The Mentalist - The Red Mile

Yay, Patrick Jane is back!  He hasn't really been away, but his character had mellowed a bit and wasn't doing the usual carney schtick he does.  But in this episode he does.  A man is found dead in a field, shot and with his neck slashed open.  When the coroner, Steiner, brilliantly played by George Wyner, takes the body away, they are highjacked and the body is stolen.  The story then investigates the victims family and work all the while, Jane has worked out who the killer is.
Meanwhile, he shows compassion to the coroner, whom he would usually poke fun at when he deduces that he is terminally ill.  The episode ends rather shockingly but poignantly and adds yet another layer to our complex hero.  This is powerful television and brave writing.  Congratulations.  Another exceptional episode of The Mentalist.

White Noise

Ah, Mr Micheal Keaton.  Where have you been?  I miss you!  I have generally enjoyed your movies and White Noise is another I can add to my list.  White Noise refers to the static that you get on a television or radio when there is no station.  Apparently there is a very real phenomena called EVP or Electronic Voice Phenomenon where the dead can communicate with the living through electrical items.  This concept is used as the premise for this story.
Michael Keaton's character Jonathan Rivers loses his pregnant wife and is told that she is trying to contact him from the other side through EVP.  Raymond Price has been recording the deceased and helping people connect with their loved ones.  However, there is also evil prescences that also want to get their message out.  When Raymond is found dead amongst the inexplicable destruction of his electrical equipment, Jonathan takes over and starts to help people, all the while trying to reconnect with his dead wife.  And the evil prescence is stalking him.
This is a very good looking film.  Every shot is thought about and is constructed beautifully.  I think the director, Geoffrey Sax has done a great job, but the story isn't sure of what it wants to be and takes a route to try and tie the storyline up in a nice neat bow, realises it has painted itself into a corner and has no way out except the ending they had.  Even the very very end is a little bit cliche for a chance of a sequel, which there is one but apparently it has nothing to do with this movie!  Go Figure.  However the sequel does star Nathan Fillion so it can't be all bad!
I was really enjoying this film but I thought the ending was poorly executed. Having said that, I will be buying my own copy on Blu-Ray when I get the chance! 6/10.

Parenthood - Qualities and Difficulties

This week, Adam and Kristina must deal with the aftermath of Crosby forcing the situation of Max overhearing that he has Asperger's syndrome.  They try to talk to him but don't do a great job.  Adam is having major problems dealing with this and ends up playing hookey with him and going to a theme park but the ride Max was going to ride all day has to close down due to mechanical faults and Max has an episode which puts it all back into perspective for Adam.  Some really great acting from Peter Krause.
Meanwhile Crosby keeps digging himself deeper into trouble and Jasmine wants nothing to do with him.  Jasmine was going to look after Sydney so Julia and Joel can celebrate their 8th wedding anniversary but she breaks down so they change their plans.
Lastly, Sarah finds out she has a skill at writing a play but can't get a promotion as a manager of the bar she keeps at.  Which for her turns out to be a good thing as it would have meant more responsibility and less money.
All in all, a solid episode.

Glee - Blame It On The Alcohol

I was surprised at first that Glee would do a story on alcohol, but in hindsight it is pretty tame compared to some of the storylines they have tackled!  And let's be honest, all high school kids want to try alcohol, even the Gleeks!
Some OK performances in this episode which is also directed by Eric Stoltz, his second this season.  I must be getting old.  I only knew one song this time "Don't You Want Me" which Rachel and Blaine sing together at a drunken party she has when her parents are away.  Blaine is confused if he is gay or not and thinks about a romance with Rachel.  Poor Kurt.  Will he ever get his man?
Not sure if the message that drinking is bad got through as they ended up drinking before a performance about not drinking and consequently there was vomiting. This would have been punishment, except the principal thought they were acting and used special effects to highlight their message, so they got away with it.
Not a great episode.

Neil Diamond - In My Lifetime

There really isn't enough space on the entire internet for me to write how highly I think of Neil Diamond.  He is an astounding song writer and has one of the most distinguishable voices.  I have been fortunate to own a massive three disc set called In My Lifetime that spans Neil Diamond's recording career from his very first song that he wrote ("Hear Them Bells' - one of my very favourite songs!  I love to relisten to this whenever it comes on my iPhone on shuffle!) through his hits of the 60's and 70's, into the 80's and then his more modern music.  The songs span from a lot of sad songs about losing love, to joyous songs about life, to religion, to deeper meanings about the individual.  There are songs about places (he loves New York!) and people, and music itself.  There are simply too many songs on here for me to pick all my favourites.
Now I am sure this is not a definitive list but Neil Diamond wrote songs for movies!  Here are the ones I could find that are featured on this amazing compilation set:

I Am... I said – "Holy Smoke"

Prologue, Lonely Looking Sky, Skybird, Dear Father, Be – "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

America, Love On The Rocks, Hello Again – "The Jazz Singer"

Love On The Rocks – "Donnie Brasco" 

I can't go without mentioning 'Heartlight' the little song that was inspired by the movie E.T. which I believe Neil Diamond was sued for!  I remember hearing the song and I went out and bought the 45.  I still have it!  (Kids, ask your Mum and Dad!)

In My Lifetime is the best compilation of Neil Diamond's hits ever.  It comes with a great book too!

The Hunt For Gollum - Original Musical Soundtrack

I am a huge fan of Lord Of The Rings and loved the movies made by Peter Jackson.  I also love the music of the films by Howard Shore.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there was a fan film made of a prequel to the LOTR films in the Peter Jackson fashion called The Hunt for Gollum.  The quality of this fan film is exceptional!  What they have done with such a limited budget (rumoured to be around 3000 pounds) is just amazing.  As they aren't permitted to make any money from this film, it is freely available to watch on YouTube through their website.  Just click on the link at the bottom of the post to go to their website.
The film isn't the only amazing thing.  The Original Musical Soundtrack is astounding!  I loved the Howard Shore scores and this fan made score is a wonderful companion piece to the original soundtracks.  It captures the essense of Howard Shore's work while creating it's own identity.  It sounds like it came from the LOTR films!  What an achievement.  One of my favourite pieces of music has to be 'Crossing The Misty Mountains'.  Every time I listen to this soundtrack, I rewind this track.  Pure Brilliance!  The other piece I love is 'Aragorn and Gollum'.  I have to congratulate the three composers who collaborated on this project, Adam Langston, Andrew Skrabutenas and Chris Bouchard (also the director and executive producer).
As an added bonus, if you look for the soundtrack on the website, you will find it is also free to download!  No tricks!  And they even have a printable jewelcase art for your own CD copy!
I have to wholeheartedly recommend watching this and downloading this soundtrack.  It is incredible and even more so because it is fan made.  Spectacular!
I've just read that there is also another film called Born of Hope which is almost twice as long as this!  The link is on the website.  I am going to try and watch it asap!  Hope there's a soundtrack to that too!

Supernatural - You Can't Handle The Truth

Great Jack Nicholson line (No, he's not in it!) but it is very much describing Dean, but more on that later.
Sam and Dean investigate a spate of suicides that end up being related because they die after everyone telling them the ugly truth about themselves.  Dean invokes the 'curse' on himself inadvertantly and decides to put Sam on the spot about watching while the vampire force fed him blood (last episode).  Sam surprising answers that he doesn't know what Dean is talking about which is good enough for Dean.
They discover the responsible party for the nasty goings on is Veritas, the Goddess of Truth.  Noone can lie to her.  When the boys try to destroy her, she captures them and is going to consume them but first makes Dean tell Sam how he really feels and vice versa.  However, she is shocked to find that Sam is lying!  She doesn't know what he is!  Of course the boys are victorious but then Dean demands to know what Sam is.  Sam confesses that since he has been out, he has been different but only that he doesn't feel anything, especially not fear.  Dean is shocked and consequently beats the living crap out of Sam and that is how it ends.  Not handled very well at all!  Where do the boys go from here?
A good but mediocre episode that serves to move us further along the season 6 path of Sam's story since his return from The Pit.  Not bad for coasting but we need to keep the pressure on to continue the excellent quality of this show. Apparently this pays off as I recently read that they are getting a seventh season!  Woo Hoo!

Phil Collins - Hits

Ahh, one of my all time favourite performers, right up there with Robert Palmer, is Mr Phil Collins.  This compilation is a great collection of his bigger hits and some of these even featured in films.  Phil Collins was the go to guy for a nice song for an eighties movie that generally wasn't too good but did well at the box office all due to having a Phil Collins song as it's theme. Case in point is "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" is from an obscure movie starring Jeff Bridges and Australian Bryan Brown's wife, Rachel Ward that tried to cash in on the Raiders and Romancing the Stone wave with a little archeology in a weak story that really had nothing to do with raiding tombs.  The second is a better film, White Nights, which is a remnant of the cold war starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines.  Phil Collins sings "Separate Lives", a beautifully sad song in a duet with Marilyn Martin. I actually bought this CD soundtrack based on this Phil Collins song. While he was happily married to his second wife at the time this came out, I wonder if he sang this thinking of wife number one?  Both songs got nominated for an Academy Award.
Two other songs on the album are from the movie Buster that he also starred in.  He has done some movie work int he past (famously beginning his career in The Beatles 'A Hard Day's Night') and some TV work, especially in Miami Vice where 'In The Air Tonight' got some air play, and also features on this album.  Love the drum solo on this!
Anyway, back to Buster.  The two songs from Buster were 'Groovy Kind Of Love' and 'Two Hearts', both which I originally bought on CD single!
Phil Collins is an incredibly talented man, who can play the drums (among many other instruments!), write music, he has an incredible voice and he can act!  Some of his songs are sad while others are incredibly upbeat with some great percussion and brass.  He has written entire soundtracks for Disney, but they don't feature on this album so I won't go in to them today.  Maybe in a future post! Love this man and love this album!

The Mentalist - Bloodstream

While investigating the death of a doctor on a golf driving range, Lisbon gives LaRoche a piece of her mind when he shows up at the scene asking if she has been contacted by Agent Hightower.  LaRoche then reveals he is Hightower's replacement and summarily demotes Lisbon and places Cho in charge of the team for the investigation.
Besides these changes in leadership, this is a pretty run-of-the-mill episode. There are enough red herrings to keep you guessing but it was always going to be a difficult job to follow last week's episode with something just as good.

Tangled

Disney's 50th Animated Motion Picture Feature is excellent film!  It is a mixture of the old school, Princess stories and the new action/comedy done in CGI.  I have to say the CGI is immaculate.  The colours are fantastic and the depth of the image and the detail is exquisite.  I suppose it had to be to be successful as a 3D film. Unfortunately I only got to see it last night on DVD, but it looked brilliant on my telly.
Tangled is the story of Rapunzel but updated to a more Disney Princess story.  It is the story of a girl trapped away from the outside world who wants to get out and is given the opportunity when a theif trying to escape the guards, accidentally stumbles on Rapunzel's Tower.  Of course nothing is simple as she was stolen away by Mother Gothel, who needs Rapunzel's magic hair to stay young.  The chase is on.
The story is reminiscent of any parent's nightmare of their young daughter being protected from the outside world, defying their wishes to follow a boy and then fighting with the parent and saying very hurtful things.  Of course, Mother Gothel is no model parent but this was very well portrayed.  Also, it was great the way they showed the young's over-confidence and almost immediate swing to insecurity and back again.
I loved the way the character's were drawn, especially Rapunzel's HUGE eyes.
The characters were voiced by Mandy Moore as Rapunzel; Zachary Levi as our hero, Flynn Rider; Donna Murphy does a spectacular job as Mother Gothel (her singing voice is magnificent!); Ron Perlman plays the dual role of Flynn's 'partners', the Stabbington Brothers; Jeffrey Tambor, Brad Garrett and Richard Kiel all supply voices of thugs!
For their 50th animated feature it was great to see them return to the classic sounds with Alan Menken doing the music and it shows.  There are some great numbers in here, 'When Will My Life Begin?'is reminiscent of Cinderella; Donna Murphy does a magnificent job with 'Mother Knows Best', rounded out with 'I've Got a Dream' (lots of fun in the pub!) and 'I See The Light'.  Whiel these songs and the music is very good, it is just not memorable.  There doesn't appear to be a theme that grabbed me.  In the old days, when you thought of a Disney movie, you could probably hum the tune for the theme.  I couldn't tell you what it was for this.  And it is for this reason alone, I can't give this film the 10/10 it so deserves.  For me, Tangled is brilliant Disney and is a very worthy 9/10.
On an end note, for the 50th animated feature, the DVD sucked.  The only extras were a couple of different versions of the beginning (the King stole the flower off Mother Gothel, no wonder she stole the baby!), a VERY quick retrospective of all 50 Disney animated films (and I do mean quick, perhaps a second or two per film!  Look it up on YouTube) and for some incomprehensible reason, a Czechoslovakian version of a song from the soundtrack?!?  WTF??!!  And that is it!?  Pathetic really.  I hope the Blu-Ray has more in it.

SciFiNow - Issue 51

Firstly, I would like to publicly thank Mr Stephen Webb, Deputy Circulation Manager for Imagine Publishing who produce the excellent SciFiNow magazine.  Last post regarding issue no50, I was concerned that we weren't receiving any free covermounts.  Steve looked into it and found there had been no covermounts since issue 32 when we got the last lot of freebies.  I had found an image on the web of issue 50 with a free Dr Who CD and I sent him that and I practically accused his production office of not knowing about their own magazine and for giving him false information about covermounts.  The image ended up being someone selling a copy of issue 50 with a CD from another magazine.  I would now like to take this opportunity to apologise to the Imagine Publishing Production Office for my comments and once again thank Mr Webb for his exceptional customer service skills in handling my enquiry.
Now lets look at issue 51.  I finished this yesterday and thought I was up to date but I picked up issue 52 this morning!  I will eventually catch up!
The cover story was talking about the final season of Smallville.  I never got into this show but it is a good article.  Perhaps I should revisit it on DVD.  I believe the final episode has gone to air in the US. A great article on Paul.  I really want to see this movie.  A good wrap up of the pre-Avengers movie, uh, movies.  Must get my bum out of my chair and see Thor while it is still playing!  A very good interview with Warren Ellis on the behind the scene of the business side of the comics industry.  And I didn't realise there were so many Phillip K Dick movies based on his work.  I read this morning that Disney are releasing an animated feature in 2013,called King of the Elves, that is based on a Phillip K Dick story!  How cool is that?
Thanks guys for the article on Battle:Los Angeles.  I really enjoyed this film and to learn a bit more about the production was excellent.
In the literary section, there is a great interview with author Neal Asher and the Classic Fiction section this month is dedicated to Stephen King and his novel Carrie.  This was incredibly fascinating and it was amazing to think how close Carrie and thus his career never came to be.  How many times in our lives have we made decisions that have had incredible impacts on our lives?  His book of his memoir, 'On Writing' sounds like a great read.  I have only ever liked The Stand and never really enjoyed Mr King's writing style.  I am more of a Dean Koontz fan.  I hope they do a feature on him!
A really great Complete Guide this month, this time on Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  Once again, I could never get into this show but after reading this article, I am keen to get into the DVD box sets and watch this from the beginning to the end.  I really enjoyed the interview with Scott Bakula.  He seems very personable and laid back with his responses and it is great to see he is still so supportive of Enterprise.  That was one show I saw every episode of and I really enjoyed it.  It was killed off too soon.  The Modern Classic is Space:Above And Beyond.  I watched this show as I was a huge X-Files fan but we didn't get the whole season here in Australia, or if we did they probably changed the time slot to some obscure middle of the night slot.  I also really enjoyed the Tom Baker article too.  I grew up with him as the Doctor.
Lastly, for Which Robocop Character Are You?, I was incredibly boring (it was over in two questions!) but I am apparently Sergeant Reed.  Once again, haven't seen Robocop.  I actually fell asleep in it!!
Another great edition of SciFiNow Magazine.  By it now!

Huey Lewis & The News - The Heart Of Rock & Roll: The Best Of

One of my all time favourite bands, Huey Lewis & the News are such a talented group.  I just love their sound and they are so good they often sing acapella.  They also win my vote because they are responsible for my all time favourite song "The Power Of Love" from the film 'Back To The Future'.  Another song from this movie is also on this Best Of compilation, 'Back In Time'.  Every song on this album is sheer brilliance (bar one - Trouble In Paradise which sounds like a dog's breakfast).  Their first big hit 'Do You Believe In Love' showed what they could do, but one of their best songs is "The Heart of Rock & Roll".  I also love "I Want A New Drug" which the band ended up suing Ray Parker Jr for ripping off the music for the theme song for the movie 'Ghostbusters'.  These guys don't just write poppy hits either. If you listen to their lyrics they often tell stories of injustice but alot about love. I simply love "Huey Lewis & the News".

Bryan Adams - Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman

I have always enjoyed Bryan Adams style of rock but have also appreciated his ballads.  In fact one of his songs was my wife and my's wedding dance song.  When I bought his greatest hits, it came with a CD single of 'Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman' as a bonus.  This was the theme song from the Johnny Depp/Marlon Brando movie 'Don Juan DeMarco' which I haven't seen.  It's a nice song but that's about it.

Happy Feet - Original Soundtrack

Happy Feet was a cause for celebration in Australian film.  It was our first major computer generated motion picture and it had a bevy of Aussie and International stars to lend their voices.  Not only did they speak, but the movie had a LOT of singing in it.  In fact the story is about the song that each penguin has in it's heart.  For such an amazing film there had to be a damn good soundtrack to go with it and they didn't disappoint!
From movie stars like Hugh Jackman doing Elvis, the late and brilliantly talented Brittany Murphy (They were going to get someone else to sing her parts until she proved she could do both the speaking role and the singing. She is missed.  Gone way too soon.) singing Queen's Somebody To Love and Earth, Wind and Fire's Boogie Wonderland, to Robin Williams singing My Way and Nicole Kidman singing Prince's Kiss.  Coincidentally, Prince supplies one of the finest songs on the album, "The Song Of The Heart" which he won a Golden Globe for Best Song but got snubbed by the Academy when he didn't even get a nomination!  Other modern singers include K.D. Lang and Pink, plus some classic Beach Boys thrown in as well.  My favourite song is Gia Farrell's "Hit Me Up".  Jamal-Ski and the Brand New heavies gives us the fun 'Jump n' Move' and the album finishes off with a duet/mash up between Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders and a relatively unknown Jason Mraz singing 'The Joker/Everything I Own'.
If you loved the moive, and I know you did, then you need to have this album.  Buy it now!

Parenthood - Do Not Sleep With Your Autistic Nephew's Therapist

Poor Crosby. I feel sorry for him.  It appears everything he does, turns out hurting more people than helping.  Case in point, he fights with his controlling fiance, Jasmine and leaves and she doesn't want to talk to him and work things out, then she doesn't bring their son to Max's party and one thing leads to another and Crosby ends up sleeping with Gaby.  Silly boy decides he loves Jasmine not Gaby forcing Gaby to quit her job looking after Max, which has massive impacts on how the Braverman's deal with their son.  I thought it was disappointing to see how Kristina reacts to Gaby telling her why she quit, even though Gaby didn't want to tell her.  Jasmine finds out Crosby slept with someone (she doesn't know who yet) when she goes to his boat house to talk to him (Oh now she wants to talk!) while he is drunk.  He tries to get her to leave and I must say this part was poorly written.  He says he did something stupid and instead of assuming he meant fighting with her, she goes straight to the line of him doing something else stupid and nags him until he tells her.  Of course, now she doesn't want anything to do with him again.  Gaby is still free!
Meanwhile, Adam has to deal with Alex coming over all the time and then his daughter forces him to invite him to his basketball game where Alex proceeds to show him up on the court!  Bad move Alex!  Never beat your potential Father-In-law if you want to keep going out with his daughter.
Also Seth shows his true colours and once again lets his kids down by leaving to continue touring and breaking off a planned trip to Alcatraz.  I am sure he will be back in the picture.
Lastly, Julia and Joel's daughter decides that she is now a vegetarian and Zeke sticks his heels in and forces her to eat a meal with meat in it when he and Camille babysit.  When Julia confronts him about it, Camille defends Zeke.  He is so touched by her support, he later kisses her and they end up making love.
Lots happened in this episode.  One of the good ones.  If you are not watching this show, get into it!

Newton Faulkner - Dream Catch Me

This is just a quick post.  I have the song 'Dream Catch Me' on my iPod, which is from Newton Faulkner's fourth album "Hand Built by Robots".  I just really loved the lyrics and Newton's voice, so I bought it from iTunes and listen to it now and then.  I have just found out that it featured in the 2010 movie "She's Out Of My League", which I haven't seen yet, but I liked the trailer.

Queen - Greatest Hits 1

Another Greatest Hits collection to listen to and one of the world's favourite bands, which is surprising considering their music, which I absolutely love, is really a mix of opera, barbershop quartet and rock!  Who would have thought that the band with the denture-challenged front man, Freddie Mercury, would become one of the biggest bands in the history of music!  Every one of their songs are anthems in their own right with some spectacular guitar, drum and harmonies powering out of the speakers. 
Being the big music that they do, makes their songs ripe for use in movie soundtracks and there are a couple of noteable mentions.  In fact nearly 50 movies have used Queen songs.  I will only list the songs performed by Queen as featured on their first Greatest Hits collection.  there are a lot of remix versions and cover versions by other performers, as well as other songs not featured on this album.  Thanks to Queenpedia for this list:

1978 - FM - We Will Rock You
1980 - Flash Gordon - Flash Gordon Soundtrack
1984 - Revenge Of The Nerds - We Are The Champions
1992 - Breaking The Rules - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
1992 - Peter's Friends - You're My Best Friend
1992 - Wayne's World - Bohemian Rhapsody
1993 - National Lapoon's Loaded Weapon 1 - Bohemian Rhapsody
1993 - Son In Law - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
1994 - D2: The Mighty Ducks - We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions
1996 - Mr. Wrong - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
1997 - The Big One - We Will Rock You
1999 - 200 Cigarettes - Another One Bites The Dust
1999 - Any Given Sunday - We Will Rock You
1999 - Mickey Blue Eyes - We Are The Champions
2000 - High Fidelity - We Are The Champions
2000 - The Replacements - We Will Rock You
2003 - Blackball - Don't Stop Me Now
2004 - Shaun Of The Dead - Don't Stop Me Now, You're My Best Friend
2004 - Super Size Me - Fat Bottomed Girls
2005 - Kicking & Screaming - We Are The Champions
2005 - The Pacifier - We Will Rock You
2007 - Blades Of Glory - Flash's Theme
2007 - I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry - You're My Best Friend

Who out there doesn't think of Wayne and Garth and their friends banging their heads to 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and don't start doing it themselves?
The entire soundtrack to the film "Flash Gordon" was done by Queen, not just the theme song.  I ordered this through my local record store when I was at high school and bought it on cassette and played it to death!  I can still recite the lines from beginning of the album, "Klytus I'm bored.  What plaything have you to offer me today?  An obscure planet in the SK system.  The inhabitants refer to it as the planet, Earth. (pronounced Earrrrrttthh!)  How peaceful it looks. (Button pushed, destruction ensues). Ha ha ha ha ha.  Most effective your majesty.  And will you destroy this Earth.  Later.  I like to play with things awhile, before annihalation!"  (Cue Flash's Theme!!)  Don't quote me on this, but I think that is pretty close.  I am trying to remember this from over twenty years ago when the cassette bit the dust from being over played!
It's amazing how many great songs Queen have made (I suppose that is why they have three Greatest Hits collections! Must get the other two) and if you don't like Queen, check that you have a pulse.

Tina Arena - Greatest hits 1994-2004

One of Australia's finest female performers with a voice as clear and crisp as the toll of a fine bell.  I love listening to Tina Arena sing.  I had the pleasure of a very brief meeting where she was in the Brisbane Queen Street Mall signing copies of her album Don't Ask.  She was very accomodating and happy to sign the album to my wife so I could give it to her as a gift.  We had both grown up watching Tina on Young Talent Time and we were so excited when she had reinvented herself with the amazing 'Chains',which is a standout on this album.  There are so many wonderful songs on this greatest hits collection.  One of my favourites is 'Wasn't it Good', a bitter-sweet song of loss, 'Now I can Dance' is a song of hope and 'Soul Mate No 9' is pure fun (I loved the video clip when it came out). 'Symphony of Life' is wonderful as is 'That's the Way a Woman Feels' which is a special song for me.  I replay Tina's version of Maria McKee's "Days of Thunder" hit 'Show Me Heaven' - I so love her voice. 
But this is not the movie reference that I know you were all waiting for.  Our Aussie, Tina Arena, had the theme song from the first Zorro film "The Mask of Zorro" entitled 'I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You' which she sang as a duet with Marc Anthony!
If you have never had the pleasure of listening to Tina Arena, please check this collection out as a starting point.  You will be so happy you did.

Lie To Me - The Canary's Song

This week's episode was a little close to what happened in New Zealand with the mine explosion.  Was this show written before that happened or because of that event?  They both had a young man who perished in his first week on the job.  Lightman is called in to expose the truth about who was responsible for the explosion and the deaths of the miners.  A pretty generic sort of story from that point of view.
Meanwhile, the FBI have footage of Lightman playing poker with known criminals and they want him to help them catch them or they will arrest him.  Lightman's partner, Foster, goes to bat for him and offers to get the guys as long as the FBI leave Lightman alone.
The episode ends with Foster and Torres celebrating by drinking a 50 year bottle of scotch that belongs to Lightman.  He comes back to the office to find Torres passed out and Foster very drunk.  She ends up in his arms and that's how it ends.  Does he take advantage of her?  What is it with their relationship?
An OK episode but nothing spectacular.

Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits

It really was just a coincidence that the very day I was listening to Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits, Glee was doing a Fleetwood Mac special!  Honest!  It was the next album on my iPod!
Fleetwood Mac!  What a band!  Mick Fleetwood on the drums, driving every song with a brilliant beat.  Lindsay Buckingham, not only playing the guitar, and every song is pretty much drums and guitar (have a listen - just fantastic!) but he also has a unique voice.  Talking about unique voices, the magical, haunting voice of Stevie Nicks is such a beautiful part of the Fleetwood Mac experience. The band is rounded out by Christine and John McVie.  (Actually the band has had heaps of different band members over the years but this is the quintessential group.)
I really can't think of any songs of theirs that I don't like.  I just go to a really happy place every time I listen to them.  Some of my favourites include Tusk, Sara, Rhiannon, oh and I just love the little song of Oh Diane.
Well of course, to be mentioned in my blog, there has to be a movie reference and it appears there have been two songs featured in movies: The exceptional Go Your Own Way was in Forrest Gump (along with almost every other song in the last fifty years!) and the slightly uncomfortable to listen to around children Big Love which was in Elizabethtown.
Every person should own The Greatest Hits of Fleetwood Mac. Sit back with a bottle of wine and enjoy!

Tom Jones - Greatest Hits

Tom Jones, has such an exceptional voice, he has featured in numerous movies.  I have had the pleasure of listening to his Greatest Hits that ranges from his early beginnings to his new music resurgence.  Personally, I like his newer stuff, like Sex Bomb, Kiss, If I Only Knew, Burning Down The House and Mama Told Me Not To Come.
Here's a list of all the songs used in movies off the album:

What's New Pussycat? - What's New Pussycat?; Paulie.
Thunderball - Thunderball (One of the best Bond themes!)
Kiss - My Stepmother Is An Alien (Tom Jones does Prince!)
Delilah - Edward Scissorhands
It's Not Unusual (Nine movies and counting!) - Edward Scissorhands; Hot Shots!; Home For The Holidays; Things I Never Told You; Flipper; Life Is A Bluff; Little Voice; Highway 61; Lake Placid;
You Can Leave Your Hat On - The Full Monty (There is a medly on the album with Robbie Williams, very cool!
Green, Green Grass Of Home - House Of America; The Girl With Brains In Her Feet;

Everyone should own a Tom Jones album.  This is probably the best one.

Supernatural - Live Free or Twihard

Oh my.  I suppose it was bound to happen.  With the massive interest in Vampires (i.e. Twilight) there was bound to be a show that related to it eventually.  Now I don't know if they were trying to be funny (because it wasn't) but to have the girl victim called Kristen and the boy vampire called Robert and to search for a password to the girl's laptop and try Lautner and "How do you spell Patt...?" was just too much!  I am sure the teenage girls out there who love Twilight thought it was cool, but as a follower of Supernatural, it was a bit lame.
I was sort of hoping for a Bruce Willis cameo to bust up some vamp ass but it was not to be.  That's not to say this was a bad episode.  In fact, this episode revealed a bit more about Sam.
Sam is not Sam.  He stood by and watched while a vampire turned Dean!  What's with that?  And now, Dean remembers and he saw Sam do nothing but smile.  This is going to make things difficult between the two boys.  And he can't go back to his woman because he did that when he was becomeing a vampire and pushed around her little boy.  Of course there was a way to turn Dean back but how the hell were they going to do it?
There was a good line where Dean stops what he thinks is a real vampire but is actually a boy trying to pick up a Twilight loving chick.  Dean asks him if he is wearing glitter.  The vamp answers that it helps him get laid.  Dean stops and asks, Does that work?  Yep!  Dean has to think about that a little!  Ah Dean, that's why we love you, because all us guys want to be a lot like you! (because all the girls want to be with you!).
So who is Sam?  Is he really Lucifer? Or are they are mixture?  Can't wait to find out!

Shania Twain - Greatest Hits

One of my favourite singers, I have found out today, had a song on the soundtrack to one of my favourite movies.
Shania Twain is not only a beautiful woman, but one of the best country and contemporary vocalists of the last ten years.  Captured on one great album are her 'Greatest Hits'.  The song I am referring to is "No One Needs To Know" which features on the soundtrack to 'Twister' which is one of the first movies to bring CGI realism to film.  I have seen this movie heaps of times (I actually loved Helen Hunt in this!) but never picked up on the Shania Twain song.  Just another excuse to watch it again.  Perhaps I should pick it up on Blu-Ray?  Anyway, 'No One Needs to Know' is a fun little song that I didn't think I'd heard before this album.  It's indicative of the fun-filled lyrics of most of Shania's songs.  Her music choices range from these fun-lovin' tracks to love ballads that would fit into any wedding dance, to girl power songs.  Her songs are generally positive in tone which is a welcome change to today's grungy negative output. 
The music is also exceptional with some great guitar, drum and violin to create a modern music feel to some 'country' songs.  All her songs tell a story and some of them are quite fun to listen to: the aforementioned 'No One Needs to Know', 'Up!', 'That Don't Impress Me Much', "Honey, I'm Home', 'I'm Outta Here', 'I Ain't No Quitter' and my favourite 'Who's Bed have Your Boots Been Under?'.
Strangely there are two versions of the same song, (which sound almost exactly the same!?), the slightly naughty 'Party For Two'.  One version with Mark McGrath and the other with Billy Currington.  Maybe they couldn't pick which was the better version?
Anyway, I love Shania Twain.  Shania, if you are out there, where have you been?  Please come back and bring us some more of that fun-lovin', boot-scootin', contemporary-country that we have all heard and loved.  We're waiting!

The Mentalist - Red Queen

What a way of finishing off an exceptional weekend of television. The Mentalist is back on Nine in Australia and it's return is a big one.
The episode opens with the CBI team hunting a suspect in their own offices and finding Agent Hightower holding Patrick Jane hostage with a shotgun taped to the base of his skull! WTF?!?
The story commences with the death of an antiquities dealer in a museum and the theft of an artifact. It is made to look like Columbian gun-runners are responsible but Jane sees through this. As the show progresses, it is becoming more clear that the murderer also killed Tod Johnson and is Agent Hightower.
A very tense episode keeping you guessing to the very end! Yeah! The Mentalist is back!

NCIS - "A Man Walks Into A Bar..."

What starts as a normal episode of NCIS where the team investigates the death of a Navy XO turns into one of the best episodes when they have to do it while being assessed for psychiatric evaluation.
The cool thing with this episode is that each person keeps coming back to how they feel about the loss of Agent Kate Todd from almost six years ago.  This seemed very strange that they were all considering her so long after her death but the link is revealed near the end, which I won't ruin for anyone who hasn't seen thsi excellent episode yet.
It was really good to see Kate back in the show, even if it was a series of flashbacks.  I always thought I didn't want to collect this series on DVD but this has made me very nostalgic.  Don't be surprised if in a couple of years time I do a review of season one!
There was even a good twist on the real reason for the XO's death after a number of red herrings.  Very clever writing yet again.
And in reference to the episode title, it is the beginning of a joke that the psyc evaluator tells Gibbs: "A man walks into a bar and asks the bar tender for a glass of water.  The bar tender pulls out a shotgun and shoots the man narrowly missing him.  The man says 'Thank you' and leaves a tip ont eh bar and walks out"  Gibbs answers, "He has the hiccups".  This is in reference to the bar tender recognising the hiccups and scareing them out of the man rather than using a glass of water.  So does this mean to see someone who appears to be a threat initially as more of a help?  What does this mean for future stories?
A great episode and highly recommended.

House - Two Stories

YES!!  Finally, the writers of House have changed the format and finally we have one of the best episodes of House!  The pre-credit sequence has noone get sick!  Yes, we still have someone with an illness (a patient literally coughs up a lung!) but the diagnosis of him is the back story for a change.
The story has House sitting at the principal's office of a school with a boy and girl and he is retelling the story of him talking to the students in a career day about the patient with the terrible cough but is also talking about his relationship with Cutty.  The juxtaposition of him a Cutty with the two students is very well done.
One of the best parts was House retelling his story but flavouring it as if it was from a movie and one of the students recognising each movie (Pulp Fiction, A Few Good Men, Ghostbusters, to name a few) which was so much fun.
A really fun episode with House realising he really does need Cutty.  Make sure you catch this episode.

Slither

When I recorded this movie off television to watch, all I knew is that is was a horror and it had Nathan Fillion in it.  Good enough for me.  Last night my wife asked if I had anything scary that I had taped to watch.  I offered this and we watched it and I have to say, we really enjoyed it!  My wife is hard to please with films and even though she said it was very GROSS, she thought it had some great one liners in it.  Most of these were from Captain Tightpants himself and my favourite was when he first sees the monster.
Just briefly, the story has a meteor crash near a small American country town and it brings a slug like alien with it.  A man gets injected by the alien who then takes over his body and starts to kill animals around the county.  He abducts a woman to make his incubator for more slugs, then things get really gross.
In fact the physical make up effects are fantastic!  The writer/director, James Gunn, brings his Troma roots to a mainstream feature with some great horror moments mixed with a good dollop of humour. (Scooby Doo, which he also wrote the movies for, this aint!).
This has got a bit of swearing in it (makes it incredibly funny!) and is pretty gross but I really enjoyed this film. A great night in and there is a small bit after the credits so stick around. 7/10

NCIS: Los Angeles - Little Angels

SPOILER ALERT - The answer to this week's case is in the episode title, so a predictable storyline.  Having said that, it's another solid episode of the show.
A girl goes missing but the father, a US Navy Commander, recieves a video of her being buried alive.  There were three other girls abducted the same way but only two were ever discovered and the guilty party had been in prison for some years.  How is he doing this from inside prison?  Was it him all the time?  Did he have an accomplice or is there a copycat?
Sam takes this episode very seriously because the exact same thing happened to him in Bosnia (a little too coincidental guys).
Not a bad episode but not the best they have done.  Hetty even offers to rub lotion on Sam's butt after landing in poison oak.  Eww. And yes, that's a Mandalore playing the prisoner. It's Louis, brother of Australian actor Costas.

Star Wars The Clone Wars The Movie

I am a HUGE Star Wars Fan!  I grew up with Star Wars (I was nine when the original movie was released.) and still LOVE it.  So imagine my excitement when there was to be a new movie, albeit in animated form!  I have to say, when I saw it I was completely...underwhelmed.  I was very disappointed in the story and the acting and the whole style.
Now a few years have passed and I have enjoyed watching a season of the animated series and I sat down to revisit the movie in my 2 Disc DVD.  While this movie is not brilliant in any way, it is no where near as bad as I remember it.  In fact there are some very good parts of this.
Let's get the negative bits out of the way.  I can't get past the 'narrator' at the beginning which followed on to the series.  In fact I really don't like the narrator at all.  I am also not a fan of the voice actor for Obi-Wan.  He sounds like he is so over acting.  (However, when you watch the making of documentaries on disc 2, there is a voice recording session and they are not over acting at all and in fact it makes it much more palatable).  I am not a fan of the story of having to rescue Jabba the Hutt's kidnapped son, but you have to start with something right?  Plus it allows the writers to include as many recognisable characters as possible.  I was also a little taken aback by the style of the animation.  The ships, droids and buildings look amazing but the people were a little chunky/solid for me.  However, this has grown on me and I like the style now.
What did I like?  As above, I love the ships and the battles are really brilliant looking, especially the droids versus the clones.  There are some amazing camera moves and sweeps.
I was also very pleased to see (hear?) that some of the original cast had returned to do their voices.  Samuel L. Jackson is back as Mace Windu, Anthony Daniels is the one and only C-3PO and the master himself, Christopher Lee returns as Count Dooku!  What a coup!
The best thing about the movie (and the series) is the introduction of new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.  She brings balance to the film and I look forward to watching future seasons of the show to see how her character develops.
The extras on the DVD are pretty good but there are four deleted scenes and I have to say that two of them should have been kept in the film!  The Racor Pit and the fight with the droid ont he landing pad were just simply exciting and should have been left in the movie.  Might have even made it better.
So not a huge fan of this movie but in revisiting it on DVD, it was not as bad as my memory regarded it.  6/10.

Empire - Issue 122

Hey Everyone!  Welcome to my 100th blog post!!  Yeah!  And we are about to have the 1000th page view!  Thank you to everyone from around the world who have made this blog such a success!  I will keep blogging for as long a people want to read what I carry on about!
Anyway, you are not here to listen to that, you are here about this month's issue of Empire Magazine Australia!  Yes, I have finally caught up!  (well sort of, because I know issue 123 is out now but I won't buy it till tomorrow, so I have read my latest issue! Yeah!)  Another great issue of my favourite Aussie magazine.  Let me get a couple of things out of the road first.  Free covermounts.  Giving us a 'free' copy of the same magazine that we have previously purchased, is not a bonus.  If you want to give us something for free, make it a DVD or make it a movie poster that is one sided and full size and NOT having to be torn out of the mag.  There I got that off my chest!
It was great to see a good article on a new Aussie film, 'Mad Bastards' and that is did so well at Sundance.
This month's The Grill was with the incredibly beautiful Carla Gugino!  What a great sport!  Some of the best responses.  I have always loved Carla.
I did the crossword and actually got the secret name this month!  I never get this out!  There was a mistake in the clues though.  Sean Penn played Emmet Ray in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown.  Also, on the next page, in your top 10 movie deaths, can you pick a sex for Bambi? "Bambi and HER(?) protective parent"?  You do make Bambi a 'his' twice more though.
A good review of Source Code.  Thanks, I am glad I went to see it now.  I think you might have missed the point of Sucker Punch though.  At least you gave it three stars.
Amazing subscription offer of your first three issues for only $6!  That's incredible! I am sorry but I won't be taking advantage of this, as I like to support my local newsagent and I like each issue flat.  I found I always got a huge fold when the posty delivered it, even after putting in a bigger mailbox opening!
I LOVED the article on X-Men: First Class.  I can't wait to see this.  Matthew Vaughn's Bond?  Sounds brilliant!  Not too sure about Green lantern though.  Having it being made by Martin Campbell might be it's saving grace though.
Blown away by the Conan photos.  Stargate:Atlantis' Jason Mamoa looks so different!  This could be good, but I am betting it won't be as good as Thor.  The article on Thor makes me so excited to see this movie.  Must go now!
Can't believe they are doing another Scream, though I do like Emma Roberts and it also has the wonderful Hayden Panettiere (Heroes).  I am going to make a guess and say the bad guy is Rory Culkin.  If anyone sees this, let me know if I am right.
I have to take my hat off to you guys though for the FANTASTIC article on Stanley Kubrick. I can't wait to read next month's continuation of this article.
Fianlly thanks for the rundown on 3D TVs.  I think I might wait till they bring out the versions where you don't need to wear glasses.  I mean, if they can do it for a DS, surely they can do it for a TV?!
Another great issue of Empire.  I hope you catch it.

Parenthood - Amazing Andy and His Wonderful World of Bugs

This was a good episode of Parenthood for two reasons.  Number one, Adam and Kristina are planning a birthday party for Max and being an insect lover, they want to hire a bug show for Max.  They end up with 'Amazing Andy and His Wonderful World of Bugs' played brilliantly by guest star, Michael Emerson from Lost.  To the Braverman's surprise, Andy also has Asperger's which highlights some issues but also gives Adam and Kristina hope for Max's future.
Meanwhile, issue number two is that Crosby is still on the outer with Jasmine, and he is trying to talk with her about their issues but she doesn't want to. In fact she skips Max's party and takes Jabba to her aunt's.  Crosby has been getting friendly with Max's behavioural aide, Gaby.  This culminates with teh two of them spending the night together.  I say - Good On You!  Jasmine is being a controlling bitch and Gaby is much nicer and better looking (not that Jasmine's not pretty, on the contrary, but it has to be more than looks).  Mmm, what will the fallout be?
I laughed my head off when during max's party, Kristina walks in on Julia and Joel trying to make a baby!  They have been trying for some time and Julia was ovulating and they couldn't wait to get home!  All Right!
On a side story, Seth is showing his anger management issues in front of Drew, who then decides to deal with a bully in the same way. Zeke had even tried to offer the olive branch but Seth wasn't having any of it and was quite rude so Zeke put him in his place.
Ooh, this show is building up to some explosive episodes in the near future.  Make sure you are watching!

ABBA - Gold

Ahh, ABBA, THE GREATEST BAND EVER!  Come on, someone argue with me!  I grew up with ABBA.  They have always and will always be, my favourite band.  My first 33 vinyl was ABBA's Greatest Hits (which I still have, along with Arrival) and I still have all my original 45's (once again kids, ask your parents!).  In primary school, we used to put on concerts and we were ABBA and I was Benny, which is ironic as I now sport a beard not unlike his - go figure! I remember they were coming to Australia and only playing Sydney and the tickets were the most expensive tickets ever for an international band and there were news stories at the time and I think the tickets were around $12 each!  Yes, I'm that old! (Man, I remember petrol being 13 cents a litre! About 1972 if I recall - not the ABBA concert though, that would have been very early eighties I would think - someone out there would have gone to that concert.  Lucky buggers.)
Anyway, I digress.  One of my favourite albums to listen to on my iPhone is ABBA's greatest hits compilation 'GOLD' (as opposed to Spandau Ballet's Greatest Hits compilation 'Gold'!)  I am still constantly blown away by the fact that English is their second language and yet their songs are so well written for English (much better than people who's first language is English), they rhyme words that have so much meaning, and the music has so many layers of melody.  Plus the wonderfully harmonic voices of the two female singers are like listening to Angels. Their songs are joyful to sorrowful, charting their lives of happiness and love and then through divorce and immense sadness.  Some of their songs are even a little titilating! Voulez-Vous anyone!?
There have been many movies that have featured ABBA songs.  Here is a list of movies with ABBA songs sung by ABBA (so no, Mamma Mia! is not included, sorry Pierce) thanks to abba-world.net.  I am only including films with songs from this album. There are a number of Swedish films but also alot of English language films, including a couple of Aussie favourites:

Spetters (1980) - Eagle; Chiquitita
Göta kanal eller Vem drog ur proppen? (1981) - Money, Money, Money
Montenegro (1981) - Why Did It Have To Be Me; I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
Christine (1983) - The Name Of The Game
Just the Way You Are (1984) - Voulez-Vous 
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) - Money, Money, Money (in the film trailer only) 
Änglagård (1992) aka House of Angels - Mamma Mia; Chiquitita; Fernando 
Muriel's Wedding (1994) - Dancing Queen*; Waterloo*; Fernando; Mamma Mia; I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do*
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) - Fernando; Mamma Mia*
Summer of Sam (1999) - Fernando; Dancing Queen*
Dick (1999) - Dancing Queen
Gossip (2000) - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
Tillsammans (2000) aka Together - SOS
U kome je problem? (2002) (V) - Money, Money, Money
Johnny English (2003) - Does Your Mother Know*
Baumeister Solness (2004) (TV) - The Winner Takes It All
Man of the House (2005) - Dancing Queen
KlassenLeben (2005) - Dancing Queen
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007) - Dancing Queen 
Get Smart (2008) - Take A Chance On Me
Morgan Pålsson - Världsreporter (2008) - Voulez-Vous

I could never pick a favourite song because I simply love everything they ever did.  If you do not own an ABBA album (why not???!!), then you must get GOLD - it's worth its weight!
And to close, a bit of useless trivia, the band name ABBA is made up of the first initial of each band member's name (Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anifred) but did you know that the name ABBA is another name for God? (which is only one letter away from Gold!)

House - You Must Remember This

A reference to my favourite Humphrey Bogart flick, Casablanca, as well as the start of a 'beautiful' friendship between sisters and doctors.  Oh and because the person who is ill this week can remember EVERYTHING with photographic detail.  Once again every diagnosis is wrong and potential life threatening in itself until House has an epiphany, as usual.  Ho Hum.
The patient needs the kidney of her sister who she can't forgive anything for because she remembers everything.  Meanwhile Taub is flunking his exams and House makes Foreman his mentor leading to an unusual friendship.  And talking about friendships, Wilson gets a cat (instead of a woman) and so House goes out of his way to try and rectify that.  Cutty hits the nail on the head when she observes that House is feeling guilty because he knows he's such a prick but he's the one who is happy and has the girl while Wilson is always nice and he's got no one.  I can see this is just going to make House self-imolate and wreck his relationship because he feels he doesn't deserve to be happy.  Oh no. 
I'm starting to get bored with this show and I've just read they have been renewed for an eighth  season!  How can they keep doing the same format for yet another year?  Because people like me keep watching.  Well, it better get  better, and it better be soon!

Supernatural - Weekend at Bobby's

Weekend at Bobby's was one of my favourite episodes of Supernatural so far AND it was directed by none other than Jensen 'Dean Winchester' Ackles himself!  Wisely, he took a back seat in the story and put the spotlight fairly on the unsung hero, Bobby Singer (named after Supernatural director/producer Robert Singer).  Normally Bobby is the go to guy if the boys need something and this time we see what else he gets up to with his 'spare time'.
The story is based around Bobby trying to get his soul back from Crowley, who of course has reneged on his deal to give it back.  While dealing with this devastating news, Dean calls to get help with dealing with a monster and we see the lengths Bobby goes to to get the information for the boys, for little thanks!  Plus we get to see him deal with other hunters on the phones and at his place, we see him almost get a woman, until a monster gets involved, plus his relationship with law enforcement.
This is a funny epsiode but at the same time full of the normal Supernatural drama.  I really enjoyed this episode and if you haven't seen it, track it down!

72 to 1

I had the honour of attending the world premiere (or should I say the Galactic Premiere!) of a lovely little short film called 72 to 1 at the Regal Cinemas in Graceville, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia.  This is the first film for writer David Hearne who has been writing short stories since he was a boy growing up in New South Wales and who in fact has a full science fiction novel online available for free download here:
http://www.manybooks.net/titles/hearnedother09Ruminations_Of_A_Wayfarer_I_and_II.html

Now I haven't read the book yet, but I have read the beginnings of one of his screenplays which I assume is based on the book and it is very exciting!

72 to 1 is about a man who can see post-it notes stuck to people's foreheads which show a number between 1 and 72 and that is what number you are on their list of people they would like to be romantically involved with, no1 being you are first on their list.  This is the story of how he goes about getting the girl of his dreams to lower the number on her post-it note.  It is very clever and while I was concerned that the ending was going to be cheapened, the very last seconds has a lovely twist that made this film brilliant.

David is going to be entering his film in a number of short film festivals around the world and if you happen to see the name, please go and see it and let me know what you think of it.

David has a number of scripts in various stages of development and is in the process of raising funds for his next script which will be a feature film set in a small Aussie country town of a local hoon being accussed of doing something he may or may not have done.  I look forward to attending the Galactic Premiere for this movie as well.

Keep an eye out for the name David Hearne, I foresee a little gold man in his future.

The photo below is of the movie poster and the name of the movie over the cinema entry - very cool!

Source Code

Today is Mother's Day and I offered to take my Mum to the movies, her choice of film.  Without prompting, she chose Thor!  I was very happy.  Then a couple of days later she rang me to say she had seen a preview of Source Code and thought she would like to see that instead.  I was a little disappointed but it is Mother's Day and it is her choice.  It could have been worse.  It could have been some period romance movie.
All I knew about Source Code was that it had Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan and had something to do with a guy being put back in time eight minutes to stop a bomb blast.  So far so DeJa Vu.  I then read an article that the director was Duncan Jones (Moon and David Bowie's son) so I was a little intrigued.  The good thing was, I went in with no real expectations.  And I enjoyed it the more for that.
After watching the film, it had more to do with the television show, Quantum Leap, with lots of talk of quantum mechanics and that our hero is transported 'through time' into the body of another man.  There is even a nod to the show by having Scott Bakula as the voice of Jake's character's Dad.  Sort of nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
This is a very clever story and you do have to keep up with what is going on but I think they may have bitten more off than they could chew and the ending feels a little too much to accept.  Having said that, it seems ludicrous that I can accept the science to send a person's consciousness into a memory of a dead person but I can't grasp them being able to affect the real world.  Are there layers of reality being created?
If you like a movie that challenges you to think a bit about it afterwards, you will love this, but if you are a nit picker (which generally I'm not) then you might just ruin the experience of this film for yourself.
Take my advice, don't head off to India, see this movie instead. 7/10

Blue Bloods - Chinatown

In reference ot the Jack Nicholson movie, "Chinatown", this story relates to a woman being pregnant and the process of what happens to the baby once it is born.
The story starts with Jamie meeting his contact in the FBI and telling her he wants out.  While walking away, he witnesses two Asian men assaulting two Asian women in an alley.  Even though he is off duty, he identifies himself and chases one of the men on foot who accidentally runs into the path of a taxi and is killed.
Two things happen, this opens up a search for one of the women who it turns out is pregnant and the other is that Jamie is investigated by Internal Affairs.  They want to know why he was in Chinatown and a witness has him meeting a red haired woman (the FBI agent).
The story of the pregnant woman is about her being an escort and then selling the unwanted baby to a wealthy American family through the Triad.  The difference being is that she wants to keep the baby.  However, as usual with this show, they present another side to the argument in that the Triad see the situation as a win/win for everyone.  The pregnant women want to get rid of the babies and so are able to make some money from selling it, the Triad want the women back to work as soon as possible and they make a LOT of money from selling the babies, and the wealthy American families get what they want, which is a healthy Asian child who will do well in life.  Even the child is better off because they get to be brought up in a loving family home.  It is a strong argument, but one that gets shot down and very complicated once the real mother realises she wants to keep her child.
Not a bad episode but not the best I have seen.  Oh and Danny's partner is back (where did she go last episode?).

Glee - Comeback

You can imagine my horror when I realised I was about to watch 'The Justin Bieber' episode of Glee.  I can't stand the idea of Justin Bieber or his music.  That was until I saw what he did in Australia recently with the boy who had been bullied to the point of fighting back.  He shared some of his fame with that boy and made him feel special, brought him on stage and met with his family backstage.  Later, that boy was cheered by girls.  The happiness that he felt was because of Justin Bieber, so no matter what I think of his 'manufactured' persona and his bubblegum tweeny music, he is essentially a really good bloke and I applaud him for what he did. 
Which still did not take away my horror of having to watch the Glee crew sing Bieber songs!  Especially with that ridiculous hair cut!  Anyway, Sam thought he would use his one man show "The Justin Bieber Experience" to win Quinn's heart and it worked!  The other guys, except Finn, jumped on board (even Puck had the stupid hair built into a hoodie!) and won the hearts of their women.  Talking about Puck, his new flame, Lauren even fell for it and let Puck know he is on the right track.  She then 'sang' for the first time, "I know what boys like" and no I am sorry, but it is not you. 
Even Sue joined Glee this week.  She has been depressed since losing the cheerleading comp and she tried to commit suicide with jelly vitamins.  This may have been a bit inappropriate.  To get her back on track, it was suggested she join the Glee group and she sang and anthem but not on her own.  She sang in amongst EVERYONE else so we never really got to hear her sing.  A bit of a cop out.
So another change in who's going out with who and this week, not the best pick of songs.  Hopefully next week will be better.  This week was less of a comeback and more of a setback.