Film Review : Film #1,204 – Flight

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Dave On Film

Denzel is Denzel, he always has been Denzel and always will be Denzel. Very rarely does Denzel ever play alone other than someone like the last Denzel he played. And here in Flight, he plays Pilot Denzel.

Pilot Denzel has a drink problem. Pilot Denzel also has a Drug problem. Mix them together and you get a troubled Denzel. Put him in control of a passenger aircraft and you have DUI Denzel. Have that same plane take a nosedive mid flight and Pilot Denzel, through evasive action actually flips the plane upside down, then flips it back, giving a decent crash landing and you have Hero Pilot Denzel.

But the plot thickens. Troubled Hero Drunk Drugged Pilot Denzel ends up in hospital where he meets a troubled woman whom he falls for. She’s troubled in the sense she’s hitting up the hard stuff, injecting shit into her veins…that can only mean trouble!

And whilst Hero Fucked Up Pilot Denzel is coming to terms with everything, up pops Don Fucking Cheadle. Mr Always-There-As-The-Voice-Of-Reason, telling Pilot Denzel that his problems are far from over as all the drinking and the drugging means he’s prime candidate for Bad Employee Of The Month at the airline. Uh-oh! I smell trouble.

Quicker than you can say “pass me that bottle” Troubled Pilot Denzel is in Trouble and his every move is being scrutinised. But can Hero Denzel manage to overcome the Demon Booze and straighten out what went down on the flight (other than the actual plane obviously…!)?

Gotta say too… John (Dan from Roseanne) Goodman has an absolutely brilliant two scene cameo part which steals the comedy element away from the drug-taking booze swigging hilarity of the rest of the film.

Believe it or not, I really enjoyed it. Despite taking the piss above, Denzel was great. He can really put himself into a role and it shows. He had to carry the film for the most part but did it with professional ease.

It’s not an all-action ride but its a worthy contender for Oscar nods.

Flight…fly off and see it!

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Page 43/365 : Smash Pancake Day…!

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Dave On Film

Signing up to a diet, like Slimming World, you expect to take some random choices about things you eat. Like having an apple instead of a Mars Bar as a snack, or munching on grapes at your desk at work instead of a pack of crisps.

You even end up having odd concoctions just as Sausage & Baked Bean Bake, and Baked Bean Lasagne…and even Diet Coke Chicken (which is amazing by the way), all in the name of losing weight…

…so when Pancake day rolls around, and you’re in the office at work and people are pouring pancake batter into a machine and munching away on their snacks with strawberries and chocolate and cream, it can be a little disheartening.

But that’s where my wonderful fiancee comes into her own.

This morning, just before we left the house for work, I mentioned to Elle about what we were doing for Pancake Day. Last year we’d done a crazy overnight soaking of oats in Mullerlight and mixed it with eggs to make quite thin but tasty pancakes.

But this year…everything was to change.

This was the year…of SMASH!

For those of you who don’t know, Smash is the instant Mash Potato mix you can buy in powder-form in any supermarket. It used to be advertised by those crazy robots. But in the last year, Smash has taken over my life. First it was Cheese Smash being used to make cheese scones, then we branched out into making Onion Bhaji’s with smash…but pancakes? Surely not…!

The ingredients were ready…
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Just half a cup of Smash, 5 tablespoons sweetener, 3 eggs, half a pot of Vanilla Mullerlight and a few drops of Vanilla essence are all that is needed.

Mixing everything up, I still wasn’t sure whether or not Elle was losing the plot entirely, but I was ready to give her the benefit of the doubt.

She poured the mixture into the pan and the cooking started. After a couple of flips, they were looking good.
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All that they needed now were taking out of the pan and having some chocolate (in my Syns for the day) sandwiched between them.
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But the proof was still in the tasting. Surely dried mash potato mixed with eggs couldn’t possibly be nice…

BUT they were AMAZING! As nice, if not nicer than any pancakes I have ever eaten in my life…I had to have a double helping of them.

Wow…who would have thunk it…SMASH pancakes were an absolute winner.

Don’t believe me? Try them for yourself…seriously you won’t be disappointed!!!

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Page 42/365 – Still losing

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Dave On Film

Work was decent today. Got tonnes done in readiness of the meeting I had with the management later on which went well.

Lost 1/2 lb today, which is pretty good going seeing as though I had eaten and drank myself silly at the weekend!!!

Watched Seven Psychopaths which I really enjoyed – Click here to read my review

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Film Review – Film #1,203 : Seven Psychopaths

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Dave On Film

From the director and writer of In Bruges comes another masterpiece.

Seven Psychopaths is witty, crazy, a little bit zany and definitely one of the quirkiest films you will ever see. Colin Farrell plays a struggling writer, plagued by his drinking habits who runs a small-time dog-theft-and-return-for-reward scam along with nutty Sam Rockwell and deep, but casually crazy Christopher Walken.

Farrell is attempting to write a new film called Seven Psychopaths and is on the lookout for inspiration for his film…but he doesn’t have to look too far when those surrounding him all begin to break apart and show their true colours.

Everything starts to go wrong when the group inadvertently piss off crime boss Woody Harrelson by stealing his prize shih tzu Bonnie. He decides to attempt to get his dog back by tracking down the people responsible which leads to them all having to take drastic measures to keep themselves safe.

What we have presented to the audience is a film which blurs the line between fiction and reality in a powerful way. What seems to be Farrell’s fairytale story world often descends into real life crisis, putting everyone at risk.

Farrell is great in this kind of role, playing the constantly pissed off and troubled man we know he probably is in real life. He seem tailored to the part. Harrelson’s caring craziness is a joy, and Walken’s undercurrent of sly psycho-tendancies is played well…but for me, it’s Sam Rockwell who steals the show with his charismatic nut-job who drops deeper and deeper into his own mentalness until everything comes to a head.

A very good film…although if I had to choose between this and In Bruges, I think the Belgian-set film would just win out.Image

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Page 41/365 : The goodbye, the bad driving and the miserables.

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Dave On Film

Bit of a lie in today before waking up and watching the last but of the last ever episode of Prison Break to finish it off.

Had breakfast before taking Lawlor back to the bus station. I took the wrong way when we got into the city centre which resulted in me having to go full loop and come all the way back around again.

Watched Les Miserables this afternoon Read My Review Here before heading over to Elle’s Dad’s to drop Cait’s present in. Came back for tea and watched Men In Black 3. See my review from back in June

Played some Football manager…I really need to get good at this game because I am amazingly bad at it. I reckon I will get fired in my first season.

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Film Review – Film #1,202 : Les Misérables

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Dave On Film

Musical theatre has always been a particular favourite of mine, whether it be the stunning Jesus Christ Superstar, or the cheesy yet fun Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. The completely-sung experience isn’t to everyone’s tastes however and I could see some people who went into the film unaware of it’s structure feeling torn between intrigue and frustration in equal measures.

I, for one, loved it.

The story centers around Hugh Jackman’s Jean Valjean, a slave who breaks parole, incurring the wrath of Javert (Russell Crowe), who vows to track him down. After Valjean manages to come good and set up a new life for himself, his path crosses with a worker at his own company played by Anne Hathaway. Hathaway’s Fantine falls into hard times and Valjean vows to take care of her daughter. As times move along and a social uprising against the government comes to a head, Cosette, Fantine’s daughter, falls in love, whilst Valjean and Javert’s paths continue to entwine.

The source material from the original novel, and the stage show lends itself well to an adaptation, but Tom Hooper has brought a fantastic think to the big screen, even making sure of the authenticity of everything by actually recording Live singing, rather than having the actors mime to a pre-recorded track.

Hugh Jackman is phenomenal in this, and a definite mention needs to go to Hathaway and Crowe for their singing abilities.

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Page 40/365 : Fittings, Pork & Lost again

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Dave On Film

Up n at em fairly early this morning. Elle did a cracking breakfast whilst preparing tea early (I will come back to that shortly) before she needed dropping off in Morley for Zumba. I went back home, picked up Lawlor and headed into Leeds to pick Crooksy up who had travelled up from Portsmouth for all of three hours for the suit fitting.

We headed over to Ossett, but got there a bit early for our appointment at the tailors Carl Stuart’s, so we went for a wander around Ossett…which to be fair to the place, was a shithole. It was a Saturday afternoon and there was hardly anyone about. We got giddy when we saw a sign proclaiming to be a stocking of WWE and other wrestling merchandise…only to peek through the door to see an old bloke selling stair lifts!!! In the corner, near the door, there was about twos shelves with some WWE figures on but that was it.

After we went for a quick game of Pool, we went back to the tailors and got the boys fitted up for their suits. Gotta get everyone else in on March 23rd for fittings.

Headed back to Morley to pick Elle up before taking Crooksy back to Leeds City Centre for him to hop back on the Megabus back to Portsmouth via London.

Went to Amy’s to drop off a parcel before coming home for tea…see, I told you we’d come back to it…

We were having BBQ Pulled Pork which had been cooking in the slow cooker since this morning. Oh my it was delightful…and the best thing about it was that it was totally Syn free on Slimming World! Get in! The bread roll and coleslaw weren’t though! Haha.

Watched another 6 episodes of the first series of Lost too! Good times.

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Page 39/365 : The “Lost” Pizza

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Dave On Film

Busy bee at work again. New system I implemented giving me tonnes to do to keep on top of things. Even got meetings arranged for Monday to talk through where we are with things.

At lunch, was given a free £1 go on the Deal Or No Deal app. Won £5 before going all out. Asked Ro in the office to pick a number at random….and won £50. Brilliant!

Lawlor up on the coach (after totalling his car last week) for the weekend. Crooksy up tomorrow for suit fitings. Indulged in some BBQ chicken wings before grabbing some beers and taking a trip down Memory Lane and going wild with a Sky Pizza.

When they delivered, they brought Lawlor the wrong pizza so he had to wait! Nightmare.

Started watching Lost from the beginning again. Did 5 episodes at the beginning of Season 1 which ain’t bad going for one night! Looking forward to getting deeper into it all again. It seems a long way away from 2004 watching a “new” show that me and Chris Jenkins had heard about. We used to download it (using work’s Internet connection) and watch in our Lunch hour. It was funny because all the episodes we downloaded had French subtitles on. Jenks and I quickly learned that “Je Suis Desolee” means I’m sorry!

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Page 38/365 : Panic stations

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Dave On Film

Well the approach to year end panic station is fully active and this year, it looks like I am going to cop it full force! We’ll see how things pan out.

Watched plenty of Prison Break, almost getting to the end but Elle was falling asleep with 12 minutes to go! Fail!

Looking forward to Lawlor coming over tomorrow for the weekend. It’s suit fitting for the best men on Saturday so Croosky is up on Saturday for it too. Looking forward to a catchup!

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Page 37/365 : Cry baby

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Dave On Film

Had a docs appointment this afternoon for a follow up to the previous appointment. Was told all bloods, ECG and blood pressure was spot on so nothing to worry about.

Elle was going to Zumba tonight with Kim so me and Kev babysat Millie up at theirs for an hour or so. She was screaming and crying until Kim went, then she went to sleep so on went WWE ’13. Good times.

We had to turn it off before we finished a huge Royal Rumble we set up though as Millie woke up and Kev had to change her.

Oooooh Keema Curry for tea made by Elle. Was yummy.

Up to episode 19 on the final season of Prison Break now before the Lost marathon begins! Can’t wait!

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