than reading the rest iof the trilogy.

Mmmm, I'm a big believer in the art being subjective line, I wouldn't hail a classic for the sake of it, or write something off as cheap tat becuase it looks like an airport book. In fact, if I'm honest, I reckon there's more literary worth in taking something "low culture" and trying to make capital L literature out of it.

The Girl with a Dragon Tattooo was astonishingly dervivative - Chandler,McDiarmid are two other crime writers that immediately came to mind reading it, but being derivative doesn;t have to be a bad thing, it's sequel just didn't grab me.

The journalists had very low sexual morals and showed a lack of faithfulness to each other. The old man was obsessive and apparently conducted a meticulously researched investigation with all the resources he had at his disposal and found nothing in spite of one of his family being guilty (Implausible and a character I couldn't warm to). The only one i could moderately warm to was the woman who had killed her father and whose brother (?) was the murderer. I generally don't remember the names of characters of a book I didn't like btw.

Lisabeth (thanks for reminding me) tortured a man who treated her abysmally and raped her and she in turn exercised control over him which were all sadistic acts with a sexual connotation.

Mikeal was able to trace people from 20 odd years back based on faded photographs; slighly ridiculous but how come the CEO of a global organisation who'd been analysing this for 20 odd years found nothing. C'mon mate. I have no doubt the author was a good journalist but to me a very by the numbers thriller that would have been written in a better narrative by Harlen Coben or Michael Connolly.

[Last Book You Read....]

I enjoyed the first "Girl" book, but couldn;t get into the second one at all, sadlky. The ending was definately a muddke, it could have either been stretched out or saved for the second book.

I thought that would have been the point of a book initially named "Why men hate women" or such likes.

The Girl books were either badly written or poorly translated in my opinion. However, even allowing for that the lack of subtley and the way in which the narrative unfolded according to investigations which didn't seem plausible contributed to my dislike of the book. Also, it was drawn out and the characters were all amoral without drawing the reader's sympathy except the Girl herself and even she indulged in sadistic torture which ironically contributed to the mysoginy. I read it based on recommendations but there are so many excellent classic novels that I haven't read that modern pop cr*p like this should stay in supermarket chains imo.

[Last Book You Read....]

Tortilla Flat - John Steinbeck

It's about a group of Paisanos (Countrymen) who inhabit a small rural area in Monterey on the Californian coast after WWI. They spend their days trying to acquire wine and Steinbeck embellishes these uneducated men with a dignity which makes the story funnier but also seperates perceived and largely psychologically constructed social divides. I love Steinbeck so the novel has great positives. However, it's one of his early novels and doesn't have a formal narrative although that doesn't stop it from being an excellent read.

8.5/10

[What Was The Last Movie You Watched?]

The wind that shakes the Barley

Sky plussed this a couple weeks back and watched for the first time last night. Its set in Ireland and gives a real close to the bone feel of the wars of the early 20th century between the IRA and the British army. ITs a quite stunning, sad, epic and brilliant movie.

One which made me even less proud of the british army.

Must watch

10/10.

Old Firm for this pash mwon!

The way that the film depicted Ireland tearing itself apart once that violence had been used in the struggle. It proved a saluatory lesson that friends and allies become enemies and murder each other. The film didn't implicity or explicity state that "Divide and Conquer" wasn't the Government policy though.

[What Was The Last Movie You Watched?]

Kick Ass

Like every graphic novel adaptation except "The Crow", the narrative was compelling but the action scenes became monotonous. It was funny and well acted but like I say, shooting and slicing can become dull after a short while.

6/10

The Hurt Locker

Absolutely enthralling, tense and terrifying. The World of the bomb disposal expert is depicted in War Torn Iraq. Great acting and an incisive brilliantly crafted story. One of the best War films I've seen since The Deer Hunter.

9/10