Zombieland is a film which did surprise me and I did enjoy it, here is my review of it....
America has been taken over by Zombie but a young boy called Columbus has survived. He lives by his 30 rules and travels in search of finding other humans and some of his family. He is quite a shy boy and lacks power and strength, he spent most of his college days before the zombies in his room too scared to make friends.
Columbus manages to find a car and sets off in search of family but along the way he has an accident and meets Tallahasse, another human who hides from the zombie. Tallahasse is ruthless and hard, the total opposite of Columbus but they do strike up a friendship and they decide to stick together. The pair set off again on their travels, Tallahasses is on his own mission, he needs a twinkie, and soon they arrive at a supermarket and decide to go inside to get some supplies.
It is at the supermarket that they meet with a frightened girl who says her sister has been bitten by a zombie, the men go off to investigate and soon discover that one of them has to shoot the younger girl before she turns into a zombie.
Can they really shoot this young girl and if not what will the outcome be. Will any of the humans ever find a safe zombie free place to live?
I had never really been interested in watching this film but as it came on the comedy film channel and I needed a good fun film to watch both me and hubby decided to give it a go. I was actually surprised by the film and ended up quite enjoying it. I found that the story was good, although there seemed nothing new about it at all and it was lacking in depth but I found it worked well with the comedy that was added to it and I enjoyed what we had on offer.
The acting was good and the lead role of Columbus was played by Jesse Eisenberg. He was a good choice for the role as he had a good geeky look which suited the type of character he was trying to portray. He managed to deliver all of his lines with ease and I felt I got to know a good amount about him. I like the way we got a few flash backs to before the Zombies took over as this gave his character a little depth. He came across at times as a frightened little boy and I felt he turned to the role of Tallahasses to be a father figure to him and I think this worked well. The role of Tallahasses was played by Woody Harrelson and I found him to be a great addition to the cast. He looked mean and moody and I found the appearance was good. He managed to show other sides as the film moved on and he handled them all very well. He did sort of take on a fatherly role of Columbus and it was nice to watch at times. I did have a few issues when he was fighting and dealing with the zombies as he seemed a little unsure with the weapons but for me I think this helped with the humour of the film.
We had two other very good strong roles in the film and the stand out one for me was that of Abigail Breslin, she took the role of Little Rock, she was very old for her age and I loved how she had adapted to the new way of life. She certainly is turning out to be a fine young actress. I found the surprise appearance from Bill Murray was also a nice one and I felt he bought a lot to the film.
The setting for the film was America and we travelled around a lot. There was a lot of the film set on the road and as a result we did get some lovely scenery shots, these were slightly disrupted with abandoned cars and accident at times but overall I enjoyed them. We do go into a few places, including a supermarket a house and some outside areas and I found the sets to be of a good high standard and fitted well into the film. We do also have a lot of make up effects and CGI in the film and it was all great and enjoyable to watch. I did find the appearance of some of the zombies to be quite horrid at times but once I had seen a few of them they all seemed to look alike after and did not scare me. I did also jump a few times when zombie shot out from behind things and hubby found this hilarious.
The music was good and fitting for the film but it was nothing exceptionally special and not a soundtrack I would buy to listen to without the film. I felt it could have been stronger and a few more well known tracks played. I did enjoy the Ghostbusters theme being played and found this fitted in very well with the scene it was in.
This is a film only review so there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is 88 minutes and I did find this to be a good length, the story moved at a steady pace from that to finish and although it seems a short film I felt it would have been dragged out too much had the run time been lengthened. The rate of the film is a 15 and I do agree with this, we have lots of scenes of zombies eating people and killing and I think some of them do actually look quite scary, there is also a little swearing and I do agree with this rate. The DVD can now be bought from on line for under £5 and I do think this is a fair price.
I am going to recommend this film as both me and hubby enjoyed it. The story was good although not original and nothing very special, the acting was good and I felt there was just enough humour to give this film a good 4 stars. I would not recommend paying more than £5 for the DVD or even better would be to catch this for free whilst it is still on Sky movies.
Tuesday 29 March 2011
Cheap and effective
My newest post is a product review for Asda Chesty cough syrup...
Whenever I am suffering from a cold I always end up with a cough to go with it and it always ends up being a chesty one. I think having whooping cough when I was young means I am prone to getting the chesty cough rather than the tickly one. After watching a programme several months ago about medicines and the ingredients in them I learnt that the own brand drugs are just as good, if not batter than the named ones. Therefore I had no problem in buying the Asda own brand cough medicine.
The medicine comes in a 300ml bottle which is made from glass and a very dark brown colour. There is a white screw top on the bottle but this is not child proof. The label on the bottle is a white and deep pink colour and it has the Asda logo and the product name on the front and the directions and warnings on the back.
The medicine is supposed to be cherry flavoured, there is a faint hint of cherry but no where near enough to make this actually taste nice. I know they say what tastes bad is good for you but this really is bad! The dosage for children over 12 years of age and adults is 1-2 5-10ml spoons every 2-3 hours. No more than 4 doses should be taken in every 24 hours. Children under 12 should not take this medicine.
I have found that the stated does is good. I have 2 5ml spoonfuls at one time and I am finding that this dose will last me for about 5 hours and only then am I needing to take more. Hubby has had the same results and he sometimes does not need to take another dose for even longer. I find that this is ideal for taking about half an hour before bed as it means I get a good nights sleep and am not waking up from coughing all of the time.
The medicine is very easy to take, the liquid is a good consistency so very easy to pour but it is not overly runny so it all dribbles off the spoon. The smell is slightly off putting but if you try not to think of this you should be able to take the medicine with ease. I do instantly feel is putting a smooth coating down my throat as it goes down and this does actually feel quite nice for the few seconds it is there before I have to have a drink to get rid of the taste!
The ingredients for the medicine include:-
Guailenesin 100mg per 5ml, Glucose, Methylhydroxybenzoate E218, Citric Acid, E330, Sodium Citrate E331, Sodium Saccharin E945, Carmoisine Red E122, Caramel E150c, Cherry Flavour, Ethanol and Purified Water.
The bottle does contain several warnings and some of these include not giving this to children under 12, not to be used if you have a sugar intolerance or alcohol problem. Pregnant and breast women should seek advise before using. I do strongly recommend that you fully read the back of the bottle if you suffer from any medical condition before using this cough medicine. There can be side effects from using this medicine which may include gastro-intestinal discomfort, nausea or vomiting and if you do suffer from any of these then you should see your doctor.
The bottle does last for a good amount of time and the one which I last bough a few days ago has just under 3 years on the best before date. The medicine is an Asda own brand so it is only available to buy in their store. You can buy this on the shelf and not have to go to the pharmacy. The 300ml bottle will cost you £2 and it currently is the only size they do.
I a happy to give this product the full 5 stars despite the taste. It works extremely well and after only a few minutes of taking it, it means I can get a good nights sleep, and I can just about put up with the taste. A great cheap alternative to the branded named medicines.
Whenever I am suffering from a cold I always end up with a cough to go with it and it always ends up being a chesty one. I think having whooping cough when I was young means I am prone to getting the chesty cough rather than the tickly one. After watching a programme several months ago about medicines and the ingredients in them I learnt that the own brand drugs are just as good, if not batter than the named ones. Therefore I had no problem in buying the Asda own brand cough medicine.
The medicine comes in a 300ml bottle which is made from glass and a very dark brown colour. There is a white screw top on the bottle but this is not child proof. The label on the bottle is a white and deep pink colour and it has the Asda logo and the product name on the front and the directions and warnings on the back.
The medicine is supposed to be cherry flavoured, there is a faint hint of cherry but no where near enough to make this actually taste nice. I know they say what tastes bad is good for you but this really is bad! The dosage for children over 12 years of age and adults is 1-2 5-10ml spoons every 2-3 hours. No more than 4 doses should be taken in every 24 hours. Children under 12 should not take this medicine.
I have found that the stated does is good. I have 2 5ml spoonfuls at one time and I am finding that this dose will last me for about 5 hours and only then am I needing to take more. Hubby has had the same results and he sometimes does not need to take another dose for even longer. I find that this is ideal for taking about half an hour before bed as it means I get a good nights sleep and am not waking up from coughing all of the time.
The medicine is very easy to take, the liquid is a good consistency so very easy to pour but it is not overly runny so it all dribbles off the spoon. The smell is slightly off putting but if you try not to think of this you should be able to take the medicine with ease. I do instantly feel is putting a smooth coating down my throat as it goes down and this does actually feel quite nice for the few seconds it is there before I have to have a drink to get rid of the taste!
The ingredients for the medicine include:-
Guailenesin 100mg per 5ml, Glucose, Methylhydroxybenzoate E218, Citric Acid, E330, Sodium Citrate E331, Sodium Saccharin E945, Carmoisine Red E122, Caramel E150c, Cherry Flavour, Ethanol and Purified Water.
The bottle does contain several warnings and some of these include not giving this to children under 12, not to be used if you have a sugar intolerance or alcohol problem. Pregnant and breast women should seek advise before using. I do strongly recommend that you fully read the back of the bottle if you suffer from any medical condition before using this cough medicine. There can be side effects from using this medicine which may include gastro-intestinal discomfort, nausea or vomiting and if you do suffer from any of these then you should see your doctor.
The bottle does last for a good amount of time and the one which I last bough a few days ago has just under 3 years on the best before date. The medicine is an Asda own brand so it is only available to buy in their store. You can buy this on the shelf and not have to go to the pharmacy. The 300ml bottle will cost you £2 and it currently is the only size they do.
I a happy to give this product the full 5 stars despite the taste. It works extremely well and after only a few minutes of taking it, it means I can get a good nights sleep, and I can just about put up with the taste. A great cheap alternative to the branded named medicines.
Thought Provoking
My new post is a film review for The Green Mile....
It is the 1930’s and Paul Edgecomb works in a prison, he is in charge of death row which is a hard job to have and takes its toll on him. He sees men coming in and he and his team are faced with keeping them until their time for the electric chair comes. Paul has a hard job as he sees how sad these men are knowing what is coming and he does find it a hard job. Paul’s life is about to be turned around though when a new prisoner comes in.
John Coffey is a very large black man who is on death row as he is believed to have killed to little girls. Paul instantly feels he did not do it and rather likes John. Paul is about to have a massive shock when he gets ill from a urine infection and when John touches him he takes the pain and virus away. Paul does not talk about this to anyone but his wife and tries to find out about John’s past. His investigations lead him to a dead end but he does not give up.
Can Paul discover just what power John has and will this change his fate or will John go the same way as the other men on Death Row?
I have looked at this film over the years and never really fancied it but when I spotted the DVD for the bargain price of £2 I decided to give it a go. I thought from the cover of the DVD and the appearance of Tom, Hanks that it was going to be connected to the military but how wrong was I. I did actually enjoy the story and felt it was touched up in a very emotional and powerful way. I thought it was an original idea and I know this is based on a book but as I have not read the book I cannot make comment on how well or badly this has been transferred to the screen. The short plot outline which I have given really is only a basic one, we have other smaller side stories happening involving some of the other prisoners and guards but I felt that these are best left to be discovered by watching the film. I did enjoy the inclusion of these as they gave some depth to the film and overall story.
The acting for me was superb. Tom Hanks played the lead role of Paul and he did an excellent job. We got to know just enough about him to understand his mind and how he though about things and I enjoyed seeing a bit of his personal life as well. He was hard and strong for the majority of the film but I also liked the softer more sensitive side which did come out. I felt he did justice to the role he way playing and showed what a hard job he had. He formed a wonderful connection with John and even though John was a prisoner I felt they formed a good friendship. John was played by Michael Clark Duncan, I have to confess that the only other film I know him from is the role of Bear in Armageddon and I did not know what to expect from him. He gave the best performance of the film for me and I had so many different emotions forming from his performance. He looked quite dumb and sad for the majority of the film and as if he was suffering. When he spoke I felt sadness and loss from him but there were times when he showed a little strength and he did give me one or two small chuckles. He looked powerful and intimidating but he did not come across this way when he spoke or talked to Paul.
We had some very good support actors and I felt they too all played very good role, some of the actors included, David Morse, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter and Sam Rockwell, they were all very different role, some stronger and louder than the other but they all bought some magic to the story in their own different ways.
There was really only two settings in this film for the majority of it, we had the green mile, the wing of the prison where the prisoners on death row had their cells and the room with the electric chair. I found the settings to be good and thought the way of life for them back in the 30’s was shown well. I found it looked and fitted the era and the lack of technology and moderness of it all was shown in a good way. We did get one or two outside shots and these were a good little relief from the other settings. I thought the costumes were also good and in keeping with the theme and year of the film.
There were a few places in the film where I did have to look away as they were stomach turning and a little scary for me, I must confess though that I am a wimp! I though the parts when the prisoners were being placed in the electric chair were unsettling and also some of the things which John did turned my stomach. The DVD claims that there is some horror in the film and although I felt quite jumpy at parts O would not class them as horror. There are some brutal parts involving people dying but they are not overly gruesome or bad. We do have some swearing in the film and so the 18 rate which this has is one which I agree with, I also think a younger audience will not truly be able to follow this story. The one downside to this film is the run time, it is 181 minutes long, I do think this will put a few people off from watching but I have to say once we got into the story I lost track of the time and never felt as if it had been going on forever, I think it could have lost about 30-40 and still have been as powerful as it was.
I did think the ending was very powerful and it did actually reduce me to tears and this is where I would have liked the film to end. At the very start we see Paul when he is an elderly man in a nursing home and we return to this point at the very end of the film. Both me and hubby felt this was taking it a little far and making it a little far fetched with what he told us, I would have liked this to have been left out of the film. I did enjoy seeing one certain little member of the cast again.
I have stated that I bought the DVD for just £2 but as I have not watched the bonus features on it then I am classing this review as a film only one. The DVD does range in price depending on where you shop for it so make sure you too get a good bargain like I did.
I am more than happy to give this film the full 5 stars and a very high recommendation as it was an amazing film. The story was excellent and not only was it sad and emotional but we had a few good little fun parts which gave us some light relief, the acting from all involved was powerful and strong and I think this film should be watched by all over the age of 18 despite the running time as it has had a very powerful effect on me and I do still keep thinking back to the ending even a week after watching it.
It is the 1930’s and Paul Edgecomb works in a prison, he is in charge of death row which is a hard job to have and takes its toll on him. He sees men coming in and he and his team are faced with keeping them until their time for the electric chair comes. Paul has a hard job as he sees how sad these men are knowing what is coming and he does find it a hard job. Paul’s life is about to be turned around though when a new prisoner comes in.
John Coffey is a very large black man who is on death row as he is believed to have killed to little girls. Paul instantly feels he did not do it and rather likes John. Paul is about to have a massive shock when he gets ill from a urine infection and when John touches him he takes the pain and virus away. Paul does not talk about this to anyone but his wife and tries to find out about John’s past. His investigations lead him to a dead end but he does not give up.
Can Paul discover just what power John has and will this change his fate or will John go the same way as the other men on Death Row?
I have looked at this film over the years and never really fancied it but when I spotted the DVD for the bargain price of £2 I decided to give it a go. I thought from the cover of the DVD and the appearance of Tom, Hanks that it was going to be connected to the military but how wrong was I. I did actually enjoy the story and felt it was touched up in a very emotional and powerful way. I thought it was an original idea and I know this is based on a book but as I have not read the book I cannot make comment on how well or badly this has been transferred to the screen. The short plot outline which I have given really is only a basic one, we have other smaller side stories happening involving some of the other prisoners and guards but I felt that these are best left to be discovered by watching the film. I did enjoy the inclusion of these as they gave some depth to the film and overall story.
The acting for me was superb. Tom Hanks played the lead role of Paul and he did an excellent job. We got to know just enough about him to understand his mind and how he though about things and I enjoyed seeing a bit of his personal life as well. He was hard and strong for the majority of the film but I also liked the softer more sensitive side which did come out. I felt he did justice to the role he way playing and showed what a hard job he had. He formed a wonderful connection with John and even though John was a prisoner I felt they formed a good friendship. John was played by Michael Clark Duncan, I have to confess that the only other film I know him from is the role of Bear in Armageddon and I did not know what to expect from him. He gave the best performance of the film for me and I had so many different emotions forming from his performance. He looked quite dumb and sad for the majority of the film and as if he was suffering. When he spoke I felt sadness and loss from him but there were times when he showed a little strength and he did give me one or two small chuckles. He looked powerful and intimidating but he did not come across this way when he spoke or talked to Paul.
We had some very good support actors and I felt they too all played very good role, some of the actors included, David Morse, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter and Sam Rockwell, they were all very different role, some stronger and louder than the other but they all bought some magic to the story in their own different ways.
There was really only two settings in this film for the majority of it, we had the green mile, the wing of the prison where the prisoners on death row had their cells and the room with the electric chair. I found the settings to be good and thought the way of life for them back in the 30’s was shown well. I found it looked and fitted the era and the lack of technology and moderness of it all was shown in a good way. We did get one or two outside shots and these were a good little relief from the other settings. I thought the costumes were also good and in keeping with the theme and year of the film.
There were a few places in the film where I did have to look away as they were stomach turning and a little scary for me, I must confess though that I am a wimp! I though the parts when the prisoners were being placed in the electric chair were unsettling and also some of the things which John did turned my stomach. The DVD claims that there is some horror in the film and although I felt quite jumpy at parts O would not class them as horror. There are some brutal parts involving people dying but they are not overly gruesome or bad. We do have some swearing in the film and so the 18 rate which this has is one which I agree with, I also think a younger audience will not truly be able to follow this story. The one downside to this film is the run time, it is 181 minutes long, I do think this will put a few people off from watching but I have to say once we got into the story I lost track of the time and never felt as if it had been going on forever, I think it could have lost about 30-40 and still have been as powerful as it was.
I did think the ending was very powerful and it did actually reduce me to tears and this is where I would have liked the film to end. At the very start we see Paul when he is an elderly man in a nursing home and we return to this point at the very end of the film. Both me and hubby felt this was taking it a little far and making it a little far fetched with what he told us, I would have liked this to have been left out of the film. I did enjoy seeing one certain little member of the cast again.
I have stated that I bought the DVD for just £2 but as I have not watched the bonus features on it then I am classing this review as a film only one. The DVD does range in price depending on where you shop for it so make sure you too get a good bargain like I did.
I am more than happy to give this film the full 5 stars and a very high recommendation as it was an amazing film. The story was excellent and not only was it sad and emotional but we had a few good little fun parts which gave us some light relief, the acting from all involved was powerful and strong and I think this film should be watched by all over the age of 18 despite the running time as it has had a very powerful effect on me and I do still keep thinking back to the ending even a week after watching it.
Monday 28 March 2011
Rude and crude but oh so funny!
Get him to teh Greek is a film which I found hillarious, read my review for it....
Aaron Green works for a music company which is struggling and needs to come up with a big idea to raise money. Aaron comes up with the suggestion that they get old rocker, Aldous Snow to do an anniversary concert at the Greek. Aaron gets the gig and soon finds himself travelling to pick up Aldous for some press conferences and then the concert. Unfortunately Aldous is a typical rocker and is not impressed with being told what to do.
Aaron has a hard task ahead of him as all Aldous wants to do is party and have sex with women. They miss their first plane and have to fly in late to America to following day much to the disgust of Aaron’s boss. Aaron is warned that if Aldous does not get to the gig then he will loos his job.
Can Aaron get Aldous to the Greek and just what will he be subjected to along the way?
I have only given a very brief outline for the plot as I feel giving too much away will spoil it for those who may not have seen this film yet, but please do not think the film is as basic as I have made it out to be as it really isn’t and there is a lot to the story and an awful lot happens in the film. I did enjoy this film a lot of felt it was very funny. The story was good, not very original and the story is nothing exceptionally special but the way it is told to us with the humour is very entertaining and both me and hubby laughed out loud so many times when watching.
I have to admit that I am not a fan of Russell Brand and do find him very annoying but for some reason whenever I have watched him in a film I have found him to be excellent and easy to watch, this film was no exception. He played a great character who really did have a lot of issues, he was drugged up for the majority of the film and I felt this helped to add to the humour and he seemed to at easy playing the role. I liked the depth we got from him and thought it was good the way he did express emotions and felling as this made him easier to get to know and understand. He worked very well with Jonah Hill who played Aaron. He was a very different character, he was straight and wanted a simple life and had his world turned upside down by Aldous but he handled it all very well. I liked the way we got to know some background about him as I felt I got to know the way he thought and felt about new things. The chemistry between the pair was great and they had a good comedy timing when together on screen.
We did have some other very good actors in the film, P Diddy played a good role and I was quite surprised by how well he did, Elisabeth Moss played Aarons suffering girlfriend and the role which I was not keen on but was played well was that of Aldous’ father played by Colm Meaney.
There is a lot of humour in this film and I must say it is not going to be to everyone’s taste. It all involves drink, drugs and sex. There are times when we get a few good one liners but the majority of the humour comes from these three things. There are some very crude parts to the film which I was not overly keen on but for me the laughs did out weight these so I would not let them put you off from watching. I felt the comedy timing from all involved was excellent and they helped to make the gags more funny. We did have a lot of visual gags which were all done very well and I loved how Jonah Hill dealt with the ones he was given and felt he was a perfect choice for this role. He managed to try and play them straight faced which only added to the delivery.
The film does contain a lot of bad language and drug and sex references, we also have a few sex scenes so I do advise caution if you are easily offended or do not like watching people being sick on themselves. I do have to agree with the 15 rate on this film and say it is not at all suitable for the younger viewer. The running time of the film us 1 hour 45 minutes and I did find this to be a good length with the story moving at a steady pace throughout. The film can be bought on DVD fro around £5 now and I think this is a good price. This is a film only review so there are no bonus features to speak about.
I am more than happy to give this film the full 5 stars despite the few issues I had with it. I really can’t remember the last time a film made me laugh as much as this one did. The acting was great and Brand really did surprise me again by being so good. This is certainly a film to watch if you are not easily offended but again I advise caution if you are.
Aaron Green works for a music company which is struggling and needs to come up with a big idea to raise money. Aaron comes up with the suggestion that they get old rocker, Aldous Snow to do an anniversary concert at the Greek. Aaron gets the gig and soon finds himself travelling to pick up Aldous for some press conferences and then the concert. Unfortunately Aldous is a typical rocker and is not impressed with being told what to do.
Aaron has a hard task ahead of him as all Aldous wants to do is party and have sex with women. They miss their first plane and have to fly in late to America to following day much to the disgust of Aaron’s boss. Aaron is warned that if Aldous does not get to the gig then he will loos his job.
Can Aaron get Aldous to the Greek and just what will he be subjected to along the way?
I have only given a very brief outline for the plot as I feel giving too much away will spoil it for those who may not have seen this film yet, but please do not think the film is as basic as I have made it out to be as it really isn’t and there is a lot to the story and an awful lot happens in the film. I did enjoy this film a lot of felt it was very funny. The story was good, not very original and the story is nothing exceptionally special but the way it is told to us with the humour is very entertaining and both me and hubby laughed out loud so many times when watching.
I have to admit that I am not a fan of Russell Brand and do find him very annoying but for some reason whenever I have watched him in a film I have found him to be excellent and easy to watch, this film was no exception. He played a great character who really did have a lot of issues, he was drugged up for the majority of the film and I felt this helped to add to the humour and he seemed to at easy playing the role. I liked the depth we got from him and thought it was good the way he did express emotions and felling as this made him easier to get to know and understand. He worked very well with Jonah Hill who played Aaron. He was a very different character, he was straight and wanted a simple life and had his world turned upside down by Aldous but he handled it all very well. I liked the way we got to know some background about him as I felt I got to know the way he thought and felt about new things. The chemistry between the pair was great and they had a good comedy timing when together on screen.
We did have some other very good actors in the film, P Diddy played a good role and I was quite surprised by how well he did, Elisabeth Moss played Aarons suffering girlfriend and the role which I was not keen on but was played well was that of Aldous’ father played by Colm Meaney.
There is a lot of humour in this film and I must say it is not going to be to everyone’s taste. It all involves drink, drugs and sex. There are times when we get a few good one liners but the majority of the humour comes from these three things. There are some very crude parts to the film which I was not overly keen on but for me the laughs did out weight these so I would not let them put you off from watching. I felt the comedy timing from all involved was excellent and they helped to make the gags more funny. We did have a lot of visual gags which were all done very well and I loved how Jonah Hill dealt with the ones he was given and felt he was a perfect choice for this role. He managed to try and play them straight faced which only added to the delivery.
The film does contain a lot of bad language and drug and sex references, we also have a few sex scenes so I do advise caution if you are easily offended or do not like watching people being sick on themselves. I do have to agree with the 15 rate on this film and say it is not at all suitable for the younger viewer. The running time of the film us 1 hour 45 minutes and I did find this to be a good length with the story moving at a steady pace throughout. The film can be bought on DVD fro around £5 now and I think this is a good price. This is a film only review so there are no bonus features to speak about.
I am more than happy to give this film the full 5 stars despite the few issues I had with it. I really can’t remember the last time a film made me laugh as much as this one did. The acting was great and Brand really did surprise me again by being so good. This is certainly a film to watch if you are not easily offended but again I advise caution if you are.
Sparks does it again!
Theresa is a divorced Mom who is in her 30’s, she is happy with life but does get a little lonely so her friend Deena invited her along on holiday. It is when she is on holiday running on the beech that her life is turned upside down. She finds a message in a bottle which when reading reduces her to tears as it is no emotional and well written. Theresa talks the message back to Deena who suggests that she publishes it in her column on the newspaper.
The letter gets published and soon she gets inundated with letters about it. One person in particular shocks her by saying she also found a letter and sends her a copy. Theresa is shocked to discover that it was written by the same person. Garrett is the author and he is writing to his dead wife Catherine. Theresa is intrigued by the letters and soon Deena comes up with the idea of tracking him down and meeting him.
Theresa is persuaded to go and find Garrett after they tracked him down to Wilmington where he owns a diving shop. When she arrives she is pleasantly surprised by Garrett and they end up going sailing together where they strike up a friendship.
Just how far will their friendship go and can Garrett ever get over Catherine and will Theresa ever confess her real reason why she met Garrett?
I had no problems in picking this book up and buying it as I am a big fan of Nicholas Sparks and have loved all of his other books I have read, they are all packed with lovely moving stories, great characters and a lot of emotion, this one was no exception. I must admit this was another book which I was unable to put down though as I just got so into the story and fell in love with all of the characters and the places they visited. The story was very good and although it was quite basic the fact it was full of all this emotion and feeling just made it so interesting and moving to read.
I loved the setting, we were again on the coast in America, the actual town was Wilmington. I have noticed that all of his book seem set around this area and I do kind of like this as it makes it all sound familiar and easy to fall in love with. It was a slow paced town which was so unlike Boston which is where Theresa came from. I don’t think this story would have worked as well if it had been set in another place as we would not have had the same effects and the talks of the ocean and the stillness of the air and peace and quiet. I felt I got a good idea of the town by how it was described and I was able to get a good mental picture of the places they visited.
All of the character were easy to get to know and understand. The lead character of Theresa was good and I felt I got to know a good amount about her and her life so I got a good idea of the way she thought and dealt with things. She was a normal woman who just wanted some company and to love and protect her son. She came across as genuine and wore her heart on her sleeve which made me feel so close to her. Garrett was also a great character and I felt so many different emotions about him. I felt he was a lovely honest man who had big issues. I liked the descriptions we had and he seemed a nice simple man. He did have problems when it came to his dead wife and I felt this was handled in a very good way and not one which was overly sentimental or unrealistic. I felt we had a very good balance. The support characters were also very good and I felt we got to know just enough about them to understand their part in the story but not too much so we lost focus on the main storyline.
There were times in the story when the character of Garrett would go into a dream world and sort of daze and talk of dreams about Catherine and at first I did find it quite hard to separate this part from what was happening in the main story but after this happened a few times I was able to understand it better and I did actually think this was a great addition to the story as it made me understand more and Garrett. These parts were always quite touching and moving and I did have a few times when I did have tears in my eyes from the emotions in them.
I loved this book from start to finish and felt it was very easy to read and understand. The writing style was great and for me the ending was a shock. I thought I had worked out how it was all going to end and hoped it would but I was so far off the mark. I felt it was a lovely ending but one I was not expecting. I think Nicholas Sparks has a good way of seemingly writing a predictable book only to throw a massive unexpected twist and this is one of the things I enjoy about his books. This book has been made into a film but I have not watched it yet and am unsure if I really want to as it will never be a patch on this book with the level of feelings and emotions it has.
The book which I have is the paper back edition and the retail price of this is £7.99. It can be bought for under £5 on Amazon though. I have to say I would be prepared to pay full price for this thought as it is a great book. It was published by Sphere and has a total of 347 pages. At the very end of the book, as with all of the others by this author, we get a chapter from one of his other books, I do quite enjoy this as it gets me interested in other books and wanting to read them too.
I am more than happy to give this book a massive recommendation and the full 5 stars. It has a lovely story with a twist at the end, the characters and places are all easy to get to know and like and it is packed full of emotion and love. Definitely another one to add to me favourites books list!
The letter gets published and soon she gets inundated with letters about it. One person in particular shocks her by saying she also found a letter and sends her a copy. Theresa is shocked to discover that it was written by the same person. Garrett is the author and he is writing to his dead wife Catherine. Theresa is intrigued by the letters and soon Deena comes up with the idea of tracking him down and meeting him.
Theresa is persuaded to go and find Garrett after they tracked him down to Wilmington where he owns a diving shop. When she arrives she is pleasantly surprised by Garrett and they end up going sailing together where they strike up a friendship.
Just how far will their friendship go and can Garrett ever get over Catherine and will Theresa ever confess her real reason why she met Garrett?
I had no problems in picking this book up and buying it as I am a big fan of Nicholas Sparks and have loved all of his other books I have read, they are all packed with lovely moving stories, great characters and a lot of emotion, this one was no exception. I must admit this was another book which I was unable to put down though as I just got so into the story and fell in love with all of the characters and the places they visited. The story was very good and although it was quite basic the fact it was full of all this emotion and feeling just made it so interesting and moving to read.
I loved the setting, we were again on the coast in America, the actual town was Wilmington. I have noticed that all of his book seem set around this area and I do kind of like this as it makes it all sound familiar and easy to fall in love with. It was a slow paced town which was so unlike Boston which is where Theresa came from. I don’t think this story would have worked as well if it had been set in another place as we would not have had the same effects and the talks of the ocean and the stillness of the air and peace and quiet. I felt I got a good idea of the town by how it was described and I was able to get a good mental picture of the places they visited.
All of the character were easy to get to know and understand. The lead character of Theresa was good and I felt I got to know a good amount about her and her life so I got a good idea of the way she thought and dealt with things. She was a normal woman who just wanted some company and to love and protect her son. She came across as genuine and wore her heart on her sleeve which made me feel so close to her. Garrett was also a great character and I felt so many different emotions about him. I felt he was a lovely honest man who had big issues. I liked the descriptions we had and he seemed a nice simple man. He did have problems when it came to his dead wife and I felt this was handled in a very good way and not one which was overly sentimental or unrealistic. I felt we had a very good balance. The support characters were also very good and I felt we got to know just enough about them to understand their part in the story but not too much so we lost focus on the main storyline.
There were times in the story when the character of Garrett would go into a dream world and sort of daze and talk of dreams about Catherine and at first I did find it quite hard to separate this part from what was happening in the main story but after this happened a few times I was able to understand it better and I did actually think this was a great addition to the story as it made me understand more and Garrett. These parts were always quite touching and moving and I did have a few times when I did have tears in my eyes from the emotions in them.
I loved this book from start to finish and felt it was very easy to read and understand. The writing style was great and for me the ending was a shock. I thought I had worked out how it was all going to end and hoped it would but I was so far off the mark. I felt it was a lovely ending but one I was not expecting. I think Nicholas Sparks has a good way of seemingly writing a predictable book only to throw a massive unexpected twist and this is one of the things I enjoy about his books. This book has been made into a film but I have not watched it yet and am unsure if I really want to as it will never be a patch on this book with the level of feelings and emotions it has.
The book which I have is the paper back edition and the retail price of this is £7.99. It can be bought for under £5 on Amazon though. I have to say I would be prepared to pay full price for this thought as it is a great book. It was published by Sphere and has a total of 347 pages. At the very end of the book, as with all of the others by this author, we get a chapter from one of his other books, I do quite enjoy this as it gets me interested in other books and wanting to read them too.
I am more than happy to give this book a massive recommendation and the full 5 stars. It has a lovely story with a twist at the end, the characters and places are all easy to get to know and like and it is packed full of emotion and love. Definitely another one to add to me favourites books list!
Sunday 27 March 2011
Handy at Protecting hands
New post is a product review for some bargain rubber gloves I found...
My friend has started doing nail art and as I am her guinea pig I decided to invest in some rubber gloves to help protect my nails when doing dirty household jobs. I have never bought rubber gloves before so did not know what to look for in a pair of them. The ones I opted for were the Tesco Value rubber gloves as they seemed to be decent enough and for the amount of times I would be wearing them (I mean I don’t often clean the cooker!) they seemed suitable.
The gloves comes in a white plastic bag which has a red banner on the top with the product name in, above this is the Tesco value logo. On the back of the packet is all the information about the gloves and some small warnings.
The gloves are bright yellow in colour and do look very summery. They are a decent size, the packet claims that they are a medium sized glove. They seem to fit very well onto my hands and I am an average sized person. The gloves are soft to the touch and are made from rubber. On the inside they do have a very thin flock lining which is very soft on the skin.
I have found the gloves very easy to get on and off, even when they are wet and have had great success wearing them. There is a small pattern on the inside of the glove, this is a small indented pattern which means you will still be able to grip items such as glass when they are wet and you wont risk dropping anything.
The fit of the gloves is very good and I do feel they fit snugly around the finger without there being too much excess material in between, the gloves do come a little way up the arm and I would say this is about 4 inches up from the wrist. I like the length here as it means I can put the whole of my hand in a bowl of water and not risk getting any water inside the glove.
I have done some very gruelling jobs wearing these gloves and they have held up well. I gave the oven a much needed scrub which involved using brillo pads and they did not tear rip or even become thin on any areas despite all of the scrubbing. I have also found these great for using when hand washing and bleaching white school tops. The bleach does not affect the colour of the gloves or the rubber. I have also found that my long nails do not pierce the tips of the fingers which is a bonus for me.
There are some warnings on the back of the packet of the gloves and they include not wearing these gloves when using petrol, mineral oil, paraffin or turpentine substances. I have had no reason to use them on these products so cannot comment on the reasons behind this. The gloves are to be dabbed dry when they have been used and stored out of direct sunlight and away from moisture and heat. The gloves are lasting and even after some very mucky jobs I am still on my first pair one month after buying them. You do get two pairs of gloves in each packet so this is good value for money.
These gloves are a Tesco value product so they are only available to buy in their stores, they are price at just over 50p per packet of two pairs which is very cheap compared to branded gloves being nearly £2 for just one pair. I am more than happy to give these gloves a high recommendation and the full 5 stars. I would say thought that they do seem more suited for the female market as the fingers are a snug fit for me so chunky man fingers may find these gloves too small or tight. For the price they are a great investment in keeping hands and nails safe when doing the dreaded dirty jobs.
My friend has started doing nail art and as I am her guinea pig I decided to invest in some rubber gloves to help protect my nails when doing dirty household jobs. I have never bought rubber gloves before so did not know what to look for in a pair of them. The ones I opted for were the Tesco Value rubber gloves as they seemed to be decent enough and for the amount of times I would be wearing them (I mean I don’t often clean the cooker!) they seemed suitable.
The gloves comes in a white plastic bag which has a red banner on the top with the product name in, above this is the Tesco value logo. On the back of the packet is all the information about the gloves and some small warnings.
The gloves are bright yellow in colour and do look very summery. They are a decent size, the packet claims that they are a medium sized glove. They seem to fit very well onto my hands and I am an average sized person. The gloves are soft to the touch and are made from rubber. On the inside they do have a very thin flock lining which is very soft on the skin.
I have found the gloves very easy to get on and off, even when they are wet and have had great success wearing them. There is a small pattern on the inside of the glove, this is a small indented pattern which means you will still be able to grip items such as glass when they are wet and you wont risk dropping anything.
The fit of the gloves is very good and I do feel they fit snugly around the finger without there being too much excess material in between, the gloves do come a little way up the arm and I would say this is about 4 inches up from the wrist. I like the length here as it means I can put the whole of my hand in a bowl of water and not risk getting any water inside the glove.
I have done some very gruelling jobs wearing these gloves and they have held up well. I gave the oven a much needed scrub which involved using brillo pads and they did not tear rip or even become thin on any areas despite all of the scrubbing. I have also found these great for using when hand washing and bleaching white school tops. The bleach does not affect the colour of the gloves or the rubber. I have also found that my long nails do not pierce the tips of the fingers which is a bonus for me.
There are some warnings on the back of the packet of the gloves and they include not wearing these gloves when using petrol, mineral oil, paraffin or turpentine substances. I have had no reason to use them on these products so cannot comment on the reasons behind this. The gloves are to be dabbed dry when they have been used and stored out of direct sunlight and away from moisture and heat. The gloves are lasting and even after some very mucky jobs I am still on my first pair one month after buying them. You do get two pairs of gloves in each packet so this is good value for money.
These gloves are a Tesco value product so they are only available to buy in their stores, they are price at just over 50p per packet of two pairs which is very cheap compared to branded gloves being nearly £2 for just one pair. I am more than happy to give these gloves a high recommendation and the full 5 stars. I would say thought that they do seem more suited for the female market as the fingers are a snug fit for me so chunky man fingers may find these gloves too small or tight. For the price they are a great investment in keeping hands and nails safe when doing the dreaded dirty jobs.
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Relegated to cooking!
My newest post is a review of Ryelands milk chocolate...
Chocolate is a treat in my house, both me and hubby are trying to loose a little bit of weight but we do both agree with the having the odd treat. When we were last shopping we spotted this Ryelands chocolate which was on offer so decided to give it a try. We have had a lot of success in the past with the Tesco discount brands so did not hesitate in giving this one a try.
~~PACKAGING~~
The chocolate comes in a deep blue foil packet which has a white oval shape in the middle with a picture of 3 of the chocolate squares. Above this picture is the Ryeland logo and the words ‘milk chocolate’. The bottom right hand corner has a brief outline of the nutritional values for 4 chocolate squares. On the back of the packet we have all of the details about the chocolate including ingredients, full nutritional values and allergy warnings.
~~TASTE AND APPEARANCE~~
The chocolate is nothing special to look at and it is a rich brown colour. The large bar has small rectangles on it which helps to break it into smaller pieces, there is no pattern on the top of the chocolate. There is a nice pleasant smell to the chocolate which is not overly sweet and really makes you want to eat some.
I found it was very simple to break the chocolate into the small pieces due to the design of it and found that they were good bit size pieces and found I fitted each one into my mouth with ease. When I first placed the chocolate into my mouth I noticed that it did not start to melt straight away but required me to start sucking it slightly for this to happen. I did feel it was a effort to get the chocolate to melt and ended up biting the large square to make it easier to eat. The chocolate seemed to be quite thick and not as light as the branded ones. I did find that once it was melted it seemed to be very heavy and it all seemed to stick to my teeth. The initial taste was good and it just tasted like any other milk chocolate but once I got through the first 3 squares I noticed the taste started to change. It became an effort to eat anymore and I was left with a horribly aftertaste from the chocolate. I also felt like I had fur all over my teeth and did have to have a large drink to help remove this. I did end up having to brush my teeth to get this feeling to go away fully.
The chocolate left a quite nasty aftertaste in my mouth which I did not like and I was completely put off from eating any more of the bar. I have tried it again after leaving ht chocolate in the fridge to harden it up but I have had just the same results from it. Hubby did not have such a bad experience with this chocolate as I did and he did manage to eat a good half of the bar although he did get a nasty after taste from it.
I feel that for the price this chocolate would be ideal for cooking with. It would give a good taste to rice krispie and cornflake cakes but I feel it may be a little too heavy too add to any sponge cakes and may cause the sponge not to rise as well as it normally would. Stick to the basic children’s cakes with this chocolate.
~~INFO~~
The chocolate comes in a bar size of 200g and this is a good sharing size.
There are some allergy warnings on the packet and these include the fact that this chocolate contains milk and soya. There are no nuts in the recipe and it has been made in a nut free factory but Tesco cannot guarantee that all of the ingredients are nut free.
The ingredients for the chocolate are:-
Sugar, cocoa butter, dried whole milk, cocoa mass, whey powder, dried skimmed mil, milk fat, emulsifier (soya lecithins), Natural flavouring.
The milk chocolate contains: cocoa solids 27% minimum, Milk solids 20% minimum.
For each 4 squares of the chocolate the nutritional values are:-
Energy – 155 Kcal
Protein – 2.1g
Carbohydrate – 17.6g
Of which sugars – 17.1g
Fat – 8.0g
Of which saturates – 5.0g
Mono-unsaturates – 2.5g
Polyunsaturates – 0.3g
Fibre – 0.5g
Sodium – trace
Salt equivalent – trace
These are not the best values but as this is chocolate this is only to be expected.
The chocolate must be stored in a cool and dry place and out of sunlight. The shelf life is pretty good and the bar which we bought one week ago has a shelf life of 1 ½ years.
~~PRICE AND AVAILABILITY~~
The Ryelands brand is only available to buy in Tesco stores, it is their new discount brand. This chocolate come priced at just over £1 but there are usually offers on with 2 bars for £1.80. I think this is a good price but such a shame that the chocolate does not taste better.
~~RECOMMENDED?~~
I was looking forward to my chocolate treat but felt very let down by this brand. I felt it is worthy of 2 stars as it is good for using on rice krispie and corn flake cakes. It has a reasonable price and I must say this is the perfect bar for dieters as you can only eat a small amount before it gets sickly ad the horrible after taste starts. A disappointing discount brand product.
Chocolate is a treat in my house, both me and hubby are trying to loose a little bit of weight but we do both agree with the having the odd treat. When we were last shopping we spotted this Ryelands chocolate which was on offer so decided to give it a try. We have had a lot of success in the past with the Tesco discount brands so did not hesitate in giving this one a try.
~~PACKAGING~~
The chocolate comes in a deep blue foil packet which has a white oval shape in the middle with a picture of 3 of the chocolate squares. Above this picture is the Ryeland logo and the words ‘milk chocolate’. The bottom right hand corner has a brief outline of the nutritional values for 4 chocolate squares. On the back of the packet we have all of the details about the chocolate including ingredients, full nutritional values and allergy warnings.
~~TASTE AND APPEARANCE~~
The chocolate is nothing special to look at and it is a rich brown colour. The large bar has small rectangles on it which helps to break it into smaller pieces, there is no pattern on the top of the chocolate. There is a nice pleasant smell to the chocolate which is not overly sweet and really makes you want to eat some.
I found it was very simple to break the chocolate into the small pieces due to the design of it and found that they were good bit size pieces and found I fitted each one into my mouth with ease. When I first placed the chocolate into my mouth I noticed that it did not start to melt straight away but required me to start sucking it slightly for this to happen. I did feel it was a effort to get the chocolate to melt and ended up biting the large square to make it easier to eat. The chocolate seemed to be quite thick and not as light as the branded ones. I did find that once it was melted it seemed to be very heavy and it all seemed to stick to my teeth. The initial taste was good and it just tasted like any other milk chocolate but once I got through the first 3 squares I noticed the taste started to change. It became an effort to eat anymore and I was left with a horribly aftertaste from the chocolate. I also felt like I had fur all over my teeth and did have to have a large drink to help remove this. I did end up having to brush my teeth to get this feeling to go away fully.
The chocolate left a quite nasty aftertaste in my mouth which I did not like and I was completely put off from eating any more of the bar. I have tried it again after leaving ht chocolate in the fridge to harden it up but I have had just the same results from it. Hubby did not have such a bad experience with this chocolate as I did and he did manage to eat a good half of the bar although he did get a nasty after taste from it.
I feel that for the price this chocolate would be ideal for cooking with. It would give a good taste to rice krispie and cornflake cakes but I feel it may be a little too heavy too add to any sponge cakes and may cause the sponge not to rise as well as it normally would. Stick to the basic children’s cakes with this chocolate.
~~INFO~~
The chocolate comes in a bar size of 200g and this is a good sharing size.
There are some allergy warnings on the packet and these include the fact that this chocolate contains milk and soya. There are no nuts in the recipe and it has been made in a nut free factory but Tesco cannot guarantee that all of the ingredients are nut free.
The ingredients for the chocolate are:-
Sugar, cocoa butter, dried whole milk, cocoa mass, whey powder, dried skimmed mil, milk fat, emulsifier (soya lecithins), Natural flavouring.
The milk chocolate contains: cocoa solids 27% minimum, Milk solids 20% minimum.
For each 4 squares of the chocolate the nutritional values are:-
Energy – 155 Kcal
Protein – 2.1g
Carbohydrate – 17.6g
Of which sugars – 17.1g
Fat – 8.0g
Of which saturates – 5.0g
Mono-unsaturates – 2.5g
Polyunsaturates – 0.3g
Fibre – 0.5g
Sodium – trace
Salt equivalent – trace
These are not the best values but as this is chocolate this is only to be expected.
The chocolate must be stored in a cool and dry place and out of sunlight. The shelf life is pretty good and the bar which we bought one week ago has a shelf life of 1 ½ years.
~~PRICE AND AVAILABILITY~~
The Ryelands brand is only available to buy in Tesco stores, it is their new discount brand. This chocolate come priced at just over £1 but there are usually offers on with 2 bars for £1.80. I think this is a good price but such a shame that the chocolate does not taste better.
~~RECOMMENDED?~~
I was looking forward to my chocolate treat but felt very let down by this brand. I felt it is worthy of 2 stars as it is good for using on rice krispie and corn flake cakes. It has a reasonable price and I must say this is the perfect bar for dieters as you can only eat a small amount before it gets sickly ad the horrible after taste starts. A disappointing discount brand product.
Can Holmes solve the case?
Latest post is a film review for Sherlock Holmes enjoy.....
Sherlock Holmes is on a roll when he and his side kick Dr Watson finally bring down serial killer Lord Blackwood. In doing so they uncover some very dark magic. Holmes starts to take a downward turn and spends all his time in his room trying to invent new gadgets and weapons. He makes an appearance though when called as the last request by Blackwood to the prison where he is being held before his hanging. Blackwood tells Holmes that he is in over his head and there will be further killings before his task is complete and that he will not be able to stop them.
Holmes thinks it is all over when Blackwood is hung and buried but unbelievably he comes back from the dead and starts to wreak havoc over London. Holmes and Watson are back on the case and they soon discover the use of Black magic and dark times ahead. Can they work together to stop Blackwood and the predicted murders before it is too late and can London be saved?
The main reason for me wanting to watch this film is the two lead actors, I had expected it to be good juts on their strength but it still managed to surprise me. I have never seen anything to do with Sherlock Holmes and the story did surprise me. I was not expecting the use of black magic and so much darkness and for me it made for interesting and at times edge of the seat viewing.
The acting from all involved was faultless, Robert Downey Jr took the lead role of Sherlock Holmes and he was excellent. I loved the way he came across as eccentric yet he was so cleaver and experienced at his job. He showed great intelligence when I was least expecting it and this was shown in a great way. He did manage to add a lot of wit and humour to the role and this was needed as it took away the more seriousness of the character. I did have the feeling at times that he needed a good shave and bath but this did add to his eccentric and strange look. He worked very well with Jude Law who played Dr Watson and they had a fantastic on screen chemistry which seemed so natural. They bounced off each other with ease and seemed more like brothers than just friends. Jude Law was also superb in his role and came across as very different from Holmes. He was able to bring some depth to his character with the inclusion of the fiancé and this was good. He showed great intelligence and strength with the way he handled himself on screen. The British accent was natural from Jude as he is British and I also felt the accent Downy Jr gave Holmes was very good.
We has a lot of great supporting actors in the film and the one which really stood out for me was the role of Lord Blackwood, he was played by Mark Strong. He was powerful whenever on screen and he gave a constant air of mystery to his character. He looked evil and powerful all in one and there were times when he did actually make me jump when he would just appear on screen. We also had good roles from Rachael McAdam, Eddie Marsen, Hans Matheson and James Fox. They all played a variety of different characters and they did give the film a little bit of depth.
The film is a mystery and crime one but there was just the right mix of these elements, there were times when I thought the story was getting a little far fetched but Holmes or Watson would give us one of their witty one liners and this would bring the film back down to Earth and make it seem more real. The humour is not over the top and there certainly are no laugh out loud moments. I found the way Holmes spoke to and treated some of the police officers to be the best an funniest of the film.
The film is packed full of special effects and CGI which I found to all be of a very high standard. The fighting scenes were superb and looked so real, both me and hubby winced at some of the punches being delivered. There were a few scenes towards the end of the film when we did notice some added backdrops but we did not let this put us off as we had enjoyed the film so much we overlooked it. The props and sets which were used were also very good and very inking with the year and feel of the film. I thought the way London was shown back in the early 1900’s to be interesting but very dull, there was a distinct lack of brightness and colour. Everywhere seemed so dull and grey. The costumes were also very good and fitting for the film.
The music throughout the film really did help with the feel and emotions of the story. At times it was quite light and happy but then in the next scene it would become very dark and powerful. I really did enjoy the soundtrack and though a lot of effort and time must have gone into making it work as well as it did.
The DVD which we have does not have any bonus features but this is no loss to me as I am not a fan of them anyway. The DVD can be bought now for just £7 in Tesco and I think this is a very good price for such a great film. The running time is 123 minutes and the rate is a 12A, I agree with the rate due to the nature of the story and there is some violence.
I am more than happy to give this film the full 5 stars despite the few weak backdrops towards the end of the film. The acting is of a high standard and so to is the story. I would highly recommend this film to all who like a film with a good story which is packed full of action and wit.
Sherlock Holmes is on a roll when he and his side kick Dr Watson finally bring down serial killer Lord Blackwood. In doing so they uncover some very dark magic. Holmes starts to take a downward turn and spends all his time in his room trying to invent new gadgets and weapons. He makes an appearance though when called as the last request by Blackwood to the prison where he is being held before his hanging. Blackwood tells Holmes that he is in over his head and there will be further killings before his task is complete and that he will not be able to stop them.
Holmes thinks it is all over when Blackwood is hung and buried but unbelievably he comes back from the dead and starts to wreak havoc over London. Holmes and Watson are back on the case and they soon discover the use of Black magic and dark times ahead. Can they work together to stop Blackwood and the predicted murders before it is too late and can London be saved?
The main reason for me wanting to watch this film is the two lead actors, I had expected it to be good juts on their strength but it still managed to surprise me. I have never seen anything to do with Sherlock Holmes and the story did surprise me. I was not expecting the use of black magic and so much darkness and for me it made for interesting and at times edge of the seat viewing.
The acting from all involved was faultless, Robert Downey Jr took the lead role of Sherlock Holmes and he was excellent. I loved the way he came across as eccentric yet he was so cleaver and experienced at his job. He showed great intelligence when I was least expecting it and this was shown in a great way. He did manage to add a lot of wit and humour to the role and this was needed as it took away the more seriousness of the character. I did have the feeling at times that he needed a good shave and bath but this did add to his eccentric and strange look. He worked very well with Jude Law who played Dr Watson and they had a fantastic on screen chemistry which seemed so natural. They bounced off each other with ease and seemed more like brothers than just friends. Jude Law was also superb in his role and came across as very different from Holmes. He was able to bring some depth to his character with the inclusion of the fiancé and this was good. He showed great intelligence and strength with the way he handled himself on screen. The British accent was natural from Jude as he is British and I also felt the accent Downy Jr gave Holmes was very good.
We has a lot of great supporting actors in the film and the one which really stood out for me was the role of Lord Blackwood, he was played by Mark Strong. He was powerful whenever on screen and he gave a constant air of mystery to his character. He looked evil and powerful all in one and there were times when he did actually make me jump when he would just appear on screen. We also had good roles from Rachael McAdam, Eddie Marsen, Hans Matheson and James Fox. They all played a variety of different characters and they did give the film a little bit of depth.
The film is a mystery and crime one but there was just the right mix of these elements, there were times when I thought the story was getting a little far fetched but Holmes or Watson would give us one of their witty one liners and this would bring the film back down to Earth and make it seem more real. The humour is not over the top and there certainly are no laugh out loud moments. I found the way Holmes spoke to and treated some of the police officers to be the best an funniest of the film.
The film is packed full of special effects and CGI which I found to all be of a very high standard. The fighting scenes were superb and looked so real, both me and hubby winced at some of the punches being delivered. There were a few scenes towards the end of the film when we did notice some added backdrops but we did not let this put us off as we had enjoyed the film so much we overlooked it. The props and sets which were used were also very good and very inking with the year and feel of the film. I thought the way London was shown back in the early 1900’s to be interesting but very dull, there was a distinct lack of brightness and colour. Everywhere seemed so dull and grey. The costumes were also very good and fitting for the film.
The music throughout the film really did help with the feel and emotions of the story. At times it was quite light and happy but then in the next scene it would become very dark and powerful. I really did enjoy the soundtrack and though a lot of effort and time must have gone into making it work as well as it did.
The DVD which we have does not have any bonus features but this is no loss to me as I am not a fan of them anyway. The DVD can be bought now for just £7 in Tesco and I think this is a very good price for such a great film. The running time is 123 minutes and the rate is a 12A, I agree with the rate due to the nature of the story and there is some violence.
I am more than happy to give this film the full 5 stars despite the few weak backdrops towards the end of the film. The acting is of a high standard and so to is the story. I would highly recommend this film to all who like a film with a good story which is packed full of action and wit.
Great little balls!
New post is a product review for Tesco's cotton wool balls....
Since I was a little girl cotton wool was always a product which was in the house, I never really knew what it was used for until I started to wear make up and nail varnish and since then I have never been without a bag of it. I find that the Tesco’s My Baby bag of cotton wool balls seems to be one of the best I have been able to find.
The cotton wool balls come in a clear plastic bag which has a small white rectangle on the front, in this there is a cute picture of a baby elephant on a cloud and the product name, there is also the Tesco my baby logo here too. On the back of the bag there is another white rectangle which has all of the product information in. The cotton wool inside is white in colour and they are small balls.
Each ball is a good size and almost round in shape, each individual one does slightly differ. They are nice and fluffy to the touch and very soft. I have found that the balls can actually be opened up and the cotton wool can be used flat in a sort of pad if needed, I have never really had to use it this way as the balls are perfect for what I tend to use it for. The thickness is good and I find they can hold a lot of moisture.
I tend to use these for makeup removal, I find by just putting a small blob of baby lotion on the ball allows me to fully remove all of my eye makeup, one ball is needed for each eye. The cotton wool is very soft and does not irritate the delicate skin and I find I don’t have to apply that much pressure either to get it all off. I also use these for removing nail varnish. The thickness of the ball means that I am able to get enough of the varnish remover onto a pad so they manage to remove one complete set of nails with just one ball.
I did use cotton wool on my boys when they were babies. When bathing them as new born I always wet the balls and used them on the face and delicate eye areas, they were great in this job, the cotton wool does not break or fall apart when wet and it does firm up enough to be able to remove dirty marks and even small amount of sleep which had formed in the corner of babies eyes. They are very mild on the soft skin and do not irritate at all.
The cotton wool balls are made from 100% cotton which means they are pure and soft and ideal for delicate or sensitive skin. Hubby has on occasions used these and has not had any reaction on his sensitive skin.
There is a warning on the back of the bag for the balls which states that the bag holding the balls is made from plastic so must be kept away from small children and babies. Unfortunately the packaging is not recyclable. The cotton wool balls need to be placed in the bin when they have been used and not flushed down the toilet. My boys have flashed a couple of them and they do take a good few flushes to go down.
The bag size gives you roughly 300 balls which lasts me for a good 2 months and this is with me using them daily. The value for money is great and this bag comes in at just under £2. I do find that if you look at the cotton wool bags in the make up isle in Tesco it is a lot more pricey then the ones in the baby isle so do check there when buying this.
I am more than happy to give these cotton wool balls the full 5 stars as they are great for so many jobs. They are good value for money and the bag size means they last. For the price of them I also have no problems in letting my boys use them for craft projects and they are easy to stick to pictures and make good fake fur and snow! Highly recommended by me.
Since I was a little girl cotton wool was always a product which was in the house, I never really knew what it was used for until I started to wear make up and nail varnish and since then I have never been without a bag of it. I find that the Tesco’s My Baby bag of cotton wool balls seems to be one of the best I have been able to find.
The cotton wool balls come in a clear plastic bag which has a small white rectangle on the front, in this there is a cute picture of a baby elephant on a cloud and the product name, there is also the Tesco my baby logo here too. On the back of the bag there is another white rectangle which has all of the product information in. The cotton wool inside is white in colour and they are small balls.
Each ball is a good size and almost round in shape, each individual one does slightly differ. They are nice and fluffy to the touch and very soft. I have found that the balls can actually be opened up and the cotton wool can be used flat in a sort of pad if needed, I have never really had to use it this way as the balls are perfect for what I tend to use it for. The thickness is good and I find they can hold a lot of moisture.
I tend to use these for makeup removal, I find by just putting a small blob of baby lotion on the ball allows me to fully remove all of my eye makeup, one ball is needed for each eye. The cotton wool is very soft and does not irritate the delicate skin and I find I don’t have to apply that much pressure either to get it all off. I also use these for removing nail varnish. The thickness of the ball means that I am able to get enough of the varnish remover onto a pad so they manage to remove one complete set of nails with just one ball.
I did use cotton wool on my boys when they were babies. When bathing them as new born I always wet the balls and used them on the face and delicate eye areas, they were great in this job, the cotton wool does not break or fall apart when wet and it does firm up enough to be able to remove dirty marks and even small amount of sleep which had formed in the corner of babies eyes. They are very mild on the soft skin and do not irritate at all.
The cotton wool balls are made from 100% cotton which means they are pure and soft and ideal for delicate or sensitive skin. Hubby has on occasions used these and has not had any reaction on his sensitive skin.
There is a warning on the back of the bag for the balls which states that the bag holding the balls is made from plastic so must be kept away from small children and babies. Unfortunately the packaging is not recyclable. The cotton wool balls need to be placed in the bin when they have been used and not flushed down the toilet. My boys have flashed a couple of them and they do take a good few flushes to go down.
The bag size gives you roughly 300 balls which lasts me for a good 2 months and this is with me using them daily. The value for money is great and this bag comes in at just under £2. I do find that if you look at the cotton wool bags in the make up isle in Tesco it is a lot more pricey then the ones in the baby isle so do check there when buying this.
I am more than happy to give these cotton wool balls the full 5 stars as they are great for so many jobs. They are good value for money and the bag size means they last. For the price of them I also have no problems in letting my boys use them for craft projects and they are easy to stick to pictures and make good fake fur and snow! Highly recommended by me.
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Can anyone tell me what happened???
New post up which is a film review for 2001 A Space Odyssey..
At the start of the film we are witnessing the birth of man and who they came to be, what we watch is how they find a strange object in the Earth and what effects it has on them. We then move to thousands of years later when space travel is the norm. A Doctor is travelling to the moon on a mission to see what they have discovered. They too find a strange object with powers and different abilities.
Later we see a new mission travelling Jupiter, this shuttle has the high powered computer HAL helping the crew member on their way. HAL is intelligent and tries to control the mission but the crew member get wise to this. Just what will the crew find on Jupiter if indeed they get there and what is the significance of the objects they have already found?
I have to say I have found it very hard trying to write a plot summery for this film as it found it a very strange film indeed and I felt there was a complete lack of story and it was all very disjointed. The few little stories we had were very poorly told and I just could not follow them and to top all this off the ending was absolutely rubbish and both me and hubby had no idea just what was going on.
We did have a few actors in the film but none of them really made a stand out performance. They all came across as wooden. Some of the actors included, Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester and Douglas Rain as the voice of HAL. I felt they did not know where they wanted to take their characters and they gave the impression of reading their lines from the scenery. They were trying to give the impression of being in space and having to walk wearing gravity boots but they made this look awful and they all looked like they have had an accident in their pants and as a result had to walk this way. None of the characters really stood out to me and they were all pretty weak and poor. We never got to see any of them develop as we did not get to know much about them or their past and for me this was disappointing.
This is a very old film and due to this fact the special effects were pretty awful. I suppose they would have looked amazing in 1968 when this film first came out but they would not stand up to even the worst film of modern times. We had a lot of space scenes and they were not the worst effects of the film but they seemed very cheap. The appearance of the space rockets was poor and I am sure there were a few times when I spotted a small piece of wire moving them. The appearance of the planets was quite good and I liked how old they looked compared to the images we have today. The sets were also quite cheaply made and I could not work out what effect they were going for. I imagine from the title of the film they were trying to make them look futuristic but the overall feel which both me and hubby got from them was from the 1960’s.
I had to laugh at some of the costumes, the women looked like they were wearing mushrooms on their heads and it just looked daft, this did give us both a chuckle though. The space suits also looked strange and slightly out of place. The crew did not manage to get the effects right with the appearance of living and walking on a spinning ship. The tried hard but it just did not happen and they slowness they gave was very dull and off putting. The whole film seemed to move so slowly. We got a shot of a ship moving towards the moon and it lasted fro a good 15 minutes, I did at this point go for a cigarette and when I returned it had still not got any closer. I felt this was overly played and this did happen a lot throughout the film. The length of the film could have been reduced to half an hour if these scenes would have been speeded up and maybe I would not have lost interest so much if this had been the case.
The soundtrack for the film was the best part and I found it to be excellent. The music was all orchestral and very powerful. All of the songs used seemed to be known by me already and I was able to place some of them in other shows I had heard them in. The only problem with the soundtrack was that it did not seem to fit. We would have a lovely orchestral piece playing and I could imagine people dancing around on stage to it and not the boring space ship travelling through space that we got. I think this was very badly placed in the film and it happened a lot. There was one track which we heard a few times in the film and I felt it was a good choice and fitted in well. I think the sound track sometimes did help add to the drama of what we were seeing.
I have to talk about the end of the film, I don’t feel I will be giving anything away by doing so as I have no idea what actually happened. It seemed to go so far fetched and unbelievable. We felt there was no story to the end and this was no really very surprising considering the story throughout the film. If anyone does know what the ending was all about then please do feel free to message me and let me know.
I am only reviewing the film so there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is a whopping 141 minutes and I felt this was way too long and everything seemed so drawn out. The rate is a U but I don’t think children would enjoy this film as there is no real story and they will not be able to work out what is happening. The film can be bought on DVD for just a few pounds but I would advise against wasting money on it.
I am not able to give this film a recommendation and I can only give it 2 stars. I have given both of these stars for the soundtrack although the majority of it did not fit the film. I really would recommend spending your time either watching the grass grow or paint drying instead of watching this film.
At the start of the film we are witnessing the birth of man and who they came to be, what we watch is how they find a strange object in the Earth and what effects it has on them. We then move to thousands of years later when space travel is the norm. A Doctor is travelling to the moon on a mission to see what they have discovered. They too find a strange object with powers and different abilities.
Later we see a new mission travelling Jupiter, this shuttle has the high powered computer HAL helping the crew member on their way. HAL is intelligent and tries to control the mission but the crew member get wise to this. Just what will the crew find on Jupiter if indeed they get there and what is the significance of the objects they have already found?
I have to say I have found it very hard trying to write a plot summery for this film as it found it a very strange film indeed and I felt there was a complete lack of story and it was all very disjointed. The few little stories we had were very poorly told and I just could not follow them and to top all this off the ending was absolutely rubbish and both me and hubby had no idea just what was going on.
We did have a few actors in the film but none of them really made a stand out performance. They all came across as wooden. Some of the actors included, Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester and Douglas Rain as the voice of HAL. I felt they did not know where they wanted to take their characters and they gave the impression of reading their lines from the scenery. They were trying to give the impression of being in space and having to walk wearing gravity boots but they made this look awful and they all looked like they have had an accident in their pants and as a result had to walk this way. None of the characters really stood out to me and they were all pretty weak and poor. We never got to see any of them develop as we did not get to know much about them or their past and for me this was disappointing.
This is a very old film and due to this fact the special effects were pretty awful. I suppose they would have looked amazing in 1968 when this film first came out but they would not stand up to even the worst film of modern times. We had a lot of space scenes and they were not the worst effects of the film but they seemed very cheap. The appearance of the space rockets was poor and I am sure there were a few times when I spotted a small piece of wire moving them. The appearance of the planets was quite good and I liked how old they looked compared to the images we have today. The sets were also quite cheaply made and I could not work out what effect they were going for. I imagine from the title of the film they were trying to make them look futuristic but the overall feel which both me and hubby got from them was from the 1960’s.
I had to laugh at some of the costumes, the women looked like they were wearing mushrooms on their heads and it just looked daft, this did give us both a chuckle though. The space suits also looked strange and slightly out of place. The crew did not manage to get the effects right with the appearance of living and walking on a spinning ship. The tried hard but it just did not happen and they slowness they gave was very dull and off putting. The whole film seemed to move so slowly. We got a shot of a ship moving towards the moon and it lasted fro a good 15 minutes, I did at this point go for a cigarette and when I returned it had still not got any closer. I felt this was overly played and this did happen a lot throughout the film. The length of the film could have been reduced to half an hour if these scenes would have been speeded up and maybe I would not have lost interest so much if this had been the case.
The soundtrack for the film was the best part and I found it to be excellent. The music was all orchestral and very powerful. All of the songs used seemed to be known by me already and I was able to place some of them in other shows I had heard them in. The only problem with the soundtrack was that it did not seem to fit. We would have a lovely orchestral piece playing and I could imagine people dancing around on stage to it and not the boring space ship travelling through space that we got. I think this was very badly placed in the film and it happened a lot. There was one track which we heard a few times in the film and I felt it was a good choice and fitted in well. I think the sound track sometimes did help add to the drama of what we were seeing.
I have to talk about the end of the film, I don’t feel I will be giving anything away by doing so as I have no idea what actually happened. It seemed to go so far fetched and unbelievable. We felt there was no story to the end and this was no really very surprising considering the story throughout the film. If anyone does know what the ending was all about then please do feel free to message me and let me know.
I am only reviewing the film so there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is a whopping 141 minutes and I felt this was way too long and everything seemed so drawn out. The rate is a U but I don’t think children would enjoy this film as there is no real story and they will not be able to work out what is happening. The film can be bought on DVD for just a few pounds but I would advise against wasting money on it.
I am not able to give this film a recommendation and I can only give it 2 stars. I have given both of these stars for the soundtrack although the majority of it did not fit the film. I really would recommend spending your time either watching the grass grow or paint drying instead of watching this film.
The Truth the whole truth and a jolly good laugh!
My new post is a film review of The Ugly Truth...
Abby is a producer on a morning television show and is happy with her work life, it is her love life she is having problems with. She has had a lot of unsuccessful dates and just wishes she can find the perfect man. After one of her bad dates she returns home only to find her cat turning the television over to a local channel which is showing a show called ‘The Ugly Truth’.
The Ugly Truth is hosted by Mike Chadway and he is a straight talking man who tells women what men really want. Abby is enraged by what he is saying and phones the show only to be talked down to and accused of being ugly. The following morning Abby arrives at work only to discover that Mike has been given a job on her show as they need to get the ratings up. Abby is enraged by this but soon she is warming to Mike as he agrees to help hr find and date her perfect man.
Can Mike prove he does know what men want and will Abby get her man?
I was looking forward to watching this film as it did look quite funny from the trailers and I do like both the lead actors, I am pleased to say I was not at all disappointed by the film and thoroughly enjoyed it. The storyline was good, it was similar to other films but there was a little twist with the way the characters delivered it that made it seem fresh and more appealing. I did however work out how the film was going to end even before we got half way through it but I did not let this spoil the viewing for me and it just meant I did not have to concentrate hard on what was happening.
The acting was good. Katherine Heigl played the role of Abby and she gave an excellent performance. She came across as very hard and stubborn one moment and then we would see a completely different side to her and I found this gave her a lot of depth. I think that even though we never got to find out about her past I still learnt enough to be able to understand and warm to her. There was a good chemistry between her and the role of Mike and I loved how they bantered with each other and it all seemed so natural and not at all forced and uneasy. The role of Mike was played by Gerard Butler and he too gave a wonderful performance. He was very sexiest and talked about women in a very mean way but he added so much humour to it I was able to see the funny side and enjoy the performance. He was a slightly more complex character as we got to know nothing about him and why he was the way he was. I did enjoy the small addition of his sister and nephew as this managed to get him to show a more caring and loving side to his character. He was very funny and delivered all of his lines with ease and was also very easy on the eye.
We had a few good support role and the one which I liked was that of Abby’s assistant, she did not have any main storylines in the film but when she was with Abby she managed to add a little humour and wit. She was played by Bree Turner. Other roles include appearances by Eric Winter, Nick Searcy and Noah Matthews.
The film was set in the present day so no real effort was needed with the costumes or the sets. The sets were good and all looked modern and so to were the clothes. There were a few special effects in the film and they were good but the ones used at the end of the film were a little weak and I could clearly see that the backdrop had been added. The music was also good and very modern but I did have the problem with the volume of it as the speaking parts of the film were so much quieter than the music so when the tracks came on they blasted out of the speakers.
There is a lot of humour in the film, the majority of it is spoken but we do have a few funny visual gags, Abby is the brunt of the visual gags and she plays them very well. There was a very good comic timing between the two lead role which made it very easy and a joy to watch.
As this is a film only review there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is 96 minutes and I did find this was a good length with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish. The rate is a 15 and this is very appropriate as there is a lot of swearing and some sex references.
I a happy to give this film the full 5 stars as I loved it. The acting and storyline was excellent and it was packed full of laughs. The bonus was Gerard Butler as he was a joy to watch and very easy on the eye. One for all fans of a good romcom.
Abby is a producer on a morning television show and is happy with her work life, it is her love life she is having problems with. She has had a lot of unsuccessful dates and just wishes she can find the perfect man. After one of her bad dates she returns home only to find her cat turning the television over to a local channel which is showing a show called ‘The Ugly Truth’.
The Ugly Truth is hosted by Mike Chadway and he is a straight talking man who tells women what men really want. Abby is enraged by what he is saying and phones the show only to be talked down to and accused of being ugly. The following morning Abby arrives at work only to discover that Mike has been given a job on her show as they need to get the ratings up. Abby is enraged by this but soon she is warming to Mike as he agrees to help hr find and date her perfect man.
Can Mike prove he does know what men want and will Abby get her man?
I was looking forward to watching this film as it did look quite funny from the trailers and I do like both the lead actors, I am pleased to say I was not at all disappointed by the film and thoroughly enjoyed it. The storyline was good, it was similar to other films but there was a little twist with the way the characters delivered it that made it seem fresh and more appealing. I did however work out how the film was going to end even before we got half way through it but I did not let this spoil the viewing for me and it just meant I did not have to concentrate hard on what was happening.
The acting was good. Katherine Heigl played the role of Abby and she gave an excellent performance. She came across as very hard and stubborn one moment and then we would see a completely different side to her and I found this gave her a lot of depth. I think that even though we never got to find out about her past I still learnt enough to be able to understand and warm to her. There was a good chemistry between her and the role of Mike and I loved how they bantered with each other and it all seemed so natural and not at all forced and uneasy. The role of Mike was played by Gerard Butler and he too gave a wonderful performance. He was very sexiest and talked about women in a very mean way but he added so much humour to it I was able to see the funny side and enjoy the performance. He was a slightly more complex character as we got to know nothing about him and why he was the way he was. I did enjoy the small addition of his sister and nephew as this managed to get him to show a more caring and loving side to his character. He was very funny and delivered all of his lines with ease and was also very easy on the eye.
We had a few good support role and the one which I liked was that of Abby’s assistant, she did not have any main storylines in the film but when she was with Abby she managed to add a little humour and wit. She was played by Bree Turner. Other roles include appearances by Eric Winter, Nick Searcy and Noah Matthews.
The film was set in the present day so no real effort was needed with the costumes or the sets. The sets were good and all looked modern and so to were the clothes. There were a few special effects in the film and they were good but the ones used at the end of the film were a little weak and I could clearly see that the backdrop had been added. The music was also good and very modern but I did have the problem with the volume of it as the speaking parts of the film were so much quieter than the music so when the tracks came on they blasted out of the speakers.
There is a lot of humour in the film, the majority of it is spoken but we do have a few funny visual gags, Abby is the brunt of the visual gags and she plays them very well. There was a very good comic timing between the two lead role which made it very easy and a joy to watch.
As this is a film only review there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is 96 minutes and I did find this was a good length with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish. The rate is a 15 and this is very appropriate as there is a lot of swearing and some sex references.
I a happy to give this film the full 5 stars as I loved it. The acting and storyline was excellent and it was packed full of laughs. The bonus was Gerard Butler as he was a joy to watch and very easy on the eye. One for all fans of a good romcom.
Another bargain biscuit
My latest review is for a great cheap biscuit brand which I found...
I have been penny pinching when shopping again and more so when it comes to the biscuit isle. I have had a lot of success with the cheaper biscuits and my boys have enjoyed them so I thought I would give their Value milk chocolate digestive biscuits a go for a change.
~~PACKAGING~~
The biscuits come in a plastic wrapper which is white and blue in colour. The front has the Tesco Value logo on it and a picture showing some of the biscuits. On the reverse of the wrapper we have all of the product information including the ingredient and allergy advice. It is here that you can also find the nutritional values.
The ends of the wrapper are blue and they are quite hard to get open but there is a tear strip to one end of the packet which makes for easy opening.
~~APPEARANCE AND TASTE~~
The biscuits are a good size, they measure approximately 7cm and the widest point in the middle and are a round shape. They are not overly thick and measure roughly ½ a cm thick. The bottom of the biscuit is a golden brown colour which resembles a normal digestive biscuit and has the digestive name in the middle, there is also a small pattern around this. The top of the biscuit is covered in a lovely brown milk chocolate. There is a faint smell to the biscuits and this is a mixture of the wheat biscuit and the milk chocolate. It is nice ad always makes me feel like eating a biscuit when smelling it.
When it comes to eating the biscuits we do have fun, they taste great. I do enjoy the contrast of the crunchy crumbly biscuit against the smoothness of the chocolate. The biscuit has a very pleasant taste which is just like any other digestive. It does remind me a little of a wheat taste but it is good. The chocolate also tastes great as it is milk chocolate and not the dark variety. I have found there to be a good amount of chocolate on each of the biscuits and the whole things works well together. I do have to bite my biscuits as I am not able to fit them whole into my mouth like hubby an when doing so I do find they make a few crumbs. I am not overly bothered about this as I do find it easy to brush them off my clothes. Unfortunately my boys take smaller bits and therefore they do make even more crumbs which usually end up over the floor. I have started to give them their biscuits on a plate to cut down on the amount on the floor.
My boys do enjoy their biscuits but I have found that they have to hold the biscuit for longer than me and the chocolate does tend to melt on their finger but they don’t seem to care and have fun licking this off. The quicker the biscuit is eaten then the less chocolate on the finger.
I am not a tea drinker so I am not personally able to comment on how good they are for dunking but I have spoken to hubby about this and he says they are an average dunker. He says they don’t tend to go soggy to quickly and break off resulting in a sloppy mess at the bottom of the cup and the heat from the tea makes the chocolate melt which he enjoys as it is smoother when eating. He has said that his cup of tea does end up having a hint of chocolate though when he has dunked with these biscuits.
~~INFO~~
The biscuits come in a pack size of 300g and I find this to be good, there are roughly 25 biscuits in each pack but I cannot be exact as the packet I have is nearly empty.
The packaging is unfortunately not recyclable.
There are some allergy warnings on the pack of the packet and these include the fact that they contain milk, wheat, gluten and soya. The recipe is nut free and so to is the factory which these are produce in. Tesco cannot confirm that the ingredients are nut free though.
The ingredients are:-
Wheat flour, milk chocolate (23%), vegetable oil, sugar, wholemeal wheat flour, glucose-fructose syrup, raising agents (sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate), salt
The milk chocolate contains, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, dried skimmed milk, whey powder, butteroil, emulsifier (soya lecithins, polyglycerol, polyricinoleate), vegetable fat, natural flavourings)
These biscuits are suitable for vegetarians.
It is best to store these biscuits in a cool dry place and away from sunlight. Once the packet is opened they need to be kept in an air tight container so they do not go stale. The shelf life is good and the latest packet we have has over 6 months on them.
The nutritional values for each biscuit are:-
Calories – 85
Sugar – 4.5g
Fat – 3.9g
Saturates – 2g
Salt – 0.1g
~~PRICE AND AVAILABILITY~~
These biscuits are part of the Tesco Value range so they are only available in their stores, other supermarkets do their own version of them though. They are priced at around 50p per packet which I feel is excellent value for money compared to the branded varieties.
~~RECOMMENDED?~~
I am more than happy to give these biscuits the full5 stars, they have a lovely rich taste which works well with the smooth chocolate and my boys love them. Hubby claims they are quite good for dunking too. They are cheap and cheerful and well worth trying. I think these would be an ideal extra for children’s parties or a lunch box or picnic treat.
I have been penny pinching when shopping again and more so when it comes to the biscuit isle. I have had a lot of success with the cheaper biscuits and my boys have enjoyed them so I thought I would give their Value milk chocolate digestive biscuits a go for a change.
~~PACKAGING~~
The biscuits come in a plastic wrapper which is white and blue in colour. The front has the Tesco Value logo on it and a picture showing some of the biscuits. On the reverse of the wrapper we have all of the product information including the ingredient and allergy advice. It is here that you can also find the nutritional values.
The ends of the wrapper are blue and they are quite hard to get open but there is a tear strip to one end of the packet which makes for easy opening.
~~APPEARANCE AND TASTE~~
The biscuits are a good size, they measure approximately 7cm and the widest point in the middle and are a round shape. They are not overly thick and measure roughly ½ a cm thick. The bottom of the biscuit is a golden brown colour which resembles a normal digestive biscuit and has the digestive name in the middle, there is also a small pattern around this. The top of the biscuit is covered in a lovely brown milk chocolate. There is a faint smell to the biscuits and this is a mixture of the wheat biscuit and the milk chocolate. It is nice ad always makes me feel like eating a biscuit when smelling it.
When it comes to eating the biscuits we do have fun, they taste great. I do enjoy the contrast of the crunchy crumbly biscuit against the smoothness of the chocolate. The biscuit has a very pleasant taste which is just like any other digestive. It does remind me a little of a wheat taste but it is good. The chocolate also tastes great as it is milk chocolate and not the dark variety. I have found there to be a good amount of chocolate on each of the biscuits and the whole things works well together. I do have to bite my biscuits as I am not able to fit them whole into my mouth like hubby an when doing so I do find they make a few crumbs. I am not overly bothered about this as I do find it easy to brush them off my clothes. Unfortunately my boys take smaller bits and therefore they do make even more crumbs which usually end up over the floor. I have started to give them their biscuits on a plate to cut down on the amount on the floor.
My boys do enjoy their biscuits but I have found that they have to hold the biscuit for longer than me and the chocolate does tend to melt on their finger but they don’t seem to care and have fun licking this off. The quicker the biscuit is eaten then the less chocolate on the finger.
I am not a tea drinker so I am not personally able to comment on how good they are for dunking but I have spoken to hubby about this and he says they are an average dunker. He says they don’t tend to go soggy to quickly and break off resulting in a sloppy mess at the bottom of the cup and the heat from the tea makes the chocolate melt which he enjoys as it is smoother when eating. He has said that his cup of tea does end up having a hint of chocolate though when he has dunked with these biscuits.
~~INFO~~
The biscuits come in a pack size of 300g and I find this to be good, there are roughly 25 biscuits in each pack but I cannot be exact as the packet I have is nearly empty.
The packaging is unfortunately not recyclable.
There are some allergy warnings on the pack of the packet and these include the fact that they contain milk, wheat, gluten and soya. The recipe is nut free and so to is the factory which these are produce in. Tesco cannot confirm that the ingredients are nut free though.
The ingredients are:-
Wheat flour, milk chocolate (23%), vegetable oil, sugar, wholemeal wheat flour, glucose-fructose syrup, raising agents (sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate), salt
The milk chocolate contains, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, dried skimmed milk, whey powder, butteroil, emulsifier (soya lecithins, polyglycerol, polyricinoleate), vegetable fat, natural flavourings)
These biscuits are suitable for vegetarians.
It is best to store these biscuits in a cool dry place and away from sunlight. Once the packet is opened they need to be kept in an air tight container so they do not go stale. The shelf life is good and the latest packet we have has over 6 months on them.
The nutritional values for each biscuit are:-
Calories – 85
Sugar – 4.5g
Fat – 3.9g
Saturates – 2g
Salt – 0.1g
~~PRICE AND AVAILABILITY~~
These biscuits are part of the Tesco Value range so they are only available in their stores, other supermarkets do their own version of them though. They are priced at around 50p per packet which I feel is excellent value for money compared to the branded varieties.
~~RECOMMENDED?~~
I am more than happy to give these biscuits the full5 stars, they have a lovely rich taste which works well with the smooth chocolate and my boys love them. Hubby claims they are quite good for dunking too. They are cheap and cheerful and well worth trying. I think these would be an ideal extra for children’s parties or a lunch box or picnic treat.
Monday 21 March 2011
I want his Tailor!
My new post is a film review for The Tuxedo....
Jimmy Tong works as a taxi driver but he is offered a new job by one of his passenger which he instantly accepts. He is to be a chauffeur to Clark Devlin. He starts his job and hits it off with Devlin and soon they are good friends. Devlin does not like the suit which Jimmy is wearing so buys him a new one. Unbeknown to Jimmy Devlin works as a super spy for the CIA. After their car gets blown up by a bomb Devlin is left in a coma and it falls to Jimmy to take his place.
He dons the Tuxedo which Devlin wears and discovers that it has super powers. Jimmy meets with fellow agent Del and they start trying to investigate the goings on at a water plant and the criminals behind it. Jimmy is not doing very well as a super spy but can he and Del work together to bring own the criminals and find out their master plan?
I had heard small things about this film and as there was nothing else on the TV I decided to give it a watch. I found it was quite entertaining and the story was good but there did not seem to be anything original about the film and it all seemed to have been done before. I did think it was a good film for teenagers and if a few of the nasty scenes had been cut then this would have been ideal for children.
Jacki Chan played the lead role of Jimmy and he did an average JOB. There were times when I struggled to understand what he was saying and this is due to his thick accent. He did a great job of looking like a spy in the tuxedo and he also worked very well with the action and fighting scenes. He seemed very at ease with the fighting and stunts and I have to give him a lot of credit for this aspect of his character. There was no real connection between him and Del and I felt there could have been more between them to make the story slightly more believable. The role of Del was played by Jennifer Love Hewitt and she was slightly better in her role. She came across as slightly naive at the start of the film and it was good to watch her grow as the story developed. She fitted well into her character and I was able to warm to her.
We did have some good support roles in the film and I did like the role of Devlin, he was played by Jason Isaacs, he was strong and suave and suited the spy role he had. Other actors in the film included, Ritchie Coster and Debi Mazir. They all played quite different roles and bought as little bit of depth to the film.
The setting fort eh film was America in the present day and I found this to be a good setting and it suited the story very well. The fact we had a lot of high tech equipment and computers made the story more believable and I think a good job was done with the props and sets. The costumes were also good and I did like the tuxedo Jacki Chan wore, it was a lovely material and cut and looked very smart. The technology was not overly far fetched and it did all look realistic and believable and I think the teenage market will be able to understand what it is they are looking at.
There is a lot of action in the film and it was all to a very high standard. I am lead to believe from hubby that Jacki Chan does all of his own stunts and if this is the case he did a super job with them. He made all the fights look very real and not choreographed and he did work well with the gymnastic moves which the suit got him to do, he did make some of them look slightly robotic but as he was being controlled by the suit I did think it was a good inclusion. We do have one or two quite nasty scenes in the film which I felt were of a good high standard when being created but for me they looked horrid, it involved a body being completely drained or water and shrivelling up and I did not find this enjoyable to see. I think if this would have been slightly less in your face then this could have been a film which appealed to the slightly younger audience, say children over the age of 8.
The soundtrack was good and very mixed but it was nothing special and not one which I would go out and buy. It did all fit well with the film and the story though.
I am only reviewing the film so there are no bonus features for me to speak about. The DVD can be bought for under £5 now and I do think this is a fair price even though I would not be willing to pay for it. The running time of the film is 98 minutes and I found this to be a good length with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish. The rate is a 12A and I felt that if the fighting would have been dulled down and a few scenes removed then this would have made a great children’s film but as it is a certainly agree with the rate.
I am happy to give this film a good 3 stars and a recommendation. I enjoyed the story and the acting was good. I think I would have liked to have been able to understand more of what the lead actor was saying and more of a connection between Chan and Hewitt to have given this a higher rate. A watch able film with a good story but I would wait for it to come on the TV again and not waste money on the DVD.
Jimmy Tong works as a taxi driver but he is offered a new job by one of his passenger which he instantly accepts. He is to be a chauffeur to Clark Devlin. He starts his job and hits it off with Devlin and soon they are good friends. Devlin does not like the suit which Jimmy is wearing so buys him a new one. Unbeknown to Jimmy Devlin works as a super spy for the CIA. After their car gets blown up by a bomb Devlin is left in a coma and it falls to Jimmy to take his place.
He dons the Tuxedo which Devlin wears and discovers that it has super powers. Jimmy meets with fellow agent Del and they start trying to investigate the goings on at a water plant and the criminals behind it. Jimmy is not doing very well as a super spy but can he and Del work together to bring own the criminals and find out their master plan?
I had heard small things about this film and as there was nothing else on the TV I decided to give it a watch. I found it was quite entertaining and the story was good but there did not seem to be anything original about the film and it all seemed to have been done before. I did think it was a good film for teenagers and if a few of the nasty scenes had been cut then this would have been ideal for children.
Jacki Chan played the lead role of Jimmy and he did an average JOB. There were times when I struggled to understand what he was saying and this is due to his thick accent. He did a great job of looking like a spy in the tuxedo and he also worked very well with the action and fighting scenes. He seemed very at ease with the fighting and stunts and I have to give him a lot of credit for this aspect of his character. There was no real connection between him and Del and I felt there could have been more between them to make the story slightly more believable. The role of Del was played by Jennifer Love Hewitt and she was slightly better in her role. She came across as slightly naive at the start of the film and it was good to watch her grow as the story developed. She fitted well into her character and I was able to warm to her.
We did have some good support roles in the film and I did like the role of Devlin, he was played by Jason Isaacs, he was strong and suave and suited the spy role he had. Other actors in the film included, Ritchie Coster and Debi Mazir. They all played quite different roles and bought as little bit of depth to the film.
The setting fort eh film was America in the present day and I found this to be a good setting and it suited the story very well. The fact we had a lot of high tech equipment and computers made the story more believable and I think a good job was done with the props and sets. The costumes were also good and I did like the tuxedo Jacki Chan wore, it was a lovely material and cut and looked very smart. The technology was not overly far fetched and it did all look realistic and believable and I think the teenage market will be able to understand what it is they are looking at.
There is a lot of action in the film and it was all to a very high standard. I am lead to believe from hubby that Jacki Chan does all of his own stunts and if this is the case he did a super job with them. He made all the fights look very real and not choreographed and he did work well with the gymnastic moves which the suit got him to do, he did make some of them look slightly robotic but as he was being controlled by the suit I did think it was a good inclusion. We do have one or two quite nasty scenes in the film which I felt were of a good high standard when being created but for me they looked horrid, it involved a body being completely drained or water and shrivelling up and I did not find this enjoyable to see. I think if this would have been slightly less in your face then this could have been a film which appealed to the slightly younger audience, say children over the age of 8.
The soundtrack was good and very mixed but it was nothing special and not one which I would go out and buy. It did all fit well with the film and the story though.
I am only reviewing the film so there are no bonus features for me to speak about. The DVD can be bought for under £5 now and I do think this is a fair price even though I would not be willing to pay for it. The running time of the film is 98 minutes and I found this to be a good length with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish. The rate is a 12A and I felt that if the fighting would have been dulled down and a few scenes removed then this would have made a great children’s film but as it is a certainly agree with the rate.
I am happy to give this film a good 3 stars and a recommendation. I enjoyed the story and the acting was good. I think I would have liked to have been able to understand more of what the lead actor was saying and more of a connection between Chan and Hewitt to have given this a higher rate. A watch able film with a good story but I would wait for it to come on the TV again and not waste money on the DVD.
Just what is Happening?
My newest post is a review for th film The Happening....
Central Park suddenly gets a strange eerie wind blowing through it and people start to become disorientated and confused and then end up killing themselves. The news starts hearing about it and soon an emergency is called and people start fleeing the city. The initial speculation is a terrorist attack, but when the strange happenings start to move all over the North East of America it becomes apparent that this is not the case.
Scientist and teacher Elliot Moore decides that he and wife must flee. They decided to go tot eh cottage in country belonging to friend Julian. They meet at the train station and are soon on their way to the cottage. Unfortunately the air born virus has travelled and the train is forced to stop leaving all the passenger stranded. Julian ahs not heard from his wife and so decides that he must go in search of her, leaving his daughter, Jess, in the hands of Elliot and wife Alma. They go in search of safety but it soon becomes apparent that the virus is a lot closer than they thought.
Can Elliot, Alma and Jess find safety and just what is causing the population to kill themselves?
I thought this film sounded very good when reading about it in my TV guide so both me and hubby decided it was worth a watch. We did enjoy it but felt that there was so much missing from it to make it a top class film. The story was good and although it was a type of disaster film it was a different take on one and it worked very well. The problem which we had was the fact that nothing really got explained to us. We had some ideas thrown around in the film and some indications as to what could be happening but none of them were told as final and so we were both left with quite a few unanswered questions at the end of the film.
The acting from all involved was quite good. The role of Elliot was played by Mark Wahlberg and he came across as a strong dependable character who was quite knowledgeable. I liked how he was strong and took people under his wing. There was a good little connection with him and wife Alma but I felt a lot was being held back. Alma was played by Zooey Deschanel and she was very good. I liked her free spirit type of attitude and felt she really grew as the film moved on. She showed a very caring side and maternal nature when taking care of Jess and I felt she took to this aspect of her character very well. There were a few times when I felt she could have put more emotion it o her lines but overall she played a good part.
We had some good support characters in the film and they were a good mix of people. Some of the actors included, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, and Betty Buckley. I liked the mix and felt they did bring a little depth to the story.
The film was set at the start in Central Park but we did move very quickly to the countryside. I enjoyed the setting and felt there was some very good and pleasant scenery shown to us. I did enjoy the setting and felt this would not have worked as well if we would have stayed in the big cities. The costumes were also good and as this was a modern film not much effort was needed for them.
There were some good parts to the film which required the use of special effects and CGI and for me it was all of a good high standard and some of the scenes with the suicides were actually had to watch. I felt some of the parts were not necessary and just made the film uncomfortable to watch. I think a lot could have been left to the imagination. I felt the music was good and fitting for the film, it helped give and eerie feel to the story and I felt it was well created and enjoyable to listen to.
I am only reviewing the film so there are no bonus features to mention. The running time of the film is 91 minutes and the rate is a 15. I felt the running time was good with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish and I agree with the rate. There were some gruesome parts in the film with the suicides and due to the subject of the story this is not suitable for the younger audience.
I would have loved to have been able to give this film a higher rate but as it stands it gets 3 stars. The story was good as it had lots of potential and I felt he actors could have given slight more emotions and feelings to their lines. The ending was disappointing as both me and hubby were left with lots of unanswered questions. Try to catch this if it comes on the TV again but I would not recommend wasting money to buy the DVD.
Central Park suddenly gets a strange eerie wind blowing through it and people start to become disorientated and confused and then end up killing themselves. The news starts hearing about it and soon an emergency is called and people start fleeing the city. The initial speculation is a terrorist attack, but when the strange happenings start to move all over the North East of America it becomes apparent that this is not the case.
Scientist and teacher Elliot Moore decides that he and wife must flee. They decided to go tot eh cottage in country belonging to friend Julian. They meet at the train station and are soon on their way to the cottage. Unfortunately the air born virus has travelled and the train is forced to stop leaving all the passenger stranded. Julian ahs not heard from his wife and so decides that he must go in search of her, leaving his daughter, Jess, in the hands of Elliot and wife Alma. They go in search of safety but it soon becomes apparent that the virus is a lot closer than they thought.
Can Elliot, Alma and Jess find safety and just what is causing the population to kill themselves?
I thought this film sounded very good when reading about it in my TV guide so both me and hubby decided it was worth a watch. We did enjoy it but felt that there was so much missing from it to make it a top class film. The story was good and although it was a type of disaster film it was a different take on one and it worked very well. The problem which we had was the fact that nothing really got explained to us. We had some ideas thrown around in the film and some indications as to what could be happening but none of them were told as final and so we were both left with quite a few unanswered questions at the end of the film.
The acting from all involved was quite good. The role of Elliot was played by Mark Wahlberg and he came across as a strong dependable character who was quite knowledgeable. I liked how he was strong and took people under his wing. There was a good little connection with him and wife Alma but I felt a lot was being held back. Alma was played by Zooey Deschanel and she was very good. I liked her free spirit type of attitude and felt she really grew as the film moved on. She showed a very caring side and maternal nature when taking care of Jess and I felt she took to this aspect of her character very well. There were a few times when I felt she could have put more emotion it o her lines but overall she played a good part.
We had some good support characters in the film and they were a good mix of people. Some of the actors included, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, and Betty Buckley. I liked the mix and felt they did bring a little depth to the story.
The film was set at the start in Central Park but we did move very quickly to the countryside. I enjoyed the setting and felt there was some very good and pleasant scenery shown to us. I did enjoy the setting and felt this would not have worked as well if we would have stayed in the big cities. The costumes were also good and as this was a modern film not much effort was needed for them.
There were some good parts to the film which required the use of special effects and CGI and for me it was all of a good high standard and some of the scenes with the suicides were actually had to watch. I felt some of the parts were not necessary and just made the film uncomfortable to watch. I think a lot could have been left to the imagination. I felt the music was good and fitting for the film, it helped give and eerie feel to the story and I felt it was well created and enjoyable to listen to.
I am only reviewing the film so there are no bonus features to mention. The running time of the film is 91 minutes and the rate is a 15. I felt the running time was good with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish and I agree with the rate. There were some gruesome parts in the film with the suicides and due to the subject of the story this is not suitable for the younger audience.
I would have loved to have been able to give this film a higher rate but as it stands it gets 3 stars. The story was good as it had lots of potential and I felt he actors could have given slight more emotions and feelings to their lines. The ending was disappointing as both me and hubby were left with lots of unanswered questions. Try to catch this if it comes on the TV again but I would not recommend wasting money to buy the DVD.
Sunday 20 March 2011
Would you want him as your Father???
New post is a film review for Old Dogs, a superb family film full of great acting and laughs...
Charlie and Dan have been friends since school, they are now business partners and on the verge of a massive deal. Charlie has helped Dan though a big divorce and tried to get him to move on with is life. He took him on holiday to Miami and it was here that he fell in love with another woman and on an impulse they got married, fortunately they managed to get the marriage annulled.
Dan thinks a lot about his short marriage and the feelings he had at this time and gets a shock when he receives a call from Vicky asking him to meet her. Dan is thrilled as he believes she wants to give their relationship another go but this is not the case. Dan gets the shock of his life when she announces that she is going to prison for 2 weeks and he needs to look after their twins which are now 7 years old. Dan had no idea he was a father and has not got a clue on how to look after children but he does agree to look after them and try to become their father.
Charlie is not happy with this decision as they are about to make a very important deal but he does agree to help Dan. Can Dan become a father to his children and can they still manage to get the deal which will make them very wealthy men?
I had not heard of this film before I noticed it on Sky Movies and as it starred two very good actors and sounded quite fun both me and hubby decided to give it a watch. I was not aware of the fact this was a children’s film before starting to watch but I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed it. I think more so as it was for the younger audience so this meant I did not have to concentrate very hard on the story to be able to follow what was happening. I did enjoy the story and find it was very good and this was only helped by the acting and the humour which they bought to it.
The role of Dan was played by Robin Williams and I was pleased that he moved away from his daft characters and actually made this one more normal and sensible. Hew as strong and confident with matters concerning work but he became such a mess when having to deal with his children. It was obvious he had no idea of how to be a father and as a result we did get a lot of humour from this side of his character. He delivered all of his lines well and made them all believable and I found there to be a great chemistry between him and on screen partner Charlie. Charlie was played by John Travolta and he to did a great job. He was more of a stricter character and had no intention of being a father, I enjoyed seeing him warm to the children and change as the story moved on. He was strong and delivered his lines with ease to. There was a good connection between both Dan and Charlie and I loved how they managed to bounce off each other with ease and none of the one liners seemed forced or unnatural. The two children were played by good little actors but I felt they could have given slightly more to the roles and have been features with more speaking lines. As it was they seemed to fade into the background for the majority of the film.
The film is modern so no real effort was needed for the costumes or sets in the film, I felt they all fitted very well and I even enjoyed the setting for the film. We had some very different places featured in the film and none of them were very child friendly. I found the apartment of Charlie to be quite fun and I loved how Dan took over and had the baby proof team in, they bought quite a lot of humour to the story. The sets were all well made and shown in a good light. We did have some outside scenes in the film and they too were good and in keeping with the story. The music was good and quite modern and I felt it all fitted and worked very well. It was not an amazing soundtrack and not one which I would go out and buy but it did fit the film well.
There is a lot of humour in the film and both me and hubby had a few good laughs, I was please William had moved away from the daft face pulling and the daft element of comedy as he did make me laugh a lot in the film. The majority of the gags were spoken ones for the beginning of the film but as it moved on we did get a few more visual ones. I think all of the actors worked well and had perfect comedy timing. There is enough humour to appeal to both the young and older audience in this film. I would say that being in a light mood will make this film seem funnier.
This is a film only review so there are no DVD extras to speak about. The DVD can be bought fro around the £5 mark and I do feel this is a fair price. The running time of the film is 88 minutes and I think this is a suitable length and there is enough in the film to keep the younger audience entertained and interested right till the very end. The rate is a PG and I do agree with this, there is nothing offensive about the film at all.
I am more than happy to give this film a good recommendation. The story was good although not very original, it had great acting and a lot of good funny moments. It appeals to all ages and overall it deserves a good solid 4 stars. Definitely worth watching when you want a nice light funny film.
Charlie and Dan have been friends since school, they are now business partners and on the verge of a massive deal. Charlie has helped Dan though a big divorce and tried to get him to move on with is life. He took him on holiday to Miami and it was here that he fell in love with another woman and on an impulse they got married, fortunately they managed to get the marriage annulled.
Dan thinks a lot about his short marriage and the feelings he had at this time and gets a shock when he receives a call from Vicky asking him to meet her. Dan is thrilled as he believes she wants to give their relationship another go but this is not the case. Dan gets the shock of his life when she announces that she is going to prison for 2 weeks and he needs to look after their twins which are now 7 years old. Dan had no idea he was a father and has not got a clue on how to look after children but he does agree to look after them and try to become their father.
Charlie is not happy with this decision as they are about to make a very important deal but he does agree to help Dan. Can Dan become a father to his children and can they still manage to get the deal which will make them very wealthy men?
I had not heard of this film before I noticed it on Sky Movies and as it starred two very good actors and sounded quite fun both me and hubby decided to give it a watch. I was not aware of the fact this was a children’s film before starting to watch but I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed it. I think more so as it was for the younger audience so this meant I did not have to concentrate very hard on the story to be able to follow what was happening. I did enjoy the story and find it was very good and this was only helped by the acting and the humour which they bought to it.
The role of Dan was played by Robin Williams and I was pleased that he moved away from his daft characters and actually made this one more normal and sensible. Hew as strong and confident with matters concerning work but he became such a mess when having to deal with his children. It was obvious he had no idea of how to be a father and as a result we did get a lot of humour from this side of his character. He delivered all of his lines well and made them all believable and I found there to be a great chemistry between him and on screen partner Charlie. Charlie was played by John Travolta and he to did a great job. He was more of a stricter character and had no intention of being a father, I enjoyed seeing him warm to the children and change as the story moved on. He was strong and delivered his lines with ease to. There was a good connection between both Dan and Charlie and I loved how they managed to bounce off each other with ease and none of the one liners seemed forced or unnatural. The two children were played by good little actors but I felt they could have given slightly more to the roles and have been features with more speaking lines. As it was they seemed to fade into the background for the majority of the film.
The film is modern so no real effort was needed for the costumes or sets in the film, I felt they all fitted very well and I even enjoyed the setting for the film. We had some very different places featured in the film and none of them were very child friendly. I found the apartment of Charlie to be quite fun and I loved how Dan took over and had the baby proof team in, they bought quite a lot of humour to the story. The sets were all well made and shown in a good light. We did have some outside scenes in the film and they too were good and in keeping with the story. The music was good and quite modern and I felt it all fitted and worked very well. It was not an amazing soundtrack and not one which I would go out and buy but it did fit the film well.
There is a lot of humour in the film and both me and hubby had a few good laughs, I was please William had moved away from the daft face pulling and the daft element of comedy as he did make me laugh a lot in the film. The majority of the gags were spoken ones for the beginning of the film but as it moved on we did get a few more visual ones. I think all of the actors worked well and had perfect comedy timing. There is enough humour to appeal to both the young and older audience in this film. I would say that being in a light mood will make this film seem funnier.
This is a film only review so there are no DVD extras to speak about. The DVD can be bought fro around the £5 mark and I do feel this is a fair price. The running time of the film is 88 minutes and I think this is a suitable length and there is enough in the film to keep the younger audience entertained and interested right till the very end. The rate is a PG and I do agree with this, there is nothing offensive about the film at all.
I am more than happy to give this film a good recommendation. The story was good although not very original, it had great acting and a lot of good funny moments. It appeals to all ages and overall it deserves a good solid 4 stars. Definitely worth watching when you want a nice light funny film.
A Cheap Sweet Treat
A found a lovely strawbeery flavoured ice cream sauce when shopping, below is my review for it..
As you can imagine with 3 boys in my house ice cream is a favourite and so too are the toppings. I was about to pick up my regular branded ice cream sauce when I spotted this value one. I have had a lot of success with Value products in the past so did not hesitate to put this in he trolley as it was also saving me a few pennies.
~~PACKAGING~~
The sauce comes in a plastic tub which is white in colour. On the front we have the Tesco Value logo and a red banner with the product name in. There is a picture of a dish of ice cream with the sauce being dribbled over it. The back of the tube has the product information on, ingredients and nutritional values on.
The bottom of the tube has a screw cap on which is how the sauce is to be dispensed. This is also a good design as it means the tube is very easy to stand up in the cupboard and it is always at the bottom of the tube ready to be squeezed out.
~~TASTE AND USE~~
It really is very simple to use the sauce, the screw cap just needs to be unscrewed and then the sauce squeezed through the small opening. When using for the first time you will have to remove the small foil covering which covers the opening but this simply pulls off. The design of the bottle means the sauce is always ready to come straight out. When the bottle is full the sauce comes out with very little squeezing at all but as it empties more force will be needed.
The sauce is a good red colour and not overly runny or thick. I like the consistency as it means it is easy to pour the sauce but it is not too runny that it just all slops out and runs off the top of the ice cream. The amount of sauce used is entirely up to each individual user, we tend to use a lot for each sitting ass we have three ice creams to cover in it.
The taste of the sauce was a pleasant surprise to me, I thought that it may be lacking in a little flavour seeing as it is a value product but this is not the case. There is a rich strawberry flavour and this goes exceptionally well with vanilla ice cream. It is not overly sweet and it does leave a very pleasant taste in the mouth. I do find that it is best eaten with ice cream and not on its own as it can become slight thick and I find it sticks in my teeth and after a lot I do get the feeling of it becoming quite sickly. The sauce does have a nice smell to it which is only noticeable when you have a good close sniff. It is light and smells of fresh strawberries and this does intensify when you squeeze the sauce out of the tube.
My boys love the sauce and they even like the fact that I have changed the brand. They love the fact the sauce is always ready to come out the bottle and that it is simpler for them to use by themselves. They love the taste and find it goes well with all of the different flavours, they do even add this to their dishes of jelly as well.
~~INFO~~
The sauce’s tube size is 225g and I find this last for a good few weeks even with us using quite a lot on each sitting. The shelf life is also very good and the latest tube we bought a week ago has over 12 months on it, this means it is a good product to have in the cupboard for those times when you fancy a sweet treat.
The ingredients fro the sauce include:-
Glucose syrup, concentrated Strawberry juice, concentrated elderberry juice, citric acid, natural flavourings.
The recipe does not contain nuts but Tesco cannot guarantee that the ingredients do not contain them. This has been made in a nut free factory though. This sauce is suitable for vegetarians .
The nutritional values for 1 tablespoon of the sauce are:-
Calories – 47
Sugar – 7.9g
Fat – trace
Saturates – trace
Salt – trace
Considering this is a sweet treat I do think these values are pretty good.
The sauce needs to be stored in a cool and dry place and is best kept out of the refrigerator. I have personally placed my tube in the fridge for a week and found it thickens up too much so have started to place it in the cupboar5d and it seems back to its normal consistency now. It does not really need to be chilled as it is designed to go over frozen ice cream which will cool it down anyway.
~~PRICE AND AVAILABILITY~~
This strawberry ice cream sauce is a Tesco value product so it can only be bought in their stores. It comes price at just over 80p and I do think this is a complete bargain considering the branded sauces can be as much as £2 per tube.
~~RECOMMENDED?~~
I have found this sauce to be great, it tastes lovely and the bottle design is great. The overall results we have had mean that all my family enjoy it and we are now saving money which we can spend on extra ice cream. This sauce gets the full 5 stars from all my family and a high recommendation. Stock up for the summer.
As you can imagine with 3 boys in my house ice cream is a favourite and so too are the toppings. I was about to pick up my regular branded ice cream sauce when I spotted this value one. I have had a lot of success with Value products in the past so did not hesitate to put this in he trolley as it was also saving me a few pennies.
~~PACKAGING~~
The sauce comes in a plastic tub which is white in colour. On the front we have the Tesco Value logo and a red banner with the product name in. There is a picture of a dish of ice cream with the sauce being dribbled over it. The back of the tube has the product information on, ingredients and nutritional values on.
The bottom of the tube has a screw cap on which is how the sauce is to be dispensed. This is also a good design as it means the tube is very easy to stand up in the cupboard and it is always at the bottom of the tube ready to be squeezed out.
~~TASTE AND USE~~
It really is very simple to use the sauce, the screw cap just needs to be unscrewed and then the sauce squeezed through the small opening. When using for the first time you will have to remove the small foil covering which covers the opening but this simply pulls off. The design of the bottle means the sauce is always ready to come straight out. When the bottle is full the sauce comes out with very little squeezing at all but as it empties more force will be needed.
The sauce is a good red colour and not overly runny or thick. I like the consistency as it means it is easy to pour the sauce but it is not too runny that it just all slops out and runs off the top of the ice cream. The amount of sauce used is entirely up to each individual user, we tend to use a lot for each sitting ass we have three ice creams to cover in it.
The taste of the sauce was a pleasant surprise to me, I thought that it may be lacking in a little flavour seeing as it is a value product but this is not the case. There is a rich strawberry flavour and this goes exceptionally well with vanilla ice cream. It is not overly sweet and it does leave a very pleasant taste in the mouth. I do find that it is best eaten with ice cream and not on its own as it can become slight thick and I find it sticks in my teeth and after a lot I do get the feeling of it becoming quite sickly. The sauce does have a nice smell to it which is only noticeable when you have a good close sniff. It is light and smells of fresh strawberries and this does intensify when you squeeze the sauce out of the tube.
My boys love the sauce and they even like the fact that I have changed the brand. They love the fact the sauce is always ready to come out the bottle and that it is simpler for them to use by themselves. They love the taste and find it goes well with all of the different flavours, they do even add this to their dishes of jelly as well.
~~INFO~~
The sauce’s tube size is 225g and I find this last for a good few weeks even with us using quite a lot on each sitting. The shelf life is also very good and the latest tube we bought a week ago has over 12 months on it, this means it is a good product to have in the cupboard for those times when you fancy a sweet treat.
The ingredients fro the sauce include:-
Glucose syrup, concentrated Strawberry juice, concentrated elderberry juice, citric acid, natural flavourings.
The recipe does not contain nuts but Tesco cannot guarantee that the ingredients do not contain them. This has been made in a nut free factory though. This sauce is suitable for vegetarians .
The nutritional values for 1 tablespoon of the sauce are:-
Calories – 47
Sugar – 7.9g
Fat – trace
Saturates – trace
Salt – trace
Considering this is a sweet treat I do think these values are pretty good.
The sauce needs to be stored in a cool and dry place and is best kept out of the refrigerator. I have personally placed my tube in the fridge for a week and found it thickens up too much so have started to place it in the cupboar5d and it seems back to its normal consistency now. It does not really need to be chilled as it is designed to go over frozen ice cream which will cool it down anyway.
~~PRICE AND AVAILABILITY~~
This strawberry ice cream sauce is a Tesco value product so it can only be bought in their stores. It comes price at just over 80p and I do think this is a complete bargain considering the branded sauces can be as much as £2 per tube.
~~RECOMMENDED?~~
I have found this sauce to be great, it tastes lovely and the bottle design is great. The overall results we have had mean that all my family enjoy it and we are now saving money which we can spend on extra ice cream. This sauce gets the full 5 stars from all my family and a high recommendation. Stock up for the summer.
Fight or Die
New post is a review for the film Centurion....
It is 117 AD and the Romans are trying to conquer Northern Britain, unfortunately they are coming up against the Picts who are not willing to let them take their land. It is the Roman 7th Legion who are left to try and fight them off, they are headed by General Virilus and a sole survivor of the raid on the battle fort Quintus Dias.
The men are tricked and led into a trap where the whole legion gets wiped out with the exception of 5 men, they are the only men left who now face the last of freeing the General and trying to fight for the land or make it to safety.
Just can these men fight off the Picts when they have a master tracker and will they ever free the General and make it to safety.
I have only been able to give a very brief plot summery for this film as I just don’t want to give too much of the story away but believe me there is so much more to the story and it is not as basic as I have made it out to be and I say it is definitely worth watching. I did not fancy watching this film when hubby spotted the DVD but I did give in and sat down to watch it with him, after the first 5 minutes I have to confess to being totally hooked, I found the story to be excellent and so to was the acting. I think the one thing which made me enjoy this film so much was the effects though. I did at the very start of the film have issues with who was who in the film and what side they were on but after about 10 minutes I found this much simpler to work out, I think I found it so hard as the Romans all spoke perfect English and had English accents despite being from Greece and all over Rome.
The acting was of a very high standard. The lead role was that of Quintus Dias and I found him to be a very strong character, he was played by Michael Fassbender. He showed great courage and strength right from the start of the film and this did not let up for the whole of the film. He delivered all of his lines with ease and made his character very believable. He was likable and did show a slightly softer side towards the second half of the film and I did enjoy this as it showed he was not just a fighter and killer but also a man with feelings and needs. He worked well with the other men who he led and I though they all had a good on screen bond. The other lead role at the start of the film was that of General Virilus, played by Dominic West, he to was a very strong a hard character and bought a lot to the film. I enjoyed watching the different sides to him, he would be a strong leader but the next minute he would be a normal everyday down to Erath man being friendly with his troops and I found this to be quite realistic and made me think a lot more of him.
We did have some other very good actors in the film and the one which really stood out for me was that of Etain, played by Olga Kurylenko, she was an excellent character who was very complex. I loved how strong and independent she was and she was a person who was not to be messed with. She for me was the strongest character in the whole film and showed that women can fight and make a very good job of it. Other actors in the film included, Ulrich Thomsen, Noel Clarke and David Morrissey.
The film was set in Scotland and the North of England and I loved the setting, we did actually have the whole film filmed in England, the setting for the filming was Alice Holt forest in Hampshire and I loved all of the views and scenery which we got. The countryside was amazing and I did actually have a hard time believing we had such amazing places in England. Web had some very spectacular mountain and hill shots and I found all of them a pleasure to watch and they did make the film so much more enjoyable. The costumes were all in keeping with the theme of the film and the year, the Roman uniforms all looked good and so to did the men wearing them. The weapons were also very good and fitting too.
There is a lot of violence in this film and I did actually find some of it very gruesome, we had me being beheaded and stabbed all the way through the film. The make up and effects which were used on these was of a very high standard and I did actually find myself looking away for some of the fight scenes as they were very graphic. I think these scenes were helped by the high level of acting, the actors seemed at ease with the weapons and looked like they genuinely knew how to use them. There was no point in the film when I felt the fights looked staged or choreographed.
The music was also very good, this is a film set in 117 AD and as a result the soundtracks was very orchestral and classical. I loved all of the tracks and found that they did help with the drama, tension and emotions of the film.
The film can be bought on DVD for £7 in Tesco and I do think this is a very fair price. The run time of the film is 93 minutes and I did find this to be a very good length with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish. The rate is a 15 and I do actually think it should be an 18. There is a lot of violence right from the start of the film and it is very graphical and detailed. I would advise not watching when eating or if you have a sensitive stomach!
I am more than happy to give this film the full 5 stars and a high recommendation. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be, there is a really good story to it which is helped by the excellent acting. There is loads of action for the male audience and some very good looking men for the female on. I do advise though this is not one for a young audience and personally I would give it an 18 rate.
It is 117 AD and the Romans are trying to conquer Northern Britain, unfortunately they are coming up against the Picts who are not willing to let them take their land. It is the Roman 7th Legion who are left to try and fight them off, they are headed by General Virilus and a sole survivor of the raid on the battle fort Quintus Dias.
The men are tricked and led into a trap where the whole legion gets wiped out with the exception of 5 men, they are the only men left who now face the last of freeing the General and trying to fight for the land or make it to safety.
Just can these men fight off the Picts when they have a master tracker and will they ever free the General and make it to safety.
I have only been able to give a very brief plot summery for this film as I just don’t want to give too much of the story away but believe me there is so much more to the story and it is not as basic as I have made it out to be and I say it is definitely worth watching. I did not fancy watching this film when hubby spotted the DVD but I did give in and sat down to watch it with him, after the first 5 minutes I have to confess to being totally hooked, I found the story to be excellent and so to was the acting. I think the one thing which made me enjoy this film so much was the effects though. I did at the very start of the film have issues with who was who in the film and what side they were on but after about 10 minutes I found this much simpler to work out, I think I found it so hard as the Romans all spoke perfect English and had English accents despite being from Greece and all over Rome.
The acting was of a very high standard. The lead role was that of Quintus Dias and I found him to be a very strong character, he was played by Michael Fassbender. He showed great courage and strength right from the start of the film and this did not let up for the whole of the film. He delivered all of his lines with ease and made his character very believable. He was likable and did show a slightly softer side towards the second half of the film and I did enjoy this as it showed he was not just a fighter and killer but also a man with feelings and needs. He worked well with the other men who he led and I though they all had a good on screen bond. The other lead role at the start of the film was that of General Virilus, played by Dominic West, he to was a very strong a hard character and bought a lot to the film. I enjoyed watching the different sides to him, he would be a strong leader but the next minute he would be a normal everyday down to Erath man being friendly with his troops and I found this to be quite realistic and made me think a lot more of him.
We did have some other very good actors in the film and the one which really stood out for me was that of Etain, played by Olga Kurylenko, she was an excellent character who was very complex. I loved how strong and independent she was and she was a person who was not to be messed with. She for me was the strongest character in the whole film and showed that women can fight and make a very good job of it. Other actors in the film included, Ulrich Thomsen, Noel Clarke and David Morrissey.
The film was set in Scotland and the North of England and I loved the setting, we did actually have the whole film filmed in England, the setting for the filming was Alice Holt forest in Hampshire and I loved all of the views and scenery which we got. The countryside was amazing and I did actually have a hard time believing we had such amazing places in England. Web had some very spectacular mountain and hill shots and I found all of them a pleasure to watch and they did make the film so much more enjoyable. The costumes were all in keeping with the theme of the film and the year, the Roman uniforms all looked good and so to did the men wearing them. The weapons were also very good and fitting too.
There is a lot of violence in this film and I did actually find some of it very gruesome, we had me being beheaded and stabbed all the way through the film. The make up and effects which were used on these was of a very high standard and I did actually find myself looking away for some of the fight scenes as they were very graphic. I think these scenes were helped by the high level of acting, the actors seemed at ease with the weapons and looked like they genuinely knew how to use them. There was no point in the film when I felt the fights looked staged or choreographed.
The music was also very good, this is a film set in 117 AD and as a result the soundtracks was very orchestral and classical. I loved all of the tracks and found that they did help with the drama, tension and emotions of the film.
The film can be bought on DVD for £7 in Tesco and I do think this is a very fair price. The run time of the film is 93 minutes and I did find this to be a very good length with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish. The rate is a 15 and I do actually think it should be an 18. There is a lot of violence right from the start of the film and it is very graphical and detailed. I would advise not watching when eating or if you have a sensitive stomach!
I am more than happy to give this film the full 5 stars and a high recommendation. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be, there is a really good story to it which is helped by the excellent acting. There is loads of action for the male audience and some very good looking men for the female on. I do advise though this is not one for a young audience and personally I would give it an 18 rate.
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